Chris Redding, Author

Authorsday: Shelly Munro

2012-02-09T00:06:00.000-05:00

Interview – Shelley Munro

1. What was the name of the first novel you wrote? Did you try to publish it?

When I finally decided to get serious about writing, I sat down and wrote a romantic suspense called Lane’s Love Child. I was very industrious and wrote every day when I arrived home from work. It took me about two months to complete my story. After reading my story through and making minor adjustments, I sent it off to Mills & Boon in London, confident that I’d be receiving a contract by return mail. I didn’t of course. Three months later I received a rejection. I was crushed!!

I loved the story and kept reworking and rewriting before submitting it again. Lane’s Love Child, now titled Playing to Win, is currently available from Ellora’s Cave and is part of the sensual Blush line.

http://www.shelleymunro.com/books/playing-to-win/

2. Describe your book, CAT BURGLAR IN TRAINING.

My upcoming February 20 release from Carina Press is a contemporary romantic mystery called Cat Burglar in Training. Lady Eve Fawkner returns home to England to live with her father. On her arrival she discovers things are very dire at Oakthorpe, the family estate. Her father has borrowed money and is having difficulty repaying it. He wants her to take over the family mantle of cat burglar and become The Shadow. Of course, she resists the idea until the money lenders start threatening her young daughter. She’s left with little option but to embrace the family occupation of cat burglar.

While researching jewels at a society ball, she meets a man who piques her interest. Unfortunately he’s the very worst man for her because he’s a cop!

3. What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

My husband and I spent six years living and working in London. Writing Cat Burglar in Training was a good excuse to go through all my photos and mementos and relive all the fun times we had while we lived in London. Some of my personal experiences and the things I did went into the writing of this book.

Cat Burglar in Training was also my first attempt at writing a book in first person. I’ve written a few first person stories since then and enjoy the change of pace after writing third person manuscripts.

4. What drew you to the subject of CAT BURGLAR IN TRAINING?

Years ago I watched the movie To Catch a Thief, staring Grace Kelly and Cary Grant. After watching this movie I yearned to read/watch more cat burglar romances. Once I began writing my own stories, a cat burglar story became an obvious plot choice for me.

5. Who is your favorite character in your book?

Lady Eve Fawkner, the heroine of the book and the trainee cat burglar is my favorite character. She’s feisty and brave and will do anything to keep her family safe. I like the way she grows during the course of the story and stops running away from her problems.

6. Do you plot or do you write by the seat of your pants?

When I first started writing I was definitely a seat of your pants writer. Throughout the years I’ve adapted my writing method, and although no one could ever call me a plotter, I do plan far more than I used to in the past. I guess you could call me a hybrid.

7. What’s your writing schedule?

Now that I write full time I tend to keep office hours and try to write from around nine in the morning until I’ve completed my target number of words. I write 2000 words every day. Once I’ve completed my words, I’ll do promo and other writing related things.

8. What do you do when you are not writing?

We have a puppy and I enjoy taking her for long walks. I also enjoy cycling, playing with the Wii Fit, cooking and photography. My husband and I love to travel, and we explore various parts of the world as often as we can. Last year we did a Pacific cruise and also spent almost a month in China.

9. Who is your greatest cheerleader?

My husband is always extra supportive when it comes to my writing. When I have good news he’ll arrive home with a bottle of celebratory wine, or if I’ve received a rejection he’ll ply me with chocolate. Over the years, he’s become very knowledgeable about the writing business. He’s a good person to have on my side.

10. What is your favorite food?

I’m a vegetarian, and I enjoy eating just about anything with vegetables. I think my all-time favorite meal would be pasta with fresh vegetables like mushrooms, asparagus and corn in a cream sauce. I’m also a fan of chocolate. I love the stuff. Chocolate anything is good!

Author Bio:

Shelley Munro is tall and curvaceous with blue eyes and a smile that turns masculine heads everywhere she goes. She’s a university tutor and an explorer/treasure hunter during her vacations. Skilled with weapons and combat, she is currently in talks with a producer about a television series based on her world adventures.

Shelley is also a writer blessed with a vivid imagination who lives with her very own hero in New Zealand. She writes romance in various genres for publishers Carina Press, Ellora’s Cave and Samhain Publishing. Learn more about Shelley and her books at http://www.shelleymunro.com and you might even find her lurking at Facebook http://www.facebook.com/shelleymunro or Twitter http://www.twitter.com/shelleymunro

Book Blurb:

Eve Fawkner had no intention of following in her father’s footsteps. But when the thugs harassing him to repay his gambling debts threaten her young daughter, Eve is forced to assume the role of London’s most notorious cat burglar, The Shadow. The plan is simple: pull off a couple of heists, pay back the goons and go into permanent retirement. But things get messy during her first job when Eve witnesses a murder, stumbles across a clue that sheds some light on her past and, worst of all, falls for a cop.

Inspector Kahu Williams would be the perfect man, if Eve were looking, and if there wasn’t the little matter of their career conflict. The man is seriously hot—and hot on the trail of a murderer. A trail that keeps leading him back to Eve…

Purchase Links:

Carina Press http://ebooks.carinapress.com/698C6556-67E3-4231-B90C-F1C56684E9DA/10/134/en/ContentDetails.htm?ID=05DC63C6-4E34-40F3-ADC0-4EB5D51CCA06

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Fancy-Free-ebook/dp/B0030MQJSW/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327650970&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cat-burglar-in-training-shelley-munro/1107899330?ean=9781426893230&itm=1&usri=cat+burglar+in+training

All Romance ebooks http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-catburglarintraining-675675-152.html

Themes and issues

2012-02-08T00:04:00.000-05:00

How writers exploit their issues using characters

By Julie Eberhart Painter

In every one of my books adoption is an issue. It’s integrated in my quest. The many facets of adoption: being given away, giving away, and watching our grandchild given away are woven into our family history. Thus, secret baby style, my issues are explored in my romance and mystery novels.

Adoption has fueled my imagination. Who am I, and who were they, the givers of life but not for a lifetime? It’s fired my passion to examine my written characters’ motives. Such life experiences make for inflammatory prose. The adoption issue creeps into my work like murder into crime novels.

At a hospice seminar, I told a perfect stranger, “Hi, I’m Julie. I’m adopted, I come with a disclaimer.”

Disarmed by my subconscious honesty, she answered, “I’m Jane, and I can’t have children.” We both had an issue-issue.

I was only nine months old when I was taken from a succession of foster homes and placed with my adoptive family—permanently. My first word was “home,” not Mommy or Daddy. At four-years of age, I remember hiding when people came to the house, fearful of losing my home. I ran from cars passing on the dirt road out front. In 1998, I petitioned the court to get my “story.” The non-identifying information stated that at three months of age I was friendly, alert and able to stand up for myself. Not afraid?

In Mortal Coil, the main character, Ellen, a nursing home administrator, has a compassionate heart. She and her first husband adopted a child, but didn’t tell her she was adopted. This loving omission became a problem for Ellen when her husband was killed in a car crash.

Secrets ignite violence. Murders in Ellen’s nursing home strike a match under an unlikely pair who would never have met without the afore-mentioned deceptions.

In Tangled Web, a seduction scene drives the plot that leads the reader from 1935 to 1951. It’s my projection of my birth mother’s life as I hope she lived it. Illegitimacy and adoption were life-changing moral issues during the 30s. Some time in the late 60s the mores became less judgmental and eased. But in the 30s with war on the horizon and women reaching beyond their domestic roles to find careers and help support their families, my character emerged stronger. She learned that the powerful do not always win.

In my most recent novel, Kill Fee, my heroine, Penny, must overcome a similar identity crisis. She discovers she has not inherited her fortune from her uncle, but from her loving father who has quietly guided her life.

A 95-year old resident in the nursing home where I worked as a volunteer asked me, "Do you think when I die I’ll finally meet my birth mother?"

It’s never over.

Julie was born near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and moved 17 times since her marriage. She stabilized, and has remained for 24 years in a California ranch five miles west of Daytona Beach, Florida. With seven novels in print, you can check her website: http://www.books-jepainter.com, and go to her Amazon Author Page:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_tc_2_0?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3AJulie+Eberhart+Painter&keywords=Julie+Eberhart+Painter&ie=UTF8&qid=1321374034&sr=1-2-ent&field-contributor_id=B005EYUYSK

Authorsday: Irene Peterson

2012-02-02T00:30:00.001-05:00

Blog Interview Questions:

Pick any ten

When did you know you wanted to be a writer? I’ve been serious about writing since I was 15. I have kept journals since I was 12, however. I guess that’s serious.
How many rejections have you received? This is embarrassing. I’ve only received six rejection letters. How come so few? I don’t send out much….
Tell me one thing about yourself that very few people know? I turned down a recording contract in the early 70s.
What’s your writing schedule? Writing comes easily enough, the problem is that I play with the scenes through sleepless nights, sometimes for weeks, before I actually sit at the computer and write them. I can write 20 pages at one time if I am so moved. Trouble is, it takes a lot of time to get moving.
What three things would you want with you on a desert island? Ah, the desert island bit. Let’s see. Three things? Water, food and a sturdy boat perhaps? I'm kind of practical that way.
Who is your greatest cheerleader? My 91 year old mother keeps me writing. I never realized how much she read…but she has proofread and beta read all my work, even the early fantasies which she hated, but she read them anyway.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book? The book is a continuation of my first published novel. I needed to get some things resolved and I loved the characters so much, I had to move them forward. I wanted the h/h of Glory Days to get married and I gave them twins to keep them out of the way so the new heroine could shine. It’s her story, I needed to give her my full attention, but I had to bring in the other characters because they were such fun.
Who is your favorite character in your book? Dennis, the wounded war veteran is my favorite character. I am very familiar with PTSD and what happens to young people exposed to the ugliness of war. Dennis starts off broken…but he gets better.
What was the hardest scene to write? Carly goes searching for her priest friend in a deserted hotel about to be demolished. It’s dark inside, pretty badly wrecked and I had to think what it would be like stumbling around while looking for someone. Strictly my imagination…later I learned that the building I was using in my imagination had been torn down in 2009. Luckily, I didn’t name it, so readers who are familiar with /Asbury Park can’t give me grief over it. I'm not as brave or foolhardy as Carly. I’d never have gone inside.
What was your favorite scene to write? The scene where Carly’s father confronts the man with whom she just spent the night.

Author Bio: Irene has lived in central Jersey her entire life…central Jersey, where the pools are above ground and all the front doors come from Home Depot. She met her husband to be on the boardwalk of Seaside Heights and returns there every year to celebrate the occasion.

Book Blurb: First day on the job at her father’s detective agency, Carly meets two intriguing men. One wants to kiss her, the other wants to kill her.

ExceprTuesday: Victoria Roder

2012-01-31T00:02:00.000-05:00

Bolt Action by Victoria Roder

Please feel free to visit my website, www.victoriaroder.com

Blurp: In Action Thriller, Bolt Action from Champagne Books, because it is still illegal to kick the crap out of stupid people, Detective Leslie Bolt uses sarcasm to cope. She is a smart talking, gun hording, Harley riding investigator forced to work a serial murder case with her sexy ex-lover. After a childhood of abuse suffered at the hand of her father, Leslie sleeps with a Ruger Blackhawk .357 under her pillow, has a Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker rifle in her broom closet, and a Saturday Night Special stashed in her road-hog cookie jar. The body count mounts and Detective Bolt must conquer her own past, as she races to capture “The State Quarter Killer” before her sister is the next victim. Secrets of the past, murder, deception, sexual tension, and “The State Quarter Killer”, Bolt Action offers it all.

Links:

Bolt Action E-book http://www.amazon.com/Bolt-Action-ebook/dp/B003ZUY58U/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_t_3

Bolt Action Paperback: http://champagnebooks.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=27_49&product_id=82

Bolt Action Video Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqcYL_G7h7s

Excerpt: Bolt Action

Out of my collection of weapons I have stashed around my apartment, I chose my Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker rifle from behind the mop in the broom closet. I headed in the direction of my enclosed storage area. Flipping on the porch light in hopes of frightening an intruder, I exited my front door. As I reached the bottom of the wooden steps, I could detect an outline of a person in front of the shadowed storage door. Male-at least six feet tall.

Cocking the rifle, I warned, “Stop. I have a rifle.”

“Calm down, Bolt. It’s just me.” Lance Kestler ran his hand through his thick black hair as he stepped from the shadows into the glow of the porch light.

“Oh for crying out loud. What the hell are you doing here?” I released the trigger. “Did you just come out of my storage area?”

“No. I got out of my car and walked toward your door.” Kestler placed his hands on his slim hips. “How come you never wear your hair down during the day?”

I ignored the question. “I heard a door close.”

Kestler shrugged his broad, black Fieora-clothed shoulders, and wobbled on his feet. “Must’a heard my car door.”

Headlights from a passing car shined toward me and I slid the rifle behind my back. “Whatever. It’s like midnight what the hell do you want?”

“Well, I remembered you don’t sleep much at night, so I assumed you’d still be up. Or maybe you just didn’t sleep at night because I kept you up-or should I say, you kept me up?” Kestler took a stumbling step forward.

I blew out a breath in frustration. How did I ever get involved with this guy in the first place? “Get off it, Kestler. You’ve been drinking. What do you want?”

“Aren’t you gonna invite me in?” He winked in his typical cocky manner. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had your firm body under mine.”

I shook my head. “Are you kidding me?”

“Look, I want to apologize for how things have been going between us lately.” Lance stumbled and dragged his hand across the side of the duplex to stabilize himself.

“Apologize?” The rifle dug into my hand as I tightened my grip. “You can’t even talk in complete sentences. How come you only show up to talk after you’ve been drinking?”

Kestler advanced two steps toward me. “What’s wrong with you? I’m trying to rekindle a civil relationship between us, and you show up acting like Annie Oakley the sharpshooter.”

“You don’t do apologies, or favors without an ulterior motive.” I pointed the rifle toward him. “What the hell do you want? Why don’t you go home?”

“What? You’re gonna shoot me?” Lance put his hands up, pretending to surrender and laughed.

His humor was lost on me. I wanted Kestler off my property and wanted him to know I meant business. Not that I would have shot him. Probably. “You’ve been drinking, and you’re trespassing. I believed you were an intruder and I had to defend myself.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Sounds convincing. I might be able to get someone to buy that.”

“You’d Miss.”

My finger itched to pull the trigger. “Don’t you remember my target scores where always better than yours?”

Lance winked at me. “That’s because I was distracted by your cute ass.”

“You are an ass.”

“I’m done trying to be nice to you.”

“When did you start?”

“Screw you.” He turned to stomp back toward his car.

I lowered the rifle and called out, “Kestler, you’ve been drinking. Should I call you a cab?”

I heard him open his car door. As I walked backward up the three steps to the front door, it didn’t take detective skills to realize he didn’t have the ability nor the courtesy to answer me. Kester was six feet tall─could he have consumed more then two drinks an hour? I ran back down the steps to offer him a ride.

“Kestler!” I pounded on the hood of the car. “Kestler, wait!”

He jammed the car in reverse, spun it around and squealed his tires on the usually quiet street. I watched him drive off and prayed he wouldn’t hit someone on his way home. Retreating inside my apartment, I locked and dead bolted the front door. I returned the A-Bolt rifle to its spot behind the mop, and headed for the phone to call in a tip about a drunk driver. If he was lucky, he’d be stopped by a friendly cop. It not-if he had to spend the night in the drunk tank at least he wouldn’t kill himself or anyone else.

Authorsday: Lynda Fitzgerald

2012-01-26T00:15:00.000-05:00

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I think I knew as soon as I learned how to read, which was when I was three or four if my mother is to be believed. It amazed me that someone could put words―just words, squiggly black scratches―on paper and create real people and situations. At least they were real to me. I wanted to be able to do that, and it's still my goal every time I sit in front of a blank computer screen.

How long have you been writing?

Well, it seems like forever. I wrote my first short story when I was ten and kept writing. Short stories. Poetry. I didn't attempt my first novel until I was in my late twenties. A novel seemed such a massive undertaking. I was terrified I wouldn't be able to finish it. Then I was afraid I'd never have another story idea. It was a huge undertaking, but once I realized the breadth of scope it offered, and I never looked back. And the story ideas come faster than I can write them.

How did you pick the genre you write in?

I didn't set out to write in any genre. I wasn't that knowledgeable or sophisticated back then. I'd written five novels that editors and publishers called "women's fiction" or "romantic suspense." It didn't matter to me what they called them as long as they liked them. Then I came up with an idea for a mystery, LIVE Ringer. Writing that first mystery was the most fun I've ever had, and I fell in love with the characters. I wasn't ready to let them go when the first book ended. There was so much more I wanted them to experience. That's how the LIVE series was born. LIVE Ammo was just released, and LIVE in Person should be out next summer. All the story ideas I come up with these days are mysteries, so I guess I'd have to say my genre chose me.

Do you plot or do you write by the seat of your pants?

I used to be a dedicated seat-of-the-pants writer. I believed outlining would "stifle my creativity." Then the day came where I was halfway through a novel, and I was lost. I wasn't sure how I'd written myself into a corner, but I couldn't see any out except to scrap the first half of the manuscript. The problem was, I liked the first half. It took over a year to figure out how to fix that novel. Now I outline. Even if it's no more than a sentence a chapter, I have a map of sorts. I don't always stick to the outline, and the story often goes off in surprising directions, but the map is there if I need it. And I usually do.

What was the name of the first novel you wrote? Did you try to publish it?

My first novel was Our Ideal. I still love that novel. I was certain it was the best first novel ever written. I knew that, if publishers would just read the manuscript, they'd love it, too. I imagined bidding wars for the right to publish it. And yes, I tried to get it published. And tried, and tried. The publishers disagreed with my analysis of the manuscript. Looking back at it thirty years later, I have to, albeit reluctantly, agree with them. I've rewritten it a dozen times, but I still can't seem to get it right. I'll keep trying, though. How can you reject your first baby, even if it's not as pretty as the later ones?

How many rejections have you received?

Quite honestly, I quit counting after three hundred. I've been rejected by both agents and publishers. It happens. I consider it "paying the dues." I teach a class on "Making Rejection Work for You." God knows, I speak from experience. In class, I tell my students to write that first novel, send it out, and start the next one. When the first novel comes back, send it out again and start another one. Repeat as necessary. Well, there's actually more to the class than that, but I consider that the gist. By the time I got a novel published, I'd written five. Now that I have four in print, I've written nine. I just keep writing. I can't imagine not writing.

What do you consider your strengths in terms of your writing?

I think my greatest strength is that I'm such a good liar. No, really. How can you create fiction unless you're a good liar? I just plain like to make things up. These days, I try to confine it to my writing.

My greatest writing strength, I suppose, is character development. I write character-based fiction because my characters are alive to me. I can see them, hear them. I know what they'd do in given situations. They say things that would never come out of my mouth, and they crack me up all the time. I love them (or hate them, as necessary). I've read a lot of plot-driven fiction, but I always come away from one of those feeling let down, no matter how well the plot was developed. To me, the plot is like the skeleton of the creature. The characters are the flesh, the richness and beauty. They are what drive my stories, and everyone who's read my books talk about the characters, how real they seem. So I guess you could say they're pretty good drivers.

What do you do when you are not writing?

You mean those extra fifteen minutes every week? I'm exaggerating a bit, but until you're published, your writing time is just that: time to write. After you're published, you spend a whole lot of that time doing signings and traveling to appearances and conferences and teaching and generally promoting your books. That doesn't leave as much time for writing as I'd like, but it's a part of the price of being published, a worthy trade off.

Ditto with reading. It seems like I used to read all the time. It was and is one of my greatest pleasures, but it's hard to find time these days. I don't like to read while I'm actively writing a first draft because sometimes I find the style of the book I'm reading bleeding into mine. It doesn't present a problem when I'm editing, just during the first draft. Weird, but true.

Other than that, I spend a lot of time with my dogs. I have three: a German Shepherd, a half-Shepherd-half-something-else-big mix, both three years old, and a pint-sized Cairn Terrier―think Toto―who's thirteen. They're my live entertainment, and I spend a lot of time romping around the backyard with them. Well, they do most of the romping. I pretty much throw the ball and chase after them.

Who is your greatest cheerleader?

I can't tell you which is my greatest cheerleader―only that it would be one of my dogs. Have you ever noticed they love you even if you haven't showered or put on make-up?

Seriously, I have a lot of cheerleaders other than the canine variety, but my biggest cheerleader, as strange as it may sound, is me. I think every author has to be their own cheerleader. It's a 24/7 job, and that would be a heavy burden to place on another individual. I've had wonderful cheerleaders my entire life, beginning with my father. Unfortunately, he was enamored of Louis L'Amour and wanted me to write westerns. I didn't even read westerns. My family has always been wonderfully supportive. I think my kids' first words were, "Shhh. Mommy's writing." There have been many times when their faith in me was all that kept me going, or at least, kept me writing. I consider that one of the greatest gifts I've ever received from anyone.

Author Bio:

Lynda Fitzgerald is the multi-genre author of a number of novels ranging from romantic suspense to mystery. Originally from Florida, she now lives in Atlanta, and both places are reflected in her writing. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, The Atlanta Writers Club and the Florida Writers Association. She is often called upon to speak and give workshops at conferences around the country. She is currently working on her next two novels, both mysteries. You can read about Lynda and her work on http://www.fitzgeraldwrites.com.

Book Blurb:

Who better than a cop would know how to stage a murder to look like a suicide?

Jean Aubutten is dead. Her son claims his father, the county sheriff, killed her, but the coroner rules it a suicide. Investigative reporter Allie Grainger doesn't know who to believe. As she searches for answers, the son attempts to block her every effort. A local deputy, fearing Allie is trying to railroad his hero, makes it clear he'll go to any lengths to stop her investigation. Knowing her continued investigation might just get her killed, Allie sets out to discover what really happened the day Jean Arbutten died.

Carolyn Wall

2012-01-23T00:02:00.000-05:00

Carolyn Wall

When I write, I am set-upon by characters. They live in my house and ride in my car, clinging like old actors waiting for the next bit part, or like relatives who eat up the casseroles while the will’s being read. Sometimes I have to remind myself – and them -- who’s boss.

My novel, Sweeping Up Glass (Random House, 2009) – and its characters – won a number of awards including the Oklahoma Book Award for Fiction and was reviewed delightfully across the country and in the New York Times. My next book will be available on July 24 of 2012. It’s peopled with strange folks.

When I was conjuring up this second book, Playing With Matches, I fell in love with the idea of the adopted kids – small Harry who won’t talk, and the abandoned, South American Luz. The main character is Clea, and her problems go farther back than just the summer of the hurricane that we see in this book.

I love Belize City, which is just as Clea describes it – the fish market in the canal, children playing in sudsy ditchwater, the ocean lapping the ends of the streets. We Americans had been warned not to wander past the bus-yard gates, but I was a writer/journalist with a zoom-lens camera. I set out on a photo shoot with sister-in-law, Pat, she to see the sights and guard my flank. We were accompanied by a little man on a bicycle. But Pat could not save me from myself. Because we were late in returning to the ship, we were hurrying through an alleyway when I fell and bloodied both my knees.

By now, it’s clear to my readers that I love the South. It has sweet potato pie, eclectic people and the strength of hundred-pound test line.

Just as I did, Clea loved her job teaching prisoners to write. During those years, I exhausted my friends and worried others as I prattled on about how much these incarcerated offenders had to say.

As with all my writings, I had the tremendous support of my husband and our children, close and distant relatives, friends and neighbors, doctor and dentist, Charlie and his lawn guys, my mailman, trash collectors, the kids at Art Camp, Miss Rhonda at the library, the produce manager and cashiers at Wal-Mart, cute waiters at Pei Wei. Sooner or later, they’ll end up in a book.

Corpse Whisperer

2012-01-20T11:55:00.000-05:00

Welcome readers to our first Indie Hoopla event. For eight days, Jan 15 - 22, you'll get introduced to authors every single day who are sharing their worlds and stories for only 99 cents!

Not only will you get awesome reads, but, for each book you purchase, you will be entered for a chance to win a $25.00 Amazon gift card or $10.00 gift card from the Book Depository (international readers).
All you have to do is forward a copy of the receipt(s) for the books purchased to indiehoopla'>mailto:indiehoopla@yahoo.com">indiehoopla (at) yahoo (dot) com. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, January 24. A master list of all participating authors can be found HEREhttp://indieauthor-howto.blogspot.com/p/indie-hoopla-authors.html">HERE>. Now, let's get this party started!

http://www.kishazworld.com/images/99_Indie_Hoopla.jpg

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A paramedic who can talk to dead people to solve their murders will lose her power on her rapidly approaching 30th birthday. She has one more murder to solve before that can happen.

Other Buy Locations

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/chrisreddingauthor?ref=kishazworld" target="_blank">Smashwords

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http://tjmanderino.webs.com/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Tara Manderino

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A gung ho PR person in charge of getting a reclusive country western singer to perform live at a small function is responsible for him possibly losing his ranch for children. Tyler Davidson would rather deal with a large concert hall audience than come face to face with a few people. Such thoughts are beyond Abie Halloway’s thinking, but as she learns to understand what the ranch means to Tyler and comes to care for him in this sweet romance / inspirational, she realizes she does not want to be the one to cause his downfall.

*More Works*

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Other Buy Locations

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/tara-manderino" target="_blank">BN | http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/taramanderino?ref=kishazworld" target="_blank">Smashwords

~~~~****~~~~

http://www.kishazworld.com/" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Lakisha Spletzer

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West CBI agent, Verity Sanchez, is tracking a killer who leaves no clues and invades her dreams. On edge and nearing a mental breakdown, she gets help from an unexpected source.
East CBI agent, Arik Salem, has come out west to solve the unsolvable. He doesn't count on landing in the middle of a murder investigation nor being captivated by the talented agent assigned to assist him. He can't let her get close or risk his secret destroying the trust they've built.
As the body count and dreams increase, Verity must find a way to end both, or be consumed by the twisted desires of a killer.
Book 1 in The Enhanced Chronicles

*More Works*

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http://www.amburns.com/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">A.M. Burns

<><>

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When witches and wers in Dallas begin dying mysteriously, a magical detective is called in to find the high magician that is responsible. E.S. Peters and his werewolf partner Dusty must dive into the shadowy magical world to stop the magician that is calling up demons to kill witches and wers in Dallas. Their quest takes them from the bars of Deep Ellum to the canals of Las Colinas and beyond to solve the mystery of "Perfect Love"

*More Works*

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Time to Write?

2012-01-18T00:01:00.001-05:00

Finding the time to write.

By Victoria Howard

The question I get asked most often is 'how do you find time to write'?

In this day and age it's easy to feel overwhelmed by everyday life without the added pressure of writing a book or short story. So just how do you apply the BOSFOK (bum on seat, fingers on keyboard) principle?

The answer is by scheduling the time you have.

Don't try and fit your writing into your 'spare time.' There's no such thing, especially if you work full time in order to support your family. Study your schedule and designate time when you can concentrate on your writing, but don't be too ambitious. For example: If you are a morning person try getting up half an hour earlier and using that time to write. Some writers prefer to work of any evening while the rest of the family watch TV, others dedicate weekend afternoons as their time to write. Choose whatever works best for you, and stick to it.

Use a timer when doing research--it's very easy to become distracted, especially when searching the Internet. A timer will help make your time at the computer more productive.
Limit the amount of time you spend answering and sending emails (unless they are to your editor), and reading on line newspapers and blogs.
Think about what you're going to write BEFORE you sit down in front of the computer, perhaps while ironing, or cooking dinner. When you do sit down at your desk, you'll have the next few pages worked out, plus you will have freed up time in which to write them.
Make use of downtime--those tedious journeys on the bus to work or sitting around waiting for appointments. Carry a notebook and write while you travel or wait. If you spend a lot of time in the car driving from place to place, invest in a voice activated voice recorder.
While you're watching your children play in the park, work out the next scene or think through a problem. When you sit down to write, the words will generally flow.
If your children have an essay to write use the time they are sat quietly to work on your novel.
Don't try and write while the TV or radio is playing in the background, it will only distract you.
Instead of taking an hour to eat lunch, use part of the time to write.
Invest in a netbook computer--most are no bigger than a sheet of A4 paper, are lightweight and relatively inexpensive.
Use an answering machine to screen calls during your 'writing time.'
But most of all, set yourself a writing goal. It could be something as simple as entering one writing contest in the course of a year. And remember; if you write 250 words a day--the equivalent of one page of A4, in a year you will have written 365 pages or approximately 90,000 words--enough for a full length novel. Whatever your goal, stick to it, as it will take the pressure off.

Time management is all about common sense. It's a matter of understanding your commitments and knowing how you work best, and using that information to achieve your goals.

Blurb:

When English accountant Daniel Elliott dies in a car accident one rainy night, his widow, Grace, isovercome with grief…and panic. Daniel was controlling and their marriage loveless, but he always took care of the sheltered Grace.

Or so she thought.

She soon discovers Daniel kept secrets: an alias, mob ties, a list ofnumbers, a mysterious beach house in Florida….and a girlfriend who looks like Grace.

Swallowing her fear, she flies to Miami to claim the house Daniel left her. But the price of her curiosity is peril. Underworld figures stalk her. The other woman has left a damning trail of evidence pointing her way. And handsome, troubled FBI agent Jack West has crossed precarious paths with Grace before. He could be her savior or her damnation. All she knows for certain is that she longs to be in his arms.

With little to go on and danger at every turn, Grace must depend on Jack tohelp her navigate the criminal world of south Florida, and find the truth behind the Ring of Lie

ExcerpTuesday: Catherine Astolfo

2012-01-17T00:08:00.000-05:00

EXCERPT: Legacy will be available in the Spring of 2012

Prologue from Legacy: Emily Taylor Mystery #3

By Catherine Astolfo

For a long time the boy knew he was only a step away from the edge. He could feel it in the pressure on his chest, the blockage in his throat, the mist before his eyes. All he had to do was give in, go forward, use the anger. Just take that one last step.

He began to spend more time alone, less time talking to anyone. Now and then he’d be sitting somewhere, at the table or his desk for instance, and realize that he had not connected with the world for long minutes or even hours. He had always been a quiet, introspective boy, so he was not surprised that no one noticed the changes inside him. But the absence of attention exacerbated the anger. One part of him wanted someone to stop him, to pull him free.

Whenever anyone did pick up on his mood, though, he wanted to lash out. It seemed that anger was all there was left. He was holding still, waiting for the nerve to act.

Instead he would go into his room and pick the flies off the screen, stuck there in the heat. He would slowly pull their wings off, or squish them between his fingers, or just let them suffocate in his palm. Sometimes he would force himself out of the house in search of other insects or small animals to punish. In the brush and trees surrounding the backyard, he would trap ants, mice and once, a cat. He realized that this was a kind of training ground. He was getting his body and his mind ready for the stepping off.

Unheeded, those around him continued to press him, move him along the continuum. They gave him no choice. The anger and the pressure kept building.

On the day that he decided to act, he locked eyes with his brother. In that precise moment, he knew that he could do it. He stood up, retrieved the weapon from the back room and held it steadily in his arms. Then he stepped forward, deliberately, in the knowledge that once he moved over that edge, their universe would be altered forever. He felt something shift inside.

He lifted the gun and fired.

BIO SKETCH:

Catherine Astolfo retired from education to pursue her true passion: writing. She self-published a novel series, The Emily Taylor Mysteries, through her own publishing company, Moe Publications. The series revolves around an unusual heroine—the principal of an elementary school. In her late forties, Emily Taylor becomes a reluctant sleuth through a variety of external events. Some of her decisions, however, are based on a fear of discovery, for she has a mysterious past that involves her husband. Readers do not find out the details of this past life until Book 4.

In 2005, Catherine was awarded a Brampton Arts Award for the first novel in the series, The Bridgeman. Recently, she won a four-book contract from Imajin Books for the e-versions of the series.

Catherine was the 2010-11 President of Crime Writers of Canada and is a member of Sisters in Crime Toronto. She is the co-owner of an ezine for writers and readers, Scribes Digest, and of Sisbro & Co. Inc., a film production company.

Check her out at www.catherineastolfo.com

Or www.scribesdigest.com

Buy the books through links at www.imajinbooks.com

Blurb about the Emily Taylor Books:

The Emily Taylor Mystery series revolves around an unusual heroine - the principal of an elementary school. In her late forties, Emily Taylor becomes a reluctant sleuth through a variety of external events. Some of her decisions, however, are based on a fear of discovery, for she has a mysterious past that involves her husband. Readers do not find out the details of this past life until Book 4. The series is not simply a mystery or crime genre. Social issues, relationships, nature, diversity and romance are all intertwined to create intriguing stories and unforgettable characters.

The Bridgeman and Victim (Books One and Two) are available now at www.imajinbooks.com.

Friday the 13th Blog Hop

2012-01-13T00:06:00.005-05:00

The Hop STARTS at http://briclarkthebelleofboise.blogspot.com

and she will display the link to the next stop in the Hop in her post. Each blogger will do the same, so you'll be visiting every link in the Hop's chain. If that host is offering a giveaway on his/her blog, go ahead and enter to win their contest.

*NOTE* These contests are not connected to the grand prize drawings at the end of the Hop! They are for those individual blogs.

Follow the links as they lead you to the grand prize forum at the end. Fill out the form provided there and you'll be added to the drawing. Among the prizes are books, gift cards, and a Kindle. That's right. Enter to win and you'll have a chance at the grand prize--A Kindle!

So, if you came to me first, you might want to skip over to her and follow the chain. You don't want to miss out on the great posts the others are sharing! With all the amazing authors taking part, this should be a fantastic day of hopping!

Today, besides being blog hop day, is National Blame Someone Else Day.

Let’s embrace the absurdity that each day is dedicated to some inane thing and put our tongues firmly in our cheeks and blame someone else.

So this blog isn’t my fault. Let’s just put that out there.

I blame not being on the New York Times Bestseller List because Nora Roberts and James Patterson are hogging all the spots.

I blame Joe Bastardi for it raining when I want it to be sunny.

I blame my typos on Sholes and Glidden typewriter who first used the QWERTY keyboard.

I blame the recent earthquakes on kids jumping on their beds.

I blame climate change on Al Gore.

I blame racism on Rush Limbaugh.

I blame obesity on McDonald’s.

I blame Facebook and Twitter for my lack of time to write.

Let’s spread around all this blame. Who do you blame for what?

Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her husband, two kids, one dog and three rabbits. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in Journalism. She has published 6 books to date.

www.chrisreddingauthor.com

http://chrisredddingauthor.blogspot.com

Almost there to the last stop on the Friday the 13th Blog Hop!

Excerpt: Blonde Demolition

The hot spray hit Mallory's sore muscles like a thousand needle points. Her heart raced. Her mind sped past it. What could he want?

"Ask me." She heard his voice through the translucent panel of the shower door. That voice that could send a thrill through her. That voice that had whispered to her of naked pleasures. That voice attached to a body that could fulfill those pleasures.

She shuddered, not surprised to see him. He had a knack for pushing through her boundaries.

"Do you mind? I'm naked, Trey."

His laugh rumbled from the depths of his amazing body. "I've seen you naked. In fact I could probably draw a road map of your body."

Her mouth went dry. She finished her shower and turned off the water. She let out a noisy breath before she opened the door. He would not get the best of her.

Trey McCrane held her towel as if he planned to make her barter him for it. A twinkle lit his ice-blue eyes. "Towel?"

She leaned on the metal frame of the stall, refusing to be intimidated. "Give me the towel."

He did, easier than she thought. His gaze roved over her as intrusive as if they were his hands. Even if she hadn't been naked, she would have felt that way. Trey could look through people.

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/7olwvhs

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/104247

Amazon in print: http://tinyurl.com/87qdaam

You're next stop is:

http://blog.belleconsult.com/

Authorsday: William S. Shepard

2012-01-12T00:06:00.001-05:00

William S. Shepard

1. Robbie Cutler, your protagonist, is a suave, smart American diplomat living in France. Although he is in his thirties, he possesses wisdom often found in older, more experienced characters. Robbie is also a wine connoisseur. How did his development come about?

This is his second diplomatic assignment, and he has undergone political and language training at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia, after passing the Foreign Service oral and written and security exams (still I think about 1 in 100 survive). Robbie grew up in a Foreign Service family, so is used to living overseas. That comes naturally to him now. He learns about wine while at Bordeaux – just as I did. My wine book, “Shepard’s Guide to Mastering French Wines,” is a thorough survey of French wine regions, and it builds on my experiences writing about wine and tasting it in over 60 different vineyard locations throughout France.

Robbie is also though a fairly junior official. I had a problem with that, for I wanted him to have, here and in succeeding novels, access to highly classified information. That is how Uncle Seth came about – a nationally prominent man who keeps Robbie in the picture on national security matters. That is important here, but it becomes crucial in the fourth novel, “The Saladin Affair.” where Robbie has to stop an Al Qaeda assassination plot against the Secretary of State.

2. What do you and Robbie have in common?

Like Robbie, I am a Francophile. I supposed that started with Dad’s stories about World War One when he was a combat veteran there, and then a university student. I was a French literature major in college, and taught in a French high school for a year after graduation. His love story is his own business, with very little help from me!

3. The setting for Vintage Murder is the lush countryside of Bordeaux and the rugged region of the Basque country in France. What made you set the story here?

It is an area that I know very well, on both sides of the border. I wanted a vivid enemy, and the Basque ETA fit that requirement. What they have not done is take my “suggestion” and start blackmailing the owners of the great wine estates in Bordeaux. If that happened, I’m not sure I would still be welcome there!

4. Describe your writing process.

There are times when I cannot write (March/April, devoted to income tax preparation). I try to set aside roughly half a year, and then spend lots of time plotting out the novel. After that, it is a ruthless deadline – one chapter each week. I write in the morning. A cat perched on the desk usually helps!

5. Authors today are expected to do most of their own promotions. How do you balance social networking with writing? What promotions work best for you?

This is a work in progress. Writers’ blogs such as this one help spread the word. So do personal acquaintances. Reviews are most helpful. So is some paid advertising. I would like to be at the stage where this all melds together and is self-sustaining. But not yet, I fear!

6. Who are your favorite authors?

Dickens and Balzac are my favorite writers. Both have imaginations that are expansive and creative. In their own way, each creates and then peoples literary universes (Balzac quite deliberately). I remember one chapter in an early Dickens book, “Nicholas Nickleby,” in which it seemed to me that Dickens surfaced and then didn’t bother to pursue more solid plot lines than would occur to most writers in a decade! I like the way Balzac zeros in on an emotion and takes it to its conclusion, whether that is comfortable for the reader or not.

7. What inspires and motivates you to write?

I enjoy storytelling, and writing is based on that. It may be something of a family trait. I had an uncle who was a gifted storyteller, and had virtually no formal education. He was a spellbinder. He and my Aunt took in foster children. When someone misbehaved, the worst punishment would be banishment to bed, and no story hour! Of course this was before television, but Irvin Foster really had the gift.

8. What advice do you have for someone who is thinking about starting a novel?

I’d say there are four things to consider. First, write about what you know and have experienced. Second, do try to plot out the entire novel, at least as a sketch. Third, consider whether what you have planned fits the entire story line. For example, in my novel Murder On The Danube, the back story continually involves a small group of Hungarian Freedom Fighters. Who is present at what stage of the fighting is crucial, and that had to be planned with great care – the one who was missing might be the one who betrayed the group! Fourth, sit down and write the first chapter. Then revise it, again and again. Characters you hadn’t considered will begin to assert themselves, you’ll see!

Excerpt from She Can Run

2012-01-11T00:07:00.000-05:00

Hello, and thanks to Chris for letting me share my newly released romantic suspense novel, She Can Run. You can find out more about me and my books on my website MelindaLeighAuthor.com, on Facebook & Twitter

Blurb

One bad decision turns Elizabeth Baker from a soccer mom into a fugitive.

Five years after the death of her young husband, Beth marries a charming congressional candidate. But Beth accidentally learns a secret about her new spouse, a secret he’ll kill her to keep. Now she and her children are running for their lives. She takes a job as caretaker on a secluded estate, but her plans to hide are complicated by the sudden death of her elderly boss and her attraction to the ex-cop with well-defined biceps, mussed hair and deep, dark chocolate eyes who inherits the property and becomes her new boss.

Still reeling from the accident that has him out of work as a cop, former homicide detective Jack O’Malley is blindsided by the death of his favorite uncle and the inheritance of a dilapidated mansion, complete with a suspiciously nervous caretaker and her two children. He is even more unprepared for the tug at his heart every time Beth enters the room. When Jack’s instincts tell him something is wrong with his new employee, he begins to investigate. As he uncovers the shocking details of Beth’s life, a local woman falls prey to a serial killer and Beth is the victim of a frightening attack. Jack resolves to keep her and the children safe—whatever it takes, if only he can figure out a way to win her trust.

excerpt

Beth’s hand trembled. Her knuckles hovered an inch from the recessed oak panel. The office door was closed, which meant Richard didn’t want to be disturbed. She glanced at the box in her hand, delivered by messenger just moments before. It must be important. Would Richard be angry if she interrupted him? Or angrier if she didn’t? Her stomach clenched. He’d be angry no matter what she did.

With a hitched breath, she rapped lightly. The latch hadn’t caught properly and the door swung open. Beth froze, paralyzed by the scene before her.

Confusion shifted into comprehension, and fear turned her insides to ice water.

Could she slip out before he noticed her? She eased backward, but Richard sensed her presence. He turned and stared. Their gazes locked for a few seconds, his feral, hers panicked. The lion and the gazelle.

Then he grabbed the crystal letter opener on his desk and lunged.

Beth ran.

She couldn’t leave the house. Her children were upstairs. She needed a weapon. Her eyes locked on the kitchen doorway ten feet away.

His Italian loafers scraped the wood floor of the hall behind her as he fought for traction. The rubber soles of her sneakers fared better. She almost outran him. Almost.

At the threshold, he caught her in a flying tackle. She flung her hands out. Pain shot through her wrists and palms as she braced her fall before her face slammed into the tile.

After all this time wondering if he’d eventually kill her, there was now no more doubt. If she didn’t get away, she was dead.

Panting, on all fours, he pulled on her legs. She donkey-kicked backwards, catching him on the side of the face. He grunted. His grip loosened, and she belly-crawled forward a few inches before his hand closed around her calf.

She raised her chin and eyed the knife drawer, an impossible ten feet away on the other side of the room. In a frantic visual sweep, her peripheral vision caught the cordless flashlight plugged into the outlet on her left.

She kicked at his fingers. They jerked open. Pulling a knee under her body, she pushed forward and yanked the flashlight from the wall. Richard crawled closer and slashed at her middle. Her skin registered a flash of agony, then went numb.

Without losing momentum, she turned over and swung the flashlight in an arc toward his head. Metal clanged against bone.

His eyes widened in shock before his body went limp.

Shaking, Beth scrambled out from under his torso. Blood seeped through her silk blouse.

Lungs heaving, she rooted through the odds-and-ends drawer and pulled out a roll of duct tape. She rolled him to his side, forced his wrists behind his back, and taped them together. As an extra precaution, she secured his hands to a heavy table leg, then bound his ankles. She slapped a final piece of tape across his mouth. Richard wasn’t going anywhere until the cook arrived in the morning.

Adrenaline and nausea coursed through Beth as she glanced at the clock. She had exactly ten hours to vanish.

ExcerpTuesday: Johnny Ray

2012-01-10T00:09:00.002-05:00

THE REJECTION LETTER

BLURB

To someone else, the rejection letter might be perceived as a simple piece of correspondence. But when Amy, who suffers from bipolar disorder receives a form rejection letter from Edward, an agent she had an affair with at a recent convention, she takes the rejection as both personal and professional—in short—a declaration of war.

Amy quickly embarks on a plan to get revenge by destroying Edward’s literary agency. However, Amy is soon not the one to be feared the most. Her actions create a copycat, a serial killer, who targets literary agents and viciously murders them. Living with the knowledge she has created a monster, a serial killer, is one thing, while doing nothing to stop the madness is another. But how could she track down a killer when she has no training in such? Thinking like a mad man might be the only way—but could she go there and survive herself?

When the winds of fate rekindle the romance with Edward, thus making him the next target—she really has no choice but to help the FBI. But will she be too late?

BIO

Johnny Ray is an award winning novelist living in Florida. He loves social interaction with his readers and can be found on twitter as sirjohn_writer and Facebook as Novelist Johnny Ray. You can also reach him by e-mailing him at sirjohn@wwisp.com Also please follow him on his blog at www.sirjohn.us for updates and future releases.

EXCERPT

CHAPTER 1

He envisioned his own tombstone:

Michael Lloyd

Literary Agent Extraordinaire

Killed in the Line of Duty

Damn, he knew he could die any minute. A blurred object moving mere inches in front of his eyes materialized, as a flash of light reflected from the cold steel. Focusing on the razored edge of the curved knife ascending into a sharp tip designed to kill, he stopped breathing. His body stiffened, and froze solid where he sat with his back against a hard cold wall. He felt scared any movement might further agitate his attacker. The pain radiating from the back of his battered head dulled his vision and his thoughts. A wire tying his hands together cut into his skin, increasing the unbearable terror ravaging his body.

He inhaled the smell of blood and sweat as he gazed into the darkness, hoping to gain his bearings. Again a fist smashed into his forehead, slamming the back of his head into the wall behind him as the world faded. He fought his way back to life, only to stare into the slicing blade carving the side of his face.

“DAMNNNNN!” His voice erupted and echoed off nearby walls and in his head. The pain shattered the remaining will to remain still. He struck out with his head, his arms, and his legs. In return the hand slammed his head back against the wall again.

He forced his way back into reality as the warm blood flowed from his face. “What do you want from me?”

“Satisfaction.”

“Satisfaction for what?”

“Ruining my life, that’s what!”

Another slice sheared off an ear.

“OHHH SHIT, stop, please stop. I’ll give you anything you want—anything.”

“That’s impossible.”

The knife retreated as a face leaned forward, one he recognized only so slightly.

“You? Why you crazy—.”

A vicious kick to his crotch blasted his tortured soul to new levels. “Oh God, why me? Stop, please stop.”

“I know you think you have the balls to do what you want. Being a literary agent doesn’t make you God—you stupid bastard.”

The next kick to his crotch made his stomach deliver its contents to his throat. The bitter taste forced a gagging convulsion. He knew then he was going to die soon. “I’m sorry. I’m—.”

“You should’ve thought about your actions earlier.”

Another punch to the face bounced his head off the concrete wall. Thoughts of his life rushed forward to fill in the fading minutes. Would his life end like this? His family, his agency, his friends, his clients—what would happen to them? His world collapsed as the remaining blood drained from his body.

Don't Lie.

2012-01-09T00:09:00.000-05:00

The following is a synopsis of tips from Mark Bouton's non-fiction book titled How to Spot Lies Like the FBI. Bouton is a published mystery writer and was an FBI agent for 30 years. He's seen more than his share of liars. See his website at www.mmbouton.com.

TEN SECRETS FOR SPOTTING LIES

*Watch for clusters or groups of the following behaviors.

Touching – mouth, nose, neck or throat, eyes, ears, objects

Omission – words, ideas, answers, clarifying statements

Speech – stuttering, mumbling, pausing, scrambling phrases, slurring, bad syntax, high voice

Posture – stiff, leaning away, stonewalling, turning sideways, shoulder roll, head jerks or shifts

Obfuscation – fake smile, ill-timed gestures, words unlike emotions, no use of contractions

Tells – mimicking, denial, bridging, modifying, blocking, displacing, stalling, inclusion

Attitude – creased forehead, grimaces, clenched fists, arms crossed, hands stuffed into pockets

Legs – bouncing, swinging, crossing, pointing, tucking

Incongruity – gives partial shrug, smiles when saying something serious, exaggerates reactions

Eyes – lack of contact, blinking, darting, glancing away, closing, shifting, aversion, “mercy stare”

*Remember to value and honor your close personal connections and family ties. Use the above techniques to inform yourself and to protect your health, money, and above all, your important relationships.

Just Say No

2012-01-06T00:07:00.000-05:00

Award winning and twice Christy-nominated author

Linda Hall has written eighteen novels of mystery and suspense, plus many short stories. She has also worked as a freelance writer, news reporter and feature writer for daily newspaper.

She grew up in New Jersey where her love of the ocean was nurtured. Most of her novels have something to do with the sea. When she's not writing, Linda and her husband enjoy sailing the St. John River system and the coast of Maine. In the summer they basically move aboard their 34' sailboat aptly named - Mystery.

She is currently working on a new mystery series featuring a female boat captain.

BLOG:

Just Say No - or why I choose not to read my Amazon reviews

By Linda Hall

That’s right. I don’t read my Amazon reviews - or any reviews for that matter. This was a practice I began a long time ago when reviews were something professional people known as “reviewers” did for newspapers or magazines. After a couple of times of being on the floor because of a bad review, or basking in superiority when I got a good one, I decided that neither was a place I wanted to be.

And now with places like Amazon and Goodreads and personal blogs, everyone can be a reviewer. Book blogs abound. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying this is a bad thing. I often go to them when I’m looking for something to read. I just don’t read my own reviews.

And you don’t have to either.

I like what John Locke says in his How I Sold 5 Million eBooks in Five Months. If you get a poor review, (and everyone does) all it means is that someone from outside your target audience read your book. William P. Young who wrote the bestseller The Shack says essentially the same thing when he writes in his foreword, that if you don’t get anything out of this book, it wasn’t meant for you.

I like that. And since we’re now into a new year, it might be time for a few writerly resolutions. Maybe not reading reviews, or obsessing over stars or lack thereof might be a good one. I just know that this year I want to focus more on my writing, not on what people are saying about it.

This year I also plan to re-study some of my books on the craft of writing. I have shelves of them, books I haven’t looked at in years - Telling Lies for Fun and Profit, Writing the Breakout Novel, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers...I’ve got them all. This year, I’ve decided to go back to them and read and study a chapter a day.

I will continue to be ‘out there’ in terms of Twitter and Facebook, but my main focus will be writing.

A few years ago I was at a writing conference, and one of the agents there had these parting words: “Get off the internet and write better books.”

That’s something I would like to do in 2012.

Authorsday: Merlin Fraser

2012-01-05T00:02:00.000-05:00

Author Merlin Fraser Bio

Born: Aberdeen

Scotland

in 1947.
Scottish parents, Mother still going strong but my father died many years ago. We moved to a tiny village high in the Cotswold Hills and for a young city kid who couldn’t speak the language, I may have invented culture shock that year.

Divorced I now live in the relative peace and tranquillity of a small town in the beautiful Cotswold Hills not ten miles from where I spent those early years. It took almost a lifetime of world travel for me to discover the beauty of the English countryside something I already had.

Inner Space Book One Blurb

At 45 years of age with a broken childless marriage behind him Detective Inspector Nick Burton is just coasting through life. That is until the day his boss, Chief Superintendent Dan Davies, is arrested and charged with murder. In denial Nick’s attempts to get at the truth are further hampered when Dan dies while in custody. Question is did he commit suicide to avoid prosecution? Or was he murdered to prevent a scandal?

As he puts the pieces together Nick is drawn into the mysterious world of parapsychology and psychic phenomena to a conclusion that belies everything he thought he understood.

Blog Interview Questions:

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I’m not a hundred percent sure it was ever a conscious decision I know I have always had ideas floating around in my head that I thought might make a good story. I remember about ten twelve years ago watching daytime television and remarking about the sub standard storyline and thinking I could do a lot better. Of course not having the faintest idea how to go about writing for the screen soon put paid to that notion, however I did go on to write copious notes creating a range of characters and setting out a storyline. Eventually I started writing the story down, I showed it around to one or two agents but it was never taken seriously but I think that’s when I was bitten by the writing bug.

Describe your books.
I have always had a fascination with the paranormal ever since I read the fact that we humans can only control about twenty percent of our brain functions. Allowing that about forty percent is taken up with the auto functions like body temperature control and breathing without thinking about it that left forty percent up for grabs. Is this the sub conscious part of our mind over which we have no control and if so why and what’s it for? My research took me to some very strange places and many, many different theories but the one I truly liked was one that explained that the power of the human mind was capable of far more than we realised. Somewhere in the past we had lost these powers or more likely it was driven from us by a new order of religious zealots who feared everything they did not understand and therefore could not control.

Now taking my favourite genre, ‘Crime and Detection’ thrillers I wonder if it would be possible to combine the two. I suppose subconsciously I was looking for an unique niche for myself, something away from the normal ‘Who Dun It’ yet still leave much for the reader to enjoy as the story unfolds I hope the INNER SPACE trilogy does this.

Take Nick Burton one very ordinary police detective, undergoing a mid-life crisis, who is going through the motions of his life and job, add a murder for which his immediate superior and friend is arrested and while in police custody dies and you have a couple of interesting questions.
“How well do you really know your best friend and would you believe them capable of murder?” Now add in a paranormal explanation that challenges everything thing our detective once held to be true about life, bring in a woman with beautiful green eyes who may be friend or foe and you have a cure for one man’s mid-life crisis !

Who is your favorite character in your book?
In book One it has to be Jill, the green eyed girl who ties Nick Burton’s heart and senses in knots. As you journey through my stories you come to realise that Burton is not exactly the sharpest tool in the box and he needs a lot of outside expert help. He is far from prepared for the fast moving ‘High Tech’ environment the world of crime is becoming. Enter Skippy and Scooter, two twenty something’s that live for computers and technology, a pair of lovable rogues who are as much of a burden as they are a help to Burton but are essential to the story.

I guess I love all my characters in different ways, after all I did create them and I control their every movement and thought, well most of the time.

Do you plot or do you write by the seat of your pants ?

Tough question; I always start with a rough idea of where I’m going, however as the characters start to take shape they have a nasty habit of taking over. Over the years I have studied other peoples writing methods, read their how to books and even purchased a piece of software on how to write a novel but none of it fitted me.

So I guess that means as with everything else in my life I fly by the seat of my pants…. Like reading a good book the same thing happens in writing, you reach a point where everything starts to flow naturally now you are in the groove and let it take you where it will. Sometimes when I start a story I don’t have an ending in mine, I’m not one for ‘Happy Ever After’ or that the ‘Good Guys’ always win, I hope this makes me a little different and adds to the enjoyment of the read. I love it when someone says to me “ I didn’t see that coming !”

What was the name of the first novel you wrote? Did you try to publish it ?

It was called Nelly’s Secret, a sort of ‘Romantic, Magical Fantasy’ and really was a seat of the pants job. The magical part came from my name sake Merlin, the famed magician of Arthurian legend and starts after the death of King Arthur. Merlin decrees that no mortal shall ever inherit his powers and so casts a spell upon himself that scatters his powers where no single person shall find them. He divides his powers into thirteen pieces and scatters them throughout future time.

One of the pieces lands in the 1950’s where it is found by a young girl, Nelly, who sees and can speak to an apparition of Merlin. Of course as soon as he cast his spell Merlin realises he has made a terrible mistake and now seeks away to bring the pieces back together once more.

Unintentionally Merlin takes over this girl’s life he is her secret and in an otherwise normal world cannot be revealed for fear of being thought mad. This will never do because young Nelly has plans of her own but it doesn’t stop Merlin from interfering and causing all sorts of mayhem. It is a light hearted story, originally planned for a young adult audience but so far I have only showed it to a few female friends who assure me it is wonderfully different. The only professional who read it felt that it fell between two stools, children who might like the magic and female adult who would like the romance but would dislike the other bits. Thing is all the people who have read it (all female) are all over fifty and they loved it as it is. It sits here on a memory stick, one day I will go back to it but agents and publishers don’t like authors who engage in genre jumping.

What do you know now that you are published that you didn’t know pre-published that you wish you knew?

Tons of stuff but mainly how hard it is for anyone to become published at all, it really is a tough world. Of course people will tell you how hard a challenge it is and equally of course you don’t believe them. After all we are the next Bill Shakespeare and we have written a masterpiece that will have agents fighting in the street outside your door. (Yeah Right !)

I guess if I believed half of the advice I was given as a new writer I might have quit there and then as a forlorn hope and gone on to do something else. However like a million other dreamers I stuck with it put my head down and kept butting the wall. Trust me it really does feel great when you stop doing it !

The other main thing I have learnt is that writing the book is the easy part. Today of course it is much easier to get into print and bring your book before a potential readership far easier than it was in the past. We can now do most of the work ourselves and no longer have to struggle against the flood in a vain attempt to attract an agent or be accepted by one of the big six mainline publishing houses. However by going down the ‘Independent’ route then trust me it really puts DIY in bold capitals as you will be responsible for everything and the hardest part of all that means promotion and marketing both yourself and your book to a world that neither knows nor cares that you exist.

Does that sound harsh ? Good ! It was meant to, it is so tough out here that it never ceases to amaze me why any of us actually bother, but we do, day in day out and more join us every day.

What was the best writing advice someone gave you ?

Be yourself and don’t try to copy or emulate others, find your own voice and have something to say.

When I announced to a friend (also a writer) that I wanted to write fiction, he smiled and told me to go and do something else. Why ? Well for starters it is the hardest field to join, the competition is enormous and if like me you chosen genre is crime thrillers then the main competition comes from writers better known. Although I was smart enough to steer clear of the ‘Who Dun It’ genre, there I have to bow to the masters and say I don’t fancy my work being compared to them.

The other piece of advice I remember about writing fiction was the difference between Fiction and Real Life is that Fiction has to be believable !

What do you consider your strengths in terms of your writing?

I guess it’s my endless patience, possibly my sense of humour and above all the ability not to take myself and my work too seriously.

For anybody who considers becoming a writer I offer this insight, whatever you do and no matter how you are remember this you are but one tiny voice standing alone in a vast place shouting against thunder. Even against such odds some of us will be heard but the majority will not. This should never be considered a judgment of your talent as a writer it is merely confirmation of the way things are in an over populate world.

What authors do you admire ?

Wow! How long do we have here? I have a zany sense of humour and writers in that genre have always had me as a fan. P.G. Wodehouse probably started it for me when I realized through him just how much fun reading a book could be. Douglas Adams, he of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy fame and of course Bill Bryson.

In my own genre, crime and detection, murder mystery I guess you include all the usual suspects, Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Collin Dexter , Ngaio Marsh, Ruth Rendell and many, many more. And that’s before I get into Non fiction !

Who is your greatest cheerleader?

My Mum !

Thank for the opportunity to take part in your Blog.

Merlin

Contact Data: Web Site: www.Merlin-Fraser.com

Purchase Data: All three of my INNER SPACE trilogy of Murder Mystery stories are
available through Amazon both in print and E Book formats.

Print Versions:

Inner Space Book One. ISBN-13: 978-1445791791

Inner Space Book Two. The Reluctant Nemesis ISBN-13: 978-1445751269

Inner Space Book Three. The all Seeing Eye. ISBN-13: 978-1445758343

Kindle E Book Versions:

Inner Space book One. ASIN: B003Z0D0HC

Inner Space Book Two. The Reluctant Nemesis. ASIN: B003ZK5IZO

Inner Space Book Three. The All Seeing Eye. ASIN: B003ZK5Q7Y

ExcerpTuesday: Don Levin

2012-01-03T00:14:00.001-05:00

Excerpt:

She rushed out of the house so fast she forgot to take her coat.

She remembered it as soon as the cold night air hit her bare arms, but she was in too much of a hurry to get away. So she kept going.

Short legs churning, she turned right at the end of her front walk and continued toward Livernois in the darkness of her street. She shuffled through the oak leaves that blanketed the sidewalk. The familiar dry rattle gave her the courage for what she was doing, as did Bea Bunny, her favorite stuffed toy that she hugged tightly to her chest.

At the corner she paused. Now, then. Where to go? She left the house without thinking this through. Who did she know who would take her in? Who would let her stay until she could call her mother to come get her?

Sirens passed on Woodward a block away. When they faded the sound of traffic on the busy main road started again, reminding her of the sighing of the ocean her parents had taken her to last year during their vacation on Cape Cod. Shivering, she remembered how good that had felt—the heat of the sun on her back, the sand between her toes, the salty tang of seawater on her lips . . .

At once she thought of Jamie Sparks, who was in her class at school. Jamie didn’t have a father because he moved out when Jamie’s parents got a divorce, but her mother was nice and her grandmother lived with them. And they had an in-ground pool in their backyard where all the girls went swimming in the summer.

The Sparks home. Perfect.

Jamie lived two blocks down, so she turned right. She was starting to feel better already.

She had not eaten yet even though it was late. Now with a place to go, she knew Jamie’s mother would feed her. She whispered, “Gonna eat soon,” into Bea Bunny’s floppy ear.

Not as many tall trees grew on Livernois as on her own street, so she had a clear view of the stars in the cloudless November sky. She spotted Orion. Her father had started teaching the constellations to her, but Orion was the easiest to recognize. There were his wide shoulders and belt cutting across his body. There was the knife hanging at his waist.

She stopped and stood, lost in thoughts of stars, of heroes and warriors, of rescue and safety, of oceans and pools and summer.

She didn’t see the shadow moving in the trees behind her.

Or the headlights sweeping toward her from down the street.

Or hear the crazy screaming.

Or, in fact, notice anything else at all . . . not even how her beloved Bea had slipped from her grasp and dropped into the pile of leaves beside where she herself had fallen to the ground.

About Crimes of Love

One cold November night, police detective Martin Preuss joins a frantic search for a seven-year-old girl with epilepsy who has disappeared from the streets of his suburban Detroit community. Unwilling to let go after the county sheriff's office takes the case from his city agency, he strikes out on his own, following leads across the entire metropolitan region. Probing deep into the anguished lives of all those who came in contact with the missing girl, Preuss must summon all his skills and resources to solve the many crimes of love he uncovers.

Elizabeth Sims, author of the Rita Farmer mysteries, calls Crimes of Love "an outrageous story of love and violence" that "delivers all the elements of a solid police procedural, including a missing child, a determined detective with a fractured heart, slimy suspects, and a surprising ending."

Crimes of Love is available for purchase from Amazon.com, from the publisher, www.CreateSpace.com/3705927, or by order from bookstores. The Kindle version is in the works and will be available soon.

About the author

A prize-winning fiction writer and poet, Donald Levin is the author of Crimes of Love, the first Martin Preuss mystery; The House of Grins (1992), a novel; and two books of poetry, In Praise of Old Photographs (2005) and New Year’s Tangerine (2007). Widely published as a poet, he is professor of English and chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages at Marygrove College in Detroit and lives in Ferndale, Michigan. He has just finished the first draft of the second Martin Preuss mystery.

Please visit Don's website at http://donaldlevin.wordpress.com.

ExcerpTuesday:Jeff Marks

2011-12-20T00:06:00.000-05:00

Jeff has the privilege of being my last guest poster for 2011. The blog will go on hiatus until January. Happy Holidays everyone.

In this excerpt from my nearly completed biography of Erle Stanley Gardner, I write about the author’s impact on the mystery genre, an impact that Gardner did not realize that he had.

Even if Gardner had not gone on to write 80 Perry Mason novels during his career -themselves an accomplishment in the genre- he would still occupy a place in crime genre history. Between the three multiple book protagonists that Gardner would utilize (Perry Mason, Doug Selby, Donald Lam), he set out the basic rules for the legal thriller today.

While Gardner was not the “inventor” of the legal mystery, he was to it what Edison was to the telephone, the person who refined the instrument and made it accessible to the masses. Genre historians have disputed the identity of the true inventor of the legal mystery; many settle on Anna Katherine Green, whose The Leavenworth Case is aptly subtitled A Lawyer's Story. Melville Davisson Post wrote short stories about Randolph Mason, an unprincipled shyster (a form discussed below in connection with Donald Lam). In the decade preceding the appearance of Perry Mason, Frances Noyes Hart wrote the first of the fictional courtroom dramas, The Bellamy Trial, a story set almost entirely within the confines of the criminal courtroom. Before he created Mason, Selby and Lam, Gardner himself had contributed to the field with his Ken Corning stories.

While all these contributions were important in the development of the legal thriller, it was Gardner who most powerfully influenced this subgenre with his hugely-popular, fast-paced, plot-driven tales of the doings of Perry Mason, Doug Selby and Donald Lam. In most of the books, the plots hinged on points of California law (often drawn from cases in which Gardner had acted as defense attorney). Though heavy on dialogue and spare of descriptive literary passages and characterization, the tales won immense popularity for their legal verisimilitude and clever twists.

With Perry Mason Gardner created the mystery genre's definitive defense attorney protagonist. In the Mason books invariably the legal situation confronting Mason's client looks hopeless, with conviction and a death sentence seeming certain. But after investigating the case himself (sometimes with the aid of a private detective), Mason saves the day for his client by discovering the true murderer. Mason typically reveals all at trial (though in contrast with the television series this also happens at preliminary hearings), wringing a confession from the true culprit or else exposing him/her through the testimony of another witness.

In his own way, Mason is every bit the archetypal genre character that Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot is. Over the decades, he has come to epitomize the scrappy defense lawyer in fiction and in other media. The entire legal thriller subgenre owes his a debt from Scott Turow and John Grisham to television shows like Law & Order and L.A. Law. None of these would have been possible with Gardner’s tireless promotion of his most famous character.

The Doug Selby tales turned the Perry Mason formula on its head, making the hero not the defense attorney but the district attorney. In the books in which he appears, Selby brings truth to light in the face of determined opposition from the duel malign forces of corrupt government officials/agencies and unscrupulous defense attorneys.

With the last of Gardner's archetypal characters, Donald Lam, Gardner developed the idea of the shady shyster protagonist. When introduced in The Bigger They Come, Lam has been disbarred for finding a loophole in the law that would allow him or a client to commit murder. After his disbarment, Lam goes to work with Bertha Cool, with whom he takes advantage of this loophole, among others, to save innocent clients. With the help of Cool, Lam perverts justice--as strictly defined by the legal system--in order to achieve a more equitable form of fundamental fairness.

Jeffrey Marks
www.jeffreymarks.com
Check out my website for news about my books and marketing tips of the month
Atomic Renaissance: Women Mystery Writers of the 1940s/1950s
Who Was That Lady? Craig Rice: The Queen of the Screwball Mystery
Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography -- 2009 Anthony winner

Website: www.jeffreymarks.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Jeffrmarks

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jeffrey-Marks/271929135155

New-Fashioned: How to (Maybe) Sell Books in the Digital Age

2011-12-16T00:22:00.000-05:00

By Jenny Milchman

Maybe it’s the time of year, but a lot of writers seem to feel weighed down lately with the effort of trying to sell books. I’m getting emails about how impossible it is to fit everything in, we need thirty hours in a day, that kind of thing.

And I understand. Look at the range of things there are to do—places there are to be—if an author wants to try and cover all the bases.

Blog, guest blog, blog tour. Tweet, update statuses, figure out what the heck Google + is all about. Maintain a website, solicit reviews, host giveaways, try and arrange for book signings, travel to conferences or book fairs. And the list could on. Way on.

As more writers publish independently or with small presses, and as major houses cut back on marketing budgets, it seems that a great deal is resting on the author’s shoulders besides writing the next book.

Even worse than trying to do all of the above, is the fact that nobody really knows what works. Should you kill yourself taking part in a twenty stop blog tour if this doesn’t sell a single copy? It begs the question—what, in the end, are we doing all of this for?

This is a time of year when I think that taking a step back is often required. The holiday bustle sometimes requires a breather. And book marketing is the same. What I’m going to suggest may sound radical. And I’m not going to promise that you’ll wind up selling more books than ever. But you may sell as many as you would by running all across cyberspace, hoping FB friends will spread the word about a great review.

So why don’t we all do this for the next couple of weeks. Let’s stop marketing.

I don’t mean stop tweeting, updating, and posting. I mean stop doing all of that with any intention of selling books. Let’s use social media to be social—to connect. Spend the end of the year trying to catch up on what friends have written. And spreading the word about their books.

Let’s go to sites and talk with readers about which books they loved this year. Read the “Best Of” lists on listservs like DorothyL, and look for books you might have missed. Then weigh in on the discussions about them. Go to GoodReads and join a group that has nothing to do with the genre in which you write. Chat with the people there. If you’re traditionally published, go to a Kindle board and get to know what people who love their e books are saying. If you’re digitally published, go hang out at a bookstore, and talk to the booksellers about what they envision for their stores and e books.

In other words, immerse yourself in this writing/reading life for the pure joy of communing with people who love what you do. Make new friends, and rediscover the pleasure of an unread book.

Then, if you want to, blog or tweet or post about what you did. Start a conversation about what happens when we put down what we’re told to do, or think we have to do, and just partake in what brought us here in the first place.

A shared love of story.

Who knows? You may even sell a book or two in the process.

Happy holidays, and merry reading!

Jenny Milchman is a suspense writer from New Jersey. Her short story ‘The Very Old Man’ has been an Amazon bestseller, and another short piece will appear in the anthology ADIRONDACK MYSTERIES II in fall 2012. Jenny is the Chair of International Thriller Writers' Debut Authors Program. She is also the founder of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day, and the Made It Moments forum on her blog. Jenny teaches writing and publishing for New York Writers Workshop and has designed curricula to teach writing to children. Her debut novel, COVER OF SNOW, will be published by Ballantine in early 2013.

Authorsday:Rose Anderson

2011-12-15T00:18:00.000-05:00

What drew you to the subject of Hermes Online?

First off thank you for having me here today!

Outwardly, beyond the love story gently guided by divine hands, Hermes Online involves a woman crawling from a pit of self-doubt and despair to realize the words and actions of another do not have power to define her life.

On the inside, I wrote this story after I’d lost a battle. I’d worked for months to save a significant landmark and still the powers that be came like thieves in the night and took the structure down. I'd done everything I could -- sought alternatives, talked to anyone I thought might help. But the deal was already made, and its timeframe prevented me from battling on until reason prevailed or a reasonable solution could be found. The whole thing made me feel small and my work pointless -- what good to landmark anything if in the end someone could destroy it on a whim?

I sat down at my computer and wrote this sentence: What a day, I feel mentally exhausted and strained to my soul.

I stared at it and in that moment I wanted someone to understand the depth of my emotion. More than that, after this long fight, I didn’t want to feel anything. Suddenly my sentence became this: “What a day,” I grumbled, feeling mentally exhausted and strained to my soul.

I had inadvertently created Vivienne, a character working at a job similar to mine and she was having a very bad day like I was. Coincidentally, she faced a landmark coming down too and wanted to tell her story in a way I couldn’t. My personal pain became my character's pain, but she turned it around and got me a love story out of the whole mess. By the time I was done with her life and her world (and her saved landmark), the painful emotion of the loss had diminished.

I wholeheartedly recommend writing as a purge.

What do you know now that you are published that you didn’t know pre-published that you wish you knew?

Of all the things I’ve so recently learned, I wish I’d had an inkling of the amount of time needed to promote one’s own work. There are days when I don’t even get a chance to add a single word to my next novel. I’m too busy promoting the last two!

What do you consider your strengths in terms of your writing?

My varied interests would be number one. I currently dabble or have dabbled in all manner of things. Two would be the fact I’m an information hound and read encyclopedias like other people read magazines. With my interests come years of reading and research to learn all I can about them. I’d say this broad eclectic knowledge base to draw from helps me a great deal. Three would be I’m also very detail oriented. I can see the smallest detail in the worlds I create, even down to my characters’ variegated shades in the coloring of their hair, to the sound of the fly buzzing on a hot summer day, or the pattern on the wallpaper decorating my character’s homes.

What do you consider your weakness and what strategies do you use to overcome it?

I almost do a sort of stream of consciousness writing where I’ll fall into the zone and write down everything that my imagination sees, and believe me, it sees everything. To create realistic scenes and scenarios, I draw from reality, and reality is often cluttered with details of sights, sounds, textures, smells etc. Seeing such detail that I just mentioned as a strength above, is also a weakness at times. My readers might not care if the wallpaper pattern repeats every seven inches! My mind may see it, and I may write it out while composing the story, but it’s not important. I can’t say I use a strategy per se. I do a heck of a lot of revisions! It’s common for me to eliminate several thousand words when all is said and done.

What’s your favorite quote?

I love a good quote — contemporary, ancient, witty, or solemn etc. I especially love philosophical thought. Combine the two, mmm mmm mmm. It’s like chocolate to me…smooth…creamy…delectable…and I want more. I collect quotes as I collect other words. Every so often someone says something that is so precise and germane to the moment in which it was uttered that it makes me stop in my tracks and absorb it like sunshine. I’ve been keeping favorites for years -- a habit begun in 6th grade, of all places, and it all started with this one by Max Ehrmann. I found it lying on the ground as I walked home from school and thinking on it now I’m able to recall the paper was blue. Imagine the power this little declaration held to a twelve year old standing on the cusp of womanhood and whose childhood just wasn’t making sense anymore. Powerful enough for the woman she became to remember it was blue all these decades later.

You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Max Ehrmann’s ~Desiderata

Max pointed out the fact I was indeed a part of something larger than I realized. When we’re young, children tend to believe they’re the center of the universe but we’re not. We’re something far more wondrous. The words typed on a typewriter with such firm keystrokes they made braille of several letters on the blue paper, spoke to me. They said, you have a right to be here, and made me believe.

What three things would you want with you on a desert island?

This made me smile Chris. No matter how I came at this question, all I’d see is the Disney movie Swiss family Robinson or the Jules Verne story Mysterious Island. Of course I would arrive with nothing, but a sea chest would wash up on the shore and before you know it I’d have built myself I three-story tree house with louvered blinds for star gazing and running water so I could wash my seashell and coconut dishes. Once I was comfortable in my castaway home, my husband (1) would come and he’d bring a solar panel (2) and my laptop (3), so I could finish my series. :) We’d eventually be found but we wouldn’t want to leave. Our grown kids would come visit by sea plane on occasion.

What place that you haven’t visited would you like to go?

I’m fascinated by the world’s religions as they apply to sacred ground. Why were churches built over sacred druid sites, what lay beneath? I plan to visit the British Isles first, then take the channel ferry to Brittany and visit Carnac’s standing stones.

What other time period besides your own would you like to experience?

I used to be involved in costumed living history spanning 1680 to 1860. Several times a year, we tried to recreate those time periods as best we could. I love reading historicals for the flights of fancy they are, especially the Regency and Georgian eras. I also love tales of knights and colonials. But the truth of those eras is more than a little off-putting with disease, filth, low standing of women in society, child labor, inadequate diet, lack of medicines etc.

Keeping my rights and freedoms of course, I think a stint in the mid to late Victorian era would be fun. Now there was a romantic age of discovery. After all those years of historical reenacting, I could so easily get into Steampunk where you keep the romantic elements of history and live a retro-futuristic life.

What is your favorite writing reference book and why?

Believe it or not, it’s The Complete Book of Baby Names by Leslie Bolton. You get 100,001 names for your characters complete with meanings, all at the flip of a page. I often name characters by personality or trait.

Who is your favorite character in your book?

In my as yet unfinished, four-years-in-the-making, five-book series, it’s my entire family of exceptional men. Hands down, they are my absolute favorites, so much so, I can’t even pick one over the rest. It’s a collective choice. In Hermes Online, my main man S is a real keeper. Vivienne tells her story in first person so we don’t get a ringside seat in his head like we do for her. Instead we come to understand him through his choice of words. Hermes Online, you see, is a love story that begins with an email. For ¾ of the book, we only know him through his written words. But S chooses his words carefully and those choices speak volumes about him. That’s what makes him stand out, at least for me. If you’re a person who enjoys the romantic notion of men, S is a composite of the best manly characteristics and attributes my mind could envision. I believe his lovely prose will stay with you. It’s stayed with me!

Author Bio:

Have you ever fallen so deeply in love with the characters in a romance novel that thoughts of them linger long after the last page is turned? Have you ever been so completely immersed in a love scene that you'd swear you've just been kissed or more? Meet strong, confident heroines and be seduced by compelling heroes you'll wish were there beside you. Come see how their lives intertwine and through their stories discover love profound. From Hermes Online and Dreamscape, to the passionate stories that follow, I hope to sweep you away on a sensual tide of memorable story-telling.

Hermes Online Book Blurb:

Left bruised and brokenhearted after a cruel breakup, Vivienne Bennet finds herself mired in a world of self-doubt. To her surprise, she receives an email that challenges her to rediscover who she once was. Together Vivienne and the enigmatic S embark upon the world of anonymous internet communication where suggestive emails lead to erotic chat and C2C sends both into the arms of a love they’d believed lost forever.

Rose Anderson’s books can be found in both paperback and ebook on Amazon.com and at online booksellers everywhere. You can also buy them here: http://www.bookstrand.com/rose-anderson

ExcerpTuesday: Joel M. Andre

2011-12-13T06:16:00.000-05:00

EXCERPT:

Chapter 21

Jessica was dead. The words were more of a shocked thought than an actual statement. Disbelief clung to the poor elf’s face.

First it was Kris and now Jessica. The body count was going up and, in his mind, Pepper wondered who would end up the next victim if they didn’t catch the killer soon. But as far as he heard from the gossip around town, there wasn’t even a solid suspect.

The police had all left the area and the body of Kris had been hauled away to the medical examiner’s office. Now he had stumbled upon Jessica’s body, decapitated, with blood blasted all around.

He knew he needed to call the police. They needed to get back here and protect the village. This wasn’t a random incident after all. He wondered what, if any, clues had been pieced together.

Then again, Kringle had told him that the killer they were dealing with wasn’t even human. If that was the case, should he even bother getting the police involved?

There was that female detective; perhaps she had something that could help him. Maybe if he told her what Kringle had told him! Although, perhaps that was a remarkably stupid idea after all. She didn’t even believe that the dead man before her was Santa Claus. How was he going to convince her that a demon was on the loose?

He was standing there, deep in thoughts, when he heard the front door slowly open. The sound of the cold and bitter air as it rushed in and mixed with the warm air. Then softly the door closed again. His ears perked up.

Pepper could hear footsteps hammering onto the hard wood floors approaching him. Not just one pair, but what appeared to be two.

He began to back towards the curtains along the window in the back of the room, and slowly slid behind them. He slowed his breathing, taking low silent puffs of air as needed to avoid being discovered.

The sound of shoes falling on the floor entered the room. The rhythm of the falling footsteps started matching the pace of his beating heart, steady and firm. They stopped short and he heard a woman gasp.

Another voice said something he couldn’t understand, but he could tell it was male. He slowly pulled the curtain back to see if he recognized the individuals.

As his eye slowly crossed the edge of the curtain; he saw a large man he had never seen before and the back of a woman with a badge on her belt. The woman who was investigating the other murder!

“Oh thank God!” he screamed. He tore out from behind the curtains. Arms rose to embrace Lauren in a hug.

Protectively, the ghoul, now in human form lunged at the man. He smacked him hard, knocking him to the ground and pinning him there, protecting his friend Lauren.

“You leave lady alone” the tall man growled.

“Let me go you idiot,” the elf screamed at him.

“Well here is an interesting circumstance.” Lauren spoke up. “Drew, let him go.”

The elf shoved against the large man and jumped quickly to his feet. Brushing his elbows and knees he gave a quick and angry glare at the tall man. He then turned to Lauren.

“I need to tell you what’s going on,” the elf quickly said. “It’s very important I tell you.”

“If you are going to admit to the murders, we need to get a sworn statement, and that’s not something I can do right here.” Lauren responded.

“But I didn’t kill them; I came in only a few moments before you! There isn’t even a drop of blood on me. Jessica was dead when I arrived.” Pepper pleaded.

“Well, then let’s hear your side of the story.” Lauren responded.

Pepper looked at her and began recounting the experience with the spirit in the woods, the anger and the search for answers leading to the discovery of Jessica’s body.

The whole time, Lauren stared at him intently, judging the words he said, and trying to find items that did not mesh up, making notes for questions she still needed answered.

As the investigation continued, Lauren again asked Pepper to repeat the portion about the encounter with the apparition in the woods, studying the details and watching the facial expressions of the elf.

After all was said and done, she realized she believed the elf. Worst of all, it appeared as though there was an unholy evil stalking them in the North Pole.

Book Details:

Genre:Adult Suspense, Mystery, Thriller,Horror
Publisher: Darkcountry Publications
Publication Date: June 13, 2008
Purchase:Amazon

Synopsis:
Detective Lauren Bruni has dealt with death for her entire life. She has watched it ruin lives, and brought people closer together. Her job taught her to separate fact from fiction.
But on a cold December day, all Lauren had believed in would be shattered and tossed aside. Thrust in a world unlike any she has seen before, she investigates a prominent figure’s grisly murder, and searches for answers along a strange new set of people.

All while a killer watchers her every movement from the background. He waits in the shadows, waiting to strike at her when the time is right.

What is the secret of the death at the North Pole, and what is the larger horror at hand? Life lessons are learned and a realization that sometimes the most real things in this world are the ones we believe in the least.

About Joel:
Joel M. Andre was born January 13, 1981. At a young age he was fascinated with the written word. It was at fourteen that Poe blew his mind, and Andre began to dabble with darker poetry.

Between the years of 1999 and 2007 Joel was featured in various poetry anthologies and publications. In 2008 he released his first collection,Pray the Rain Never Ends.

Knowing there was something deeper and darker inside of his soul, Joel decided to take a stab at commercialism. Releasing the dark tongue in cheek, A Death at the North Pole, created a dark world among the death of Kris Kringle. Ultimately providing a tale of redemption.

October of 2008 saw Joel release his second book, Kill 4 Me. A tale in which a woman is haunted by a vengeful spirit through text messages and instant messaging.

Taking some time off and doing a lot of soul searching, Joel took things in a new direction and dabbled in the Fantasy Genre with, The Pentacle of Light. The tale dealing with five major races battling for control of Earth, and the acceptance of their God.

Finally, after missing his detective Lauren Bruni, he released the book The Return in October 2009, this time moving the action from the North Pole and placing it in the small Arizona community he was raised in.
Andre’s latest book is The Black Chronicles: Cry of the Fallen about a dead man who seeks revenge on the woman that tormented him in peaceful Northern Arizona.

Currently, he resides in Chandler, AZ.
You can visit his website at www.joelmandre.info

The Next Stop:

December 14th-Guest Post@ I'd Rather Be At The Beach

He says, She Says

2011-12-07T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Writers’ Life

(He says, She says)

Collaborating and cohabitating is not the easiest way to write a crime novel, or any novel.

What you usually need to launch a collaborative writing effort are two people who have close to the same level of writing experience, have similar approaches to telling a story, and can spend long periods in the same room, exchanging ideas without killing each other.

We had none of that background going for us, except for the no-mayhem part.

It started one day when J. J. was “between books” and Bette, an RN and artist/sculptor,

came up with an idea for a book she thought J. J. should write.

For months the dialogue went something like this:

“I think you should write this great book.”

“I don’t want to write that book.”

To break the impasse, J. J. brought home a ream of paper, pulled an old portable Royal manual typewriter from a closet, and said, “If you think your idea is so wonderful, then you write it.”

The response, as anyone who knows Bette might expect, was, “Okay! I will!” And she did.

An underlying goal for Bette was to create a strong nurse protagonist as opposed to the usual doctor-hero approach of most medical thrillers. She also wanted to take a big step away from the nurse-as-handmaiden-to-the-doctor stereotype too often found in books, television, and the movies. Something more like “Nurse Jackie,” but without the nose candy.

Collaboration was a completely new experience for J. J., who had always worked solo as both a fiction and non-fiction writer. And other writers warned that attempting to collaborate and cohabitate could produce nasty results.

Big arguments and very tense moments? Oh, yes. About everything -- the meaning and use of various words, how to make dialogue sound like real people, what was or wasn’t a complete sentence, and a few other things here and there that probably should never, ever be mentioned again.

We quickly learned that to have a successful writing collaboration, it was essential to discuss everything and not let down-and-dirty disputes (we still have them now and then) escalate. Also, it was disastrous to allow individual egos to bar the way to compromise.

We continue to work at the process, trying different approaches -- each writing every other chapter, adopting specific characters, taking on certain types of situations and settings, and various combinations of these.

What works best is that after agreeing on a story idea, one of us -- usually Bette -- will write a first draft, with continuous input from the other on plot and character development. Then we reverse roles for the second draft. No matter what crazy course the story-telling takes, we end up sitting down side by side at the computer keyboard, going through the manuscript word by word to create what we hope is the final draft (too it often isn’t).

The magic of the whole process is that the completed ms. reads as a third voice, neither Bette’s nor J.J.’s. People who know us will insist they can tell who wrote which passage or scene. They’re always wrong. In fact, after a book is completed, even we can’t always tell who wrote what.

To date, we’ve written five novels together -- four medical thrillers and a suspense-adventure -- without killing or seriously maiming each other.

. Our first collaboration was BONE DRY, a medical thriller described by Publishers Weekly as “not for the squeamish.” This was followed by HEIR TODAY…, a suspense-adventure that was compared favorably with the Nick and Nora Charles books. Both were published by Five Star, and are now available as e-books.

This past August, we independently published SISTERS IN SILENCE, another fast-paced medical thriller, as both an e-book and trade paper back.

We’ve discovered that there are incredible advantages to writing and sleeping together: having a wonderful, supportive companion at writer/fan conferences; not being lonely on book-signing tours; and, most important, having someone always there for you when you wake up with an idea in the middle of the night.

# # #

BIOS

Bette Golden Lamb

J. J. Lamb

Bette Golden Lamb and J. J. Lamb are the co-authors of three crime novels. Most recently, SISTERS IN SILENCE, a medical thriller about a fertility counselor who has gone off the deep end; HEIR TODAY…, a fast-paced suspense/adventure featuring a husband-wife team “reminiscent of Nick & Nora Charles;” and BONE DRY, a high-tension medical thriller described as “not for the squeamish.”

They combine collaboration and cohabitation in an air of creative exchange in their Northern California home.

When not writing, either with J. J. or on her own, Bette, unmistakably from the Bronx, can be found in her studio playing with clay -- she is a professional ceramist, sculptor, and artist. (www.bettegoldenlamb.com) whose creations appear in regional, national, and international exhibitions. She’s also an RN, and a devoted gardener.

“As an RN, I wanted to write medical thrillers that put nurses smack in the center of a story,” she says. “Most such novels have MDs as the protagonist, when in reality doctors sort of breeze in and out of a hospital a couple of times a day, while nurses run and control the hospital environment.”

J. J. is a former newspaper reporter, Associated Press staff writer, trade press correspondent, and freelance journalist. His journalism career was interrupted early on by the U.S. Army, which provided him with a Top Secret clearance, locked room with table, chair, and typewriter, and time to write short stories.

The stories evolved into an original paperback series featuring Las Vegas-based PI Zachariah Tobias Rolfe III. Then came collaboration with Bette on their current series of books. He’s also a proud and skilled jack-of-all-trades, typical of a born-and-raised Hoosier (www.jjlamb.com).

Between them, the Lambs belong to Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the same writers critique group for the past 19 years. In addition to the successful launch of their latest co-authored thriller, they are looking forward to the publication of new individual novels - an Urban Fantasy from Bette, and a new Zach Rolfe caper from J. J. And there is another medical thriller in the works.

Sister in Silence

Fertility counselor Zondra Vesey is not a serial killer -- she’s on a mission, a noble mission.

For ten long years she has slaved to help make one man a star specialist in the highly competitive field of infertility treatment.

Her thanks? Woman after woman sleeps in his bed, fills his personal life -- as she once did.

Instead of loving her, his surgeon’s hands sliced her open, mutilated her insides, and left her sterile, as barren as the women who flock to him for the miracle of motherhood; the women she counsels.

Now, Zondra is angry, grief-stricken, and frilled with sorrow -- a deadly mission burns deep within her.

She will, she must, save her sisters from their suffering.

ExcerpTuesday: John J. Smith

2011-12-06T00:07:00.000-05:00

“Veronica–Veronica Williams?” Jared said in a surprised manner.

She turned to him, hesitated for a long moment while fighting a severe case of nervous jitters that she hadn’t expected. She went from being angry to being nervous as she boarded an emotional roller coaster.

She feigned surprise. “Jared?”

He smiled a warm smile. “I thought that was you–how are you?”

She touched her neck as she tried to conceal her nervousness and answered in a choppy and rapid manner, “I’m fine, good, and you?”

He proffered his hand, hoping for a moment when they might touch, but she didn’t offer hers back, she merely stood in silence as he continued, “Good. How have you been?” She didn’t answer. “What’s it been, twenty years now?”

Too nervous to talk, Veronica nodded. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, cleared her throat. “Twenty years last June.”

He flinched. He couldn’t believe that she remembered the date. He always assumed that he was the only one who had remembered every moment that they had spent together, every moment that they had spoken on the phone, and every silly note that they had passed to each other in the hallway when they were between classes. Each date, event, note, and conversations were deeply etched into his mind. Especially the love he had felt for her. ...

They stared at each other in a long silent awkward moment, neither knowing what to say or do next.

Jared looked to the gate, glancing at the ticket agent as she updated the time of departure on the board. When he turned back to Veronica, he noticed that she had never let her gaze roam, and smiled at the thought.

Jared asked, “Can I buy you a drink, a coffee, coke, beer, or something?”

Veronica hesitated. She was in no mood for this. That was the last thing she wanted. “I better not.” ...

Jared glanced at to a table that was near the entrance. “If we sit there we’ll be able to see the gate, and hear the announcements”

Veronica hesitated. She really didn’t want to. Why should she, he dumped her. Why should she give him another chance? ...

“Please,” Jared softly whispered. “I’d love to visit with you for a few minutes.” He turned to the window. “From the looks of it, the snow isn’t going to let up anytime soon, and I don’t know if you’re going to Dallas or just passing through, but I have good word that an ice storm has hit Dallas shutting down the airport.”

Unable to control her anger, Veronica furiously snapped, “Aren’t you just a plethora of bad information.”

Page 1 of 2

Delayed Flight Description:

Publisher: DarkRedPress

Category: Romance, Mystery

Date: January 1, 2011

Available in Paperback, Kindle, and Nook: 300 Pages

After 20 years, two former childhood sweethearts meet and discover that the love they had for each other never died. (Woman) painfully realized that it had been her own father that had come between them forcing her to live a nightmare of separation rather than her schoolgirl dream of "ever after" with her sweetheart.

About John Smith:

John writes under two names John J. Smith and pen name Jonathan Black. Why does he do this? He has been told when a reader sees his work they have an expectation, hence the two names. He has won several awards under each name.

He has been called a prolific Fiction writer. he enjoys writing romance and mainstream as John and paranormal and paranormal romance as Jonathan.

Several of his novels have been converted or rewritten into screenplays; for which he has also have won several awards.

John J. Smith resides in Plano, a suburb of Dallas, Texas.

Why I Write

2011-12-05T08:01:00.000-05:00

How do I write?

Like many writers, I find it difficult to find time to write. Most of us have day jobs, and in today’s economy, most employees are putting in many hours, and fighting the fatigue that goes along with that. However, it is still possible to find time to write. I have several strategies that I use.

I frequently get up a half hour early and go straight to the computer. Making writing my first daily priority works well for me.

If I need to write at another time during the day, I use music to activate the right side of my brain and put myself in the mood of the story. I have a couple of “right brain” tracks that serve this purpose well. If I need to think of the plot, or find myself stymied with the progression of the story – I’ll put on my soundtrack from Phantom of the Opera. Those first notes from the organ get the thoughts flowing.

I have a couple of close friends who function as my muse. One of them is my husband, and I have a few other acquaintances who also fill this role. Most are male, and I find this interesting because they all approach life very differently than I do. I’ll discuss the story with them, and they frequently have ideas or perspectives that I’ll incorporate into the novel. I am kind of surprised at how well my husband does this, because he is not a writer. But – he is a reader of mysteries.

I write from several points of view in my novels. I literally imagine myself “inside the head” of the particular character I’m writing about. If I’m describing action, I imagine the scene around me, how I would be seeing and feeling it, and I try to get that mental picture to the page.

These are my strategies. They work for me, once a actually sit in the chair, and begin to write.

C. L. SHORE

C. L. Shore is a health care provider and educator. She grew up reading the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series and remains an avid fan of the mystery genre.

Her first mystery, Seeker of Truth, was published by Eternal Press early in 2011. The novel takes place in Indianapolis following the world’s largest half-marathon. She is currently finishing Maiden Murders, a mystery involving a serial killer and a thousand-year-old assassination.

C. L. Shore lives in Indianapolis with her family and an ornery tabby cat. She continues to read mysteries whenever she has the chance. Visit her website at www.clshoreonline.com.

25 Days of Christmas Giveaway

2011-12-04T09:43:00.000-05:00

From Cheryl Tardif, publisher and owner of IMAJIN BOOKS, comes...

25 Days of Christmas Giveaways

December 1-25, 2011

This Christmas, great things come in fours at Imajin Books! So we have four ways for booklovers to celebrate the Christmas season: an eBook Sale, eBook Giveaways, Basket o' Books Draw, and a Grand Prize Draw for the all-new Kindle Fire ereader.

1. eBook Sale - all our ebooks will be priced between $0.99 and $2.99.

The sale is on from December 1st to January 7th. To purchase ebooks from Smashwords (multiple file formats including ePub, PDF & more), visit our Winter Events page to view the special coupon codes to buy ebooks at our sale prices. Or buy from Amazon.com where the list prices have been changed to sale prices.

2. eBook Giveaways - 4 ebooks (winners' choice from our titles) will be given away daily.

Rules: To enter, leave a comment and your email address on our Winter Events post in our Contests & Events section. Comments without email addresses will not qualify. You can enter every day; 1 ebook per winner per day. You may format your email address like: myemailaddress (at) emailprovider.com (or similar) if you'd like to; as long as we can read it, you'll be entered. No exchanges, no cash value. Ebook prizes will be awarded daily.

3. Basket o' Books Draw - paperback collection of winner's choice of 4 books

Rules: To enter, leave a comment and your email address on our Winter Events post in our Contests & Events section. Comments without email addresses will not qualify. You may format your email address like: myemailaddress (at) emailprovider.com (or similar) if you'd like to; as long as we can read it, you'll be entered. No exchanges, no cash value. 1 entry per person. This draw will take place between December 25 and December 31. Winner will be announced on our website.

4. Grand Prize Draw for a Kindle Fire ereader - 1 winner

Rules: You will get one entry for any of the following:

1. Review any of our books from December 1-December 24th, 2011 on Amazon.com or Smashwords.com and email us a link to your review. 1 entry per book title reviewed.

2. Tweet any of the following messages (1 entry per post per day; max. 3 entries/day):

Check out @imajinbooks 25 Days of Christmas Giveaways for prizes & win a #Kindle Fire http://imajinbooks.com

eBooks $2.99 or less - @imajinbooks 25 Days of Christmas Giveaways - prizes & win a Kindle Fire http://imajinbooks.com

25 Days of Christmas Giveaways @imajinbooks - eBook SALE, prizes & win a Kindle Fire http://imajinbooks.com

3. Post an announcement on your Facebook page to help us spread the news and email us with the link to your FB page (1 entry per post per day; max. 3 entries per day):

Enter the 25 Days of Christmas Giveaways for prizes & chance to win a #Kindle Fire http://imajinbooks.com

Ebooks $2.99 or less - 25 Days of Christmas Giveaways - prizes & chance to win a Kindle Fire http://imajinbooks.com

Want to win a Kindle Fire ereader? Check out the 25 Days of Christmas Giveaways at http://www.imajinbooks.com

4. Buy any of our ebooks or paperbacks between December 1-25th and forward us your receipt by email; receive 10 entries per title purchased.

When emailing us during this contest, please put "25 DAYS" in the subject line. Include your name and pertinent contest info.

Entries must be received by December 25th, midnight MT. Open to anyone 18+, anywhere. Void where prohibited. No cash value, no substitutions, no exchanges.

Basket o' Books and Kindle prize will be awarded by January 7, 2012. All prizes must be claimed by January 30, 2012 or they will be void.

Breaking the Rules

2011-12-02T00:03:00.000-05:00

The Writing Life – Breaking the Rules

This is sort of a confession: I don’t always follow the rules.

I’m not talking about speed limits or red lights late at night. It’s not that kind of confession.

I’m talking about those rules of writing that “everyone” knows and says you must follow.

Don’t let them kid you. You don’t have to follow them all slavishly. But—big “BUT”—you do need to know what they are and how to follow them before you’re allowed to break them.

First rules up for discussion are the rules of English grammar. In truth, I’m pretty fanatical about them. There are right ways and wrong ways to break these rules. Yes, there is fidget room within the rules, and places where it’s okay to ignore them, but ONLY after you’ve mastered them. Every craftsperson needs to know how to use the tools of their trade. Our tools are words, sentences, and paragraphs. A good writer knows how to use them properly.

And how to break them, of course. Like most writers I use the occasional sentence fragment. When you’re deep inside a character’s point of view, for instance, you can use fragments to reflect their thought process, which rarely happens in any neatly grammatical way. Dialogue is full of sentence fragments and other bits of odd grammar. Eavesdrop on conversations and you’ll hear that people don’t always speak in neat full sentences. Even strange punctuation can serve a purpose in your prose.

But know this. Editors and readers can tell the difference between grammatical mistakes that serve a purpose and errors of ignorance.

Then there’s the rule that says you must write every day, if you want to be considered a serious writer. I admit that it’s good in theory. I’d love to be able to write every single day. But I have a demanding job, a husband, family, and friends. They’re all important to me, and they all demand major chunks of time. I have to do promo for my books that are out, which can also take large bites out of the day.

There are days that writing just isn’t possible. There are just too many other things going on in my life. Sadly, I’m not the kind of writer who can grab any open few minutes to add to the opus. I need to get into my world and really soak in it for a bit before I’m ready to start reporting on it again.

The result is that I’m more of a spurt writer than a steady one. I tend to write on free nights and weekends, any time I can get a decent chunk of time without too many distractions. Most experts frown on that, saying you should have the discipline to write some every single day. But it’s not discipline I lack. It’s time.

Does that mean I’m not a serious writer? You tell me. I’ve published eleven novels, several novellas, and quite a few short stories. I’ve got probably that many more unpublished stories sitting on my hard drive.

But now, just to round it out, here’s one of those “rules” that I never break: I never send out the first draft of a novel. In fact, my manuscripts go through several rounds of revision and editing before I turn them loose in the cold, cruel world of publishing. And then they’ll likely see several more rounds of editing before they’re released to the public.

A novel is too big a project to think it can possibly come out perfect on the first try.

So… What writing rules do you break?

Bio for Karen McCullough

Karen McCullough is the author of ten published novels in the mystery, romantic suspense, and fantasy genres and has won numerous awards, including an Eppie Award for fantasy. She’s also been a four-time Eppie finalist, and a finalist in the Prism, Dream Realm, Rising Star, Lories, Scarlett Letter, and Vixen Awards contests. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies and numerous small press publications in the fantasy, science fiction, and romance genres. Her most recent releases are MAGIC, MURDER AND MICROCIRCUITS, a paranormal romantic suspense now available in most electronic formats, A GIFT FOR MURDER, published in hardcover by Five Star/Gale Group Mysteries, and the re-releasedebook of A QUESTION OF FIRE. She invites visitors to check out her home on the web at http://www.kmccullough.com and her site for the Market Center Mysteries series, http://www.marketcentermysteries.com

Blurb for MAGIC, MURDER AND MICROCIRCUITS:

A powerful wizard with a physics degree and a checkered past invents a shield to ensure he'll never again be tortured almost to death…

The wizarding powers-that-be fear the repercussions of such a device and send his former girlfriend, an accomplished wizard herself, to retrieve the device or destroy it…

When the shield is stolen by the magical mafia, Ilene McConnell and Michael Morgan have to set aside their differences and work together to recover it. Michael claims he needs the device as insurance against the kind of injury and injustice he suffered once before. Ilene maintains its potential to upset the delicate balance of power makes it too dangerous and that it needs to be destroyed. But none of that will matter if they can’t retrieve it before a ruthless, powerful wizard learns how to use it for his own ends.

Buy links for MAGIC, MURDER AND MICROCIRCUITS:

Amazon Kindle Edition:

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Murder-and-Microcircuits-ebook/dp/B0060Y5IQ6/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1319925543&sr=1-6

Nook Edition:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1035815244?ean=2940013212879&itm=3&usri=karen+mccullough

Order from Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/100257

Authorsday: Vonnie Winslow Crist

2011-12-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

Author Bio: Vonnie Winslow Crist is a contributor to Faerie Magazine, a columnist for Harford's Heart Magazine, an illustrator for The Vegetarian Journal, and editor of The Gunpowder Review. Her fantasy short story collection, The Greener Forest, in which the world of Faerie mingles with our workaday world, was published in 2011 by Cold Moon Press: http://coldmoonpress.com/quickbuy.html Her award-winning fiction has appeared in Dragon's Lure, Tales of the Talisman, Shelter of Daylight, Cemetery Moon, While the Morning Stars Sing, Dia de los Muertos, Potter's Field 4,Sideshow 2, and elsewhere. You can find her at: http:vonniewinslowcrist.com& http://vonniewinslowcrist.wordpress.com

1. What drew you to the subject of The Greener Forest? Since I was a child, I've always believed magical beings existed in the most mundane places: The moth fluttering around the porch-light could as easily be a fairy as not. The mouse nibbling on a few seeds scattered beneath the birdfeeder might be gathering intelligence for the garden gnomes. The creature that scoots into a hole between the roots of a tree before you can get a good look at it might be a woodchuck or it might be a goblin. And it's that “why not?” attitude about the mysterious and supernatural that I wanted to write about in The Greener Forest.

2. Did you encounter any obstacles in researching it? I think the hardest part about researching the individual supernatural creatures I used in the stories was the limited number of resources with specific details about the less familiar Faerie beings. It's easy to find lots of general information, especially on well-known creatures like mermaids, flower fairies, dragons, and elves – but there's limited information on the more obscure Faerie beings like spriggans, gremlers, bogles, and such. I ended up “filling in the blanks” with my own details when it came to the habits and physical appearance of those lesser-known creatures. Since I totally made up a couple of beings (applehead gnomes and Muds), those necessary leaps of imagination were great fun!

3. What was the name of the first novel you wrote? Did you try to publish it? Enchanted Skean is the first novel I wrote. It's a YA-Cross-Over fantasy novel set in Lifthrasir – a world of my creation. Against odds, I secured a New York agent for the novel, but not long afterward, her agency closed and the agent retired from the business. Sigh. I've just recently decided to try and find a publisher for Enchanted Skean myself. I'm hoping if the manuscript was good enough to attract the attention of an agent, it will catch the eye of an editor at a publishing house. We'll see! By the way, a “skean” is a dagger.

4. What was the best writing advice someone gave you? Best advice: Always have multiple submissions “out” at publishers at all times. You can't get published if you don't submit your work. You increase your odds of publication if you have lots of your stories (or poems or artwork) on the desks or in the in-boxes of various editors. And while your poems, stories, novel, etc. are looking for a home – you should be busily creating new work. Practicing your craft and persistence really do work!

5. What was the worst? Did you know it at the time? The worst advice was actually included on a rejection slip. Years ago, I submitted a speculative short story to a small press publisher who not only rejected the story – but send me a handwritten note that said not to send anything else to him, and as a favor to all editors, to stop writing/submitting my fiction. After my initial gasp, I decided to prove him wrong rather than listen to his advice. I sent the story to another editor the following week who accepted the tale, and published the story (without any changes) a few months later in his small press magazine. What's the message? If you work at the craft of writing and believe in your work – don't let others discourage you.

6. Tell me one thing about yourself that very few people know? Though I haven't taken karate classes in years, I earned a blue belt in Kenpo karate and was about to take my test for a brown belt when I suffered a wrist injury. Since I'm an illustrator as well as a writer, I sadly stopped karate classes. I still miss the concentration, beauty, and dance-like movements of karate.

7. What’s your favorite quote? “Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”- St. Francis of Assisi. I think this advice works in the writing world as well as life. I started out writing poetry, then flash fiction, then short stories, and finally novels. When I wrote my first 7,000-word story – I could hardly believe it. When I began submitting my writing, I sent it to small, local publications. Gradually, I built up the courage to send my words out to larger publications in the USA and beyond. When I saw a book of mine displayed at a bookstore for the first time, I felt like I'd done the impossible!

8. What’s your favorite thing about your book? I love the fact that I was able to include not only my fiction, but also a few subject-appropriate poems and illustrations in The Greener Forest. My editor was receptive to using poems and drawings of some of the Faerie creatures as “bridges” between stories. But you can only view the illustrations and old manuscript-like borders in the print or PDF versions – other electronic versions include just the poems and stories. For those interested in seeing a bit of my art (besides the cover illo), here's a link to a free, down-loadable Greener Forest maze that I drew: http://coldmoonpress.com/forreaders.html

9. What is your favorite writing reference book and why? As much as I value a dictionary, a thesaurus is the ultimate reference book for a writer. I think we all have our favorite words and “go to” verbs. A thesaurus gives us other options, many of them wonderfully nuanced, some of them archaic, others truly poetic. I know and use lots of words, but I'm always amazed at the words from various cultures and sources that pop up in a thesaurus. And a rich vocabulary is a boon to any writer.

10. What is the one thing your hero would do that you wouldn’t? There are 13 stories in The Greener Forest, so there are 13 heroes. But I must say that in the tale, Blame it on the Trees, the hero, Berg, jumps into a grizzly bear enclosure at the zoo to save a teenager who's fallen in with the bears. As brave as I'd like to think I am, and as much as I'd like to think I'd face anything for the sake of my children, grand-kids, or anyone's child – I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have the nerve to jump into a grizzly bear enclosure. And that's probably a good thing! But not only does my character, Berg, face off against the trio of bears – he chooses to try and save someone who'd just been unkind to him and his friends. Brave and forgiving. I think many of us would like to have those traits.

Book Blurb: In The Greener Forest anything is possible. Silver maples sing in angel-song. Spriggans skulk about cypress knees and wreak havoc at an amusement park. The Applehead Lady's true identity is revealed by moonlight. A scarecrow finds true love in an ash grove. And a wayward beech tree sends a woman into the arms of a kindhearted giant. These stories and more lead the reader into the places where Faerie and the everyday world collide. Discover that all is not what it seems at first glance, and wondrous things still happen in The Greener Forest.

http://coldmoonpress.com/quickbuy.html or your readers can go to Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/Greener-Forest-VW-Crist-Amazon

Vonnie

Black Friday Blog Hop

2011-11-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first stop on Marketing For Romance Writers' Black Friday Blog Hop.
Here's an excerpt of my latest romantic suspense, Blonde Demolition.

She slammed her hand on the table. Her beer wobbled. She caught it. "You are not seducing me back into this life."

He shifted away from her, his arms crossed. His expression didn't change. He hadn't even flinched at her outburst. Not even at her use of the word seduce, which she knew any shrink would have a field day with.

Had he predicted what she would do?

When they had worked together, he'd known before she did that she had to pee. She'd never met anyone so in tune with her. Maybe she never wanted to have anyone know her that way again.

"I'm different now. I have this great life." Her finger stabbed the air, punctuated every word. "You cannot take that away from me."

"I'm not taking away anything. I'm giving you something. I'm giving you back the ability to make a difference."

She stalked away from him. "You think I don't make a difference? What about the family whose house didn't burn down because I was here?"

"You can prevent many more houses from not burning down with us."

She shook her head. "It isn't the same."

He would not pull her strings. He would appeal to her sense of honor and her strong desire to help people. He knew all the cards she held and how to play them to his advantage.

"No, it's better," he said.

Buy links:

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/7olwvhs

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/104247

Amazon in print: http://tinyurl.com/87qdaam

Other books by Chris Redding

Corpse Whisperer

The Drinking Game

Confessions: Volume One

Incendiary

A View to a Kilt

The Rest of the Hop:

W. Lynn Chantale

http://wlynnchantale-decadentdecisions.blogspot.com/
Christine Ashworth
http://christine-ashworth.com

Chelle Cordero http://chellecordero.blogspot.com/
Tammy Dennings Maggy http://tammydenningsmaggy.blogspot.com/

Shelley Munro
http://www.shelleymunro.com/blog
Debra Holland
http://drdebraholland.com
Jane Wakely
www.janewakely.blogspot.com
Smoky Zeidel www.SmokyZeidel.wordpress.com
Ann Siracusa
http://backmybook.com/authors/r-ann-siracusa/blog

Here is your next stop:
W. Lynn Chantale
http://wlynnchantale-decadentdecisions.blogspot.com/
There is a prize at each stop for one lucky commenter. The more blogs you comment on, the more chances to win multiple prizes.

I'm giving away an iPod Shuffle.
Good Luck and Happy Hopping