Writer Wednesday: Book Spotlight on WHITE CHALK by Pavarti K Tyler

Welcome to a White Chalk Spotlight from Novel Publicity! This posts includes and excerpt, book blurb, and information about the author, Pavarti K Tyler. I just got my copy today and can't wait to read it. Look for a review coming soon.

An Excerpt

Too cold for me to be out, drenched in a thin sweatshirt, I trudged home after school. November had betrayed me with its promises of clear skies, and I’d skipped the bus.

Mr. Harris pulled up, his oversized body squished into the too small car. When the window rolled down, warm air tinged with the scent of coffee invited me in.

“It’s a little cold for you to be walking, isn’t it, honey?” He peered out the window, brows pulled high to his forehead, appraising my appearance.

“Can you drive me home, Mr. Harris?” My teeth chattered as I spoke.

“Come on, get in. But you know teachers aren’t supposed to pick up students on the side of the road.” He chuckled softly to himself.

“I know. I won’t tell anyone. Please? I’m just so cold.”

In the car, I kicked my soaked backpack out of the way of the heating vent and slid my feet out of my shoes. My toes had gotten so cold I half wondered if they’d be tinged with black—gangrene setting up shop. I leaned back and closed my eyes, letting the warmth of the car envelop me. When I opened them, I realized Mr. Harris hadn’t started driving again.

Instead, he sat staring at me. Parked in the middle of the road, his eyes roamed my body as I shivered.

Cold? Lust? I didn’t know, but the feeling of power spreading through my chest as he took in the curve of my hips made me bold. I sat up and pulled the wet sweatshirt over my head, revealing the T-Shirt beneath.

Mr. Harris shifted in his seat. His gaze fell upon my breasts and the sound of his breath sped up.

“Mr. Harris?” I asked, the temptation of seducing a teacher thrilling me.

“Yeah?” His voice was hoarse.

“Thanks for the ride.”

“What?” His body snapped to attention as he remembered where he was. “Oh, right… um….” He shifted position again.

“Really, I appreciate it.” I laid a hand on his arm and rose up in my seat, leaning forward so I could kiss him on the cheek—innocently, like kissing an uncle or cousin. But I knew it wasn’t, and when I pulled away, the dark intensity of his eyes told of desire I’d only been hoping to find.

About the Book

[caption id="attachment_3210" align="alignleft" width="200"] Click to buy on Amazon[/caption]

Evolved Publishing presents an intimate glance inside teenage angst and confusion, and one talented but troubled girl's attempt to make sense of life, in the coming-of-age tale, "White Chalk," by award-winning author Pavarti K. Tyler. [Literary, New Adult, Women's Fiction]

Chelle isn’t a typical 13-year-old girl—she doesn’t laugh with friends, play sports, or hang out at the mall after school. Instead, she navigates a world well beyond her years.

Life in Dawson, ND spins on as she grasps at people, pleading for someone to save her—to return her to the simple childhood of unicorns on her bedroom wall and stories on her father’s knee.

When Troy Christiansen walks into her life, Chelle is desperate to believe his arrival will be her salvation. So much so, she forgets to save herself. After experiencing a tragedy at school, her world begins to crack, causing a deeper scar in her already fragile psyche.

Follow Chelle’s twisted tale of modern adolescence, as she travels down the rabbit hole into a reality none of us wants to admit actually exists.

About the Author

Award winning author of multi-cultural and transgressive literature, Pavarti K Tyler is an artist, wife, mother and number cruncher. She graduated Smith College in 1999 with a degree in Theatre. After graduation, she moved to New York, where she worked as a Dramaturge, Assistant Director and Production Manager on productions both on and off Broadway. Later, Pavarti went to work in the finance industry several international law firms. She now lives with her husband, two daughters and one very large, very terrible dog. She keeps busy working with fabulous authors as the Director of Marketing at Novel Publicity and penning her next genre bending novel.

White Chalk (Evolved Publishing) marks Tyler’s third full length novel and promises readers familiar with her work the same mind bending experience. Her other projects include: Shadow on the Wall (Fighting Monkey Press) and Two Moons of Sera (Fighting Monkey Press). Shadow on the Wall has received many awards: Winner of the General Fiction/Novel Category of the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Winner in the Fiction: Multicultural category for The 2012 USA Best Book Awards, and Finalist in the Multicultural Fiction category for the 2012 International Book Awards.

White Chalk has been hailed as “brave”, “raw”, and “destroyingly beautiful”. In line with novels such as White Oleander, Thirteen Reasons Why and Gemma, White Chalk invites you to witness one girl’s heartrending story of confusion and desperation.

You can find out more about Pavarti K Tyler here:

Website: http://www.pavarti.com

Twitter: PavartiDevi

Facebook: Facebook profile

Blog: http://www.pavarti.com

Get The Renegades Ebook Free

Hey everyone!

If you missed The Renegades Release Party last month, you can get it free this week on Amazon. This is the only week to get it free, as it's an Amazon promo. So head over and grab it while you can! Click on the cover below to link to the Amazon page.

Kindle Fire HD raffle with Graham Parke

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<i>“I'm very polite by nature, even the voices in my head let each other finish their sentences.” – from Completely Flappable</i></center>
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<img width=108px src="http://www.grahamparke.com/images/extrefpics/kindlefirehd178.jpg"><img src="http://www.childhelplineinternational.org/media/800/illustration_birdsonawire.png.ashx?width=225&scale=both&mode=crop"><img width=108px src="http://www.grahamparke.com/images/extrefpics/kindlefirehd178.jpg"></center>
Don’t you just hate it when you have a thousand little thoughts rattling around your brain, good for nothing but keeping you up at night? Ideas, worries, mental reminders for the next day? My voices can get pretty insistent, and mostly this is a nuisance, but sometimes it’s okay, when there’s a story idea or two among the ramblings. And rarely, very rarely, I get what I think is a really good idea, but one that I don't know what to do with.
For instance, a while ago it occurred to me that it’s probably not governments or big corporations that wield the world’s greatest financial power. I think it’s us. All the little people together. Then I started wondering what could happen if we all decided to set 1 month of our incomes aside towards fixing this place up a bit. How many of the world’s problems could we actually solve permanently? Half of them, maybe? All of them? That's a pretty cool picture.
But I’m a pretty dim light when it comes to implementing even small ideas, never mind the big ones. So I’m not sure how to get that ball rolling (heck, I'm not even sure where we keep the balls). But I can certainly start with myself. That’s easy enough (I’ve been in close contact with myself for years; I didn't have much trouble convincing myself.)
So, this December, all proceeds of all my novels will go to Child Helpline International. The CHI is pretty cool because they support toll-free child helplines worldwide and they help highlight gaps in child protection systems. They do all this on donations (click the image below for more information.)
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<a href="http://www.childhelplineinternational.org/about"> <img src="http://www.childhelplineinternational.org/media/800/illustration_birdsonawire.png.ashx?width=150&scale=both&mode=crop"> </a></center>
But what does all this have to do with you? Well, I'm raffling off some prizes and giving out some freebees to boost the donation (expenses out of my own pocket, not the donation :P )
So what's in it for you, besides that warm, fuzzy feeling you'll get knowing the Xmas presents you’re buying include an automatic donation? Well, how about I give you the new edition to the award winning No Hope for Gomez saga completely free?
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<img width=70px src="http://www.grahamparke.com/imagesv03/completleyflappable_eb2.jpg"></center>
And how about a Kindle Fire HD raffle ticket with every purchase while we’re at it?
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CWQR21A"><img width=120px src="http://www.grahamparke.com/images/extrefpics/kindlefirehd178.jpg"></a></center>
Simply forward your receipt emails to nohopeforgomez@gmail.com to participate.
And now, on to the pitch. This is the bit where I try to convince you, using only my words, that my novels don’t suck (or at least, not too much.) That they won’t only tickle your brain, but they’ll actually make your life better, if only marginally. That they are, in fact, worthy donation material. Here goes (fingers crossed)...
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<a href="http://amzn.to/1hvUHBb"><img src="http://www.grahamparke.com/imagesv03/nhfg_pb_sc.jpg"></a>
<a href="http://amzn.to/1hvUHBb">Paper: $6.08</a>
<a href="http://amzn.to/17u3aB5">Kindle:$2.99</a>
(uk <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Hope-Gomez-Graham-Parke/dp/9491919008">paper, </a><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Hope-Gomez-Graham-Parke-ebook/dp/B00G8ISLSG">kindle</a>)
</td> <td width="100%">
<h2>
No Hope for Gomez!</h2>
<p STYLE="font-size: x-small;">
Winner of the Forewords Book of the Year Awards, featured on Kirkus Best Indie List 2011, IBA and USA Book News Award nominee.</p>
It's the age-old tale:
&nbsp;&nbsp;Boy meets girl.
&nbsp;&nbsp;Boy stalks girl.
&nbsp;&nbsp;Girl already has a stalker.
&nbsp;&nbsp;Boy becomes her stalker-stalker.
We've seen it all before, many times, but this time it's different. If only slightly.</td></tr>
</table>
<p STYLE="font-size: x-small;">
"Extremely witty writing containing keen insights into human nature." --California Chronicle
"Challenges the way we think about, and interact with, the world around us." --Kirkus Discoveries
"The antics in this book will leave the reader laughing. Graham Parke is a genius."--Reader's Favorite</p>
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<tr><td width="100%">
<h2>
Unspent Time </h2>
Warning: reading this novel may make you more attractive and elevate your random luck by about 9.332%*<p STYLE="font-size: x-small;">
(*These statements have not been evaluated by anyone of consequence)</p>
Permeating the cracks between the past and the present is the realm of Unspent Time. Time that was allotted but never spent. In this realm we find the stories that could have been true. Such as the story of the designer of the color scheme used inside your shoe, or the story of Goki Feng Ho: the Chinese art of decoding the secret meaning of car license plates.</td> <td width=130px>
<a href="http://amzn.to/18VspYV"><img src="http://www.grahamparke.com/imagesv03/cover_unspent_omni_eb.jpg"></a>
<a href="http://amzn.to/18VspYV">Paper: $6.08</a>
<a href="http://amzn.to/1dHixd1">Kindle:$2.99</a>
<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/138990">ePub   :  $2.99</a>
(uk <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unspent-Time-Graham-Parke/dp/9491919024">paper, </a><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unspent-Time-Graham-Parke-ebook/dp/B007EVPK30">kindle</a>)
</td></tr>
</table>
<p STYLE="font-size: x-small;">
“Captivating. Each story fired up my imagination.” – Alan H. Jordan, author.
"Delightfully mad. Graham's vibrant characters shine from the first page." --Tahlia Newland, author.
</p>
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<img src="http://www.grahamparke.com/imagesv03/completleyflappable_eb2.jpg">
<span style="color: #ff0000">Free with this event</span>
</td> <td width="100%">
<h2>
Completely Flappable</h2>
<p STYLE="font-size: x-small;">
“He’s completely flappable!”
“Don’t you mean he’s <i>un</i>flappable?”
“Not really. He can very easily be flapped.”</p>
Gomez has never been on a date. In his 27 years on the planet he’s never been able to quite close the deal. For some reason, circumstances always conspire to make his meet-ups with women less than official dates. But now a blond German girl with freckles has moved into his building and he decides it’s time to get his act together.</td></tr>
</table>
If you've read this far, you're already my hero ;)
I hope you like my idea enough to join me in this fun adventure. Let's see how much we can raise this Xmas ;)
Kind regards,
Graham Parke

The Renegades 24-hr Launch Party (Book Giveaway)

Hello loyal readers and guests,

You might be a longtime reader who has been reading my blogs since the days of (ahem) Myspace, or you might have stumbled across this post or been lured by free book promises. Whatever your reason for stopping by my book release party, welcome!

The day has come at last...The Renegades Release Day! You can find the ebook for $2.99 on amazon starting TODAY. Or you can participate in one of the challenges posted on the blog all day to win a free copy.

Here is how it works: I will be giving away 24 books today. Winners will be randomly drawn from the participants of each challenge. They can be completed at any time during the day. Just post a comment letting me know which of the challenges you completed. Winners will be announced Wednesday, December 11, so check back to see if you scored some free books.

Up for grabs:
For all participants: ebook copies of
The Renegades
The Superiors
The Vigilantes
Because the Night, by Kristen Strassel
Redemption by Kellie Thacker
Healer by B.N. Toler
The Legacy: Fate by G.G. Atcheson

For US residents only (sorry, I'm a starving artist and postage rates are insane):
(1) Paperback copy of The Superiors (first edition), (1) Paperback ARC of The Vigilantes (proof copy), (1) Paperback ARC of The Renegades (available in January)
Must have at least 10 entries to win these, one of which MUST be Challenge 1.

Without further ado, here is...

Challenge 1: 
Post an announcement of The Renegades release on your book blog and leave it for 24 hours. Please leave link in the comments section.

Challenge 2:
Follow my blog (or leave comment, if you already follow, for one entry).

Challenge 3:
Stop by this blog and leave a comment on their promo post of The Renegades.

Challenge 4:
Google+ this blog post.

Challenge 5:
Share a link to this post on Twitter...you can do this once an hour if you like...

Challenge 6:
Follow me on Twitter (use the icon on my blog for quickest link).

Challenge 7:
Share this blog post on Facebook... Again, can enter this challenge multiple times if you want.

Challenge 8:
Like my author page on facebook here.

Challenge 9:
Like The Superiors Series page on Facebook.

Challenge 10:
Share my cover on Instagram with the tags #renegades #booklaunch

Challenge 11-13:
Share a link to any of my books on amazon...one entry for each. Click the links below to visit their amazon page, and share from there...pin, FB, twitter, etc.
The Superiors
The Vigilantes
The Renegades

Challenge 14:
Become a fan on amazon.

Challenge 15:
Become a fan on Goodreads.

Challenge 16-18:
Add The Renegades to your to-read shelf on Goodreads. This links to my author page, where you can scroll down and see all my books, and all all three to your shelf easily.
Add The Superiors to your to-read shelf of Goodreads. (If you already have it on your to-read shelf, or you've read it and it's on your read shelf, let me know in the comments section. That's an entry.
Add The Vigilantes to your to-read shelf (same as above).

Challenge 19-20:
Share The Superiors on Barnes&Noble (they have a button to G+, FB like, or pin, or you can 'add to list' if you have a B&N account).
Share The Vigilantes on Barnes&Noble.

Challenge 21-23
Pin The Renegades to a book board on Pinterest
Pin The Superiors
Pin The Vigilantes

Challenge 24: Free Choice challenge...creatively share my book in some way not mentioned above, and post to let me know what you did.

Please let me know what challenges you participated in by posting a comment!

Writer Wednesday: New book spotlight: Spark, by Karyn Pearson

Title: Spark

Series: The Hellfire Series

Author: Karyn Pearson

Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy

Publisher: The Writing Network

Formats Available In: Digital

Release Date: June 23, 2013

Blurb: For centuries, the powers of Heaven and Hell have been at war, locked in a perpetual stalemate. Fifty years ago, the war spilled out on Earth and the last modern age of man ended. Humanity now finds itself at the brink of annihilation, barely surviving in small pockets of civilization scattered across the globe. But even in the direst of circumstances, the human spirit lives on.

Now, in this post-apocalypse, humanity has but one choice: resist or die. In order to combat the forces of Hell, man has learned to fight, training from their youth to hunt the demons that threaten their very existence.

Twenty-five years ago, a demon hunter dared rise against an ancient demon family, the Saligia—the Seven Deadly Sins—and was cursed for her defiance. The curse appeared in the guise of an innocent: the huntress’s own daughter, Ardentia, who had been born with a demon soul attached to her own.

In the present day, Ardentia, now grown, seeks to free her mother from her curse by hunting down the demons responsible. But the road ahead will be difficult now that the demon within her has awakened. Trusting him is dangerous, especially when he can turn on her at a moment’s notice. Others have warned her that succumbing to the demon will be her own downfall.

Now Ardentia must decide what she’s willing to lose: her mother’s freedom or herself.

Excerpt:

The demon snapped his fingers and the daemonis igni behind Ardentia grew blindingly bright and white-hot, the flames reaching over forty feet high and surging straight toward her. She froze with fear, knowing that in a few seconds she was about to die, burned alive in the fires of Hell.

           

“Ardentia!” Noxius was shouting. “Run! Run now!”

           

She was too scared to move. She could not even muster up the strength to take that first step. Somehow, even if she did run away, she knew that the flames or Gula would end up devouring her anyway.

           

Distantly, she could hear the voices of her comrades, yelling for her to run, to find higher ground, but still, she could not move.

           

Noxius snarled with irritation, muttering a stream of curses in lingua daemon.

           

“Idiot girl!” he hissed at her. “I’ve no other choice. I simply cannot allow us both to die here.”

           

And then an indescribable force slammed against the inside of Ardentia’s skull. She saw bright lights pop in front of her eyes, nearly blinded with pain, and dropped to her knees in a daze. Dimly, she could feel Noxius seizing control; his power coursed through her, flooding her with an unimaginable strength and power that she was incapable of using. Her hand started to reach for the reliquary dangling from her belt, only to feel an invisible hand within her snatching it away.

           

“What are you doing?” she asked weakly.

           

“You’ll thank me in a moment,” Noxius answered her.

           

Ardentia’s eyes fell shut and she thought she could hear the sound of wings being spread then close around her. If she leant to the side ever so slightly, she swore she could feel the leathery velvet of the wing brush against her cheek.

           

An intense heat passed over her; she realized that it was probably the demonic fire, having reached her at last. She inhaled sharply, preparing to scream as she burned in the hellish pyre, only to find that she did not need to. There was only heat but no flames. She was not burned.

About Karyn Pearson:

Karyn Pearson is a post-grad university student with a B.A. in Anthropology, currently living in California with her two dogs. Over the years, she has created many worlds, characters, and series, which naturally makes her head a very crowded place to be.

When she’s not writing, she can be found curled up with a book, playing video games, doing research for her books on the web, or attempting to not burn the house down with another kitchen experiment, a hobby otherwise known as cooking.

Facebook Fan Page

Google+

Twitter

Read The Superiors free!

Hey all,

I got in on this late, but Smashwords is having their summer sale this month, so for the next week, The Superiors will be free on that site! If you have an ereader, you can download the book for free in any format. Check it out, and all the other great books you can get free this month.

Also, many more books are half off or more, including my second book, The Vigilantes.

Happy reading!

Lena

Guest Author/Book Release: Nancy Lauzon

Book Launch Party! In honor of Read an Ebook Week, I have a special guest today. Make sure you check out her contest to try to win a copy of her book as well as mine! Today, you can enter to win a copy of The Vigilantes as well. Just share this post on all your sites and leave links below in the comments section (Twitter, FB, Blog, and Google+1 this post).

A Few Dead Men - a Chick Dick Mystery

March 1 - 8

http://chickdickmysteries.com

Drop by anytime during this week to join in the fun! Play games, nosh on virtual goodies (a.k.a. recipes) and win prizes!

Leave a comment on Nancy Lauzon's blog to win a FREE copy of A Few Dead Men.

If you like what you read, post a review on Goodreads, Amazon or the website of your choice anytime to win another FREE copy of any Chick Dick Mystery!

Blurb: A Few Dead Men - a Chick Dick Mystery

Life has dealt part-time mystery novelist Darcy MacDonald a lousy hand. The men she knows are either missing, dead, drunk or demented.

Lying next to the corpse of her boyfriend, the head of Bloodhound Investigations, definitely qualifies as lousy since he’s the man who also issues her paychecks.

The doctor says her boss had a massive heart attack during an orgasm, and it wasn’t Darcy’s fault. But she can’t help feeling guilty, since his orgasms were her responsibility. Or so she believed, until his grieving widow shows up, along with a mysterious, punk rocker chick who weeps inconsolably at the funeral and claims he was murdered.

Nancy Lauzon's Blog Tour Stop #5: Where Do You Find Live Men?

My latest mystery novel, A Few Dead Men, was inspired by my youngest daughter's disastrous dating history. The 'dead men' in the novel are composites of every boyfriend and/or bad date my daughter ever had. Believe me, I had lots of material to choose from. In fact, I didn't have room for all the 'dead men', since I didn't want to go over my word count.

This book raises several questions: Who exactly are dead men, metaphorically speaking? How did they become dead? Are there more dead men than live men? And where do you find live men?

But the book is also about a young woman compelled to solve the mysteries around her, like her favourite amateur sleuth, Nancy Drew. She doesn't go about it in exactly the same way.

Previous stops on the Blog Tour: How Does a Dead Man Become Dead? at http://limebirduk.wordpress.com/ and Are There More Dead Men than Live Men? at http://stacysjensen.blogspot.com/

I'm not sure there are any single Live Men left in the city where I live, or its surrounding areas. Maybe they're hiding.

My daughter has joined various dating sites over the years, with no luck, only some first dates from hell. She's been hooked up through friends and acquaintances, no luck. She spent 5 years in university, no luck. She's worked at various jobs (in a law office, in retail) no luck.

Yes, my daughter's unlucky in love. I already know that. But you'd think by now she'd have come across a few single Live Men along the way and been asked out on one date.

I know what you're thinking. She's got a face only a mother could love, she's got no personality, she's got no ambition, she's got no heart.

All not true.

It is true that she doesn't go out enough. She's a full-time professional, and she's busy. She doesn't like the bar scene, so she doesn't go clubbing. Most clubs are filled with Dead Men, anyway. So she recently joined a mixed Dodge Ball league. They meet every Thursday evening. I have my fingers crossed.

I've also heard it said that you shouldn't go looking for love. It'll find you when you least expect it. But if she stays in every evening, it's not exactly going to knock on her door, is it?

Does anyone out there in the blogosphere know where all the single Live Men are?


Next stops on my Blog Tour:

Saturday, March 10th - http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com
Calling All Sleuths! I'll be blogging at the 2012 Nancy Drew Web Con. What is a Web Con you may be wondering? It's simply a convention on the web! The subject of my blog will be Nancy Drew with a Twist of Lemon.

Tuesday, March 13th - http://theunpredictablemuse.blogspot.com/

I'm over at Ellis Vidler's Unpredictable Muse. Ellis is the author of the brand new novel Cold Comfort, released in December. I'll be doing a Character Interview, featuring Darcy MacDonald, the heroine of A Few Dead Men.

A Few Dead Men - a Chick Dick Mystery is available now at Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/129059

Coming soon to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Chapters/Indigo/Kobo

Author Bio

Nancy Lauzon worked nine years on a hospital ward as a cardiac nurse before the night shifts turned her into a zombie. She got a day job in health promotion and began to write health-related articles for magazines and newsletters.

Life threw out a few curve balls, and to relieve the stress, she began to write fiction part-time. Five years later she sold two different manuscripts to two separate small-press publishers, using a pseudonym. She left nursing in 2003 and began to write full-time.

Nancy lives in Ottawa, Canada.

Visit her website http://chickdickmysteries.com/

Join the Chick Dick Mystery Group on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/groups/127590990661672?ap=1

Follow her on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/#!/@chickdicks

Friend her on Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4840931.Nancy_Lauzon

Cyber Monday!

Alright, well, while I'm at it, I figured I'd keep my book at .99 through the weekend and Cyber Monday. So if you want to find The Superiors for super cheap, go check it out! And look at all the other great deals while you're there, too. I'm pretty excited about the tote bag I found on amazon!

Inspiration

Finding inspiration

One question that readers often ask authors is where they get their inspiration. I think it’s one of the hardest questions to answer, which is why everyone wants to know. The truth is, everyone finds inspiration in something different. Maybe the beauty of nature, or a book that particularly touched something inside and made an engineer want to pick up a pen (or log on to a laptop) and write. Or maybe it’s something completely banal, like a twirling strip of flypaper or the fly that got stuck to it and is still trying to buzz its way free.

I can’t shed any insight on the writing process of bestselling authors, or tell you what inspired Stephen King or Stephanie Meyer. If you want to know that, I’m sure both have written enough explanations that you can find it in a Google search. All I can tell you is what inspires one indie writer. I doubt that even those mega-gazillion-times-over bestselling authors can tell what inspires another writer.

I can’t even say for sure what inspired me. The first time I wrote a novel, I was motivated by the slowness of my son’s eating. I had to find something to do or go crazy with boredom for the three hour-long table sessions each day. But I’m not sure what inspired me. I started out with a life experience I had, changed it up a little, decided it would actually be the end of the novel, and went back to the beginning to map out how the characters ended up at the end. The next series I wrote was inspired by a discussion with my family. The next was inspired by a friend of mine who said, “What happened to the days when bad guys were bad?”

That’s what’s so great about finding inspiration. It’s everywhere, in everything. There are as many sources of inspiration as there are writers and books and stories combined. And still more waiting to be discovered and to inspire one more shoemaker/bus boy/car salesman to write a novel.

Not to sound too super-cheese, but there is no end to inspiration. It is all around us, and most of all, inside us. So next time something inspires you, sit down and write about it. A phrase, a sentence, a page. From James Patterson to the mailman, all writers start there, at the very beginning, with an inspiration.


(This post originally appeared as part of The Superiors Blog Tour on Benjamin Wallace's blog. To see more of his blog, click here.)

Guest Author: J.D. Stroube

Today I'm getting some exposure to this very great lady and her awesome book, Caged In Darkness. Read about it below.

A witch raised in a cage of darkness...

Savannah Cross was born into a life of isolation and abuse. As a child, she witnessed her parents perform acts of malevolent evil, and now feels permanently tainted by their dark deeds.

When a coven discovers a tear stricken child, wounded on their elders lawn, they offer her a sanctuary she has never known. Savannah spends the next several years shattered, continuously looking over her shoulder, waiting for the darkness to claim her.

On her 16th birthday, Savannah’s life takes a drastic turn.She is consumed by overwhelming power that forever alters her emotionally and physically.

She must choose between two loves; the one who taught her to smile or the darkly seductive stranger who tempts her towards another path. Savannah must decide between the coven that was her haven and another one vying for her initiation. Just as Savannah begins to grasp what fate has in store for her, an evil looms over her loved ones; coming to claim an unbreakable debt.

How will she choose and survive the greatest evil she has ever witnessed... long enough to have a choice to make.

eBook Review: Fire In the Blood by Dale Ibitz

Fire in the Blood by Dale Ibitz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Okay, first off, let me just say that I usually avoid teen paranormal romance/fantasy/whatever you want to call it. But this one was really fun!



It's a hilarious fantasy/sci-fi book for young adults, complete with romance, the requisite love triangle, plotting and betraying, kidnappings, alternate worlds and runes, oh my! The whole time I was reading, I kept cracking up, which is not what I expect from this kind of book. But in the best way, of course! I love books that make me laugh. I was surprised that this book was self-published, because it seemed to fit so perfectly into the YA genre that is so popular right now.



This is a new author I believe, and I have no doubt we'll see lots more from her in the future, probably traditionally published books. If you're wary of indie books because you think they aren't well-written or edited, you'd be surprised. This book is every bit as good (or better) than the handful other YA fantasy books I've read. Even better, it's funny! The protagonist has a witty, wry and sarcastic voice that will pull you in and make you laugh. My only complaint with this book was that it ended too soon! I wish it had been a little longer. I can't wait to see what happens to Haley in the next book.



View all my reviews

Guest Author: Interview with Julia Crane

Julia Crane author of Coexist Keegan's Chronicles

Interview:

1. Tell us about your current work?

First, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my work. I recently published Coexist: Keegan's Chronicles.

Sixteen-year-old Keegan is struggling to keep her huge secret from her friends--she's an elf, descended from a long line of elves that live in secrecy alongside humans.

In elfin society, mates are predetermined but not allowed to meet until they are eighteen. Against tradition, Keegan's brother Thaddeus told her Rourk's name because his visions warned him she'd need Rourk's protection, especially since Keegan will play a key role in the coming war between the dark and light elves.

Rourk finds himself drawn to Keegan's side every time she thinks his name. He wants to talk to her but remains in the shadows, silently guarding her every time she mentally beckons him. A twist of fate thrusts the two of them together when Rourk is forced to step up his protection and make his presence known.

An ancient prophecy deeply entwines Keegan's family and the future of their society. Somehow they must find a way to thwart fate and win the battle...without losing Keegan. With war brewing, and dark forces aligning, will Keegan and Rourk ever have the life together that they both desire?

2. How did you come up with the idea to write this book?

A few days after I met my husband-to-be he told me about a strange dream he had about elves in a big battle. I thought it was funny since I've always loved elves and my grandmother from Ireland use to tell tales about elves and other magical creatures. It also happens that I've gotten teased for my "elf ears" all my life. So when I sat down to think of what I wanted to write about elves was the natural answer.

3. How long have you been writing?

I wrote as a teenager and gave it up as pipe dream. When I was in college I got invited to a creative writing group which sparked my interest again. Fast forward several years and I finally sat down to write a novel.

4. Is this the first book you ever wrote, or do you have more (published or unpublished) that you wrote before?

This is the first novel I've written.

5. Describe your writing process.

I'm a fast and furious writer. I just jot down whatever comes to mind and go with it.

6. Who are some of your literary influences?

Goodness, there are too many to name. I'm an avid reader and love so many genres. Ayn Rand, Ken Follett, Nelson Desmile, James Patterson, Irish Johansen. The young adult genre of course Stephenie Meyer.

7. What kind of books do you read, and is it different from what you write?

I go through cycles sometimes I am sucked into the best sellers list other times I go through an auto biography phase, or go back to the classics. I write young adult so that is different form my normal read. I have a 14 year old daughter I try to read whatever she is reading. So we have something to talk about and it's always interesting to me to see what has captured her attention.

8. Where do you come up with your characters? Do you base them on people you've seen or met?

It's a mixture. I like to take characteristics from people I know it makes it easier, because I have seen how they react in situations. Some are completely made up which is also fun.

9. Do the names of your characters reflect anything or mean anything in particular? Is there a reason behind the names you choose?

My two main characters I choose from books that I loved and thought wow that is a great name. Many of the smaller characters in the book I've used family names. We have some very interesting names.

10. Is this part of a series, and if so, when will the next book be available?

I am hoping to have Conflicted: Keegan's Chronicles out by December Fingers crossed for October, but we'll see!

Thanks for having me it was fun to answer your questions.

Guest Author: A.F. Stewart on Why We Love Fictional Villains

Hello, all! Today I'm hosting A.F. Stewart for a very special article on fictional villains. Happy reading! Make sure to go over and check out her blog if you like what you read here!

Without further ado, take it away, A.F.

Why We Love Fictional Villains.

We all like to boo the bad guys, hiss at the scoundrels in books and on screen, but do we ever take the time to really appreciate their contribution to our favourite stories? Where would stalwart heroes be without their adversaries? Would Sherlock Holmes intrigued as well without Moriarty, would we have cared as much about the fate of Luke Skywalker without the threat of Darth Vader? Perhaps, but doubtful, a hero needs a good villain to truly shine.

What is it about villains that we love? Do we want to see them virtually vanquished, or is it that we relish the age-old sentiment of good triumphing over evil? Maybe we like that vicarious rush of wickedness we feel when watching them onscreen or reading about them in books?

Or do we all secretly want to be that fictional bad guy, just a little? I know I did. I liked playing pirate or bandit when I was a kid and my favourite Halloween was the one where I dressed up as Darth Vader. I never wanted to be mean in real life, but being a pretend bad guy, now that was cool.

And that’s probably why I still have such fun when writing the villains in my stories. My scoundrels and their dastardly deeds are always dear to my heart and I love it when they leap off the page wreaking mayhem.

No doubt this is what led me to write Killers and Demons, a collection of stories starring nasty, nasty rogues and the evil they inflict. My five baddies are as wicked as you can get, murderers to their core, dispatching their hapless victims with no remorse. Jeremy, Scott, Mr Peters, Balthazar, and Imaria are not the sort you want to meet in a dark alley (or a bright one either), but they do their work in style and with flare, just to give you, the reader, the cold shivers.

And isn’t that just what a villain is supposed to do?

to find out more about A.F. or her work, see below.

Her Website

Her Blog

Her Book

Guest Author: Interview with Ronnie Massey

1. Tell us about your current work.

Crimson Dawn is an urban fantasy with a paranormal romance twist. It revolves around a 98 year old Pureblood vampire named Valeria Trumaine and her struggles to catch her psychotic ex-fiance after he goes rouge. Her best friend, a 300 year old Tuatha De Danann princess, named Irulan aides her on the hunt for Tristan.

2. How did you come up with the idea to write this book?

I am a huge fan of Kim Harrison and her Rachel Morgan series. For those that have not read any of the books in the series, Rachel is a witch who’s roommates with a living vampire named Ivy. To make a long story short Ivy is bisexual and in love with Rachel. Rachel takes Ivy on this emotional roller-coaster ride with her inability to commit to her but she wont let her go. I love the novels and eagerly wait for each new one, but that aspect of their relationship buggs me to no end. I wanted a story in which the bi or lesbian character ended up getting their girl. I began searching for such a novel but most of what I found was hard core erotica and lacked real story lines. So I decided to write my own. So in a sense, Kim Harrison inspired me to write Crimson Dawn.

3. How long have you been writing? I have been writing short stories since I was in high-school which was (gasp) over 15 years ago. I actually started writing erotic short stories because I was picked on a lot and to keep people from picking on me, I wrote the stories and passed them around. Soon I went from the girl to make fun of to the girl to get smut from. I am so lucky a teacher never got their hands on one of those stories.

4. Is this the first book you ever wrote, or do you have more (published or unpublished) that you wrote before? Before Crimson Dawn I made one attempt at writing a full length novel. The title of it is Ecomancers. It's full of vampires and werewolves but also telepaths and people with super-hero type powers. I got maybe fifteen chapters into it before I threw in the towel and decided that it was too hard for me to write a full length piece. It's actually a pretty good concept that I might go back and revamp and finish one day.

5. Describe your writing process. When an idea pops into my head it usually starts one of two ways; with a character or an entire scenario. With characters it usually about what's going on with that person. I get a feel for their personality and the challenges they might face. If the character sticks with me then I sit down and jot down a quick life history and a story usually springs from that. In the other case, sometimes I wonder if for instance, 'what if a werewolf had to go through this?' Once I get that question in my head I come up with a main character and start outlining. I am a stickler for background info. Before I write anything I have to have character bio's and species descriptions. I have full family tree's for some characters and a chart that details the blood kin of all of my Extra's races.

6. Who are some of your literary influences? Kim Harrison, Laurell k. Hamilton, Patricia Briggs, Alex Haley, Nikki Giovanni, and Maya Angelou.

7. What kind of books do you read, and is it different from what you write? Whether it's adult or YA, I am addicted to paranormal romances and urban fantasies. But I also love afro-centric historical works such as Roots and Queen. And I love poetry. With the exception of the shorts that will be in my poetry collection, and the poems themselves, most of my work is paranormal or fantasy related.

8. Where do you come up with your characters? Do you base them on people you've seen or met? I'm not totally sure where all of them came from. Val in a lot of ways is the inner Ronnie. She's smart mouthed, uber confident in what she's capable of and leaps before looking instead of over analyzing situations; all qualities that I wished I possessed at one time or another. She also has issues that influence her actions and make her strive to be a better person. I think a lot of us face similar situations at some point in our lives. As for basing them on people I've met or seen, well the visuals I get in my head when I write certainly influence the description of them. I'm a big movie fan and a lot of the times I see certain actors as the characters and I give my characters those physical traits. Val is Jurnee Smollett in my head and Irulan is Gemma Arterton (circa. Clash of The Titans).

9. Do the names of your characters reflect anything or mean anything in particular? Is there a reason behind the names you choose? I chose Val because it was close to my first name which is Veronica. I chose Irulan's name because I am a big fan of The Real World and had kind of a mini-tv crush on Irulan from the Las Vegas season. I named Irulan's mother FreDonia after my grandmother. There are also characters in other works that are named after family members. In my werewolf novel, Ascension: Wolves of Goose Creek, the main character Still, has two younger twin sisters. I named them Maya and Malia after my daughters.

10. Is this part of a series, and if so, when will the next book be available? Yes Crimson Dawn is the first book in the Darklife Saga. I have outlined 5 books in the series so far. The second book is titled Black Moon Rising and I am twenty chapters into it. It picks up four months after the events in Crimson Dawn. I have a YA title that revolves around the character David that is introduced in Crimson Dawn, titled Freak Among Freaks. The events in F.A.F's run parallel with the events in B.M.R. so I am treading carefully to make sure I don't run into any continuity issues. But I am hoping to be done with the first draft by the middle of next month and revisions by the start of September. After that I'm not sure when it will be available but I am thinking the start of 2012. I have another novel coming out this year so I am almost certain B.M.R. will have a 2012 release date.

check out Ronnie's awesome site below:

http://ronniemassey.com Crimson Dawn on Goodreads.

Book Review: Kindle eBook Aries at Dawn by William Amerman

Aries at Dawn by William Amerman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Aries at Dawn is a thriller about one man's life as it falls apart. Although it's not my usual genre, I enjoyed it very much. Amerman is a gifted writer, something that goes a long way for me. This book is clearly well-edited and polished, which made reading it a joy. Amerman has a unique writing style that has great rhythm once you get into the flow of his prose.
The story itself is well-crafted, and while reading, you know you are in the hands of a talented writer who knows the art of writing, pacing, plotting, and everything else you'd want in a book. Without giving too much of the story away, I will say that it keeps you moving and wanting to know what comes next. At one chase scene, my heart literally started beating faster!
The only part of the book that lost me a little was the technical stuff about unions and details about the shipping industry, but that's my shortcoming and not the author's. Overall, this is an exciting and very well written book that I would recommend to anyone who likes a fast-paced read.

View all my reviews

Blog Tour Giveaway: Free Ebooks!

Hey guys and gals,

As part of my blog tour, I'm doing an interview and giveaway today only on Dale Ibitz's blog!

All you have to do to win a free e-book of The Superiors is go to her blog, read my interview, and come back here. Please follow me and her if you haven't already--it's not necessary but we'll send happy reading vibes your way if you do!

Please leave a comment here so I know you've read her blog post. Answer this question in your comment: Name one of the three books/series I read in middle school. Also leave your email address or message me with it so I can send you your free copy of The Superiors.

That's it for today! Thanks!

Guest Author: Meghan Ciana Doidge

Hey everyone! Please welcome to my blog Meghan, author of After the Virus. She's got some great tips on writing for us. After you read the post, go check out her blog and see what else she has going on!

The role of structure in a 1st draft novel

by Meghan Ciana Doidge

Transitioning from writing screenplays into writing novels has been an exciting and daunting task. Exciting, because, after writing screenplays for over 10 years, I fell into writing my first novel, After The Virus, and the writing just flowed. Daunting because now I have to follow up and recapture the magic I found while writing After The Virus.

When I write a screenplay I rely heavily on structure to craft the 1st draft, and I mostly adhere to the Syd Field school. I don’t even write a single word, other than jotting down scene ideas or bits of dialogue when they come to me, until I have the entire screenplay plotted out. But, I didn’t craft my novel, After The Virus, in this same fashion, though it is quite structured (as that is just in my nature), however its structure ended up, by necessity I now believe, being flexible.

So as I jump into another novel (or 4) I’ve been thinking about screenplay structure and how it applies, for me, to novel writing. Here are the elements that I think are most helpful when crafting a 1st draft.

1. Three Acts – Beginning, Middle & End – this might be a no brainer for most writers, but it is odd how many stories don’t actually have a clearly defined beginning, middle and end. It is amazing how many novels and/or movies I have read/seen that don’t end well (God, that can ruin a story!!).

So pull out a piece of paper, divide it lengthwise into three sections, and jot down a sentence to describe the beginning of your story (aka your set-up), the middle (aka the confrontation) and the end (aka the resolution). By the way, each sentence should be about the plot not about the characters feelings or thoughts; what happens?

2. The beginning – start with the The Inciting Incident – what is the one action or plot point without which your entire story could not actually take place? Start writing there, and don’t worry about an introductory chapter or setting up the story. What propels the plot? What pushes your protagonist through the story?

After you’ve compelled your 1st draft and you still think you need an introductory chapter, write it in your 2nd draft pass. But start in action, and you’ll suck your reader right into the story. The character background, environmental elements, and other introductory items can be worked in to the action of the plot as you move forward.

If your story is a chess game, you lead with your queen not one of your pawns. Pawns are follow-up, development. Start strong. Play your queen.

[spoiler alert] In my novel, After The Virus, the inciting incident is when my main protagonist, Rhiannon chooses and succeeds in escaping her capture/captors. Without this action (aka plot point) none of the remaining story is possible. Note my emphasis on the protagonist choosing action, as there are not too many stories that can function well with a passive protagonist (there are, of course, always great exceptions to this and any other rule).

3. The middle – also known as the place where writers go to die a slow, painful death – solidify your The Midpoint - this is your hook from which your entire story hangs. If your story was actually hanger this would be the hook that hangs off the closet rod.

The entire first half of your book builds to this point and then something happens that propels us into the second half of the book. This something is directly tied to the main plot and completely changes the game. Someone dies, someone loses, or, in less action driven narratives, someone has a massive epiphany. This is the point of no return. The characters will never, ever be the same and, to repeat myself because I think it is important to stress this point, there is no going back.

To take this a little bit further, the midpoint is usually tied directly to the inciting incident.

[spoiler alert] The midpoint of my novel, After The Virus, is when the mute child, Snickers, falls in the river and Rhiannon--ever the hero--chooses (again, chooses), risking her own life, to dive in after the child. How is this tied to the inciting incident? By jumping in the river after Snickers, Rhiannon finds herself entering, under duress of course, the very city she escaped at the beginning of the novel. This midpoint also causes Will, the secondary protagonist, to step up and spring into action. There is literally no turn back from this point forward for Rhiannon or the plot.

Side note: speaking of being flexible with your 1st draft. What is now the midpoint of my novel (spoiler: Snickers going in the river) I had first thought was my turn into the 3rd Act (The Climax). As I was writing it became apparent I was wrong and this plot point was actually my midpoint.

4. The ending – ramp up to The Climax – after the midpoint this is what the entire set-up and confrontation of the novel has been building too, and, after this point, it is all resolution, which doesn’t necessarily mean we are in the happily-ever-after section of the story, but that everything that happens after the climax is a reaction to that climax.

This must be a big moment, ideally it should involve all your main characters, and it is (to paraphrase from Save the Cat) always the darkest night of the soul.

[spoiler alert] In After The Virus, the Climax is the moment Rhiannon stops fighting her (second set of) captors, willingly adopts the movie star persona, a mask which she has spent the entire novel attempting to shed, and chooses to face the evil she’s been running from, in order to save the child.

The 3rd Act of After The Virus opens with my absolute favourite scene of the novel. Here is the snippet:

A brisk, salty wind, they must be very close to the ocean here, blew through the buildings and billowed around and beyond her. The dress was instantly slicked against her. She could feel the light fabric lift about four feet behind her and her hair a similar sail. Her silk-sheathed nipples rose in protest of the chill, and a murmur, punctuated with gasps, rustled through the following crowd. She gritted her teeth at the exposure, at the perceived sexuality, at the perceived vulnerability of an involuntary bodily function.

They reached for her then.

Lining the sides of street, suddenly as far as she could see, they reached fingers for her, but didn’t touch.

She walked like that for a full block, so close she could feel the brush of energy from each fingertip--thousands of fingers.

What was she to them? The time before? Whatever it was, it wasn’t a role she was willing to accept, or that she was even qualified for.

That’s it! Just four elements with which to construct your 1st draft: Three Acts, Inciting Incident, Midpoint and Climax. Make sure the Inciting Incident, Midpoint and Climax are all tied together, like knots along the same piece of string.

Be flexible, let the writing just flow, don’t edit yourself…at least not until the 2nd draft!!

If you’d like to read my novel to see if I actually know anything about writing (which I hope to God - after all these years - I do, even if I don’t articulate it particularly well above), please check out, After The Virus:

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Goodreads ePUB

Four FREE chapters

And drop by my blog for a chat!

Thanks for reading,

Meghan

Guest Author: Interview with Traci Hilton

1. Tell us about your current work

Eminent Domain, the sequel to Foreclosed: A Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery. was just released in April. It continues the story of Mitzy, her real estate office, her fiery relationship with Alonzo Miramontes and the trouble and the Victorian mansion, which is more work than they were bargaining for. In Eminent Domain, Mitzy has to contend with the Feds, the City Council and just possibly the mafia (again!) And of course, she has to figure out if her business sense and her Christian values go together or not. (You know, is it okay to send the FBI a pod of toilets when they really want the antique furniture?)

2. How did you come up with the idea to write this book?

I love cozy mysteries and really wanted to create an amateur detective that hadn’t been overdone. As a Realtor she has access to all sorts of private property and every new job is a new cast of characters. It seemed a natural fit.

3. How long have you been writing?

Probably since I first learned my ABC’s. I’ve been writing novels since 2008 and before that was an award winning playwright.

4. Is this the first book you ever wrote, or do you have more (published or unpublished) that you wrote before?

Foreclosed, the first Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery, is the first novel I’ve completed. But I’ve got four or five that didn’t hatch, so to speak.

5. Describe your writing process.

I scratch ideas on any paper I can find. Then I organize them, outline them to make sure there is enough there for a proper novel, and then I get to it. Eventually I story board it to make sure the story is actually in order.. Then I send it off to every writer’s best friend, my amazing editor.

6. Who are some of your literary influences? P.G. Wodehouse for his overthetop, lighthearted humor. Agatha Christie for her tightly written, perfect mysteries. And Neil Simon, the king of dialogue.

7. What kind of books do you read, and is it different from what you write?

I read tons of cozy mysteries, like the Jane Austen series by Stephanie Barron. I also love lengthy family sagas like And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmier. Another favorite was Life of Pi. I just love really well written, meaty books.

8. Where do you come up with your characters? Do you base them on people you've seen or met?

Inspiration can come from anywhere! But I do see parts of my family, myself, and my friends in my characters. One of my favorite characters in the Mitzy series is Ben the graphic designer. He’s a namby pamby kind of gadget geek. I’ve known so many of those guys over the years. Ben is my homage to their absurdity.

9. Do the names of your characters reflect anything or mean anything in particular? Is there a reason behind the names you choose?

Well, Neuhaus/new house…it just seemed perfect. A great moment for me was when a real Realtor named Neuhaus who had read my books contacted me on Facebook. Otherwise, I go for names that are legit to the era and age of the person and just “sound” right to me.

10. Is this part of a series, and if so, when will the next book be available?

Yes, yes it is. The third installment, tentatively called Death Buys a Condo will be available this winter.

Marketing blahs

Well. It seems like forever since I've posted just a regular old post from me, about this journey I've undertaken to publish my own novel. It's hard work. Harder than I thought possible. I spend hours online, until my eyes are dry and my contacts blurring. Doing what?

Not writing. Not editing. But that evil monster, Marketing. Yes, sometimes it seems it has taken over my life, and all my time for writing. It's shameless, and somewhat embarrassing, to have to plug my book. Tell people I don't even know that they should read it. Even giving it away for review is somewhat akin to begging ('please give me a good review!') I pray as I hit 'send' on my years of hard work, sweat, and laboring over word choices, sentence structure, dialogue order...all for free, in the hands of a reader who might hate it and give a 1-star review.

(Thank God I haven't gotten one of those yet).

So, is all that marketing work paying off? Are my hours of discussing Twilight translating into sales? Hard to say. It's a slow process. I can only hope it will one day lead somewhere. For now, I'm setting up a blog tour. More hours of work. I will post the dates when I have it all figured out.

Guest Author: Angry Vince (an interview)

Hey guys! I've decided to start letting some other writers do my work for me, since I'm a lazy blogger and all. So from now on, until further notice, my Mondays will be dedicated to authors I think are awesome, or books I think are awesome, or interviews I think are awesome. Maybe a stop on a blog tour, or a guest post, or whatever said author wants to write about. So, without further ado, please welcome Angry Vince!

1. Tell us about your current work.

Have just finished “What Makes You So Angry Vince” http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054YG79U Blurb:

Many people have written insightful autobiographies and heart-rending stories of their own tragic lives, tales of heartbreak, hardship and redemption that leave the reader emotionally captivated and gasping for air. In a world full of millions seeking meaning in their own lives, these books stand out as beacons in the dark.

Angry Vince has read none of these books.

He is vaguely aware of them and, after someone explained the basic concept to him, thought that this would be an easy gig and could help pay off his Nigerian ferreting debts.

Through a collection of half-remembered episodes and gently constructed lies, Angry Vince explores what has taken him from a young boy contemplating suicide over a library book to an ex-world-traveling ex-karate instructor with a (former) drinking problem and children of his own. His careful exploration of his memories through a combination of hypnotherapy and rubber mallets have slowly revealed the bizarre events that have made him who he is today.

2. How did you come up with the idea to write this book?

“What Makes You So…” was devised as a means of deconstructing my own nostalgia through revisiting the events of my youth. The premise is that Angry Vince is so because grown-up life pales in comparison to his earlier years, the stories told give lie to that.

3. How long have you been writing?

Off and on for decades, published long ago before having to find a ‘real job’ and only now publishing again.

4. Is this the first book you ever wrote, or do you have more (published or unpublished) that you wrote before?

I have two unpublished works which I will be updating in the near future, but in the meantime I am finishing off “Hans and Stefan: Space Panzer Commandos” and “Have Sex, Will Travel”

5. Describe your writing process.

Day dream, make mental notes and then write at a hundred miles an hour when I get some free time.

6. Who are some of your literary influences?

Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams, both for their unstated British wit and their view on the absurd.

7. What kind of books do you read, and is it different from what you write?

I tend to read a lot of Pratchett, re-read Adams (unfortunately there will be no more books there), but also science fiction (Turtledove) and plenty of Frederick Forsyth. Forsyth has been going for decades and has a relatively simply flow to his writing which belies the incredible amount of research he does.

8. Where do you come up with your characters? Do you base them on people you've seen or met? My not-quite-biographical works are based on real people, but caricatures of them.

For my fiction I start with the concept / sketch of a plot, build a character to fit and then see what they do.

9. Do the names of your characters reflect anything or mean anything in particular? Is there a reason behind the names you choose?

My protagonist in “Hans & Stefan” is named Hans Witzblattname – it’s a joke name ;-)

10. Is this part of a series, and if so, when will the next book be available?

“What Makes You So…” is being followed by “Have Sex, Will Travel” which is a not-quite-biographical novel regarding a dozen teenagers working in Japan. It contains murder, romance, suspense and lost train tickets.

Angry Vince

http://www.angryvince.com