tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38358035675193640782024-03-05T21:15:23.631-08:00Self Published AuthorsAmy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-18051272040012745872012-03-01T06:54:00.000-08:002012-03-01T06:54:20.754-08:00Self-published-Authors is MOVING!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hi everyone!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Whew, this year is already flying by. I've been busy, busy, busy and have had to make some difficult choices. Mostly where it comes to my writing time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The fact is, I LOVE promoting all of you. Plain and simple, you guys are amazing! But...I'm struggling to keep several blogs afloat. Time just isn't on my side.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So...for those of you who are supporting my blog (THANK YOU!) I am moving all of these posts, and future posts to my author blog <a href="http://www.amymilesbooks.blogspot.com/">http://www.amymilesbooks.blogspot.com</a> to condense my workload. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you have already been interviewed, don't worry, you're interview will not be lost. Only relocated. If you are waiting for an interview, as I know several of you are, please try to be patient with me as I make the merge. If you are someone interested in an interview for your new book send me an email at AmyLMiles@live.com I'd love to hear from you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thank you to each and every person who has viewed this site. I hope you will follow me to my author blog and continue to enjoy meeting the amazing authors that I have been privileged to meet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The changes will begin slowly, probably a few posts a day, but eventually this blog will be shut down. I will post this information on LinkedIn for those of you who have followed me there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thanks for your understanding. I look forward to a continued relationship with you in the future! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Writing.</span>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-45144708248368955932012-01-30T07:39:00.000-08:002012-01-30T07:43:25.845-08:00Free Author Interview: Sarah Spann<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_02MSPTksTszYNSjmW2vPXveFIA2IEauaqypGzirESdos78ia5PaqgoqcniVP055ZA3wFMsurc0WB7RmASpffdrMF_ly71rs97i_hlgCuSpCyKzonVxv46tCbjVNp950dVCLTmkpxvUgi/s1600/Wildflowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_02MSPTksTszYNSjmW2vPXveFIA2IEauaqypGzirESdos78ia5PaqgoqcniVP055ZA3wFMsurc0WB7RmASpffdrMF_ly71rs97i_hlgCuSpCyKzonVxv46tCbjVNp950dVCLTmkpxvUgi/s1600/Wildflowers.jpg" /></a><span style="background-color: #b4a7d6; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">Author Name:</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> Sarah Spann</span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">Where can we find your book?</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: 17px;">Wildflowers Come Back</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> is available in ebook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, iBookstore, Kobo Books, Sony Reader Store, and Diesel eBook Store. It is also available in paperback at Amazon.</span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">How much does it cost?</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> The ebook is currently listed at $2.99 while the paperback is currently listed at $12.99.</span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">Tell us a little about your book.</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: 17px;">Wildflowers Come Back</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> takes readers on a haunting journey through an historic, haunted Santa Fe inn. The story follows Lyss–the snarky female protagonist who habitually lives her life according to the expectations of others–as she navigates through the shattered pieces of her life after the break-up with her long-term boyfriend leaves her jobless and living in a cheap motel. However, Lyss won’t be down and out for long. Just as a new year begins, Lyss is presented with the opportunity to start over with a live-in position at the High Desert Crest Inn; an opportunity which takes her down a path that will forever change her life. She will discover her gift, the trappings of sin and the outlasting effects of karmic bindings, as the past comes back to haunt her. In the meantime the resurgence of a serial killer in Santa Fe has left everyone on edge. Has a murderous cult–once believed to be dormant–reawakened? Only one person can help stop the violence, but she doesn’t even know how to help herself. Will Lyss listen to the voices that haunt her? Or will she trust the one person who can’t be trusted? You'll have to read the book to find out.</span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">Do you have any upcoming projects?</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> Yes. I am currently working on the sequel to </span><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: 17px;">Wildflowers Come Back</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> which is titled </span><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: 17px;">Wildflowers Come Back: Karmic Flames</span><span style="line-height: 17px;">. It is set to be released in March 2012.</span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">What has your journey as a writer been like?</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> It has been an exhilarating ride filled with amazing highs and not-so-fun lows. There have definitely been days where I questioned my own sanity. However, at the end of the day it truly has been a fun journey.</span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">Why did you choose to self publish?</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> I was excited by all the changes in the publishing industry and the strides so many indie authors are making. I have a very entrepreneurial geared mind and personality, and the self-publishing route really compliments that for me at this point in my life and career.</span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">Would you do it again?</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> Yes, for sure. It hasn't been easy, but I take great pride in the path I have chosen for my career.</span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">Please share some advice to help future authors.</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> I guess my advice would be that you're going to have bad days, and you need to remember that's okay. Just remember that your lows don't define you. Stay confident and be patient. Don't rush things.</span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">Is there anything unique about yourself that you would like your readers to know?</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> Readers should probably know that I can talk and sing with my mouth shut. While that has absolutely nothing to do with my writing, it's still kinda awesome-ish. </span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: underline;">Author Bio:</span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCGvJKYoVWgzRX3sd3_voAGY4_NSA9O-isMscF_xq2vZslBEdfZJlEGD6JIgVrPEnos886iv_cClFozRbvtEIsFaDC2WHljJnL8ABI4M5JROKJ0lQS2TTur5G0Jq_duvc6ObfXXbf0TF2W/s1600/Sara+Spann.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #b4a7d6; color: black;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCGvJKYoVWgzRX3sd3_voAGY4_NSA9O-isMscF_xq2vZslBEdfZJlEGD6JIgVrPEnos886iv_cClFozRbvtEIsFaDC2WHljJnL8ABI4M5JROKJ0lQS2TTur5G0Jq_duvc6ObfXXbf0TF2W/s1600/Sara+Spann.jpg" /></span></a><span style="background-color: #b4a7d6; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></u></b><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="line-height: 17px;">Author Sarah Spann is the type of person who doesn’t have a favorite color. A gypsy at heart who was raised on country music, green chile and change.</span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="line-height: 17px;">Since 2007 Sarah has worked as a freelance writer specializing in travel and style. She has written articles, web content and blogs for individuals, small businesses, and large corporations. In addition, she spent a year working as a pop music journalist and editor. In September 2011 Sarah published her debut novel </span><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: 17px;">Wildflowers Come Back</span><span style="line-height: 17px;"> as an indie author.</span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="line-height: 17px;">When Sarah isn’t writing or designing she can be found dining on gourmet food, spending time at the opera, and taming lions. Well…not really. Actually, you can find her making a mess in the kitchen as she tries out new and impossibly difficult recipes, watching all of her favorite shows and/or football on TV, and playing with her lazy, fat cat.</span></span>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-14848386082933937352012-01-06T13:12:00.000-08:002012-01-06T13:12:05.150-08:00Forbidden Release<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">My teen fantasy ebook, Forbidden, has just been released as a soft cover print on demand book for only $12.99</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxtXTRH6Sfb90rwK52FPN1QaTVleWQn5lZOqzrxF-s290WBoLQ71z7UiOC-aDGzgDyvRAyyaLOh7ctjaROG94NSsC_w9A0yH_KMrT-yfzJRoOjy55KiHpIBuLJK36q6uy5Q6nhFPCPfP_/s1600/Forbidden+softcover+book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxtXTRH6Sfb90rwK52FPN1QaTVleWQn5lZOqzrxF-s290WBoLQ71z7UiOC-aDGzgDyvRAyyaLOh7ctjaROG94NSsC_w9A0yH_KMrT-yfzJRoOjy55KiHpIBuLJK36q6uy5Q6nhFPCPfP_/s1600/Forbidden+softcover+book.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Book Description:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Roseline Enescue has been called many things but there is only one name that had endured for over three hundred years. Vampire. A myth so deeply rooted in fear and false beliefs that it has turned humans against all Immortals.<br />
<br />
Trapped within an abusive marriage to Vladimir Enescue, the man responsible for the Dracula myth, Roseline's soul cries out for freedom. Willing to risk everything for the chance to live a normal life, Roseline escapes her husband's clutches and flees to America. She enrolls in a prep school with plans to slide through senior year unnoticed. <br />
<br />
But Roseline's hopes of remaining off the grid are shattered when she meets Gabriel Marston. Fear keeps her teetering on the edge of agony as she fights the forbidden bond that holds them together. As their lives entwine, Roseline soon discovers that Gabriel is much more than he appears.</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have had some great reviews for Forbidden and am really excited to see where this book takes me. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">If you are interested in purchasing a physical copy you can go to </span><br />
<a href="https://www.createspace.com/3723015">https://www.createspace.com/3723015</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For a $0.99 copy of the ebook you can visit my Amazon page:</span><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-The-Arotas-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B0063KE52K">http://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-The-Arotas-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B0063KE52K</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thank you to each and every one of you that you have supported me through this process. You are the reason I write each day!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">The sequel to Forbidden, Arotas, will be available within a month. You can read the teaser for Arotas on my author blog <a href="http://www.amymilesbooks.blogspot.com/">http://www.amymilesbooks.blogspot.com/</a></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/book" rel="tag"><img alt=" " src="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16x13.png?tag=book" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-left: 0.4em; vertical-align: middle;" />book</a>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-69290049193423464622012-01-01T17:57:00.000-08:002012-01-03T08:40:58.867-08:00Free Author Interview: Leslie E. Stern<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHSNclQiecn-_2Lsd8e1wL99AllCWS-I-mO6c2IhTcJeNTxW88xlh2AOFst0QUsI-G4xeT-qr2vo5InpHLKab_aHHc19hYBVxKq2OytkaeAMGzBEe65ottXiT0Ae8lFkro9DiStUAbVv5p/s1600/Touched_up_Final_Cover%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200px" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHSNclQiecn-_2Lsd8e1wL99AllCWS-I-mO6c2IhTcJeNTxW88xlh2AOFst0QUsI-G4xeT-qr2vo5InpHLKab_aHHc19hYBVxKq2OytkaeAMGzBEe65ottXiT0Ae8lFkro9DiStUAbVv5p/s200/Touched_up_Final_Cover%255B1%255D.jpg" width="142px" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Author Name</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">: Leslie E. Stern</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Where can we find your book?:</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"> All the usual outlets. Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com, and if you want a signed copy you can go to my website leslieestern.com. Let me also mention that the cheapest place to purchase the Kindle edition is to download it directly from my website. The only place to purchase the hardbound edition is also from my website.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">How much does it cost?:</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"> $14.95 for the paperback. $24.95 for the hardbound.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Tell us a little about your book</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">: </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">Dr. Emma Weiss is a beautiful, intelligent, woman who moves to <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Savannah</city>, <country-region w:st="on">Georgia</country-region></place> and falls in love with gorgeous Jake Stanton and believes that he has fallen in love with her. Then she learns that he is actually a long-struggling drug addict. Thus, Emma inadvertently becomes entangled in a web of deceit, drugs, and the law. Can Emma cope with Jake’s addiction to drugs and more importantly, can she overcome her addiction to him?</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">Do you have any upcoming projects?:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"> My book of poetry "Images from my Soul" is available through all the usual outlets now. I have written the screenplay for "Betrayal Beneath the Spanish Moss" and it is being pitched in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Hollywood</place></city> as we speak. My next project is "Living with a Legend", a non-fiction book of anecdotes about my step-father. Iwao Takamoto designed about 85% of the characters at Hanna-Barbera, as well as worked on some Disney classics such as "Lady and the Tramp" and "Cinderella". It's a heart-warming look at this gentle genius and is filled with drawings done by him and for him. It's already gotten a great deal of pre-publication buzz.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">What has your journey as a writer been like?:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"> It's been a long and rocky road. I have always written for my own enjoyment, having written my first short story when I was ten. I spent my career in public relations, primarily writing. I wrote "Dreams Surpassed", which is my first novel and I hope will be published after "Living with a Legend", I was young and hopeful. When I wrote "Betrayal", it was a story that just had to come out. I finished the first draft in three months, unlike "Dreams Surpassed" which was a five year proposition and still needs a major edit. I was too impatient to find a publisher for "Betrayal", so I self-published. Big mistake! Even with years of marketing and public relations experience, it was still difficult.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">Why did you choose to self-publish?:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"> Impatience, pure and simple.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">Would I do it again?:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"> Never!! Too expensive, too much work, and little results.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">Please share some advice to help future authors</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">: Don't self-publish unless you can afford to hire a marketing firm to back you up and be prepared to spend a great deal of money on book tours without seeing a profit. Go the traditional route and perfect your query letters to send to agents or publishers. A small publishing house is still better than self-publishing. Do an excellent proposal and get it out there.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">On the writing end, start with a basic outline. Don't just sit down and write. You'll never get finished and you'll edit for the rest of your life. An outline also helps writer's block. There will always be a portion of the book you won't feel like writing. Those are the days when you can work on a different part of the book if you have an outline.</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkhtuFYZotHf5hZ4L3yoT2O_K5Ruf2OclRrUDysqazW-xFKpB-5H2mrtWhH0jhZ7AqNO8ahRmJ-fDRkfV6-AIFJ1UNXODWTI_v1ZqX3Kizbc6SHEC1McW_e22S7QC9VQv72jSaWUbjr5aO/s1600/Leslie+Stern.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkhtuFYZotHf5hZ4L3yoT2O_K5Ruf2OclRrUDysqazW-xFKpB-5H2mrtWhH0jhZ7AqNO8ahRmJ-fDRkfV6-AIFJ1UNXODWTI_v1ZqX3Kizbc6SHEC1McW_e22S7QC9VQv72jSaWUbjr5aO/s1600/Leslie+Stern.bmp" /></a> </div><br />
<br />
<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/book" rel="tag"><img alt=" " src="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16x13.png?tag=book" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-left: 0.4em; vertical-align: middle;" />book</a>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-87257173563037639382012-01-01T17:27:00.000-08:002012-01-01T17:33:49.110-08:00Free Author Interview: Gill Shutt<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0m2T7OP-z69Lx5rAotFnDizSD3KO5UTQSRfw102q-5joAFboTmNfAn1NBkMl19gwVOYQrQCYzEOfc3WvZEb5XMCX6SSCFPcVVSH2qMR6h-2qmsP0cqLN363syzANnh7qw86dhVe-hddfO/s1600/The+Legends+of+light.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0m2T7OP-z69Lx5rAotFnDizSD3KO5UTQSRfw102q-5joAFboTmNfAn1NBkMl19gwVOYQrQCYzEOfc3WvZEb5XMCX6SSCFPcVVSH2qMR6h-2qmsP0cqLN363syzANnh7qw86dhVe-hddfO/s1600/The+Legends+of+light.bmp" /></a><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Gill Shutt</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">You can find my book here: <a href="http://greyhartpress.com/our-fantasy-stories/the-legends-of-light/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #a1753a;">http://greyhartpress.com/our-fantasy-stories/the-legends-of-light/</span></a> where you can find links to all the e-book publishers who stock it. At the moment I’m afraid it’s only available as an e-book.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Cost is $2.99 or £1.71 but you can get the first of the six stories for free so you can try before you buy.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The Legends of Light is a fantasy saga written in six poems. Which sounds weird, I know, but the ancient people told stories in poetry form long before us writers came along with our prose. It’s the story of Elena the Fey and her family. Each of the poems is a story on its own but together they span four generations. They contain love, war, quests, you name it it’s in there and there’s dragons, elves, goblins, wizards and a couple of things never heard of before.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Upcoming projects include three more novelettes, short novels, whatever you want to call them. All fantasy but this time prose. I’m trying to get together a short free to go with each so everyone gets either a taster for what’s to come or just a free sample of my work. Next to come out is Endings, the story of Kiri and the death of the Stone God in who’s temple she was raised. I don’t want to give too much away. I’ve written a short about her parents and how she ended up raised by the Templers of the Stone God.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">My journey as a writer? Up, down, round a few bends and more down than up. That just about covers it. I’ve had poems and short stories published here and there but nothing major. I’ve had enough rejections to paper the Albert Hall. Then I heard about Tim Taylor and Greyhart Press which he started up to publish his own work and then began taking on a few lucky others. To say I was surprised when I got the acceptance is putting it mildly. There’s nothing like the feeling you get when someone says ‘I really like your work’. In fact it was a bigger high than actually seeing my book on Amazon.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">I chose a small Indie Press because I discovered that they usually read your work. The number of big publishers who email you within the hour saying it’s not what they are looking for is too many to mention. How do they know if they don’t read them? Tim has written a lovely blog saying how he never thought he’d publish poetry but once he read The Legends of Light he realised that fantasy and poetry go hand in hand, so he changed his mind. Indie Presses are adaptable and they care about their authors and the work they put out. Because there is usually only one or two people doing all the work they care more, it’s as much their book as the authors in that they have edited, got the art work and formatted it. And if it’s done badly then they don’t get any money and they don’t get the readers for other projects. </span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Obviously I’m doing it again as Tim has said yes to three more projects so I’m hoping to keep him busy for a while. By then I should have written some more. It’s given me a lot more confidence in my work. In the back of my mind there’s always been a small voice saying ‘Are you any good at this or should you just stop trying?’ Now I’ve shut them up I can carry on.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">To all the future authors out there... keep writing, don’t give up because someone says no. Every piece you write will hopefully be building up your experience and making your work better. If you want to ask someone what they think... DON’T ask friends and family, they’ll love it, how could they not, they love you. But they can’t be critical which is what you need. You need someone who doesn’t know you well and who can help you to improve on what you’ve got. And finally EDIT, EDIT then leave it in a draw, come back later and EDIT!</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">A fact not everyone knows about me is that I suffer from fibromyalgia which is a debilitating illness caused by too much of the pain transmitting chemical substance P in my brain and, they have found that the brain in fibro sufferers never shuts off so we never get a decent night’s sleep. The scans that show which parts of the brain are firing at any one time show that the area connected with sleep carries on working even when we are asleep so we never get the deep restorative sleep that ‘normal’ people get. And the parts that deal with pain are firing all the time as well. And small bump or scratch is magnified about five times for me. So I’m in pain all the time and constantly exhausted. When my youngest was little I had days when it hurt to give a hug and that tore me up inside.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Writing and read help me to forget about the pain and exhaustion for a while so, in a way, its therapy. But on the bad days I can’t concentrate enough to string a sentence together and if I try and type I just get a lot of corrections to do because my fingers hit all the wrong keys. Sometimes I can read but usually I find I can’t concentrate. It’s like those nights when you try and read before bedtime and find yourself reading the same paragraph over and over again without taking any of it in.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-gStEOUmJ-IyfW1VKjZGmZkSS5TGDItJQNM3ekKfHQQ9GJ1H6vi7r42KLUIWjfokRTqB2W0d_bBzhsik28N68EDc0vIkrzu7fG_8DZsmwb2Ze8HlQZoLKa5gx2WtfOBlItu-3vkr1Ml53/s1600/Gill+Shutt.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-gStEOUmJ-IyfW1VKjZGmZkSS5TGDItJQNM3ekKfHQQ9GJ1H6vi7r42KLUIWjfokRTqB2W0d_bBzhsik28N68EDc0vIkrzu7fG_8DZsmwb2Ze8HlQZoLKa5gx2WtfOBlItu-3vkr1Ml53/s1600/Gill+Shutt.bmp" /></a> <br />
<br />
</div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Here’s a short piece of the first poem</span></div><div align="center" class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt; text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">THE QUEST FOR ELENA THE FAIR</span></u></b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The hull of The Riever rode high on the waves</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">As the party set out on its quest.</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Three knights and a squire, to care for their needs,</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Looked seawards with hope in their breast.</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The creak of the deck and the snap of the sails,</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Pure white with a single gold flower,</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">And the shouts of the crew as they pulled on the ropes,</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Began the long trip to the tower.</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">On an isle in the Sea of the Vanishing Mists</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Stood a tower of clouds and moonlight.</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">When the moon rose up full, in the black of the night,</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">It appeared, glowing golden and white.</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In the fullness of day no isle could be seen,</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">As the Vanishing Mists wrapped it round,</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">By the magic of moonlight alone it appeared, </span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">White tower upon solid ground.</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">And there on the isle lived the source of the quest,</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Fair Lady Elena the Fey.</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Each knight carried hope they would win the maid’s hand,</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Steal her heart and then bear her away.</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">For they all thought they knew what the lady required,</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">And each thought, alone, they were right.</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">One handsome and proud, one learned and grave,</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">While the other had muscle and might.</span></div><div class="ecxmsobodytext" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/book" rel="tag"><img alt=" " src="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16x13.png?tag=book" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-left: 0.4em; vertical-align: middle;" />book</a>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-19287905858317489122011-12-14T08:55:00.000-08:002011-12-14T08:55:32.301-08:00Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">Do you have a novel that is good enough to snag a publisher?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If so, you might want to think about entering it into the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough novel award.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">Prize: 15,000 advance AND a publishing contract with Penguin Publishing</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">When can you submit: Open submissions are accepted between January 23rd and run through Feb 2, 2012</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">What type of manuscript can be submitted?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazon is offering submissions in two categories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>General and Young Adult.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">Who can submit?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone with an unpublished or self published novel</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">How can I find the submission guidelines?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Follow this link.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breakthrough-Novel-Award-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=332264011">http://www.amazon.com/Breakthrough-Novel-Award-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=332264011</a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">I entered this competition in 2011 with my debut novel, Defiance Rising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made it through a couple cuts before my novel met its untimely end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year I plan to submit my newly self published teen fantasy, Forbidden.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">If you have a novel that you want to submit, now is the time to give it a thorough once over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look for the basic mistakes that could cost you a place in finals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shine up your novel until it’s so brilliant the judges can’t help but fall in love with it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">Best of luck!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me know how you do!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><br />
<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/book" rel="tag"><img alt=" " src="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16x13.png?tag=book" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-left: 0.4em; vertical-align: middle;" />book</a>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-23748364723970170662011-12-09T06:54:00.000-08:002011-12-09T06:54:40.917-08:00Running rampant<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16pt;">For those of you that are patiently awaiting a post of your book review or author interview, I want to say thank you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Illness has been running rampant through my home the past couple weeks and I haven’t had near the time to post as I would like to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to mention read!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16pt;">With the holidays quickly approaching I will do my best to post as often as I can, but as I’m sure it’s the case with your families, things tend to get a bit insane closer to Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you for your patience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16pt;">Wishing each and every one of you a very merry Christmas!</span></div>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-8517557337645905052011-12-02T20:09:00.000-08:002011-12-02T20:09:31.565-08:00The Christmas Messenger<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">I have just finished putting the final touches on my new Christmas short story, <em>The Christmas Messenger. </em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: medium;"><span itemprop="description">Have you ever wondered what the angels were thinking during the events leading up to Jesus' birth? The Christmas Messenger is a short story that gives you a glimpse of one angel's role in bringing forth the Savior. Experience Gabriel's doubts, his confusion and his joy as he walks step by step with the people whose faith changed the world.</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: medium;">This short story is now available on Smashwords in all ereader formats and will be available on Amazon within 48 hours for only $0.99</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: medium;">If you or someone you love are looking for a new version of the traditional heartwarming Christmas story, then <em>The Christmas Messenger </em>might just be what you are looking for. </span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size: large;">This Christmas I want to share the love that I have for Jesus with as many people as I can. If you download <em>The Christmas Messenger </em>and enjoy it, please tell your friends and church family's so together we can help pass on the good news of what this season is really all about. </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSuT_B9sF-QCAWLC65Kl6HQa7yPtL8voykvu0NWPcs1GsTthaal_RT8N_YLzyiibXwsg48y1xBifX6GsNC4QYYonGhxyt2nuXzgIwkLZrjMWSuU8LZsRald5NGKl4CQFarSCMfCgnIEY1d/s1600/The+Christmas+Messenger+Book+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" height="320px" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSuT_B9sF-QCAWLC65Kl6HQa7yPtL8voykvu0NWPcs1GsTthaal_RT8N_YLzyiibXwsg48y1xBifX6GsNC4QYYonGhxyt2nuXzgIwkLZrjMWSuU8LZsRald5NGKl4CQFarSCMfCgnIEY1d/s320/The+Christmas+Messenger+Book+cover.jpg" width="242px" /></a></div><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/book" rel="tag"><img style="border:0;vertical-align:middle;margin-left:.4em" src="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16x13.png?tag=book" alt=" " />book</a>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-64874979384133205072011-12-02T12:18:00.000-08:002011-12-02T12:18:52.831-08:00Free Author Interview: Y. Correa<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKzw2jqbApzzu41IOdRhh9_HCek66yawfmSOO6I4UMbiqpRBoukB4f510uVtgmeQ7UnKJof2k0GaDxBuJKr1t6_jSUtYarqPOcY9Ep3lHEl0sF5401_kYRQpMI62yAZbpwgA8uE3C8gDY/s1600/In+love+with+Death.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBKzw2jqbApzzu41IOdRhh9_HCek66yawfmSOO6I4UMbiqpRBoukB4f510uVtgmeQ7UnKJof2k0GaDxBuJKr1t6_jSUtYarqPOcY9Ep3lHEl0sF5401_kYRQpMI62yAZbpwgA8uE3C8gDY/s1600/In+love+with+Death.bmp" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Author Name:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;"> Y. Correa</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Where can we find your book?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Http://fatebooks.yolasite.com</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">www.smashwords.com</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">www.scribd.com</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">How much does it cost?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">It is free to the public. I like to share my art. Not charge for it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Tell us a little about your book.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">My stories are Interracial/Multicultural, paranormal, fantasy stories.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Do you have any upcoming projects?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">I am in the process of writing two more stories. The first is the third part of my Fate Books Collection. “In Love With Death” was the first. “La Encantadora/the enchantress” was the second. And the third, which is what I am currently working on is called “Finding Death”. Besides that one, I am also writing a Medieval Interracial love story that I've named “MarcoAntonio & Amaryllis”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">What has your journey as a writer been like?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Like a Rollercoaster. Some good days. Some bad days. But all adventurous. I love writing, so I feel like the good goes along with the bad and vise-versa. Because the bad times, just make the good times all the better.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Why did you choose to self publish?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">I refused to let anyone bring me down. I knew that I had a great story. I knew that the public would love it, and the only reason that traditional publishers rejected my stories was because they believed that the genre was too competitive. However, they all agreed that the story was great and the writing style was also good. So, I decided to make my own dreams come true.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Would you do it again?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Yes! Yes! Yes! I would do it again, and again, and again! In order to share my stories with the public, I would self-publish for the rest of my days if necessary. I love my art. I want to share my art with the world, and if self-publishing is the only way of doing that – then, yes! Absolutely, yes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Please share some advice to help future authors.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Don't let “the man” get you down! Make your own dreams come true. An opinion is like an unnamed body part, everybody has one... yet, only you can make of your life, what you want of it. Go for it!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Do you have a favorite character and why?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Yes. I do. All of the Archangels that I created in my stories are my favorite characters. Everything that they are is amazing to me, therefore they are all my favorites!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Who is your favorite author and why?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">I have two. Stephenie Myers and Nora Roberts. I just love their stories. I think they are amazingly talented. I truly respect them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">What one person has impacted your life the most?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">My youngest son, Gino. He is Sabot-Autistic. And seeing him live everyday just as happy as could be, regardless of his limitations make me push forward no matter what the obstacle. If he can do it – then so can I.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">What drives you to write?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Everything. Everywhere I look, I find inspiration. Every day, I see something that pushes my mind to unexpected places and makes me want to write about it. It may be because of the way that I see the world, or maybe because of the way my mind works, but whatever the reason; I write.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">How did you create your characters?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">My characters were mainly inspired by my own family, but also by my own imagination.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">What time of day do you write best?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">In the middle of the night.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">How do you juggle life around your writing?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">I have no idea... I just do. Lol</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRrywcO42-XSE8jGj2mLpbhaXxVMo8BqgKTppbbMuXeEY9LhHfCUBZhUpTpRxu7c-q5IDkHLX26NF6dteAO8K1aOWsF-vO8J5PF-hqQexW8ejak1wZWlhxMYdV48-b_yQNVktVOd07ivmr/s1600/Y+Correa.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRrywcO42-XSE8jGj2mLpbhaXxVMo8BqgKTppbbMuXeEY9LhHfCUBZhUpTpRxu7c-q5IDkHLX26NF6dteAO8K1aOWsF-vO8J5PF-hqQexW8ejak1wZWlhxMYdV48-b_yQNVktVOd07ivmr/s1600/Y+Correa.bmp" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Sample of “In Love with Death”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Prologue</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I never really thought that there was much more to life, than what I was already living. The monotonous day to day, non eventful, flow of things that continued each and every day. Get up, get ready, go to work, deal with day to day problems, listen to family fuss and moan and do it again... Every day.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">So, my choice of escape and excitement? Horror movies. I mean, honestly, something had to give... I would hope. Don't get me wrong. I loved my family, friends and work. But, at the end of the day, I still felt empty. Lonely.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">It's amazing what can happen when you least expect anything to happen. How one crack in the thin glass of life, can shatter it entirely. So, we have to choose. Do we mend it or leave the crack there? And, if we leave it there; is it worth letting everything fall apart into a million teeny tiny pieces? Well, honestly, I didn't know. One thing I was sure of though, I chose to let my heart mend. Would it be for good or for bad? Well, only God knew.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">You see, what most of my family didn't understand was that I really did love her. My abuela (my grandmother). Her loss, completely left <i>me at a loss</i>. Abuela, was my mentor, my guiding light. She was capable of showing and teaching me things that no one else could. She was also so loving and comforting in almost every way. My grandmother, was my shield. It hurt more than words could explain to lose her.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I must admit though, it's funny what unexpected things can occur when you least presume anything to happen. Things, that wind up changing your life entirely. For ever. <i>He</i> was there, in the most unexpected place, at the least anticipated time; and much like a whirlwind blew me off of my feet. With something as simple as saying, “Hello again, Sophia. Are you well?” Why should he have cared? It was not his concern, but he made it his own, and in doing so, made <i>me his own</i>.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">All that being said, the last thing that I would have anticipated, was all that would follow, when he came into my life. Everything! Every last thing, changed, never to return to it's original form. The irony of life.... <i>or death</i>, is truly staggering.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Chapter 1</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">A dull roar. That's all I could hear. Souls. That's all I could see. What was this that I was living? If you could call it “living” at all. I didn't see people, but shadows. I didn't feel life, but death. I didn't feel emotions, but emptiness. I didn't feel... <i>anything</i>. It was all a blur. Clustered together in an array of colors and shapes. The sound, that low roar... it was difficult to make out. My thoughts were focused, not so much on the sound, as they were on the colors. So many people. All different. Some good. Some bad. Some breathing. Some barely breathing. ALL SOULS. It was funny what you could see when you stood in the middle of the Emergency Room. Who survived. Who didn't. Who cried. Who laughed. Who mourned. Who celebrated. Yet, all of them, everyone; <i>A soul</i>. A soul for the taking. </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I remembered... almost.... what it was like when I floated in the middle of this cluster myself. Before my life... or should I say; <i>my death</i>... changed forever. It felt like aeons ago. I didn't want this. I never asked for it. Why was I not allowed to be like everyone else? “<i>Fate</i>” This was the answer I was given. “<i>Fate</i>” What a bleak and meaningless word to express something no one can truly explain.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I wanted... No! <i>I needed</i>, a change. My vast emptiness had drowned me in a lagoon of unwillingness. In a river of curiosity. In an ocean of questions. Questions, unanswered by the Higher Sources. Questions, that still lingered in the clouds of my emptiness. <i>Why</i> <i>am I</i>? Why do I exist? What's the purpose? When (if at all) would it change?</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I had a plan. A plan to subtly replace myself once again into this world of colorful souls. To persuasively introduce myself yet again, to <i>THIS</i> my most intriguing temptation. I believe I am, whom I once was. <i>This,</i> wasn't me. <i>This</i>, is who I was forced to be. Yet, I fought. I disputed this unwanted persona that had been involuntarily cast upon me. <i>One day</i>! One day, I would be who I once was. One day! This monster would cease to exists.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Bed two. The doctors, the running, the yelling. The focus on bringing her back. It was futile. It was sad to say that she was just a child. A baby. Five years of age. Why did FATE find in necessary to take her? She had yet to even start to live. It was not my choice. I only followed orders. Her soul was lovely, just as a little girl should be. A soft pink. Like a princess. Beautiful.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Come child.” I extended my hand so that she would take it.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Where am I going?” she asked. The innocence in her voice was heart breaking. Or would be, if I had a heart.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“I'm taking you to a safe place. Somewhere that you will never feel pain again. You will be happy there, sweet child.”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Cindy” She said. “My name is Cindy.”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“A beautiful name, for a beautiful girl.” her smile seemed as if it could quite literally light up the room. </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Well Cindy, do you see that very pretty light?”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Yes.” she said with bright eyes.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Walk into it. Go on child. Pretty Cindy.”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“But why? Where's mommy and daddy? Why do I have to go?” there they were. The questions that always came up after I had collected them.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Don't worry, Cindy. Your grandmother is there waiting for you. I promise. Before you know it, Mommy and Daddy will be there with you also.” What else was I to say to such a new and delicate creature?</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Okay...” she said, not so convinced that what I was telling her was the truth. She obeyed nonetheless. When she entered, she realized that my words were true and secure.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Grammy!!” she called out with utter happiness.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I turned. The mother, yelling. The father, failing at his attempt to be strong. The doctor, saddened. The confusion. The horrified faces. All of it, <i>ALL</i> too familiar. <i>ALL too real</i>. </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Time for my next assignment...</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I could see them. I could see through them. They could not see me. They could not hear me. I was invisible to them. My lifelessness simply hovered in the emptiness of it's days. Following orders. Swiftly moving like a shadow in the night. Not seen. Not heard. Not felt.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Inevitably, unwillingly noticed. Noticed only, by those whom had entered into my realm. Into my Principality.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">One A.M., darkness, silence. He was depressed. The prescription <i>was</i> strong enough. Strong enough, not to ease his pain, but to rid him of it once and for all. Twenty-five, in his prime, yet blind. Blinded to the people who cared about him, and to the life that could have come; had he held on just a little longer.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">These were not my favorite. I despised collecting them and passing them on to eternal darkness. I had no choice. He had made the choice for himself. Leaving me no alternative but to collect him.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">He should have waited for the Higher Sources to give him relief. Yet, he didn't.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Peter.” I knew his name well. I'd been watching him for some time.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“What? Who are you? Why are you in my bedroom?” The confusion was the consequence of his own actions.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“I'm here to get you.” A simple notion; I would have thought. </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“To get me for what? I should be sleeping.... I.... I took... You shouldn't be here!!” He remembered, however, he thought that something else should have happen. Possibly, he thought that he would be sleeping forever. <i>He was wrong</i>.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">He looked back, “Oh my God. That's me.... on my God! Oh no! No please... No!” It was too late to plea.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Come with me, Peter.” I instructed.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“But... th-th-this can't be..... right...” he swallowed hard, it was obvious that he was scared.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“You made your choice. Now follow me.” I had to be cold. I was not allowed to feel. The fear was oppressing him. They'd arrived for him. I truly despised this part.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“It's easier if you just go.”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“I don't want to go! I want to stay! I want to sleep!”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Then you leave them no choice. They <i>will</i> take you.”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">They grabbed him. Screaming, crying, fear! Dreadful fear! They dragged him into the utter eternal darkness. I was able to hear his last supplication for help. More fear. I was unable to help him. I was meant to simply follow orders.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Centuries have passed since my life, or my death, was changed forever. I still remember it clearly...</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><country-region w:st="on"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Comoros</span></u></i></b></country-region><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"> <place w:st="on">Africa</place></span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">200 A.D.</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I'd just turned twenty-one years of age. I was during that time called, Amari (meaning, Prince), this being my birth name. I was my father's, fourth wife's, first child. Kamau (meaning, Silent warrior), was my mothers sixth child; only the two of us being male. The rest of my mother's children were female. My father, Afolabi (meaning, Born with high status), was the Tribe Leader, he was allotted six wives. The other men in the tribe were allotted only three.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">My mother was, Nandi (meaning, Strong willed). I could see her face as if it were just yesterday. She was proud. I was my father's first born son. And, I was the only one whom resembled him the most. Which made me a preferred child in his eyes. This made my mother happy to the point of almost gloating. </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">My tribe and I were celebrating the twelfth birthday of my littlest brother, Kamau. The tradition called for a tribe wide hunt. This hunt was meant to prove the boy child, <i>a man</i>. The hunt, consisted of only the men in the tribe. The women, stayed behind in preparation for the enormous feast and festivities that would follow the hunt.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I was excited. Happy to be able to finally show my little brother the exhilaration of the hunt. It was a rush that had no explanation. Your blood pumping, your heart racing, your will at the brink of losing control. When you hunted – you were a man! Not just any man, but a <i>“Man of the tribe”</i>. This feeling had purpose. It had meaning. It defined me... <i>Us</i>!</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I can not put in to words the elation of the tribe when we unanimously lifted up a cry of triumph, when our prize animal had been slain. It was, <i>right</i>! </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I saw it. About fifty feet away. It was glorious. With a shinny golden coat and glowing blade like teeth. If I had to guess; I would say about two hundred pound of pure strength. A lioness. Bewildering, almost. However, not enough that it would cause me fear. My little brother crept up behind me. I motioned swiftly and quietly. Putting one finger over my mouth as to inform him of my instructions. I wanted him to be as quiet as possible. With my hand, I made a motion telling him to wait there. I moved forward carefully. I could feel the stares of my fellow tribes men, looking at me from in between the jungle greenery. I moved forward some more. Slowly lifted my spear, preparing to launch it to the beautiful beast.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">A sharp pain hit my back! Agony! Disorientation, confusion, then pain! My spear fell. Hit the ground. The lioness ran off. I look around. I saw Kamau. Shock in his eyes. His hand extended. Positioned as if he had just launched a spear of his own. More agonizing pain. I fell to my knees. Screams surrounded me. Running. More screams. I touched my back. I felt it lodged in the middle of my back. I felt it rip through my ribs and lungs. I gasped for air. I gasped again; harder this time. I heard my name being called from afar. Nothing now. No air, no movement, no pain. Just nothing... Blackness, darkness, emptiness...</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">My eye's opened. I was standing. I reached for my back and felt nothing there. I tried to look around and the area was foreign to me. This place was dark and empty. I could feel myself there, but I could not see myself there. I tried looking at my hands, but the darkness was so deep that my eyes failed to adjust to it. So, I could not make out my own hand in front of me. Or any other part of me, for that matter. I heard something. A wind. A motionless movement, as if something floated in the air. The lights came back on, yet, I still saw nothing. Nothing except for <i>it</i>. It was like nothing I'd ever seen. Possibly, over six feet tall. A ghost if you will. A white ghost, whom spoke in <i>my language</i>. In <i>my</i> words. It told me that I was chosen. That I would not pass on. That I was meant to linger amidst life and death. I was “<i>The Collector</i>”. </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“What is 'the collector'?” I asked </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“You would better know it as, '<i>Azriel Dévas</i>'. The '<i>Angel of Death</i>'...” the white ghost replied.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“What? Why me?” I could not grasp it. It seemed too surreal. Too unbelievable.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“I told you. You have been chosen. This is your <i>fate</i>.” Coldness in it's voice as well as a small hint of contempt. </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Such was the beginning of my existence; <i>or nonexistence</i>, as I prefer to call it.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">************</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Gabriel, had been itching for a good fight. It had been many, many years that he'd been planning on proving his point. Of what? Well, only he knew. Many years had past since the Higher Sources broke the news to Gabriel... </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">The Highest Ground</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Spirit Realm </span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><i><u><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">200 A.D.</span></u></i></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“It seems that it's time once again to choose a new 'Angel of Death'. Have you made a decision on my proposal, yet, Majesties?” Gabriel's, voice was calm, yet, anxiety hid behind his words.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Yes. We have.” the function of acting as a <i>Unit</i> defined Them. Therefore, They thought as one, They acted as one and They spoke as one. </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“So, what be your choice?”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“You are not yet ready, Gabriel.”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“What? Why? I've served you faithfully since the beginning of time. What is it about these humans that you must grant them all their hearts desires? You allow them freedom of will, yet, they walk all over you. And even still, you bestow unmerited privileges upon them. I deserve this much more then any of them do! None of them deserve a single thing!”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“We've chosen someone already, Gabriel. We believe that he will serve Us well.” proclaimed decision sounding in Their voice.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Whom? If I may ask?”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“His name is, Amari. Go fetch him. His time has come. Tell him, what his destiny has become.”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“Amari. Well.... As you wish, your Majesties.”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Watching as he walked away, His thought intertwined with Hers, “It seems that Gabriel is not very pleased with our decision.” to which They both agreed, “We fear that things are going to be difficult for our new, Azriel Dévas... We must keep watch.”</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">************</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I had been watching an older lady in the ICU. <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Lourdes</place></city>. She'd been here for weeks. Heart disease. What an odd family she had, though. I don't really think I'd ever seen anything like them before. Most families I have come across, either hated or loved each other. No in between. These people were different. It seems as though they loved and hated each other. Lourdes, however, was the grandmother. Her soul was a brilliant yellow. It was quite impressive. A mother and a teacher. </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I could see that she was genuinely loved and respected by them all. That much was obvious... To anyone. I can't say for sure why I'd been so intrigued by her and her family. It's almost like I'd been magnetized by the humor and the drama amidst them. Their souls were also quite interesting. They were all pure in their own way. All bright in color.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">The grandson, I recall her having called him Frankie; he was blue. I can see and understand why. He was very outspoken, open & honest; yet quite the clown from the look of it. A jester and a judge.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">The daughter-in-law, Maria, she was red. Outspoken as well, yet dramatic and overly sensitive at times. It was very clear, however, that her heart was in the right place. She meant well. A strong rock and a frail feather.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">The son, Fransisco, he was green. Which explained his quiet personality. His happy demeanor and his pensive mind. He was definitely a thinker, that only used his observation upon utter necessity. A mentor and a peacemaker.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Fransisco's sister, Jesenia, she was purple. I can see that she thought of herself as the glue that held the family together. She was the protector who stood in her self given right to keep this family from falling apart. A warrior and a guide.</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I had heard the mention of a granddaughter. Sophia, I believed was the name. I had yet to see her. I was looking forward to it. She must be like the others as well, I thought. Some sort of bright color. Possibly yellow, like the grandmother. Or red, like Maria. It would really interest me to see her. </span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I was sure, nonetheless, that when the time had come and I had collected her; <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Lourdes</place></city>. A piece of their puzzle would be lost forever. I wondered, if they would make it. I wondered if this family would see themselves through the blackness of loss, and the desolation of mourning. What would become of them? Would the hatred win or would the love overcome?</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">“<i>Soon...</i>”, I thought, “<i>We will all know.</i>”...</span></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 11.25pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-22101079816860717162011-12-02T11:46:00.000-08:002011-12-02T11:46:34.417-08:00Free Author Interview: Stephen O'Connor<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbGjdAcsuviwU02yHxrTLED8DHFhzHO63SW4NEykwwqTB0MdnkZ8y4xdLE3KkIl3B_8SsiTTOuOARfYOFX1WsVhg9IKblsEw9v_DfoXuca0lGXER5x4wbDew1w8LyG_F06x9uqsXezr-B/s1600/The+spy+in+the+city+of+books.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbGjdAcsuviwU02yHxrTLED8DHFhzHO63SW4NEykwwqTB0MdnkZ8y4xdLE3KkIl3B_8SsiTTOuOARfYOFX1WsVhg9IKblsEw9v_DfoXuca0lGXER5x4wbDew1w8LyG_F06x9uqsXezr-B/s1600/The+spy+in+the+city+of+books.bmp" /></a><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Author Name</span></strong><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">: Stephen O’Connor</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Where can we find your book?</span></strong><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> The novel <i>The Spy in the City of Books</i> is available on Amazon.com, along with my collection of short stories, <i>Smokestack Lightning</i>.</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">How much does it cost?</span></strong><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> I believe the novel is 17 dollars; the Kindle edition is 6.99.</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Tell us a little about your book.</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A little over ten years ago, I met a man who had served in the <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">OSS</city></place> during WWII. (The Office of Strategic Services was the forerunner of the CIA). He had grown up in “Little Canada” here in <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Lowell</city>, <state w:st="on">MA</state></place>, and went to a French-speaking school. After volunteering for what they told him would be “dangerous work,” (“I was young and stupid,” he confided), he parachuted into <country-region w:st="on">France</country-region> and operated undercover as a spy and liaison between <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">London</place></city> and the French Forces of the Interior. I had lived in <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">France</place></country-region> when I was young, and already had a keen interest in the “Maquis,” or French Resistance. So I began to interview Edwin while developing a good plot for a historical novel.</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Do you have any upcoming projects?</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">They say that drink is the curse of the working man. Work is surely the curse of the writing man, or woman. I have 50,000 words of the next novel, <i>The Nine Hazels</i>, but as a high school teacher I’m buried in work from September to June. I’ll try to finish it next summer. I’m also doing some free-lance writing, and developing a story for an anthology. </span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What has your journey as a writer been like?</span></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When I was in high school, my mother came home from parent night and said, “Brother Bernier says you have a ‘literary mind.’” I always thought I would write, always wrote long letters to friends (remember letters?), and academic papers. It wasn’t until I was in my forties that I said, my God, life is running out-you can’t keep thinking you are going to be a writer, you have to write. I must have written millions of words since that realization.</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Did you self-publish?</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I was considering it, but I was able to find small presses that were willing to publish my work. There isn’t a lot of difference, actually. You can’t get into national chains, and you have to do a lot of your own promotion.</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Please share some advice to help future authors.</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Well, as Eric Burden once said, “Mothers, tell your children, not to do what I have done.” I waited too long to get going. You cannot begin too soon. I used to be hypercritical. I wanted a perfect first page. That kind of attitude can paralyze a writer. Just tell the story-you can rewrite all you want.</span></strong></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Who is your favorite author and why?</span></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Well, Jack Kerouac was a <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Lowell</city></place> boy, and I love his energy. His lived for a while right up the street from my current house. One of the stories in <i>Smokestack Lightning</i>, “The Hipster’s Hopper,” deals with a man’s obsession with J.K. I love the masters, Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Flannery O’Connor, and the grace and style of Henry Thoreau.</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What one person has impacted your life the most?</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Aside from my parents, I’d go back to Thoreau. Again, <place w:st="on">Walden Pond</place> is a short drive from here, so I often walk there and stop at the site of his cabin. All the philosophy you need is in the last chapter of Walden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Only that day dawns to which we are awake.”</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">How did you create your characters?</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Many of the characters I’ve written are based to some extent on people I’ve known, or combinations of characters. An old friend asked me, “Is this guy supposed to be me?” Maybe 40%, or one aspect of his character is you, but I’m not going to be bound by reality. I try to make reality more dramatic and characters more compelling-that’s why they call it fiction. License to lie, or should I say, invent. But I once saw a guy open a bar door and shout, “Is there someone in here I’m supposed to be afraid of?” I couldn’t invent a better way of showing a character to be a reckless brawler.</span></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;">Sample Chapter:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="right" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: right;"><em><span style="color: black; font-family: Algerian; font-size: 20pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">1</span></em><em><span style="color: black; font-size: 26pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;"></span></em></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">At six in the morning, not only his apartment, but the entire <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Pollard</placename> <placetype w:st="on">Mansion</placetype></place> was quiet. The dim rooms were rich with the aroma of coffee. It had been brewed by timer–to Martin LeBris’ mind one of the greatest practical uses of technology in the modern world. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">As quiet as the turning of pages in the holy books at dawn</i>,” the poet had written, and there was something sacred in the stillness that pervaded the dim apartment–his "City of <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Books</place></city>.” In the thin light of morning, Martin went to examine them; he had been a bibliophile from the distant days when his mother had brought him to <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">the Andover Book Store</span>, where the little boy watched the fireplace glow among the rows of mute testaments. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">With money she’d set aside from her job at Woolworth’s, she bought his Christmas presents there, two books he selected called <i>Corsairs of the Gold Coast</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span>and <i>Indian Warriors of the East</i>. The fierce Mohawk, and the grizzled pirate perched with his spyglass in the rigging still peered from the ragged jacket covers among the other volumes ranged about him in leather and gold. He went to the bookcase where he had stored some of those that were in sets, or whose bindings were gilded. Most had been published in the 19th century. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">He paused for a moment, watching his reflection in the glass doors of the old bookcase. It was as if his own French-Canadian grandfather were looking back at him. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bonjour Maurice</i>,” he said. The short thick snow-white hair, glasses, the ruddy face and even the flannel lumberjack’s shirt. He could almost hear that gruff familiar voice: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Veins ici, toi.”</i> Come here, you.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">How the years had flown, as he donned this livery of age. He shook his head and smiled at the reflection; he had become his grandfather. Martin turned the key once and opened the glass doors. He inhaled the beloved mustiness of leather and paper. Green, black, and brown were the spines, but the letters were gold. Saintly companions, soft whisperers, undying confidants. They spoke of forgotten sieges, duels, palace intrigues, falconry, conquests; the solitary guard at the king’s door, betrayed and bleeding–unwilling to yield. The secrets of the dead, the dreams of the living, and the rhymes of the forlorn poet who put trembling quill to parchment under the myrtle bough and wrote <i>can love be rich and yet I want</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">? </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">There were histories, diaries, epics, romances, speculations, musings, ramblings, essays–there was bilious colic and laudanum; currants in the orchard and tea by the fire. And of course, there was one whole shelf dedicated to the classical Greek and Roman works he collected. Between sips of the hot Colombian coffee, his hand glided over Coleridge's <i>Table Talk and Omniana</i>, Stevenson's <i>Virginibus Puerisque</i>, Kingsley’s <i>Hypatia,</i> and settled on a slim blue volume by<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lord David Cecil called <i>The Stricken Deer</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> because the title struck his fancy. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">"<i>The Stricken Deer</i>…what is this?" he wondered. Something that he'd picked up at the Brattle Bookstore, or some flea market, and forgotten, or had never had a chance to look into. He returned to the kitchen, where <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Hannibal</place></city>, his aged cat, raised his head, ears twitching, but did not stir. “Look at me now, <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Hannibal</place></city>,” he said to the cat curled in its bed of fleece, “an old man in his slippers, rummaging through dusty books older even than himself. <i>Is this the promised end</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">?” </i>He sighed and laughed softly.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">He sat at the table and opened the book. It was a life of the poet Cowper. The tenor of the morning changed as he read the inscription on the frontispiece:<i></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I was a stricken deer that left the herd</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Long since; with many an arrow deep infixt</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">My panting side was charged, when I withdrew</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">To seek a tranquil death in distant shade</span></i><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Martin put the book down, closed his eyes and saw the face the verse had conjured–Odette. There were so many faces<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span>that lived only in memory now, but they were vivid. “I couldn't save you, Odette,"<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span>he said aloud, “I'm sorry.” In the last half century, he had apologized often, through wakeful vigils in the solitary night, to<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> </span>that lingering ghost, which spoke to him from amid the echoes of the guns of 1944<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">–</span>from beyond the thin veil that separates the living from the dead in time and memory. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">He gulped some coffee, and his gaze ran along the rows of books that lined the floor to ceiling shelves, this world he had created for himself–for what? To remember? To forget? To wait in a fortress of tranquility for revelation, or just for death? And waiting, to call back the days of fire-placed, rocking-chaired bookstores, the world of youth, the world of peace, before he had known killing and had to steel his mind against the smell of death, sickening wounds, and all the grim havoc of war.<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Yes, he was an old man, tired of the tumult of life. He’d lived much in his mind since 1945 and sought only the companionship of the ages, of blind Homer and Marcus Aurelius. And yet he wondered whether the duty that the philosopher spoke of did not demand that he had now lain sixty years in a damp, unmarked grave near the broken remains of the woman who died for France, and for him, or for the man he was back then: Patrice Quenton, spy, inserted into occupied France to serve as a liaison between London and the French Forces of the Interior for the Office of Strategic Services. That had been his real duty, weightier than anything he owed her for love, or so they told him.</span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Duty</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">–that was a word that could create moral dilemmas for a man beyond any other in the language. "If I could’ve saved you, Odette," he murmured, holding her image in his mind like a withering flower. He hadn't even been able to save her body. He would like to have placed it under a stone of black marble inscribed with her name, and the simple epitaph: <i>Morte Pour la <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">France</place></country-region></i>. That would have been right for her. But her grave was unknown. He shook his head slowly; his eyes narrowed and his mouth turned down, the morning tinged with gray as in a low voice he spit out the words, "Nazi bastards!” <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Hannibal</place></city>'s ears twitched as he watched with eyes like yellow marbles the silent old man gazing long through the brightening window, an empty cup hanging from his hand. </span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">The world was on fire. </span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">The pilot, or some crewman forward, was screaming at him to jump. Martin's knees were trembling. He wanted to know if they were over the drop zone, but the Liberator shook so violently that he and the men behind him were knocked to the floor. Flak tore at the fuselage as the rattling shell of the cabin filled with choking acrid smoke. </span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">He heard a desperate shout, "Jump for Chrissake! They got our number!” His static line was hooked. He crawled to the open door, which was not in the side but in the belly of this airplane. The craft lurched and he was thrown out before he could jump. A rush of wind and flapping fabric–then he was jerked up like a puppet on a string as the silk chute billowed. </span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black;">The deep hum of engines faded from his ears as he fell away from the airplane, but the hiss and glare of anti-aircraft fire still shocked the night, exploding above him with a force that jarred his teeth, and in a matter of seconds Martin heard a roar. A fireball lit the white hemisphere of his chute, searing the dark soffit of the ragged clouds. Flaming wreckage tumbled earthward like defeated angels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He recalled for an instant, vividly, the face of a crewman who just a few minutes before had been telling him that Winston Churchill could drink any man in England under the table and wondering at the reality that the man, and the entire<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>crew of nine, had been incinerated. All dead–only he–falling, falling through the night, young and scared and everything yet to come as the fates unwound the threads. Odette, I’m sorry.</span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgklCmft_D8SbrZ_B6E_-NGs2H7y3gPwmzzJFO0l05ZqiAhl2Uj6e3mVH2yYNcZlAe-ayQFlk5_aCXxFUwkEUIPQlukSgfPXIuSTfq3dbTX38tzvAs31-5HBvKYOw0I6rEVYnrRsh-z09NC/s1600/stephen+o%2527connor.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgklCmft_D8SbrZ_B6E_-NGs2H7y3gPwmzzJFO0l05ZqiAhl2Uj6e3mVH2yYNcZlAe-ayQFlk5_aCXxFUwkEUIPQlukSgfPXIuSTfq3dbTX38tzvAs31-5HBvKYOw0I6rEVYnrRsh-z09NC/s1600/stephen+o%2527connor.bmp" /></a></div>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-42111235485037281672011-11-29T21:42:00.000-08:002011-11-29T21:42:20.915-08:00Book Review: Hollowland<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Book Review: Hollowland by Amanda Hocking</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Let me preface this by saying that I hate zombie movies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried watching that English zombie movie, 28 days later…or maybe it was weeks…either way, I made it through the initial scene and still to this day have nightmares about it. Needless to say Zombies are not my thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Amanda Hocking is brilliant when she promotes the release of new books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since Hollowmen was about to be released she gave away a free eBook copy of Hollowland and who can pass down a free book?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not me apparently!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">So there I was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New book and the thrill of meeting new characters, even though I highly doubted many of them would survive long in a zombie horror book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I dove in, cringing I might add, with both feet.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Two things I noticed right away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">1. Amanda Hocking’s books are flowing better now that she has more writing under her belt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well done Amanda!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">2. It wasn’t nearly gruesome as I’d thought it would be.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">That being said I made the enormous mistake of reading a good portion of the middle late at night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not even the gentle snores erupting from my husband could calm my nerves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lights went out…and that’s when the magic began.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">My mind went berserk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every creak in the house, howl of the wind as it buffeted against the siding or the obnoxious groan of my dog sent my imagination into hyper drive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a long night!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s when you can confidently say that you’ve read a good book.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">But did I enjoy Hollowland?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hard to say really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably best to answer that after I’ve had a good nights sleep! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">I did enjoy that for the first time Amanda Hocking created a kick butt kind of heroine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remy is bold, confident and ready to survive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked that!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">The characters were engaging, wording flowed far better than previous books and only a couple typos!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;">Overall I would rate this book as a 4 out of 5 stars because I’m sure if you like zombies this would be a great book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me it was entertaining…and I might even take a peek at the sequel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Note to parents: PLEASE preview this book before allowing your children to read. It does contain some disturbing scenes.</span></span></div><br />
<br />
<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/book" rel="tag"><img style="border:0;vertical-align:middle;margin-left:.4em" src="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16x13.png?tag=book" alt=" " />book</a>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-72609866196155852252011-11-29T21:20:00.000-08:002011-11-29T21:20:36.399-08:00Book Review: Vanish by Sophie Jordan<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style'; font-size: 16pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style'; font-size: 16pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style'; font-size: 16pt;">The sequel to Sophie Jordan’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Firelight</i> did not disappoint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tales of forbidden love have always been a favorite of mine and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Firelight</i> series has been a favorite of mine since the day I stumbled across it a year ago.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style'; font-size: 16pt;">The idea of Draki, a dragon/human shape shifter was certainly a nice change from the norm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throw into the mix a destiny that <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>would force Jacinda into the arms of her people’s prince and a mother who will risk at nothing to save her daughter from being used to breed other fire breathing dragons and you get a very interesting turn of events.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style'; font-size: 16pt;">Jacinda is forced to leave her people behind and hide out in the desert where her mother hopes her Draki will wither and die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hot dry temps nearly succeed until Jacinda meets Will, a Draki hunter and her lifelong enemy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style'; font-size: 16pt;">The forbidden love triangle progresses with thrilling events and skillful prose on the part of Sophie Jordan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The end of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Firelight</i> is a huge cliff hanger and leaves you begging for more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enter <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vanish</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style'; font-size: 16pt;">After a rare turn of events, Jacinda is forced to leave Will behind, with the doubt that he will even remember her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jacinda’s return to her people is filled with trouble as punishment after punishment is handed out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her life becomes not only miserable but complicated as her people’s prince, Cassian, reveals his feelings for Jacinda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style'; font-size: 16pt;">She almost tricks herself into believing she can start over until Will walks right into the heart of her village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Events race with furious speeds all the way until the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another cliff hanger and more groans at the reality of having to wait for the next book to be released!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style'; font-size: 16pt;">Love the writing, love the characters and love Sophie Jordan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A must read for any teen looking for a good romantic story!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><br />
<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/book" rel="tag"><img alt=" " src="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16x13.png?tag=book" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-left: 0.4em; vertical-align: middle;" />book</a>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-62381837644280052802011-11-29T21:00:00.000-08:002011-11-29T21:00:40.709-08:00Should you pay for a book review?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">This is a question that I have asked myself quite a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should book bloggers/reviewers charge authors to review their books?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">My honest opinion…no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s just me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I write for the same reason I read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love doing it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an escape and I know many of you feel the same way.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">On my blog www.self-published-authors.blogspot.com I offer free book reviews to anyone who writes in genres that I enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only charge is that you give me a free copy of your ebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not bad eh?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought so!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">Why am I writing about this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because this subject has been broached a couple times recently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Self published authors fight tooth and nail to get their name and books out there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s rough…especially when sales are slow and editor/book cover costs keep rising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How are we to earn a living to help support our families when we have to pay for book reviews too?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">That is why I offer free book reviews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because it’s the right thing to do to help my fellow authors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m always in need of someone willing to give me a fair review just as so many others are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To charge just seems wrong to me…but that is for each person to decide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it worth $200 dollars to get a single book review that may or may not go in your favor?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calligraph421 BT'; font-size: 14pt;">You decide.</span></div><br />
<br />
<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/book" rel="tag"><img alt=" " src="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16x13.png?tag=book" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-left: 0.4em; vertical-align: middle;" />book</a>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-27290362999266815842011-11-29T08:21:00.000-08:002011-11-29T08:21:50.665-08:00Mile Stone<span style="font-size: large;">As an author, can you honestly say there is anything more amazing for you than the day you receive your first royalty check? Apart from maybe a glowing book review of course!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Today is that day for me. It's small, insignificant to most, but to me it's one of the best days in my life. Why? Because not only did I decide to believe in myself as a writer but I've got something to prove it. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This is the first day that being a writer feels like a career. It's easy to watch your Amazon numbers go up and up but until that equates into money it's just a number on a screen. Today it's something I can tangibly hold on to. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What a blessing...no matter how big or small the amount might be!</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/book" rel="tag"><img style="border:0;vertical-align:middle;margin-left:.4em" src="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16x13.png?tag=book" alt=" " />book</a>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-8711664880909827872011-11-28T17:38:00.000-08:002011-11-28T17:38:04.982-08:00NaNoWriMo Winner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://files.content.lettersandlight.org/nano-2011/files/2011/11/Winner_180_180_white.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" src="http://files.content.lettersandlight.org/nano-2011/files/2011/11/Winner_180_180_white.png" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I did it! I completed 50,000 words during the month of November. Well done to all of you who have done the same and to those of you struggling to finish...stop watching tv, reading a book or goofing off on Facebook. Write!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Now...my thoughts on this journey for those of you who haven't attempted this feat yet.</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Trying to work on a sequel which takes a lot of thinking and planning is not a good idea for Nano</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Editing...yeah I still have to do it as I go!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Word counter how I love to hate you!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Writing buddies are invaluable</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">The feeling you get when you know you've reached your goal...PRICELESS!</span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">For those of you who have never given Nano a try I highly suggest you do so next year. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Many people look at the 50,000 word mark and convince themselves they can't do it. Trust me...it can be done but it takes a lot of effort, time management and a good idea.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">My goal for next year's Nano:</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">start a completely new project for Nano</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">stop obsessively updating my word count</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">spend time helping others reach their goals</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">increase word count to 70,000</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">do my "I did it" dance again!</span></li>
</ul>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-69836853432613490772011-11-28T11:40:00.000-08:002011-11-28T11:40:46.412-08:00Book Review: One-legged Seagull<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: black;">Book Description:</span></span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: black;">Did you ever wonder what specific steps you can take to transform your life, so you can experience more inner peace? Have you ever thought that books about self-transformation are too vague to be helpful, filled with pie-in-the-sky platitudes and difficult-to-follow instructions? Take a journey with Ehud and Simon, as they discover strategies and techniques that help them change frustration and anger into peace of mind. Ehud, a young teenager, meets Simon after a terrible personal disaster--failing his green belt test at the local dojo. Together they learn how to handle life's ups and downs with more grace and patience. Discover how Ehud and Simon are linked in a mysterious, behind-the-scenes way. Their connection points up the way that all of consciousness is a part of one whole reality, a reality defined by compassion and the unfolding potential for joy. Decipher these and other mysteries, in an easy to read format outlined in my new fictional story, One-Legged Seagull, a Warrior's Journey to Inner Peace.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;">About the Author:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;">Joey Avniel is passionate about helping people to find their own inner peace. As a former officer in the army he mastered the way of the warrior, but was missing the essential components of peace and happiness. After his service he started to search his own path to inner peace. He received self-improvement training, and then trained others through several different self-improvement programs. Eventually he developed what he calls "The Artist Path," a path that guides anyone, even a warrior to find his own inner peace.<br />
Joey's training includes energetic healing, self empowerment teaching, and first aid for suicidal people. Today he's an author and a speaker on the subject of inner peace. He is the co-founder of the publishing house - Barefoot Mind Inspiration and the co-creator of the website - mysuicidalthoughts.com - which helps people deal with and overcome suicidal thoughts.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;">My Review:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">One-Legged Seagull<br />
By: Joey Avneil<br />
<br />
A well written book that deals with real life situations that each of us face at some point during our lives. The book flows well and is easy to read. Although the subject matter is not something I agree with, I am sure it will help many who are looking for ways to find peace within themselves. This inspirational self help story would be entertaining for teen and adult.</span><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br />
Rating: 4 stars</span><span style="display: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-hide: all;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="display: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-hide: all;">About the Author:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="display: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-hide: all;">Joey Avniel is passionate about helping people to find their own inner peace. As a former officer in the army he mastered the way of the warrior, but was missing the essential components of peace and happiness. After his service he started to search his own path to inner peace. He received self-improvement training, and then trained others through several different self-improvement programs. Eventually he developed what he calls "The Artist Path," a path that guides anyone, even a warrior to find his own inner peace.<br />
Joey's training includes energetic healing, self empowerment teaching, and first aid for suicidal people. Today he's an author and a speaker on the subject of inner peace. He is the co-founder of the publishing house - Barefoot Mind Inspiration and the co-creator of the website - mysuicidalthoughts.com - which helps people deal with and overcome suicidal thoughts. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="display: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-hide: all;">My Review:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><span style="display: none; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-hide: all;">One-Legged Seagull<br />
By: Joey Avneil<br />
<br />
A well written book that deals with real life situations that each of us face at some point during our lives. The book flows well and is easy to read. Although the subject matter is not something I agree with, I am sure it will help many who are looking for ways to find peace within themselves. This inspirational self help story would be entertaining for teen and adult.<br />
<br />
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-38493533623649277712011-11-26T19:36:00.000-08:002011-11-28T11:21:57.720-08:00Free Author Interview: Leigh Lane<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqKvuu6sqxP44Y-ZH3vdw6ln8fAZHDF96grb2n43qvVOf-WgwO7UJ42CgJleEY2EIU77FFxragfFrRf_f5KKp6K00H081nM-HIFMoJ4LH4bLD8dALkMx4ZOXt_dnH0zmBOrFEeI-3Ool7A/s1600/world-mart.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqKvuu6sqxP44Y-ZH3vdw6ln8fAZHDF96grb2n43qvVOf-WgwO7UJ42CgJleEY2EIU77FFxragfFrRf_f5KKp6K00H081nM-HIFMoJ4LH4bLD8dALkMx4ZOXt_dnH0zmBOrFEeI-3Ool7A/s1600/world-mart.bmp" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Where can we find your book?</span></b></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: large;">You can find my most recent release <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">World-Mart</i> online at Amazon, although it will be available soon through more online retailers, such as Barnes and Noble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Leigh-M.-Lane/e/B0055DSE6Y/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> is a link to my Amazon author page.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">How much does it cost?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">The paperback is $10.99 and the Kindle/ePub is $4.99.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tell us a little about your book.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">World-Mart</i> is a dystopia inspired by the growing role of corporations in government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It imagines a world in which “Corporate” owns everything and everyone is reduced to a bar code on a nametag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story follows one family in their struggle to survive in a world that is literally crumbling all around them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Do you have any upcoming projects?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m currently writing a speculative horror/psychological thriller.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sorry, but this one is top-secret until I’m finished with it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">What has your journey as a writer been like?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">It has been a roller-coaster ride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been writing ever since I was a child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to sell a screenplay to Warner Bros. when I was fourteen, which served as my first taste of rejection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a bitter lesson for a fourteen-year-old, but it only fed my determination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote my first novel shortly thereafter, and so began my many years of writing, querying, getting rejected, and writing some more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sold my first novel a few years ago to a small press, which was exciting, only to learn that selling a book to a publisher is a piece of cake compared to selling your published book to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the rest of the world</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, though, writing in itself is part of the journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel enriched as a human being for what I’ve written as well as what I’ve learned along the way.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why did you choose to self-publish?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">I self-published because I wanted a venue for my more artistic (less marketable) books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I write for many reasons, but the most important to me is the desire to make a difference in this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it comes to my speculative fiction, what I write is not always pretty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes it’s downright ugly, but it’s always with purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dystopia is not a mass market genre—but sometimes publishing a book isn’t about fitting into the mass market, but rather the importance that book may have in the larger scheme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about making art for art’s sake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">World-Mart</i> to be read under the stars by philosophers, to be analyzed in college classrooms, and to affect the mind of every reader who chooses to board my crazy little ride.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Would you do it again?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Absolutely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s no greater feeling in the world than to hear from a reader who you’ve never met say, “This book changed me.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Please share some advice to help future authors.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">Don’t be so eager to publish that you lose sight of the important details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t try to be your own editor, or you’ll end up shooting yourself in the foot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t rely on spell/grammar check unless you want a grammatical mess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t attempt to create your own cover art unless you really are that artistically inclined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make sure you have gone over your manuscript several times, not just a few, and give yourself a good month between readings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look for words you can cut; most of the time, less truly is more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you are ready to publish, seek out reviewers, as many as you can, and take bad reviews with a grain of salt.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">What drives you to write?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">I appease several muses, each with their own demands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An idea will drive me nuts if I don’t “release” it in a timely manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, I’m driven to write—period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is what I was born to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Writing keeps me sane.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">What criticisms have helped you grow as a writer?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">We all have our bad habits, and I’m grateful to all those who have helped over the years to point out mine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Editors and peers helped me to identify amateur errors, such as “telling” instead of “showing,” using too much passive voice, and overusing certain words (we all have them).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went back to college and earned my English degree when I realized I could not write what I wanted to write on talent alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took an advanced grammar class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took advice and criticism from wherever I could find it, swallowing my pride at every turn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s made all the difference.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Leigh M. Lane</b> writes mixed-genre science fiction, with an emphasis on allegory and social commentary. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her provocative flair is reminiscent of the works of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Olaf Stapledon, Ray Bradbury, and H. G. Wells. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While her works often mesh the unreal and the profound with gritty realism, her themes are also insightful and timely and her stories fast-paced yet complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She currently has two self-published titles available, as well as six novels and eight anthology contributions published through small press</span><a href="about:blank" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-size: large;"> under a different name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For more about her and her writing, visit her website: </span><a href="http://www.cerebralwriter.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">http://www.cerebralwriter.com</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxjxy3J07p0CoqGRoELA1xp2dMw3qiG2rdd1tTFxALLUyNgJpeWbwwzZHBMI8do2LPSkgmcuiSY4XNXIJWcuO6uHejakYtg_PhkOVsP0fpo9Y2VPr9faAImO8kz2PmU1Q38LEbRfycwdq/s1600/leigh+lane.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" dda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxjxy3J07p0CoqGRoELA1xp2dMw3qiG2rdd1tTFxALLUyNgJpeWbwwzZHBMI8do2LPSkgmcuiSY4XNXIJWcuO6uHejakYtg_PhkOVsP0fpo9Y2VPr9faAImO8kz2PmU1Q38LEbRfycwdq/s1600/leigh+lane.bmp" /></a></div></div>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-45901913052923932342011-11-26T19:22:00.000-08:002011-11-26T19:22:00.892-08:00Free Author Interview: Don Dollton<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXaP935R4l_7UnlamoXNVds4gOlbI2W5gS_C6B3CTnBLEbwiIQIjVdd6whtYBhcoLj2isBVTW7POx8jX7ZHECFMVMKYI9Zb5_xP-wsdTarqmidQt14tPI98HSOIMaIeMhApsbeWi-itKk8/s1600/Rambling+Renegade.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXaP935R4l_7UnlamoXNVds4gOlbI2W5gS_C6B3CTnBLEbwiIQIjVdd6whtYBhcoLj2isBVTW7POx8jX7ZHECFMVMKYI9Zb5_xP-wsdTarqmidQt14tPI98HSOIMaIeMhApsbeWi-itKk8/s1600/Rambling+Renegade.bmp" /></a><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Author Name:</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;">Don Dollton</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"><br />
</span><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Where can we find your book?</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0063HSXQW</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">How much does it cost?</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;">$2.99USD</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"><br />
</span><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Tell us a little about your book.</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;">A collection of stories and observations by a native Californian who has traveled the world and learned a lot about human nature. This work recalls growing up in the <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">California</place></state> of the 50’s and 60’s, Don’s travels throughout the world, and his perspective on contemporary American life.<br />
</span><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Do you have any upcoming projects?</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;">I am editing my sitcom pilot House Husband and marketing this to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Hollywood</place></city>. I also have an animation movie screenplay and a western screenplay in progress.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"><br />
</span><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">What has your journey as a writer been like?</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;">I have had my letters to the editor published throughout my life and I have kept journals for over 30 years. I had heart surgery earlier this year and I finally reached the point where I could look the blank page in the eye and fill it in with my stories.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Why did you choose to self publish?</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;">I am a loner and prefer to do things on my own. Instead of having a publisher or agent or critics say no, I can go out to the public where I know I will get a yes when they read my book.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Would you do it again?</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;">Yes definitely. I am doing it now by taking my notes for my sequel.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Please share some advice to help future authors.</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;">It has to be you and your story. I write about what I have experienced in my life travels and this makes the writing easy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;">BIO</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;">Don Dollton served as a Russian linguist with a Top Secret clearance in the U.S. Army Security Agency. He has an MBA from the <span class="ecxyshortcuts">Thunderbird School of Global Management</span> and has traveled to over forty countries for business and pleasure in Latin America, Europe, Asia and the <place w:st="on">Middle East</place>. He has also traveled to over 40 states and enjoys collecting, garage sales, dogs and his family life while being a house husband.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYB8Cw_4l9fVRka2-upLXt9m49zADQd22u-EDXDL90JHe1p9o8uOCSGoQ5i7CURQY_yowipdNVLol3wsQiYwWm0vWAaBpji8DUcN47RWZkJX5AD3JQ0kY9gejv2uEpakw4jL9gptWJLJCf/s1600/Don+Dollton.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYB8Cw_4l9fVRka2-upLXt9m49zADQd22u-EDXDL90JHe1p9o8uOCSGoQ5i7CURQY_yowipdNVLol3wsQiYwWm0vWAaBpji8DUcN47RWZkJX5AD3JQ0kY9gejv2uEpakw4jL9gptWJLJCf/s1600/Don+Dollton.bmp" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-84764845000938063602011-11-25T22:00:00.000-08:002011-11-25T22:00:11.123-08:00Stats update<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">For those of you who have posted an author interview on my blog or are thinking of doing so, I would like to thank each of you for helping to make this site such a success.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: large;">3,000 visitors in just over three months. How amazing is that?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: large;">It just goes to show you how mountains can be moved when authors start to support each other. I am pleased to have the chance to get to know a little about each author that I interview. I've met some amazing people and read some great books. I love my job!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: large;">Here's to the next 1,000 visitors!</span>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-59323390036166495912011-11-25T18:44:00.000-08:002011-11-25T18:44:27.547-08:00Free Author Interview: Maya Mendoza<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPkq88oUdBAt2hOHP7Q19YdK4CXI2x-bcujC_hsvkJLO8z1soEaeN7DcXwhk4-eRoQBX6Yg2URqlFOAEOFK9D_n8Qv6XpPbE7Ip71NrMd8zuKhyphenhyphenIrvV28bJDQLYQRaStgEJ4BxamsCADyO/s1600/For+Agoraphobia.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPkq88oUdBAt2hOHP7Q19YdK4CXI2x-bcujC_hsvkJLO8z1soEaeN7DcXwhk4-eRoQBX6Yg2URqlFOAEOFK9D_n8Qv6XpPbE7Ip71NrMd8zuKhyphenhyphenIrvV28bJDQLYQRaStgEJ4BxamsCADyO/s1600/For+Agoraphobia.bmp" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;">New memoir shows how one woman triumphs over severe anxiety and trauma “From Agoraphobia to Zen”-Uncovering the core of my anxiety and reclaiming my life</span></strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;">.<b></b></span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;">Makaha <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Hawaii</place></state> June 28, 2011</span></strong><em><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;"></span></em></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Aloha. I am excited and grateful to announce the publication of my debut memoir. This book tells the true story of how keeping toxic secrets can poison your mind and how searching and finding the truth can heal the body mind and soul. </span></em></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;">At the lowest point in my life, I was a prisoner in my own home trying to raise my four children from a box in a closet, so confused and scared to live my daily life. I also carried around my pain as seventy extra pounds on my body. My journey to health and wellness although raw and gritty is also inspiring, mysterious and even funny. The core of my story shows two women who struggle with mental illness, a mother and daughter, and how one survives and one couldn’t. </span></strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;">Recovering from a mental illness is very possible but those who suffer are stigmatized and face obstacles and prejudice. My great hope and gift in writing this book is to help people who have an anxiety disorder believe there is hope and a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zen for them as there was for me.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt;">Thank you to all who believed in me and friends old and new all over the world. A special thank you to my family, publisher and the students who made me laugh and look at the world through new eyes. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">My name on the book is Marilyn Mendoza, but I use my nickname Maya so if you google Marilyn Maya Mendoza sometimes more information is found on my book</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">My book is on Amazon, in print and kindle and B&N and my publisher's site which is ChipmunkaPublishing as well as other places on the internet.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">Since my publisher is in the <place w:st="on"><country-region w:st="on">UK</country-region></place>, my book also on the AmazonUK site where it also has good reviews . The Amazon in the <country-region w:st="on"><place w:st="on">USA</place></country-region> has good reviews too lol</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">It costs 21 dollars on Amazon.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I sell autographed copies to those who email me for 20 dollars including shipping</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">My memoir is a harrowing but inspiring journey from living in a box in my closet to healing from anxiety and agoraphobia.. It is also a mystery of two women, my mother and me and how one survives mental illness and one couldn't. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">My journey as a writer started as a search for the truth about my past and why it was affecting, infecting my entire life. My journey ended with many mysteries solved and peace and healing. I always wrote prose and poetry to soothe and this was one chapter that I had in my mind that turned into a book with a lot of effort to say the least.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">After I finished my memoir, I was determined not to do it again but a writer must write and I have some ideas brewing around in my head for a sequel.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">My advice to future authors is to never give up. If you have a passion to tell your story or in my case my truth, don't let negative people deter you from your dream, even if they are family.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">My journey now is to help end the stigma against mental illness and to help one person at a time by sharing my story.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;">I went on a book tour to promote my book and it was a wonderful experience. My publisher did not pay for it. I saved and went to <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">London</place></city> where I was welcomed by book clubs, libraries and got to see so many places the normal tourist doesn't get to see. I also went to <state w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Minnesota</place></state> and spoke at many places as well. I went for "broke" literally. But it was so worth it. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8K-Y_eItWzuho8SXdF5J25G3NJcrDZqSKkQFo_FTYbLJAIX9tkD8h3Ggqmu1eaCgQQWVrTDUMydTKjhAGfoxLu1qqu-MbriPDS47R8NzA4FjzHcVYIZDZyr2Op-J5LDZ0w5guJKbZ9on/s1600/Maya.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8K-Y_eItWzuho8SXdF5J25G3NJcrDZqSKkQFo_FTYbLJAIX9tkD8h3Ggqmu1eaCgQQWVrTDUMydTKjhAGfoxLu1qqu-MbriPDS47R8NzA4FjzHcVYIZDZyr2Op-J5LDZ0w5guJKbZ9on/s1600/Maya.bmp" /></a></div>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-15588052291323061032011-11-25T18:24:00.000-08:002011-11-26T18:42:47.776-08:00Free Author Interview: David Cooper<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilW7Fpq0Upm6kYaXeL9iT3unCN6Hp2WDJtWUTA9WdvU0T8RegXdvfBs2iAcTT26rMIwpINSu4zWgFvlLUDHEpgSO9zrxPbt_vhkr_qg02AFlvWp7-q9tGbhJX5rOfy_OMzxLaru21Kd6m4/s1600/HR%2524C.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilW7Fpq0Upm6kYaXeL9iT3unCN6Hp2WDJtWUTA9WdvU0T8RegXdvfBs2iAcTT26rMIwpINSu4zWgFvlLUDHEpgSO9zrxPbt_vhkr_qg02AFlvWp7-q9tGbhJX5rOfy_OMzxLaru21Kd6m4/s1600/HR%2524C.bmp" /></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My debut novel Hatred, Ridicule & Contempt – a legal thriller based in the UK, all about a libel action from the viewpoint of the defendant newspaper and its lawyer – can be found on Amazon via the links on my blogsite. It is $2.99 for USA buyers.</span><br />
<a href="http://davidcooperbooks.blogspot.com/p/hatred-ridicule-and-contempt-prologue.html">http://davidcooperbooks.blogspot.com/p/hatred-ridicule-and-contempt-prologue.html</a></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am looking at a follow up “serious book” about law for small businesses, but if inspiration for a further novel comes first, so much the better!</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have had an interesting journey as a writer – eleven years in the making, to be precise! I devised much of the plot for HR&C in the late nineties, and wrote a great deal of it then, only for various life upheavals to intervene. I think that was, with hindsight, probably for the better as I was able to bring twelve years’ worth of perspective and reflection back into my final push over the summer of 2011.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why self publish? Well, can I just say that the e-publishing revolution has focused very sharply on the interests of authors and readers alike, and is just as much a liberating force as the internet itself? Taking that into account, I would most certainly do it again as and when the seeds of a new plot start to take effect.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What could I suggest to new authors? Write about what you know about, and never pass up a chance for good advice close to hand – once I had completed my first draft, my wife’s help in editing and producing ideas for refining the flow and the content were very welcome.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So who’s my favourite author? You’re expecting me to say John Grisham, I’m sure. However, given that my aim in writing HR&C was to combine the tried and tested excitement of a Grisham drama with a series of plot twists that would keep the reader guessing to the end, I’ll go for a true master of the latter – Robert Goddard, a real inspiration to me.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Promotion – now there’s an interesting one. I have my own blogsite. I am hard at work via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I put my cover onto a set of business cards. And my reference work of choice is John Locke’s “How I made $1m from e-books…”</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Character creation? I have been practising law in the UK for 25 years. I have seen working life and practice in big firms and small firms, courts and tribunals, conference chambers and (inevitably) bars. The heroes and villains all emerged that way.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And what finally drove me to get it all done and launched, many years after the idea first took shape? Partly the e-publishing boom. Partly a drive through the Deep South from Nashville to New Orleans in the summer of 2011, where plans for a worthwhile conclusion to the book came up thick and fast amid the experiences of music history, the Civil War and the skyscraper era in Chicago where the last four nights were enjoyed. And partly the imminent milestone birthday next March – well, now that I’ve had a book published, I might not need the Harley Davidson after all… </span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqN7HN4bZ303Rppf2yImxaH4AXSeTOBKOI66fBi77z6eEZ9RZrOJfonyOAroKTmdxLDqKjtUN4DvC6m2e45u7ebbxP6mx_bQUGeb_c3tnvP2AJH53vX4IcduBpmkxpvWuGdBQGLy1J8M2a/s1600/David+Cooper.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqN7HN4bZ303Rppf2yImxaH4AXSeTOBKOI66fBi77z6eEZ9RZrOJfonyOAroKTmdxLDqKjtUN4DvC6m2e45u7ebbxP6mx_bQUGeb_c3tnvP2AJH53vX4IcduBpmkxpvWuGdBQGLy1J8M2a/s1600/David+Cooper.bmp" /></a></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-80218648495729159032011-11-22T18:46:00.000-08:002011-11-22T18:46:13.721-08:00Free Author Interview: Donna Swanson<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihf7YOXTNH7Bkzy0nJqcfHsHC70CpYAyI6J08RHje6xOSrwir1-S7-3zHKyZfUjZORi_eDNT5Q_V4Oq1v11K7w2jUMkFCjzXnFICiqDUNBPGPb0yqGbUqTKQ3AjWaEvvOaA8ykB3-SbSog/s1600/splinters+of+light.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihf7YOXTNH7Bkzy0nJqcfHsHC70CpYAyI6J08RHje6xOSrwir1-S7-3zHKyZfUjZORi_eDNT5Q_V4Oq1v11K7w2jUMkFCjzXnFICiqDUNBPGPb0yqGbUqTKQ3AjWaEvvOaA8ykB3-SbSog/s1600/splinters+of+light.bmp" /></a>Name: Donna Swanson/ aka Mindsinger<br />
<br />
Where can we find your book?<br />
SPLINTERS OF LIGHT is available on Amazon.com as well as Amazon Kindle.<br />
You can also find a fuller description plus excerpt at<br />
<a href="http://mindsinger.com/book-store/splinters-of-light-book/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0068cf;">http://mindsinger.com/book-store/splinters-of-light-book/</span></a><br />
<br />
How much does it cost?<br />
At Amazon it is $19.99 for paperback and $7.69 for Kindle. I<br />
recommend readers buy it there rather than Xlibrs which published it.<br />
Amazon is cheaper.<br />
<br />
Tell us a little about your book:<br />
SPLINTERS OF LIGHT is a rather comprehensive collection of my poetry<br />
and short prose written over the last forty years. It is introduced<br />
by Gloria Gaither and contains the award-winning poem, Minnie<br />
Remembers.<br />
<br />
Do you have any upcoming projects?<br />
I’ve just finished a double trilogy titled THE WINDFALLOW CHRONICLES<br />
and am searching for a publisher.<br />
<br />
What has your journey as a writer been like?<br />
I began writing for religious periodicals some fifty years ago, and<br />
then branched out to secular magazines. Many times I became<br />
discouraged by rejection slips and lack of interest and swore never to<br />
write again. But the words would not be contained and I wrote in<br />
spite of obstacles. Finally, a poem, Minnie Remembers took off; was<br />
filmed as a documentary, and reprinted hundreds of time in both<br />
religious and secular publications. It brought an invitation from the<br />
Upper Room to write a book of poetry, MIND SONG that sold out of its<br />
first printing. I was booked for programs, concerts and symposiums<br />
based on the film and Minds Song. Then, all the doors closed.<br />
During the seven year long writer’s block that followed, I began<br />
carving carousel horses; the words came back as carousel poetry which<br />
became popular.<br />
Since then I’ve written an historical novel set in the time of Christ,<br />
RACHEL’S DAUGHTERS, and began work on THE WINDFALLOW CHRONICLES. I<br />
also write two weekly newspaper columns; Country Roads and Granny’s<br />
Place. I maintain three blogs and contribute to the Jingle Poetry<br />
site.<br />
<br />
Why did you choose to self-publish?<br />
Because the publishing market had literally dried up. And, when I<br />
published the first two books, it only cost $99 to do so. SPLINTERS<br />
OF LIGHT was published by Xlibris and by that time the price had risen<br />
exponentially.<br />
<br />
Would you do it again?<br />
Only as a last resort. The fees are extravagantly expensive and<br />
unless you want to spend as much for marketing as you did for<br />
publication, you will have no promotion other than your own efforts.<br />
XL was especially aggressive in their push to sell a marketing plan.<br />
<br />
Advice to future authors:<br />
Be very careful before you commit to a publisher. If they do not have<br />
a full explanation of services, fees, royalties, etc. on their website<br />
or marketing guide, don’t be afraid to ask for that information.<br />
Proof, proof, proof as you write. Make sure your copy is as good as<br />
you can make it before you send in out into the world of publishers.<br />
Have a friend read it if possible and give feedback. Then, give it to<br />
God and ask him to use it to his glory.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZG0cbW7nJCd3tkH6YtbbGBbWw1xdDUEfYydFJAupiO8KieTSuTPHwfez9LUGI4uHmSoPv5ayiofZI-U11LExEFOe15-ibNUnUFg6pVbGM6S07JOfoQW9l92iZGwwio-0j2L2GgvFBzs0y/s1600/donna+swanson.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZG0cbW7nJCd3tkH6YtbbGBbWw1xdDUEfYydFJAupiO8KieTSuTPHwfez9LUGI4uHmSoPv5ayiofZI-U11LExEFOe15-ibNUnUFg6pVbGM6S07JOfoQW9l92iZGwwio-0j2L2GgvFBzs0y/s1600/donna+swanson.bmp" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-84932441554159192672011-11-22T18:31:00.000-08:002011-11-22T18:31:36.255-08:00Free Author Interview: John Martin<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfyhpRIRV0xl_DL8fsoKbhWld59M17M7CAP5bq3qZlr-aFKUQO6cUaudvlYVUhlvFYuDLqDogT8FvZmQnLrCclf8IuCg0Se0FsJXSrrZ_BedikVuDi6rVYdwBINQGZVwOeufRBbBqjxMP9/s1600/Major+BS.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfyhpRIRV0xl_DL8fsoKbhWld59M17M7CAP5bq3qZlr-aFKUQO6cUaudvlYVUhlvFYuDLqDogT8FvZmQnLrCclf8IuCg0Se0FsJXSrrZ_BedikVuDi6rVYdwBINQGZVwOeufRBbBqjxMP9/s1600/Major+BS.bmp" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">Author Name: John Martin</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Major BS: A Top Secret Mission</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><div> </div><div> </div><div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Tell us a little about your book.</strong>It's about a bumbling British former army officer, Major Jeremy Billycock-Smythe, who marries into cash-poor but artistocratic family in Australia and launches an enterprise to save his wife's historic homestead Rowbottom from bankruptcy. Along the way, he finds and loses some illegal refugees, and seriously annoys his childhood friend, officials in charge of government secrets, and a bunch of high-powered executives. On one level, it's all satirical. But if people don't get the satire, hopefullly it's just funny on another level. There are no American characters but there is an important US link.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div><br />
<strong>Where can we find your book?</strong>It has been a Print on Demand book for a year or so now but I've just launched it as an ebook on Amazon and I'm thrilled that it's now within the reach of a global readership</div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;">The print and ink version is still available for $AUS27.92 and you can order it via my web site, <a href="http://www.dunno.com.au/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0068cf;">www.dunno.com.au</span></a>. . Like a lot of authors, I don't do this for the money (that's why I have a day job); the satisfaction for me is building a world where people can escape to for a few hours, love/hate my characters and at the end of it think, "well, that was funny (or at least not a waste of time)"</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>What has your journey as a writer been like?</strong>I'm a newspaper journalist in real life and for the past 30 years or so I have written factual stuff. But fiction writing has always been a sideline. I self-published my first novel, <em>Apples</em>, in 1994. That was a satire too, centred on the is-it-or-isn't-it extinct Tasmanian Tiger and featured a Texan millionaire as a key character. But it was expensive to publish then and the publisher made me pay for a certain number of copies (of which some still linger in my garage to this day, the waste of a good tree). Print On Demand made more sense to me environmentally and it was cheaper. I put together a collection of short stories for a POD book How <em>Much Is That Scorpion In The Window</em> and then <div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Major BS: A Top Secret Mission</em> went that way too.</span></div><div> </div><div><strong>Do you have any upcoming projects?</strong>If the ebook goes well, I have another idea in my head (I always have ideas; I've never had writer's block). This latest idea is about an arsonist called Jerome O'Fury, an Irishman in Australia. It's always a balancing act between my family, my day job and what I'd love to do full time, writing. I realised long ago that I have the skills to do the writing, the editing and the design work - but promotion is my achilles' heel. I'm kinda shy and tongue-tied - but I have worked hard at getting some useful promotional sources on my web site:</div><div>Reviews: <a href="http://www.dunno.com.au/bsreviews.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0068cf;">http://www.dunno.com.au/bsreviews.html</span></a></div><div>An Q&A: <a href="http://www.dunno.com.au/jkminterview.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0068cf;">http://www.dunno.com.au/jkminterview.htm</span></a></div><div>You can read the first chapter free at <a href="http://www.freado.com/player/bookplayer.php?contentid=4763&authorid=3759&preview=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0068cf;">http://www.freado.com/player/bookplayer.php?contentid=4763&authorid=3759&preview=1</span></a> and you can also download a free sample from Amazon, which is a feature I really like.</div><div> </div></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><div><br />
<strong>Why did you choose to self publish?</strong>When I was growing up, my father wrote two or three novels on his typewriter that never saw the light of day. He sent them to umpteen publishers, a fruitless process that took years. I swore I'd never go down that path of frustration and disappointment. I think that publishers today are all about following marketing trends and winning formulas these days anyway - and they are headed to the same place all the books on my study shelves are going in this electronic world: the garbage can. I self publish now because I CAN.</div><div> </div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;">I like the work of US author Carl Hiassen, Irish authors Roddy Doyle and Colin Bateman, Scottish author ian Rankin, British author John Le Carre. I love the way US/UK writer Bill Bryson unearths and plays out amusing anecotes.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;">I hate the predictable and formulaic.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>What time of day do you write best?</strong>Any time I have peace and quiet, and my chores are already done.</span></div><div> </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGdj9CzJGjxw6SUM8Rr2jZhE1K6ingzGo4Kahpola5gRUBylaTtnxgQeYe4qo3oJjnjA76p9-_Xid9M0ijyW6ed8XqLl4KRBK0YgG1dV0TUnXm9y2Mn_Y7uiUOJngbJ0-zVLzxpKevr3A/s1600/John+Martin.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGdj9CzJGjxw6SUM8Rr2jZhE1K6ingzGo4Kahpola5gRUBylaTtnxgQeYe4qo3oJjnjA76p9-_Xid9M0ijyW6ed8XqLl4KRBK0YgG1dV0TUnXm9y2Mn_Y7uiUOJngbJ0-zVLzxpKevr3A/s1600/John+Martin.bmp" /></a></div><div> </div></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Do you have a favorite character and why?</strong>I like strong characters. Heroes with flaws. In Major BS's case, he's much more flaw than hero.</span></div></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Major-Top-Secret-Mission-ebook/dp/B005MEZUFY/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0068cf; font-family: Arial;">www.amazon.com/Major-Top-Secret-Mission-ebook/dp/B005MEZUFY/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> (US$3.99).<br />
</span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Major-Top-Secret-Mission-ebook/dp/B005MEZUFY" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0068cf; font-family: Arial;">www.amazon.co.uk/Major-Top-Secret-Mission-ebook/dp/B005MEZUFY</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> (£2.83).</span>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-44843097085722509922011-11-21T18:16:00.000-08:002011-11-21T18:16:30.629-08:00Free Author Interview: Kristi Petersen Schoonover<div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjDMweOjDFcU5XNq2ULpe9i7hKuzQxRWBNfgDV_QjLfG-CoSXmTA-pFgTJWskwHTSonxtj190Tc7PwGq11_medLVkQOz3cEQzJW_E6jzjdvxRV32VjkuIPx2kMAmqhZC9tQLqp-c4jKaEc/s1600/skeletons.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjDMweOjDFcU5XNq2ULpe9i7hKuzQxRWBNfgDV_QjLfG-CoSXmTA-pFgTJWskwHTSonxtj190Tc7PwGq11_medLVkQOz3cEQzJW_E6jzjdvxRV32VjkuIPx2kMAmqhZC9tQLqp-c4jKaEc/s1600/skeletons.bmp" /></a><b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Author Name:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Kristi Petersen Schoonover</span></div></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Where can we find your book?</span></b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Skeletons in the Swimmin' Hole--Tales from Haunted Disney World</i> is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the usual. You can also purchase it directly from me at <a href="http://www.haunteddisneytales.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #a1753a;">www.haunteddisneytales.com</span></a>. Right now it’s also available in Kindle and Nook, but a publisher has approached me to publish the e-books under their label and that’s being worked on. </span></div></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"> <b>How much does it cost?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>$9.95</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"> Tell us a little about your book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><i><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole—Tales from Haunted Disney World</span></i><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"> is a collection of ghost stories set in Disney Parks. I’m an Edgar Allan Poe fanatic, and these stories work on the basis of his “triggers”—extreme guilt, oppression, passion, or circumstance can lead to haunting, whether supernatural or physical.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Do you have any upcoming projects?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Loads! My first novel, <i>Bad Apple</i>, is due out from Vagabondage Press Books in early 2012; I’m working on a collection of ghost stories set exclusively in the state of Connecticut; and there’s a second book in the Disney series, <i>Hairless Girl Does the Hula</i>, planned for 2013. I’m working on those stories now. In addition, I’m always writing and revising new short stories not connected with any collections. On the non-writing front, I’m starting a podcast, <i>Scary Scribes</i>, in January. The half-hour show will feature a brief scary read followed by an interview.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Why did you choose to self publish?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">I felt that this particular collection—ghost stories set in Disney Parks—would appeal to two very specific audiences with whom I interact on a regular basis, and I wanted to be able to invest the time in reaching them. I also wanted total control over this project—it’s my baby. I would absolutely do it again—and, in fact, I plan on it.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"> <b>Please share some advice to help future authors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>I always hear from writers don’t want to spend the time or money on their book or to promote themselves—quite frankly, I don’t understand that. It’s your work; why would you cheap out on it? I made a heavy investment. I hired professionals to do things. I spend money to promote myself, to go places, to make sure I’m getting the best that I can afford. And the books sell well because of that—I’m bringing in a consistent income on Amazon alone. In fact, I’ve made back my full initial investment already. But I work, work, work and spend, spend, spend to reap that reward. If you’re not willing or prepared to invest time and money in yourself or your project, don’t get into this—in the end, your lack of that investment will show. </span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"> <b>What drives you to write?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>I’ve always written—from the time I could hold a pen I was writing stories, so to be fair, I don’t know where the “drive” to do it comes from—it just sort of happens. I can tell you, though, that for me, writing is about processing: something has happened in my life and I sort it out through my stories. I don’t do this on purpose, it just seems that things I can’t resolve seem to get resolved little by little through my work. I know I’m done when whatever it is—a certain character who represents someone with whom I’m fascinated or who hurt me, for example—stops showing up. </span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"> How do you juggle life around your writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Writing for me has always come first. Unlike many writers who block time for themselves to write, I’m very much an inspiration-only writer as far as the creation of fiction goes; this means that when something wants to come out, everything I’m doing gets dropped. The good news about that, though, is that it never takes me very long to get out a draft: it’s all or nothing and no interruptions until it’s finished. There are years in which I’m very prolific, and years in which I’m not. But I’ve learned to roll with that. I’m getting back into a prolific period now, which I’m very excited about—it seems the ideas are coming so fast I can barely keep up with them. The only thing that really does is force me to schedule all the other activities in which I’m involved when I’m not creating—marketing, blogging, events, critiquing, revising, judging and just about everything else a writer does these days to keep a career afloat—those are the activities for which I block out specific time, usually in the evenings and on the weekends. It’s not a bad thing to be a writer and NOT write every day. I think the most important thing is to figure out how you work best and go for it.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Here’s a peek at “Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole”—the book’s title story:</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"> <u>Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole</u></span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“He did it,” my husband says.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">It’s so dark I can’t see his eyes—we’re at the Polynesian Resort’s Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show, and they’re about to dance with fire so the lights are off—but I know there’s no expression in them anyway. He’s in a trance. “Ohhhhh.”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">David channels the last thoughts of dead things. Back home in Baltimore, the ability’s onset has forced him to end his taxidermy practice. Recently, though, he’s seemed to get better.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">I heave a sigh and reach for the carved coconut monkey head that holds my Pele’s Fire Punch, put the straw in my mouth, and drain the drink.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">He finishes reading the air and sets his hand on top of mine. “I’m sorry, Cora. I know this is a vacation.”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“I just didn’t think there’d be any dead things in Disney World, that’s all. You were clean for almost a month. I was hoping—”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“I know.” He puts a square of pineapple bread on his plate next to a pile of chicken bones.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">The drums begin, and a limber man in a grass skirt twirls a flaming baton.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">The flashes started on David’s fortieth birthday.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">We were celebrating at the Annabel Lee Tavern, and the waitress had just set a quarter duckling in front of him. He looked at me as though he was going to say something, but then his expression went blank. He turned his gaze upward.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“What?” I twisted to look and noticed writing painted high on the wall: <i>Till they sorrowfully trailed in the dust. </i>There was more to it, but it wrapped around a corner where I couldn’t read the rest. “That’s from a Poe poem. I don’t think that line’s from ‘Annabel Lee.’ I <i>want</i> to say it’s from ‘Ulalume.’”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">But he didn’t answer.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“David?”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">His eyes moved as though he were reading from a page in the air. “Why did she leave me alone? Why?” </span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">I leaned closer to the table. “David? I didn’t leave you alone. I’m right here.”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“She left me!”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">He hadn’t mentioned his ex-wife, Helena—who had left him for another man—since just before our wedding two years ago, but that was the only ‘she’ I could think of. I reached out and gripped his wrist. “Helena left you, David. I didn’t.” </span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“No!”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Everyone in the tiny place went quiet; there was only the mournful <i>Firebird Suite</i> Berceuse floating from a speaker in the ceiling. </span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“No!”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">My face burned under the stares. The flame from our table’s candle snuffed out.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“I can’t get out!” David shouted.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">I released his wrist and turned to the pair of women at the next table. “I’m sorry…my husband is…I…” </span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">The waitress, panic in her eyes, approached. “Everything okay?” </span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">I shook my head. “I’m…I’m so, <i>so</i>, sorry, I don’t know what’s going on, just bring us some take-out containers and the check. Fast.”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">She nodded and rushed off.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“I can’t get out!”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“Yes, David, you can. We’re going out. Right now.”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Outside, the rain had turned to sleet. “Where is she?” David yelled. A couple walking across the street stopped, and then ran. “Where is she?” </span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“Stop it!” I screamed. “You’re scaring me!”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“She left me here!”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“I did not! Helena did!” Sleet stung my cheeks.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">He was quiet for a moment; in the distance, I heard sirens. Then he blinked, marveling as though he had no idea how he’d gotten outside. “Cora?”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">“I’m right here.” I was relieved. “I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere, and what Helena did to you will never, never happen again.”</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">He reached out with trembling fingers to touch my cheek. Then he fell against my shoulder and cried.</span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">When I wrapped my arms around him, I dropped the take-home containers. His duckling fell out and rolled into the street.</span></div></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><b><u><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">My bio</span></u></b><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="ecxmsonormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 16.2pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjQO54qSCJIErW77UsLsSYYK5A0rN-qdpn4zmgBv6lINRzb5TBxSKnWAgrCIJNu6o_nMooRizxR0Y5-0t_WkXJCrWbIy57p_9tGdxYK_YM4KbL3oyA8FDC5ArsQwQC5dEwR0xv0-X-8NT/s1600/kristi.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjQO54qSCJIErW77UsLsSYYK5A0rN-qdpn4zmgBv6lINRzb5TBxSKnWAgrCIJNu6o_nMooRizxR0Y5-0t_WkXJCrWbIy57p_9tGdxYK_YM4KbL3oyA8FDC5ArsQwQC5dEwR0xv0-X-8NT/s1600/kristi.bmp" /></a><span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 14pt;">Kristi Petersen Schoonover’s short fiction has appeared in <i>Carpe Articulum, The Adirondack Review, Barbaric Yawp, New Witch Magazine, Toasted Cheese</i>, and others, including several anthologies such as Dark Opus Press’ <i>In Poe’s Shadow</i>. She holds an MFA from Goddard College, has received two Norman Mailer Writers Colony Residencies, and is editor for <i>Read Short Fiction</i>. Her most recent work, <i>Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole</i>, is a collection of ghost stories set in Disney Parks; her horror novel, <i>Bad Apple</i>, is forthcoming from Vagabondage Books. She’s also a member of the New England Horror Writers Association. Her website is <a href="http://www.kristipetersenschoonover.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #a1753a;">www.kristipetersenschoonover.com</span></a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><br />
<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/book" rel="tag"><img alt=" " src="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16x13.png?tag=book" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-left: 0.4em; vertical-align: middle;" />book</a>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3835803567519364078.post-1258829815765752622011-11-21T17:56:00.000-08:002011-11-21T17:56:15.768-08:00Free Author Interview: Doug Simpson<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UxitNMRZ3JC9t80pNYSDqdTpF9QiVdDQP96WmQMosZ5XK-f0TqNJI5F6uUt_fjTPLuITZipzqQgslzUaBVtuJdeSlku9r3fWzoqsE_c1XRFi8IigcA6E6jOcceoSPC3SU8LSA9sR8Nqa/s1600/doug+simpson.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UxitNMRZ3JC9t80pNYSDqdTpF9QiVdDQP96WmQMosZ5XK-f0TqNJI5F6uUt_fjTPLuITZipzqQgslzUaBVtuJdeSlku9r3fWzoqsE_c1XRFi8IigcA6E6jOcceoSPC3SU8LSA9sR8Nqa/s1600/doug+simpson.bmp" /></a></div><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Authors Bio - </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Doug Simpson is a retired high school teacher who has turned his talents to writing. His first novel, a spiritual mystery titled Soul Awakening, was published in the United States in October of 2011, by Book Locker. Check it out at <a href="http://booklocker.com/books/5754.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: purple;">http://booklocker.com/books/5754.html</span></a> . It is available in print and eBook format through most book stores. His magazine and website articles have been published in 2010 and 2011 in Australia, Canada, France, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His website is at <a href="http://dousinp.mnsi.net/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #a1753a;">http://dousinp.mnsi.net</span></a>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Name - Doug Simpson</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Available - Soul Awakening is available from Book Locker at </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><a href="http://booklocker.com/books/5754.html" style="right: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="color: purple;">http://booklocker.com/books/5754.html</span></a> for $14.95 for the paperback and and $5.99 for the ebook. It is also available in paperback and ebook through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Chapters Indigo and most other bookstores around the world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Book in Brief - This first novel was published in the United States in October of 2011. Soul Awakening is a work of fiction, inspired by a series of actual events. It is a spiritual mystery involving the apparently accidental, though actually orchestrated by Divine Intervention, meeting of three total strangers and their ultimate discovery that they shared previous lifetimes together. It delves into reincarnation, past lifetimes, spirit communication, messages from God, past-life regression sessions, Guardian Angels, past-life recall in the awake state, and soul attraction, the reincarnation of groups of souls together in more than one lifetime. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Upcoming Projects - The second book in the series, Soul Rescue, has been completed but it has not yet been submitted for publishing. I will continue to write more articles for magazines and websites, and whenever they are published I place a link, on my website at <a href="http://dousimp.mnsi.net/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #a1753a;">http://dousimp.mnsi.net</span></a> , to the magazine or website where it can be read.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Journey - I have always had a driving desire to write, and many times over thirty years or so, while I was gainfully employed, I attempted to write a novel but never seemed to be able to complete it or to do an adequate job. Blessed retirement gave me the opportunity to finally concentrate on writing. I started with articles in magazines and on websites and have been fortunate to publish in Australia, Canada, France, India, the United Kingdom and the United States. The success of my articles encouraged me to take another crack at a book, and the manuscript became Soul Awakening. Never too old to try!!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Why self-publish? When I reached to point where I started to scream ever time I received another printed response from agents and publishers, along the line of 'We are currently not accepting ...', then self-publishing became the new Plan A.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Do it again? I would and will definitely do it again unless some rich publisher comes knocking on my door and makes me an offer I can't refuse. I have had a wonderful experience with Book Locker and recommend them to everyone who asks, and sometimes they do not even have to ask. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Advice? I am too new at this to be giving advice to others, other than maybe to say NEVER GIVE UP!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Sample Chapters? For those readers who would like to check out Soul Awakening, two sample chapters are available at</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><a href="http://booklocker.com/books/5754.html" style="right: auto;" target="_blank"><span style="color: purple;">http://booklocker.com/books/5754.html</span></a> .</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/book" rel="tag"><img alt=" " src="http://scm-l3.technorati.com/static/img/pub/icon-utag-16x13.png?tag=book" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-left: 0.4em; vertical-align: middle;" />book</a>Amy Mileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17995767239967124796noreply@blogger.com0