Nov 07

BRoP Interview: PK Hrezo

  • Filed under Featured

  • November 7, 2013

  • 6 mins to read

Hrezo_authorpic-2Welcome to this week’s Blog Ring of Power guest, PK Hrezo, a native Floridian whose life could easily be a Jimmy Buffet song. She shares her home with her firefighter husband and their two children. When not creating characters and their worlds, PK can be found at her other job of rearranging passenger’s itineraries for a major international airline. The only hobbies she loves more than traveling, are reading, writing, and music, and when the four are combined she exists in total bliss.

Don’t miss the rest of P.K.’s interview:

Part 1 @ Sandra – Monday, Nov.  4

Part 2 @ Vicki – Tuesday, Nov. 5

Part 3 @ Terri – Wednesday,

BRoP Logo Revised-1Nov. 6

Part 5 @ Emily – Friday, Nov. 8

 

PART 4: ABOUT YOUR CURRENT WORK

Tell us about your new book and when it is out? Where can people purchase it? Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. launches 11-12-13. It will be available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. (links to follow depending on when this airs) It’s a NA time travel romance (light sci-fi). Imagine a future where commercial time travel is a reality. Where would you book your time trip to if you could walk into a time travel agency? My main character, Bianca Butterman, is not a time travel customer, she’s a time-craft pilot and trip guide, having just earned her license and full certification. She’s about to have an unlikely customer take her on a whirlwind time trip.

Is there anything new, unusual, or interesting about your book? How is it different from other books on the same subject? Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. started out as a time travel parody, but it evolved into a life of its own. What makes it unique is it’s told from an eighteen-year-old girl’s sassy POV. Although the story itself is slightly techy, it focuses on character, and can really be considered more of a futuristic contemporary tale.

What was the hardest part of writing this book? Ugh the time travel element is such a challenge. It’s so easy to get tangled up in all the time strings, which is why the fun, sassy story telling style is so vital. In my opinion, nobody wants to be bored with all the scientific details of how something works, so I touched on those elements just enough to keep the story rolling. There were plenty of times when I had to map out timelines and diagrams to keep myself on track.

What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why? There’s a scene in the middle of the book where my characters travel back to a certain music fest in 1969. Writing that event was so much fun. I almost feel like I was really there.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in this book? Right now, the answer is no. But after reviews come in, I may have a different answer…LOL.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? That sometimes we have to listen to our hearts instead of our heads. I think for those who are more scientifically-minded, that can be a challenge. And that’s my MC, Bianca.

Tell us about your book’s cover – where did the design come from and what was the design process like? Jaycee DeLorenzo at Sweet-n-Spicy Designs did my cover. She’s fantastic. She also designed my website (Down the Rabbit Hole.) She’s excellent at taking my vision and going with it. I knew what I wanted for my cover, but wasn’t sure how to lay it out. I told her the colors I wanted, the images, and sent her a cover from a book I really liked. She ran with it and I was pretty much satisfied with her first example. After changing the fonts a bit and making my author name smaller, it was a done deal. She really captured the essence of the story.

Is your book in print, ebook or both? Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc. will be both eBook and print. Launches 11-12-13 (Nov. 12)

Please let us know where your readers can stalk you:

Blog:  http://pk-hrezo.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorpkhrezo

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7327816.P_K_Hrezo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pkhrezo

 

Hrezo_Butterman-2

Welcome to Butterman Travel, Incorporated

 We are a full service agency designed to meet all your exclusive time travel needs. Family-owned and operated, we offer clients one hundred years of time travel experience. A place where you can rest assured, safety and reliability always come first.

Anxious to attend a special event from the past? Or for a glimpse of what the future holds?

You’ve come to the right place. We’re a fully accredited operation, offering an array of services; including, but not limited to: customized travel plans, professionally piloted operations, and personal trip guides. *Terms and conditions do apply

 Conference us directly from our Website. Our frontline reservation specialist, Bianca Butterman, will handle all your inquiries in a professional and efficient manner, offering a tentative itinerary and free fare quote, so you can make the most of your time trip.

We look forward to serving you at Butterman Travel, Inc., where time is always in your hands.

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Permanent link to this article: https://twfendley.com/brop-interview-pk-hrezo/

Oct 10

BRoP interview: Katherine Lampe

  • Filed under Featured

  • October 10, 2013

  • 9 mins to read

Kele trimWelcome to this week’s Blog Ring of Power guest, Katherine Lampe, a versatile spec fiction author I met through Broad Universe. When she was twelve years old, Katherine was thrown out of Sunday School class by her minister father for advancing a symbolist interpretation of the story of the expulsion from Eden. This marked the beginning of her career as an Iconoclast, which she pursues on a daily basis by asking difficult questions until people run away in terror. As a writer, she is a staunch proponent of the Independent movement and is outspoken against the sexism, classism, and narcissism often found in traditional publishing. Her Caitlin Ross series of paranormal novels follow the adventures of a witch married to a shaman in Colorado, and explore problems ranging from abuse of power to dysfunctional families. The fifth in the series, The Cruel Mother, was released in September, 2013, and Katherine is currently working on the sixth, to be titled Demon Lover.

BRoP Logo Revised-1

Part 2 @ Emily – Friday, October 11

Part 3 @  Sandra  – Monday, October 14

Part 4 @ Vicki – Tuesday, October 15

Part 5 @ Terri – Wednesday, October 16

 

PART ONE: ABOUT YOU

When and why did you begin writing? I have a hard time remembering. It seems like something I’ve always done. My mom was an English teacher and my dad’s hobby was History, so we always had books around. I know I learned to read early, before I was five. And I have always loved words. My mom used to tell a story about me being two and watching some old TV vocabulary puzzle quiz show, and having all the answers. And I remember when I was bored, just pulling books off shelves. I’d hide under the piano and read. So it was a natural transition for me, to move from reading stories to writing them. But I guess I had to learn the alphabet first.

Tell us about your early works—what was the first thing you ever wrote? The first thing ever? Well, there was this poem about my grandmother I wrote in second grade or somewhere around there. My dad kept it in a folder on his desk for years. And in third grade, I think, we all did a book-making project, writing and illustrating a book, and binding it in cheesy cardboard covered with contact paper. I wrote a myth about the origins of the horse, based on Kipling’s Just So Stories; I was fond of them—still am. But the first major thing was an epic fantasy I wrote in a series of spiral notebooks the summer before I started high school. It was called Song of Peralynn or something like that, and it was a typical “innocent going on a quest that leads to self-discovery” kind of thing. I recall it with a kind of embarrassment, although in retrospect it had some things to recommend it. Lots of monsters, for example. And it won a writing prize at my school, although I think that was mainly because no one else entered in the same category. I think there’s still a copy in my mom’s attic somewhere. Hopefully, no one will ever dig it out.

When did you first consider yourself a professional writer? Not until about a year ago. I owe it to my friend, Stef, who suggested I make my books available on Smashwords because she wanted to read them. I’d been trying without success to go the traditional publishing route, and I decided, “What the heck?” Before that, I’d self-published a book of fairy tales for mature readers, Dragons of the Mind, but I’d never managed to sell a single story, let alone a novel. So when people asked me what I did and I told them I was a writer, and they followed it up with the inevitable question, “Oh, have you published anything?” I’d look down and say something like, “Oh, uh, I self-published a book, but, you know, I haven’t done anything real.”

Then one night my husband and I were at dinner, and the waitress asked me THE QUESTION, and I managed to say, “Yeah, I have a series of novels available for e reader, and I’m working on the print editions.” Because it all at once struck me that writing, telling stories, is what I do, better than I do anything; that I have skill at it and I’ve earned the right to call myself an author, not just a writer. And that I don’t need to be ashamed because no one in traditional publishing has validated me in that area. I can own my ability. Since then, although it’s been difficult to remember at times, given that there’s still such a stigma on Independent authors, I’ve considered writing my profession.

What books have most influenced your life? The Hobbit. I first read that in second grade. I told my brother I had hairy toes, and he said I must be a Hobbit. I asked him what a Hobbit was, and he told me to read the book and find out. So I did, and I thought it was the most amazing thing. But one funny thing—or maybe not so funny, considering I was only seven years old—was, it never occurred to me that Tolkien had invented Hobbits. I already had read a lot of folklore and fairy tales and stuff, so I knew that Wizards and Dwarves and the like had this-world roots. So I just assumed Hobbits were the same. I spent years, on and off, trying to find references to them somewhere else. Of course I never did. But that set the tone for how I have conducted my life ever since: I run across something that intrigues me, and I try to track it down. And, of course, it was the first novel-length fantasy I ever read, and it has influenced all the reading and writing choices I’ve made since.

What genre do you write? It’s so difficult to pin down genre these days, especially when you get into the fantastic realm. Epic Fantasy, sure; you see some sort of Hero’s Journey with a Good/Evil dichotomy and you can be pretty sure of the label. Hard Science Fiction is almost the same: look for alien worlds and lots of tech built around (hopefully) scientific extrapolation. But when you go outside those, everything gets all squoodged together. I mean, what’s a Zombie-Time Travel-Magical-Love Story? Do you call it Horror for the Zombies? Romance for the love story? If the Zombies and the Time Travel both have logical explanations, is it Science Fiction? Or is it Fantasy for the magic? I have this conversation with other authors all the time.

I consider my novel series paranormal for marketing purposes, because it deals with monsters and magic, and the characters’ relationships to both, in the world we know rather than another. However, it’s outside the lines of some typical paranormal works because it lacks vampires, werewolves, and that kind of thing. So I honestly don’t know. I’m approximating. I wish we could do away with the question of genre altogether, but I understand it has value for readers trying to predetermine whether or not they’ll like a particular work.

What format is your book(s) available in (print, e-book, audio book, etc.)? All my books are available in both print and electronic format.

Please let us know where your readers can stalk you:

Website: http://www.katherinelampe.com is my official website, but I actually am terrible at keeping it up. If anyone wants to take on web design, please contact me!

Blog:  http://kelesunintendedblog.blogspot.com

Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/KELampe

Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2707900.Katherine_Lampe

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wysewomon

Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/katherinelampe

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/wysewomon

Cruel Mother resize v 2

THE CRUEL MOTHER: When Caitlin Ross was fifteen, her mother had her committed to a mental institution in hopes of curing her of magic. After a sympathetic psychiatrist helped Caitlin secure her release, she left her family, and ever since she has kept as much distance between herself and them as possible.

But when her sister calls to tell Caitlin her mother is dying, she yearns for some kind of reconciliation and chooses to return to her childhood home. In Detroit, Caitlin runs into her former psychiatrist, who asks for her help with one of his patients, a troubled teenaged girl. Although Caitlin at first refuses to get involved, escalating family tensions drive her to visit the girl as an escape. Discovering the source of the girl’s problems will lead Caitlin into a world she’s only imagined, one that holds a startling revelation about her own origins.

 

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Permanent link to this article: https://twfendley.com/brop-interview-katherine-lampe/

Oct 03

BRoP Interview: Joshua Legg

  • Filed under Featured

  • October 3, 2013

  • 7 mins to read

Welcome to this week’s Blog Ring of Power guest, Joshua Legg. He resides in San Antonio, Texas, with his dog, Ruby. He studies history and English, as well as about a dozen other subjects. His debut novel Etched in Soul and Skin was released this year by Musa Publishing.

Don’t miss the rest of his BRoP interview at:

BRoP Logo Revised-1

Part 1 @ Vicki – Tuesday, October 1

Part 2 @ Terri – Wednesday, October 2

Part 4 @ Emily – Friday, October 4

Part 5 @ Sandra – Monday, October 7

 

PART 3: THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Where do you get your story ideas? Anywhere and everywhere. Song lyrics have provided quite a few ideas. Other times, I’ll see a story and think about how it might play out in reverse, or the opposite. I also study a lot of history, be it in books or documentaries, and sometimes the questions they raise spark my imagination.  And, of course, there are just those ideas that come from absolutely nowhere and stick in my head until I write them down.

How do you deal with writer’s block? When I’m not writing or reading, I usually spend my free time playing video games of different genres and themes. Sometimes, something in their stories starts me thinking about stories of my own. Other times, I’ll just use the distraction as a way to cleanse my mind and let me get creative again. In rare cases, when doing something in a game when the story is dependent on your actions, or your strategic decisions affect the outcome, I like to imagine other outcomes and sometimes come up with entirely new ideas.

How do you develop your plots and characters? Do you use any set formula? Characters and plots develop organically in my notes and stories. If I come up with a character first, I’ll try to think of the circumstances and settings that would have realistically created someone like that. If I imagine a setting or situation, I’ll try to think of what kind of people would build or live like that.

I don’t have a formula, but I do try to never think of any story element in a vacuum. Just like in the real world, everything is connected in one way or another, so I try to stay mindful of the ‘wider world’ when creating things or people. Take for example, Adanna’s best friend, Kwee. From the beginning, I imagined her to not have magic powers and physically powerful in contrast to the thin and short Adanna. But as I developed the character, I realized the source of her headstrong attitude had to come from more than her simple strength. She is actually ashamed of her inability to throw fire around or do the amazing things almost everyone else in the tribe can do. She goes overboard with her physicality to just try and make up for what she sees as a major handicap. This never came up in the narrative, but it was something that was always on my mind when I wrote scenes with her.

Are you a “plotter” or a “pantser” (do you plan/outline the story ahead of time or write “by the seat of your pants”)? Something in the middle, I’d wager. I always start with a solid foundation of notes, ideas and even a loose outline of major story events, but I don’t meticulously plan every detail of the manuscript before I write it. I like to keep things very organic, and often times I find myself deviating from the rough outline as the first draft develops. In the case of “Etched”, I had to discard the outline entirely as the story moved in a direction I had never considered.

How much time do you spend on research? What type of research do you do? It depends on what I’m writing about, honestly. For “Etched”, I spent hours researching various Native American tribes and other nomadic groups in the world to make Adanna’s world as authentic as possible. Even though their society is different because they can use magic, and the reason they migrate is completely different from any historically documented group, it was essential to look into the lives of real nomadic peoples, otherwise the writing might have been so unbelievable, the reader would have been unable to connect with it.

However, as an interesting anecdote, the flying city of Shuran was originally going to fly on mechanical power alone. But a few seconds of number crunching and googling made me realize how impossible that would be, even for a fantastic steampunk city made of brass. And thus I came up with the necessity of magic in keeping it aloft and the energy crisis the city faced.

Please let us know where your readers can stalk you:

Website: http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=588

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joshualegg

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Etched-Soul-Skin-ebook/dp/B00CULEYUO

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/317124

Other: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/etched-in-soul-and-skin-joshua-legg/1115360229?ean=2940016702919

Etched in Soul and SkinETCHED IN SOUL AND SKIN: The Sky Demons have hunted Adanna’s tribe for centuries, kidnapping people in vicious nighttime raids and disappearing without a trace. Her life has been one of deprivation and loss, always striving to keep one step ahead of relentless attackers.

Erik is the newest soldier in a secret military, one dedicated to keeping his steam-powered city in the air. Only a select few know the dark secret of his flying home. It’s not their technology that keeps it aloft, but the magic that flows in the veins of the people who live below them. He has been trained for one purpose: to hunt and retrieve human beings.

Captured and almost turned into a living battery, Adanna is rescued by the very man who imprisoned her. In her, he sees a chance at redemption. In him, she sees a chance to escape. And maybe get a little revenge for the years of terror the ‘sky demons’ have inflicted on her.

 

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Permanent link to this article: https://twfendley.com/brop-interview-joshua-legg/

Sep 23

Join 9/27 guided meditation mini-retreat

  • Filed under Featured

  • September 23, 2013

  • 2 mins to read

Following is from Deborah Weltman:

MeditationJoin Deborah Weltman for a most wonderful way to begin your weekend! Relax…Restore…Refresh! Mini-retreats include: ceremony and ritual… guided meditation… journaling… fellowship… self-knowledge…surprises!!!

September GuideMeditation:  “BIRTH” Before you came to this life in physical form you resided with the Great Creator in etheric form. Learn more about the time before you were born into your body… into this physical life. Learn what you “signed up” for…

Bring with you a “lovie” a soft blanket or a stuffed animal… something that feels comforting to you. If you prefer to sit on the floor, bring a cushion to sit on.

Friday, September 27, 2013
7:30 – 9:00 PM

$12.00 at the door (or pay-in-advance: $10.00)

At Deb’s home
6714 Bonnie Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63123

To pay-in-advance click here (then scroll to the bottom of the page)
RSVP to Deborah at: 314-544-2555 – Space is Limited

Permanent link to this article: https://twfendley.com/join-927-guided-meditation-mini-retreat/

Sep 22

YMCA offers Maya cultural exchange program

  • Filed under Featured

  • September 22, 2013

  • 1 min to read

with-host-familyIf you would like to assist with projects in San Angel, a small village in the northern Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, check out the YMCA’s “Intercambio Cultural Maya.” Application is open until Oct. 15.

The entire trip (Dec. 28 to Jan. 9) also includes visits to the ancient Maya ruins of Ek Balam and the North Coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. Limited grants are available for students to cover costs.

Please contact “Intercambio Cultural Maya” for more information, including about the projects: construction, dental, optical, translation. All levels of expertise are needed.

I learned of this exchange program via a FAMSI listserve. Dr. David Hixson, the archaeologist who posted the message said, “I would not be who I am now without the experience of living in a rural Maya village during my early college years.” He and fellow archaeologist Dr. Christian Wells began their careers on this volunteer project, and both continue to support it.

Permanent link to this article: https://twfendley.com/ymca-offers-maya-cultural-exchange-program/

Sep 19

BRoP Interview: Ellen Larson

  • Filed under Featured

  • September 19, 2013

  • 6 mins to read

Larson_headshop_2011Welcome to this week’s Blog Ring of Power guest, Ellen Larson. After 20 years working as a substantive editor in Egypt and the US, Ellen was recently named editor of The Poisoned Pencil, the YA mystery imprint of Poisoned Pen Press. Ellen, who lives in an off-grid cabin, also writes. Her fiction has appeared in Yankee Magazine, Bloodroot Literary Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (Barry Award finalist), and Big Pulp. Her dystopian mystery, IN RETROSPECT (Gale-Cengage, Five Star), will be out December 2013.

Don’t miss the rest of Ellen’s BRoP interview at:

BRoP Logo Revised-1Part 1 @ Terri – Wednesday, September 18

Part 3 @ Emily – Friday, September 20

Part 4 @ Sandra – Monday, September 23

Part 5 @ Vicki – Tuesday, September 24

 

PART 2: THE WRITING LIFE

How do you balance writing with other aspects of your life?  I don’t. And I don’t write enough. Generally I have to shut out all other aspects of life and do nothing but write for long stretches of time. Because I am self-employed, I can do that (I tell my clients I’m not accepting work for this month or that summer, for example). It used to bug me to have to answer the phone when the writing fit was on me (and it really bugged my friends when I didn’t answer my phone), but now that I do most of my communicating via email, I don’t have this problem. I answer emails when I need a break and if I’m not in the mood, I don’t. I rarely answer the phone or emails in the evenings.

When do you write? In the afternoons and evenings, with no preference as to day of the week. As I am self-employed, weekends tend to merge with week days.

How much time per day do you spend on your writing? Not nearly enough

What has been the most surprising reaction to something you’ve written? My first book, titled The Hatch and Brood of Time, came out about twenty years ago. It is a mystery set in Bergen County, New Jersey, which is where I grew up; the protagonist is a newspaper reporter working her way up the ranks. My friend Charlie read the book and send me a praise filled review, which ended with the following caveat: “One thing. New Jersey is full of diners, but there weren’t enough in this book.” (Please note that there were no fewer than three diners mentioned in the book. Hey, I said I grew up in New Jersey.)

What is the strongest criticism you’ve ever received as an author? The best compliment? I get a lot of both strong negative criticism and excited compliments, and not so much in the middle. So I’m quite used to getting smacked down. Call it pride, but a lot of the negative comments say more about the commenter than they do about my writing. For example, when my first short story was published in Yankee Magazine, I received a piece of racist hate mail in response to a sentence in the story that decried racism. More recently, an amazon.com reviewer for the ABNA contest said that my “constant use of flowery adjectives isn’t friendly to male readers.” For comparison, an agent rejected the same work because he was put off by my “spare, lean, and objective style.” On the positive side, hands down the best compliment I’ve ever received was an editor praising the protagonist of my WIP by saying “She’s such a hero.” In fact, the meaning of the character’s name is “hero,” so this made me feel that I had accomplished my communication goals.

How do you deal with rejection and/or negative reviews? I get pissed off.

Please let us know where your readers can stalk you:

IR_Cover

IN RETROSPECT: Former elite operative Merit Rafi suffered during her imprisonment at the end of a devastating war, but the ultimate torment is being forced to investigate a murder she would gladly have committed herself. In the year 3324 the Rasakans have attacked the technologically superior Oku. The war is a stalemate until the Oku commander, General Zane, abruptly surrenders. Merit, a staunch member of the Oku resistance, fights on, but she and her comrades are soon captured. An uneasy peace ensues, but the Rasakans conspire to gain control of the prized Oku time-travel technology. When Zane is murdered, the Rasakans exert control over Merit, the last person on Earth capable of Forensic Retrospection. In Retrospect is a good old-fashioned whodunit set in a compelling post-apocalyptic future

BUY IT NOW:

Goodreads | Amazon | In Retrospect Website

 

 

 

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Permanent link to this article: https://twfendley.com/brop-interview-ellen-larson/

Sep 11

Zero Time now available in more libraries

  • Filed under Featured

  • September 11, 2013

  • 1 min to read

A4LE_badge2Thanks to patron requests submitted by Katherine Lampe and Karen Kraft, my debut historical fantasy, ZERO TIME, is now available at libraries in Colorado and Arkansas. Much appreciated!

Join the efforts to get more indie and small press books into libraries AND to encourage libraries’ equitable access to ebooks via the ALA Authors for Library Ebooks.

Learn more in my post, Library potpourri: Three things to ponder, on The Writers’ Lens.

 

 

Permanent link to this article: https://twfendley.com/zero-time-now-available-in-more-libraries/

Sep 06

Deb presents winning essay 9/7 at Jung conference

  • Filed under Featured

  • September 6, 2013

  • 3 mins to read

My friend Deborah Terra Weltman will be one of three contest winners whose works will be showcased Saturday at the C.G. Jung Society’s author’s  reception from 6:45-10 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 7, at:

Kings House Retreat Center
700 N. 66th St.
Belleville, IL 62223 (click here for map and directions)

A wine and cheese reception will celebrate the release of the C.G. Jung Society’s second collection of essays. Winners of the 2012 writing contest will be reading their work:

  • Gifts of the Camino, by Deborah Terra Weltman

“I crossed the Pyrenees on foot, up and over incredibly rocky terrain, in higher altitudes than I’d ever been, and made it, exhausted, into Spain. What followed was a series of life lessons on the topic of trust. As it turned out, I was on the Camino to learn about trusting myself, trusting others, trusting that I would always be provided for, and in general, trusting God.”

  • Adversity and the Movements of the Soul, by Mark A. Cameron, PhD, MA

“Jung once described God as ‘the name by which I designate all things which cross my path violently and recklessly, all things which upset my subjective views, plans and intentions and change the course of my life.’ I soon came to know this aspect of God intimately. Eventually, I would come to see the sly plan which God had placed into motion through this period of suffering.”

  • Healing Through the Numinous, by Leah Friedman, PhD

“Recently, to my great surprise, I was visited by a mystifying, life-altering shift of consciousness. As I pondered what had happened, which I shall describe later, I thought about the meaning of the word numinous and realized that this was not the first time I had encountered numinosity.”

 

$15 Registration online (click here) in advance or pay at the door. If paying at the door please RSVP to let them know you are planning to attending: cgjungstl@yahoo.com.

Books will be available for purchase and authors will be available for signing.
Click here for a flyer and click here to see complete program and registration details online for the Third Jung in the Heartland Conference: Healing Through the Numinous 
September 5 – 8, 2013.

Permanent link to this article: https://twfendley.com/deb-presents-winning-essay-97-at-jung-conference/

Sep 05

BRoP Interview: Bonnie Milani

  • Filed under Featured

  • September 5, 2013

  • 6 mins to read

BonnieMilani-1Welcome to this week’s Blog Ring of Power guest, BONNIE MILANI, who has taken what might be called the sandwich approach to writing. She started writing early, winning state-wide writing contests in grammar school, publishing an environmental fairy tale under the aegis of the NJ Board of Education in college. After earning her M.A. in Communication at Stanford, Bonnie freelanced feature articles for East Coast newspapers and regional magazines, from Mankind and Peninsula to Science Digest as well as how to articles for the late & much lamented fanzine Speculations. She stopped writing completely after marriage while building a pair of businesses with her husband. It was only with the successive deaths of each member of her family that she reclaimed her love of story-telling. Home World is the result.

Today, Bonnie lives with her husband of thirty-six years in Los Angeles. She is still a full-time benefits broker, specializing in employee benefits for entrepreneurs and micro-businesses.

Home World will launch later this month, but in the meantime, you can find Bonnie on Facebook.

BRoP Logo Revised-1Don’t miss the rest of her interview at:

  • Part 2 @ Emily – Friday, September 6
  • Part 3 @ Sandra – Monday, September 9
  • Part 4 @ Vicki – Tuesday, September 10
  • Part 5 @ Terri – Wednesday, September 11

 

PART ONE:  ABOUT YOU

How long have you been writing? Let’s not admit to just how many years that’s been. ‘Nuff said that I can’t remember NOT telling stories.  I used to script the games of tag we played with other kids in the neighborhood.  In addition to introducing me to the thrill of active audience participation, it also taught me the importance of keeping the audience satisfied – especially when most of them were bigger than me & chasing me down!

When did you first consider yourself a professional writer? I was writing for publication – statewide school contests, etc – by the time I was in 7th grade.  I scripted & conducted TV interviews for my college TV station, and wrote the text for an environmental fairy tale published by the State of NJ as part of its grade school curriculum.  After I finished my M.A. in Communications at Stanford, I freelanced articles for a variety of East Coast newspapers and various regional magazines.  I even wrote a cover story for Science Digest!

What books have most influenced your life? Now this is a fun one.  I’d say the two stories that influenced me the most were the ones that literally shaped my life.  The first was the book that made me realize I was supposed to be a writer:   I remember The Moment very clearly.  I was about 7 years old at the time.  It was a Sunday afternoon & I was lying on my grandmother’s living room couch reading a kid-level biography of William Harvey, the English physician credited in the West for discovering how blood circulates in the human body.  About a third of the way through the book I announced to no one in particular, ‘I could write better than that!’  My grandmother heard me, & promptly challenged me to prove it.  So I penciled in an edit of the book.  Unfortunately for my own body’s well-being, neither my mother nor the local librarian appreciated my efforts.

The second story to shape my life was the one that got me into writing science fiction.   After all these years, I haven’t a clue what the story title was, but it was, I believe, in Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine.  The story’s premise was that the only possible function women could serve on a space ship crew were as ship prostitutes (obviously phrased more delicately at the time).   Made me so angry I threw the magazine across the room, wrote a letter of outraged protest to the editor, and cancelled my subscription.  In retrospect, I should’ve been more circumspect, but I was hot-headed little thing at 10 years old.  The long-term fall-out of that story, though, was that it launched me into the junior ranks of women’s lib and sealed my determination to write sci fi for WOMEN.

What genre do you write? Two guesses…

What is your favorite theme/genre to write about? Genre, not surprisingly, is sci fi.  Theme…family.  Growing up, finding love – and losing it.  Like I said, my sci fi is WOMEN’s sci fi.

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HOME WORLD: Amid the ruins of a post-apocalyptic Waikiki, Jezekiah Van Buren thinks he’s found a way to restore Earth – Home World to the other worlds of the human Commonwealth – to her lost glory.

Ingenious even by the standards of the genetically enhanced Great Family Van Buren, Jezekiah has achieved the impossible: he has arranged a treaty that will convert Earth’s ancient enemies, the Lupans, to her most powerful allies. Not only will the treaty terms make Earth rich again, it will let him escape the Ring that condemns him to be Earth’s next ruler. Best of all, the treaty leaves him free to marry Keiko Yakamoto, the Samuari-trained woman he loves. Everything’s set. All Jezekiah has to do is convince his xenophobic sister to accept the Lupan’s alpha warlord in marriage. Before, that is, the assassin she’s put on his tail succeeds in killing him. Or the interstellar crime ring called Ho Tong succeed in raising another rebellion. Or before his ruling relatives on competing worlds manage to execute him for treason.

But Jezekiah was bred for politics and trained to rule. He’s got it all under control. Until his Lupan warlord-partner reaches Earth. And suddenly these two most powerful men find themselves in love with the same woman. A woman who just may be the most deadly assassin of them all.

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Aug 29

BRoP Interview: Michelle Hauck

  • Filed under Featured

  • August 29, 2013

  • 6 mins to read

hauck_authorpicWelcome to MICHELLE HAUCK, this week’s Blog Ring of Power guest. Michelle lives in the bustling metropolis of Northern Indiana with her hubby and two teenagers. Two papillons help balance out the teenage drama. Besides working with special needs children by day, she writes all sorts of fantasy, giving her imagination free range. A book worm, she passes up the darker vices in favor of chocolate and looks for any excuse to reward herself. Bio finished? Time for a sweet snack. Her epic fantasy, Kindar’s Cure, is released from Divertir Publishing. A short story, Frost and Fog, will be released in a summer anthology from The Elephant’s Bookshelf Press.

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  • Part 1 @ Terri – Wednesday, August 28
  • Part 3 @ Emily – Friday, August 30
  • Part 4 @ Sandra – Monday, September 2
  • Part 5 @ Vicki – Tuesday, September 3

 

PART TWO: THE WRITING LIFE

What is your writing process? Do you follow a regular routine? Do you use pen and paper or computer? Work at home or at the library/Starbucks, etc. I don’t have a routine, except that I always write on my laptop at the kitchen table. Being in such a central location, I’ve really learned how to tune things out and concentrate. I also always have music going. But as far as writing everyday or having a set amount of words I want to produce, that doesn’t happen. I write very slowly and I have to imagine each chapter or scene in my head first.

How do you balance writing with other aspects of your life? It’s tough. I try to work on writing when my husband is not home so he won’t be totally ignored. Working with special needs kids at an elementary school means I have my summers off and can work during the day. I love summer.

When do you write? I like to write first thing in the morning whenever possible.

How much time per day do you spend on your writing? Sometimes I spend all day when I’m not working my day job, otherwise three hours a day. Either I’m writing, revising, beta reading, or trying to network. I hope network isn’t a dirty work. To me it means making new friends and helping out other writers.

What has been the most surprising reaction to something you’ve written? I was a little surprised that some readers preferred one of my villains over the love-interest hero. I guess I made that villain pretty sympathetic.

What is the strongest criticism you’ve ever received as an author? The best compliment? I was told my writing was too cliché. You know, I’m not sure that is a bad thing. Cliché is comfortable. Look at popular TV and movies, people like it. If you don’t have some level of cliché stories wouldn’t be understandable. Plus, you can always seem like you’re headed for cliché, then turn it on its ear.

Other than your family, what has been your greatest source of support? That’s easy: Agent Query Connect has been like a second family to me. I get all the support I need there and advise any writer to check it out.

How do you deal with rejection and/or negative reviews? I dose myself with lots of chocolate and listen to music that has a lot of intensity. Rejection seems to have the opposite effect on me. Instead of being discouraged, it makes me more determined to find a home for my scribbling.

What format is your book(s) available in (print, e-book, audio book, etc.)? paperback and e-book

Please let us know where your readers can stalk you:

Blog: http://www.michelle4laughs.blogspot.com/

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/Michelle4Laughs?ref=hl

Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6692215.Michelle_Hauck

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Michelle4Laughs

hauck_kindarcoverKINDAR’S CURE: Princess Kindar of Anost dreams of playing the hero and succeeding to her mother’s throne. But dreams are for fools. Reality involves two healthy sisters and a wasting disease of suffocating cough that’s killing her by inches. When her elder sister is murdered, the blame falls on Kindar, putting her head on the chopping block.

A novice wizard, Maladonis Bin, approaches with a vision—a cure in a barren land of volcanic fumes. As choices go, a charming bootlicker that trips over his own feet isn’t the best option, but beggars can’t be choosers. As Mal urges her toward a cure that will prove his visions, suddenly, an ally turns traitor, delivering Kindar to a rebel army, who have their own plans for a sickly princess.

With the killer poised to strike again, the rebels bearing down, and the country falling apart, she must weigh her personal hunt for a cure against saving her people.

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