Monthly Archives: August 2011
Book Covers & Designers
As an avid reader, I have a confession to make. (No, I’m not discussing my Vampire addiction. That’s more of an interest, you see.) My dirty little secret? I’m horribly snobbish when it comes to book covers.
Based on a quick glance, I will make a snap decision to 1) read the blurb or 2) move on to the next book cover – all solely based on the book cover. If it doesn’t look professional, has no visual interest and doesn’t convey a genre that I read it, then I’m on to the next one. Simple as that.
Let this be a lesson to all you authors and Indie Publishers out there:
Your Book Cover is Your First Chance to Grab the reader!
(Let the above also be a lesson… Fancy fonts sure are purty, but they are dang hard to read!)
That said, I’m finding it terribly hard to put into words what makes a book cover work. I’m a designer by day so my eye just knows. I don’t think I’d explain it adequately, so I’ll just give you a few quick examples:
In a similar vein, take some time to browse popular books in the genre you write in. You may start to notice a theme or style among them. While originality is a good thing, deviating too far from the norm can convey the wrong message as well.
Unless you are skilled with graphic design, producing your own cover image may not be the best idea if you really want to package a professional book. Shoot, I’m a graphic designer by trade, and even I can see that my earlier covers pale in comparison to my newer ones.
If you are in the market for a stellar cover, I’ve listed below a few links to Cover Designers that I’ve heard good things about, in no particular order:
Streetlight Graphics - They did this cover for Talia Jager that I adore!
Flip City Covers
JSimmons Illustration
RazzDazz Design
Extended Imagery -Cover Designer to Kilborn, Crouch and Konrath!
I’m sure I’m leaving out some, so if anyone has a great cover designer, and they want to share, please feel free to leave it in the comments section. 
Hurricane Reading – Sunwalker Saga, Steven King
Quickly, before we lose power again thanks to dear, sweet Hurricane Irene, I thought I’d give a quick rundown on my reading list. I’ve made great progress too, knocking 2 1/2 books off my To Be Read list.
I plowed through the first two books in the Sunwalker Saga by Shea MacLeod. The first book, Kissed By Darkness, had me from the first pages. I adored the main character Morgan. Quirky, quick-witted and seriously kick-ass, she’s my kind of girl. Through pop culture references and inventive twists on mythology, this was most certainly not just another vampire book. In fact, all the Vamps in this series are the old kind- the kind to fear, not swoon over. Ah, how refreshing! 5 stars, for sure!
The fun didn’t stop there as I moved to the second book, Kissed By Fire. I don’t want to give away any plot points because the uniqueness suffers if you know ahead of time, but I’ll just say that the author did another stellar job of mixing myths, history, and dynamic characters together to come up with a second novel that rivals the first in terms of quality and first-rate writing. Another Fab 5 stars!
In between charging my iPad to finish the second Sunwalker Saga book, I’ve had to revert back to dead-tree books to fill the hours sitting in semi-darkness. So I selected Full Dark, No Stars by Steven King. I had sampled it back on my Kindle app a few months ago, but never got around to purchasing it. Then, while bulking up on the prerequisite storm supplies (batteries, water, can good and Wine) I happened upon a paper copy in Wallyworld, marked down.
I’m only on the first story in Full Dark, No Stars but already King has skeeved me out (in a horrifically good way) so I’m sort of hoping the power goes back out so I can continue or maybe I’ll just flip the breaker and read on right now…
A Blade Away by Jack Wallen – Book Review
A Blade Away by Jack Wallen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
There are two kinds of “disturbing” novels, the kind that splashes blood and depravity around for cheap shock value, and the other kind- a novel so delicately contstructed that the reader goes willingly into that dark night. And such is the case with this novel, A Blade Away. The journey, while disturbing, reads honest and true. The details maybe gruesome at times, but what other than horrendous acts of violence could give birth to a serial killer who doesn’t even realize that’s what he’s become. Not to sound like a PSA, but serial killers are people too, though society often forgets that. Wallen has given us a complex bad-guy with deep battle scars and a warped sense of purpose. Serial Killers may not think like the average person, but they do think and feel just ilke the rest of us. Wallen is that good… I found myself both repulsed by and empathetic towards the twisted Doctor at the same time.
In the other corner, battling against evil and a narrow-minded boy’s club is Detective Jamie Davenport. Along with her unofficial partner Skip, Jamie is plunged headfirst into Louisville transgendered community. Whle battling a downright frigid work environment, her neglected libido and potentially complicated relationship issues, Jamie must track down the killer before another person falls victim – or before the Chief busts her back down to desk work.
I’ve said before that the hallmark of a good book is two-fold: If you’re tired the next morning from staying up late to read just one more chapter (and then another, and another) and if your mind revisits parts of the novel days, weeks, or even months later, like remembered reaility instead of a fictional account. A Blade Away had me on both counts. If Wallen can handle serial killers, the transgendered, cross-dressers and the suspense genre in such a creative, finely-tuned, and insightful way as he’s done with A Blade Away, then I can’t wait to read his other novels!
Three-Ways Thursdays: Meet Author Jack Wallen
Well, it’s that time again- time for another installment of Three Ways Thursday’s! So grab your poision (the happy-times good stuff, not the kind you slip to your hubby concealed in his morning coffee! ), slip into something more comfortable and prepare yourself for some rollicking good fun!
Today’s spotlight Author is the handsome and wickedly talented Jack Wallen. I’m reading his book A Blade Away now and really digging it! Enjoy!
Part One: The Facts
Author: Jack Wallen
Website: http://www.getjackd.net
Location: Louisville, KY
Quirky Factor: (Self-rated) Good gravy, ask anyone around me and it’s probably 10 out of 10. I am a living, breathing testament to “quirk”. My quirkiness factor would probably hinge on what I was wearing at the moment. 
(Here’s Jack… Isn’t he adorable!)
1. How long have you been in the game, so to speak, as an author with published books? Why did you decide to indie publish? It’s been a real on-again, off-again, roller coaster ride for me. I wrote my first book ten years ago and it sat around while I wrote my second and third books. I was absolutely clueless as to what I was doing with trying to get those books out. I submitted the first two over and over, but I was doing so without having the slightest idea what I was doing. Those first three books sat around until 2009 when I realized I could put them out on for the Kindle and maybe something would happen. That was another flight of ignorance as the books had not really gone through any sort of vetting or editing process.
Eventually I went shopping at Target, bought a baskart full of clues, and got my books to where they were actually ready for the reader. In the process I discovered I had a knack for writing about zombies (a subject I already loved), so I started on the I Zombie trilogy.
2. As a kid, were you a bookworm or did your love of books develop
later? Which came first, love of reading or writing? This is going to sound odd, but I didn’t really start reading (as in “Oh my God I have to find a new book NOW” kind of reading) until I discovered Clive Barker. Once I started reading his magical words, I was transfixed. So I attribute my love for reading and writing to my idol, Mr. Barker (and Pinhead of course.)
3. What “classic” book do you wish you had written? Why? “Classic”? As in dust off the bookshelf and break out the Earl Gray? Or “Classic” as in the “Classic Rock” definition of “Classic”? I’ll answer both. Dracula, by Bram Stoker and The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker. Although, had I written The Hellbound Heart, Hellraiser might never have been made and that would have been a shame.
4. Ever think about writing outside of your normal genres? Try your hand at something totally outside of your comfort zone? I love writing outside my comfort zone — it really stretches me. At the moment I’m trying to focus on my zombie series (I have a new one starting soon) and my Fringe Killers series. Once those are done I have a vampire novel, a YA Paranormal, a religio-horror novel, and a whole host of strange beauties to write.
5. Books that you loved, maybe re-read over the years? I loved Imagica. It was the book that really launched my thousand ships. Books from my past that are on my deserted island bookshelf are:
The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker
Jennifer Government by Max Barry
Snowcrash by Neil Stephenson
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Books from my present that will be on my “re-read or die” list are:
Kissed by Darkness (by Shea MacLeod)
The Temple by Heather Adkins
I Zombie I
I Zombie I is the book that started my real zombie craze. One day I woke up with the question “What would it take to become a zombie?” That question really begged me to be answered. After my brain insisted I figureout how to answer the question, I embarked on writing what became “I Zombie I”. During the middle of writing that book I realized it hadto continue on beyond this one book so the idea behind both My Zombie My and Die Zombie Die was born.
Blurb:
“The virus has spread.”
In a moment of pure chaos, the majority of the Earth’s population has become the walking dead. One man promises to help bring the truth to light.
“The lies have spread.”
When journalist Jacob Plummer is infected, Jacob turns to the written word to not only ease the pain of change, but to bring to surface a truth far deeper and deadlier than anyone could have imagined.
“The truth must now be spread.”
With some new friends, Jacob helps to fight off the growing undead horde in hopes of saving himself and the planet from the rot growing within.
From Misty Baker of kindleobsessed.com:
“…as for “I Zombie I,” it’s completely ridiculous, BUT (and that is a really big but so pay attention) in a completely wonderful way. Incorporating the sarcastic humor of say… “Shaun of the Dead” and the desperation of “28 Days Later” Wallen managed to blaze a path that felt both original, and undeniably refreshing.”
“Opting for sarcasm over pure terror made this one of the funniest books I have read in a while, and in doing so, captured a (very highly coveted) place in my zombie hall of fame. No worries though… this book was NOT all about blood slushys and sound bombs, there WAS a deeper story intertwined, one of hope, love, and the recognization of loneliness, making this a well rounded and spectacularly written piece of literature.”
AVAILABLE AT:
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Smashwords / Paperback
Part Three: Quirky Nonsense!
I could probably go on for days about quirks. Here are a few of my fun quirks:
When a bag of chips (or peanut butter) is opened for the first time around me I MUST have the first smell.
I dress for comfort. Sometimes that might mean a skirt of kilt.
If I ever met Larry David, I could probably go toe to toe with him.
My step-daughter just recently said “When did you start listening to the music of my generation?”
I believe the band “Journey” taught my generation how to love and live.
My podcast zombieradio.org is 90% improvised on my part.
I almost ran away with a circus once. Seriously. I studied clown in grad school and I was damn good. I also wrote a stage play called “The Secret Life Of Clowns” which explained why so many people hate clowns.
I have a pair of shoes with soles made of soap box.
My favorite character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer was Willow. Go figure.
I firmly believe that Shea MacLeod is a closeted D&D player.
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I do hope you’ve enjoyed this segment of THREE-WAYS THURSDAYS and I want to thank Jack Wallen for being with us. I’m reading his novel, A Blade Away now, so you can expect a review soon!
On a side note, as a gi-normous fan of the quirky and off-beat, I have to share the cover of one more of Jack’s books – Shero – I love, love, love this, and I’ve already added it to my TBR pile
You should go check out Jack’s blog and books now. Go on now, nothing more to see here…
Until next time peeps!
~Karen
Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult – Book Review
I can always count on Jodi Picoult to gather me up by the heart strings, pull and prod and jangle my emotions a bit while reading her work, and this book was no exception. I gravitate towards her books because I know that they will be well-written, and she assumes that her readers are intelligent enough to fill in the blanks. I found that in this book, Sing You Home, in particular she has created flawed characters with sins and narrow-minded views of the world, yet she does not condemn or condone their actions. Rather she just weaves a brilliant, multi-faceted story and lets the reader see the humans behind the imperfections.
Sing You Home has a bit of everything (infertility- a theme near to my own heart) failed relationships, unexpected attractions, religious bigotry, medical debates- and yet the story never feels one-sided, tired or played out. It takes a certain amount of finesse to pull that off in these times. Since I received the hard copy for review, I will certainly hand this off so someone else can enjoy it as much as I did. That is, if I can find a friend who hasn’t made the ebook leap!
Creating Believable Characters in Fiction
There are several ways to establish a connection with the reader to ensure they will read on, the easiest is by having interesting, believable characters.
When writing fiction, creating believable characters is one of the best things that you can do to ensure that your story will be read and treasured. A great fictional character can overcome many things, like a weak plot line or touchy subject matters. How do you create believable characters? The keys to creating believable characters are commonality, originality, dichotomy, desire, and peculiarity.
First, when writing fiction, give your characters some sort of attribute that will allow the reader to identify with them. For a story targeted to housewives and mothers, give the character a little obsession over her thighs. For a mystery, give the character something to worry about, like his family, career or health. The key here is commonality.
Now, while you should give a reader some reason to identify with the character, you don’t want to create a character that just screams cookie-cutter either. If writing about a Private Detective, don’t make him tall, dark and scruffy. Do the unexpected. Make him a woman (but avoid the obvious clichés here too) or bound to a wheelchair. Give your character something unanticipated. In Janet Evanovich’s best selling series, her heroine Stephanie Plum is a female bail-bondsmen with little experience or training. The key here is originality.
Lemonade without either the sugar or the lemons would be unpalatable, and so, every believable character needs contrasting elements. Good versus evil, or desires fighting with responsibilities. A conniving, flashy lawyer is boring, until we learn that he doesn’t own a car or lives in a run down neighborhood. A reader would wonder why, and they would continue reading to find out. Dichotomy is the key here.
Give your fictional character desires, something to accomplish, because without something driving the character, a reader won’t want to follow him into the story. Maybe your struggling artist wants to be famous as a way to win a girl. Maybe a harried housewife wants to go back to school for a career and some sanity. Maybe a terminally ill woman wants to live long enough to give birth to her only child. This shouldn’t be confused with plotting. Plotting is what happens in the story and the ambition is what makes your character do certain things throughout the story. The key here is desire.
We all have our quirks—that’s what makes us different and that’s what also makes for interesting and believable characters. The character Adrian Monk (played by Tony Shalhoub on USA Network’s show Monk) is a detective with a whole host of phobias, and viewers love him. Don’t give a character a slew of quirks though, because you would risk turning your reader off. Instead, a few well placed oddities will make your character more fallible and human. Maybe he still drinks Tang by the gallon even as a forty-year-old man. Maybe a woman drives the exact same route to work every day because she believes that to deviate would invite catastrophe. Whatever you give your character, the key here is peculiarity.
If you take care in giving your characters life and breath by using the keys outlined—commonality, originality, dichotomy, desire, and peculiarity—you will be closer to creating a story that someone will read and characters that they will believe and identify with.
Elements of Fiction Writing – Characters & Viewpoint
The Romanticism of Nathaniel Hawthorne
I’ve recently read several stories written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and I was so surprised that I loved them, that I just had to share my thoughts with you.
A little refresher— Romanticism is described as the movement in literature that focused on the imaginative, the emotional, the irrational, the visionary and the transcendental.
In stark contrast to classical literature , Romanticism was like a breath of fresh air. The French poet, Charles Pierre Baudelaire, said, “Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor exact truth, but in a way of feeling.”
I’ll start with Hawthorne’s best known novel, and perhaps the reason why it took me so long to read anything of his, The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850. On some levels, this is a love story, filled with good intentions, and lovers kept apart by circumstance, morals or what have you. But buried inside this tale of sin and repentance are little sparkling gems of Romanticism. From the beginning when the narrator introduces the paper evidence of Hester’s sin, Hawthorne give a little bit of irrationality when the papers are described as giving off a “burning heat…as if the letter were not of red rose, but red hot iron.”
The Scarlet Letter emphasizes the individual and how we are solely responsible for our own actions, and thus must make remuneration for our sins. Hester remains loyal to the father of Pearl by not divulging his name, showing that she believes that she responsible for herself and that Pearl’s father must find his own way to make amends. Also, Hester did not take the easy way out. She could have run away before she had the baby and found a home where she would not be know for her sins, but she did not do this. Hester stayed and took her public taunting, her years of ostracism; because she knew that it was the only way to regain the faith of others and her own faith in her self. This emphasis of self is another hallmark of Romanticism.
Another great example of Romanticism from Hawthorne comes in the form of Young Goodman Brown. In this tale, a man leaves his wife one evening though he would really rather stay home. His journey leads him deep within the woods where he witnesses his bride being indoctrinated into the clan of Satan, while upstanding members of the town watch on. Young Goodman Brown wakes in the morning, unsure if all of it really happened, so he lives the rest of his life keeping distance from everybody and living a pretty much miserable life. Satan in the bushes, half the town devoted to evil, well, this is certainly irrational, and very original.
Over the course of reading Young Goodman Brown, one begins to realize that this quaint town of Salem with it’s god-fearing citizens isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. A catechism teacher, a minister, his innocent wife— all at the secret gathering in the woods.
The last story I wish to make an example of is Rappaccini’s Daughter , which I personally found to be one of Hawthorne’s best tales. Everything about this story exudes Romanticism, from the idea that a scientist could willingly make his very own daughter the subject of a deadly experiment, to the fantastical way that the effects of the experiment have changed Beatrice’s corporeal body. At one, point, she merely breathes on an insect and it drops dead instantly, showcasing that even the poor girl’s breath has become tainted by the science of Rappaccini.
Also in Rappaccini’s Daughter, one can find many examples of the irrational and imaginative writings of Hawthorne. Such passages as, “it was observable that she handled and inhaled the odor of several plants which her father had most sedulously avoided” and “came a beautiful insect over the garden wall… (it) seemed to be attracted to Beatrice, and lingered in the air and fluttered about her head…while Beatrice was gazing at the insect with childish delight, it grew faint and fell at her feet; it’s bright wings shivered; it was dead—from no cause that he could discern unless it were the atmosphere from her breath” tend to highlight the Romanticism of the work.
Does Hawthorne deserve the distinction of Romanticism? You bet! His tales speak of nature and individuality, of irrational and imaginative, and of the emotional and the personal—which are all attributes of Romanticism. And he deals with all of it so very well. Even for someone like me, that avoided anything “prescribed by a teacher” Hawthorne was ahead of his time, somewhat like Edgar Allen Poe.
To Read Hawthorne’s Work, check out these classics!
Three-Ways Thursdays: Meet Author G.R. Yeates
Well, it’s that time again- time for another installment of Three Ways Thursday’s! So grab your poision (beer, wine, the hard-stuff- we don’t judge), slip into something more comfortable and prepare yourself for some rollicking good fun!
Today’s spotlight Author is the talented G.R. Yeates. So settle in, check out his fabulous book and get to know the man behind the novel. Enjoy!
Part One: The Facts
Author Name: G.R. Yeates
Website: http//www.gryeates.co.uk
Quirky Factor: Dependent on alcohol levels
G.R. Yeates lives and works in London. He was born in Rochford, Essex and studied English Literature & Media Studies at university. He has taught English as a foreign language in China and trained for two years with a professional opera singer. He writes every day and sleeps very little.
What’s your favorite book and why? Difficult question but I would say that it is This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski. It’s a fictionalized account of his experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp. I read it during a phase of where I studied the Holocaust in my own time and it was very controversial when it was first published as it does not condemn the Nazis outright in a black-and-white fashion, as you would expect. It actually examines how those who survived collaborated and compromised in order not to be sent to the gas chambers and how this, in fact, mirrors the ways people behave in wider society. As you might imagine, it is an unsettling read for this reason and it has stuck with me ever since.
What is the first story you ever wrote? I think it was a very crude prose poem about a ghoul breaking out of a town morgue and going on the rampage. I’m slightly more sophisticated now, but only slightly.
What is your ideal writing routine/ environment? A quiet place where I am surrounded by books for easy reference. I can’t focus very well if there is music or noise and it needs to be a space in my home. My mindset doesn’t mesh right if I’m elsewhere, pretentious as that might sound.
Do you share your work with relatives/ friends or do you keep it to yourself? I share it with my proofreaders and editor, no-one else before publication.
What genre (that you don’t currently write in) do you think would be a blast to try out? I’ve considered thrillers and sword & sorcery so far but I’m most concerned with building a body of work as a horror writer first. Diversifying I may well do but I don’t want to split my readership just yet when my identity as a creative artist is still pretty early in its development.
What are you working on now? I’m working on the last edits for my second release, Shapes in the Mist.
THE EYES OF THE DEAD
Blurb: Vampires are loose in the trenches of the First World War.
Passchendaele, 1917. Private Reg Wilson is a man with a name but no memories. A soldier who remembers nothing of life before the fighting began. Until he comes to Black Wood, a tainted place that knows him intimately. There, he will discover a darkness buried long ago by time and dust. An appetite that has been awoken by war. A hunger that will feed upon his blood, his regrets and his worst fears. It will show him what he has forgotten. It will show him nightmare made flesh. And, before he dies, it will make him look deep into the eyes of the dead.
AVAILABLE AT:
Part Three: Nonsense!
As mentioned in my bio, I taught English in China for one year. During this time, I traveled around the country so I have walked along the Great Wall, been inside the Forbidden City and taken an illegal boat trip down the Li River, which is surrounded by limestone mountains that were formed under the earth’s crust before being thrown up by an eruption. Not one of the mountains is mountain-shape. One example being ‘apple mountain’, the name speaks for itself.
Following on from that, outside of the more traditional literary interests of a Western writer, I do enjoy Asian literature and poetry. One of the elements that I think it has that we often do not is a sense of capturing a mood, a moment, a transient atmosphere. Even in translation, I find reading the writing from that part of the world evokes beauty and dream-states in a way that we struggle to compete with as Western literature is more often concerned with plot, a set sequences of events and everything building to a climax and resolution. I think this is a structure that can sometimes feel like a cage I need to break out of. Whether one is better than the other is down to subjective preference but I enjoy the difference and find it refreshing to experience.
On a less literary note, I can report that Chinese booze is lethal shit. If you drink rice wine in sufficient quantities, your short-term memory will desert you, you may see glowing neon mouths appear out of thin air, experience being skull-fucked by Pinhead and his cenobites and then wake-up to the memory of watching the restaurant staff cleaning the tables with the same stuff you were knocking back. Yes, that stuff is very strong and kills 99% of, well, everything.
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I do hope you’ve enjoyed this segment of THREE-WAYS THURSDAYS and I want to thank author G.R. Yeates for stopping by. Vampires running a muck during WW 1 ! You should definitely go check out his book right now. Go on, you know you want to.
Until next time peeps!
~Karen
Book Feature: Gargoyles by Alan Nayes
Becoming pregnant to help her dying mother, will Amoreena get more than she bargained for by becoming a surrogate mother? Find out in “Gargoyles” by Alan Nayes NOW at Amazon and Barnes & Noble!
Blurb:
Brilliant pre-med student Amoreena Daniels needs money. Desperately. Her mother is dying of cancer and her medical insurance has run out. When a seemingly perfect women’s clinic offers Amoreena a generous payment for service as a surrogate mother, Amoreena thinks her prayers have been answered. But then—much too early—her baby begins to move.The strange dreams, another surrogate’s mysterious death and a drug-addicted former medical intern confirm Amoreena’s worst suspicions: there is something terribly wrong with the pregnancy. Amoreena embarks on a dangerous journey to uncover the truth behind the endless battery of genetic tests, sonograms and frightened patients, only to discover that she has unwittingly become a pawn in a high-stakes game of biomedical experimentation.
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Step into a world of intrigue when you visit Alan’s website today! His new release THE UNNATURAL is also available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Read More, Write Better
I’ve shaken my head many times after hearing a writer proclaim that they don’t read much. That’s akin to a Doctor who never went to Medical school. Great writers are also great readers!
Reading is important for a fiction writer on so many levels, from genre structures to how to craft a novel. The information is there, so why wouldn’t you study it?
First, if the fiction that you write falls into any sort of genre, then you better have read books within that genre. These books tend to have formulas, and following them can be the difference between publication and rejection. You wouldn’t submit a category romance without the girl actually getting the guy at the end.
Reading is also a way to absorb great writing, to train your brain as to how a well-crafted sentence feels as it trickles over your tongue. There is no better way to elevate your prose than by reading, and reading a lot.
Some writers, while working on a particular story, refuse to read anything that resembles their story, for fear of accidentally plagiarizing. This is a legitimate fear, and one you would be well heeded to pay attention to. However, this doesn’t mean that you should never read in the genre you write; just avoid those books while actively working on something. But you should still read. If you are writing a mystery, read something literary. If you are writing something literary, read a romance.
Another reason to read abundantly is so that you can see what plots have been used or over used. Your original idea may not be original after all, but you wouldn’t know that unless you read voraciously.
By reading, you can see how differing point-of-views can help or hinder a story. You can see how effective pacing can turn a yawn-of-a-plot into a page-turner. You can see how other writers work back-story into carefully chosen segments of the story, instead of starting off with ten pages of exposition. Reading will allow you to consider your options when writing dialog, when weaving a plot, when writing the last paragraph of your story.
I once had a writer say that he didn’t read very often, because he wanted his stories to be 100% unique and out-standing. My answer to that was, well, you may end up with something all-together new, but there is a good chance that it will be so unique that no one will want to read it. Or, you will inadvertently write a plot that has been done to death, or use the entirely wrong POV for a story. If you don’t know how high the bar is set, how can you possibly hope to jump over it?
Reading novels is like studying for the Fiction Writing Graduate Exams, you have to study, study, study, before you can hope to pass into the elite group of graduates, or published writers.
Still Unconvinced? Try one of these:
How To Read Novels Like A Professor
Weirdness Warning: Photoshop, True Blood and Arabian Horses
Life, as usual, has been getting in my creative way lately. I’ve been busy working on more post for you guys, crafting a story collection, finishing up a novel that I’m very excited about (as well as about five other literary projects) and then there’s the non-writing time-sucks:
1. Photoshop: In addition to gearing up for a Maternity photoshoot this weekend (love me some pregger’s bellies!) and a Senior portrait session with Firetrucks after that, I also have gotten some design work done.
While I do spend a fair amount of time on these things, it’s not all wasted minutes. Crafting cover art (like the mock-up below) allows me to focus a story more tightly, and often gives me the kick-in-the-pants that I need to complete it.
{I’d love to hear any thoughts or comments you have on this cover!}
2. Television: I don’t have Showtime, despite some of my favorite shows airing on that channel. Californication, Weeds, Dexter, The Real L Word… and of course, True Blood, but that goes without saying. And it’s literally killing me to not be able to watch them. Seriously. I spend hours lamenting my sad state of cable subscriptions and cooking up elaborate schemes so that I can bask in the glow that radiates from Eric Northman. I wish I was joking.
3. Parenting Lethargy: I spend so much time trying to accomplish things that sometimes it is overwhelming. Then all at once, I’m bombarded by the things I should be teaching/ doing/ sharing with my children and I want to poke June Cleaver in the eye with rusty scissors for making me feel like a crappy mom. Case-in-point: My daughter has mentioned numerous times that she wants to take horseback riding lessons.
Now, I totally understand. I felt the same at her age and thanks to my own Mother-on-a-pedestal, I rode and showed horses competitively right up until I got married and moved away. I think about getting back into it, but who has the time?
(My horse-days were before the digital era, but my Egyptian Arabian “Clyde” looked like the above.)
But back to my daughter and her equine interest. I’m scared (she’s extremely accident prone- she broke and lacerated her finger WHILE getting a school physical at the Dr’s office!), I’m not rich (lessons and attire and tack, oh my!) and I’m busy enough as it is. So I put it off, and then I feel like crud for not doing it for her. I really need to get on that, and the million other things on my lost To-Do list.
But I can’t start now. It’s late and I’m going to bed.
Until next time!
~K.
Three-Ways Thursdays: Meet Author Gabriel Beyers
Well, it’s that time again- time for another installment of Three Ways Thursday’s! So grab your poision (beer, wine, the hard-stuff- we don’t judge), slip into something more comfortable and prepare yourself for some rollicking good fun!
Today’s spotlight Author is the wickedly talented Gabriel Beyers. So read on, get to know him a little better, and check out his new novel. Oh, and enjoy the Three-Ways!
Part One: The Facts
Author: Gabriel Beyers
Website: http://gabrielbeyers.blogspot.com/
Quirky Factor: Moderate
My name is Gabriel Beyers. I live in Bloomington, Indiana. I worked in commercial construction pouring concrete for close to ten years. I think I poured more concrete in one month than most people walk across in their lifetime. It was somewhere around year four that I realized this was a poor career choice and that I would like to be a writer.
I also teach Sunday School for teenagers. I’m not sure, but I may be the only horror writer that can say that.
PART 2: THE BOOK —- > Guarding the Healer
When Silas Walker is endowed with the power to heal, he discovers that no gift comes without a price.
When he finds himself the obsession of a murderous man possessed by an ancient evil, Silas is plagued with photos of the Creature’s victims, each marked with a crude image of an angel. After being given an ominous warning, “I have no need of martyrs”, Silas embarks on a journey to discover the true purpose of his gift and draw his enemy away from those he loves.
Fleeing from not just his Stalker, but a whole army of demons, Silas must rely on his friendship with a troubled young drifter named Tommy, and a guardian angel he doesn’t even know exists.
Silas’s guardian angel is doing all he can to protect his charge, but he is certain that Silas is heading into an ambush. He also knows that there is no turning back.
For even an angel can’t alter a man’s destiny.
(95,000 words)
AVAILABLE AT:
Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Smashwords
Part Three: Nonsense!
I’ve always had a strange imagination. When I was younger I started taking martial arts, not because I wanted to learn to defend myself, not because I wanted to exercise, but because I wanted to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Yeah, I know. I never said I was normal. But it was this desire for fun and adventure that, in a round about way, led me to writing. I may not be able to fight super villains, visit strange new worlds, or navigate the seedy underworld of organized crime, but I can write about people who can. In my opinion, that’s just as good.
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I do hope you’ve enjoyed this segment of THREE-WAYS THURSDAYS and I want to thank Gabriel Beyers for being with us. Stop by his site or check out his work. Go on, you know you want to.
Until next time peeps!
~Karen
Inde Author Rockstar Winner – I Wish by Wren Emerson
So the very first Indie Author Rockstar (more on that in a minute!) has been announced and the winner is Wren Emerson and her debut novel I Wish, the first in the Witches of Desire series.
Amazon Description
All she ever wanted was a chance to settle down in one place.
Thistle Nettlebottom knows her life isn’t exactly normal. She travels the country with her secretive mother and bestselling author grandmother in a pink RV going from book signings to crazy research trips. She’s never been to public school or had a boyfriend, but she can pick a lock and hotwire a car. One day the phone rings and they set a course to a tiny town that’s not on any maps. Suddenly, Thistle finds her whole life changing.
She’s finally found the home she’s been searching for.
Thistle soon realizes that Desire isn’t like other towns and she’s not like other girls. The family she trusted has lied to her about everything her entire life and the things she doesn’t know about herself could cost her everything. Her legacy as one of the most powerful witches the town has ever seen has made her enemies that have been waiting patiently for a chance to destroy her. Thistle needs to learn to use her powers to protect herself before they succeed.
Be careful what you wish for.
Thistle has a power unique even among the magic wielding witches of Desire. She can wish things into existence. At first she enjoys the freedom of having everything her heart desires, but she soon realizes that her power comes at a terrible price. She’s losing her grip on her sanity at a time when she can’t afford any weakness. Her enemies are closing in quickly, but she might not have the strength to save herself.
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Now, I checked out I Wish, and I was hooked by the first page. The premise, setting and characters are just that interesting. But don’t take my word for it. Download the sample and see what I mean.
Also, in case you haven’t heard about the Indie Author Rockstar awards, it’s a fairly new concept, but one that I’m sure we’ll be hearing more and more of over the next few months.
The premise is simple: six books, randomly chosen from the pool of submissions, compete against each other for the entire month. Check out the blurbs, sample the ebook, and purchase one or more of them if you feel so moved. At the end of the month, we vote for the book that is most deserving of our praise and promotion.
Not everyone can vote though. Only other authors that submitted a book for the pool of potentials are allowed to vote. So essentially, Emerson’s novel was deemed worthy by a group of her peers. Voting is not open to the general population to keep it from turning into a popularity contest, and thus having the potential for abuse.
For more information, including how to submit a book for a chance at the monthly competition, check out the Indie Author Rockstar site.
