Book Reviews and Author Interviews

Book Review: Frosty, The Adventures of a Morgan Horse, by Ellen F. Feld

2011-04-08T07:54:00.003-05:00

Though I don’t usually review middle-grade, teen, tween or children’s books, I was impressed with Ellen Feld’s bibliography. Having recently read and enjoyed Bubba Goes National, a middle-grade horse fiction tale by Jennifer Walker, I knew I wanted to check out other books in the genre.

About Ellen F. Feld, Author of Frosty, The Adventures of a Morgan Horse

Ellen F. Feld is an indie author who has penned numerous middle-grade fiction books about horses, particularly Morgan horses, for the horse-lover in all age ranges. She has won the Children’s Choice Award that is sponsored by the International Reading Association and the Children’s Book Council, a prestigious awards for an indie writer. A quick search on Amazon.com reveals seven horse-related fiction titles for Ellen and her stable of horse books.

About the Book: Frosty, The Adventures of a Morgan Horse

This second book in the series of books by author Feld begins with Heather, our leading teen horse-loving protagonist, at a horse auction. While there, she spots an unusual looking but rather shy mare in a corral, near an anxious and excitable show-offy horse. Heather eventually coaxes the mare to come to her, where the two establish a connection.

Later, Heather bids on and buys the horse, only to discover the horse just might be a rare gray Morgan horse. Heather calls the horse Frosty, after her gray and frosted coloring, and once she brings her home, cleans her up and falls in love. Unfortunately, the mare’s timid nature turns out to be more than just being shy. It seems Frosty knows nothing of training for showing, and worse, was likely abused or at the very least mistreated by her previous owner.

It’s up to Heather to train and prepare this horse and she learns a lesson in patience in doing so. She also learns that not all horses are made to be prize-winning show horses. Then, on a fateful ride, there is an accident, and Frosty spooks. Heather finds herself under her horse and fearful for her life. But in that trail, she and Frosty build a bond of trust, and Frosty’s true talent as a trusted trail horse shines.

There are multiple lessons to learn here for pre-teens and teens reading Frosty. We learn patience, acceptance of each person (or horse) for their natural talents instead of trying to push someone or something into pre-assumed labels, and also we learn to accept disappointment and turn it into something better, how to set aside expectations and let trust and talent shine through.

Cons: It’s a relatively well-written story, though there are minor grammatical issues that as an adult I’d prefer to see improved, since children learn to write from what they read. However, these issues are minor and do not interfere with the pleasure and enjoyment of the story. Also, the characters seems to tell the story in the dialogue, and this gets a little tedious at times, because it feels unrealistic to have the characters telling the reader things that should probably be in the descriptive text.

Lastly, though also minor, while it’s understandable that a teen girl who works with and handles horses in the capacity that Heather does would have more responsibility in this area than some teens might, it seems Heather makes many grown-up decisions, including purchasing a horse at auction, without any adult intervention. To this reader, that also seemed slightly unrealistic.

Pros: It’s a good story, with several good lessons to be learned. It’s entertaining, and I believe it will keep most pre-teen, teen/tween girls reading and turning pages, especially any girl who has ever dreamed of owning or caring for a horse. It provides some realistic expectations about horse care and how much time and attention and devotion taking care of a horse really means, something many girls who dream of owning a horse probably don’t consider.

Feld’s book Frosty: The Adventures of a Morgan Horse also provides some great horse-related vocabulary that might be new to young readers, stretching their reading skills but not so much that it’s difficult to read and understand if readers don’t know the terms.

Frosty: Recommended Reading for Teens, Tweens and Horse Lovers of All Ages

Feld’s books are reasonably priced and the cover art is attractive and compelling. All said and done, I’d recommend Frosty: The Adventures of a Morgan Horse for any horse lover, young or not-so-young. I’d also recommend any of the books in the Morgan horse series of books by Ellen Feld. I’m personally looking forward to reading more about Blackjack, myself, and as you'll see below, the author has given all my readers a great deal on purchasing this book!

Note from the Author:

FREE shipping on any size order of books from the ‘Morgan Horse’ series when you order during this tour! Just enter code 1717 in the online order form http://willowbendpublishing.com/order_form.htm or mail-in form http://willowbendpublishing.com/paypal.htm.

Author Interview: Ellen J. Feld

2011-04-04T01:00:00.003-05:00

Short Biography of Ellen J. Feld:

I’ve been writing stories since I was a very young child (a long time ago!) I have a series of books that I wrote in third grade – I have always loved to write. But I never considered actually becoming a writer. It sort of just happened. My writing career started to take shape about 25 years ago when I got my first paid job as a freelance writer for a horse magazine. I’ve written for horse magazines steadily since then. My first book was started when I was between magazine assignments and now I concentrate on my books – I find it much more rewarding.

I’ve been a horse lover my entire life and my stories all revolve around horses. There’s nothing more relaxing and satisfying as hanging around the barn. My horses are like big dogs and love to hang out with me and get (and give!) kisses. They are my inspiration and all my story ideas come from them and hanging around the barn. If I’m having trouble with a story line, I’ll stop writing and go to the barn. Hanging out with the horses for a few hours usually gets me right back on track.

Author Interview: Ellen J. Feld

It's rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a 'real' job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you've had in your life?

Ellen Feld: Yes, I’ve got one of those 9 – 5 jobs. I work at Amherst College, in the physics department. I’m the “Department Coordinator” which basically means I do all the administrative “stuff” to keep the department running. I’ve been at Amherst for 24 years so there aren’t a lot of other jobs to list. Previous to Amherst, I worked at the US Senate in Washington, in the foreign policy office of Senator Kennedy. I loved the job but I’m not a city girl so I came home to Massachusetts.

What compelled you to write your first book?

Ellen Feld: My first book, “Blackjack” is about one of my horses. At the time, he was away at the trainer’s and I missed him terribly. So I wrote a short story about him to help pass the time. When it was finished, I had several friends read it and they all suggested that I expand the story and write an entire book. So I did.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Ellen Feld: No, actually I never planned to be a writer. My degree is in Russian and I was well on my way to a career in government when I got sidetracked by my horses.

What compels you to be a writer?

Ellen Feld: I simply need to write…and I’m fortunate that others like to read what I write!

Tell us a little bit about your book/s.

Are you currently working on any writing projects our readers should watch for release soon?

Ellen Feld: Yes, my newest book, scheduled for a Fall 2011 release is Justin Morgan and the Big Horse Race. It’s the true story of Justin Morgan, the horse that started the Morgan breed, and the race he won against two “racing horses” back in the 1700s.

Have you ever won any writing awards? If so, what?

Ellen Feld: Yes, I’ve won several awards. I’m most proud of twice winning Children’s Choices, co-sponsored by The International Reading Assoc. and The Children’s Book Council. Both Blackjack and Frosty won this award.

The main characters of your stories - do you find that you put a little of yourself into each of them or do you create them to be completely different from you?

Ellen Feld: The main character in my series, Heather, is, I think, the girl I wanted to be when I was young. She’s a talented horse person, who gets to do all sorts of fun things that I wanted to do, although she does tend to get in trouble now and then! Her mentor, Chauncy, is closely based on an old time Yankee horseman who aided me when I was a kid. He was a wonderful old gentleman and I’ve purposely put him in the series as a tribute to a dear friend. Other characters are loosely based on other horse people I have known through the years.

Location and life experience can sprinkle their influence in your writing. Tell us about where you grew up and a little about where you live now.

Ellen Feld: I’m a country girl through and through. While my horse books are works of fiction, all the horses are based on real horses we own and I use their quirks and behaviors to make each as realistic as possible.

Do you have any pets? What are they? Tell us about them.

Ellen Feld: Currently we have 9 horses (most of whom have appeared in my books), plus a Basset hound, Willow, and a dachshund named Champ. Both dogs have also appeared in my stories. I also have three birds, Razzie, Chico, and Kaylar and no, they’re not in my books!

It's said that the editing process of publishing a novel with a publisher is can be grueling and often more difficult than actually writing the story. Do you think this is true for you? How did you feel about editing your masterpiece?

Ellen Feld: Yuck, I hate that part! Editing can be painful. It can be hard to have somebody else make changes to your beloved story. It also seems like such a slow process. I just want to write!

Anything else you want your readers to know?

I guess the simplest answer is that I’m a horse person who loves to write.

Because I write for the pre-teen/teen reader, it’s important to me to write realistic horse stories so kids know what life with a horse is really like. Too many horse books on the market today are written by people who have little or no hands-on horse experience and it shows in their stories. Kids then get an unrealistic view of what horses are and the responsibilities of horse ownership. That’s not to say that the stories can’t be fun – they absolutely have to be fun and interesting or teens won’t read them.

For more information on my books, you can visit the publisher’s website at: www.willowbendpublishing.com. Signed books can be purchased from that site. All books are also available on Amazon.com.

Thanks so much for inviting me to participate on your book blog tour. It’s been lots of fun! Ellen

~~~~~~~

Note from Michy: Stayed tuned later this week, when I review one of Ellen Feld's books, and give more information about her writing.

Sharing for Sharon!

2011-02-02T22:25:00.000-06:00

Here's the deal: Sharon is a great person, but I really don't know her. She's an 'online friend'. Chances are, you might not know her. Maybe you know of her, maybe you don't. That really doesn't matter. I want you to click here and vote! But read on before you do!

The thing is, in this life, we have the chance to make choices that affect other people's lives in so many ways--both positive and negative, kind and hurtful--and perhaps the most horrible way possible, the apathetic. When we stop caring, we lose what makes us human.

So I am not going to tell you Sharon's sob story, because, as I'm sure you know, we all have one in us. But here's the thing: here's a woman whose not coming with her hat in her hand. She's not asking for money. She's not asking for effort even. All she's asking is for you to take a couple of minutes out of your busy day to check out her picture, and if you like it, give her a vote, share the link and leave her a comment. It's not a lot to ask in the scheme of things, and how it will positively impact her life is immeasurable. Consider it your good deed of the day.

But she even rewards you for it by writing for you a fairy tale to really bring her photo to life, and you can, if you want, read it for free. It's darling cute, and it's your free gift for giving so freely of a few minutes of your time.

What I love about Sharon is how she's being proactive to make her life better, and because she hopes to move to be closer to her grandkids, it will make their lives better and enrich them all in so many positive ways. Help make that happen!

Vote! Then after you vote, click to share it at least at one place (more if you want to do extra good deeds!) and then leave her a thoughtful comment and word of encouragement. You can do all these things or just one or two, but do at least one of them, please? Anyone who does and then comments here with an email address, I'll give them $2 off their next book purchase at the TTM bookstore! If you share the link more than one place and comment on this blog that you shared it, I'll give you a discount code for $4 off a book purchase from TTM! Plus, every book sold, no matter the price, sends $1 to Rissa Watkins to help with her fight against leukemia! You will help Rissa, Jennifer, TTM AND Sharon, plus me by commenting here, and if you buy any anthology book on the site, you help the authors with royalties too--all for just a few minutes of time. How's that for good deeds?

And Jennifer Walker's book, Bubba to the Rescue, is on sale right now for cheap! You'd get the book at more than half price that way!

Okay - NOW click on the image below or the link at the beginning and vote, share, comment! Then go back tomorrow and do it again!

My Favorite Photo (I've Ever Taken) 3
Brickfish

Fact & Fiction » Blog Archive » Yahoo! Acquires Associated Content

2010-05-19T06:42:00.000-05:00

It was announced yesterday that Yahoo! had purchased Associated Content, an online writing freelancing content site often referred to as a 'content mill'.

The question this morning is what this merger or takeover or purchase or acquisition will mean to the writers who contribute to Associated Content.

You can read more about this here:

Fact & Fiction: Yahoo! Acquires Associated Content

Love and stuff,
Michy

Author Interview with Gerald Costlow

2010-04-27T13:10:00.005-05:00

My name is Gerald Costlow, and I am a writer of fantasy and science fiction. Over the past five years or so, I have had short stories published in magazines such as Shimmer and Flytrap, various webzines and anthologies still available at Amazon.com, and this year Pill Hill Press published my first novel, The Weaving

Author Interview with Gerald Costlow

It's rare to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a 'real' job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you've had in your life?

Gerald Costlow: Nothing particularly notable. I am a field engineer for a cable company. I did join the Air Force right out of High School and spent a good part of my early life kicking around the world, so I got to experience other cultures and left a lot of friends behind. That might come through in my writing.

What compelled you to write your first book?

Gerald Costlow: As a lifelong reader and lover of science fiction and fantasy, I’d set one of my goals in life to writing my own stories and being published. I took some creative writing courses, joined some online critique groups, started with short stories, kept trying to improve my writing and eventually began to see a few short stories published. Once I thought I’d learned the craft well enough, I began tackling the novel format. My writing career is still a work in progress, of course.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Gerald Costlow: I’ve always wanted to entertain people. I was in the acting clubs in school and in the choir and loved being on stage. However, since as a young man I was never encouraged to make either acting or singing a career, it never occurred to me to even try. I found my mundane life got in the way of being on stage. I eventually focused on writing as an outlet for my urge to entertain.

What compels you to write or to be a writer?

Gerald Costlow: I never grew out of playing ‘make believe.’ I love making up stories, and I love telling them. Writing is just one form of this. All children seem to have a natural desire to play ‘make believe’ and that’s all a writer does when we create a story, invite the reader to play this game with us and perhaps enjoy a brief escape from your mundane life.

Tell us a little bit about your book/s. What are their titles; which is your favorite if you have more than one, and briefly let us know what they are about.

Gerald Costlow: Pill Hill Press has just published my first novel, titled The Weaving. The Weaving is a love story, a quest, and a battle between good and evil, set in a land of witches and wizards, gods and demons, shapeshifters and immortals. Yet, it is a tale about all too human characters caught up in extraordinary events. I tried to create a world that, for all the magic and wonder going on, the reader would find as familiar as their own.

Are you currently working on any writing projects our readers should watch for release soon?

Gerald Costlow: I have been experimenting with flash fiction lately (writing a story in a tight 1000 words or less), while thinking about the direction I want my next novel to take and polishing the final drafts of a couple of novellas. I have one flash fiction piece being published in “Thieves and Scoundrels” anthology by Absolute Xpress, due out end of March, and another accepted by Wicked East Press, titled “Cup of Joe” and release date yet to be announced. There are other projects out there in various stages of publication.

Do you belong to any writing forums or organizations that have helped spur your career as a writer? If so, tell us about them and how they've helped you.

Gerald Costlow: I’ve been a member of several online writer’s critique groups, such as Critters and Holly Lisle writer’s forums. Critiquing other people’s efforts and reading comments about your own is the best way to learn the craft, if you approach it in the right way. Also, there are some wonderful websites out there with some good advice for beginning writers. If you understand that a great story and a well written story are not the same thing, then you’ll approach writing as a craft and not take the critiques on a personal level.

How did you feel the day you held the copy of your first book in your hands?

Gerald Costlow: Fortunately only my wife had to watch my happy dance. People all need their dreams, but turning a dream into a goal doesn’t guarantee you’ll achieve it, in spite of what motivational speakers try to sell you. Sure, it takes hard work, but you also have to be in the right place at the right time. On the other hand, you lose the dream only if you give up. Until then, it’s just a goal you haven’t met yet.

The main characters of your stories - do you find that you put a little of yourself into each of them or do you create them to be completely different from you?

Gerald Costlow: I can imagine being any of them, because if I couldn’t, then they wouldn’t come to life in my stories. Even the villains in my stories have motivations I can understand, even if I don’t agree with their actions. Without that ability to embrace all of your characters equally, the villains are cardboard stock characters and the heroes are too perfect.

Many authors have said that naming their characters is a difficult process, almost like choosing a name for their own child. How did you select the names of some of your lead characters in your book/s?

Gerald Costlow: I am absolutely terrible at picking names for my characters. I end up going through lists of baby names on the internet. One author clued me in on the fact that the reader doesn’t really care what the character is named. Just make sure the character’s names are sufficiently different from each other to avoid confusion and let it go.

Have you ever had a character take over a story and move it in a different direction than you had originally intended? How did you handle it?

Gerald Costlow: I call it good writing and go with it. Define a world, create the characters, give them a problem, and turn them loose. If the character begins arguing with you, then you’ve done your job. It’s amazing how inventive they can be in solving their problems, if you let them.

Is there any lesson or moral you hope your story might reveal to those who read it?

Gerald Costlow: If there is any lesson in my stories, it’s that actions have consequences, and miracles can happen when intelligent people work together.

Gerald Costlow: It’s all in how you approach it and probably depends on the editor. Certainly, there are times when a writer faced with a page of deletions and comments thinks, “If my writing is so flawed, why did they accept it in the first place?” But, I actually enjoyed the editing stage with Jessy Marie Roberts of Pill Hill. I believe a good editor is necessary to tighten up the writing and point out where the sentences are a bit unclear or wordy. Jessy took my manuscript one chapter at a time, and helped me turn a great story into a well written novel.

Now that you are a published author, does it feel differently than you had imagined?

Gerald Costlow: My goal never went beyond seeing the book published, and suddenly I find a whole world of marketing awaits. That can be disconcerting to a writer used to banging away at the keyboard alone, and I really love the writing part. It’s been a learning experience. For instance, I never considered needing to have an author’s website, imagine that!

Anything you want your readers to know?

The best way to check out my book and other published writing is to go to the Pill Hill Press website. Not only will you find links to my blogs and author’s websites, but the publisher has made available the entire first chapter of their novels online, so you can check out the writing and perhaps be motivated to click on the link to buy the book so you can read the rest of the story. In the end, I simply wish the reader to have as much fun reading my book as I had writing it.

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Author Interview with Matthew Moses:

2010-04-25T17:55:00.007-05:00

My name is Matthew Moses and I currently reside in Louisville, KY. I am a graduate of Indiana University and currently attend clinicals at Jewish Hospital. I am well traveled having lived throughout the United States as well as abroad in such countries as South Africa, Ireland, and the UK. I am an unabashed sci-fi fanatic and technophile (my geek credentials are extensive), though I am also partial to classical history and mythology. I am also the author of two novels, Anti-Christ: A Satirical End of Days and Proxies of Fate.

Most people tend to label me an outsider. I prefer to sit back and simply observe the world around me. Human interaction and motivation greatly interest me (enough so that I minored in psychology) and one of the best thrills is writing and seeing a character develop throughout the story. Seeing how intricate a web human civilization and the importance of interaction and the ripples that flow from those moments…that is what largely drives my writing. To me, a story is a journey; for the characters on the page, for the readers poring over it, and for me writing it. If a story fails to make you stop and think, then what was the point?

Author Interview with Matthew Moses:

It's rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a 'real' job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you've had in your life?

Author Matthew Moses: I currently work in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, KY. As for my list of prior jobs, it can be extensive. I was an assistant librarian, a public relations officer, a cinematographer for various low budget productions, and an actor (good luck finding any of my work).

What compelled you to write your first book?

Author Matthew Moses: I wrote my first novel, Anti-Christ: A Satirical End of Days, simply to prove to myself that I could do it. There were a lot of bumps along the way, but writing that first novel helped me to find my style. It was also fun as hell. I gave my imagination full reign. Dangerous thing to do.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Author Matthew Moses: I’ve wanted to be a writer ever since I was a child. I was a true cinemophile and it didn’t take long before I began writing my own screenplays, the first when I was six years old. When I was introduced to the local public library and discovered the vast number of books within, I fell in love with the written word and wanted to produce something of my own to contribute to that literary bounty.

What compels you to be a writer?

Author Matthew Moses: The little boy inside me screaming, ‘I want to be heard.’ He can be quite persistent.

Tell us a little bit about your book/s. What are their titles; which is your favorite if you have more than one, and briefly let us know what they are about. Pay particular attention to your most recent book and/or your first book:

Author Matthew Moses: I have two novels, Anti-Christ: A Satirical End of Days and Proxies of Fate. My first novel was a critique on philosophy and organized religion. To my surprise it became a minor young adult sensation in Tyler, TX. I still don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

My second and most recent novel, Proxies of Fate, is best described as modern myth. Set during the Great Depression, it focuses on two men chosen by alien forces to decide the fate of humanity. The two protagonists are Chris Donner, veteran of WWI suffering in the Dust Bowl, and Li Chen, an idealistic Chinese teenager living in Japanese occupied Manchuria. The story follows these two men as they are granted great power and set out to change the world altering history. It’s a fascinating study in culture and psychology and an homage to the pulp of the Thirties as well as to graphic novels.

Are you currently working on any writing projects our readers should watch for release soon?

Author Matthew Moses: I am currently revising another novel that I have been clutching far too tightly to my proverbial chest. The title of the novel is Twilight of Souls and it is a dark, mythological tale in the Lovecraftian mold. There are ancient, inhuman beings, the world on the verge of collapse, and intense character studies dealing with the breakdown of human sanity and an investigation into what evil is.

What inspires you and motivates you to write the very most?

Author Matthew Moses: I’m a dreamer, sometimes at the expense of other important matters. The thought of sharing these dreams with others and seeing my audience get as much of a thrill out of my ethereal worlds as I do…that is the very reason I write.

What one thing are you the most proud of in your life?

Author Matthew Moses: Finally graduating college. I was one semester away from graduation and suffered through a complete loss of motivation. I dropped out, traveled the world, got married, got divorced, but I could never get over the fact that I had quit one semester shy of my BA. I suppose I was running away from maturity. Eventually I grew up, though the prices were severe. But going back and finishing what I started, I realized that nothing was impossible.

The main characters of your stories - do you find that you put a little of yourself into each of them or do you create them to be completely different from you?

Author Matthew Moses: My characters are either parts of me or people I know. I fully endorse the maxim ‘write what you know.’ Sit there, ask yourself how you would react in these situations, and let the familiar figures guide your story. Too many writers create these two dimensional characters that they cram into a pre-developed story. Motivations make little sense, the plot is clunky, and the climax fails to pay off. As an author, you want people to care about these characters, become invested in the story so that the final pay off is rich and rewarding. An audience hates to have their time wasted.

When growing up, did you have a favorite author, book series, or book?

Author Matthew Moses: Growing up, I was absolutely obsessed with Greek mythology. I would either buy or borrow any book on the subject. My fascination with Greek myth is probably what drew me to classical history as well and the study of numerous cultures.

Hey, let's get morbid. When they write your obituary, what do you hope they will say about your book/s and writing? What do you hope they will say about you?

Author Matthew Moses: Not to be narcissistic, but I hope I they call me a successful author. Sure, Robert Howard and H.P. Lovecraft are beloved today, but they both died penniless and largely unnoticed by the world. I’d love to receive at least a glimpse of my work’s effect on people.

Location and life experience can sprinkle their influence in your writing. Tell us about where you grew up and a little about where you live now. If you could live anywhere you want to live, where would that be?

Author Matthew Moses: My family moved around a lot. Tennessee, Indiana, Louisiana, Texas, Connecticut. I moved roughly ten or fifteen times before I was eighteen. I lived in big cities (Houston, Muncie, Ft. Wayne, Nashville) and small towns (Middlefield, Henryville, Yankeetown). That is probably part of the reason I hate to stay in any one place for too long. If I had to settle down, it would have to be on the frontier. Alaska simply calls to me with its wandering caribou and wide open spaces.

Do you watch movies? If so, what are your favorite movies? Does cinema influence of inspire your writing?

Author Matthew Moses: I absolutely love cinema. Sitting in a dark, crowded theater, feeling the pulse of the crowd as you share a moment in time; that is the epitome of entertainment.

As for my tastes, I love epic storytelling and search it out religiously. I am also drawn to horror and comedy. Some of my faves include Fight Club, Let the Right One In, Superman, and Night of the Creeps.

I would have to confess that some of my fave flicks have influenced my writing. I love wackiness and the absurd, and my characters and the situations they find themselves in are a literal testament to that. As long as you can get the audience to suspend disbelief, then anything is possible.

How long did it take you to write your most recent (or first) book? When you started writing, did you think it would take that long (or short)?

Author Matthew Moses: This novel took me roughly a year to write. I’d written various drafts for years before. I even put together a screenplay that I attempted to sell to various publishers. When that proved fruitless, I went back, edited that screenplay, and gradually expanded it into the novel I published. This is the longest it has ever taken me to write a novel, but I believe that is partly due to my investment in the project. I’ve been fixated on this character and his story for nearly twenty years, so finally being able to tell his story was exciting.

Is there anyone you'd like to specifically acknowledge who has inspired, motivated, encouraged or supported your writing?

Author Matthew Moses: The two Geoffs, Oldham and Schroeder. They were important teachers who guided my writing and encouraged me to pursue my dreams.

Thinking about your writing career, is there anything you'd go back and do differently now that you have been published?

Author Matthew Moses: Start earlier. I didn’t attempt to publish any of my material until my late twenties and even then my initial attempts were half-hearted. I could have been a millionaire by now!

What is your main goal or purpose you would like to see accomplished by or with your writing?

Author Matthew Moses: I want my material to make it to the big screen. I’d love to see how others would interpret my stories and whether what I wrote on paper would actually work onscreen.

Have you ever had a character take over a story and move it in a different direction than you had originally intended? How did you handle it?

Author Matthew Moses: In everything I write, I have a beginning and an end with vague ideas of what comes between. I try not to hash out a complete outline because the characters tend to develop in ways even I am never completely sure of. I plop these fictional figures into literary land and then my subconscious takes over. It’s kind of like fracturing one’s psyche and watching the personalities that develop.

In this novel, the teenage character, Li Chen, was a last minute decision and I was never completely sure how I was going to frame his part of the story. Of course I wanted him to be young and idealistic and for that idealism to eventually evolve into cynicism, but how I was going to accomplish was difficult at first. Eventually it became apparent that I needed a love interest, a symbol of his hope and his anchor, and to use that as the starting point for his tale. Watching that character develop from a boy into a man, being forced to make hard decisions and to see that the world outside his village was not as heavenly as he had originally dreamed, that was fun to follow.

Is there any lesson or moral you hope your story might reveal to those who read it?

Author Matthew Moses: My story comes down to whether one should give in to fear. The world is in a dark place and one can either surrender to those shadowy impulses and give up or one can rekindle hope and be a beacon for their fellow man. I hope I inspire people, especially in these modern times, to keep hope alive.

Author Matthew Moses: My novels are my babies and an extension of me. Having to let a stranger come in, judge it, and then start making changes…that is difficult. You put yourself into it, and then you are told ‘this paragraph is redundant’ or ‘you should delete this scene,’ that is difficult. Luckily my editor on this novel was easy to work with. I was stubborn in certain parts, but she was also very understanding and tolerant (thank goodness).

Now that you are a published author, does it feel differently than you had imagined?

Author Matthew Moses: It’s been odd having friends, family, and strangers coming up and asking me about my novel. The attention can be a bit…overwhelming at times. Should my novel become a movie, ask me again. I’ll probably be egotistical beyond belief by then.

Anything you want your readers to know?

There very little left to say about me unless we want to get into the odd stuff, but I don’t want to disturb readers. That’s what my stories are for, veiled confessions of an odd man.

You can find my novels at most online retailers and catch the occasional blog from my author page on Amazon.com.Now go out there and buy a book! I need support for my odd writing habit.

Guest Blogger: Author Daniel Dinges

2010-04-02T13:06:00.004-05:00

Why I Wrote Get Out of the Way
by Daniel Dinges

Get Out of the Way has to do with the passage of time. At sixty-three, the idea of writing stories about the Vietnam era became more and more attractive to me.

My motivation to write also came from my personal experiences in public high school classrooms several years ago. It is amazing what educators have done to contort the history of the Vietnam War and Sixties culture, with much of its value and relevance relegated to a few dry paragraphs.

The students in these classrooms, however, showed intense interest in what actually went on in the “old days.” We had some great conversations, and giving them primary source insights was a delight. This work attempts to provide an accurate, and close up view of what it was like to be a young adult in the Sixties and early ‘70s.

Perhaps the most important and simplest reason I wrote my first historical novel was to entertain. This story informs, makes you laugh, and perhaps brings you to tears.

I started to write the book for the first time in 1991. I had been out of the army for over 20 years and was bursting to write down all those great memories. When I contacted people in the publishing industry, they gave me some bad news. Lots of other writers had the same idea, and for the most part the books were turning out to be unsuccessful.
No one was interested. The project was put on a shelf.

In 2006, after my experiences in teaching, I was determined to try again. The publishing industry had not changed its view of books about the still controversial conflict. This time I took the project more seriously. I read books on novel structure and character development. Online workshops were very useful. Regular attendance at a local writers circle was also a help.

One of the things I did was to attend a writers’ conference. It was a great experience that I believe this type of activity would benefit any would-be author. The Southeastern Writers Conference takes place every year on St. Simons Island, Georgia. The atmosphere is very “Georgia nice.” Even if you receive literary criticism, it takes you a couple of days to realize it.

Some Agents & Editors Conferences offer a one-on-one meeting with an established literary agent, and provide an opportunity to have a portion of your manuscript evaluated by someone in the publishing industry. I had gotten to a point where I felt it was time to decide whether to put the project away again or go for broke. This looked like the perfect time and place to make that decision.

My meeting with the literary agent never happened. The schedule was for, let us just call him “The Agent,” to give a presentation on Tuesday night, and then do meetings on Wednesday. There were not quite enough sessions to accommodate every writer in attendance, so I stood in line a couple of hours to make sure I got on the schedule.

On Tuesday night, he was almost an hour late for his presentation, something about the Dolphin Watch taking longer than expected. After rambling on for around 40 minutes on how influential an agent is, he finally got to something of value. “First let me tell you about the kind of projects I’m looking for,” he announced. What followed was a list presented in very general terms and included, at some level, almost anything you could think of. Then he got to the part about those projects that were definitely not of interest. The first item was the Vietnam War. I cancelled my meeting time.

I did meet with a publishing professional the next day. He said the same thing. The work showed promise from a writing perspective, but had no literary value. Fortunately, some of the other conference presenters offered solid encouragement and so I continued with the project.

Over time, the manuscript took its final shape. Several hundred literary agents turned it down. Eventually, Tate Publishing expressed an interest, and here it is. When you read my book, I hope you find it an enjoyable romp through a unique time.

Daniel Dinges lives in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Get Out of the Way is his first book. Visit the author at http://danieldinges.tatepublishing.net.

Get Out of the Way Book Trailer - Watch more Funny Videos

Author Interview: Joan H. Young

2010-03-21T04:22:00.005-05:00

I’ve been crazy about being outside since I was old enough to proclaim my wishes to the world, and to propel myself on two legs. Although I have other interests, I always seem to gravitate back to the out-of-doors-- exploring, learning, drawing, writing, explaining my passion for all things natural to others.

Hiking has always been my first love, probably followed by botany. Both of these were put on temporary hiatus while raising a family of boys, without a camper or plant lover in the crew.

However, boys grow up! I quickly re-trained the husband to expect my disappearance for long stretches in the woods, and a childhood friend and I began hiking the 4000-mile North Country National Scenic Trail. Soon I was writing about that experience as well, and have now written the first book by a hiker of that trail, North Country Cache. If all goes as planned, I will also be the first woman to hike the entire trail, officially finishing my quest in August of this year, 2010.

The husband is getting used to receiving calls from the police saying that my car has been abandoned in the woods, the boys just think I’m crazy, and I’m having the time of my life. Now, if I could just support this addiction…

Tell us a little bit about your book/s.

Joan H. Young: “Never do anything twice,” seems to be my life mantra. I have a collection of self-published and self-printed items. In 1986 I wrote and self-printed a collection of short biographies of historical Christians, called Would You Dare?. It continues to sell a few copies here and there. I have also self-printed a booklet, Devotions for Hikers, weighing under 2 ounces— perfect for backpackers. I’m also a word puzzle aficionado, and have created two booklets of puzzles for outdoor lovers. My biggest project is North Country Cache, a collection of essays recalling 2300 miles of hiking on the North Country National Scenic Trail. Each hike develops a unique feeling, and the reader can experience the joys, the pain, the relationships, the blisters, the jokes, and the never-to-be-forgotten moments of life on the trail. I am continually amazed that I actually finished a project of that size, and readers assure me that it was a worthwhile endeavor.

Are you currently working on any writing projects our readers should watch for release soon?

Joan H. Young: I am currently writing and illustrating a children’s book called Moose in Boots. Morgan, a teenage moose, is sent by his Mama into the northwoods to learn how to be a grownup moose. But Morgan has to learn some lessons before he is comfortable with himself. My hope is that this will be ready to go to a publisher this year, but completing the hiking is my highest priority.

The sequel to North Country Cache: Adventures on a National Scenic Trail

, which will chronicle the remainder of my journey on the North Country Trail, is in progress. It can’t be completed before I finish the hiking! Don’t expect to see it for at least a year. It is titled North Country Quest.

Have you ever won any writing awards? If so, what?

Joan H. Young: I won a few writing contests as a child, but the one that means a lot to me is that North Country Cache won an Honorable Mention from the Independent Publishers Association in 2005, for Regional Great Lakes entries.

Do you belong to any writing forums or organizations that have helped spur your career as a writer? If so, tell us about them and how they've helped you.

Joan H. Young: I joined Accentuate Writers Forum soon after it was launched, but didn’t really become active there until the fall of 2009. I was doing a lot of ghostwriting and writing for web sites, and was feeling really stifled. With the encouragement of forum founder, Michy Devon, I’ve started writing a bit of fiction again and have entered a few of the short story contests they sponsor. This has helped me feel that perhaps I do have a drop or two of creative energy left.

How did you feel the day you held the copy of your first book in your hands?

Joan H. Young: Although I had some articles previously published in anthologies, poems in school magazines, trip reports in trail magazines, and had even home-printed Would You Dare?, that has actually sold almost 1000 copies, these were nothing like opening the first case of North Country Cache. To see a book with a glossy cover and my name on it, my publisher imprint… with all the good stuff inside, all the mistakes, all the chapter essays that weren’t as good as I wished, all the chapter essays that I knew were really good… but all mine… the aroma of the ink and paper alone was enough to send me head-over-heels in ecstasy. (That lasted until we had moved all those cases a couple of times!)

When growing up, did you have a favorite author, book series, or book?

Joan H. Young: It would be impossible to pick a favorite book or author, as a child or even now. My favorite genre is the one I am reading at the moment. When I wasn’t outside (and sometimes when I was outside!) I always had my nose in a book. As I look back, I blame part of my case of terminal wanderlust on John Steinbeck, and Travels with Charley. I read this atypical Steinbeck when I was 12, and ever since have been drawn to books by travelers who have a knack of sharing their encounters with readers. Favorites include Peter Jenkins, William Least Heat Moon, and Brad Herzog.

What is your main goal or purpose you would like to see accomplished by or with your writing?

The answer to this is wrapped into the next one...

How has having a book or being published in a book changed your life?

Joan H. Young: Having a book to show people has given me a lot of credibility. I’ve now sold over 1000 copies of North Country Cache, which isn’t bad for a self-published book being promoted by a sloppy marketer (me). People tend to think of this as a niche book, only of interest to hikers. In truth, it avoids hiker lingo, is not a trail journal, and is really a book about life. There are sections for nature-lovers, history buffs, and a fair amount of humor. Since it is presented in short eclectic essays, if you don’t like one chapter there is always hope for the next one! I sense that people treat me differently with a book in my hand. Lots of people say, “I’m writing a book.” Heck, I used to be one of them. But now, I have accomplished that. It makes a difference. I am finding that as I come closer and closer to being one of the first 10 people to hike the entire NCT, and the first woman to do so, that I am getting even more respect.

I want people to learn about the North Country Trail, and to discover what a treasure it is. Everyone has heard of the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide. But few people know about the NCT, and even fewer believe that it would be possible to have an interesting trail run through the Northeast/ Midwest United States.

A part of me enjoys the small pond celebrity status, I have to admit. But that is more about the satisfaction it brings me to know that I can make people feel things, care about causes, learn new facts, and stretch their own limits, rather than wanting to be adored.

Joan H. Young: I chose to self-publish because I knew that this was going to be perceived as a niche book, and the style— essays of assorted styles— was not a common format. As it turned out, I really enjoyed the publishing process.

I found two people, one who does some professional editing, and the other a former English teacher, to edit my manuscript. Both were loving but brutal. My ego survived and the weak essays are better and the strong ones are really good, thanks to their guidance.

I liked working out the formatting, chasing down permissions for lengthy quotes, selecting a printer, creating the locator maps, and all of the parts of the production that go beyond the writing. The whole project got very rushed at the end because I was trying to have the book available for the 25th Anniversary of the Trail conference. The deadline was met, but I think I’ll take the sequel at a slightly slower pace!

Anything you want your readers to know?

Everyone wants to know what I am going to do after I finish hiking the trail. I’ll never run out of trails to hike! There are several connector trails to the NCT, sections which have been moved off road since I hiked there, and thousands of other interesting places to visit… and write about!

I’m hoping to be able to support this wanderlust habit by means of continued writing. For more information about programs that I give, book promotions, signings, and sales, go to http://booksleavingfootprints.com, then click Meet the Author. You can also read a sample chapter of North Country Cache.

Author Interivew: Lucinda Gunnin

2010-03-05T16:25:00.005-06:00

Lucinda Gunnin Mini-bio:

Lucinda Gunnin is a writer and freelance reporter who currently lives in Southern Illinois with her husband and fellow author Steven Thor Gunnin. She enjoys hot cocoa with her fellow dreamers and women writers at Longbranch Coffeehouse every other Sunday and spends as much quality time as possible each day with her cat Rain. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys cooking, photography and a good mystery novel.

As a freshman in college, Gunnin believed writing was easy, so the quote from Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith, “There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” never quite worked for her until she tried her hand at fiction.

She first saw the line on a poster in the office of her journalism instructor and remembered it years later as she struggled to write her first novel. It was then her husband--author and graphic designer Steven Thor Gunnin--suggested she try writing a short story instead. Cindy took his suggestion and ran with it, discovering she loves the process of writing short stories. Still, she kept the story largely to herself until she found a home at Accentuate Writers Forum and with the love and support of her fellow forum members, she found the courage to share her writing with the rest of the world.

Since finding the Accentuate Writers, Cindy has had stories included in Elements of the Soul, Elements of Time, Best of Unsent Letters and is pending publication with Chicken Soup for the Soul in one of their themed collections. She also won third place in the Fall 2008 24-hour short story contest sponsored by Writers Weekly. She has rededicated herself to finishing that first novel and sharing it with others.

In addition to fiction, Lucinda has written for Heartland Women newspaper and several online sites. She has been published in multiple national magazines in her maiden name, Lucinda Morgan.

Author Interview with Lucinda Gunnin:

It's rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a 'real' job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you've had in your life?

Lucinda Gunnin: I’m a reporter by profession and have worked professionally in the newspaper industry for about a decade. In between reporter gigs, I worked as a purchasing agent for a manufacturing company and a billing clerk for a doctor’s office. I started reporting in college for both the newspaper and radio. Now, I am a reporter/writer for a bi-weekly newspaper called Heartland Women and my husband and I co-manage a mini-storage complex.

Tell us a little bit about your writing projects and/or book/s.

Lucinda Gunnin: I have two great novels in the works, both about a dystopian future and the role of normal people in it. This is my favorite kind of book to read and I am especially fond of the sort of survivalist mentality that it takes to write this kind of book. I’ve also discovered I really enjoy writing short stories and am planning to spend more time working on them. I think the short story genre was pushed aside for awhile and now seems to be making a resurgence with readers, at least I hope it is.

Have you ever won any writing awards? If so, what?

Lucinda Gunnin: As a reporter, the writing and reporting are sort of tied together, so the writing awards I have received were all called reporting awards. In 1988, I was named journalist of the year for the Rocky Mountain College Press Association for a combination of feature, editorial and hard news writing. The contest is conducted at the annual conference for the RMCPA. I also won various awards for my content while writing for my college newspaper.

Then, during my first stint of reporting, I was part of a group that was awarded a community service writing award from the Illinois Press Association. The series we wrote about underage drinking was reprinted by the Illinois Department of Public Health as a public service.

Finally, in November, 2008, I took third place for my fiction writing in the Fall 24-Hour Short Story Content from Writer’s Weekly. It was, to date, the largest prize I’ve received for my writing.

What did you feel the day you learned you would be published?

Lucinda Gunnin: It seemed a bit surreal. The story that was first accepted for publication came from a snippet of a conversation I had with my uncle 15 years ago and story sort of took over my life one day until I got it on paper. It was also inspired by a garbage truck and my cat’s reaction to it, so it seemed rather serendipitous. There was a period of time when it seemed so ephemeral that I really wasn’t terribly excited by it, but in January, 2009, as I introduced myself to the local writer’s guild, I said, “My short stories are being included in an anthology printing in March.” Then, it hit me and I was dumbfounded by the reality of it all.

The main characters of your stories - do you find that you put a little of yourself into each of them or do you create them to be completely different from you?

Lucinda Gunnin: Most of my characters have a little bit, or sometimes a lot, of real people in my life in them. In my story “Jasper”, the character of the uncle is very loosely based on my real uncle who was a sheriff’s deputy in Oakland County, Michigan, for most of his adult life who once told me he would teach me to shoot if I moved to the city..

I find it difficult sometimes to separate the character’s actions from what I would do in the situation, so it’s been kind of fun to put the characters in situations that I have never even come close to. Despite the main character’s minor resemblance to me in “Jasper”, I have never owned a retired police dog or even fired a real gun.

Is there an established writer you admire and emulate in your own writing? Do you have a writing mentor?

Lucinda Gunnin: Recently, I discovered Laura Benedict’s writing and decided that I absolutely adore her. I met her at a book signing and found that we are both married to writers, so I hit her up for good advice when your spouse is a writer. I wouldn’t say she’s a mentor, per se, but I definitely would like to emulate her.

Michelle Devon has inspired me in ways she cannot even imagine, though less in fiction than in the other writing I do. Michy is just the type of person that you hope you can compare yourself with favorably.

And, then there are my two personal editors, Emily Henderson and Chanda Green. Without them, I would make considerably more mistakes and probably not write as much. Both push and prod when I need it and help me stay motivated to write and both are excellent writers in their own right.

When growing up, did you have a favorite author, book series, or book?

Lucinda Gunnin: I have an aunt who loved to read and when I turned 9, she gave me the entire series of Nancy Drew books. They inspired me to read and I read them all dozens of times as a child. I also fell in love with “My Side of the Mountain” which Mrs. Rhodes, my fifth-grade teacher read to us. Once I got older, I read Tom Clancy because someone told me girls didn’t read that kind of thing and he’s probably my favorite author since then, though I also adore Stephen King, Dean Koontz and some of the people who write James Patterson’s books, like Maxine Paetro, who co-authored several of the Women’s Murder Club books.

Location and life experience can sprinkle their influence in your writing. Tell us about where you grew up and a little about where you live now.

Lucinda Gunnin: I was born in Michigan and moved to Colorado when I was 8, so I lived in the mountains near Buena Vista until I graduated from high school. The community I lived in before we left Michigan was the neighborhood my mother grew up in and my grandparents lived two blocks away, so during those early years, the neighborhood was like an extended family.

In Buena Vista, we were part of a very small, mostly mining and tourism community. I had 59 people in my graduating class from high school, many of whom I recently reconnected with on Facebook. It definitely impacted the way I look at hunting and environmentalism. I think once you live where people build habitat so they can preserve the animals and then hunt them for food, you have a different attitude toward hunting than you might if you lived elsewhere.

I went to college in Alamosa, often the coldest spot in the continental United States and then went to graduate school in Springfield, Illinois. After I got my M.A., I lived briefly in Michigan in Oakland County which is very much more city than anywhere else I have lived. Finally, I moved to southern Illinois where I have lived for the past 18 years. This is pretty rural with small cities at best, but Carbondale is a university community, so I had access to great speakers, entertainment and a constant flow of intellectual stimulation. St. Louis is just two hours away, so we have the best of all worlds, living where there are trees and plants and open space, but with ballgames, museums and more easily accessible.

We are hoping to move to the one of the coasts in the near future, either Pacific Northwest or New England because we want to get closer to the ocean and because the southern Illinois summers can be painfully long and hot. Once we’re there, we’ll be in our dream location, close to ocean, with the city lights not too far away.

Do you have any pets? What are they? Tell us about them.

Lucinda Gunnin: My cat Rain is my supervisor and inspiration (sometimes). She is a stray we adopted and quickly wrapped the entire family around her dew claws. She has inspired me to take a more active interest in the fate of feral or wild cats and to promote the cause of spaying your pets every chance I get. I adore her, but far too many kittens like her are born each year without loving homes.

Do you watch television? If so, what are your favorite shows? Does television influence of inspire your writing?

Lucinda Gunnin: I don’t watch a lot of network television. I have three or four shows that I enjoy and then buy them on DVD so we can watch them at our convenience. I love Heroes, but don’t talk to me about the current season. I’ll watch it when it’s out in a boxed set. I watch Psych, Bones, House and Eureka this way. We just finished Season 2 of Eureka and we’re watching Season 2 of Psych. I don’t think television influences my writing at all, usually, though I will apply some of the ideas from Jericho into my dystopian novel.

What about movies?

Lucinda Gunnin: We watch about 30 movies a month, maybe more, from old favorite to new releases. I watch a lot of horror and a lot big budget blockbusters. The biggest impact they have on my writing is that I look for things that make me go “huh?” and then make a mental note to avoid them. Recently, we saw the Spike Lee film “Miracle at St. Anna” and while I liked some parts of it, the dialogue seemed completely wrong for the era. So, I try to use movies as a gauge for language and making sure I use terms when they were in use. I don’t want my characters to all sound like they grew up when I did.

Is there anyone you'd like to specifically acknowledge who has inspired, motivated, encouraged or supported your writing?

Lucinda Gunnin: My husband is the one who first challenged me to write a short story, before jumping headlong into a novel. That first effort needs a lot of polishing still , but I am very attached to the story because it was the first complete fiction story I told. He is my harshest critic and most fervent supporter.

I also owe a lot of thanks to the women in my family who have always supported my love of reading and then of writing, my grandmother Wilva Morgan, my aunt Alice Morgan and my mother Sandra Smith.

Thinking about your writing career, is there anything you'd go back and do differently now that you have been published?

Lucinda Gunnin: I had a publisher tell me years ago that he’d like to see more of my work and I took it as rejection and stopped writing fiction for a lot of years. My only regret is that I didn’t just write earlier. I’ve found that if I’m writing, the motivation to eek out publication follows.

Lucinda Gunnin: Jasper, the police dog in the story of the same name, came from the first working police dog I ever met. I suspect he has retired by now, but when I chose the name, I based it on a real dog. A lot of my other characters are named because I want the name to not be someone I know. I’m always afraid that if the character’s first name is the name of someone I know, I might unwittingly slip some of that person into the character, so generally I choose names I like, but that are not real people. The exception is last names. I am horrible about choosing last names for my characters, so I usually choose a name from my past.

Now, anything else you want your readers to know?

I’ve started a couple blogs, but always get distracted from them fairly quickly. I find Facebook and Twitter to be very great ways to keep in touch and make new friends and use my MySpace page largely for keeping up with friends and family. Anyone who doesn’t already know too much about me can find me on Facebook where I’m sure my closest friends will reveal all my secrets.

The Accentuate Anthology is available through retailers both in person and online, or you can order with discounts directly from the publisher, Twin Trinity Media.

Inside the Head and Heart a Writer

2010-02-21T06:53:00.000-06:00

Inside the Head and Heart a Writer

ABNA and What Motivates You to Write?

2010-01-22T15:08:00.000-06:00

ABNA and What Motivates You to Write?

Unsent Letters Blog Update - Stop by!

2009-12-12T15:14:00.002-06:00

Unsent Letters Blog

Today's Unsent Letter comes from an anonymous writer. Though the writer might not be using a name, the feelings are just as real and the writers usually watch for comments on their writing, so please be sure to leave one!

Unsent Letters Blog

2009-12-12T15:14:00.000-06:00

Book Review: When You Went Away, by Michael Baron

2009-09-15T06:03:00.002-05:00

~~"Touching, tender and gentle, the moments between father and son in When You Went Away pull at the heartstrings and the tear ducts."

Gerry is our unlikely hero in When You Went Away, a novel by Michael Baron, published by The Story Plant, a relatively new and different sort of publisher, operated by publishing industry veterans. I received an advanced reading copy of When You Went Away for review, and it appealed to me: I liked the cover, the concept of the novel from the blurb. Because of these two things, I bumped this book up in my review queue. Hey, even reviewers like to read for pleasure now and then.

I wasn’t disappointed with When You Went Away, either, so I was glad I bumped it up, but I will say it wasn’t exactly written as I expected it. First, the book is told in a near-memoir style, even though it’s a fiction novel, and the reader gets to go along with Gerry, our protagonist, on his journey of surviving after both his wife and daughter leave him—his wife through death, and his teen daughter through running away from home.

Left to raise a near-newborn son, alone, Gerry has to learn how to live again. He was young when he married, and had been married for the majority of his adult life, and now he’s a single father to Reese, the unplanned but much wanted child born just month prior to Maureen’s death.

Finding support in his sister in law--who looks remarkably like her sister, a fact Gerry finds both unsettling and comforting at different times--Gerry navigates grief, healing, guilt and redemption, all while trying to define what life without his wife will be and also seeking to understand his now almost adult runaway daughter and the reasons she left home so young.

The negatives to this book are few, but there are some. For example, the author, Michael Baron, either is a big Yankee’s baseball fan, or else he’s not one and he overcompensated by providing much too much detail that was unnecessary for the advancement of the story, about baseball and the Yankees.

Secondly, the story plods along at a steady, even pace, but it’s often too unemotional, factual, matter-of-fact. In other words, it’s a novel that is most likely a story that will appeal to women, but it was obviously written by and in the point of view of a man. This made it difficult for me, though not impossible, to connect on that emotional level with the characters.

The things I enjoyed the most in the book included something as simple as the unobtrusive references to gourmet food and cooking. I liked that Gerry enjoyed cooking. Just goes to show, women do, generally speaking, like a man who can cook well--as evidence by both Gerry’s wife and daughter’s love of his cooking and his new flame Ally’s pleasure in it as well.

Of all the characters, the one I enjoyed reading about the most was Reese, Gerry and the deceased Maureen’s infant son. Another stereotype in that women love a man who is tender and kind to children, particularly a man who loves his own children, is proved in my affection for Reese and the manner in which Gerry, through Michael Baron’s writing, talks about his son. Touching, tender and gentle, the moments between father and son in When You Went Away pull at the heartstrings and the tear ducts.

The reader never gets to meet Maureen while she is alive, but we learn a lot about her through Gerry’s thoughts and actions, as she informs many aspects of Gerry’s life, up to and including his thoughts and feelings about the woman he meets when he returns to work: Ally. Ally is, in many ways, everything that Maureen was not. Where Maureen was a mother and a wife, married young and had no other lovers prior to Gerry, Ally has had a varied love past, is a career woman, and we later learn, is unable to bear children. Even so, in the ways that matter most to Gerry, the two women share the most important qualities.

Ally helps Gerry feel again, though he questions his commitment to Maureen because he feels so much for Ally so soon after his wife has died. It’s those feelings that allow him to see and understand what his daughter might have been feeling when she left home as a teenager, to run away with her love of the moment, Mick.

I won’t give away the ending, because you’ll really want to read this one for yourself. I do want to mention, the ending slightly disappointed me, because it seemed to come too quickly, without enough full resolution. I guess that might be a good thing, in that it left me wondering what happened next, but I’m the type of reader who, if there’s not going to be a sequel, would prefer more closure.

Short of that, this approximately 360-page book by Michael Baron is an exceptional read, and one that makes me want to watch for more works by this author in the future.

~~"Michael Baron gives us likable characters in Gerry Rubato and his son Reese, with touching moments, emotion and a good story. This one is well worth adding to your reading list."

When You Went Away, by Michael Baron is scheduled to be released on October 6, 2009.

Publisher's Website

Author's Website

Pre-order on Amazon

(For permission to reprint this book review, at no cost, on your website or in your ezine or newsletter, please contact Michy at michy@twintrinitymedia.com or michelle@accentuateservices.com)

Cleaning House and Moving Blogs

2009-07-30T09:51:00.001-05:00

For those of you who have followed me for some time, I am happy to announce that I am moving blogs to my own domain, so I can have a bit more creative control with templates and such, as well as merging the blogs all together with all my other ventures, including my new author's website: www.MichelleLDevon.com

Yes, I know I've had a website for years, but this one is totally revamped! I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think, please?

Anyway, my point here is, I'd love to have everyone come visit me at my new blog, and follow me there and keep up with my posts on that site instead of here!

Michy's New Blog!

I'll be adding categories to it, like pages, so you can quickly get to my regular blog posts, my editing & proofreading ones, my reviews and interviews, etc, so you won't have to wade through all the posts to find what you want.

Bear with me while the dust settles on the new site, and please let me know what new things you'd like to see on the site too!

Love and stuff,
Michy

TWIN TRINITY MEDIA ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF ELEMENTS OF THE SOUL

2009-07-01T03:38:00.001-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Twin Trinity Media / Accentuate Services
michy@twintrinitymedia.com

TWIN TRINITY MEDIA ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF ELEMENTS OF THE SOUL

TEXAS, USA - July 3, 2009 Twin Trinity Media, part of the Accentuate FAMILY of Author Services, announces the Accentuate Writers Anthology Elements of the Soul has gone to print and will be released late this summer. The collection of short stories and poems is a compilation of the winners of the Accentuate Writers Short Story Anthology and Poetry Contest that took place in 2008. Writers braved tough competition to vie for a place in the anthology, a royalty contract, cash and merchandise prizes.

The stories and poems in Elements of the Soul were written on four themes: "Fire & Ice", "Winds of Change", "April Showers" and "Summer Heat". Contestants' submissions were judged on use of theme, adherence to submission guidelines and quality of the story and writing. In addition to the contest winners' stories, two authors were included in the anthology as Editor's Picks and received royalty contracts.

The Accentuate Writers Short Story Anthology and Poetry Contest, now in its second year, gives writers an opportunity to obtain critiques, a chance to win cash and merchandise prizes, and a publishing contract. Anyone is eligible to enter the contests for a small fee, but only the best work rises to the top and is included in the Accentuate Writers Anthology.

The managing editor for Twin Trinity Media and owner of Accentuate Services, Michelle L Devon, says, "I have been honored to watch the contests grow and the writers grow along with them. The stories are getting better and the competition is fierce. I'm proud to play a small part in helping make writing dreams come true with these contests and anthologies. It's very exciting and humbling."

Authors for Elements of the Soul include: Steven "Thor" Gunnin, Jennifer Walker, Rissa Watkins, Lindsay Maddox, George Kramer, Lucinda Gunnin, Jo Brielyn, M. Lori Motley, Susan Sosbe and Laurie Darroch-Meekis. The anthology also features talented poets to fill in the pages between stories with wonderful imagery and substance. Michelle L Devon, author of In a Perfect World and The Path: A Series on Redemption and Sensual Awakening, who is a contributing author to other anthologies herself, edited the book and contributed to the foreword.

Elements of the Soul is currently available at a special pre-order price of $13.00, which includes shipping and handling, taxes and a specially made bookmark. Orders can be placed at THIS LINK.

Accentuate Services has been in business for over fourteen years and is dedicated to providing services to authors, from publishing consulting to editing and writing coaching. Other ventures that are part of the Accentuate FAMILY of Author Services include Unsent Letters, Recipes & Recovery, Erotic Anthologies, and the Accentuate Writers Forum, with other projects in the works. Visit the website at www.AccentuateServices.com for more information.

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Twin Trinity Media / Accentuate Services
c/o: Michelle L Devon
Toll-Free: 866.641.8130
Michy@twintrinitymedia.com
http://www.accentuateservices.com

Author Interview With Kathy-Diane Leveille

2009-06-23T14:10:00.004-05:00

Mini-Bio for Kathy-Diane Leveille:

Kathy-Diane Leveille is a former broadcast journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation who discovered the only thing more thrilling than reading a wonderful story is harnessing the power of the imagination to write one. Her short story collection Roads Unravelling was published to critical acclaim after a selection from its pages Learning to Spin was adapted to radio drama for CBC’s Summer Drama Festival. The tale Showdown at the Four Corner’s Corral was revised for the stage and performed by New City Theater in Saint John.

Kathy-Diane’s prose has been published in a number of literary journals including Grain, Room of One's Own, The Oklahoma Review, Pottersfield Portfolio, The Cormorant; as well as various anthologies such as Water Studies: New Voices in Maritime Fiction (Pottersfield Press) and New Brunswick Short Stories (Neptune).

Kathy-Diane is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Kiss of Death RWA and Crimewriters of Canada.

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I have loved books forever. My best friends are books. When I was growing up, a Saturday wasn’t complete without a trip on the bus to the local library. I would sit in the back of the bus on the way home, where there was lots of room to spread my booty, and savour the potential humming between the covers. Having my debut novel Let the Shadows Fall Behind You published is a dream come true. I live on the east coast with my husband and two sons next to a lovely garden. I love bird watching, hiking and motorcycle riding. I’m so pleased to be a guest today.

It's rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a 'real' job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you've had in your life?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: I’m a former broadcast journalist with CBC radio. Seventeen years ago, when I was home on maternity leave with my youngest son, I dug out an old file of story ideas and started scribbling. By the time the date arrived when I was supposed to return to work, I had already decided that I didn’t want to keep putting my dream of writing fiction on the back burner. Since then I’ve done different jobs, including being a janitor and typing medical transcription, to give me the time and energy to pursue my passion. My first book Roads Unravelling, a collection of short stories set on the Kennebecasis River where I live, was published a few years ago. Let the Shadows Fall Behind You released this spring is my first novel.

What compelled you to write your first novel?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: Let the Shadows Fall Behind You (Kunati Books) was inspired by my fascination with disappearances. An estimated 10 million people go missing each year in the U.S. alone, but no one’s ever documented how many of these incidents defy explanation. Take the mystifying case documented by psychic, Sylvia Browne, of the man who stepped out his front door and vanished in broad daylight. His family could hear him calling, but no one could see him anywhere. Let the Shadows Fall Behind You features Brannagh Maloney whose boyfriend, Nikki, disappears into thin air while conducting a bird count up north. Brannagh reluctantly returns home for a reunion of the childhood club Tuatha-de-Dananns. She hides out at her Grandmother’s cottage near the woods where her mother was murdered fifteen years ago. As Brannagh tries to solve the mystery behind Nikki’s vanishing, she is haunted by the secrets hiding the most startling disappearance of all.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: I don’t remember making any formal decision. I have just always had a need to put pen to page. I wrote my first poem when I was in Grade 1:

Oh Father Dear, I’m glad you’re here
So we can celebrate this day, with a Doran’s beer.

Of course I didn’t understand why my teacher’s eyes rounded with horror when she read it. That was my first lesson in discovering that not everyone will welcome the truth in what you write! I wrote radio dramas in Grade 6 and the school Christmas play; lots of poetry and short stories in high school. I started trying to write a novel in my early twenties while I worked night shift as a technician at CBC. I still have the notes!

Tell us a little bit about your book/s.

Kathy-Diane Leveille: Let the Shadows Fall Behind You is Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood meets Harlan Coben. I loved writing it because I was able to combine the ingredients I crave in fiction: a dark hero, a broken and brave heroine, loyal sidekicks; and the shifting, persistent threat of evil that must be conquered. It’s a multi-layered plot, sharpened by elements of romance, suspense, poetry and comedy. I love anything Irish and grew extremely fond of these women--Brannagh, Annie, Tish and Diane— and was sad to write the last page. I especially relate to Brannagh, the protagonist. She is determined to leave dark secrets in her past behind, but the disappearance of Nikki leads her straight back home. So often in life, that is exactly what happens. The very thing we don’t want to deal with keeps knocking at our door until we face it head on. Brannagh learns that nothing can change the past, but the power of friendship can transform the future.

How did you feel the day you held the copy of your first book in your hands?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: There is no feeling like it. Picture the arrival of Christmas morning, the thrill of hearing a newborn baby’s cry and the rush of your first kiss all rolled into one. My husband and I went out for dinner. He’s my number one cheerleader and gets more excited than I do! The first time I did a reading in a library was probably one of the most thrilling moments in my life. I felt as if everything had come full circle.

What inspires you and motivates you to write the very most?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: I love riding in the car or on a train and gazing out the window. There’s always something in the landscape to twig my imagination. Once it was a chair in the middle of a field. I started wondering who put it there and why. The short story The Chair in my first book Roads Unravelling was born. I usually begin by simultaneously visualizing a situation that causes an upheaval in life, and hearing a character’s voice emote their reaction to it. It’s a very strange process and definitely has my husband worried some days; especially when he dusts the books on my research shelf: Handbook of Poisons and Crime Scene Investigation.

The main characters of your stories - do you find that you put a little of yourself into each of them or do you create them to be completely different from you?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: Creating characters during the inspiration stage isn’t a conscious decision. I really can’t explain how it happens. But during the perspiration stage, when I shape my initial idea into a story using the tools of the craft, I usually try to refine the character into the kind I relate to and love when I read fiction: Human and flawed, but capable of heroism nonetheless.

Is there an established writer you admire and emulate in your own writing? Do you have a writing mentor?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: There are tons of writers I admire, and many who have been extremely generous on my road to publication. In fact, I have chats with them every Thursday on my blog http://lettheshadowsfallbehindyou.blogspot.com which is lots of fun. It’s nice to know you aren’t alone. Everyone had to start somewhere.

When growing up, did you have a favorite author, book series, or book?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: I enjoyed Joy Fielding, the Bronte sisters, Nancy Drew and C. S. Lewis.

What about now: who is your favorite author and what is your favorite genre to read?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: I love reading psychological suspense, and am currently on a kick reading Nicci French, a British husband and wife team.

Bring us into your home and set the scene for us when you are writing. What does it look like?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: I have a large chair that could fit 3 people in its lap. It allows me to keep lots of books, pads of paper and pens by my side. Directly across from the chair is a large picture window three-quarters sky and one-quarter river that is constantly shifting in light and color. My writing basket which holds pens, pencils, highlighters, note pads, books on the craft and novels by authors I’m studying. I usually start with a pen and pad for the inspiration stage, then move to the computer for the perspiration stage. When I get to a place where I’m uncertain as to how to proceed, I always go back to pen and paper. I think there’s some mechanism in that tactile exercise that frees the right brain to soar.

Do you watch television? If so, what are your favorite shows? Does television influence of inspire your writing?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: I’m addicted to Kitchen Nightmares with Chef Gordon Ramsey. This may sound like a strange choice, but I always relate to the entrepreneurs who start out with a romantic notion of owning a restaurant. Sooner or later, they’re hit with the hard cold facts of running a business. There’s always a point in the show where they have to admit they need help, surrender their ego, and really hunker down and do whatever the experts tell them to do for the business to survive. It’s exactly like novel writing in my opinion. Luckily, I’ve had lots of generous experts along the way who have been willing to lend a hand and teach me. Of course, being human, there are times I secretly mourn the fact that I’m not a genius and can’t whip up instant perfection; but, the truth is, it’s the friendships I’ve made on the journey to publication that make my life so rich.

Focusing on your most recent (or first) book, tell our readers what genre your book is and what popular author you think your writing style in this book is most like.

Kathy-Diane Leveille: Let the Shadows Fall Behind You is a suspense novel that, in the end, extols the power of female friendship; it’s Sue Monk Kidd meets Harlan Coben.

How long did it take you to write your most recent (or first) book? When you started writing, did you think it would take that long (or short)?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: It took about five years to write Let the Shadows Fall Behind You from the initial idea stage to publication. I had so much to learn about novel writing with each draft: plot, characterization, theme, setting. I loved the larger canvas of a novel compared to a short story, but, at the same time, I had to juggle a lot more balls in the air. It was thrilling when they finally stopped dropping! I used Writer’s Digest On-Line Market to send out queries. I was thrilled to choose Kunati Books. They’re an award-winning publisher, not afraid of taking risks. My relationship with them has been supportive and energizing.

Is there anyone you'd like to specifically acknowledge who has inspired, motivated, encouraged or supported your writing?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: My husband is my #1 cheerleader. He’s always been the first to remind me how important it is to pursue one’s passion REGARDLESS of the outcome. The thrill remains is in the journey, not necessarily the destination. I find with writing there never really is a point of ‘having arrived.’ Every time I conquer a challenge, there’s a new one on the horizon. That’s why I love it.

Thinking about your writing career, is there anything you'd go back and do differently now that you have been published?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: I think if I had had access to seasoned professionals in the industry sooner, I might have learned a lot faster about what it takes to survive and thrive in today’s publishing world. Living on the Canadian east coast, it’s pretty isolated from the hub of the industry. You absolutely have to know the business, how it works and its current needs to give yourself a leg up. I think I was too naïve in believing that all I needed to do was write well and the work would find a home on its own. In some instances this can happen, but the greater reality is that selling books is a business, and one that is constantly changing. I romanticized the industry when I needed to view myself as a business woman.

How has having a book published changed your life?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: It’s definitely given my writing life a jolt of adrenalin. The learning curve has risen tremendously, and I’m busier than ever trying to balance it all. But it’s one heck of a ride. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Is there any lesson or moral you hope your story might reveal to those who read it?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: Ultimately, Let the Shadows Fall Behind You is a story about coming to terms with the past and letting it go.

Do you have any book signings, tours or special events planned to promote your book that readers might be interested in attending? If so, when and where?

Kathy-Diane Leveille: Do I? You betcha. It’s all listed here:

http://kathydiane.wordpress.com You’ll find a running list on the EVENTS page, but I also post interviews, reviews, signings, contests as they occur on the main page. I’m really excited about attending the Canadian Crimewriters Bloody Words Conference in June with host, Louise Penny; and The International Thrill Writers ThrillerFest with Sandra Brown and David Morrell in New York in July.

If you’re interested in Shadows Fall N Friends, my interviews with authors I’ve met on the road to publication check here every Thursday: http://lettheshadowsfallbehindyou.blogspot.com

I send out an E-muse letter every month with a schedule of which authors I’m interviewing when, along with updates and announcement of the winner of the monthly draw for a 50.00 gift certificate from Amazon. To subscribe just drop me an e-mail at shadowsfall@kathy-dianeleveille.com

Please leave a comment if you drop bys. I’d love to hear from you!

Anything you want your readers to know?

Thank you so much for inviting me to be your guest and meeting all your readers. Please let me know what you think of Let the Shadows Fall Behind You at shadowsfall@kathy-dianeleveille.com. I’d love to hear from you.

Happy Reading!
Kathy-Diane

Book: Let the Shadows Fall Behind You

Synopsis of Let the Shadows Fall Behind You:

On a grey morning in Northern Ontario in 1978, when the first fat snowflakes drifted down erasing all the familiar landmarks, Nikolai Mirsky headed out the door of the haunted cabin he shared with his lover, Brannagh Maloney. And disappeared…

Brannagh, a Natural Science Illustrator, struggled to collate the data from their bird count through the long winter. By the time the icicles began to melt, she was filled with a growing dread that the infamous wilderness preservationist wasn’t returning.

When Brannagh left New Brunswick, ten years ago, she swore it was for good. But now her best friend, Annie, won’t stop worrying about her, and won’t stop hounding her to come back for a reunion of their childhood all-girls club The Tuatha-de-Dannans. Brannagh finally relents, but she refuses to go to her childhood home and face her irascible Grandfather. Instead, she hides out at her Grandmother’s summer cottage, even though it is far too close to the woods where her mother was murdered. As Brannagh struggles to put to rest the questions surrounding Nikki’s disappearance, she finds it impossible to ignore the family secrets circling the most tragic disappearance of all. Brannagh learns that nothing magical will ever change her past, but the fierce love of friends holds the power to transform the future.

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Elements of the Soul - Pre-order and Reserve Your Copy Today!

2009-06-18T23:32:00.001-05:00

Pre-order special: $13.00

Includes shipping & handling, taxes, and a custom-made bookmark.

Pre-order to reserve your copy of the first Accentuate Writers Anthology and ensure you are among the first to ever hold one of these gorgeous paperback volumes in your hands!

Ten talented authors and our very best poets come together to offer this over-250 page book, containing 15 sensational short stories as well as several poems from our featured winning poets.

Each author placed, against fierce competition, in 'first' - 'second' - or 'third' place in the Accentuate Writers Short Story Anthology Contest to win the coveted position as an author in the very first Accentuate Writers Anthology.

Author bios and interviews will be coming up soon. In the meantime, if you're interested in pre-ordering your very own copy of Elements of the Soul, which will be shipped to you in a matter of mere weeks from now, and want to be one of the very first to own this gorgeous anthology, just click the 'Buy Now' button above and place your order. There are no limits, so order a few for your friends and family too!

When you order your copy, 10% of the net profit from the sale of each book will be donated to literacy programs. Proceeds donated to these literary programs will take place once per quarter, when sales and royalties to authors are processed. Records and receipts of donations are available for viewing upon request. Additionally, the money gained from these books is used to turn around and invest in future writing contests. Purchasing Accentuate Anthologies from Twin Trinity Media ensures your purchase goes to help keep authors writing, foster a love of the literary arts, and help to fund literacy programs.

Of course, you also get a gorgeous book, perfect bound, high-gloss cover that is suitable for framing! Oh, and you know, the stories are good too! Click that BUY NOW link today! The cost to pre-order this special book includes your taxes and shipping in the total. If you order through this special pre-order link, your book--including shipping & handling, taxes, and a custom-made bookmark based on the cover of the book--will only cost a flat $13.00 TOTAL!

Visit this website for more information:
http://anthologies.accentuatewritersforum.com

Author Interview with Keith Knapp, Author of Moonlight

2009-05-03T17:43:00.003-05:00

Keith Knapp has been doing one form of writing or another since he was a kid. He started with short stories then moved to screenplays when he discovered a love for movies during high school. During this time he also became heavily involved in music (playing drums), and still does to this day. After moving from Chicago (where he attended film school) to Los Angeles to pursue a screenwriting career, Keith eventually found himself turning a movie idea of his into his first novel, Moonlight. It wasn't by choice; the story simply wasn't working as a script. Since then he's devoted himself full-time to writing novels. He currently lives in Van Nuys with his three cats.

What compelled you to write your first book?

Oddly enough nothing compelled me to do it - it just happened. I had an idea for a movie where one day nothing worked anymore: no power, no watches, no cars, no cell phones, nothing. You know, things went back to the very beginning for people. Very Twilight Zone-ish. I worked on the script for maybe a year, and it just wasn't happening. Someone suggested I try it as a book. Since I really liked the idea, really wanted to see what the characters I had so far had would do in such a situation, I gave it a go. Two years later I had Moonlight.

Tell us a little bit about your book/s.

Moonlight starts off with my original concept: one day nothing works anymore. Cars, power, watches, anything and everything electrical. Then The Reason for all that shows up in the form of one man - you can call him the Devil, Pure Evil, whatever you like - and it turns very supernatural and George Romero-ish. There are zombies (although not technically "zombies," but the term works) because, wouldn't you know it, us humans have really made a mess of this place, our bad guy knows this, and all he's really trying to do is start things over. I'm really bad at summing up my own work, as you can tell. A bunch of other stuff happens and maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't.

Are you currently working on any writing projects our readers should watch for release soon?

I'm currently in re-writes on my second novel, Coda, about what happens to a group of people right after they die. I've also completed my first short story in maybe 20 years, The Boy Next Door, which is currently making rounds for publication. I hope to have both out by the end of the year.

Have you ever won any writing awards? If so, what?

I won a screenwriting award my senior year in high school for a short script (which I later shot myself). The script was pretty good, the movie itself was terrible (if there's one thing I've learned in life it's that I'm not a filmmaker), and I think it's that award that pushed me to follow writing as a dream. It's the only award I've one, the only contest (or what-have-you) that something of mine's been entered in, and I didn't even enter it - one of my teachers did - so you have him to blame. You know, a group of people comes out one day and says, "Hey man, this thing you wrote ain't bad, so here's an award and some money, keep it up." I think once I knew that people outside of my group of friends and family was liking what I was doing, that's when things clicked with me.

How did you feel the day you held the copy of your first book in your hands?

It was very surreal. And shiny. That was the first thing I noticed: the cover was shiny. I'm easily impressed by shiny things. Then there was about ten minutes of me paging through it and trying to grasp that 100,000 words I had written were now in this book format that anyone could buy - and man, it looked like a book, you know? My name was on every page. After those ten minutes, even though that feeling of accomplishment stayed with me, I put the book down and went back to work on Coda, 'cause really it's the writing that's important.

What type of music, if any, do you listen to while you write?

I'm a huge Metallica fan, but I'll go back and forth between having them on and having complete silence. Usually when I'm doing a first draft I need complete silence - I'm in that world, I'm those characters, and a lot of times there's no music in that world, so I choose to have no music in my world, either. But during re-writes, when my brain is a little more open, I'll toss on "The Black Album" or "Death Magnetic."

What inspires you and motivates you to write the very most?

A little angry golumn-type thing that's in my chest. If I don't write every day, he gets very mad.

The main characters of your stories - do you find that you put a little of yourself into each of them or do you create them to be completely different from you?

All the characters start out as me - or a part of me, at least. Write what you know. But as the story evolves, so do the characters. By the end of the first draft, while parts of me are still in every character, they've also developed their own voices, their own motivations, sometimes very different from my own. They end up with their own way of talking and doing things, which wouldn't be how I'd do things. So during re-writes, now that I know these people better, it's very easy to see where they stray.

For each of my two novels, about halfway through the first draft is when the characters start to really speak to me and take over. It's then that I no longer know where the story is going or how they're gonna get out of this situation or that event - I don't do outlines. For example, in Moonlight there is a very long section where the characters are trapped in a high school. I had no idea how to get them out of there. The Devil had them trapped in there, so how do you get out of that? It was figured out, and not by me, but by one of the characters - which I was of course very thankful for.

Is there an established writer you admire and emulate in your own writing? Do you have a writing mentor?

I think if for nothing else than his prose, it's Stephen King. He's not what I call a Flowery Writer. He doesn't try to impress you with big words or show off with word play and such. He's just telling you a story, which is what I try to do. I prefer, when I'm reading, to not be aware that I'm reading at all. I like that feeling of just sitting there with the author, in their head, and he/she is showing you this movie. King is a master at this.

Do you have any pets? What are they? Tell us about them.

I have three cats - Jonsey, Ripley and Padme - and they're my family. They pull me up when I'm down, make me laugh when I'm down, and sleep a lot, which is great when I need silence.

Bring us into your home and set the scene for us when you are writing. What does it look like?

I have this old desk, had it since I was 17, I think. I write on an old computer - it must be ten years old by now - in MSWord. I really don't need anything more than a typewriter, but a computer of course makes it easier to fix your mistakes - which I make a lot of. A computer is also great for breaks; I usually take a break once an hour, jump on You Tube for some Metallica or Guns N' Roses videos. I've tried writing by hand, but only when the ol' computer's broken and I have no choice. I really don't like writing this way not because it's time consuming but because from all my years of drumming I've developed carpel tunnel syndrome in my right hand which flares up if I use a pen too much.

Do you watch television? If so, what are your favorite shows? Does television influence of inspire your writing?

I watch way too much TV, and I think growing up in the "TV Generation" has affected how I write. I tend to go for very short, snappy scenes and chapters and end up with a lot of characters. I love 24 and am a huge Star Trek fan. I'm spending a lot of time now with the new BluRay set of the original Trek series that just came out. No one beats Shatner.

What about movies? Same as above.

Ask anyone and they'll tell you Star Wars. And yes, I even like the prequels. Now that I think about it, I believe that's why I usually end up with so many characters; there are lots of different characters in Star Wars, and love 'em or hate 'em, each character serves a purpose and is vey unique.

How long does it take you to write a book? When you started writing, did you think it would take that long (or short)?

It took about two years to complete Moonlight, although I'd had the idea for a number of years. I envisioned it'd take about two years, and ended up being right. Coda has also taken me about two years to complete, so I think I'm good for a book every two years.

Is there anyone you'd like to specifically acknowledge who has inspired, motivated, encouraged or supported your writing?

My mother. Writing all those short stories as a kid, man, I made her read them all and she loved them all. Of course, she was my mom, so she was bound to love them. I think it's a law. We move over to my father - I made him read them all, too - and he'd actually give me feedback to improve my writing. I think between the two of them they created a good balance for what I needed to move on. My mother has since passed away, but I still make my father read everything. And yes, he still gives me that all-important feedback.

For me, a name is just a name. Pick one. I've had difficulty with last names, but now with the internet you can look up the meanings of various last names - there's a huge online dictionary of just last names. It's all organic. When I first start writing a novel, I'm meeting these people for the first time just like you when you go to read it - I don't feel like I'm "creating" characters but more telling someone's story. Those people tell me what their names are. It usually works out pretty well. I've been told a lot of the names in Moonlight have dual-meanings in the greater scene, but I never planned that.

Have you ever had a character take over a story and move it in a different direction than you had originally intended? How did you handle it?

As with the high school sequence in Moonlight, eventually the characters will dictate the story for me and bring it to a close, and I just let this happen. It really isn't writing anymore at that point - it's them telling me the story in my head and all I'm doing is typing it. I look at it kind of like sculpting. I start out with a lump of clay - that's the idea. I eventually get it to look like a vase, let's say. But only I can tell it's a vase - it might look like an ashtray to you, or maybe still just a lump of clay. Then through re-writing, that's when it gets scuplted by the characters, that's when it begins to look more like a vase to everyone - what color it is, what kind of flowers are in it, how big it is - and it's always the characters that do the sculpting. For this reason, this kind of "organic" writing, I tend to do five or six complete drafts per book.

Is there any lesson or moral you hope your story might reveal to those who read it?

I don't like lessons and morals in stories, but they're always there. I think whatever you pull out of a story, that's that moral or lesson for you at that point in your life. All I'm striving for is to entertain some folks, help them kill some time, show them some fun stuff. If they get more out of it, great. If they get just a good read, great.

Now, anything you want your readers to know?

Moonlight can most easily be found on any of the popular websites: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. To learn more about Keith and keep up-to-date with what he's working on, you can visit him on My Space at: myspace.com/keithknapp

Unsent Letters Now Accepting Submissions

2009-03-03T16:40:00.001-06:00

http://www.ourunsentletters.com

We’ve all had that letter we wrote, never meaning to send. Maybe we never sent it because we couldn’t bring ourselves to face the recipient. Maybe we never sent it because the recipient was no longer living. Maybe we never sent it because we knew it would not be safe to do so.

But we wrote it anyway, knowing we would never send it.

Why?

Because we needed to get the emotion out of us, to say the words, even if they were never shared with anyone else.

Maybe the letter you wrote never actually made it onto paper. Maybe it’s still lingering around in your head, waiting for you to write it.

Do you have something you’ve been longing to say to someone, but you never thought you’d get the chance?

Now is your chance.

We want you to share you “Unsent Letters” with us, and if we use your letter, we will pay you, and you might even get included in a book collection of “Unsent Letters”.

Writer’s Guidelines

Submissions

Here, on this blog, we will update regularly with submissions received from people who have chosen to share their Unsent Letters with you. Please leave them comments and let them know how much you enjoyed, learned from, or appreciate their story.

Love and stuff,
Michy

2009 Short Story Anthology Contest Themes Announced

2009-02-22T09:52:00.001-06:00

2009 Accentuate Writers Anthology of Short Stories THEMES

http://www.accentuateservices.com/AS/node/13

This is a chance for published, yet to be published, or fiction-curious writers to venture into the world of fiction writing, win a cash prize and get a publishing contract with royalties - all for a $5 entry fee. Every short story will also get a brief critique, whether it wins or not.

First, we know what's important to you - the money, right? Okay, so here's the prizes!

CASH PRIZES! FREE BOOKS! FREE MERCHANDISE!

January 2009 - The Past (in the judging process

February/March 2009 - The Present (Due by 11:59pm Central Time March 31, 2009)

March 2009 - The Future (Due by 11:59pm Central Time March 31, 2009)

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April 2009 - FANTASY (Due by 11:59pm Central Time, last day of April 2009)

May 2009 - REALITY (Due by 11:59pm Central Time, last day of May 2009)

June 2009 - SCIENCE FICTION (Due by 11:59pm Central Time, last day of June 2009)

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July 2009 - Birth (Due by 11:59pm Central Time, last day of July 2009)

August 2009 - Life (Due by 11:59pm Central Time, last day of August 2009)

September 2009 - Death (Due by 11:59pm Central Time, last day of September 2009)

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October 2009 - First Love (Due by 11:59pm Central Time, last day of October 2009)

November 2009 - The Engagement (Due by 11:59pm Central Time, last day of October 2009)

December 2009 - The Wedding (Due by 11:59pm Central Time, last day of October 2009)

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2009 Annual Anthology Poetry Contest - Pick One or More of the Above Themes and Submit Your Poems

$1.00 Per Poem Submitted

All poetry must be submitted on or before the last day of the quarter the theme for the poem is about. For example, if the poem is about The Past theme, the poem is due no later than March 2009. If the poem is about The Wedding, it's due by December 2009, etc.

Mary Burton's Buns for Valentine's Day!

2009-02-13T03:58:00.005-06:00

Valentine’s Day Sweet Buns

I love to have these for my sweetie on Valentine’s Day. I make up the dough in my bread maker, assemble the buns the night before and then let them rise in the refrigerator. I also mix up the icing the night before. A couple of hours before breakfast, I set the pans on the counter to rise a little more and then I bake in a 350 degree oven for 18-20 minutes. Simple and so delicious!

Happy Valentine’s Day!
Best,
Mary

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Buns

3 ¼ cups of flour
¾ teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon of vanilla
¾ cup of water
1/4 cup of low fat sour cream
¼ cup of melted butter
1 package of dry yeast

Filling

¾ cups of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Glaze

1 cup of powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons of milk

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Place all the ingredients in the dough maker (yeast goes in the yeast dispenser). Once the dough is ready, place on a floured surface and roll out into a large rectangle—about ¼ an inch thick. Sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts on the dough. Roll the dough in a long spiral and then slice into individual portions. Place dough on a large greased pan. Give the rolls plenty of room to rise and spread. (If you’re prepping for tomorrow’s breakfast, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. In the morning a couple of hours before serving the buns, place pans of uncooked rolls in a warm place and let them rise.) When they’ve risen to twice their original size, bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. While they are warm, pour glaze over top and serve.

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You know Mary for her romantic suspense novels DEAD RINGER and I’M WATCHING YOU and, of courses, for her novella in the New York Times best selling SILVER BELLS. To mark that publication, she shared a new recipe, Silver Bells Tea Cakes via book and food/baking blogs. Now, she’s sharing her favorite St. Valentine’s Day breakfast treat, Valentine’s Day Sweet Buns. “I love to have these for my sweetie on Valentine’s Day,” she says, but once again keeps us in suspense. She hasn’t told us yet whether or not she serves them in bed.

Learn more about Mary Burton and her books at her website: http://www.maryburton.com/

Enjoy!

Book Review: Making Waves, by Cassandra King (as reviewed by Joy Cagil)

2009-01-21T06:05:00.004-06:00

Making Waves by Cassandra King

As Reviewed By Joy Cagil

Making Waves is a novel that focuses on the themes of disappointment and repressed desires. The childlike Donnette, a beautician, and her husband Tim live in a small town in Zion County, Alabama. After Tim's recent accident that has left him crippled, Donnette becomes the only breadwinner in the family, since her aunt has left her an old house and a beauty shop, which Donnette names Making Waves. Tim used to be the town's football hero and its pride and joy, but the accident has disappointed the townsfolk and has done away with Tim's dreams of becoming a national football star.

Taylor Dupree, who had been Tim's best friend until the accident and ran away from town after it, returns to Zion County. Taylor wants to make amends for leaving the site of the accident that left Tim crippled. Taylor's road to redemption and Tim's efforts to regain his confidence and self-respect clash with the misunderstandings of the town's people. Tim, who once gave up art for football, paints a sign for Donnette's beauty shop, and from then on, he starts recovering emotionally. Donnette, already bewildered in the middle of all the gossip and commotion, finds out a shocking truth between these two men at the end.

The idea that what is broken can be repaired and even a funeral can serve to bring people together is quite refreshing, and the characters in this book shine, even the scheming, gossiping, and manipulative small-town women like Taylor's aunt Della, and Ellis, Taylor's cousin Sonny's girlfriend. The plot is woven with sometimes tragic and sometimes amusing twists and turns, with humor aptly understated, and the four different viewpoints that tell the story enhance the enjoyment of its reading by granting insight into the thinking processes of different characters. The revelation at the end can be surprising and even shocking for many readers, and the ending feels a bit rushed. Still, the pace of the book is interesting, and the story is entertaining.

Making Waves is 304 pages with ISBN-10: 0786887931 and ISBN-13: 978-0786887934.

Cassandra King is from Alabama, and she is a former English and creative writing teacher with essays and stories in various publications. At this date, she has four novels in print: Same Sweet Girls, The Sunday Wife, Making Waves, and Queen of Broken Hearts. She lives in South Carolina with her husband Pat Conroy who is also a highly successful author.

This book is humorous, tragic, and easily readable. It is well worth the time of any reader for its eccentric characters and colorful dialogue.

About the Reviewer:

Joy Cagil is an author http://www.Writing.Com which is a site for Creative Writing

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joy_Cagil
http://EzineArticles.com/?Making-Waves-by-Cassandra-King&id=1751390

Author Interview With Sandi Kahn Shelton

2009-01-19T09:28:00.003-06:00

My name is Sandi Kahn Shelton, and I’m the author of three novels—Kissing Games of the World, A Piece of Normal, and What Comes After Crazy, all published by Shaye Areheart books, a division of Crown, which is a division of Random House. I’ve also written three non-fiction humor books about parenting and family life and lots of newspaper and magazine articles. I wrote a humor column for Working Mother magazine for ten years, and my work has appeared in Redbook, Salon, Readers Digest, and also several anthologies.

These days I write fiction every day, and I’m also a feature reporter for the New Haven Register in Connecticut, and I teach writing workshops as well. I’m married to a journalist, Jim Shelton, and we have three children, the youngest of whom is in college.

Author Interview: Sandi Kahn Shelton

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Sandi Shelton: Yes, I wanted to be a writer from the time I was a young child. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making up stories and situations, creating plots from overhearing people’s conversations. When I was six years old, I sold my first story when my mother wouldn’t give me money for the ice cream man, so I went into the house, wrote a story, glued the pages together, and sold it to a neighbor for twenty cents, enough for a banana popsicle. I think that’s when it dawned on me that this could be something I would always love to do—and it would keep me in frozen desserts, besides.

Tell us a little bit about your book/s.

Sandi Shelton: Kissing Games of the World is my current, and third book. It’s a love story between two very unlikely people, Jamie McClintock and Nate Goddard, who could not be more wrong for each other. Jamie is a free- spirited single mother who would much rather crochet a vest for her 5-year-old son Arley or glue glitter onto pinecones than go out on a date. Nate spends all of his time criss-crossing the country on business, wooing clients with his effortless charm and good looks. This keeps him from having to dwell on the tragedy of his life, which is that his wife died soon after giving birth and his son is being raised by his estranged father, who just happens to be Jamie’s roommate. When Nate’s father, Harris, dies suddenly of a heart attack, Jamie and Nate are thrown together.

Nate, who is engaged to be married to a fellow workaholic, is positive that parenthood is going to be a snap: he decides to take his son Christopher along with him on his worldly travels, educating him in hotels and conference board rooms. Jamie, who knows a thing or two about little boys, knows that can never work—and in the few days they spend together planning Harris’s funeral and packing up the house, they fight passionately about that and nearly everything else: children's games, nicknames, art, his father's possessions, and even the questionable value of the numerous tuna noodle casseroles brought over by the neighbors.

Once they’ve gone their separate ways, however, life throws them the biggest surprise of all: they may actually need each other. Nate, stunned by the sometimes hilarious difficulties of being a single parent, sees what he's thrown away by leaving his old home town. He even begins to come to terms with the resentment he feels toward his father for abandoning him. Jamie learns to put aside her past dismal romantic history and let herself trust in love again. Eventually, these two flawed and frightened people come to realize that the missing parts of themselves just might be found in each other.

What Comes After Crazy, my first book, is a funny/sad novel about Maz Lombard, a single mom who was raised by a crazy, larger-than-life mother, “Madame Lucille,” the fortune-teller to the stars. Maz, whose husband Lenny just left her after his affair with the daycare teacher imploded, now is looking for the way to find sanity and stability in her life, and she’d do it, too---except that every time she tries, Madame Lucille and Lenny both land on her doorstep, pleading for another chance. It’s the story of a woman coming to terms with a difficult past and finding her way toward being a grownup on her own.

A Piece of Normal is a story about two sisters who couldn’t be more opposite. Lily is an advice columnist who has life just the way she likes it---simple, unchanging, and with no risks. Her ex-husband even thinks she’s wonderful! But then her little sister blows into town with a family secret that Lily never even knew existed, and suddenly she realizes that she might need to break out of her safe little cocoon and take some real chances. She has to learn to heed the advice she’s been doling out to strangers, mainly that life isn’t really living if you never let yourself feel anything.

Are you currently working on any writing projects our readers should watch for release soon?

Sandi Shelton: I’m on deadline for my fourth novel, which I am calling The Year You Think of Nothing Else. It should be released early in 2010.

How did you feel the day you held the copy of your first book in your hands?

Sandi Shelton: Amazed, stunned, humbled. After all the hours of writing, revising, and then negotiating about the cover, the typeface, the photos, the copyediting—suddenly, there is this BOOK! That people will know about and see. Suddenly the characters don’t just belong to you anymore. They’re going out in the world, just like children you’ve given birth to and nurtured. You feel such a mixture of pride and fear that it almost stops your heart.

What type of music, if any, do you listen to while you write?

Sandi Shelton: I may be alone in this, but I love listening to music while I write. Once I’m going on a book and know who the characters are, I make up a playlist of songs that help me stay in the mood while I’m writing. For Kissing Games of the World, for instance, I listened to “Desperado” by the Eagles about 2,578 times, because it expressed exactly the sentiments of Nate. “The Hard Way” by Mary Chapin Carpenter reminded me of Jamie, and when they finally got together, “Halleleuia” by Rufus Wainwright was the song that helped me get to the emotion they felt.

Location and life experience can sprinkle their influence in your writing. Tell us about where you grew up and a little about where you live now.

Sandi Shelton: I grew up in northern Florida, in a small community that was still considered the “deep South” in those days. When I was twelve, my parents divorced, and my mother remarried and moved us to Southern California, where I lived for many years. For the past years, I’ve lived in a small town in Connecticut, where I’ve learned to appreciate town greens, ponds you can ice-skate on, and the need for fleece jackets.

Do you have any pets? What are they? Tell us about them.

Sandi Shelton: Oh, this is a sad question for me! Three weeks ago, we had to put down our very ill 13-year old golden retriever, Jordie, who was my “writing dog.” He faithfully sat by me through the writing of all of my books and magazine articles, and he was a very good listener and never criticized my prose, even if it wasn’t perfect. I still miss his tail-wagging approval.

Bring us into your home and set the scene for us when you are writing. What does it look like? On the couch, laptop, desk? Music? Lighting, handwriting?

Sandi Shelton: I write all over the place! Some stories come to me best when I’m snuggled on our sectional couch, with my laptop on my lap. Other times I do better sitting at the dining room table, or even downstairs in my designated “office,” where the printer, fax machine, telephone and all my books are. In the summer, I take my laptop outside on our screened porch that looks out over the woods and the dogwood tree. But lately, with being on a tight deadline, I find I do better in Starbucks, where they not only have comfy armchairs and lots of iced tea, but best of all, they have NO internet! I fear I’ve become hopelessly addicted to checking my email and comments on my blog, and so I do better when I can’t possibly go there and must stay inside my book.

How long did it take you to write your most recent (or first) book? When you started writing, did you think it would take that long (or short)?

Sandi Shelton: My first novel, What Comes After Crazy, actually took me 17 years to write. Not that I was writing it every day—or even every year, you understand. It spent lots of time in a drawer, waiting for me to return to it and whispering to me when I was trying to sleep. It took so long because during those years, I had three young kids at home, a full-time job, a couple of part-time jobs, free-lance articles due, and endless numbers of school projects to help with and carpools to drive. Also, I didn’t really know HOW to write a novel. I must have completed that book four or five times, only to start writing it again…and when I finally finished it, it sold in two weeks. My family nearly fell over dead when they heard the news. I think they always considered that book something that “Mom always worked on whenever she didn’t have to be anywhere else.” (The truth? I had years of thinking of it that way, too.) But its publication turned me into a novelist, and with my next book due in eleven months after the publication of What Comes After Crazy, I finally had the mandate to do what I’d been wanting to do all along: write fiction! It became suddenly easy to say no to things that didn’t really have to be done.

Sandi Shelton: I love naming characters, and I often start out knowing one name for them and then, halfway through the book, realize that wasn’t who they were at all! It’s funny how names tell us so much about a character’s disposition and personality…and when you change their names, they take on other attributes. I always like to go to the website, Baby Name Voyager, which not only lists practically every name in the universe but lets you know how popular it was in different decades since the early 1900’s. After all, you can’t be writing about a mother born in the 1930’s and give her a name like Britney or Heather.

Have you ever had a character take over a story and move it in a different direction than you had originally intended? How did you handle it?

Sandi Shelton: Oh, my characters are always trying to do this, and I have often had to put a stop to it. With Kissing Games of the World, however, I didn’t put a stop to it, and it turned out to be just the right thing. At first I was hearing the story from the point of view of the main character, Jamie McClintock, which felt exactly right, since I had a contract to write a book of “women’s fiction.” But suddenly, Nate’s character just announced itself and wanted to take over the whole book. I did not see how I was going to be able to face my editor and tell her that I’d allowed a guy to hijack my book. Still, he persisted, claiming that Jamie wasn’t able to tell his part of the story since she was so biased against him. I ended up agreeing that he made the story much livelier and much stronger. I wrote the book in alternating chapters, from the two points of view, and I’m so glad I did. Nate’s voice was vibrant, sexy, and alive—and his chapters really engaged me and moved the story along. Jamie actually had to step up to the plate and get herself to be more interesting!

Anything else you want your readers to know?
I have a website at www.sandishelton.com, and I keep a blog that I try to keep up to date. I love receiving comments and answer every one. My books are available from amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and in bookstores. I also have recently been visiting readers who are enrolled in reading groups. If you’d like to have me phone in to a reading group, you can reach me at www.sandishelton.com/group/.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

2009-01-05T07:16:00.001-06:00

Hi everyone!

Preditors & Editors are doing their annual readers poll awards, and my little writing forum was nominated this year. Right now, we're holding at third place, with a couple of big forums above us, so I'm quite proud of that.

However, I think we have a shot of getting into first place, if you guys will help me!

Voting is super easy - click here - and then find Accentuate Writers' Forum. Click the button next to it, enter your name and email, and then when you get the verification email, click on the link to confirm your vote. P&E will not retain your email neither will they spam you or share it - promise!

If you're a writer and have never checked out our writing forum, you can join us here or the redirect link of www.writersforum.info. We're a friendly and supportive group of writers, accepting writers of all walks of life - yet to be published, self published, trade published, not wanting to be published - both fiction and nonfiction writers, freelancers, hobbyists - if you have a love and passion for writing, we'll support you and help you achieve your writing goals!

Join us? If not, check out the board at least and give us a vote and help our little board compete with the big guys!

Love and stuff,
Michy