Tara Maya's Tales

Armageddon's Princess

2013-05-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year my friend Anthony Pacheco published a wonderful scifi mystery, Armageddon's Princess. Here's some details...

ANGRY PRINCESS IS ANGRY. Investigator Lexus Nancy Toulouse, ex-soldier extreme: finds her Libido Generator is on the fritz, learns her old warship wants to "get back together" (despite the fact she already has four husbands!), loses whatever war-torn sanity she had left in a crime reenactment and becomes the Princess Concubine to the mysterious Empress. Then, while trying on lingerie, someone tried to blow her up and she regenerated all the way back to a teenager. Now there will be lots of blood AND NONE OF IT HERS.

An Excerpt

On command, the CSI bots begin their inspection of the bodies. Scott and I search the house while they do their job. We don’t find anything interesting at all. We take the trash, the garbage disposal contents, the air filters. I change out the filters for the replacements right by the HVAC, and turn the house system back on.

This takes another hour. With two of us, it’s taking a shorter amount of time to look for evidence and run the checklists, even while Scott is an amateur. It’s a sobering wake up call to my solitary existence.

Then Bob drops a bomb.

—ICDA has a scene reconstruction. Program available on request.—

Whoa boy.

I give the house commands, and the windows go opaque, the doors lock, and the lights dim.

“What’s up?” Scott looks curious. At least his color is back. Watching the bots swarm over the bodies is sure to remind him of some war shit he wants to forget. I know it does with me.

“Investigators use ICDA—Investigation Crime Database and Analysis. It’s a big honking supercomputer. We’re talking war shit—the computer used to design the AIs, so when paired with all the crime data known to man, it knows all about human behavior in a disgusting amount of detail. As the bots and I collect data, it goes to Bob, my work comp, and Bob sends it to ICDA. It’s an expensive system to maintain, but worth it.”

“ICDA—as in, Cheyenne Mountain ICDA? I thought that was some old Defense Agency thing.”

“Cheyenne Mountain, yes. And no, that’s also where the ICDA hardware is.”

Scott’s expression darkens again. Or still. I can tell he’s been to Cheyenne Mountain because what little happiness he was holding onto for dear life after seeing the murder scene has dripped from him as if I squeezed it out of his body with my armored fists. I can almost see it pooling at his feet, turning black.

“Between the details of the prior murders, your dream description, and the data from the CSI bots, ICDA thinks it can display a reasonable facsimile of the crime as it occurred.”

“Whoa,” says Scott. I give him a stiff smile. “How is that possible?”

“The CSI bots are finding forensic evidence, and ICDA matches that with M.O.s and details from prior crimes going all the way back to the beginning of recorded history. Even the lack of evidence has meaning, a profile. Data analysis doesn’t get any better.”

“Kick ass. Let’s watch it.”

Anthony lives and works in the Pacific Northwest where he dreams speculative dreams, smooches the wife, harasses the kids, tosses squeaky toys for the dog and serves as a human scratching post for the cats.

You can buy Armageddon's Princess on Amazon (paperback and ebook), Barnes and Noble (paperback) or Powell's Books (paperback).

Assassin's Gambit

2013-05-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

Last month my friend Amy Raby released her latest fantasy romance, Assassin's Gambit from The Hearts and Thrones and Series. Here's a bit about the book:

Vitala Salonius, champion of the warlike game of Caturanga, is as deadly as she is beautiful. She’s a trained assassin for the resistance, and her true play is for ultimate power. Using her charm and wit, she plans to seduce her way into the emperor’s bed and deal him one final, fatal blow, sparking a battle of succession that could change the face of the empire.

As the ruler of a country on the brink of war and the son of a deposed emperor, Lucien must constantly be wary of an attempt on his life. But he’s drawn to the stunning Caturanga player visiting the palace. Vitala may be able to distract him from his woes for a while—and fulfill other needs, as well.

Lucien’s quick mind and considerable skills awaken unexpected desires in Vitala, weakening her resolve to finish her mission. An assassin cannot fall for her prey, but Vitala’s gut is telling her to protect this sexy, sensitive man. Now she must decide where her heart and loyalties lie and navigate the dangerous war of politics before her gambit causes her to lose both Lucien and her heart for good.

An Excerpt

Vitala was not her given name. When she was born dark-haired, Papa named her Kolta: “blackbird.”

She was eight years old when the stranger arrived. Mama and Papa took him into the bedroom to speak with him. They shut her out, but she pressed her ear against the door to listen.

“We’ve completed the testing,” said the stranger, “and your daughter is exactly what we’re looking for. Highly intelligent, physically strong, and coordinated. And, of course, she’s black-haired.”

Mama said something she couldn’t quite make out.

“In the village, perhaps,” replied the stranger. “But in the Circle, dark hair is an asset. She can pass for Kjallan. It will allow her to move in areas where others cannot.”

More mumbling from Mama.

“The Circle is prepared to offer you compensation. Four hundred tetrals.”

Papa gasped.

Mama raised her voice. “I’m not selling my daughter!”

“Of course not,” soothed the stranger. “But Kolta will never reach her potential here in the village—not with the prejudice against girls like her. Why subject her to harassment and ostracism, when among the Circle she will be valued and revered? The money is our gift to you. A token of our thanks for aiding Riorca in its time of need.”

Mama began to sob.

“Treva, he’s right,” said Papa. “It would be selfish to keep Kolta here. A half-Kjallan bastard will never be accepted—”

“You hate her!” cried Mama. “You want to be rid of her!”

“Madam,” said the stranger, “consider the advantages to Kolta in joining the Circle. She will receive a thorough education, far better than anything she could get here. And she will be among her own kind. We have other half-breeds like her, dark-haired girls who know what it’s like to be Riorcan but look Kjallan. For the first time in her life, she will have friends.”

Mama continued to sob.

“Treva, think of it,” said Papa. “Four hundred tetrals! You know what that money would mean for us. This man is right. The Circle can do far better for Kolta than we can.”

Something unintelligible from Mama.

“No,” said the stranger. “It must be now. She must begin her language training immediately, or she’ll never speak with the proper accent.”

A long silence followed, broken only by Mama’s sobbing. There were soft words that Kolta could not make out.

The stranger was saying, “We find it’s best if there are no good-byes.”

The door opened, and the stranger stepped out. Terrified, Kolta hid in the corner between the wall and the door. But the door moved away, revealing her. The stranger stared down at her in surprise. “Were you listening, Kolta?”

She shook her head.

He knelt, bringing himself to her eye level. “Tell me the truth, and you will not be in trouble. Were you listening?”

She hesitated a moment, but nodded.

“And yet you do not cry.” His mouth twisted as he lifted her chin with his finger. “My name is Bayard. I’m going to be your friend, Kolta. Would you like that?”

She was silent.

“The people here don’t treat you very well, do they? They don’t like dark-haired girls. But I’m going to take you somewhere else. Somewhere you’ll be loved, Kolta. Do you want to be loved?”

Her chin began to tremble.

“Of course you do.” He folded her into his arms, and she began to cry. “It’s what we all want.”

Amy Raby is literally a product of the U.S. space program, since her parents met working for NASA on the Apollo missions. After earning her Bachelor’s in Computer Science from the University of Washington, Amy settled in the Pacific Northwest with her family, where she’s always looking for life’s next adventure, whether it’s capsizing tiny sailboats in Lake Washington or riding dressage horses. Amy is a 2011 Golden Heart® finalist and a 2012 Daphne du Maurier winner.

You can buy Assassin's Gambit in paperback or ebook at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo (ebook only).

Just released! ROWENA AND THE DARK LORD

2013-05-02T07:08:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to be sharing this excerpt from Melodie Campbell's latest release, Rowena and the Dark Lord. I think you all will enjoy this funny romantic fantasy series.

Is that a broadsword on your belt, or are you just glad to see me?
“Hot and hilarious!"

“A fantastical tour de force”

“The Princess Bride with Sex”

Excerpt from ROWENA AND THE DARK LORD, book 2 in the Land’s End fantasy series:

I rose to my feet and turned to the east as the spell book instructed.
“What is she doing?”
Lars’s voice. What was he doing here?
I chanted the words from the book in my hand, silently, beneath my breath. Then I chanted them once more, louder and with confidence. My voice became richer, louder, resonating in my ears.
Whoosh. The ground trembled. The air in front of us seemed to swirl, clouding my view of the field ahead. A grey mist rose from the ground, thick with dust or soot, obliterating all vision.
I stood rock still, hardly able to breathe.
The mist swirled. I heard men yelling—coarse shouts over the ring of steel on steel, then an eerie silence. It put chills up my spine. Lars muttered something at my side. Gareth stood stock still. Loki moved up against me. We waited.
Men’s voices again, echoing like souls lost in a fog. The mist lifted in one swift movement to disappear into nothingness. In its place, were at least a hundred men.
Bugger. I messed up.
“Houston, we have a problem,” I said out loud. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I must have pronounced one of the words wrong.
“Who is Houston?” Lars said.
“Romans!” Gareth hissed. He drew his sword.
“Romans?” I stared at the battle-scarred men before us. They looked exhausted. They also looked bloody, dirty and rather short. Not to mention confused.
How the heck could they be Romans?
Someone yelled “Form Square!” in—yup—that was Latin.
“What the hell?” I stared. The men came to life moving with purpose into a square. Within seconds we were facing a shield wall bristling with spears.
Gareth and Lars already had their swords drawn. They tried to move in front of me but I spread my arms to hold them back.
“Sheath your weapons,” I commanded.
They hesitated, eyeing the wall of men and knives.
“For crissake,” I insisted, “what do you expect to do against that, besides get us all killed?”
With reluctance the swords slid back into their scabbards.
The man on the horse wore a breastplate the sort of armor that you only saw in museums back home. Or movies. I was reminded of Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor. Richard Burton playing the part of Marc Antony.
Hoo boy.
The man on horseback stared at me. No stirrups on his saddle. A helmet that was in history books. Definitely Roman. I stared back at him.
Romans? In this time? What the poop had I done?
“It’s a freaking temporal rift!” My laugh was strident. “Where the hell is Spock when you need him?”

Melodie Campbell achieved a personal best this year when Library Journal compared her to Janet Evanovich. She has over 200 publications, including 100 comedy credits, 40 short stories, and 4 novels. She has won 6 awards for fiction. Find out more about Melodie on her website or blog.

ROWENA AND THE DARK LORD, book 2 in the Land’s End series, is NOW AVAILABLE for only $3.99 on Amazon.

And the one that started it all: ROWENA THROUGH THE WALL, book 1 in the Land’s End series is also available on Amazon.

Cover Reveal: STRAT (military science fiction)

2013-04-06T15:38:00.001-07:00

STRAT is a military science fiction novel that I've had on the back burner for a while. I confess: It's a bit of an odd fish. The hero lives through five wars, which form almost complete stories in and of themselves. For a while, I thought it might work better as individual novellas. Eventually, however, I realized that even though the stories almost stand alone, they add up to a whole greater than its parts. The theme of the novel emerges from the gestalt.

I wrote the draft of STRAT while I was living overseas in a war zone, albeit as a peace-keeper, not a soldier. At the time, I was reading a ton of military science fiction--classics like Asimov, Heinlein, Haldeman, Card, Dickson, Drake, Weber, Turtledove and a host of others, whatever I could scrounge from other ex-pats and second-hand English-language bookstores. I was living in an area of the world formally colonized by a European power, which was now dealing with an rebellion of those who in turn wanted their own independence. The book started out a simple homage to the military science fiction genre, mostly for the fun of it, and, probably because of where I was and the conflict around me, included a meditation on the legacies of colonialism and the strange twists and paradoxes of history. Which are never quite as we expect...

It was, ahem, a while ago. It's strange to revisit the story now. I was tempted to revise it heavily--originally, I had planned on TEN wars--yes, I know, *eyeroll at self*--and restrained myself. I wouldn't do it justice; it would become a whole new story. Of course, I started the Unfinished Song a while ago too, but I've worked on it continuously since then. And, as a result, I have ended up changing large swaths of the Unfinished Song, which is why it's not as complete as I first, too rashly, promised.

I didn't think it would be a great idea to become embroiled in a huge new project while I am still in the middle of the Unfinished Song, but it bothered me to see STRAT sitting there on my hard-drive, lonely and neglected.

Therefore, I finally decided to publish STRAT, letting it stand as I wrote it. I won't second guess my earlier self, even if there are many things I would do differently today. I couldn't anyway. I did a huge amount of research into the hard science regarding the planetary environments and mirror matter tech used in the story, and it's no longer fresh in my mind. If it turns out to have rabid fans, despite itself, I might do the other five wars in a sequel. After I finish the Unfinished Song.

STRAT is complete and in the editing stages. If you're curious and want to either Beta Read it, or Review it in exchange for a free copy, contact me or my assistant Katie at my publisher, Misque Press. (katie@misquepress.com) Be aware that it's quite different from Dindi, and it's not Young Adult. (Includes strong language.)

I'll be post blurbs and excerpts from the book on this blog, so keep an eye out....

Google Treasure Maps

2013-04-01T11:12:00.001-07:00

New Release: Easter Bunny (Here Comes Peter Cottontail)

2013-03-18T08:12:00.001-07:00

Easter Bunny (Here Comes Peter Cottontail) is ready for downloading! This short story for young readers is only $0.99!

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Have you ever wondered where the Easter Bunny comes from? How old he is? And how he happened to become a talking rabbit with a fondness for chocolate eggs? Gather around, children, and I shall tell you the legend of Peter Cottontail…

Peek inside the first chapter:

Long ago, before light bulbs or sliced bread, people lived in houses made of wattle and daub—which is just a fancy way of saying sticks and mud. They cooked their food over a hearth—which is just a fancy way of saying, an open fire. Dragons and goblins roamed the earth in those days, sowing terror and destroying whole villages. At one point, indeed, the goblins, who usually stayed in their cavern kingdoms below the earth, decided to conquer the upper world too. Armies of pointy-teethed, green skinned monsters poured across the land, burning houses, stealing everything from spoons to horses, and even eating babies.

So it happened that one spring day, a mother and father with a new baby worried how to protect their child. Goblins attacked their village, taking every child they could. The mother and father hid their baby in a basket and ran to the river. They gave him the only gift they had, which was a single egg. They wrote his name upon the egg: PETER.

They placed the basket in the river, and let it float away. They cried and hugged each other. Then goblins arrived with swords and crossbows, and captured them. But their little baby was safe.

Kind river fairies guided the floating basket swiftly past the burning villages of that ravaged land. The basket floated all the way to a magic forest, which was ruled by elves. Even goblins on their bravest days did not dare enter the forest of the elves....

Blood Review from Rebekah B.

2013-02-27T07:07:00.000-08:00

Blood has been out for a little over a week and I'm loving your feedback! While my blog tour was coming together, I heard from a fan who wanted to join and share a review, but hadn't got sucked into blogging (yet!). I offered to share her review here. So here are Rebekah B.'s thoughts on The Unfinished Song

(Book 6): Blood:

I have just finished reading 'Blood' Tara Maya's 6th book in The Unfinished Song series.

Once again, Tara had me hooked from the first page and it took tremendous effort to be able to put the book down! I found myself transported into a magical land where the fight of great beauty and colour is raged against fear and darkness. I love Tara's writing style, it flows beautifully and draws you right into the very heart of the tale.

This book will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole way through, desperate to see what happens next. The twists and turns in the story were far from predictable to say the least!

An absolute must for all you readers out there!

If you've read and enjoyed Blood (or even if you haven't enjoyed it), please consider logging on to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Goodreads, Shelfari, wherever and leaving a review. Also, if you would like a review copy of any of my books, they're always free!

Blood is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Smashwords.

Blood Is Here!

2013-02-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

The Unfinished Song (Book 6): Blood is ready to download its way to your e-readers TODAY!

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Enjoying Blood and want to talk about it? Tweet your thoughts with the hashtag #TUSBlood.

Dindi and Umbral have an uneasy truce, forced to work together to defeat a greater enemy: the Bone Whistler. The Bone Whistler’s scheme to sacrifice humanity and resurrect the Aelfae will culminate during an eclipse on the spring equinox…in three days.

Their fragile alliance may not withstand the terrors they face. Dindi hides as a clown, but even disguised, her dancing draws the eye of the Bone Whistler himself. She will have to defy him alone, for Umbral has his own troubles.

Finnadro, who has hunted Umbral for a year, finally catches up with him… determined to punish Umbral for all his black deeds.

Life and death, spring and autumn, human and faery, are all reeling out of balance, and these three days will determine the fate of all Faearth.

3 Days of 99c Fantasy -- Part 3

2013-02-12T07:21:00.000-08:00

It's the last day to stock up on some great reads with the 3-day 99-cent fantasy e-book promotion, featuring The Unfinished Song (Book 2): Taboo. Through the end of today we'll have a total of 10 books discounted to 99 cents. Today I'll be featuring the final 3 books in the promotion.

Encrypted

Professor Tikaya Komitopis isn’t a great beauty, a fearless warrior, or even someone who can walk and chew chicle at the same time, but her cryptography skills earn her wartime notoriety. When enemy marines show up at her family’s plantation, she expects the worst.

But they’re not there to kill her. They need her to decode mysterious runes, and they ask for help in the manner typical of a conquering empire: they kidnap her, threaten her family, and throw her in the brig of their fastest steamship.

Her only ally is a fellow prisoner who charms her with a passion for academics as great as her own. Together, they must decipher mind-altering alchemical artifacts, deadly poison rockets, and malevolent technological constructs, all while dodging assassination attempts from a rival power determined the expedition should fail. As if the situation weren’t treacherous enough, this new “ally” may turn out to be the last person Tikaya should trust. Those runes cloak more than mysteries, however, and he’s the only one who can help her unravel them before their secrets destroy the world.

The Rose of Shanhasson

As Our Blessed Lady’s last daughter, Shannari must rule as High Queen or the Green Lands will fall into eternal darkness. Her destiny is to shine against the Shadow, protect the land and people with her magic, and keep the Blackest Heart of Darkness imprisoned. Her blood is the key, powered by the love in her heart. However, Shannari’s heart is broken, her magic is crippled, and the nobles must have forgotten the dire prophesies, because everyone wants her dead.

Only love can restore her magic, but her scars testify how love can be corrupted. So when a barbarian warlord conquers her army and professes a love like no other, Shannari’s first instinct is to kill the mighty Khul. Even worse, one of the Khul’s guards used to be an assassin–a very skilled assassin, if the darkness in the Blood’s eyes is any indication. The same darkness festers deep in her heart and draws her to the wickedly dangerous man as inexorably as his Khul’s unshakable honor. Her weakening heart is not only torn between love and duty, but also between two magnificent warriors.

Yet neither warrior will be able to help her when Shadow calls her name.

The Goddess Queen

Queen Onja has called for Shan’s head and her Kezanada agents stalk him with enchanted weapons. For Dreibrand Veta, his growing list of victories has increased his influence in circles of power, but his fame has not endeared him to everybody. The rebellion proceeds slowly for Miranda who cannot rescue her children until Shan defeats Onja. Shan has learned much since beginning the rebellion. His powers are growing. He has used his magic to kill, and, when the spring comes, his armies will fight the armies loyal to Onja. Despite Shan’s mounting confidence in his battle magic, Onja will tenaciously defend her throne, and Shan will discover that he does not know the powerful secrets of the Goddess Queen.

The Goddess Queen is the second book of The Rys Chronicles by Tracy Falbe. Normally priced at $4.95, it’s on sale for a limited time at $0.99. Enjoy!

To check out all the books available, and some ongoing freebies, click here.

3 Days of 99c Fantasy -- Part 2

2013-02-11T08:09:00.000-08:00

I'm back with more of the books in the 3-day 99-cent fantasy e-book promotion, which features The Unfinished Song (Book 2): Taboo. (Considering the first one is free, you can essentially own 1/6 of the series of only 99 cents!) From February 10-12 we'll have a total of 10 books discounted to 99 cents. While all of the books are available at 99 cents throughout the promotion, I'll be featuring 3 per day here.

The Chocolatier’s Wife

ROMANCE, MAGIC, MYSTERY…. AND CHOCOLATE

When Tasmin’s bethrothed, William, is accused of murder, she gathers her wind sprites and rushes to his home town to investigate. She doesn’t have a shred of doubt about his innocence. But as she settles in his chocolate shop, she finds more in store than she bargained for. Facing suspicious townsfolk, gossiping neighbors, and William’s own family, who all resent her kind – the sorcerer folk from the North — she must also learn to tell friend from foe, and fast. For the real killer is still on the loose – and he is intent on ruining William’s family at all cost.The Chocolatier’s Wife is a truly original, spellbinding love story, featuring vivid characters in a highly realistic historical setting.

Rowena Through the Wall

When Rowena falls through her classroom wall and lands in an alternate world, she doesn’t count on being kidnapped―not once, but twice―and the stakes get higher as the men get hotter.

College instructor Rowena Revel has a magical gift with animals and a huge problem. Gorgeous tunic-clad men keep walking through the wall of her classroom. If that isn’t enough, she’s being haunted by sexy dreams in a rugged land. Curious, she checks out the wall and falls through a portal into the world of her dreams.

After years of war, women are scarce. Rowena finds herself in a heap of man-trouble when she ‘accidentally’ marries distant cousin Ivan. Enter Cedric, who dabbles in black magic and has an even blacker heart. Throw in a Viking, the local wolf-king, a band of brigands and a goth-clad student who follows her through the portal, and Rowena is off on a rollicking adventure.

Unwanted husbands keep piling up, but that doesn’t stop her from falling for the wrong brother. Not only that, she has eighteen year old Kendra to look out for and a war to prevent. Good thing she has the ability to go back through the wall. Or does she?

Dragon Rose (Tales of the Latter Kingdoms)

The shadow of the cursed Dragon Lord has hung over the town of Lirinsholme for centuries, and no one ever knows when the Dragon will claim his next doomed Bride. Rhianne Menyon has dreams of being a painter, but her world changes forever when a single moment of sacrifice brings her to Black’s Keep as the Dragon’s latest Bride. As she attempts to adjust to her new life — and to know something of the monster who is now her husband — she begins to see that the curse is far crueler than she first believed. Unraveling the mystery of what happened to the Dragon’s Brides is only the beginning…

To check out all the books available, and some ongoing freebies, click here.

3 Days of 99c Fantasy -- Part 1

2013-02-10T07:57:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited to be joining some other fantasy authors for a 3-day 99-cent fantasy e-book promotion, featuring The Unfinished Song (Book 2): Taboo. From February 10-12 we'll have a total of 10 books discounted to 99 cents. While all of the books are available at 99 cents throughout the promotion, I'll be featuring 3 per day here. It also gives you something to read while I make the final preparations to release The Unfinished Song (Book 6): Blood on Valentine's Day! (That's Thursday!)

Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur

For the price of a truce, Yseult is sent to a world where magic is dying – to marry the father of the man she loves. Marcus’s son Drystan would have saved her from a loveless marriage, but with her relatives being held hostage, Yseult cannot endanger them and must go through with the wedding. The tragic love story of Yseult and Drystan plays out against the backdrop of a violent world threatening to descend into the Dark Ages – only Arthur’s battles to push back the Saxon hordes can save what is left of civilization.
Yseult is a retelling of the tragic tale of Tristan and Isolde, a story older than Romeo and Juliet or Lancelot and Guinevere; an Arthurian romance with roots going back far into the realm of legend and the undying tales of King Arthur.
A historical fantasy novel by Ruth Nestvold, Book I of The Pendragon Chronicles. Also available on Kobo and B&N.

Once Upon a Curse: Stories and Fairy Tales for Adult Readers

STEP INTO THE WORLD OF MYTH AND MAGIC…Fair maidens, handsome princes, witches, and fairy godmothers all show their dark and dangerous side in this anthology inspired by myths and fairy tales, retold by some of the best authors in this generation and by some upcoming new talents. Told with a dark twist, focused on the lure of the gorgeous evil, this collection will take the readers on a wild ride through magical realms of Ancient Greece, old Russia, medieval Europe, and modern day America.

The Princess of Dhagabad

THE CURSE OF ABSOLUTE POWER.
THE MAGIC OF TRUE LOVE.

When, on the day of her age-coming, the princess opens a mysterious bronze bottle—a gift from her grandmother—she has no idea that she is about to unleash a power older than the world itself. Worse, she is not prepared for the bearer of this power to be a handsome man whose intense gray eyes pierce her very soul. Hasan, her new slave, is immeasurably older and stronger than anyone she has ever heard of, and he is now hers to command—if she can handle him, that is.“Truly compelling” — Booklist

“A fine recasting of Arabian Nights material into a fable for our times.” — Locus

To check out all the books available, and some ongoing freebies, click here.

New Fiction from Kevin O. McLaughlin

2013-02-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

“Ad Astra” launches STARSHIP, fresh episodic fiction from award-winning author Kevin O. McLaughlin. The first season of five episodes, released weekly, will carry the reader through a single novel-length adventure from Earth to the stars, and from broken spirits to humanity's unlikely heroes.

If life knocked you down, would you risk everything you had left to reach for the stars?

Ad Astra is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo.

Dan tapped each dead soldier in the neck in turn, counting his kills for the evening. He came to six. Add in the bottle he was drinking, and he'd be at seven. That was still under budget. He figured this for a twelve-pack night.
He waved to the woman tending the tables, a middle-aged matron whose name he hadn't tried to catch. She'd made a few attempts to clear his growing pile of bottles away earlier in the evening, but he'd shooed her off. Dan wanted the physical memory of the drinks sitting right there, like a badge. The woman saw his wave, but didn't bother coming over. She just went to fetch another beer. He kept his eyes off her face. He didn't want to see her disdain, or worse, her pity.
Instead he brought his eyes back to the bar's TV, where the Ares rocket was still sitting on the launch pad. The countdown was frozen at four minutes and fifteen seconds. It hadn't moved for most of an hour now, last minute problems delaying the launch.
“Hey Joe, can we switch the channel? Missing the game here,” a burly man called to the bartender.
“Yeah, Joe. This shit is boring,” said another guy.
Both of them were lumberjack big, wearing dirty work clothes. None of which bothered Dan even a little.
“Don't touch that channel,” he snarled.
“Or what?” asked the first man.
“Wanna find out?”
“Man, don't mess around. Who wants to see this stupid rocket sitting there, anyway?”
“I do,” Dan said.
“Larry, you can't pick a fight with a gimp,” the guy's buddy whispered to him, loud enough that Dan could hear anyway.
Larry blushed, noticing Dan's wheelchair. “Hey, man, sorry. You can watch what you want.”
The bartender glared at Dan for a moment from behind his glasses, wiping furiously at a mug with a dishrag. But the TV stayed on the same channel despite what the local crowd wanted, so that was all right.
Finally the countdown kicked on again. Whatever the problem was, they must have solved it. There were four minutes left, now. Unconsciously, Dan activated his motorized chair and moved toward the TV. Three minutes left.
His eyes misted a little as the first plumes of steam appeared under the titanic rocket. The payload was a crew compartment and landing vehicle – and the first six humans from Earth to ever attempt bridging the vast distance to Mars. They'd be traveling for six months to get there, stay for six months, and then return. It was the adventure of a lifetime. It was supposed to have been the adventure of his lifetime.
He slugged down the last of the beer he was still holding. The bitter flavor matched how he was feeling. The matron plunked his new bottle down where he'd been sitting, and he reached for it without thinking, wincing as his back spasmed in protest. He grimaced. Wheelchairs went in reverse for a reason.
Less than two minutes left until takeoff. He leaned forward, willing himself into the cockpit of that ship with everything he had. He should have been there. Would have been there, if it hadn't been for a stupidly random accident. There was something ironic about being taken down by a mini coupe after surviving dozens of missions into space unscathed. He was one of the most experienced space pilots in the world. He'd fought hard to win his berth on that mission.
All gone, now. The driver who'd lost control of his car, crossed the highway median, and smashed into Dan's vehicle wasn't going to have his license back for a while, but that didn't help heal his badly fractured spine. NASA's policy toward injury as severe as his had no leeway. As far as they were concerned, he was grounded for good. So he'd taken the early retirement with full benefits and disability that the Air Force had offered. A good deal, but as a consolation prize it sucked. He had some buddies in Panama who told him that income would let him live like a king down there.
If only he could find some reason to live at all.
Fifty seconds left on the countdown. The numbers ticked away on the corner of the TV screen.
With thirty eight seconds left, Dan's phone rang. The sound startled him, but out of habit he answered it, not taking his eyes off the TV as he did.
“Dan Wynn here.”
He watched two more seconds tick away on the countdown before a distorted voice said “Dan! Was hoping to catch you. How're you holding up?”
“Who is this?” Dan asked.
“It's John,” the voice replied, after a short delay.
“John, you have any idea what you're calling in the middle of?”
Another brief delay, and then John said “I'm watching it too, Dan. Why do you think I called you now?” Dan could almost hear his friend's smile over the phone line.
“I think you're interrupting,” he said, eyes narrowing. The last thing he needed right now was a pity call. Even from an old friend.
Another pregnant pause. “Dan, I'm calling to offer you a vacation, and maybe a job if you want it. I need people I can trust, and you're top of the list.”
“I'm flattered, but–” Dan broke off in mid-sentence as the Ares rocket launched, huge plumes of fire obscuring it from view for a moment before sending it skyward. As it lifted into the sky, all his hopes and wishes vanished with it.
“Dan. DAN.” John's voice was still nattering at him on the phone. “Listen to me.”
“What?” Dan said. His voice sounded hollow to his ears.
“Vacation, Dan. You need it. And I can use you, if you want to stay on, after.”
“I can't,” Dan replied. “Still got paperwork to finish my retirement package, and the docs want to see me daily for rehab.”
“I've already cleared your paperwork up. Had a general who owed me a favor. And we've got doctors on site who'll continue your rehab. But I need you here, Dan.”
The little delays in John's responses finally made their way through Dan's muddled thoughts. A couple of seconds of pause, each time he spoke.
“Where are you, John?” he said, curiosity leaking into his voice.
“I'm on the far side of the moon, Dan. Want to come up for a visit?”
Dan almost choked on his beer. He'd been expecting...well, something. With John, it was always something. But not that.
Another short pause. “Put the drink down, go outside. Car should be waiting for you there. The driver will take you to the launch. That is, if you are still interested in going back into space?”
Dan stared a moment at the TV again, where the camera was still following the plume of fire burning its way into the sky. For the first time all day, he could look at the ship without feeling like he was being stabbed through the heart.
“I'm on my way,” he said. He turned off his phone, slapped enough bills on the table to pay for his beers plus a healthy tip for the scowling waitress, and went out the door.
John was as good as his word. The young driver was already waiting out front, standing outside a large black SUV hybrid with a wheelchair lift built into the side. He expertly hooked Dan's chair up to the device, chatting amiably as he worked.
“The boss was dead on right about you,” he said.
“Oh?” Dan replied.
“Yup. Called me, said you'd be out the door within five minutes. Took you three minutes thirty.”
“Well. John always did know what buttons to push on people.”
“He's good that way. I'm Andy. You're Dan Wynn, the astronaut?”
The simple question rocked Dan. “I suppose...I am. Again.”

Blood To Be Released on Valentine's Day

2013-01-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

Finnadro, who has hunted Umbral for a year, finally catches up with him… determined to punish Umbral for all his black deeds.

Life and death, spring and autumn, human and faery, are all reeling out of balance, and these three days will determine the fate of all Faearth.

Take a peek inside with this excerpt:

Umbral

Aelfae!

Umbral’s nerves hissed danger. At the same time, so much power, so close, tempted him almost impossibly. Fighting the urge to rush forward, start drinking in all that power, was like trying to brace himself against an avalanche. He had to pull away and physically anchor himself on a stalagmite—literally wrap his hands around the cone of rock—to stop himself from revealing himself as Deathsworn by trying to steal the Aelfae’s light.

A groan rose deep in his chest and he muffled it against the rock. He let himself siphon just a little of the Aelfae’s power, just a trickle, just enough to dull his hunger and allow him to suppress his need for more. Even that tiny amount felt like a huge cascade of power. The Obsidian Mask felt heavier than it usually did, but his Penumbra throbbed with strength, and he bore the extra weight easily.

Would the Obsidian Mask deceive the Aelfae? If it did not and he showed himself to them, they would fall upon him and slay him where he stood. He didn’t delude himself that he could defeat six Aelfae warriors at the height of their power, flush with new life from their resurrection.

Waiting for them to discover him was no better. He must know if he would need to flight or flee or if he could trick them. Only when he was sure he could control himself did he look again at the Aelfae. He stepped out from behind the stalagmite.

Dindi glowed just like one of them. Seemed to merge with them almost.

What had he expected? She was one of them—as close to Aelfae as still lived in Faearth.

What if she allied herself with them against him? What would it avail him for the Obsidian Mask to deceive the Aelfae if Dindi denounced him?

No one had noticed him. If he fled the cave now, though they would surely chase him, he might still have a chance of escaping. He would warn Obsidian Mountain. They would have time to prepare for this new threat. But in the meantime, the Aelfae would meet up with their old comrade, the Bone Whistler, and their power would only grow. Umbral had no idea how the Bone Whistler planned to destroy humanity or how close he was to achieving his goal.

Dindi fell to the floor, gasping. She wasn’t melding with the Aelfae at all. They were smothering her.

Umbral stepped forward, prepared to fight all six immortals, if he had to. If those fae muckers planned to hurt Dindi, they’d have to go through him first.

Please join the Blog Tour!

There are many ways you can participate!

Post a review of Blood or any book in The Unfinished Song series. Review copies are always free!
Share the cover, summary or excerpt above in a post leading up to the Valentine's Day release.
Share a guest post with either a character sketch, excerpt, or some of my thoughts on writing and reading.

The blog tour will officially run February 14 - March 14 and of course all tour visits will be linked to on my blog, Facebook and Twitter. To sign up, please email my assistant at katie@misquepress.com.

Big News About Book 6 TOMORROW!

2013-01-22T11:51:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! It's Tara's assistant, Katie, here to let you know that Tara has some big news to share about The Unfinished Song (Book 6) Blood tomorrow to all of the newsletter subscribers. Everyone else will have to wait until Thursday. Subscribe today if you want to be among the first to find out! Click here to sign up.

(Of course we will not sell your email address (No matter how much we're offered!) or use them for shady purposes. In addition to information about new releases, we're working on a regular monthly newsletter, so it shouldn't be too much extra coming to your inbox.)

How To Take Criticism Of Your Writing

2013-01-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

Now, we always give advice on how to crit, but, as we discussed  earlier, perhaps it is more important to discuss how to receive  crits. Personally, if one receives a crit that tells you, "Your basic  idea is all wrong," how should you take this?

image: xkcd

1. Get some perspective. I look at something else that same person  has critted. I read the piece and then the critter's opinion. Often,  I'll find that I disagree just as much with that critter's evaluation  of the other person's work as of my own. In that case, I dismiss the  critter, because our tastes differ. On the other hand, if the critter  has useful things to tell other people, I'll take what she tells me  more seriously.

2. Ask for specifics. I once received a crit telling me that my  villains were cliche, and the ending ending to my book was obvious.  This was not helpful to me. I emailed and asked *what* about the  villain was cliche and what the reader thought the ending would be.  The reader then told me it was because the villain wore black and  some more specifics, and what they thought the "surprise" ending  would be. This *was* helpful.

3. Remember your own point. In the above example the critter was  completely wrong about who the villain was and the twist at the end.  But the critter's reaction told me that I had correctly set up reader  expectations.

4. Keep in mind the rules of your genre. If a critter condemns your  paranormal romance because he anticipates that it will end with the  hero and heroine living happily ever after and that strikes him as  sappy, boring and overdone, he doesn't grasp the rules of the romance  genre. Ignore him. Above all, do not give your romance an unhappy  ending to please him.

5. Consider that the alternative to the "trite" may be equally trite.  I have had people tell me that they are tired of High Fantasy in  which the good guys prevail over the Forces of Darkness. They want to  see the bad guys win "for once." Guess what. That's been done too. If  you want to do it again, in your own story, go for it. I don't.

6. Remember no story can be all things to all people. I like to  observe the nasty things that people say about the writing of Stephen  King, Nora Roberts and J.K. Rowling. It's cliche, poorly written, has  too many adverbs, is sentimental, is trashy, appeals to only to  morons, etc. Maybe all true. But something worked.

7. What is the true core of your story? Perhaps you have  inadvertently fleshed out your beloved story with readily available  cliches. The important thing is not to lose that luminous inspiration  that first moved you to write, even as you brush aside the cobwebs of  trite ideas from it and polish it. Good critters may try to  distinguish between the diamond and the tinsel, but ultimately, it's  up to you, the author.

Partly it depends on the piece. Partly it depends on how many people  tell me the same thing. Partly it depends on the critter. Sometimes I  put up an experimental chapter or story on the OWW, just to test the  waters. I don't have much invested in the piece. If I get a lot of  negative crits I'll shrug and pull it off and try something else later. 

Suppose I put up a slight revision of a chapter of a book that is  nearly complete and over 100,000 words, and that has previously  earned a lot of enthusiasm and maybe an Editor's Choice along the  way. I say in the intro, "I just want a final polish for nits on this  chapter." Or, "I added a new scene into the middle of the chapter and  want to know if it still flows ok." Then some innocent newbie comes  on and tells me that I shouldn't start the book there, I should make  the main character someone else, and they already know the ending of  the book and it's trite. Am I going to listen to a word that person  says? No. Might the newbie be right? Sure. But at a certain point, a  book or a short story is what it is.

Here's a concrete example.

I once received a crit telling me that my villains were cliche, and  the ending to my book was obvious. This was not helpful to me.  I emailed and asked *what* about the villain was cliche and what the  reader thought the ending would be. The reader then told me it was  because the villain wore black and some more specifics, and what they  thought the "surprise" ending would be. This *was* helpful.

They were also completely wrong, of course, about who the villain was  and the twist at the end. But that told me that I had correctly set up reader expectations.

In one of the introductions to her books, Bujold also talks about the  fact that many of its Beta readers told her to take out the first  scene, where Miles visits his grandfather's grave. This slows down  the action of the book, they said. She kept it in, because she was  not writing an action book, but a character book with a lot of action  in it. She knew better than to sacrifice what was really the bedrock  of the book, even though out of context of the whole series, those  scenes might have seemed unnecessary. And indeed, I would say that it  is her superb characterization that makes her books stand out.

Moral of the story: Making a general sweeping statement that the core  idea of a story is trite is useless feedback. If you recognize  cliches or you think you anticipate the twists or ending of a story,  tell the author what you anticipate. BE SPECIFIC.

This gets back to the "reader reaction" kind of crit, which I find  the most helpful to receive. "Tara, I knew this guy was bad news,  because, just like every other High Fantasy villain he dressed in  black and Reeked of Wrongness" rather than "Your villains are too  cliche. Try something new."

And if you're the author and you receive a generalized negative or  condescending review, ignore it unless the critter offers specific  examples of what and why. A critter who can't do that isn't a very  good writer him/herself and probably isn't offering good feedback  anyway.

Three Ways To Do Dialogue Attributes Wrong

2013-01-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

One of the first novels I wrote,  when I was, ye gods, twelve or thirteen, I don't remember (or I have  thankfully blanked the memory from my brain) was Star Trek  fanfic.

On the first draft, the dialogue looked something like this:

"Maybe the attacker was a Klingon," said Kirk.
"That is not logical, Captain," said Spock.
"But he looked like a Klingon," said Kirk.
"But then he turned into a furry white snow monster," said Spock. 
"That's what puzzles me," said Kirk.

And so on.

image: Marc Wathieu
Well, neophyte though I was, even I could tell that was  terrible dialogue. (And it tended to go on for three pages). But why, WHY did it suck rocks? That's what I needed to pin down. Probably  because so much was wrong, I settled on the most obvious (to me)  problem, the boring repetition of "said."

So I re-wrote:

"Maybe the attacker was a Klingon," said Kirk suspiciously.
"That is not logical, Captain," said Spock calmly.
"But he looked like a Klingon," said Kirk insistently.
"But then he turned into a furry white snow monster," said Spock  
implacably.
"That's what puzzles me," said Kirk dubiously.

Again, this was plainly awful.

Probably I read in some How To Write  Novels That Don't Bite book I read that verbs are more powerful than  adverbs.

Hence:

"Maybe the attacker was a Klingon," Kirk suggested.
"That is not logical, Captain," Spock objected.
"But he looked like a Klingon," Kirk insisted.

"But then he turned into a furry white snow monster," Spock pointed out.
"That's what puzzles me," admitted Kirk. 

And so on for three more pages.

What’s the right answer? There is no singular answer, no exclusively perfect way to write the scene, except to mix it up, let it flow, don’t overdo any single convention, and read and try every writing “rule” there is until
you know the reason for the rule and know exactly how to stand it on its head.

At different points in my writing career I needed  different advice. The editors who say things like, "Don't overuse  adverbs," "Don't use 'said' all the time," AND "Don't be afraid to  use 'said' most of the time," are
addressing writers such as my  thirteen year old self, who made all of these mistakes.

Oh, believe me, once I discovered dialog beats, I became a dialog  beat fiend. All dialog beats and nothing else would grow tiresome  after a while too. It's the mix of things that lets a novel flow. It's a question of balance. And, past a certain level of  proficiency, of personal taste.

I read a "How To Make A Bajillion and Win a Pulitzer" from an author  who had, to my knowledge, done neither himself. He took a book which  had won a century of acclaim, The Great Gatsby, and then edited the  first chapter to point out how much better it would have been if  every single adverb had been deleted. His argument went like this,  "There's no need to say, 'She leaned forward eagerly,' the fact that  she leans forward shows she's eager. The sentence should read, 'She  leans forward.'"  

Uh huh. Whatever. I read the scene both ways, and I came to the  conclusion that Scott Fitzgerald was a better author than this self-appointed editor.

My favorite example of an author deliberately flouting this "rule" is  a sentence by Lois McMaster Bujold, in which she uses the tag line,  "Miles shouted mildly."

Obviously, such a sentence can only be used once, which is how often  she uses it.

Writing for Boys -- Take the Quiz!

2013-01-16T07:43:00.000-08:00

I have a son who is learning to read. I want to write stories that will be of  interest and value to him. I know the  values that I believe are universal to sentient beings, but are there elements which are particularly attractive  to the little boy goobers out there?

image: Pink Sherbert Photography

I have three of them, and I’ve gotta admit, they are vocal about what they like and don’t like. An awful lot of the time, that appears to be: cars, trains, robots, sharks, dinosaurs, soldiers, blowing things up, the color blue, and anything totally gross—boogers and farts.

But they also love: cute baby animals, mermaids, kittens, puppies, frogs, ants, science, paleontology, stories that “aren’t TOO scary”, bad guys who turn out to be good guys, singing and dancing, rainbows and anything with chocolate.

What about older boys? What do they like to read? Harry Potter, of course… remember how delighted everyone was at the thought that thanks to Harry Potter ten year old boys were actually reading books? One of the concerns of teachers is that it’s harder to get boys to read than girls throughout most of the academic ladder—including up to college.

What makes a book masculine-friendly? I asked my  husband and he said BFGs and T&A. Thanks, sweetheart. ;) Kids cartoons have everything color-coded quite maniacally. But young adult and adult books really aren’t much different. You can tell from the cover which demographic the book is aimed at.

The feminist in me always feels guilty if I “cave in” to gender stereotypes. It would be nice if stories could transcend that kind of straightjacket, wouldn’t it?

But what if by getting so obsessed with the trappings of the story,we’re actually making the same mistake of judging things by the outer appearance and not the inner essence of the story? A while ago, Lego came out with Lego Friends: super cute Lego girls and Legos that came in pink and lilac and aquamarine. (Squeeee!!!! They are so awesome!!!!!) Inevitably, some people came and chewed out Lego for being sexist.

The shiny things that attract that atavistic part of ourselves probably is different in girls than boys. I remember reading some mind-boggling study that said there may be a biological reason most girls like pink better than
most boys—most females have more red receptors in their eyes than most males.

Holy cow. Here I was, blaming Matel. I don’t know about you, but that blew my mind. It also made me think that well-intentioned feminist parents who won’t let their daughters wear pink princess dresses are really missing the point.

If there really is a biological base for the love of pink, then it isn’t much more sexist to have a dearth of pink Legos?

The fear is that it’s all a slippery slope. Once you admit that pink might be rooted in biology, then you’ve as good as tied an apron around your daughter’s waist and chained her in the kitchen.

Or… maybe we could consider another possibility. Just because some primitive parts of ourselves, the inner cave people, are sexist, doesn’t mean that the best and most cherished parts of our minds are as well. The values that men and women are most likely to share equally also happen to be the highest values of our humanity: friendship, loyalty, courage, intelligence, love….

Now for the quiz!

Can you guess whether the following stories are aimed at boys or girls? I’ll give you just a few clues.

STORY 1: Pink. Ponies. Designing hats.

STORY 2: Trucks. Killer robot. Wrist device shooting green slime.

STORY 3: MC promises wants to do something. Although friends offer to help, MC is too proud to accept help. Finally, after MC is literally stuck, accepts help from friends and realizes there’s no shame in it.

STORY 4: MC and group of friends decide to race. MC is so busy trying to win that begins to lose friendship. Then a friend gets hurt and MC realizes friends are more important than winning.

Have you written down your answers yet?

It probably wasn’t too hard to guess that Story 1 was aimed at girls, and Story 2 was aimed at boys. But what about Story 3 and Story 4? It wasn’t as obvious, was it?

Why is that?

The clues from Story 1 and Story 2 were all about the out trappings of the story: the colors, the creatures, the goo. The clues from Story 3 and Story 4 were about values. Unless you knew that Story 4 involved pink ponies and Story 3 involved blue trucks, you’d never know one was targeted at girls and the other at boys. In fact, you could reverse the plots but keep the color schemes, and superficially, the entire demographic of the story would change.

But what do you think? What makes a book more appealing to boys or girls? Do you think men and women are more or less open to reading omnivorously?

Guest Post: Are Indie Books Worth Reviewing?

2013-01-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

Rayne Hall has published more than forty books under different pen names with different publishers in different genres, mostly fantasy, horror and non-fiction. Recent books include Storm Dancer (dark epic fantasy novel), Six Historical Tales Vol 1, Six Scary Tales Vol 1, 2 and 3 (mild horror stories), Six Historical Tales (short stories), Six Quirky Tales (humorous fantasy stories), Writing Fight Scenes and Writing Scary Scenes (instructions for authors).

She holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Currently, she edits the Ten Tales series of multi-author short story anthologies: Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires, Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts, Scared: Ten Tales of Horror, Cutlass: Ten Tales of Pirates, Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft, Spells: Ten Tales of Magic and more.

Her short online classes for writers intense with plenty of personal feedback. Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, Writing about Magic and Magicians, The Word Loss Diet and more.

For more information about Rayne Hall go to her website.

Certain book blogs state categorically that they won't review self-published books. I understand their motivation: They get inundated with submissions and are trying to keep the numbers down.

However, No Indies is as arbitrary as No Jews or No Women.

The reviewers aim to filter out low-quality works - but is the publishing method a valid quality filter?

It used to be. In the late 20th century, the established path to publication was author-agent-publisher-bookseller-reader. Each book had to pass three gates on its journey from author to reader, and each gate represented a quality test. Self-published books were inevitably those that had failed at the first two gates.

Times have changed. E-publishing makes it possible to reach the readers directly, and many authors choose the direct route instead of queuing at the gates.

Without gatekeepers barring entry, many poorly-written and under-revised books get published. A lot of indie (i.e. self-published) books are not as good as their authors think. Frankly, there's a mass of indie dross - but there are also many indie gems.

The boundary between “good book” and “bad book” doesn't happen to coincide with the frontier between indie-published and legacy-published books.

Consider the authors who use both publishing models: Amanda Hocking, John Locke and Michael Stackpole submit some of their works to legacy publishers and self-publish others. Are these authors' legacy-published books better than their self-published ones?

Or how about the authors were successful with legacy-published books, but then decided to go indie? Consider Joe Konrath, Barry Eisler, Kevin O. McLaughlin and Dean Wesley Smith. Have they lost their ability to write good books?

Then there are the authors who took their previously legacy-published out-of-print books and self-published them as ebooks - Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Piers Anthony, for instance. The books are the same, so how can they suddenly be less worthy?

Over three decades, I had twenty books published by several legacy publishers before choosing the indie route. Does this mean my old books are worth reviewing, and my new books are not - even though I have grown as a writer?

Not long ago, a book blogger approached me. She had enjoyed the stories in Six Scary Tales Vol 1 and asked for review copies of Vol 2 and 3, so she could review the series. Shortly after I sent the books, I received an email “Your books are self-published and therefore not worth reading or reviewing.”

Excuse me? When she assumed that the books were legacy-published, she liked the stories and wanted more. On discovery that they were indie-published, the same stories were suddenly not worth reading. What does this say about the reviewer's judgement?

Most stories in the Six Scary Tales series were originally published the legacy way in magazines and anthologies. Did inclusion in the self-published collection damage their quality?

I appreciate that book bloggers decline to read certain books, e.g. No Erotica, No Horror or No Romance, because if a book isn't to their taste, it would be tedious to read and difficult to review.

But to decline all indie-published books because they can't possibly be good is like refusing to read books penned by women or by Jews because no woman or Jew could possibly write something worth reading.

So how can a book reviewer assess which books are worth reading? I think the answer is obvious: by looking at the book itself. Reading the first few pages will show the reviewer whether it's their kind of book. Often, a quick glance at the first paragraph is enough to weed out the obvious dross. If reviewers can't form their own opinion of what they're reading, they shouldn't be reviewing books.

Opportunities Lost

2013-01-12T19:35:00.002-08:00

In April 1667, an signed an agreement with Samuel Simmons, a London bookseller, to publish 1,500 copies of his book.

The author earned five pounds.

He later earned another five pounds for the sequel, which he sold in 1669.

After his death, the author's wife granted the rights to both works, in perpetuity, to the publisher for a whooping... eight pounds.

The book?

Paradise Lost.

Lord of the Rings By Ponies

2013-01-08T16:38:00.002-08:00

Guest Post: Writing Short Stories to Promote Your Novel

2013-01-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

Her short online classes for writers intense with plenty of personal feedback. Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, Writing about Magic and Magicians, The Word Loss Diet and more.

For more information about Rayne Hall go to her website.

Short stories are excellent promotional tools. You can offer free stories to attract new readers. If they like the short, they'll be hooked and look for more by the same author. Make the story free, and charge for the novel.

What Kind of Story?

The story must appeal to the same readers as the novel. Don't write children's stories if you want to promote adult novels. Make the story as similar to the novel as you can. Here are some ideas:

* Same genre. This is important. Paranormal stories promote paranormal novels; horror stories promote horror novels; chicklit stories promote chicklit novels.

* Same mood. If the novel is funny, the story has to be funny too. If the novel is scary, gritty, thought-provoking, tear-jerking or sexy, then the story has to be scary, gritty, thought-provoking, tear-jerking or sexy.

* Same location. Are your novels set in South Carolina or in Hong Kong? Choose the same setting for the story.

* Same period. To promote contemporary novels, you need contemporary stories. If you write historicals, using the same period cuts down on research and has the greatest promotional effect.

* Same characters. Involving the heroine and hero in another story can bring problems, but minor characters are a safe choice. Consider promoting members of the novels' supporting cast to a starring role in the story.

How to Plot the Story

If you're new to writing short stories, here are some quick guidelines.

* Keep the story short. 750 - 5,000 words is ideal.

* Give the main character a goal, something they desperately want to achieve. Then give them obstacles they must overcome to reach their goal. The story ends when they have (or haven't) achieved that goal. The more urgent and important the goal, the more exciting the story.

* Use few characters. Three to five are enough.

* Unlike a novel, a story doesn't stretch over a long time. Ideally, everything happens in one day, or even in a single hour.

Of course, all the other guidelines for good fiction also apply.

How to Publish Your Free Story

* Upload it on your website, to give your visitors interesting content.

* Upload it on someone else's website, to give their visitors interesting content, and to reach new readers who hadn't heard of you before.

* Publish it as a free e-book, to attract new readers - the type who wouldn't spend money on a book by an author they don't know, but are keen to try new things if they don't cost anything. If these readers like your free story, they'll trust that your novel is worth money. (Note: making an e-book free at Amazon requires some jiggling).

* Submit it to magazine or e-zine, if possible one specialising in your genre. Some zines even pay for the use of stories. However, most editors are inundated with submissions, and you may get many rejections before you get an acceptance.

* Submit it to an anthology (a themed collection of short stories by different authors). Anthologies are even better than zines, because they have a longer shelf-life. An e-anthology will be available forever, and a print anthology will continue to circulate in second-hand bookstores. If you place your story in an anthology, it will continue to promote your writing for years. Genre fans love anthologies. They know that a book filled with stories in their favourite genre will contain at least some gems they'll enjoy. Most anthology readers pick a favourite story or two, and look for more fiction by those authors. The drawback is that most anthology editors are inundated with submissions.

* Use the story as a giveaway. When you give author interviews or write guest blogs, the hosts may ask you to give a prize to a prize draw, or give away free copies of your book, or something like that. This stimulates interest. However, it's an old marketing adage never to give away the product you want to sell. If you write a guest blog promoting your book, and offer to give away four free copies, then none of the blog readers may buy the book. If they're interested, they'll enter the prize draw, and hope to win it for free. By the time the winner is announced, they've already forgotten about your book and bought something else.

Consider promoting your book - and giving away free copies of your short story. This way, you get the benefits without the drawbacks.

* Donate it as a competition prize. There are lots of contests for all kinds of things, always looking for donations of prizes. You may want to favour contests which raise funds for charities, so you're doing a good deed which doesn't cost you anything. The best contests are the ones which target your typical reader. For example, a horse-painting contest for teenagers is perfect if your write YA fiction with horse-riding heroines.

* Upload it as free reading at Wattpad. People who like the free story may become fans who buy your books. Wattpad has can give your story exposure to a huge potential audience, and works especially well for YA and Paranormal Romance.

* Upload it at various other sites.

Think about the Rights

When you allow someone to publish your story, you need to know which rights they claim.

“Non-exclusive rights”: This means they may publish the story only in this book or on this website. You own all rights and can publish the story elsewhere. This is ideal for promotional stories.

“Exclusive rights for a certain period”: This means you can't publish the story for a year or whatever that period is. This is often the case with magazines and e-zines. If the magazine has many readers, or if the readers are your target audience, it's worth it.

“First serial rights”: This is tricky. It means the publisher wants to be the first. It's the story's virginity: you can give it away only once. Some prestigious magazines demand first serial rights. It can be worth it because it gives your story first-class exposure. The editors will probably pay for the story, too. The problem is that this type of magazine has a long response time. You may have to wait for a year before you hear from them, and in the meantime, you can't use the story anywhere else.

“Exclusive rights” or “All rights”: Caution! This means you will never be able to publish the story anywhere else, ever. This is seldom a good idea. Agree to this only if it's a very prestigious publication and if they offer you a lot of money.

Plan Your Strategy

You can combine several of these actions, but some exclude others.

For example, if you make your book available free on your website, you can't offer it as a prize or giveaway.

If you submit it to an anthology which demands exclusive rights, you can't also publish it in a magazine, at Wattpad, or on your website.

When planning your strategy, consider this as your guideline:

“How do I get this story read by as many people as possible who are my target audience?”

You may be able to do a lot of things with your story, as long as you do it in the right order.

Here's the most effective strategy

You may be lucky and a prestigious genre magazine publishes it on a “First rights, exclusive for a certain period” basis. Once that period is over, you get it published in other magazines and anthologies on a non-exclusive basis. At the same time, you offer it as a giveaway for guest blogs, prize draws, and contests. Let a few more months pass, then upload it as free content on your own website, as well as on friends' websites and Wattpad.

However, this strategy requires luck: Your chance of getting a story accepted by a prestigious magazine may be as small as one in ten thousand. Even the more modest publications are taking months to respond and accept only one in a hundred or one in a thousand. It also requires patience: Some magazines and e-zines keep you waiting for months before they give you a decision. Since most refuse simultaneous submissions, you can only submit to one at a time, which may force you to wait for a decade before the story is published - and in that time, the story could earn its keep in other ways.

Here's the easiest strategy:

Upload the story at once on your website, at Smashwords, at Wattpad etc, without bothering with magazines, e-zines, anthologies or giveaways. This puts the story to work immediately.

But it limits what you can do with it. Once the story is published, it has lost its virginity and you can never submit it to a “first rights” market, and if it's free, people won't value it as a giveaway or contest prize.

5 Secrets of the Kickass Heroine

2013-01-04T10:49:00.005-08:00

Kickass heroines are all the rage. But it's tricky to do right. I've read some books that do a terrific job... and others that aren't convincing.

1. Less Talk, More Action

The first time we meet Katsa in Graceling, she is knocking out guards, breaking into a dungeon and rescuing a prince. A quick flashback shows her accidentally killing a child-molester with one blow when she was only eight years old--the first time her Grace showed up. Since we have seen her amazing martial arts skills and innate ability to defend herself in action, her position as Utterly Badass is secure.

However, I've read other books where characters keep talking about what a badass the heroine is... without much evidence. They mention that she trains or that she "could beat any guy here" but when we finally see her in action, she's sick at the sight of blood, or doesn't want to kill. Huh?

2. Morality is Relative

A badass heroine needs to be strong, even ruthless, without being devoid of compassion. This is true for a hero as well as a heroine, but the fact of the matter is that readers are less forgiving of a unforgiving heroine than a hero. People even complained that Katniss was too hard, although her character was perfectly consistent.

To try to make a heroine sympathetic, some writers will try to emphasize how she hates what she's doing... killing disgusts her, or blood makes her sick. Pushed too far, however, and these kinds of reactions make it hard to believe she would make much of a fighter.

The key is to remember that if she is fighting someone much, much worse...or to defend someone much more innocent... she will come across as strong yet heroic rather than cold and unfeeling.

3. Defeat Lesser Baddies First

There are two opponents who will typically throw the Badass Heroine for a loop. One is the Big Bad. Naturally, he / she /it has to be pretty crazy awful or the final battle will be anti-climatic. A Big Badass deserves a Big Bad. But... don't have them fight all at once. Because the first time, the Big Bad is going to wipe the floor with the heroine, and it has to be clear this is because the Big Bad is THAT POWERFUL not because the heroine is a timid little girl.

The other one who will nix the mojo of any hotblooded heroine is the Hot Guy. He may be her equal of the field of martial arts or he may defeat her by some other equally powerful but totally different kind of talent or he may freeze her with Pure Hotness.

To truly display her awesome, a badass heroine needs to easily dispatch lesser threats before she meets a threat -- or a boy -- that she can't immediately overcome. In Paranormalacy, we see Evie bag a creature, and understand this is ordinary business for her. Only after that does she encounter a bigger danger than she can handle... or an invisible boy.

4. Juggling Gender Roles

Another issue that always faces a badass heroine (but not a hero) is how much her society approves her martial prowess. Even if she is a contemporary urbanite or a futuristic soldier, she may encounter people who think a woman "shouldn't". If she is from a feudal, quasi-medieval world, or from a sexist, quasi-medeival dystopia, she's going to be going against everything her people believe in to fight for herself. It has to be convincing that she could learn to fight, want to fight and have the opportunity to fight.

It might help if she belongs to a subculture or has a "special" circumstance that works against the majority culture. But if is she alone out of all the world has contemporary feminist values, that's going to be pretty hard to believe.

5. Opposites Attract

Traditionally, the strong, silent gunslingling cowboy had a soft, peace-loving but verbally sharp female to stand beside him. Now that the heroine might be the strong, silent gunslinger, it makes sense that she might fall for a peace-loving, verbally sharp guy. Right?

Sure... but this is tricky because of the lack of symmetry when it comes to switching gender roles. As unfair as it is, when you say a girl is boy-like, it's a compliment, but if you say a boy is girl-like, you insult the boy. And unfortunately, one place this rule still holds sway is in Romance stories. (Even more in stories than in real life.) The ideal Romance hero is still an Alpha male... and if the heroine falls for a guy she has to physically protect, rather than someone who protects her... some people still have a problem with that.

If the hero has feminine strengths, never play it for laughs (even though three thousand years of literary convention will encourage this). Show those strengths as power. As they should be. In the three examples I've mentioned, Graceling, Hunger Games and Paranormalacy, the heroes possess many traditionally feminine strengths, such as empathy, and are often in need of protection from the heroine. But they are still an equal and a match to her.

Skyrim Dragonborn Duel of Minstrels!

2013-01-01T06:40:00.000-08:00

Guest Post: Speech Patterns

2012-12-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

Her short online classes for writers intense with plenty of personal feedback. Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, Writing about Magic and Magicians, The Word Loss Diet and more.

For more information about Rayne Hall go to her website.

Every character speaks differently. They use different phrases, according to their age, education, background and personality.

Whenever one of your characters says something - even if it's just a greeting or thanks - let their personality shine through.

Here are four different characters talking about the same things:

Annie is self-centred.

She begins everything she says with “I...” The words “me”, “my”, “mine” also feature a lot in her conversation.

“I'm sorry I'm late. I had to wait a precious hour in a queue, as if I didn't have more important things to do.”

“I tell you, I've never been so frightened in my life. This was my home, my shelter, my everything. I stood there watching my belongings go up in flames, and my memories with it. My husband was as helpless as I. I'm just glad my kids are safe.”

Barbie is insecure, indecisive and weak.

She uses qualifiers and excuses. Her conversations contain “rather” “quite” “somewhat”, “I would like to say”, “maybe”, “On the other hand”, “If I may say so”, “Forgive me for being so outspoken, but”, “This may sound strange, but”, “I think that perhaps”, “More or less”, “sort of”, “possibly”, “or so”.

“I'm sorry I'm rather late. There was quite a queue, maybe an hour.”

“The fire was quite fierce, and spread rather quickly. We all got out more or less in time, but if I may say so, we were somewhat shaken.”

Claudie is gushing, effusive, and highly strung.

She talks in superlatives: “the cutest”, “the worst”, “the most terrifying”, with additions of “absolutely”, “totally”, “completely”, “utterly”, “ever”, “never”, “forever.”

“I'm soooo sorry I'm late. The queue there was absolutely appalling, and I had to wait forever and ever.”

“It was absolutely horrifying, the worst nightmare. There was this unbelievably tremendous heat, the hugest flames you've ever seen, and the biggest column of the darkest smoke. It went on forever and ever, and I lost absolutely everything. It was utterly devastating.”

Dorrie is a bossy charge-taker.

She phrases almost anything as an order: “Do this.” “Take that.” “You mustn't think like that.”

“Don't think I'm late on purpose. Imagine standing in a queue for an hour.”

“Imagine the flames, the smoke, the heat. Believe me: nobody could have saved anything. Never let your own kids play with matches.”

Beginners sometimes invent speech patterns and graft them on the characters. The result can be clunky and unnatural, and call attention to itself. Instead, think of how a character's personality trait shows in the way they speak. That's subtler, funnier, more realistic.

Exercise

Choose a speech pattern that reflects an aspect of a character's personality. Apply the pattern to something the character says. Perhaps you can post a “before” and “after” version as a comment so we can see the difference.

Author Interview: Paul Dail

2012-12-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

Today, Paul D. Dail, author of The Imaginings, joins us to answer questions about his fiction.

1. Describe the flavour of your fiction in six words.

Thought-provoking, unpredictable, spiritually ambiguous, darkly humorous.

2. What do you enjoy most about writing horror fiction?

Absolutely everything. I've loved horror movies and books since I was little, so while these days I enjoy reading almost any genre, when it comes to writing, I'm happiest when I'm writing horror.
Oh, and I love the opportunity to give someone the creeps. I recently read a story of mine to my classes that I thought was fairly innocuous, but was pleasantly surprised when many of my students said it was "freaky."

3. Many people enjoy reading stories about undead creatures - ghosts, vampires, zombies.
What do you think is the appeal?

I think these three examples appeal on different levels. If I were to oversimplify, I would say people like ghosts because it gives them a sense of something beyond death. Vampires is a desire for immortality. Zombies... well, for that one, I think it's more about the characters other than the zombies that has the appeal. People want to believe that in a zombie apocalypse, they would be able to survive.

4. Have any of your stories been inspired by mythology?

Actually, yes. My story "The Interview" was heavily influenced by mythology, specifically the story of Phineus, a Phoenician king who was blinded by Zeus for his ability to see into the future.

5. Your story “Another Oldie But Goodie” in Undead: Ten Tales of Zombies (edited by Rayne Hall) starts with a retirement home resident hearing music nobody else can hear, and leads to raising a long dead person from the grave. Where did the ideas for this story come from?

This was originally a flash piece for the Vamplit Publishing blog. The theme for the week was "Love in the Cemetery," I think. Then it was kind of a perfect storm of events that brought the actual story together, the biggest of which being when my 99 year-old grandmother, who doesn't move very fast but is still sharp as a tack, informed my father and I one day while we were visiting that she had been hearing the song "Ave Maria" at various points throughout the day where no one was actually playing it. At that point, I started putting together the story of the nursing home resident, and I knew it was her dead husband that was singing to her (don't worry, this comes out in the story pretty early). From there it was a matter of picking out the song, something fitting for the time. And the rest of the pieces just fell into place, especially the ending.

Thank you for joining us, Paul. May 2013 be a year of many more creative ideas and fantastic success.

==========================

About Paul D. Dail

Paul D. Dail is the author of The Imaginings, a supernatural/horror novel, as well as several other horror short stories. While he will quickly tell you that the people he has met in the many places that he has traveled have been the best schooling he could get, Paul received his formal education in English with a Creative Writing emphasis at the University of Montana, Missoula.
In addition to his fiction, he has had a non-fiction submission published in The Sun magazine's Reader's Write section entitled "Slowing Down" about the birth of his daughter.
Currently Paul lives in southern Utah, amid the red rock, sagebrush and pinion junipers. He teaches Language Arts and Creative Writing at Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts.

Blog and Additional Contact Info:

www.pauldail.com A horror writer's not necessarily horrific blog
www.amazon.com/author/pauldail Amazon Author Central page
@PaulDail Twitter