interview: Bryan Lyze, author of The View

From THE VIEW by BRYAN LYZE

Crime boss Red Cabon is arranging the killing of prosecution witnesses with the help of his secret informant. 

The extroverted witness Maria Bozzella is in the protection program when she meets and falls in love with Jack Moore.

Jack is an innocent and Maria must break it off, but it is too late. Jack is in the middle of a war, and F.B.I. agents are dying quickly.

 What inspires your stories?

I don’t really know, but the inspiration definitely comes first. With THE VIEW it was actually the view from a cottage I was renting at the time and then about eight hours of imagination. Afterwards I had the basic outline.

What genre do you gravitate toward and why?

Romantic thrillers, but I like trying different things. Each genre has it’s own challenge, and that can be fun.

What are your work habits like?

Awful and sporadic, but even when I’m not writing I’m thinking about the story, and when I start writing I lose all track of time.

What do you consider your best work?

THE VIEW

Do you plot out your novels in advance or do you write on the fly?

I put down as much as possible as fast as I can and then flush out and fill in over the course of refining my stories. I see the story in my mind visually and I usually know the last line of the story almost as soon as I begin.

What experience do you want for your readers?

First I want them to enjoy the read. I try to keep it interesting and keep them guessing, but mostly I hope they get lost in the story and characters.

Are any of your character traits or settings based on real life?

Of course, but I take a lot of literary license. THE VIEW is complete fiction.

What are your most significant challenges when you write?

Having an idea that works in your head but not on paper or for the current story and letting it go, that can be difficult.

What are you currently working on?

A children’s book that was an original poem.

Do you have any writing advice you would like to share with aspiring authors?

The same advice we all hear and know, keep writing.

Available now in paperback and e-book on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/THE-VIEW-ebook/dp/B003VD23ZS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1326747424&sr=8-2

interview: Mathias Freese, author of The i Tetralogy

This evening, we welcome Mathias Freese.

Interview : Mathias B. Freese

by Vibha Sharma | on April 30th, 2012 | Literary Sojourn

Mathias B. Freese is a multifaceted personality who is a teacher, a psychotherapist and an author. I got a chance to read and review(here) one of his books – This Mobius Strip of Ifs and was quite impressed by his writing style and the sincere way in which he has shared his life with his readers.

It was a pleasure to conduct an e-interview with him for our readers here.

1. When did you start writing your experiences in the book form ? How has been the writing experience so far?

I have been writing since 1968, although at age eighteen my high school yearbook published a poem by me which was so misunderstood and so savagely edited that I didn’t recognize it when it was in print. An English teacher got carried away and omitted the underlying theme of depression which I was experiencing when I wrote it. Unknowingly she compounded my resentment. It was the repressed Fifties, so what else is new? The next effort was ten years later in a short piece for an education journal which revealed or uncorked my disenchantment with teaching content in the classroom. After that my full-blown neurosis composed of despair, depression and rage revealed itself in 1974 when I had “Herbie” published, my first major short story. (See my first short story collection, Down to a Sunless Sea.) As you know the first essay in This Mobius Strip of Ifs , explores my serendipitous and synchronous adventure with that particular story. In any case after being listed with Mailer, Oates, Singer and other greats, I felt very encouraged and continued to write.

Rejections cooled my ardor but I never quit. Indeed, I promised myself that I would set out to write the best stories I could and at a later date have them published. This self-promise took thirty or so years. Characterologically this effort says so much more about me than as a writer. So as Spencer Tracy once said about Kathryn Hepburn in one of their collaborations, what there is of her is “cherce.” Consequently I don’t quit. I persevere. The only audience I write for is me and if you like what I have written, so be it.

My writing experience can be extracted in a sense from Kazantzakis’s epitaph: “I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.”

2. What has this literary journey taught you and enriched you with?

Vibha, this question is the equivalent, as I think about it, of assessing my very life which by the way is what I have done on a regular basis over the years and decades, in short, pungent, I hope, open and feeling essays. We are all born to be done away with. Again I go to an epitaph to help reflect, this time Epicurus: “I was not; I have been; I am not; I do not mind.” Much wisdom and therapy in that remark, for Epicurus, rightly so, believed that philosophy should be a kind of therapy.

But readers of this interview want something else, don’t they, Vibha? (Happy talk?) An aspect of myself is not to please others but that while I write I share my experience with you, with me first. I have enriched my literary journey, not the other way around. I give to my writing and I learn in that way to write better. Krishnamurti famously said in one of his dialogues, “The word is not the thing itself.” So all my writing is just an approximation of what turmoil, tumult and insight I have about my human condition. As we all should know, to cite Christopher Hitchens, we are only partially rational, animal, and often savage at that, and our human genome controls the robot that we are.

3. Which has been your most satisfying writing experience so far?

The i Tetralogy, my extensive take on the Holocaust, represented much of who I am as a Jew and human being, of my growing up Jewish in America. In that novel I put all the skills, imagination and heartfelt renderings I could about man. I have gone beyond Wiesel’s affirmation that indifference is not tolerable any longer. I have arrived at a different assessment based on my reading, psychotherapeutic experience, my atheism – free of religious conditioning, the bane of civilization, and I have gone into the unexplored country. Man is out of control, always has been, genetically so! In a few years we all will be reading about evolutionary psychology, the additional scientific work based on Darwin’s theories which have emerged in the 90s. Dawkins, Dennett, Ridley, Wright will become well-known names, and what they have to report based on immense scientific studies can be summed up in Richard Dawkins words: “We are survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecule known as genes. This is a truth that still fills me with astonishment.” The Selfish Gene

Consequently writing about the Holocaust allowed me to examine the nature of man so genetically far beyond Hobbes’s “short, nasty and brutish” assessment.

This Mobius Strip of Ifs, I believe, has given me the most pleasure because I was freewheeling in my approach and many essays were written over four decades and reflected the thinking I had at different stages of my adult life. Upon reflection, the book is about the emergence of a self. It was an assessment of myself and now at 71 I see where I had trod and what lay before me. Ironically it was you or someone else who wrote that the book was a profound self help one which, I feel, is an oxymoron.
Nevertheless, this made me think and if it is so, that I have made others go back to my book, chew and digest it, that is a delightful gift to this writer’s life. My working hypothesis is that this book is from an inner directed person, and that is uncommon. Recently the American Psychiatric Association deleted Narcissism from its manual of disorders, DSM IV or V. That is, most Americans are now narcissistic and what was formerly a disorder is now the norm. All those learned interventions I had acquired for dealing with this disorder goes out the window. So when an American goes overseas and wants a house and insists that it have an American bathroom, that kitchentop counters be made of granite, that all appliances be stainless steel only testifies to our lunacy, not our so-called normalcy. By the way, the essential trait of a narcissist is his or her emptiness, the rest is all bluff.

4. Are all the essays in This Mobius Strip of Ifs taken truthfully from your own life or do they have some fictional elements too? How comfortable do you feel opening your feelings in front of the world?

Easy to answer. My life is non-fiction. I will not play shrink here, but I gather individuals are uncomfortable with my openness. An English Academic, who I have 50 years on, cited this difference between English and American writers. Americans are into Whitman, Thoreau, Ginsburg and British writers, except for Hitchens and a few others, are constipated, to be blunt. Brits, unlike Ginsburg, cannot howl. I can’t think of an English equivalent to Hart Crane. To make my point, this academic was displeased with my plumage. Oh I couldn’t care less because she cannot see through her own conditioning.

Having spent years in treatment and working on myself by reading Krishnamurti, I have no qualms about expressing my feelings openly, not disguised as in novels and short stories. The personal essay fits my personality and I use it as best I can. Think about this: the real task of a good shrink is to make the unconscious conscious and human beings have a terrible time arriving at revealing themselves. We really do not communicate well as a species. We are gelatinous vats of suppressed and repressed feelings and awarenesses. When you can break through, you are free.

I struggle to be psychologically free. I can say that all my writing is about my need to be psychologically free, of myself, especially you, and of the world which conditions 24/7. And the worst felon in all this is the monolithic and mammoth conditioning of religion which is the dragon at the gate. Freud argued (The Future of an Illusion) that to become free of this conditioning brings you into full adult maturity as a human being. Religion is man -made. (Pause.) Consequently it is corruptive.

5. What do you intend to write next? When is it expected to be published?

The next book is already finished and I am thinking of how to go about getting it published. I have submitted it to several online magazine contests, but most likely I will have to self-publish it myself.I will not engage agents on this because it is so time intensive to acquire one I’d rather go the other alternative routes. After all, I do not have a vast readership nor do I devote many hours to promoting the book. I try to do what I can but I refuse to be sucked into rampaging capitalism which is all the rage across the internet, the hustling, self-promoting, the slobber at some writers’ mouths as they urge you to read this or that. So here is a synopsis of my next book. No one who encounters the Holocaust seriously is ever done with it.

I Truly Lament, is a varied collection of stories, inmates in death camps, survivors of these camps, disenchanted Golems complaining about their tasks, Holocaust deniers and their ravings, and collectors of Hitler curiosa (only recently a few linens from Hitler’s bedroom suite went up for sale!) as well as an imagined interview with Eva Braun during her last days in the bunker. The intent is to perceive the Holocaust from several points of view.

An astute historian of the Holocaust has observed that it is much like a train wreck, survivors wandering about in a daze, sense and understanding, for the moment, absent. No comprehensive rational order in sight.

In my award-winning Holocaust novel, The i Tetralogy, considered by some an important contribution to Holocaust literature as well as a work of “undying artistic integrity” (Arizona Daily Sun) I could not imagine it all, and this book of stories completes my personal struggle. Within the past year 10 stories have been published online and in print from this collection, the most recent “Slave” published in Del Sol Review in December 2011. I will promote my present book and by year’s end publish the new one.

6. What were your thoughts when you started writing The i Tetralogy ? What unique thing did you want to convey on the Holocaust that has not been done before?

Allow me to depart a little from the question and express my thoughts in this fashion To have survived the Holocaust is to have been gutted as a human being. The inner self is ravished. Whether or not one recovers from that is beyond comprehension.

All literary depictions of the Holocaust end as failures, perhaps revealing shards of understanding. And is understanding ever enough? Writing about the Holocaust is a ghastly grandiosity.The enduring mystery of the Holocaust is that memory must metabolize it endlessly and so we must try to describe it, for it goes beyond all imaginable boundaries. One soon realizes the fundamental understanding that the species is wildly damaged, for only a damaged species could have committed the Holocaust. No great piece of art, no technological achievement or other historical creation of mankind can ever expunge the Holocaust.

Human beings are so much less than we give them credit for. If we begin here perhaps books can be written about the Holocaust – without blinders or eyelids, although by definition they will fail. Every artist who struggles with the Holocaust must begin with an acceptance of failure and that must be worked through before art begins.

I have come up short here. I must say what I have to say as a man, as a Jew, and be done with it. I feel deeply the flaw within as part of this species. I am ashamed.

By name and nomenclature, the Holocaust is but an approximation of what happened. The species cannot grasp its nature. The artist will only succeed marginally if he or she manages to drive that home.

The eternal perseveration of the species has become the Holocaust. We will never be done with it. We will never work it through.

7. You are a teacher and a psychotherapist – which of these two vocations excite you more or is more satisfying, other than writing. While working in the capacity of a psychotherapist, which do you think are the most common human frailties and strengths?

As a psychotherapist I can engage human beings, at times, at very profound levels, not in the classroom. Most schools condition human beings, that is their real task – to indoctrinate, to be an American or to be French. By working with my fellow human beings I began to grow as well, and as you know, Vibha, in This Mobius Strip of Ifs I write about the telling consequences of being a client and a practitioner. For me treatment helped this soul to become much more free, more open, more expressive, although I still work on those potholes we all have.

I am not an expert on human happiness, frailties and strengths. No one is an expert. As I age I realize I know shit. Perhaps other than techniques, therapists should keep that in mind, all “professionals.” Look at the world about – it is in chaos, those in charge are not in charge themselves, think of Clinton’s errant penis, Cheney’s need to devour human beings by sending them off to war, Sarah Palin who did not know that there was a North Korea and a South Korea.

I’d pose your question another way. What can I do to become aware, and what can I do to decondition myself so that I can see clearly? In that is hope.

8. Could you please give suggestions to budding authors on how to make their writing more effective and meaningful?

Advice sucks. Whatever advice I have received I had to process through my own machinery. So if you want to lick at the waters of advice-givers, make sure that your machinery is working real well and that you can discern good from bad.

Let me specify. It is an old cliché to writers that they should write between 500 to 1000 words a day over years. And what if you cannot? Well, I had to work and feed the family. I wrote in study halls while I taught; I wrote late into the night when I could. I fought off despair all those years through sheer grit and bullheadedness. I just wanted to write to exorcise my dybbuks. I never thought of myself as a writer. I was an auto-didact. What I have concluded is that you do your best, learn what you can, use what seems useful and forget all the bullshit – you know, 10 ways to have your book reviewed, how to write a query letter to a blogger, how to get an editor, and how to promote you work before you even write it (book as package). I don’t know about you but I am fatigued. We do all this fussing as each day we move closer to our end. Ecce Homo.

------------------

Release date: February, 2012
Formats: Paperback, Kindle
Publisher: Wheatmark
ISBN: 9781604947236
Price: $10.95 paperback. $9.95 Kindle
Availability: Amazon (paperback), Kindle, Barnes and Noble and Wheatmark.com

Mathias B. Freese is the author of The i Tetralogy, a Holocaust novel, winner of the Allbooks Review Editor’s Choice Award 2007, and Down to a Sunless Sea, a collection of short fiction, Indie Excellence Finalist Book Awards, He is a psychotherapist and teacher. Non-fiction articles have appeared in the New York Times, Voices: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy, Pilgrimage and other journals. In 2005 the Society of Southwestern Authors honored him with a first-place award for personal essay/memoir. In November/December 2011 Mensa Bulletin published this essay in revised form. His new collection of short stories is in progress, I Truly Lament, Working Through the Holocaust. In 2011 ten stories from this collection were published, the latest being “Slave,” Del Sol Review #18, 2011. His writer’s blog is www.mathiasbfreese.com. This Möbius Strip of Ifs, a collection of essays written over four decades, was published in February 2012.

Interview reposted with permission from Mathias Freese. Content located at http://www.mathiasbfreese.com/   and http://literarysojourn.blogspot.in/2012/04/interview-mathias-b-freese.html

Interview: William F. Brown, author of Amongst My Enemies and The Undertaker

Author Bio: "Bill Brown is the author of six mystery and suspense novels. The Undertaker, is a domestic thriller published last February. It’s garnered 18 Five-Star and 17 Four-Star reviews of 37 posted on Amazon. Amongst My Enemies, his newest, is a Cold War thriller dealing with espionage, revenge, and missing gold. Both are available on all the usual e-book sites. An earlier novel, Thursday at Noon, a Joan Kahn Book from St. Martin’s in hardback and various paperback and foreign editions, will be out in e-book this spring. He has also written four award-winning screenplays. A native of Chicago, he attended the University of Illinois. He and his wife live in Ohio,where he writes, paints, and plays bad golf."

What inspires your stories?

I was always a reader, and I read one too many bad books – bad plot, unrealistic action, and cardboard characters. I turned to my wife and said, “I can do something this awful.” (It happened to be an unusually bad Clive Cussler) So I went to the library, got some books on writing, did my research, and gave it a shot. That was 6 books, 4 screenplays, and a lot of years ago.

What genre do you gravitate toward and why?

Suspense thrillers, both domestic and international, because that’s what I always read and enjoyed. As they say, we should write what we like and what we know.

What are your work habits like?

Not as regular as I would like. We travel a lot, and I play golf and paint from time to time. I use a computer, do my best work in the evening and at night, hate being disturbed, and like an orderly desk and work area around me; provided I can keep my wife from putting STUFF on my desk!

What do you consider your best work?

What? Pick one of my babies? Is this ‘Sophie’s Choice?’

Actually, and to be fair, my newer work is better than my very early work. As in everything, we learn. I wrote 4 novels, and then tried screenplays for a number of years. I won and placed in a number of contests, and actually had one briefly optioned, but Hollywood is largely an insider game. I think the only people who win are the ones who host the contests. But, screenplays are an interesting discipline. They teach tighter writing, dramatic pacing, dialogue, and character arcing. I then went back to novels, re-writing two and writing two new ones and they were much better. I think The Undertaker, a snarky, funny, contemporary thriller which came out in e-book last year, and Amongst My Enemies, a more dramatic period piece set in the late 1940’s and 1950’s which just came out, are my best to date.

Do you plot out your novels in advance or do you write on the fly?

I am a tight constructionist. If you don’t know where you are going, you can’t build the road to get you there. It’s the characters who drive the story, and to properly weave and arc them together, you need to know where you want them to be in the end.

What experience do you want for your readers?

I call my novels ‘beach’ or ‘pool’ books, with no apologies. No matter how pretentious we try to be, writers are in the entertainment business. If not, why would Sony, Time Warner, and the other media companies own all the publishing companies? My novels are fun, exciting reads, but ones which I hope are well crafted.

Are any of your character traits or settings based on real life?

Some of my novels are in current settings, but some are set in the 1940’s, 1950’s, and 1960’s. I had a double-major in history in college, so most of my plots flow out of real events and involve historic figures. The fictional characters, however, are carefully structured to fit the dramatic needs of the story; but I’m sure I have used observation to flesh them out. My wife and I have traveled quite a bit, and I think I have been to most of the locales I use. That helps, but so can an issue of National Geographic.

What are your most significant challenges when you write?

As far as the actual writing goes, it is finding enough long blocks of ‘leave me the Hell alone’ time to completely focus on the text. But . . . in recent years we are in a brave new ‘upside down’ world where the publishers, agents, and bookstores (the former Gatekeepers and Key Masters) who chose the winners and then did all the packaging and promoting, haven’t got a clue and aren’t buying. Now, anyone with an internet connection can by-pass all that, and about 800,000 have. That’s great, except of the minor problem of getting noticed. So, we now spend all our time Face Booking and blogging and tweeting instead of writing, which is what every other ‘writer’ is doing, wondering why nothing is selling and very little is getting written.

What are you currently working on?

I spent last year putting two ‘new’ books I had written out as e-books with all that entails -- working up the learning curve of e-book marketing. I am now updating and converting two of my very successful previously published hardbacks to e-books. Thursday at Noon will be up in March or so. I then hope to get back into a new-new suspense novel I had about one-third written before I decided to see what this e-book thing was all about.

Do you have any writing advice you would like to share with aspiring authors?

There’s an old saying in business management, “Don’t mistake activity for progress.” I’m afraid much if not all of the Face Booking, Tweeting, and blogging we do is simply writers posting to other writers (the rest of that 800,000), none of whom have the slightest interest in buying one of our books. So, don’t forget to keep writing and improving your writing, as you try harder and harder to be a ‘writer.’ And, eventually, the vampires, zombies, fairies, girls with almost-bare chests and guys with no shirts and oiled lats will fade into fad history . . . I hope.




Amongst My Enemies is available in the Amazon Kindle Store.

William F. Brown's website is HERE.

Interview: Larissa Hinton, author of Everblossom and Iwishacana/Acanawishi

Today we welcome Larissa Hinton, author of Everblossom and Iwishacana/Acanawishi! Here she is.



Hello, my name is Larissa Hinton. I'm a grad student at Hampton University and hopefully by next year, I'll be a full time secondary English teacher. In the morning, I'll be a teacher but at night I'll become an author. Reference isn't working for you?


Lol, anyway, most of the fiction I write really comes from a life of reading of what I love to read. Some of it, comes from a dark place which I never knew existed until college. Ah, gotta love college. Always discovering new sides of yourself.


If you want to know more about me and my sarcasm, you can just check out my blog and click on FAQ's. Thanks for reading my super short bio! :)

Q. When did you first start writing?

I started writing at the ripe age of 12. At first, I wrote poems because of my lovely English teacher decided that we should write poems and from then on, I fell in love with poetry. The writing bug really bit me a year later when the movie of Nickelodeon movie, Clock Stoppers came out. I thought the movie was going to be horrible, so I decided that I would write a novel that would be better than the movie. Needless to say, my book wasn't as good as the move but I didn't care. I love writing and nothing else mattered. Thus my obsession with writing begun.

Q. What music do you listen to when you write?

Actually, I don't listen to music when I write. The reason I don't listen to music is because it distracts me from writing. My favorite genre is electronic dance. So every time I listen to it (especially Cascada or Rhianna's Please Don't Stop the Music) I want to dance instead of write. So it's more of a hindrance instead of a help.

Q. Do you have any hidden talents?

Apparently, I have the talent of weaving my hair. Everywhere I go people compliment me on my hair and they are so shocked to know that I did it myself. You should see their faces, "You did THAT yourself?" Yeah, of course. You know how expensive it is to get kinky twists done? Over a hundred dollars easy, especially with all of the hair weave I did and how long it is. I'll give you a hint: The hair is longer than you think! I constantly sit on my hair, lol since I didn't originally intend for my hair to be this long when I started out . . . But that's a whole different story.

Q. What was your inspiration to put together this anthology?

Funny enough, there wasn't any inspiration at all! I know, such a bad answer for a writer, but I am telling the truth. You see, I was taking a Creative Writing class and for the first time ever, I had to write short stories. Before this point in my life, I never wrote a short story but I found something funny about it: I loved it. I was able to delve into the characters I loved, create new stories that would inspire bigger ideas, and it was a way to play with the inner thoughts that floated my mind. Even at one point, my professor told me that all of my novel ideas were really short stories. Granted, at that time, I did not appreciate him saying that, but some of my ideas were short stories. I just never knew it.


The poems in the anthology however, were inspired by mostly my personal life. And other times, by the urge to write it down. I don't think I could fully explain it properly, but when an idea hits me, it's like lightening and I'm alert and aware that a poem is in me that needs to be written. I've literally tried to go asleep with that feeling, but I couldn't. I had to write it down into poetic form. It doesn't happen so often (like once or twice a month) but when it happens, I have to write that poem down or I can't think straight.


Oh, and one of the poems, In Death You Speak, it was inspired by boredom in class. I was sitting in one of the English Literature classes listening to them drone on and on about something, so I wrote a poem instead of listening. I know. I'm horrible. A-soon-to-be English teacher not paying attention in an English classroom? Shocker.

Q. What books of yours should we be looking out for release next?

The next book I'm currently editing that you should look for is the sequel for Iwishacana/Acanawishi.


Iwishicana/Acanawishi

Where rules are meant to be broken
Anissa is constantly on the run from the police and can't seem to stay out of trouble.
Secrets are meant to be kept
Until Anissa hides Florence in her bedroom and her mother finds out. There's only one thing left to do: Send her to Juvenile Cop Camp to erase all of her crimes on her record.

And everything is not what it seems
There's only one problem: Anissa is innocent.
Welcome to Iwishacana.


You can buy this book at these sites:
Smashwords

Amazon US

Createspace eStore





Everblossom

An anthology that will quench your thirst for more than the ordinary.

Everblossom is a journey through poems and short stories that may seem ordinary on the surface but dig a little deeper and the world not only shifts . . . It changes.


The author who brought you Iwishacana/Acanawishi, now brings you a dash of everything from dark fantasy to the paranormal to romance. So prepare yourself to delve into the three stages of the flower from bud to blossom then back to seed; you'll go through them all with a whole new perspective on what it all truly means.


This book is available for purchase here:
Smashwords
Barnes and Noble
Amazon
Createspace eStore




Q. What book are you reading now?



I'm reading Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves. It's a gorgeously dark fantasy book from an author I love. Sadly, I'm almost finished with it but I will give it a grand review hopefully sometime next week. I'm so excited to share this book with my followers!


Q. What is the most difficult thing about being a writer? What is the easiest thing?


The easiest thing about writing is coming up with the ideas. I come up with new ideas practically every day I take a step outside. Now the hardest part about writing is putting your idea on paper and making it come across right. Especially for a novel. It's a long journey from the first page until the last and to make sure it's projecting the idea from cover to cover from word to word is the most difficult part. As a writer, you have to be consistent, persistent, and have excellent time management to be able to complete a novel with style, grace and be sane. Seriously. Ask some writers if they haven't pulled their hair out over a story that just wouldn't translate from their brain onto the paper right. Ah, the makings of a novel.


Q. Quick: Vampire or Shapeshifter?


Shapeshifters all the way. Vampires get way too much hype right now and they have become mainstream and valued for their apparent sex appeal. Shapeshifters on the other hand, will always win in a battle, they are scary, and they are sexy. Win win.

Q. What is the most rewarding thing about being a writer?


I know for me, the most rewarding thing about being a writer is getting back reviews from people who have bought and loved your book. And understood your ideas! I was really wondering about the poems I wrote called WSV (Words Speak Volumes). For the longest time I debated about publishing them in the first place since all they were was words written down a page telling a story in an odd way. I thought that maybe people just wouldn't get it.

It warmed my heart that not only did people understand my poems, they loved them! I couldn't be more thrilled since my poems have never been out to see daylight (yes, I get the Emily Dickinson irony there)! Therefore, I'm always glad to receive somewhat of fan mail on how my writing has made people think in a whole new way once they read Everblossom: A Short Story and Poetry Anthology.

Q. Any advice for writers?


I have plenty of advice for writer! They can check out these links on my blog here:


http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/2011/11/considering-self-publishing.html


http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/2011/10/tips-and-tricks-how-not-to-request-book.html


http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/2011/10/truth-about-traditional-publishing.html


http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-is-editing-soooo-expensive.html


http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/2011/09/quick-tip-of-day-blurbs.html


http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/2011/07/hot-topic-tuesday-best-of-best-or.html


http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/2011/07/tips-and-tricks-friday-editing.html


http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/2011/05/tips-and-tricks-time.html


http://melissaseclecticbookshelf.blogspot.com/2011/11/guest-post-larissa-hinton-author-of.html


http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/2011/07/official-cover-for-iwishacana.html


But overall, I'd say keep writing and keep reading. Do your research. Do not limit yourself with traditional publishing or self publishing. It is possible to do both.

Q. Anything you want to say to your readers?

To my readers, I have to say you are the driving force behind my writing. You are the people I am so grateful for and I hope that you will find time to read my books and love them just as much as I do. And if you do love them to pieces, then please express and share your love in reviewing my books online! That is all the thanks I need at the end of the day.

Interview: Robert Bennett, author of Blind Traveler's Blues

Author Bio: “Robert Bennett, a former social worker turned writer, lives in the house he grew up in with his mother, one of his two brothers, two dogs that don’t get along, and a turtle. His lifelong focus has been a concern for the needs of society’s disenfranchised. His articles span a wide range of topics from sports to technology and from politics to social justice. His fiction is grounded in real world events and technologies as well as his own philosophical concerns. "It is the act of truly living and believing in yourself that is important, not the manner in which that action is undertaken." Mr. Bennett has spoken to groups of physical therapy students, church members and senior citizens, and has appeared on several radio programs. Contact Mr. Bennett through his website at www.enablingwords.com”

What inspires your stories?

My previous career was as a social worker involved in the care of men with mental challenges. Then I started my writing career as a journalist focusing on disability issues. I switched to fiction after writing an article about a device to help blind people navigate their world. So, you could say, as I’ve often told people, that I still consider myself a social worker dealing with issues of disability, but these days I do my work through the written word and through what most people would consider fiction.

What genre do you gravitate toward and why?

I write mysteries with a sci-fi kicker. My protagonist’s disability (blindness), in my mind at least, tends to make the whole world a mystery in need of exploration. And, I’ve always been interested in technology so the sci-fi aspect of my stories fits that need.

What are your work habits like?

Work habits?? I’m supposed to have habits??? No one told me that! Seriously though, I’m not the kind of writer who says I need to write every day or that I need to write a certain number of words every day. I guess I’m sloppy in that regard. But what I do is write when I get a strong idea, or when one of my characters speaks to me and says he or she wants to do something. My stories are set in locales that I’ve visited. So, when I get the itch to travel I make sure to take copious notes and try to figure a way to fit the place into something my protagonist would want to do.

What do you consider your best work?

I don’t judge my own work for its good/bad value. I let my readers do that for me. I feel too close to the work to be a good judge and it feels arrogant to say this or that is my best. However, my readers have told me, in no uncertain terms, that my current book, Blind Traveler’s Blues, is my best thus far.

Do you plot out your novels in advance or do you write on the fly?

I’d have to answer yes and no. I start with a general idea of what I want to write about. Then I start doing research to flesh out my idea and to see if it would make for a good, viable story. But, I don’t outline and I don’t have a firm understanding of how the story is going to end, or even develop. I let my characters tell me where they want the story to go.

What experience do you want for your readers?

Simply put, I write about the experiences of a wide range of people with disabilities. After all, we all have a disability of one sort or another. Some, like the need for glasses, are more socially accepted than others. In my nonfiction pieces I’ve written about what it is like to be someone with a disability: the devices they use, the opportunities they are given, and the challenges they face. In my fiction I continue that trend while focusing on the world of the blind. I’d like my readers to experience all of these things.


Are any of your character traits or settings based on real life?

As both a social worker and a writer I’ve learned the importance of observation. I’ve learned to study people: their traits and habits. I don’t believe in the concept of fiction. Instead I believe everything comes from a part of the author’s experience. With that in mind it should come as no surprise that I’ve “borrowed” from the world around me. Just as I set my stories in the places I’ve visited, I also incorporate ideas, traits and habits from the people I encounter into my work. I believe all authors do to one degree or another.

What are your most significant challenges when you write?

I work out of my home so I’m constantly listening to the two dogs and two other people who I live with, At the same time I’m bombarded by ideas by the characters I create. As I’ve said before, my stories are character driven in the sense that I let them tell me where they want to go and how they want the story to proceed. So, if for some reason they don’t choose to talk to me, than I am stuck not writing. Finally if, as in my next story, I want to try to experiment with a new setting or character, I am forced to rely on research material. Sometimes that is hard to find.

What are you currently working on?

I’ve started to research material for the next story in my Blind Traveler Mystery series.



Blind Traveler's Blues is available at

Smashwords

OmniLit

Amazon

Amazon UK

Amazon DE

Barnes and Noble


Thank you for stopping by, Robert! - LR

Interview: Chris Wind author of Satellites Out of Orbit

Welcome, Chris!

What inspires your stories?

For the “Epistles” section of the book -- which is a collection written by Eve, Cain’s wife, Noah’s wife, Delilah, the Queen of Sheba, Mary, and others as if they were feminist – the starting point was taking Paradise Lost in my Milton course way back when I was getting my B.A. in Literature. It seemed so clear that Eve was being infantilized, subordinated, etc etc.

And for the “Soliloquies” section, it was, of course, Shakespeare – oddly enough not the 2nd year course I had to take in university, but teaching Hamlet and Taming of the Shrew in high school. It just got so hard to defend Shakespeare as the wise, old bard when he seemingly endorsed such awful sexism – Portia treated as bait, prize, Kate clearly abused, and so on.

What genre do you gravitate toward and why?

In the case of Satellites Out of Orbit I chose the genre to fit. That is, the Soliloquies are written as soliloquies in Shakespearean language; the Epistles are written as epistles; the Fairy Tales (another section in the book) are sometimes written a little like fairy tales (“Greystrands” for example, and “Thumb”), and sometimes more like direct critical commentaries (“Cinderella” for example, which is actually written by her sister); the Myths are poems (revealing the myths inside the myths – for example, when I thought about it, it makes a lot of sense for Galatea to just up and leave, and Penelope doesn’t exactly wait, and so on); the Letters are letters -- letters that might have been written by Lady Godiva, Milton’s daughter, Rubens’ model, Mozart’s mother, Freud’s wife, Plato’s students, and others – assuming a feminist consciousness.

I’ve been ‘accused’ of not picking and sticking with a genre – an accusation obviously from someone who likes to pigeonhole in conventional slots. The prose pieces are hybrid – half essay, half story. There are footnotes and references. And that’s because there are asides (hence, footnotes) and I did a lot of research for this book, so I list my references. I also list the original sources I used – which myths I started with, which version of The Bible I was using, and so on. And for the Letters, well, they’re heavily based in fact. For example, much of what Mrs. Mozart says in her letter is absolutely true: Nannerl did in fact teach her little brother, Wolfgang, to play, and the two of them gave concerts together at first (only later, did Mr. Mozart say Nannerl should stay home…); the tour schedule; the painting; and so on. Same for the letter by Lady Godiva, the one by Freud’s wife… Satellites took three years to write partly because I just kept getting so immersed in the research!

What are your work habits like?

I write for a couple hours, then go for long walks, during which my brain either works on the problems I had and often solve them or it goes on holiday.

What do you consider your best work?

Well, I do like Satellites very much, but I think I like dreaming of kaleidoscopes a bit more.

Do you plot out your novels in advance or do you write on the fly?

Well, since Satellites isn’t a novel, the question doesn’t really apply. But I definitely put a lot of planning into it, did a lot of research, as I mentioned, thought a great deal about the characters and what they might think and say if they had a chance.

What experience do you want for your readers?

I want them to be intrigued. I want them to stop and think about it, to say ‘ah – ‘ and rethink everything they thought they knew about The Bible, Shakespeare, myths, fairy tales – women in the canon, women in our society!

Are any of your character traits or settings based on real life?

As I’ve suggested, the Letters section features real women; their situations are real and anchored in history, but not what I have them say – that’s fiction. I specifically chose women who had not said anything (or at least women for whom nothing written has survived), so that I could speculate in this manner; that’s why, for example, I had Freud’s wife write to his mistress, Lou Salome – Salome has written, has spoken for herself, so I didn’t want to mess with that.

What are your most significant challenges when you write?

Remembering to consider it done when it’s clear and coherent. Remembering to put the art in. Remembering to savor the words as well as the ideas.

What are you currently working on?

A novel tentatively titled August, a lengthy introspection trying to answer ‘How did I get here – from there?’





Satellites Out of Orbit will be available December 31 in print and as an ebook at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other online bookstores. A free sample is available at Smashwords.







Thank you for stopping by, Chris! - LR

Interview: Jass Richards, author of The Road Trip Dialogues

Today we welcome Jass Richards.

What inspires your stories?

The world as it is and my life as I’d like it to be.

What genre do you gravitate toward and why?

Humor – but with lots of serious stuff to think about. Sort of like Monty Python and all the best stand-ups.

What are your work habits like?

Meatloaf (“Paradise by the Dashboard Light” for The Road Trip Dialogues; “Los Angeloser” for the sequel, The Blasphemy Tour), tea (lots of tea), laptop, couch.

What do you consider your best work?

Hm. I really like the first couple chapters in This Will Not Look Good on My Resume (the one about working at the mental health home and the one about working at the detention center) and the last chapter (the one about being a dog walker), and I really like several scenes from The Road Trip Dialogues (mostly the ones where Rev and Dylan get stoned). And I laughed out loud at the fish ‘n’ chips scene in the novel I’m currently working on.

Do you plot out your novels in advance or do you write on the fly?

Oh geez I am so bad at plot. Why does something have to happen? They talk! That’s what happens. Isn’t that enough? It’s really interesting, and really funny…I loved “My Dinner with Andre”…

What experience do you want for your readers?

Lots of laughing, lots of thinking.
Are any of your character traits or settings based on real life? Yes. (‘nuff said)
What are your most significant challenges when you write? Thinking of stuff for my characters to do. Besides talk. And think. And get stoned. (Not necessarily in that order.)

What are you currently working on?

The sequel to The Road Trip Dialogues – The Blasphemy Tour. I don’t want to give it away, but people who read the former will know what the latter is about.

Do you have any writing advice you would like to share with aspiring authors?

No. (no advice; it’s not that I have advice but don’t want to share it)




The Road Trip Dialogues is available at

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

Interview with Kergan Edwards-Stout, author of Songs for the New Depression

Author Bio: “KERGAN EDWARDS-STOUT is an award-winning director, author and screenwriter, and was honored as one of the Human Rights Campaign‘s 2011 Fathers of the Year. Songs for the New Depression marks his debut novel, with shorter works appearing in such journals and magazines as American Short Fiction and SexVibe. Kergan lives in Orange, California, with his partner and their two sons. He is currently at work on a forthcoming memoir, Never Turn Your Back on the Tide, and blogs regularly at www.kerganedwards-stout.com.”

What inspires your stories?

It really varies, but they usually have a personal connection, in some manner. Over 12 years ago, out of the blue, a line popped into my head: “James Baldwin once wrote that Americans lack a sense of doom, yet here I stand.” At the time, I didn’t know where that line came from, who was speaking it, or what it would become, but that line stuck with me, eventually becoming the first line of my debut novel, Songs for the New Depression.

I’d read Giovanni’s Room many years ago, and that concept, that Americans lack a sense of doom, really resonated. Except, for me, having lost a partner and many others to AIDS, I feel as if I’ve known doom all too well. But who could have foreseen that just reading his book would, years later, inspire my own?

What genre do you gravitate toward and why?

So much of what I see and write is framed by my life experiences, and as I’m a gay man, that is a key element of much of what I write. However, after my next book, which is a memoir, I’m writing a novel based on a screenplay I penned, which is very much for children. It mixes the quest elements of Harry Potter with the quirky holiday theme from the movie A Christmas Story, and takes its readers on a fantastical journey. Definitely a different audience!

What are your work habits like?

It took me over 12 years to write this first book, which happened in fits and starts. I have two kids, as well as a full-time job, and it is really hard—at the end of a long day—to fit everything in. But I finally decided that if I was to finish the book, I’d have to sacrifice in order to do it. So I started getting up each morning at 5AM to go to the gym, which then gave me more time later in the morning for writing, and I also started saying “no” to my kids—which is very hard to do—but I made it clear to them that when Daddy is working, he needs to focus.
In a normal week, I try to write 1-2 hours a day, but if I have extra time, I put it towards writing. And if I take time off from work, I use that to write as well. I’m a good binge writer.

What do you consider your best work?

Definitely this novel, Songs for the New Depression. I think it is because, while a work of fiction, I connect so personally to the story. It follows a man dying of AIDS in 1995, before the HIV cocktail. He knows he’s made mistakes in his life, pushed people away, and wants to make amends, but doesn’t know how. We then see him in his 20’s, living that 1980’s life, wrapped in ego. And then we follow him in high school, coming into his own, and learn about the event which altered everything and informed his future choices.

Do you plot out your novels in advance or do you write on the fly?

I usually have a sense of where the story needs to go, but I let it get there organically. I prefer to do my main writing longhand, as I think it helps me tap into my subconscious. Writing on the computer, I often find myself spending more time editing than actually writing.

What experience do you want for your readers?

I hope that this novel moves people emotionally. We need to honor those lost to AIDS, as well as to wake up to our greater role in life, which is to care for others and treat all respectfully, both people and planet. I hope that readers will feel moved enough to act for the greater good. And, if nothing else, I hope it provokes an emotional response in them, whether gay or straight, that internally they connect with the character’s journey, as we are really all the same.

Are any of your character traits or settings based on real life?

Yes, the main character, Gabriel, is loosely inspired by my partner, Shane, who died in 95 as well. They share a certain sensibility and character traits, but the story itself is entirely fictional.

What are your most significant challenges when you write?

Simply finding the time! With two kids and a job, that leaves little time for much else! I’m hoping this novel puts me on a different path, where I get to use my writing skills more.

What are you currently working on?

This memoir, Never Turn Your Back on the Tide, is based on an experience I had which made me question everything, including my own sanity. Let’s put it this way--if that part of my life were a t.v. movie, it would be on Lifetime, and I’d be the naïve wife who discovers she is married to a serial killer! (laughs) Well, not quite, but it was pretty dramatic!

Do you have any writing advice you would like to share with aspiring authors?

Do your homework and learn everything you can. While I first tried going the traditional route, sending the manuscript to agents and publishers, I finally decided to do it myself. My book is literary fiction, and as there is currently a glut on the market, publishers weren’t interested. Not knowing any better, I almost went the Lulu route, as many of my friends had done, which—for me and my ultimate goals—would have been a mistake. Instead, I formed my own publishing company and am releasing the book through that. Having it come through a company gives it more cache than the other route, and by cutting out the middleman, the royalties are much better. For anyone considering this option, check out Aaron Shepard’s book “POD for Profit.”

Also, pay attention to what is going on inside of you and listen to your own unique voice. While just about anyone can “write”, I think a good writer uses their individual point of view, bringing that to their work, and it makes all the difference in the world.



Songs for the New Depression is available at

Amazon

and

Barnes and Noble





Thanks for stopping by, Kergan! - LR

Interview: Jay Rankin, author of Under the Neon Sky

Today we welcome Jay Rankin, author of Under the Neon Sky.

Was there a specific event or person in particular who made you really want to write Under The Neon Sky: A Las Vegas Doorman’s Story or did the idea just build in your mind over time?

Both. The biggest event that really prompted me to write was the night Mike Tyson fought Evander Holyfield and the ear biting incident. That night was so insane with so much madness swirling in and around the hotel, it had to told. But there were many other experiences such as the training by the hotel to prepare us for the grand opening, the effect Las Vegas had on the guests, relationships between people in this kind of environment. The whole sub-culture from my vantage point as an employee I felt needed to be told.

What experience do you want for your readers?

I would hope that a reader will be taken to a place I lived and experienced in such a way, the book will be difficult to put down. I also would hope after reading my story, many will have a completely different perspective on Las Vegas.

What were the most significant challenges you faced when putting your memories down on paper?

I had to learn how to write. My memories were clear, colorful, intense and detailed. The challenge was finding my voice to tell the story. The editing also helped me a great deal. I learned that having a story could be in parts which if placed correctly, could have a much bigger impact. I saw that each time I re-wrote something, it got better and brighter, and more detailed and finally well written. I wanted my words to jump off the pages. I wanted the reader to smell and hear and see what I was experiencing.

Did writing Under the Neon Sky help to exorcise any inner demons or help you to move past what you experienced in Vegas?

Yes and no. I don’t believe in holding things inside of you, it only sit and festers, there’s no closure. There were times when I sat at my computer and cried because of the surge of memories and the emotions that came with it. While writing, I experienced anger, hurt, laughter, loss, humility and regret. The writing helped sooth my demons, but I think time has helped me more than anything.

Did you get any reactions you didn’t expect when your book was released?
Most of the reactions have been very good, well beyond my expectations. I think I received two bad reviews which surprised me. All in all, throwing my story out to the world has been a wonderful experience.

If you had to rewrite the book, would you change any part of it?

I always come up with memories I had forgotten about which I would have included but I think the core of what I wanted to say was said.

What are you currently working on?

Currently, I’m working with my Hollywood agent on a pilot based on my book. I am also working on a Vegas doorman part 2.

Do you have any writing advice for someone who might consider writing a memoir?
Write then re-write. Always have a notepad with you. Always place a notepad next to your bed, a tape recorder in your car. Realize that each new day, you are a little different with new things to say. Find support, you’ll need it. This could be a friend, wife, husband, editor. Read books similar to your category. You will be amazed how much this will open you up to writing your story and finding your voice. Condition your brain to put in the time. Be determined, this is a very tough business. Oh yea, write and re-write. You can do this.

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Under The Neon Sky is a gripping, true story about a Las Vegas Doorman who worked the graveyard shift at one of the major hotels on the Strip. The sights, smells, and page popping characters are unforgettable as we take a journey that will tramsform how we used to envision the city that never sleeps. We watch as this doorman begins to emotionally break and wonder if he will become broken seeing his friends, his wife, hotel guests, and himself cross too many boundries in this riveting, page turning story.





The book is available at:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

The next few stops on Jay’s blog tour are here:

November 25th – http://tbfreviews.net/

November 29th – http://nurtureyourbooks.com/website/

November 30th – http://everydayadventure11.blogspot.com/

The entire tour schedule is HERE

Jay Rankin can also be found on On Twitter and his Website

Thank you for interviewing, Jay. The book sounds very interesting! - LR

Interview: Michael Hebler, author of Hunt for the Chupacabra

Author Bio: “Michael Hebler has resided in Southern California all of his life and worked as an international publicist for feature films before becoming a published author. “

What inspires your stories?

I've published two books so far, a picture book 'The Night After Christmas' and a free short story, 'Hunt for the Chupacabra'. For the picture book, the story was already written before I thought about turning it into a book. When I was in college, I was a theatre major and we did an annual children's Christmas variety show. One year, I was asked to write a poem called 'The Night After Christmas' because I had already written a few successful one-act plays. The idea was to read Clement C. Moore's 'The Night Before Christmas' at the beginning of the show and close it with an original piece called, 'The Night After Christmas'. Once we started performing in front of audiences, parents would come up to me and ask how they could get a copy of my poem, which inspired the picture book. As for 'Hunt for the Chupacabra', I have been working on a story for years and years, originally a screenplay called 'el Chupacabra' which did very well in competition. I'm originally from the film industry and worked as an international film publicist until recently. After the success of 'The Night After Christmas', I decided to adapt my own screenplay into a novel now called, 'Night of the Chupacabra'. I wrote 'Hunt for the Chupacabra' as an independent prologue to 'Night of the Chupacabra' and the rest of the Chupacabra Series, of which I currently have 5 novels planned. I'm looking forward to Book 1's release sometime in Spring 2012.

What genre do you gravitate toward and why?

Although the children's picture book was kind of a fluke, I really enjoyed working on that project so I have come up with a couple of other picture book ideas including a story which teaches children the origins of Halloween and how some of our customs have come to be what they are today; however, I consider fantasy fiction my primary genre, mostly because of five Chupacabra Series novels and other novels I have planned to write in the near future.

What are your work habits like?

I love this question because I have no work habits. I write when I'm inspired and when I'm not inspired, I work on marketing and publicity, which is extremely important for authors to do whether you're self-published or working with a publishing house. Coming from a film publicity background, I realize the importance of publicity. I find that I have a nice balance between the creative part of my work and the more mechanical part.

What do you consider your best work?

Oye! This is like asking which child I love more. I would have to go with my upcoming novel 'Night of the Chupacabra', which is just being finalized in editing, although I recently completed the first draft of Book 2 in my Chupacabra Series, 'Curse of the Chupacabra', which has been read by two people thus far and they both agree it's even better than the first. But until Book 2 is the final and complete draft, I'm sticking with Book 1.

Do you plot out your novels in advance or do you write on the fly?

An interesting question, especially for me since my novels were both adaptations from another format of my original work. Going back to when I first wrote the screenplay versions, I plotted them out in advance. Of the five books I have planned, only the first two were ever screenplays, so with Book 3, I'm currently plotting that storyline and will actually write it as a screenplay first. I really liked adapting from the scripts because it acted as a very comprehensive outline. I think I might stick with style for all my writing, plus if Hollywood ever wants to do a movie adaptation, I'll be ready.

What experience do you want for your readers?

I write what I want to read. My first "adult" books were Stephen King. It was what my avid reader mother had most of on the shelf at the time. This was back in the early '80's, so it was (in my opinion) his better work (Pet Cemetery, Misery, Carrie, Salems' Lot) That was a great experience for me and led me to read more books and other authors. I just want my readers to have a great time reading and not want to put the book down. There are some minor themes to my stories, but I mostly just write to entertain.

Are any of your character traits or settings based on real life?

LOL! No way! Thus far, the Chupacabra Series is about "lost love", which, even in my 40's, I have not really experienced in my real life and the characters are not mirror images of anybody I know either. If anything, they were probably influenced by other fictional characters from all the other books I've read, movies I've watched, characters I've performed.

What are your most significant challenges when you write?

Not being distracted. I run a blog called 'My Little Obsessions' about all things I love from movies to food to anything! I even refer to my blog as 'what distractions life has to offer' because I seem to have trouble focusing sometimes, which I believe is a great gift to have when writing because if I can't focus on what I'm writing as I'm writing, then I know it's not entertaining enough and I take a couple of steps back and rework my story until it keeps my own attention.

What are you currently working on?

I have a couple of projects on my plate right now. As stated previously, I'm developing Book 3 in the Chupacabra Series, 'Legend of the Chupacabra', finalizing Book 1 and getting ready to rework Book 2. I'm also finalizing the Halloween poem for my next picture book and am starting to think about the adaptation of another screenplay, not related to the Chupacabra Series.

Do you have any writing advice you would like to share with aspiring authors?

One big piece of advice I received when writing scripts was to always remember that there is a fine line between your imagination and what your audience wants to read; meaning, keep the story yours but be open minded to constructive criticism and advice from others. There have been many times when someone has suggested an alternative plot point and I thought about their suggestion, even if I did not agree right away. The suggestion is usually made because they see more than what is written. Now mostly, I did not take their advice; however, their advice would sometimes inspire another idea that was even better than theirs and what I had originally written. You never know where the better idea can come from. Just don't keep too tight of a grip on your work, let it breathe a little.


Hunt for the Chupacabra is available on

Amazon

and

Smashwords





An audio version Hunt for the Chupacabra is available free for listening on the author's website.

Interview: John Zunski, author of Cemetery Street

Author Bio: “John was born and raised in suburban Philadelphia. In 2003, he sailed across the country in a U-haul and settled in the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana. He is the Author of four novels. Cemetery Street is his first. His second, Shangri-la Trailer Park will be published in the fall of 2011. Dirty Bum for President - the story of a unique candidate and Nightwatching - a ghost story, will be published in 2012. He is currently working on Cemetery Street's sequel, Montana Rural. “

What inspires your stories?

Once upon a time I owned a Dekhockey rink, then I was a firefighter for six years, now I own a small town bar; that being said, I’ve been blessed with incredible voyeuristic opportunities. I’ve encountered interesting characters over the years, it would be a wasted opportunity if I didn’t translate some of those characteristics onto the page. Great characters give good stories; it’s my job to add variables and make the stories memorable.

What genre do you gravitate toward and why?

I dabble in many genres. Why? I would be doing a disservice limiting myself to one genre. Cemetery Street is a coming of age tragedy/tearjerker –Shangri-La Trailer Park is a dark comedy. I also have a political satire and a ghost story in the pipeline. A writer friend calls my tendencies schizophrenic – simply because I don’t linger within one genre. A common link through my work is that the settings are contemporary. That could change in the future, but my ‘schizophrenia’ would have to deepen.

What are your work habits like?

I prefer writing in the wee hours. I usually take an evening nap, wake up around two AM and write at least two hours before turning in. Living in the mountains of Montana, the calm of the night resonates with me – during the summer, when the windows are open, I find inspiration in the sound of the creek or on occasion, the sounds of wildlife - especially coyotes and wolves. During the winter, the full moon on snow is super inspiring. If I’m lucky, I’ll catch the shadow of the muse lurking within the night.

What do you consider your best work?

That’s a hard question, it’s like asking a parent what child is their favorite. Cemetery Street is emotional – which I love. Any book that elicits emotion is a winner with me. Shangri-La Trailer Park is gritty, it really looks at the dark side of life with a humorous, if not offensive eye. Nightwatching – my ghost story – packs a wallop, it has more twists and turns than a mountain road. My current work – Montana Rural – has some intense moments that have left members of my writer’s group cursing the characters for their actions. That being said, can I take a powder on the question and give you an answer in twenty years?

Do you plot out your novels in advance or do you write on the fly?

I’ve set out to do both. Cemetery Street was plotted, as is its forthcoming sequel Montana Rural. Shangri-La Trailer Park, Nightwatching and Dirty Bum for President piloted themselves.

What experience do you want for your readers?

I want them to have an emotional experience. I hope readers relate to my characters and have lingering images of them. My job is complete when long after a reader finishes reading one of my books the characters resonates in their memories like old friends.

Are any of your character traits or settings based on real life?

That goes without saying! Most characters and settings are, but I always will add extra elements. I’ve been asked if Cemetery Street is autobiographical – other than the settings, it is not. I believe you have to add realistic settings – they’re the canvass on which the painting of the story rests. It would be an injustice to craft a beautiful picture on a paper bag. It cheapens the art.

What are your most significant challenges when you write?

Getting started. Once I silence the prattle in my mind and fall into my chair, magic happens.

What are you currently working on?

Montana Rural – it’s a story of a dysfunctional rural fire district in Montana.
Do you have any writing advice you would like to share with aspiring authors?
Be tenacious and never, ever, give up! Actively seek insight and criticism, and when someone criticizes you or your work, use their words as fuel to fire your creative engines. Stay true to the passion that initially inspired you to write.




Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

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Thank you, John! The book looks great. - LR

Interview: Holly Barbo, author of The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling

Author Bio: "Holly Barbo’s world is shaped by her love of her family, the beauty of the natural world and an irrepressible creative drive. When she is not writing she is happily working beside her husband of thirty-six years building custom furniture.

She has currently completed four books in The Sage Seed Chronicles series. The first one (The Unraveling) has just come out as an ebook. A paper edition will be formatted before December and can be purchased from the publisher: Red Willow Press."

What inspires your stories?

I live in a very beautiful spot in Washington State. The scenery’s incredible with a rich abundance of wildlife. This is so special and soothing that it feels like a quiet kind of magic. I’m drawn to creating stories where there is just a bit of something unworldly. Perhaps it is magic or psychic skills. They are mostly in non urban settings and usually have some kind of wildlife. I also like to escape when I read so I create the discordant drama inside the peaceful frame.

What genre do you gravitate toward and why?

I’m an eclectic reader. Anne McCaffrey’s science fiction, Patricia McKillip’s fantasy are mixed with several murder, suspense and mystery authors. So when I write I tend to blur the edges of some genres by mixing element together. Because I like to be transported to another place when I read, I tend to write in the science fiction and fantasy area. Creating my own world is both complex and very satisfying. Usually I tell people that I don’t have monsters in my stories as people can be monstrous enough. Perhaps I should qualify that statement by saying that I do stretch my wildlife just a bit beyond what we know here.

What are your work habits like?

Like many authors I have a day job. The interesting thing is that I am self employed. It’s a creative life. There are times when I am doing something that doesn’t require my whole brain. Then I am usually mentally working on my plot. I can have my laptop in the shop with me and take moments to write while some project is drying. In the evening I write while the plot flows out of my finger tips. I, pretty much, hit the ground running and go full tilt all day until around nine at night. Then I fold.

What do you consider your best work?

Hmm. Best? I’m not sure if I am qualified to answer that as I am too close to my work, but I can tell you that my favorite books in the series are: “The Unraveling” and it’s sequel “The Reweaving” because of the characters. I’m very fond of Erin and her companions. Erin started as a frightened girl and developed into a strong young woman who confidently faced down her fears and earned the respect of others. Her companions are multi faceted and I delighted in their depth. I particularly like Tempo.

Do you plot out your novels in advance or do you write on the fly?

A little of both. Wait a minute. Let me check the definition of terms. If you mean by “plot out”, do I write a synopsis and follow it in my writing? I didn’t know that was what I was “suppose” to do until I was querying for an agent earlier this year. A good percentage of “The Unraveling” happened outside of myself. It literally flowed out of my fingertips. I finally managed to take back the reins by the end of the book. The subsequent books were more under my control and I wrote as the story developed but had a plot line in my head as a structure.

What experience do you want for your readers?

I would like them to be sucked into the story, experiencing this unique world and holding their breath as Erin’s life is imperiled. I want them to be captivated by each of her companions and to care about the planetary danger that “the seeker’s” actions have set up. I want it to be a page turner.

Are any of your character traits or settings based on real life?

Yes. There are bits and pieces of my life in the book. The “Wise Woman”, Ree, is loosely based on my Grandmother Chérie as is her home, the cabin on the bend on the river. Washington State has a diverse topography from semi arid to temperate rainforest. The planet Ose’s land mass has many of those same elements. I once had a pet skunk. I know the idiosyncrasies of the little animals and Tempo was based on that knowledge. The rest are blends of personalities or snatches of experiences from my past.

What are your most significant challenges when you write?

When the story is happening I am challenged to type fast enough. I know that sounds funny but I type with two or three fingers. I have written these books while working doing something else. I haven’t ever had uninterrupted time to write. I’ve adapted by using the time away from the keyboard to “brew” the story.

What are you currently working on?

I left a “loose thread” in the Sage Seed series and I have been stewing on that fifth book but I have been working on a new book “The Sun Stone”. It is unrelated to these stories.

Do you have any writing advice you would like to share with aspiring authors?

I can only speak from my perspective. I’m not an expert by a long stretch. My advice? Write with passion about something you are really interested in. Go with the flow. Write from a stream of consciousness as you are composing the story. You can always go back and smooth it, filling in or deleting as you work. Don’t let that job get away from you but rework what you have written one chapter at a time. Develop your complexities down through the sub plots and back story and liberally sprinkle in the imagery gems that enrich the picture. Keep writing.

The Sage Seed Chronicles, The Unraveling

Erin’s parents have been murdered. Breaking through her grief is the awareness of unusual abilities that she has never had before. She can now communicate with animals! What grips her attention, though, is the malevolent energy she can sense seeking her to kill her also! As she frantically eludes the killer she concentrates on the deadly questions she has to solve: Who murdered her parents, why and why are they trying to kill her too. So focused is she that the quakes and storms don’t at first elicit any more than a “Oh Scrum!” Erin doesn’t realize until much later that the quakes are related to the deaths and things are getting worse as more murders occur! The fabric of her world is literally unraveling!

Erin is a young woman who faces the danger she is in, on her own terms. She cuts off her hair and hides herself, in plain sight, as a scruffy boy, taking a job on the guild caravan as it winds through the realm. Her wild companions, a falcon, a skunk and an owl are indispensable on her quest, as is Lor, the glow stone guild member. He is also one of the few, like Erin, who carry the sage seed and has secret unique talents.


Available at

Apple iBook store

Smashwords

Amazon

Barnes & Noble




The website for the series is HERE and you can find Holly on Twitter - @sageseedseries

The sequel, The Reweaving, is coming soon.

Thank you for interviewing, Holly! - LR