Hey, hey! Come give my author alter-ego, Devon Winterson, a "Like" on Facebook, and read a posted excerpt from my dark fantasy novel, The Perfect Player, every Tuesday until November 11th! 

Word of the week: netherworld /ˈneT͟Hərˌwərld/ - noun – (hear it!) - the underworld of the dead; hell.

Influences

Every so often a reader will ask me: “Where do your ideas come from?”

Usually I tell them ideas just pop into my head. Which they do. Often. That’s the easy part. The “Why?” and “How?” are normally the harder questions—ones people don’t think to ask—and are really the reasons behind what we writers write most of the time.

Influences.

All around, every day, writers are constantly influenced by everything around them, whether consciously or subconsciously, and every set of influences (plus the reactions to those influences) is different for every writer.

A couple kissing on a park bench, for example, may evoke feelings of love, devotion, and possibly yearning in one writer, whereas it might provoke the deep desire to retch in another. And while the second writer might view a lion’s bloody takedown of a limping gazelle as strong, powerful, and nature’s efficient way of weeding out the weak, the first writer may shudder and whine at the injustice of a helpless animal’s death.

What we writers do with what we’re shown and handed over the years usually filters through and into our stories—big time!—and it often shapes what we write and how our characters react to certain things.

Caendoria, my own fantasy world, has been influenced by a couple of things both *kind of* well known and not well known at all.

What the hell do I mean by that?? Here, I’ll show you.

Pop quiz!

How many of you recognize this . . .

Baron of Hell

. . . and this?

Cyberdemon

If you’ve lived through the nineties and played a game called Doom by id Software, then you’re probably familiar with the Barons of Hell, and the powerful Cyberdemon (respectively), who kind of seemed like the Barons’ overseer.

Maybe. I don’t know.

Anyway, I always thought they looked pretty cool. And massive. And just plain ol’ downright awesome. Thus, the creation of my netherworld demons were influenced by the structure of these demonic characters. With my own twists to them, of course. (All authors add in their own twists to stuff we’re influenced by!) In the end, my own rendition of these demons have become the dystopian element in the otherwise perfect world of Caendoria.

Now, how about this? . . .

Again, if you’ve lived through the nineties, you’ve probably heard of a game called Myst by Cyan Worlds, created by Rand and Robyn Miller. Way before I ever started seriously writing (and waayy before I had children), my husband and I would sit together for hours upon hours, solving the puzzles inside the storyline, progressively unlocking each secret as we proceeded through the game.

Awesome enough, to be sure!

But the elements! Ah, the elements . . . they were purely fascinating—nearly utopian, beautifully rendered, and [mostly] pleasing to all of the senses (well, if one goes further into one’s imagination; ghost smells and all that, you know . . . ).

Little did I know these bits and pieces would captivate my then-dormant writer’s mind and lodge securely to later be altered and rendered; picked apart, stretched out, and twisted up like twisty ties to create the world I now know as Caendoria: lavender sky and grasses; thick, drinkable liquid—iridescent by day, blue luminescent by night; silver- and gold-topped trees; intricate mechanisms hidden throughout the world. All sorts of fun and unusual stuffs!

Yes . . . so now you know a little of the “Why?” and “How?” behind what I write. Behind what all writers write, really.

Influences. All around, every day. Things take root in our minds, our hearts, our feelings, then we mix and match in unique ways, and write it all down for everyone to share.

And if you really want to know: I am that second writer in my “limping gazelle/lion take down” paragraph. Well, minus the kissing. Kissing’s nice. Unless you see a lion kissing a gazelle. Now that would be weird.

Thus, my wonderful blog readers, I leave you with a fly-through across the Ages . . . literally. Tribute to the Myst Ages. (Note: You may need to lighten your monitor. The trailer's a bit on the dark side.)

Word of the week: ebullience - \i-ˈbu̇l-yən(t)s, -ˈbəl-\ - noun - (hear it!) - the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts or feelings

Indie Author of the Month: Please Come Meet . . . Lisa M. Green

(From my Amazon review of The First.)

For several months, I’d waited for The First to be released, truly tempted to read the sample chapters from Lisa’s website, but knew I’d much rather wait for the full version on my Kindle so I could take in the story as a whole . . . and the wait was very worth it.

Lisa takes her readers on an fantastic journey straight from the inside out, fairly turning the main character (Rinni) on her head with startling revelations about herself, her people, and the lifestyle and world she once took for granted and thought she understood, with a wholly unexpected ending that’s sure to make readers think. It sparked my want to read the story again, not only because it’s a well-written book, but also to see with more clarity and foresight how connections are made from start to finish.

Certainly Lisa has taken great pains to polish the prose in The First to a near-perfect shine, and has created a world with characters so very much alive, they practically grab you by the hand and immerse you into the unfolding tale—everything a great book should be and should do for a reader.

Did I have a couple of niggles? Sure I did. But even though the main character voiced her direct thoughts immediately after (which, to my editor’s mind, lent itself to repetition), and Rinni’s reaction to a handful of situations bordered slightly on melodramatic, neither of these detracted from my overall enjoyment of the story.

The First is a solid, well-written novel, all round. Truth be told, and in my humble opinion, it’s a sumptuous blend of some familiar books—it has the feel of The Giver, plus a bit of Wool, all tied up with a very slight smidgen of the Hunger Games—yet in the end, Lisa’s debut novel is an entity all its own, and a book I highly recommend for those looking to read a truly entertaining tale.

And so, without further ado, here’s Lisa to tell you a little about herself. Come, read, enjoy . . . and please, always support indie authors.

* * *

Greetings and salutations, friends! My name is Lisa M. Green, though, in truth, it isn’t. Not yet. It will be soon, once I’ve said my vows and slipped on the Ring of Binding (+1 patience, +2 loyalty). I’m a high school teacher with a teenage daughter (+50 patience). Oh, and I write. Fantasy, of the mythic and paranormal variety, with a bit of might and magic to come.

You could call me a teacher who loves to write. You could call me a writer who loves to teach. But the truth is that I am both, separately and together. I teach literature and writing to high school students. I’ve been writing since I was a very young child, even having my young ego stroked with writing awards and accolades through school competitions. Perhaps that fueled my desire to continue. Perhaps writing is just a part of who I am.

The goal I was working toward was a career in writing, but somehow I talked myself into believing that I could never make a living out of such an uncertain path. Maybe that was true at the time. Either way, I turned to another career I had always considered—teaching—in part because my mother is a teacher. I love teaching literature, as well as writing. Writing has always come naturally to me, but I stopped believing in my ability to actually get published a long time ago. I was scared. And complacent.

But then the muse struck me. To be more specific, she smacked me across the face with a metal baseball bat. And so I began to write what would become my first full-length novel. My college courses in grammar and linguistics, as well as creative writing and editing, helped tremendously in shaping my path through such an enormous endeavor. Yes, I had always been naturally adept at writing and revising, but those experiences pushed me to a completely different level.

Without the current atmosphere within the self-publishing industry, I might never have accomplished my dream of publishing a novel. I will never know if a publisher would have scooped up my manuscript because I made a gut-churning, nausea-inducing decision to avoid the publishing houses altogether. Some may say that it was a big mistake not to try. Some may think that my work must be sub-par since I wouldn’t let a professional take a look at it. Some may have no clue how subjective and time-consuming that process actually is.

The First is a story of truth, trust, and sacrifice. A young woman, determined not to fall prey to the consequences of inaction, must brave the nightmares beyond her known world in order to fight back against the nightmare within that is slowly killing her village and her people. As a mythic and paranormal fantasy novel, it may not be for everyone, but the professionalism involved should be apparent. With the insurmountable mass of self-published work out there, it is very difficult for those with a professional background to stand out amongst what I like to call “hobbyists.” There is nothing wrong with writing as a hobby, or writing because you love it, but for those who wish to go further and develop a career in the field, the task is a bit overwhelming.

But I will not lose hope. I will not give up. In fact, I am currently writing my second novel—most likely a series—in the fantasy genre. It’s full of magic and time travel and all sorts of other goodies, and I’m quite enjoying the experience. I honestly love to write. I’m overwhelmed with a feeling of euphoric ebullience whenever the muse hits me, despite her sometimes malevolent nature :-P

Being in the earlier stages of my writing process, more research than writing has occurred so far. Names and meanings are very important to me, so I tend to spend a good deal of time finding just the right word or name for many aspects. This wasn’t the case for everything in my debut novel (the character names were straight out of my head, but place and object names were often significant). However, this new series involves some very in-depth research on name meanings.

If I’ve piqued your interest, you can check out the first eleven chapters of The First on my website or via a PDF download. My website’s main page is located at lisamgreen.com. You can also download samples from Amazon or Goodreads. The book was released on February 25, 2014, and it’s available at the following locations: my website (print and all digital formats), Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple iBooks, Kobo, as well as many others. You can also order it from your local independent bookstore.

We Interrupt Our Regular Post . . .

Hello and good late-morning (or evening, or afternoon, or night, depending on where you are) everyone! The wonderful Lisa M. Green, author of The First, has very graciously invited me to participate in the “My Writing Process” blog tour, where I answer four questions about . . . well, my writing process.

And why is everything in the color green, you ask? Oh, I’m sure once you give it some thought, you’ll come to see the (green) light.

My Writing Process . . . answered by author Devon Winterson:

1) What am I working on? - Recently, I was working on “The Drawing Voice,” the second book in my retrograde timeline Caendorian World novels, from the youthful perspective of Eden, the mother of Marisa, my main character from my first novel, The Perfect Player. But as of late, I’ve decided to change gears and finish up my humorous middle grade novel I’ve been writing with my son (off and on) for five years called “It Happened on Tarantula Island.” A loopy scientist; two rather large, intelligent, preposition-spouting tarantulas; a crew of dunderheaded pirates; a scholarly boy of ten; and a brilliant talking chicken! What could be more fun, really? 

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre? - Well, most dark fantasy, as far as I can tell, contains either vampires or zombies (and sometimes werewolves). While the latter is way cool (Zombies! Yay!), and the former are kind of ho-hum (to me), my novels have packs of sentient hell-spawned demons who get high from devouring human flesh and blood. But since I haven’t read every book in the universe, there may be something similar out there. If there is, it’s not exactly a very popular subject matter.

3) Why do I write what I do? - I’d like to claim craziness, but I’m no crazier than any other writer. I believe I write what I write because I enjoy delving into the dark corners of the human psyche and giving animalistic creatures more humanistic traits—kind of putting them at our level, and comparing them to humans themselves. I also like to play with situations that could never happen in real life, create fantastic events that I can control (or not!), and help readers understand the messages of tolerance, love, and understanding . . . yes, through dark fantasy. (They’re hidden, but they’re there, those messages.)

4) How does my writing process work? - I sit, write, shake my head in frustration, hit the delete button—many times—write some more, get some coffee, sit down again, write some more, yell at my characters to “DO WHAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO DO!!”, hit the delete button again, and again, and again, write and write and write and write . . . then edit out 90% of what I’ve written. But all silliness aside, I’m pretty much a “by-the seat-of-my-pants” writer. In other words, I love to see where my characters take me as they drag me through their world and out the other side, battered and bruised but “band aided” up and “boo-boos” kissed afterwards. Then I throttle them.

Next Monday, on March 24th, three other writers will give you their own “My Writing Process” answers:

Alianne Donnelly - an author of many hats, including fantasy, romance, paranormal, and post-apocalyptic, probably weaving a brand new tale in her head somewhere at this very moment. She does that. A lot.

Monica Mynk - a mild-mannered Chemistry teacher turned Christian fiction writer. 

Robert Evert - the author of the Riddle in Stone fantasy series; he hasn't ever killed anybody.

So, have you figured out why everything’s green yet?

Whee! Fun With Acrostics!

To tell, or not to tell. How exactly is that a question? Even the least-trained eyes can see, as it stands, that that’s merely a statement to reflect the (quite possibly) wishy-wash-ostiy of this writer’s mind.

Does that mean it couldn’t hold some hidden meaning? Really . . . not. And I’ll show you why. Whereas many blog posts are usually straightforward and make complete sense. I have chosen not to this time—make sense, I mean (and yes, that random sentence cut off was intentional). Not because I want to be cute or funny or silly or icky or even yummy, but because I want to be a pain in the arse and make you think. Green!

Very often I have the word of the week. Only this time, no. I’ve left it off for many reasons, all of which I won’t tell you. Completely because I want to be a noodge. Ever so much, yes.

Right. Eden*? Lemme show you what I’m talking about. Eden’s mind is completely out of synch. As is this blog post. So, as you read it, see if you can discover what I’m trying to tell you through some clever acrostics and distracting prose. Eeek!

Do you get it now? Aha! True enough, that was a question. End sentence.

I’ve also (hint!**) chosen this date (hint!***) as yet another (hint!****) to what I might be (hinting!) at. See . . . (hint!*****)

Many of you by now have probably spat at your computer screen in disgust. Angrily. Riters! Come on, why don’t they ever make a whit of sense?! Ha—or spell correctly!

True though it may be (not!), I’ve left you with a frustrating riddle to puzzle out enigmatically. Har-dee-har-harr! Is it easy? Really, that depends on what “it” is. Truly, things will soon change at The Ether of my Imagination, yes. Every 13th. Every month. New post. To tell, or not to tell. How exactly is that a question?

* * *

*Eden is Marisa’s crazy mother in my dark fantasy novel, The Perfect Player. She’ll have her own book soon.

**Think “acrostics.”

***Look up “acrostics”

****Fine, here’s a link to “acrostics.”

*****Rrrugh! All right! Here’s the answer!

Indie author shout out: Hey, hey everyone! Come take a walk on the cyberpunk side with Tyro Vogel's novelette, Extatica. Wild and strange and sexy, all wrapped into one. [please note: mature audiences only] Available at Smashwords, pay what you'd like!

Word of the week: cantankerous \kan-ˈtaŋ-k(ə-)rəs, kən-\ - adjective - (hear it!) - :  difficult or irritating to deal with 

Two Months, Too Little, Too Soon to Tell

Hark and hear ye, thus and so, lo and behold and other random old exclamations connected by conjunctions!

Two months since the release of The Perfect Player, two months since Marisa and Locrian, Donovan and Eden, Lamont and Daft, Throe, Abigale, Ariana, Kahlil and Tayib have snagged the hearts and minds of those I’ve lovingly coined as “my underground readership.”

Yes, a modest cluster of actual readers—many of whom I know, though some of whom are still strangers—truly like my novel. Even those who aren’t fantasy readers! And here I was worried about its reception. Well, you know . . . demons and death and destruction and all that, it’s hard not to worry . . .

So how fairest the book thus far, you ask? Well, it fairest fairly well, thank you. Absolutely by no means is it a lifestyle supporter; not even a decent paycheck, really. Modest returns, all told.

Honestly, if I were forced at popgun-point to sit down and figure the amount of time spent near-perfecting the book in relation to the amount of profit its taken in? Well . . . let’s just say minimum wage has never been that low.

Not even close.

In fact, no one in his right mind would ever work for such laughably pitiful wages.

Fortunately, authors aren’t usually in their right minds, and readers often benefit from our crazy love for writing until our fingers fall off and our minds turn to baby mush as we forgo sleep and sustenance . . . um, well, everything except coffee, that is.

But you know what? After much hemming and hawing and grumbling and fuming, and strong (albeit brief) disappointment in the work-to-monetary reward ratio, I’ve come to accept what I’ve always known in my heart: the story lives because of its readers.

Currently, it’s in the hands of 640 people (both sold and through giveaways) . . . and that’s 640 more readers it has now, than if I’d continued to crack my skull against the brick wall of trad-publishing rejections.

So, where to now? Best advice I’ve ever heard: Release your first book, start your second. Sounds simple, right?

Yes . . . well . . . um . . .

*ahem*

Hmph! Right. Go ahead, you try working with a cantankerous red-haired teen who flatly refuses to crawl out of bed until she feels so inclined, then demands her story be told in first person—period. [insert spitting action here]

*sigh*

At least I’d managed to talk her out of a retelling in present tense . . . for now.

Word of the week: penis \ˈpē-nəs\ - (hear it! - wait, actually, no need for that, never mind) - noun - (as defined in the medical dictionary under Merriam-Webster) : the male copulatory organ of a higher vertebrate animal that in mammals including humans usually functions as the channel by which urine leaves the body and is typically a cylindrical organ that is suspended from the pubic arch, contains a pair of large lateral corpora cavernosa and a smaller ventromedial corpus cavernosum containing the urethra, and has a terminal glans enclosing the ends of the corpora cavernosa, covered by mucous membrane, and sheathed by a foreskin continuous with the skin covering the body of the organ.

*  *  *

Today’s readers are so lucky.

Yes. Lucky.

Why do I say this?

Look around you. There’s a veritable smörgåsbord of indie authors out there. Anywhere we turn, another one crops up.

And some of them are good—really good!

A long-time friend of mine (a reader, not a writer) told me she’s sick of reading the “same old, same old.” You know, those novels that so strictly adhere to some formulaic concoction or another, one can pretty much predict, scene for scene, what’s going to happen, when, and how.

“Cookie cutter” novels, I call these.

And they can get really BORRRRIIIING.

So, I seek out Indies. Good Indies. Indies whose books often don’t follow these “cookie cutter” patterns but deviate from the norm and weave plots so intricate it’s nearly impossible to disbelieve the story worlds, even when magic and a gazillion other improbable things abound—tenfold! 

The Royal Wizard

And here, today, I’d like to feature one of these excellent indie authors whose fantasy world (like another prominent fantasy indie I featured last year) has captivated my fussy fantasy mind with her novel, The Royal Wizard, and believe me, I’m really looking forward to reading more of her work. 

So please allow me to introduce the wonderful, talented . . . Alianne Donnelly!

* * *
I blame high school for setting me on the path to becoming a writer, and for you reading this oddly composed post years later. Not in any direct way, mind you, but as a byproduct of sucking so bad as to make my soul wail in heart wrenching sobs against the mind-destroying conformity of all-girls catholic school uniforms (which are nowhere near as fashionable as the adult magazine industry would have you believe). Okay, so I mixed a few metaphors there, but you get the point. High school bad. Daydreams good. And boy, did my daydreams bloom.

Interesting factoid: the more you distance yourself from the everyday, the easier it is to look down on the world and imagine shoving it under a running faucet, scrubbing it clean, and then bedazzling it in fantastic hues of awesome. My subliminally transmutative travels took me to places far and wide, from the ancient forests of Northern Europe to distant planets millennia in the future. I dabbled in magics and DNA recombination, military strategies, political intrigue, and above all, love. One should always dabble in love. It’s the funnest thing in the world. Until someone gets hurt. Which they do…

Anyway, long story short, hi. My name is Alianne and I am a dreamaholic. [Pause for the obligatory, “Hi Alianne.”] Now, having taken the first step to introductions, I should probably spell out that I am not crazy. I can’t be. I have a website, look: http://aliannedonnelly.com Although, that’s what they all say, so I don’t know how you’ll be able to tell the difference. I write paranormal and fantasy romance, which you can read about at the above stated site, or purchase at any reputable e-book retailer (hint, hint). At the moment I am battling some very unruly characters in Blood Hunt, the fourth book in my Blood Series. She’s insane, he drove her to it—they’re a match made in heaven! My beta tells me this is my best writing yet so I fully expect it to hit all the Bestseller charts the first week. ;) But by the time you read this, I’ll probably have finished it and moved on to Dragonborn, book two in the Dragonborn Series. This one’s all fantasy, dragons and magic and its official tag line is, “When demons fly, the world will burn.” If all goes well, both of these should be release-ready in 2014. I am crossing all my fingers and toes that it may be so.

As you might have gathered, I’m not very good at talking about myself or my books. The lovely hostess Kimberly left the questions frustratingly free-form with a few guidelines, which I’ll bet she's regretting now. ;) Her one rule was that I had utilize a rarely used word somewhere in my 2-5 paragraphs, so, to adhere to protocol and avoid her wrath, here I go:

Penis.

*  *  *
You can download Alianne's books at Amazon and Smashwords. But even better, (everything's listed and linked!) from her website: aliannedonnelly.com

Word of the week: resplendent /riˈsplendənt/ - (hear it!) - adjective - shining brilliantly : characterized by a glowing splendor - Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Indie Author of the Month: Please Come Meet . . . Lorraine Sears

All right, everyone. I gotta be honest with you. No words can convey the admiration I hold for this month’s indie author.

No, really.

For as long as I’ve known her (and it’s been quite a few years at WB!), she’s been an absolute wonder: heavily involved in so much, yet she manages to balance her time and various workloads with what seems to be a fine-point precision. She’s everywhere all at once—doing, doing, doing—yet she still finds the time to not only write a full novel (indeed, a whole series of them!), but also strengthen and nurture the bonds of friendship both near and at great distances via the internet. She’s strong and honest, kind and wonderful, and I’m very happy to know her as a good friend and fellow indie author.

So, as December 13th rapidly approaches—the official release date of Soul Reunion (first book of the Soul Takers series)—please consider supporting indie author Lorraine Sears in her writing and publishing endeavors.

But first, come learn a little bit about her here, now, at the Ether of my Imagination. Please let me introduce . . . Lorraine Sears.

* * *

If I could step back in time and tell my teenage self that personal discovery doesn’t happen until you’re a lot older, I think life would have been very different. But ever since I seriously took up the pen again in my mid-thirties, I’ve been finding out all sorts of strange and unusual things about myself.

For instance, I have an overriding need to be continuously, mentally active. My mind has to be occupied at all times, from the moment my eyes open around 6 a.m., until the second sleep catches up with me (after I’ve spent a while reading in bed) after 10:30 p.m. I was once told I’d benefit from meditation, but I don’t think I could stand the silence.

Whether I am reading, writing, listening to music or watching TV, there has to be mental input. My head is a large funnel with everything pouring in, and the output is my writing. I write technical documents for work, non-fiction on my blog, the occasional article, and of course, my fiction.

I’ve written shorts and had them published and I’ve got the all-important trunk novel in at least three different incarnations. But my main focus for the last three years and into the foreseeable future is my Soul Taker series. The first of which, Soul Reunion, is released on December 13th this year.

I’ve always loved stories of the paranormal variety; even as a child they mystified and intrigued me. A few years ago I stumbled across Christine Feehan’s Carpathian series, which combined the paranormal with romance. … Romance, blegh. Until then, I’d avoided slushy romantic novels like they were contagious diseases. But when you have a hunky immortal male worshipping a delicate human female, and going through all sorts of trials to be together forever … well. I’ve always been a sucker for a happy ending and paranormal romance has those by the bookshelf.

After reading the works of Feehan, then Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter, then finally my favourite, J.R. Ward, I was eager to create a paranormal romance series of my own. But with so many fantastic para-rom authors already out there, I needed something new. Something different. As much as I enjoy reading about vampires, they have been done to death. And some writers (no names mentioned), have taken so many liberties with vampire lore that it’s lost all its bite (pun intended). Werewolves are cool too, and I know I’ve got a great were-story inside me, but I wanted to bring a series to life like J.R. Ward has done with the Black Dagger Brotherhood. I wanted to create a world and develop characters that would pop in and out of each others’ stories. So, I came up with my Soul Takers. And I haven’t looked back since.

All my free time is taken up with literary pursuits. Because I read a lot and write book reviews I’ve been approached by several authors asking me to read and review their work, which is a real compliment. I’ve also been approached by a publishing company; now, as one of their pro-readers I get new releases in my favourite genres delivered to my door, to review upon release. Finding time to read is easy for a non-driver like myself. I have an hour’s commute on the bus every day, and a good book makes the time fly.

As a working wife and mother, there’s always plenty that could get in the way of my writing, if I chose to let it. But through my job I’ve learned the value of planning and prioritising with both family time, housework and writing. I can normally find between at least 2-3 hours every day to commit to writing and other related activities.

With my children getting older, it’s marginally easier to find time to write. They’re more interested in doing their own thing: hanging out with friends, etc. They’re not in that baby state where I have to watch them every second of the day to make sure they’re not swallowing pennies or writing on my walls. But I’m never cut off from them. Even when I’m writing, I’m accessible—I don’t have a choice. My resplendent workspace is in the corner of the dining room. And as we’re open plan, this means I’m never out of sight. Thankfully I’m pretty good at pausing thoughts mid-think so I can make drinks, find shoes and referee the odd sibling altercation.

However, the best, most constructive writing for me is early in the morning, after my postman hubby has gone to work and before my children wake up for school and I get ready for work. I usually get between an hour to 90 minutes all to myself. Otherwise it’s in the school holiday when hubby takes the children down to visit their granddad for a few days. Those times are golden. I’m answerable only to me and my whole day outside of work is about me and my writing activities; I even eat my dinner one handed while I work.

Because writing is so important to me, I want to help and support others who also enjoy it. So it’s a real privilege for me to be on the Writer’s Beat staff team where I can do just that. Even better, as Managing Editor of the Oddville Press, I also get to promote talented authors between our pages and delight our readers with their work.

Writing is definitely more than a hobby for me. It’s a coping mechanism for life. On days when I feel low, perhaps missing my mum, I’ll write about her and the good times we shared. When hubby frustrates the hell out of me, I’ll write about the scenario to get it off my chest (sometimes it actually helps me see things from his perspective too). If the children do or say something funny, I like to write about it to capture the moment, a literary photograph. And, when I just want to relax and enjoy myself I’ll write my stories and chill out with my characters.

Writing is not just my hobby. It’s my way of life!

*  *  *

Come visit Lorraine at her blog: Red Lorry's Journey

Word of the week: amuck \ə-ˈmək, -ˈmäk\ (hear it!) - adverb - in a wild or uncontrolled manner – Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Four Fantastically Fabulous, Fancy Fellow . . . Um, Indies

Ahh . . .

Now that I’ve finally shoved my ten year old “novel child” out the door and into the big, bad world, having strongly encouraged it to run amuck like a mad-book, screaming and yelling and wreaking havoc of the most dark and gritty kind, I can at last spotlight some of my fabulous fellow indie authors.

And what a set I have for you! Four very talented ladies I’m very privileged to know. Please let me introduce (or re-introduce, as the case may be) these wonderful writers and present their current and future offerings . . .

* * *

Court Ellyn – I had interviewed her way back in January, spotlighting her two very well written and in-depth novels, Blood of the Falcon – Volumes I and II, the beginning of what’s known as the Falcons Saga. Her books were my first real foray into reading other indie authors’ work, and what a treat they were! Much of the time I had forgotten I was even reading an indie author published book, they were that good, and when I discovered the Falcons Saga storyline and its various characters were to be continued possibly by the end of this year . . . believe me, this thought never left my mind, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting the next book’s arrival.

Well, guess what? The wait is over.

Sons of the Falcon is here, folks! And if you’re strongly into fantasy novels, be sure to grab it!

Download it at Amazon for Kindle, or order it from CreateSpace if you’re of the more traditional, “gotta have a physical book in my hands” person.

Me? I’ll be getting a hard copy, signed by the author herself.

Hey, enjoy chapter one here, at Court Ellyn’s website!

Or keep up with her blog, Wordweaver.

One indie author you don’t want to miss out on!

* * *

Holly Kothe – I’ve always enjoyed the writings of this fellow Writer’s Beat member whenever she’s had the chance to post a piece up for critique at our snappy little writing community. Even in semi-rough draft form, her stories are several hands above most with their interesting concepts and characters who fairly jump off the page. I know she has a novel in the works, but that’s further on down the line.

For now, she’s decided to put together a collection of four short stories, Sweet Violent Femmes, [official release - tomorrow, November 23rd!] and here’s her back cover blurb . . . a small taste to whet your appetite for the full deal:

"Within a month, my romantic, Lost Generation fantasy of the city had sharpened into reality. The only moveable feast I'd found in Paris was of the fleshly variety - a constant supply of lithe, undulating bodies presented under glass, offering every view to the clientele."

In this dark and disturbing collection, Kothe explores themes of the damaged, the devious, and the deranged heroine, and examines the consequences of pushing the female heart one step too far.

The Glass Room
An American girl maintaining her comfortable Parisian lifestyle as a high-end brothel escort faces off with a mysterious client whose sadistic dependencies threaten her livelihood.

Tethered
After a passionate quarrel with her conflicted lover, a woman realizes that the best kind of relationships are the eternal kind. Sometimes the man just needs a little push ...

Seeing Black
A lonely librarian nursing a broken heart gathers liquid courage in preparation for her sister's visit, and struggles with a peculiar ailment she's had since puberty.

Feminist Theory
A troubled but diligent chemistry student reacts to the unsavory intentions of a predatory psychology professor.

. . . and having had a sneak preview of this collection, I can tell you this with absolute certainty: If you like dark and edgy with female protags who take no shit from anyone, then Sweet Violent Femmes needs to be on your “to read” list.

Come visit Holly's blog: A Little Literary (A Lotta Coffee)

* * *

Lisa M. Green – Another wonderful fellow Writer’s Beat member whose writing I’ve yet to become acquainted with—

“Hang on,” you say. “If you aren’t familiar with her writing yet, then how in blue blazes can you back her with such certainty?”

Because already she’s shown such a high level of professionalism, drive, and dedication to her forthcoming novel, The First, that I can’t help but suspect her writing and her story will be just as powerful and just as near-perfect. (Not totally perfect, mind you; after all, nothing’s completely perfect.)

Spending a great deal of time in various writing circles helps one develop a “nose” for who’s serious about their writing success, and who merely “dabbles” or attempts self publishing for that alleged “easy way out” (which is as mythical as the jackalope).

No doubt Lisa is the former—strong and serious with a eye on success—and you can help back her debut novel at her kickstarter campaign: The First. View the video, and read sample chapters.

Come visit Lisa's website, and her blog.
  

* * *

Lorraine Sears – My dear friend and Writer’s Beat staff comrade has been working very hard on polishing up Soul Reunion, the first novel in her Soul Takers series, unique tales of the steamy para-rom variety. Para-what?! you exclaim. Para-rom – paranormal romance, a sub-genre of the more traditional romance novel whose focus is indeed romance with elements of fantasy, science fiction, and/or horror mixed in, and prevalent relationships between human and the unusual: vampires, werewolves, ghosts, shapeshifters . . . you name it.

Through her Soul Takers series, Lorraine has constructed a fascinating fantasy world of strong, handsome Soul Takers and their beautiful counterparts, Death Dealers (and yes, they are beautiful despite the title!), as they all strive under the all-powerful Marshall to keep evil from devouring the whole of mankind and beyond.

 
In her forthcoming novel, Soul Reunion, secret a web of deceit and betrayal must be unraveled and destroyed for main characters Goran and Maya—Soul Taker and Death Dealer, mated lovers for an eternity—to be together as one once more.

Soul Reunion, debut novel by Lorraine Sears, is slated for release for Kindle on December 13th, 2013, and I’ll be interviewing Lorraine next month on December 11th at the eleventh hour, so much more about her will be coming your way!



In the meantime, visit Lorraine's blog, Red Lorry's Journey, and see what she has to say!

* * *

I’m so proud to be able to help support my fellow indie authors and their writing endeavors, as we together struggle to get our names and our projects known to the wide world. Please, consider supporting them, too.

Read, rate, review. It’s the best gift you could give an indie author.

Three-Part Perfect Player Post, Parsed and Pieced by a Persnickety Pest

PART THREE

IT ALL COMES FULL CIRCLE
(read the first and second parts here)

So, after months and months and months of in-depth studying, armed with my super-fancy, now-polished, brand-spanking new manuscript (having been numerous times thoroughly critiqued and beta-read) and a fine-tuned query letter I’d altered time and again to fit the individual needs of each agent and publisher, I submitted everything a second time, sat back to wait, and . . .

No—slam!

No—slam!

No—slam!

No—slam!

. . . it was the same damned thing all over again.

*sigh*

Well, at least no one called me a squeegee.

“Do it right, or do not do it at all,” my muse had said to me.

Of course. By all means. And we’re all familiar with that saying: “If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself.”

So this, patient readers, brings me completely full-circle, back to my first post made on November 11th, 2012.

Only it hasn’t begun. It’s finally finished.

Once 365 days left, now none. Short story collections are all out and available.

And that ice-cold water I’d plunged into? It’s woken me up to things I’d never before considered: all those whatchamacallits, doohickeys, and whoozywhatsits concerning the publishing business, things I once believed were reserved only for agents, editors, and publishers.

Pfft. Well, dammit, I’m a writer . . . and an editor and a proofreader, and now a cover designer, a formatter (hmm, is that even a word?), a marketer, a publisher (the last four, fairly non-professional, mind you) . . . still learning things, of course. But already I have learned so much, and will continue to do so over the next decade. Period. (Or full stop.)

Whereas ten years prior, I would never have envisioned sitting and planning (and learning!) all that went with publishing my own work, I have now done so, and again, will continue to do so over the next decade.

Yes, I’m still determined. Yes, I’m still sometimes frustrated. Yes, I’m still occasionally perplexed. Yes, I’m still jittery, having drunk so much coffee over the year my eyeballs are now floating. But am I scared yet?

Nope. Wasn’t scared 365 days ago, not scared now. Publishing a novel is a far cry from a natural disaster, and is unlikely to cause personal harm, and it’s definitely not politics (unless you write political thrillers) nor a bunch of angry circus clowns driving heavy machinery through the woods. Trust me, if it were, I’d abandon it—post haste!

It’s indie [author] publishing . . . that ever-hopeful sliver of light shining through the publishing back door, beckoning just the right type of stubborn writer to crash through with a pissed-off war cry on her lips. No more near-impossibly high hoops held aloft by subjective gatekeepers, no more smacking my head against the brick wall of endless rejections, and the contract fairy has long since died, rest her sorry little soul.

Yes. Indie [author] publishing. Cut the middle. Reach the readers. Period. (Or full stop!)

Well, my hell-spawn demons may never overrun the world. But hopefully they will be enjoyed by my ultimate bottom line and true reason I’d plunged face-first into the ice-cold, now partially charted waters of indie [author] publishing: Dark fantasy readers.

So come, follow me. Mayhem awaits. And please, do mind the shards of fragile brains that I’ve left behind on the floor—you know, those parts poisoned by insistent, repeated claims of, “No, you can’t!”—and enter beneath the stone archway to the dark fantasy world that’s been caged up in my mind for so, so, so long.

Yes, The Perfect Player: Book One of the Caendorian World, is now available.

Please, I implore you . . . Enjoy.

Download via Amazon (Kindle - free to Amazon Prime members!)

Read the thoughts of those unwitting minds I’ve snagged (reviews)

• Goodreads
• Wordweaver
• The Bearded Scribe

Read the prologue and chapter one – for free! Click here.

Quote from Dr. Seuss