For the Merry Month of Mae: Guest Blogger Angela Yuriko Smith

A while back I read a great indie book called the End of Mae, and made a friends with its author, Angela Smith.  Now she has taken End of Mae, as well as her other book, No Money Marketing, done some polishing, some revisions, and re-released them both into the world.  To celebrate she has embarked on a month long book and blog tour, her Mae Awareness Month.

This blog is one of her tour stops and today Angela is here with a guest post about truth in fiction, plus a book giveaway.  That's right, not only do you get to read her insights, but any and all who read this post get the chance to download a free ebook of End of Mae.
Just pop on over to Smashwords and use the coupon:

End of Mae: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/63958
Promotional price: $0.00
Coupon Code: TU95T
Expires: May 31, 2012

The Truth in Fiction

The best lie contains a grain of truth.  In the same way the best fiction has the aroma of reality pervading its nooks and crannies.  I find for myself that reality tends to wind thru my fabrications without letting me in on the secret.  I'm as surprised as the reader by some of the happenings that occur under my tapping fingers.  Then one day it hits me from nowhere.  What I thought I made up was really something, or someone, that happened.

An example of this is my frigid and cruel character Ms. Prym.  She is described as being thin and severe.  She reminds Mae of a fairytale witch and is only too happy to be the disciplinarian for her master Heylel.  Prym is the scariest creature in the whole tale I think and she affects me on a deeply personal level.  When I started weaving Prym and Heylel's interactions with Mae I found it upsetting enough that I put the whole thing down and wouldn't continue the story for about 5 years.

It was during an interview that I made the connection myself as to who Prym really was to me.  I was asked what inspired her "psychotic Quaker" charm.  I thought a moment and then replied that she kind of reminded me of my 5th grade elementary teacher.  A lightening bolt went off in my mind with clarity and I realised Prym was my 5th grade teacher.  She never actually drug me down to a basement to teach me manners with a board but I imagine she would have, given the opportunity.

Since that first epiphany of the reality that lurked in my fiction I've seen it everywhere.  I harvest characters all the time now in the people I meet in daily life.  By the same token I see shadows of flesh and blood friends peeking thru the eyes of my characters.  It's a way to collect all the most interesting and best parts of everyone I know.  I can hoard smiles and bitter looks like other people keep Longaberger baskets.  Bad days are petri dishes for breeding sour emotions for later use.  Good days can be stored up, savoured and used in times of drought.  Reality is the framework upon which story tellers weave.

That's what I love most about being a writer.  To spin stories is to live in a world painted in shades of reality.  Like ghost whisperers, writers communicate with those even the grave can't wrap around.  We go beyond the veils that segregate the worlds of the living and into unimaginable territory, but only because we haven't thought of it yet.


You can check out Angela's website here:
http://dandilyonfluff.com/

You can find the complete tour schedule for Mae Awareness Month here:  

http://dandilyonfluff.com/coming-soon-mae-awareness-month/

Review of No Money Marketing: All You Need is Like by Angela Yuriko Smith

My Book Review of No Money Marketing: All You Need is Like:

No Money Marketing: All You Need is Like by Angela Yuriko Smith is one author’s view on how to promote your book, culled from her own experiences publicizing her own novel, End of Mae. The approach she uses offers some appealing and creative avenues to book marketing.

The first part of the book is devoted to marketing techniques the author used in the virtual world of Second Life. Now I don’t belong to that Second Life, although I have heard of it, and I always assumed it was more of a recreational website. After reading I find myself quite convinced of its marketing potential for authors; any writer on Second Life (or thinking of joining) should avail themselves of Ms. Smith’s helpful suggestions. The remainder of No Money Marketing: All You Need is Like is geared towards more traditional marketing sites such as Facebook, but even here the author has some individual ideas of where and how to promote your book.

I especially appreciated the fact the author backs up her suggestions with specific information on how her marketing techniques affected her sales and book visibility. So many marketing suggestions tell you that they will boost sales, without the details.

Overall, I found the book had good ideas, written in an easy style and I can recommended it to any author looking for ways to get their books noticed.

Available on:
Smashwords
Amazon Kindle

Falling into Darkness: A Review of End of Mae

My Book Review of End of Mae by Angela Yuriko Smith:

End of Mae by Angela Yuriko Smith is an intriguingly delightful paranormal novel, with a surreal, creepy edge. It has a fast pace, a breezy tone, plus just the right touch of black humour and dark thrills.

The book tells the tale of Mae, a plucky, small-time reporter out to find her “big story”. What she finds instead is a vicious attacker and a strange world of trouble. One she might not be able to leave behind.

The author has a nice turn of phrase for setting a scene and a deft hand at weaving a character. Her villain, Heylel is sinister, complex and not the sort you want to meet in a dark alley, while the heroine, Mae, is feisty, flawed and maybe just a touch self-delusional. Her objectivity and judgement is definitely way off when it comes to handsome men. Both characters interact well and hold your interest.

The plot is solid, a nice straight line to a conclusion that was not quite what I had been expecting. The ending, which I loved, gives a creepy, edgy finish, sprinkled with black humour. It left me wondering if Heylel might have bitten off more than he counted on with Mae.

I did find the book probably could have benefited from more length; the lead up to the closing scenes seemed rushed and Mae’s sudden about face toward Heylel didn’t ring as true as it should have to me. And I would have liked some more background on the dark world Mae fell into; the author dishes out tantalising, mysterious glimpses that left me wanting to know additional details. Perhaps I can hope for a sequel.

Overall, though, End of Mae was very entertaining and I can easily recommend it.

 
End of Mae is also available on Smashwords

You can check out the Spotlight for this book here:
http://afstewartpromotion.blogspot.com/2011/06/book-spotlight-end-of-mae.html