Interview with Author Chad Lehrmann

Today I have an interview with urban fantasy author, Chad Lehrmann, who is here to chat about his writing and books. Enjoy.

Interview with Chad Lehrmann

 

Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself. 

My name is Chad Lehrmann, and I am an independent author from Texas.  I began writing at an early age, but found it difficult to, well, finish writing. In my adult life, I wrote mostly for my career- I was a minister for eleven years, so I wrote curriculum and sermons.  Currently, I am a high school psychology, sociology, and social studies teacher, so I write lessons and curriculum.  I began to blog on education issues in my first year of teaching and started by creating educational parables.  While I enjoyed the discussion of real-life education issues, it was the development of creative stories that most excited me.  After completing my first education book- mostly out of a sense of obligation to finish what I started (see- I matured some!)- I wanted to exclusively devote my writing to fiction.  It was here that I found a release I had long searched for.  The beauty of crafting a character and a world for them to live in was captivating and empowering.  Not to mention a bit therapeutic!  For the first time in a long time, I found an intellectual pursuit that brought me as much happiness as it did challenge.

Could you tell us a bit about your latest book? 

Sawyer Shepherd Chronicles: Rites of Passage introduces us to a world like our own, but when you peel back the edge of the curtain just a bit and you are able to find a supernatural (and demonic) threat just out of sight.  Sawyer Shepherd -just coming into adulthood after a tragic loss- stumbles into a small Colorado town looking for an identity, and quickly gets caught up in an epic battle against an ancient demon.  He has support from local “drunk” Eli Romer (who may know more than he lets on) and Mandy Jane, a college intern with the National Parks that quickly catches Sawyer’s eye.  The story deals with themes and ideas that I had struggled with in my late teens and early twenties, but also digs into the power greed has on us- as seen in supporting characters Lucius Furr, Lennox Dupree, and Elena Cordova.  They are big city developers looking for a big payout.  I went with the tagline of “Face Your Demons” in the promotion of the book, and it was a double-edged truth:  Sawyer faces literal demons, but also the demons of his past, and his own internal doubts and fears; demons in their own right.

 

Who is your intended readership? 

I think the book works for anyone over the age of 13, but I see comparisons with other works of fiction, too.  Fans of Rick Riordan’s Olympus books will find similar characters and humor, but there is also a definite connection to the Supernatural television series.  Fans of these, or of “light horror” will find much to enjoy.  The pace is fast in Rites of Passage, so fans of action and quick reads might also take a look.

  

Why did you write this book? What was your inspiration? 

My family vacations in a small town in Colorado, Lake City.  Outside of town is a memorial to some miners who died in the 1800’s.  What makes this unique is the lone survivor, Alferd Packer (yep, that is spelled right) was accused and convicted of cannibalism.  That story always stuck with me as a story seed- what if a miner or pioneer was accused of killing people, but the real killer was a demon?  From that grew the story of a demon released on a small town trapped in a snowstorm.  Pretty quickly, I knew this would be the story to launce the series surrounding Sawyer Shepherd as he faces even more evils of the supernatural world.

 

Did anything surprise you about the process of writing your book? 

I have seen writers talk about a character taking on a life of their own.  I always thought that was a load of crap until I saw it happen.  Characters that were just one-offs became key-players, and characters I had long-term plans for faded because they made dumb choices.  I find the organic nature of character growth sometimes makes me put characters into situations I do not like- that even makes me uncomfortable.  It is in the growth of the story and character, though. 

 

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer? 

 I have been writing all my life, but it hit me one day when my students asked me the usual question:  “If you were not a teacher, what would you do?”  I got tired of saying I would write but never doing anything to see it through.  So, I sat down and started writing this story that had existed in my head in some form for over twenty years.  And it just kept flowing.

  

Can you tell us about your writing process? Where do your ideas originate? Do you have a certain writing routine? 

I write when I can.  As a teacher, that means stolen moments early in the day or late at night.  When an inspired idea strikes, I make a note in my phone’s Notepad app, and go put it down when I can.  As far as where ideas come from, it is random.  Seeing a unique historical marker set off Rites of Passage.  Book two of the series had some key stuff come from a visit to the City Museum in St. Louis.  I mean, how can you see a school bus on top of a multi-story building and not write an action scene in it?  There were nightmares and dreams from my childhood that inspire some things.  I wrote a short story set in the Sawyer universe that was inspired by my desire to write a chase scene set to Carol of the Bells.

 

 What do you like to do when you're not writing? Any hobbies? 

Teaching is my career, but I also love to read.  I collect comic books and action figures.  But I also love to do woodworking.  I do some wood art, but since March, I have built five Adirondack chairs, a raised bed garden, four 8 foot flower towers, and two more flower planters.  The stay at home orders gave me lots of time. 

 

What’s your next project? Any upcoming book secrets you care to reveal? 

Book two of the series-Red Hand Rising- is out August 4th on Amazon.  It takes Sawyer & Co. to St. Louis on the trail of a demonic serial killer- who might just have ties to the big bad of the series.  I am currently writing book three, and its title is all I want to share right now:  Origins of Man and Myth.

Author Website

 You can find Sawyer Shepherd Chronicles: Rites of Passage on Amazon

Piracy Kills Authors

Book Pirates Suck!

I spent part of today once again taking time (instead of writing) to send out DMCA notices to pirates sites hosting illegal copies of my books. And once again I'm wondering if it is worth continuing to publish my books.

This is what goes through my head every time I find one of my books has been pirated by some arrogant, selfish individual, who has no regard about the consequences of their actions. I wonder why I publish books at all if I inevitably will have to face this total ingratitude and asshole behavior.

Because I don't have to publish books. No writer has to publish their books. We do it because we want to publish. We want to connect with readers.

This is why it is so disheartening when readers use pirate sites. When readers support pirate sites and screw over authors when they do so. And the sad thing is, readers don't have to use pirate sites, not these days. Amazon, Smashwords, author websites, they all offer legal and free or discounted books for readers. Yet piracy persists.

It makes me ask the questions: 

Why am I bothering?

If people think so little of authors why do I publish at all?

And I don't have an answer.

I wish I did. 

I wish I could tell you that it will get better.

But I can't.

I haven't quit yet. Maybe I never will. Or maybe someday I will say, I've had enough. Take your pirated books, I'm done.  If I do, I'm sure my small career will join the sad ranks of dead authors killed by pirates.

A Campfire Chat With Steve Vernon

Today I have a guest stopping by to chat. Talented horror author, and fellow Atlantic Canadian, Steve Vernon discusses writer's block and tips to get through those "staring at the blank page moments" we all have. Plus, there's a peek at his hockey horror book, Sudden Death Overtime. Enjoy...

A CAMPFIRE CHAT WITH STEVE VERNON

ON BURNING THROUGH WRITER’S BLOCK

Autumn is my favorite time of year.

You can feel the changes whispering at hushed gallop in the breeze as the sky leans down to kiss the leaves into bouquets of flame and color. It feels as a doorway has opened up in front of you and you know that you are going to have step right through the doorway into the weird winter world that is just waiting beyond it.

It is November and a lot of you folks – like me – are getting set to take part in NaNoWriMo. You are getting set to try and lay down 50,000 freaking words in a month that is only 30 days long.

That is a daunting task – but it shouldn’t ought to be so.

Let me give you the secret.

Let me whisper it into your ears.

Sit down.

Sit down here at the campfire.

These are magic words to the human ear. The campfire is a place in the universe where we all come to listen to the crackling dance of wood upon flame.

Every time that a writer sits down at their keyboard they get in touch with that inner spark as they blow their words upon the embers of their imagination trying to roar that flame into life.

That is what you need to remember whenever you find yourself at that fatal sticking point. When you start to think too damn much and you worry about what word you are going to put down next.

Remember – this is not rocket science.

It isn’t even writing – not really. Not when you stop to think about it.

You are just telling a story.

Don’t fear that.

Don’t let yourself freeze up.

Remember – we are ALL born knowing how to tell stories. Just as soon as you open your mouth and say “A funny thing happened to me just yesterday morning…” you are getting set to tell a story – and that is ALL that writing really is. At the heart of it, at the root of it – you are just telling a story.

You cannot open your mouth without a story falling out.

Whether you are talking about the hockey game that you watched last night, or the reason why your girlfriend has decided to run away with the local hot tub salesman, or if you are trying to sum up the answer to the meaning of life in 42 words or less – you are telling a story.

I always get a quiet little giggle out of how many people think that I am some kind of a freaking genius just because I know how to wrap a story around the framework of a novel and make it work.

It isn’t brilliant.

It isn’t freaking rocket science.

It is just telling a story.

 As you sit down at the keyboard today just stop and picture yourself sitting at a campfire across from your very best friend in the universe.

I mean besides your dog.

Just picture yourself sitting there and telling a story to very best friend and stop freaking out about how you are supposed to be writing and how this is supposed to be hard and just let the words ember and roll.

Blow each syllable upon the flames of your imagination and let the fire rise up inside of your spirit.

And if you think that I am just talking at you and telling you something that really isn’t all that true just stop and remember that I wrote this entire 600 word blog entry utilizing a strong underlying autumnal subtext with overtones of flame and fire without ever using the word “kindle”.

Speaking of kindle…

SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME – A STORY OF HOCKEY AND VAMPIRES

Meet Sprague Deacon - one of the toughest old-time hockey players who ever skated upon a rink of hand-poured ice. Sprague was born and raised and he expects to die here on the Northern Labrador coast. What he did not expect was a tour bus full of vampires - none of whom glitter in the least bit - to pull into his town and begin lowering the population level - one corpse at a time. Sprague and his three best friends - an over-the-hill never-say quit bush league hockey team from Northern Labrador go toe-to-tooth with a tour bus full of vampires in an immortal-stakes showdown of street hockey? For the answer - throw Paul Newman's Slapshot into a blender with Steven Niles 30 Days of Night and hit frappe! Also including the bonus time travelling hockey tale, "Time Out" as well as a bonus hockey-oriented ghost story, "Smoke Signals". Only 99 cents for this week only.

Available on

Amazon.com - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P2P5WMY

Amazon.ca - http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00P2P5WMY

Apple - https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id998047572

Kobo - https://store.kobobooks.com/en-ca/ebook/sudden-death-overtime

October Frights Are Here To Scare...

October is the time for ghosts and ghouls, so start the month off with some shivers down your spine and join the fun of the October Frights Blog Hop!

There's a grave—uh, I mean—a place ready and waiting for you!
Just pop over to Clarissa Johal’s blog for details!

You can also add your support to our Thunderclap:
https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/31496-2015-october-frights-blog-hop

Then join 40+ Authors from October 1st-10th for a terrifying trek through terror in the 2015 OCTOBER FRIGHTS BLOG HOP. You'll find Free Reads, Prizes & Giveaways, and more!

We're all dying to meet you!

So Bad It’s Good: A Guest Post by A.G. Wyatt

So Bad It’s Good: How To Write Terribly Incredible (Or Incredibly Terrible) Campy Fiction

Like all good aesthetics, camp is a lot more sophisticated than it looks and writing it well can be challenging. It’s not enough to dress your hero in spandex and have your villain cackling madly while the heroine runs around screaming for rescue in a fruit-topped hat. That’s just cliché, while good camp is a celebration of the exaggerated and excessive.

Be Focused

It’s not enough to say “I want this to be camp.” If you throw in every campy trope you can find then you’ll have a mess, with one excess undermining another. A campy science fiction story interrupted by an excessive moment of dark literary fiction will lose atmosphere faster than a colander-based spaceship.

Think about what you’re exploring, what you want to make camp, and push that thing to excess. Do you want to write a high fantasy of sweaty muscles, kidnapped slave girls and kingdoms defined by single concepts? Or are you after a delightful horror of shadowy streets, blood-spattered sheets, and dead jocks?

Whatever you’re camping up, identify its individual excesses and focus on those.

Be Full-on

There are no half-measures in camp. If you approach the brink of absurdity only to hesitate and step back, then all you have is corniness and cliché. The pleasure of camp comes from its excess, so really push the boat out.

Reasonableness is the enemy of camp. It isn’t reasonable for your action hero to drive a monster truck, carry a bazooka on her back, and chug beer like she has the liver capacity of the whole U.S. Congress. But if she just drives a 4x4, carries a handgun, and finishes the day with a few too many whiskies then what you have isn’t camp, it’s the hero of 90% of the adventure stories out there. So go with Bazooka Betty, not Hetty Handgun.

Be Sincere

All of this might sound like a rallying cry to mock the genre you’re working in. But again, that really misses the point. Camp isn’t about standing outside the tent pissing in, it’s about running around the inside of the tent celebrating just how much fun canvas is.

The edge of mockery, the knowing wink that implies “we’re better than this,” that’s the realm of satire. It has its place and it has its audience, but that audience isn’t the same one camp appeals to. Satire is about being negative, camp is about being positive. Satire is judgemental, camp is celebratory. Satire is about pointing out the foolishness of others, while camp is about knowing that what you’re doing is foolish but enjoying it anyway. You don’t point at the excess, you join in with it.

So if you want to do campy writing, make sure the subject and style are something that you love. Make sure that you can write that wild excess like you mean it. If you can make that happen then fans will love you for it. But if you step into satire, if you slip in a little mockery for fear of being mocked, then the joy will fade.

If you’re going to write campy then relish it. Focus on something that you sincerely love, and write it right to the extreme. Because anything less is just cliché, and the world has quite enough of that.

A.G. Wyatt is the author of the post-apocalyptic adventure series, MoonFall and is presently working on his second series. When he's not writing, he's reading, or looking for inspiration near his hometown in Northeastern PA.

Where you can find the author:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/agwyattauthor

Twitter: https://Twitter.com/agwyattauthor

Invasion of the One Lovely Blog Hop

Recently (like on Friday) I was nominated by the lovely and talented Johanna K. Pitcairn (who currently has a new book, 32 Seconds) in the One Lovely Blog Hop. This challenge consists of listing seven interesting facts about me, although I may use a loose definition of interesting as I lead a fairly boring life. 

Here are the Rules:

Share seven facts about yourself

Link to at least 15 blogs that you enjoy.

My Facts

• Fact 1: I am not what you’d call a girlie girl, but I do have a scarf obsession. Pretty patterns, flimsy fabric, decorated material, it all calls to me, and then sits in my closet, waiting…
• Fact 2: I have a strange fascination for Pikachu, from the Pokemon franchise. Don’t ask why, I just do.
• Fact 3: I love ballet, ( so much so, I squealed with delight when dancer Rex Harrington was a contestant on Amazing Race Canada), and listen to classical music and opera. Also, I’m fond of the ditties from Broadway musicals.
• Fact 4: I once tied a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue, after watching a Twin Peaks episode (I just wanted to see if it could be done, nothing kinky involved). And yes, I did do it, but it took about ten minutes.
• Fact 5: While growing up, I've been hit in the face with a soccer ball, hit in the shoulder with a baseball, I ran (on foot, mind you) straight into a parked truck, and walked into a fire extinguisher at school.
• Fact 6: While I write horror stories, I am a reluctant reader of the genre, or watcher of scary films. I’m too much of a chicken, though I’m better than I used to be in this regard.
• Fact 7: I do not own a cell phone (you can all collectively gasp now).

Okay here’s my victims, uh, bloggers list:

Sheila Deeth

Danielle Shipley

Justin Guay

R. M. Ridley

Diane Lee Jortner

Ben Ireland

Angela Yuriko Smith

Michael Brookes

Joylene Nowell Butler

Maggie Secara

Carole Gill

Irina Dimitric

Emma Michaels

Sarah Hunter Hyatt

Rie Sheridan Rose

Just click on the linked names to see their wonderful blogs/websites.

All my nominees are under no obligation to join in, but, if you do, please link back to the blog of the person who nominated you (namely me), share some fun facts, and pass the hop on to 15 blogs (or as many as you scrounge). And if you've already participated, feel free to ignore the nomination.

Pinterest Tips

Hello, I’m A. F. Stewart, and I’m a Pinterest addict. Well, maybe not an addict, but I can definitely lose an hour or two on the site if I try. But it’s not all fun and games, it’s also serious marketing for my writing and books. And that’s what I’m here to discuss today on the blog.

I see many, many writers over on Pinterest, but not all of them are using the site to their full advantage. Pinterest is designed for shoppers, and their click-through-rate (which means consumers click the pins and go to the links) is high and growing. The stats for Pinterest as a viable (and still free) marketing tool are too good to ignore.

So why aren't authors and writers utilizing it properly?

I can’t say for certain, but I do hear some writers express qualms and confusion on how to use the site to their favour. So here’s a brief explanation of how the Pinterest site works, and a few of my tips specific to writers and authors.

Pinterest is a visual site; it’s for sharing graphics, photos, memes, cool geeky fan stuff, and book related stuff, like covers, trailers, blog posts, etc. You join the site, create a profile, then you create what the site calls boards. Think of them like virtual scrapbooks, or photo albums, full of pictures. Each board gets a name, a description and a category, and you’re ready to pin your pics to your boards via their bookmark extension widget thingy.  Easy, right?

But in case you’re still confused, here’s the site’s guide to getting started that explains things in better detail: https://help.pinterest.com/en/guide/all-about-pinterest

Okay, you've setup your profile, gotten somewhat familiar with the site, and you’re ready to pin.  Now what?

Here are some things you need to know:

Following/Followers:  Just like other sites you can follow users, and they can follow you.  You may press the big red follow button on a profile, and you’ll follow every board and every pin of that person, or follow individual boards (which is what I recommend for most people). Following individual boards (with pins you enjoy) as opposed to everything vastly reduces the possibility of clutter on the home page, and makes it easier to find pins you like on the site.

Repinning:  If you find a photo you like on the Pinterest site you can repin it to one of your boards, either from the Pinterest home page or the profile of a user. I recommend beginners make use of this feature as it’s a simple way to get started filling boards.

Board Covers: You can leave a board with no cover and the latest pin will show as the face of that board. Or you can pick a cover by choosing a nice pin (via the editing mode). You can also change covers when you like (by editing), but once you choose a cover you can’t return to the former mode.

Group Boards: Groups boards are just that, a group of users who are pinning on the same board. You can join them, or make your own, but like all groups be sure to read and follow the description and rules.

Comments/Messages: Comments can be left on pins, and Pinterest now has a message system, so if you need to contact a follower you can.

Now for my tips for writers:

• Post a bio (and this goes for every social media site writers use). THIS IS IMPORTANT. Tell people who you are and what you do, even if it’s just one line like: I’m a writer. Especially if you want invitations to group boards geared towards books and writers. If they don’t KNOW you’re a writer, you may not be invited to pin. Don’t make people guess.
• Create book boards. You can do an all inclusive board, such as “Books I've Written” or boards for a book series, or individual book boards or a combination of the above.
• Put your book/writer boards on the first row. You want your work front and center. Not everyone scrolls half-way down to find your hidden gems.
• Create niche boards (also see next tip). Showcase your personality and possibly other talents. Geeky boards, fan boards, craft boards, boards for quotes, are all popular and help sell you on Pinterest. There can be some overlap in board topics, but don’t overdo. Six boards on the topic of say, doilies, is too much.
• Be professional, but still fun (see above tip). You’re on Pinterest to market and sell books, but that doesn't mean you can’t display other sides of your life and personality. Just keep in mind the image you want to craft on the site.
• Do not create an empty profile. Once you've generated boards, pin something to your boards. Pin your book cover, find some pins on the site, find something to pin on Google, but put pins in your boards. You can start out slow if you like, with a few boards with a few pins each, but fill your boards. Which brings me to the next tip.
• Do not leave empty boards. They’re unsightly, they’re lonely, they scream “I don’t know what I’m doing”, “I don’t want to be here”, “help me, help me.” In other words, not the image you want to project of a capable, professional writer.
• Do not use cutesy names for boards. Again, not the image of a professional writer. Now, you can be clever with names, have some fun, but text speak with cutesy-pie hearts is not what you should be using. Leave that to the teenagers.
• Do not have all group boards. Now I’m not suggesting you restrict the amount of group boards you want, just have a balancing amount of non-group boards as well. Not everyone wishes to join group boards so if you want followers give them choices to follow. 

What To Pin:

That is up to you, but book covers are a must, book trailers are fun, images with quotes from your books are great, and representative images for places and things from your books can be cool.  You can check out my profile for what I've done to get some ideas and examples:  http://www.pinterest.com/scribe77/

And feel free to repin anything.

Remember you want to present an interesting profile on Pinterest, one that will encourage followers, and repins.  So avoid boring and annoying at all costs.

If you have any questions, or tips of your own, please leave them in the comment section.

#CoffinHop Day 5: Thoughts on Horror and Halloween

Today I’m bringing you some ghoulish ruminations on horror and Halloween, and some delightfully dark novels by some very talented authors. Come in, read, browse, just be careful what you touch…

Julianne Snow

My name is Julianne Snow and I love Horror.

I’m not ashamed to admit that either. Some of my earliest experiences are entrenched in the seat of all that horror entails. My first memory is of opening my eyes as a young toddler and witnessing the underbelly of a large Daddy Long Legs spider; its eight legs radiating outward over my field of vision. I can remember being frozen, unable to move, unable to swat the spider off of my face.

To my young mind, it was agonizing hours before that spider moved. Paralyzing hours before my limbs became mine to control again. Harrowing hours before my lungs could propel the pending scream past my trembling lips. I was terrified, but once the spider had moved off of my face, the moment of fear passed and I was okay again.

Believe it or not, the resulting rush from the adrenaline coursing through my body was addictive, even as a young child. Not that I would have realized the addictive pull for what it was at the time; that realization came much later… Now I’m a junkie and I’m always looking for my next hit!

Glimpses of the Undead

From the mind of Julianne Snow comes an undead collection of stories that feature the gamut of emotions and situations. Presented in flash fiction and short stories, the tales are sure to leave you wanting more and checking over your shoulder.

How would a group of children handle an uprising of the undead? What would you do to save a loved one only to find out that you’re facing a different threat altogether? How would a country react to a timely warning at the end of a war? What happens when a vampiric Romeo hits on an unsuspecting human? In a world where the undead are common place and protected, what happens when speed dating produces a love match?

Featuring:

The Treehouse

Kamikaze

Vanier’s Blueprint: A Zombie Tale

Must Love Zombies

Flash Fiction Duo: Fight and Hunger

EXIT

BITE

FLICKER

HORSE

BELOW

AGONY

BLOAT

ELBOW

Love Bites: A Valentine’s Day Misadventure

An Excerpt from Days with the Undead: Book One

  

Carol Gill

How can I not write horror? There are monsters among us: real ones. There is homicide, matricide, patricide and infanticide, as well as domestic violence and abuse of all kinds. Any being perceived as vulnerable often suffers abuse and that certainly includes animals. Along with terrorism, our world is a pretty grim place sometimes. We can choose not to think about it, but it’s there, waiting. And the very fact that we know it is, scares us.

It has been suggested that horror films and fiction cause violence. I don’t agree. I think we write about it and make films about it because (sadly) it’s part of our world. It always has been and it always will be. Writing about what we fear helps to exorcise some of those fears. If our world knew no violence, I don’t think horror as a genre would exist.

House of Horrors

This anthology is packed with stories of vampires, zombies, murderous midgets, demon clowns, evil dolls, haunted cemeteries, a real shop of horrors, taxidermy gone haywire, serial killers and more! Your worst fears and nightmares dished up for you with extra helpings of blood-curdling terror!

By the way, Circus of Horrors, a novel based on some characters in this anthology, will be released soon. 

Russell James

October is the month for horror writers. All year long, we endure sideways glances and polite smiles when people learn that we write stories of demons and witches and things under the bed. But when October rolls around, we are all suddenly in demand, praised, not condemned, for our delight in the macabre. As December’s festive mood culminates in Christmas, so October’s darker whispers deliver us to Halloween, the high holy day of all things ghoulish. I like to celebrate with a few new novels, something to get the chill bumps raised. A dark night, a warm fireplace, a spooky tale. That’s a celebration.

Dark Vengeance

The heroes from DARK INSPIRATION are back, and new trouble is brewing in Moultrie.

A coven of witches has moved into the tiny Tennessee town. They plan to sacrifice children and resurrect a long-trapped Mayan being, the longarex, to renew its hunt of mankind.  Only Laura Locke and Theresa Grissom have the skills to defeat this supernatural danger.  But their last brush with death has shattered their relationship, and a widow in town has her own gruesome plan for Laura.  If they can’t stop the coven in time, hundreds will die, the first being Theresa’s kidnapped son.

I'd like to thank the authors for taking part today, and for their pondering on all things ghastly. Be sure to keep hopping for more horrific treats. You can find the complete list of Coffin Hoppers over at: http://coffinhop.com/

And don’t forget to enter my contest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Writing Process: A Blog Hop

The Writing Process Blog Hop

An author friend of mine, Sarah Butland, tagged me for this blog hop, and sent me some fascinating questions to answer. So, this time I'm the one in the spotlight. 

Here's our mini interview, I hope you enjoy:

Sarah: 

Is there a contest that you entered or won which changed your life forever?

Me: 

I can’t say there was, I’m afraid; I've never had much luck with contests. Although there was an elementary school competition where my haiku got selected for a publication. I remember being quite proud of that, and it gave my mother bragging rights for a bit.

Sarah: 

How much of your day is spent writing new and/or marketing old.

Me:

I think that depends on the day. I do try to achieve a balance between the two, but sometimes I get caught up in one or the other. I get on a writing roll, and the time ticks by and the next thing I know those marketing tweets or that blog post will have to wait. Or promos and events push back the writing. And then some days I’m just a buzz with multi-tasking: writing, marketing, whatever. It does help to schedule some marketing in advance though, like blog posts and tweets.

Sarah: 

What's the best story you've ever read and how did its marketing catch your attention?

Me: 

The best story I ever read was published way, way back before I even dreamed of marketing, namely All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury. As a child, I found it I the back of a magazine I bought through the Scholastic program at school. That story was the catalyst that started my lifelong love of short fiction.

More recently though, I discovered the brilliant book series, On Dark Shores by J.A. Clement, and I found her marketing strategy caught my attention. She hearkened back to the olden days of serial novels by publishing a sequence of ongoing novellas, each one being a part of the whole story, and continuing the chapters from the previous book.  I’m not certain any author could have pulled it off, but her writing is so exceptional, she has her readers well hooked.

My latest book

And now here’s a bit about the two authors that I've tagged for the hop. I hope you’ll check out their blogs; it will be worth the time:

Steve Vernon

Steve Vernon lives and works in Nova Scotia Canada, and is the author of such books as Haunted Harbours: Ghost Stories From Old Nova Scotia, The Lunenburg Werewolf And Other Stories of the Supernatural, Maritime Monsters, Sinking Deeper, Sudden Death Overtime, and Tatterdemon.

He’s traveled right across Canada and has worked as a factory hand, house painter, field worker, tree planter, roustabout, woodworker, artist's model, fiddlehead picker, blueberry raker, woodchopper, warehouse strawboss, snow shoveller, garden digger, environmental criminal and anything else that paid a buck. He’s married with children and has a cat named Kismet.

Website: http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpress.com/

Axel Howerton

Axel Howerton is an award-winning poet and the author of the quirky neo-noir pulp detective novel Hot Sinatra, the mini-anthology Living Dead at Zigfreidt & Roy, and a bevy of short stories and hidden gems. Axel is a former editor for Dark Moon Digest and, as the long-time Senior Editor of Eye Crave DVD/Eye Crave Network, he was one of the champions of the burgeoning b-movie scene of the early-mid 200′s and one of Canada’s webtertainment pioneers.

Axel is also the co-creator and organizer of the annual Coffin Hop online author extravaganza, and the owner-operator of Coffin Hop Press. His fiction has recently appeared in Big Pulp, Fires on the Plain, Steampunk Originals Vol. 1, the Big Lebowski companion piece Lebowski 101, the LGBQT anthology Clones, Fairies and Monsters in the Closet, A Career Guide To Your Job In Hell and the best-selling holiday anthology Let It Snow: Season’s Readings For A Super-Cool Yule.

He is a member of the Crime Writers of Canada and lives in the wilds of Western Canada with his two brilliant young sons and a wife who is way out of his league.

Website: http://axelhowerton.com/

Welcome to the Bloody Valentine Blog Hop

Greetings to all, and welcome to the second Bloody Valentine Blog Hop. 

A place where the red roses have died and the chocolates are poisoned.

So down with love, and on with the fun!

I have a variety of dark treats for you on this stop of the hop, plus as part of the celebration I'm holding a contest to win some books and some artwork.  And don't forget to check out the other hoppers when you're done here. There's a list at the bottom of this post. Just scroll way down to find it.

First up on the menu is a devilish assignation. This story features my character, the demon Balthazar, from Killers and Demons (and the upcoming sequel, Killers and Demons II: The Return). Here he's visiting an old romantic acquaintance:

Wicked Intentions

His thin hand lifted the wine to his lips and he sipped, savouring the flavour. A delicious vintage, a perfect complement to the company. Balthazar smiled at his companion, the attractive creature calling herself Mrs. Crocker.

“A lovely red, my dear.”

“A French vintage.” She returned his smile.

The pair sat in chairs facing each other, perched on the velvet upholstery of Mrs. Crocker’s parlour. The crystal decanter rested on the table between them, and a cozy fire crackled in the hearth.

“It’s been a long time, Balthazar. Not since that mess in Ireland. I’m looking forward to rekindling our acquaintance. The last time was quite… rigorous.” She laughed softly and licked her plump lips. “It was also quite memorable.”

“Yes, it was that.” An odd note of sentimentality crept into his voice, “I always had a weakness for you, Hala.” He stopped smiling and set down his half-empty wine glass.

“However, renewing our familiarity is not why I sought you out this evening.” He stood. “You know, I believe I may actually regret this. That will be a first for me.”

He could see the fear forming in her eyes; the grip on her glass tightened and she shivered.

“What’s going on, Balthazar?”

“He knows, our mutual employer knows. About your transgressions. And he sent me here to punish you.”

He snapped his fingers, and in a breath, demon fire engulfed her.

With horrific screams she burned, her body shuddering, flailing, sizzling, but for once Balthazar took no pleasure in a death. He simply watched stone-faced, until she became nothing more than ash scattered over the unsinged blue velvet of her chair and the parlour floor. Her wine glass fell, cracking, and left a red stain on the carpet.

With a sigh, Balthazar took his leave.

For the second course a small bite of a marriage ending in tragedy:

Recovery

Sally Benson prepared herself to die. She stretched out on the bottom of the lifeboat and closed her eyes. The water lapped against the side of the boat, the air passed over her with the faint scent of salt and fish. And in the distance, she heard the sound of a motor.

Two months later, she finally felt comfortable at home; a remarkable recovery from her ordeal everyone told her. Her rescue from the bobbing waves of the ocean by the Coast Guard had become a media sensation. She was heralded a hero, the lone survivor of the sinking of the yacht, and given deepest condolences on the tragic death of her husband.

Through her tears, Sally put on a good show with a brave smile. She answered the questions of the Coast Guard and the police, giving them the answers they wanted to hear, relieved when they ruled the sinking an accident.

Sally just wanted the truth to stay buried, submerged on the bottom of the ocean with her cheating, murderous rat of a husband. She didn't want anyone to know how her husband rigged the boat to sink, how he tried to kill her, tried to make her death look like an accident. She escaped though, even if the life raft she chose had a busted motor. Her bad luck she picked the wrong one.

And she needed one more truth to stay hidden. The truth she beat him at his own game of murder. The truth that a poisoned glass of champagne trumped a sabotaged boat.

And to finish, we end with some poetry:

Bittersweet Symphony

Bittersweet,

this taste on my tongue

as your fine chocolates

melt in my mouth.

I hear the strains of music,

something romantic,

a gift from you.

I breathe in the scent

of the soft, red roses

you gave me yesterday;

“My Valentine,” you said.

But, that was yesterday

when I believed,

when I lived the lie,

before this morning.

Before I watched you

kiss her.

Now I wait for you

with my bittersweet love

and my gun.

Black Rose

You gave me a rose

black as night, to match your heart

and I am alone

Here's the Contest:

Enter by the rafflecopter entry widget below for a chance to win a prize pack of four of my Smashwords ebooks, Fairy Tale Fusion, Reflections of Poetry, Killers and Demons and Gothic Cavalcade, plus some of my Bloody Valentine digital artwork, including the Black Rose poem seen above. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a list of participating bloggers and what the hop's all about.

What to Study If You Want to Write Speculative Fiction

Today we have a guest blogger, writer Lauren Bailey, who's here with some interesting advice for those geeky writers out there:

 

What to Study If You Want to Write Speculative Fiction

Judging from my own experience, and that of other sci-fi lovers I’ve met, people frequently fall in love with speculative fiction as adolescents, or perhaps in junior high. Not that you’re entirely unfamiliar with the tropes of sci-fi as a child, in our society where a whole generation of post-Star Wars blockbusters have made sci-fi-lite the hegemonic genre of entertainment. Sure, you watch TV shows with spaceships zooming around, but as a real mind-bending, life-changing literary experience it usually hooks you a little later. For me, A Wrinkle in Time was a one-off thing when I was nine, but then I remember reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and A Spell for Chameleon and the floodgates just kind of opened.

The point is, for a lot of young people, by the time they’re in high school science fiction has become a passion, and can even feel like a calling. So what do you advise a kid in that position to “do with their lives”?

This is trickier with science fiction than other artistic vocations, because, obviously, there’s that whole “science” thing. You have to know something about science to write good (hard) science fiction. Besides, people will be pressuring you to do science and engineering anyway, cause that’s where the money is. But if you really want to be a writer, you’ll need some skills beyond the lab. Here’s my college advice for aspiring LeGuins and Heinleins:

1. Take mainstream lit and creative writing classes.

Literature is a trade in itself. While it’s possible to be both a chemical engineer, say, and a novelist, you have to put time into both. The danger here is that you may feel alienated by the snobbery of most MFA-style writing workshops. There will be strong pressure to drop the speculative elements in your stories or at least do some non-speculative work. My advice: give in to that pressure. You have more to gain than to lose. You can remain loyal to nerd-dom in your heart while taking what you can from the artsy-fartsy world of creative writing.

2. Stay well-rounded.

Besides science, and fiction, there’s a whole wide world of content that goes into any novel, and no field of experience is without its use. Furthermore, the “world-building” aspects of speculative fiction require one to have a good working knowledge of history and the social sciences. A generalized appreciation for the arts is important to be able to have confidence in your judgment as a writer. Good science fiction is good fiction, which means it must appeal to anyone who might pick up your book, not just the initiated and obsessive otaku few.

3. Consider computer science.

This is my big regret as a writer. I double-majored in English and Religious Studies because I was fascinated by the world’s religions. While that’s certainly helped lend some color and flavor to my imagination, I had not anticipated just how much tech skills make a difference for even the most liberal-arts-leaning of poets today. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve always been an early adopter and I can get by just fine. But in terms of practical skills for making an artistic dream happen these days, it can’t hurt to learn computers.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Keep watching the stars!

Lauren Bailey is a freelance blogger who loves writing about education, new technology, lifestyle and health. As an education writer, she works to research and provide sound online education advice and welcomes comments and questions via email at blauren99@gmail.com.