Christine Amsden's Blog: Christine Amsden Author Blog, page 47

Interview with Michelle Scott

Straight to Hell by Michelle Scott

[image error]The moment Lilith Straight dies, the Devil appears to claim her soul and cash in on a longtime family curse. Now, Lilith has no choice but to work for him. The job is bad, the boss is worse, and she can't imagine how she'll explain her new reincarnation to her eight-year-old daughter. But then an arrogant, yet oh so yummy, incubus shows up…and hell heats up just a little more.

Sample Chapter

Michelle Scott received her MFA from Wayne State University. Her stories have appeared in such places as Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, All Possible Worlds and Realms. Her fantasy novel, The Dragons of Hazlett was nominated for a 2009 EPPIE Award. Michelle's YA novels include the vampire romance, Blood Sisters, and the fantasy Uncommon Magic. Her latest fantasy novel, An Anthem for the Battle Lands, was recently released from Mundania Press, LLC. Michelle lives in southeast Michigan with her husband and three children.

Interview with Michelle

 

 

Me: How did you get the idea for Straight to Hell?

Michelle: I wanted to write an urban fantasy novel about a different kind of supernatural being. I love reading about vampires and werewolves, but I thought I'd head in a different direction. That's why I chose succubae and incubuses. In the book, these demons act like the little devils that sit on your shoulder – the ones that tempt you into doing what you know is wrong. I also wanted to create a character who would hate being a demon, and that's how the main character, Lilith Straight came into being. She's an uptight, suburban soccer mom who gets forced into serving the Devil due to a longtime family curse.

Me: What do you hope readers will take away from the book?

Michelle: Hopefully, they'll laugh! But at the same time, I want the readers to sympathize with Lilith. She wants to be a good person, but working for the Devil isn't giving her much of a chance to do that.

Me: How many books do you have planned in this series, and when will the next become available?

Michelle: In my head, I've planned for seven books, but who knows? I'm hoping to have the next one ready to go by spring of 2012. It's already written, but it needs to be turned over to my editor.

Me: What is your favorite part of the book?

Michelle: Personally, I love the parts in which Lilith Straight meets up with the hunky incubus, William Darcy. He's incredibly hot, but he's also very arrogant. He can be sweet one moment, and a complete ass the next. Because Lilith is both drawn to him and irritated by him, there's a lot of tension in their meetings.

Me: If you were magically sucked inside your book, which character were you want to become and why?

Michelle: There's so much drama in the pages that I might opt to be the cat, Drinking Tea. Seriously, though, I'd want to be Lilith's stepsister, Jasmine. She's beautiful and has a very sweet boyfriend. Well, she had a very sweet boyfriend. Maybe she's not such a great pick after all…

Me: Why do you write?

Michelle: I write because I am. Does that make sense? I can't imagine not writing.

Me: Can you tell me about your writing environment?

Michelle: Luckily, I have a laptop, so I can carry it around the house. Usually, I write in my office which is a creepy, little attic space above the garage. In the winter, though, when it gets too cold to write up there, I go into my bedroom and shut the door.

Me: Do you have a lot of support for your work? Who is your greatest ally?

Michelle: Yes, I have a lot of supporters! My number one fan is my husband of 24 years who has been so sweet and encouraging. My kids are also very patient and understanding, and they are proud of me as well. Then there's my friends, other indie authors (to whom I owe so much), people who write great blogs, readers who leave great reviews… the list is endless. No writer is an island.

Me: What should I have asked that I didn't?

Michelle: Lol. You can ask me about my favorite authors who are: Stephen King, Charlaine Harris, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Lev Grossman, and of course, Jane Austen.

Me: Thank you for stopping by!

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On Being a Lazy Bum

I have really let my blogging slack over the last few months, and I would like to apologize for it. I've had the time, it's the motivation that has been a problem. Around the time my kids started going back to school, I started working hard on revising my Cassie Scot series, and I'm afraid I find myself lost in the story to the exclusion of almost everything else.

BUT…I am resolving to turn things around. I like having a blog and I love it when I get people involved in leaving comments and chatting. I have two tours scheduled for later this month (interviews and reviews), and I'm going to work on some new writing tips.

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Book Review: The Dark Highlander

Daegus McKelter broke an oath — he used the sacred stones that allowed him to move through time for personal reasons, to save his twin brother's life. Now, he is cursed with the spirits of 13 evil druids who want to take him over.

Chloe is an antiquities expert who loves all things old and especially Celtic. Her curiosity gets her in trouble when she snoops in Daegus' apartment and discovers that he is the thief behind many recent robberies of ancient texts.

This book is the sequel to Kiss of the Highlander, and is very similar in terms of the dominant, larger than life man. This is a specific sort of fantasy for a specific type of romance reader — one who likes possessive, protective men. It doesn't hold back in any way.

For me, this is a guilty pleasure. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and it's the sort of book I might even pick up again one day.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Title: The Dark Highlander

Author: Karen Marie Moning

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

ISBN: 9780440237556

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Tips for Writers: Chapter Journals

I'm always on the lookout for new ideas, and as I am working on the latest round of revisions to my WIP, I have hit upon something that seems to be working well. I'm calling it a chapter journal, and so far, I feel like it is working very well.

The goal of the chapter journal is to focus my mind before embarking on each new chapter. I chat, free form, about what the characters are thinking and feeling, what they're about to do and why. I do keep the bigger picture in mind, but each chapter journal entry tries to stick with the present of the story, because the characters do not know the future, even if I do.

One of the difficulties I'm finding, especially when revising (which is what I'm doing now), is staying in the present. Having a clear picture of the end is a good thing and a bad thing at the exact same time, because I can begin getting ahead of my characters in their thoughts and feelings.

Right now, in this chapter, my main character is grieving. It is the most important thing in her life right now, and it clouds everything else she does. Yes, she will need to stay strong and overcome some adversity in the near future, but that's not what's happening now.

I came up with this idea on my own, though I'm sure others have taken similar approaches. For me, it's all about grounding myself before stepping into a moment.

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Book Review: Quicksilver

Quicksilver is the latest installment in Amanda Quick/Jayne Ann Krentz's Arcane Society series. This one was written under the pseudonym Amanda Quick, which means we went back to Victorian England, where doctors are coming out with revolutionary new treatments for female hysteria, and the paranormal is all the rage.

Virginia is a glass light reader, which means she sees afterimages in mirrors. But someone has another use for her talent — a far more sinister one that will result in her death.

Owen is a hunter, compelled to walk the streets looking for monsters, such as the one who is after Virginia. His family has a history of such talents and of one other thing — if they don't find the right woman by their early thirties, they become night walkers, driven to walk the streets endlessly.

The suspense in this book was quite good. The serial killer's motives and methods were disturbing, and he kept us on our toes throughout the story.

The romance, on the other hand, was flat. It was more in the lines of a hookup while other things were going on, and the fact that Owen was about to descend into madness if he didn't fine his "true mate" soon was pretty beside the point, since he had obviously just met her. In fact, the problem was a complete lack of anything keeping these two apart. There was just every reason for them to get together from the start, leaving no romantic tension at all.

Overall, I recommend this to Amanda Quick fans.

Rating: 3/5

Title: Quicksilver

Author: Amanda Quick

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal/Romance

ISBN: 9781441825582

Published May 1st, 2011

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Tips for Writers: Let's Talk About Sex

As I'm sure you can tell from my reviews of certain genre romance, I don't have an inherent problem with sex in a story. I'm not someone who thinks it's too personal or private to read about in a fiction story, and in fact, when it is well told, I enjoy the culmination of love. It's natural.

The real trouble is in defining what separates a well-told scene from the other kinds. Oddly enough, I think the scene itself is rarely responsible for its own effectiveness. A good sex scene can be told in such a way that it's barely even there, more tone and feeling than action. Or it can be detailed, erotic, and even educational. Or anywhere in between. All of that is a matter for the author's personal comfort level, and I've read well-told scenes that fall all along that range.

What truly makes a scene good is the growing relationship, up to that point. I've said it before and I'll say it again — that which brings them together vs that which keeps them apart — therein lies the conflict and the emotion of a romance. When those elements are working, then the sex scene becomes more than the pornography some dismiss it as, it becomes a crucial moment for the hero and heroine. Wherever they are along their story arc, if I'm feeling that pang of hope and fear, then the only way a sex scene can truly be bad is if it is *missing*.

Look, this isn't an idle moment. Sex changes everything in a relationship. Yes, I know — and completely agree — that romantic love requires more than lust/physical attraction. Some of the absolute worst sex scenes come with "that which brings them together" is nothing more than some kind of panting animal magnetism, or what I like to call OVERWHELMING LUST. There's no depth. There's no foundation.

But let's assume, for the sake of argument, that the relationship involves mental/emotional/spiritual connections as well as physical attraction. Acting on that physical attraction…when, how, why…it matters. Sex is real risk, and I don't just mean of pregnancy or disease. (Let's face it, in a romance novel disease just doesn't happen. Even pregnancy only happens if it's convenient for the plot, although it is a risk, and it drives me nuts when it goes unacknowledged as one.) No, the big risk is heartbreak. The act itself sensitizes people, heightens their emotions.

I sometimes think writers look at the idea of a sex scene all wrong, wondering whether or not they should put it in their story. Well…do the characters have sex and if so, does it matter? I certainly don't think you should just throw a scene in for the heck of it, even in a romance story. I've read a handful of romance novels in which the action is over, the characters fell in love and got married, and then in the last chapter (or even an epilogue) we get to the sex scene. At that point, it's like…um, why did you do that? What is this adding to your story? The conflict is over, and this adds nothing.

And there's the question. What is it adding to your story? If it's a transforming moment, then don't worry about the mechanics of it all (unless you want to), just the transformation.

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Book Review: The Hundred Secret Senses

What an odd book. This is one of those I never would have picked up had it not been for my book club, and another one of those reasons I'm glad I'm in a book club, and that I use it to help me read outside of my comfort zone. I'm still not entirely sure what this book was about, nor what I'm supposed to believe about it, but it was very human and intense. There was something, underneath all the talk of ghosts and past lives, very believable about this story…like something you know is there even though you can't really see it.

I'm not sure how to classify this story. It's only paranormal if there really were ghosts and past lives in it, and then only if those things don't really exist. It's a love story, but not a romance. I'll have to be satisfied calling it "other" and then recommending it to those who find themselves in a mood for something a little different.

Rating 4/5

Title: The Hundred Secret Senses

Author: Amy Tan

ISBN: 9780804111096

Published: October 30th 1996

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Winner of the 2011 Global eBook Award for Science Fiction

Yes, that's right, The Immortality Virus has won the 2011 Global eBook Award for science fiction!

Winning something like this is salve for the soul. Writing is often an isolated business, without daily feedback. It takes years to get published and more years for the public to really notice you've been published. So each day, the energy to keep going comes from an inner light.

Then, one day, after years of struggles, someone says, "Hey, this is pretty awesome!"

Why yes, yes it is. Oh, wait, you meant the book.

That's why we do the cliched thank you thing that everyone does. No, it's not original, but it is heartfelt.

So, thank you to those running the Global eBook Awards for choosing to honor some of the best electronically published books, and for recognizing that this is the wave of the future.

Thank you to my husband, Austin, for being the most supportive husband an artist could ask for.

Thank you to my parents, for their support and suggestions.

Thank you to my publisher, Lida Quillen at Twilight Times Books, for giving me a chance, and putting her money behind my projects.

Thank you to Codex Writer's Group, because you're awesome, too.

And a big thank you to the readers out there who have been willing to give a new, relatively unknown author a chance, especially those who have left feedback on goodreads or their blogs. I get a goofy little smile on my face every time I see that someone has read and enjoyed my book.

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Ghost Story (The Dresden Files)

This may be the most difficult review I've had to write, because I love the Dresden Files, and have been consistently rating them 5 enthusiastic stars for a long time now. I am totally a fan of Jim Butcher and will continue to look forward to the next book in the series, BUT…

I have to be honest. I didn't like this one.

Warning: If you have not read the previous books in the series, this review will contain some spoilers up through book 12, Changes. It does NOT contain spoilers for Ghost Story.

Harry comes back as a ghost to solve his own murder. Apparently, there was an irregularity with his death. Someone took him out of the game unfairly. So Ghost Harry goes back to Chicago six months later, finds the local necromancer (Morty) to help him out, and catches up with all his friends.

After that, Harry starts running around after everyone and everything except his own killer. He finds hostile ghosts attacking Morty. A gang of young criminals attacking Murphy and company. The corpse taker is back again, because, you know, it wasn't enough for him to kill her once. (I am rarely a fan of villainous repeat performances.)

But the thing that really got me was the sheer amount of time Harry spent stewing inside his own mind, remembering things, berating himself for everything bad that has ever happened in the world, etc. I did get that a ghost is made up entirely of memories, and so I understood what he was trying to do by having us walk through so many of his, but I still found it tedious to read. I was particularly thrown off by the long recounting of his first fight with He Who Walks Behind, about halfway through. It felt like an intermission.

There was a lot of what I have to call moralizing going on throughout. Where he sits there and puts judgment values on everything he's done, especially everything he did in the last book, like killing all the red court vampires. I get that there are consequences for that, but it still needed to happen.

This book didn't make me laugh the way many of the others do. I'm not sure why. Dresden continued cracking jokes, but they just weren't funny.

The ending didn't work for me at all. I won't do spoilers, but I will say it fell flat, and seemed to undermine the need for the entire journey leading up to it.

So, to sum up: A tedious read lacking the flair and humor of its predecessors. If you're a Dresden fan, you pretty much have to read it anyway, but there's my take on it. I still maintain my optimism that the next book will be good. This isn't a case of a flagging series, IMO, just a single volume that didn't quite live up to my expectations.

Rating: 2/5

Title: Ghost Story

Author: Jim Butcher

Genre: Fantasy

ISBN: 9780451463791

Published: July 26, 2011

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On Becoming Rich and Famous

Last week, while I was watching America's Got Talent, I was struck by something one of the musicians said. In truth, it wasn't so different from what many others have said, but this time, it got to me. He said he'd given up music entirely for a few years because he didn't think he would make it, and that this stint on AGT was his "last chance."

Last chance at what? Making music? Because I'm pretty sure your guitar and your voice will work off stage as well as on.

Don't get me wrong — I understand the allure. As a writer, I would love to gain serious popular approval. It would salve my ego and pad my bank account.

But you can't live your life waiting for other people to approve of you, especially in mass. Do you really think it's entirely about talent? Every year, hundreds of thousands of books are published, but only a handful ever gain true popularity, even in their genre. Do all the rest suck? Speaking as a representative of one of the rest, I don't think so. Plenty of people who have read my books like them, and even rave about them. True mass popularity is a combination of factors, including (heavily) luck, timing, and persistence.

But if I never truly "make it" in the writing business, if I never gain the popularity, I'm still a writer.

And you, oh representative of so many stories on America's Got Talent, American Idol, The Voice, etc., are you a musician or aren't you? Only you can decide. It's not a decision the rest of the country can make for you.

Creativity, in whatever form it takes, is part of the human condition. Part of the soul. It defines us, brightens are lives, and makes others happy.

So why have we decided, in our modern culture, that art (in whatever form) is a pipe dream? Not worthy of pursuit? Or even, sure, you can paint, but be sure to get a "real job" first.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not into the bohemian lifestyle. As a responsible citizen, I think we must all find ways to support our own passions. BUT…why must the "real job" be a primary function of our selves? Why is the pursuit of money holy? Why can't a job pay the bills, while music or painting or writing or cooking or building robots…becomes our drive?

Every single person has the potential for creativity, in one form or another, and the vast, vast, vast majority will never become rich or famous through their creative passion. That does NOT mean you should give it up. It only means you have to find approval from within, rather than from without.

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