L.A. Hendricks's Blog, page 3
October 9, 2015
#FridayFunnies
Always good to have a goal in life, right?
October 7, 2015
#Interview with Nicole Kurtz (@nicolegkurtz)
Nicole KurtzWho is your biggest literary influence
NGK: My biggest literary influences have been Octavia Butler, Mary Shelley, and Stephen King. I have many more, Sue Grafton, Robert B. Parker, and Zora Neal Hurston, but the first three are my primary influences since childhood.
What is your writing process like? What inspires your writing?
NGK: I’m an educator, a mother, and a business owner, so my writing process is erratic. I write every day, from small notes on sticky notes, to full-fledged stories over the course of a few days.
Life inspires my writings. I wrote an entire novel around an accident scene I drove by while living in New Mexico (Cozened: A Cybil Lewis Story). I also wrote my short story, “Rise,” from my feelings regarding police brutality.
Where did your creative spark begin? Can you trace the path/timeline that got you where you are today?
NGK: My creative spark came from being raised in a housing project with limited funds. I remember watching television, or my teacher reading a story to us in class, and me continuing and expanding the story in my imagination, into the night to help me sleep. I didn’t start writing those stories down until middle school, and I walked around with my notebook full of stories.
In high school, my freshman English teacher further encouraged my writing flame by helping enter writing contests, which I won. I won the district essay contest and a few local poetry contests. From there I went to college and to English as my major. I graduated with a BA in writing, concentration rhetoric and went into the world.
I continued to write short stories and essays through 1998. Frustrated by the seemingly lack of diversity in speculative fiction, I started Mocha Memoirs Ezine of Short Fiction & Poetry. I published authors from 1998-2002, while at the same time my first novel, Browne Candidate was selected to be published as an ebook (1998).
I was small pressed published until 2008 when Parker Publishing paid my first advanced and first 2000 copy print run for Silenced: A Cybil Lewis story. I’m still a hybrid author today. Small press, electronically, and mid-sized published.
When did you know writing was for you?
NGK: Since about 4th grade, writing had been a path I enjoyed. My momma loved writing and had notebooks scattered all over the house. When she comes to visit now, she gets on my laptop and writes about her past, memories she wants to retain and revisit. Writing is in my blood. In retrospect, it has always been something I valued and felt compelled to do.
Why speculative fiction? What other genre(s) do you write?
NGK: Star Trek® and Stephen King are probably directly responsible for my love of speculative fiction. Until about 15, my life was devoted to horror and urban stories. In college, I discovered Toni Morrison, Sue Grafton, and Octavia Butler, and I was never the same again. All three women wrote very different genres, and soon my stories began to incorporate bits of all three genres into one story.
I write scifi pulp, or what I like to call futuristic pulp. I love mysteries, and I adore speculative settings, hence my Cybil Lewis series. I also write horror and fantasy.
For fun, I write romance under a pen name, but other than that, I write non-fiction articles and essays.
How can people connect with you?
NGK: People can connect with me via the following social media methods:
Twitter: @nicolegkurtz
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nicolegkurtz
Website: http://www.nicolegivenskurtz.com
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/nlkurtz
Cybil Lewis Site: http://www.cybillewisseries.blogspot.com
Thank you for the interview! Loads of fun.
October 6, 2015
October 2, 2015
#FridayFunnies
We all have something to recommend us. And if someone refuses to acknowledge it, that’s their loss!
October 1, 2015
#Interview with GL THomas (@dos_twinjas)
GL ThomasWho is your biggest literary influence?
It depends on what genre we’re reading from. Some of our biggest literary influences write in a much more complex fashion than the two of us combine, so even though they’re our favorites, I don’t think we necessarily strive to emulate their style completely.
Octavia Butler (I know, everyone is tired of having only her as a reference, but come on! She’s Octavia!) is one of the most complex, thought-provoking writers in Science Fiction, Fantasy, Weird Fiction and Horror, but we’re ashamed to admit we don’t delve as deep as she does.
Some of the hardships, based on her generation, opened a bunch of doors some writers don’t have to deal with. Like being a Black woman and being taken seriously in SFF. Her work is scary, and sometimes too disturbing for tame readers. But we’ve equally connected to most recent works from authors like Malorie Blackman, and Justina Ireland.
This sounds weird, but the biggest push to write diversely came from reading An Na’s “The Fold.” Before then, neither of us actively sought out diverse reads. We were often fine with scraps, because that’s just how we’ve been taught how the world works. “The Fold” centers around a Korean-American teen, and explored culture both American and Korean, and what it’s like to be stuck in between. It also exposed the idea of Eurocentric beauty being considered the norm, and before that, neither of us read anything so honest, especially a YA book.
I wish we could say we just had one influence, but if we had to just pick one, I’d say Malorie Blackman, because of her ability to highlight the Black experience in a new way, that wasn’t a default American experience.
What is your writing process like? What inspires your writing?
Girl it is just crazy. We have a ton of respect for writers who write solo, because it’s hard together, so we imagine it’s even harder alone. The tricky part about being a duo, is we hardly ever agree on where to go with a plot twist, or ending, especially if we came up with something together. Most projects we have are either Libertad born, or vice versa, and then we help each other make more sense of things.
Meaning, if the direction she wants to go with a project is corny, I’ll definitely tell her! Sometimes that discourages the both of us, until we’re brave enough to tread the waters of the project once we know whatever isn’t working, is because we’re holding onto details that don’t work. Sometimes what takes her days to write for, takes me weeks to months, because she obviously knows better on where she wants her Libertad-born projects to go.
But we try to blend our ideas enough to the point we can’t tell who wrote which part.
We both tend to let everything inspire us. Sometimes seeing a woman with a big afro inspires us, or a main character. Sometimes seeing a really great episode of a really corny show can also draw inspiration. But I think we can both agree that HOT GUYS are our main inspiration! =D
Where did your creative spark begin? Can you trace the path/timeline that got you where you are today?
I honestly think…it came from writing Sailormoon fan fiction as kids =D It sounds super silly, but we totally cannoned characters much different races than the are on the show(Assuming they’re all Japanese)with all these crazy back stories, and all these insane new stories!
Writing has always been a hobby. Any family member that knows us will say from the time they existed, they were always writing something. It wasn’t always good! In fact, all of it was terrible! But it brought out the passion we think!
We’d always wanted to write, but I think we wanted to be screenwriters much earlier on. We’re Communication majors, and unrealistically as it sounds, we wanted to do movies for a really long time. I don’t think we’re ignoring that goal, but I think a lot of factors we have work against us to really be successful as a screenwriter.
We’re really considering Web Series’ because you’re mainly limited by the money you can raise, the actors and the time spent. Marketability is still important, and we’re not suggesting that it’s easy. But the quality of Web Series’ are well beyond some television shows on primetime cable right now.
It’s definitely a bucket list career path to pursue, but writing novels definitely explores human emotion(and sometimes not so human emotion) much deeper than something on screen can.
It took us a long time to realize this, but now that we’re exploring this medium, we wouldn’t go back in time and say “Oh let’s just write our stories as books”, because we would’ve went about it much differently if we hadn’t waited.
When did you know writing was for you?
We’re no one special, so our answer isn’t special. Most people who enjoy writing have always enjoyed it. There was no turning point in our lives, because we’ve never not written for fun. Sometimes you just enjoy exploring a narrative you don’t belong to, or a narrative you do belong to, but in a much more positive light!
Why Speculative Fiction? What other genre(s) do you write?
Speculative Fiction is just…fun. Can’t we all just admit that? It can be food for thought prose, or sometimes it can just be straight up silly, and folks can still enjoy it. I can’t speak for other Black folk, but for us, growing up in a Caribbean household, we already kind of taught that there’s a little magic in everything.
It’s not always demonized in the same ways Western culture has chosen to portray magic.
It’s really important that we address racism, or classism, sexism, cishetism, homophobia, ablism, and other important topics our generation is forced to deal with because of White Supremacy, but sometimes you just want to write a world that doesn’t limit Black women they way our current world does.
Speculative Fiction is one of the few umbrella terms that is inclusive to women of color to be taken seriously in terms to writing fiction. We can give a million other reasons, but that definitely tops as number one.
Other genres? Definitely Contemporary Romance. Believe it or not, even though our first release is Spec Fic, and we have a few other cool Spec Fic ideas, Speculative Fiction takes up less than 10% of our WIPs. I think we just like love, like, lust, attraction…For a long time Romance wasn’t taken seriously as “real” writing, because mainly women read it.
That’s slowly changing, and we’d love to change with it!
How can people connect with you?
We’re mostly on our blogs Twinja Book Reviews, a book blog that celebrates diversity in YA/NA and or Spec Fic books. But we have a sister blog called Rebellious Cupid Book Reviews that highlight diverse Romance. It’s in its infancy so our audience isn’t big, but we one day hope to have it be as awesome os Twinja Book Reviews!
We also have an author website! GL Tomas, our author name. We’re also on Twitter at @dos_twinjas, sometimes more than others depending if the writing is going good!
We love recommending books to people hoping to diversify their reading. Since we’ve been blogging, that’s been our mission. We’ve only ever wanted diverse books to have the same chance as the books readers and publishers put most of their money in. Where one day, we won’t need to call a book a “diverse” one.
We’re super friendly, and we love helping folks out!
September 29, 2015
September 25, 2015
#FridayFunnies
I need sleep, a hug, and a drink. Not necessarily in that order, though.
September 22, 2015
#BookReview Deamhan by Isaiyan Morrison (@isaiyanmorrison)
Please note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Deamhan by Isaiyan Morrison is a fantasy novel where Deamhan and Vampires are very powerful creatures that are now running amok in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The protagonist, a head-strong, impulsive woman named Veronica has return to Minneapolis in search of answers about what really happened to her mother. Her father, the powerful leader of a group known as The Brotherhood, uses his organization’s resources to ensure his daughter never finds out the truth.
The story started off very slowly (too slowly for me at times). It was difficult to understand Veronica’s motivation initially. And I found it very easy to write her off as another head-strong but spoiled character that jumps into trouble without thinking of the larger complications. You have to make it about 3/4 through the book before you begin to understand what is pushing this woman to throw caution to the wind the way she has. And even then you aren’t sure it’s worth it – until the end and you see what so much corruption and hatred has caused and then you’re like “Oh I see it now!”
Overall, this book isn’t necessarily my cup of tea, but I can’t say that it’s a bad book. On the contrary, the world Morrison creates is believable and complex. Her writing style is easy to follow and digest. For my money I would have like to have seen more about the underground, but perhaps that will come as the series develops. I give this book 3 stars.
September 18, 2015
#FridayFunnies
Just so we’re all clear!
September 15, 2015
#BlogTour Bombshell by Xyla Turner (@xylaturner)
Bombshell by Xyla TurnerISBN: B00WZYKQ62
Publisher: Azina Media Publications
Pages: 271
Format: ebook
Genre(s): Interracial Erotic Romance
Plot Summary:
Tired of dealing with the sexist, dominant men at her corporate job, Samantha Wilde started her own company. After hearing some life-altering news, she literally bumps into a man who knows what he wants regardless of her situation and is willing to pursue her no matter the costs.
Joshua Kelly is a successful business man. He has Samantha in his sights for not only business, but pleasure! He makes her a business proposition that she tries to refuse, then he moves in for the kill with a relationship proposal. She is almost helpless to stay away from him, because he represents the type of dominant man that she wants to avoid but his touch is addictive. Maybe this kind of dominant isn’t so bad.
This story is about the realities of sexual encounters and how to move on from what you cannot change. Based loosely on a many true stories.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WZYKQ62
Author Info:
Xyla Turner was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She has always been a writer, even as a teenager, she wrote short stories and essays that won awards and nationwide competitions. Xyla is an avid reader of romance novels and a sucker for sassy females and dominant males. She is a lifelong learner, High School Vice-Principal and a pretty good Auntie. Outside of reading, Xyla likes to spend time with her family and friends, experiment with dangerous adventures and travel. She writes different genres, but her favorite is romance.
Xyla has her Bachelor’s degree in Education and Masters in Education Administration. She is also a web designer and a Life Coach. She will forever be an educator, innovator, and entrepreneur.
Website: www.xylaturner.com
Blog: http://xylaturner.com/xylas-blog/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorXylaTurner
Twitter: www.twitter.com/xylaturner
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/xylaturner
Exerpt:
I whipped around and almost hit him with my head because he was so close. He was leaning over me to pay the barista for the drinks.
What the hell?
Here’s the thing, I’m 5’9 and I had on 3” heeled boots, so I’m a pretty tall lady. This guy was leaning over me, so he had to be around 6’5 or taller. When he stood up to his full height, I saw it was the guy from the elevator.
What the hell?
“Sir, what are you doing?” I was annoyed.
His eyes slid down to mine. “Treating a beautiful lady,” he smoothly responded.
“I didn’t ask for this,” I shook my head at the barista and went to hand her my card.
She looked confused, but went to grab my card. He snatched the card out of my hands and commanded, “I got this.”
Well, I’ll be.
At that point, the barista took his twenty dollar bill and deposited it in the register, gave him his change and asked, “Your name?”
“Joshua,” he replied.
I could play this one of a few ways, I thought as I stared at him with my mouth open.
Option 1: I could be a total bitch and tell him where he can go, how I can pay for my own coffee and how dare he have the nerve to try and bend me to his will.
Option 2: I could thank him politely, get my coffee and go home.
Option 3: I could smile and say thank you.
I couldn’t tell if he was good looking or not because I was now thoroughly pissed. He no longer had the scowl on his face, but a smirk. I felt like he walked over me and disregarded my wishes, but that didn’t mean I needed to act on that feeling. I didn’t want to make a scene at the Starbucks because I frequently came here as many of my clients were in this area. However, I did want to make it clear to him who he was dealing with. As I was preparing myself to go with Option 1, but a more civilized and modified version, he reached his hand up to my mouth and closed my lips with his thumb and index finger. Then he slipped my card back in my purse with his other hand.
