Alyne Hart's Blog, page 10

Procrastination: the dirtiest P word any writer knows

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I’ve plotted and outlined my story, I’m excited. Inciting incidents and an ending that will cause my readers to ugly cry are dancing in my head. I’ve spent hours curating the perfect writing playlist on Spotify and making inspirational pinboards on Pinterest. My desk is clean, I have a notebook at my side, ready to write down anything that may come to me when I’m in this heightened state of inspiration.

Then I stop.

I’ll do almost anything to avoid being productive, maybe not intentionally, but I will… I’ve cleaned my house top to bottom. Suddenly remembered that I need to clean out my closet or garage. I have chores, errands. Then I start binge-watching shows on Netflix and getting stuck for hours on Youtube watching other authors talk about writing. And then suddenly – it’s gone. I can’t write. The motivation deflated.

So how do we kick procrastination in the ass?

Procrastination is all in my head. It’s about my fear of failing and comparing myself to others. It’s about thinking that I need to be perfect, and re-reading my work and thinking that I’m a complete fraud who can’t write and my words suck and I become my own worst enemy. it’s obsessing over creating beautiful passages and similes, going back and correcting things before I can move on.

Writing isn’t pretty. First drafts aren’t pretty.

When I get stuck on certain passages and can’t move on, that isn’t writing. When I’m constantly re-reading my work and trying to perfect it before I can move on, that isn’t writing.  That interrupts the flow of my story and zaps my creativity.

Step one: TURN OFF THE INTERNET!!!

If you’re like me, you might head to Pinterest or whatever website inspires you, and then three hours later you’ve planned your cats birthday party in great detail, and you haven’t written a damn word. No, you don’t need it for research. No, you don’t need it to come up with a different word for arsenal because you’ve just written it four times in one chapter (true story – and there was never any weapons…). That comes later. Right now, you just need to get those words on paper.

Step two: Baby steps

Set a timer. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Thirty minutes. And tackle something SMALL. Tackle a small scene, not even an entire chapter. Are you trying to nail a fight scene, or a kissing scene or maybe an important internal monologue. Take a small amount of time and just write that one thing.

Step three: Stop self-editing before you move on

That’s what your second draft is for. That’s what a proofreader is for. You’re too close to your work at this point, it hasn’t had time to breathe and sit. If you continually take time to self-edit (especially AS you are writing, you aren’t doing yourself any favors) The focus on perfection is a doom spiral, trust me on this.

Step four: Allow yourself to take a break.

Take a ten-minute walk around the block. Pet your dog. Go outside and pull some weeds. Whatever it is that clears your head and allows you to stop thinking about your damn book for a minute – do it.

Step five: Bones

No, not like a dog. This has been the biggest a-ha moment in my writing. I just get the bones or the skeleton of a chapter or scene written. I worry about the meat later when I revise. So what does that mean? That means – maybe I have a pivotal conversation and I just write the dialogue. No tags, no action, no scene setting. Just the conversation. And I move on. Yep. I just move on. It’s ugly and anxiety producing at first and if anyone ever read my first drafts of certain chapters, they’d think a five-year-old wrote them. But I swear by it and it’s really helped me become more productive.

The final step: Be nice to yourself.

Stop beating yourself up for not hitting a word count goal. Stop focusing on everything wrong with your first draft and focus on the fact that you started the first draft. Reward yourself for the baby steps. Reward yourself for completing a chapter. STOP comparing yourself to other writers and how fast they write.

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Calling on all my Book Bloggers ♥

Publication has been set for How We Fall: The Men of Evansdale County book 2! How We Fall will be released June 27, 2018, and is available for pre-order now!

My cover reveal is being hosted by Lexis Infinitum PR, and I would be honored if you would sign up to take part in it! → SIGN UP FORM

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Ingredients: one seriously hot chef for a boss + one sassy employee who always says what’s on her mind = an unexpected and flirty romance about trying to resist the irresistible

Finn King. He’s sexy, single, successful and hotter than anything that comes out of his kitchen. His focus lies on the perfection of his food, and on becoming a celebrity chef. Women and love aren’t on his list of priorities until in walks Hailee with her smart mouth, flaming red hair and who challenges him at every turn. When one accidental kiss turns his world upside down, he’s left questioning everything he thought he wanted in life.

Hailee Ferris only wants one thing – to get out of the small town she’s felt trapped in her whole life. She’s done with men, dating, and love after her fiancee left her for another woman who happened to be her best friend. When she lies to get the job at Finn’s restaurant to save enough money to move away, the one thing she was counting on was falling for her boss. With his model good looks, arrogant smile and cool demeanor – now his cooking isn’t the only thing heating up the kitchen.

Pre-order here → https://books2read.com/u/4jwl7j

Add it to your TBR pile at Goodreads here → http://bit.ly/2HszH3Y

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Sitting down with author Sherry Rentschler

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I met Sherry Rentschler through a mutual friend, Terri Wilson. Terri invited me to participate in a few FaceBook takeovers and Sherry happened to be attending them as well. I loved all of her posts, and we got to chatting and became friends. I can honestly say that she is one of my favorite people that I’ve met in this self-publishing industry, and she’s incredibly talented to boot.

Author Bio:

Sherry Rentschler is a best-selling, multi-award-winning, multi-genre author, writing coach and speaker.A retired US Air Force non-combat veteran, Sherry Rentschler completed her bachelor and graduate degrees while serving her country. Her background includes bylines in newspapers and online journals, plus previous work as an assistant poetry editor for an online poetry journal, a freelance columnist, and a photojournalist. In addition to her authorship, Rentschler is a writing coach and freelance editor.

Rentschler has been a featured author in Southern Writers’ Magazine and in Focus on Women Magazine, as well as a featured guest speaker on numerous radio shows (The Ron Shaw Show, La Femme de Prose, Off the Chain, and Hangin’ With Web Show).

Her causes include the National Network to End Domestic Violence well as programs to end bullying like StopBullying.gov. Also, Rentschler is a strong advocate of SmileTrain (seeing children get corrective surgery for cleft lips and palates), and Stand Up 2 Cancer programs.

On the horizon, Rentschler plans a three book workbook series for anyone who want to learn the habit of writing every day. Also, she plans on a middle grade fairy series alsong with some ebook vingettes showcasing her characters from her vampire series.

Amazon recognized her latest book, Time and Blood, as a Hot New Release and a Best [image error]Seller.

Sherry’s guilty pleasures include indulging in fine wine, dark chocolates, and old b&w movies. A recognized vampire scholar and dragon collector, she and her husband live in North Carolina.

1 and 2. Which writers inspire me?  Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, VE Schwab, Benedict Jacka, Nalini Singh, Deborah Harkness, Anne Rice  and I read them often. Looking forward to Jim Butcher’s upcoming release of PEACE TALKS and Nalini Singh’s latest in the Guild Hunter series, Archangel’s Prophecy.

3.  What famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?
    Katharine Hepburn.  A ground breaker for working women, she was ahead of her time and I would love to talk to her about events going on today and ask her about certain individuals. She was direct and blunt and I loved her laugh.

4.  When you aren’t writing, what are you doing?
    Reading, watching TV (I call it mental bubblegum), doing things with hubby (once a week we try to have a night just for us where we play some games or binge some movies or go to dinner. I shop online (currently buying for Christmas), and of course, I must spend time being a domestic goddess doing housework.

5. Do you ever get Writer’s Block and how do you combat it?
    I don’t believe in writer’s block and I’ve spoken out against this often. When a writer is stuck it’s because of insecurity, uncertainty, laziness or fear. We can talk ourselves out of working. We can make excuses for our plots not working or our characters not cooperating. We can complain that we don’t know where to start. But all we have to do is sit down and start writing. Anywhere about anything will do. The muse will come once engaged in any form. I also believe in mood setting. Mood music is important to me. As are my “fake fireplaces” (virtual fireplace on computer or tv), sound effects, candles, totems — all work. Find your tools and use them but no more saying “I’ve got writer’s block.”

6. Where do your ideas come from? 
    You hear this often from many folks, but it’s true for me as well – dreams. My best ideas came from dreaming of them. Characters also speak to me in my dreams. When suffering from insomnia (as writers often do) I can call upon my favorite character and alter ego, Drahomira, and say “Talk to me about…..” and I’ll work a problem and fall asleep. The next day I’ve got my answers. I’ve also had new characters introduce themselves to me in my dreams.
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7.  When did you decide you wanted to be a writer? 
    I never “decided.” Writing was always a part of my life. My first published piece came when I was seven, a poem called Fork In the Road. When I was 13, my “what I did on summer vacation” was published in the newspaper and they paid me five dollars. Well! To write and be paid was an amazing moment. Following that I won awards in school and then in the military I continued my writing with a newspaper byline, winning writing contests, doing poetry by commission and being published in a college press. In the back of my mind, somewhere along the way, I had dreams of being immortalized with a book in the Library of Congress. In other words, I wanted to be published. I tried and tried to secure an agent or get a publisher to take me. When that failed I got online jobs as columnists or editors with journals. I tried a novel collaboration that failed but taught me so much about writing a novel. But I was 54 when my first book was published – a photography book. And 59 when I finally published my first book, poetry. When I filed for my Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN), let me tell you that was a day. Just like getting that first official copyright registration. That made me “official” in my eyes and heart.

8. What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
    STUDY WRITING. I really get irritated by writers who decide to self-publish when they:
1. Don’t know how to write, what defines a good plot or how to build a world
2. Do not understand plots or arc, scenes or tropes.
3. Have limited vocabulary. A book needs more than three syllable words. Language is an incredible art and demands attention and study. How to use it, when, correct spelling, are all important.

In other words, learn the craft. Go to school. Take creative writing. If out of school, take some online courses and catch up with what you need to know. Learn from the experts.
     READ
Good writers are prolific readers. You can’t write well if you don’t know what’s already out there, why it works, what works better than other things, what authors in your genre are selling. Also, reading other genres other than yours is helpful to ensure you had a broader perspective.

    Write write write

Ansel Adams said something like he took 1000 photographs to get one perfect shot. I remind others of this all the time. It will take practice and lots of stories before you finally fine your voice, your style and your genre. Then more writing to develop the techniques of good storytelling. There are very few phenoms in the writing world. No one is born a James Patterson, JK Rowling or Patricia Cromwell.
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    Build your credits
Short stories, literary presses, competitions. Build your writing reputation. Worry less about social media and more about honing your craft and producing quality products. Chose your path carefully and experiment.

    Remember social media is forever
If you want to be taken seriously by publishers, other authors, colleges presses, agents, editors or anyone in the business, then remember that what you say and how you behave online represents YOU. There is no such thing as two of you (professional and personal). You are a total package. Don’t let your mouth or your butt ruin your reputation or your chances of being seen as a serious writer before you even get started. And after publication, remember that people will be watching. Don’t sell yourself short by being a less than reputable person online. Ever.

9. What are you working on now?
    The next book expected for this fall is the second in my Evening Bower series, Love and Blood. This continue the story of Rhea, JL and their friends as they fight to keep their love and life built in Time and Blood, the last book. In the last book, it was said, “when time and blood converge, love must win.”  In Love and Blood, we learn, “when love and blood collide, blood never lies.”

10. Give us some insight into your favorite main character?
    I have two. Rhea, the immortal scarlet phoenix, is over 10,000 years old and has transmorphed into human form but maintains a “heartfire.” She weilds fire, can summon nature. Rhea is what I think is the best of me and her attitudes and personality is quite a bit of my mother. Drahomira, my redheaded sexy and dangerous vampire who kills without regret, is a bit of a sassy and bawdy chick who wears red leather and rides a motorcycle. She’s my alter ego. I adore her. Most of the time she’s my go-to gal when I need to work things out or my stories need something “extra.”
    Rhea and Dra are best friends. I guess you can say they are my ying and yang. They’ve been alive since about 1996 and began in an online world I created in 1997. JL was actually created by a friend for that online community but I inherited him and have continued to develop him through the years.
Rhea and JL’s love story is based on how I believe love can be and isn’t always happily ever after but it survives and thrives with work and determination and deep caring. It is also romantic and dangerous.[image error]

Follow Sherry on Social Media:

Facebook:  AuthorSherryRentschler
Twitter:  @poetphoenix

Instagram: thepoetphoenix

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherry-rentschler-8ab95769

Books may be ordered from sherry’s website: www.sherryrentschler.com

Or from Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/sherryrentschler

Barnes and Noble: www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Sherry+Rentschler

Books-A-Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/search?id=6972138075266&query=Sherry+Rentschler&where=All

 

Books by Sherry Rentschler:

I WISH YOU JOY (Blurb Books, 2008)

Hardover, softcover, and iTunes ebook   ISBN-13: 978-1320029049

Photography taken over 30 years from around the world, with an uplifting message

Available online through Amazon and Blurb.com

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PAPER BONES (AuthorHouse, 2013)

Hardcover, softcover and ebook    ISBN-13: 978-1481766869

Contemporary poetry reflecting current issues including domestic violence, teenage prostitution and suicide, HIV, yellow journalism as well as housework, love and childhood.

Available online: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, and others

 

BY LIGHT BETRAYED, Poetry of the Vampires (Bookstand Publishing, 2014)

Hardcover, softcover and ebook ISBN-13: 978-1618639394

Dark, compelling poetry from the mind of seductive vampire. His words will open a new vista into the vampire’s soul

Available online with Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and iTunes

 

MIDNIGHT ASSASSIN: A Tale of Lust and Revenge (CreateSpace, 2015)

Softcover and ebook  ISBN-13: 978-1515359227

An urban fantasy novella with a noir flavor and a seductive “bite.” A fast-moving tale of murder and revenge including a dangerous redheaded vampire.

Available online through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Ingram and others (including overseas)

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THE BOOK OF NOW (CreateSpace, 2016)

Softcover and ebook ISBN-13: 978-1534854963

Compelling and sometimes controversial, nonfiction poetry. Topics ripped from news headlines include terrorism, politics, abuse(both domestic and international slavery), and nature (human and Mother).

Available online through Amazon, B&N, Ingram, and other online retailers (including overseas)

 

 

BREAKING THE GLASS SLIPPER  (CreateSpace, 2016)

Softcover and ebook  ISBN-13: 978-1539887133

A fictional memoir; true story of my search for love and that elusive happily ever after

Available online through Amazon, B&N, Ingram and other online retailers (including overseas)

 

THE GYPSY THORN  (CreateSpace, 2017)

Softcover and ebook ISBN-13: 978-1545436530

Dark paranormal prequel novel to the new Evening Bower series

Drahomira must leave her people, her throne, and her lover, cross a continent for vengeance,  die, and be reborn. Only then will she discover that she is the rose’s legendary thorn in the Evening Bower.

Available online through Amazon, B&N, BAM and other online retailers

 

TIME AND BLOOD  (Evening Bower #1) (CreateSpace 2017)

Softcover and ebook  ISBN-13: 978-1975947170

A dark paranomral romance. When Atlantis sank into the sea, The Great Book of Forgetting and a mysterious prophecy held with it, survived thanks to the last surviving phoenix.She will cross the millennia to find and complete the prophecy with a two hundred and fifty year old vampire. Together they will risk everything for love, for the future, for the prophecy. When time and blood converge, blood must win.

 

LOVE AND BLOOD (Evening Bower #2)

            Coming Fall 2018

Awards:a  

Breaking The Glass Slipper

2017 Metamorph Publishing 2017 Summer Indie Book Award Winner (Biography)

2017 Kindle Ebook Awards Semi-Finalist

2017 Global Ebook Awards Honorable Mention (Autobiography/Memoir)

2017 Readers Favorite International Book Awards 5 Star Review

 

The Book of Now

2017 Global Ebook Awards Silver Medal (Poetry)

2017 eLit Book Awards Silver Medal (Poetry)

2017 International Press Award (IPA) Distinguished Favorite (Best Non-Fiction Cover)

2017 National Indie Excellence Award Finalist (Poetry, and Best Interior, Nonfiction)

2017 Readers Favorite International Book Awards 5 Star Review

2016 Metamorph Publishing Summer Indie Book Awards Nominee (poetry)

 

Midnight Assassin – A Tale of Lust and Revenge

2016 Global Ebook Awards Bronze Medal (Fiction-Paranormal)

2016 Global Ebook Awards Honorable Mention (Best Overall Ebook Cover)

2016 Readers Favorite International Book Awards 5 Star Review

 

By Light Betrayed: Poetry of the Vampires

2016 Metamorph Publishing Summer Indie Book Awards Nominee (poetry)

2015 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist (Poetry)

2015 Global Ebook Awards Gold Medal (Best Overall Ebook Cover)

2015 Global Ebook Awards Silver Medal (Best Ebook Photography – no gold given)

2015 Global Ebook Awards Silver Medal (Poetry – no gold given)

2015 Readers Favorite International Book Awards 5 Star Review

 

Paper Bones

2014 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist (Poetry)

2014 Global Ebook Awards Gold Medalist (Poetry)

2014 Readers Favorite International Book Awards Honorable Mention

2014 Readers Favorite International Book Awards 5 Star Review

2013 AuthordB Cover Contest Gold Medal

Rocking Autumn re-cover Cover Reveal!

This has been a long time coming! I have been wanting a cover that spoke of Jax and his music, but also had a more emotive feel to it. That being said, I put my book characters on a pedestal and not just any old images will do. I’ve been searching and searching because I knew I wanted a new cover for Rocking Autumn, but nothing felt right. Until now.

Drumroll, please….

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https://amzn.to/2GEXgT1

Can a second chance get a happily ever after? A sexy and sweet rock star romance that will make you believe in true love…

Bookstore owner Autumn Brooks wasn’t looking for love. She wasn’t even looking for a man. It was just her, her books, her cupcakes and her cat, and that’s the way she liked it. But when Jaxon West walked back into her life after ten long years away, she finds resisting him almost impossible. Now she just hopes she doesn’t get hurt when she falls hard for the guy who’s broken her heart once already.

Jaxon West knows that Autumn is the one, even if it took him ten years to figure that part out. Now he’s back, determined to win her heart, an effort she won’t make easy on him. When he does, can their relationship survive the long distance? Can it survive the touring with his band and the missed phone calls? Can it survive the secret he’s hiding from her?

Camp NaNoWriMo Midpoint Check-in – personal life update

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I just love NaNoWriMo. I don’t know if it’s the looming deadline or my competitive nature, but NaNoWriMo kicks my writing butt into gear. As with NaNo in the fall, I used the time to complete The Space Between Us, and I am using Camp NaNo to complete How We Fall, book two in the Men of Evansdale County series.

I am just shy of 40,000 words in my 80,000 word goal!

My cabin mates and I have been keeping tabs on our goals and word counts daily, and last weekends “write in” was quite a success. One of the things that I’ve been doing a little differently this go around is listening to rain sounds instead of music, and it’s been really working for me. THIS ONE  and THIS ONE have been my favorites so far.

My goal is to have this book published and in your hands by the end of July!

In other news, I am now a homeschooling mama.

If you know me, you know my youngest son is on the autism spectrum as well as a host of many other issues. This school year has been progressively worse to the point he was recently expelled for nine days. Upon the advice of a teacher and many friends, I found a group called Parent 2 Parent who provided me with two advocates. We spent hours on the phone talking the night before his re-entry meeting. And boy was I glad. When we arrived that morning, it was myself, my two advocates and eleven school board members including the superintendent of schools. It was intimidating to say the least.

I held strong, remained poised and called on my advocates when I needed to.

In the end, I had them change some wording on a bunch of paperwork that kind of “blamed” certain behaviors on me (that I would not have noticed had I not had my advocates) and we fought to have him finish the school year from home. An aid will be coming for an hour or two a day to help him out, and he and I will work on some schoolwork together as well. I think my binder full of school work is more intimidating than that meeting.

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…tap tap tap…is this thing still on?

Yes! I am alive.

I barely survived inventory at my “real” job and then got thrown into a massive project in my garden center. We basically had to flip the entire thing. Muscles in parts of my body I wasn’t even aware there were muscles hurt…Plus I’ve been dealing with some pretty intense family stress that is leaving me quite emotionally drained.

How We Fall is coming along nicely. I’ve hit a great stride and my WIP is sitting at 32k words. I have my early stage beta reader going through it and she’s already given it a thumbs up

I will try and get back to actively blogging soon.

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Camp NaNoWriMo | The Island re-cover

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If you follow me on any social media sight, you know that I finished writing The Space Between Us during NaNoWriMo.

Until recently, I’d never heard of Camp NaNoWriMo until it was mentioned in a group I’m in on Facebook led by the one and only Alessandra Torre. Since I have a WIP that I’m trying to write, I figured I would sign up and I volunteered to be a “cabin leader”.

I am now the proud cabin leader of 8 other authors (Go Cabin Seahorses!) Every word we write counts towards our entire cabin – so camp is a team effort. My goal for Camp is to write 50 thousand words, which will put me at close to 80k for my current novel!

I’ve been a busy little bee. Writing. Working. Raising my boys. Beta reading. And I’ve had the pleasure of creating custom FaceBook branding for quite a few authors and working with two authors on creating their book covers. (I will post as soon as they give me the okay and have done their own cover reveals.)

Well, I couldn’t just NOT give The Island a pretty new cover. I’ll tell you – I’ve really struggled with that cover. Nothing ever felt quite right…until this beauty happened yesterday. As soon as I started to build the cover, everything just felt right. The tone, the colors – I’m in LOVE.

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How We Fall: Cover Tease

Y’all I’m getting excited about this book!


How We Fall: The Men of Evansdale County Vol 2


Releasing Summer 2018.


Cover Reveal Coming Soon!


Photographer: Reggie Deanching


Model: Jamie Walker


 


Finn King. Sexy. Single. And hotter than anything that comes out of his kitchen. He’s focused on becoming a celebrity chef, not women. Until Hailee Ferris walks into his restaurant and life and turns his world upside down with one accidental kiss…Now more than his cooking is heating up the kitchen.


Bon Appetit…

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Sitting down with horror author Chris Kosarich

I’m not sure how long I’ve known Chris. About ten years, maybe more. Chris and I met in a story-telling forum. Real old school, internet circa 1995 kinda stuff. We began chatting in private messages that progressed to email and formed a little bond around writing. When I decided to self-publish, Chris was probably one of the first five people that I told, and we’ve been talking each other through the journey ever since. [image error]

Tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I’m married with three stepkids, enslaved to an adorable cat, and a 20 plus year retail bookstore veteran. I own enough books to probably open my own bookstore, still buy more books and will most likely never read them all. But I don’t plan on stopping my book addiction! I’m always usually reading something, either print books or digital, but prefer the former. I was born in Pittsburgh (Go Steelers!) but have lived in Florida most of my life. Besides writing and books, I love to cook, go swimming when its warm enough, and maybe one day learn to play the bass guitar I bought myself.

What are your ambitions for your writing career?

Make a living at it, but that’s awfully tough to do. Right now, it is to break into anthologies and possibly magazines to be more recognized. I have published short stories and nonfiction, along with my recent self-published ebook shorts, CLOWNING AROUND and THE LAST CHORD. Since the late 90’s, my stories have appeared in various small-press publications such as VIVID, IMPALER, BLACK MOON, and THE SWAMP. For 4 years, I wrote the Fiendish Endeavors column for the Horror Writers Association monthly newsletter.

Of course, my main goal right now is to get my first novel, THE RAVENING, published. I’m in the process of revising that as we speak. I also have a collection of stories and novellas called THE NIGHTMARE SEASON that I’d like to publish at some point, as well. And more books!

When did you first decide you wanted to be a writer?

As a kid, I was into drawing my own cartoons and comics. In middle school, we had to read a book and write a book report. One of my friends was reading this pulp action-adventure series called The Executioner and I got hooked immediately and started reading those, along with other similar type books. My creativity shifted from illustrating to creating images with words…and I haven’t looked back since. Shortly after high school, I picked up a Stephen King novel, PET SEMETARY, and found what I wanted to write.

Which writers inspire you?

As previously mentioned, Stephen King’s books made me fall in love with the horror genre and he remains my favorite author of all-time. And he still kicks ass, in my opinion. But there are plenty of other authors that I love who inspire me and don’t get nearly the attention they deserve. Some of those include Brian Keene, Edward Lee, Richard Laymon, Jack Ketchum, Bryan Smith, Douglas Clegg, Bentley Little, Jonathan Maberry, Jonathan Janz, Nick Cutter, Ania Ahlborn, Tim Curran…to just name a few!

What have you written and where can we buy or see them?

Both my book shorts are available on Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

 

Do you work from an outline or do you prefer just to see where an idea takes you?

Early on, I used to outline and I’d end up practically writing the whole damn thing out anyway…so yeah, I’m more of the organic type. I do take notes, that kind of thing, but I let the story take me where it wants to go.[image error]

What is the hardest thing about writing?

Like most of us, it is actually making the time to sit down and do it. With working a fulltime job and family responsibilities, as you know, that can be challenging at times. Being tired after work is probably the worst time to try and write, so I try to work on my stuff when I’m not that way. Love those writing day’s off!

Do you ever get writer’s Block and how do you combat it?

Happens to all of us, although I think the best advice is to step away from something if you’re having a tough time, and go back to it after a break, whether it be an hour or a day or a week. Work on something else. Read a favorite author. Or if you have a trusted fellow writer or reader, get their feedback.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Read as much as you can, especially outside your beloved genre, and write as much as you can!

Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?

Nope, and thanks so much, Alyne, for this opportunity…you’re the best!

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The Last Chord

Matt Hayden was just eighteen when he met Mister Black during a stormy Florida summer afternoon, but what the mysterious stranger offered him changed his life forever. Now, decades later, Matt runs into him once again…and they have unfinished business. And what he must do to protect the woman he loves may seal his fate.

Find The Last Chord HERE → books2read.com/u/mBMkGk

Find Clowning Around HERE → books2read.com/u/mYgX7w

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World Poetry Day

I don’t easily share my poetry the way I can share a novel. It’s like ripping my still beating heart from my chest and tossing it on a table. It’s too intimate. Too real. But…it’s poetry day. So here we go.

If you think you recognize this, it’s because I borrowed bits for Rocking Autumn.

 Bastard Babies called Memories:

I remember the night I studied your face.

The line of your nose.

The deep set of your grey eyes.

A mix of feminine and masculine features.

The curve of your full lips, smiling after we’d fucked in my bed under a string of Christmas lights I was using as a lamp.

Your cheekbones were hollow and I knew you weren’t eating and sleeping as well as you should have been.

I wanted to tell you how beautiful you were – with your hair, so much longer than mine then – pulled into a bun at the nape of your neck.

You rolled over and kissed me, with your hand clutching the back of my neck like you were afraid to let go. And maybe you were.

I remember how sometimes when we’d be making love, we’d stop. I’d sit in your lap with you still inside me – forehead pressed against yours and we’d just breathe each-others breath. I still feel the air you gave me in my lungs.

I feel the inhale and exhale – the hypnotic silence of it. I feel it more than the bruises on my fist from pounding on the door the night you left –

or I made you leave, I’m still not sure.

I was always seduced by your sadness.

About the beautifully melancholic way you were.

I suppose you felt the same.

Before you I was not okay. We wrapped ourselves in our own little world, feeding off each-others complete fucked-up-ness.

Sometimes we didn’t need to talk. I told you how I felt with how I fucked you and you did the same. We understood each other like that.

You stood outside my apartment, smoking your last cigarette in a too thin leather jacket – your mouth wrapped in an O to blow smoke rings into the cold November air. I knew I wouldn’t see you again.

Not like that.

Not laying in my bed naked, talking and laughing until three in the morning. Not with your hands on my waist and your mouth on my breasts. Not with my fingers twining themselves in your hair and staring into your eyes.

You were the only one who could hold my gaze so long, because we were ditto’s of each other you and I.

I still have the thing you gave me.

It sits in a wooden heart-shaped box, atop a notebook full of angry, bleeding poetry.

I don’t look inside of it ever.

Sometimes I want to throw it in a river.

Or at least give it back…but I can’t – It’s all I have left.

Without you, I still feel like there is a hole inside of me that nothing can feed.

I see it on you too.

There’s something so sorrowful about the way we talk now.

Longing.

I followed you the other day…I followed you when you were looking for me. You blushed when you got caught.

Part of me wants to take you in.

Make us both whole again.

Give you back everything you never had before me.

To do everything in my power to make you not leave.

Instead, I clench my fists until there is blood beneath my fingernails.