Jocelyn Modo's Blog, page 8

My Perfectly Sane Interview with Pat Bertram

Check my interview regarding Revolution Lovers over on Pat Bertram's blog. For once I came off...well, not exactly normal but at least not completely manic-depressive loony toons in a interview. It's a miracle!

Love, light, and laughter!
Jocelyn Modo
www.jocelynmodo.com

My Interview with Pat Bertram

Check my interview regarding Revolution Lovers over on Pat Bertram's blog. For once I came off...well, not exactly normal but at least not completely manic-depressive loony toons in a interview. It's a miracle!

Love, light, and laughter!
Jocelyn Modo
www.jocelynmodo.com

All In The Family: Sex, Religion & Incest

Check out Episode 012 of Ellora's Cave Chaos radio program: All In The Family: Sex, Religion & Incest with Thelmer Sedzoid, Jaid Black, and Jose from da Hood. An interesting trio who have a lot to say.

http://newdissidentradio.com/archives/cave/2011/november/cavechaos-110711.mp3

Love, light, and laughter!
Jocelyn Modo
www.jocelynmodo.com

The Ice Bridge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

A wonderful story full of suspense, the paranormal, and even a little romance. The Ice Bridge kept me engaged all the way through to the last word. Charlotte, the heroine, is likable and interesting, and Mackinac Island is such a strong force in the story that it feels like a dark, eerie character, who pulls the reader in, making you feel like you're really there as a quiet character in attendance to observe.
Charlotte Graham returns to the island to write about ghosts while her heart heals after a broken engagement. What she finds at first is a warm, supportive friendship with her Aunt Bess and Hannah as well as an unexpected attraction to Lieutenant "Mac" Berman, but things quickly change and grow dark.

Griffith does an incredible job creating a dark, ghostly mood, which sets-off her warm, endearing characters perfectly. The contrast makes for a suspenseful read. I recommend this book to anyone who loves suspense, a good ghost story, and the sweet lull of a potential romance between two characters you will cheer for.

Love, light, and laughter!
Jocelyn Modo
www.jocelynmodo.com

Revolution Lovers Released!

My new sci fi romance Revolution Lovers is finally out!

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I love this story! Check out the excerpt:
An Excerpt From: REVOLUTION LOVERSCopyright © JOELYN MODO, 2011All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.
Adie Perrin sat in a worn booth at the Hit or Miss Bar, downing her third bottle of cheap Cerberian alcohol, wanting nothing more than to go unnoticed.

Tonight she had a mission—drink until the green-gold alcohol consumed every vestige of pain. And unlike her previous assignment, her final mission of the interplanetary war, she'd complete this one. Hell, not even a legion of Petulo soldiers could stop her from getting drunk tonight.

After taking the last bitter swallow from her third bottle of alcohol, she palmed the last of her credits. She had enough for two more Cerberians, then she'd be finished. Finished drinking. Finished fighting. Finished living.

Finished.

There was a sad sort of satisfaction in knowing that she had come to the end of it all. She felt ready, ready to let go and fall.

Adie dropped her chin, allowing her dark-red hair to hide her scarred face before waving down a worn-out waiter. The crammed-in crowd forced her to shout her order up to the tall man. How he heard her over the cacophony of drunkenness, she didn't know. Maybe he read lips or minds. Either talent would work to the benefit of the staff at her favorite crap bar.
While waiting for the alcohol to arrive, thoughts of the last couple of years surfaced. Tonight she celebrated an anniversary of sorts. It had been two years to the day since control of her body and all its parts had belonged to her instead of the Petulo commander who had captured her at the end of the interplanetary war.
Memories surfaced. A laser blade burning through her skin. Precise, intricate designs branded on her belly, her back, her face. The sound of her own screams. The smell of burning flesh…
She gagged, her eyes and nose watering. Her stomach cramping.
She'd endured the torture for nothing. Her unit—her family—had died before she had even regained consciousness, making the secrets she fought so hard to keep worthless. She had lost everything.
Adie forced the memories away with another swallow of alcohol.
The waiter plunked the fresh bottles on the table, jerking her back to the present.
"On the house." He gave her a toothy smile, a low bow. "It's an honor to serve you, Soldier Perrin."
Damn. Just her luck, he'd recognized her.
She slid the last of her credits to the edge of the table and glared. He had to be new to try that shit with her. Thankfully she had a glare as deadly as any of her former weapons. Grinding her teeth, she rolled her eyes up to meet his gaze and let her stank-eye do the talking.
With a shaky hand, he snatched up the slick, circular credits and hurried away.
She grabbed the frosted bottle closest to her and added a handful of pain-deflectors to her suicide cocktail. She'd already inhaled a baggie of her favorite street drug, Nevermind, before limping down the block to visit Hit or Miss for the last time.
The pain-deflectors melted in the Cerberian, changing the color to murky brown. She plugged her nose and guzzled. Yeah, she was something special, wasn't she? A real role model. She snorted her disgust with herself and everybody else.
Gods, when would everyone stop seeing her as a war hero? When would they realize she was nothing more than a fool who didn't know when to let go?
Well, she planned to let go tonight. Tipping the bottle up to her lips, Adie shuttered her eyes and let the liquid fire burn through the broken house of her soul. ~~End Excerpt~~
Love, light, and laughter!Jocelyn Modowww.jocelynmodo.com

Manic Monday Trick

[image error] Halloween is my favorite holiday so I'm having a blast but wanted to take time to do a quick free write for manic monday. The word of the day is "trick".

The trick is to treat you like them, those who you take care of, love, put first. The treat is to trick yourself into believing that your leaving on a holiday to celebrate how great and good you are, bright shining star. Self belief is the trick. The treat--knowing yourself.


Love, light, and laughter!
Jocelyn Modo
www.jocelynmodo.com

Ready to Roll: one Author's Experience in Self-Publishing By Chris Lindberg

I'll bet every single Indie Author has a unique story about how we came to self-publish our book, and each story has its share of highs and lows.  The first high comes at the moment you type that last line and hit 'save.'  You lean back from your keyboard, take a deep breath, and savor the moment, reflecting on your accomplishment -- you've just completed your novel, and it feels great.

And then the real work begins: it's time to get your creation ready to meet the real world. You might edit it two, maybe three times, adjusting the word count, the story line, refining dialogue, scenes, characters.  Then, once you feel like it's the best novel it can possibly be, you ship the concept off to the world in the form of a query letter, putting it out in front of editors and agents.  These are the people who can make your novel a reality: someday you'll see it on bookstore shelves, newsstand racks, in the hands of people on buses, planes, and trains…and of course, on the New York Times Bestseller List. [image error] Until that first rejection letter rolls in … then you feel your first real low. The letter is polite and has a "it's-not-you-it's-me" tone to it, but it's still a "no thank you".  But it's just one person's opinion, so you pick yourself back up, and you eagerly await the next response, knowing the next agent will surely be smarter than the first, and see the true potential of your book.  And then the next rejection comes in, followed by another.  And then another.  And before you know it, you have a pile of letters, all saying your work isn't quite what they're looking for. [image error] At this point do you doubt yourself, and your work?  Of course, it wouldn't be human not to.  But luckily you've grown a thick skin throughout this process.  And you realize that you didn't spend three years pouring character, detail, storyline, and scene onto a keyboard just to have a few people tell you it's not worth bringing into the world.So you shake it all off, and you decide to self-publish.  After all the revisions you've done, you feel your novel is ready to roll.  Some people tell you not to, saying that self-publishing will place a stigma on your work, but you're not going to be denied:  your novel is a labor of love, and it deserves to at least see the light of day, even if you're the only one who winds up reading it.So you pick a self-publishing partner (Lulu, iUniverse, CreateSpace, or any number of others), and you move forward: designing a cover, formatting the copy, making final revisions.  It takes weeks, maybe months, but at the end, you're holding your finished work in your hands, proud of your accomplishment, and ready to see if anyone else will think it's as good as you hope they will.That was my experience in getting my first novel, Code of Darkness , out there.  I'm currently working on the promotional phase right now: updating Facebook, Tweeting whatever I find worth sharing, doing a Virtual Book Tour, submitting for reviews.  And getting some nice feedback so far!Now I'd like to hear from you: where are you in your publishing process, and what have your experiences been like?

About the Author
Chris Lindberg was born and raised outside Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from Northern Illinois University in the mid-1990s, he headed out to the west coast for a couple of years, where he began writing as a casual pastime.
Some time after returning to Chicago he began attending writers workshops at StoryStudio Chicago, where he wrote two character studies, both of which have since been developed into key characters in Code of Darkness.
Chris now lives outside Chicago with his wife Jenny and their two children, Luke and Emma. You might catch him working away on his second novel while commuting on his morning train into the city.




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Love, light, and laughter!
Jocelyn Modo
www.jocelynmodo.com

Manic Monday Edit

After a day of edits I am so ready for a little free association writing. It's time now for Manic Monday, using the inspirational word of edit:
Edit out the bad stuff. Highlight the good stuff. Move forward fast enough that I leave behind my house but not my home. Walk away by myself but not alone. All grown up and ready to roam. Will I reach my destination. A beach vacation. Sand between my toes. A new piercing in my nose. I find my place, knowing it's not a race but a marathon. Pace. Find where you belong. Not hard but strong. Edit it.

Love, light, and laughter!
Jocelyn Modo
www.jocelynmodo.com

I Wish I Might

My sci fi romance short I Wish I Might has been newly released by Yellow Silk Dreams. Check out the new yummy cover.



Love, light, and laughter!
Jocelyn Modo
www.jocelynmodo.com

The Little Death Free on XOXO

My short romance story The Little Death is now available on XOXO as a free read! Check the cool cover.


Love, light, and laughter!
Jocelyn Modo
www.jocelynmodo.com