Nerine Dorman's Blog, page 82

Dark Continents Releases Book Bundles

I know I love bargains, and I've got Sylvia Shults, the Dark Continents publicity director swinging by here today to share a little about an opportunity for you to lay hands on some excellent horror and darklit that's a steal. And if you're yet to get round to reading my novel, Inkarna, then this is your chance, while getting some other fantastic reads at the same time.

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Everyone loves a bargain! The folks at Dark Continents Publishing know this, and they’ve made sure there are bargains for everyone, thanks to Drive Thru Fiction.

At Drive Thru Fiction , readers can select many of the titles Dark Continents has become known for, including dark fiction (Inkarna, by Nerine Dorman), humorous romance (Double Double Love & Trouble, by Sylvia Shults), short story collections (Phobophobia, edited by Dean Drinkel), and nonfiction (Fractured Spirits: Hauntings at the Peoria State Hospital, by Sylvia Shults). Now, there’s a special creepy treat in store for lovers of great fiction – and Halloween is still months away.


The good folks at Dark Continents have put together several bundles of fiction, for those who want to get the most bang for their reading bucks. There’s the Surreal Sisters of Horror collection, the Best of British Novels group, and the Horror Down Under stories. Fans of shambling  zombie action won’t want to miss the Snareville Twin Pack (Snareville and Snareville 2: Circles, by David M. Youngquist). Catch up on these five-star stories before the third novel in the series is released. And who could resist the Horror Novella Mega Bundle – five terrifying gems for one low price. Other collections include the Inkarna Bonus Pack, the Short Story Bonanza, and  the Best of 2012 Three-Pack. Many of these titles are part of the short fiction series Tales of Darkness and Dismay, a specialty of Dark Continents. These novellas are bite-sized bits of lovely unsettling fiction.Visit www.drivethrufiction.com for full details, low prices, and all the titles on offer from Dark Continents authors.

For more information about:
Dark Continents, contact Sylvia Shults, Publicity Director at Dark Continents Publishing, at sylvias@darkcontinents.com
Tales of Darkness and Dismay, contact Nerine Dorman, at nerinedorman@gmail.com

About Dark Continents Publishing: Dark Continents Publishing is an author-owned, author-driven corporation working to entrepreneur today’s publishing opportunities and model tomorrow’s writing business. Our intent is to provide a forum for cooperation: authors helping authors. A defining distinction of Dark Continents lies in its cooperative business structure, under which authors come together as equals to produce, publish and promote their works for mutual business gain. Visit Dark Continents on the Web at www.darkcontinents.com.

A meeting with Carlyle Labuschagne

I've been seeing a lot about Carlyle Labuschagne online, so I decided to invite her over. Oh, and she's a fellow South Africa, so it's great to see more folks from the Rainbow Nation get out and go do awesome things. Welcome, Carlyle!

I've been seeing a lot about your writing on various social networks, so please fill me in a little about your current title, the character and the setting? Are you busy with a series? Do you have other titles planned? 

My debut novel - The Broken Destiny is told thought the main character Ava. She is the first of her kind to experience human emotions. Secretly she keeps a journal of her mother's away from the keepers and council that has her questioning everything. And that's when things go horribly wrong for her.

The setting is on a planet called Poseidon, where everything there too conveniently exists because of The Council, of science. The planet however is a very old beautiful planet with purple skies, silver trees and turquoise oceans, this planet was once inhibited by the ancient Atlantians known as Minoans. This is the first in the Broken Series. Yes I have started working a supernatural series.

And rave reviews? What have your readers said about your writing?

"The Broken Destiny is a richly constructed tale, brimming with detail and narrative that draws upon classic elements of fantasy, which Carlyle has skilfully re-imagined into her own signature brand." - Dean Mayes, author

"Author Labuschagne’s writing etiquette allows it to be enjoyed by anyone. This dystopian story she has created is completely unique and refreshing." - Jean Book Nerd

"A sci-fi urban fantasy fiction that will undoubtedly capture and enthrall you upon every page." - Tania Elizabeth, author

" Carlyle Labuschagne not only writes beautifully, she has proven that she’s an author to be reckoned with; she has shown me that she is more than capable of creating a whole new world; has completely captured my heart with her imagination; weaves a story I want to keep reading; engages me in such a way that I become one not only with the story - but one with it’s characters, and has magically uprooted me from my comfortable existence to the gorgeous planet she’s created – Poseidon. For someone who isn’t (or wasn’t) a keen sci-fi fanatic, I am completely and utterly impressed. She’s managed not only to win me over, but has converted me to such an extent, I am a huge fan." - SSbook Fanatics

"The Broken Destiny (Book One) is an amazing beginning to a new Fantasy series. The reason this novel stands out, is because of the wonderful way the author weaves words and images. The world building is stunning."

Tell us a little about yourself. Where do you live? What's a day in the life of Carlyle? 

I live in South Africa, Johannesburg, in the suburb of Florida Hills, with my husband and two gorgeous boys. By day I work as a PR and marketing manager, and late night and weekends I work on my books and articles. I love food, to swim, nature, to read. I have a blessed life.

What are some of the novels that have had the greatest influence on you as a writer? What's on your reading pile at the moment?

Kristin Cashore novels - her world building is something to aspire to. Stephenie Meyer novels - her ability to write so much detail and significance into a story is astounding. Cassandra Clare has a great way with words, action and imagination. To be fair, every book I read teaches me and has an impact on my skills.

Future plans? What lies ahead for you over the next year or so? What can readers look forward to?

Book two will be coming out this year. I hope to publish a short story , and get a huge dent in the other two book series I have started. I often write guest posts, and published articles every second month with IUemagazine.


Autho Bio 
Carlyle Labuschagne is a South African debut author working her way into the hearts of international readers with her first novel The Broken Destiny. She is not only an author but works as PR and marketing manager by day. She holds a diploma in creative writing through the writing school at Collage SA. Loves to swim, fights for the trees, food lover who is driven by passion. Carlyle writes for IU e-magazine an inspirational non-profit magazine that aims at inspiring the world through words. The drive behind her author career is healing through words.

My goal as an Author is to touch people’s lives and help others love their differences and one another.

A firm believer in - YA saves!

Blurb: 
Ava knows much more, and feels much more than she is allowed to. When she starts questioning her origins and the destruction of Earth, things go horribly wrong for her. She is saved by a Minoan boy from an attempted kidnapping on her life – the perpetrators are evil Zulus and their dark ancient magic. Humans and Minoans are forbidden to interact with each other, and as she is taken back to their village she finds out why – they know of her, her kind and her destiny to save a dying race. Ava must rid them from the Council’s ruling and free the galaxy of The Shadow. Her destiny is to rise above the fall, because within her soul is the key to an archaic weapon that has been missing in the mix of a genetic code since the time of the ancients. As the prophecy unfolds she learns of her bloodline – a bloodline that makes her less human than she could ever have imagined. She alone has the power to destroy or save, but the mind-shift is a horrible thing. Ava will become what she hates to save the ones she loves. Beaten, poisoned, possessed and betrayed by her own emotions, she has no choice but to rise above it all… for that is her Destiny.

The Broken Destiny was voted #3 on the Goodreads Debut list for 2012.

Prologue
All my life, I had searched for something, something I thought I ought to be. I felt like I was living someone else’s life, waiting for the awakening of my own. I felt like an empty shell burning for life. That was, until the day I lay dying in the prince’s chambers. I could no longer feel the pain from the tear in my gut. The only sensation left was a hollowed-out feeling that I had made a huge mistake in assuming that taking my own life, would have stopped the ancestors’ spirit from raging out. I had given up. I didn’t want to see myself killing the ones I loved. I was the Chosen one, but I threw it all away for what I thought would save a life. Could you end a life to save a life? I did, and I have regretted it ever since. I realized then that things like me are not meant to exist. What had been missing my whole life? It was I. To find myself, I had to lose myself in the worst possible way. The consequences of my actions became the legend of The Broken.

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The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller #review

Title: The Song of Achilles
Author: Madeline Miller
Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2011

I’ll admit from the start that I’m a huge Mary Renault fan, so when Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles came up on my reading pile, I recalled The Persian Boy and devoured Miller’s offering from cover to cover in less than a week. Like all mythological tales, this one is a tragedy and, I felt a lump in my throat and was a bit teary-eyed at the end, even though I knew how the story of Achilles would conclude.

Miller breathes life into the legend, in an historical retelling that incorporates some of the magic of ancient times. Immortal Chiron the centaur and Thetis the sea nymph are clothed in flesh and walk among mortals.

The gods are real, easy to anger, difficult to appease, and are as bloodthirsty and manipulative as ever. The stage is set, and the tale is told by Patroclus, a disgraced prince in exile, and how he becomes the favoured companion of Achilles, who was destined for greatness. As narrator, Patroclus exists as the opposite of  golden Achilles, who oozes charisma, beauty and near-divine physical prowess on the battlefield. Utterly devoted, and despite Thetis’s hatred of him and others’ disapproval, Patroclus follows Achilles no matter where he goes.

Achilles is faced with two fates: to live a long life and die old and in obscurity or to flare, briefly and be immortalised in legends. Well, there wouldn’t have been much of a story if he’d chosen the safer option, now would there?

Miller’s prose is lush, sensual and evocative, and she captures this age of heroes perfectly to the point where you can taste ripe figs or smell the stench of blood on the battlefield. Miller’s characters spring forth into startling life from the pages of one of the greatest legends.

This review appeared in the Pretoria News on February 17, 2013

The Pirate Queen by Susan Ronald #review

Title: The Pirate Queen Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire
Author: Susan Ronald
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007

I've needed a book detailing the kind of socio-political-economic environment that would support piracy, and The Pirate Queen gave me exactly the kind of background I needed for my research. As background reading to inform my own writing, this volume provides a rough history of Elizabethan times written in such a way that one isn't too overwhelmed with an info-dump of names, places and famous battles. In other words, it's perfect for someone like me who needed a basic introduction to European history *other* than having watched a handful of historical movies.

Obviously Elizabeth I is the focus of this novel, and she's revealed as both shrewd ruler and a woman who's prone to the flattery of her gentleman adventurers. The dynamics at court, in a traditionally patriarchal society must have had quite a shake-up when she steadfastly refused to marry and give up her sovereignty as ruler. But oh, what a queen she was. Yes, she had her good and bad sides, and the situation with Ireland was definitely a bad side, but honours go to her for strengthening a nation in the face of the massive adversity thanks to Spain.

Up until now, the name Francis Drake meant very little to me, something about voyages around the globe, but Susan Ronald hammers home the conditions in which these gentleman explorers like him had to work in order to succeed in their monumental voyages. Their ships were fragile, wooden things, often at the mercy of the elements. Sickness and privation were spectres that loomed constantly, and if not that mutiny among the crew posed yet more threats.

We take our maps and GPS for granted nowadays. Back then these brave and hardy souls navigated unknown and often hostile territory. Not all the natives they encountered were friendly, and often Spanish colonists were less than welcoming. Ronald touches on the slave trade as well, and how folks like John Hawkins had a hand in this terrible aspect of life during this era. The conditions aboard the slavers must have been hellish, and the fates of those poor souls terrible once they arrived in the New World.

All in all, The Pirate Queen offers a rough sketch illustrating how early plunderers, merchant and pirates gave rise to British maritime strength and set the stage for the British Empire that was to follow. I came away with a better understanding of the murky politics in the English court and how Elizabeth I's reign shaped European history. Overall, I feel like I've had a great starting point for further reading.

Five Minutes with Cat Hellisen

Many of you will know Cat Hellisen as the author of the fantasy novel When the Sea is Rising Red. If you haven't read that book yet, then shame on you. Add it to your TBR pile NOW. But she's also got a story in the Something Wicked anthology volume #2, and is here today to trade a little banter about her craft. Welcome, Cat!

Tell us a little about your short story for Something Wicked volume 2.

Jack of Spades, Reversed is a weird little thing that happened. I was
originally writing a novel that was Edward Lear meets Lovecraft, but naturally it became its own monster with Cat-like tendencies. Two of the main characters are transmogrifying into animal-human hybrids because of the spore from alien invaders from another dimension, and everyone has gone mad. The two MCs are being used by scientists to pilot a ship into the other dimension to attack the invaders. But everyone has their own agenda. I guess it's mostly about finding salvation in insanity. Mostly.

Maybe.

And about learning what makes us human, which is a pretty huge theme in just about everything I write.


What gets you writing? Tell us a little bit more about your approach.

Dreams and images, play-acting stories in my head. Newspaper reports, books, lyrics, artworks. Everything feeds into my work. Generally I start with a visual of a character in some odd situation, and take it from there. The visual for Jack of Spades. Reversed was of Louise spitting out her teeth as her head reshapes itself.

Carrying on and finishing anything is my big problem. I can start with
all the enthusiasm in the world, but the grind of the middle of stories can get me down. Just have to tell myself to grit my teeth and keep going. And that I can fix all the crap in revisions.

What do you think are particular challenges associated with short stories as a form? As for longer works, do you have anything planned?

Short stories are hard. It might seem like they're going to be easier but short /= easy. I find them a particularly difficult medium and I tend to avoid them. Longer works give me more room to play, to stretch out character and plot and world-building (which I love.)

I'm always working on novels. I currently have one on sub, two in revision, and I'm first-drafting a fourth. They vary in their levels of odd. Some are more straightforward fantasy - like House of Sand and Secrets which is mostly a sequel to my book When the Sea is Rising Red - others are closer to the weirdness of Jack of Spades, Reversed.

What's the one short story or novel you keep going back to (we all have them), and what makes it stand out above all the rest?

Oh man, Clive Barker's Imajica . A beautiful, unfurling bomb of a book.
It's just one of those stories that hits my every kink - godhood, gender-queering, murder, and magic; strange and ugly and fantastical in equal measure. I also have a huge crush on Tanith Lee's Secret Books of Paradys which fuelled my teen-goth sense of drama. I should probably not admit I am reading them again. AGAIN.

My favourite of my own books is the one that's currently on sub. It's about falling in love after you're dead. So it might be a hard sell.

What scares you?

A world without cheese. I love cheese. But mostly I'm scared of being skinned alive and then put in a freezer. Or dying in a car crash (Thanks, J.G. Ballard...)

Links...
I am a social monster. I'm on tumblr, twitter, facebook, and my own blog (how weird).

Music to Write By, or, An Ode to Beethoven by John A Karr

Author John A Karr takes over my blog today, and he discusses two of my favourite topics: music and writing. Thanks for stopping by, John.

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Tones sound, and roar and storm about me until I have set them down in notes. — Ludwig van Beethoven

It’s impossible to sum up Beethoven in a single sentence, but the above quote from the man himself comes as close as any.

That character string (pardon the day job semantics) alone invokes inspiration, but it’s Beethoven’s music that facilitates entry into alternative worlds for this particular writer. More than merely beautiful or interesting, such “tones” rise and flow throughout the writing zone, summoning the muse along with them.

Particularly with the genius of Beethoven, each note has its own purpose. Each feels right.

At least that’s the impression of one writer after years of listening to classical music. Granted, one who does not read music, plays no instrument, and prefers rock and reggae when driving, exercising, doing the chores, etc. But he does know what music aids his own creativity and what does not. Songs, for instance, are a hindrance. Discernable lyrics disrupt the production of sentences from the imagination.

Beethoven.      Picture: Wiki CommonsThat Beethoven often agonized over the order of his musical notes is not evident as we experience their seemingly predestined flow. They begin working their magic of loosening the grip of the often mundane world around us. They do not break the hold completely, for doing so could invite insanity, but our psyche is no longer restrained by reality. Passageways to creativity appear. Boundaries are relaxed or removed. The imagination expands beyond daily life.

Now it is free to roam or wreak havoc.

Yes, havoc.

Like conflict in a story, imaginative mayhem is required. But we’re not talking Metallica here ... just how does a genre often branded as ‘boring’ do this?

The casual listener might regard classical music as simply a collection of peaceful sounds meant for high-brow affairs or relaxation. They’d be wrong of course, and should avail themselves of Beethoven or several other powerful composers like Grieg, Dvorak, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Holst, and some Mozart.

“Some Mozart?” the incredulous cry. “Amadeus was also a genius, and on par with Beethoven!”

Mozart’s Requiem is among the darkest and most compelling music ever encountered, and his Symphonies 40 and 41 are also masterpieces, but much of his other work is too light-hearted.

Placid, tranquil sounds are not welcome during this writer’s sessions. There must be a certain moodiness and power to facilitate the writing effort. Perhaps there’s a market for beautifully crafted prose without some sort form of conflict, but this writer has no intent of engaging such a venue.

So why Beethoven? Why not Bach, Brahms, Chopin and a host of others?

Personal preference. The same reason Vincent van Gogh’s works are preferred above all others in the art world. His works click. So much so the writer created a novel featuring van Gogh in modern times.

Beethoven’s works almost always have depth, and they are voluminous. There is much more to experience than the famed nine symphonies. As a piano aficionado  the preference is for the sonatas and concertos. There is something about the versatility of sound created when small hammers strike tight metal strings that makes the piano the ultimate instrument to aid creativity.

For the past few writing sessions, Cello Sonatas & Variations has been this writer’s companion. The richness of the cello is punctuated, even driven, by the piano. Indeed, it seems more a piano piece than a string piece, but then, the bias for the ebony and ivory keyboard has just been admitted. Weariness beset the writer tonight, and the temptation to skip the evening writing session was a strong one ... until the wizardry of the cello and piano came through the modest speaker. The muse was summoned, pulled out a chair and sat at the table.

This particular disk features the über-talented musicianship of Jacqueline du Pré on cello and Daniel Barenboim on piano. Giants in the classical music genre, with a tragic back story. The  two were lovers, and du Pré ultimately fell ill and passed away. Perhaps one can hear more than musical notes in her playing, and in his piano interactions with her.

Like so many of LVB’s works, these variations are not placid and peaceful.  

Revealing of its creator, Beethoven’s music is often dark and brooding and prone to bursts of violence. All three are found in the famous “Moonlight” piano sonata.

Even his least complicated compositions engage the mind on a level that is immediate and flowing. Surely if hooked to electrodes in a lab and the impulses relayed to a monitor, the brain stimulation center for sound would flash in neon.      

One may not have read the books on Beethoven or his music, or seen the movies, and yet experiencing that quote at the opening this piece speaks to the motivation that drove the man’s spirit.

Tones sounded, roared and stormed for him. And for much of his life, Beethoven was deaf. Deaf! Curse and genius battle ...! His imagination and drive and love of music could not be stopped by an affliction that would have ended the careers of lesser individuals. Who would not be inspired by the music created by such a composer?

And yet, one doesn’t need to know any of that.

His works showcase his brilliance.

And the writing is unleashed as the music plays.

But though this writer returns so often to Beethoven, the world of music and sound is vast and should be explored. Ambient space music has fed the laptop’s CD player of late while working on a Mars / Earth tale. It is an instant mood provider. It takes one there, to outer space ... fantastic, mind-expanding, but eventually, a bit too subtle.

Holst’s Mars symphony, on the other hand, is powerful enough to raise the dead warriors whose bones have long since turned to dust on the red planet.

The writer’s wife and kids used to play piano on an old upright. A piano tuner once came to the house and said, after tightening or loosening a variety of hammer strings: “The thing about an instrument is that you can’t worry about the world out there while playing music.”

The same holds true of writing, and music is a trusted companion as we journey into the unknown.

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Author's bio: John A Karr believes fiction writing each day helps keep the demons at bay. His latest novel is paranormal mystery Ghostly Summons, from Dark Continents Publishing. He is also the author of a handful of other novels: Death Clause, Hippocrates Shattered (soon to be re-released as Shattered by World Castle Publishing), Rhone, and Van Gogh, Encore. Dark Continents also recently published his Weird West novella, Ujahwek. His short stories have appeared on webzines Allegory, The Absent Willow Review, and Danse Macabre. More works are in progress and in the marketing queue.

Karr is an ardent believer in the quote by Carl Van Doren (1885-1950), U.S. man of letters:

Yes, it's hard to write, but it's harder not to.
www.johnakarr.com   @johnakarr

When history won’t play ball

Today I welcome Daisy Banks, author of Your Heart My Soul, who's going to be in charge for a bit. Welcome, Daisy!

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Hi Nerine, it’s great to be here and thanks for the offer of a blog spot with you.

Today, the historical romance, one of my favorite genres, is driving me to share some ideas. Primarily, I’d like to talk about the problems I’ve found with a work in progress in the historical genre, and what I think can happen when ‘history won’t play ball’.

What I mean by ‘play ball’ is the problem when attitudes and activities from a certain period in time are at odds with modern perceptions of humanity, love and relationships. As a historian, I firmly believe I shouldn’t judge the past with my 21st century morality. However, as a romance author, should I sanitize history? Is it right for me to make the era I’ve chosen to set my story in the kind of world some readers believe they know from Hollywood epics? On the other hand, should I follow my instinct and let the ripe gutter fragrance rise a little from the page to tell its truth? I have struggled with this question.
I know Nerine has a passion for Egyptian history; I too am interested in that great civilization. I also find the divergence of different cultures in the Roman period in the UK, with its clash of attitudes to women and family, changes to religion and the introduction of city dwelling, all fascinating. My other main interest is the early Georgian era and the development of industrialization. I am fascinated by the machines invented in this era, and by the minds of those who designed them. One of my favorite places to visit to enjoy a sense of this era is Soho House in Birmingham, England. This link will take you to a page where you can see the home of Matthew Boulton, a very fascinating character who made a huge impact in this era.  http://www.bmag.org.uk/soho-house

One of my books published with Lyrical Press, A Matter of Some Scandal , is set in the Georgian era, a robust time full of change and discovery on many levels. My main concern with that story was the legal system in England in the 18th century and I used the records of proceedings at the Old Bailey in London to try to gain the depth and accuracy I felt the story needed. As I am so interested in the period the level of research necessary wasn’t too trying, and it gave me the added bonus of discovering the reality of the author’s voice. As the characters in the story spend much of their time alone together, the impact on them from the attitudes of society in the era only came at the end of the story. However, some historical stories like my work in progress are more problematic, and I think the element of realism could influence the reception a story might get from both a publisher and readers.

There are some key areas where I’ve found ‘history won’t play ball’ with modern sensibilities or the lists of acceptable content in a romance.

The age of the heroine is an issue. If I want to be factually accurate in a romance set in the past it is unlikely an aristocratic girl will fit within modern age constraints. Research into the lives of wealthy women in the past generally proves they married young, sometimes very young. Arranged marriages where land and finance counted as more important than the bride’s happiness were also a common feature and could lead to both emotional and physical abuse if a woman tried to refuse. For an example of this, investigate the Paston Letters, of the 15th century. Those letters are fascinating social history but the information they offer is not something that fits neatly with most publication guidelines for romance.

The next problem is to give my heroine an occupation in life. For many periods in the past, work opportunities for women appear to be very limited, or none existent for women in the upper classes. Therefore, to have a heroine who has an occupation I either need to massage history, or I must look among the working women of the lower classes.

These women, the alewives or fishwives, the servant or seamstress, laundress or midwife, governess or nursery maid, and those who worked with their family in all manner of activities give an insight into lives lived without a woman toiling over an embroidery frame. There is also an added bonus, these girls, if they married, they didn’t marry so young. From the late Medieval through to the early Georgian era, the typical age at marriage of women from the lower classes was approximately twenty-four, as a couple needed to save for their life together. The women I’ve discovered in records of these periods offer courage, skill, wisdom, and even the nebulous quality so often described as ‘feisty’. Fantastic!

However, back to my historical story and the next problem I need to solve. How to make the world my heroine lives and loves in palatable too?

My current historical work in progress has offered me many dilemmas. The tale is set in the Georgian era, and is based on research of real events. I want to make both hero and heroine realistic characters from their time and still have readers like them. The level of characterization of lead characters in a historical story has to be very strong. The author must persuade the reader to suspend belief, and in addition, to like the kind of person who might attend a public hanging and purchase a pie to eat during the event. Heartless? Not according to the descriptions from the time, it seems pie sellers did a roaring trade at executions; they are prominent figures in some sketches from the eighteenth century.

I love the genre of the historical, and I firmly hope it never dies out, but I also know from my work on historical stories, it is a very demanding and unforgiving genre. The search to find a heroine who is true to her time but loveable to modern readers is a challenge in an extreme form.

In checking through this, I chose to read it a friend, who said in response, “But you write fiction. So, your characters don’t have to follow the accepted behaviors of their era.”

I have to say I sighed in frustration.

This thought, is, I think, why so many portrayals of historical stories especially in film and on television are so unbelievable to anyone with some knowledge of history. Our female ancestors weren’t all proud beauties taught to sword-fight by kind brothers or indulgent fathers, that doesn’t make them less brave or interesting than they were. Many women fought day-to-day battles against poverty, ignorance, brutality and fear. To me their stories are far more interesting than some events shown on screen, and I’d like to incorporate those real stories, at least in part, into the ones I write. To do that I have to allow truth to speak out from the era I chose to write in.

My recently published story Your Heart My Soul with Liquid Silver Books is a combination of the paranormal, historical and contemporary. In this tale of a love to last the ages, I tried to offer readers a brief look at the early19th using the characters of the ghosts of Will and Sally. Here is a link if you wish to find out more and I’ve included a small excerpt below to tempt you. I hope you enjoy it.

Many thanks again, Nerine, for time on your blog.

Best wishes to you and the readers.
Daisy Banks

Excerpt from Your Heart My Soul by Daisy Banks, published by Liquid Silver Books.

A prickle rose on the back of his neck, the fine hairs stood like a hound’s ruff to warn of storms to come and his certainty grew. T’was said only those who’d made it ’round the horn got the sense of predicting stormy winds. Well, he’d made it ’round the horn and home twice—and tonight, in the twilight shadows, proof of it raced icy down his back.

The fat blue-and-white painted vase. It had moved!

The thing always stood on the starboard side of the counter, had been there for so long he couldn’t recall.
He shook his head.

Tonight, the thick-bottomed vase sat on the frayed rush mat. Unknown hands had moved the vase from its usual spot and left it on the floor, where any bad-tempered little brat in hobnailed boots might kick it.
Careless.

The pawnshop didn’t change. Why, it was only yesterday evening he’d been here and things had been the same as they’d been for—well, he couldn’t give a number on the days. Wherever else he wandered along the wharf each starlit night, he always began his evening journey here, in the shop, hoping. Before dawn he returned, dragging the tatters of his dreams, for one last glimpse before the bright light came. The first streaks of dawn and he’d leave with the prayer the next night would bring a different outcome. The sun on the water, always he saw the light sparkling on the waves, until it dimmed and the next night and his hopes came again.
He stifled the confusion in his thoughts, the ache and longing inside, rose from the chaise and picked his way through the jumble of objects in the corner. Once beyond the brass umbrella stand and the dark wood whatnot with the broken shelf, he eased by the table and made sure he didn’t brush against the cluster of china flat-back ornaments on the long open bookcase.

Surprise stilled his steps. Unblinking, like when he watched a shooting star, he stared as if he’d frozen in the bitter cold of the deepest southern ocean. He gawped in wonder at the arch of a smear mark traced by three slim fingertips scraped along the mahogany counter.

Not his darlin’ Sal’s sweet touch, though. He knew it immediately, for she’d truly tiny fingers—slender like little petals, and how he wished…

One day she’d weave her small, pale fingertips through his hair again, or she might even whack him on the chin and giggle. Didn’t he know her for a lovin’ saucy wench?

By his heart and soul, she was a beauty. On three continents, he’d never met her like. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes to recall the perfection of her violet-scented mouth, coral-tinted lips made for kisses, her cheeky, inviting little smile, and the sparkle in brilliant green eyes that could smolder in passion like oriental gems or blaze like a wildfire lived inside them. And her laugh.

Ah, when his darlin’ laughed, the sound danced about a room, skipped like dawn light on the waves, glimmered like ice crystals in a winter night.

Beautiful.

Everything about his sweet, dainty Sal was beautiful, and he only lingered here awaiting the chance to haul fast beside her once again. This time when he did, he’d take her in his arms, caress her until she made those soft, welcoming little sighs and, God help him, he’d know then he’d come home.

He clenched his hand. “Christ alive, my wench, where in the wide world are ye? My girl, ye gave me yer heart, took mine in return, and ye promised we’d wed. Yer swore we would.”

Five minutes with RWW Greene

A big welcome today to RWW Greene, who's one of the contributing authors to the Something Wicked volume #2 anthology. 

RWW Greene and wife Brenda NoiseuxSo, tell us a little about your short story...

The idea hit me in wake of an argument about Joss Whedon’s Firefly . The opposition claimed there was no reason for latter-day humans to develop American cowboy-like speech patterns, and I set out to write something that, as a side note, proved him wrong.  Throw in some characters inspired by my students, add my worries about climate change, and -- BAM! -- story. There was much revising.

What gets you writing? Tell us a little bit more about your approach.

I keep little notebooks everywhere, and any idea I have goes in whichever one is closest. When I have time, I write the ideas into three-act outlines, and, when I have even more time, I turn them into stories. An idea can come from a name, an article, a long-wait for fried chicken, riffing, something I overhear in the coffee shop line … It all goes into the hopper, gets mashed up with all the other stuff, and sometimes the results make sense.

What do you think are particular challenges associated with short stories as a form? As for longer works, do you have anything planned? 

The shorter you try to make a complicated narrative the harder it gets. There’s plenty of time to play and wander in a novel, less in a novella, far less in short story. By the time you are squeezing a narrative down to a poem or a piece of flash, you’re really having to work. Short fiction relies so much on evocation and white space. You have to carve it right down to what is important.

I turned It Pays to Read the Safety Cards, the story in Something Wicked, Volume Two, into a 93 000-word novel called Leaving Home, and now I’m looking for someone to represent it. I’m also working on an alternative-history novella wherein the Vietnam War never happened because would-be conquerors from the planet Mercury set their sights on Earth.

What's the one short story or novel you keep going back to (we all have them), and what makes it stand out above all the rest?

I can’t pick. There are so many books and stories that I’ve read repeatedly. Probably the first book of that kind, though, was The Prince of Central Park by Evan H Rhodes.  It’s about a kid who runs away from his abusive foster mother, quits school, and goes to live in a tree. I think my takeaways from it are: You don’t have sit there and take it, and you don’t need much in the way of material things to have a good life.

What scares you?

I’m afraid that humanity will never get its act together, and we’ll waste all of our potential.

Links...

I blog about writing, teaching, and the 21st century at RWWGreene.com and live Tweet various award shows and political debates at @rwwgreene

Anna Dressed in Bloody by Kendare Blake #review

Title: Anna Dressed in Blood
Author: Kendare Blake
Publisher: Tor Teen, 2011

If glittery vampires and wangsty, lovestruck angels have caused you to all but give up on young adult paranormal reads, then Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake is a shot in the arm for the genre. Granted, this ghostly tale still features many of the  tropes: the lone-wolf ghost hunter and his team comprising a slightly ditzy witchy mother, complete with black cat; the nerdy psychic sidekick; the popular girl, who happens to have a brain and a heart to go with her looks; and the jock who grudgingly goes along for the ride.

Cas has inherited not only his ghost hunter father’s magical athame (a knife) but he’s trying to fill his dad’s shoes by travelling from town to town to put murderous ghosts to rest. His vocation is dangerous and he needs all his wits about him. Although he has outsider status, he keeps his cool when he starts at a new school. He has all the qualities of a hero: a mission,  courage and enough sass to give as good as he gets when the jocks start behaving as jocks are wont.

But he meets his match when he receives a tip to hunt the notorious Anna Dressed in Blood, a blood-thirsty ghost that haunts a house in Thunder Bay, Canada. She is far stronger than any Cas has encountered, and this is a job he won’t be able to complete on his own. Even though he doesn’t want to endanger others, he learns to rely on his small team of friends. Things aren’t helped when his emotions get in the way of doing the deed, and ghosts from his past return to complicate matters.

While this novel isn’t going to win prizes for originality – it plays on popular horror themes and offers quite a nod toward the TV series Supernatural – it’s nevertheless a solidly writteAnna Dressed in Blood lends itself to being adapted for film, and rumour has it that this is in the works, with Stephanie Meyer as producer. Blake, however, balances gore with horror in the first of a series that promises to give the Twilight universe a run
n tale and takes more than a few unexpected twists to challenge its likeable cast of characters.
for its money.

Five Minutes with Clint Smith

Today I welcome Clint Smith to my spot. He's one of the contributing authors published in the Something Wicked Volume 2 anthology. Tell us a little about your short story.

The story Double Back was a workshop piece I drafted for a university creative writing class in the winter of 2009. During the first few days of that course, I was sizing up my peers, trying to gauge who was going to write what that semester.  I admired (and still admire) the methodic short story writers—Tobias Wolff, Dan Chaon, Cheever, James Lasdun, Lauren Groff, Marlin Barton, to name a scant few.  But I identified more with the scholarly work of ST Joshi and the craft of scribblers like Dan Simmons, Joe Hill, Norman Partridge, Joe Lansdale, and William Browning Spencer.

After a few workshops, it took little time to register that I might end up being the only horror writer in class.  And I was.  I won’t say the pieces I produced for that class were unpopular; but I think they were a bit too strange for both the academes and my fellow campus comrades.  To put another way, it was clear I was a writer for the "pulps," not the "slicks," and that suited me just fine.

Regardless, I submitted my modest tale to a magazine in South Africa in June, 2009. Then I moved on to drafting different material, and the story faded from my radar. That’s until I got an e-mail from Joe Vaz announcing that my story Double Back would make an appearance in the new incarnation of his publication, Something Wicked, Volume 2.

Double Back is a love letter to the spirit-of-Christmas-past portions of A Christmas Carol paired with a reverent nod to Dostoevsky’s The Double, and his illustration of Ivan Karamazov’s encounter with the devil in book four of The Brothers Karamazov.

What gets you writing? Tell us a little bit more about your approach.

In part what gets me writing is the compulsion of exploration and challenge—exploration in the sense that, when I isolate an image or idea, and a challenge in assembling a premise or story “shape” that I’ve never constructed before.

The stories I’ve produced in these past few years have had a strong auto-biographic bend to them. Not unusual for many writers. But I’ve really tried to make an effort to dismantle to those composites I’ve known and those characters I’ve been. The most instinctive thing for me to do is isolate a trait that unsettles me from my past and place it on a collision course with an issue that I dwell on now—the responsibility (or lack thereof, as the case may be) of  fatherhood, substance abuse, war, fidelity, infidelity, the fragility and stamina of family. These are not special or novel notions to discuss; but more than anything, I do the best I can to create centrifugal cores my material to give it some gravity, and often that process elicits writing that is inexorably adorned with elements quiet horror. I’d like to utilize the medium and traditions of horror to not only repair the past but fortify the future.

Short stories seem to be your thing. What do you think are particular challenges associated with the form? As for longer works, do you have anything planned? 

In a word:  backstory.

Lately I’ve really tried to examine how to better weave background elements into the wider fabric of a short story.

Last year, in a column for Poets & Writers Magazine, Benjamin Percy discussed the A-B-D-C-E method for structuring stories: Action, Background, Development, Conflict, and Ending. And just like many horror films contain a “monster problem” (see Jason Zinoman’s wonderful book Shock Value for more on this), many short stories have a background problem, or at least a background placement problem.  I really admire Téa Obreht’s chilling short story The Laugh—that’s a really impressive example of well-crafted distribution of backstory.

As for longer works, I’m currently drafting a longer work that may very well emerge as a novel (if I can refrain from prematurely steering my characters toward the safe harbor of a short story’s conclusion). But a different sort of longer work is scheduled for 2014. I received word last winter that my short story collection, Ghouljaw ahd other Stories, will be released through Hippocampus Press sometime next year.

What's the one short story you keep going back to (we all have them), and what makes it stand out above all the rest? 

Funny you should ask.  I just finished the final draft of a story I first penned about four years ago. Corbin's Gore is the title I settled on, although there’d been dozens between interceding drafts. I kept returning to this one because I never felt that I’d provided enough thematic insulation to send it out. There were elements and set pieces that (to give a wink to Nabokov) I didn’t want to lose to the darlings of oblivion, but I also knew it’d take some interaction with these characters and circumstances I’d neglected.

I’m not sure that Corbin's Gore stands out from the rest of my work, but there was a I needed to take the story more seriously because of the potential that I had a lot to lose—that the characters had a lot to lose.

What scares you?

Henry James said that a writer is someone on whom nothing is lost.

And what scares me most is something bad—bad—happening to my kids.  I think what scares me more than anything is not providing a safe enough world for my kids. Clearly, there’s no defanging the world (nor should there be), but my fears habitually return to the self-conscious compulsion that I’ll miss something, that I’ll neglect my fatherly vigilance and something will be lost. I don’t want to miss an opportunity to assist my kids (or any kids for that matter) in coping with the chimera of life, and by writing about what I’ve experienced, I’d like to think that the craft provides some resistance and guidance for when the “bad” moments inevitably emerge.

When you write, that reflective radar is constantly rotating over the illuminated grid of your life. Hopefully, nothing is lost.

Links:
Clint Smith Fiction:  clintsmithfiction.com
Clint Smith’s Amazon.com Author’s Page