Denise Verrico's Blog: Immortyl Revolution, page 12

Guest Jamie Magee/ Ebook Giveaway

Today, I welcome Jamie Magee to Immortyl Revolution!  Jamie is on the Romancing Your Darkside Tour and has graciously offered a copy of the ebook versions of Insight and Embody to one lucky commentor!  Winner will be chosen at random. Deadline to enter is Sunday 10/23/11 at 11:59 PM EST.  Please become a follower of this blog and leave an email address where you may be contacted.  In addition, any commentors on the RYDS tour are entered into a grand prize drawing for a new kindle.  Please follow the tour link above for details!






It is a pleasure to be here today on Immortyl Revolution as a part of the Romancing Your Dark Side tour! My name is Jamie Magee and I am the author of the YA 'Insight' series. My series incorporates elements that have always fascinated me as a person: zodiac, past lives, soul- mates, alternate dimensions, and of course the classic battle between good and evil. When looking at the diversity of these elements I realized that the world my characters would live in would have to be much different from the one we live in. Which leads me to the topic of today's post – how do I build a 'mythical' world in my novels.

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Across time authors have taken each of us into their imagination and led us to worlds that we may never see in our reality. Some authors have even chosen to create their story in the 'real world', even that aspect allows readers to see a town or area of the world from a fresh perspective. With my novels I wanted to have that touch of reality, but also step into an element or world that is not known to us.


One of the core elements in my story is alternate dimensions. When some hear the word dimension they may think of another dimension that is full of fairies or dinosaurs, others might think of another world that has another them doing something completely different. I mulled over what I thought an alternate dimension would look like for more time than I could recall ( the idea behind this is to this day fueling the Insight series). I remember thinking that it would be amazing to create creatures that have never existed before, but that aspect did not fit the love story I was creating.

So, I looked at the other point of view, another world with another me, and altered it ever so slightly. The only thing I changed was the 'other you'. I simply used that idea for the world as whole (instead of the individual) meaning, that my dimensions were different from ours only because of the decisions that were made as whole. That idea could send anyone's imagination running in a thousand directions. The dimension could be altered by the simplest change, like driving on a different side of the road, when we declare our children adults, how we use natural power for energy , or even something as complex as how we educate our children or how we commit to another for life.


Using this idea I was able to imagine dimensions that 'made all the right choices' that were full of peace and love, and then I imagined others that were full of darkness and a controlling leader. In between these two ideas of worlds there were others I imagined into life as well. Ones that have simple changes like never allowing children to be in public without an elder (grandparent). The idea behind these dimensions is that we create the world around us by the decisions we make. When you really mull over that thought, that we create our world as whole, you allow yourself to feel the power or impact you have over this world.

The idea of the different worlds led me to daydream into life elements that would dance on the side of fantasy. Like the string, a glowing passage of energy that is used to navigate to new worlds. Or even the power that my characters find in the Zodiac and the energy around them. Then there is a dream aspect that as we all know can take a story in any direction.

I guess if I were to explain how I created my mythical world I would simply say that I do not – the characters in that world create that place. Much like we create our world.


If you could change anything about the world – what would you change?

Jamie, thanks for joining me today!  You can follow Jamie at these links:

http://www.insightjamiemagee.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/insight117
http://facebook.com/Jamie.Magee.Author
Insight on Nook

Faith Van Horne on Establishing Mood

I'm pleased to welcome Faith Van Horne to the blog today.  She's written a very interesting piece on establishing mood.

Establishing Mood
A co-worker and I were walking past our library's paperback display (yes, I work at a public library, and it's fantastic) when she picked up a book. She tapped the cover and said, "This author's really good. She writes about Turkey, and it's like you're there. When a writer's really good, you can smell it."

 My co-worker was stressing the importance of one of the writer's primary jobs: transporting the reader into the world of the story. While there are many aspects to this job, today I'd like to focus on establishing mood.


In Revision and Self-Editing, James Scott Bell states that a story's mood "is like the score of a movie—it plays in the background, deepening the feelings of the reader. Illuminating details operate to both set up and pay off emotional moments."

Next time you're re-watching one of your favorite films, pay close attention to the background music. Chances are if it's played subtly, you've never noticed it before. How does the music coincide with what's happening on-screen? If a portion of the scene has no dialogue, try playing the film muted. How does this change your experience?

The background music serves as an "illuminating detail", a small piece that by itself seems insignificant. But when it is woven into the film, it emotionally involves the viewer more deeply into the story. In fiction, illuminating details are bits of vivid description that, when properly highlighted, establish the feel of the story.

Setting the mood early on creates a promise to the reader. The writer is letting readers know what kind of story they are about to read. A lighthearted romance will focus on different details than a high-stakes suspense novel. Of course, this also creates a challenge for the writer. Starting the story off in the wrong direction can create a jarring dissonance for readers. They most likely won't even be able to tell you what they didn't like about the story, only that something felt "off" about it.

In my horror/P.I. novella All Hope Lost, I wanted to establish early on that my protagonist Dana Cay was just emerging from a dark place in her life. Her client, Warren Parker, is in the midst of his own personal hell. To demonstrate that pain in both characters, I chose to focus on Dana's reaction to seeing Warren's face:


I deduced the cause of the hollows beneath Warren Parker's eyes and in his cheeks the instant he entered my office. They had marked my own face not long ago, and echoes of them remained. They were the caverns carved by the loss of someone close. Someone who shouldn't have departed so soon, or so harshly.

Warren is not sunny or mischievous here. His eyes bear 'hollows', 'caverns' carved by 'loss'. If I've done my work well, you should be able to tell that you're about to read a dark story involving two grieving characters.


Who are some writers you find create an unforgettable mood in their novels? Any cases you've seen where the mood created early on didn't match the later feel of the book?




All Hope Lost

Two years ago, private investigator Dana Cay's brother committed suicide. For months she drove herself mad with grief, convinced a shadowy cult had fed from her brother's death. She's finally overcome her delusions, setting up shop in a new city and taking on low-stress cases.

Now Warren Parker darkens her door with his sister's story. She too leapt to her death, and he suspects the cult's involvement. Knowing Dana's history, he begs her to bring the faceless monsters to justice. Is the cult real after all? If so, can Dana stop its members before they kill again?


About the Author  Faith Van Horne is a writer of speculative fiction living in the American Midwest. Her horror/P.I. novella, All Hope Lost, is now available from Escape Collective Publishing. You can see what she's up to at her blog, faithvanhorne.blogspot.com.   A very big thanks to Faith for joining me today!  Below are links for her book:

Buy All Hope Lost on Amazon Kindle
Buy All Hope Lost on Nook


Author Sue Mydliak

Today I'm pleased to welcome Sue Mydliak to Immortyl Revolution!  If you even wanted to know how vampires go about creating human servants, read on.





Writing about a vampire is one thing, but to find something that will set your book apart from all these others is another thing. I wanted my book to be different in that it went a step further into the whole "vampire" genre, a little darker, more mysterious. So, I thought what better way than that of markings.


A master Vampire when he so wishes or desires can make a human his servant and the neat thing about this is that he doesn't need to be present to do so which makes it even more dark and chilling. The reason for making a human his servant is that it increases his power and when all marks are received this person are the ears, eyes, hands and voice of his master. He and the human become as one, very in tune with each other.


It's all very magical, the only time that the vampire ever needs to be present to make a mark is during the third mark where the Vampire takes blood from the human and shares his memories and vice a versa. By now they are more connected through their minds. Things are shared like emotions, memories, thoughts.


It isn't until the 4th mark that they become as one and like a wedding almost that he speaks..."blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, two minds one body, two souls wedded together as one..." or something of that nature.
Sort of makes you tear a bit...no? If you like to read more about this in detail, I recommend you visit this site,

http://anitablake.wikia.com/wiki/Human_Servant
In my novel, Birthright, Candra Rosewood returns to Utica she's already missed her parent's funeral and everything she thought about her family turns out to be a lie.

When Kane turns up unannounced on her doorstep, Candra, fights her strange need for him. Is he somehow involved in her parents' death? Is the mysterious Mr. Bennet a friend or foe, and can she trust him when he says she's descended from powerful vampires.

Birthright is a novel that opens the door on family secrets. Both Kane and Candra are locked into a shared past neither of them can escape. Evil is everywhere waiting to pounce. Candra must decide who is a friend and find out what her birthright really is.

When everything in your life is lost, whom can you trust and who will be there to pick up the pieces and help you put them back together, family or a stranger.


You can purchase Birthright in eBook format or now in paperback at:


http://ebookundead.com/birthright-by-sue-midliak/

You can follow Sue at these links:

Sue's Blog: http://theunbeatenheart.blogspot.com/

Booktown

A very big thanks to Sue for joining me today!

Prize Winner

A. Jacob Sweeny has announced the winner of her contest for a Pulse of Heroes magnet.  Congratulations to Tich! Thanks to all who commented!

Contest Winner Betty Gordon

Betty Gordon was the winner of T. W. Fendley's Giveaway of Dreamspell Sci Fi volume 1.  Congratulations to Betty and thanks to everyone who commented!

Interview: David Tocher's Chelsea Mourning

Today I welcome David Tocher! David recently had a story, Chelsea Mourning, published in the Evolve 2 anthology put out by the Canadian publisher, Edge. I've asked him here to talk a little about this.


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David, can you tell us a little about the anthology and the process you went through for submission?
In Evolve Two, each author tackles the question, "What will vampires become in the future?" The anthology is divided into three parts: Pre-Apocalypse, Post-Apocalypse, and New World Order. There are no stereotypical vampires with black capes, fangs (or even sparkles!), saying in a Romanian accent, "I vant to suck your blood." Evolve Two breaks vampires down into their original archetype: they are the predator and we are their prey. Among the many scenarios, you have futuristic vampires on Mars, in underground court rooms, and also walking an ozone depleted Earth.
About the submission process, I got into the anthology by pure chance. At Chapters bookstore in Montreal, I noticed a familiar looking woman standing beside me in the horror section. Recognizing her, I said, "Excuse me. Are you Nancy Kilpatrick?" It turns out she was. As we got to talking, she found out I was a writer, and told me I could submit a story idea. If she liked the idea, she'd give me the green light to write it. The rest, as they say, is history. So for me, this all happened because of a chance encounter.


For those who haven't read it, tell a little about your story.


When it comes to writing a good synopsis, some folks "got it" and some folks don't. Paul Goat Allen's "got it," so I'll quote what he said about my story in his review of Evolve Two:


"Chelsea Mourning is a post-apocalyptic tale that follows a survivor of the Scorching – an asteroid strike that essentially destroyed human civilization – as she struggles to survive amidst the ruins of Montreal. "[The city] had become a disemboweled corpse, stone and steel guts scattered amongst the bones of its streets and avenues." Chelsea Mills is an emotionally scarred young woman whose nightmarish past rivals that of her current hellish existence. She's also a telepath – and when she is captured by a colony of vampires, an unlikely redemptive path shows itself…"

The title of your story reminded me of a song by another Canadian artist, Joni Mitchell. Her song Chelsea Morning speaks of a beautiful morning in a light-hearted fashion. Your story is very dark. Was this an intentional and ironic allusion?


First off, I'm a huge Joni Mitchell fan. She's one of my all-time favorite singer/songwriters, so I really can't help myself from alluding to her in my own work. In any story I've written, other Joni fans will find references to her lyrics.

In this story, yes, the ironic allusion was intentional. The contrast between Joni's lighthearted song and my own dark story was meant to underscore the protagonist's desperate situation; as in, "See the lightheartedness and happiness Chelsea wants but can't have?"


A good horror story should be filled with an undertone of emptiness and longing. That's how you tap into your readers' real and subconscious fears. You have to make them squirm in their own fears of loneliness, of having nobody to understand how they've been hurt inside. Once you've set that mood for your readers, assault them with images of violence, demonic creatures, and trauma.

What was the germ of the idea for this tale?

A lot of my stories originate with an image in my head. For awhile, I'd had this image in my mind of a woman hiding in an abandoned building, staring out the window at a devastated earth. Who is she hiding from? What happened to the planet? So, I decided to write the story and find out.

I'm intrigued by any new or different take on vampires, and I enjoyed the more horrific style of those in this story. Please tell us a little about the vampires and what inspired you to create them in this way.

During the first draft, I'd reached the part where Chelsea was in the vampires' lair and then asked, "How do these vampires organize themselves? What is their social structure?" The answer just came to me – bats! So, I studied up on the Desmodus Rotundus and modeled my vampires after them. This connection is hinted at by one of my vampires being named "Desmond."

I chose this because to my knowledge at the time, nobody had done that before. Since writing the story, however, I've discovered Melanie Tem's novel Desmodus, where vampires are humanoid bats with a bat-like social structure. Also, Nancy Kilpatrick's Eternal City handles vampires in the same way. So, even though it has been done before, it hasn't been done often. This means there's much undiscovered territory for approaching the undead in this manner.

Sexual abuse and the victim's compulsion for revenge are important themes in this story. I find this an interesting subject and tend to write a lot about victims of abuse in my own stories. What led you to include this element in your story?


When you get into 'the zone' as a writer, you're not making the characters or the story up. Rather, you're just the channel or conduit for the story. It's truly a magical experience.



I can only describe it as "Chelsea Mills told me she was a victim of sexual abuse, so I took it upon myself to tell her story the best that I could."

The story is set in Montreal after a cataclysmic event. Any particular reason you chose this city for your setting?


No, not really, besides the fact that I live in Montreal and already have a feel for the city and that makes it easier to write about.



You write from the female point of view in this story. Having recently switched to a male POV in some of my work, I found it very liberating. Are there some things that you feel you can say in a female voice that you find harder to express in a male point of view?

Good question. I've never thought of it as more liberating to write from a female point of view. Instead, I do so because it's a challenge and it enables me to grow as a writer. It would be easy for me to write from a male's point of view simply because…I'm a man. To write from the point of view of a woman, I have to step outside myself and force myself to look at the world through the eyes of another gender.


Talk a little about your writing process.


First of all, I hate plotting with a passion. The biggest waste of time is the time wasted getting started. My stories follow a traditional three act structure with your three main plot points:

the inciting incident (the event that sets the story in motion);


plot point one (the character wants something and chooses to do something to obtain his goal);


plot point two (the sudden twist 75% of the way into the story that catapults my character into the final conflict).



I determine what those three things are. Then, I determine who my character is, what motivates him, and what he wants.

Once I have those anchors in place, I just start writing and let everything else fall into place. Most of the time, I have no idea how the story will end or even what will happen next.

What new projects are you working on? Please tell my readers about your other published works.

I'm almost finished the first draft of a horror novel, so if you enjoyed Chelsea Mourning, you might want to keep your eyes opened for this novel in the not too distant future. It tackles many similar themes.

 You can find my short story, Letters from a Dead World, in the Dreamspell Nightmares anthology, published by L&L Dreamspell.

David, thanks for taking the time to join me here today!  You can follow David at his blog: http://davidtocher.blogspot.com/




















A. Jacob Sweeny's Hero Blogs on his Journey

When A. Jacob Sweeny asked me if her hero Elliot De-Costa could do a blog post here, I thought it was a great idea.  (Those who follow me know that my rascally lad, Cedric MacKinnon, has his own Twitter account and Facebook page.)  I'm always interested in what characters have to say, so I give you, Elliot!

Hello. I'm Elliot De-Costa, and this is my first blog posting:



First of all I would like to thank 'Immortyl Revolution' for giving me the space to express my thoughts, although I have never seen 'immortal' spelled this way before. This must be a modern internet linguistic development. I try to keep up with as much as I can, but at times fads just come and go and it's difficult to decide which ones I should spend my energy on.


I know that a lot of people want to know so much about me, but obviously it's difficult to include everything in a few short passing words. I guess I should start with my age, as this is what people seem so shocked about. I am 4700 years old. I was born in the city of Nun-Ki, otherwise known as Eridu, in Sumeria, which is now encompassed within the modern day country of Iraq. The first thing you need to understand about my age is that I am not old. Old is a term attached to the passage of time. My body stopped its aging process somewhere between the ages of 20 and 30. I don't know when exactly, because it wasn't something I was paying attention to. So when people like yourselves worry that someone like Michelle is too young for me, what you are doing is applying human time standards onto someone that is not human, not entirely at least. Michelle is great. I adore her. I have adored many it's true. But everyone is different and I can appreciate many people. Michelle, I believe, is more stubborn than I am. She was very set in her way about getting to know me. Now I'm glad that she didn't give up. In a few years Michelle will be an outstanding woman. She's a bit of a project, but a lot of that is my fault. I should have never left her that night… How about we don't discuss Michelle anymore?


Of course being alive for so long makes me more knowledgeable than any of you can ever dream of being. I collect all my experiences into this mind of mine, and my brain files things away. I have had time to study in more universities than I can even mention. I have earned many degrees and doctorates, and in many different languages. Being alive for so long, you kind of have time to get to know yourself and your surroundings pretty well, although I can still have a few rough days here and there. The skill I use the most is probably my medical training. No, I don't practice medicine, and never wanted to, although I could. I studied medicine in order to hone my abilities. You have a headache? I can help because I know which nerve is where. You have a broken bone? I can stimulate bone growth directly on the break. I think each and every one of us has studied medicine at one point or another. When I say us, I mean my friends, who are also of my kind. None of us know how many of our kind are out there. But I have lost good friends along the way. I don't know if I will meet new ones. I haven't in a long time.


The story of how I met Kahl, who is one of my dearest friends in the world, is actually pretty funny. I was working as a hired bodyguard and traveling the trade routes with my boss who was a wealthy merchant. This was before I made my own fortune. I will tell you a small secret. Yes, they were making crude glass before I was born, but I used my abilities to heat up the sand and experimented until I found the ideal heat and combination. After that, as they say, the rest is history. Where was I? Oh yeah, Kahl. Well my boss headed to one of the local 'inns of the women', you get my point right? Anyway, I was just resting under a tree close to our camels and horses when I heard people arguing. I got up to see what all the commotion was about and there was Kahl in the middle of a circle of men who were all yelling at him that he was a thief. They looked like they wanted to kill him. Off to the side there was a toothless merchant that was gathering his knifes off the ground. I guess Kahl had used his own abilities to figure out that the blades that the guy was trying to sell him were not pure bronze, which was important at the time because other metals were far too soft to be useful. But since they didn't see Kahl melt the metal in a fire, he had no way to prove that he was right. He wanted his money back, while the merchant's bodyguards were about to give him a good licking. I asked to see one of the blades and tested it myself. Kahl was right. The bastards were trying to cheat him and it didn't look like a fair fight. So I decided to even up the odds and help the poor guy out. We kicked some serious ass together, and when Kahl and I were the only ones that remained standing, we could see that both our eyes were glowing. Kahl was the second guy of my kind that I met, after Devin of course.


Alright, back to the present. Yes I am here, and yes I know the ladies go crazy on me and my friends. At this point it's no big deal, but I will confess that we have all had some good times… There is nothing better on this earth than spending a sweet night with a beautiful woman who is smart and knows how to laugh. With music in the air and good food… alright I'm getting off topic here. Sure, give me a call. Leave a message at the Hekademos Learning Center for me. If I'm not there, one of the other guys will be –

Thanks Elliot for the interesting view in to your world! You've certainly been around and learned many fascinating things.  Here's some more information on Pulse of Heroes.


Pulse of Heroes weaves together elements from several different genres: romance, suspense, myth/fantasy, paranormal, history and at its core, a heroine's journey and transformation. It tries to craft a true and sensitive coming-of-age narrative of a quirky teenage girl protagonist becoming a confidant young woman with her own voice. And at the same time draw the reader into a gripping adventure filled with fantastic historical elements and the crushing intensity of first love. Pulse of Heroes is a YA/crossover novel with lots of (hopefully) memorable characters and multiple story arcs. It has a multi-cultural perspective with characters from around the globe, and a prominent female point-of-view. It is available from the official website: http://www.pulseofheroes.com/
where you will also find links to other available formats such as Kindle on Amazon.





Michelle used to feel like she was behind in everything, especially relationships. Her great aunt says she is like a bland meal, "no salt or pepper". But in junior year, everything changes. Her father takes a position on the Town Council, a popular boy in school is interested in her, and most importantly, the Hekademos Learning Center, a private school for 'troubled' students, moves into her quiet neighborhood amidst the protests of the entire town. Upon seeing the School Regent out with a group of young guys just before Christmas, Michelle is convinced that there is something odd about them. Her curiosity gets the better of her and she embarks upon a mission to figure out what is really going on. After an embarrassing fall over the school wall, Michelle meets Elliot and her ordinary 'bland' life changes its course forever.


Elliot is no ordinary human. No one at the Hekademos Learning Center is. Beautiful and fierce, they have survived throughout the millennia by weaving in and out of human events. Although Elliot carries numerous painful memories from his many pasts, he disregards his own better judgment and the advice of his friends, and finds himself falling for Michelle's offbeat personality.


At Elliot's side, Michelle must learn to deal with the bundle of contradictory emotions called love, but when History catches up with them, the difference between their life paths threatens to destroy any future that they might have had together. Ultimately, Michelle will have to trust her intuition in order to face the danger and uncertainty of being drawn into Elliot's wondrous world.

About the AuthorA. Jacob Sweeny holds a degree in History with an emphasis on Ancient Near East. Her immersion in world myths and her archaeological fieldwork provided the initial spark that led to the development of Pulse Of Heroes. Besides writing, A. Jacob Sweeny is a strong advocate for the protection of women and children worldwide. She enjoys cooking spicy food and regularly suffers from bouts of creative insomnia.

Some reviews of Pulse of Heroes
I love this book! Move over Edward and Bella, a new power couple has hit the scene! Michelle and Elliot from Pulse of Heroes by A. Jacob Sweeny will give Stephanie Meyer's characters a run for their money! I have read so many books, and it takes a lot to knock my socks off but A. Jacob Sweeny did just that! With her original storyline and unforgettable characters she has an award winning series in the making. -Dawn Hagan, I love Books Blog-page-




Sometimes I will come across a novel, which I classify as a rare jewel: a book that captivates me from beginning to end… an amazing story that it is impossible for it to not capture my heart and Pulse Of Heroes is a rare jewel.
There are only two other series' that I consider rare jewels: the Twilight series, and Vampire Academy ... I was wondering when the next book would come along that would really pull me in, make me feel emotionally attached to the characters, make me care about them in such a way that I would think about them weeks, months after I had finished reading the story and Pulse of Heroes did just that. -Alishia, Treasured Tales For young Adults Blog-page-


I have been waiting for a book to come along that has a new paranormal twist to it, Pulse Of Heroes is exactly that book! This book made me laugh, I wanted to slap characters, hide or cry out for help, and most of all it made me cry. Happiness, loss, pain, terror, and true love brought on an arsenal of tears that I couldn't stop no matter how hard I tried. I am absolutely on the edge of my seat for the next installment of this powerful moving series. I loved this book the same way I loved Twilight and The Hunger Games. The author signed my book "Enjoy the adventure and fall in love a little too". Her words were far shortcoming of what I experienced. Mirabolante the Italian word for astonishing is only cracking the surface of the multitude of words I really want to use. -Anne, Paranormal Book Club

Giveaway! The author is sponsoring a drawing for a 2012 Pulse of Heroes magnet calendar for the giveaway.  To enter, please become a follower of this blog and leave a comment with a contact email.  Contest ends 10/4/11 at 11:59 PM EDT.  Winner to be chosen by random drawing. 




T. W. Fendley on Becoming a Published Author/ebook giveaway

Immortyl Revolution is pleased to welcome T. W. Fendley!  She is part of my ongoing feature of L&L Dreamspell authors.  T.W. has graciously offered an ebook giveaway.

GIVEAWAY:

T.W. is offering a drawing to win Dreamspell Sci Fi Vol. 1, an ebook anthology featuring her story, "Solar Lullaby." To enter, please leave a comment, including your contact email. The winner, chosen by random drawing, will be notified next Thursday, Sept. 29.



Most of the time I'm chugging away on my latest novel, but several times a year I take a break to focus on something entirely different. No, I'm not talking about reality TV. I mean short stories that give you that quick burst of adrenalin from actually finishing something. Getting published makes it even more fun! So I jumped at this chance to share a few ideas on how to get your short stories into readers' hands.

Contests are a great stepping stone toward publication. But unless you're Asimov reincarnated, before you submit to contests (or anywhere else), be sure to have someone critique your story. Contest judges are often well known writers or editors, and that's certainly not who you want to point out a typo. Many judges in smaller contests will give feedback on what needs to be improved. When you're one of the contest winners, you can add that to your professional credentials.


Writers' organizations and conferences often offer contests, and your local chapter may be able to help you connect with a critique partner. Rallystorm offers online forums for getting critiques and connecting with other writers. Preditors & Editors, another free site, has a cross-genre listing of contests and conferences.

For science fiction and fantasy writers, one of the biggest and best contests is L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future (WOF). It pays $1,000 quarterly to winners, plus a $5,000 annual grand prize. WOF's forum can help you find critique partners and learn how to improve your stories. With about 1,000 entries each quarter in the WOF contest, I was thrilled when "Solar Lullaby"--my short story featured in the Dreamspell Sci Fi Vol.1 ebook anthology--earned honorable mention.

I learned about the Dreamspell anthology directly from the publisher's website. They're looking for dog stories now, with more anthologies opening for submission soon. You also should check Duotrope, which lists more than 3,500 markets for fiction and poetry. It even allows you track your submissions--gotta love it! Remember, persistence pays off. Send to the top-paying markets for your genre first, and keep the stories going out.

These are just a few ideas I hope will help you get your stories published, and please share what's worked for you. I haven't yet tried self-publishing stories on Kindle, but if you have, I'd love to hear about it!

You can follow T.W. at:

http://www.twfendley.com/

T. W.'s L&L Dreamspell Marketing Page

Goodreads






T.W. Fendley writes historical fantasy and science fiction for adults and young adults. Look for her historical fantasy, Zero Time, this fall from L&L Dreamspell. When she's not writing, T.W.'s busy traveling and learning about all sorts of fascinating things for her next books. Or she's venturing into inner space via Remote Viewing.

Solar Lullaby trailer

Solar LullabyDr. Flare Haich offers the only hope for diverting a solar flare that will dwarf the 2012 Mayan Event, which killed her parents and a half-billion others. She must overcome the betrayal of one she trusted and launch Empress III to keep the Sun's fiery message from scorching the Earth as One Imix—the time of new beginnings—arrives.
Solar Lullaby, Dreamspell SciFi e-anthology - $2.99 in Kindle store!
Zero Time, coming in Fall 2011

Author Stuart Aken in the Spotlight

Welcome to Stuart Aken!  He's going to share a bit about his journey as a writer and his latest book, The Methuselah Strain.

Thanks for inviting me as a guest here on your blog, Denise.


Stuart Aken is a pen name, which I adopted when I discovered over 800 references to my real name in a Google search. It has the advantage that is incorporates my own first name with the name of a small village in England that, itself, contains my real father's name, Ken. As he died before I was born, it seems a fitting tribute to the man who gave me life.


By the age of 11, I'd exhausted the children's section of my local library and had to ask the formidable Miss Burgess if I could start taking books from the adult section. She scrutinised me with her steely gaze and nodded her approval, but only because she knew I always took care of her precious books. The two conditions were that I could take one book at a time and they must pass her scrutiny. That she allowed my first adult book to be a classic account of the First World War, written from the German point of view, and containing references to violence, anarchy and prostitution, perhaps says more about her than it does about me.


I've been writing for quite a few years, with a radio play and several short stories under my belt before I started my first novel. 'Breaking Faith', my romantic thriller, was published as a paperback at the end of 2009 and as an ebook in 2010. I followed this with a collection of dark speculative fiction; 'Ten Tales for Tomorrow' is available as an ebook. An anthology of gentle love stories followed, again as an ebook. You'll find 'Ten Lover Tales' holds no nasty surprises and is full of those stories that make you smile or sigh with simple pleasure, I hope! I've also compiled, edited and designed an anthology for my writers group. Hornsea Writers is a gathering of professional writers, meeting weekly to discuss works in progress and exchange information about the world of books and writing. 'A Sackful of Shorts' contains thirteen disparate tales from this bunch of talented writers and is available as an ebook.

 














My latest book, a novelette titled 'The Methuselah Strain', is a science fiction tale set on Earth a few hundred years in the future. Catastrophes and indifference have reduced the population, the world is largely automated, and life is easy; perhaps too easy. Certainly, the Prime Renegade believes that humanity could do better and is determined to end their dependence on machines before her fellow survivors die out from indolence and hedonism. But she also wants a mate to father a child. The story weaves her search for love into her dangerous plot to end automation. If you like your science fiction with emotional content, you'll find it here.


As a writer, I am fascinated by relationships between people and love putting my characters into difficult situations where their innate qualities will reveal their true natures. My stories explore the themes of injustice, hypocrisy and love, always with a relationship at their heart. Holding strong opinions on the author's responsibility to provide the best possible for the reader, I believe quality of writing to be paramount, but I also want to entertain, move, educate and arouse my readers, so I try to make my stories full of interest, emotion and activity. My plots are always driven by the characters, who sometimes take over and move the tales along routes I hadn't envisaged at the start. I always write the complete story before attempting any revision. But I revise extensively so that the final piece that is published and placed out there for readers to buy is the best I can produce.
If you're interest in language, writers and matters relating to books, you might like to visit my blog at http://stuartaken.blogspot.com/
 and my website (currently about to be redesigned) at http://www.stuartaken.co.uk/

You'll find my books available for all ebook platforms at : https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/stuartaken

And as either paperback or Kindle versions for USA here - http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=stuart+aken&x=12&y=17

Or for UK here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=stuart+aken&x=15&y=19
Tweet with me: http://twitter.com/@stuartaken
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/StuartAken


Once again, Denise, many thanks for this opportunity to interact with your readers.
A very big thanks to you, Stuart!

Watch "Cara Mia Book Trailer" on YouTube

Watch "Cara Mia Book Trailer" on YouTube