Kim Fielding's Blog, page 18
August 7, 2017
Interview Roulette: K.C. Faelan
Play along with K.C. Faelan!
You can eat only one ice cream flavor for the rest of your life. Which is it?
I love dark chocolate ice cream, but I’d have to choose French Vanilla only because it would go best with various toppings. If I mixed enough chocolate syrup and chocolate chunks with it, I’d end up with chocolate ice cream anyway!
What was your favorite school subject? Least favorite?
Science/Biology was my favorite. I majored in Life Science in junior college but switched to a different major for my four-year degree. I disliked History the most. Maybe because the teachers didn’t make history interesting. I found it boring and dry, and in college, I often fell asleep in class. I still passed because the professor taught directly from the text so I really didn’t have to pay attention.
A genie pops up and offers to grant you one talent. What do you choose and why?
Perfect health for myself, and my husband, for the rest of our lives. Why? Because health problems can interfere in the smallest life events. Take a simple thing like allergies. I’m guessing most people have allergies so they can relate. This year has been a very bad year for allergies where I live because of the large amount of rain we received. With allergies, people deal with headaches, ear and sinus infections, sniffling, sneezing, and allergies exacerbate asthma in the people who have it. They can’t go camping or hiking if their breathing is severely affected. That is just one example of how one small health problem can escalate into something larger and then go on to curtail a person’s ability to enjoy life to the fullest.
Write a haiku poem about your favorite beverage.
Here you go:
Lush, bright, strong,
Tea exhilarates
My senses.
Which house did the sorting hat put you in?
This is a great question. I’m a big Harry Potter fan and belonged to an online group that sorted members with a long questionnaire. Other members would go over the answers and decide which house they thought the person belonged in. They sorted me into Ravenclaw. However, when I joined Pottermore, I took JKR’s quiz and was sorted into Slytherin. I was surprised, but after thinking about it, I wasn’t that surprised. When I was in the online HP group, the group held fun quarterly events and often the Snakes said I really belonged in Slytherin even though they knew I was in Ravenclaw. I don’t know if that means a Slytherin is better at spotting other snakes or the other houses are bad at it. Whatever reason, I think I’m a mixture of both, a Slytherclaw, but if I had to pick one absolute house, I’m probably more of a Ravenclaw.
What is the oddest thing on your music playlist?
That’s a hard one because I hardly ever listen to music. Probably something humorous, like the Chipmunks singing The Christmas Song. I love Christmas music, that’s the one type of music I could play all year long.
Are you a nerd and/or a geek? Provide evidence to support your answer.
Geek for sure. I tend to get absorbed in the enjoyment of projects or items. Currently my interest is Pokemon. But, I don’t pay attention to the stats, fighting moves, etc, which means I’m not a nerd. Geeks are supposed to be more outgoing and I’m not. That’s where I tend to fall into the nerd category, I like to spend time alone, with small doses of people interaction.
Which of your characters would send you screaming out into the blizzard before the week was up?
The most obnoxious character I wrote was Mr. Trant, the hotel manager of the Astraea, in my novel, Top Floor. He’s a conniving brown-noser who’d happily stab a person in the back if he could gain anything from it. However, now that I think about it, I’d more likely try to find a way for him to get stranded outside in a blizzard rather than running outside myself.
I wrote Top Floor to a prompt for Goodreads 2015 Love is an Open Road event. It’s the first novel I wrote and I’m quite proud of it. The story came to me instantly with only a few scenes missing, I just had to write flesh it out. Top Floor is available free as a Goodreads download, however, I’m currently making extensive edits to it so a better version will be out early next year, at least that’s what I’m aiming for. I’ve learned a lot about writing since I wrote the story so I’m going back and polishing it up. No scenes will be added or changed, it’ll still be the same story, but better. Once I finish, I’ll send it on to my betas and once completed offer the ebook for free. I also plan to have print copies made available once I’m finished with everything.
Book:
Aligning North
Book blurb:
Blake Manning spends his summers in his favorite national park, Yosemite. He runs an outdoor adventure company with three friends. This year he and his BFF/business partner, Ali, will serve as guides for a hike over the Grand Traverse Trail. Blake will find it’s not nature or the wildlife that are most hazardous, but traversing the uncharted waters of a potential relationship with one of the hikers, Zac North, who doesn’t appear all that happy about being the object of Blake’s attention.
Stormy weather and stormier tempers keep all the hikers on their toes as Yosemite tests them, bringing some closer together…and breaking others apart.
Part of “Summer Bigger Than Others – A Summer Anthology” from Beaten Track Publishing.
Book buy links:
Aligning North
https://www.amazon.com/Aligning-North-K-C-Faelan-ebook/dp/B0103625CQ
http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/?n1=publications&id=161
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Author books-
Beaten Track Publishing: http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/K.C.-Faelan/e/B00PCLXUDQ/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
Author bio:
KC is a writer of M/M and LGBT Fiction. Her stories are character driven, with a touch of humor, romance, and all the fun that entails. She believes in HEAs, or at least a strong HFN, where the characters in her stories must work for their HEA, but in the end get their love match. KC loves food and will often incorporate scenes of cooking or eating in the stories she writes. She enjoys relaxing with a good book, her favorite genre being M/M, but she reads many others, such as: Fantasy, Paranormal and Sci-Fi.
KC lives in Northern California with her husband and two rescue birds.
Beaten Track Publishing: http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com/?n1=authors&id=62
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Author contacts:
Website
Blog- https://kcfaelan.wordpress.com/
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/KC-Faelan-65...
Twitter – https://twitter.com/kcfaelan
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August 3, 2017
Mini update among chaos
I am putting the finishing touches on the first draft of my 22nd novel right now. Woohoo! And I’m trying to get my older daughter ready to move away to college and the younger daughter ready to start high school. And I have to get myself ready to teach my fall classes. Plus I seem to have launched myself into some kind of dental hell involving repeated visits to multiple dental professionals for me and my kids.
But there are a few things going on I wanted to mention.
As you can see, The Pillar is a monthly Kindle deal. You can get it for the discounted price at Amazon or from Dreamspinner. If you already own it, check out the other fantastic books on sale.
Rattlesnake releases in Italian next week. You can preorder it now.
If you missed it the other day, Amy Lane interviewed me as part of the blog tour for her wonderful new book.
And I’m trying to make swag decisions for GayRomLit. Ack.
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August 1, 2017
Interview Roulette: J.S. Fields
Today J.S Fields joins us!
Shopping—love it or leave it? I would rather lose a foot than go on an extended shopping trip. I have about a half an hour patience window, tops. Unless there is food. If you bring snacks and they are delicious, I will follow you around like a puppy for hours.
You’ve just met an alien from a planet where there’s no such thing as fiction writing. Explain to him/her/it/them why humans read made-up stories. Fiction is lying done well enough that people want to hear more, even though they know you are lying. It can be nice to get lost in a lie, because it can be nicer than your life, or give you clues or tools to use in your life. Or teach you to lie. Whatever works for you.
Are you a nerd and/or a geek? Provide evidence to support your answer.Yes to all. I was weaned on Star Trek, cut my teeth on Star Wars (movies and expanded universe and NO, it will never not be cannon. ‘Legends’. BAH!), and had my heart stolen by Babylon Five (or rather, a certain second in command on Babylon Five). Today I am a scientist, writing science fiction. Full circle.
Describe a memorable dream—or nightmare! Any dream I can remember is XXX rated and not suitable for general audiences. I have a filthy, filthy mind.
Are you a nervous cleaner? (And if you are, will you come hang out at my house?) I’m a bored cleaner, and also a procrastination cleaner. With a three year old at home, those things don’t seem to happen much anymore.
Pick any place in the world to spend the next 6 months. Where is it and why? I really miss living in Toronto. I want to have enough money to move into an apartment above the Manulife Center on Bloor, eat Scaccia every day for lunch, and then spend lazy afternoons in the Indigo bookstore. Screw six months, can I live there forever?
Which of your characters should run for US President? Yeah, pin your hopes on Nicholas, world. He’s the only one in there with a shred of responsibility. OMG please none of them. My current books are the Ardulum series, and while I love my characters, they are, hrm… not the best people. I could see Nicholas maybe being decent at president in about twenty years, but Neek? Negotiations with foreign lands would end up as shooting matches. Emn would just burn everything to the ground, and Yorden, well, we’d never get Yorden into a suit long enough to do anything.
If you were on a cruise ship for a week, what would you spend your time doing? Puking. Ships and I do not get along. I don’t care if it’s a canoe or a giant cruise ship. Even a hint of motion, on ship, car, or plane, and I’m white as a sheet and wishing I were dead. There isn’t enough Dramamine in the world for me.
Book blurb:
Ardulum.
The planet that vanishes. The planet that sleeps.
Neek makes a living piloting the dilapidated tramp transport, Mercy’s Pledge, and smuggling questionable goods across systems blessed with peace and prosperity. She gets by—but only just. In her dreams, she is still haunted by thoughts of Ardulum, the traveling planet that, long ago, visited her homeworld. The Ardulans brought with them agriculture, art, interstellar technology…and then disappeared without a trace, leaving Neek’s people to worship them as gods. Neek does not believe—and has paid dearly for it with an exile from her home for her heretical views. Yet, when the crew stumbles into an armed confrontation between the sheriffs of the Charted Systems and an unknown species, fate deals Neek an unexpected hand in the form of a slave girl—a child whose ability to telepathically manipulate cellulose is reminiscent of that of an Ardulan god. Forced to reconcile her beliefs, Neek chooses to protect her, but is the child the key to her salvation, or will she lead them all to their deaths?
Book buy links:
Ninestar Press: https://ninestarpress.com/product/ardulum-first-don/
Amazon print: https://www.amazon.com/Ardulum-First-J-S-Fields/dp/1945952652/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497913965&sr=8-1&keywords=Ardulum
Amazon.com.au: https://www.amazon.com.au/Ardulum-First-Don-J-S-Fields-ebook/dp/B06VSQM3BB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498073678&sr=8-1&keywords=Ardulum
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ardulum-js-fields/1125775361?ean=2940154008171
Author bio:
J.S. Fields is a scientist who has perhaps spent too much time around organic solvents. She enjoys roller derby, woodturning, making chainmail by hand, and cultivating fungi in the backs of minivans. Nonbinary, but prefers female pronouns Always up for a Twitter chat.
Author contacts:
Website: jsfieldsbooks.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Galactoglucoman
Email: Chlorociboria@gmail.com
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July 31, 2017
Interview Roulette: Jaylee James
Today Jaylee James spins the wheel!
If you were forced at gunpoint to sing Karaoke, what song would you choose?
It would not take being held at gunpoint to get me to sing Karaoke… 
July 27, 2017
Interview Roulette: Soren Summers
This week Soren Summers is playing with us!
Write a story—no more than 100 words–based on this prompt: When the levee failed…. When the levee failed to give Eirich the satisfaction of murdering the Glass Empress, it made the toymaker furious. Nobody told him that the brittle young monarch conducted royal levees from behind the safety of a silver curtain. Spell-spun metal, no doubt. Eirich fingers his contraption carefully, the very reason he was granted the audience: a brass bird that sings, then fires a bullet out of its beak. Certainly not enough to pierce enchanted metal. No, the next time, he will have to be less subtle. The next time, perhaps, a mechanical bear with a cannon up its arse.
If you were magically transported into one of your own books, which one would you choose and why? Smolder, if only because it’s the least dangerous or depressing of them all, which is still saying a lot. The books in my main series feature many more ways to die, whereas the threats in Smolder aren’t quite as in-your-face, eats-your-entrails lethal.
Cats or dogs? Discuss. This is the most difficult question in this interview. They both have compelling qualities. Cats are so low maintenance, and dogs have boundless reserves of unconditional love. Being an incredibly lazy human being I’ll have to say that cats win out by just a hair.
If you could instantly learn another language, which would you choose and why?Mandarin, hands down. Such a fiery language, and so useful for conducting business. If it’s just to show off, though, I’d go with either French or Portuguese. They just sound so fancy and musical.
What is your favorite time of day? The night. Any time after midnight, especially, is so precious to me. The world is asleep and I have all my thoughts to myself, all the space and the silence I need to do what needs to be done: waste time on the internet. Wait, I meant write. Of course I meant write. Haha, ha.
If you were to write fanfic (or maybe you already have!) which fandom(s) would it be?Yes, I’ve totally written fanfic, specifically in the A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fandom. George R.R. Martin is so notoriously unhappy with the concept of it, too. I have to say that reading and writing fanfic was pretty good practice before wading into M/M romance. As I was discussing with a friend, they share so many tropes and features, too, so moving in either direction – fanfic to M/M or vice versa – can be seamless and extremely enjoyable.
What were your favorite books when you were a teenager? Those choose-your-own-adventure dice-rolling game books from the 80s! My favorite was the Blood Sword series by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson, which successfully blends various world mythologies with fantasy. Just an incredible setting all around. I also loved Joe Dever and Ian Page’s Grey Star the Wizard series, which shaped my love of throwing cute boys with incredible willpower and/or superpowers into extremely harrowing and depressing situations.
Book blurb:
The sighting of the second flare has kindled new hope in what’s left of humanity. Perhaps there are other survivors outside the Hive. Maybe it’s the military, finally come to save Pleasance from the horrors of Paragon. But neither flares nor optimism can erase the colony’s bleak realities.
Supplies are dwindling. Food is low, medication running out, and the garden won’t ever grow enough to feed the Hive. And there’s the small matter of the water from the river drying up. The Hive needs a miracle, and fast.
With Gabriel Anderson at his side, Jarod Samuels seeks out the source of the flare and an antidote for the Hive’s plight. But some mysteries are best left unsolved, some secrets left undiscovered – especially when the answers hide deep in the heart of the colossus.
Book buy link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0725168WV
Author bio:
After 15 years spent working in lifestyle journalism and public relations Soren Summers decided it was time to stop selling other people’s stories and start telling his own. He’s obsessed with writing about ordinary people struggling against overwhelming supernatural odds. Soren is based in Southern California, where he is currently growing both his written body of work and his hair.
Soren loves video games, staying home on the weekends, and geeky guys. He’s great with animals and has a soft spot for cats, dogs, and geeky guys. His favorite edibles are pizza, coffee, and geeky guys. His favorite shows are RuPaul’s Drag Race, Better Off Ted, and anything that has geeky guys in it. His friends say that he has a one-track mind, but they have no idea what they’re talking about.
Author contacts:
Website: http://www.sorensummers.com/
Blog: http://www.sorensummers.com/news
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sorensummers
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SorenSummers
Email: sorensummers@gmail.com
Other: https://www.goodreads.com/SorenSummers
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July 25, 2017
Interview Roulette: G.R. Lyons
Today G.R. Lyons joins us!
You get to spend a day with a character from any book—but not one of your own. Who do you choose? Locke Lamora from The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I apparently have a thing for con artists (no wonder White Collar is my favorite TV show and Ocean’s 11 is one of my favorite films). The depth of talent and intelligence required just astounds me. The quick wit, the ability to transform into anyone at the drop of a hat, seeing all the angles and possible outcomes of particular actions necessary to pull off a job—to witness that up close and in person would be amazing. I’d just want to pick his brain apart because I can’t even fathom the skill (rather, multiple skills) required.
Describe your ideal writing environment. I’d like to say that quiet time at home would be ideal, but there are far too many available distractions…like my ever-present TBR pile. My most productive writing times are spent at my favorite diner over a plate of strawberry-and-cream-cheese French toast (with coffee, of course! Lots and lots of coffee!).
One of your characters has just been arrested and calls you to bail him out. Who is it and what did he get busted for? Not sure if it’s a good or bad thing I have a few from which to pick. Then again, part of my fictional world includes a ‘country’ that has an entirely free market and no government, so arrest and bail aren’t even applicable terms—crime and punishment are dealt with strictly through various forms of contracts and mediation. However, did such a thing as jail exist, the first character who comes to mind is Daivid Thaton, from Broken, and chances are great he’s been arrested for either B&E or theft. Again. Yeah, repeat offender. He’s a handful, that one. Then there’s my sweet Elliden Crawford (from Broken and Second Drafts) who was born with an extreme chemical imbalance which sometimes throws him into violent rages. Poor guy gets himself into more trouble without meaning to.
Are you a nervous cleaner? (And if you are, will you come hang out at my house Nothing makes one clean house quite like the prospect of the parents stopping by! Though that doesn’t happen often. I’m very tidy and organized (some might say OCD), but I have to be in the mood to clean.
What is your worst phobia? Death. It’s been a problem since I was a child. I remember being seven or eight years old when I started having panic attacks because I realized it was all going to end someday. Then again, there were also a few traumatic periods in my life during which I was inclined toward suicide. Let me tell you, being a thanatophobe and suicidal really messes with the head!
Book blurb for Second Chances:
Nineteen-year-old porn star Remy Dawes loves his job at Matchmakers, a gay nightclub, but the fantasy he portrays every night doesn’t leave room for what he really wants: companionship, love, someone to come home to, someone just for him. Who would ever take seriously a kid who practically sells his body for others’ pleasure? Thirty-five-year-old Chance Whitaker has sworn off dating younger men after having been cheated on one too many times, until the owner of Matchmakers convinces him to take a chance on Remy Dawes, a gorgeous kid who surprises Chance at every turn. As things fall apart through meddling, death, and betrayal, will there be a second chance for two people to find love? (Note: This story takes place in a fictional world, the same as the Shifting Isles series. There are multiple gods, different names for the days of the week, etc. A glossary is included with the story for those interested in the little worldbuilding details.)
Book buy links:
https://www.amazon.com/Second-Chances-Matchmakers-Book-1-ebook/dp/B01IIXMU4Y
Author bio:
G.R. Lyons lives on California’s beautiful Central Coast, daylighting as an office manager for the family auto repair business. Between repair orders and after hours, Lyons can be found reading all manner of books or working on one of several manuscripts.
Author contacts:
Website: https://grlyonsauthor.com
Blog (same as website)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grlyonsauthor
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/grlyonsauthor
Email: grlyons@grlyonsauthor.com
Other: https://www.pinterest.com/doumteksonata
Other: https://www.goodreads.com/grlyonsauthor
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July 21, 2017
Interview Roulette: Amy Aislin
Amy Aislin spins the wheel today!
Describe a hobby one of your characters likes to engage in.
Sam, one of the MC’s from my upcoming release, As Big as the Sky (available August 4), gardens as a hobby. It’s something he learned from his father and it’s a way for him to get out of his own head space. However, he only gardens with native plants (plants native to the soil type where he lives), as a way to naturalize his garden and attract pollinators and create a safe haven for insects and birds.
2. What is your spirit animal?
My first thought was a turtle, because I like to take my time with things and don’t like to be rushed. But then I asked my sisters. Sister #1 said a fox “because it’s nice and wants to be left alone.” Sister #2 said a big fuzzy bear because “you’re big and fuzzy when you want to be, but also have a hibernation side.” Anybody seeing a pattern?
Confused, I turned to the internet (because we all know Google is right about everything, don’t we?) and did one of those “What is your spirit animal?” quizzes. The result? A whale. Because of my strong inner voice and ability to follow my gut and what I know is right, and because I’m in touch with reality, am self-aware, and don’t get involved in drama. Also, I have strong bonds with loved ones.
Conclusion? I have no idea what my spirit animal is.
3. Say you met your all-time favorite celebrity, would you play it cool? Or would you utterly humiliate yourself?
Oh man. I would try and act cool, but I’d fail miserably. One time I had to talk to a cop for something and I couldn’t remember my own birthday. I feel like meeting my all-time favourite celebrity (Julie Andrews) would be ten times worse. I wouldn’t remember my name, I’d stutter, I’d forget my words, I’d blush like a tomato. Also, I’d probably cry.
4. If you could instantly learn another language, which would you choose and why?
Greek. My family is Greek on my dad’s side and I’d love to be able to follow along when they speak, and hold a conversation with my grandparents. They’ve been in Canada since the 60s, so they speak English, but it’d be a completely different experience to converse with them in their native tongue.
5. What is your favorite time of day?
Early morning or late at night when everyone else in the house is asleep except me.
6. Which (living) celebrity would you most want to have dinner with?
Julie Andrews. I love her. She seems so wise and all-knowing and she’s so classy and put together. I’d quiz her on what it was like to film The Sound of Music (my favourite movie!). Mostly I’d want to talk with her about…well, nothing and everything. I just want to hear what she has to say about life in general.
7. If you had to live in a movie, TV show, or book, which would you choose and why?
Harry Potter! Because magic. And Hogwarts.
But also maybe the world of Star Trek. No war, people working hard for the sake of being better people. Plus, a chance to see the stars? Yeah, I dig it.
8. Describe your ideal writing environment.
I need internet access so I can research stuff I don’t know. I need my three thesauri/writing books. I don’t need quiet necessarily, but I do need people to leave me alone, which means I can write pretty much anywhere. I’m very good at ignoring what’s happening around me and focusing on what I’m doing. Don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.
9. Who are your favorite visual artists and why?
One of my favourite artists is Edward Spera. He does beautiful wildlife paintings of animals in the wild. They’re so detailed, they could be photographs. I have a couple of his small prints and whenever I go to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, (which isn’t far from where I live) I pop into his gallery.
10. What invention would you love to see created in order to make your life easier?
A teleportation device, like in Star Trek. It would cut my commute to work from an hour and a half to only a few seconds!
Book blurb:
Former best friends turned lovers Christian and Riley haven’t seen or spoken to each other in six years…is there a better time than the holiday season to reconnect with your favorite person? The last person Christian wants to run into on a visit home to spend time with his mom over the holidays is his former best friend-turned-lover-turned-ex. But there Riley is, in all his tall, chiseled, blondness. The same guy who walked out on him six years ago, breaking his heart in the process. Who knew he’s still in love with the jerk? (Oh yeah, he did. What? Who says denial isn’t healthy?) Two years ago, Riley was injured out of the NHL, but he’s got his own bakery now and a quiet life selling quiches and cupcakes to his customers. Then Christian unexpectedly walks back into his life, forcing Riley to question his choices. Especially that one choice he made six years ago that walked him out of Christian’s life. Now if only he had the courage to tell a boy how he really feels about him…
Book buy links:
MLR Press: https://goo.gl/9YvKYu
Amazon US: https://goo.gl/6OyYTp
Kobo: https://goo.gl/TdTZkB
iBooks: https://goo.gl/TChKPr
Smashwords: https://goo.gl/w1m7rP
Author bio:
Amy Aislin started writing on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class was forced to stay inside for recess. Tales of adventures with her classmates quickly morphed into tales of adventures with the characters in her head. Based in Oakville, Ontario, she’s a marketer at a large environmental non-profit in Toronto by day, and a writer by night. Book enthusiast, animal lover and (very) amateur photographer, her interests are many and varied, including traveling, astronomy, ecology, and baking.
Visit Amy’s website at www.amyaislin.com or find her on social media.
Author contacts:
Website: www.amyaislin.com
Blog: www.amyaislin.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmyAislinAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amy_aislin
Email: amy.aislin@hotmail.com
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/amyaislinauthor
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/amyaislin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyaislin
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16693566.Amy_Aislin
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July 20, 2017
Interview Roulette: F.E. Feeley, Jr.
Today’s player is F.E. Feeley, Jr.!
What is your superpower? My superpower is being Don Quixote.
Write a haiku poem about your favorite beverage. Nope. No Haiku. But I will give you a poem I wrote when I was drunk on Johnny Walker:
Memory
chase memory through the wildflowers
down by the stream and across the covered bridge
stand in the in-between place – between sun and the shadow
and remember the dragonflies alight on lily-pads
florescent blue upon emerald green
Remember the feel of the worn sun-bleached wood
as you slipped off your sandal to touch barefoot
and how you jerked it back up quickly with a hiss
but not before you felt the smoothness almost softness of the plank
Remember the smell of the water all around you
as stream fed the pond fed the lake that surrounds
and the smell of sun dried earth and freshly cut grass, drift
as a john deer moans across the path and down the hill a way
it’s a Thursday, and you’re playing hooky and its summertime
and your young but not in love and so your burdens are light
and your skin is so much tighter, and your smile is still quick to wrinkle your nose
and easy as the warm day resting now upon your shoulders
Twenty-one, maybe, no more than twenty-three to be sure
open to everything and everyone around you at this tender age
Not knowing that this moment will be recalled days and laugh lines and gray hairs later
as if you were a dusty camera plucked off a shelf in the hands of someone who needs a smile
And perhaps you’ll only revisit this memory once
then again perhaps you’ll come back again and again
when the smell of cut grass, or the sound of water rushing
reminds you of that in between place when a moment you so quickly barely witnessed yet can recall so vividly
so much so you can almost feel the burning of your foot
3. What is your worst habit? Your best one? My worst habit is needing to be right around the wrong people. And my best, is being right around the wrong people.
4. Pick a politician and give him or her one piece of really good advice. Dear Donald, Fire your staff. You’re going to go down in the history books as the worst president we ever had. You don’t have to quit. Just get better people around you.
5. Someone is writing your biography. What’s the title? And who plays you in the movie?The Title is : The Greater Fool. Actor: Some Unknown.
6. One of your characters is running for political office. Who is it and what’s the office? Sherriff Hale Davis from The Haunting of Timber Manor. He’s running for Mayor.
7. If you could choose anyone on the planet to narrate an audio version of your latest book, who would it be? Judy Dench.
8. You’ve been invited to a party being held by your boss. Which of your characters will you take with you as your guest? Adam from Still Waters, Christopher from The Haunting of Timber Manor, and the Demon from Objects in the Rearview Mirror. I don’t like my boss.
9. Aside from writing, in what ways are you creative? This is it. I’m a one trick pony.
10. Warm weather or cold? Warm. Cold hurts.
Book blurb: Promise, Michigan is very much like every other small town across the state. Built on the edge of a lake, the homes sit in neat little rows in cute little neighborhoods. During the summer Promise bustles with tourists who come to spend their vacation dollars and enjoy the lake’s refreshingly cold water. But Promise holds a terrible secret. In the center of the lake is an abandoned island where a curse is rumored to wait for victims, unabated and deadly. Most think it’s just a story, something used to keep kids out of trouble. Still, everyone gives it a wide berth. Everyone except Bret and Adam. They dare to venture out the night of Bret’s birthday. When they declared their love and promise to get married, they believe no one else heard their whispered words—but they are wrong. Five years later Adam dies, and Bret returns to his family to heal. But someone is killing the people of Promise in random acts of violence. Bret, with the help of FBI agent Jeff McAllister, must discover the identity of a murderer with death on his mind and revenge in his heart.
Book buy links: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/still-waters-by-fe-feeley-jr-by-f-e-feeley-jr-2764-b
Author bio: First and foremost, I am a husband to my wonderful husband, John. I am a father of our five-year-old German Shephard, Kaiser. I am an avid reader of Mysteries, Horror, and Suspense, and biographies. I am a gamer. My favorite ones are Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Star Trek Online,Skyrim, Assassin’s Creed, Fallout, and Civilization Five. I love to cook and I love trying new recipes (hint hint). I am an avid music junkie from POPular music to Opera, to Showtunes, Gospel, Rock, Rap, and Hip Hop. I am also a Poet – a lot of which is offered on this web page for free. And I do some gay fiction writing from time to time.
I love connecting with people. As an ex- fundi, I grew up in a world where there was this invisible boundary set down between me and the world around me. I felt more like an observer than an actual participant in that world. Since I’ve left fundamentalism – it has been my constant endeavor to be a part of the world. To be a part of humanity. And when I write my poetry or my books, I draw from the experiences of being raised in that environment as well as the experiences of tasting the bouquet of humanity I’d been denied all those years ago.
It’s a way to entertain people, writing is a way to connect to them, as well as a way for me to recover from the world I’d lived in all those years ago. Thank you for coming on my journey with me.
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July 18, 2017
Interview Roulette: J. Scott Coatsworth
Today’s player is J. Scott Coatsworth!
If you could be granted instant virtuosity on a musical instrument you don’t now play, which one would it be, and why?
OK, so I used to play the flute (only because it was the smallest instrument that would get me into band. OK, yeah, I was a total band geek). But for this? What’s that big Australian horn thing that sounds like a foghorn? *runs to Google* Oh yeah, the Didgeridoo! Although I’m not sure it would fit into our current living room. But what a guy magnet. 
July 11, 2017
Interview Roulette: Anne Barwell
Please welcome Anne Barwell!
You’re on a ship with Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, Catherine the Great, David Bowie, Billie Holiday, and Gengis Khan. But oh no! The ship is sinking and the lifeboat only holds four people. You get to decide—who gets on that lifeboat? You’re starting with the difficult questions. My first thought is that they’re all already dead so I’d save myself, but that doesn’t really answer the question. And, given that parameter, I only need to choose three people. Mark Twain as I’d love to chat to him about writing. David Bowie, and Billie Holiday because of their music.
What is your worst phobia? I hate heights. Like most phobias there’s no reason for it, I just do to the point where if there’s someone else around to change a light bulb I’ll ask them to do it.
If you could be any other living person for a single day, who would you be? I think I’d still be myself. With someone else I don’t know what I’d be getting into for the day. Even people who look as though they have it all often have something else going on that might not be obvious, whether it’s health problems or whatever. And choosing someone who might be able to change the world—a day isn’t much time, and frankly I wouldn’t want to be that person with that responsibility.
What is your least favorite thing about California? I’ve never been to the US, or California but from what I’ve heard of it, I don’t think I’d enjoy the heat. One of the things I love about our climate here in NZ is that it’s mild, and even when hot, it’s still cooler than a lot of other places.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring author? Write little and often, and make time to do it. If you wait till you’ve got time, it will never happen. Thinking about finding time to write novel seems daunting, but it’s surprising how even 500 words here and there soon adds up.
What is your most dreaded household chore? Your favorite? Not sure I have a favourite. I do get a sense of achievement seeing washing blowing on the line though. I hate vacuuming. I often get backache doing it, and the cleaner never quite manages to get up all the cat hair. And… after going to the effort of doing it, a few weeks later it looks like it’s never been done.
Book blurb:
Echoes Rising Book 3, sequel to Winter Duet
France, 1944
Sometimes the most desperate struggles take place far from the battlefield, and what happens in secret can change the course of history.
Victory is close at hand, but freedom remains frustratingly just beyond the grasp of German physicist Dr. Kristopher Lehrer, Resistance fighter Michel, and the remaining members of the team sent by the Allies—Captain Matt Bryant, Sergeant Ken Lowe, and Dr. Zhou Liang—as they fight to keep the atomic plans from the Nazis. The team reaches France and connects with members of Michel’s French Resistance cell in Normandy. Allied troops are poised to liberate France, and rescue is supposedly at hand. However, Kristopher is no longer sure the information he carries in his memory is safe with either side.
When Standartenführer Holm and his men finally catch up with their prey, the team is left with few options as they fight to keep atomic plans from the Nazis. With a traitor in their midst, who can they trust? Kristopher realizes he must become something he is not in order to save the man he loves. Death is biding his time, and sacrifices must be made for any of them to have the futures they want.
Book buy links:
DSP Publications: https://www.dsppublications.com/books/comes-a-horseman-by-anne-barwell-399-b
Author bio:
Anne Barwell lives in Wellington, New Zealand. She shares her home with two cats who are convinced that the house is run to suit them; this is an ongoing “discussion,” and to date it appears as though the cats may be winning. In 2008 she completed her conjoint BA in English Literature and Music/Bachelor of Teaching. She has worked as a music teacher, a primary school teacher, and now works in a library. She is a member of the Upper Hutt Science Fiction Club and plays violin for Hutt Valley Orchestra. She is an avid reader across a wide range of genres and a watcher of far too many TV series and movies, although it can be argued that there is no such thing as “too many.” These, of course, are best enjoyed with a decent cup of tea and further the continuing argument that the concept of “spare time” is really just a myth. She also hosts other authors, reviews for the GLBTQ Historical Site “Our Story” and Top2Bottom Reviews, and writes monthly blog posts for Authors Speak and Love Bytes.
Anne’s books have received honorable mentions four times and reached the finals three times in the Rainbow Awards. She has also been nominated twice in the Goodreads M/M Romance Reader’s Choice Awards—once for Best Fantasy and once for Best Historical.
Author contacts:
Website: http://annebarwell.wordpress.com
Blog : as above
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/anne.barwell.1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annebarwell
Email: darthanne@gmail.com
Queeromance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/anne-barwell/
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