Elise VanCise's Blog, page 16

Be a book rebel read banned books!

Banning books is not a thing of the past. Every day books are challenged, or removed from libraries or schools. No book is safe from the possibility. At one point the children’s fairytale, Alice in Wonderland was on the banned list.
For a while, my own county libraries banned the 50 Shades of Grey Trilogy from their shelves. Library patrons wouldn’t hear of it, they continued to request, and demand their right to read about Christian and his red room. Now the books are available on library she...

Author Chat with Lisa Day about her Love and Betrayal on the Santa Fe

The lovely Lisa Day is in the ludis today for a chat. We're going to be chatting about her latest release Love & Betrayal on the Santa Fe. So pour a cuppa and get comfy as we get to know more about Lisa and her novel. 
Tell us three little known facts about Lisa Day: Lisa would have been the weird ole lady next door with the zillion cats, except her husband turned her into a dog lover as well. She's still weird, but her dog chases the cat away. 
I've had lived in over 10...

Getting Edumacated

This last week I crossed a major goal off my ROW80 list. I finished my degree. I am now Hospitality Management graduate, with a 4.0 g.p.a. to boot.  It’s such a relief to have that under my belt, but it also made me think.
Thinking about our characters and their education, could their level of education have an impact? Yes, it could.
We gain more than just knowledge on a certain subject from our education. In our early education, we learn the basics reading, writing, and arithmetic. We j...

Monday Musings: Things that bind

Many elements bind together to create a story. Characters, their goals and relationships bind to move the story forward. In my current WIP Outlaw Born, Ben finds he’s bound to his past. The bloodline he tries to deny, events that seemed insignificant when they occurred are now being seen as the stepping stones to his present life.
Writing those ‘stepping stones’ into the story as flashbacks can be a tricky ordeal. If the lead in isn’t done well the flashback can become jumbled into present th...

Outlaws, Secrets and Goals Oh my!

Since it’s been a bit since my last update I won’t go over the hits and misses of each week and just tell you what has been going on.
One goal for this quarter was to finish the novel Outlaw Born. Progress so far is good. There was a pause as life frustrations and plot issues arose. There was a bit of backtracking and changing. Ended up painfully deleting a chapter but Ben is back to robbing trains and making life hell for Hammond Rail. Don’t you love a man in a black hat, fast hands, with a s...

Characters have favorite foods too!

Food and books or writing seem to just seem to go together. Not just cook books, noveling in general. During NaNoWriMo many writers I know use food as rewards for making goals during the month. A handful of candy kisses for reaching a daily word count or a meal at a favorite restaurant for making a major goal.
I’m terrible about doing this myself. *blush… I have a special jar on my desk that I keep filled with some kind of confection. Right now it’s home to dark chocolate crack thin mints. It’...

Those Charming Heroes: Meet Alex Blazen of HALF

Welcome to the Charming Hero Blog Hop sponsored by Whitney Keevers-Eastman. The hop runs from the 3rd through 4th  celebrating t hose charming heroes that make our hearts flutter. Each blog on the hop is offering a chance to win books or other great prizes. So be sure to enter the raffelcopter drawing at the bottom of this post. Now Bring on the heroes!
What your hero’s name and where does he come from?  Alex Blazen from the pages of HALF is from the city of Orlando, Florida.
What’s...

Write Enviroment

E.B. White and his boathouseWriters discovered a long time ago that where the writing is done is just as important as what is being written. Great scribes such as Mark Twain and Jane Austin have had special places inside of their homes where their muses were most inspired to work.
J.K. Rowling authored the first part of Harry Potter in a coffee shop. Jim Harrison’s muse worked best in hotel rooms. The environment in which writers surround themselves can effect the flow of words from mind to p...

Gaming and the Plight of War Veterans guest post by author David Litwack

Please enjoy this guest post by David Litwack, author of the gripping contemporary novel, Along the Watchtower, and the deep, dark dystopia, There Comes a Prophet. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including a Kindle Fire, $650 in Amazon gift cards, and 5 autographed copies of each book.  
The Virtual World of Gaming and the Plight of War Veterans: A Guest Post by David Litwack  Gaming and war would seem to be as far apart from each other a...

Mark Barry Gives Hollywood a Shakedown

Gladiator's Pen welcomes Mark Barry to the ludis today for a conversation about his latest release Hollywood Shakedown. Refill your cuppa, prop up your feet and let's get acquainted with Mark.

We’re talking about your book Hollywood Shakedown today. Can you tell us what inspired this story? I’m a huge fan of Charles Bukowski, and the main character in Hollywood Shakedown is the mythical son of Bukowski’s alter-ego, Henry Chinaski. He’s called Buddy and he’s just like his dad! Two friends of mi...