Thea Atkinson's Blog, page 19
July 17, 2011
Is there a secret behind the story? @theaatkinson
by Thea Atkinson
I grew up in a house with 3 brothers: one who put snakes in my boots; one who stole the money from my piggybanks: all of them, even the one I hid behind my closet door; and one who continually tried to peel my fingernails from the nailbeds.
I love each one of them, and all for those same reasons mentioned.
My brothers, like many brothers the world over, tormented the living daylights out of me, their only sister. They made me play goalie in the winter so often I never learned to skate. They forced me to run bases when I didn't want to by firing an orange hockey ball at me until I darted around at their bidding afraid of the sting those balls delivered. Those brothers of mine threw ski poles at me, hit me over the head with a glass liquor bottle ala cartoon barfights, they Indian burned my arms absolutely raw.
And they would absolutely all die for me, each one–or at the very least beat the snot out of a bully.
So when one of them began to suffer the torments of addiction and relapse, it was inevitable that it would affect me to my core. We in the family all held our collective breaths, working at loving the person and not the behaviour. We went through all of the sickness of enabling and co-dependency and all those other terribly guilt-ridden symptoms of being the healthy family members of a very sick person.
It was this particular brother who I've seen give away his last bit of money to someone who needed it. I've seen him sit with my months' old daughter for hours trying to calm her during a colick spell. He tells a joke like noboby's business and if you're perched awkwardly at at party with no one to talk to, he is the one who will spend his time with you and pull you into the crowd.
He genuinely likes people: a strange thing in my family of introverts. I think people get this about him and they respond. He has never lost that, even when he was struggling with the worst of his crisis.
It wasn't until he started coming through the tunnel that I was able to breathe again–and breathing for me meant writing.
Secret language of Crows doesn't sell well–it's my fault, really. It's so close to my heart that I don't market it much–if at all. It doesn't detail my brother or my family's crisis, (That would be highly disrespectful of the people I hold most dear) but it does explore my own sense of helplessness and guilt in ways that you can only do in fiction.
Metaphorically, it lets me beat myself up and come out clean on the other end.
There's a lot of symbolism in the there that may only mean something to me, as it's an intensely personal novel, but I think you may just find your own intimacy in there. You might transpose your own personal truth–isn't that what symbolism does, after all?
You see, in my own way, I died for this brother–or rather, I took on the bully for him.
And I'm quite satisfied for both our sakes that it's not coming back.
-30-
Purchase on Amazon
If you're interested in seeing the final evolution of a journey to forgiveness, you can click over to any of the places it's for sale: The two biggest are:
.
Filed under: Thea bits
Secret Lives of Brothers and Sisters…and crows
by Thea Atkinson
I grew up in a house with 3 brothers: one who put snakes in my boots; one who stole the money from my piggybanks: all of them, even the one I hid behind my closet door; and one who continually tried to peel my fingernails from the nailbeds.
I love each one of them, and all for those same reasons mentioned.
My brothers, like many brothers the world over, tormented the living daylights out of me, their only sister. They made me play goalie in the winter so often I never learned to skate. They forced me to run bases when I didn't want to by firing an orange hockey ball at me until I darted around at their bidding afraid of the sting those balls delivered. Those brothers of mine threw ski poles at me, hit me over the head with a glass liquor bottle ala cartoon barfights, they Indian burned my arms absolutely raw.
And they would absolutely all die for me, each one–or at the very least beat the snot out of a bully.
So when one of them began to suffer the torments of addiction and relapse, it was inevitable that it would affect me to my core. We in the family all held our collective breaths, working at loving the person and not the behaviour. We went through all of the sickness of enabling and co-dependency and all those other terribly guilt-ridden symptoms of being the healthy family members of a very sick person.
It was this particular brother who I've seen give away his last bit of money to someone who needed it. I've seen him sit with my months' old daughter for hours trying to calm her during a colick spell. He tells a joke like noboby's business and if you're perched awkwardly at at party with no one to talk to, he is the one who will spend his time with you and pull you into the crowd.
He genuinely likes people: a strange thing in my family of introverts. I think people get this about him and they respond. He has never lost that, even when he was struggling with the worst of his crisis.
It wasn't until he started coming through the tunnel that I was able to breathe again–and breathing for me meant writing.
Secret language of Crows doesn't sell well–it's my fault, really. It's so close to my heart that I don't market it much–if at all. It doesn't detail my brother or my family's crisis, (That would be highly disrespectful of the people I hold most dear) but it does explore my own sense of helplessness and guilt in ways that you can only do in fiction.
Metaphorically, it lets me beat myself up and come out clean on the other end.
There's a lot of symbolism in the there that may only mean something to me, as it's an intensely personal novel, but I think you may just find your own intimacy in there. You might transpose your own personal truth–isn't that what symbolism does, after all?
You see, in my own way, I died for this brother–or rather, I took on the bully for him.
And I'm quite satisfied for both our sakes that it's not coming back.
-30-
Purchase on Amazon
If you're interested in seeing the final evolution of a journey to forgiveness, you can click over to any of the places it's for sale: The two biggest are:
.
Filed under: Thea bits
July 14, 2011
Rainy days and comfort food by @theaatkinson
Rain courses rivers down my kitchen window pane, creating puddles here, oceans in miniature there. It's a perfect afternoon to bake, I think, and wander to my recipe drawer hoping to find the perfect comfort food.
My recipe drawer is an implosion of paper. Reams of it reach out for my fingers as I pull the drawer open. A slip of cash register receipt catches a draft from my movements and is airborne for a moment before it lands on the floor, back facing up. I can make out a hastily scribbled, 1/4 cup flour, on it from my vantage point. Even as I reach for the slip, I know the recipe isn't something that will tempt me because I remember writing the directions — it was during an afternoon when the only paper I could find was the receipt for a pair of shoes. That day I needed a casserole recipe — fast, but casserole isn't my idea of comfort food on a rainy day, so I keep foraging.
I want chocolate, I think, spying the back cover of a coloring book sporting directions for pretzels and a splotch of cocoa. Chocolate is comforting. Just the smell of it, thick in the air will be sufficient. Then I remember I used all my powder and cubes on brownies last month when I'd attended a baby shower.
So much for that. I shrug and dig deeper, past index cards more organized friends than me have been kind enough to supply. Each of those has a title: Egg Roll Recipe, Cheesecake New York Style. All of them have neat directions: 3/4 cup white flour, mince well and add to the above mixture, bake for 50 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.
My own handwritten recipes have arrows drawn from one section to the other, abbreviations no one will understand except me. Most of mine go totally untitled so I have to scour the recipe to decipher what the end result should be — sometimes even then, I can't figure it out.
I begin to think for the 100th time that perhaps I should spend my afternoon organizing the papers, write them down in a nice book, record the recipes on index cards so I don't have to suffer this indignity each time I want to bake, but it is raining, after all, and the drawer really is too much of a mess to try and clean up.
So I keep foraging in.
Double-sided recipes plead for a place of their own; they get lost, they tell me, when their partner is facing up. I forget I even have the perfect baklava recipe because it's jotted down on the bottom of a Steak Diane recipe.
I think how very much like my recipe drawer my writing is. I hear all the time about how one should outline and get the plot right before writing. I sat on dozens of character workshops where we made lists of characteristics and tried to find that one unique quality that would make them stand out. Dialogue seminars told me I needed to think about the mood of the speaker and try to deliver it through their words.
Strangely, none of that works for me; I'm not an organized writer. Despite my best intentions, I always end up taking a 'recipe drawer' approach. I start out with bits and pieces of known items and then with what's left, I struggle to make sense of the rest of the lot, narrowing my gaze at the hint of the seasoning needed. I press on, trying to figure out what it all means. I piece it together. I thrill at the thought of the discovery of what could be there, written out in code only I can discern.
I forge on through the wads and stacks of papers in the drawer, and I think about how my writing style is indeed a recipe drawer approach, and I wonder in the moment if I should do better. If I should try to be more formal about it all.
My hand pulls out half of an index card written on in red ink. The awkward lettering reminds me of Christmas tags barely discernible on homemade mittens given to me years ago by my Scottish granny.
I peer closer, and immediately recognize my grandmother's writing. B pud, the title says, and below are abbreviations for ingredients that are instantly familiar because I use similar abbreviations when I write out recipes: 1 e, 1 c sug, 1 c mg.
My mother's mother passed away nine years ago. Family pressures and tensions kept me from attending her memorial. Her Scottish brogue haunts me every now and then, asking me why I couldn't bother to say goodbye.
I don't remember asking for the recipe I hold in my hand, but I do remember the years my family lived with Nanny. I recall sleeping with her and eating pizza in bed, learning to braid on the plaid blanket that sported a red fringe. I remember the wall hanging of Robbie Burns, the Scottish poet, and a dishtowel souvenir from Scotland with a picture of the Loch Ness monster.
Her accent was still heavy when I saw her last, weeks before her heart finally won the war. When my mother had bypass surgery ten years ago, I thought I was looking at Nanny in the hospital bed. My own heart nearly stopped then. I realize my love for character and discovery has a good solid flour base in my own history, of the characters I know and knew, and how even after they've gone, they speak to us. They want their secrets told or kept. I know because I have a few of my own.
I look again that the clumsy red letters, the barely-there title, and familiar abbreviations. I think about the ingredients I have in my cupboard: plenty of bread, lots of milk. I even have a handful of raisins.
It's a rainy day, perfect for cleaning out my recipe drawer, or for baking an extravagant dessert. But I have this strange hankering for bread pudding, and maybe as it cooks and it's cinnamon scent flavors the house, I'll pull out my pen and paper and see where they take me.
-30-
Filed under: Uncategorized
July 13, 2011
What readers are saying about Anomaly by @theaatkinson
Amazon Reviews:
Sterljoy says, " I could not get "J" out of mind after I had finish reading the book. When a book end with me wanting more it gets 5 stars. Hope the author continues the story line. "
BigAl who blogs at books and pals says, ""Anomaly" is also an excellent example of why the rise of Indie publishing we're experiencing is a good thing."
P. Beaudin says, "The story sucked me right in and throughout it all I was cheering for J."
Robert duPerre who blogs at Journal of Always says, "But most of all, it's the story of life, of the struggle to survive in a world that really has no one's best interest in mind, a world that, in effect, makes it difficult for anyone to thrive. In that way Anomaly is a difficult and occasionally stomach-churning read. But it's a learning experience, and very much worth the investment of time.
I'm glad I invested mine. "
Vivienne Tuffnell says, "This was the first book I bought for my new Kindle and I read the sample first and found I simply couldn't get J out of my head. So back I went and bought the entire book and read it in an afternoon.(I read fast, by the way). "
Goodreads Reviews
Katy Walters says, " J is a flawed hero who searches his mind and soul. It is not for those who are not prepared to read and reflect. I love the psycholgical, the soul searching. Quite unforgettable. Will look out for more of this rwriter's work. "
Syria Evans says, "The writing style is both intense and engaging."
Tracy Riva says, "I recommend Anomaly by Thea Atkinson. It puts a name, face and personality on an individual's struggle to be recognized for who he or she is "
Filed under: Indie Publishing
What are readers saying about Anomaly by @theaatkinson
Amazon Reviews:
Sterljoy says, " I could not get "J" out of mind after I had finish reading the book. When a book end with me wanting more it gets 5 stars. Hope the author continues the story line. "
BigAl who blogs at books and pals says, ""Anomaly" is also an excellent example of why the rise of Indie publishing we're experiencing is a good thing."
P. Beaudin says, "The story sucked me right in and throughout it all I was cheering for J."
Robert duPerre who blogs at Journal of Always says, "But most of all, it's the story of life, of the struggle to survive in a world that really has no one's best interest in mind, a world that, in effect, makes it difficult for anyone to thrive. In that way Anomaly is a difficult and occasionally stomach-churning read. But it's a learning experience, and very much worth the investment of time.
I'm glad I invested mine. "
Vivienne Tuffnell says, "This was the first book I bought for my new Kindle and I read the sample first and found I simply couldn't get J out of my head. So back I went and bought the entire book and read it in an afternoon.(I read fast, by the way). "
Goodreads Reviews
Katy Walters says, " J is a flawed hero who searches his mind and soul. It is not for those who are not prepared to read and reflect. I love the psycholgical, the soul searching. Quite unforgettable. Will look out for more of this rwriter's work. "
Syria Evans says, "The writing style is both intense and engaging."
Tracy Riva says, "I recommend Anomaly by Thea Atkinson. It puts a name, face and personality on an individual's struggle to be recognized for who he or she is "
Filed under: Indie Publishing
Writer Wednesday exercise is a #tease from The Other Life by @Ellenmeister
The writing exercise is based on a word today. That's it. So simple.
Basically, the writing prompt is TEASE. It can be based in any genre you like: erotica, YA, chicklit, it can even be a ramble about how your brothers used to tease you about the size of your thighs and how they used to call you Thunder thighs until you fled weeping to your bedroom and wouldn't come out even for ice cream. Ok, so that one's mine. Ha. You can write whatever you want. It doesn't have to be fiction or poetry or anything. It can just BE what it is. The idea is to use the notion of a tease to help you build the initial words. Set your timer to 10 minutes and freefall from the word. See where it takes you.
comment to enter the montly draw
Remember to come back and tell us how it went. this month the gift for a lucky random commenter is Mel Comley's Impeding Justice. Simply comment on Writer Wednesdays and get entered into the monthly draw.
And if you don't like this exercise, The Writing Network (twitter ID @theladywrites) has a different one you can try. It's just about getting creative and feeling inspired. Doesn't matter to me whose exercise you do, just exercise.
To get your engines revving, I offer this essay from Ellen Meister. I think you'll really enjoy it.
THE CALL
or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Being in Suspense
Click to purchase The Other Life on Amazon
Last summer, my agent called with news that could change my life forever. No, it wasn't The Call. It was a call. All lower case with an indefinite article. Why? Because the news was merely a possibility. An exhilarating chance that my career could soon soar.
This, I have to admit, has been the pattern of my life. My good news has never come in one life-changing, confetti-falling-from-the-ceiling phone call. Instead, it comes in tiny, excruciating teases.
I should have seen this pattern emerging back when I was trying to conceive my first child. We had been hoping for so long, and I was desperate to see my dream finally come true. Back then, home pregnancy kits weren't as sensitive as they are now, so if you wanted a quick answer you needed a blood test.
I was under the care of a specialist, so when I suspected I might be pregnant at last, I ran to the doctor's office and had my blood drawn. Then I went to work and waited for … The Call.
It was four o'clock by the time the doctor phoned. Oh, please, I thought, when I heard his voice. Please, please, please, please, please.
The news? My hormone levels indicated pregnancy, but the lab had a problem and they were rerunning the tests.
Wait. What? Am I pregnant or not?
The next hour-and-a-half were pure torture. But at last, I got the news that made me weep with joy.
It was the same thing when I wrote my first book and tried to get a literary agent. For months and months, I sent out queries and suffered the agony of rejection, all the while fantasizing about The Call That Would Answer My Prayers.
When at last my caller ID showed the 212 area code of a wonderful New York City literary agent, my heart almost stopped beating. Was this it? The agent, sounding ebullient, wanted me to know that her assistant read my book and loved it, and that she would be reading it herself over the next few days and would get back to me soon.
Thunk. More waiting.
It was the same pattern when I learned that my first book had been sold to a major publishing house. And my second. And my third. All the phone calls began, "We have an offer, but …"
I suppose I'll never get the-call-that-feels-like-someone-has-just-knocked-on-my-door-with-TV-cameras-balloons-and-a-giant-check. But I have to admit that the news I got from my agent last summer feels pretty damned close. And so, at last, here it is …
My friends, HBO has optioned THE OTHER LIFE for a television series.
CUE CONFETTI.
–30–
Ellen Meister lives in New York and is the author of three novels. Her latest, THE OTHER LIFE, has been optioned by HBO for a TV series, and is available in stores now. To order online, visit any cyber bookseller, including Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Books-A-Million • Borders • Indie Bound • Powells
For more information, visit her website at ellenmeister.com.
–
Visit my website at ellenmeister.com
Connect online at
twitter.com/EllenMeister and facebook.com/EllenMeister.author
Filed under: writerwednesday exercises
July 11, 2011
What works in self publishing by Katie Salidas @bk36 @quixotickatie #blitz
Katie Salidas explores her success in Self Publishing
Self-Publishing wasn't an easy decision, that's for sure. Like all new writers, I originally envisioned J.K. Rowling-like fame. I was going to write a series that would have readers clamoring for more. The reality is so much farther from the truth but it's those initial fantasies that had me chomping at the bit to get my debut novel, Immortalis Carpe Noctem out into the world.
I started, as many new writers do, sending out queries way too early. We're all blind to our faults and I certainly was (and still am) no exception. After some initial harsh rejection, I decided to turn to critiquing groups for help. Six months later after a few more rounds of revisions (and research into the publishing world), I was ready to go at it again, this time with a more realistic approach. I learned that my initial dream of millions and millions of dollars and people lining up for miles to attend my book signings, was much more the exception than the rule.
Still, the reception was lukewarm at best. I would hear compliments about the story and characters, but still be told, no. A common theme in the query responses I got was that the market was already too flooded with vampire stories. They'd love to publish me (or take me on as a client) but there are just too many vampire books out there.
My research told me too, that even if I had gotten a publishing contract, my book wouldn't see store shelves until 2 years later. Vampires may be hot now, but what if they have cooled by then?
That last bit was what spurred me on to self-publish. I didn't want my story missing the opportunity to hit the market while it was still hot. I had spent a total of five years working on Immortals, from the time I penned the first word, until the final draft. There was no way I was going to let it collect dust. It was (and still is) my baby.
So I turned my research to indie publishing and spent months learning all I could about ebook formatting and ways to get my work into print. Let me tell you, there's a lot to learn there. It took me another four months to finally pull the trigger and publish Immortalis Carpe Noctem. Since then I have released many more titles, like the newest one available today: Pandora's Box.
Am I making millions off of my books? No. Self-publishing is not the gateway to fame and fortune. (Most artists are starving, right?). Sure it would be nice to get rich from my work, but that's not the goal. Writing is my passion, and eventually, sure I'd like to pay the bills with it, but for now it's a slow build. I'm finding new readers every day. The best part, for me, is seeing others enjoy my work. I cherish every fan email I get and every comment on my blog.
You, the reader, make me happy in the choice I made to self-publish.
Thanks for reading, and if you want to check out my work, you can find me at
Immortalis Carpe Noctem (Book 1)
Becoming a vampire is easy. Living with the condition… that's the hard part.
Bleeding to death after brutal mugging, twenty-five year old Alyssa is rescued by the most unlikely hero: the handsome and aloof vampire, Lysander.
His gift of immortal blood initiates Alyssa into a frightening, eternally dark world filled with: bloodlust, religious fanaticism, and thousand-year old vendettas.
With Lysander as her guide, Alyssa will have to learn what it takes to survive in the immortal world. She'll have to find the strength to accept her new reality and carpe noctem; or give in, and submit to final death.
Hunters & Prey (Book 2)
Becoming a vampire saved Alyssa from death, but the price was high: the loss of everything and everyone attached to her mortal life. She's still learning to cope when a surprise confrontation with Santino Vitale, the Acta Sanctorum's most fearsome hunter, sends her fleeing back to the world she once knew, and Fallon, the friend she's missed more than anything.
Alyssa breaks vampire law by revealing her new, true self to her old friend, a fact which causes strong division in the group that should support her most: her clan.
Pandora's Box (Book 3)
After a few months as a vampire, Alyssa thought she'd learned all she needed to know about the supernatural world. But her confidence is shattered by the delivery of a mysterious package – a Pandora's Box.
Seemingly innocuous, the box is in reality an ancient prison, generated by a magic more powerful than anyone in her clan has ever known. But what manner of evil could need such force to contain it?
When the box is opened, the sinister creature within is released, and only supernatural blood will satiate its thirst. The clan soon learns how it feels when the hunter becomes the hunted.
Apparently powerless against the ancient evil, the clan flees Las Vegas for Boston, with only a slim hope for salvation. Could Lysander's old journals hold the key? And what if they don't?
And how welcome will they be in a city run by a whole different kind of supernatural being?
Werewolves…
To purchase the Immortalis books (In print and ebook):
Amazon USA
http://www.amazon.com/Katie-Salidas/e/B003APXXWO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Katie-Salidas/e/B003APXXWO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1 Amazon DE (Germany)
http://www.amazon.co.de/Katie-Salidas/e/B003APXXWO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1 Barnes & Noble
http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=katie+salidas&page=index&prod=univ&choice=allproducts&query=katie+salidas&flag=False&pos=-1&box=katie+salida&ugrp=2 Smashwords
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KatieSalidas
Filed under: guest blogging
what works in self publishing? Katie Salidas explores her successes
Self-Publishing wasn't an easy decision, that's for sure. Like all new writers, I originally envisioned J.K. Rowling-like fame. I was going to write a series that would have readers clamoring for more. The reality is so much farther from the truth but it's those initial fantasies that had me chomping at the bit to get my debut novel, Immortalis Carpe Noctem out into the world.
I started, as many new writers do, sending out queries way too early. We're all blind to our faults and I certainly was (and still am) no exception. After some initial harsh rejection, I decided to turn to critiquing groups for help. Six months later after a few more rounds of revisions (and research into the publishing world), I was ready to go at it again, this time with a more realistic approach. I learned that my initial dream of millions and millions of dollars and people lining up for miles to attend my book signings, was much more the exception than the rule.
Still, the reception was lukewarm at best. I would hear compliments about the story and characters, but still be told, no. A common theme in the query responses I got was that the market was already too flooded with vampire stories. They'd love to publish me (or take me on as a client) but there are just too many vampire books out there.
My research told me too, that even if I had gotten a publishing contract, my book wouldn't see store shelves until 2 years later. Vampires may be hot now, but what if they have cooled by then?
That last bit was what spurred me on to self-publish. I didn't want my story missing the opportunity to hit the market while it was still hot. I had spent a total of five years working on Immortals, from the time I penned the first word, until the final draft. There was no way I was going to let it collect dust. It was (and still is) my baby.
So I turned my research to indie publishing and spent months learning all I could about ebook formatting and ways to get my work into print. Let me tell you, there's a lot to learn there. It took me another four months to finally pull the trigger and publish Immortalis Carpe Noctem. Since then I have released many more titles, like the newest one available today: Pandora's Box.
Am I making millions off of my books? No. Self-publishing is not the gateway to fame and fortune. (Most artists are starving, right?). Sure it would be nice to get rich from my work, but that's not the goal. Writing is my passion, and eventually, sure I'd like to pay the bills with it, but for now it's a slow build. I'm finding new readers every day. The best part, for me, is seeing others enjoy my work. I cherish every fan email I get and every comment on my blog.
You, the reader, make me happy in the choice I made to self-publish.
Thanks for reading, and if you want to check out my work, you can find me at
Immortalis Carpe Noctem (Book 1)
Becoming a vampire is easy. Living with the condition… that's the hard part.
Bleeding to death after brutal mugging, twenty-five year old Alyssa is rescued by the most unlikely hero: the handsome and aloof vampire, Lysander.
His gift of immortal blood initiates Alyssa into a frightening, eternally dark world filled with: bloodlust, religious fanaticism, and thousand-year old vendettas.
With Lysander as her guide, Alyssa will have to learn what it takes to survive in the immortal world. She'll have to find the strength to accept her new reality and carpe noctem; or give in, and submit to final death.
Hunters & Prey (Book 2)
Becoming a vampire saved Alyssa from death, but the price was high: the loss of everything and everyone attached to her mortal life. She's still learning to cope when a surprise confrontation with Santino Vitale, the Acta Sanctorum's most fearsome hunter, sends her fleeing back to the world she once knew, and Fallon, the friend she's missed more than anything.
Alyssa breaks vampire law by revealing her new, true self to her old friend, a fact which causes strong division in the group that should support her most: her clan.
Pandora's Box (Book 3)
After a few months as a vampire, Alyssa thought she'd learned all she needed to know about the supernatural world. But her confidence is shattered by the delivery of a mysterious package – a Pandora's Box.
Seemingly innocuous, the box is in reality an ancient prison, generated by a magic more powerful than anyone in her clan has ever known. But what manner of evil could need such force to contain it?
When the box is opened, the sinister creature within is released, and only supernatural blood will satiate its thirst. The clan soon learns how it feels when the hunter becomes the hunted.
Apparently powerless against the ancient evil, the clan flees Las Vegas for Boston, with only a slim hope for salvation. Could Lysander's old journals hold the key? And what if they don't?
And how welcome will they be in a city run by a whole different kind of supernatural being?
Werewolves…
To purchase the Immortalis books (In print and ebook):
Amazon USA
http://www.amazon.com/Katie-Salidas/e/B003APXXWO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Katie-Salidas/e/B003APXXWO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1 Amazon DE (Germany)
http://www.amazon.co.de/Katie-Salidas/e/B003APXXWO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1 Barnes & Noble
http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=katie+salidas&page=index&prod=univ&choice=allproducts&query=katie+salidas&flag=False&pos=-1&box=katie+salida&ugrp=2 Smashwords
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KatieSalidas
Filed under: guest blogging
LM Preston guests: Writing for Teens @LM_Preston #YA #teens
LM Preston
LM Preston author of Young Adult and Middle Grade Action Adventure novels joins us today to tell why she loves writing for teens.
WHY DO I WRITE ABOUT TEENS
Being a teenager that had all of the odds stacked against her from the start, I am a true, real life survivor who pulled from within herself to be a leader. Then later, through writing, I became a super-hero and so much more. Here's a fun biographical story about a turning point in my life when I realized that even though I was a kid, I had strength and the power to change my destiny, even though sometimes it hurt.
MY MOST EMBARRASSING PRE-TEEN MOMENT
When I sit down to write my novels from a teenage perspective, I have a lot of material to pull from. I was called all sorts of names, teased, and jeered at. I wasn't the lowest on the totem pole, but I was somewhere near the bottom middle of the middle school pecking order. Yet, through these experiences I learned something about myself. I was a survivor and I was never a follower.
THE LEADING MOMENT
The kids in my neighborhood would spend tons of time making up games. One we played was truth or dare. Usually, I wasn't invited to play because I was the youngest kid in the neighborhood. However, this particular time, they allowed me to play seemed like the best day of my life. I was going to play with the big kids, and no longer follow behind them. That day, Nitaworm (my nickname) had arrived.
THE SET UP
The game went on as usual. Dare's were made, secrets were told and the bottle spin. Finally, it was my turn. My moment, my acceptance, and then it came. The kid that had made the last spin, looked at me with a sneaky grin, and I knew immediately that I was doomed.
THE DARE
"I dare you to eat this beetle!" the kid said. He held a skirmy, squishy, huge beetle and from experience I knew he would hold me down and force it into my mouth if I let him. I gulped. Then I compared the penalty for not going through with a challenge. The penalty was to let every kid spit in your face. The decision was difficult, the choices were both gross. However, I refused to be made to eat something that I didn't want.
STANDING UP TO MY SO-CALLED FRIENDS
At that moment of recognition, I felt strong and fierce. Ok, no really I was scared to death. However, I stood and said , "I renege on the dare!". There were gasp, snickers, and whispers. I held my ground, stuck out my chest and licked my lips. "You know what that means don't ya?" the kid with the fat beetle snickered.
"Yeah, and I don't care!" I said, and swallowed as a tear ran from my eye. Man I was so angry. The other kids bustle to stand in line in front of me. Never before in our game of Truth or Dare had someone challenged their fate. I was the first, and they relished in the chance to demean me further.
There I stood, as each kid gathered as much saliva in their mouths as possible and spit in my face. My eyes closed as I felt the thick, cool, wet globs slid from my forehead, down my nose to my lips. I held back a gag.
Finally, it was over. My best-friend, who was last in line did a fake spitting sound that held little or no power. Then she took out a tissue and wiped my face. "Why didn't you just do the dare? "
I opened my eyes and smiled at her then said, "Cause I didn't want to."
That was the deciding moment for me. When I realized that no one could change the inner fire within me – no matter what I had to endure, I would survive and become stronger. I did it – and you can too!
-30-
by: LM Preston, author of BANDITS, THE PACK and EXPLORER X-ALPHA, www.lmpreston.com (author website) and Author Blog: http://lmpreston.blogspot.com
LM Preston
YA SciFi Author
WEBSITE: www.lmpreston.com
BLOG: http://lmpreston.blogspot.com/
PARTY BLOG: http://bookpartylmpreston.blogspot.com
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/LM_Preston
FACEBOOK:http://tinyurl.com/2fev6qc
UPCOMING BOOKS
EXPLORER X – Alpha (Buy Now, Amazon and All bookstores)
The Pack (Buy Now, Amazon and All bookstores)
BANDITS
Writing stories for and about kids that overcome the impossible…
Filed under: guest blogging
July 9, 2011
Ogle Me Some features: Stone Temple Pilots (STP)
Scott doing the Crackerman mic thang
Back in November of 2009, I got the chance to see STP in concert at the Metro Centre in Halifax. I know they're not a Nova Scotia band, but they came to Halfax, and I'm a HUGE STP fan. I even bought Scott Weiland's biography for my Kindle and read it in a day. Despite some critic panning, I really enjoyed it because it actually sounded authentically written by him, not by a ghost writer.
Anyway. Back to the concert.
I had to sneak in my lil point and shoot. I was in a seat in the first row over to the side (um. NOT the floor. My daughter was on the floor AT THE FRONT with a friend, so Mama had to have seat…besides I'm getting old.)
They played ALL my favs. All of them. Every last one except Atlanta, but I didn't really expect that anyway, so that's OK. This pic is from when they played Crackerman. So I'm a sticking up that video for ya too right from the actual concert cause some guy was vidya taping it and I found it on Youtube.
Filed under: ogle me some
