Jack Hessey's Blog

Interview with India Drummond, author of Ordinary Angels

Hello, thanks for agreeing to be a guest blogger on my site. Could you please tell us about yourself?
Sure! I have lived in three countries and four American states, am a dual British and American citizen, and currently live at the base of the Scottish Highlands in a village so small its main attraction is a red phone box. In other words: paradise.
How long have you been writing?
I've been making up stories as long as I can remember. Becoming a writer always just seemed a natural thing to do. Although I studied creative writing at university, I pursued web development/programming as a career. Now I'm back to my first love.

What authors would you say are your biggest influences?
I think every book I read has some influence on me. I really find it difficult to read for pleasure, because whenever I read something I like, I try to look at the technical side and see how the author drew me in. When I read something I don't like, I work to puzzle out what didn't work and where things went wrong.

How did you find the road to getting published?
Honestly? Pretty miserable. I spent years writing stories that got rejected from magazines and books that got rejected by agents. Finally, I sent my book Ordinary Angels directly to a small publisher, and it was accepted. These days indie publishing is a viable option as well. Ten years ago it would have meant the death of a writer's career. Today that just isn't the case. So I'm taking what I've learned over hard years of hard knocks and 18 months with a small publisher, and I'll be indie publishing my future work.

Tell us about your book?Ordinary Angels is a paranormal / urban fantasy novel in which Zoe Pendergraft falls in love with an angel, frees a soul from necromancers, releases a ghost trapped in the Void, and saves his living grandson from demons. It's got mystery, romance, adventure, and a touch of supernatural sizzle.

Where do you see yourself as an author this time next year?
Since I decided to go indie on future books, I've been so incredibly busy. I'm pushing forward with several projects at once. I hope to put out two more novels this year: Blood Faerie is currently with an editor and Haywire Witch is fully outlined and I've written three of four chapters. If I can, I also want to put out either a fourth novel (one I'd written a couple of years ago that just needs the ending reworked) or a non-fiction book for writers called Write Fearless Sex Scenes. So next year I hope to be just as busy, with those projects completed just as many new ones ahead.

Anything else you'd like to share?
I just want to say thanks to you for introducing me to your readers. This launch period is so exciting, and I appreciate you giving me a boost by sharing your blog space today.

India Drummond Bio
Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Fiction AuthorIndia knew from age nine that writing would be her passion. Since then she's discovered many more, but none quite so fulfilling as creating a world, a character, or a moment and watching them evolve into something complex and compelling. She has lived in three countries and four American states, is a dual British and American citizen, and currently lives at the base of the Scottish Highlands in a village so small its main attraction is a red phone box. In other words: paradise.The supernatural and paranormal have always fascinated India. In addition to being an avid sci-fi and fantasy reader, she also enjoys mysteries, thrillers, and romance. This probably explains why her novels have elements of adventure, ghosts (or elves, fairies, angels, aliens, and whatever else she can dream up), and spicy love stories.Author website and blog: http://www.indiadrummond.com/
Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/india.drummond.author
Twitter: http://twitter.com/IndiaDrummond To arrange an interview or contact the author, please email: author@indiadrummond.com About Ordinary AngelsAn urban fantasy / paranormal novel in which Zoë Pendergraft falls in love with an angel, frees a soul from necromancers, releases a ghost trapped in the Void, and saves his living grandson from demons.An angel is about to fall…Although most of Zoe Pendergraft's friends are dead, that means nothing to her. After all, they died long before she meet them. What does matter is the angel who took her dancing and turned her world upside down. But grim reality intrudes when she finds a body, and the Higher Angels accuse her friend of the murder.
Knowing she's the only one who can stand against the Higher Angels, Zoe uses any means necessary to save her friend…all the while, wondering if the tempestuous love she's feeling is real. The blood on her hands forces Zoe to question herself, and her angel to question her.Contains strong language and supernatural sizzle.

Interview with George Pappas, author of Monogamy Sucks

Blog Interview WITH GEORGE PAPPAS, AUTHOR OF EROTIC FICTION NOVEL MONOGAMY SUCKS
Hello, thanks for agreeing to be a guest blogger on my site.
Could you please tell us about yourself?
I am author, freelance public relations consultant and former journalist who lives in Costa Mesa, Calif. and is a lifelong resident of southern California. Monogamy Sucks is my second novel. I launched the first six chapters of my recent novel on my blog www.monogamysucks.wordpress.com in Summer 2010 after more than 12 years of writing and researching my work.
How long have you been writing?
I have been writing fiction since I was 15 when I wrote my first novel by hand called Jake's War. I've always wanted to be a writer. When I was younger, I wrote a lot of short stories, written in the Science Fiction genre. After graduating from California State Long Beach, I pursued careers in journalism and public relations, and stopped writing fiction. My writing drought lasted more than a decade, and finally ended when I started writing my novel Monogamy Sucks. I felt compelled to write a story about subjects I didn't see being discussed in American society -- troubles many of us have with monogamy and relationships, and the swinging lifestyle. More than anything, I was excited and relieved just to be writing again.

What authors would you say are your biggest influences?
Some of my favorite authors are Henry Miller (Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn), Anais Nin (Henry and June, her diaries), Charles Bukowski (Women, Post Office, all of his poetry), Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho, Less Than Zero), Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City) John Updike (Couples), among others. Each of them bravely explored controversial sexual and societal issues in a frank, unsentimental manner exposing truth and hypocrisy alike. I treasure novels that take me on a journey and challenge my preconceptions about life.

How did you find the road to getting published?
It was a long one that lasted 12 years. Early last year I read an article on the Huffington Post about how a number of best selling books started out first as blogs. So I decided to launch my novel, which was just sitting in my computer, on a blog one chapter a time in May 2010. It was not my intention to bring out my whole novel online, but I never had to worry about that as Lazy Day Publishing, a new digital publisher, contacted me through my blog in July and asked if I would consider turning it into a novel. I seriously doubt if that would have happened if I hadn't put my novel on my blog and Tweeted about it on Twitter. I believe Twitter is an essential tool in promoting my book and novels in general as is Facebook, blogs and the Internet overall.

Tell us about your book?
It is a wild ride to say the least. My most recent book is erotic fiction novel Monogamy Sucks, which was published as e-book by digital publisher Lazy Day Publishing in December 2010. My novel is an exploration of a Long Beach, Calif. man's mid-thirties lust crisis and his ensuing bizarre, but intriguing, humorous journey into the swinging lifestyle. The story is told in the form of a fictional diary by the book's protagonist Jake Dalmas, who is looking for answers to deal with his growing disillusionment with conventional relationships and monogamy. Along the way, he discovers some misconceptions about swingers and new aspects about himself. It is frank, funny and above all – painfully honest. I have discovered a lot of people either love or hate my book depending on their own feelings about monogamy, relationships and sex. The reactions have been intriguing and have made me more than determined that I am on to something with my book and the following two sequels I am planning. Each of my sequels to Monogamy Sucks will explore another sacred cow in our romantic lives.
Where do you see yourself as an author this time next year?
I am hoping to have had my next novel published, which has a provocative celebrity angle. I can't say much more about it except that it is not directly about said celebrity and it focuses on the romantic, erotic misadventures of a man in his late twenties. I am also planning to have completed or nearly completed my sequel to Monogamy Sucks. I am 10 chapters in so far with another 15 or so chapters to go.
Anything else you'd like to share?
I hope that writers that read this interview will learn from my story and not wait to share their work online. I have found an incredibly supportive community of writers on Twitter, and most of my blog tour is comprised of people I met there. Also if didn't put my novel out on my blog, I doubt if I would ever got a book deal for my novel and would had to put it out myself.
More than ever, aspiring writers should embrace the immediacy of the Internet as a beneficial means to expose their work and develop their own audiences rather than wait around to be discovered by an agent or publisher. Don't keep your novel or book idea hidden in your drawer or computer these days. The next best selling writer or literary star more than likely will be found on the Internet and not only in the usual places such as writer workshops or universities or the notorious "slush" pile.
CONTACT INFOTwitter: @gpwriter Blog: http://monogamysucks.wordpress.comPublisher: http://www.lazydaypub.comAmazon: http://www.amazon.com/Monogamy-Sucks-...

Interview with Mik Wilkens, author of The Silver Cage.

Blog Interview
Hello, thanks for agreeing to be a guest blogger on my site. Could you please tell us about yourself?Thanks for having me, Jack! Let's see…something about me. I've done a lot of different things in my life, all of them creative. I've been an illustrator, trophy designer, graphic artist, programmer, multimedia developer, webmaster, and author. I love science, as well as science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative fiction. I'm a rabid Joss Whedon fan, I'm crazy about greyhounds, and I collect moose. I live in Scottsdale, Arizona, with my wonderful husband, a pack of retired racing greyhounds, and an ancient, three-legged demon in a cat suit.
How long have you been writing?I started writing when I was about 11 or 12 years old. At the time, all I read were stories about animals, either fiction or nonfiction. So that was what I wrote: stories about animals, told from the animals' point of view. I read a lot, too, so it only took me a couple of years to read all of the animal books in our local library (we lived in a very small town). After that, I needed to find a new type of book to read. That's when I discovered science fiction and fantasy. I started writing science fiction and fantasy stories soon after that, which is what I've been writing for the past several decades.
What authors would you say are your biggest influences?I saw Ms. Kurtz on a writing panel at Dragon*Con a couple of years ago; it was great to hear her talk about her writing and about writing in general, but I also learned that the first of her Deryni books is being made into a movie, which was very heartening to hear since it suggests that the type of fantasy stories I enjoy are starting to be recognized by Hollywood.
How did you find the road to getting published?Long. :-) I started writing in the early 1970s, but it wasn't until the late 1980s that I decided to try to get published. My first rejection letter was dated December 7, 1990. I was lucky because it wasn't a form rejection letter; it was actually typewritten on letterhead, addressed me by name, referenced my manuscript by the title, and was signed by a real person. For a rejection letter, that was pretty heartening. I kept writing and submitting novels (I'm terrible at writing short stories) for 20 years before I made a significant sale.
Tell us about your book?The Silver Cage is about David Conner, a down-to-earth guy who has everything going for him: he's got a great job, he has plenty of money, and he's just met Jennasara, quite literally the woman of his dreams. But David's world is turned upside-down when he finds himself on Lucasia, a world where magic is a force of nature and creatures of myth are real. To save Jennasara, David must learn the ways of this strange new world, master its magic forces, and decide who is his friend and who is his enemy.
You can learn more about the book, watch the book trailer, read excerpts, etc. at www.TheSilverCage.com
Where do you see yourself as an author this time next year?I'm working on several books right now. I'm almost finished with the sequel to The Silver Cage. It's called The Golden Drake, and it pretty much starts right where The Silver Cage ends. I'm also almost done writing another fantasy novel called The Greyhounds of Aeravon, which is the first book in a series of novels I plan to use to raise money to support the adoption of retired racing greyhounds. I'm working on a science fiction trilogy. All three of the books in the trilogy are finished in rough draft form. I'm doing the final edits on the first book, and then I'll start on the other two. Finally, I just submitted a science fiction novella called Esora, which is a follow-up story to another science fiction novella I have coming out in 2011 called The Price of Conquest. With all that in the pipeline, I hope to have at least a couple more books published by 2012.
Anything else you'd like to share?Anyone who'd like to keep up on my writing projects can visit my official author website at www.MikWilkens.com. I'm also on Facebook and Twitter, and I have a writing blog. Links to everything can be found on my website.

I have a five star review

http://sfbook.com/steam-queen.htm


Yay !!!!

Thanks to anyone who bought either of my books!

Been close to  a month since release and both books have had a bit of success.

Steam Queen was at one point the 15th best seller on the war category for Kindle and the 4th best selling Steampunk book for a while. It was also nominated for Steampunk book of the year on http://www.steampunk.com/ so thanks to all who bought it.

On Angels Wings wasn't as successful but has still recieved good reviews.

Thanks again y'all!

Steam Queen is now released!

"Europe is a dangerous, virtually lawless place. Armed bandits prowl the railway lines in their armed Steam Locomotive looking for easy marks, and heavily armed mercenary engines travel from town to town looking for work in a world where every day is a struggle for its civilians.

Erica, an emotionally disturbed girl from England finds herself joining one of these mercenary teams. What follows is a trek across Europe to where two mighty cities, each representing a different way of life, stand on the verge of a war which will shape the way Europe develops.

On one side are the Steam using traditionalists of St Vith, led by the charismatic and cunning General Roosje Cuvelier. On the other, stands the mighty Winterscheid Diesel Empire under the iron fist of the merciless Kaiser Sigmund Eisenburg.

Two vicious armies, treachery from her own allies and the world's deadliest super-weapon are just a few of the dangers that Erica must face in her journey."

It is available at the moment from Amazon via

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steam-Queen/dp/B004E3X8X0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM&qid=1291204776&sr=1-1

Will soon be adding links to other sites selling it when they update!

guest interview with Ty Langston

Hello, thanks for agreeing to be a guest blogger on my site. Could you please tell us about yourself?
Hey Jack, thanks for having me on your site. I was born and raised in Upstate, New York. Currently single, my parents live with me and I have a sister, in Beaumont, TX and a brother in California.

How long have you been writing?Since I was about 6-7. I loved reading, especially a lot of fantasy stories and it was in the summer where I had this idea after reading one of them that I could write one too, so I told my grandmother who simply said to 'just write' and I've been hooked ever since.

What authors would you say are your biggest influences?
So many, I love C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, I like Stephen King. I love erotica also. So many. But my favorite writers are screenwriters, Michael Hirst (creator of The Tudors) and the late John Hughes (who wrote, Home Alone, Breakfast Club, and Sixteen Candles.) Both write very relatable characters.





How did you find the road to getting published?
Actually I didn't really start until two years ago. I had only tried twice before that and the experience wasn't bad at all. The publishers were in fact very positive, what I had sent them, just wasn't for them.



Tell us about your book?
By Sunset is Book I of the Dragon Races Tale. It's about two warring royal families who race dragons through the galaxy to retrieve a pair of pink and black Diamonds on earth. Does it go smoothly? No. There are some spoilers but this is the 1st of three maybe four books about Royals of Tacorian and Kergan.



Where do you see yourself as an author this time next year?
I hope to see myself having more books out. I'm writing the sequel now, to By Sunset, called By Moonlight and I have two other contemporary romance novels ready to go along with a werewolf series I started this summer for now, tentatively titled "The District."



Anything else you'd like to share?
I'd like to thank everyone's who has supported me over the last couple of years. Especially my critique partners, Carole and Jill.
The Lazy Day team has also been amazing. We have such a great group that I know all of us will have a long future with them.
By Sunset will be released on December 1st by LazyDay Publishing!

Don't buy my book! (At least not yet)

Hiya, some of y'all may have noticed that my book is available on Amazon for sale right now!

This should be a cause for celebration but they've jumped the gun a bit and put it up before they've gotten it fully ready. There's no major issues 'cept the chapter links don't work but I'd prefer it if anyone buying waits till the release date, just in case there are some issues with the early-leak that I haven't noticed.

Thanks and sorry!

If anyone has bought an early copy and you've found it to be flawed email me and I'll see what I can do!

Jackhessey22 (at) hotmail (dotcom)

(add an @ where I've wrote (at) and .com where I put (dotcom)

Interview with Liz Borino! Author of Expectations!

Hello, thanks for agreeing to be a guest blogger on my site. Could you please tell us about yourself?Thanks so much for having me! I'm an author, a dreamer, and a traveller. I love London and New York City, but at the end of the day, the excitement wears on me. My favourite time is that spent curled up with a book or my WIP.

How long have you been writing?I've been writing since I was around 11 or 12, but I've been telling stories since I could talk to anyone who'd listen.

What authors would you say are your biggest influences?
I always admired S.E. Hinton and Michael Cunningham. S.E. Hinton published The Outsiders when she was 14. I'd hold her up and say, "See, she could do it, there's no reason I can't." Yeah, I was a cocky little kid. As for Cunningham, his characters are always so real to me. One of them inspired Aiden, actually. In addition, he also wrote the screenplay for A Home at the End of World.

How did you find the road to getting published?
I found it to be frustrating at first. I was overwhelmed with all the rules to follow and I got a wake-up call stating there was no room for my ego in the publishing business. So, I cut down my lengthy manuscript to come much closer to industry standards. I also became more focused on places to send my book.Speaking of which, I have a funny story about when I queried Lazy Day. We connected through Twitter and after researching the budding company, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. Now, all I had to do was convince them they wanted me just as much. So, I followed all the rules, edited Expectations to an inch of its life, perfected my query letter and wrote a synopsis. And then I waited with bated breath. The expected wait time was between 2 and 4 weeks, after 2 weeks (impatient, I know) I went through my query letter to make sure it went to the right place, which it did. HOWEVER, I made a mistake. In 'to' line I addressed the company as Lazy DOG Publishing. Crap. I panicked, everyone knows this is one of the biggest faux pas in the publishing world. Luckily, I messaged Staci on Twitter and apologized profusely and she had a great sense of humour about it. A week and a half later, I received my contact in an email.

Tell us about your book?
EXPECTATIONS depicts the struggle between what we desire for
ourselves and our familial obligations. The struggle is personified by
Chris and Matt Taylor, identical twins, who are trying to win their
overbearing father's approval and acquire their trust funds. Love,
money, and desire collide as Matt and Chris decide what's really
important to them.

Where do you see yourself as an author this time next year?My hope is that I'll be able to live comfortably on earnings from my fiction. I'd love the opportunity to teach young/beginning writers either online or in a classroom. That may not happen in a year, but someday.


Anything else you'd like to share?Just that I'm so lucky to have the opportunity for my dreams to come true and the whole Lazy Day family (editors, publishers, and other authors) have been amazing and I'm so grateful to be where I am.

Thanks for the interview Liz! If anyone wants to find out more then please join Liz's fanpage on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/lizborino

I have a positive review!

http://writewords.typepad.com/write-words/2010/11/steam-queen-review.html

A positive review!

Helped to settle the old nerves I can tell you :)

Thanks Liz!