Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 123

Happiness is…

Wyrd Worlds Interview Series – Barbara Tran

Originally posted on ztyoauthor:

The idea behind any anthology is two fold. As an author you get the chance to bring your work to many that may have never been exposed to your work. As a reader you get the, free, opportunity to discover new authors thus extending your to-be-read list. In an effort to help you learn a little more about the authors of Wyrd Worlds II, I bring you the “Wyrd Worlds II interview series”. Each week I’m going to, attempt depending on their schedules, bring you an interview from a different author.

This week’s interview is coming from Barbara Tarn. Barbara’s contributed Guisarme, a fantasy adventure following the title character. Guisarme is a female assassin in a guild on a mission to discover what happened to her friend, and mentor.

Where do you live and write from?

I was born in Rome, but having spent 8 wonderful years abroad, I consider…

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Sunday Surprise

And it’s a fellow Wyrd Worlder who joined the gang for volume 2! Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Michael Puttonen!

Where do you live and write from?

I live in rural northern Minnesota, about a hundred miles from the Canadian border. I do all my writing from my home, on a laptop in an upstairs room. Nearby lakes and woodlands provide surroundings soothing to both mind and spirit and helpful to my creativity. For a relaxing walk in the woods, I simply step out my front door. Over the years, I have heard the howls of wolves at night, and from my window witnessed the occasional black bear or moose passing through.

When did you start writing?

I had not entertained the notion of being a writer until 1980, when I not only became interested in writing, but also in possible publication. I took a course in children’s writing and discovered I enjoyed the process and the satisfaction that came from putting my creative thoughts to paper.

 What genre(s) do you write?

The main genre I write in is action/adventure with a fantasy element, though I began as a children’s writer. For my children’s stories, I would write the text, then make a picture book dummy to get a sense of how the artwork (which I had to imagine) might fit, and then send publishers the text-only manuscript in hopes they would show interest. Children’s picture books are difficult to write, especially for a non-artist, as the writer has to keep in mind how well his words translate into pictures. These books have a defined structure. Your story has to fit within page guidelines, while at the same time matching art to text in a seamless manner. Word choice is also a factor, as there are different reading levels that require age appropriate text. To my disappointment, my stories found little interest among traditional publishers. Still, I have managed to incorporate a few of my favorite stories into a self-published e-book called Seven and One Tales for Young Readers.

The genre for my Sanyel novels is adventure/fantasy, for lack of a better description. My main character is a teenage girl born into a tribal society, who at a young age has already begun to impact her male-dominated culture (and the world beyond) with her unusual skills, intelligence, and fearlessness. The pulp fantasy of Edgar Rice Burroughs has influenced my writing, and though our styles differ, I endeavor to write exciting adventure stories in a vein similar to his, but with a female protagonist rather than Burroughs’ traditional male hero. My books in this series carry a young adult label, though I have never been comfortable with that designation, as I feel these novels would appeal to a broad range of readers, as did those of Burroughs.

Where do you find your inspiration? Do you put yourself in your stories?

What prompts ideas to come into my head is often hard to pinpoint. I’m sure small or large incidents that left an impact on me, whether recent or from the past, inspire some stories, and others evolve from random thoughts that strike a chord, that seem interesting enough to write down and pursue. My story for Wyrd Worlds II came to me as the words “never was, never were.” I had nothing else, but felt compelled to write a story based on just that. I started writing, not knowing what I was going to end up with, which turned out to be a rather odd little tale.

I could not see myself as a character in my stories, but my thoughts on a variety of subjects find their way into my tales, mainly through those characters I force to express them. They have no choice.

Do you have a specific writing routine?

I write in the mornings, and I try to write something each day. That rarely works out. When not distracted by other things, I try to write as many words as the flow on that day allows. Sometimes I can manage only a few paragraphs, and on other days words stream across my computer screen, filling page after page. I let my writing come to me. If I’m not feeling it, I don’t try to force it. I might not write anything on a particular story for days, with the time away often serving as a refresher for ideas and direction. I come back to the keyboard and find I have acquired new inspiration. I don’t feel the anxiety of deadlines, so I am able to write at a pace comfortable to me.

Outliner or improviser? Fast or slow writer?

I never outline anything in any detail. I make a few plot notes on a story that I might want to incorporate into it at some point, but I let my stories take me in any direction they desire to go. I usually have a general sense where I am headed, but how I get there is the exciting part. As I proceed, characters pop up as necessary to advance the plot, and often offer opportunities to add extra elements I hadn’t considered. So many times these minor characters provide important links that bind the story into a coherent whole. At times I make wrong turns and have to backtrack, but I have never encountered serious problems in letting a story lead me.

In answer to the fast or slow question, I am a rather deliberate writer, so fast is not a word I recognize.

Tell us about your latest book (add link if published)

I am presently working on a book called Circles and Stones. It is the third novel in my Sanyel series, featuring a teenage female shaman who is a kick-ass force for change in a male-dominated world. Threads of continuing story lines run through all the Sanyel books, but each contains a separate main story that concludes within each novel. Circles and Stones returns to a story line introduced in the second book, one never followed through by our heroes, as another adventure took them on an unexpected detour. Now, Sanyel and her trusted friends will again try to fulfill the mission she promised to the priest, Borsar—to rescue his son from a scheming madwoman. As always happens with a Sanyel adventure, however, these things never go as planned and curious side attractions intrude. The title refers to formations of grass circles with a single stone at their edge that Sanyel first encountered in Disrupter. The purpose and origin of the circles figure into this story and provide another connection to ongoing revelations of an advanced culture long vanished from the planet.

Indie publishing or traditional publishing – and why?

If traditional publishers had shown any interest in me, I would have gone that route without hesitation. However, that did not happen with my children’s stories, as I spent many frustrating years attempting to attract notice. When I began writing novels, I again planned to try the traditional route, but the lure of self-publishing pushed me to abandon that long-odds approach and aim for a degree of certainty. The prospect of lengthy response times from publishers and rejection form letters made the decision a no-brainer, as I didn’t want to go through that process again. I am happy with the results, even if I have to control every aspect, such as marketing and promotion, areas in which I know I need to improve to find greater success.

Any other projects in the pipeline?

I am working on nothing other than Circles and Stones right now, which is halfway to completion as of this writing. I had thoughts of putting together another collection of my children’s stories, but that is on the back burner for now.

What is your goal as a writer and what are you doing to achieve it?

My initial goal as a writer was simply to see my work in print, and to learn if anyone found my writing interesting. I have been encouraged by the response so far, but there is still much to accomplish. I will continue to write and hope to make inroads with readers by putting myself out there to a greater degree than I have in the past, so people can get to know me.

My website: www.michlputtonen.com

My author pages:

Amazon

Goodreads

Smashwords

My social site pages:

Facebook

Twitter

Random Friday

Sort of Art Friday. Sort of Bang Bang dare. Sort of. Anyway, I did my Bang Bang artwork – and here’s the WiP – even if I haven’t seen the movie yet. Next week. Which doesn’t mean I’m going to review it, since this isn’t a movies reviews blog, but when I come back I might have some vignette to comment on it like I did last November. And you can see it in the gallery on the official page as well.

Speaking of Da Muse #2, here’s a toonsie roll caricature of him done with a wonderful new app you should absolutely try! ;) And I’m having both Da Muses done in “chibi” version, but more on that if and when I get the actual drawing by very talented Mrs Waffle. The sketch is awesome, but needs a couple of changes…

Have a wonderful weekend!

Writer Wednesday

Starn Minds Next Generation is out to betas. I’m not uploading anything on NoiseTrade this month, since it doesn’t look like anyone is interested. I’ll probably keep the next short stories I’ll write to gift to newsletter subscribers (if I don’t submit them to trad mags), but I’ll let you know when I make up my mind. Giving a final pass to the Assassins’ Guild so I can send it to editor/proofreader before leaving for my much awaited vacation.

Lots of scheduled posts coming, but you won’t have time to miss me. This is the last batch of writerly links for a while, since I won’t be checking much in the following weeks, so another update by the end of the month.

Daving Gaughran on building a better industry. And guest on his blog is Johanna Penn on why authors should be entrepreneurs.

Dean Wesley Smith on daring to be bad - which came at the right time when I was thinking that the short story wasn’t good enough to submit to trad mags. Maybe I’ll submit it anyway, and if they reject it, I’ll keep it for newsletter subscribers! ;)

And that’s all for today… have a great week!

Happiness is…

Surprise Sunday

And it’s a guest! An author of Wyrd Worlds 2, whose story “My Last Day” is a 5 stars IMHO. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome fellow Wyrd Worlder Zach Tyo!

Where do you live and write from?

I was born in the United States, Ohio to be exact. A few years ago my wife, girlfriend at the time, moved to West Virginia and started our family.

When did you start writing?

About two years ago I set out to write my first novel. It was a thriller, and it was never finished. I still have it to eventually go back and rewrite/finish it, but ¾ of the way through it I realized I needed to learn more before I would be ready.

I took a hiatus until this past April when I wrote yet another thriller. I actually completed it, began working on a cover and had it beta read. I was ready to re-edit it when a love for short stories and a renewed love for Fantasy, Sci-fi and everything else off of the wall came back thanks to the many wonderful writers I have reviewed on my site.

What genre(s) do you write?

I like to write about things that I like to read. Unfortunately this broadens my scope a lot. I began writing thrillers, then fantasy and even a speculative science fiction piece. In reality I would like to be known as a good author in general, not necessarily as a good, insert genre here, writer.

Where do you find your inspiration? Do you put yourself in your stories?

My inspiration comes directly from my mood. However I’m feeling essentially gets put straight onto paper and fuels my writing. The downside is when I start writing a tragedy, then play with my son or spend time with my wife and have to try and force myself back into that darker place.

I, normally unintentionally, always insert personal traits into my main characters. I like to sprinkle in traits from family into other characters. For me it keeps me on point and helps keep the story in a real place for me.

Do you have a specific writing routine? Outliner or improviser? Fast or slow writer?

Improviser, definitely. I do like to jot down ideas and notes, but my stories themselves are written one scene at a time until I’m happy with the end result.

Tell us about your latest book.

I have not published anything yet, I am working on a collection of short stories that revolve around the grim reaper that will be coming out in the next few weeks.

My Last Day, my contribution for Wyrd Worlds 2, is my first published work. It revolves around a dying earth, and a fathers refusal to abandon his child.

UPDATE: as of yesterday I officially published my own collection of 4 short stories titled The Reapers Opus.

Indie publishing or traditional publishing – and why

I would love to, one day, be published traditionally; I think it’s an achievement many authors strive for. But I do love the idea of no, official, deadlines and the ability to promote myself. I also think the indie community, while competitive, is a close one and is where all new authors should start off.

Any other projects in the pipeline?

I mentioned earlier about my short story collection. Once I release that I plan on working on the first book of a Fantasy series I’m in the infantile stages of.

What is your goal as a writer and what are you doing to achieve it?

Well I set out with every intention of having a sustainable income within five years. After two years and nothing on the market I’m a little behind, but still not deterred. If I go ten years and am still in the same place that’s fine, in the end. as long as my love for storytelling and the literary community doesn’t fade then I’ll be happy.

______________________

Zach on Goodreads.

Random Friday

Randomly putting up posts for when I’m away. I have things for almost every posting day (especially if I’m traveling that day), but I might skip one or two. If you would like to write a guest post for me, feel free to do it NOW, so I can schedule it for while I’m gone! ;)

Please support fellow Wyrd Worlder in her Thunderclap message – only one day to go. Eventually I’ll also try to do that (when I get back, since they advice doing it 2-3 weeks in advance, so maybe I’ll have something up in November or December). It’s free, and it’s only one blast of the same message all over Facebook and Twitter. I don’t tweet, so that’s Facebook for me, LOL!

Wrapping up the Next Generation to start working on the Assassins’ Guild since this weekend I’ll hear back from betas and I already booked the editor/proofreader for the 13th. So I’ll take a break from science-fantasy and go back to my fantasy world for the weekend and maybe a couple more days next week.

Then Jen will be here, and I’ll have to work 3 more days and then… VACATIONS!!! Whoot! Have a great weekend!

Writer Wednesday

Last week I realized the blogoversary countdown didn’t work anymore. I tried to redo che code, but nothing. Turns out it’s actually not working since… 2010? Ah, well. I tried the suggested countdown generator, but the code didn’t come out well in the widgets, so… thank you WordPress for the Milestone widget! :) Yes, it’s today! Since 2009! Happy birthday, blog! Here’s to another five years! :D

So to celebrate this milestone, get Body Switches half price – today only! The code is: AV79W. Go to the book’s Smashwords page and enter it – you can download all 3 body switches and bonus stories for 2.50$! :) And it’s finally live on Kobo too – had to write Kobo support, since it was stuck in “publishing”…

I also removed B.G. Hope’s books from Smashword’s distribution to Scribd, since they were mixed with Barbara G.Tarn’s (I messed up with the links when I got the invitation) so they’re now slowly showing up again through Draft2Digital. They’re still “verified” and at least they don’t appear on the same page. I also found someone who uploaded 204 unautorized PDFs, including one of mine, in Italian… and in spite of Mark Coker’s assurance

3.  Scribd maintains a Copyright Management System where they create digital fingerprints of Smashwords titles, and use these fingerprints to automatically remove unauthorized versions of your work (such as pirated versions) that users might try to upload to Scribd.  This means Scribd will use the Smashwords edition of your book as the authorized reference copy.  While no anti-piracy solution can ever be 100% effective, Scribd’s CMS system will help reduce the incidence of unauthorized works at Scribd.

The more I hear about Scribd, the less I like them! :( I had joined before they became a subscription place, but never uploaded anything for that reason… Anyhow, wrote to their support to check on that account and we’ll see what they say…

Speaking of Smashwords, there’s no more need to put the “Smashwords Edition” thingy. They adjusted the Meatgrinder and it won’t reject books just because there’s no SW Edition thing.

September 24, 2014.  “Smashwords Edition” – Over the last few years, a small but vocal minority of authors and publishers objected to placing phrases such as “Smashwords Edition,” “Distributed by Smashwords,” or “Published by [Author or Publisher Name] at Smashwords” in their front matter.  For authors who wrote us and objected, we allowed their books to be distributed because we’ve always considered this more of a recommendation than a firm requirement.  However, AutoVetter (our automated format-checking technology) continued to flag for it, and this would slow down distribution and cause author frustration. We’re here to put smiles on our authors’ faces, not frowns so we decided to change things a bit.  A few weeks back we modified AutoVetter to stop flagging for it so these books could pass through our Premium Catalog approval process faster with less friction.  Today we updated the Style Guide to clarify that it’s recommended but not required to include one of the above text strings.  Since we’ve always considered this as strongly recommended but not required, we wanted to clarify its optionality rather than allow it to remain a source of divisiveness among those who prefer not to include such phrases.

On the way to finishing Draft Zero of Star Minds Next Generation and already thinking about things to come. October will be busy with vacations and workshops and then November there will be the Indie First Campaign. I’m thinking of contacting local libraries, but I need to prepare a flyer in Italian explaining what this is all about (or try the Anglo-American bookshop, but I have closer bookshops who are surely more available)! :) So, if you’re an author, contact your local bookshop(s) and get down to it! :)

Have a great week!

Happiness is…

[image error]and especially this year – since I started selling when I translated my main pen name and not before! :D

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