Romy Gemmell's Blog, page 47

Two-Day Half Price Book Sale

Thought I'd mention the MuseItUp Publishing half price sale on their ebooks for today and tomorrow only, 3rd and 4th July, to honour the American 4th of July holiday. You can buy any of their ebooks here, if so inclined - don't forget the code: MUSEJULY4. They also use PayPal.

MuseItUp are Canadian and published my tween book, Summer of the Eagles!

Rosemary

Bits & Pieces

I thought I'd post a few items at once this morning, as a change from an author spotlight. I'll be doing fewer of those over the summer months as I'm going to the RNA conference at Penrith in mid July, then we're having a family cruise on the Meditteranean later in the month.

First of all, I'm honoured to be featured on the lovely Roses of Prose blog today where I've written about a couple of the historical places near here that are great for research. It would be lovely to see some of you there, if you have time!

I was delighted to find out that one of my short stories is being published in the August issue of Woman Alive magazine, which should be out soon. I've been a subscriber to this great monthly Christian woman's magazine for years - it's Ecumenical and not afraid to discuss controversial issues. The editor only uses an occasional story and I just happened to have a rather sweet romantic one with a slight twist that fitted summer!

If anyone is looking for an incentive to finish a longer short story or novella, here are two publishers looking for specific themed stories. Still Moments Publishing wants stories of between 5,000 and 15,000 words for their Christmas Magic Anthology - closing date July 28th, and they have limited space. The fairly new Red Queen Press is seeking re-imagined fairy tales for an anthology: contemporary stories for grown-ups - closing date July 15th.

Happy writing!
Rosemary

An Inspiring Blog Award

Many thanks to great blogger and short story writer, Suzy, for inspiring me with this Be Inspired award! It’s always lovely to be mentioned in the great big blogging world and it’s giving me a chance to mention again my very first historical novel, Dangerous Deceit , which was published last year and which Suzy kindly read and reviewed on her blog a while ago.

So here goes with Suzy’s questions!

What gave you the idea for your book?

An early obsession with Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer books! I wanted to live in the Georgian/Regency period and when writing my first novel, I just had to set it in that fun period between 1811 and 1820. But I wanted it to have intrigue as well as romance.

How long did it take to write overall?

A few years from writing the initial first chapter to getting on and finishing it, but that was partly because I left it aside and got on with short stories and articles for too long (as I still do with novels).

What kept you going when you were half way through?

By the time I reached half way, I’d signed up to the RNA New Writers’ Scheme and had to submit a novel by the August – that was all the incentive I needed!

Are any of your characters based on real people, even though you have to say they aren’t?

No – except perhaps my young heroine, Lydia is a little like my long-ago teenage adventurous self. I do, however introduce the real-life Lord Byron into a scene, and there’s mention of the Prince Regent.

Did you ever wonder if you’d have the work published?

All the time! I knew there were fewer publishers taking Regencies in the UK at that time, so perhaps taking so long to finish the book paid off in the end.

When you’ve had one book published, do you feel under pressure with the next one?

Absolutely! Especially when my daughter keeps telling me that readers who enjoyed the first one will be expecting more. And I don’t want my publisher to get tired of waiting. But see the next question.

Would you write in a different genre next time, or do you always stick with what you know?

And therein lies one of my problems. By the time Dangerous Deceit was accepted, I had moved on to other genres. Fortunately my tween book, Summer of the Eagles, was published in April but I have about three others in the women’s fiction genre (one completed) and a few other novellas and children’s books.

Do you prefer writing a novel, or short stories?

If I’m being completely honest, I think I still prefer short stories, but I suspect it’s partly because they are quicker to finish and send out. I definitely need more patience and self-discipline for the long-haul of novels, which sometimes is in short supply!

Do you use everyday happenings in your writing?

I’m often inspired by everyday happenings, whether in my own life or in history, but would always fictionalize them for stories.

If your book was to be on TV who would play the lead male and female roles?

Hmm… When he was younger, I would have liked Timothy Dalton to play the hero, Lord Marcus Sheldon, as he always seems to have the right combination of toughness and sensitivity. Maybe someone like Rupert Penry-Jones, although he’d need to have darker hair! I can’t think of many young actresses, but perhaps Carey Mulligan.

Good questions, Suzy!

And now I’m passing the award and the same questions on to: Myra Duffy; Chris Longmuir; Talli Roland; Anne Gallagher; Jean Bull

Rosemary

Author Spotlight: Viviane Brentanos

It’s a real pleasure to welcome interesting author Viviane Brentanos to the reading and writing blog today. Viviane brings her own unique, inimitable style to answering the questions and I’m finding how much I agree with most of what she says! But first a little about her latest novel, Past Undone , which has been well received and provides a complex and intelligent read.

Past Undone

At nearly twenty-one, Sofie Jameson is a little tired of paying the price for her director father’s caped crusader routine. She wouldn’t mind so much. but the bodyguards he periodically hires to protect her possess as much charm and wit as a gulag guard.

Nik Lloyd is no exception. Mr. Lloyd has one simple set of rules: do as I say and don’t speak unless spoken to. Sofie wants to hate him on sight, but it’s a little difficult when every time she looks at him, her feet leave the ground and she spins on an emotional roller coaster. Hidden away together in his beautiful Greek island home, Sofie soon realizes Mr. Lloyd is an “international man of mystery,” and a man, if his housekeeper is to be believed, who is hiding dark secrets.

The housekeeper claims he is a tortured soul. The livid scar on his back convinces Sofie she may be right. Who does he cry for at night? And just who is the mysterious young girl, Bella, who turns up out of nowhere, latching on to Sofie with all the tenacity of a limpet?

Past Undone is available from MuseItUp Publishing, Amazon UK, and Amazon US

Many thanks for taking time to answer the following questions, Viviane. We all want to know more about Sofie, Nik, and Bella now!

First of all, I would like to say a huge thank you to Rosemary for inviting me to her very well-respected blog. It is always honor to guest for someone whose talent I respect.

Tell us a little about how you became a writer

So, how did I become a writer? I suppose I ought to thank Donny Osmond – oh and my English teacher from first year secondary. She was the dear, old lady who first saw something in my writing and encouraged me to keep at it. I don’t quite think she meant for me to furiously scribble down teenage angst-ridden love stories, starring Donny and myself. She certainly didn’t intend for me to pass them around the class and thus disrupt her lesson. Nope. I spent many a time hauled up in front of the headmistress. It was worth it. The response I received from my love-starved class mates was overwhelming. It made me think – hey, I am good at this.

I then dabbled over the years with many tales but it wasn’t until 2004 that I sat down, grabbed my muse by the throat and penned my first complete ms – a staggering 180k of - well, let’s just say – pretty raw stuff. I soon learned the hard way. I listened, I learned and, in 2006, my first novel was a accepted for publication. Since then, I have two single titles released with Red Rose Publishing and three with the wonderful house MuseItUp Publishing, with a further title scheduled for release later this year.

You’ve lived in different countries – does that inform what you write about?

For those who know me or have read any of my works, you will know about my on-going love affair with the beautiful island of Corfu. I first visited this Ionian gem in 1984. After three days I decided I wanted to live there forever. This is what I set about doing. To cut a long story short, I met and married my husband, had two children, endless dogs and limitless cats and I am now a bona fide Grecophile, although I am now temporarily back in the UK, sharing my time between Huntingdon and good auld Glasgae toon. Glasgow is another place I adore. It is the city of my childhood and a great place to live. I have featured a Greek island in three of my novels: Dreamweek and Fragile Dreams, two stories in which I leaned heavily on my experience as a travel representative for inspiration. My latest release, Past Undone, also uses an imaginary Greek island as a setting.

Did you have to do a lot of research for this novel?

Past Undone is a tale that came to me overnight. The theme and one of the main characters, the mysterious Bella is inspired by a popular movie and novel. I can’t reveal the title because, to do so, would perhaps give too much away. Did this story require a lot of research? I would have to say no. The setting, the travel arrangements etc, I was already so familiar with. The suspense elements, the ‘baddies’, their blinkered and ultimately violent beliefs were aspects inspired by events and situations that feature prominently in the news. I think, over the years, we have all seen how dangerous fanaticism in any religion can be. The main theme of Past Undone, however, is guilt and one man’s struggle to overcome his demons.

What is the most difficult part about starting a new book?

Oh this is a good one. What’s the most difficult part for me? It is deciding which of the many storylines swirling around my head to go with (I know the feeling!). I am often so torn and in my cerebral planning, I jump from one to the other. More often than not, inspiration comes to me in a dream or from a song I hear and then – whoosh – it all becomes clear and I make my choice.

Do you think eBooks are the future? Or do you prefer print?

Oh dear, I need to tread lightly in answering this. Yes, I believe ebooks are here to stay but print ain’t going anywhere soon. Why does everything have to be a battle? I love my kindle. I adore reading paperbacks in the bath, I love looking at a line of beautifully bound hardbacks. The only thing I hate is that people automatically think e-publishing means compromising on quality and good editing. It doesn’t. I have seen examples of shoddiness in both print and digital.

How do you promote your books and does it work?

Ah promotion – the bane of my life. Sometimes I love it, sometimes it is a huge chore – especially when life gets in the way and there are just not enough hours in the day. It is, however, a necessity. My problem is, as I am sure is the case with many authors, lack of funds. I cannot afford a publicist or a professional promotion agency. I use the resources available to me, mainly the internet and social networking. I will aggressively ask for my releases to be reviewed. I try to blog regularly but I often fail at this. After talking to so many authors, one thing is clear. No one knows the secret.

Do you have a favourite writing place?

Favourite writing place? Mmm. Dare I say at work? I am old school. I cannot write straight onto PC. I need pen and paper. I have been most fortunate in that most of my day jobs involve blocks of hours where I left alone in peace to scribble away. Oh, did I mention I can only write in summer? Winter is for transferring to PC and the editing and tweaking begins.

Do you find time for hobbies?

Excuse me while I pick myself up the floor after rolling about laughing. I barely have time to breath at the moment. I’m not sure if I even have a hobby. Does stalking Darren Hayes and Enrique Iglesias count? I wish I did have a hobby. I used to once, back in the real world. I used to show Afghan Hounds and I loved it. I miss it so much and I hope to do it again someday {check out Written in Stone for Affie inspired scenes}.

What are your current writing plans?

Plans, plans – what are those? Ah yes. Those are things that invariably never work out. I jest. My plan is for my agent to land me a trillion dollar contract for my latest saga, Spin, and then have this saga turned into a movie directed by Spielberg, starring Enrique Iglesias, Colin Firth, Helen Mirren and lots of other folk. Oh – and musical score by Hans Zimmer, theme song by Darren Hayes. Do I ask for a lot? I don’t think so. My agent doesn’t think so. He admits he signed me up because I was pushy.

Any tips for new writers?

Advice for new authors Run! Get a day job! Again, I jest but so much has been written what can I add – except stay true to your voice, believe in yourself but most of all, have a sense of humour. If you haven’t got one then find one. YOU ARE GOING TO NEED ONE!

Phew - I am done, I think. Once again, thanks, Rosemary for inviting me. Sorry. I am sure you were expecting a sensible author. What can I say? Crazy is as crazy does.

What great answers – thank you, Viviane! Not crazy at all, except in a nice way.You can find out more about Viviane and her writing on her WEBSITE and BLOG
I was born in Reading UK in 1958. My father is English and my mother is French although there is a strong vein of Spanish on my maternal grandmother’s side. I was educated at various schools before completing Sixth Form College at St Peter's Huntingdon. I somehow managed to collect A levels in English, French and History and I subsequently won a place at Sheffield University where I decided to read Classical Civilization. Once there, however, I decided that I had had enough of the academic life; I found the student mentality rather false and having been brought up in student circles, rather boring. Much to my mother's horror, I gave up my studies and went to London to begin a course as a Canine Beautician.

In 1984, my first husband and I parted ways amicably and I decided to visit the Ionian island of Corfu to celebrate my new freedom. It proved to be a life-changing decision. I still remember to this day, sitting in a café-bar, overlooking the crystal clear azure sea and saying to my friend. "I never want to leave here." I absolutely love the life-style here. I would recommend it to anyone. I remarried and have two children. But I decided that there was more to me than being a mother and wife {although, I hasten to add, it is a worthy assignment.} I decided to finally get my head down and do what I'd always promised myself; I was going to write. I have been writing romance since my early teens, mostly for my own satisfaction and for my friends but now I really want to work at it. Writing has become my passion. I have always been a ‘Romantic’, often accused of not living in the real world but who wants to do that? I like to call my work Romance with a quirky, humorous Brit twist and I am always striving to make my characters real, characters we can all relate to. I hope you all enjoy my world.

Anniversaries and Clearing Clutter

I don't know about you, but we usually don't make a big deal about our wedding anniversaries unless it's a big one. It was our 37th yesterday so we decided it merited a nice dinner out together to mark the occasion and it was all the more enjoyable because it was low-key, in our favourite local eating venue. It was lovely not having to think about cooking a meal for a change and we reckoned we deserved the treat for putting up with each other for so long! Seriously, it made us appreciate still being married and that's perhaps the whole point of an anniversary.

I've also been getting to grips with all the scraps of paper and clutter I've been collecting for far too long. I'm two thirds of the way through transposing ideas, lines and paragraphs of writing, and random observations on to the computer, or into my 'ideas' book until I get round to turning them into stories or whatever. And what's amazing (and terrible) is the number of them I'd forgotten all about. Now I just need time and inspiration to turn them all into saleable work. Strangely enough, it's all helping to clear my mind at the same time and I've sent lots of completed, redrafted stories away and even finished two completely new stories. Wonder how long this will last?!

Rosemary

Tween Guest Author on Flights of Imagination

For anyone who is interested in writing for the Tween age group, American author, Anne E. Johnson, has written an excellent guest post on the subject over on my Flights of Imagination blog. Her new book, Ebenezer's Locker , is an intriguing mix combining the realities of school life with a paranormal element.

I'm sure she would love to have some comments!

Rosemary

Pocket Novels and RNA Conference

If anyone hasn't seen the new guidelines for My Weekly Pocket Novels, you'll find them on Sally Quilford's blog, where you can download the Pdf. Interesting to see the new look and a couple of new categories - length 50,000 words. I think perhaps it's making them even more competitive with M&B now.

On Saturday, I was delighted to receive my pack for the RNA Conference at Penrith in mid July. This is the furthest north the conference comes (every few years) so it's ideal for those of us up in Scotland. I've only been once before when it was last in Penrith, but I was a complete rookie at the time in the New Writing Scheme. I loved every minute and I'm looking forward to it even more this year as I've 'met' so many lovely RNA members online and it will be great to see some in person.

The programme is excellent, including the oportunity for a one-to-one with a couple of publisher's editors. It's a full weekend and I've already signed up to all the sessions I want to attend. Methinks my brain will be buzzing for a long time after the weekend, not to mention all the chatting. And guess who is speaking at one of the sessions? Maggie Seed from My Weekly Pocket Novels - and yes, I'm going to hear her. I'll report back afterwards.

Better start getting my mainstream novel knocked into shape for my one-to-one appointment!

Rosemary

Guest Author: Paula Martin

A warm welcome again to online writing friend, Paula Martin, whose contemporary novels I always look forward to reading. I’ve already enjoyed His Leading Lady and Fragrance of Violets, and now Changing the Future is getting near the top of my reading list! Paula has kindly written a fascinating guest post about the long journey her latest book took to publication and the research needed about volcanoes.

Changing the Future Blurb

Lisa Marshall is stunned when celebrated volcanologist Paul Hamilton comes back into her life at the college where she now teaches. Despite their acrimonious break-up several years earlier, they soon realise the magnetic attraction between them is stronger than ever. However, the past is still part of the present, not least when Paul discovers Lisa has a young son. They can’t change that past, but will it take a volcanic eruption to help them change the future?

Changing the Future has had a long history!
Four years ago, while on holiday in the USA, I happened to meet a Harlequin best-selling author who, on hearing that I’d had 3 books published by HQ in the 60s and 70s, encouraged me to start writing romances again.

When I got home, I found the box in which I’d dumped a pile of half-written stories 30+ years earlier when I was a divorced and single parent with two young daughters and a full-time teaching career, and simply didn’t have any time to devote to writing.

One novel was complete but was rejected by HQ in the 70s. At that time they wanted brooding and domineering alpha-men as their heroes so my story of two teachers who meet again (at a school in North West England), a few years after an acrimonious break-up obviously didn’t fit their new formula.

I thought about this story and, as I was still setting my sights on Harlequin, decided to re-locate the story in America. The heroine became a teacher at a college in Virginia but I decided the hero had to have a more upmarket job. He’d previously been a geography teacher; instead, I decided (or maybe he decided?) he was a famous volcano expert. What did I know about volcanoes? Nothing, apart from the fact that they occasionally erupt and send ash clouds into the sky!

I started reading up about volcanoes in general, and specifically those in Hawaii. I studied photos and videos, and read a lot of reports and first-hand accounts of eruptions. At the same time, I was checking my facts about American colleges with a couple of friends.

Six months later, I sent the manuscript to Harlequin, and then had to wait for nine months for them to reject it! By this time, I’d written another novel which had been accepted (by another publisher) and was part way through two more. So the volcano story was put to one side.

I picked it up again last autumn. By this time, I was well aware of its weaknesses, particularly too many flashback scenes which slowed it down in the first few chapters, but I still thought it had possibilities, so I settled down to another re-write. I moved the setting (again!) back to England, abandoned the flashbacks, and added several more scenes to develop the relationship between the hero and heroine. Hawaii was now too far away, so I had to start researching volcanoes in Iceland. I made masses of notes but probably used only about five percent of what I’d found out about volcanic eruptions. However, that other ninety-five percent of research was necessary to ensure my five percent was reasonably accurate!

The final version of Changing the Future is very different from the one I wrote back in the 70s (I think I retained and adapted about three scenes from that original story). It’s different, too, from the re-write I did four year ago, not simply because of the different setting, but also because writing my other novels taught me a lot about tightening my writing style and developing my characters.

P.S. And, just to show that research for novels can come in useful elsewhere, I did win a point for my team in a pub quiz when I knew what a correlation spectrometer measures!

Thank you very much for that excellent post, Paula!

Changing the Future is available in e-book or paperback from Amazon UK and Amazon US
You can find out more about Paula on her WEBSITE, BLOG and Heroines with Hearts
Paula Martin had some early publishing success with short stories and four contemporary romance novels, but then had a break from writing while she brought up a young family and also pursued her career as a history teacher for twenty-five years. She has recently returned to writing fiction, after retiring from teaching and has had two more novels published, His Leading Lady, and Fragrance of Violets. Another novel is currently awaiting release and she is working on a fifth.
Paula lives near Manchester in North-West England, and has two daughters and two grandsons. Apart from writing, she enjoys visiting new places and has travelled extensively in Britain, mainland Europe, the Middle East, America and Canada. Her favourite places are the English Lake District and Ireland. She’s also interested in musical theatre and tracing her family history.

Jubilee Weekend Reading and Writing

Since this is a holiday weekend in the UK, to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, I thought I'd mention a variety of writing and reading opportunities for anyone with spare time over the next couple of days!

I found a good article about writing for Mills & Boon on the Love Money site, which not only highlights the difference between some of their lines but also looks at payment possibilities (in a general way). They've provided the links to the Harlequin website where you'll find exact guidelines for each line, including the new Heartwarming series.

A new crime fiction competition is running just now from Stylist, and they're looking for a novel with a female protagonist. For the competition, you only have to submit the first 6000 words along with an outline (not revealing the ending!), and a 250-word biography of the central character. The closing date is 12th July 2012 and you can find full details here.

And now for a great read. One of Lesley Cookman's cosy crime books featuring retired actress turned sleuth Libby Sarjeant, Murder by Magic, is free on kindle for the next four days.

Enjoy Jubilee Day tomorrow!

Rosemary

Author Spotlight: Cathy Coburn and Duaine Neill

Today, I’m delighted to give a warm Scottish welcome to the mother and son writing partnership of Cathy Coburn and Duaine Neill – two for the price of one, all the way from the USA! And we’re in for a treat with their entertaining answers to my questions. Their series of books is just the kind of mystery I enjoy, especially when it has anything to do with the Bermuda Triangle, and After the Mist has been collecting great reviews.

Here’s a little bit about the first book in the series.

After the Mist

Mike Reynolds always prided himself on being in complete control, and then his world toppled into the unfamiliar. Disturbing dreams plagued him, leaving helplessness in its wake and his control slipping away.

Though adventurous and fearless the young and petite Maggie O'Reilly doesn't recognize the devastating consequences of staring unswervingly into the black piercing eyes of absolute malevolence.

Together, the two team with five others to forge ahead on a perilous mission that becomes a dire adventure beyond anything they could have foreseen or imagined. They find themselves in direct confrontation between life and death, love and something else, an unlikely place for evil to be hiding or should we say, to be waiting.

After the Mist is available in ebook from Champagne Books, Amazon (US) and Amazon (UK)

Thank you for taking time out from busy lives to chat to us, Cathy and Duaine.

A writing partnership is intriguing – how did that come about?

First off I’d like to thank you for inviting us here to vent . . . I mean to speak.

D: What do you mean vent?

C: (Cathy changing subject) Duaine and I are a mother/son writing team. Both, I guess, are compulsive liars who needed an outlet for those lies. I like to call it teasers, or people with vivid imaginations, but with Duaine it goes over the top. Even when he called me to tell me about the planes hitting the twin towers I didn’t believe him.

D: For me I decided to partner up because I already had a very busy life style and needed help to do all the research and fill in all the blanks and I knew with both our crazy creative minds we could make our book a great novel. So I asked her to meet me for lunch to explain my new business opportunity. We have had many in the past that did not work out so well. We have always inspired to start something great but never found the right project until now.

We sat down at our favorite Chinese buffet (good excuse to go there) and I explained the idea of co-writing a new book which had started in one of my movie style dreams. I told her all about my dream. She was very excited and ready to start co-writing our book (which is now After the Mist.)

C: Even way back when, I think Duaine and I were destined to be writers. I use to write stories all the time, even wrote full novels. Then in college I switched my creative gear to wildlife artist, receiving recognition in national and international shows. Then I just stopped, as I don’t think I was fulfilling my true passion.

Duaine, even as a kid, had these weird vivid dreams. I remember him waking from a nightmare about a dream he had, he thought he’d just watched a horror movie. I finally calmed him assuring him no such movie was on. A week later we found that very same movie premiering on TV. Remember that Duaine?

D: Yes. I remember it very well. I tell people about it all the time to try and give them a picture on how real my dreams are. Still not sure if my dreams are a blessing or a curse. I wake up so tired from some of my dreams, they’re so vivid and real sometimes that I feel like I was up all night.

C: Anyway I’ll stop rambling and actually answer your question. As Duaine said we formed a writing team after Duaine had one of those weird vivid dreams. We had lunch together and discussed it and decided to form a partnership. We would talk on the phone daily about the direction our book would go in, both bubbling with enthusiasm with new ideas, and then try and meet once a week. (Sounds great fun!)

Does it bring any particular problems?

C: Getting Duaine to cooperate with me is sometimes challenging, but that’s been going on his entire life. If you read his bio on our website you’ll see what I mean.

D: I think the biggest problem for us is the fact I am really busy with my business and life and I don’t always have the time she’d like to devote to our books. Our goal is a shared one, however, for our books to do well so I can quit the business and start writing full time.

Did you have to do a lot of research for this novel (and the sequels)?

C: Yes we wanted as much realism engulfed into our story as we could find, so months of research went into our book. Every detail was researched from the yacht they traveled on to the jet they flew. Every story they told of the Bermuda Triangle was fact based, even the earth passing through the tail of Hailey’s comet, May 18, 1910 was true.

D: For me not so much, for her most definitely.

What is the most difficult part about starting a new book?

C: I refer back to my answer on question 2 for this one.

D: We found the most difficult part of writing a new book was actually trying to get it published. It can be a very long, frustrating battle to get anyone to pick you up as a first time writer. We constantly had agents tell us it sounds like a great book but we do not have time for a new book or a new client. We thought we had to first find an agent and we couldn’t even get them to read the book. Then we found we could send it directly to a publisher, so we sent it to Champagne Books, they loved it and off we went.

C: Okay that was a much better answer than mine. I’ll give you that one.

Do you think eBooks are the future? Or do you prefer print?

C: Before last Christmas I would have said print, but my husband bought me an iPad for Christmas and I love it. I’ve not picked up a print book since. I think there are still your diehards who like me don’t think they would like reading from an e-reader, but like me I think if they tried it they too would fall in love with it. So as answer to your question, yes I see eBooks taking over.

D: I believe that eBooks are the future, but have found that most of the people I talk to still prefer print.

How do you promote your books and does it work?

C: I am just learning the ropes to the promotion end. I was one of those who thought write a book, everything else will just fall into place . . . not. I’ve had to learn how to blog, tweet, facebook and I’m still learning. Duaine and I also intend on doing the conventions and any book signings we can get once our book (hopefully) releases to print. We both love to travel and that would give us a good excuse.

D: Right now for me it has been mostly sending out email, facebook and telling everyone I meet and know about the book. It is still at present available only on eBooks. When it comes out in print we plan to do book signing and conventions (I agree, any excuse to travel.)

Do you have a favorite writing place?

C: At my desk, with dead silence, other than my own voice. I find I talk to myself all the time, both at my desk and in my car. I guess I have to hear myself think. So I go back to my first answer and now wonder if I was trying to find an outlet for my lies or my insanity.

D: No not really, as my dreams (day or night) pop into my head I just find a place to sit and write them down. Unlike my mother, who likes the silence, I prefer to have background noise, mostly the radio. For me the silence lets my mind wander too much, (don’t want to start talking to myself.)

Do you find time for hobbies?
C: Not as much as I would like. I love scuba diving and would like to do much more than I get to. My husband and I try and plan all our vacations around diving, even if we’re on a cruise ship, we get off at every port to dive. We call it our perfect live-aboard dive trip.

D: Yes I always try and make time for my hobbies. I learned a long time ago that if you do not make time you will never have time. My vacation and hobbies are very important to me.

What are your current writing plans? Will you write separate books?

C: We are working on book two which we at present call Within the Mist and have plotted book three. I have personally submitted another book I wrote alone, but mostly we enjoy writing together. We find we feed off each other’s ideas and it makes things flow perfectly.

D: The plan right now is to finish writing two more books in the series and quite possible a 4th on how Luke came to be on Lived Island. I may write separately in the future, but I really enjoy writing as a team. I believe it is the combination of our creative minds that make our books so much better.

Any tips for new writers?

C: Write what you’re passionate about and don’t let anyone discourage you.

D: Write what you love, let your mind flow and be patient. It is a very long process, and does not happen overnight. But can be very rewarding in the end.

C: Thank you so much for this interview Rosemary, it’s been most enjoyable.

You’re very welcome – it’s been a joy to talk to you both. Good luck with all your books!

You can find out more about Cathy and Duaine on their website.

Cathy Coburn: A San Diego, CA native who now resides in Phoenix, AZ. Cathy's passion beyond making up whopping big stories is traveling. She has a real sense of adventure which includes scuba diving, off roading on quads, Zip lining in Belize and Costa Rica and any high adrenaline adventure. Her down time passion is sitting on the balcony of a cruise ship with a good book.

Duaine Neill: Duaine is also a native of San Diego, CA who now resides in Pheonix, AZ. It’s hard to grow up in San Diego and not hear the ocean calling you. So every vacation, Duaine takes is always near the ocean. Duaine loves to travel and seeks adventure. His friends refer to him as ‘Insane Duaine’ as he’s often found doing stunts most would never consider. His sense of adventure goes beyond reality and into his dreams, then out of those dreams come amazing stories.