Meredith Allard's Blog, page 41
June 8, 2012
Book Blitz–Hope’s Betrayal
One wild, winter’s night two worlds collide.
Known for his ruthless efficiency, Captain George Huntley is sent to stamp out smuggling on the south coast of England. On a night raid, the Captain captures a lanky lad, but finds his troubles are just beginning when the lad turns out to be a lass, Hope Tyler.
With Hope as bait, the Captain sets a trap to catch the rest of the gang. But in a battle of wills, with his reputation at stake, George Huntley starts to respect feisty, independent Hope. Challenged by her sea-green eyes and stubborn loyalty Huntley now faces a new threat – his growing attraction to a sworn enemy. And a love where either Hope betrays her own kind, or Captain Huntley is court-marshalled, is not an easy destiny to follow.
Available from:
Read an Excerpt:
Injured on a smuggling run, Hope wakes to face the naval officer who captured her.
Hope kept her eyes closed as she became conscious of a man’s heavy tread pacing the room. She waited until he was at the window and opened her eyelids a fraction. With the light behind him she saw an athletic man with wide shoulders, tall enough to have to stoop under the sloping eaves. Her stomach felt hollow with foreboding, for without doubt, this was the same man who’d pursued her over the dunes.
He must have sensed a change in her breathing, for suddenly he turned. He stared, with piercing blue eyes that penetrated her soul. Dressed in a naval uniform, the jacket cuffs ringed with gold braid, the man exuded authority. He continued to stare, his face unreadable; wilful, she decided, and yet uncommonly handsome. She blushed and reached for the covers, pulling them up to her chin.
“So, enough pretending. You are awake at last.” His voice, deep and melodic, brooked no argument.
“Please, sir, where am I?”
“Under house arrest.” He growled, obviously no friend. And yet, she touched her bandaged head, someone had taken care of her.
“You are in pain?” His consideration was surprising.
“Not so much now.”
The answer pleased him. “Good, then you have some explaining to do.”
“Please, sir, who are you?”
The man threw her a sideways glance and started to pace.
“Captain Huntley, RN. And you are?”
She decided against lying, her name alone couldn’t incriminate her family.
“Hope Tyler.”
“Well Miss Tyler, have you the slightest idea how much trouble you’re in?”
“Yes.”
The Captain stared at the ceiling. “A man died because of your felony. A Revenue man. He leaves a wife and three children.”
“I’m so sorry.” She whispered in distress.
“His fellow officers are baying for blood.”
Hope trembled, things were worse than she imagined.
“Someone must hang for his death.”
Her throat closed over.
“Be it you…or the man who pulled the trigger….my men don’t care.” Captain Huntley stepped closer, his presence dominating the room. She couldn’t breathe, he seemed made of granite, his eyes like flints, sparking with anger. “But I’m different.” His expression softened imperceptibly. “I like to think of myself as a fair man.”
Hope nodded, to encourage him.
“Any fool can see you are just a bit-player, a lackey. The men I want are the leaders, those who finance the contraband and organise the landings. Tell me who they are, and I shall intercede on your behalf with the authorities.”
“What if I don’t know their names?”
His wide mouth twitched downward. “Then I cannot help you.”
She would have shaken her head had it not been too painful. “The men you speak of aren’t stupid. They will know I am taken, and know if I betray them. If I do… they will come for my family.”
“Then put them behind bars.”
“It’s too risky. This way, it’s only me.”
He tried to hide it, but he looked surprised. She saw him drinking in the logic of her words and a shadow darkened his face. Clasping his hands behind his back, he turned to stare through the window.
“Tell me,” he said benignly, “what does it feel like to be abandoned? Because that’s what the smugglers did. Sailed away without a backward glance and left you to your fate.”
About the Author:
Grace Elliot leads a double life as a veterinarian by day and an author of historical romance by night. Grace is an avid reader and believes intelligent people need to read romance – as an antidote to the modern world. She works in a companion animal practice near London and is housekeeping staff to five demanding felines.
“Hope’s Betrayal” is Grace’s third historical romance novel.To find out more please visit: https://www.amazon.com/author/graceelliot
Blog: “Fall in Love With History”
Twitter: @Grace_Elliot
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: Book Blitz, Grace Elliot, Hope's Betrayal
June 5, 2012
Shifting Mental Gears While Shifting Story Gears
It’s not easy for me to leave behind one story idea to work on another. For the first time in three years I’m working on a story that doesn’t include James and Sarah Wentworth, and I have to admit it feels a little strange.
I began writing Her Dear & Loving Husband in April 2009. I worked on that, obsessively, for two years until it was published in April 2011. Then I spent the following year researching and writing Her Loving Husband’s Curse, which came out in April 2012, and I’ve also been plotting the course of Book 3, which will be out in 2013.
The story I’m working on now, Victory Garden, predates Her Dear & Loving Husband by four years. I began writing it in 2005 and I finished it (or I thought I finished it) in 2007. Now, with Copperfield Press going strong and Books One and Two of the Loving Husband Trilogy selling well, I thought it was time to get Victory Garden ready for its close-up. I’ll have more to say about the revising and editing process for Victory Garden in a future post, but for now I’ll say it needed more work than I thought it would. When I began the revisions I felt…odd somehow. How strange, after three years of living and breathing the Wentworths and Salem, to be back in New York City in 1917 during World War I and the Woman Suffrage Movement.
I’m not in mourning exactly since I’m not done with the Wentworths. I expect to write the first draft of Book Three this summer so I can have the final draft ready by next spring. But it’s not easy for me, going from one imaginary world to the next. I had to switch my mental gears so I could revise Victory Garden to its best potential. First, I had to admit the problem—that I didn’t feel comfortable back in this world I had created in 2005. Then I had to settle myself enough to make the shift. I kept stalling, avoiding the work because I felt so peculiar about it. Maybe other writers have an easier time moving from project to project, but my fictional worlds are so real to me that it’s a shock to my system to spend my free time with anyone other than the Wentworths. After a few false starts, I finally opened my copy of Victory Garden and started reading. Once I read through the novel again (I hadn’t looked at it in a while), I rediscovered the connection I made with Rose Scofield seven years ago and I was able to go forward from there.
To continue my immersion back into Rose’s world, I used one of my own tips for writing historical fiction, and I listened to music and watched movies from that time. The music is upbeat and ragtime, and some of our most famous patriotic American songs came from World War I. The moving pictures were flickering, silent, and amusing in a unique way, so different from the CGI we’re used to today. When you watch a silent movie, you have to use your imagination to fill in the blanks since there’s no dialogue to guide you. Even the dialogue tags that flash occasionally across the bottom of the screen are brief and far between. Fortunately, Turner Classic Movies shows a number of silent movies, usually in the nighttime hours, and it was easy for me to find a few to watch to put myself back into this era that in many ways was the beginning of modern times. The recent Academy Award winner The Artist is a wonderful homage to silent films.
I’m comfortable again in 1917 New York City. While I see some bits in Victory Garden that need fixing, I also see the backbone of a story that I think is as timely in 2012 as it would have been in 1917. Really, it was only a few days of discomfort, this strangeness that comes from shifting mental gears so I could work on different story, but I had to work past it so I could give this different story, one without any vampires even, the chance to be the very best it can be. And now that I’ve had some time away from James and Sarah, I think the brief distance was a good thing. When I buckle down to write Book Three, I’ll be ready to go.
Filed under: Victory Garden, Writing Tagged: silent movies, The Artist, Victory Garden, writing
June 1, 2012
An Interview With Author Denise Verrico
What books did you love as a child? Why?
I loved The Island of the Blue Dolphins, a story of a girl surviving on her own on an abandoned Pacific island. I also loved Marguerite Henry’s books King of the Wind and Come on Seabiscuit. I’m attracted to stories where characters overcome great adversity.
Who are your favorite authors? How did they influence your writing?
I have many. Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles were a big influence. I love the sensuous, Gothic feel, although my style is much sparer than hers. Robert Graves’ Claudius books and Mary Renault’s Alexander the Great novels are favorites of mine for their chatty, first-person narratives. I read Marian Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon, over and over, for the strong female characters, but my favorite book of all time is To Kill a Mockingbird.
When did you decide you wanted to be a writer? Why did you decide to write?
As a child, I wanted to be a marine biologist or veterinarian. Later, I was bitten by the theater bug and became an actress. In college, one of my acting professors used to say I was destined to become a writer because I was so into theater literature and used to write humor pieces to entertain my friends. Eventually, I turned to writing plays and fiction. Blame it on Anne Rice. She killed off one of my favorite characters and made me want to write my own vampire world.
When do you find time to write?
I like to write in the morning before I go to work, but sometimes write in the evening. When I’m not busy promoting a new book, I write 2-4 hours a day.
What are the joys of writing for you?
Free therapy! You can work out your anxieties through your characters. I love writing speculative fiction for the world building. Research is fun for me. Creating characters is my favorite part of writing.
What are the obstacles of writing? How do you overcome them?
I love the creative process, when I’m inspired and really in the zone, but I’m not fond of the final revisions and editing. However, these are important, and I put my novels through a year of revisions and re-writes now. Having great critique partners eases the strain. Taking time to walk in the woods or spending time with my husband and son recharges my batteries when I’m stressing over things.
What is your favorite genre to read in? Write in? Why?
I love historical fiction and fantasy for reading, but I prefer to write fantasy, although I write a little sci fi and horror. I like immersing myself in another world.
How would you describe your writing style? How did you develop it?
Less is more. I write a lot of dialogue, and I’m not heavy on description. My stories are character driven. My background is in the theatre, and I’ve written plays. I’m used to dialogue and action telling the story. I draw a lot on my theatre training in writing. An actor learns how to flesh out characters from the skeleton the playwright has given. He or she learns about conflict and action. Fiction, like drama, depends on active characters making choices and the obstacles they confront and must overcome.
What was the inspiration for your book?
The entire Immortyl Revolution series is driven by the characters. Mia, heroine of books one, two and four, came to me in a dream, and I was compelled to write a story of the vampire experience from a female perspective. I became interested in biotechnology and thought up this race for immortality idea. Then Mia met Kurt, and he took the series into yet another direction, the revolution. This led him to India, where the Immortyl culture was born, and I needed a character to observe things from within the chief elder’s court there. Enter the irreverent Mr. Cedric MacKinnon, a former rent boy turned Immortyl courtesan and devotee of the Goddess Kali. Cedric’s struggle leads him to New York, where he meets Mia and sees in her the earthly manifestation of his Goddess.
What were the challenges of writing your story? The joys?
I wrote about how the events of 9-11 affect my characters. It was my favorite part and the most difficult. Writing about 9-11 was tough. I’d jotted down some thoughts and feelings I had that day, never intending them to come into play in a fantasy novel. We lived in Northern NJ, less than ten miles from Manhattan. I saw the smoke plume from my house and workplace. My husband worked in Times Square for Reuters. Everything about that day came back to me when I was writing the chapters about 9-11. I didn’t lose anyone that day. Everyone I knew who worked there either didn’t make it to work or got out safely. But like most people I know, I felt a mixture of sadness, fear and anger. In the book, I wanted to deal with the event itself with taste and sensitivity. I focused on the effect it has on my main characters and the difficulty it poses for a group that lives off the grid.
Do you do research for your writing? If so, how do you go about it (Internet, travel, etc.)?
I love doing research. I use books and the internet a lot. I wish I could travel to a lot of the places I research, but I try to get back to NYC once a year to refresh my memories of life there.
Tell us about your book.
Mia Disantini is the consort of Kurt Eisen, the Immortyl revolutionary leader. As such, she’s technically second in command, but she has a tendency to say unpopular things that rile up some of the “boys” among Kurt’s inner council. In Servant of the Goddess, she’s trying to open some businesses to make their “pack” self-supporting. One of these is a nightclub. But Mia isn’t content to sit on the sidelines; she’s a leader and realizes that, although Kurt has his strong points, he’s too diplomatic at times. She’s a woman of action.
Cedric MacKinnon has run away from the chief elder’s court, where he was an adept of the ancient arts, a scared courtesan in service to the Goddess, Kali. When Mia first sees him, taking on a gang of Immortyl bullies, he makes a profound impression. He’s just turned twenty, is extraordinarily beautiful and hell-bent on revenge against his former master, Raj. Cedric becomes Mia’s driver and bodyguard. They have some humorous clashes. Cedric adores playing David Bowie very loud in the car, and Mia abhors rock music. Cedric is a randy lad, who will sleep with anyone he fancies, female or male, and he’s made it clear to her that he’s ready, willing and able to employ the erotic arts he learned in India to satisfy her every whim. With Kurt immersed in Immortyl politics, she finds it hard to resist—ahem– (chuckle) Cedric’s abundant charms.
However, Cedric is the anointed servant of Kali and he insists the Goddess’ power resides in Mia and that Mia is destined to lead, kick some major butt and avenge the wrongs the Immortyl masters have done in the Goddess’ name. They develop a unique relationship, but it would be a spoiler if I tell the nature of it.
I will say, however, they do kick some major butt together.
What did you learn about yourself from writing this book?
Sometimes you have to step back from writing and deal with life. I had to move from my former home and get my son graduated from high school during the time I was putting this one through critique and rewriting. It took me longer than I wanted.
What advice do you have for other writers?
To thine ownself be true–write what is in your heart, with passion. Learn all you can about the craft and find good, honest, but supportive critique partners. Write and read every day.
What do you wish someone had told you about writing that you learned the hard way?
Don’t be afraid to show your work to others. I found this less painful and more instructive than I thought I would. I learned so much in the three years since I sold my first novel. My critique groups are tough, but fair. Any criticism is offered in the spirit of improving the writer’s craft.
What is your next project?
I’m writing a fantasy set in an eighteenth century technology. I’d call it picaresque in tone. The world is somewhat inspired by the geography of New Zealand and Maori mythology.
What are you reading now?
The Song of the Lioness fantasy series by Tamora Pierce.
Anything else you’d like your readers to know?
I’m kicking off my blog tour today, and I’m actually signing at Roundabout Books in Troy, OH. I’ll be at Confluence in Pittsburgh, PA in July and Context in Columbus, OH in September, but there are lots more events to come. Please follow me on Twitter, Facebook or at my blog for details of upcoming events and giveaways.
Cedric also has a Twitter and Facebook page of his own. He loves to chat and flirt with readers.
Every commenter who leaves a contact email at this blog will receive a link and free coupon code for an Epub and Mobi Pocket ebook bundle of my new trio of short stories, Annals of the Immortyls.
Blog Blitz Day grand prize: By going to my blog today, following and leaving a comment and email there, you’ll be entered in my gift basket drawing to win a signed paperback copy of Servant of the Goddess, a Cara Mia t-shirt, posters, a pen, a key chain and other vampire-themed goodies.
Servant of the Goddess
Book Four of the Immortyl Revolution
From the ashes of the first battle of the Immortyl Revolution, vampires Mia Disantini and Kurt Eisen set out to build a new Immortyl society.
Trouble arrives in the person of Cedric MacKinnon, a runaway adept of the ancient arts, who brings tidings of upheaval at the chief elder’s court that threatens everything Mia and Kurt have accomplished.
Mia finds it hard to resist when Cedric pledges his service and tempts her with the legendary skills he learned as an Immortyl courtesan. Facing opposition from both within and out, Mia begins to doubt Kurt is up to the task of leading their followers to his vision of an Immortyl Utopia.
Torn between her loyalty to Kurt and Cedric’s insistence that she is the earthly manifestation of the Goddess Durga and destined to lead, Mia confronts the greatest challenge of her life.
For excerpts of the Immortyl Revolution Series, character profiles, and the Immortyl Lexicon visit www.deniseverricowriter.webs.com
For insider information on the series visit www.ImmortylRevolution.blogspot.com
About the Author:
Denise Verrico is a New Jersey native who grew up in Pennsylvania. She is the author of the Immortyl Revolution urban fantasy series published by L&L Dreamspell. Denise was chosen as a presenter at Ohioana Book Fair in 2011 and 2012, and her books are part of the collection at the State Library of Ohio.
Currently, she’s a member of Broad Universe and two writing groups. She attended Point Park College in Pittsburgh, where she majored in theatre arts, and was a member of The Oberon Theatre Ensemble in NYC with whom she acted, directed and wrote plays. Denise is a roller coaster fanatic and lives in Ohio with her husband, son and flock of six spoiled parrots.
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: Bewitching Book Tours, Denise Verrico, interviews, Servant of the Goddess
May 31, 2012
Seeking Reviewers for Her Loving Husband’s Curse
And review copies are FREE!
The blog tour for Her Dear & Loving Husband and Her Loving Husband’s Curse starts this July—more details on that as they become available. I’d love to get as many reviews of both books as possible before the tour starts. If you’d like a free digital copy in order to review either Her Dear & Loving Husband or Her Loving Husband’s Curse, drop me a line through my Contact Me page. Let me know which format you’d like: PDF, EPUB, or Mobi for Kindle. You can post your reviews on Amazon, BN, Goodreads, Smashwords, or any site of your choosing. If you’re not familiar with the stories and might like to review (hey, who can argue with free copies?) check here.
Thank you so much to those of you who have already posted reviews for Her Dear & Loving Husband on the various sites. And thank you, thank you to Sylvianne Simmons for posting Her Loving Husband’s Curse’s first review on Amazon—five stars! I appreciate your time (and your kind words). What a surprise when I was checking out the Amazon site and I saw it there. You made my day! Thank you also to Ms. (or Mr.) Anonymous on BN.com for the second five star review. You guys are the best.
Filed under: Her Dear & Loving Husband, Her Loving Husband's Curse Tagged: Amazon, BN, Her Dear & Loving Husband, Her Loving Husband's Curse, Reviews
May 25, 2012
Winners of the Love in Bloom Giveaway
First, the winner of the giveaway of Helens of Troy by Janine McCaw:
Stacie Keegan
And the winners of the Love in Bloom Giveaway are:
E-Books:
Froggy
G Bailey
Emma
Jodi L.
Bobby Mac
Paperbacks:
Bethany T.
Jordin B.
Marisol Gonzales
$10 Gift Certificate for BN:
Amy Trenton
Thanks to everyone who participated. There will be another giveaway soon!
Filed under: Giveaways
May 19, 2012
Guest Post and Giveaway from Author Janine McCaw
Note: To enter to win an e-copy of Helens of Troy, fill out the brief form at the bottom of the post.
Where the hell did the Helens come from?
I can pinpoint the exact time I got the inspiration to write my first book, Olivia’s Mine. I was walking up the wooden steps of what was then the gift shop of the British Columbia Museum of Mining, having just taken a tour through the copper-rich side of Jane Mountain, a land formation that once was a major source of North America’s copper supply. I remember thinking how strange it was that thousands of people once lived a community that was now home to a handful at best. I had driven past the Britannia Beach signpost several times on my way from Vancouver to Whistler, but I never took the time to stop and hear the story of the old, worn down mine at the side of the road. I never knew that one night, the entire lower town was flooded out into Howe Sound because of a poorly constructed dam. As I continued up the steps, a voice inside my head said to me, you should really try to tell this story. Because it was based on fact it was a little different to structure than most stories. I already knew the end, so I had to plot it backwards to find the middle and eventually a beginning.
With my second novel, Helens-of-Troy, it was the complete opposite. I have no idea why I was thinking about the Helen of Troy we all know, the one with the Trojan horse, but for some reason the title appealed to me and stuck with me for a while. I didn’t want to write another historical novel at the time, I wanted something that allowed a little more creative freedom. So I got to thinking, what if there was more than one Helen…and what if they were kick-ass demon fighters? I mean, the original H-O-T, she was a bit of a superhero for her time, wasn’t she?
So I decided these Helens would live in a small town called Troy. Pretty much a no-brainer there. But who were they? Why were they different than everybody else? What battle did they have to fight, and how exactly would they do it? To tell you the truth, I didn’t really know when I started to write their story. But one by one the Helens began to come to life, first Helena the matriarch of the family, and then Helen and Ellie. I decided to make the eldest and the youngest the polar opposite of the one in the middle, which allows for a lot of conflict.
Yes, I decided that there would be a vampire in this first novel. But he wasn’t going to be a warm and fuzzy kind of vampire. He was going to be a nasty soul. But the story isn’t so much about the vampire as the relationships between mothers and daughters, what makes their relationships so emotional? I threw in a group of slightly misguided teenagers for added fun, and the Helens began to plot themselves. I had to reel them in from time to time. They’re talkers, the Helens.
I hope you get a chance to read the book sometime. Maybe you’ll see some of your own family in them. If at the end of the day you smile and think, that was a good little story, then the Helens would be very pleased, and so would I. Thanks for spending a few moments of your day with us.
Helens-of-Troy
By Janine McCaw
Genre: Fantasy/Supernatural
“The Gilmore Girls meet Buffy the Vampire Slayer”
Fifteen year old Goth-chic Ellie has a lot of explaining to do. She’s just moved to the small town of Troy, fought with her uptight mother Helen, met the boy of her dreams and found a dead body on her sexy “new-age” grandmother Helena’s porch. All on the first night!
But Ellie’s not alone. Helen is hiding something. Helen knows all about the kind of eerie dreams her daughter is having — the dreams that show the whereabouts of the missing children of Troy — because she’s had them herself. But she’ll never admit it. Not while Ellie’s sex-crazed friend Ryan is safely behind bars for the murders. Helen knows what it’s like to be attracted to dangerous men.
Then there’s the little matter between Helena and Gaspar BonVillaine, the teenaged vampire who is learning to feed on young prey. Now that he’s caught Ellie, he doesn’t know whether he wants to kill her or turn her to the dark side and keep her forever. Helena should have finished him off when she had the chance.
To survive the vampire feeding frenzy surrounding them, mom Helen needs to come to terms with her own insecurities and deal with the gifts she has. Helena must learn to ground herself for the good of mankind and more importantly her own family. And Ellie has the toughest choice of all. Ellie must decide whether its time to let her own childhood go and become the woman she is destined to be, one of the ageless and timeless “Helens of Troy.”
Author Janine McCaw (Olivia’s Mine, 2006,) has written this 100,000 word novel, the first in a fantasy series about “the Helens.” The three generations of gatekeepers will take the reader on a trip to a realm mere mortals fear to visit alone, and they’ll make her want to stay a while.
About the Author:
Helens-of-Troy is the second novel completed by Janine McCaw. For the Vancouver-based novelist it is the continuation of a dream, and the fruit of years of working in a different creative realm.
McCaw’s deep understanding of compelling plots, widely appealing characters, natural dialogue and strong story arcs comes directly out of her early career in the film and television industry. McCaw’s skills as an observer started early when her family uprooted from the City to small town Ontario – and she became the classic fish out of water. Writing down her thoughts became an outlet as she scribbled her way through childhood, while she also developed her observational skills and visual eye with photography. A die-hard hockey fan, McCaw studied Cinematography at Humber College, and was headed for a career as a cameraperson covering professional sports when she landed an internship in a broadcasting services company.
McCaw excelled in the television distribution arena. She joined Thomas Howe & Associates and moved with that company to Vancouver, where she distinguished herself with her talent for identifying the right product for the right market, and her people-skills in negotiating contracts. After furthering her professional development with several high-profile Canadian entertainment companies, she parlayed her reputation as a leading Cable Programming specialist into her own boutique firm. Formed with a partner, Dark Horse Ent. specialized in finding, and selling, niche Canadian television series – entertainment, information and variety – around the Globe. McCaw also acted as an independent executive producer on award-winning television Classic Car series, Chrome Dreams, and as a distributor for series including Entree to Asia and At Home With Herbs.
In high demand as an insightful, humorous and engaging guest speaker, juror and analyst for festivals and trade forums around the country, McCaw also spent large amounts of time traveling abroad to television markets. Writing relieved the stress of constantly being on the road. Increasingly, she turned her main hobby into outlines for novels, and finished fleshing out the characters, plot and dialogue for Olivia’s Mine, a fictional account of a young bride’s struggle to make a life for herself against the backdrop of the disasters that hit Britannia Beach, British Columbia in the early 1900s. The book was released in 2006 and continues to be sold at the British Columbia Museum of Mining.
Helens-of-Troy was released early in 2012. McCaw is also currently developing eight other stories for novel form. All set on the Pacific North West and in Canada’s North, they include the murder mystery A Little First Degree, a feel-good trilogy The Inn at Hazy Waters (Northern Exposure meets Fantasy Island), and Pumper, an action romance that has already garnered interest as the basis for a feature film.
To win an e-copy of Helens of Troy, fill out the form below and you’re entered!
[contact-form]
Filed under: Giveaways Tagged: Giveaways, Helens of Troy, Janine McCaw
May 17, 2012
Love in Bloom Giveaway
Welcome to the Love in Bloom Giveaway! This hop runs from May 18 to May 23. Thanks to I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Portrait of a Book for hosting.
A quick addendum to the last giveaway. I realized (just a few days ago–I’m a little slow sometimes) that I accidentally sent out copies of Her Loving Husband’s Curse that were from an older and less perfectly edited than I would have liked edition. If you received a copy of HLHC for the last giveaway and found a few errors in it, please let me know and I’ll send you the spiffier version. My apologies. I was a little quick with my trigger finger that day.
For this giveaway I’ll be giving away five e-books (either Her Dear & Loving Husband or Her Loving Husband’s Curse–your choice). I also have three paperback copies of either HDLH or HLHC–your choice. If you’re not familiar with the stories, check here. There’s also a $10 gift certificate to either Amazon.com or BN.com (your choice) for one lucky winner.
You must be a follower of this blog to enter. You can gain extra entries with the following:
Following this blog +1
Follow me on Twitter +1
Like The Copperfield Review on Facebook +1
Friend me on Goodreads +1
Friend me on Facebook +1
The extra entry options are available on the right sidebar of this page. Then fill out the form below and you’re entered. Don’t forget to let me know if you’d prefer Her Dear & Loving Husband or Her Loving Husband’s Curse.
[contact-form]
There are over 200 great websites involved in this hop. Check here to see what other wonderful items you can win.
Filed under: Giveaways
May 7, 2012
An Interview With Author P.T. Dawkins
What books did you love as a child? Why?
I remember loving all of the Dr. Seuss books. I suspect it was because of the animations combined with the story.
Who are your favorite authors? How did they influence your writing?
I read a lot of John Grisham and Michael Connelly because it is their genre (modified somewhat) I am trying to emulate. My favorite book of all time is probably One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey because of the incredible imagery he creates just using words. I try to do that if I can.
When did you decide you wanted to be a writer? Why did you decide to write?
I knew I enjoyed writing as far back as high school. I am not sure I fit the standard definition of wanting to “be a writer” because it has never been a career. For me, writing has always been a means to an end. I used it extensively in my career in the investment industry. Having left that over four years ago, I have a wonderful opportunity to fulfill a dream – to write and publish fiction novels.
When do you find time to write?
I try to write every morning, even if it is just for 30 minutes.
What are the joys of writing for you?
I really love the challenge of seeing if I can make the reader form opinions about my characters on their own, without me “telling” them what to think. Same thing goes with depictions of scenes. Show, don’t tell.
What are the obstacles of writing? How do you overcome them?
Life sometimes gets in the way. I need to be in a very quiet environment without distractions to write something that I will like later. That’s not easy these days.
What is your favorite genre to read in? Write in? Why?
Thrillers. Anything with an uncertain outcome where there is something on the line. Maybe this is similar to my attraction to the investment industry? I love puzzles.
How would you describe your writing style? How did you develop it?
I am methodical. I learned in my writing courses at the U of Toronto that every scene and chapter needs to have seven elements (the “hook, inciting incident etc.”) Before I write the first word, I do an outline of all of my chapters, which includes specific details of each of the seven points. That is my road map and I follow it as I write (and sometimes change it as I go along.) So, in the novel I am working on now, outlined to have 70 chapters, there are 490 short paragraphs describing each part of the scene. I don’t know if I developed it – it’s just the way I am.
What was the inspiration for your book?
I have always liked reading legal thrillers and thought perhaps I could do the same thing with Wall Street and white collar crime as the background setting.
What were the challenges of writing your story? The joys?
There is a lot of terminology on Wall Street that people don’t understand. It was a challenge to put some of these things into layman’s terms. Like what does it mean to sell a stock “short.” (You’ll have to read my novel to find out!) I’ve had a number of people come up to me to say they learned a lot about the business, which wasn’t necessarily the objective but is still gratifying.
Do you do research for your writing? If so, how do you go about it?
Yes! If you can’t find information about something on the Internet, then it doesn’t exist.
Tell us about your book.
After David Heart’s father’s estate is squandered by bad advice, his mother faces eviction and his grandfather needs life-saving surgery. A seemingly-helpful family friend finds David a seat at a bucket-shop off-Wall Street firm with the promise that money flows like wine.
Naive and quickly recognized as an easy mark, David is plunged into the eat-what-you-kill world of a trading desk, where the analysts, salesmen and traders sit like pigs at a two-sided trough. Bullied by the cruel, abusive head trader known only as Blackie, David is relieved when Sandy Allen, a strikingly provocative street-smart saleswoman, comes to his aid. But, what David doesn’t realize is that hidden agendas are everywhere, and no one can be trusted.
Now the target of extortion, David must make an impossible choice: facilitate an insider-trading felony in exchange for the money his family desperately needs, or face the cruelty of his mentor-turned-predator who has framed David and promises that he alone will be found guilty and suffer the consequences of the crime he refused to commit.
What did you learn about yourself from writing this book?
Maybe not learned but reminded. Never give up. Keep trying different things and ways to reach your objective.
What do you wish someone had told you about writing that you learned the hard way?
There is a right way to write, for sure. Poor writing is just that. But there is also your own personal creative way. You have to find a balance.
What is your next project?
I am ¾ of the way through the first draft of my next novel. White collar crime thriller. I plan to write three novels and create a trilogy. One of the characters in my first novel, The Analyst, lives on and is part of the second book (and third?)
What are you reading now?
1Q84. I like reading things that differ from my writing style to see what I can learn. I just finished The Hunger Games trilogy but, to be honest, got bored half-way through the third book.
Anything else you’d like your readers to know?
I am really enjoying this writing part of my life. I realize that my career in the investment industry has enabled me to do this. Things happen for a reason.
The Analyst
By P.T. Dawkins
About the Author:
A 28-year veteran of the investment world, P.T. Dawkins writes from experience about the insatiable desire for money that leads to unethical, illegal and unscrupulous behavior. He majored in English at Dartmouth College, earned an MBA from The University of Western Ontario and completed extensive studies in Creative Writing at the University of Toronto.
Find and Follow P.T. Dawkins:
Buy the Book:
Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: interviews, Nurture Virtual Book Tourz, P.T. Dawkins, The Analyst
May 4, 2012
Change is Good
I’ve been so busy working on The Copperfield Review the last three weeks I’ve hardly had time for anything else. You’d never guess I had a book come out two weeks ago. Good thing it’s nearly summer so I’ll have some real time to work on everything that needs working on.
I wanted to share my Dear Readers post from The Copperfield Review here. If you haven’t visited Copperfield for a while, check it out. I think you’ll like our new look.
* * * * *
Have you ever had a time when there just weren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done? I have to admit, I don’t feel that stressed too often. I’m pretty organized so normally I can keep everything under control, but for the past few weeks it’s been crazy with how much I had to do. Finally, today, I can breathe. For now at least. It’s a good thing we decided to turn the Dickens Special into a year-long pursuit since that’s how long it’s going to take me to finish reading his novels and writing out everything I want to say about them.
Long-time friends of The Copperfield Review will notice our spiffy new look. Since it’s 2012, we decided it was time to join the twenty-first century with a blog-based site. Life has a funny way of unfolding sometimes. I had been thinking about changing the site for a while now, but you know how that goes. I made excuses, decided why I didn’t need to do it, the old site was fine, it would be too much trouble, et cetera. I put it off and put it off again until a chance encounter at the Las Vegas Writers Conference gave me the boost I needed to get it done. It took some fancy footwork to figure out how to work with wordpress.org—my own blog being on wordpress.com, which I find far simpler to work with. Learning the new site required a number of late nights pushing this and flipping that and annoying our Facebook friends with around 40 unintended posts.
Everything you’ve come to know and love about The Copperfield Review is here. We still have our Fiction, Nonfiction, Reviews, and Interviews pages. We still have our Submission Guidelines readily available. But the new site has a few more interactive features. We have a handy-dandy Contact Us page, and we have a new Submissions Manager. The Fiction, Nonfiction, Reviews, and Interviews pages have a share button so if you read something you like you can share it through Facebook or Twitter. And now we have an Archives, which our contributors have been requesting. I still don’t know the half of what this new site can do, and I’m looking forward to learning as we go forward.
Another new feature is the availability of advertising space, and you’ll notice the Donate button from PayPal on our sidebar. We realized (with the help of my friend from the Las Vegas Writers Conference) that if we begin generating income then we can begin paying authors for their work, which is how it should be. As a writer myself, I had simply accepted that writers aren’t paid (or aren’t paid well) for their writing. For most of the journals I’ve been published in, payment was two copies of the journal and a “Thanks!” And that’s about what we’ve paid here at Copperfield (though I hope our contributors realize we have a super hearty THANKS! for them). It’s time to turn Copperfield into a paying market. After all, we publish the best historical fiction out there.
This friend from the Las Vegas Writers Conference was there during my e-zine presentation. He mentioned Malcolm Gladwell’s assertion in Outliers that to have mastery over anything takes about 10,000 hours. In other words, in order to be good at your work, whatever it is, it’s going to take about 10,000 hours. At the rate we work on Copperfield, that might have taken us about five years. He asked if it took that long to get Copperfield off the ground. I told him we did it in about two. How? It’s pretty simple. It boils down to the fact that we have loyal readers and contributors from all over the world. Every edition our readership grows. I’ve received e-mails from all over the U.S., Canada, across the U.K., Switzerland, Germany, France, China, Japan, Australia, Egypt, Zimbabwe, and lately we’ve been finding a large readership in India. Welcome to our new site and thank you one and all. You’re greatly appreciated.
Here’s looking forward to all the future has to offer.
Filed under: Copperfield Review, News Tagged: Copperfield Review
April 26, 2012
Showers of Books Giveaway Winners
Thank you to everyone who participated! Here are the winners for this round of giveaways:
E-Books:
Raelena
Nata
Stacey Jo S.
Darlene
Doodle Bug (I just love that name)
Paperbacks:
Amy S.
Meredith J. (love that one too)
Maegan M.
$10 Amazon.com gift certificate:
Karen W.
I’ll be back on May for the Love in Bloom Giveaway. Hope to see you then!
Filed under: Giveaways Tagged: Giveaways, Her Dear & Loving Husband, Her Loving Husband's Curse
