Allison M. Cosgrove's Blog, page 5

Sincerely Me…

So I thought since I have interviewed hundreds of authors over the years on this blog, that you would enjoy hearing me answer some of the questions I have posed to them over the years.

Each week I will answer one or two questions, if you want you can leave your own questions for me in the comments and I will try and answer them in a future blog post!

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Do you write on a typewriter, computer, dictate or longhand?

I miss the typewriter I used to use when I was a teenager doing my high school projects and reports on. I loved the feel of the Underwood’s keys under my fingers. The rise and fall of the weights. It was perfect. Sadly it wasn’t mine (it was my fathers, not even sure he still has it!)

So I am down to dictate, longhand and computer.

I actually do all three depending on how the mood strikes me, where I am and what I have access to. I always carry around a notebook and pen, it usually has all of my notes on whatever story I am working on at the moment (or three as is the case at the moment) as well as plenty of room for any scenes I decide to write.

I also have a tiny Bluetooth keyboard that I carry in my purse that links up with my phone and I just jump into Google Drive and pick up the story where I left off.

And sometimes I dictate while driving down the road.

Really it all depends.

Q&A with Sally Odgers

Please welcome another guest on the blog this week from Satalyte… the lovely Sally Odgers!

*****

Were you good at English?

Interesting question. I was considered very good at English right from the start. I think the lowest mark I got was an A-. Then, in Year 8, the subject “English” was split into English Expression and English Literature. I went right on getting A and A+ for EE, but my first mark for EL was a D. I couldn’t understand it. I was me, right? I was GOOD at this. It took me a while, but I discovered how to get back to my A-grade average. It had little to do with what I liked reading. It had everything to do with what that particular teacher admires. Once I discovered (by trial and error and observation) her tastes and opinions, I simply reflected them back to her. Bingo. My A average was restored. I believed (and still do) this was pretty disgraceful, but it taught me one thing: my feelings about stories are important to me. However, for my career (which at that point was being a schoolchild) my opinions were unimportant. I had to please the customer. (In that case, it was that particular teacher.) I might add that reflecting that teacher’s opinions never affected my own opinions in the slightest. It was just a garment I put on, as it were, for that particular job. It taught me the value of studying the market!

What are your ambitions for your writing career?

I want to go on making a living from my writing, as I have done since the 1980s. I would prefer to sway the balance more towards the types of stories I love to tell. Come to think of it… I do love most of my books, even if they weren’t all what I wanted to write at the time.

So, what have you written?

It’s more a case of what I haven’t written. My favourite genres are historical, fantasy, sf and cross-genre; in fact, all genres where the world is not quite the world we live in right now. I love either creating worlds or recreating them. My book Heather & Heath (Satalyte 2015) is a historical saga set in Van Diemens Land (later Tasmania) in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Other 2014/15 titles include two picture books (Goodnight Truck and Rainforest Lullaby), four books in the Pup Patrol series, (all Scholastic) and Ramses Rat and the Great Cat, Bastet (Prints Charming Books). For a listing of most of my books from 1977 – 2011, you can check out http://www.sallyodgers.com (click on “Books”.) For my more recent titles, go to sallyodgers.weebly.com. I write series about dogs with my husband (Jack Russell: Dog Detective, Pet Vet and Pup Patrol). I love doing these as they allow us to create a world where dogs are of utmost impawtance!

Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?

My novel Heather & Heath has three main characters.

Agnes McCleod, known as Ness, is eighteen when she leaves Scotland to sail to the colony of New South Wales as a maid for her older friend Jean. Jean dies on the voyage, leaving Ness alone and frightened in a new land. It is 1837 when she stands on the deck of the ship. That’s when she spots a large Scotsman on the wharf. Married to a virtual and rather frightening stranger, Ness spends the next two years learning to live a new life at beautiful Glen Heather in Van Diemens Land. Here, she learns to cut her cloth to match her circumstances. Her greatest triumph is in remaining herself and moving forwards, no matter what the world throws in her path.

We meet the next main character, Isobel Jarvis, in 1860, on the day of her wedding to Ness’s son, John. This marriage is made to secure the future for both partners, and Isobel, a practical girl, looks forward to a prosperous and happy life as the wife of the owner of Glen Heather. Fate has other ideas and Isobel finds herself faced with an enormous and heartbreaking challenge. To win through, she must battle convention, family and her own grief.

The third character is Alice MacDonald Campbell, Isobel’s granddaughter, whom we meet in 1913. Alice is the elder daughter of Isobel’s son Robert, and, having no brothers, she expects to inherit Glen Heather, now a prosperous sheep property, in due course. The Great War gives her a chance to step away from the life of a lady and into that of a working farmer, but then come the shocking events that mean Alice may never have the future she expected. Alice, like her ancestors Ness and Isobel, must somehow fight for what she wants while remaining true to herself.

Which actor/actress would you like to see playing the lead character from your most recent book?

Interestingly enough, I have played the casting game for the characters in Heather & Heath. I even have a Pinterest board devoted to this at https://www.pinterest.com/sallyodgers/heather-and-heath-cast/

Mia Wasikowska or Karen Gillan could play Ness McCleod Campbell

Rachel Griffiths or Claudia Black or Rose Byrne could work for Isobel Jarvis Campbell

Emilie De Ravin or a younger Sigrid Thornton could play Alice MacDonald Campbell

How much research do you do?

Depending on the genre, I may do a lot of research or none at all. Mostly I do some. Historical novels such as Heather & Heath need quite a bit. It’s easy to find the big picture information, but the day-to-day details are more difficult. I used a website called Trove, and also looked up old newspapers and interviewed a few people who remembered the earlier 20th C. I did a lot of the research for an earlier book (Anna’s Own) back in the late 1980s, which is why I was able to talk to people born in the late 1890s or early 1900s. Fortunately, I kept the notes, so I was able to refresh my mind when writing Heather & Heath years later.

Why do you write?

I write because it’s my strongest talent and because I love a good story. I also write because it’s a job I can do at home, working around my odd body clock and my other commitments.

Do you write full-time or part-time?

I work full time in the writing business. I write as and when I can find markets. Since the late 1990s I have also worked as a manuscript assessor and freelance editor, running a small service called Affordable Manuscript Assessments out of http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com . I do this partly to give my hands a rest (I have chronic tendonitis) and partly to bring in bread-and-butter money between royalty and advance payments.

Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?

I tend to wake late (because of my odd body clock) and spend the morning sorting out work emails, and editing or assessing. I work on writing projects whenever I can fit them in. I also visit my dad three times before dinner to make sure he’s okay. (He lives nearby) At some point in the afternoon I go for a walk (usually 90 minutes) with two or more of our dogs. I get the mail and do odd bits of shopping. At six o’clock I go to my very old dad’s place again and get his dinner and get him to bed. I come home and get our dinner, and then often watch a DVD with my husband. He goes to bed and then I start work again and work through until 2 am when I check my dad again and then go to bed. This routine happens seven days a week.

Do you write on a typewriter, computer, dictate or longhand?

I write on a laptop. I have tried to use Dragon but it’s of limited use for fiction. When writing dialogue, the scenario works like this;

TAB OPEN QUOTES Are you going too QUESTION MARK CLOSE QUOTES asked James FULL STOP

TAB OPEN QUOTES No FULL STOP Why do you ask QUESTION MARK CLOSE QUOTES

Since Dragon often mishears words, it can be a very slow business.

Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?

I always write an outline which I then refine to a chapter-by-chapter synopsis. Then I start writing. If things develop in an unexpected direction, I amend the story line. I find this is the best way to keep the pacing right.

What is the hardest thing about writing?

Undoubtedly, the hardest thing is finding markets that want to publish the things I want to write, and in getting readers to be aware of the books’ existence.

I have lived in the same area all my life. My first book came out in 1977 and got quite a bit of publicity. Nearly forty years and two hundred and seventy or so books later, I occasionally get asked; “still doing the writing, then?” Well, yes… “Oh? I haven’t seen anything about your books in the paper.” No… well, they won’t. When a new young writer comes along, or when a celebrity writes a book, that’s NEWS. When an older midlister writes a book… that isn’t. If the person asking me used Google, s/he would find literally hundreds of mentions of me and my books. By relying on the local newspaper… none. This is why I am so delighted to have this opportunity to answer some questions! I love talking about my books. Come to think of it, maybe that’s why most locals never mention them to me!

Writing is also one of the only jobs where experience and practice can actively work against one. In most jobs, the public point of view is that the more one does the job the better one gets. However, if writers produce a lot of work (by working hard and persisting) then they often find themselves labelled as potboilers. Also, if a writer releases several books of the same genre in a short period, the sales of each one may suffer. On the other hand, most midlist writers could not survive on the income from one book every three or four years. I would love to see writing accepted in the same way as other skills; that is, that practising the craft makes us better at it.

*****

Thanks so much Sally for joining us today! Please be sure to follow Sally and check out some of her work!

Website: http://sallyodgers.weebly.com/

Blog: promotemeplease.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sallyodgers @sallyodgers

Lnkedin: https://au.linkedin.com/in/sallyodgers

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sallyodgers/

Book Links: http://satalyte.com.au/product/heather-and-heath-by-sally-odgers/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/235280.Sally_Odgers

WIP Wednesdays: Only The Willing

 

Stan and Jane are always driving the Chief nuts… but the Chief also knows there’s no one better for the job.

*****

“What in the hell is going on here?” Police Chief Anthony DiOrganza roared rising to his feet. He certainly looked like an imposing figure as he stood there with both fists clenched and holding him up on his ornately carved oak desk despite the fact that his whole office with its flags flanking the desk and the faux wood paneling on the lower half of the walls looked like a throw back of decades before.

 

The chief had more than once bitched and complained that he hated the way his office was decorated but he was also the type of man that would never even think about spending a penny more in tax payer monies on redoing it to a more subdued decor. He was not someone who ever wanted to be accuse of wasting money on something as frivolous as that.

 

“We are not exactly sure what it is that you are talking about.” Stan said taking his customary seat in front of the desk, Jane taking hers next to him.

 

“I have heard nothing but nonsense from the floor. If you guys cant keep your traps shut long enough to get the job done then–”

 

Jane was about to say something when Stan held his hand up to stop her.

 

“Look I dont know what it is you have heard but you can bet on the fact that it didnt come from us. We are the last people who would ever jeopardize a case by spilling information to the wrong people. You of all people should know that.”

 

“Well then where in the hell is all this bullshit coming from?” Tonys eyes glowed with anger.

 

“We dont know. If we knew it was happening you would be the first person to know about the leak. You know I cant stand people who cant keep their mouths shut.”

 

“Well I dont care what you say if you ha head the things that I have in the last hour and a half you would be absolutely furious too. Its incredible the things that are being said. No one knows what to believe thanks to all of this.” He rattled on as he picked up the report that Jane had placed on the desk in front of him.

 

He sat there in silence as he read the report. Stan glanced over at Jane and mouthed the words, What in the hell is he on about?

 

When Tony was done he put the pages down and rubbed his face with both hands. His age was starting to show more and more with every case. Stan almost felt sorry for him, he could only imagine what the man had seen in his almost fourty years on the force.

 

“I dont even know where to begin.”: Tony started, “Except to start by saying I am sorry I blew up on you both like that. If I had of known that there was any truth to the rumors that have been flying around here I would have never even thought to say anything to you both about it.”

 

“Its alright, the whole thing feels very surreal to us as well boss. Dont think anything of it. Believe me when I say if I had of been the one sitting in your shoes listening to the information second and thrid hand I would have more than likely thought the same way you did. That someone out there was trying to start something. As it is if I hadnt been there myself and seen what I did I wouldnt have been able to believe it either.” Stan said running his fingers through his hair again.

 

“And you are sure that the information in this report is completely accurate?” Tony said picking up the papers again.

 

“To the best of our knowledge at the time of writing that report it is.” Jane said finally finding a way to work herself into the conversation again.

 

“Which was about a half an hour ago and we havent had a chance to touch base with any one from the lab yet and the coroner said he more than likly be able to give us anything more until much later in the day. Which leads me to believe that even if we were able to contact the labs they wouldnt have anything more to tell us yet either.”

 

Tony said nothing and nodded going back to the papers once again.

 

They sat there in silence, each on lost in their own thoughts as they sat in silence.

 

“So what do the two of you make of this whole thing? What are we looking at here?”

 

“To be honest we are not completely sure what it is. We know for sure that the motive behind this was probably not robbery as she still had her wallet, id and a small wad of cash. And besides this has all the ear marks of a crime of passion and not something else. Someone out there hated this woman enough to almost cut her to ribbons.”

 

“So what do you think Jane? Boyfirend or husband?”

 

“Not likely sir. A husband I mean. She didnt have any wedding rings on her fingers and we didnt find any pictures of her with any men in her wallet. Most women if they are married have at least one picture of them and their beloved. She had nothing. Which also leads me to believe that there is more than likely no boy friend either. Again for the same reason. Most women like to show off the fact that they have a significant other in their lives. Same goes for women who have children. I dont think this lady had any. We will be able to confirm that once Doc Williams gets through with his end of things.”

 

“Ok thats good. Always good to be able to try and narrow things down a bit.”

 

“That doesnt mean that we wont be looking into a boyfriend or even a husband angle. But we both agree that its unlikely.” Stan added.

 

“Well I tend to put a lot of faith in Jane and your judgement as it usually turns out to be fairly accurate. I wouldnt be surprised that you are right again here.”

 

“Well as I said we will be double checking, you never know she could have been one of those private type people who just didnt want the world to know anything about her or her life. It wouldnt be the first time that we have come across someone who went against the gereral sociaital norms.”

 

“Thats right. Then again this whole thing could have somethign to do with her profession.”

 

“That again is true, she could have been having an affair with one of her coworkers and that may have turned sour. Maybe a jealous wife?” Stan said without thinking as he made notes in his notebook.

 

“I was more thinking along the lines of prostitution Stan, but you are right I could be wrong about what she does for a living.” Tony said with a grin as Stan looked up and realized how dense his last statement had sounded.

 

“Yeah there is that too. Sorry wasnt entirely paying attention to the conversation, was trying to work my head around a few things, thats all.” Stan replied as he felt the blood rushing to his cheeks.

 

“Stan has a point thought. We could have this all wrong. She might be a regular there like the motel manager, whats his name said, but he doesnt know what it is that she is doing with the room. He could be the one who is all confused.”

 

“Shes right.” Tony said looking at Stan. “We all could be looking at this all back wards. How do we know at this point what she was doing there. All we can do is guess and speculate as to the reason at thsi point. That is not going to get us anywhere at all. Best thing we can do is just go over all of the basics and then plot a good way of going about ruling some of these scenarios out.”

 

“Definately. Even though I hate the reason why we have to have these talks I totally enjoy them as it is always nice to have a fresh set of eyes looking at things. We you end up eating, sleeping and breathing a case it ends up being hard to see the forest throught the trees. No matter how good of a detective you are.” Jane replied as she scibbled furiously in her note pad.

 

“So how are we going to go about this and when should I be expecting to hear back from you both?”

 

“Well you know us Tony, you will find out things when we do. There isnt a point of callig you just to tell you that we dont know anything new.”

 

“well i am glad that you are not going to hound me with nonsense, but I think you should be able to rule some of our scenarios out this afternoon at some point and then once you hear back from the Doc you guys can check in, either in person or from the road if you have to to let me know how things went and with what direction we are going to proceed with this investigation.”

 

Both Stan and Jane nodded as they stood up and gathered up their things before heading towards the door.

 

“One more thing.” Tony called after them, “I want to make sure you both make time in the next week to go and talk to Mildred.”

 

Stan mentally smacked himself in the head. He had forgotten to give the young officer back at the crime scene the departments psychologyst’s phone number.

 

“Yes sure I am sure she will be seeing us at some point soon.” Stan said grinning, he knew that it would take much more than they had seen this morning to make them go to see Mildred. Not that she wasnt an amazing shrink who know full well how to handle people like Stan and Jane, it was just that Stan and Jane over the years had found other, more effective ways of coping with on the job stress.

 

He quickly gave Tony the young officers information and asked Tony to make sure that the young man got the help he was going to need to deal with what he has seen this morning.

 

And then Stan turned and quickly followed Jane out the door.

 

Teaser Tuesday: Dragon Twins

In keeping with the same vein as last month this month we will have a little peek into Dragon Twins! Enjoy!

*****

A loud noise startled Jade from her slight doze. As she straightened up in her chair, she glanced at the clock on her bedside table across the room that held her textbooks. Eleven thirty-five.

 

Leaning back at her desk, she reached over and felt the bowl of soup Yi, the family housekeeper, had brought. It had been piping hot but now it was tepid. She estimated she was out less than half an hour.  

 

Another crash came from the direction of the kitchen. What on earth was Yi doing at this time of night to make that much noise?

 

Jade started to get up when the door to her room flew open and two almost identical Asian men burst into her room. Grabbing her before she could make a sound, her feet lashed out and knocked the books to the floor as they dragged her toward the door.

 

“You’re coming with us,” one of the men said in a thick, Chinese accent. “You can either come quietly or we’ll drag you out.”

 

“There’s no way I’m letting you take me anywhere!” she yelled, struggling against them. Their grip loosened and this time she racked her nails across one man’s cheek. Crying out in pain, he released her arm to protect his face, allowing her to jerk free.

 

She ran out of the bedroom and down the stairs hoping to find Yi or something to defend herself. Jade heard them running after her. Chancing a glance over her shoulder, she saw they were right behind her as she raced through the house trying to get to the kitchen.

 

She was almost there when a man stepped out of the doorway, into her path. He was Asian but what caught her attention was the knife in his hand. Red liquid dripped from it onto the tile floor. Jade managed to duck around him and into the kitchen and was halted at the sight of Yi. She lay dead in a slowly spreading pool of blood.

 

A hand grabbed her shoulder and tried to spin her around. Her reflexes drove her forward and jumping over the housekeeper’s body she dove for the cordless phone to dial 911. She managed to dial two digits before the phone was knocked out of her hand, sending it flying across the floor.

 

Rough hands grabbed her and tore her clothing as she tried to get away. It was useless. They were too strong. It was too much for her. The sight of the dead housekeeper, the men in her house…the blood. There was so much blood.

 

A hand reached up and put a cloth over her mouth. She fought against it but it was no use. All her strength was gone. As her world faded to darkness the last thing she heard was, “Do not hurt her. Ling will not be happy if she is harmed.”

 

Sincerely Me…

So I thought since I have interviewed hundreds of authors over the years on this blog, that you would enjoy hearing me answer some of the questions I have posed to them over the years.

Each week I will answer one or two questions, if you want you can leave your own questions for me in the comments and I will try and answer them in a future blog post!

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages per day?

In reality I aim for about 2,000 words a day. I know in my earlier years of writing I was able to crank out 5,000 to 10,000 words in a day but in the last ten years I find myself spread out more with other things and distracted by raising teenagers (It was so much simpler when I could convince them to read a book or colour while I wrote) so it leaves me with just a little bit of time each day to write.

Reality is as much as I would like to I dont hit that word goal every day but as long as I am doing a steady climb, even a hundred words in a day is better than no words!

Q&A with Tarran Jones

Please welcome another guest from Satalyte Press to the blog this week… the lovely Tarran Jones!

*****

What were you like at school?

I was the odd girl. Friends with everyone but I was always dancing to the sound of my own tune.

Which writers inspire you?

There are so many but the main ones would be Traci Harding – My novel with Satalyte came about because of the Traci Harding forums. We were role playing our characters (I was Taliesin, Magi of the Court) and I wanted to do a back history for my character and the rest went from there.

Michael Ende – Never-Ending Story

This book opened worlds up to me and the theory that in some form characters in a story could be real. We are the heroes of our stories.

David Eddings – Belgariad

I have re-read this series so many times. I loved the whole Joseph Campbell style of quest and mystery.

Lastly, Tamora Pierce – Alanna the First Adventure

These books let me know that a female can be a lead in a fantasy adventure or any type of book really. Alanna was strong, short tempered and fighting as hard as she could to do what SHE wanted and not what had been decided for her.

So, what have you written? 

My novel with Satalyte is my fourth novel (the other three were practice ones and won’t see the light of day.) It is due for release this year sometime. I have a short story called ‘All That Glitters’ based on the Brothers Grimm tale of ‘The Girl with No Hands’ in an anthology called ‘Twice Upon a Time.’

I have self published two short stories on Amazon called, ‘Outback Dreams’, my first contempory story with a slight ghostly twist and ‘Dance of the Gods’ an Asiatic story about a dancer encountering a forbidden noblewoman and Dancing for the Gods.

I also have a free PDF story on my website called ‘Icons of Power’ a bleak look at a Dystopian Australia and two people chasing the Icons of Power that will change the world.

Writing book two of my Demon Wars series now.

Where can we buy or see them?

My short stories can be found here Twice Upon a Time Anthology can be found here

Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?

Taliesin is special. She is so damaged by all she has seen and yet she still tries her hardest to do good. It would be so easy for her to say screw it, I’m turning bad – but she doesn’t. She fights and fights to uncover the truth and restore knowledge.

How much research do you do?

Sometimes I think I do more research than actual writing. A well researched novel is a believable one, especially for a fantasy author.

When did you decide to become a writer?

I was six and wrote my first story about a white sports car with black velvet seats. I was instantly hooked.

Why do you write?

I can’t not write. It is in my blood.

How do you relax?

Gardening is my relaxation. Also, watching one of the TV shows that I subscribe to.

What is your favourite motivational phrase.

Where Thought Goes, Energy Flows. I love this as it is so true. Our thoughts direct our energy.

Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?

I hardly ever outline, I am a write by the seat kind of girl. I like my characters to take me on their journey.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Don’t give up. You will get there. Learn as much as you can and then learn more. You can write

WIP Wednesdays: Only The Willing

While Stan, Jane and Julian tend to make a formidable team, that doesn’t mean that they are perfect and don’t fight.

*****

“So are you guys going to fill me in or am I going to have to become a psychic to figure out what is going on?” Juilan asked as Holly, their waitress brought their food.

Stan looked at Jane and shrugged. It certainly wasn’t going to hurt anything to straighten a some of the misinformation out that the boy had heard, and you never know with Julian he came up with some pretty interesting lines of thinking.

“You aren’t seriously considering telling him whats going on are you?” Jane asked her forkful of lettuce stopping half way towards her open mouth.

“Well what can it hurt at this point? He had probably already heard everything that the chief has heard and then some. It certainly isnt going to give him any less nightmares if we straighten a few things out for him.”

“Ugh! I cant believe it! Every time we get to this point in the conversation you tell me that this will be the last time and that you promise you wont get Julian involved again. And every time the boy wonder here asks you look at me like the over protective parent and make me feel all guilty for not letting the boy in on the case.”

“Well that’s what you are, are you not? Aren’t you the bad cop in the good cop bad cop scenario.”

“Why is it that I always end up being the bad cop all the time?” Jane said stabbing at her salad with her for while Julian watched the exchange with a slightly amused grin on his face.

“Because you are so good at it my dear. Besides you wouldn’t be happy if you weren’t taking care of some one or something. Seriously.”

“Whatever. You go ahead and do what you want. You will anyways regardless of what I say so I don’t even know why you bother asking me for my approval.”

“Well it would be nice to have the support of my partner in the decision I may or may not make.” Stan said trying hard to keep the irritation out of his voice. Some times Jane could annoy him when she went off on one of her self righteous rants.

“Yeah well I would certainly like it if my partner would at least try to respect my wishes, especially when my wishes pertain to the disclosure of information about a case we are working on. Seriously Stan.” Jane jabbed her fork in his direction.

“Now wait just a minute Jane I never–” Stan started

“Would both of you just cut it out! I’m sitting right here you know and listening to you is starting to give me a headache.” Julian said putting his hands up to silence the both of them. “Now look I understand why you don’t want me to know things about the cases you guys handle but at the same time, we all know if I can be of assistance I will be. Now from what I have heard this is turning into a pretty nasty sounding case and you are going to want to wrap it up as fast as possible. That being said I might be able to help in some way or another. But if you don’t want a lowly academy type helping you out fine. I get it. But you guys shouldn’t waste your time arguing about whether or not to fill me in on the details of things. Last check there were bigger fish for you to fry out there.”

Julian finished speaking and stood up grabbing his back pack and laptop, making like he was going to leave.

Teaser Tuesdays: Sacrifice Of Innocence

Of course no teasers would be complete without a look at the bad guys…

*****

The room was dark except from the light from the dais at the far end of the room. Two giant pillar candles flanked a robe-clad woman seated in a winged, high-back chair. In the light her robe looked almost black. Her guards were there, too. Even though they kept out of the light the man that entered the room could feel their presence. The little hairs on the back of his neck had risen the moment he had stepped across the threshold and entered the room. They would be armed and ready to protect the one they served at the cost of their lives, if the situation called for it.

 

A man knelt on the ground before her, his own robes pooled around him, and spoke without looking up at her.

 

“There is a problem, your Highness.”

 

“I am well aware of that. How could this happen?”

 

“He was not careful. He left too many things behind, which in turn led him to be identified by the authorities.”

 

“He cannot be linked to us.”

 

“I understand. That matter has been dealt with. We have erased our existence in his life. They will not find out.”

 

“I hope you are right. What has begun cannot be stopped.

 

All we have worked for would be lost. The end is now near.”

 

“I know.”

 

“You have the final gift to offer our Gods?”

 

“Yes. We have the child.”

 

“Then all is not lost.”

 

“We shall not fail, your Highness.”

 

“We only have to wait until the next new moon and it will be done. Our place in the New World will be concrete. There can be no more problems. Discretion is paramount.”

 

“I understand what must be done.”

 

“Good. See that there are no more failures.”

 

The man rose, bowed all the while without looking at the woman, then turned and left the room.

Sincerely Me…

So I thought since I have interviewed hundreds of authors over the years on this blog, that you would enjoy hearing me answer some of the questions I have posed to them over the years.

Each week I will answer one or two questions, if you want you can leave your own questions for me in the comments and I will try and answer them in a future blog post!

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Do you write every day, 5 days a week or as and when?

Most days I try to squeeze in some time, but with my chaotic world sometimes a week or two will pass with nothing written. Also seasons affect my productivity as well. I tend to be far more productive in the winter time than I am in the summertime. Summertime I can be found roaming far and wide with the pup and the rest of the family as we tend to hike and camp a lot when the weather gets nice.

Although I have to say there have been more than a few times that the muse has grabbed a good hold on me in the middle of no where and I have binge written well into the wee hours of the morning in a notebook.

Thats the other thing; I never go anywhere without a notebook. You really never know when your best bits will hit you. So yes I write almost every day, but there is no strict schedule for that writing.

Q&A with Robert N Stephenson

Please welcome our first guest from Satalyte Press… the wonderful Robert Stephenson!

*****

What are your ambitions for your writing career?

Writing is an absolute passion, it is what fulfills me and helps me feel alive. As I write words I live the lives of the characters and experience their worlds, nothing can compare to this feeling. Finding publications is just topping on and already beautiful cake. With all things published I hope to entertain above all things and through my writing allow others a journey away from the ho hum of the day.

So, what have you written?

I have written five novels for myself, Life Light has been published in both English and Polish, the other 4 are languishing in editing hell. I have a story collection ‘We Would be Heroes’ available from amazon along with a book on the observations of religion and faith in a neutral world. I have written several hundred short stories, and have sold over 100. My how to write book is available from http://www.smashwords.com for free. The Writing Soldier is a simple attempt and creating a background in which a new writer can develop there skills and enjoy the full process from writing, to editing, to publication.

Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?

In Life Light the characters paranoia drives him to stand up against a system he thinks is broken. He doesn’t know the tele-transportation system is broken, it is just a feeling he gets when he uses it. He has lost much of his passion but is driver by the notion of being right and finding out what is wrong with him. He isn’t a free spirit and no is he really in control of his own destiny but he tries, fails and tries again against threats and sanctions. Mikolev is a character you want to succeed but you struggle to work out just how he can given the situation and the world.

What genre are your books?

Life Light is Science Fiction, but I have written 2 books in Urban Fantasy (submitted for publication), a steam punk novel and two biographies for persons undisclosed. I have also written a High Fantasy novel for a film company in LA.

How much research do you do?

In my initial draft I do little research as I delve into creating the bones of the story first. I might leave notes for myself to look things up, but it is usually in the second draft that I do a lot of research into everything from word use, to physics.

When did you decide to become a writer?

I moved into writing in my late teens, where I wrote poetry for many years, publishing Garments of Rainbows in 1992 – a reprint will be coming soon. In 1996 I ventured into short story writing and found, while I was rather rough in skills, I had a good imagination for the genre field. I started and ran Altair Magazine until 2000, which allowed me to see other writers and edit materials for publication. My first full length novel wasn’t written until 2002, and it was published in Poland in 2005 – this book is Life Light, which has now been published in English by Satalyte Publishing in Australia.

Do you write full-time or part-time?

While I write full time, I also teach genre writing in a couple of colleges – online tutoring. I am now averaging about 80 graduates a year, and I now and awhile get news of their successes. I write a long short story every month, and have done so for twenty years, and when I am satisfied I have the energy to write the first draft of a novel I dedicate myself to the creation of the first draft in 12 weeks, though it takes a long time to edit the work for possible publication. I aim for around 7 full drafts before I think I am getting the words in the right order.

Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?

Creating a time to write is vital to any writer’s life. I have many things to do in a week, but I have set aside one whole day that n o one is allowed to bother me. This is my writing day, and I even run a writer’s group in the evening that day – everything is writing. I write at other times as well, but if things go awry for the week everyone knows that one day is out of bounds. That day has been in place for 15 years now, so everyone respects that day.

What is the hardest thing about writing?

The hardest thing for me is that I am bipolar depressive so changing moods can affect me from time to time. The interesting thing is because I now take á lot’ of medication as treatment, and see a psychiatrist every month, my completion rates for fiction has gone up considerably. I almost complete everything I start, where as in the early days my mind would create but I couldn’t finish. If anyone suffers serious depression do not be afraid of the medications. Yes they do dull you emotionally, they have to, but what you lose in one area you pick up big time in others. If it wasn’t for my medications I would never have written 5 novels or hundreds of short stories. Some days sitting at the keyboard can be frustrating as my sadness gets really dark, but sometimes it is also refreshing to expound wonder that flood my mind. Oh, and one thing the medications do strange things to, your dreams. They are often rather wild and colourful. I wrote a story based on part of a dream once, and it was published by Keith Stevenson and was awarded an Aurealis Award for be SF short story for the year. Yes, there are hard days, but then there are not so hard days

Do you ever get writer’s Block?

I have always held the opinion that writer’s block doesn’t actually exist. What does exist is an authors unwillingness to write. They want the story but they don’t want the effort. Some say it is a real thing, it has the root in depression and depression is a blockage to creativity. So there are probably bigger issues at play here and so called writers block is a manifestation of an underlying condition. If you find yourself struggling, then write a shopping list with reasons why you need products and what you would use them for, then write reasonable excuses why you shouldn’t use the same product. Trust me, there are many stories in that small setup.

Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors.

My favourite authors are many and varied and I would happily suggest ready some James P Blaylock, early Jack McDevitt, Nancy Cress, Joe Haldeman and if you are looking for collections of stories, look for collections edited by Ellen Datlow.

What advice amused you?

In my early writing days I submitted a story to Marion Zimmer Bradleys Fantasy Magazine and it was sent back with a note saying ‘this almost made me vomit’. The same story was rejected 30 times and without alteration I sent it to the Australia anthology Alien Shores. The story sold and was argued could have been up for an award. So, if I took what people said to me about my writing to heart I would have probably given up in that first year. I received 450 straight rejection (5 years) before I sold my very first story, and it took another 50 rejections until I sold my second. The thing I say to all writers and I definitely say to my writing students, never, ever give up. Never take rejection personally, and never be swayed but what others thing you should do. I was told many times to just give up. I didn’t and you shouldn’t either.

*****

Thanks so much to Robert for being on the blog from the great Down Under! Please be sure to follow Robert and check out some of his books!

Website: http://www.robertnstephenson.com

Facebook: robertnstephenson (The one in the Fez)

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/509090