Jamie Marchant's Blog, page 10

A Story of Their Own

Some of my fans after reading The Ghost in Exile felt they hadn’t gotten enough of Phelix and asked for more. I obliged them with one story finished and another being edited. If you subscribe to my newsletter, you’ll get these stories. If you don’t subscribe, fill out the form in the side panel right away.

Which other minor character in any of my novels would you like to see in a story of their own? Please comment below with the character’s name, and if you’d like, a little bit about why you want to know more. If the muse is with me, I’ll see what I can do to make you happy.

KristaLyn and the Guardian Angels

Meet my guest today, KrisaLyn Vetovich, and you might just find your guardian angel while you’re at it.

Interview

1. Tell us a little about yourself?

I’m just a dreamer from Pennsylvania who thinks the world can be saved one positive-thinking person at a time.  I’ve written six books now, with my latest series expected to release next year through Glass House Press, and one internationally published short story in the Tales from the Vatican Vaults anthology. I’ve got fantastic friends, a husband I’m pretty sure I dreamt up, the best family I could ever ask for—and the sassiest corgi you’ll ever meet. Catch pictures of him on my Instagram Stories.

2. What made you want to become a writer?

I wrote for fun as a kid, first in notebooks, then saving stories on floppy disks (remember those?). When I finished my first substantial story, my dad read it and said, “You should publish this.”

That book became a trilogy and more books followed. I just haven’t stopped.

3. What are you reading at the moment? Would you recommend it to readers of this blog? Why?

I’m reading This Savage Song by VE Schwab right now. I would definitely recommend it. The writing is sharp, witty, easy to read, and the story is intriguing. I love the concepts. You’ll have to read it to find out for yourself!

4. Do you think people have misconceptions about the speculative fiction? Why do you think it is a worthwhile genre?

I think there are some people who write it off too soon or before trying it. I love it because I live in the real world every day. Speculative fiction gives me a different world to explore and new ways to be a hero. I may even get an epiphany about changing my own world for the better while I’m at it.

5. Could you tell us a bit about your most recent book?

In Shifted, it’s the end of the world and Anaya, a being from the afterlife, has been chosen as the spirit guide for the boy who might change everything. But will he listen to her, and choose free will and peace? Or will he side with her enemy… and condemn the world to chaos and domination?

6. What gives you inspiration for your book?

One day, I was thinking, “Man, if we have guardian angels, I wonder how hard it is for them to actually get through to us.” Then the flood of ideas came, and here we are with the Prelude of the Reyn Gayst series!

7. What is the biggest surprise that you experienced after becoming a writer?

I try to prepare for everything, but I did not realize how much marketing writers do for themselves. Deluded young me thought there were magical people for that, but it’s been a great experience learning how to connect with all sorts of different people. It’s made me a better communicator and a more humble person. [Jamie’s note: This was my biggest unpleasant surprise as well.]

8. If you could have dinner (and dessert) with any fictional character who would it be and why?

The Doctor (preferably the tenth, but any would be great). We could go literally anywhere, and I know the conversation would be fantastic.

9. If you could be transported to any fictional world, which would it be? Why?

Any world with fairies, as long as I could be one. I want wings more than an adult should admit! [Jamie’s note: It would be so cool!]

Where can we find you online?

Blog: www.KristaLynAVetovich.com/blog

Website: www.KristaLynAVetovich.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorkristalyn

Twitter: @AuthorKristaLyn

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/KristaLyn-A.-Vetovich/e/B00IZ457AQ

Instagram: @AuthorKristaLyn

Excerpt from Shifted:

I know who we are. I know where we’re going. I know how it all stops.

Since the dawn of conscious thought, there have been questions that withstood the test of time simply because the answers can’t be found, though some fools tried:

It’s crossed your mind, hasn’t it? Of course, it has. I wondered about it a lot when I was like you. When I was alive.

I don’t wonder anymore. I’ve lived and died so many times that I finally got it right. I dwell in Lemayle now. I know all the answers.

We live to learn. We die so that we can start over and learn some more. We live over and over until we know enough to choose between another age-old concept: good or not? We decide where we stand and we fight for it because the war isn’t in living. It’s waged in death.

When will the world end? Soon and dramatically. The Chosen One, the Reyn Gayst, has been sent. She’s out there and she’s brand new. Her choice will be the last one.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Every stage demands a setting.

I fight for good. I’m a Firn–a guide to living souls. It’s my job to guide Kade Buxton, as I have guided so many others so that the Reyn Gayst makes her choice without bias.

Who is Kade Buxton and why does he matter? I don’t have the patience to tell you. That’s one virtue I never mastered in all my time spent in Velt, your world. Why don’t I show you instead?

***

“Bring it in! You’re gonna lose it!”

The waves crash against the boat. Rain falls like icy bullets, adding to the din of water splashing against the side. Kade struggles with the ropes. At this rate, the whole thing is going to capsize.

Kade is strong. As a kid fresh out of his teenage years, he should be. He winds the rope around his arm and yanks again, his father at his side. If the ropes don’t snap, their muscles might, but the Buxtons are a stubborn breed.

The sea churns. The wind adds its strength, too. Here it comes–a strong gust.

The ropes rip from Kade’s grip. The boat capsizes. The Buxtons go under.

The end.

Obviously not. That would make me a terrible Firn, wouldn’t it? Don’t worry. The boat is self-righting. The ropes are attached to a fishing net. Kade and his father are excellent swimmers. This is just a normal day for them. If Kade can’t handle a simple capsizing boat, we are going to have issues when he finally lives out his purpose.

 

If you enjoyed the above, please comment below.

 

The Dragon in the Garden Book Tour & Giveaway

The Dragon in the Garden
The Watcher Rising Series #1
by Erika Gardner
Genre: Epic Urban Fantasy



There is magic beneath the mundane and in The Dragon in the Garden, Siobhan

Orsini witnesses it all. No lie can fool her, no glamour or illusion

can cloud her Sight. She sees through them all and wishes she could

close her eyes. Returning to face her past, Siobhan inherits her

grandparents’ house in California’s wine country. She encounters

a talking dragon, a hot fallen angel, a demon lord, a Valkyrie, and,

oh yes, her ex-boyfriend. And that is just in the first twenty-four

hours.



It’s time to find out why she has this power.

Siobhan seeks out the Oracle and learns that only her Sight can help
mankind navigate the travails of an ancient war. Our world is the prize
in a battle between the dragons, who would defend us, and Lucifer’s

fallen angels, who seek to take the Earth for themselves. Using her

gift, she will have to make a choice that will decide humanity’s

future.

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Erika is a sixth generation San Franciscan of Irish descent. She attended

the University of California at Davis and completed degrees in

Medieval History and Biological Sciences. A lifelong lover of books

and a scribbler of many tales from a young age (her first story was

completed at age five) she turned to writing full-time in 2011.



On a personal level she loves spicy food, twilight, dark chocolate (with

sea salt-yum!) and nickel slots at Vegas. Erika lives for time with

friends, a nice glass of red wine, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” &

“Doctor Who” and good conversation. Her favorite things to do are

running, cooking, reading, needlework, gardening… and of course,

writing. Erika’s music of choice is heavy metal. To pick her out in a

lineup you should know that she is very short, fairly loud, and has

dark eyebrows. The rest, as her hero Anne McCaffrey once said in her

bio, “is subject to change without notice”.

Erika resides in Northern California with her incredibly hot husband, their

three amazing kids, and their chocolate Labrador named Selkie. To

reach Erika regarding her books, wine recommendations, or to debate

which Iron Maiden album is the best (clearly, it’s Brave New World)


Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Pinterest* Amazon * Goodreads

The memory has haunted me for years.

In the middle of a bright California summer, dark days came. My mother and grandparents spoke in hushed, serious voice, arguing about my absent father. Was it my fault he left? A soft whimper escaped my throat and my eyes burned. I needed a hug, but no one paid any attention to me that day.  So I ran away to the refuge of my grandparents’ garden where I could hide among its statues and flowers.

My eyes lingered over the familiar garden ornaments. I passed the old birdbath, the statues of gnomes, and a cheerful squirrel. I ran one hand over the stone deer. Its brown paint had faded from years under the sun. Walking with quick steps down the gravel path, I made my way to the center of the garden, my special spot where my favorite statue waited.

A gnarled apricot tree grew there.  Right now it was covered with tiny green apricots. Later in the summer the sweet fruit I loved would ripen. I would get to pick them with my parents, no, just with my mother. My lip trembled. My father wouldn’t be here.

The bright-green dragon lay curled at the foot of the apricot tree, partially covered by vines. My mother called the color jade green—the same shade as my eyes. As a child she talked to all the statues, but I only spoke to the dragon. I named her Daisy. Sitting down next to her now, the tears welled up at last, spilling over my cheeks. I wrapped my arms around my legs, making myself into a little ball of five year old misery.

“Child, why are you sad?” said a woman’s voice.

“Who said that?” I asked, wiping my cheek.

“I did.”

“Where are you?” I stood and peered at the plants and statues around me.

“Right here.”

“Are not,” I retorted.

A soft laugh filled the air and the woman spoke again. “Perhaps you are right. Easy enough to fix, I suppose.”

The breeze picked up. The space beneath the apricot tree shimmered. Ripples warped the air like the heat over the barbecue when my father cooked. The sweet notes of wind chimes filled the yard. Grandma and Grandpa didn’t have any wind chimes. I whirled around to find the noise.

Under the branches appeared an enormous green dragon’s head.

Follow the tour HERE

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My Publishing Journey, Part IV: Cons

This is the fourth post in my multi-part series on my publishing experience. Click to read Part I,  Part II, and Part III

In the midst of my struggles to market my novels, I discovered Cons. If you have any part geek within you and you’ve never been to a Science Fiction/Fantasy Convention, you have to change this state of affairs as soon as you can. Cons are where geeks gather to dress up as fictional characters, talk about geek movies, geek TV, geek books, play geek games with other geeks, and have an overall geeky time. They are a ton of fun. I did an early blog post on Cons that you can find here. Beware of geeks!

The geek in the black ninja pants and rose spotted shirt is my husband, Tim

 

I had, of course, heard of cons before, but I had never been to one. My first Con was ConGregate in North Carolina. I went to see if I could learn anything that might be of help in marketing my novels. I didn’t learn much at that first con, and I discovered some of the people on the panels had no more experience than I did. Yes, the Guest of Honor is always a big name author, usually really big name, but there were plenty of lesser panelists. If they could do it, why couldn’t I? Maybe being a con guest would help me sell my books.

Besides, it was a blast, so I needed to go to another one.

So despite my extremely introverted nature, I applied and was accepted as a guest at Con*Stellion, a tiny con in Huntsville, Alabama: I got the schedule of my panels and saw, to my horror,  that the other members of the panel, including the Guest of Honor, Orson Scott Card. While I’m at a big fan of his, he has been huge in Science Fiction for about 30-40 years. I met him about 25 years ago when he did a writer’s workshop at my undergraduate university. To say I was panicked to be on a panel with him is to put things mildly. I felt physically sick for two weeks. But I went to the panel, and while I don’t think I made much of an impression on anyone, nothing terrible happened.

I learned that I could survive being a con guest, and when the panel was over, I  got to have fun with other geeks. I even sold four books. I considered this not bad at all for my first time.

Since the first time failed to kill me, I applied and was accepted at a lot of cons. I was on tons of panels. My husband started to come with me, and we had a blast doing geeky things.

I meet other authors, who were almost always fantastic people. From them, I learned that my experience with small presses was typical. Small presses rely almost completely on the author to market and sell her own books. To my surprise, I learned that, unless you were one of their top authors, the Big 5 (the five large American publishing houses) were only marginally better. The Big 5 also frequently locked authors into restrictive contracts that were damaging to their careers.

I sold books at every con, but never even close to enough to cover my expenses, but I went to panels on marketing, and I learned a lot of things to try. Facebook. Blog. Website. And on and on. I spent a lot of money on cons, and I put a lot of effort into doing the things suggested at them.

But I still saw very few book sales. I finished another novel, which I self-published, but it didn’t sale any better. I was becoming very discouraged.

I believe wholeheartedly that a writer must write first of all for herself. If the process of writing doesn’t bring you joy, you shouldn’t be doing it. Still, I created three novels that I thought very good, and the reviews I had of them supported my opinion, but still hardly anyone was reading them.

But then I went to Marscon 2017.

Stay tuned for the fifth and final installment of my publishing journey. Coming soon. How soon? you ask. If I told you, I’d ruin the surprise.

 

The Chronicles of Midway Book Tour & Giveaway

The Storyteller’s Book
The Chronicles of Midway Book 1
by Kevin Fleming
Genre: SciFi Fantasy



“ … you must realise and accept, neither me, your mum, nor either of you are

human.”




Nick and Mel are 14 year old twins living normal lives with their parents.

When they discover an ancient book in their attic and read from it,

strange events begin to happen around them. Something has been

awakened which prompts their parents to take them away to a town

called Midway where they reveal to the twins that they are not human.

They had been hidden on Earth, brought up as though they were human,

awaiting the right moment for the truth to be told.

When their parents mysteriously disappear on their first night away, they

are forced to discover for themselves what their roles are in the new

lives they’ve been thrown into. They struggle alone as they try to

understand and balance their past human lives with their alien

destiny. When the book they discovered at their home is stolen, it

falls on the twins to recover it. The book has a lot more power than

they realised, and if they fail, it will not be they who suffer, but

the whole human race.

Along the way, they meet an array of characters, some will become friends,

some will become enemies, who can they trust? For now, they can trust

only each other.

Goodreads * Amazon



The Mines of Kothkish
The Chronicles of Midway Book 2



When Sebastian, the brother of their friend Celeste is abducted by the

rogue faction known as The Malum-Atra, twins Nicholas and Melandra

Wigg are first in the queue to help the Shreen Angels in their quest

to find and rescue the unfortunate victim.



As the situation escalates and the full extent of the danger to Midway

and the whole human race is revealed, Nick and Mel face a race

against time to locate where Sebastian is held.

Do the Mines of Kothkish with their glowing caverns of billions of

precious stones hold the answer to the mystery of Sebastian’s

location? What role does Elaine, the human girl with the unusual

gifts have to do with finding the abducted Shreen Angel? And what is

the secret that has been hidden in Little Meesden for two hundred

years?

Find out as we meet friends and foe, old and new, as once again Nick and

Mel fight for the survival of the human universe.

From facing evil snow creatures to diving into lakes of fire, share in the

exciting adventures of Nick and Mel in the second of the Chronicles

of Midway series, The Mines of Kothkish.


Goodreads * Amazon



The Warlords of Shreen
The Chronicles of Midway Book 3



Nicholas and Melandra Wigg have already met Hadad, the only warlord still at

large, but now they are faced with a plot to release the other three

warlords trapped within collectors.




When Nick and Mel enter the dream room, a story of great tragedy, loss and

regret is revealed as they discover Malvern, once a colleague of

Rufus, is behind the terror that is the Malum-Atra. Insane with fear

and hatred of the human race, he is searching for a way to open the

collectors, thus unleashing the warlords upon the world.

What does the secret of Meesden House and the tragic history of the old

railway house have to do with preventing Malvern’s evil

plans?

Join Nick and Mel in this story of redemption and second chances as they

continue their quest to fulfil their destiny in The Warlords of

Shreen, the third book of The Chronicles of Midway series.


Goodreads * Amazon




Carnival of the Otherworld
The Chronicles of Midway Book 4



Join Nicholas and Melandra Wigg in one more exciting adventure as they

come up against Natasha Moon, Malvern’s evil accomplice, who

together lead the Malum-Atra’s desperate final attempt to destroy

the human universe.




How would the humans react if Midway was revealed to them?

How would Midway’s lethal automated defence system respond to
an Earth attack?

Nick and Mel are faced with these frightening questions and even more

horrifying answers as they do battle with sea spiders, Shreen demons

and the ancient Defender of Midway.

What were the startling events of several years earlier that unknowingly

affected the lives of many humans in Little Meesden? What was the

tragedy that befell Celeste’s mother? Will Nick and Mel finally

come face to face with their destiny?

Find out, as these and many more secrets are revealed in Carnival of the

Otherworld, the final book of the series, The Chronicles of Midway.


Goodreads * Amazon





Kevin Fleming was born and still lives in Liverpool. He worked for a large

telecoms company for over twenty years before leaving to run his own

business for a further fifteen years.




Having written short or incomplete stories on and off all his life, he

believes now is the time to put his full commitment into writing more

seriously. Since 2012, he has devoted his time to writing and has

completed a four part sci/fi, fantasy series aimed at ages from 11

years old and upwards, called ‘The Chronicles of Midway’.

He is mainly interested in writing supernatural, science fiction and

fantasy novels that would appeal to young and old alike. Currently he

is working on another series that would combine all these genres.


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Follow the tour HERE

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Serengeti Book Tour & Giveawasy

Serengeti
by J.B. Rockwell
Genre: SciFi Adventure




It was supposed to be an easy job: find the Dark Star Revolution

Starships, destroy them, and go home. But a booby-trapped vessel

decimates the Meridian Alliance fleet, leaving Serengeti—a Valkyrie

class warship with a sentient AI brain—on her own; wrecked and

abandoned in an empty expanse of space.




On the edge of total failure, Serengeti thinks only of her crew. She

herds the survivors into a lifeboat, intending to sling them into

space. But the escape pod sticks in her belly, locking the

cryogenically frozen crew inside.

Then a scavenger ship arrives to pick Serengeti’s bones clean.

Her engines dead, her guns long silenced, Serengeti and her last two

robots must find a way to fight the scavengers off and save the crew

trapped inside her.

**On sale for .99 from Sept 4th- 9th**

Add to Goodreads
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Serengeti 2:
Dark and Stars



Fifty-three years Serengeti drifted, dreaming in the depths of space. Fifty-three

years of patient waiting before her Valkyrie Sisters arrive to

retrieve her from the dark. A bittersweet homecoming follows, the

Fleet Serengeti once knew now in shambles, its admiral, Cerberus,

gone missing, leaving Brutus in charge. Brutus who’s subsumed the

Fleet, ignoring his duty to the Meridian Alliance to pursue a

vendetta against the Dark Star Revolution.





The Valkyries have a plan to stop him—depose Brutus and restore the

Fleet’s purpose—and that plan involves Serengeti. Depends on

Serengeti turning her guns against her own.

Because the Fleet can no longer be trusted. With Brutus in charge, it’s

just Serengeti and her Sisters, and whatever reinforcements they can

find.

A top-to-bottom refit restores Serengeti to service, and after a rushed

reunion with Henricksen and her surviving crew, she takes off for the

stars. For Faraday—a prison station—to stage a jailbreak, and

free the hundreds of Meridian Alliance AIs wrongfully imprisoned in

its Vault. From there to the Pandoran Cloud and a rendezvous with her

Valkyrie Sisters. To retrieve a fleet of rebel ships stashed away

inside.
One last battle, one last showdown with Brutus and his Dreadnoughts and

it all ends. A civil war—one half of the Meridian Alliance Fleet

turned against the other, with the very future of the Meridian

Alliance hanging in the balance.

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Hecate
Prequel to Serengeti


Black Ops—the intelligence arm of the Meridian Alliance Fleet came

calling with an offer Henricksen couldn’t refuse: a ship—an

entire squadron of ships, actually—and crew to command. A chance to

get back to the stars.

Too bad he didn’t ask more questions before accepting the assignment.

Too bad no one told him just how dangerous this particular skunkworks

project was.

 

They call the ship the RV-N: Reconnaissance Vessel – Non-combat, Raven for

short. A stealth ship—fast, and maneuverable, and brutal as hell.

On the surface, Henricksen’s assignment seems simple: train his crew,

run the RV-Ns through their paces, get the ships certified for

mission operations and job done. But an accident in training reveals

a fatal design flaw in the Raven, and when an undercover operative

steals classified information from a Black Ops facility, the Fleet

Brass cancels the tests completely, rushing the faulty ships and

their half-trained crew into live operations. On a mission to recover

the Fleet’s lost secrets.

Out of time and out of options, Henricksen has no choice but to launch

his squadron. But a ghost from his past makes him question

everything—the ships, their AI, the entirety of this mission, right

down to the secrets he and his crew are supposed to recover.


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Audiobook available 10-17-17




J.B. Rockwell is a New Englander, which is important to note because it

means she’s (a) hard headed, (b) frequently stubborn, and (c) prone

to fits of snarky sarcasticness. As a kid she subsisted on a steady

diet of fairy tales, folklore, mythology augmented by generous

helpings of science fiction and fantasy. As a quasi-adult she dreamed

of being the next Indiana Jones and even pursued (and earned!) a

degree in anthropology. Unfortunately, those dreams of being an

archaeologist didn’t quite work out. Through a series of twists and

turns (involving cats, a marriage, and a SCUBA certification, amongst

other things) she ended up working in IT for the U.S. Coast Guard and

now writes the types of books she used to read. Not a bad ending for

an Indiana Jones wannabe…




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Autumn Birt, Epic Fantasy and Dystopia

Welcome my guest, Autumn Birt, a prolific writer you should check out.

Autumn is a best selling author in fantasy, epic fantasy, and war – not all on the same series though! She is the author of the epic fantasy, adventure trilogy on elemental magic, the Rise of the Fifth Order.

Her last series was Friends of my Enemy, a military dystopian/ dark fantasy tale laced with romance. Friends of my Enemy was released in full in 2015 and is quite the story full of strong characters, tight plots, and lots of action.

Meanwhile, she is working on a new epic fantasy trilogy, Games of Fire, set in the same world as the Rise of the Fifth Order. The first book was released in March of 2016 and the second in April of 2017. If she stops goofing off and enjoying hobbies such as hiking, motorcycling, and kayaking, she may even be able to release the final book in the fall of 2017 too!

Interview

Tell us a little about yourself?

 

Sure! I’m primarily a fantasy author but also have a near future dystopian series that snuck in there. I actually wrote short stories as a teenager and won a writing contest in high school, but I didn’t take writing seriously because I was also a fairly skilled artist (pencil and oil). It really took over two decades before I took the stories in my head a bit more seriously when my husband found a scene I’d written and said it was good. Boy, he never realized the havoc that statement would cause!

A few years later, two adult ed writing classes, and an article (once again given to me from my husband) on self-publishing and I released my first epic fantasy novel on Amazon in 2012!

Besides the writing, I’m big into outdoors, which is what happens when you name your child Autumn. I love hiking, backpacking, kayaking, and motorcycling. All of that is a good and adventurous balance to spending hours behind a laptop, and it makes my little Cairn terrier, Ayashe, happy too!

2. What are your biggest literary influences? Favorite authors and why?

When it comes to influences, I would say I’m absolutely in love with George R.R. Martin’s writing style. I kept photocopied pages from his books in my writing journal for inspiration years before Game of Thrones became a hit. I love his descriptions and use of multiple POVs from characters. BUT, I hate other aspects of his stories. I can only take so many favorite character deaths. lol. And sometimes I just want him to get to the point already (the show creators have done an amazing job jumping through some of the slow points).

I fell in love with fantasy in seventh grade when I stumbled upon a short story of dragon impression on Pern by Anne McCaffrey. I was already a reader but that hooked me into a genre. I devoured books and still love Anne McCaffrey as well as Mercedes Lackey. Mercedes has actually released most of her books as ebooks, and I want to pick up some of my favorites to revisit them as an adult. I bet I’ll find so much more to them than I did as a child, but I know her tolerance, hope, and magic shaped my world view. [Jamie’s note: I love Mercedes Lackey. I used to say I wanted to be her when I grew up.]

3. Tell us something about how you write? i.e. are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you have any weird or necessary writing habits or rituals?

I’m a hybrid! I started my first book that I published, Born of Water, as a straight out pantser with only a vague idea of a few scenes in the book and immediately got lost around chapter 6. That slowed everything down and frustrated the heck out of me. I love efficiency and organization!

So I tried crazy, mad plotting. I didn’t like that either. The book to me still feels a little forced, and that was after three major overhauls and five massive edits (plus dozens of small ones). After that, I learned to create a rough outline all the way down to a target number of chapters and which ones should be climaxes and hurdles. BUT I’d leave what actually took place in each chapter fairly open. I’d give the character an opening scene and a general direction to head then let them go like I was directing a play. It worked great, and the stories became so much more intense and character driven while still following the plot I’d created.

Things are even more organized now as I’m writing my 13th novel! I have a 7 stage outline that I use to develop the plot, character arcs, and lots of little plot lines to keep everyone on their toes. I still rough in a major outline and sequence out the major events like the epic climactic battle. But I give the characters the lead to create the story. They do a great job! How can I argue with that?

4. Do you think people have misconceptions about the speculative fiction? Why do you think it is a worthwhile genre?

I think speculative fiction is an important genre. Science fiction often pushes the boundaries of science and can lead to new areas of research and speculation. And fantasy…. I used to call it brain candy as an antidote to some of the serious stuff I tackled in studies. But it is really so much more than that.

The books I read as a teenager shaped my world view and outlook of life and people. It didn’t matter they took place on make believe worlds full of magic peopled by amazing characters. Sometimes that is the only way to tackle sensitive subjects with centuries of history and conflict. And that is a way to shape a better future.

5. Could you tell us a bit about your most recent book?

I’d love to! In April, I release Gates of Fire and Earth. This is book 2 of my second epic fantasy trilogy called Games of Fire. When I finished the first trilogy, The Rise of the Fifth Order, I really thought I was done with the world of Myrrah and the characters, as much as I loved them. But they wouldn’t go away.

I was writing my near future dystopian series Friends of my Enemy at the time and really enjoying the more adult and serious storyline. There is no magic in that series and solving problems takes a lot of smarts, luck, and some big explosions. Despite loving what I was writing, I kept having the characters from the epic fantasy series pop in my head to point out threads I hadn’t quite tied up.

I finally sat down with them and demanded they either tell me a great reason to write anything else about their world or go away. So they did. Totally sold me on it. I realized the first trilogy only touched on some huge events, but past and future, which were going to implode big time.

So as soon as I finished the dystopian series, okay, actually as I finished the last book in the dystopian series, I started writing book 1 to Games of Fire, Spark of Defiance. That was released in March of 2016.

The world of Myrrah, the setting of both series, is full of elemental magic, but it has a twist in that there is another power which is forbidden. You’ll have to read the series to find out what it is though.

Guest Author, S.M. Henley and Things that Go Bump in the Night

Welcome today’s guest, S.M. Henley, a fantastic author for those that enjoy the darker side of things.

Sue was brought up in an English seaside town singing to Echo and the Bunnymen and worshiping  Siouxsie Sioux. She now lives in rural Alberta, Canada, with more pets than people. Where everyone is friendly, winters are long, cheese is bright orange, and the occasional moose wanders through her yard.

Sue’s books stand as testament to the Gothic overtones of English suburbia, the world just beyond the veil, and the humor of Rick Mayall.

The Urban Fantasy is darker than average. It’s gritty, character driven stuff, fast action plots notwithstanding. It dips a toe into Dystopia, splashes blood freely, and features various creatures from the supernatural world as well as some pretty cool humans.

Her Horror is darker. Paranormal elements intertwine with psychologically driven plots. Characters run from flawed to freaky. Settings are realistic. Atmospheres are claustrophobic. Blood is optional.

Interview

Tell us something about how you write? i.e. are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you have any weird or necessary writing habits or rituals?

 

I’m a plotter in as much as I have an outline that I mostly stick to, but I do a shed-load of idea doodling beforehand which range from some scribbles, lists, and whole first drafts of scenes. I usually have the first and last scene drafted before I put the outline together. In terms of structure I tend to use a hybrid of the roller coaster beat structure for my UF. It has the fast-pacing I like. I’ve created a template which is basically a table with each plot element on the left, then space on the right for me to start adding the key moments or plot points for a particular story. Once I have the key moments written down, I add short bullet-pointed scenes. When those are all done, I switch to Scrivener, transfer each scene to a cork board card and flesh out the bullet points to create a paragraph of detail. Then I arrange those into chapters, ensure I’m still hitting all the plot points and beats, then I’m good to go. I always write serially unless I really get stuck, then I may switch to an easier scene just to get the writing gods on my side again. I’ve just finished plotting the whole of a 5 book series in this way. No rituals. Beverage of choice is coffee. I write in the morning, and not every day or to a quota. I find I need to give my creative brain a rest for up to a few weeks at a time or my writing style falls flat. When not writing, I’ll do some editing, work on some new plots, do some research, or even some marketing!

2. What gives you inspiration for your book?

I’m one of those very lucky people who finds inspiration everywhere. In fact, sometimes I’m so inundated with ideas that it can be challenging for me to to sift through them to pursue the best ones. I will literally have the first lines of stories – or even complete opening scenes – spontaneously pop into my head. If I watch a TV show, read a news report, or read about a person from history, a whole storyline gets triggered. For the Written by Birds novels I was inspired by stories about the real-life darker side of Turin, Italy, that I heard about years back on a TV show. I filed it away ready for an opportunity to get creative. I combined that with an unrelated historical account of a monk killing his Abbot in Southern England in the middle ages. Those two things, effectively gave birth to the first book, Scratching in the Dirt. I also find a UK periodical The Fortean Times a font of inspiration – it documents real accounts of the weird and wonderful. I can’t get through one of those magazines without a zillion story-lines jumping out at me! I have an upcoming full-length novel which was inspired by one 50 word report from that magazine. Another technique I use is to use a deck of Tarot cards to help me get some inspiration for settings, characters, and  especially dialogue. Has nothing to do with their traditional purpose, I just find them great as a jumping off point if nothing else is working. [Jamie’s note: I love the tarot card idea.]

3.Of all the characters you have created, which is your favorite and why?

I have a soft spot for Billy Nadig. He is introduced in Book 1 but in Book 2, Taking to the Sky, he really comes into his own. Each book in the trilogy is written with a mixed point of view, but there is always one main character focus, and in Taking, that is Billy. He’s introduced as a technomancer, someone who has mastered the art of combining technology with magic, so he combines computer code with natural magic to control, influence, or just watch events that are happening elsewhere. He uses gadgets like cellphones and computers (“if it has a computer chip, it’s Billy’s”), electricity and radio waves, etc. But it’s not his skills that endear him to me, it’s his arc. None of the main characters are straight up good or bad, but with Billy we see a complete transformation. Without spoilers, he literally transforms into a non-human, but it’s more how he grows as a character that I find fascinating. He transitions from a neglected and dirt-poor immigrant to rent boy, from East London lad to playboy millionaire, from best friend to hero, and finally lover. I think I’m so fond of him because of all the characters in the Written by Birds trilogy, his story developed totally spontaneously, I just wrote it down. Billy is also funny, has serious problems with not blurting out inappropriate sexual innuendo, and a soft side that makes you just want to give him a hug. I loved writing his buddy scenes with the soul of the necromancer, Joshua, and the Swedish mercenary, Soren Huxford. I think Billy and Soren together are hilarious. A beta reader summed it up by telling me she hated Billy in Book 1 – she thought he was a chav (British slang for “antisocial youth” but the Urban Dictionary will give you a much better definition lol) – then gradually he grew on her, until finally she was rooting for him. And even though I don’t write romance, he was the only character I really wanted to experience true love.

4. What else would you like readers to know about you or your work?

As Urban Fantasy becomes a more diverse genre, I think it’s important for authors to clearly communicate their style. It can be tricky for the reader to choose something they will enjoy as most books tend to skew towards either romantic paranormal or gritty realism. I tend to write the latter – old-style UF. There may be the odd romantic subplot, but it’s never PNR; and though sexual themes emerge quite often, any actually action generally takes place off-page if at all.  I like to include those elements that first marked the genre I fell in love with: gritty realistic themes; violence that sometimes (usually) ends in blood; a contemporary urban setting mixed with a supernatural world; some proper scary monsters which may at times even inch over into Horror territory. My stories also contain a good bit of mystery and a substantial kick of adventure. Above all, I want darker themes bubbling under the surface. I also write a variety of diverse characters who tend to have personalities that incorporate multiple shades of grey, from the supernaturals to the humans. We all have a lightside and a shadowside, and that’s something I like to explore (takes me back to my Tarot days). In my books, sometimes the demons are the heroes, the humans do really bad things, and the angels aren’t altogether pure of heart. All that aside, I also throw in some humour to break up the darker themes. If you like the tone of the darker episodes of Supernatural, BTVS, and Angel, you’re in the right ball park. Not the ones that made you cry, but the ones that made you slightly uncomfortable or even not want to close your eyes at bedtime.

5. Do you have a day job in addition to being a writer?  If so, what do you do during the day?

I’ve had a variety of different jobs. I was trained as a business analyst and did that professionally for years in the UK. I then opened my first small business as a Tarot reader and teacher of psychic development. It’s an interest I’ve had since a teen, and something I still do on occasion. Most recently, though, I owned my own pet services business, looking after everything from cats to alpacas. I closed that last year, and I’m now working for a not-for-profit supporting small business entrepreneurs, while I write around that work. I find my current work extremely rewarding. At the moment we have a program which supports high-school entrepreneurs run their own businesses over the summer. I am continually amazed by the talent in our young people and get so mad listening to the constant disrespect targeted at the millennial demographic. These guys are focused, determined, and making their mark on the world. I get very passionate this program!

6. Tell us a little about your plans for the future.  Do you have any other books in the works?

Now that the first trilogy is complete, I’ve started work on my next series called Skye Quest. It is set in the same world as Written by Birds, i. e. in a contemporary urban fantasy world that has just averted the demon apocalypse. There is the same mix of gritty realistic scenarios, that just happen to have vampires, shifters, demons, and angels – as well as the odd human thrown in for good measure. These 5 novels are all set in Vegas and have one main character, a supernatural escort called Sowilo Skye. She is on a quest to free her daughter who is trapped in the Otherworld. Of course, “stuff” keeps getting in her way, like the spirit of a dead playboy, a human TV ghost hunter who’s inadvertently raised a demon during a video shoot, and a zombie go-go dancer. She’s also got a dead husband trapped in a mirror, and the main big bad is a seriously horrible demon who delights in throwing her off her game, usually with dire consequences. I’m really looking forward to this series. There is more mythology in this one, as some of the storylines are based on the legends of the mourama and the enchanted mouras of Galician folktales. The first of this series will be out by the end of this summer and is called Sowilo Skye and the Dead Playboy. I also have my first psychological horror coming out soon. The novel is called Weary and is set in the middle of a backwoods town in northern Alberta. It’s a disturbing but accessible paranormal thriller. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to write without at least a little bit of the supernatural.

7. If you could be transported to any fictional world, which would it be? Why?

It has to be the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’d probably hang out with Xander a lot and take secret pictures of Spike to sell on the internet for oodles of cash. I’d also reveal Caleb’s eye-removing plans to him ahead of time, so we could figure out a defense. Poor Xander, now that was dark scene. I’d also insist on singing in Once More With Feeling, so that even Sarah Michelle Gellar would sound good when compared to my caterwauling. It would be great fun!

8. You’re in a tavern, and a dwarf challenges you to a duel. What do you do? What you do the same thing if the challenger were an ogre? Why or why not?

I would whip out my cards and read his fortune. Of course, the fortune would be good, and it would only come into effect if he spared my life. With the ogre, I’d give him a teddy bear; they may be big and tough, but inside they have soft-gooey centres. [Jamie’s note: LOL! This is a great solution that I never would have thought of.]

Where can we find you online? 

Blog: https://smhenley.com/blog/

Website: https://smhenley.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smhauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SM_Henley

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/S.M.-Henley/e/B06XH15DLM/

My books are available at all ebook retailers. To find out more go to: https://smhenley.com/books/written-by-birds/

Taking to the Sky

Billy’s life is just sex, tech, and magic. So how will he cope when things get serious? End-of-the-world serious.

For rich technomancer Billy Nadig, life’s a game: he lives in a cool East London penthouse, has a bedroom stocked with blond-haired lovelies, and an unhealthy obsession with women’s shoes. But when Billy is told he’s a Sleeper, awoken by Heaven to stop his best friend—a half-vampire girl—make a decision which could destroy the world, even he realizes its time to get serious.

Billy’s agonizing transformation couldn’t come at a worse time: demons are rising, evil angels take center stage, and a blond-haired mercenary continues to dog his every step. Saving the Earth will take both hard fighting and hard choices, maybe even the ultimate sacrifice—to kill his best friend. But if she dies, who will save Billy?

Taking to the Sky is the second in the Written by Birds trilogy and is an adult urban fantasy novel set on the streets of modern-day London, Las Vegas, and Boston. It treads lightly in the darkness, with not a small amount of blood and gritty humor. Just ask the birds…

Excerpt

Billy was still sitting there when he noticed the young man loitering by the garbage bin just off to his right. Actually, more like fourteen or fifteen, he seemed to be looking for discarded food, and had found some sort of Chinese concoction in a takeout box. He was peering at it cautiously as though expecting something to jump out at him. Sensible thinking, bruv.

The boy didn’t seem to find what he was looking for and dumped the carton back in the garbage before reaching down further, up to his armpit in discarded newspapers, food wrappers, used tissues, and condoms (Billy assumed).

This time, the boy seemed to come up trumps. He grinned and pulled out—a rat. A full grown brown rat which was very much alive and wiggling, dangling by his tail from the tips of the boy’s fingers.

Billy lurched backward, even from his safe distance away. He didn’t have any particular phobias, but rodents generally were a sticking point, and rats especially.

He continued to watch in fascination.

The boy held the rat above his head and looked deep into its eyes. The animal twisted its whole body away from the gaze as far as it could, bucking almost perpendicular to the fingers that held it tight, a position its little body could not maintain for long before gravity pulled it down.

As the rat fell back, the boy opened his mouth and bit its head right off.

Billy’s own mouth dropped open. He stared in silent but fascinated horror as the boy threw the still twitching remains into the garbage bin and picked the severed head back out of his mouth. He examined it closely, stuck in a dirty finger to gouge out what remained of the neck, and sucked enthusiastically through the hole he had made. Even at the distance, it sounded to Billy like chunky soup being sucked through a wide straw, stuck pieces suddenly releasing with a satisfying slurp.

“Bloody hell!” Billy couldn’t help himself.

The boy looked up at him and shrugged, then added the remains of the rat’s head, now just empty bone housed in a furry brown skin bag, to the discarded body in the garbage and shuffled over.

Billy instinctively moved back around to the driver’s door of the Jeep, not wanting to get too close to this rat-eating teen.

“Whatchadoin?” the boy asked.

“Errm, nothing much.” Self-preservation made Billy feel he should be noncommittal, but he couldn’t stop himself adding, “Nice supper?”

“Eh! I like ‘em younger. Not so tough.” He was still chewing. Okay then!

“You gonna finish that coffee?” the boy asked.

“Probably not now, no.” Billy was feeling decidedly queasy and held it out. “Do you want it?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” He took the remains of the proffered coffee, smelled it, and sipped at it cautiously, as though it might be quite distasteful. Oh, the irony.

It met with his approval and he nodded a little. “Later.” He briefly flashed deep red eyes in Billy’s direction, then turned and wandered back down onto the beach, kicking sand and picking at his teeth with his black-filled fingernails.

Jamie’s Note:

After reading the above, I was intrigued and went straight to Amazon to get the first book in the series. This is the first time this has happened since I started publishing these interviews. If you find S. M. Henley as fascinating as I did,  you will be pleased to learn that Scratching in the Dirt is free. You can get it here:

Character as Action

Today, I want to talk about developing character by focusing on the character’s actions or what the character does.

It is far better to let the reader know the character’s thoughts, emotions, and personality by what s/he does than by simply telling the reader. In other words, the old adage, “show, don’t tell.” If you tell the reader that your character is ghoulish, it has little emotional impact. It also isn’t very precise. What exactly do you mean by ghoulish? Much better to show the character acting ghoulishly. Read the following passages from The Ghost in Exile:

Warily, The Ghost followed Zotico down the corridor to the high priest’s office. It was large, the walls covered with instruments of war—swords, shields, battle axes, and plaques ornamented with what looked suspiciously like human ears. The ears were new. Zotico caught The Ghost looking at them and swept his hand over a plaque that contained five ears nailed side by side. “Do you like the new decor? Sacrifices, all of them. I had them moved from our private sanctuary so I could better remember the devotion demanded by the god I serve.”

Zotico sweeping his hands over the severed ears of people he has killed in ritual sacrifice as if they were a trophy conveys to the reader Zotico’s ghoulishness far more effectively than simply using the word.

While portraying character through action is important at throughout your work, it is especially important to do so in moments when a character changes. When a character grows or changes, the reader needs to see it through what the character does. Brigitta begins The Ghost in Exile as a victim. In the following passage we see her beginning to change through her actions with the dagger.

She had to be insane to trust her life to a hired killer. Frigg protect me! No, not Frigg. I’ve prayed to her time and time again, and the goddess has never helped me. But if I can’t rely on her, what can I do? She looked at the dagger she was still holding, then glanced at the sword Sigurd wore. The goddess had allowed her to be used by savages for two years, but Brigitta herself had used Sigurd’s sword to kill her master. Since the goddess couldn’t, or wouldn’t protect her, she needed to learn to protect herself. She tightened her grip on the dagger and held it up. “Will you teach me how to use this?”

Her examining the dagger, tightening her grip on it, holding it up, and asking for instruction in its use shows her becoming empowered to act for herself rather than being acted on by others. Simply saying she decided to protect herself doesn’t convey this change as effectively as her actions with the dagger do.

While using the image and the character’s voice tell us much about a character, we really get to know a character by seeing what s/he does. It bring in another old cliche, which is nonetheless true, “actions speak louder than words.” When a person’s actions are at odds with his/her words, we believe the actions, not the words. The same is true in character creation.

My Publishing Journey, Part III: The Soul Stone

This is the third in my multi-part series on my publishing experience. Click to read Part I and Part II.

In the midst of my unsuccessful attempts to market The Goddess’s Choice, I finished my second novel, The Soul Stone, which is a sequel to the first, and was then faced with what to do with it. I knew I did not want to publish it with the same press. Besides doing nothing to help in marketing, they had done a lousy job editing it and had used such a small font and narrow margins that it was not a pleasure to read.  I also had a hard time getting Reliquary Press to pay the royalties they owed me. My contract with them stated that they were to be paid quarterly, but I never got a check unless I repeatedly asked about them. Since the checks were so small, I stopped hassling about it, and Reliquary Press still owes me money. In the five years they held the contract for The Goddess’s Choice, they paid me less than $20.

But since The Soul Stone was a sequel, I believe that no publisher would want it.  Despite my distaste at the time for self-published works, I thought self-publishing would be my only choice. My husband was adamantly against doing so. To stop him begging me more than anything else, I submitted it to a few small presses (ones that didn’t ask for a synopsis) and was quickly accepted by two of them. It seemed that publishers would take a sequel. However, the presses that had accepted it did not look any better than Reliquary, so I turned them down and did more research into small presses, hoping to find one that better supported their authors. I came up with a list of publishers I thought would be good, queried again, and was accepted by Black Rose Writing. In addition to a cooler name, Black Rose had a much larger staff than Reliquary, including a publicist. My husband was again leering of the contract because it did not spell out in any specific detail what they would do to market it. I ignored him and signed.

At first, it seemed Black Rose was going to be so much than Reliquary Press. They edited my book better and printed in a more reader friendly way. They sent me a lot of information on marketing and had a publicist who helped me write press releases and submit to prominent review sites, but they didn’t do any actual marketing for me, and The Soul Stone sold even more poorly than The Goddess’s Choice. They paid me my royalties on time, but the amounts were minuscule.

I now had two published novels, but nobody was reading them.

Next time I discover cons.