S.L. Dearing's Blog, page 12

Next Big Thing Blog Hop!!

Well, I did this a while back, but was asked to participate again and Lo and Behold, I do have a new work about to come out… So, Thank you, Penelope Anne Bartottp at The Library at the End of the Universe (http://libraryendofuniverse.blogspot.com/).  She and I will each have stories featured in a new anthology by Cynthia Shepp (http://cynthiashepp.wordpress.com/ ).  Paranormal Anthology with a Twist will be available VERY soon!! You can read about my story Bloodlines below!!

XOXOXOXOXO

Q. What is the working title of your book?  The Book about to be released is Paranormal Anthology with a Twist, edited by Cynthia Shepp and Rene Folsom

Q. Where did the idea come from for the book? Cynthia started a contest in September, 2011 where her readers, and several authors she knows, submitted short stories based on a specific set of prompts, there were winners chosen and 11 stories were chosen to be in an anthology (Apocalypse: An Anthology by Readers and Authors).  She opted to continue the contest, which has become one of my greatest inspirations.

Q. What genre does your book fall under? This book would fall under Paranormal – thrillers maybe… I haven’t read all the stories yet!!

Q. Which actors would you chose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Oh, wow… Hmmm, Mueller, maybe… I don’t know… Ooo, James Spader… Or Ron Perlman… Patrice, no idea…

Q. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?When two children escape the clutches of the Gestapo, they learn more about themselves then they ever thought possible.

eQ. Will your book be Indie published or represented by an agency? It will be published independently.

Q. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Hmmm, not sure I’ve read anything like my story, but the compilation will more than likely be a representation of several books.

Q. Who or what inspired you to write this story? Cynthia and my fascination with WW2.

Lovely Blog Award Winner- I didn’t even know I was nominated

Well, it would appear that I have been tagged, no corralled… wait.. offered… err, awarded the One Lovely Blog Award!!

YAY!! I was given this monumental honor by Kendra S. Berni, author of the Angels of Children series.  She was in fact, roped into this… I’m sorry, declared a winner, by none other than Casey Sean Harmon (author of The EverAfter Chronicles – http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17163477-reign-of-the-night-creatures) He tagged Kendra and she subsequently tagged me… Please go and check her out at the following link.  (http://www.kberni20.blogspot.com/)

So, according to the rules, I have to reveal 7 random facts about myself… here we go…

1. I make jewelry with one of my best friends and we have a company called Aikane Kreations.
2. I always dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, until I went to college, then I realized it wasn’t for me.
3. I went through a year long phase where I had hot pink hair… I miss it.
4. I love grits and corn, but I hate hominy.
5. It took 8 years to write The Gathering.
6. I’m learning to play the guitar and speak German, French, Italian and Gaelic.
7. I have 13 holes in my ears (piercings) 5 in one ear and 8 in the other.

Hope you enjoyed those random facts all about me. So, I must choose 3 more unsuspecting individuals to be tagged, err awarded the Lovely Blog Award… so I choose:

Hmmm, well, I think there are a lot of lovely blogs… 3 are located to the right of this post… Cynthia Shepp Book Reviews & Editing, Narly Nut’s Book Lovers and Library at the End of the Universe… I think they’re lovely, as well as the many other blogs I myself follow… all offering up a plethora of humor, poignant thoughts and information.  I call you all LOVELY BLOG AWARD WINNERS!!

Please feel free to post 7 random facts about yourself and declare yourself a Lovely Blog Award Winner!  Have a wonderful day!!

Next Big Thing Blog Tour

I am horribly delinquent on this and I must apologize to Luna Nightwyn and Sophie Davis, but here we go.  I was brought in by the two of them.  You can find their wonderful blogs below.  Also, Sophie is hosting an event on Facebook right now called Fall in Love with Fabulous Giveaways (https://www.facebook.com/events/556374757706194/)

Luna Nightwyn: http://www.nightwyn.com/d/

Sophie Davis: www.SophieDavisBooks.com

This is my Q & A… my interview as it were  Hope you enjoy reading about my writing experience… well, with these questions

What is the working title of your next book?  The working title is The Awakening and it’s the sequel to The Gathering: Book One of the Lia Fail Chronicles… available now at Amazon!! LOL!

Where did the idea come from for the book?  Well, its a series, so it’s really The Gathering that was the catalyst.  It was when the invasion of Iraq was about to take place.  And North Korea was being crazy and I thought, what would happen if World War 3 hit?  But I’m kind of an optimist, so I began to wonder what life would be like in the aftermath and since I don’t believe most people would use nuclear weapons, I cam e up with new weapons that killed people but made the land still livable.

What genre does your book fall under?  It’s really a culmination of many genres, but I suppose it would best be classified as a Paranormal, Epic Fantasy/ Adventure with Romantic overtones and a Horror/Thriller undertow.  that should be a new genre

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?  Oh, Wow… um, Maybe Jessica Chastain would be good to play the lead character… she’s a little young right now, but maybe by the time she’s the right age… wink, wink… other characters, I don’t know.  

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?  Hmmm,  A journey of self-discovery set in a post-apocalyptic world of magic, where evil demands a sacrifice, but love is the greatest weapon.  I don’t know… that’s hard…

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Ha ha… I’m my own agency.  Self-Published and Self-marketed. 

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?  Oh, wow, from idea to finished book, about 7 and half years.  But they always say to write the first book then toss it.  I figure I wrote and re-wrote this book like 3 times.  So I already did that.

What other books would you compare this to within your genre?  Honestly, I haven’t read anything like my book, but I did have one person compare it to the Dies The Fire Series.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?  As I said above, I started to think about war.  As far as sitting down to write a novel… I’ve always written and I think when I finished reading the Harry Potter Series and the Series of Unfortunate Events, I though “Why not”?

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?  Well, I’ve split up the majority of villages by religion.  It seems to me that people follow a path to their beliefs before anything else… before race, or heritage.  My books are really about change, acceptance and tolerance.  That’s where the war theme really plays out… it’s about everyone, everywhere learning to tolerate each other.  You don’t have to like each other, but we should all tolerate each other

Entered Contest, Learned A LOT!!!

When I entered the Writer’s Got Talent contest 4 weeks ago, I thought I would be meeting some new people and possibly exposing some new people to my books.  I had no idea that I would learn so much about marketing and exposure in general.

The creator of Writer’s Got Talent, Bruce Goldwell (www.BruceGoldwell.com) has been a valuable source of information.  From him, I have learned how to do a proper Press Release, where is get listed, how to brand, where to find new followers.  On top of all of these things, we were given the opportunity to learn how to improve our descriptions, or our Amazon Author Pages.  How to grab a potential new buyer and spread the word about our novels.  The other authors have also been a wealthy resource of information as well as wonderful supporters.  Especially, Jim Henry, Clarence Bonner, Venessa Kimball, and Aoife Marie Sheridan.  All of us working together to promote this experience and each other.

I thought I was doing it right before, but I’m seeing where I have totally improved.  I’m not sure who will make it through to the last week and final challenge, but even if this is my last week, I have had a great time and I know that I will continue to learn and hopefully remain friends with these other authors.  The Writing World can only benefit from the symbiotic relationship of paying it all forward, such as we have been experiencing in Writer’s Got Talent.  We are all looking to find that level of success, whatever that is to us.  I was looking for more exposure.  I got that, but I will also walk away with a lot more knowledge and some new friends. Over all, its been a wonderful ride and I look forward to the next contest and hope it’s been as fabulous as this one

Dreams…

Dreams… the magic of sleep… the visions of a future endeavor… the things we want to do… so many different kinds of dreams.  I personally love them all.  One of my fave bands and fave songs of all time is Dream On by Aerosmith.   Just in case you don’t know the song, the poetic lyrics are all about life and growing old and doing what makes you laugh and cry… give it a listen.

The day dreams of being something you currently are not… those are good.  To be a rock star, or an actor or an artist, or a wife or a mother,  or a deep sea diver, or a doctor… the list goes on.  We all have dreams like these, some are what others would call fantastical (basically a fantasy) while others are more steeped in reality.  Or so you might think… the reality is, anything is possible, and although it would seem to be easy, it won’t be.  It would be easier for some women to be a famous musician then to be a mother.  It might be more simple to walk on the moon than to swim the deep sea.  I can’t deep sea dive… I can swim, probably better than most, I’m not afraid of the ocean.  I have too much pressure in my head.  Going down 12 feet makes my ears HURT!!  Oh well, I can do other things and it doesn’t stop me from swimming… my true love.  But there are women who can’t get pregnant and haven’t been able to adopt, so a dream of motherhood may not happen form them.  But that doesn’t mean we stop dreaming… or trying for that matter.  I think that until we have exhausted all efforts, we can make it happen if we truly want it.

Sleeping and dreaming… the dreaming we can’t control.  Or can we?  Some of us wake up… I can’t do that.  Never have been able to.  What I do… I change my dream as I’m having it.  It normally doesnt’ stay away, but I can change what I’m dreaming. If I’m having a nightmare, I change it to something else.  as stated above, it does come back, but it goes away for a little while.  I dream in color… some people dream in Black and White… I wonder if anyone dreams in Sepia?  Most of my sleeping dreams contain real people… although a lot of the time I dont’ know them.  Like, I don’t know them, but my dream self knows them.  And although I’m in the dream, I mostly feel like I’m watching myself go through the dream, but I don’t listen to myself.  It’s all very frustrating.

As I understand it, some people can’t or don’t dream.  I think that’s kind of sad.  I’ve always enjoyed dreaming… both Day and Night.  Personal movies in my head, and although they’re not always well made and are sometimes REALLY weird, they’re mine and I love them.

Whatever the dream you have, be it awake or asleep, make it count.  Use it later to create art or prose or follow it till the ends of time trying to make it happen.  Dreams are the visions of our lives and it is only we who can make them real.  So in the immortal words of Aerosmith…Dream On!!

 

One Door Closes…

The saying goes… One door closes and another one opens.  That door closing can pertain to a lot of different things.  Love, jobs, opportunities in general.

Well, I know that in my life that has happened quite a bit and when it does, you forget that the other door will open.  It’s hard to remember that.  When you depend so heavily on one thing, it can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It’s scary.  It’s scary to be alone.  It’s scary to not have a paycheck.  It can feel like you’re wandering through a swamp.  Murky water and detritus everywhere you turn.  The giant trees obscuring any sunlight and at night, the dangers that live there become more prevalent.  It’s scary to wonder how you will ever get out of the hole you’re in, but you will.  The sun rises the next morning, breaking through a clearing in those mossy, great trees.  The grayness around you starts to burn off allowing the rays of the sun to warm your face and you can find a way to land and solid ground.  We all have to remember that hope will once again sprout before you like an orchid.  A beautiful flower growing in the darkest, dankest place.

Hope is that orchid.  A beautiful bright flower.  Most people think that they are delicate, but in reality they are a hardy flower that never really dies, but only goes dormant.  You just have to wait for the bloom to come back.  Sometimes it takes a few months, but it will return.  Hold on to knowledge that the bloom will return, just like good fortune.  When we lose something or someone that is extremely important to us, it can feel like we will never have that joy ever again, but it comes back and most of the time it’s better than before.  Don’t let the bad things that happen make you lose faith, because when our days are the darkest, it will be faith that gets us through.  Faith in family, friends and the knowledge that a small flower will bloom in darkness.

We need to remember that in the midst of despair, when that door closes in our face, that we have to start looking around.  The reason is because the door doesn’t always open itself.  Sometimes we have to open it.  One of those other doors is unlocked and waiting to be opened…. and on the other side is a meadow full of flowers and sunshine.  It’s full of hope and promise.  So don’t forget to check every door… an new adventure is waiting for you on the other side.

Writer’s Got Talent – New Contest going on now… and I’m in it!!

Wow!!  I’m participating in a brand new contest that was created by Bruce Goldwell (Author of the Dragon Keepers Series – http://www.BruceGoldwell.com) to help promote indie authors.  It’s very cool.  It’s set up like an XFactor for writers. It’s called Writer’s Got Talent (www.WritersGotTalent.com).  There are challenges each week for we authors to do.  This first week is all about the votes.  We need “America” (I wish – LOL) to give us those votes.  Next challenge will be the description for our books that is posted on Amazon.  The contest is designated to go on for 8 weeks.  The complete list of challenges as well as the authors and their books are displayed on the Writer’s Got Talent site.  You can also see the book covers on Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/sldearing1/book-covers-writer-s-got-talent/)

Not only is this contest helping us promote our books and blogs, but it’s doing something more important.  It’s introducing us to more writers.  The writing community is vast, but like other professions, we all need each other.  We need to lean on each other, support each other, promote one another… in general help each other.  Whether it be reading and critiquing each other’s work or helping edit or just being there to encourage one another during the rough patches.  We are all trying to get our books seen and ultimately read and this is the kind of nepotism we, as writer’s,  should practice.

I have many writer friends, online and in person.  We may not all write the same things, but we are all supportive of one another in whatever capacity we can provide.  I love that this contest is combining that mentality with a healthy dose of competitiveness.  We can only help to make each other better and try to get our words out to the those who would appreciate and enjoy them.  So I would ask that you share this post and all of these links with anyone you know who is a reader and lover of books.  They may find a new author to love or book for a friend.  Send them all over… we would love to see them.

Baby (Species Intervention #6609 Book One) by J. K. Accinni

The Synopsis, Netty is a naive teenage farm girl given in marriage to an older brutal opportunist disguised as a successful citizen during the years of Prohibition in Sussex County, New Jersey. After years of enslavement, Netty flees into the night from her rapist husband, traveling back to the farm worked by her parents, where she rescues an unfamiliar damaged creature she finds in a cave in the woods of her childhood, falling in love with the enigmatic creature she names Baby. Together they find happiness and fulfillment despite the changes to Netty’s body wrought by the proximity of the unusual creature. When a handsome Italian stranger comes into Netty’s life, complications ensue as she falls in love while trying to hide the bizarre and wondrous changes to her farm and her body. Netty, Baby and Wil strive to conquer obstacles thrown in their path by life, succeeding wildly until the heart-rending and astonishingly brutal climax to their story.

I absolutely loved this book!! It was original and inventive and beautifully written.  The character of Netty is a woman of her time.  She survives horrible injustices and still holds true her own ideals and all in the late 20′s and early 30′s of rural New Jersey.  J.K. Accinni draws a beautiful portrait of the locale and the people who live there.  This is a dark tale, of hate and betrayal, but with hope and love, but it steps outside the box, delivering a page turner and an ending you might not expect.  I literally read this book in like 5 hours as I couldn’t put it down, needing to find out what happened to Netty, Wil and Baby.  Baby, a character to fall in love with, truly beautiful and charming.  I look forward to reading the other 4 books in this series, and finding out where J. K. Accinni will take me.

Here comes 2013… well, here it is…

It’s been a while since I’ve been here and for that I apologize, but I thought as it’s January 1, 2013, I would start again and decide to commit, despite the obstacles the universe will inevitably throw my way.  The past two years I have had quite a few obstacles.  Loss of my father and sister-in-law, my marriage, my job and my health… but even with all of this, I have gained much.  I was lucky to have both dad and KC in my life for as long as I did.  And although my marriage is over, the friendship my husband, David, and I have is stronger than ever, so really it’s just the restructuring of our relationship,which is wonderful, because we still care deeply for one another and are still each other’s biggest supporters. So as far as divorces go, ours is sad, but still amazing.  My job, well, it was just that, a job, although I did enjoy it and the people I worked with.  Typical issue, company got sold and new company was too far away, so I opted to look for new work, which is something I’m still doing and it turned out to be the best thing, because it turns out, other people needed me and I had I been working, I wouldn’t have been able to help them.  So, fingers crossed, I will find gainful employment in the next few months.  My health.  I have struggled with my weight for most of my life and it finally caught up to me in 2011, after I lost my dad and fell apart.  I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.  But I can buckle down when faced with a horrible thing (and was relieved to discover I did not have an enlarged heart – can’t make a heart shrink) and you can reverse Diabetes (especially Type 2) which I did, but my weight loss slowed and I once again have not endured to get healthy.  I’ve managed to keep the diabetes at bay, but I know I need to drop this excess baggage.

So, here I am and once again a new year begins and I’m asked about resolutions.  I’m not going to make them, but rather I’m going to pursue that which will propel me closer to my goals.  I need to set a schedule for my life.  Now, not so rigid I have no spontaneity, but rather a schedule to keep me from distractions and procrastinations.  A schedule to keep me honest and away from the TV.  A schedule to keep me writing and pursuing.  A schedule to keep me working on all that I’ve already achieved.  I no longer have only myself to write for, I have fans.  Now I have an obligation to them.  I have family and friends who depend on me, even though I know I need time for myself. I have to schedule my life to find balance.  But I feel in my soul that this is the time for me to find that.

The last two years were not only about obstacles and overcoming them, as well as seeing the positive in them, but it was also about discovering more about myself.  I have made new friends, who are so wonderful and supportive, and reconnected with friends I had lost touch with, and found that no time had passed at all.  I’ve jumped off the cliff and landed safely at the bottom.  I’ve discovered now… this year… it’s all about climbing back up… most likely so I can jump off again.  But I guess that’s what life is… it’s about taking chances and exposing yourself to the dangers and once you survive, it’s about the hard work, climbing back up, so you can do it all over again.  Yup, it’s all about that hard work, whether it’s writing or getting healthy or laughing when you’re sad or job hunting or just doing what needs to be done.  The hard work that when you’ve completed the journey makes you smile, no matter how tired or sore you are.  The hard work that you can take pride in.  So, I’d better settle in… I’ve got a long way to climb before 2014.

ONE STAR REVIEWS

Reblogged from Cynthia Shepp:

I want to talk about one star reviews for a minute. A book that I really liked got a 1 star review this morning that it does not deserve. This book had great writing and a great plot. I reviewed it myself and I gave it 5 stars. It was funny, unique, and I still tell people to read it and I read it a long time ago.

Read more… 284 more words

My friend Cynthia posted this today on her blog and I think it was eloquently stated and couldn't be more true. Please check it out.