Max Ellendale's Blog, page 4
March 5, 2014
As Dreams Are Made On by Faberge Nostromo (Author Spotlight)
Tonight on the blog, Faberge Nostromo is here to talk about his upcoming release, As Dreams Are Made On, published by Breathless Press! Stop by the BP website this Friday to grab a copy! I don’t normally read this genre, but I do plan on checking this one out. Sorry, Fab, you’re secret is not safe with me. *grins* This is a blog after all!
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A stricken starship, a captain lost in space; a beautiful alien girl, marooned and adrift in time; the perfect robotic servant. Can he help them come together and find the space and time for love?
Faberge Nostromo takes Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ far into the future and onto a world where two women find that love, with the aid of a very capable android, can be such a thing as dreams are made on.
As Dreams Are Made On is my f/f sci-fi update of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. I like to think it’s where the Bard might have taken it had he seen Star Trek. It also features a very, very adaptable android who almost comes between my two heroines. I’ve taken elements of the T1000 from Terminator 2, mixed in a bit of Maria, the robot from Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’ and added elements of Robbie the Robot, of course.
It was kicked off by a Facebook group of a few authors floating the idea of a Shakespeare inspired anthology of short stories. The Tempest has long been a favourite of mine from when I saw the 50s SF movie ‘Forbidden Planet’ and someone explained that it was Shakespeare in space. I’ve also seen the Royal Shakespeare Company do The Tempest with Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise) as Prospero.
So I dived straight into my Shakespeare on my Kindle and hit Wikipedia and Google for dates, events and themes in Shakespeare and for images to inspire me. I also revisited Forbidden Planet and a lot of Star Trek. That wasn’t hard though as I am a total Trekkie and frankly, once I typed the word “bo’sun” it practically wrote itself.
Well, when I say “wrote itself”… it was, tbh, a difficult birth. My writing process is steeped in chaos amid random opportunities to scribble. I have a ‘proper job’ where I masquerade as a management consultant and sometimes a random idea leaps forth fully formed, like Botticelli’s Venus rising from the sea, and has to be written down before it escapes. My notes from meetings can often contain paragraphs that I really do have to make sure go to the right email address. One particular scene from As Dreams Are Made On, which took me a few light years out of my comfort zone, was Miranda and R.E.L.’s first night. Parts of that were written one letter at a time on a smartphone. I sat on a train surrounded by suits and laptops amongst a sea of “action plans going forward,” “utilising synergies,” and “granularity of data” as in my head Miranda explored her own emerging sexuality and R.E.L.’s adaptability. If only they knew… but my secret’s safe with you isn’t it?
Isn’t it?
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Faberge Nostromo As Dreams Are Made On (EXCERPT)
A stricken starship, a captain lost in space; a beautiful alien girl, marooned and adrift in time; the perfect robotic servant. Can he help them come together and find the space and time for love?
Her starship, Prospero, out of control and hurtling toward an uncharted world, Captain Jane Ferdinand takes to the escape pods. Finding herself alone on an island, the last thing she expects to find is love.
Miranda, marooned since a baby with only her father, Jacques-Pierre, and their ultra-adaptable android servant, R.E.L, spends her time exploring her father’s books and dreaming of love. And on a night when a mysterious shooting star flashes across the horizon, she finally makes full use of R.E.L.’s adaptability to explore her emerging desires—desires that, with gentle guidance from Captain Ferdinand, help her discover her awakening sexuality.
But can her dreams and their love survive when R.E.L.’s gender adaptability threatens to come between them and Captain Ferdinand uncovers the secret that her father has kept from Miranda for twenty years?
About the Author:
Faberge Nostromo grew up in the East End of London before escaping to East Anglia. He has been a civil servant, a tea boy, sound engineer, a librarian and an IT consultant but always knew that he was a writer. He now lives deep in the heart of Suffolk with his wife, son and too many guitars.
Follow Faberge on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or on his Blog.
March 2014
Happy March!
I cannot tell you how long I’ve waited for this month to arrive. The Northeast suffered a long, grueling winter and I’m looking forward to an end to the snow. Though I have to admit, I’m very grateful for all the snow days we had at the day job!
I’ll make this update brief as I’m supposed to be working on edits for Witch Way. I’m a bit behind at the moment. Last week I revealed the cover for my first YA title and the pseudonym that goes along with it. I just love the cover! I can’t wait to see it in print. I’m still working on book three in the Legacy Series and it appears that Xany has made her social networking debut. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter. I’ve said it before but it’s worthy of repeating, I am NOT the one controlling Xany. However, I’ve granted permission and it has been so much fun for me to interact with my own character controlled by someone else. Shawnee is a little nervous, however.
This past weekend, I shadowed a writing class for children and it might work out that I will have a class to teach of my very own! I’m so so happy and excited about this opportunity! I’ll share more details as they emerge.
Well that’s it for this update! I’ve got to hurry these edits along before I mess up all my deadlines.
Cheers,
Max
PS – Happy St. Paddy’s Day! Sláinte!
February 26, 2014
The Writing Process by H.K. Sterling (Author Spotlight)
Tonight we have H.K. Sterling who’s upcoming title, A Taste for Killing releases this Friday (February 28, 2014)! Thank you, H.K., for stopping by and sharing a bit about the writing process. Happy (almost) release day!
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The Writing Process by H.K. Sterling
Wallace Stevens wrote poetry while walking.
Jack Kerouac became famous for presenting his On the Road book in one long scroll. He felt he could capture his thoughts better that way.
James Joyce wrote lying on his stomach on his bed.
Roald Dahl, Mark Twain, Virginia Wolfe, Dylan Thomas, George Bernard Shaw and Henry David Thoreau all built small shacks outside that they then used exclusively to compose their famous works.
There is no set process for writing despite what you may read in self-help books. It is not better to write as a ‘pantser’ or ‘plotter’. It is not better to do things this way or that. The most important element of process is: what does it take to get you to write? For example: Some writers need music. Others require silence.
It often takes some experimenting and trial and error to figure out what works best for a writer. And what works best may not be the most comfortable; it is simply those atmospheric surroundings and internal processes that bring about the most and best writing from within.
As a writer I discovered my process was rather strange. I don’t usually write the pages or story in my book in the order the book will be read. I write out of sequence because I am typically thinking about the book as a whole rather than in a linear way so ideas come to me for anywhere in the book, not necessarily the next blank page I have to fill. I’ve found that just letting this happen and going with it works well, rather than trying to force my mind to form it all in sequence. I do plot beforehand in sequence so there are some boundaries already set. This kind of writing would freak some writers out. They wouldn’t be able to achieve a coherent story. Yet when I try to write any other way, I am stilted and frozen. I’ve fenced in the very part of my mind that yields the desired result.
I have found at least one similar requirement from the bulk of writers with whom I’ve corresponded. Most of us write from home and that situation leads to all kinds of interruptions from others who may be in the house. “It’ll only take a minute,” they think. Or “she/he’s only doing some writing, it’s not that important,” or the best one of all—no thought, “Hey so and so’s here they must not be busy.” Finding a way around these interruptions is also a key part of the writing process. As writers, we typically interrupt ourselves enough with a million and one ways to procrastinate; we certainly don’t need more from others.
Your process is whatever works for you to get you to put words on that page. Lots of them. In a short period of time. That is a successful process. What is Your Process?
***
Mystery and Romance blend together when competing detectives Carolyn Woods and Jack Heart find they are surrounded by murder on every side.
H.K.Sterling A Taste For Killing (EXCERPT)
Mystery and Romance blend together when competing detectives Carolyn Woods and Jack Heart are both hired to solve the murder of Pete Wallace, only to realize they are working the same case. To complicate things, Carolyn and Jack have an on again-off again relationship. Then there is Evan Jones, a handsome architect— but he’s also a suspect.
Can Carolyn manage to solve the case as more and more murders pile up? Will her relationship with Jack hinder their investigations? And what about Evan Jones? He seems like the perfect man, but could he actually be the murderer? One thing is for sure: someone close to both Carolyn and Jack has A Taste For Killing.
Pick up your copy of Panthers and Precincts today at Breathless Press, Amazon, or ARe!
February 24, 2014
Cover Reveal (Witch Way)!
As promised, here’s the cover for my upcoming YA paranormal, Witch Way, published by Lycaon Press! Don’t be fooled by the author, it’s still me. I am two parts of a whole. *grin* Thank you to Victoria Miller (Lycaon Press) for such an awesome cover! I am in love with this cover. I hope you all enjoy!
Cheers,
Max
February 21, 2014
Xany takes over the world!!
Hey People!
Yeah it’s me, Xany of course because who else would have the balls to hijack this internet thing? Well anyways… Shawnee’s birthday is Monday! And there’s FREE shipping on our books this weekend!! And all other print books, too. So click the link already and get to it! I’m not tellin’ anything about book three. Nope. Not a thing’. Not unless you buy stuff. So there.
Love, Xany
February 19, 2014
The List (short)
Greetings lovelies,
My altar-ego had a story accepted and published in The Manhattanville Review on February 13th! I’d love if you would stop by and check it out! It’s my first public literary piece. No vampires, werewolves, witches, or zombies in this one. Just some melancholia.
Cheers!
Max
February 18, 2014
Thank you!
I’m happy to announce that Birthrite is Best Paranormal 2013! Thank you to everyone who voted for my book and thank you to Breathless Press for hosting this event on their blog.
Light and love,
Max
February 13, 2014
Getting In My Own Way by D.F. Krieger (Author Spotlight)
Tonight, D.F. Krieger visits the blog to discuss the dual role as writer and editor and promote her new release, Panthers and Precincts. I’m very pleased to have her here tonight, not just because I enjoy her stories, she’s also my editor at Breathless Press! Without her, passive voice, telling, and head-hopping would ruin me! Welcome D.F.!
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Getting In My Own Way
Being an author is hard. You have to remember all these rules and stuff. Don’t head hop, don’t enable POV departures, remember to use showing instead of telling, comma splices are bad, m’kay? You want to know what’s worse than being an author? Being an editor by day for a publishing company, and moonlighting as an author in your free time. Why is that bad? Cause you will never write a novel again…unless you can put masking tape over the editor voice in your head.
I’ve seen more than one author who gained a position as an editor with a publishing company. Their writing tapers off to a trickle almost immediately. Once they have a good grasp on editing, the author side of life turns into a drip. That annoying drip that bugs you in the middle of the night. Dink…Dink…Dink dink…*long pause*…dink. Let me tell you from personal experience—it’s maddening. Do you know why this happens? Because we get in our own way.
Personally, I can spend an hour trying to figure out how to write just one sentence.
She smiled at him in joy.
No. Bad! That’s telling. Rewrite it.
Joyfully, she smiled at him.
Awkward sentence with a comma splice. Come on. You know better than this crap. Do it again. Never time to do it right, but always time to do it over. Isn’t that what Mom used to say?
Joy bubbled within her as she smiled at him.
Eh, better. I guess…
Now imagine every single word, sentence, or piece of dialogue with this struggle. Eventually, you become so frustrated you snap your keyboard shut, walk away, and shoot things. Well, it’s what I do. Those zombies really needed to die right this minute anyway, and the book can always wait until later. Except later turns into tomorrow, and the problem with tomorrow is in the fact it is never now.
How do you beat this? The process is easier said than done. Just write. You can always smooth things out and edit them later, but as the saying goes, “You can’t edit an empty page.” I of all people can promise you that turning the editorial part of the brain off is so very difficult. I second guess, I rewrite, and I search for errors that usually aren’t there. The best advice I can give is this: Strap on a set of headphones, blare your best writing music, and drown that editor voice out. (It will scream for a short while, like a kid throwing a tantrum. Let it. Editor Voice is just an attention who-ray!) Get in the zone. Above all, learn to say, “I understand what I’m trying to say here. I’ll come back and flesh it out later but right now I need to worry about getting this scene out.”
When I find myself struggling with the desire to write, I use this dirty little mind game on myself: No editor ever receives credit when authors become best sellers. ~ D. F. Krieger
Stop by and LIKE D.F. Krieger’s official Facebook Page and the Faxfire Series Fan Page!
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Meet Zeara—zoologist, crime solver, and crazy cat lady. Throw a literate panther and a sexy detective into the mix and watch the trouble ensue.
People didn’t just happen to “drop by for a visit” at midnight. Whoever was on the other side of that door either had a good reason, one that she probably didn’t want to hear, or would wish they had once she finished tearing them apart.
Dr. Zeara Faxfire and her side-kick cat, Magic, are on the case when a panther is discovered during a police investigation of a missing boy. The fact the panther can write is only slightly scarier than Zeara’s attraction to Detective Markovich. Add a little magic, some mayhem, and scientific proof of the paranormal, and she ends up knee-deep in trouble. Can she find the missing boy, solve the riddle of the panther, and face her own past before time runs out? Or will the only way to give everyone a happy ending come at the expense of the job she loves?
Pick up your copy of Panthers and Precincts today at Breathless Press, Amazon, or ARe!
February 6, 2014
Vote for Birthrite!
Only a few hours left to vote for BIRTHRITE! Best paranormal 2013 vote at WWW.breathlessblog.com!!
#rockthevote #bestparanormal #books #writing
February 4, 2014
Am I real?
Today I received a poignant email from one of my writing consultees that shared her worry over “improving [her craft] to the level of a real author.”
I hear this all the time. All. The. Time.
At my day job, my coworkers don’t ask, “when will I be a real therapist?” It won’t be when you stop that one client from ending his life.
My patients don’t ask, “When will I really be crazy?” It won’t be when you’re prescribed your first antipsychotic.
But my writers ask, “When will I be a real author?”
My answer to them is this…
You already are.
You’re already an author. You’ve got a manuscript, a poem, a screenplay, a chapbook… you’re a writer. And you are real. You’re a real writer and a real author. It’s the mindset that’s missing.
My response was this:
“Honestly, the feeling never goes away. I’ve got two books out in print, one on the way, and I’m working on the fourth. I still don’t feel like a real author. Even if one of my books is optioned for TV or a movie, I probably still won’t feel like a real author. Why? Because I already am.
SO ARE YOU.”
No matter what “level a writer” you are, no matter what genre you choose, if you’re writing, you’re a writer. If you’ve created something, you’re an author.
If you don’t believe me, here’s the definition:
au·thor
noun \ˈȯ-thər\
: a person who has written something; especially : a person who has written a book or who writes many books
: a person who starts or creates something (such as a plan or idea)
a : one that originates or creates :
2
: the writer of a literary work (as a book)
[Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/author%5D
Have an idea? You’re an author. Write a partial manuscript? You’re an author. Unbelievable.
You are an author.
