A.L. Butcher's Blog, page 78
February 23, 2021
Review – Farenheit 451 – audio edition
Ray Bradbury’s internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 is a masterwork of 20th-century literature set in a bleak, dystopian future, narrated here by Academy Award-winning actor Tim Robbins.
Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family”. But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television. When Mildred attempts suicide and Clarisse suddenly disappears, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known. He starts hiding books in his home, and when his pilfering is discovered, the fireman has to run for his life.
Farenheit 451 is one of the classic dystopian sci-fi books, and with good reason. It’s awesome. It’s dark, but there is hope. The audiobook is narrated by Tim Robbins and from the start he draws the listener in. The action is fast-paced, does not hold back with the darkness and violence but yet Robbins holds the listener.
It’s rather reminiscent of Orwell, but with more hope. The story builds – from Montag’s meeting of the young Clarisse and her questioning of the world, to the mundanity of a life he has never questioned. There is fear, from a terrifying cyborg dog which hunts down criminals to the burning of people as well as books. The Fireman captain is a fascinating character – he recites lines from books and he is obviously intelligent yet he burns the knowledge contained in the books, and tries to warn Montag of the dangerous path he’s on. He’s cynical, but methodical. He is not wicked, as such, he doesn’t take joy in what he does but he also doesn’t care about the lives and the books he destroys.
The final part is action-filled, paced and desperate, and the ending was actually a surprise to me. There is a lot of death, but there is also hope, and the continuity of knowledge.
Bradbury was ahead of his time with this – the almost slavish reliance of TV/media, the cyborg dog and (it could be argued) the turning away from books and knowledge. The characters are well written and the prose keeps the reader/listener engaged. I listened to this in one sitting and I could easily find myself engrossed in the book.
5 stars
February 22, 2021
Finding Forever Blog Tour – Shifter Anthology/Paranormal
Finding ForeverA Shifter AnthologyGenre: Mixed Paranormal Shifter Fantasy, Romance
People long for their happy ending in life.Crossing over to the dark side may be where mine is hiding.Do I have the courage to cross, or am I locked in a world where I will never be happy? Includes:More Than My Eyes – Jessica GleaveWish – K.O. NewmanHeart of a Raven – Nathalie M.L. RömerBree – Gemma ArlingtonTranslucent Moon – Grein MurrayShadowed Water – S.E. Welsh A Shifter Anthology brought to you by Kay Maree. Add to GoodreadsAmazon US * Amazon UK * Amazon CA
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February 20, 2021
Emi Blog Tour – Fantasy
Emiby Ian PrimeauxGenre: Fantasy
One night while waiting for her father to get home, ten year old Emi wanders around her home when she accidentally drops her teddy bear into a mysterious chest. Anxiously going in after it, Emi falls into the chest and is teleported to a strange new world. Not long after waking up in this new world she is saved by her teddy bear who has come to life and grown several times her size. During her journey to find a way back home Emi meets several new friends including a royal guard, a scientist, and many others. Her focus changes from looking for a way home once she begins uncovering clues that her father may actually be in the strange land also! With the help of her new friends Emi embarks on a journey that will change her life forever.
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Ian Primeaux is a new independent author from a small town in Louisiana. His first book “Emi” is the beginning of a new fantasy series reminiscent of adventures like “Alice in Wonderland” or “Wizard of Oz” with a few components inspired by classic role playing games. Apart from working a full-time management job, Ian spends most of his free time writing and crafting extensions of the world created in “Emi” to ensure that there will always be a new story ready to be told. Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Amazon * Goodreads
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Myth Agent – Blog Tour
Myth Agentby L.A. MacFaddenGenre: Historical Time Travel, Science Fiction
It’s 1945, soon after VJ Day. Odessa Shatto, an antiques dealer, is pierced in the side by a prehistoric bone. The next morning she awakens, horrified to see a hideous green slime creeping over her, hardening into a cocoon that quickly entombs her in darkness and leaves her fearing for her life. Each time it happens, she remembers feeling a sense of being thrown hard, as though from the hand of a giant. And the last time, she remembers her trajectory crossing with that of her fiancé, a soldier who has been injured in the Pacific in World War Two. They may think of their paths crossing as a gift, but in reality it will produce agonizing results. Ruttledge Rosenbaugh, a professor of science devoted to his students at Hensley University, has spent years learning from his mentor, whose mantra was that time travelers are constantly around and unnoticed. But nothing Ruttledge has ever heard or read on time travel prepares him for what he witnesses in his secret laboratory in 1910. After recuperating from the ordeal, he spends years trying to prove the existence of time travel, while a jealous rogue from his past lies in wait, hoping to debunk any time travel theory the professor develops–no matter the cost.Myth Agent is a time travel tale, woven of the fantastic, and interspersed with traces of historical fiction.
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L.A. MacFadden was born in Oregon in 1956 to parents who were fond of the great outdoors and instilled that appreciation in their five children. Her father was employed by the Boy Scouts of America in Oregon, Washington, and Montana, so she spent all of her youthful summers in Boy Scout camps her father directed. But because the programs of course weren’t for girls, she and her three sisters spent a good deal of time reading books borrowed from the libraries of nearby towns. Those wonderful days of reading all those books-whether in the library, under the shady branches of trees, or in a tiny cabin, were responsible for her love of books, and no doubt led to her desire to become an author.In 1975 she married her high school sweetheart, then a member of the United States Marine Corps. Later, they settled in western Oregon, near the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, where they enjoy spending time with their two grown children, grandchildren, and a host of extended family. L.A. MacFadden can often be found at home, working on her next book! Twitter * Amazon * Goodreads
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February 19, 2021
Book Spotlight – The Long Night – Lucy Felthouse – Paranormal/Vampires/Reverse Harem
OUT NOW—The Long Night by Lucy Felthouse (@cw1985) #PNR #vampire #paranormal #reverseharem #whychoose #rhromance #reverseharemromance #military #uniform
Blurb:
Forever is a long time for a vampire… but is all that about to change for Lailah?
Lailah’s neighbour, Loulou, is well known for hosting wild, extravagant events, so as Lailah heads over there for the much-anticipated annual Halloween bash, she thinks she’s prepared for pretty much anything. Soon after arriving, though, she discovers Loulou has outdone herself—and presented Lailah, who, as well as being an actual vampire, has come in fancy dress as one, with the opportunity to have a little joke at her own expense.
What Lailah’s not prepared for, however, is the appearance of three gorgeous men in uniform. Their out-of-place getup piques Lailah’s curiosity, and as polite conversation turns to flirtation, Lailah gets the weirdest feeling nothing is ever going to be the same again.
But how will Luke, Leo and Jack react when they discover Lailah’s vampirism isn’t just for Halloween?
Note: This novella has been previously published as part of the Duty Bound with Bite anthology.
Available from: http://books2read.com/thelongnight
*****
Excerpt:
I’m prepared for pretty much anything on my way to my next-door neighbour’s house for her Halloween party. Loulou is well known across north London for her wild, extravagant events, a few of which I’ve had the good fortune to be a part of—they’re always good fun. So I’m expecting something spectacular—she wouldn’t let me help, or even have a sneak peek at the decorations, so whatever she’s gone for will be a complete surprise to me.
The nearest streetlamp to our houses is providing just enough light to show off her outdoor decorations. I smile as I push open her fake-cobweb-covered front gate, duck as a plastic bat swoops toward my head, then make my way up the garden path, which is lined with creatively carved pumpkins, the tealights nestled inside each helping to illuminate the way to the door.
For all intents and purposes, I’m walking through a graveyard. Headstones in varying states of decay litter the grass. Noises ring out periodically—the hoot of an owl, the howl of a wolf, the yowl of a cat. There’s even a dry ice machine secreted somewhere, as a sinister, low-lying fog hovers over the ground.
I jump and gasp as I pass a large tree to find a decrepit, bloodstained zombie grinning at me from behind its trunk. Tutting, then chuckling at my own silliness, I mount the three steps up to the porch, where more of the same greets me, as well as some macabre smiling skulls, blood dripping from their mouths and spiders crawling from their eye sockets. It’s great, it really is, but there’s nothing unusual about any of it. This is Loulou we’re talking about—I’m waiting for the ‘wow’ factor, that extra something she’s thrown in to make her party an event that’ll be talked about for weeks, maybe even months, to come.
A sign with Gothic blood-red print is fixed to the door.
PARTY THIS WAY. ENTER IF YOU DARE.
Obviously, I dare. With a roll of my eyes, I depress the door handle—which has a large plastic spider hanging off it—and step inside. It’s only a few minutes past the official start time for the party, so it’s still pretty quiet. I’m fine with that—it gives me the opportunity to have a good look around at what Loulou has done with the décor before it gets too busy, too heaving with bodies. Live ones, that is. The dead ones dotted around the place don’t seem to care one way or the other.
I don’t bother announcing my presence to my neighbour—we’ll find each other before long. Instead, I immediately start exploring, exchanging the occasional polite nod with other early partygoers as we pass. The scent of pumpkin spice hangs in the air. So far, so typical—more cobwebs, spiders, pumpkins, skulls, bats, black cats, ghosts, witches, zombies, black floaty material draped everywhere, creepy music…
Then something catches my eye. Toward the back of what is usually Loulou’s enormous living room—the properties in this area, including mine, are huge—is a sectioned-off area. A partition, designed to look like an old stone wall. It’s dark, gloomy, spooky. I love it. And that’s before I notice the sign affixed to the arched doorway embedded in the wall.
THE VAMPIRE’S LAIR
A snort escapes me, and I quickly look around to make sure nobody noticed. I’m alone, thankfully—probably the others are diving into the drinks and snacks which are most likely laid out in the dining room, getting their hands on all the best stuff before other people arrive.
I open the door carefully, since I don’t know how sturdy this whole shebang is, and I don’t want to wreck it—Loulou’ll kill me—and enter, eager to find out exactly what Loulou thinks a vampire lair looks like.
You’d think she’d have an idea, really, given she lives next door to one. Not that she knows, of course—I don’t make a habit of announcing my true nature to people. It just results in disbelief, asking for proof, which then often leads to screaming and freaking out. I just can’t be doing with that kind of drama. Therefore I keep my supernatural status to myself, and move around just often enough to ensure people don’t start to notice I haven’t aged a day since they first met me.
*****
Author Bio:
Lucy Felthouse is the award-winning author of erotic romance novels Stately Pleasures (named in the top 5 of Cliterati.co.uk’s 100 Modern Erotic Classics That You’ve Never Heard Of), Eyes Wide Open (winner of the Love Romances Café’s Best Ménage Book 2015 award), The Persecution of the Wolves, Hiding in Plain Sight, and The Heiress’s Harem and The Dreadnoughts series. Including novels, short stories and novellas, she has over 170 publications to her name. Find out more about her writing at http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk, or on Twitter or Facebook. Join her Facebook group for exclusive cover reveals, sneak peeks and more! Sign up for automatic updates on Amazon or BookBub. Subscribe to her newsletter here: http://www.subscribepage.com/lfnewsletter
Release blitz organised by Writer Marketing Services .
February 11, 2021
The Cyan Huntress – Blog Tour
The Cyan HuntressProphecy of Caerleon Book 1by Krystal PenaGenre: Epic Fantasy Romance
She will avenge her husband’s death, even if she must kill every knight in Caerleon to learn who betrayed him. Anwyn thought she would finally enjoy comfort and happiness when she married a traveling psychic–that is, until Uthyr Pendragon unleashed a war on all magic-users and had her new husband burned alive. She’s determined to wreak her revenge, until a Druid boy’s prophecy convinces her to put aside her personal vendetta and learn to hunt the ones who want her dead–harder to do when she’s captured and taken to Caerleon to be tried as a sorceress. Now, if she can escape with the help of Caradoc, a man whose secrets rival Anwyn’s, she will have to fulfill her vow of revenge while on the run and attempting to find the one leader who can unite three broken kingdoms under a single banner. Assuming, of course, she can protect herself from burning at the stake, safeguard her heart from the enigmatic Caradoc, and complete her training as the Cyan Huntress.
Fans of Jeffe Kennedy, Grace Draven, and Laura Thalassa will love the blend of Arthurian legend and exciting action in this romantic paranormal fantasy adventure!
**Pre-order for only .99 cents!!**
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USA Today Bestselling author Krystal Pena resides with her four children near Boston, MA. She writes PNR/UF and fantasy, and enjoys writing stories about strong women who overcome the greatest obstacles to achieve their dreams or goals. Many of her characters reflect her and the adversities she has overcome, which she wants to relay in her writing to empower the young women of generations to come. Many of her stories have roots in ancient ideals and folklore, and she loves hiding alternate meanings or symbolism in her writing.Aside from writing, Krystal enjoys photography, archery, horseback riding and MMA. She loves history and art, and frequents historical sites and art galleries in her spare time. Above all else, she loves being at home, baking and cooking with her children, visiting her family and reading bedtime stories.She works as a personal assistant to other authors by day and writes late into the night, a strong cup of coffee always within reach.Krystal is also one-half of the pen name KM McKenna, which she shares with NYT bestselling author Margo Bond Collins in writing YA/NA fantasy. She enjoys working alongside Margo as both co-author and PA.
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February 10, 2021
Legacy of the Mask – On Tour
Legacy of the Mask Schedule
Feb 11
kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours
Feb 12
Feb 14
SE Lindberg – GUEST POST
Feb 15
Feb 16
Feb 17
Musings From An Addicted Reader
Feb 18
Feb 19
Feb 20
R Tran Books – GUEST POST
A Wonderful World of Words – GUEST POST
Feb 21
Tina Donahue – Heat with Heart
Feb 22
Feb 23
Feb 24
#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog
Feb 25
IndiePowerd by No Sweat Graphics
Feb 26
Feb 27
Feb 28
Mar 1
Books all things paranormal and romance
Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read
Mar 2
Mar 3
Inside the Insanity – GUEST POST
Mar 4
Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin’
Mar 5
Mar 8
Mar 9
4covert2overt ☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼ – GUEST POST
Mar 10
Books A-Brewin’ – GUEST POST
Mar 11
Valerie Ullmer | Romance Author
February 9, 2021
The Duke Heist Blog Tour – Historical Romance
The Duke HeistThe Wild Wynchesters Book 1by Erica RidleyGenre: Historical Romance
A
NYT
bestselling author kicks off a new Regency series of “irresistible romance and a family of delightful scoundrels” as a woman looking to recover a stolen painting accidentally kidnaps a duke instead. (Eloisa James) Chloe Wynchester is completely forgettable — a curse that gives her the ability to blend into any crowd. When the only father she’s ever known makes a dying wish for his adopted family of orphans to recover a missing painting, she’s the first one her siblings turn to for stealing it back. No one expects that in doing so, she’ll also abduct a handsome duke. Lawrence Gosling, the Duke of Faircliffe, is tortured by his father’s mistakes. To repair his estate’s ruined reputation, he must wed a highborn heiress. Yet when he finds himself in a carriage being driven hell-for-leather down the cobblestone streets of London by a beautiful woman who refuses to heed his commands, he fears his heart is hers. But how can he sacrifice his family’s legacy to follow true love? “Erica Ridley is a delight!” –Julia Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of the Bridgerton series Anyone who registers their purchase at https://ericaridley.com/preorder/ gets a FREE bonus book!
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**Get the FREE Prequel The Governess Gambit here!**Amazon * Apple * B&N * Google * Kobo
Erica Ridley is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of historical romance novels, including the newly released THE DUKE HEIST, featuring the Wild Wynchesters. Why seduce a duke the normal way, when you can accidentally kidnap one in an elaborately planned heist? In the 12 Dukes of Christmas series, enjoy witty, heartwarming Regency romps nestled in a picturesque snow-covered village. After all, nothing heats up a winter night quite like finding oneself in the arms of a duke! Two popular series, the Dukes of War and Rogues to Riches, feature roguish peers and dashing war heroes who find love amongst the splendor and madness of Regency England. When not reading or writing romances, Erica can be found riding camels in Africa, zip-lining through rainforests in Costa Rica, or getting hopelessly lost in the middle of Budapest. Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
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Winners choice of ebook or audiobook of the entire 7-book Dukes of War series,
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February 8, 2021
Dirty Dozen Author Interview – Anthony St Clair
Author name: Anthony St. Clair
Links to book: https://rucksackuniverse.com/books/the-lotus-and-the-barley/
Bio: Anthony St. Clair, a freelance writer and entrepreneur, is the author of over 500 fiction and non-fiction works, including novels, short stories, articles, and more. Library Journal calls Anthony’s storytelling “reminiscent of Terry Pratchett,” and his fiction has been celebrated for its “quirk, wit, travel, and magic.” In addition to his global travels, Anthony spent fifteen years in media and business before turning full time to writing in 2011. Together with his wife, son, and daughter, Anthony lives a life of everyday adventure at home in Oregon and on the road anywhere. For more information, see rucksackuniverse.com and anthonystclair.com.
Tell us a silly fact about yourself: Much to my children’s ongoing amusement, I’m incapable of blowing up a balloon.
Please tell us about your publications/work. My Rucksack Universe series revolves around people who seek to know themselves so that they understand their place in the broader world, be that with a social group or a place they want to live in.
The core of everything I write is an exploration of how we make the decisions that shape our destinies. What are the rules we are told about life and living? How many of those rules help us do what we consider meaningful? What rules deserve to be followed—and which rules should we break or get rid of?
We go through this life trying to find our way, searching out how we fit in. Sometimes we have to push back against presumptions and notions from family or culture, so we can understand and live our own personal truths about the world. My Rucksack Universe series is all about people making those choices.
Do you think the written word (or art) bring power and freedom? Even when we don’t realize it, the written word is all around us. Books and articles are obvious manifestations, but even “visual” mediums such as video have an underlying script or teleplay written element that guides what happens and what’s said. The written word is similar to the atmosphere: All around us and essential, yet easy to forget it’s there.
How did you become involved with bundles? (For Bundle Authors) I got to meet Chuck Heintzelman at Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s and Dean Wesley Smith’s Business Master Class in 2017. I’d been aware of his BundleRabbit platform, but especially after meeting Chuck was so impressed with how BundleRabbit was helping authors develop and participate in ebook bundles. Bundles are such a great way to help readers dive in deep on different variations on a theme, topic, etc., and it’s so fun to work with other authors on new ways to put our work in the world.
How much research do you do for your work? What’s the wildest subject you’ve looked at? Travel has always been a big part of my life, and my fiction centers around people who travel as a lifestyle. I include destination research and draw from on-the-ground experience as much as I can too, so I can really evoke that feeling of “being there.”
For my novel THE LOTUS AND THE BARLEY, I drew on my own travels to London, my background covering Oregon’s craft beer industry, and a “what if?” mindset that helped me imagine a London that had built itself up in a different way, but based on landmarks that could be familiar to us in our world.
The beery touches were especially fun. My work has brought me on many a tour of breweries, so I got to bring all that experience together not only into my pro brewer and homebrewer characters, but the beer itself is its own character.
What is your greatest success? Marrying well. I had the good fortune and the good sense to know when I had found my soulmate. Jodie and I met in 2005, got married in 2009. From business to parenting, we bring out the best in one another, and I’m grateful every day that I found her.
Which authors have influenced you the most? If there is one author I wish I could have met, it’s Terry Pratchett. Discworld titles such as Thud! and Witches Abroad are books I re-read and re-read. Pratchett’s characters have to channel other feelings into meaningful action, and his sense of humor and satire is a candy coating that helps us swallow some tricky truths.
What is your writing space like? My wife and I currently share a “corner office” in our house. I usually use the office in the morning for writing and client work, and she uses it in the afternoon for teaching violin lessons. At other times I’ll be set up at our front table, with a MacBook Pro, a mouse, and an external keyboard. It helps me be both focused and flexible—and reminds me that I can work anywhere.
What’s the best advice you’ve received about writing/publishing? If you want others to value your work, time, and expertise, then make sure you show that you value them too.
It’s not uncommon for writers to undervalue their work and underestimate the time and energy it takes to do their work. When I went full-time as a freelance writer in 2011, I made sure to track my time on projects, agree fair rates with clients and editors, and, above all, to make sure that I always got paid. Writers do work that other people wish they could do—the power and value in understanding that is without equal.
Tell us about your latest piece? My 2020 novel, STRANGE RIDE, brought me an interesting challenge. The setting was in a walled city full of skyscrapers, and drew heavily on labyrinths, mythology, and the five stages of grief: depression, anger, bargaining, denial, acceptance, collectively referred to as “DABDA.” I had to extensively research labyrinths. Plus, the city where I live—Eugene, Oregon—is home to many indoor and outdoor labyrinths, so I also got to have some contemplative introverted fun going to different labyrinths around town and walking them.
STRANGE RIDE focuses on a 10-year-old girl named Soarsha. She lives in this giant walled city, in a high-rise apartment with her dad. They lost her mother years ago, in the wasteland beyond the city. We meet Soarsha on her tenth birthday, and see her get bullied by her classmates. She seeks refuge in her Wandering Heroes comic books, and in hanging out with her dad. It’s not necessarily a great life, but she has some good things going for her. Until, the next day, she comes home… but her father doesn’t. She sets out to find him, but winds up discovering truths she didn’t even know she was looking for.
What’s the worst piece best advice you’ve received about writing/publishing? There’s this ongoing discussion that it can be really difficult to publish ebooks to different retailers—you know, upload to Amazon, to Draft 2 Digital, to Apple Books, to Kobo, etc.—because you have to enter the same information over and over. The problem isn’t the process, it’s whether or not the writer is organized to handle the process in less time.
I independently publish my work, and I distribute ebooks to all the channels: Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play, Nook, you name it. I keep a spreadsheet with all the details about every release: publication date, Patreon release date, links to stores, prices for different markets, even the color codes for my cover’s primary color. Once that info is set up, it’s a simple copy and paste job. I can set up a title across multiple channels in less than an hour.
Writers get hung up on the number of stores. That’s not the problem. Most of your time and energy goes into getting the details ready. Actually setting them up is a much smaller fraction of the time it takes than we often think it is.
What’s your greatest networking tip? There’s an easy way to be remembered by pretty much any presenter at any event. It’s based on a simple principle: Everyone likes knowing their work is appreciated, looked forward to, and will help someone.
Before going to any sort of writing conference, take a few minutes to research presenters whose talks or workshops you plan on attending. Then, contact them—through their website’s contact form, their email, or a social network—and leave a short and simple note, such as “Hi, I’m FIRSTNAME LASTNAME, and I’ll be attending your talk on SUBJECT at NAMEOFEVENT. Just wanted to let you know I’m really looking forward to it.”
Anytime I’ve done this, it’s led to useful connections and worthwhile conversations. Plus, the moment I introduce myself, they say something like, “Oh, I got a note from you, thank you so much!”
It’s a simple but powerful way to help yourself stand out.
February 6, 2021
Sylvie Denied – Blog Tour and Guest Post
Sylvie Deniedby Deborah Clark VanceGenre: Women’s Fiction
As she enters adulthood in the turbulent 1970s, Sylvie thinks the way to change a violent world is to become a peaceful person. Yet she slowly sees how a childhood trauma thwarts her peaceful intentions and leads her to men with a dark side – including Enzo, the man she marries. Even as his behavior becomes increasingly volatile, she believes she can make things better with love and understanding. But finally living in terror. Sylvie must find a way to escape with her daughter and a way to claim her place in the world.
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Originally from the Chicago suburbs, Deborah Clark Vance has lived throughout the US and in Italy. While raising her children, she earned a living by teaching piano lessons, selling her original artwork, editing a health journal, translating Italian, writing freelance articles and textbook chapters, working on a children’s educational TV series, teaching in a day treatment program for adults with mental and emotional illnesses, creating garden designs and teaching as a college adjunct. After completing a Ph.D. in Communication and Culture at Howard University, she taught and served as Chair of the Department of Communication & Cinema at McDaniel College in Maryland. Although she also contributed articles and chapters to academic publications, those only earned her a modicum of prestige rather than income. She’s keenly interested in the natural world as well as in social justice, spirituality and women’s issues. “Sylvie Denied” is her debut novel. Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
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What is your writing process? For instance do you do an outline first? Do you do the chapters first?
It’s more circular than linear. I write in snippets as ideas occur, then build until I have enough to start organizing into chapters that I keep in separate computer files so I can I play around with the order. When I have enough, I troubleshoot and adjust the story—is it what I planned? is it becoming something else? – and make some decisions.
What makes a good story?
A story needs to be about someone who learns something, someone who starts out with a lack and acquires it, or maybe has something and loses it and in the losing acquires it. I think stories were invented to teach about a lifespan – we’re born, we live, we die = beginning, middle, end. But how do we change during that time? If there’s no change in awareness, there’s not really a story, though it could be an anecdote or just a joke.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
This is an interesting question. I think I’ll say no and here’s why. I write because I have a lot to say. Maybe some days I don’t feel like talking or thinking or even writing. Or maybe I really don’t have anything to say because I’m tired, empty, distracted, otherwise engaged. Or it could be I’ve started writing something and it isn’t turning out as I expected so I quit going that way.
Describe your writing style.
There’s a certain compactness to my writing that comes from my trying to find the strongest most perfect words to convey what I want to say. And there’s humor – my sense of humor is very dry and subtle so people don’t always pick up on it. I get a kick out of people, even ones I don’t personally want to hang around with, so I try so share my amusement by showing their quirky ideas, behaviors and speech mannerisms.
Advice you would give new authors?
When I was learning to drive, my older brother said, “it’s great that you know the rules of the road and how to operate a car. But it’s most important to know how to get where you’re going.”
I’d amend that slightly and say an author should know what they want to say. For instance, Mary Shelly wrote the first book in the horror genre, but she wanted to say that humans aren’t ultimately in charge and shouldn’t be messing with the creation of life. There’s something unique we’ve all been learning in our life’s journeys and everyone has a perspective to share. Find that something and then figure out the best way of saying it. There’s nothing better for creating a sense of urgency and passion that keep you going.
What made you want to become an author and do you feel it was the right decision?
That’s like asking me whether it’s a good decision to breathe.
