Andrew Q. Gordon's Blog, page 49
February 9, 2014
Guest Author: Sid Love – Holding on to Hope, tour and Giveaway
My friend Sid is stopping by to talk about his new – and first – release, Holding on to Hope. Sid was a friend before he set out to corner the market on MM Romance reviews by starting his own MM Romance Review Site – The Blog of Sid Love. He’s since decided world domination would require become a best selling author as well – enter Holding on to Hope. Read on to learn more about what makes him tick and be sure to enter the contest at the end of the interview.
Guest Author: Sid Love
Welcome Sid, why don’t you start by telling everyone a bit about yourself?
People have known me as a blogger for a year now, who reads and reviews books on his blog. I love reading to the extent of an addiction. lol I am from India, so till high school the most books I read were the ones written by local authors. And one day, a book written by Jane Austen fell into my hands. That was the year 2006, I remember and I read all the books by her back to back. So yes, I am a fan and I have been a Romance fan ever since.
A year later, I was introduced to the M/M genre by my very best friend – “Google” and here I am now – reviewing and recommending books, I find fascinating in the genre, to anyone who cares to stop by my blog.
Everyone around me was quite surprised and of course, happy too, when I told them there was a book coming out from me. I guess, I never advertised my writing skills to anyone.
We’ve known each other a few years, so I know you’ve been writing for a while. Talk about when you started writing and why?
I’d say 2007 was the year, because that was the time I actually penned down one of my ideas on the paper. But to be honest, story ideas have been popping up in my mind for who knows how long. I used to make them up and enact the scenes with one of my best friends back then in front of our families. I had so much fun doing that and the pleasure it brought me – I guess, that is the reason I write.
You’ve your first novella–Holding on to Hope–will be released in a few days, tell us how it felt when you learned Dreamspinner Press accepted your book?
There are no words to express the joy I felt reading the acceptance email that came from Elizabeth. I was psyched, nervous, confused all at the same time and most of all, I couldn’t believe it even after re-reading it twice! Actually, I still can’t believe it’s happening.
Cover art is always something near and dear to an author. It is the face of the book. Tell us a bit about your reaction when you got the final cover art?
I wanted to kiss Paul’s feet and worship him forever. God! That man is so talented! The cover art is the exact replica of what I had described my dream cover-art to be. So, picture a guy staring wide-eyed at his laptop screen with his mouth hanging open … that’d be me finding my final cover art in my mailbox!
Okay, let’s talk specifics; tell us a bit more about Holding on to Hope.
The blurb says it all actually. It’s a paranormal story which is written breaking most of the cliché’s in the genre. In this story, vampires are evil and let me be clear on this – neither of my main characters are vampires. Secondly, the whole story is written from Leslie’s POV (Leslie is Brad’s best friend and her involvement is the heart and soul of the storyline). That is done for a reason – readers will understand once they read the story.
Where did the inspiration come from for these characters?
There has been a trend after the infamous Twilight books became popular and one after another books based on vampire-human relationships kept coming. I was truly tired and sick of them all. I used to think, the basic instinct of a vampire is to feed on human blood and a relationship working that way was beyond me! That’s where the villains in my story came from. I wanted all of them to be the bad guys and my main characters (Brad and Leslie) would find themselves pulled into the whole bloody mess.
Your book is set in the United States, but you live in India, have you been to the US and if not, talk a bit about how you make sure your book is accurate?
No I haven’t been to the US before and that I found to be a challenge in my writing process. But go fetch me on Facebook and you will find me surrounded by some amazing friends who live in the US (you included, Andrew!). They tell me about it all the time, send me pictures and point me in the right direction to carry on my research. A couple of them even beta-read for me and told me if there seemed to be an issue.
Tell us something interesting that is not in the blurb?
I think I have shared a lot above and I don’t know if it’s interesting enough or not but I wrote this story last year for the Spring Anthology on GayAuthors site and the theme was “A Night to Remember”. The plot just came to me after reading those words.
One thing that might interest the readers is that this book is the first in a WIP series. 
Have you ever based characters on anyone you know?
Not fully, but yes, my characters do possess certain qualities of people around me. It’s a mix and match process, I think, and that usually ends up giving me characters that have entertaining personalities. The ones I love to work with!
What’s your favorite part of the writing process?
My favorite would be coming up with perfect names for my characters.
What’s your least favorite?
That would be writing a scene where your main character is depressed or hurting a lot. It sucks to see them suffering.
Since there is always another story to tell, what are you working on now?
I am working on multiple books as of now. One is the sequel to Holding on to Hope and I have some great ideas for it. Hopefully it should be done before April. My second WIP is a novel that only you and a few others know about. It involves the delicious white collar men (Yes, Andy, delicious they are!) and the concept is somewhat challenging. That’s all I can tell you right now.
What have you read lately that most people haven’t read but should?
Holding on to Hope by Sid Love 
Nice try, but that book isn’t in print yet. Try again.
What? That doesn’t qualify? Oh well! lol I read this amazing sci-fi book by Libby Drew called “Paradox Lost”. It had everything I loved in a book – time-travel, action, drama, hunky men, great sex, romance … and so much more!
There should be a review on my blog soon. But, really people, just go and buy it!
If you could meet any writer, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
Jane Austen and Agatha Christie… I know you asked one but these two ladies have really impressed me with their writing skills. But I especially would have loved to meet Ms. Austen because while she only had countable books written over the years, these books are still selling hot! I praise this author for her story-telling abilities and I think there will never ever be an author like her.
What’s a fun – non-writing – day for you?
It’s either hanging out with friends or spending quality time with my parents.
Besides reading and writing, what else do you enjoy?
TV Shows!! I follow so many of them. Game of Thrones is my top favorite at the moment and I can hardly wait for the fourth season to begin. Till last year, Fringe used to be up there at the top but then it was cancelled and I am still so upset about it! But well, it will always be my favorite.
Very close up there are both Moffat creations – Doctor Who & Sherlock, followed by HIMYM, TVD, Grey’s Anatomy, Elementary, Glee, Suits and Supernatural!!
Last question is all yours – feel free to talk about anything you want your readers to know about you, your book, anything at all.
Don’t forget – 14th February is the date! If and when you read the book, do let me know what you thought of it. I would really like to hear your views and opinions!
Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sid.love.16?ref=tn_tnmn or tweet me anytime: https://twitter.com/FatefulMercy, or simply e-mail me at sidlovethewriter@live.in.
Thanks for being my guest, now it’s time to plug your work.
TOUR WIDE GIVEAWAY:
5 ecopies of Holding on to Hope
1 Amazon GC worth $25
(Click the link below for more details on the giveaway.)
Blurb:
Bradley Parker has waited twenty years for Mr. Right, and on Valentine’s Day, he finally finds him. It’s love at first sight, and Brad even loses his virginity to the man of his dreams. But when he wakes up the next morning unable to remember anything—even what the man looked like—his best friend, Leslie, is convinced he imagined the whole thing. Brad knows he didn’t make up the best night of his life, but he has no idea of the danger he’s putting himself in as he struggles to recall the details of his perfect man. His search may lead him to parts of New York City he never dreamed existed and a war being waged in the shadows.
Buy Link:
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4724&cPath=1042
Excerpt:
“Okay, remember how I said it is huge?” Brad finally spoke, and Leslie nodded her head to let him know she was all ears. “Well, it is. Last night, something happened, something unimaginable… beyond any of my wildest dreams. I never thought….”
“Brad.” Leslie yawned. “To the point, please. I don’t have all day.”
“Okay, all right! What happened is….” He paused, plastering a big grin on his face. She tried very hard not to roll her eyes, letting him tell her at his own pace. “Last night, my dear, I finally got laid!”
When he broke the news to her, Leslie’s subsequent yawn was cut short by the initial shock she went through. Her body jerked forward, now fully awakened. There wasn’t any amount of caffeine that would have made her feel as lively as she felt at that moment.
This was definitely huge, and not just for Brad. Over the years, Leslie had constantly tried and consequently failed in hooking him up with several guys. Bradley Joseph Parker had the arrogance of a drag queen, she thought. He was too picky when it came to dating and relationships; never wishing to settle for anything less. He dreamt of a guy whose mere presence would take his breath away, who would be so handsome that every girl and every gay guy in the world would yearn to have him in their lives. “Such a guy would only belong to me, holding my hand in a roomful of envious people,” he would say with a smirk. “I would look around and say to them ‘Suck it up, bitches! He is mine!’”
Brad had wasted years with these stupid fantasies, and he had remained a virgin. So Leslie never thought the day would come when Brad’s whining would ever end.
But it had. And Leslie thought she would faint, even with the adrenaline rushing through her veins.
“Wha—?” She became aware of the fact that she had left her mouth hanging open for too long and shut it immediately. A smile crept across her lips, getting bigger by the second, and it turned into a cheek-hurting grin. “Oh my God! Shut up. Seriously?” She quickly sat up, hopping on the bed to cross her legs.
“Very seriously, Les.” Brad’s cute face beamed with wonder and excitement. Leslie couldn’t blame him. She remembered the day she had had sex for the first time, and even though it was a while back, she couldn’t forget the bliss she’d felt after finally losing her virginity or the hunger she felt for getting some more. Leslie was ready to bet that Brad was experiencing similar whirls of emotions in him.
“Last night, on Valentine’s Day…?” she asked.
Brad gave a nod. “On Valentine’s Day.”
“That’s so funny.” Leslie laughed out loud. Even though Valentine’s Day never meant anything to her, something this huge happening to her best friend did force her to consider it a special day. “Okay, you have to tell me everything, dude! Don’t leave out a single detail. I don’t care if it’s too much
information. I just have to know. How long has this been going on between you two?”
Brad laughed. “Not too long. I just met him yesterday.”
“And you slept with him already?” Leslie’s mind was drawing up the picture of the perfect guy in her imagination, a guy who had managed to entice someone like Brad in such a short time. She was sure he would be down-to-earth, with an impeccably charming personality. “Way to go! I won’t deny it; I like the spontaneous Brad. Who is this guy, by the way? Do I know him?”
“No, you don’t.” His smile wavered a bit.
“Well, what’s his name?”
Leslie watched him hesitate for a moment. “I… don’t know.”
It took her by surprise.
“I think my devilish side just had a mind-blowing orgasm. You not only have sex with a guy for the first time, but you are also telling me it was simply a one-night stand?” She put her hand over her heart and mockingly said, “Mama Les is so proud of her boy!”
“But Les,” he knitted his eyebrows together as he stood up and came over to sit by her side. He took hold of Leslie’s hand, and she felt his grip tightening when he said, “It wasn’t a one-night stand. Definitely not, uh-uh.” He shook his head, and she immediately wondered if he was trying to convince her or himself. “It was special to me, and I could tell it was special for him too. Why else would he go to extremes to make that night an unforgettable memory? He lit up hundreds of scented candles in the room for me, and there were rose petals all over the bed where we did it.” Leslie didn’t miss the blush forming on his face again as he spoke. “There was champagne, sweet music, and he was a perfect gentleman. He kept asking me if I was sure about this.”
“WOW! Sounds utterly cheesy to me….” Leslie said, although she was quite impressed by all of it and maybe a bit jealous too.
Brad let go of her hand and sighed. “It was damn romantic.”
Leslie moved her gaze around the dorm room, scrutinizing it. “I am guessing it wasn’t here you did it then?” She inquired, turning to face him and watched him slowly crossing his legs like she had.
“No, he took me to his place.” Brad had his mouth open to probably add something more, but he stopped abruptly, scrunched his nose up, and glanced at her with some doubt. “I think it was his place… I don’t know. Where else would he take me?”
Leslie noticed uncertainty, even when he shrugged. What Brad was saying didn’t make any sense to her. “The champagne! Did you have too much of it?”
He frowned. “God, no! Why would I want to give him the impression I’m an idiotic drunkard on our first meeting?”
Of course she didn’t believe him. “Right, says the one who’d put Britney Spears to shame with his underage drinking. Seriously, dude, I’ve had to pick you up in a drunken state from God knows how many parties by now. So don’t shit me by saying you didn’t have any amount of alcohol in you last night.”
Brad reddened and carefully said, “I may have had a little bit of alcohol.”
Typical. Leslie rolled her eyes. “Weren’t you at Ian’s party last night?” She tried to keep her face straight as she asked. The party he had gone to was for all the single men and ladies from their college. Leslie knew exactly how that turned out every year by the end of the night.
He gave a nod in reply.
“Well, maybe you did it at his place?”
“No, it can’t be because we were partying at a nightclub last night.”
“Since when do nightclubs allow in a bunch of twenty year-olds?” she asked, certain they must have been stopped at the door for IDs. She couldn’t say about the others, but Brad’s cute baby face did give away his age.
“They don’t, but Ian somehow knew a few guys working at this nightclub that we went to, so we were able to sneak in.” He grinned.
Leslie suddenly wished she could have joined them. “Lucky you!” Now she couldn’t wait for May to arrive; that was when she turned twenty-one. She had been planning it in her mind forever. “So you met this mysterious guy in that club?”
“Yes, I think so.” Brad chewed on his lower lip.
“Well, what did he say to you? What did he look like?”
Brad turned sorrowful. “If I only knew….” He hung his head down and began to pull on his hair. “Fuck, Les!” He yelled, then looked up, scowling at her. “I can’t seem to remember any of it. The only thing that has managed to stay stuck in my memory is the mind-blowing sex that I had with him. I even remember all the positions we did it in, and God, that guy has the stamina of a wild lion, I tell you.”
Bio:
Sid Love grew up in one of busiest cities in the world, Mumbai, listening to the excerpts of Indian epics from his father every night. While it served as an inspiration back in time, he has always had an ambitious mind. In 2007, when he had just turned sixteen, he decided that he would make his lifelong dream come true—to become a well-known, respected author some day.
Ask him and he would refuse to accept that he is obsessed with books. Or movies. Or TV shows. Addicted may even be the right word. He is a die-hard fan of Jane Austen’s romance novels and loves to reread them time and again.
Social Media Links:
Blog: http://sidlove.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sid.love.16?ref=tn_tnmn
FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/428135920611583/?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FatefulMercy
February 7, 2014
Guest Author Jana Denardo
Today’s guest is Jana Denardo – who’s newest book - Kept Tears - is in a genre I don’t get to read much – Urban Fantasy. I was particularly interested in her answers so I could learn more about her, her book and the genre.
Guest Author – Jana Denardo:
Welcome why don’t you start by telling everyone a bit about yourself.
Hi all, thanks for stopping by to spend a little time with me. Since I was asked, I will say I’ve lived all over America and traveled even further. I love learning about new places, and a lot of those experiences works its way into my stories. I have a deeper connection to this novel than other stories I’ve told, as I was a VA doctor during my medical residency, and, like Aaron, I had my career plans shattered. After an accident left my hand nerve-damaged, I moved into teaching. I have a huge fondness for comic books, anime, SF/fantasy and all things geeky, which is also reflected in Kept Tears.
Your new book Kept Tears is an urban fantasy – talk about that genre for a moment. What drew you to magic in the modern world?
For my entire life, I’ve looked to the fantastical. I grew up on science fiction shows and reading classical SF and fantasy. By age thirteen, I was convinced my first born son would be name Aragon, much to my parents chagrin. I devoured comics and anima/manga from the 1970s on. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t drawn to the idea of magic. In grade school, I had a Dark Shadows board game, so this draw to the magical has been with me my whole life. I just love the added dimensions magic gives to life.
Did you find it hard to work in the ‘world building’ to establish Rhys yet keep ‘consistent’ with the modern world you were setting things in?
Not so much, really, but I think it had a lot to do with setting it where I grew up. I was born and raised in a small country town (the one I have Aaron’s mother in, more or less) within twenty-five miles of Pittsburgh, PA. I know Pittsburgh well. My brother went to Pitt, as did many friends, so I spent a lot of time on its campus. Almost every restaurant in the novel and everywhere their dates take place are real, and I’ve been to most of them. That really helped me keep it consistent. In fact, in Kept Tears, the ‘real world’ has no idea that the magic is out there.
It was a little more difficult with Rhys’s fae world. I didn’t get to do much with it this time, but most of it came from reading our folklore and myths and tweaking them. I didn’t have to do a lot of building for the Seelie and Unseelie courts. I just lifted them from the pages of fairy tales and went from there.
Aaron is wounded both physically and mentally – are there some personal elements to this story for you?
Absolutely. As I mentioned above, I was injured. I was a podiatrist specializing in wound care, which did mean I had to do a lot of surgeries. The nerve damage ended that career in a painful hurry left me picking up the pieces. I also wanted to have the military pay for my schooling, but it was much harder then than it is now, and I failed in that. Aaron did get the Army to pay for his schooling, planning on going to medical school. He lost his arm in the war and had to rebuild his entire life and his career plan.
We’ve both dealt with PTSD, mine from an attack when I was young, and his, naturally, more profound and from the war. I hope I’ve done a good job making this realistic in the story.
On a far more positive note, we’re both proud Italian Pittsburghers, and we’re both geeks. Aaron shares my love of Star Trek, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. We’re both fans of Renn faires and Steampunk. There is a lot of me in Aaron.
Tell us something(s) interesting that is not in the blurb?
The prosthetic arm I gave Aaron is based in part on the DEKA “Luke” arm and a few others that are now becoming available. I even saw one in a technology commercial last night. I find these beyond fascinating. Up until now, upper limb prostheses have been, for the most part, non-functional and heavy. The new limb prostheses are light and they move. It’s restoring a level of functionality we could only dream of just a few years ago.
Have you ever based characters on anyone you know?
I have never fully based a character on anyone I know. I have, however, based a lot of characteristics on many people I know. I try to never really use all their characteristics but blend them in with others. Some of the people who meet bad ends in my fiction are based a little on people who have gotten on my last nerve.
What’s your favorite part of the writing process?
That moment when I sit down and the dialogue begins to really flow, especially when they’re bickering back and forth, that’s my favorite. I don’t know why. I like to write snark. I also really enjoy coming with character sheets, listing out all those little details that make a character who he or she is. Also, I have to admit it, I love doing research for the stories.
What’s your least favorite?
Didn’t even really have to think about that one. As much as I know editing improves my work, I have never gotten a taste for it. Oh, I do it ruthlessly, but I don’t enjoy it.
Also, if I could hire someone to put titles on things for me, I’d be very happy.
Since there is always another story to tell, what are you working on now?
I’m not ruling out a sequel for Kept Tears. The boys certainly are pushing for it. However, I am currently editing the final draft of a demon hunter urban fantasy set in the 1930s, a sequel to my novella, The Darkest Midnight in December. I’m also working on a SF dystopia and a story with my vampires in Vegas. I’m in the editing phase with Dreamspinner Press for my steampunk- mystery novella, If Two of Them Are Dead.
What have you read lately that most people haven’t read but should?
Hmm, well, much of what I’ve read recently are by some well-known authors, Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep and Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series so I’m pretty sure they’re well read, as is C.S. Harris’s Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery series.
So how about The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell. I just finished this. I believe it’s self-published, and it was a whole lot of fun. It plays with superhero and super-villain tropes, and postulates that it’s a genetic trait. Superheroes give birth to more heroes and ditto the villains. The protagonist is a 16 year old boy, Damien, who finds out the hard way his super-villain mother consorted with the enemy and conceived him. This wanna-be villain learns he’s half-hero and his do-gooder dad now knows Damien exists and wants to show him life is better on the hero side. I had fun with it.
If you could meet any writer, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
Agatha Christie. Not only did she write amazing mysteries, she did it at a time when women weren’t encouraged to do such things. Also, I think she’d be fascinating to talk to.
What’s a fun – non-writing – day for you?
If I’m not being lazy, I might be out in the garden or out hiking. If I’m feeling up for a drive, I’m probably off examining some historical site or museum or hooking up with the local ghost hunting group or find someone playing Dungeons and Dragons.
If I’m being lazy, I’m sitting in front of the TV with my stacks of anime and SF dvds or watching me some Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Besides reading and writing, what else do you enjoy?
I love to swim and garden, though both are getting harder since I’ve messed up my shoulders. As I mentioned above, I love gaming and history. I’ve played jazz sax and miss not having enough time for that. I make my own jewelry. And I’m a stray cat magnet, so I’m often playing with them or finding them homes.
Last question is all yours – feel free to talk about anything you want your readers to know about you, your book, anything at all.
I’m a talker. I love talking to people about books, movies, games, etc. (Though I’m pretty apolitical so I don’t really discuss those things). I’m very curious about all sorts of things and I’m hoping that translates into my work. I’m still pretty new to all of this so I guess time will tell. Thanks for having me over, Andrew. I appreciate it.
Thanks for being my guest, now it’s time to plug your work.
Blurb:
Having left most of his arm and his self-confidence behind in the Afghanistan desert, young veteran Aaron Santori has enough on his plate learning to use his prosthetic arm. Attending graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh makes life both interesting and challenging. Mentally, he’s ill prepared for meeting Rhys Edwards, a young-adult novelist from Wales and everything Aaron could want in a man. Between the scars from the explosion and his PTSD, he’s reluctant to date. Ready or not, though, Aaron finds himself jumping into the deep end of the relationship waters.
What Aaron couldn’t possibly know is that Rhys isn’t human at all. As a prince of the Tylwyth Teg, Rhys is fae, with a list of enemies he’s accumulated over the past few centuries—among them a former lover, Morcant, who is back to make Rhys’s life miserable. An unwitting pawn in their Machiavellian fae politics, Aaron only knows he’s falling in love, never suspecting love might be his death sentence.
Buy Link:
Buy it here - Ebook – http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4658
Paperback – http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=465
Excerpt:
Easing his topcoat over his prosthetic arm, decked out to look like it ran on steam and gears, Aaron glanced into his mirror and felt handsome again. Ever since the war had taken his arm, he felt ugly until he got into character. He went to his favorite club, where they had monthly steampunk events. In his steampunk garb, he was like a wildly colored creature emerging from its chrysalis.
Even the miasma of fog rolling off the river didn’t dampen Aaron’s spirits as he went into Steel Spirits, a club that hosted a steampunk evening once a week. It was a step back into a time that had never existed. Scanning the bar with its low light levels, Aaron spotted men in topcoats and Victorian adventuring gear. Women swept by in bustles and ruffles, hats decorated with flowers, birds and gears perched merrily on their curls.
Aaron checked his pocket watch and sighed when he realized he was early. It would be a while before his friends arrived. By some karmic synchronicity, Aaron spotted one of the hottest men he’d seen in, well, ever. Shoulder-length honey-gold hair framed his pale face. The graceful bow of his lips drew Aaron’s gaze. The man’s costume was simple: some sort of mad scientist. The stranger might not be gay. That didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends. For that matter, there hadn’t been any lovers since he returned to the States. He barely had any friends left in his life. Either they had moved since college, or they didn’t know how to handle everything he’d had to deal with since the war.
Lacuna Coil’s music gave way to Abney Park as Aaron crossed the club. He watched the man yawn and thought he saw a hint of fang. Wrong club for that, though pointy teeth could be his imagination. Aaron wanted to talk to the man, but he could barely remember how. It had been so easy before the war, when he’d been whole. Now he was nothing but scars, and just thinking about talking to a good-looking guy made him sweat.
He took his topcoat off. Aaron had designed his dress shirt to be short-sleeved on the side of his prosthesis so it could show off the gears and brass work he had sheathed the nonmoving parts in. Besides, coatless, he could show off the embroidered pattern of his vest. Slinging his coat over his good arm, Aaron decided to take a risk and be the man he was before Afghanistan. He walked over to the handsome stranger. “Hi, I’m Aaron Santori.”
Bio:
Jana Denardo’s career choices and wanderlust take her all over the United States and beyond. Much of her travels make their way into her stories. Fantasy, science fiction, and mystery have been her favorite genres since she started reading, and they often flavor her works. In her secret identity, she works with the science of life and gives college students nightmares. When she’s not chained to her computer writing, she functions as stray cat magnet.
Jana is Queen of the Geeks (her students voted her in) and her home and office are shrines to any number of comic book and manga heroes along with SF shows and movies too numerous to count. There is no coincidence the love of all things geeky has made its way into many of her stories. To this day, she’s still disappointed she hasn’t found a wardrobe to another realm, a superhero to take her flying among the clouds or a roguish star ship captain to run off to the stars with her.
Social Media Links:
http://jana-denardo.livejournal.com/
http://twitter.com/#/JanaDenardo
http://www.facebook.com/jana.denardo
janadenardo@yahoo.com
February 6, 2014
Guest Author – Kim Fielding
Thanks so much, Andy, for letting me visit here today! This is the fourth stop on my blog tour to discuss my new novel, Pilgrimage. And since my characters, Mike and Goran, spend the book on a pilgrimage, I thought it would be fun for us to follow along.
Having been zapped to an alternate universe, Mike must visit a series of shrines to a death god. The second shrine he visits is at a cemetery outside the small village of Ugolin:
Just past the village, a narrow pathway twisted through a flower-speckled meadow and skirted a small hillock before passing under an elaborate iron archway. Mike thought this was strange, because there was no wall or fence, just the arch. Once he was through the archway, he saw hundreds of small metal bowls with lids. They were laid out in careful rows, and the vegetation between each row had been flattened by trampling feet.
“What is this place?” Mike asked, looking around in bewilderment.
“Garden of the dead.” Goran’s mood was unusually somber despite the fact that he still swayed a bit from the ale.
“Garden of— You mean it’s a cemetery?”
“It’s where the ashes of the dead are kept.”
Weird. Although once Mike thought it through, it wasn’t any weirder than preserving corpses, sticking them in expensive boxes, and burying them. “The shrine is here somewhere?”
Goran wordlessly gestured at an extra-large bowl near one corner of the garden. It was big enough for Mike to sit in, if he wanted to, and it had no lid. When he drew closer, he saw that the insides of the bowl were badly stained. His stomach lurched. Blood. He startled when Goran set a hand on his shoulder.
Since we don’t have any photographs of this shrine, my 10-year-old daughter has made us an illustration:
Join the Pilgrimage
To celebrate the new book, I’m doing a giveaway. Two people will each win a signed print copy of Pilgrimage, plus a $10 donation to a charity of their choice. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment here or on any of the other tour stops. Make sure you leave your email address! Each stop you comment on earns you an entry. I’ll randomly choose the winners on February 14 at noon Pacific time. Click here to see a complete list of tour stops.
Blurb:
Fiscal analyst Mike Carlson is good with spreadsheets and baseball stats. He doesn’t believe in fate, true love, or fantasy. But then a fertility goddess whisks him away to another world. A promise has been broken, and if Mike is ever to return to California—and his comfortable if lonely life—he must complete a pilgrimage to the shrines of a death goddess.
A humiliating event convinces Mike to hire a guard to accompany him, and hunky Goran is handy enough with a sword, if a little too liberal with his ale. A man with no home and no family, Goran is deeper than he first appears. As Mike learns more about Goran, his disbelief wavers and his goals become less clear. Contending with feuding gods, the challenges of the journey, and his growing attraction to Goran, Mike faces a puzzle far harder to solve than simple rows of numbers.
Pilgrimage is available in print and e-book versions from Dreamspinner Press , Amazon, and all major booksellers.
Social Media Links:
Kim Fielding can be found at her blog: http://kfieldingwrites.blogspot.com
On Twitter: @KFieldingWrites
And on Facebook: http://facebook.com/KFieldingWrites
February 5, 2014
Guest Author: Anne Barwell – Time To Write
Time to Write
Thanks, Andrew, for hosting me here today
I’m often asked how I find time to write, considering I work full time, play in an orchestra, and still manage to read, and watch movies and TV shows. Every time I have a new book coming out, it’s a question that is asked again along with ‘and how many books is this now?’
Shades of Sepia is my sixth title with Dreamspinner Press. To answer the easy part of that first.
The other not quite so easy question has a two-fold answer. Firstly I make time, and secondly if I don’t write I get twitchy and not nice to live with which leads back to making time.
I work full time at a library, and unfortunately there are only so many hours in a day. Because of that I need to be a) very organised and b) write when I have the time whether I’m in the mood or not. The three days I start the day job at lunchtime, and work through until mid evening, I don’t tend to get home until well after nine. I’m not a morning person so these hours suit me well, plus there is the added bonus that I can set my alarm for eight in the morning and still have time to write before work. The first hour is breakfast, checking email and replying to it etc—often that includes coding/posting a guest blog post. After that it’s onto writing, although I need to finish up by eleven, wherever I am, as there’s early lunch and getting ready for work to factor in.
As I said, organisation is the key. So is streamlining whatever I can. It’s why I make meals and baking which I can freeze on weekends so they’re ready to grab on weekdays as I don’t have time to be making it then. Some days, though I’m tired, and I feel a little too scheduled out especially if there is other things going on in my life such as sick cats, fences having to be organised with the neighbours and family members in hospital. This is where the discipline to write whether I’m in the mood or not comes in. It would be so easy just to turn off the alarm, sleep late and still be up in time for the day job.
Saturday mornings are a write off as I work a late Friday evening then have an early start the next day. I’m not fond of Saturday mornings. Writing on Saturdays tends to happen after work in the evenings, depending on what I have going on. Once a month there’s classic movie night to factor in and I catch up with a friend on another Saturday for dinner and a movie. But, when I can, I try to do something writing related before settling down in front of the TV to catch up on an episode or two of the shows I’m following. Often if I’m really tired, I’ll work on blog posts or website stuff instead of writing as it takes less energy, but it’s still a part of the ‘author job’ that needs attention.
By the time I get to Sunday I’m knackered, so if I do anything, it’s usually email and blog type things. I sleep in an hour later on Sunday mornings – need it by the time I get to that part of the week especially after the Friday/Saturday combination. Weekends are very busy at the library. It’s all go.
Then, finally it’s onto my weekend. Time for some lovely uninterrupted writing time, and to try and fit in that evil thing called housework, and the other stuff that really needs doing because I’ve ignored it all week. Lawns are also the bane of my existence. I’m looking out the window now and seeing flowers over the back lawn. They love the NZ climate. It’s also time to spend evenings catching up with friends at orchestra and for movie nights. If I didn’t schedule in those breaks, I’d just keep working. That’s what I do on the evenings I don’t have something on.
Sometimes finding writing time feels like an uphill battle which I’m constantly struggling to stay on top of, and I wonder if I really get anywhere. Surely an hour or so a day isn’t enough? But then I look at big picture and the fact I wrote about 140K last year, part of which was my new novel, Shades of Sepia, and I think yes, this is working. At least for me, and most of the time. But then, nothing works all the time, right?
What do others do to find writing time, and what’s your writing schedule like for a typical week?
Blurb:
Shades of Sepia is book 1 of The Sleepless City, an urban fantasy series co-written with Elizabeth Noble.
A serial killer stalks the streets of Flint, Ohio. The victims are always found in pairs, one human and one vampire.
Simon Hawthorne has been a vampire for nearly a hundred years, and he has never seen anything like it. Neither have the other supernaturals he works with to keep the streets safe for both their kind and the humans.
One meeting with Simon finds Ben Leyton falling for a man he knows is keeping secrets, but he can’t ignore the growing attraction between them. A recent arrival in Flint, Ben finds it very different from his native New Zealand, but something about Simon makes Ben feel as though he’s found a new home.
After a close friend falls victim to the killer, Simon is torn between revealing his true nature to Ben, and walking away to avoid the reaction he fears. But with the body count rising and the murders becoming more frequent, either, or both of them, could be the killer’s next target.
Buy link:
February 4, 2014
My Guardian Angel Is A Cockblocker – 5
My Guardian Angel Is A Cockblocker – Part 5
Alex stared blankly at Nicholas for a moment. How? And why here and now?
“Are…” He stopped himself from asking the obvious. Nicholas’ presence told him the angel was sure. “Do you have any more details?”
Nicholas moved closer to the counter, still seeming disinterested. “Nothing concrete. Your father is sending his best trackers as well as a guard detail for you.”
His shock evaporated when he heard this new information. “No way, we had a deal.”
“We can talk about this back in the room, but for now, I’m going to shadow you everywhere–” his eyes drifted over Alex’s shoulder to where Austin sat. “–even there.”
He didn’t need it spelled out. Talk about a cock block. “C’mon, Nicholas, can’t you…you know.” He rolled his hand.
“Sorry.” For once, Nicholas appeared genuinely sorry. “Your father was very clear. And if I don’t, even for…that. . .he’ll send someone else who will. Assuming he doesn’t bring you home, that is.”
The person in front of them left, and Nicholas slid up to the counter. Alex barely heard the angel’s voice, let alone his order. Of all the times for this to happen. Why now? If he didn’t know how serious Nicholas took his duties, Alex would’ve half expected this was a joke.
“Go back and enjoy your date.” Nicholas’ voice nearly caused him to jump. When he met his guardian’s gaze Nicholas nodded toward Austin. “I promise to do my best to make you forget I’m here.”
Even with that promise, Alex found it hard to shake off his disappointment. The euphoric moment of being alone on a date was gone. Worse, he had to hope he didn’t push Austin away with his brooding.
“You look dazed. What happened?” Austin asked before Alex could sit down.
“Just…Nicholas had to give me a message from my parents, that all.”
“It couldn’t wait?” The smoldering ember of anger Alex saw before he spoke to Nicholas erupted into a fire.
“Actually, it couldn’t.” He tried to force a smile onto his face. “And Nicholas is probably more afraid of my dad than me.”
The confused look Alex got told him he’d said too much. “He’s afraid of your dad?”
Before his first day of college, Alex’s parent recognized that Nicholas always going home with Alex for breaks would raise questions and they came up with a stock response. The answer applied equally well now.
“Nick’s parents travel a lot for work. They’re overseas right now, so he spends most of our breaks with me and my family. Which means he has to answer to my dad, who can be…imposing at times.”
“Oh.” Austin looked back toward the counter. “That’s rough.”
“Anyway,” Alex wanted to get things away from Nicholas’ ‘backstory’. “My dad tried to call me, but…well…I turned it off when I left with you.”
He pulled his phone out to show Austin it was off. After a small shrug he put it face down on their table with his hand over the top.
“Really?” The smile suggested he forgot about being angry with Nicholas for intruding. “Most people text during a date.”
“I’m not most people.” He wiggled his eyes for effect. “I mean I’d rather talk to you than text anyone else.”
“I feel the same, but sometimes, well you know, we’re glued to our phones.” Austin glanced at the table where his phone sat face up. He palmed the phone and slid it into his sweatshirt pocket. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about.” Alex put his phone away, leaving one hand on the table. Austin’s brown eyes were fixed on him and Alex wanted to lean forward, and gently pull his date closer while running his hand over the stubble-covered face. “So…do you really like it here better than San Diego?”
Alex had never been there, but he’d heard it was amazing. Great weather, good beaches and lots of hot guys.
“No and yes, but I’m liking it a lot better right now.” He put his hand on top of Alex’s. Knowing Nicholas was watching, he almost pulled it back. Austin noticed his reaction. “Something wrong?”
Austin slowly moved his hand back. Alex forced himself to ignore the knowledge he was being watched and quickly moved to reestablish contact. His hand lurched forward, covering Austin’s before he could remove it from the table. “No, nothing’s wrong. Just caught me by surprise, that’s all.”
“Cool.” The smile said more than the one word answer.
They stared at each other across the small table. Even though the café was crowded, Alex had tuned out everyone else to focus on the guy he’d been lusting after all semester. He gently rubbed the warm hand under his, never looking away. He forced himself not give in to the urge to inch forward. Forget Nicholas, the idea that they’d have their first kiss in the Campus Grind held no allure.
“So,” Austin’s voice shattered the silence. His smile seemed more smirk than amused. “Tell me more about the bad boy whose parents almost didn’t let him out of their sight.”
***
Key in hand, Alex almost didn’t want to unlock his door. He’d known Nicholas had been there, and he knew it wasn’t his guardian’s fault, but it was going to make facing him uncomfortable. He and Austin had barely kissed goodbye. Not that either of them were afraid or embarrassed, but public displays didn’t seem to be Austin’s thing either. With no place to go, they kept it to the barest minimal.
Their kiss lasted less than thirty seconds, but it had been enough to get them both excited. The memory of Austin pressed against him–clearly as aroused as Alex–sent the blood rushing to his groin again.
He willed himself to relax and entered their room. “I’m back, Nich….”
A tall, fair hair man held one of his textbooks opened in his hand. He looked up when Alex stopped speaking. “Hello, Alexander. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Be Sure To Check Out The Briefs Of These Other Flashers:
Find all your favorite flashers in one place and read the first 100 words on the groups website:
Wednesday Briefs Website:
or click on the individual links below:
Upcoming Blog Schedule & Brief Update
My goal has always been to publish a schedule of upcoming posts, but that hasn’t always gone off so well. But just because it doesn’t always happen, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do it – so here goes:
Upcoming Posts:
Wed. Feb 5, 2014: My Guardian Angel is a Cockblocker – Chapter 5 – Free flash fiction with my other ‘flashers’ from the Wednesday Brief crew. (And I’ll be showing off the new banner art!)
Thu. Feb 6, 2014: Guest Author – Anne Barwell – Anne talks about her newest release, Shades of Sepia, and finding time to write.
Fri. Feb 7, 2014: Guest Author – Kim Fielding – Kim returns to give us some more information about her new fantasy novel, Pilgrimage.
Mon Feb 10, 2014: Guest Author Sid Love – Sid is being gracious – and brave – enough to let me interview him in advance of his debut release - Holding on to Hope.
Here’s a preview of the artwork My Guardian Angel is a Cockblocker. (Banner created by Alicia Nordwell)
Updates:
Couple WIP updates – since I know y’all is holding your breath. 
The Eye and the Arm: Book 2 of Champion of the Gods (Sequel to The Last Grand Master) -
As I’ve said before, the rough draft is finished. I’ve had some feed back from readers that I’ve got to digest and act upon. I suspect that once I do that and have an editor look it over to clean it up a bit, I’ll be able to submit it by the end of the month. Not sure how soon it will be available, but what I do know is I’ve already started work on Book Three, so there won’t a lot of lag between the rest of the books. Promise.
Bettor to Lose:
For those who’ve followed my writing – you may know that Anyta Sunday and I wrote a novella for a contest back in 2011. We’ve decided to clean it up, add to it and then have it published. We’re in talks with a publisher and it could be out as soon as June ’14. We’re a few chapters into the re-write and it’s going well so far. Working with Anyta, I realize how much I miss working with her, but she has her things and I mine, but it is nice to work with her again. Look for this to be out in a few months.
February 3, 2014
Guest Author: Julie Lynn Hayes
Guest Author: Julie Lynn Hayes
Moon Musings
“O, swear not by the moon, the fickle moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circle orb…”
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
“Cold-hearted orb that rules the night
Removes the colors from our sight
Red is grey and yellow white
But we decide which is right
And which is an illusion?”
Moody Blues, Nights in White Satin/Lament
The Moon is one of the most highly anthropomorphized heavenly bodies, in poetry, music, and film. The moon is both villain and hero, blamed for the madness of men on the one hand and praised for her encouragement of lovers on the other. The word lunatic derives the old French lunatique, lunage, or directly from Late Latin lunaticus “moon-struck”, from the Latin luna “moon.” And of course we all know there is a man in the moon, who lives off of the cheese the moon is made from!
In Greek mythology, Selene is the goddess of the moon. Her siblings are the sun-god Helios and Eos, goddess of the dawn. Her name most likely derives from selas, the Greek work for light. Her brother Helios is often identified with Apollo, and is referred to as Phoebus, while Selene, identified with Artemis, is also known as Phoebe.
The ancient Greeks used gods and goddesses to help explain the natural world around them, such as the rising and setting of the sun and moon. The moon must have been particularly mystifying with her seemingly constant changing—waxing and waning as each month progressed, completely disappearing during the time of the new moon, and then reappearing in all her glory during the full moon.
Even today, there are people who believe that the moon is an influence on their lives, besides the pull she exerts on the tides. One example is the monthly cycle of women, menses sharing a common root with the Greek words for moon and month. Some people believe that the moon affects their moods.
And then there are other creatures that are more directly affected: werewolves.
What is it about the full moon that causes this phenomemon?
An Australian study among emergency patients with violent, acute disturbances comparable to werewolves found that a quarter of those admitted to a small hospital north of Sydney occurred on the night of the full moon, double the number for other lunar phases. Some people were reported to rub themselves with a special ointment, to induce the transformation to becoming a werewolf, an ointment often containing belladonna and nightshade—well known for their hallucinogenic qualities. In modern times, these ointments have been replaced by alcohol and drugs.
Werewolves are not necessarily just the stuff of legends. There have been reported werewolf sightings in Wisconsin that go back to 1936. Cases of people who believe themselves to be werewolves have been reported in various scientific journals, including The Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal. In 16th century Germany, a farmer claiming to be a werewolf was dealt a very unpleasant death by frightened townspeople. As for literature, werewolf stories go back many years, including the epic Gilgamesh, written 4,000 years ago.
For a werewolf, the moon is a cruel mistress indeed, one he or she cannot evade. She must be obeyed on that night, for nothing short of death can stop the change. But what if there were a drug that could control the change, control the beast within? Would that make being a werewolf more palatable? More acceptable to society at large?
When Will I See You Again takes place in a time when the presence of werewolves and vampires among the general populace is known and accepted, largely because of drugs that control any baser animal instincts. SL57 is the werewolf wonder drug, short for SomnioLupus, otherwise known as Wolf Trank. In the small seaside town of Crescent Bay, people come to the famous nightclub Charisma, mostly because of the charismatic man who is one of the best-known supes in the area: Raoul Marchand. Raoul is a regular party animal, one who lives but to have a good time, and who cares for no one and nothing. But he hasn’t always been this way…
Blurb:
Raoul Marchand is the crown prince of Charisma, the infamous night club in Crescent Bay, renowned for its supernatural clientele. He has the pick of any and all men, but he cares for none. He uses them and throws them away again, and has done so for some twenty years, in the aftermath of a tragedy that robbed him of what he loved most in the world.
Alexx Jameson is an idealistic young would-be reporter with the Crescent Bay Chronicle. Presented with an opportunity to write a story on the Marchands, he eagerly grasps the chance to be a real reporter. His friend, Chronicle receptionist Miller Fenwick, suggests they go to Charisma to do a little research. Alexx isn’t sure that’s such a great idea. After all, he’s still under age, being only twenty. No problem, Miller can fix that! Added bonus, there’s a full moon tonight.
When Alexx first encounters Raoul, it isn’t exactly in the way he dreamed of, and he’s sure he made a terrible first impression. But Fate throws them together under unforeseen circumstances, and the attraction between them can’t be denied. Can Raoul let go of the past long enough to find his future with Alexx, or is he doomed to repeat past mistakes?
Excerpt:
Alexx drew in his breath in dismay. This wasn’t going well. Even so, he could not stop staring at Raoul. His eyes met the other man’s. Raoul’s were very golden; he wasn’t aware such colors even existed in the spectrum of the human eye. But then again, he didn’t have any friends that were werewolves either. He wondered if this was a sign that perhaps this man was about to change, right here and now?
The thought was both exhilarating and frightening.
Alexx’s vision telescoped until he wasn’t aware of anything but this gorgeous man in front of him. Blood pounded in his ears and his mouth felt suddenly dry. Having lost all sense of the others in the room, he was surprised when he felt his chair yanked out from under him. Before he could fall, a hand grabbed the scruff of his neck, propelling him to his feet. He glanced at his companion; Miller was being subjected to the same surly treatment.
“You waste my time for this?” Raoul’s upper lip curled back in a snarl. Alexx found himself wildly attracted to him. “I have somewhere I need to be. Paolo, please show these gentlemen out.” Sarcastic much? He turned and reached for the door, but it opened before he touched it.
A shaggy blond with hazel eyes and a cheerful countenance stuck his head inside. “Hey Paolo—” He interrupted himself at the sight of the occupants of the room.
Alexx heard Miller’s sigh of relief, even as he too recognized the newcomer. He’d seen him around the Chronicle often enough, although he’d never really spoken to him. Foster Levine, son of the Chronicle’s owner—heir apparent and future newspaper magnate.
Alexx’s relief quickly changed to anxiety. What if Foster knew how old he really was? He couldn’t be sure one way or the other, but for the sake of argument, he had to assume he did. Would he out him to Raoul Marchand and his burly minion? Had they simply jumped from the frying pan to be scorched by the fire?
Author Bio:
Julie Lynn Hayes was reading at the age of two and writing by the age of nine and always wanted to be a writer when she grew up. Two marriages, five children, and more than forty years later, that is still her dream. She blames her younger daughters for introducing her to yaoi and the world of M/M love, a world which has captured her imagination and her heart and fueled her writing in ways she’d never dreamed of before. She especially loves stories of two men finding true love and happiness in one another’s arms and is a great believer in the happily ever after. She lives in St. Louis with her daughter Sarah and two cats, loves books and movies, and hopes to be a world traveler some day. She enjoys crafts, such as crocheting and cross stitch, knitting and needlepoint and loves to cook. While working a temporary day job, she continues to write her books and stories and reviews, which she posts in various places on the internet. Her family thinks she is a bit off, but she doesn’t mind. Marching to the beat of one’s own drummer is a good thing, after all. Her published works can be found at Amber Quill Press, Dreamspinner Press, MuseitUp Publishing, Torquere Press, and eXtasy Books. She is also an editor at MuseitUp.
My links:
Blog http://julielynnhayes.blogspot.com
Twitter @Shelley_runyon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julie.l.hayes.7?ref=tn_tnmn
My Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3442231.Julie_Lynn_Hayes
Email: tothewolf.max@gmail.com
February 2, 2014
New Visuals
As I grow as an author, I feel I’m learning more about how to be ‘marketer’ (not that I’m not learning more every day about how to be a better author, but my ‘marketing skills’ were/are so woeful that I have sooo much to learn). But thanks to the web and some very smart – and generous -people, I’ve learned a few important things.
Perhaps one of the most important is that visuals are really helpful. It’s easier to catch someone’s eye with a picture, video, drawing, graphic, etc, than it is with just text. I’d kinda known that – hence the pictures everywhere, – but then someone took it a step further and said, I – not me per se, but people in general – needed an avatar that I could/would use on all platforms that would be recognizable as mine. I think I found such an image.
Lily Velden helped me come up with it and the graphic artist is Laird Geoffrey Mead. Pretty cool, no?
In addition, since I started a new Wednesday Brief Story, I asked my friend Alicia Nordwell to create a cover and banner for the posts. Here’s what she came up with:
Again, I rather like it and it does fit the story. So thank you to Cia – who by the way, does freelance covers and banners. If you’re in the market for some, her prices are reasonable and she is super easy to work with.
February 1, 2014
Blog Guest Post: Susan Laine: World-building of the Isleshire Chronicles
Hi. I’m Susan Laine, a Finnish author with Dreamspinner Press.
Coming from a scholarly background I love reading and doing research. When I started writing a few years back, I learned that because I wasn’t American, I had a lot of fact-checking to do even with contemporary stories. And that didn’t even begin to cover paranormal and fantasy tales.
My latest literary venture is steampunk. Though it was contemporary erotic romances which drew me to the M/M genre, my tastes have shifted toward more unconventional storytelling. Steampunk—as a mix of science fiction, fantasy and historicals—has always fascinated me, so I sought the challenge.
I dug in my desk drawers and found a world-building exercise from my teenage years. I have taken the notes out every now and then in the past twenty years, but for the first time I had actual stories in my head to go with the fully realized world space.
And thus the Isleshire Chronicles were born. The first installment, Lofty Dreams of Earthbound Men, is readily available from Dreamspinner Press.
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Blurb:
“On the night of the summer solstice, Obadai Bashim encounters Jules Sterling, a young engineering sage. Jules is on the run from a ripper, an assassin of the Theocracy who has already killed his master. Open atrocities by rippers are unusual in County Isleshire, where freedom and acceptance reign over prejudice.
However, political instability between the Five Kingdoms and the Divine Theocracy has set the theocrats on a mission to crown religious doctrine over science, and the Sage’s Guild is number one on their eradication list. If Obadai helps, he’ll have a price on his head too, but he can’t abandon Jules.
Escaping the ripper’s clutches is not enough. Jules has a mission of his own: to repair a faulty airship inn about to crash into the fortified township of Dunbruth. Luckily, Obadai has a few magickal secrets up his sleeve.”
*******************************************
As you can see from the blurb above, over the years the tales about County Isleshire on the isolationist planet of Nebulosia expanded beyond the limitations of a single genre. What started out as a mix of steampunk, high fantasy, and erotica evolved into gaslight romance, low fantasy, and action/adventure too.
Below is the breathtakingly beautiful cover art by the talented Paul Richmond:
What is world-building? It’s basically the creation of an imaginary world, even if it’s simply adding fictional elements to an existing contemporary setting. A writer has an idea of what the story’s backdrop is, the age and culture of a place, and what kind of people and/or creatures live there.
In order to make the world realistic and believable you will need an overall image and then details to enrich the picture. That is where things like maps, cities, wildernesses, history, important individuals, governments, economy, religion, fashion, customs, and anything else you can think of come in. The more thought out these things are, the more depth the world has, the more believable it is to the reader—and the more fluent and effortless the writing is.
When writing Lofty Dreams I had the advantage of a world I had established years ago and knew well. All I needed were characters and a plot, and I was good to go. The great thing about well-researched world-building is that stories spring out of it on their own, popping up like mushrooms in the rain. The imaginary world provides the context for the story, and yet it can surpass it.
Oh, how I wish I had a map of Isleshire and Nebulosia, but alas I am not mapmaker…. Perhaps I can rustle up one with DSP, you never know.
I had the main genres to draw back on: Steampunk and fantasy. Both have a certain feel to them, certain overall characteristics readers easily identify, relate to, and know to expect. In steampunk, the main features are steam-powered machines and some kind of social issues or conflict, while the historical setting has more variety of choice. The Victorian age and Medieval times are the most known in addition to fantasy milieus, which is what I also went for. And fantasy allows for almost anything, excluding pure science fiction.
Let’s go to County Isleshire then, shall we. Think of a temperate-climate, forest-covered archipelago, plus medieval towns and castles, kind like in the picture below:
The setting is an alien planet, Nebulosia, where the peoples consist of humans, sylvan elves, dwarves/Dwarrow, and lizard folk called sqanata. Steam technology has been steadily used for two centuries, but now a religious power, the Divine Theocracy—also known as the Virtuist Church of the Spirit Gods—is one the rise. The Spirit Gods are the embodiments of basic virtues, like honor, wisdom, love, benevolence, etc., but is the Virtuist Church following its own tenets? Hmm. Steam machinery is declining in quality and quantity all over the Five Kingdoms, which is the feudal rule of kings, queens, and the aristocracy in Medieval type lands, but with a fashion style that is a mix of Medieval and Victorian. Naturally, cities have a greater number of steam-tech machines, while rural areas have less.
So, science is out and faith is in. A conflict or a juxtaposition between science and religion is eternal, a great source for stories across the board, a boiling point throughout history. Mix in a little elemental magicks, and we have three powers in pretty much direct competition.
Of Nebulosia, think medieval castles and steam airships, kind of like the picture below:
On the fringes of this secular feudalism vs. religious bureaucracy conflict is County Isleshire, located on the northwestern frontier of the northern Kingdom of Normar, between the Thulian Sea in the north and the Savage Sea in the west.
The County Isleshire archipelago is not considered a vital region in the clandestine power struggle taking place under the radar far away—at least not yet.
The capital of County Isleshire is the Township of Dunbruth, with Eldritch Castle overlooking the Old Town and the Thulian Sea from the summit of Surf Mountain, kind of like below:
At its core, the series focuses on unlikely heroes, such as Obadai, the heretic druid mage, or Jules, the engineering sage in need of a new home. Neither one has high social standing, great prestige, enormous wealth, or anything like that. They are ordinary folk. But… like anyone really, they are capable of great deeds that can affect the fate of kingdoms.
So, I’m sure readers can identify certain aspects of the world created here. Steam tech for steampunk, wood elves and mages in fantasy, and physical action and a threat of warfare of adventures. As I’ve stated before, Isleshire is a mix of Medieval and Victorian style periods, with added fantasy elements.
I wanted Isleshire to be a place of four seasons and wilderness nature, with a strong presence of civilization (the County and the Township), and yet the threat of the unknown (the Savage Sea, anything from Air pirates to Goblin hordes, not to mention Dwarrow armies) looms close by.
A large portion of the planet is, as of yet, unexplored. The Five Kingdoms are located on a large continent called Ninthaca, which is about the size of Asia and Africa put together. In the middle of it lies Heartmist Sea, and in the center of that rises Palusia, which is the largest island in the known world (think Madagascar) and the seat of the High King of Nebulosia (a rather pompous title since he doesn’t actually control the whole planet).
As I had such a clear mental image of Isleshire, I sought to create the other kingdoms with very different or opposing features.
The below image is the one that gave me the inspiration for Palusia, the jungle kingdom with swamps and woods, and steam-powered aerial cableways used as public transportation. So, look at the picture and in your imagination attach a cable to the airship you see there. Woods are very important to the Palusian culture and peoples because the trees are typically housed by dryads and because of the stark history when humanity were enslaved by the Sylvan Empire.
Above the mountainous jungles of Palusia glides Skyshore, the sovereign airlands of the Divine Theocracy. Formerly, they belonged to the Sylvan Empire, but the wood elves are long gone.
Basically, Skyshore is a group of floating pieces of land high up in the skies, brought and held together with chains and bridges. Anyone who has seen Avatar knows what flying islands look like.
But below is a picture anyway:
Oh, there are so many untold tales, so many deeper details to the fantastical steampunk world created here.
Unfortunately I have to stop somewhere, or risk revealing too much.
But a teaser excerpt….
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Excerpt:
Obadai pointed toward the keel of the ship. “There’s a docking port down there. Well, it’s a loading dock, really. It’s best for us since we need to get into the engine room. There are two other places to dock closer to the main deck, but we’ll want to avoid those since we don’t have a reservation or the proper attire. We’d stand out like a couple of sore thumbs.”
Indeed, as Obadai had known, there was a round opening at the keel of the airship, a metallic grate before it, blocking entry.
As they approached, a series of bells rang in different tones, most likely to signal an approaching vessel. With a metallic grinding sound and some additional jingling of the mechanism, the grate shifted aside, and a wooden pier with metal struts and railings extended from inside the airship.
A parking valet walked out onto the plank, which swayed with the rough winds at this altitude. Obadai saw Jules swallow nervously.
“Ever been up here?”
Jules shook his head. “No. My master always repaired the engines here himself.”
“You afraid of heights?”
“No, not of heights. Yes, of falling down from said heights to my death below.”
Obadai chuckled. “That’s just common sense. Other than the fey, we weren’t meant to fly, I think.” Perhaps it was just his love of the earth that made him say that.
The valet grabbed their mooring rope, pulled them close to the edge of the pier, and moved aside enough to let Obadai and Jules climb out of the basket and onto the gangway. Even if the gangway was made of metal, Obadai felt queasy standing on it with far too much air between him and solid ground. A part of him felt disconnected with the source of his magickal powers, but needs must. He would return soon and kiss the soil beneath him. A couple of times, just to be on the safe side.
“How long will you be staying, sir?” the valet asked courteously, his dark-gold tavern service uniform untarnished and spotless, most likely costing more than Obadai earned in a month. It looked quite appealing on a lean young man like this, but Obadai suppressed such thoughts as untimely.
“A few hours.” Obadai nodded toward Jules. “We’re doing a routine checkup on the engines. Don’t want anything hurtling down toward the Castle, now do we?”
The valet grinned, discreetly checking Obadai out. “No, sir. We’ll take excellent care of your transportation while you work.”
Bowing his head slightly, Obadai whirled around, took Jules’s hand—noting that Jules was glancing between Obadai and the valet, frowning—and led the way toward the bowels of the airship lodge.
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To learn more, read Lofty Dreams of Earthbound Men, the Isleshire Chronicles: Book One. Available now in e-book formats from Dreamspinner Press.
About The Author:
Susan Laine is a multi-published author of GLBT erotic romance, and she writes for several publishing houses. She’s a Finn, by nature a bit of a loner but keeping a positive attitude.
Susan resides in Finland where stormy summers and harsh winters are the norm. A fan of pop music and action flicks, Susan relaxes by washing the dishes, swimming, reading, and happily letting her house get buried in books. Her formal education revolves around anthropology, but writing is her passion.
As a dutiful writer, she keeps her website up-to-date on all her projects. You can find Susan’s stories through her website as well as the publisher websites: Dreamspinner Press, Siren Publishing, and Evernight Publishing. Her stories are also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers.
Social Media Links:
I can be found at my website and social media, for example Facebook and Twitter.
January 31, 2014
Guest Post & Giveaway – The Experiment; By Alicia Nordwell
First off, let me thank Andy for inviting me to his blog again! This time I talk about my general love for science fiction! Don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered to win my contest! I’ll be offering a $10 Amazon gift card to one commenter! But don’t forget to leave your email, because if I can’t contact you, you can’t win!
Sucked into Science Fiction
The lure of science fiction has held me in its grasp for a long time. From the first time I read about aliens, and alien worlds, I was hooked. A big favorite early on was Lisanne Norman’s Sholan Alliance worlds. Telepathic bipedal/quadripedal feline aliens that create intimate mental and physical links… and a war with a strange feline xenophobic lizard species? Toss in a human colonist woman who was victimized by the lizard aliens and bonds with a male Sholan, the first interspecies bonding ever?
Oh yeah, huge draw. I read a lot of other big sci-fi novels, like Dune, Enders Game, Contact, Freedom’s Landing, Brightness Reef, and many more too. Is it any wonder my first stab at a novel was science fiction? Of course, I’m not talking about The Experiment. My first story was an epic 141k story titled The Price of Honor. I created blue aliens (It came out before Avatar, and is NOT fan-fiction, I swear!) on a pastoral planet. I had all these crazy creatures and other aliens. Of course the writing skills are cringe-worthy, but the fun of alien worlds captured me.
I’ve created several short stories, one with two males forced into an arranged marriage, without ever having met each other. Turns out… neither knew it would be the best thing for them. I used the idea of synchronicity first elaborated by Jung to bring two characters, who come from opposite ends of the world, by a series of seemingly unrelated events, at the whim OF the world… that’s right, Synchronicity was sentient, in a way.
And my favorite world, the one that finally got me back into a novel length science fiction story, The Experiment. It even spawned a sequel which is almost finished, and the plot for a third novel. I mixed fangs and bloodlust with courtship based on compatible body markings that also indicate maturity in a race at war with humans determined to conquer the universe, one planet at a time, no matter what the cost.
That leads to nefarious experiments by evil men, and a human man caught up in the mix. Using a human’s perspective on Caeorleia let me introduce a lot of the fantastical flora and fauna. Like the sympanga trees which don’t absorb energy from the sun, but from any leaving creature that touches them. 
Or the giant, creepy four-legged flying bug that lands on Ryker’s shoulder! I think I’d panic about bug eyes that big too! That’s just a few of the creatures I created for my readers. In the next novel I bring in more aliens, and maybe a few other… experiments!
Buy at: Dreamspinner Press
![Experiment[The]200x300](http://andrewqgordon.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/experimentthe200x300.jpg)
Synopsis:
In the distant future, humans wage war against the alien planet Caeorleia, with no tactic off-limits if it will help the humans get their hands on Caeorleia’s resources. Ask Ryker. He thought he volunteered for a simple experiment that would help his government in the war. He didn’t realize sadistic doctors would turn him into the experiment—by injecting him with blood from a captured Caeorleian, Seral Iorflas.
Nor did Ryker realize he’d be sent to sabotage a planet full of the very beings his world is battling, beings who kill humans on sight. But then, thanks to the experiment that irrevocably changed him, he isn’t exactly human any longer—and with each passing day, as his blood bond with Seral strengthens, he’s less and less sure as to whose side he’s on.
Excerpt:
I’d been living in a box of an apartment before I’d naively signed up for the experiment. Before that it’d been in a group transition home after my family kicked me out. It was almost too much to fathom when I saw the pristine spaces in the city compared to the packed squalor that filled the planet that birthed me.
Between visits with Seral’s family, including another nerve-wracking meal with his parents, and visits from the doctor, Seral had taken me into the city to see the sights and stroll in a few park areas. I’d seen more groves of sampanga trees in fields of some sort of bulbous yellow flower that actually moved across the ground following us like a golden carpet. Those had startled me, but it was the strange animals that had surprised me the most. A little leathery-skin-looking green thing with four feet and wings had buzzed around my face before perching on my shoulder. I’d stood stock still, panic on my face as I hissed, trying to get Seral’s attention.
He’d smiled and shooed the freaky creature off, assuring me it was harmless. He’d warned me away from a large creature that looked a lot like a kangaroo, covered in fuzzy fur like a sheep, pointing out the barbed tail one whipped over his shoulder when one of our guards got a little too close. The male jumped back and ended up sprawled in the dirt as he shot a nasty look at the animal, which had calmly gone back to drinking from the lake.
My laugh had drawn a crowd, and everyone had questions. In their excitement, they were all humming at once, talking over each other. Seral had answered a few, but when he noticed how shallow my breathing had gotten he’d made excuses for us and drew me away. I knew I was an alien, but I’d been stared at wherever we went. I’d seen several angry looks, but most took one look at the two guards flanking us and walked away. I was still nervous around crowds, too used to being alone in my cell or surrounded by unfriendly people who were trying to hurt me.
“Why does everyone always stare?” I’d finally asked Seral as we walked around the city shops.
“It’s the robe,” Seral had whispered in my ear. Looking around, I’d realized he was right. No one else was wearing more than a brief wrap, and the sheer white fabric of my robe was like a spotlight. We’d gone out in late afternoon, but it was still warm enough that even that made me sweat. I was reluctant to take it off, but I did anyway, in hopes it would help me not stand out as much. We drew a lot less attention as we finished shopping and then headed back for dinner and an early night.
Author Bio:
Alicia Nordwell is one of those not so rare creatures, a reader turned writer. Striving to find something interesting to read one day, she decided to write what she wanted instead. Then the voices started… Yep, not only does she talk about herself in the third person for bios, she has voices in her head constantly clamoring to get out. Fortunately for readers, with the encouragement of her family and friends, she decided for her own sanity to keep writing. Now you can find her stories both free and e-published! Oh yeah, she’s a wife, mom of two, and lives in the dreary, yet ideal for her redhead complexion, Pacific Northwest. Except for when she disappears into one of the many worlds in her head, of course!
BLOG * FACEBOOK * GOODREADS * TWITTER: @AliciaNordwell
