Ally Shields's Blog, page 80
October 16, 2013
Stephanie Stamm Author Interview & Coffee Chat
Hi, everyone! Welcome to today's Coffee Chat!My guest is YA/NA author Stephanie Stamm. Nice to have you with us, Stephanie! How do you take your coffee?
STEPHANIE: Strong, with a little milk and a little brown sugar or molasses.
Ally: Molasses, yum! That's a bit different, but no worry, my magic pot makes everything! :) While I'm pouring, why don't you show readers your author bio?
BIO: Stephanie Stamm grew up in Kentucky and then moved to Chicago, where she lived for 10 years, before settling in Southwest Michigan. She holds an advanced degree in Religion & Literature, and has been a press operator, a teaching assistant, a research assistant, an English and Humanities instructor, a potter, and, for the last several years, a technical writer. A Gift of Wings, the first volume of the Light-Bringer Series, is her first novel. The second volume, A Gift of Shadows, is in progress.Social Media Links:
Website: http://www.stephanieastamm.com/
Blog: http://stephaniestammblog.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.face-book.com/stammagiftofwings?ref=hl
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/stephaniestamm/boards/
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Stephanie-Stamm/e/B009RBU5Z8/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1370866476&sr=1-2-ent
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6866814.Stephanie_Stamm
Ally: That's quite an interesting background, but tell me something about you that isn't in the official bio.
STEPHANIE: Several years ago, when I was studying pottery, I helped build a large anagama kiln for our local art center. Then I participated in the first several firings. Anagama is a wood-fire process, where the pots are fired over a long period of time, and we fired for five to seven days. This means someone was feeding the fire and monitoring the temperature around the clock. So, it was definitely a community experience. It was amazing to be a part of the group and know that everyone was necessary to create the pieces that would come out. And the results were always something of a mystery. With this kind of firing, the ash glazes the pots, so you can anticipate and plan, but you never know exactly what you’re going to get. The experience left me with some beautiful pieces and lots of great memories.
Ally: Now that we know a little bit about you, I'd love to hear more about your writing. What type of books do you write, and how do you make them stand out in your chosen genre?
STEPHANIE: I write YA/NA paranormal/urban-fantasy. The ages of my characters fall more into the NA realm (18 to early twenties), but the books are appropriate for 14 and up. The series I’m working on involves angels and part-angel characters—and I know there are a lot of angel books out there. I wanted to create stories that built on or reworked ancient myths and traditional characters, where the conflict is less about Good and Evil than about politics. The good/evil conflict is still there in my books, but it’s reshaped. Light isn’t necessarily good, and Dark isn’t necessarily evil. I’m fascinated by how traditions are formed, so I took some of the roots of central elements in the Judeo-Christian mythological tradition and built on those. I used ancient mythologies and beliefs to create my angel characters, but then reshaped the characters and their stories to fit into a contemporary urban-fantasy world.
Ally: What is the best quality of your main character? and why do you think so?
STEPHANIE: I’d say Lucky’s best quality is her loyalty to and love for her family—especially the grandmother who raised her and her cousin Josh, who is really more like a brother to her. Lucky has already lost a lot—and A Gift of Wings opens with Lucky’s grandmother moving into assisted living because of early-onset Alzheimer’s. Josh becomes her lifeline, and her love for him is non-negotiable.
Ally: How long did it take you to write this book, and how long to get it published?
STEPHANIE: It was almost three years from concept to publication. I started thinking about the book—getting snippets of scenes, forming characters, playing with pieces of plot—in early 2010. After spending a few months getting the characters and major plot points hashed out, I started actively writing the first draft in the fall. It was late 2011 before I had the story ready to send to beta readers. Then I spent most of 2012 revising, editing, and polishing for publication. I decided to self-publish. So, once I’d addressed my beta reader comments, reworked to my own satisfaction, and had the book copy edited, I formatted it for publication. I followed Guido Henkel’s excellent guide for e-book formatting and used Aaron Shepard’s Perfect Pages for formatting the print version. Cindy Koshar created a beautiful cover for me. The e-books were published in October of 2012, and the print copies became available in early December.
Ally: Most writers have aspects of their real lives that become part of their writing. Do you have pets? Do they appear in your writing?
STEPHANIE: I have two cats, Zoë and Mina. Zoë is a tortie and Mina a gray tabby. Pets do appear in my writing. Lucky also has two cats, both gray tabbies, a male (Shu) and a female (Tef). Aidan has a ferret (Harley). I’ve never had ferrets myself, but a friend in graduate school had one as a pet.
Ally: Let's finish up with some quick answer questions:
a. favorite movie: Oh, do I have to pick one? Pride and Prejudice (2005), What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, and I have to mention Remember the Titans, because I will watch all or part of it any time I stumble across it on TV, and I cry every time.
b. favorite song ever - or at least this week: Marc Cohn’s “Walking In Memphis”
c. what's your typical breakfast?: I change it up. Anything from cereal with nuts and berries to various things (like cheese or almond butter or avocado and hot sauce) on toast.
d. morning person or night owl: Hmmm… given my choice I’m an 8:00 AM to midnight kind of person. I’m not sure if that’s early enough to be a morning person or late enough to be a night owl.
e. an item on your bucket list: A trip to Greece
Ally : Thanks so much for visiting today! We'll look forward to more books from you. Now for an introduction to your angels...
Book Blurb:Half-Seraph and skilled fighter, Aidan Townsend could no longer live with the consequences of being a celebrated member of the Forces of the Fallen—so he walked away from it all. Now, he has created a new life for himself—a human life—as songwriter and lead singer for a successful Chicago band. And he keeps his angelic abilities carefully hidden—even from himself.
Lucky Monroe is just an ordinary girl—or so she thinks. About to turn eighteen and with high school behind her, she’s looking for a job, contemplating the possibility of college, and gradually coming to terms with her beloved grandmother’s descent into early-onset Alzheimer’s. Then her cousin Josh takes her to hear a popular local band—and she sees fiery wings extending from the back of the handsome and charismatic lead singer. Suddenly, Lucky finds herself enmeshed in a world of Fallen angels, demons, and ancient deities.
Though this world promises knowledge of her newfound powers, as well as a budding romance, it also threatens all she holds dear—for Lucky’s new powers make her and her family potential pawns in the complex and dangerous game of angelic politics. While eluding a supernatural stalker and surviving an attack by sword-bearing rogue angels, Lucky must also figure out who and what she is willing to be, in order to save someone she loves.
Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkhDbKODyeY&feature=youtu.be
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009QTJYLW
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-gift-of-wings-stephanie-stamm/1113483225?ean=9780988304208
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/247148
Thanks for spending some time with us! Come back soon!
October 12, 2013
One Lovely Blog Award
Wow, who'd have thought that I'd win this awesome, prestigious award from the terrific Anne Lange! Thank you so much!! My witch is sending you a love spell in return, Anne. Do with it as you will. ;)Along with this award, I've accepted three conditions. The first is link back to Anne Lange - no problem there - and the second is reveal seven things about myself. Hmm, that's a little trickier.
Nothing that will get me arrested, locked up in the psych ward or banned from society...
1. For many years I owned horses, first saddlebreds and later quarterhorses. I'd keep one in my back yard if I could. :)
2. I've been inside and climbed around in one of the great pyramids of Egypt.
3. When I was five, I made my first sale: a fuzzy caterpillar. I received a nickle in return.
4. It's not necessarily my favorite movie, but the one I watch over and over whenever it comes on TV is Independence Day. I love the scene where Will Smith says, "Welcome to earth!"
5. I really do like broccoli, but not so much cauliflower.
6. My favorite book as a child was Walter Farley's The Black Stallion.
7. My current favorite TV shows: NCIS (always, even without Ziva), The Voice, Castle.
Now for the last condition, I'm passing the award to these worthy and distinguished authors:
Theresa McClinton
Tina Gayle
Lynn Crain
Steve Emmett
DL Richardson
Dan O'Brien
Heather King
I hope you'll check out all the websites above. And thank you for stopping at mine!
October 9, 2013
Judy Hogan Author Interview & Coffee Chat
Welcome to our Wednesday coffee & book chat!Mystery author Judy Hogan is with us today, bringing us a little cozy detecting in her novel Farm Fresh and Fatal.
Judy tells me she gave up her "beloved coffee" two years ago for health reasons. She grows lemon balm and peppermint and now drinks a tea made from these herbs with every meal, and they have proved a good substitute. She drinks this tea cold, or hot with honey--and loves it!
Now that we each have our beverage of choice, let's take a look at Judy's bio.
BIO: Judy Hogan founded Carolina Wren Press (1976-91), and was co-editor of Hyperion Poetry Journal, 1970-81). Her first mystery, Killer Frost was published by Mainly Murder Press in 2012. A published poet, she has taught all forms of creative writing since 1974. She joined Sisters in Crime in 2007 and has focused on writing and publishing traditional mystery novels. In 2011 she was a finalist in the St. Martin’s Malice Domestic Mystery contest. The twists and turns of her life’s path have given her plenty to write about. She is also a small farmer and lives in Moncure, N.C.***
Author Contacts:
web: http://judyhogan.home.mindspring.com
blog: http://postmenopausalzest.blogspot.com
email: judyhogan@mindspring.com
Ally: You've had quite a writing career. Can you tell us an interesting event that didn't make it into your bio?
JUDY: Very few people know that I was corresponding with Louise Penny (mystery author) as her fan from 2009. When I wrote to her that I was a Malice Domestic finalist, she wrote this to me:
“Wow! This is huge.... Now you can start your letters to agents with this info–being a finalist is a very prestigious writing award.... I am beyond thrilled for you. As excited as I always get at being nominated for an award, nothing will ever eclipse that first unpublished novel nomination. So I know how you feel.”
I posted this email on my kitchen cupboard. I also had thought being a finalist would lead to an agent. In 2011, it didn’t, yet by November, I’d found a wonderful home for my books at Mainly Murder Press, for me a happy ending.
Ally: Considering the title of your book, I’m wondering if your own home was the inspiration? I'd love to hear something about your farm.
JUDY: I moved to Moncure, a village near Raleigh, NC, in late 1998, to my first owned house and land, which I dubbed Hoganvillaea Farm. House, orchard, chicken coop and run, vegetable garden, and flower garden are contained within half an acre, but I own three acres, down into the woods, with an intermittent stream. I grow now half my food and have three cash crops (eggs, figs, and leeks). I sold bread and fruit, vegetables, herbs at our local farmers’ market in 2008-9, which gave me the idea for the book. The farm keeps me healthy and active. I’m always a little behind, but I manage the planting, weeding, mowing, weed-eating, and harvesting myself. It’s a good balance to a writing/teaching life, which is mostly sedentary. My characters have been farming in the novels I’ve written since I moved here. Farm Fresh and Fatal is the seventh novel written in the sequence, but only the second one published.
Ally: With all these farming chores, do you write on a schedule--specific time of day, special place, regular routine?
JUDY: I do have a daily schedule. I’m still needing to earn my living. Social security is not enough to live on. I set aside two work hours in the afternoon and in the evening, normally 1:30-3:30 and 7-9 p.m. Sometimes I use that time to prepare for courses I teach, or to work on book preparation or promotion, but when I can set aside a month-six weeks, I use that time to write a new book. Every morning, from when I get up–6 to 7 a.m., usually--I write in my diary until 9 a.m. I have a writing chair, an old platform rocker, that I’ve had since 1971 and re-covered four times, and I write there by hand. Later, I type it up.
Ally: Who is your favorite living author?
Judy: Louise Penny.
Ally: I should have known that from your earlier story. :) Can you tell us one item on your “bucket list”–things you want to do before you “kick the bucket.”
JUDY: The term is new to me. I hope to live to a hundred, twenty-four more years. While I’m able to be active and lively, I’d like to get all twelve mysteries I’ve written published, plus some of the many non-fiction first person books (which I call diary novels), and more poetry books. I have about sixty unpublished books. Then I’ll hope to keep writing at least two books a year as long as possible. This is the most urgent thing on my “bucket list.”
Ally: You are one ambitious lady. Your readers will be happy if you get all those books published. Do you ever take a vacation?
JUDY: Early last May I went to the Malice Domestic Mystery Convention in Bethesda, MD, staying with my friends John and Sharon Ewing in Alexandria.
Ally: I'd like to know more about your writing process. Do you work from an outline?
Judy: Yes. I use Elizabeth George’s book Write Away. Her character prompt helps me get to know my characters well. Then I do my scenes, as she suggests, in rough form, all the way through the book, giving setting, characters, conflict, moving the plot along, figuring out what they’ll be doing (talking head avoidance device, as George calls it), even some dialogue. Then, when I write it, I have a good sense of where I’m going. If new things occur to me, I work them in or change direction slightly as needed. Right now I’m teaching a novel or memoir course using this book.
Ally: To have written so much, you must write fairly quickly. How long did it take to write this book?
Judy: I wrote Farm Fresh and Fatal in 2009, and it took me about three months, or four, if I include the typing and slight revisions. I don’t change my drafts a lot. I like to get the whole thing in my mind and then use my scene outline and character prompt pages, to write it. I have now two readers I send manuscripts to for a reader’s reaction.
Ally: I think our time is up for today, but thank you so much for visiting. Do come again. Now, can we take a peek at your book?
Blurb for Farm Fresh and Fatal:
When Penny Weaver joins the new Riverdell Farmers’ Market, things go from bad to worse. The county’s poultry agent is poisoned, apparently after drinking fruit punch provided by the abrasive market manager, who claims innocence but is arrested. The state ag department threatens to close the market. Penny and her friend Sammie work to uncover the real poisoner. Kent is unpopular with the quirky farmers, with the exception of the genetically modified seeds man and the baker/jelly maker. Penny and Sammie discover that the poison was black nightshade, but which farmer grows it and who put it in the punch?
Farm Fresh and Fatal, paperback, $15.95, is available from mainlymurderpress.com (excerpt), Amazon, and Barnes & Noble; and in e-book format, $2.99: Kindle, Nook, and Untreed Reads.
Thanks to everyone for stopping by today. Come back soon!
October 5, 2013
Haunted Caves and Caverns
The following is a repost of an article I did for Noctural Nights a year ago. Since many of you may have missed it, and it's theme is appropriate not only for the month of Halloween but for the newest Guardian Witch story coming October 18, I wanted to share it again. I hope you enjoy it!Haunted Caves & Caverns
by Ally Shields
Haunted houses, step aside! Let's talk about something really creepy. What could be scarier than dark, damp holes in the rocky earth? Imagine yourself deep underground. The passage is narrow. Sometimes you have to crawl on your belly. There's absolute inky blackness all around you, and you hear something . . .a scurrying, a distant scream. A vague light appears shaped like . . . what?
You've just entered one of the thousands of haunted caves all over the world. While actual numbers are elusive, every country, every region lays claim to at least one of these spooky places.
Natural cave formations come in all sizes and types, from small rocky erosions to miles of interlocking rooms, such as Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, with 117 documented caves formed by an ancient inland sea. Carlsbad's deepest point is 1,567 feet. Can you doubt there are things in there besides the thousands of bats? Local residents will bend your ear about the voices, the pieces of discarded bone, the movements seen out of the corner of your eye.
Such stories are not unique to Carlsbad. Paranormal investigators have begun to visit the multitude of caves worldwide whose owners and explorers claim such spooky inhabitants. Perhaps they go there in hopes of debunking the stories or maybe they just like being scared.
Here's a very small sampling of what you can find in the US.
The Haunted Caves in St. Paul, Minnesota, claim to have lots of ghost activity, including screams of the dead coming from deep in the caverns.Bell Witch Haunted Cave is in Adams, Tennessee, where residents say the spirit of Kate Batts hides when she's not terrorizing the neighbors.The Haunted Cave in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where "Eddie' may scare the life out of you.The Lockport Haunted Cave, Lockport, NY, is situated near the Erie Canal where legends have been immortalized in a mystery tour and a Halloween visitation from the Salem Witches.The Haunted Cave in Lewisburg, Ohio, is a commercialized Halloween event at an old cavern mine 80 feet below the surface and claiming 30,000 bats! Yikes!
Or maybe you'd be happier with only visiting such dark places curled up on a sofa with a glass of wine or a cup of hot chocolate. Then you might want to try my urban fantasy series, set in Riverdale, a cliff city on the Mississippi River. Under the city are the Vampire Caverns. Can you imagine what lives in there? You just may find out on October 18...
October 2, 2013
Blood & Fire (Guardian Witch #4) Preview
Book Description:
It started with a murder, black magic, & a vampire enforcer...
Ari thought her biggest problem was deciding whether to move into her vampire boyfriend's beautiful Victorian mansion. That was before they found the dead body. The TV celeb. And before she knew he'd been cursed by black magic. She'd barely started to work on those problems when the vampire rulers in Europe finally reacted to the death last fall of the vampire prince in Toronto, Canada. They sent an enforcer to make additional inquiries. While Andreas has admitted killing the brutal dictator, there is much about the incident that they haven't told. Secrets the vampire elders would give almost anything to know.
Once again, Ari and her companions are fighting powerful enemies, solving a mystery, struggling with personal issues, and doing their very best to stay alive.
Watch for the cover reveal ~ coming soon!
September 29, 2013
The Mystery of Chief Blackhawk's Grave
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chi... While researching for my latest Guardian Witch book, Blood & Fire (releases October 18), I ran into an intriguing mystery that has little to do with the events in my book, except Blackhawk's history is a part of that story and this proves there are many facets of his life and legend that remain unknown.Sac Chieftain Blackhawk was born in 1767 near present day Rock Island, Illinois, and died in 1838. He spent most of his life as a warrior, trying to reclaim his lands from white settlers, creating both fear and admiration in his efforts. (You can read more about his life at any of the sites listed in this post, including Wikipedia.)
But the really mysterious part of his story begins with his death.
How and where he died are generally accepted to be from a two week illness, possibly malaria, and somewhere along the banks of the Des Moines River in Iowa. He was buried on the farm of his friend, Captain James Jordan, near Iowaville, Iowa.
From that point, stories vary widely regarding the manner of his burial and what happened to his remains.
The Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk_(Sauk_leader) ) contains two alternate stories: that his remains were dug up by a grave robber and eventually ended up in a museum in Iowa that burned or that the stolen remains are now buried in a Potters Grave in Aspen Grove, Illinois.
A Davenport Library article adds the interesting rumor that the remains were rescued from the museum fire and kept by an officer of the historical society. ( http://www.davenportlibrary.com/genealogy-and-history/local-history-info/the-people/black-hawk/ Although that article doesn't speculate where the remains were finally placed, perhaps it was in Aspen Grove, Illinois?
Another vote for Aspen Grove is in one of the most fascinating articles I found, the 1891 New York Times article: Black Hawk's Varnished Bones, which detailed how the bones were cleaned, varnished and stored in a box for years before ending up in the Potters Grave in Aspen Grove.
Wikipedia Commons photo Or maybe Blackhawk was moved from the first burial site and re-buried in Iowaville, Iowa, at this gravesite, which is only a few miles from Capt. Jordan's farm. The Iowaville cemetery also contains his memorial plaque.
Then again, if you believe this story from a 13-year-old eyewitness, maybe all of these sites are possible. Check out this story of how Blackhawk's head and skeleton became separated and may still exist at different burial sites. ( http://iavanburen.org/FactsAndFolklore/FateOfBlackHawk.htm According to the young girl, only Blackhawk's head was stolen from the original grave.
A detailed account of his burial in uniform and medals (found here: http://iagenweb.org/davis/BlackHawk.htm lends some credibility to the theft of only his head, since an upright burial would make the head more easily accessible.
I doubt if this mystery will be solved unless someone resorts to DNA tests, and maybe not then. Perhaps the members of his tribe already know the truth. By all accounts they made numerous attempts to recover the remains after the theft from Jordan's farm. They made have succeeded and kept his final resting place a secret to prevent further desecration.
Wouldn't you love to know who or what is buried at these various gravesites? And where exactly is BlackHawk? Maybe he's in none of them.
September 25, 2013
Blood & Fire (Guardian Witch #4) Sneak Peek
The edits are done, and the formatters and publishers are hard at work to put the final touches on Blood & Fire to get it in your hands on October 18!
In the meantime, I'm revealing a brief scene - just a teaser - to give you an idea of some of the action. :) Hope you enjoy it!
To set up the scene, supernatural cop Ari Calin and her human partner Lt. Ryan Foster are searching the yacht of a murder victim. When they arrive, they realize the boat has already been searched by someone else.
And, here's the snippet:
Ari checked the desk. A small stack of personal papers in one drawer, an empty printer on top, but everything else was gone. No computer, journals, or maps. Nothing that would indicate why Barron had been in Riverdale. There were pinholes in a corkboard above the desk where pictures or notes had been removed. The intruder had gone to a lot of trouble to keep a secret. She frowned in frustration, disgusted the lengthy human legal procedures had allowed someone to get there first and take away the evidence. But evidence of what?
She checked in and around the wastebasket, then pulled the chair away from the desk and looked in the knee hole. Something lay on the floor at the back. Maybe a photo? Had the intruder missed something? She crouched to get a better look.
Ryan slapped his hand on his weapon. “What’s that hissing sound?”
Ari swiveled her head toward the closet. The distinctive odor of sulfur drifted toward her. “Get out of here!” Her voice boomed in the enclosed space.
She dashed for the door, half-dragging Ryan with her. They cleared the stairs in two leaps, the deck in another two, and were airborne over the side when the cabin exploded. She hit the water with enough force to drive her deep. Paddling with her hands and feet to reverse the downward thrust, she came up sputtering. Chunks of debris splashed around her. Sparks sizzled. Ryan was a dozen feet farther out, face down in the water.
September 23, 2013
Kindle Fire Giveaway Fall 2013
Welcome to the fantastic Kindle Fire Fall Giveaway!We're in a giving mood and you could be the big winner! Just check out all the ways to enter on the rafflecopter and visit the sponsoring author sites.
While all you have to do to be entered for the Kindle Fire drawing is like my author Facebook page, I hope you'll wander around my website -- since you're already here. :) You'll find character interviews, lots of photos and even two free short stories. And of course, you'll see links to all the books in the series. BTW, I have a new book coming out October 18, Blood & Fire (Guardian Witch #4)!
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy the giveaway and pick up lots of good PG books from participating authors along the way! The Rafflecopter below lists all the ways you can earn extra points!
Blog drawing: If you'd like to try my books for FREE, leave a comment, and I'll enter you in a random drawing for any one of the ebooks in my series! I'll draw the winner on Nov. 1.
a Rafflecopter giveaway This is a joint AUTHOR & BLOGGER GIVEAWAY EVENT!Bloggers & Authors have joined together and each chipped in a little money towards a Kindle Fire HD 7″.
The winner will have the option of receiving a 7″ Kindle Fire HD (US Only)
Or $199 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)
Or $199 in Paypal Cash (International)
Fall Sponsoring Authors & Bloggers
I Am A Reader, Not A Writer Feed Your Reader Author Annette K. Larsen Phantasmic Reads Author Bella Street Author Bonnie Blythe Author Stacy Claflin MyLadyWeb: Women’s History, Women Authors Book Mama Blog Word to Dreams Candace’s Book Blog Once Upon a YA Book Author Miriam Louise Author Mary Ting Author Camelia Miron Skiba Books4Tomorrow Author Theresa McClinton Brooke Blogs Author Pauline Creeden Author MK McClintock Author Kathryn Chastain Treat Books Unhinged Book Blog Author Kelly Cozy Meredith & Jennifer’s Musings These Are But Shadows My Devotional Thoughts Author Ally Shields Dark Motive’s Books and More Nessarox Fae Books Author Jennie Sherwin The Real Bookshelves of Room 918 Auggie Talk No BS Book Reviews BookLover Sue Gin’s Book Notes Bookhounds Buku-Buku Didi Author Shelli Profitt Howells My Nook, Books and More The Late Bloomer’s Book Blog Clarice’s Book Nook MichaelSciFan Magical Manuscripts Author Talia Jager Every Free Chance Book Reviews Jessabella Reads Author Melissa Pearl Author Elizabeth Isaacs Bookitty Blog Author Helen Smith The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl Christine’s Blog Write Away Bliss Another World of Books The Reporter and The Girl MINUS The Super Man!
Katie’s Clean Book Collection Author Marcia Lynn McClure Author Shannon Guymon Ripple Effect Romance Series
September 17, 2013
YA Author Courtney Farrell Interview
Welcome to the latest Coffee Chat!
YA author Courtney Farrell is joining us to talk about her young adult books and maybe a few other things. :) She's already told me how she takes her coffee--organic, lots of it, with cream and agave nectar. We each have our respective brew, and the pot is nearby for emergency refills. So I think we're ready to start.
Let's start with her author bio.
Bio:Courtney Farrell is a biologist who turned her love of books into a career as an author. She has written fifteen nonfiction books for young people, mostly on social and environmental topics. Her first YA novel, Enhanced, was launched by Crescent Moon Press. Farrell lives with her husband and sons on a Colorado ranch where they enjoy a menagerie of horses, dogs, cats, chickens, and one awesome green tree frog called Froglodyte.
Ally: Just for fun, will you share something about you that doesn't appear in your regular bio?
COURTNEY: I worked my way through college by training horses. As a new trainer in Northern Colorado (cowbow country!) I got left with the rankest, meanest horses that none of the other trainers wanted. Instead of manhandling young horses like so many of the local cowboys did, I used gentle methods and got great results. Now and then I see one of the horses I started as a colt, old and gray now, but happy and well cared for. That warms my heart. Ally: I love horses myself and have been around them much of my life, so it warms my heart too. Now, let's talk about your writing. What drew you to YA fiction rather than adult?
COURTNEY: I started writing YA because my teen years are some of the most memorable of my life. So many firsts, with the whole world ahead of you. What an exciting time!
Ally: It was that! So what about the family, do they get involved in your writing?
COURTNEY: My oldest son, who is 21, is a budding novelist himself. So we talk about writing a lot, and I try to tell him some of the things I wished I knew when I started. He’s even joined my critique group, Fiction Foundry, which is a group for serious authors focused on publication. My husband is really nice about coming home from work and cooking dinners for the family when I’m lost in my latest writing project.
Ally: Lucky you! As you know I write paranormal fantasy, and I sometimes ask questions about the supernatural. If you could have any supernatural ability, what would it be and why?
COURTNEY: That’s funny, we debated the supernatural ability question while watching Heroes. I’d take the power of flight, because it would be the most fun. Although teleportation would be cool too, ‘cause then I could rob banks, or, er, I mean, pop over to the library. Yeah, that’s it.
Ally: Uh-huh. I bet you said banks when you were alone. Lol. But before we have the police knocking on our door, let's move on to some Quick Answer Questions:
(1) favorite season: summer
(2) age at first kiss: 16
(3) pantser or plotter: pantser, although I keep trying to be a plotter and failing
(4) make of car you drive: F350 candy apple red longbed pickup truck. Getting’ my redneck on.
(5) jungle trek or day on the beach: jungle trek!
Ally: I've enjoyed having coffee with you, Courtney, and I hope you'll come back again. Before you go, please tell us about your YA Scifi/romance, Enhanced.
Book Blurb: Sixteen-year-old Michelle was born into the Institute’s eugenics program, where doctors breed people like livestock. One powerful man decides which children grow up, and which disappear. Culls are dumped in the slum outside Institute walls, and those kids never come back. Michelle has survived every purge, and she’s about to win a luxurious life as a breeder. When her brother and her boyfriend are both mysteriously culled, despite their high scores, she goes over the wall to find them. Alone in the ghetto, she’s in trouble until handsome, streetwise Dillon stakes a claim to her. She’s mortified because the Enhanced see Norms as little more than animals. But the doctor is using the missing boys in a twisted experiment, and she needs Dillon’s help to stop him. Michelle must rescue the boys, but a plague is spreading, the doctor is after her, and Dillon isn’t thrilled to help her find her lost boyfriend.
Buy Link: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Enhanced-ebook/dp/B00EVY04G6/
If you'd like to chat further with Courtney, you can reach her through any of the following links:
Blog www.courtneyfarrell.com
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September 15, 2013
The Internet Takeover: Where do you hear everything?
Addiction or Progress?
If you're over thirty, you probably grew up getting most of your news from TV or the newspaper or over the phone. But I don't even subscribe to a newspaper anymore, and I often skip newscasts. Even my cell phone can go without a charge for days. Little by little, the internet has taken over my life. Now my main source of all news - international or family - is the Internet, either through one of the social media sources or emailed alerts from news media or emails from friends/family.
Here's where I heard about these recent stories/events:
1. The proposed Syrian agreement: Email alert from CNN
2. Putin's article in the New York Times: Twitter
3. That the price of chocolate is going up, and we should starting hoarding immediately: Facebook
4. Floods in Colorado: Google homepage news when I signed on to my web browser.
5. Score of that must-know football game that isn't on TV: ESPN scoreboard website.
6. Fire on the Boardwalk: Another email alert from CNN
7. Even the news that relatives are coming to visit! Personal email.
Admittedly, these aren't the only things I've heard recently, and I followed up on some by watching news shows on TV or discussing them with friends/family in person or on the phone, but more often than not the major follow-up was also via the Internet.
The Net with all its warts is an integral part of my life, keeping me in touch with the world, family and friends. And I haven't yet mentioned all the knowledge at my fingertips through Internet searches, including the ability to locate everything from old classmates to the latest movie ratings.
And you won't find me giving up my access anytime soon. :)
How about you? Do you share this addiction? Where did you hear about some of these same events?
Thanks for stopping by. I hope to see you again soon.
