Ally Shields's Blog, page 89

Coffee Chat with Peter Watson Jenkins

Good morning!

Or whatever time it is where you are... In any case, it's good to have you here. Today I have a unique individual with me, author Peter Watson Jenkins, who writes...well, a whole lot of things! :)
Since he tells me he likes decaf coffee with half-and-half, I'll let you read his bio while I fix him a cup.

BIO: Peter Watson Jenkins, a Cambridge graduate, has meddled in lots of careers and jobs, beginning as a school teacher and ending as a master hypnotherapist. Born in Bath, England in 1934 he emigrated to the States when he was 48 to marry a Midwesterner. He was a freelance member of the British ‘Institute of Journalists’ in the sixties, with a column in a Fleet St. weekly.
His work as part author and part editor for the Masters of the Spirit World has resulted in seven books, since his Escape to Danger.  He has also written books on past life regression, Christy’s Journey through 12 past lives, and on the core teaching of Jesus, Training for the Marathon of Life. His latest book, a collection of 18 short stories, Found Money, was published last year and has garnered some very positive reviews to his delight. These titles can be found at Peter's bookstore.

Ally: Like most authors, your bio is all about books. Tell us something not included there.

PETER: I played the double bass at high school, and in a concert at the famous Pump Room, in Bath, England, performed the solo of The Elephant in Saint Saens' humorous piece, "Carnival of the Animals."  Nobody died as a result. Now you know all about me Ally.

Ally: Well, not quite all, but we're working on it. :) Tell us more about your work with the Masters and how you divide your time to include a writing schedule.

PETER: The quick answer is “what writing schedule?”  That reflects my total activity. As an indie publisher mainly of metaphysical books, I have to allow first call for that activity. Celestial Voices uploads daily questions from fans to the Masters of the Spirit World, a group of senior guides in the Other Side.  These are answered by our channel Toni Winninger. My role is largely editorial.
Then we have published seven of their books, and they are writing another.  Generally I start my day with a cup of decaf with milk, watch the early news and find out how the stock market is doing, then toddle off with my walker to the study. Days are quite long, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and I see very few people during the week. I get my own writing done largely after lunch. At present, I just launched two new books on Amazon, Blu-Berries and the Korner Kaff (humorous) and Saved by a Tweet (YA). I have one book in peer review. It is a sort-of Sci-fi book: Rescue Planet Earth!, but it hasn’t been edited, nor has my poetry-and-prose book, Fine Writing.
That leaves me with my memoirs, Spiritual Walkabout, as my main writing job. This week I have given it about six hours over two days. I cannot do more at a time because of a back problem. This book is very demanding and needs continual re-writing at this stage. But its mine, all mine!

Ally: Authors usually talk about their heroes and heroines, but I'd like to know about your favorite secondary character, and why you chose him or her.

PETER: My first book was a thriller, Escape to Danger, set in a Britain that was being attacked by religious fanatics who had stolen nuclear warheads. Duncan Sutherland, the hero, is a car factory supervisor who has just retired. He runs off to Cornwall where he hopes to be safe. When the first bomb goes off, he attempts to “borrow” a yacht so he can sail out of harm’s way. But Graham Taggart, the boat’s owner who is an Anglo American businessman, has returned. He confronts Duncan, but sees in him the potential crew he needs to sail home across the Atlantic, and they become friends.
Graham is handsome, generous, talented, and he stocks the very best scotch for the voyage. You might expect me to identify with the older man who is a lifelong pacifist (like me) and a Unitarian (as I used to be), but no. Graham is the one who is hurt badly but keeps a stiff upper lip, who, modestly, does not complain when Duncan becomes the press favorite, when the adventure is nearly over.
There’s a little game that authors can play and not be answerable to their readers. Graham isn’t me, of course, just a dream me. I chose him to complement the hero, to provide the contrast. Which, of course, he does superbly because he is the sort of chap I would like to have been.

Ally: Peter brought us two books today that are very different, so let's have a look.
_ Duncan, a newly retired as a British carmaker, is deeply concerned at reports on the BBC News that religious terrorists are threatening to blow up Britain with atom bombs. Recently widowed, with no job to hold him back, and facing the probability of bombs going off, Duncan attempts to steal a yacht to put more distance between him and the conflagration. Graham, the owner of the boat enters and the two of them venture on the high seas into the teeth of a gale. Having run from danger, the pair are now forced to face another danger head on. In these short stories, the author enters the rough-and-tumble world where people dream of making it big. His cast includes a small boy in the London Blitz; an aging nun clutching a brown paper packet; a little family caught in Hurricane Katrina as they are leaving New Orleans; the young Queen Victoria chatting with a choirboy; a walk by a Dutch canal with an old blind poet; a baker caught up in a recent revolution in the Middle East; and, of course, people gambling on the lottery—but there's a big price to pay for that money.*

Ally's note: I've read this. A delightful, laid-back collection.
In addition to his bookstore listed above in the bio, Peter's books can be found on Amazon US and Amazon UK.

Thanks, everyone, for joining us today. Stop back again when you're in the neighborhood!

Sneak Peek Sunday Feb 17

It's Sunday and time for a brief look into a manuscript or novel!

This week's offering is another unedited preview from my upcoming release: Fire Within, Guardian Witch #2.

Ari and the vampire Andreas still have not spoken since they parted seven months ago, and she has very good reasons for not going near him. The night before this scene, Ari had been worrying about the safety of a witness in a murder investigation.


Here's my Sneak Peek:

     By dawn the next morning, Ari was concerned about her own safety. Not the physical kind, something much worse. Her fingers trembled as she dialed the seer's number.

    Ari had woken just minutes earlier in a cold sweat. Disoriented. Heart pounding. Andreas had visited her dreams again, only this time he’d beckoned and whispered her name. She shivered, remembering how she’d reached a hand toward him, wanting to go.

Fire Within (see cover below) will release in early March.

Thanks for stopping. Don't forget to check out all the other snippets. To return to the main Sneak Peek page, click on the banner above.

Coffee Chat with Author Gay Ingram

The coffee pot is on, and we're ready to talk books!

Author Gay Ingram is with me today. She's a woman after my own heart and takes her java black. Gay writes both fiction and non-fiction. Here's her bio.


Bio: Gay Ingram began her writing career with a passion for herbs. Her first novel, ‘Til Death Do Us Part, was released in 2000. She has since published novels, Troubled Times and Twist of Fate, besides a history of her hometown, Tracks on the Sand. Living With a Depressed Spouse is a personal account offering hopes for others. Her self-published collection of short stories, A Stirred Pot, is now out-of-print. Second Time Around, released in 2012, is her most recent novel.
Gay self-published Some Write Thoughts, a compilation of articles (some of which appeared in Writers Journal Magazine) about the writing craft and experience .
 Past publishing credits include both fiction and nonfiction including Herb Quarterly, Texas Gardener, and Backwoods Home.

Ally: Most of your bio is about writing, tell us something else you enjoy doing.

GAY: My next-to-best passion (after writing) is piecing quilts. I have storage boxes filled with miniature quilts I've made and given away more than I can count. At the moment I'm busy making quilts that are distributed by a friend to homeless people.

Ally: What a wonderful project. It sounds like you stay busy. When and where do you find time to write?

GAY: I'm blessed to have a little cabin on our farm property in the piney woods of East Texas that is dedicated to my writing and other hobbies. I try to spend some part of each day out there, even if sometimes all I mange to accomplish is keep up with social media and the three blog postings I make each week. I start each morning with Daily Pages ala Julia Cameron's recommendation. This writing is usually done in pjs at a desk in the bedroom.

Ally: Sounds idyllic. I'm afraid I might wander off into the woods rather than write! :) So, busy lady, What do you hope to accomplish with your writing career by the end of 2013?

GAY: For the past couple of years, my passion for writing fictional novels seems to have dissipated. I will continue to produce the monthly newsletter for my writers group North East Texas Writers Organization and the one I do for my Friends of Upshur County Library.
I truly enjoy the research required to create the blog postings I do for www.VentureGalleries.com.
My desire to work through the exercises of a book entitled Shimmering Images has sat on the back burner for a year or so because of lack of time. Maybe this is the year to really dig up all the memories buried in my subconscious and get them down on paper.

Ally : Best of luck in your new ventures, but I'm sure your fiction fans hope your interest in that area rekindles soon, especially once they've read Second Time Around.
Book Blurb:

Recently widowed, Dolly Summers steps in to take her husband’s position in the family business. When her best friend, Sophia is killed, Dolly assumes guardianship of Amanda, a rebellious teenage daughter.

An accident connects Dolly with a stranger, Douglas Martin, and her emotions go awry. Is it possible? Could he really be Robert McGoodall, the man Dolly first loved who supposedly died twenty-eight years ago on his way to propose?

Will Amanda’s growing rebellion thwart Dolly’s second chance at true love?

http://amzn.to/QDRNQy
http://asmsgbooks.wordpress.com/gay-ingram/
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16147947-second-time-around

Author contacts:

https://www.amazon.com/author/gayingram
http://gayingram.blogspot.com/
http://gayingram.webs.com/
Goodreads author page

GAY: That's it, Ally. Thank you for inviting me to your coffee chat.

Ally: My pleasure. I will look forward to hearing more about the twists and turns in your writing career.

As usual, thank you, readers, for stopping by, and come back soon! The coffee pot is always on.

The Path In Between

The Path In Between

When I blogged about my first rejection as a writer for a recent blog hop, the article drew considerable interest (find it here), and several readers emailed me privately asking for more details about what happened between that no and the eventual yes. So, here's the rest of the story.

I continued to query. In fact, queries were sent to more than 150 agents. There were a few yes, if's along the way. One agent wanted me to change it to a story about zombies, another to a novel about angels. I wasn't interested. Another agent suggested I make it a straight mystery and make all the characters human. But that wasn't the story I had written. About two dozen agents read the full manuscript and a similar number requested partials. In the end, I received 72 written rejections, but the remaining queries had no response, the newest way that agents say no.

In the meantime, I kept writing--two more fantasies and two thrillers. From time to time I worked on strengthening the first fantasy. By now I realized I had started submitting it long before it was ready, but those bridges were burned and I quit submitting it. During the winter of 2011 I did one more rewrite, switching all three fantasies into third person rather than first person. Then I set them aside because frankly I didn't know where to submit them. Instead, I concentrated on the thrillers and sent queries for the first one directly to a handful of small presses. I received encouraging responses but no contracts. A couple of those presses suggested I submit something else. In fact, one letter was so nice that I decided to send Awakening the Fire. I ended up submitting it to three small presses, and I went back to writing. I was working on a series of short stories based on the characters in the thrillers. Six weeks passed, and I hadn't heard from anyone. It seemed like the same old story again. Then THE email arrived offering a contract!

After I quit celebrating, I sent the courtesy emails to the other two presses stating that I'd received an offer, and one of them asked me to give them an extra two weeks to decide whether to make an offer of their own. I didn't wait. I didn't hear from the third press. I've never regretted the decision I made. Etopia Press is a solid small publisher with a great staff and a terrific group of authors. I'm very happy that my urban fantasy series has found a home.

Of course, that isn't really the end of my story. Those of you who know me realize I won't be satisfied until my thrillers have their forever home too! :) And who knows what worlds will call me after that . . .

Thanks for listening. Come back soon!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing you a little romance in your lives! Be good to yourself and your loved ones today.

Sneak Peek Sunday Feb 10

Welcome, everyone! I hope you're having a great weekend!

It's time for another peek into Fire Within, book two in my Guardian Witch Series that will be released in March.

Last week, we left my witch Ari at the charity auction where she had just seen the item entered by her ex-boyfriend, the vampire Andreas.

This week's sneak peek:

     As if Ari's traitorous thoughts had conjured it, a surge of Otherworld power touched her. Vampire. And not just any vampire. Sensation raced across her skin, her witch magic singing in recognition. The air shimmered with dark, slightly wicked energy. She whipped her gaze around, focused on the front entry, and there he was.

     Andreas’ dark eyes captured hers from across the room. Ari's breath caught, and like always, that compelling swirl of power wrapped itself around her, beguiling, irresistible.

                                                                                                                  ****
Hope you enjoyed the peek. More next week! :)

You can return to the hop by clicking the banner above. Happy hopping!

Coffee Chat with author E.C. Newman

Ready to chat about books again?

Young Adult author E.C. Newman is joining us today. She tells me she likes her coffee with creamer, especially the Bailey's brands. While I'm fixing that, you have plenty of time to read her author bio.



_ Bio: Born and raised wherever the military sent her father, Eden C. Newman is a storyteller at heart. It didn't translate into writing, however, until she found herself in Ancient History her freshman year of college, desperate to stay awake. Bringing stories alive since then in FanFiction, poetry, and original work gave her the confidence to add a Writing Major to her bachelor's degree, and after a stint in acting school in Los Angeles, she gained a MA in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University in Bath, England.

Eden currently lives with her mutt of a dog in Illinois, where she teaches middle school drama and high school literature, and can't help but find it hilarious that she’s now teaching how to write an essay when she so deplored them as a student herself. In her spare time, Eden is also a reader for a literary scout, which keeps her current with the children’s literature market. She actively avoids growing up by writing stories about high school and the trials and triumphs that accompany it.

Ally: What is a unique fact about you that isn't included in your bio?

EDEN: I believe I'm an extroverted hermit. I love talking with people, laughing with them and making them feel comfortable (major hospitality gene), but I don't much like going out. I really like to be on my own, at home, with my dog and just read and write. It's a weird combination, honestly. I also collect zippo lighters from places I visit, but I don't actually use them because I don't smoke.

Ally: Valentine's Day coming up this week, do you make special plans? What's the best Valentine's Day you remember?

EDEN: When I was in college, I did special things for my single girl friends. Secret Admirer flower deliveries (they figured out it was me). Helping a friends' boyfriend plan a surprise date. I found it made my 'I'm so lame, I'm single on Valentine's Day' mood disappear when I did other things for people. Of course now, most of my girl friends are married, so I leave it up to their husbands. :)
Last year was a nice one. I was at school, teaching and got a delivery of deep dish Chicago style pizza in the shape of a heart. From my parents who live several states away.

Ally: What would be your dream Valentine event (no expense or reality considerations) and what character from your book or anyone's book would you take with you?

EDEN: I'm not sure I could sound more sappy than I'm about to right now, but I've never had a romantic Valentine's day, so just that would be really nice. If I could be with that special someone and just do whatever (maybe travel in England and have tea because I miss it so much), that'd be pretty awesome.
My characters from my book are jailbait for me. Lol. But I have a major literary crush on Lord Peter Wimsey from the Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries by Dorothy L. Sayers. He's brilliant, funny and possesses a very good heart. He could come and tell me all about the cases he's solved over tea.

Ally: I don't think you're alone in admiring Lord Peter! :) But before we get sidetracked, let's take a look at your book PHASE.

Book Blurb:

Sophie Todd hoped that her senior year would be different. Unfortunately, different seems to mean getting punched in the face for sticking up for the new girl, having her offer of friendship spurned by said new girl, and finally gaining the attention of her long-time crush, Ezra Varden, but for all the wrong reasons.

It's a tenuous friendship at best, but as Juliet starts to open up to Sophie, they both realize that the Vardens, Juliet's foster family, is not your average family. They're extremely close-knit—freakishly so—but they welcomed a complete stranger into their home, which just so happens to have the largest meat freezer anyone's ever seen...

...and certainly no one said anything about Ezra and the wolves.

Buy Links:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble


EDEN: Thanks for having me to chat, Ally!

Ally: I loved having you!

Readers wanting to contact Eden, can find her at the following author links:

Website: ecnewman.com
Twitter: ec_newman
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/E-C-Newman

                                   I hope you enjoyed our chat today. Come back soon!

Getting Beyond That First "No"

Click on button to join the hop!
Welcome to The Firsts blog hop! Be sure to visit all the sites for more fun and prizes. You can enter a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift certificate on this blog by simply entering a comment with your email address (so I can reach you with your prize!)

The first I've chosen to write about isn't really about my story plot. It's more about the writing process that lead to the first book.
                                                 
                             Getting Beyond That First "No"

My heart was in my throat as I opened that first email. I'd finally gotten the courage to send  query letters to a handful of literary agents, and this was my first response. Were they dying to read my manuscript? Was it an offer of representation? Did they have the perfect publisher in mind who would snatch up my book?

I clicked, and this is what I read (actual email with names omitted):

Dear Author:

Thank you for querying me about your manuscript. I've read your sample pages and I'm sorry to say that the project        just isn't a perfect fit with my current needs. Although I liked it very much, I just didn't love it. This has less to do with your strengths as a writer and more to do with my goals as an agent and the trends of the current literary marketplace.

 I wish you the best of luck in your search for the right agent and publisher. Keep writing!

 Kindest Regards,

Name  (Assistant to agent Name)

Wow, what did that mean? Oh, I got it that she wasn't offering to represent me, but what about all the rest? Why didn't she love it? How could a manuscript be against her goals? What were these mysterious market trends?

I read it through again. She said she liked it. Surely agents didn't tell everybody that. And she urged me to keep writing. That was encouragement, if I ever heard it. She must think I have strengths as a writer since she mentioned them. On the other hand—"Dear Author." It was disconcerting that she'd already forgotten my name, and I hadn't failed to notice that my rejection had come at the hands of an assistant.

After all that initial angst, I soon learned that the response I'd gotten was pretty standard for the industry and meant nothing except "no." I licked my wounded ego and on the advice of other writers, I sent out more queries. My skin got tougher, I became more tenacious, and I took the one piece of advice she offered. I kept writing.

Nearly two years and several re-writes later, I received another first, the first yes from a publisher, followed by a signed contract, a published ebook in September 2012, and a paperback edition in December. I'm happy to say I also have a second and third contract with Etopia press, and book 2, Fire Within is scheduled for publication in March 2013.

Since today is all about firsts, I'm thrilled to share with you, not only my publishing story, but my first published novel and the first in my Guardian Witch urban fantasy series:  Awakening the Fire. (And yes, the book has a first kiss!)

Book Blurb:

Arianna Calin is a cop with a mission. Destined from birth to be a Guardian, a protector of the Otherworlders, she races to stop the erupting violence when wolves and drugs invade Riverdale.

Working with her human cop partner Ryan and an aristocratic vampire named Andreas, she hunts the enemy from the vampire strip clubs to the caverns under the city. Unless she can unravel the secret plot, an ancient feud will drag  them all into an Otherworld war.

YouTube Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/xraKddWGIgM

Paranormal Romance Guild 5* Review: http://www.paranormalromanceguild.com/reviewsallyshields.htm

The Romance Studio 5* Review: http://www.theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/awakeningfireshields.htm

Buy Links:
Worldview Amazon link: viewBook.at/B0099ZDHO8
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/RPrJ45
All Romance Ebooks: http://bit.ly/U25Q0G
Kobo: http://bit.ly/Xt5EFY

GIVEAWAY REMINDER:  If you share your own rejection story or just say "Hi" in the comments (with an email address), you'll be entered in a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift certificate to be presented from this blog at the end of the hop!

                               Happy Hopping & thank you so much for stopping by!

New Spooky Release for Author Cat Cavendish

I am delighted to introduce you to Catherine Cavendish, another author from Etopia Press. She writes deliciously creepy horror stories (I've read two of them!)  She is here today to tell us about her new release--which is going straight on my TBR list!

Take it away, Cat . . .

Thanks, Ally! I'd love to tell you about The Second Wife. My latest paranormal horror novella is a ghostly tale with a deadly Valentine theme. As Chrissie Marchant learns to her cost,  not all deceased first wives believe in ‘till death us do part’…

Here’s the blurb:

 Emily Marchant died on Valentine’s Day. If only she’d stayed dead…

When Chrissie Marchant first sets eyes on Barton Grove, she feels as if the house doesn’t want her. But it’s her new husband’s home, so now it’s her home as well. Sumptuous and exquisitely appointed, the house is filled with treasures that had belonged to Joe’s first wife, the perfect Emily, whom the villagers still consider the real mistress of Barton Grove.

A stunning photograph of the first Mrs. Marchant hangs in the living room, an unblemished rose in her hand. There’s something unnerving and impossibly alive about that portrait, but it’s not the only piece of Emily still in the house. And as Chrissie’s marriage unravels around her, she learns that Emily never intended for Joe to take a second wife…

And now for an extract:

     At some stage, a wall had been knocked down and two sizeable rooms had become one. Through a simple archway, the second half of the room was dominated by a framed photograph of a beautiful blonde woman, which hung above another marble fireplace. I was drawn to the photograph and moved closer, until I stood within a few feet. “Who is she?”
     Joe sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Emily. My late wife. I told you about her.”
      I nodded. I had only known Joe for a short time, but I felt as if I had known Emily for years. I knew her nickname had been Willow, and could now see why. The face that stared back at me was undeniably beautiful, with high, aristocratic cheekbones and thick golden blonde hair that cascaded way below her shoulders. Her eyes were a vivid violet and her mouth, shaded a delicate pinky apricot, perfectly complemented her peaches-and-cream complexion. If the portrait had been full figure, I know I would have been looking at a slender, graceful woman with perfect poise.
      Damn her! I thought to myself. I was keenly aware of what a contrast I must have been with my short dark hair, olive skin, and penchant for wearing jeans and T-shirts. After such perfection, what on earth did Joe see in me?
      Maybe the photographer had used an airbrush, but I couldn’t see one blemish on that beautiful face. The shot had been taken from an angle so that she wasn’t quite full face. She was unsmiling. The set of her mouth and the way her eyes stared out at me gave her an enigmatic air. One hand was raised to her cheek, its long, perfectly manicured fingers clasping an exquisite cream-colored rose.
     I stared long and hard at that photograph, taking in every detail, hardly aware of Joe telling me about the furniture and where Emily had found it all, who had decorated for them and the dinner parties she had hosted to raise money for all the worthy charities within a fifty mile radius.
     Perfect Emily. Saint Emily, I thought, as she gazed lifelessly down at me.
     And then…
     I stared, unblinking, sure I must have imagined it. Had that been a flicker of recognition? But this was a photograph. Emily was in her coffin six feet under St Matthew’s churchyard. By now she was hardly more than a moldy skeleton. So why was I certain—just for a fleeting second—that she had looked back at me?

The Second Wife is available now from:

Amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Second-Wife-ebook/dp/B00BCKNAI6/

Amazon.ca:  http://www.amazon.ca/The-Second-Wife-ebook/dp/B00BCKNAI6/

Barnes and Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-second-wife-catherine-cavendish/1045843384?ean=2940016366579
BIO:  Cat lives in Wales with her husband and a slightly eccentric tortoiseshell cat and has had a lifelong fascination with the paranormal which intensified when she saw an apparition which no-one has ever been able to rationally explain. She is currently working on a number of new projects.

If you'd like to learn more  about her and her books, you can contact her through the following links:

Website:  http://www.catherinecavendish.com
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/CatherineCavendish
Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4961171.Catherine_Cavendish
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Cat_Cavendish
Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Cavendish/e/B0059GDROQ

Coffee Chat with Author J. Conrad Guest

Welcome, everyone! Are you ready for another chat?

Got your coffee - or I understand some of you prefer tea? If you're drinking something stronger, well, that's okay. It's five o'clock somewhere!

My visitor today is multi-published author J. Conrad Guest.  How do you like your coffee, Conrad?

CONRAD: I often write during the morning hours, before my mind gets too cluttered with the other, more mundane aspects of my day, so coffee, along with cigars, is an important part of my writing routine. My favorite coffee is a bourbon truffle, which gives me the illusion of sipping my favorite nighttime beverage.

Ally: Bourbon Truffle coffee it is, but no cigars, I'm afraid. This is a smoke-free blog, you know. :-D  Why don't you start by telling us something about yourself and your list of books?
BIO:  My first novel, January’s Paradigm, was published by Minerva Press, London, England.  I have two other novels based on the Joe January character, One Hot January and January’s Thaw. Both are available from Second Wind Publishing.
 
In 2008 I completed Backstop: A Baseball Love Story in Nine Innings. It was nominated as a 2010 Michigan Notable Book, while the Lewis Department of Humanities at the Illinois Institute of Technology adopted it as required reading for their spring 2011 course, Baseball: America’s Literary Pastime.
 
Chaotic Theory, a novella that explores the conjecture of how the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil might result in a tornado in Texas, is now available from Amazon.
 
In April 2010, I completed my fifth novel, The Cobb Legacy, a murder mystery that spans two centuries written around baseball legend, Ty Cobb, and the shooting death of his father by his mother.
 
WIP: 500 Miles to Go is set during the golden era of motor racing (the 1960s). The story follows young Alex Król as he seeks love while making his dream to win the Indianapolis 500 come true. Launch is expected in first quarter 2013. 
I’ve commenced my next novel, A World Without Music, speculative fiction set against a backdrop of romance.

Ally: I notice your bio is all about your books. Tell us something about you, an interesting fact, an unusual event.

CONRAD: I once met actor Jimmy Stewart at an airport, back in the early eighties. I asked him for an autograph, but the only thing on which he could write was some cash I had in my wallet. I handed him a dollar bill and he looked at me kind of strangely, as if I were asking him to break the law. After a moment, he inked his name to the bill, and I stashed it back into my wallet. We shook hands and I told him what a thrill it was to have met him, and we parted ways. Sadly, today, I can’t recall what happened to that autographed currency. I imagine I spent it without realizing it, and I wonder from time to time whether whoever has it knows what they have.

Ally : You can be sure I'll be checking my dollar bills! Let's talk writing. How did you choose the setting or settings in your soon-to-be-released novel A Retrospect in Death? Are they places you’ve lived or visited?
 
CONRAD: I’m a native Michigander, so I chose the Detroit area, including Ann Arbor and Brighton, as the setting for A Retrospect in Death. Even though I believe writers should know what they write, writers are often advised to write what they know, which made writing about the places easy—many were places I’ve frequented myself. Of course that lends much more authenticity to the narrative.
 
Ally: Does your hero (or heroine) have flaws?
 
CONRAD: All of my protagonists are what I like to call anti-heroes; that is to say, flawed. I often choose to write in first person, which makes it easy to write from a suspect point of view. This gives the reader a biased view of the story as opposed to the unbiased, omnipotent perspective of a third person point of view.

Ally: I understand that today you would like to feature A Retrospect in Death. Please tell us more about it.

Book Blurb:

I exhaled, fought to draw yet another breath—one more in a lifetime of breaths—heard my own death rattle, and followed the light. Muted voices, although the words meant nothing to me, and the sound of someone sobbing thrummed softly in my ears. A hand on top of mine—warm, soft, delicate … connecting me. Feminine. A woman’s hand. Someone I knew. Who?
 
A Retrospect in Death begins with a man’s death. The reader is taken to the other side where the narrator encounters his higher self—the part of him that is immortal and is connected to the creator. The protagonist learns (much to his chagrin) that he must return to the lifecycle. But first he must be “debriefed” by his higher self, and so they set about discussing the man’s previous life—in reverse chronological order: knowing the end but retracing the journey, searching for the breadcrumbs left along the way.
 
A Retrospect in Death is a story about discovery. Consider that only in death can you really know, and understand, who and why you are—or were. And then ask yourself: At that point, is it too late? Does it even matter?



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My fiction and essays appear in various formats and online and print publications; just Google J. Conrad Guest.
My Amazon Author Page shows links to several of the books, and A Retrospect in Death should appear here as soon as it is released (scheduled Feb. 2013).