Anna Abner's Blog, page 36
March 19, 2014
Meet Maya Solomon of the Red Plague Trilogy
Want to know more about the heroine of the Red Plague Trilogy? I put together a faux interview between Maya and her school newspaper. Enjoy!
Interviewer: This month’s Palmetto High School’s student spotlight is on Maya Solomon, 17, recent 1st place winner in the thousand meters sprint at the state track finals. Here are your five questions.
Q1: What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
Maya: I have a twin brother named Mason. But nobody at Palmetto has ever met him. He doesn’t live with us anymore.
Q2: Who is your favorite teacher?
Maya: Mr. Reynolds the music teacher. He taught me a lot about songwriting and composing.
Q3: What is one thing you can’t live without?
Maya: My iPad. It has all my recordings on it, my favorite music, and pictures and videos of my family. I would be really upset if I lost it.
Q4: Who is the one person you can’t live without?
Maya: My dad. He’s a single parent now. Without him I’d be an orphan.
Q5: What are your plans for after high school?
Maya: I’m going to Meredith College where my mom used to teach (before she passed away) to study music and creative writing.
March 14, 2014
Thank You For Putting Elixir At The Top Of The Free Charts!
March 13, 2014
Last 3 Days to Pick up Elixir for Free
My YA paranormal, Elixir, is only free on Amazon until Sunday, March 16th! Hop on over by clicking HERE and check it out. If you read it, please let me know what you think.
Blurb:
The red plague has devastated the human race, turning billions of people into zombies with red eyes and an insatiable hunger for human flesh.
The 212R virus sweeps through the population so quickly a possible cure is left to rot. Seventeen-year-old Maya Solomon may be the only survivor who knows where it is. But to reach the lab in Raleigh, North Carolina she will have to outrun the infected boy tracking her every step and cross into a city swarming with monsters.
March 12, 2014
Grandma Abner’s Apocalypse Bread
Pretend it’s the zombie apocalypse and you have only enough electricity in the generator to power the oven. The fresh milk and eggs have been substituted for dehydrated powder.
Ingredients
I was able to make the rolls with non-perishable ingredients. And they tasted exactly like the ones I made with real milk and eggs.
2 tablespoons yeast
2/3 cup dry milk with 2 cups water (or the equivalent to 2 cups milk)
4 tablespoons egg crystals with 6 tablespoons water (or the equivalent to 2 eggs)
½ cup warm water
8 tablespoons shortening
7 cups flour
6 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons salt
Directions
Step One: Mix wet ingredients in a bowl with a spoon. Add shortening.
Mixing ingredients with a spoon (and then by hand).
Step Two: Slowly add flour and dry ingredients. Mix well.
Step Three: Knead dough by hand until mixed and soft. Sprinkle extra flour on hands and counter as you knead.
Step Four: Raise the dough in a bowl (covered with a cloth) at room temperature for one hour.
The bread is rising!
Step Five: Grease inside of 13×9 glass baking dish with shortening.
Step Six: Knead dough again by hand until soft.
Step Seven: Separate dough into about 16 balls and roll smooth by hand, arranging them in greased dish.
I miscalculated the sizes of the rolls so I only made 23, but there they are preparing to rise a second time.
Step Eight: Raise the dough in the dish (covered with a cloth) for another hour at room temperature.
Step Nine: Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
The rolls came out of the oven warm and golden brown.
Can be eaten warm or cold. Wrap them up and stuff them into your backpack before you set out on the open road to find other survivors.
My favorite part is smelling the yeasty dough and sampling the buttery goodness.
**When I was writing the Red Plague Trilogy I wanted the survivors to make a food item that was both a little unusual but also reminiscent of home. This is a family recipe that can be found in a 1977 church cookbook of recipes handed down for generations. Read about these dinner rolls in Antidote (Red Plague #2) and Panacea (Red Plague #3).
March 11, 2014
THANK YOU!
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all your support during Elixir’s launch this month. Whether it was retweeting, reblogging, reviewing or buying a copy, your kindness is overwhelming. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such kind and supportive people.
March 7, 2014
Flirty Friday Clip #23
For all you Olicity shippers out there, here is a fun video dedicated to Felicity and Oliver’s relationship on Arrow. Enjoy!
March 1, 2014
Come Join Me For My 1st Blog Tour!
March 3:
March 4:
March 5:
March 6:
Paranormal Romance Fans For Life
March 7:
March 10:
See you there!
February 28, 2014
Beware the Red Plague!
It’s release day! My new YA series, starting with Elixir is finally available. I’m so excited to share Maya’s story with you.
The red plague has devastated the human race, turning billions of people into zombies with red eyes and an insatiable hunger for human flesh.
The 212R virus sweeps through the population so quickly a possible cure is left to rot. Seventeen-year-old Maya Solomon may be the only survivor who knows where it is. But to reach the lab in Raleigh, North Carolina she will have to outrun the infected boy tracking her every step and cross into a city swarming with monsters.
February 25, 2014
Tuesday Tease #18
Ben forced open the hospital’s sliding glass doors. A foul, sour stench blew over us, raising dust and leaves in the doorway. There couldn’t be healthy survivors inside. The entire building was a dark, stinking tomb.
–Panacea ms pg 24
February 17, 2014
Author Interview with Rose Montague
Back Cover Blurb:
Three against Three Hundred. Jade is a little bit shifter, a little bit witch, a little bit Fae, a little bit vamp, and a whole lot of fun. Jade has arranged things so she is partnered with a shifter bear as police detectives on a big case involving vamps killing humans. There is some mystery to the book and many surprises. Jade’s origins, where she came from and why she is here are revealed along the way. A lot of humor , action, and fun involving a visit to Faerie, assassination attempts, adventures in driving, a magical dagger, and a little romance happen along the way. By the end, much of the mystery and her beast is revealed, and her origins and background are explained. All of this with a good deal of humor and some real shockers along the way.
Anna Abner: Welcome to my site, Rose, and thank you for stopping by to tell us about your writing and publishing experience. First, how did you come up with the idea for Jade?
Rose Montague: I love urban fantasy and I am a big fan of strong female characters. Jade is my idea of a mix of different supernatural creatures. How she became that way is part of the mystery in the book. There are a lot of surprises in Jade and that is one of them.
AA: Do you think there is a lot of you in Jade’s character?
RM: I wish I had a few of Jade’s talents! I think there is a lot of my philosophy in Jade. I also enjoy a bit of humor and romance mixed in with all the action. My goal in writing Jade was to have fun writing a fun book to read.
AA: If this is part of a series, can you tell us what is coming up for Jade?
RM: Jade, Jane, and Jill team up in the first book to solve a series of crimes. Book Two will be called Jane, and Book Three will be called Jill. They call themselves the Three J’amigo’s. Jane is a powerful vampire and Jill is Fae. The main theme in Jade is friendship and that theme will carry on throughout all three books.
AA: When did you know you were a writer?
RM: I always wanted to write and I love to read. I recently developed some back problems that would wake me up in the early hours of the morning. What a great time to write with no distractions. The majority of Jade was written between the hours of 4AM and 6AM. Coffee was a big help. I realized I was a real writer about a third of the way through Jade. I was learning this writing thing by doing it and some of my friends were reading what I had so far. When they started having fun with it was when I realized I had the makings of a fun book.
AA: Why write paranormals?
RM: When I was young I loved Sci-Fi. That led me to the fantasy and paranormal genres where I found true happiness.
AA: Have you ever thought of writing in other genres?
RM: I am writing a short story now (that seems to want to be a novella) for a charity anthology about the life of a cat. I am pretty excited about it.
AA: Sounds interesting! Tell us about your writing process.
RM: I try to write about one thousand words per day. Some days it doesn’t happen but other days I do more than that. After Jade was published I focused more on marketing and promoting and now I am trying to find the right balance to do both.
AA: Are you a pantser or a plotter?
RM: I have a basic outline and I usually go off the reservation but eventually come back. It does help to know where you are going, especially if there is some mystery involved. And the ending is a real key. Once you have an outline and a really good ending, you can let the story tell itself.
AA: What was your publishing experience?
RM: I was lucky enough to find a publisher that thought Jade was a terrific read. A small publisher called Eternal Press offered me a contract. The submission process is pure torture and I had eight rejections before that. I just kept tweaking and self-editing. Eternal Press is a small publisher but they took care of all the expenses involved from a real editor, to cover art, getting the ISBN’s and formatting the book for print and eBook.
AA: What advice would you give to new or struggling authors?
RM: If you want to be an author you are going to have to sit down and write. The more you write the better you will get at writing. Just thinking about doing it won’t get it done.
AA: Thanks for stopping by, Rose, and good luck in the future.
Contact Info
