Lashell Collins's Blog, page 18

Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story: Chapter 7

Well, chapter 7 of the Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story is live and it comes complete with … you guessed it – another twist that I (and Forrest for that matter) never saw coming! Chapter 7 is brought to us by blogger Jennifer Pendergast of Elmo Writes. Be sure to check out her installment. You can find it, and the previous 6 chapters, right here.

Typos and Misspelled Words … Grrrr!!

So yesterday, one of my favorite bloggers, Maddie Cochere of Breezy Books (author of the Susan Hunter Mysteries book series), posted a blurb on her blog about her adventures with … shall we say, “hasty editing,” and how she came to think of her first few books as less than stellar. I believe the exact phrase she used was, “I was sick to my stomach. My book was crap!” 

Amusing as that phrase may be (Ms. Cochere always says something that makes me laugh out loud!), for me, it was also very timely. You see, the day before, I had finally received my ePub proof from BookBaby for book 3 of my Pierced Trilogy, Pierced Ever After. And, as it had taken almost a week and a half at that point (patience is not a virtue I possess), I was very anxious to confirm that all the content had survived the conversion process and that it was intact. It was. So, I hit the distribute button! Then, the next day when I had a little more free time to sit and look at the pretty ePub proof in more detail – eating bon bons as I marveled at the ease of it all (no more technical difficulties for this girl!), there it was … staring at me, big as day … a misspelled word!

Well, not really. I mean, the word is spelled correctly, it’s just not the word I meant to use. “Gentile” instead of “Gentle.” It’s an honest mistake, right? An unavoidable slip of the fingers as they dance over the keyboard. It could happen to anyone, right? RIGHT? I felt so disgusted with myself. I know the stigma of indie publishing and I strive to avoid those common pitfalls. Each of the books have been edited and proofread to death, and not just by me! But there it was. Taunting me.

I had to stop reading. I set it aside and checked my email instead. And there, I found a new blog post by my friend Maddie Cochere. And her words made me feel a strange sense of kinship and belonging. I wasn’t alone. Even though I felt sick to my stomach because my book was crap … I wasn’t alone. Maddie knew how I felt because she has been there too! It was like getting a much-needed hug when I needed it most.

I went back to my ePub proof and kept reading. I found a total of 2 typos and 2 missing words. It may not be perfect but, I figure that’s not bad for a book with a word count of about 120,000. And as Maddie pointed out in her blog post, I can always “upload new version.”

Thanks for the cyber hug, Maddie!

Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story: Chapter 6

Hey … just a quick shout to let you know that chapter 6 of the Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story is up and, boy is it good! We finally start to get some answers in this chapter, which comes from blogger and author Elizabeth Eyles of Quite Contrary. You can read her chapter, as well as have a look at chapters 1 thru 5, right here. Check it out!

 

Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story: Chapter 5

Just a quick note to tell you that chapter 5 of the Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story is live and ready for reading. Chapter 5 comes to us from blogger Candice Setton, from Setton Crew, and you can find it, and the previous four chapters, by clicking right here!

Hero-Worship

I’m so excited! I have a little hero-worship thing going on because one of my new favorite authors is a guest today, so you’re going to have to excuse me if I get a little loopy, ok?

So, as you all know by now, I recently read a book called Rhythm in Blue by tfc Parks, and fell completely in love with it, vowing to read more of this author’s work. Well, shortly after I posted my review of said book on this blog and on Goodreads, I was contacted by the author and we struck up a budding friendship. Parks, who is actually better known for her wonderful string of erotic short stories written under the name Brandie Buckwine, agreed to spend some time chatting with me today. And did I mention, I’m really excited about it?! Ok, here we go…

LC:  Welcome, Brandie! And thank you so much for joining me today.

BB:  Thanks for having me, Lashell!

LC:  So, tell me, how long have you been writing?

BB:  This is a tricky question. For me, writing is all about the stories you build in your head. I started building those as a young child. Even then, they were romances – most involving my slightly older self and Ringo Starr (I always go for the underdog). I wrote a few short stories in grade school, but didn’t actually start writing these stories down until about five years ago.

LC:  And were you one of those people who always knew you wanted to be an author?

BB:  No. I actually fought it for a long time. It sounded like a lot of work. My dad is a writer and I grew up around writers, so it was definitely something I didn’t want to be. Over the years, I’ve had a number of people tell me I should write, but I always blew them off. A lengthy bout of unemployment and boredom, as well as a sudden burst of inspiration, made me cave.

LC:  Did you always know you wanted to write erotica?

BB:  Erotica wasn’t even within my frame of reference. After I finished my first novel and submitted it to my agent, I just sort of sat back and waited for fame and fortune. During that time, I stumbled across a site that published naughty books. I read a sample and was astounded, bought it, and couldn’t get through it or buy the next one quickly enough. My inflated ego (after all, fame and fortune were just around the corner) thought most of the stories I read weren’t all that well written, and it became a challenge for me to prove I could do better.

Since many most all of the stories I thought up were ultimately very naughty and I’d resigned myself to the notion I’d have to clean them up if I wanted to write them, erotica (once I discovered it) seemed a perfect fit. I just needed to find the balls to actually put them on paper.

LC:  Your erotic short stories are so much fun to read. Wildly entertaining is the phrase that comes to mind! I’ve read several of them and I think my favorite, so far, is The Sturgis Diaries, only because my husband rides a Harley and we’ve always talked about going to Sturgis. But have you ever thought about writing a full length erotic novel?

BB:  I have. All of the stories I write as Brandie end up pretty short, but I’m trying to find the patience and gumption to write something full length. I’m working on a book now called In Trance that will be my longest Brandie Buckwine story. I’m not sure how long it will end up being, but I’m hoping to make it a full length novel. I guess we’ll see where the story ends.

LC:  Can you tell us a little about In Trance?

BB:  In Trance is about a woman who moves in with three guys — friends from her college days — because she needs to cut expenses. Back in school, she had an unrequited love for her new roommate, Nico, but swears she’s moved beyond it when she agrees to live with him. When she moves in with the guys, they discover she’s a sleepwalker who moves furniture and strips in the wee hours. They figure her sleepwalking is harmless, until Nico finds himself in an unexpected but passionate relationship with Vera — one she’s not aware of.

I’m loving this story and I’m so excited about it. I just wish life wasn’t so chaotic right now so I had more time to work on it.

LC:  Well, it sounds like an awesome storyline and I can’t wait to read it! But you have written a full novel before under the name tfc Parks. Rhythm in Blue is a truly wonderful story that takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride through one rock star’s life, and his journey to true love. Can we talk about that book for a moment? Where did the inspiration for that story come from?

BB:  When I create a story (technical term – daydream), most go through fifteen or more incarnations. Over the last ten years or so, I’d considered writing one of them, but they all seemed so personal, and I didn’t know if I could come up with something that others would find interesting. The idea for Rhythm In Blue went through just as many, if not more, versions. When I hit upon the current version, I knew I finally had a story I wanted to write. But that doesn’t answer the question, now, does it?

I cycle through heroes over time. Some I take from real life, and some I take from the media. Rick I found watching The Last Waltz. As soon as I saw the movie, I knew Rick Danko was hero material. I learned all I could about him and The Band, and decided to use him as my jumping off point. Now, Rick Rowland, my MC in Rhythm In Blue, is very different from the real Rick, but he’s where I started. You can give me crap for not changing his name – I intended to. The plan was to use the name Rick as a placeholder until I came up with something better, but as the story developed, the character was so strong as Rick, I couldn’t make myself change his name.

LC:  I love the fact that Rick Danko was your starting point for Rick Rowland! And Rhythm in Blue is actually the first of your books that I ever read. So, now that I know the inspiration for that story came from The Last Waltz and The Band – and having just finished your story Fighting Faith, which centers around another fictional rock band – I’m guessing that you’re probably as big a music fan as I am. Do you have a special affinity for writing about musicians?

BB:  I do indeed. In fact, 90% of the stories I think up involve musicians. It’s almost a challenge to come up with something without a rock and roll backdrop. If I had known how popular rock star books were going to become, maybe I would have written more titles about the scene instead of trying to get away from it.

When I was in kindergarten, I had this little plastic, orange and white record player, and I’d alternate between listening to Cinderella, Peter and the Wolf, and the White Album. As I mentioned, Ringo Starr was my first romantic hero, but over the years, many musicians followed in his footsteps, depending on what I was listening to at the time.

LC:  Now, if I understand correctly, Rhythm in Blue is actually the first thing you ever published, and then you began writing erotica under the name Brandie Buckwine. But you just recently re-released Rhythm in Blue again, is that right?

BB:  Yes, I did rerelease it. I felt the writing was weak in the earlier version and there were parts that dragged, so I tried to tighten it up. The story underwent a major change as well (major in my mind, anyway). In the earlier version, Shelby remains fifteen during her friendship with Rick, and he is a few years older. I caved to my mother’s insistence I make Shelby older so it didn’t seem as creepy. That is a choice I will likely always second guess.

LC:  So the original version was probably much more taboo then. Are you second guessing because you feel as though you compromised your art in order to make the story more reader friendly?

BB:  Yes. It’s crazy, really. Just the matter of a birth date. I had a few people react strongly to Shelby’s age, and a few more who said it didn’t completely turn them off, but they couldn’t get over the creep factor. As I was writing the book, my mother begged me to make her sixteen, but I felt it would lose its edge. Ultimately, it’s probably not that big a deal.

LC:  You’re no stranger to taboo, controversial storylines, as anyone who’s ever read your story, The Boathouse could attest to. So, I have to ask … do you regret changing RIB? And I’m asking because I never read the original version so, as a reader, I can tell you, I thought the storyline – as it is now – was perfect.

BB:  Thank you, Lashell. I suppose I do in a way. I mean, I made her fifteen for a reason. It was supposed to be shocking, and I wanted my audience to struggle to support the relationship and question that support. Otherwise, I would have made her eighteen. When we first meet Rick, he’s in bed with a very young woman, and even though it wasn’t intentional, it’s nothing he’s going to lose any sleep over. It’s all part of the lifestyle. But when he meets Shelby, he has to think a little harder about those choices because now it’s personal and he can see her as both a child and as a woman. Maybe he never thought he was perfect, but suddenly his weaknesses and flaws smack him upside the head, and rather than deal with it, he kind of goes into denial until he can no longer downplay the situation.

LC:  Well, it really is a wonderful story and I fell in love it. And when I’m recommending it, I tell people, it’s unlike any romance novel you’ve ever read before. So will we ever see another novel from tfc Parks?

BB:  Yes! I have a New Adult novel I started a few months ago that I’m anxious to write. It’s taken a backseat to In Trance at the moment. I made the mistake of publicly stating last winter that I was taking a break from Brandie Buckwine, that I was bored with writing erotica. Famous last words. Since then, I’ve had an abundance of story ideas for Brandie.

LC: Well, that’s a good thing, ’cause my Kindle’s getting lonely and I need some new stuff to read! Ok, quickie lightning round…

-People person or loner?

Loner

- Cake or pie?

CAKE!

- Wine or beer?

Beer

- Hard & fast or slow & sweet?

Beggars can’t be choosers

- George Clooney or Jason Statham?

I had to Google Jason. Very hot. But now that I’ve seen him, I’m afraid I’m going to have to go with both. Not sure they could handle me, though.

LC:  I want to thank Brandie once again for visiting with me today. You can read a sneak peek of her upcoming novel In Trance, right here. And you can check out her erotic short stories by visiting her website, or check out her tfc Parks site, here.

Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story: Chapter4

Chapter 4 of the Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story, written by Leslie Moon of Moondustwriter, is up, and the mystery deepens! Check it out right here! You can also find links to the first three chapters at the top of the page.

Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story: Chapter 3

Excited to tell you that chapter 3 of The Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story is up and ready to be read so, go check it out. You won’t be sorry. Chapter 3 comes from blogger Ambrozya, and it contains a surprising little twist! And don’t forget, if you need to review chapters 1 and 2, you can do that right here.

Blog Awards

Ok, so first, let me just say that it’s all my fault. I had no idea there was even such a thing as a blogging award. My bad! But I was minding my own business on a family vacation (Sort of. Long story!), when I received a comment from Franny  stating that she had nominated me for a Liebster Blog Award. I was baffled. An Award? Me? For this blog? And I got a second nomination for the same award from Joe just a day later! Really? What the heck was going on here?

Like I said, I had no idea about such things, so I wanted to do a little research before responding. Plus, as I mentioned, I was a few states away from home at the time and had virtually no free time to myself. So when I soon received a third nomination (this time for a Super Sweet Blog Award) also from Franny, I assumed she thought I must have missed the first nomination and just wanted to make sure! So Franny, thank you double for both nominations!!

But I was still clueless. So when I returned home and back to my “normal” surroundings, I had a little time to do some sleuthing about these mysterious blog awards and how to handle them. Then, out of nowhere, this morning I get … you guessed it. A fourth nomination! This time the honor came from Sasha,  and to my delight, she appeared to be just as pleasantly clueless as I was (still am) about how all this works, and reading her post gave me new insight into how I should handle these nominations. Thanks Sasha!

So, the rules are that you are supposed to

1.) Display the award logo on your blog.  

2.) Link back to the person who nominated you. 

3.) State 7 things about yourself, OR answer a number of questions.  

4.) Nominate several other bloggers for the award.

5.) Notify those bloggers of the nomination via comments.

From the research I’ve done, I gather that each blog award is different in the number of things about yourself that you’re supposed to reveal, and in the number of other bloggers to nominate after you. Some say between 3 and 5 things while others say as many as 12, and some say to nominate 5 other bloggers while others say 10 or 15. With some, you’re supposed to answer questions posed by the person who nominated you and then ask questions of the people you nominate. Still others say that your nominees should be fairly new blogs with less than a certain number of readers (some say 200 while others say 2,000). So many rules and contradictions, my head was spinning by the time I was done!

So, because of all the conflicting info, and since I was nominated 4 times in very close succession by three different people, I am going to sort of consolidate this whole process while trying to remain true to the spirit of the blog awards themselves. I will display all 3 logos at the end of this post, and I have already linked to Franny’s and Joe’s and Shasha’s blogs – thanks ladies (and gentleman)! But I’m going to go with the rules for the last award in terms of questions/things about myself since it just seems easier, and I’ll limit the number of blogs I nominate to five. Here we go…

7 Things About Me

1.)  I currently have a day job working in a local garden center where I get to spend time playing among some of the most beautiful flowers, shrubs, trees and garden decor on earth. Not sure what it is about flowers that make people happy but, I witness it most everyday, and it’s nice to see.

2.)  I am a proud Trekkie who’s not afraid to let my geek flag fly. I have been in love with the Star Trek franchise since I was a very small girl when I would watch the original series with my mom, and later with my best friend, Deron. But my favorite incarnation has to be Star Trek: The Next Generation with Captain Picard. I love everything about that show, from the cast to the ship itself. However, I am also a Trek purist who is not real fond of the current movies recasting the roles made famous by the original actors. Not a fan!

3.)  My favorite pastime when I’m not writing is to sit in front of the TV (or my computer screen) and watch soap operas. I’m a HUGE fan of General Hospital and One Life to Live. So incredibly happy that OLTL is now back from the grave! It’s like having a bunch of old friends back in town – familiar and comforting and so much fun!

4.)  I am fascinated with Bigfoot! (What? I just told you I was a geek!). I even have a small statue of the big hairy guy in my backyard, and I love it; he’s so cool – and a real conversation starter! Come on, are you really going to tell me that you don’t believe there’s even a remote possibility that he’s out there? All those hundreds of people who have claimed to have seen him can’t be crazy! But then again, I also believe in aliens and the Loch Ness Monster.

5.)  I have a bad habit of biting off more than I can chew. Or rather, of not knowing how to close the door on finished chapters of my life. There are things that I should just be done with. Things that I need to be done with, for my own peace of mind and mental well-being. Only, I’m reluctant to pull the trigger because I’m afraid of hurting other people’s feelings. And in the meantime, I am stretched to the limit, allowing myself to be pulled in a million different directions, all because I don’t know how to say “I’m done.”

6.)  I often sit and ask myself who the heck I think I’m kidding, referring to myself as a writer. A fat lot of nerve I have, huh? In my opinion, I’ve never written anything of substance before now, and self-publishing a romantic trilogy doesn’t make me a writer. Does it? It only counts if people are reading it and loving it and connecting with the characters, right? It’s like that age-old question, if a tree falls in the forest and no one’s around, does it still make a sound? If a person writes a book and no one reads it or shares it, is she still an author? This question keeps me awake at night.

7.)  I come from a fairly religious family who I think I shocked when I published book 1 of that trilogy. Not because they didn’t think I could do it, but because of the content of the story. It’s not that the book is raunchy or anything, although I am required to label it as “erotica” since the love scenes are hot. I prefer to think of it as “spicy” romance because, to me, it’s not all that explicit. I mean, I’ve read much hotter. Still, I can see the disappointment in the eyes of some family members. Especially since they’ve always thought of me as the shy, quiet, sweet one. The demure one. The virginal one. Oh, well. Guess I shattered those illusions.

Bloggers I Nominate

Fifty Shades of Tribute - Not sure if it’s against the rules to do this but, I love this blog and Sasha’s an awesome writer!

The Tiny Death

Dr. Franny and Mrs. Myself

Breezy Books Blog

Becky Due

Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story: Chapter 2

Sorry I’m a little late in getting this up but, I’ve been traveling for the past week and haven’t had much time online. But I’m excited to tell you that chapter 2 of the Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story is here, and it is exciting! Blogger Josh Magill of The Magill Review has added a huge dose of action and adrenaline into this one so, be sure to check it out! And if you need to review chapter one first, you can do that here. Enjoy!

A Different Kind of Blog Challenge

So, you all know how much I enjoyed the A to Z Blog Challenge in April. I really stretched myself and I met a lot of very cool fellow bloggers in the process. One such blogger is Joe Owens from Joe’s Musings. Joe came up with the really creative and fun sounding idea of gathering a baker’s dozen of bloggers and enlisting their help to write a fiction story. The idea being that Joe himself would post the first chapter of the story, and then hand it off to blogger number two, who will write the second chapter, and so on.

Well, having had so much fun with the A to Z Challenge, I couldn’t resist. It just sounded like so much fun! So, I signed up immediately, having no clue what the story was going to be about or even what genre we would be writing in (yet another opportunity for me to stretch myself!). Joe’s goal is for us to end up with a complete, cohesive story, even though he has given us (the thirteen bloggers/writers) complete carte blanche to twist and weave the plot however we see fit with our respective chapters. Fun, right?

Well, we just received word that the genre for this little adventure will be suspense/thriller, and the first chapter was posted yesterday on Joe’s blog. There, you will also find a complete list of the bloggers/writers participating in the Baker’s Dozen Fiction Story, as well as a schedule of when each new chapter will be posted. You will also be able to read each new chapter on Joe’s blog as they are posted, but I will also be keeping you up to date right here on this blog as well so, be sure to check it out!