Stephen Kozeniewski's Blog, page 76

June 5, 2014

Spotlight on MORTAL: SURVIVING THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE by Shawn Chesser

Hey, there, blogketeers!  It's June and you know what that means:


Today we have a very special guest: fellow zombie author Shawn Chesser!  First, let's get to know Shawn and then jump right into the spotlight of his latest novel, MORTAL: SURVIVING THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE.

About Shawn Chesser:

Shawn Chesser resides in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and two children. He studied writing at Harvard on the hill (PCC Sylvania) many years ago. Shawn is a big fan of the apocalyptic horror genre. Stephen King, Cormac McCarthy and George Romero are strong influences. When not writing, Shawn spends the rest of his time doting on his two children and doing whatever his wife says. :)

Spotlight on MORTAL

Stephen Kozeniewski:  Thanks for being with us on the blog today, Shawn.  What is your latest zombie release?

Shawn Chesser:  MORTAL: SURVIVING THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE.

SK:  Can you give us a quick description of it without any spoilers?

SC:  114,000 words. Approx. 456 pages.

Spoiler free synopsis-lite.

MORTAL, Book 6 in the SURVIVING THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE series, picks up immediately where ALLEGIANCE: SURVIVING THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE left off.

Outbreak Day 16: With an estimated ninety-nine percent of the United States’ population having already succumbed to the Omega Virus and reanimated to form roving hordes of flesh-eating monsters, two groups of survivors struggle against long odds to survive the zombie apocalypse.

SK:  Can you tell us something unique about it?

SC:  MORTAL is a military thriller set in a thoroughly devastated United States. This fast paced thriller features not only hard-charging alpha males in camouflage and body armor, but also regular citizens doing their best to survive the zombie apocalypse.

Thrown into the mix are strong female characters, a group of younger survivors, as well as a host of human baddies my readers love to hate.

SK:  Sounds great!  Thanks for stopping by!

You can follow Shawn on his website, Amazon page, Twitter, his personal Facebook page, and his Facebook author page.

Make sure to buy your own copy of MORTAL and tell all your friends about it on Goodreads


The stench of rotting flesh is in the air! Welcome to the Summer of Zombie Blog Tour 2014, with over 30 of the best zombie authors spreading the disease in the month of June.

Stop by the event page on Facebook so you don’t miss an interview, guest post or teaser… and pick up some great swag as well! Giveaways galore from most of the authors as well as interaction with them!  #SummerZombie
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Published on June 05, 2014 09:00

June 4, 2014

Listening...

A few weeks ago I wrote a semi-coherent blogpost about what should seem like common courtesy: not threatening to rape people you disagree with.  Apparently, though, this is not common sense or basic decency or whatever else it may appear to be, since it apparently happens enough to warrant a call to action.  I don't normally write about sexual politics on my blog.  In fact, I'm not sure that I ever had before that post.

And I'm going to level with you: it was hard.  Damn hard.  So hard, in fact, that I felt obliged after hours of writing and re-writing to ask one of my female author friends, Claire Ashby, to review it for tonedeafness.  And good thing I did, because she recommended I cut more than a couple of tonedeaf bits out.

But, as tough of an issue as it was to wade into, I'm glad I did, tonedeaf or not, because when someone says, "Hey, if you're against threatening to rape people, please write a blogpost about it" I sort of feel obliged to follow through.  Like, who wouldn't do that?

Well...lots of people.  Because it's hard.  Hard to write, hard to post, hard to read, hard to comment upon.

It's much easier to remain silent.  The easiest thing for me would have been to read Keene's call to action post, nod along, perhaps mutter "That's despicable" and then go about my day.  Which is what most people do.

And herein lies the problem.  I have once again reached a juncture in the sexual politics zeitgeist where the easiest thing would be for me to shut the hell up, not get involved, and silently agree with the consensus opinion.  If you haven't guessed by now, I'm referring to the #yesallwomen movement.

What I outlined in my call to action post (you can probably guess why I'm super hesitant to call it "my rape post") was that, long story short, I'm a privileged male and I don't even know what I don't know, but I try my fumbling best to show solidarity.  The #notallmen hashtag showed, I think, how easy it is to fall into the trap of being tonedeaf on women's issues.

So, I was more or less going to let this all pass me by.  But then I was chatting with another female author friends, Kate Moretti, who wrote her own excellent post on the subject.   But she also sent me this link which basically addressed all of the concerns I had.

So, I don't really have anything super poignant to say here.  I don't really have any thoughts on women's rights that haven't been expressed better elsewhere.  What I do have, though, is an obligation to listen.  So I'm listening.  And what I do have is an obligation to speak out.  So I'm speaking out.  Because just silently nodding along is not okay.
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Published on June 04, 2014 09:00

June 2, 2014

Twelve Ways (Interview with J. Leigh, Author of WAY WALKERS: TANGLED PATHS)

Today I'm very happy to have the opportunity to interview fellow Red Adept Publishing author J. Leigh, who has recently released her debut novel, high fantasy WAY WALKERS: TANGLED PATHS.  This is the first book in the Tazu Saga.  Be sure to hang around until the end of the interview because our mutual publisher is generously hosting a giveaway for this blog tour.




Hello, J., and welcome to Manuscripts Burn!  I understand you've written a CoG.  Can you explain for our readers briefly what a CoG is?  And feel free to shamelessly self-promote!

Happy to be here!  Actually, CoG stands for "Choice of Games" which is the company that developed the computer code Choicescript, which enables the creation of these 'choose your own adventure'-type app programs. I'm actually under their user-made games branch, Hosted Games, along with a lot of other independent and talented writers. Basically, what's been done is the creation of an interactive novel, that reads like a book but plays like a game, complete with choices of what the main character (typically 'you') decide to do in the story, and stats that supplement your choices and determine what outcomes you get. They can be simple or complex, though admittedly, my Way Walkers: University 1 & 2 are quite intricate, with dozens upon dozens of variants for each play-through.

So I understand your CoG takes place in the same universe as TANGLED PATHS.  Can you tell us, do they intersect?  Can we enjoy one without the other?

Yes, they do. However, while there are a few 'Easter eggs' to be found in TANGLED PATHS for those who've read University 1&2, the two take place several thousand years apart in the timeline. So, you can easily read one without the other, though I believe anyone who liked one will most likely enjoy the other. University is a little lighter, a little more playful, while TANGLED PATHS is a bit darker, and more introspective. (Though it still does contain plenty of my surprising moments of humor.) Both still center on the importance of choice, and how a person's choices can affect not only their own lives, but the lives of others. It's a central theme of Way Walkers, and to be honest it was fun to approach it from two very different styles.

What's it like to write a story with so many branching paths?  How does your planning differ from writing a static novel?

Oh, the fact that I plan at all! In both styles I am a very character-driven writer, wherein I let my characters 'take the reins' so to speak to drive the action forward. Traditionally, this leaves me room to 'shoot from the hip' and do a lot of my writing on the fly based on the personality of my main character. When writing a choose your own, I have to consider so many character types, so it's like writing a dozen different stories with a dozen different personalities.  As I've learned, this can easily lead to over-branching, where too many side plots lead me down a road of insanity all for a very small portion of the readership who'll actually pick some of the more obscure branches. In the end, I have to be very particular about what choices I offer to readers, and that in and of itself leads to a considerable amount of planning and thought.

Thanks for being with us today, J.!  Do you have any closing words for the audience?

Thanks for having me! I'd just like to say thanks for reading, I hope you give TANGLED PATHS a try, and if so, I hope you enjoy taking a little walk in my world. I'm just a big fan myself, and I love to talk to readers on the Way Walkers Facebook fan page and in my blog, so feel free to come on by and see us!  

About the Author: 

J. Leigh wrote her first novel at the tender age of eleven, delving deep into the extensive fantasy world she entitled Way Walkers. Since then, she has never really left, though occasionally does emerge to enjoy the company of friends, family, horror movies and the ever-popular sushi dinner.

She currently lives in southern New Jersey with a chow-chow, several cats and fictional cast of hundreds.

Leigh’s published works include a ‘choose your own’ type interactive novel Way Walkers: University with Choice of Games.

You can follow her on her blog or on Facebook.

Synopsis of TANGLED PATHS:
Twelve Ways create a thousand tangled paths.

Hatched from an egg but unable to shift into dragon form, Jathen is a Moot among the Tazu. His rightful throne is forbidden him because of his transformative handicap, and neither his culture nor his religion offer acceptance of his perceived flaws.

Driven by wounded anger, Jathen strikes out across the vast world beyond Tazu borders, desperate to find a place where he feels accepted and whole. Though he travels with the most trusted of companions, sabotage and conspiracy soon strike his quest. Jathen and his allies must struggle against man and magic alike, at the mercy of forces beyond their ken.

As Jathen presses on, his questions of belonging are surrounded by more of identity, loyalty, and betrayal. Where will the path of his destiny lead, and will he follow or fall?

Excerpt from TANGLED PATHSSee the map
Be sure to purchase TANGLED PATHS at:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
iBookstore

And don't forget to review it and tell your friends about it on:
Goodreads

Rafflecopter code: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0510ed39/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Published on June 02, 2014 09:05

May 30, 2014

Awkward Interview with New York Times Bestseller Kate Moretti, Author of BINDS THAT TIE

Hey, blogketeers!  Today we have a very special treat for you: the awkwardest interview ever.  And not only that, but it's with Kate Moretti, the author of New York Times Bestseller THOUGHT I KNEW YOU.  Kate is actually here to promote her sophomore outing, BINDS THAT TIE, so make sure to stick around to the end of the interview for some info and an excerpt on that, as well as a chance to win a free copy of THOUGHT I KNEW YOU and some other great swag from our mutual publisher, Red Adept Publishing.  First, let's meet the author, then we'll jump right into it.

About Kate Moretti

New York Times Bestselling Author Kate Moretti lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids, and a dog. She’s worked in the pharmaceutical industry for ten years as a scientist, and has been an avid fiction reader her entire life.

She enjoys traveling and cooking, although with two kids, a day job, and writing, she doesn’t get to do those things as much as she’d like.

Her lifelong dream is to buy an old house with a secret passageway.

The Awkwardest Interview Ever
Stephen Kozeniewski: Hey.

Kate Moretti: Hey.

SK: How's it goin'?

KM: Going well, thanks. And you?

SK: So, what do you do?

KM: I do science during the day. I do writing at night. I chase kids around.

SK: Oh, you're an author? You know, I had an idea for a book once.

KM: That sounds AMAZING. You should TOTALLY write that.

SK: Actually, how about this: what if I gave you the idea for a book, then you wrote it, then we split the profits?

KM: Wait, there are profits?

SK: So, if you're an author, how come you still work?

KM: Because there are no profits.

SK: Well, why don't you just write one of those FIFTY SHADES dealies? The lady made a million dollars.

KM: Aren’t you supposed to write what you know?

SK: So, you're going to put me in one of your books, right?

KM: Inevitably.

SK: It's probably just as well. I hate reading. Does anybody really read anymore? I mean, come on.

KM: I wish I could write a level of candy crush. That seems really popular.

SK: Right. Well, cool talking to you, bro. Remember me when you're sipping caviar with K.J. Rowling.

KM: Who are you again?

About BINDS THAT TIE

Love ties. Murder binds.

Maggie never felt as though she belonged until Chris Stevens showed her what true happiness meant. Ten years into their marriage, miscarriages and infidelities have scarred them both. Despite their perfect-couple image, Maggie can’t look at Chris with anything but resentment. When a charismatic stranger offers the opportunity for a little harmless flirtation, she jumps into the game.

But charm soon turns to malice, and a deadly split-second decision forces Maggie and Chris onto a dangerous path fraught with secrets, lies, and guilt. With no one else to turn to—no one she dares trust—Maggie will ultimately learn just how binding marital ties can be.

Excerpt from BINDS THAT TIE
Be sure to purchase BINDS THAT TIE at:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iBookstore
Kobo

And don't forget to review it and tell your friends about it on:

Goodreads

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0510ed35/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Published on May 30, 2014 09:00

May 27, 2014

The White Knight

Clad in shimmering plate armor of the purest samite, the noble warrior peered down from the hillock.  Astride his thickly muscled charger, Dongo, the great knight had little fear of being out-run or out-jousted.  Today's venture, though, was no mere tournament.

In the dark chasm below, a gross and terrible wyrm made its lair.  The dragon Kamikalianz was known in every hill and bower of the ancient and noble land.  His cruelty and malevolence was unmatched.  Many brave knights had attempted to hack into the ancient beast's thick scales, but it was the monster Kamkialianz itself which hacked right back at any heroes who attempted to vanquish it.  Indeed, the monster was known to hack into many a brave knight's favorite devices, just to mess with them.

The white knight, atop his brave Dongo, had faced much such mockery at the hands of Kamikalianz.  Indeed, the beast had once pursued him on foot through the woods.  The knight had run and run, certain that the monster had been lurking, attempting to assassinate him.  That, of course, had turned out to be a paranoid dream, but still.

The real object of the knight's affection, the brave Lady Yulee was now in the grip of the dreaded foe.  He placed his hand on the pommel of his sword.  Now was not the time for hesitation, or to reflect upon the societal norms of loving a mere teen-aged maiden, some eight years his junior.  In fact, in the Middle Ages such pairings were considering quite normal.  No, now was the time for action!

"What ho, Dongo!" the knight roared and as one man and mount poured down the side of the chasm, to lock into battle with the beast.

Suddenly the mighty dragon's eye opened.

"'Sup, dude?"

The knight arrested his charge.

"I...er...um...unhand that virgin, foul wretch!"

The giant dragon yawned loudly, its nostrils as big as a man's head, and stretched its back like some great oversized cat.

"Yo, chica, I think one of your exes is here."

The Lady Yulee stomped out of the dragon's lair, pulling on a few scraps of clothes.

"I thought I told you not to come around, Sir Dumbass," she said, crossing her arms and tapping her feet.

"Yes, well, urm..." the knight mumbled.

"Didn't I even get a royal decree from my uncle, the king, banning you from coming within my sight?"

"Well, yes," the knight muttered, "But you see, I thought that was all just your way of trying to win me back.  I'd been reading those messages you'd been sending to the royal court..."

"You've been intercepting my personal correspondence?"

"Well, yes, but I thought you didn't feel safe contacting me directly..."

"Kami, roast this guy," the fair maiden said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder.

And the great monster did.  LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO!

THE END
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Published on May 27, 2014 15:48

May 19, 2014

BRAINEATER JONES Cartoon (Preliminary Sketches)

If you haven't heard yet, I've begun working with voicover artist Steve Rimpici and animator Zee Risek to bring an animated BRAINEATER JONES series to life!  In the interests of drumming up a little early interest, I thought I'd share some of the amazing preliminary artwork that Zee has already done.  Check it out and feel free to share with all your friends!

The first sketch of Jones Alcibé in the birdcage Sketchwork on Jones and Alcibé, including hatless Jones The most recent Jones sketch
The most complete Jones sketch
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Published on May 19, 2014 19:36

May 5, 2014

Call to Action Response

Okay, this is going to be tough, so please bear with me.

On Friday, Brian Keene made a plea for horror authors to speak out against rape. You should really read the full article here because it's better than anything I'll say here. Nevertheless, like I said, it was a call to action, so here I am.

Why is this going to be tough? Well, for one thing I'm a white, middle-class, man in the United States of America which means I'm pretty much as privileged as a human being can get. I don't know what rape means to a woman just like I don't know what discrimination means to a minority or what poverty means to the poor and so on and so forth. These are all concepts I'm familiar with SOLELY on an intellectual level. I have never understood viscerally what it means to be treated differently or even violated on account of simply being who I am.

And yet, that being said, I DO deal with social issues in my writing. Because otherwise, what's the point? Writers are obliged to call attention to the social ills of their day.

Think Upton Sinclair, George Orwell, Harriet Beecher Stowe. But that's not the purpose of this post.

The purpose of this post is to discuss whether it is appropriate to address rape and sexual violence in fiction and how that differs from addressing it in real life. Dealing with rape in a responsible, adult manner in fiction is VERY different from minimizing the subject. And it's a world of difference from using it as a threat or an insult which is, quite simply, not acceptable human behavior. I can defend my usage of the themes in fiction partially because, as Keene points out, I'm a horror author and my job is to upset your amygdala, your "lizard brain." But it's also because I think these issues demand to be addressed.

THE GHOUL ARCHIPELAGO has a lot going on, but in part it's a critique of the culture of objectification. I've said elsewhere I consider it a feminist novel, and that may not be apparent at first glance, but it does deal with gender issues and paternalism in particular. But it also deals with rape, pornography, and the intersection of the two.

Rand Bergeron is a genius who has invented an almost perfect virtual reality collar. Its ultimate use is so obvious that he cuts right through the bullshit and just calls it the Sex Drive. Rand talks about the models who have sold the rights to their images to the Sex Drive corporation, but in practice he ends up molesting the (illicitly obtained) image of his ex-girlfriend. This science fiction conceit opened up the door for me to pose several significant real-world questions.

Where are the lines between masturbation, virtual sex, and personal violation? If you're having sex with someone's image against the will of that person, is that okay? What if you misappropriate their image? What’s the difference between simulated rape and the actual act? Does one necessarily lead to the other?

Eventually Rand's peculiar brand of self-justification spirals out of control and into the real world. The story ultimately ends up dealing with questions of zombie sex, which opens up yet another can of worms.

Can a zombie consent to sex? Is a zombie then still a person, with personal rights, or simply a body to be used? Is the human body itself sacred? Is it still rape if the zombie is docile but you know damn well the former person would NOT have consented?

These are some complex, albeit somewhat fantastical, questions about consent, pornography, art, rape, and necrophilia. Keene draws a distinction (as perhaps we all do) between the sex and violence which moves a story forward and that which is merely gratuitous. I believe (and feel free to tell me if I’m mistaken) that when I address sex in my writing, and sexual violence specifically, it is necessary to advance the plot and themes and not simply for shock value.

I understand that as a writer I have an obligation to address deep social ills like rape. I also understand that I'm a 31-year old white guy and my treatment of the subject, regardless of how much thought I put into it, could end up being as hamfisted and offensive as a minstrel show. That's for you to tell me and I hope you will.

But here's a key point. I quite simply can't even imagine what it would be like to be threatened with rape, as Keene’s editor was. I keep hitting this point, but because I'm a man, there is no way I can viscerally understand what a rape threat is like for a woman. There's no point of comparison, there's no apt metaphor, there's nothing in my own life that I can seize on and say, "Ah, it would be like if somebody said THAT to me." No, there's nothing, nothing even close.

My goal here is, as Keene says, to not be silent, but instead to start a conversation. And that's tough. It's absolutely tough. I'm a little terrified to even push "publish" on this post. Because who the hell am I to talk about rape? Do I even have the right to? No. Maybe not. But silence? No, that's not okay, either. The whole reason rape is a problem in our culture is because of silence. I served in the army for a few years and I'm more than a little ashamed of how prevalent Soldier-on-Soldier rape is. But I'm also heartened that instead of just covering it up like we always have, the Department of Defense is finally talking about the issue. Hopefully that's the first step towards progress.

So...thoughts?
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Published on May 05, 2014 09:00

May 2, 2014

10x10x10 (Shakespeare Question Game With Cassie Cox, Line Editor of BRAINEATER JONES)

When Cassie Cox, the line editor of BRAINEATER JONES, generously agreed to last week's interview I set out to write between six and ten questions.  However, I knew that Cassie was a Shakespeare scholar and by the time I had written two about Shakespeare I realized what I REALLY wanted to do was a whole second interview about that.  Luckily, Cassie agreed!  So I wrote down the ten most complicated questions I could come up with (limiting myself to ten words) and forced Cassie to answer also in ten words.  Enjoy!

The Bard of Avalon
10x10x10: Shakespeare
Should OTHELLO really be called IAGO?

Either way works for me.

What is Shakespeare’s worst play?

To me? Titus Andronicus. I don’t like bloodbaths.

Was MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM a critique of superstitious people?

Midsummer Night’s Dream was a reflection of a superstitious people.

Best Shakespeare villain.

Richard III. Sexiest. Proposal. Ever.

Is Hamlet really crazy?

No.

Four hundred years later why should I care about Shakespeare?

Because he’s a brilliant wordwright.

With inflation, what’s a pound of flesh worth today?

As much as someone is willing to pay for it

What’s up with second person pronouns in early modern England?

Would you like to read my thesis?

What does “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” mean?

A heck of a lot if you’re studying meter.

Why is Shakespeare such a hack?

You’ve been talking to my husband.
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Published on May 02, 2014 09:00

April 28, 2014

Attack of the Alien Zombie Gremlins (Guest Post by Jen Printy, Author of MY SOUL IMMORTAL)

Today I'm happy to host fellow Red Adept Publishing author Jen Printy, who has recently released her debut novel, atmospheric romance/horror novel MY SOUL IMMORTAL.  Be sure to hang around until the end because our mutual publisher is generously hosting a giveaway for this blog tour.


And now I'll turn the blog over to Jen to cover this topic:

Because my love of puppetry knows no bounds and MY SOUL IMMORTAL obviously sells itself, I'd love to hear you tell us a bit about your dollmaking.
You walk into a house, quietly, trying not to disturb anything while looking for a light-switch. The boards creak slightly under your feet; coats on hooks appear as the silhouette of a man lurking in the shadows. When you stumble across the light-switch, you flip it, but nothing happens. You’re alone in the dark. Your stomach rumbles, reminding you of why you entered the house in the first place.

“Hello?” you call out, still in a hushed whisper. “Is anyone around?”

The silence confirms that you seem to be alone in the house and you creep across the linoleum floor to the refrigerator. Upon throwing open the door, beady eyes of what appears to be a head on a pike greet you.

"GAH!"
“GAH!” you cry out, stumbling back into the counter and leaving the door open.

You turn to flee but the dim light from the fridge reflects onto the table, revealing arms and legs strewn across the surface. No, you not a soon-to-be victim in some horror flick. You’ve just enter the world of a doll artist. Cue creepy music.

All joking aside, when I’m not writing, I’m sculpting dolls. Dozens of people have asked how I’d stumbled into such a profession. Children don’t say I want to sculpt dolls when I grow up, or at least I didn’t. Although I love what I do, this wasn’t my plan. I was quite happy with my career choice of being a colored pencil artist. However, life had its own plan as it often does. Throughout college like most students, I worked to pay for books, classes, and the occasional fun night out. At the time, I didn’t realize it, but this part-time-make-ends-meet job was the nail in the coffin to my colored pencil career because it caused tendonitis.

Eventually I couldn't draw anymore. The repetition involved in creating a colored pencil work of artwork caused too much pain. Art had always part of my life, and like writing, it was a way to express myself and deal with my emotions. For about a year, I was lost until I stumbled across a website of one-of-a-kind dolls—OOAK’s as their called. I found it fascinating that art-ists could make dolls look so lifelike. With my colored pencil artwork, realism had always been the goal.

With a purchase of clay and a few tools, I began. My first baby dolls looked more like a cross between an alien and zombie gremlin, and probably worthy of one of those two bit horror movie. Unattractive is putting it mildly. Luckily, practice does make perfect.


The MB house lawyers have advised me that showing the alien zombie gremlin doll would open me up to far too much litigation for bleached eye sockets.
As it turned out, doll sculpting is a rewarding career. I’m able to create a collectible en-joyed by the very young to the very old. I have made friends all over the world. None of this was my plan, but fate knew best.


That's seriously a doll?!?!?
About the Author: 
Since childhood, Jen Printy has been writing. Whether stories about a fantasy world or everyday life in Maine, Jen loved losing herself in the worlds she created on paper. The arts in all forms have always been an important part of Jen’s life, a love instilled in her by her father. When Jen isn’t writing, she’s sculpting as a freelance doll artist.

Jen lives with her husband, two daughters, and diva dog Cookie in southern Maine, where she loves spending time friends and family, finding treasures along the seashore, or enjoying a Guinness at her favorite local pub.

Synopsis of MY SOUL IMMORTAL:
An endless love, for an endless price.

Jack’s immortality is exposed when he prevents a liquor store heist, forcing him to flee to protect his secret—a secret not even he understands. But when he meets Leah Winters—a mirror image of his decades-lost love, Lydia—his very soul is laid bare. He begins to question his sanity. Is she real, and if so, what does that mean for Jack and his secret?

Jack’s not the only mystery man in town. A stranger named Artagan hints at knowledge Jack is desperate to possess. But can he trust Artagan, or does the dark newcomer harbor deadly secrets of his own?

As Jack’s bond with Leah grows, so does the danger to her life. Jack must discover just how much he is willing to risk in order to save the woman he already lost once.

Excerpt from MY SOUL IMMORTAL
Be sure to purchase MY SOUL IMMORTAL at:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iBookstore

And don't forget to review it and tell your friends about it on:
Goodreads

Rafflecopter code: a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Published on April 28, 2014 09:00

April 25, 2014

She Helped! (Interview With Cassie Cox, Line Editor of BRAINEATER JONES)

We've got a VERY exciting treat for you today, blogketeers: the inimitable Cassie Cox, line editor of modern masterpiece BRAINEATER JONES!  (Those of you who have followed the blog for a while will remember Cassie's microfiction piece as well as the story of her transgender cat.)  We're concentrating on BJ in the interview today, but Cassie has edited LITERALLY* hundreds of manuscripts, so she is a veritable font of wisdom on the business and practice of editology.

Cassie isn't big into social media, but if you're interested in working with her (I strongly recommend it!) she's open to being contacted through Facebook or you can submit completed manuscripts through the Red Adept site.  We're going to have a fun interview, but first, a brief introduction:

*"literally literally," not "figuratively literally"

Editors don't really make what you'd call "comb money."
About the Editor
Cassie lives in Tampa with her husband and six cats. She has a master’s in Shakespeare in Performance, and she recommends you don’t get her started talking about second person pronouns in early modern England. When she’s not editing, she can be found cleaning, organizing, or baking. For fun, she watches Charmed and reads YA fiction.

Interview
I understand you got your start in the hospitality industry.  Could you share a picture of yourself in your bellhop’s uniform for us?

Um, I was a front desk clerk, not a bellhop.

I see.  Well, for the edification of my fans I’m just going to insert a picture of Sting in a bellhop’s uniform instead.

Don't stand...don't stand so...don't stand so jauntily...
How did you get started in editing?  And is this the “traditional path?”  For that matter, is there a “traditional path?”

I honestly don’t know what the “traditional path” is, but I’m pretty sure mine wasn’t it. I kind of tripped and stumbled into editing. A friend of mine asked me to go over her book, and I enjoyed it enough that I decided to take her seriously when she suggested I look into getting a job as an editor. I’ve been doing this for almost three years, and I still enjoy it as much as I did then.

Describe the perfect editing client.  (This can be real or theoretical.)

Hmmm… Well, my favorite clients are the ones who write stories I enjoy reading. I’m a sucker for a good story, and the biggest perk of my job is that I get paid to read. I love it when clients appreciate my work and thank me for fixing problems or tell me I’m funny (it’s rare, but it happens). I love it when clients are quick to communicate. It always makes me happy when a client becomes a friend, someone I just enjoy talking to.

Your agent advised me that you will not discuss any editing client from hell stories.  Therefore to fill this slot, would you tell us about your hotel guest from hell?  (Again, real or theoretical is fine.)

Wow, I have a good agent. I might have to give her a raise :) Hotel guest from hell story? I’ll give you two.

At the first hotel I worked at, we had a guest who came to stay with her cat. Since her cat was allergic to everything, she insisted she couldn’t stay in a pet-friendly room. She was to be a long-term guest, so we agreed to put her in a standard room, even though that meant we would have to spend hours cleaning it after her cat left. Well, the first room wasn’t good enough. Nor was the second. Nor the third. After she got into her fourth non-pet room, she complained that the room smelled like the housekeeper’s hair product, and she had to move again. We moved her for the last time (seriously, it takes forever to clean rooms that pets have been in) we found out that the reason the room smelled like hair product was because she’d dyed her hair in the bathroom.

The other story is one my husband got to witness. On New Year’s Eve in the biggest hotel I’d ever worked in, the room locks died at midnight. Every. Single. One. So I was working the overnight shift in a hotel full of drunk people celebrating New Year’s who came back to the hotel to find that they couldn’t get into their rooms. We had one master key, the old-fashioned metal kind, that we had to take door to door to let people back in their rooms. It took forever, and as I’m sure you can imagine, people weren’t too happy about it.

Very few people know this, but you actually requested to work on BRAINEATER JONES.  Can you tell us what drove that particular decision?  And in a more general sense, how much do you get to choose your work and how much is it assigned?  Has this ratio been different with the different companies you’ve worked for?

I requested BRAINEATER JONES because I thought the author was funny and likable, and I hoped that would translate into his writing. Like I said, my favorite clients are the ones who are easy to talk to and who write stories I like to read.

I can request to work on a particular book that Red Adept publishes, and if my boss thinks it’s a good fit for me and I have the time to work on it, then she’s generally pretty happy to honor that request.

We all know what it’s like to do scut work, but editing seems more like a calling.  What’s it like, therefore, when you get stuck working on a book you have no interest in?

I can’t think of too many books that I had no interest in working on. For the most part, I try to find the good stuff in books and cling to that. Maybe a character I like or a plot line I enjoy. Sometimes I just cling to the hope that it will be better by the time I’m done with it. If I really don’t like a book, then I just remind myself that after I finish it, I don’t have to work on it again. The fastest way to other side is straight through, right?

I’d like you to put on your “writing cap” for a minute.  Can you tell us the story of editing BRAINEATER JONES?  I know what it was like from my end but I have no idea what it was like on yours.

It’s been a while since I worked on it, so my memories are a tad fuzzy. Editing BRAINEATER JONES was a fairly similar process to editing any book that was funny, confusing, and gross. When I got to the funny parts (hello, Hatscratch Fever!) I read them to my husband. When I got confused (I’m apparently underexposed to 30s slang) I made notes. When I got grossed out, I shared that with my husband. I enjoyed working with you and seeing your notes on my edits, seeing what you wanted to protect from my “red pen.”

I imagine editing must be bittersweet, to pour so much effort into a novel that somebody else will ultimately get the lion’s share of credit for.  I’ve also heard it described as a form of symbiosis.  But really I have no idea.  What’s being an editor like emotionally?

I love that you asked this! I do find editing emotional. I feel the books I work on, so I’ve been known to apologize to my husband for things I haven’t done. But it is bittersweet to see the books I work on do well and know that, for the most part, I get no credit for that. I’m so proud of my authors when they do well and when they write new books; I feel really invested in their careers. But sometimes I want to shout, “I helped!”

You’re famously a Shakespeare scholar.  Is this knowledge useful as an editor, counterproductive, or totally indifferent?

Thus far, my knowledge of Shakespeare hasn’t been super helpful. But I keep hoping I’ll get a Shakespeare book one day! The writing skills I learned in grad school have been helpful, though. I think back to my professor’s Picky Rules quite often while I edit.

Do you ever feel like The Bard’s work could have used a good edit or do you consider that sacrilege?

Yes.

Shakespeare’s plays are written in such a different style (and for such a different purpose) than the books I work on. I’m sure that a modern publisher would have a play-editor (I assume there is such a thing) edit his plays if they were to be published today. But I think it’s always a good thing to revisit the format of Shakespeare’s plays and try to republish them in ways that are more accessible to today’s readers. I’ve actually done some work on that myself.

But the religious side of me, the side that thinks Shakespeare is God and his words are holy, recoils at the idea of altering his text. Then the factual side reminds the religious side that only God (Shakespeare) knows what Shakespeare actually wrote. So many people altered his text before it ever got to modern audiences, and people will continue to alter it long after my lifetime.

Finally, are you up for a game of 10x10x10 which is a thing I just made up where I ask 10 questions of 10 words or less and you have to answer in 10 words or less?  The topic will be Shakespeare.

Oooh, sounds like fun!

Thanks for coming on the blog, Cassie!  And we'll be back next week with the 10x10x10 game.  It's a hoot!
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Published on April 25, 2014 09:00