Jennifer M. Zeiger's Blog, page 56

Meet Theresa Briscoe Tschetter (5 days before book launch)

All right, on this beautiful Saturday and day five before Midnight Abyss, I’d like to introduce Theresa Briscoe Tschetter. This woman has an amazing gift with poetry. Plus, she skillfully wrote a story involving Lilith for our short story collection while juggling a family!

So here’s Theresa:

Theresa Briscoe Tschetter was born and lived in Texas until 2001, when she moved to Wyoming. As a mother of 6 ranging in age from 25-12, her family is her first priority and greatest success. She has been a “Jack (or Jill) of all trades,” working in restaurants, with elderly patients, disabled adults, and high needs children. She graduated from college with a degree as an Occupational Therapy Assistant in 2009.

Theresa chose to place her serious writing pursuits on hold while raising her family and has no regrets. With her children growing older and needing her attention less, she began a search for a new support community. After joining Writers Carnival, the muse within her awoke after dozing for some time. She has renewed her dreams and enjoys participating in poetry readings and poetry slams, and has received 2nd and 3rd places in contests, with an honorable mention in another. With the support of her fiancé, Lee, her children, and with the collaboration with her co-authors, Theresa is pursuing her first venture with dark fiction.

Theresa also enjoys reading, cooking, camping, photography, animals, and spending time with her family. Her favorite authors include Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Craig Johnson, C. J. Box, Mauve Binchy, Jennifer Weiner, Jodi Picoult, Henry David Thoreau, and Edgar Allen Poe, among many others.

Now let me  give you a brief glimpse into Requiem, Theresa’s poem.

Short Clip from Requiem:

Silent, Death comes in the shape

Of a stranger dressed in black

Summary:

A young woman decides her life isn’t going the way she wants to go and makes an impulsive choice.  What will become of her now?Requiem is inspired by Edgar Allen Poe, teen angst in the 1980’s, and a very bad day.

-The rest of the poem, in my opinion, is captivating. I love poetry that tells as much with the way it flows as with the words it paints.

Blessings,

Jennifer

Meet Shaun Adams, a Darkling of Midnight Abyss (6 days before book launch)

Welcome to Friday, Blog Readers=)

Today I’d like to introduce to you Shaun Adams. As you might be gathering about now, there’re all sorts involved in writing and producing Midnight Abyss. It’s been a matter of organized chaos! But it’d made for a wonderful variety of stories in the book. Up to this point we’ve had some vampires and some zombies. Now Shaun adds some ghosts and necromancers to the mix=)

So here’s Shaun:

Shaun Adams lives and works on the Isle of Wight. He has turned his hand to different things over the years including a short stint as a gravedigger.

Writing is his passion and he indulges it whenever time allows, which is not as often as he’d like. Shaun has self-published two short story collections and been published in several magazines both online and in print.

He is enjoying a prolonged second childhood before slipping gently into old age and absentmindedness.

He has had a love affair with reading his whole life. Horror, science fiction, fantasy and westerns all float his boat and provide him with inspiration for his own writing. Shaun’s future writing plans include another short story collection and a novella or two.

And to whet your appetite for some of Shaun’s writing here’s a short clip from his story, Strange Stars.

Short Clip:

Cameron stared at the ugly hole in Lily’s belly. The flow of blood from the ragged intrusion in her flesh had all but ceased and there was a smell. He looked closer. A feint almost ephemeral phosphorescent taint adhered to the wound site. He looked up and saw the vitality fading from the eyes of the woman he loved above all else.

Summary

There is no place like Bile County. It’s out of this world. A place of madmen killing and dying under ‘Strange Stars’. Cameron Rose has lost the one thing he loves more than anything since ending up there. How far will he go to get revenge?

This tale came to me after I had gall bladder surgery a year ago and began thinking about Bile County — too much free time and loads of pain and drugs.

-For those who like a  bit of fantasy with necromancers and such, be sure to check out Shaun’s story.

Blessings,

Jennifer

Meet Doug Langille (7 days before book launch)

On day seven before Midnight Abyss I’d like to introduce Doug Langille. Doug’s thankfully talented in the technical stuff. Without him, I know I would have been completely lost with setting up the Goodreads account and such.

Here’s Doug’s bio:

Doug Langille is a husband, father and shameless technophile living the good life in Nova Scotia. He’s also a grandfather, bird keeper, dog owner and cat butler.

By day, Doug fights the good fight working in I.T. at the Nova Scotia Community College. When asked to describe his work, he says: “I think stuff up and write it down”. He does other stuff too.

Doug has recently rediscovered his passion for writing, drawing inspiration from his favorite authors, including: Stephen King, Clive Barker, Jack Whyte, Philip K. Dick and Robert W. Service.

He doesn’t usually talk about himself in the third-person, but when he does he tends to bend the truth.

One of Doug’s stories is titled Eddie Zero.

Short Clip from Eddie Zero:

Guys like me never dream about nice things, only nightmares. Tonight wasn’t any different. In this Hell-trip of a brain-cramp, I was locked up again in a hospital being hunted by zombies with a teenage psycho chick as backup. Wait a minute. Shit. Not dreaming.

From the Author:

This story began life as a writing prompt and grew from there. I wrote it in 500-700 word installments to keep the foot on the accelerator. It was a lot of fun to get inside Eddie’s head. I like to think there’s a little bit of Eddie in each of us, both the good and the bad.

-For those of you who like zombies, I highly recommend Eddie Zero. I wouldn’t even mind if you skip forward in Midnight Abyss to read it first. It’s a great read.

Blessings,

Jennifer

Meet Mastermind #2 of Midnight Abyss (8 days before book launch)

Today, the eighth day before Midnight Abyss becomes available, I’d like to introduce Kelleigh Elizabeth Perry. Between Anisa and Kelleigh, we have the two Masterminds of the project. These are the two ladies, as far as I’m aware, who really got the ball rolling on the book.

Kelleigh’s bio:

Kelleigh Elizabeth Perry is a full-time Registered Nurse at a Children’s Hospital by night and a writer of all things horrific and supernatural by day. She is also the co-founder, co-owner of Writer’s Carnival, www.writerscarnival.ca, a successful, online community for writers. Her self-published work, Unique, won the 2012 Hollywood Book Festival, fan-fiction category. She has also won multiple, online writing contests. She currently lives outside of Seattle with her small army of bunnies, secretly dreaming that someday a handsome vampire will come along and turn her.

One of Kelleigh’s pieces is titled Queen of the Night. If you like Vampires, this one’s just the thing for you=)

Short Clip from Queen of the Night:

They are among the ugliest of supernatural beings, and all should be vanquished from the face of the earth. My family was growing, but it was not yet at the capacity to which it would need to be to destroy the werewolf line. Besides, I was having the time of my afterlife adding to my exquisite collection. Now these four threatened to break off a branch of the family tree. Over my undead body!

Summary:

After finding the most beloved of her sired vampire family in the streets, under a full moon, waiting for a fight, it is all she can do to stand idly by and hope her boys aren’t killed by the opposing werewolves. Shocked to find those involved in the tussle, she watches from afar as the battle ensues.

Inspired by a contest writing prompt, Queen of the Night is still one of my favorite stories. Any chance I can get to write about my beloved bloodsuckers is time well spent in my opinion.

-So if you’re looking for a vampire story on Halloween, be sure to take a look at this one.

Blessings,

Jennifer

Meet Mastermind #1 of Midnight Abyss (9 days before book launch)

All right, we’ve now entered the count down to Midnight Abyss book launch=) For this, the ninth day before the book comes out, I’d like to introduce you to a woman who’s so ambitious, she makes me tired just talking to her. She’s also one of the masterminds of the book.

Meet Anisa A. Claire

Anisa A. Claire is a Licensed Property Manager by day and an eclectic author by night. She is also the creator and co-owner of Writerís Carnival, a successful, online community for writers. She has multiple publications in e-zines such as Long Story Short, 69 Flavors of Paranoia, The Short Humour Site, and Blood Magazine. She’s placed in, and won various contests, and completed in last year’s 3-Day Novel competition. Anisa is an animal-loving, Halloween fanatic who’s favorite authors include: Jonathan Maberry, George R. R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, and Philip Pullman.

When she isn’t out ridding the world of zombies with her weapons of choice, Brussels sprouts and spatulas, she can be found surfing the net for inspiring ways to create zombie-buddies from felt and other random what-have-you’s.

One of Anisa’s stories is called Elodie…

Short Clip:

“I screamed and fell to the ground, clawing at the air in front of me, trying desperately to get at her dead, limp body.  When I reached her, she took one last jagged breath as I placed a shaky hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her in her final moment.  As she passed from this world, a surging pain ripped through my chest, knocking the wind out of me.  I collapsed on top of her.”

Summary:

In the now desolate and twisted world Elodie lives in, she comes face-to-face with pure evil in her desperate search for a new home.  After a run in with the orphan twins, Ollie and Fatima, Elodie must find what she’s looking for before others suffer a similar fate.  In her attempt to do so, she unlocks the secrets of her past, and unleashes a destructive beast in the process.

You can connect with Anisa in the following places Ö

Goodreads: Anisa Alice-Claire

Twitter: @AnisaAClaire

Facebook: Anisa A. Claire

Google+: Anisa Claire

and on her Blog: The Confessions of a Maniacal Early Riser, Zombie Drop

-If you have a minute, go check out her blog. It’s absolutely hilarious=)

Blessings,

Jennifer

The Crazies of Midnight Abyss

The Plan

Last week I introduced to you people who’ve been very supportive this last year in the blogging community.

This week…and the next, I’d like to introduce, as a countdown to Midnight Abyss’ launch, the other eight amazing authors of the book. I’ll even put in a bit of each person’s writing to whet your reading appetites.

As many of you know, I’ve never met these people beyond the internet, which kind of blows my mind, but we’ve been brought together by our passion for writing. And somehow, we’ve worked together to produce a book I’m absolutely thrilled with. Considering all the possibilities for discontent with a collaboration like this, it’s been a wonderful experience.

So to start off the the countdown of introducing the crazies, here’s how we all met:

It all started in a bar one stormy night in a lonesome October. Greg and Shaun were comparing battle wounds and old exes while nursing watery beer. They had their blurry eyes set on the pair of off-duty Walmart vixens. Kelleigh and Anisa played at a demure ignorance from across the stale smoke-filled room. Reconsidering their chances, the ladies summoned them over with a bottle of rum and cheap cigars.

Standing was a struggle for the boys, and it took a few moments for the world to right itself. With a shot of courage, they made their play.

Suddenly, there was a thwap-whump-whump of the saloon doors as Matt strode in. “Is he here?” he asked, furious and crazed. The scimitar he brandished was soiled with dried blood.

“Who the hell are you looking for?” grumbled Jennifer from underneath her dusty felt hat. She placed her six-shooter on the table with a deliberateness that only the foolish would fail to heed.

“Me,” said Doug from behind the bar. “The maggot is here for me.”

Everyone stared as he slowly finished wiping the last of the glasses, folded the cloth and reached for his trusty shotgun. It was show time.

There was a crash as a rent in the seedy joint’s roof opened up. A cloud of over-sized bats flew in followed by the monstrosity of a troll known as Ray. He landed squarely on the table, eager for a fight.

A bright blinding light came from below as Theresa rose from her crypt, her angelic fire sparking from fingertip to fingertip in anticipation.

The assembled group looked at each other and someone said:

“Let’s write a book.”

To be continued…

***

Not really, we all just met on Writers Carnival, the best writing community on Earth.

So stay tuned, for tomorrow I’ll introduce the first of the crazies of Midnight Abyss=)

Blessings,

Jennifer

Thank You to Another Wonderful Woman

Today I’d like to introduce a woman who is just as much of a vocabulary nut as myself, perhaps even more so. She posts on her blog Words of the Week and goes into wonderful detail about the use of random, fun words.

Meet J.C. Wolfe.

J.C.’s also a fabulous writer, and is an aspiring novelist. I know exactly how she feels on that one =). She tends to write fantasy and science fiction along with some romance.

Over on her blog, The Wolfe’s Den, she’s been kind enough to ask some questions about Midnight Abyss. So when you have a chance, hop on over and say hello. Check out some of her short stories if you enjoy reading or, if you feel like expanding your vocabulary, I can guarantee she’s got some words rolling around her blog that you’ve never encountered before.

Thank you, J.C., for your wonderful support.

Blessings,

Jennifer

Thank You Katherine

I know, here I am on a Wednesday when I just said I wouldn’t be posting on Wednesdays anymore.

Yesterday’s post explained that there are several people who have helped me get to where I’m at today. People who’ve encouraged me over this past year and who, amazingly enough, I’ve never met beyond this blog.

Katherine from the Lily Cafe happens to be one of those people. She’s a woman who likes to write fantasy with a smattering of scifi mixed in just like I do. She’s got a self-published novel titled No Tomorrow, so she completely understands the hurdles and the joys involved in producing Midnight Abyss.

Today, Katherine’s hosting an interview about Midnight Abyss. She might even have some excerpts from the book to whet your appetite. So head on over to the Lily Cafe and say hello if you have a chance. She’s a wonderful woman.

Thank you, Katherine.

Blessings,

Jennifer

Life’s About Relationship

Ever wonder where you’ll be in a year? Ever make goals for the coming twelve months and lay out how you’re going to achieve those goals?

Personally, I was never that careful of a planner. Sure, I had a general idea of where I wanted to be later in life but I never sat down to chart out the course I was going to take to get there.

At least, I never did until this last year. I wanted to write and somewhere along the line my dad introduced me to Michael Hyatt’s Get Published course. In one of his podcasts, Michael spoke about goals just being dreams unless you’ve got deadlines on them. This really struck me, so I sat down and wrote out the next three months.

When those went by, I wrote out the next three and so on until a year had passed. Let me say, this method for reaching for one’s dreams really works. It helps build the motivation to achieve what you love.

However, the one thing I learned you can’t plan for is the relationships that get built along the way. I wasn’t prepared for how amazing people can be even though they’ve never met me except through blogging.

As many of you know by now, on October 31st, Midnight Abyss becomes available. This is part of my dream of being published. Midnight Abyss is a collection of short stories that has been a collaboration between eight others and myself.

I never would have gotten to this point without the kind generosity of the blogging community.  For this week, I’ll be directing your attention to some of the most supportive people I’ve run into. They’ve agreed to host interviews or short clips about the book and I’d like to give them all a shout out on the day they post. Without their wonderful kindness, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today.

So today starts us off with a woman who’s as creative as I am, if not more so. She loves writing and has a healthy sense of humor and sarcasm that makes it into her writing.

Meet Beth. She’s been an amazing support to me. Stop by and say hello to her if you have a moment. You can see her interview for Midnight Abyss on her blog, Writer B is Me.

Thank you, Beth.

Blessings,

Jennifer

Island’s Wrath Option Bb1: Head Toward the Ocean

Welcome to the end of the Island’s Wrath adventure. Readers choices have you heading for the ocean in hopes of avoiding the wolves. Let’s see what happens.

(If you’re just stopping in, just know you’ve been ship wreaked on an island and are being hunted by wolves. If you’d like to read the first three posts in this adventure, you can find them to the left under recent posts.)

Island’s Wrath Option Bb1: Head Toward the Ocean

The howling of the wolves grows closer as you debate which way to go. The island’s big. Looking into the greenery of the forest, you realize it’d be very easy to get lost heading inland and, considering your ultimate goal is to get home, you decide going toward the beach is the way your should head.

To avoid the wolves, you turn right, running down the hill into the forest but keeping the sight of the beach through the trees always on your left. The howling stops, which sends a chill through you even though it’s rather warm out.

They must have reached the cave and are now searching for you. Considering they were going to hunt for you anyway, you kind of just played into their game but at least you have a head start.

But now you can’t hear them, so you keep looking over your shoulder, expecting to see them on your trail.

Having gone a ways, you turn left toward the beach. The wolves’ sense of smell will lead them this far, so you hit the sand of the beach and keep going until you’re knee deep in water. Then you sink down and swim, following the island but keeping low in hopes the wolves won’t see you.

Just as you think you’ve lost them, a pup appears on the sand. Taking a deep breath, you sink below the waves and count to twenty. When you surface, the pup hasn’t moved and another pup has joined him.

They’re staring at you. As soon as your head breaks the water, they’re howling in triumph. A deeper howl answers them.

You want to curse in frustration, but you’re treading water and you’re breath heavy in exertion. The chances of evading the wolves now is slim. Looking around, you see an outcropping of rock. Perhaps you can loose them in there.

While you’re swimming toward the outcropping, a horn blares. It takes you a second to realize the sound’s human made, but when you do, you look over your shoulder to see a sail boat like the one you wreaked.

A man’s waving at you. In his other hand is an orange and white life ring. Once he’s close enough, he pitches it at you.

The ring plops onto the water about five feet away. Grabbing ahold of it, you let the man pull you in. He gives you a hand getting into the boat.

“Just in the nick of time,” he says, pointing at the beach.

The wolves are pacing the sand. They’re no longer howling and their hackles are raised.

“Perfect timing,” you agree. “They would’ve had me for lunch.”

***

The man, Sam, sails you back home, promising to take you out on a fishing trip the next vacation you get. He says he knows all the good fishing stops…and the islands to avoid.

The End

Yay, you survived and made it home=) Thank you for joining in the adventure. Have a wonderful day.

Blessings,

Jennifer