Madhuri Pavamani's Blog, page 43

Interview with Indie Author Kevin Singer

Back in January the book club at 9th & Coles Tavern in downtown Jersey City read THE GIRL and invited me to attend their discussion session. It was loads of fun hanging with Greg and the gang and was where I met fellow author and neighbor, Kevin Singer.

He’s very cool and it was fun talking about my book with another writer so when I had the chance this past March, I returned the favor and picked up his book “Always Mine”. It’s a little gem of a story and if you have a chance, I highly recommend snagging a copy and getting lost in its pages. You won’t regret it.

After reading “Always Mine”, I thought it would be fun to interview Kevin and see what goes on in his writer’s mind. Here’s what I discovered about Mister Singer:

 

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’ve been in love with words as long as I can remember. I read voraciously as a kid – my favorite children’s books were the Choose Your Own Adventure series and the Hardy Boys. I graduated to Stephen King as a teenager, and I blame him for my pull toward all things supernatural.

I love writing stories about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations. To me they’re the ones who are interesting. I can’t relate to superheroes.

How long have you been writing? Are you a full-time writer or do you have a day job?

I wrote my first story when I was 12. It was about a boy with ESP. It wasn’t very good – there was a lot of vomiting in it. Hopefully I’ve improved since then.

I studied creative writing in college, and after a few years in the army, then graduate school, then working as a newspaper reporter, I came back to writing seriously. I’ve worked hard to develop my craft and find my style. And, as with most writers, I have a day job. I’m a medical/scientific editor.

Do you have a favorite character from any of your works? If so, who? And why do you love them?

My favorite character is Randy Velasquez, the hero in my book The Last Conquistador. He was a minor character in the first (unpublished) novel I wrote. But he stayed with me. He had an energy and vitality that leaped off the page. He is feisty and funny and a fighter. I had to come back and tell his story.

I’m also partial to Danny in Always Mine. He is so earnest and well meaning, and the odds are piled up against him. Danny to me is a certain type of character — the overlooked. If you were to see him from the outside, you’d think – he’s a nice looking kid, with a good middle class, stable family. People like that don’t have stories worth telling — or do they? The reality of Danny’s world is much different than what it appears to be from the outside.

I loved playing with Ouija Boards when I was a kid, so that aspect of “Always Mine” intrigued me right away. Can you tell us about the inspiration for the story and the writing process?

This story came from a dream. There was no Ouija board in the dream, but there was a teenage boy, a girl, an angry mother, a dog and a vicious stepfather. I tried to write the dream as a story but it didn’t work. I let it brew a while and then came the Ouija board, and Gustav. The structure of the dream remained, though it took several years to get it all to come together.

“Always Mine” is about the summer Danny meets Tina, but it’s also very much about Danny’s relationship with his mom and his dog. These relationships captured my attention much more than his goings-on with Tina. Was this purposeful?

Yes. I’m drawn to supernatural/sci-fi/strange because these elements allow me to highlight–in a fun way–very dark issues. For instance, in Left Among the Mutants, Katrina’s mother has abandoned the family, but the focus is on the wild mutations occurring on the family farm. In Always Mine, Danny is 15, his father is deployed to Iraq during the hot part of that war, and his mother is falling apart. There’s a history of abuse, and that coupled with his mother’s mental state, are heavy topics to talk about. But the supernatural element shifts the focus, and in a way, helps keep it lighter — if Danny’s interaction with Tina and her spirit guide Gustav can be considered light.

There’s another important theme to this story: sexuality. Adolescence is a minefield when it comes to sex. As teenagers we’re trying to figure out what these feelings mean, and we’ve already been given tons of mixed messages to somehow then navigate. A lot of YA fiction glosses over this and heads straight for the hearts-and-flowers romance angle, without addressing the confusing mess that it can be. For Danny, it’s “what are these scary, overpowering, wild feelings?” It is nearly unmanageable for him. The hand on the cover is not just Gustav, it’s also Danny.

I felt you captured Danny’s stress in dealing with his mom so perfectly without being in the reader’s face about issues pertaining to child abuse and neglect. Every time she entered the picture, my heart raced with Danny’s. Can you talk a little more about this?

People who grow up in abusive homes – that’s all they know. That is their normal. It doesn’t ease the fear, but it lets you cope. Danny is on survival mode, which means constantly being on alert. That’s why he’s so drawn to Tina — he sees her as a safe haven.

As a writer, some readers think that I’m writing about myself, that the main character is me. That’s not the case. I love writing other people’s stories. However, Always Mine is the most personal story I’ve released. I am not Danny. I’ve never even used a Ouija board. I grew up too Catholic for that. But I have dealt with issues similar to Danny. If you want to know anything about me, read this story.

Adolescence is rough. Few of us get out unscathed. Danny is no exception. The ending of this story was hard for me — not only as a writer but as a reader.

Are you working on anything now? If so, can you tell us about it?

I’ve written three stories so far about what I call “Teens in Trouble.” (No, that won’t be an official title.) I have three more in various stages of development — all involving some fantastical or supernatural element. Two of them will be released on their own, and with the final one I’ll compile them all into a print book. Then onto a novel-length piece. I want to have fun, as a reader as well as a writer. That’s my mission.

In case you’re curious, here’s a little more about Kevin:

Kevin Singer is an army veteran and former journalist who has covered stories ranging from murder trials to cancer breakthroughs. His suspense fiction combines his interests in the supernatural, psychology, and the generally offbeat. He lives in Jersey City, New Jersey.

And here are some of his important links:

Kevin’s blog – Read by Kevin

Kevin’s Goodreads Author’s Page

Amazon link for Always Mine

Amazon link for Left Among Mutants

Amazon link for The Last Conquistador

Amazon link for Demons Reach

Amazon link for Road to Magdelena

Check out some of Kevin’s books when you have a chance. I promise you will not regret getting lost in one of his many amazing worlds.

And a huge thank you to the man himself for taking the time to indulge my curiosity. This was super fun. We’ll have to do it again sometime soon.

Catch you at the next 9th & Coles Tavern book club (if not sooner).

HOLLA!

This Is Why I Love Miley

It’s true. The girl everyone loves to hate, wring their hands over and get their panties in a bunch about is kind of one of my favorites.

Oh my god, you say. Are you serious?

Well, yes, in fact, I am.

Why?

I’m so glad you asked. Let me tell you.

For starters, I find all the complaining about Miley’s partying to be a touch hypocritical. Honestly, who cares? She’s not getting behind the wheels of cars or out and about, terrorizing the public (ahem, Lindsay Lohan and Justin Bieber). And stop pretending like you never got a little wild.

I’m also sick of listening to people complain about the way Miley dresses but those same folks don’t bat an eyelash at Beyonce, the woman who bops around town in her underwear damn near 24/7. I don’t think Beyonce has met a pair of pants she likes. So enough about the clothing already.

And Miley’s antics on stage? Puh-leez. Madonna did the same shit twenty years ago and we were all loving it; the Robin Thicke performance- he’s gross and it takes two to tango. Stop clutching your pearls already.

Anyway, I read the story below the other day and it struck me that in its simplicity, it perfectly encapsulates why I like Miley. She knows what she’s doing, people. She is in on the joke. Girlfriend is smarter than you think.

Jennifer Lawrence may not have won an award at the Oscars this year, but she did go home with the memory of having Miley Cyrus tell her to get her act together.

In an interview on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” on April 21 (set to air May 21), the 23-year-old “Hunger Games” star revealed that she got so “wasted” at the award show after party that she actually puked, reports Us Weekly.

A member of the show’s audience told the magazine, “Jen said she was so drunk, she puked on the stairs at Madonna’s after-party, and Miley walked by and said something like, ‘Get it together, girl!‘” (Huffington Post, 4/30/2014) (emphasis mine, mostly because I had to highlight it because it is awesome)

 

And frankly, how can you not love a girl who covers “Jolene” like a badass?

Thursday Thoughts

Book II: THE BOY – Cover Reveal

It’s finally here – April 30th – cover reveal day for THE BOY.

Ever since I got this baby in my hands, I’ve been humming with excitement, just waiting to share it with everyone.

Because it is gorgeous.

And Michele Mason Holmberg has outdone herself, proving again that she is simply brilliant.

I love her and she knows this and those of you who follow my blog or have read THE GIRL know this, so instead of waxing poetic about Michele and how awesome she is, how about I just shut up already and reveal the cover?

 

In THE GIRL, Madhuri Blaylock introduced readers to the world of The Sanctum, one corrupted by greed and savagery and hellbent on achieving a single goal: destroying the prophesied hybrid. When one of its most celebrated warriors questioned his allegiances, age-old secrets were unveiled and violence erupted. The journey becomes more perilous and intense as the trilogy surges forward with 

THE BOY

Can you cross the plains of death, collect every piece of your soul and make it back to the land of the living?

And if you complete the journey, will your loved ones welcome your return?

The Ramyan have been answering such questions since the creation of The Sanctum. A mysterious sect of Magicals, haunting the blank spaces of time and memory, they serve no one but themselves and their higher purpose. They exist on a plane removed from earthly matters, shifting easily between the living and the dead, moving in time to the beat of their own drummer. 

At least they did.

Dev and Wyatt change all of that when the prophesied hybrid lands on the steps of Rinshun Palace, seeking help for the wounded Class A Warrior. That decision alters lives and sets old agendas back on course. But at what cost to Dev and Wyatt? And does that really even matter?

 *     *     *

So…what do you think? Are you excited? Intrigued? Tell me, tell me. I want to hear all about it.

To celebrate next month’s release of Book II: THE BOY, I’m giving away copies of the eBooks of both THE GIRL and THE BOY to five lucky winners.

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave comments on this blog post about your thoughts on THE GIRL, what you hope happens in THE BOY, questions for me or anything else related to The Sanctum Trilogy in general. Five of you will be chosen at random on May 15th and the winners will be named in a blog post that day. Check back to see if you won. It’s that simple.

You can also up your chances of winning by visiting The Sanctum’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/thesanctumtrilogy, clicking on the Giveaways tab and entering there as well.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

#AreYouInTheSanctum?

 

Random Musings

1. Have you read Time’s annual 100 Most Influential People list yet? I haven’t either but scanning through blogs yesterday morning, I read the blurb Colin Firth wrote about Benedict Cumberbatch. I know you’re not going to dig through that long-ass list to find it, so I’ll post it here for you:

“When I was about 25 years old, I worked with two very good actors. The encounters were brief, but I’ve remembered them both with great admiration. Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton both embodied qualities which one is fogyishly tempted to look at with nostalgia. Along with very considerable talent, they had elegance, glamor, wit, kindness and decency.

I didn’t know at the time that they were married or that they had a son of about 10 who was quietly gestating all the same attributes. And now, 30 years later, the boy has been let loose. He has taken the form of Benedict Cumberbatch.

His parents’ qualities are on rampant display. It’s rare to the point of outlandish to find so many variables in one actor, including features which ought to be incompatible: vulnerability, a sense of danger, a clear intellect, honesty, courage — and a rather alarming energy. I take no pleasure in feeling humbled, but there’s no getting around it.

He must be stopped.”

Colin Firth is rather divine, non?

 

2. Christy Turlington also made that list. If you know me at all, you know I LOVE me some Christy. She is the baddest bitch of them all. She’s smart and civic-minded and exudes grace and calm. She just rocks. She was in those Duran Duran videos from back in the day. And she literally was my wall-paper in highschool. She can do no wrong. Bravo, Christy! Oh, and did you see her the other night at the Tribeca Film Festival? God, she’s stunning.

2. Why are there no Prince songs to download on iTunes? I feel like this is a question that everyone but me knows the answer to, so please feel free to educate me.

3. Dash is on Spring Break this week and to say I’m insanely jealous would be the understatement of the year. How come adults don’t get a spring break? Oh yeah, because we’re busy being adults, which pretty much sucks.

4. I realize the problem with Scandal and why, the more I watch it, the less I enjoy it. The whole Olivia – Fitz thing just doesn’t work for me and it really hasn’t since midway during season I when I realized that the president is just so very damn annoying and the idea of a woman like Olivia being with a man like Fitz is depressing. I was hoping at the end of this season, instead of killing the kid, they would just kill the president and Olivia could move onto more important things (like seeing how many ways she can take off Jake’s clothing…just kidding…not really), but alas, Shonda is letting Fitz stick around and continue killing my love of all things Olivia Pope.

5. This week it was reiterated to me that just because I do something nice, doesn’t mean the favor will be returned. Of course, I learned this lesson years ago, but every so often something will happen to you that makes you sit back and say, “shit, I am such an idiot for thinking so-and-so would return the favor”. Just a little reminder from the universe that we’re surrounded by a bunch of asshats.

6. My friend, Emily, just resigned from our firm and as sad as I’m going to be not to have her around to shoot the shit with and go to the gym together, her timing was kind of awesome in a very stick-it-to-the-man kind of way. Or in a very fuck-you kind of way.

7. Remember when people use the word “shorty”?

8. And finally, today is my birthday and I have to say, for being an old bitch, I’m feeling pretty good. I was thinking to myself this morning on my walk into work that I’m rather pleased with my forties. They’re totally grounded. I know myself better, I’m more forgiving, I’m healthier and happier. Plus, I think I’m way hotter now than I was in my twenties. Hollywood might disagree, but I like seeing a little age on my face. I think it adds character and if anyone is a character, it’s me. Anyway, to celebrate my day, I leave you with my favorite, Little Skateboard P, doing his happy thing

The Boy – Final Drafts, Cover Reveals, And All Kinds of Other Good Sh*t

Good morning, lovely people.

I’m finally starting to feel as if I might really make my deadline to publish THE BOY next month. This is a good thing because typically all a deadline makes me do is procrastinate. The fact that I’ve been diligently working towards meeting my self-imposed goal speaks volumes to my love for all things Wyatt and Dev.

So what have I accomplished towards this goal, you ask. Well, earlier this week I finished my first complete draft of THE BOY, including the Carter chapter that I was avoiding (thank you, Alessandra, for lighting that fire under my ass), but knew I needed to include because his particular brand of evil is just so very delicious that when he’s not around, you find yourself wondering what he’s up to. I shipped that baby off to my beta readers and am eagerly awaiting their comments.

And yesterday morning as I was toodling around, doing god knows what, the end of the trilogy came to me. I’m still toying with it and will have to run it by my crew, but it seems the perfect way to end The Sanctum. (Of course, if I’m being totally honest, thinking about the end of Wyatt and Dev makes me incredibly sad. I love them and hate that there will come a day when they are not my first priority as a writer.)

Equally exciting as completing my first draft of THE BOY is receiving in my grubby, little hands (full disclosure: my hands are not little at all and are, in fact, quite large) the beauty that is the book cover, designed by the incomparable Michele Mason Holmberg. It’s stark and simple and absolutely gorgeous and a testament to Michele’s artistic genius. Can you tell I love it?

I’m coordinating a cover reveal with a few other blogs, so check back in a few days to see THE BOY, learn a little about Book II and enter the giveaway to win copies of The Girl and The Boy.

Also tomorrow is my birthday. My forties have pretty much rocked, so these birthdays are always a pretty sweet celebration. I think I’m going to add to my collection and get some new ink as a gift to myself.

The Boy – Final Drafts, Cover Reveals, All Kinds of Other Good Sh*t

Good morning, lovely people.

I’m finally starting to feel as if I might really make my deadline to publish THE BOY next month. This is a good thing because typically all a deadline makes me do is procrastinate. The fact that I’ve been diligently working towards meeting my self-imposed goal speaks volumes to my love for all things Wyatt and Dev.

So what have I accomplished towards this goal, you ask. Well, earlier this week I finished my first complete draft of THE BOY, including the Carter chapter that I was avoiding, but knew I needed to include because his particular brand of evil is just so very delicious that when he’s not around, you find yourself wondering what he’s up to. I shipped that baby off to my beta readers and am eagerly awaiting their comments.

And yesterday morning as I was toodling around, doing god knows what, the end of the trilogy came to me. I’m still toying with it and will have to run it by my crew, but it seems the perfect way to end The Sanctum. (Of course, if I’m being totally honest, thinking about the end of Wyatt and Dev makes me incredibly sad. I love them and hate that there will come a day when they are not my first priority as a writer.)

Equally exciting as completing my first draft of THE BOY is receiving in my grubby, little hands the beauty that is the book cover, designed by the incomparable Michele Mason Holmberg. It’s stark and simple and absolutely gorgeous and a testament to Michele’s artistic genius. Can you tell I love it?

I’m coordinating a cover reveal with a few other blogs, so check back in a few days to see THE BOY, learn a little about Book II and enter the giveaway to win copies of The Girl and The Boy.

Also tomorrow is my birthday. My forties have pretty much rocked, so these birthdays are always a pretty sweet celebration. I think I’m going to add to my collection and get some new ink as a gift to myself.

Thursday Thoughts

Interview With Indie Author Teshelle Combs As She Launches Her New Series THE SYSTEM

A couple of weeks ago I was skimming through something or the other on Goodreads and came across a blurb for the book CORE* by Teshelle Combs. I was instantly intrigued because quite frankly, the word “dragons” always snags my attention. Of course, being the nosy bitch I am, I did some snooping, which in this day and age of over-sharing is super easy, and found out a little more about the book and the author.

This is Teshelle. She looks like fun, non?

I thought she sounded kind of cool so I reached out to her about possibly doing some cross promotion for each other since we both have books coming out soon. I wasn’t sure if she would respond or think I was some weirdo, but she did (although her response doesn’t necessarily mean she doesn’t think I’m weird) and so here we are.

Teshelle’s latest book, THE SYSTEM, launched yesterday and she was nice enough to let me interview her about the book, her writing process and a whole mess of other stuff. Check it out.

The System sounds like such a unique concept. What was your inspiration for The System? I see the word algorithm and instantly think math. Are you a math whizkid yourself?

Haha! No, I’m terrible at math. Just god awful. But I do love philosophy. So one night, I started thinking about Aristotle and the value he placed in arithmetic. I began to think, “what if the world really is made of math? What if our thoughts, our movements through space and time, our bodily functions, maybe even love and hate, are all products of equations?” That’s when Nick was born. Someone who could tap into such an equation and slip through time just a little. And shortly after, I thought up Nessa–a slacker who doesn’t even know what the word ‘algorithm’ means and somehow ends up in the System anyway.

Describe The System in six words.

Lose yourself. Find each other. Survive.

Nick or Nessa? Do you have a favorite? Is it possible to choose between the two?

They’re both my narrators, and I love them so much. But…Nick. He’s got so much darkness to him, so much depth. There are layers and layers to him that make writing for his character so intriguing. Nessa is funny, kind, reactive, and explosive, but Nick? Nick is my tragedy.

How long did it take you to write The System? How was the experience? Do you tend to be an outliner or do you tend to be more free-flowing with the writing process? Which comes first – the story or the characters?

The story and the characters sort of birthed each other. The idea to use algorithms and the creation of Nick and Nessa couldn’t have happened independently. And I never stick to outlines, so I just stopped doing them a while back. I like to research a ton, then just write whatever I come up with.

The first draft took two weeks. I tend to binge write when I’m on to something. But then I deleted that manuscript, started from scratch, wrote a few more drafts, ran it through my editors, and polished it up a few times before it was ready. Took about two years.

You and your husband recently welcomed a baby boy into your lives. Congrats. And get ready – boys are wild. (I’ve got a six year-old crazy man) How is parenthood treating you? How are you finding the balancing act between being a parent and being a writer?

I just read this question, quickly put my laptop down, hustled across the room to grab my laptop cord before Jaxter could get it into his mouth, walked him back across the room and put him down beside the loudest toys imaginable, hurried back to my laptop, and started answering the question. Oh wait, hold on…here he comes again. Okay, now I’m back.

In other words…I love it! Jaxter is 8 months old, and he’s my best friend. He’s nuts–loud, funny, poopy, drooly, dancy, all smiles and laughs and sweetness. My husband and I are having a blast with this kid. Yes, he makes it a lot harder to actually get things done, and I’m writing about three times more slowly now, but he’s worth it.

When I’m writing, I tend to forget everything and just kind of disappear into my characters and my stories. But every so often, when I pop my head out and look around, I feel a little lonely out here as a woman of color writing paranormal fiction. What has been your experience as a woman of color writer?

I too forget that there’s a world outside of my stories. I do know a few female writers, and a couple of them are brown like me, but I tend to forget all about that sort of thing. That’s the beauty in being an author. It’s not about me! It’s about my stories, and those stories connect me to other authors who give their stories right back to me. I love our writing community, and I love that we can all share our experiences when we run into each other amidst the proverbial bookshelves of our lives.

The indie author game is both incredibly rewarding and insanely exhausting. I’ve found that meeting other writers and chatting about our experiences is so helpful and rewarding. Any tips for aspiring writers you would like to share?

To my fellow indies: when you feel like you’re getting lost in the hurricane of marketing, networking, and formatting, when you’re discouraged by that bad review or that looming question…“oh, so you don’t have a publisher?”…remember.

Remember why you write. Because you love it. Because you can’t not write. Because you’re inspiring the people who read your work. Because being indie is freaking cool. Because this is your dream. Because you’re a writer.

 

If you want to find out more about Teshelle, snag some of her books, or just say hi, here are a few of her links:

Amazon

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

Goodreads

 

*By the way, I read Teshelle’s book, CORE, and loved it. See what I had to say here: review of CORE

Letter Envy

This morning I wandered over to John Green’s blog and saw a letter he received a few days ago on his Bio page from a fan and have to re-post it here* because it’s just really gorgeous and makes me love the man who penned it and makes me wish I had teachers like this when I was in school, but more than anything it makes me hope I can have a similar effect on a reader someday.

Check it out:

 

Mr. Green–I am a 46 year old man writing a fan letter (or posting a fan comment). My 12-year-old daughter asked to read “Fault” so I picked it up to read before her (there were rumors of explicit sexuality–codenamed “culture” in our home–that had to be dispelled).

What can I gush, that hasn’t been gushed before, probably right here on this page? I haven’t read all the back comments. I haven’t read your bio, really, or watched any of your videos…Yet.

I’m not even sure that I will give my daughter the book…Yet. Am I ready for the squalls of tears that “Fault” will unleash? Hell, you practically had ME crying with Hazel’s occasional references to her dad’s crying….What dad wouldn’t cry to see his daughter suffer this way? I have a friend who lost a son to cancer almost 10 years ago, and I still don’t know what to say to him. And he doesn’t talk much about it either. On second thought, maybe I’m not his friend after all.

I’m a high school reading teacher. I spend my days coming up with new and exciting ways to force teens to open books and look at the words on them. They come up with new and relentless ways to thwart me in this (usually with the aid of personal electronics). So, I’ve read lots of “teen” literature, and I don’t blame students for not wanting to read it.

So, thanks for writing a book with not too many cuss words. For going easy on the “culture.” For quoting T.S. Eliot and . For finding something new to say about a horrifically real problem. Not the cancer, so much– I mean teenage love. And, for Hazel’s parents, who aren’t idiots, but just in unimaginable pain. For giving me a new arrow in my quiver of books to shoot at students. :) Good job, you!

 

I know John Green doesn’t need any more accolades, folks already love the dude, but I’m going to say it anyway: Bravo, John! Rock on with your bad self.

 

* Am I even allowed to re-post this letter? I have no idea and certainly hope my doing so does not raise the ire of Mr. Green.