R.R. Virdi's Blog, page 4

Crime Pays. A free short story

 

 

 

Crime Pays
R.R. Virdi

Copyright 2016
Published 2017

Ninety-nine dollars isn’t enough to a save a life. It is however enough to piss off the wrong people.

Great start to my evening.

The halogen bright LED screen flashed blue as the pinhole-sized camera above registered my approach. White script scrolled horizontally across the ATM.

I ignored it and disregarded the bass solo in my chest. My breathing slowed and my heart rate followed. I pulled a sliver of metal out of the breast pocket of my shirt. The dull aluminum turned away most of the glaring screen’s light.

I pressed my thumb to the end of the blade and tapped the frame of my oversized glasses.

“Pairing.” The device vibrated between my hands.

A sharp hiss escaped my lips as I winced from the sudden flare of twin windows coming to life within the lenses.

“This isn’t fishy at all,” came a voice a few feet to my side.

Hooking a finger against the frame of my glasses, I tugged them down to eye my friend askance.

She arched a dark brow and ran a hand through her pixie-like black hair. “What?” Her fingers went to the stiff looking collar of her police uniform. She ran her hands against it and her face furrowed like she imagined the collar would choke her any moment. “This is uncomfortable, not to mention, nine kinds of illegal.”

I snorted, giving a gentle shake of my head. My glasses shimmied back into place. “Impersonating an officer is a single offense. I think.” I shrugged and extended a hand. “Key-sim.”

My friend scoffed. “You think. And robbing an ATM makes two.” She handed me the flat-tipped stick of the tool.

I flipped it in my grip and cast a wary look over my shoulder.

The Chicago skyline was a row of concrete monoliths washed in neon lights fighting a one sided battle against the darkening night.

If I didn’t hurry, it’d be the last skyline view, and not just for me.

I scanned a small panel of the ATM and found the button-sized hole I needed. It had a slender indent for a key, or my tool. I inserted the fibrous end of Key-sim in. Squeezing it until it went to work, taking the right shape inside. The panel popped open in seconds.

“Dammit, Lilah, you’re going to get us arrested.”

I worked without pause, fishing through a bundle of wires. A bead-sized light of iridescent green pulsed from behind the cables. “You’re supposed to keep us from getting arrested. Act normal, like there’s a stick up your ass and like you didn’t get paid today.”

“I didn’t get paid…” Her voice could have peeled the paint from the surrounding plastic paneling. “What do I do if someone comes to use the ATM?”

“Tell ‘em it’s in service and to give you their cash. Write them a deposit slip.” I grumbled to myself as I sent my hand into my pocket. My fingers closed around a thin tie and I pulled it free. With one hand I grabbed the bundle of wires tight, compressing them as much as I could. I looped the zip-tie around them and pulled tight. With the cluster of wires handled, I pulled on the end of my blade.

There was a moment of resistance before an aluminum endcap popped off. I pinched my fingers against the now protruding rectangular piece and pulled. It came free, trailing a silver braided cord as I tugged it along. I dragged it through the exposed panel, over the wiring and towards the blinking light. There was a moment of fumbling as I struggled to align the cable’s male end with the port within the ATM.

Click.

I sighed in relief.

The blue screens within my blade lens interface flashed to black. A white bar cursor blinked at the far edge—waiting.

My thumb brushed against a band of cool metal against my right index finger. The first of four metal rings on that hand. I hoped they were worth the price.

I pressed my thumb to the first ring while bumping the opposite end of my blade. The handheld computer shivered once in silence. A blue light pulsed at the end of the blade.

“Pairing. Paired.” The device shuddered again.

My fingers danced through the air, every intangible keystroke recorded by the NFC rings. They relayed messages to both the blade and my glasses.

I hammered out the code I’d committed to memory. “Here goes nothing.”

“Here we go to jail.”

“Try being an optimist, Kaycee.” I shook my head and poked the space in front of my index finger. The command went through. Any camera footage our presence would be erased. The built-in recording device would loop on older, clean footage.

“Fine, I’m certain our rather perky—well mine not yours—butts are going to jail. Happy?”

I exhaled a sharp puff of air through my nostrils. “Ye of little—”

Black turned to an onslaught of white as the screen strobed like a dying light.

I winced, shutting my eyes as I reeled. “Crap, I think we’re in trouble.” I could almost hear Kaycee swallow.

“What kind?”

I opened my eyes and found the screen had settled. A single line of code at the top left caused cement to churn in my stomach. “Uh, how good do you think you’d look in orange?”

“I can make anything work, girl. Uh, I told you so. Oh, and did I mention, I hate you, and your brother.”

I flashed her a weak smile. “Sorry?”

“He’d better be worshipping at your feet after this.” She shook her head but didn’t turn to run.

Ninety-nine dollars can buy you a decent portable computer, but it can’t buy you good friends.

“Right, start the timer.”

Kaycee blew out a breath. “What’s the average response time for the PD?”

“Average here is six minutes and three seconds.”

“Gotchya. Done.”

I bobbed my head in silent thanks and returned to work. My fingers moved through the air like a master marionette puppeteer. Code raced across the screen and the cement in my gut hardened as another surprise ebbed into life on the screen.

A single watermark in faded white appeared in the top right.

I blew out a curse. “Make that three minutes and forty-three seconds.”

Kaycee spat out a string of profanity that could’ve embarrassed a drill sergeant. “Why’s that? No, go on, tell me. Better be damn good, because if the cops don’t shoot you, I sure as hell will.”

“The bank this ATM belongs too…it’s mob owned.”

“We knew that. I’m not seeing an issue.”

“Dirty cops on the take. Who do you think they’re working for? This is the same family giving them their cut.”

“Priority call. They’re going to hustle to protect their side income.”

I nodded.

Kaycee made a sound you’d use to urge a horse to move faster. “Hurry the hell up then.”

My face twisted into a scowl and I typed on.

“Excuse me?”

The hardening concrete in my stomach chilled like winter ice had formed over it. I turned to the source of the voice.

The man was a living caricature of a Fat Cat. His generous stomach strained the buttons of his two-piece designer suit. Black may have been slimming, but the color couldn’t work miracles. His face creased as he pursed his lips and stared from the ATM to me.

We stared back.

A silent countdown went off in my head as I tried to keep pace with the all too real one the police were operating by.

One of the man’s hands went to his pocket, coming out a second later with a tawny envelope. The paper slip was stuffed thicker than a deck of playing cards and shook in his grip.

“Is the machine broken? I’m here to make a deposit?” He eyed me, then Kaycee.

To her credit, my friend didn’t miss a beat.

“Maintenance. Machine’s been having some issues with deposits. People have reported incorrect balance statements.” She held out her hand. “I’ll write you a receipt of deposit, that way there’s no mistakes.”

A silence fell between us. Quiet can speak all sorts of volumes however.

Ninety-nine bucks can buy you some things. For the rest, cheap online uniform suppliers work wonders. I hoped nothing was off about our attire.

Any unassuming—and in this case, unflattering—gray uniform can be passed off as something for janitorial or repair work.

Kaycee’s local police outfit required a bit more detail.

The devil’s in those, and the man eyed her like one.

I swallowed a golf ball-sized lump in my throat.

The envelope shook harder and the man looked down to it. His porcine-like nose twitched as he weighed the options. He nodded. “It’s four thousand in a mix of twenties and hundreds.”

Kaycee sucked a breath through her teeth. I could see the muscles around her neck tighten for a moment. She exhaled and took the envelope from the man. “I’ll have to count it, you understand.”

I caught her not-so-subtle cue and returned to work.

Two mins, twenty-five seconds before we’re in real trouble. No pressure. You got this. You got this.

I tuned out the conversation between Kaycee and the man. Another line of code went accepted by the operating system.

A series of X’s appeared and the denotation for a dollar sign.

I smiled. It was premature.

Three digits flashed into life in the top left of the screen followed by another triplicate. A series of four tagged along.

A phone number. And it didn’t belong to the police department. It was private.

The earlier dial out wasn’t to the cops then.

My heart pumped Freon through my bloodstream.

The bank’s owners were on their way.

I entered the sum of one hundred thousand US dollars. My pulse calmed a bit when the number was accepted. The screen informed me that it’d have to be closed out until the next business day for sufficient lack of currency to tender.

I pulled away from the machine as it shuddered, seeming more in protest of my actions than what was about to come.

A sound like rain on a tin porch emanated from the ATM and a torrent of pale green smacked into the pan below the blue screen.

Kaycee was by my side in a second, kneeling and plunking a silver briefcase to the ground. She snapped aside the security clips and opened the armored clamshell.

“How much longer?”

I hissed and scooped the first load of cash, heaping it unceremoniously into the case. “Not long enough. Besides, our company isn’t going to be of the officious nature, you know?”

Kaycee managed to fix me with a heated glare without even staring at me. “So the ‘Shoot first, shoot again,’ kind of people?”

I tilted my head to the side as confirmation.

She huffed out a breath and grabbed another bundle of cash.

I noticed a certain chunk of money had vanished. I arched a brow, giving her a sideways look. “What happened to that guy’s deposit?”

Kaycee gave me a smile that belonged in commercials. “Uh, I’m keeping that. Call it a bestie fee for helping you with this nonsense. I’m going to buy concert tickets, down payment on a car—textbooks.” She heaped another pile of money into the case as fast as the machine trundled it out.

I helped her while holding my gaze.

She caught my stare and her lips went tight. “Think I should I get the textbooks first?”

“College is a bitch.”

She snorted and shoved the last bit of cash into the case, flipping it shut. “Ain’t it? Right, let’s get out of here. I really hope your brother learns his lesson this time.”

I shrugged. “It’s possible, but, no matter what, he’s family.”

Kaycee sprinted to a black-and-white SUV parked at the curb. “You ever consider putting him up for adoption?”

You can’t always choose the people you call family. But, no matter their faults, some of them want to be good. You can either leave them on the ground when their down and need help, or, you can offer them a hand to pick them up. Some people would call that enabling.

I wasn’t one of them.

Sometimes if you help someone enough, they’ll straighten out. That’s a chance that needs to be taken, and the reward’s worth it.

If it meant meaning saving my little brother and getting his ass in line, I was willing to risk it.

Kaycee skirted around the front of the vehicle, toting the briefcase in a loose grip. The armored shell thunked once against the front grill of the SUV as she passed. My friend swung open the door, lobbing the case onto the back seats before she clambered in.

I raced to the passenger door and slid into place. My blade rested on my lap as I swiped through the air. Both displays pulled to the side as if they were snatched by an invisible hand. Jarring white filled the lenses. I shut my eyes for a second and listened.

Kaycee turned the key and the SUV shuddered to life with a series of burbles. “I still can’t believe you stole this.”

The corners of my mouth twitched, begging to spread wide. “I didn’t steal it. We bought.”

“Pfft, yo-kay, sure. How’d that happen again?” Kaycee let out a little laugh as she pulled the vehicle away from the curb.

“Police vehicles go up for government auction all the time. It’s usually after they’ve hit a certain mileage or have been battered up enough. It took me a solid day to get into their system. After that”—I leaned forward and banged a hand on the dash—“I convinced it that this SUV had already been up and sold at auction. Legally speaking, it’s ours.”

I could feel Kaycee’s stare.

“Okay, it’s less a matter of being ours and more of it’s not theirs anymore. Better?”

“Tch, not really. So where next?”

“Find the other ATM in Streeterville. The one we looked up.” I typed a quick query into the blank search engine. Jarring white melted into a backdrop of mottled slate with a black overlay.

The site was horribly dark and a pain to look at.

“Uh, Lilah?” Kaycee’s voice sounded like she’s gargled with sand and glass.

“Yeah?”

“Remember that call that went out?”

I nodded and tried to swallow the miniature, beating heart lodged in my throat.

“I think they got there just as we pulled out.”

I waited for the news to get worse.

“And I think that’s them following us in the rearview. Late 2030’s Cadillac SUV. That, or we’re being trailed by pimps.”

My lips pressed tight and I tugged the glasses down just enough to look at her. “I’m hoping its pimps.”

Kaycee blinked and cast a quick look over her shoulder. “Words I never thought I’d hear. Mom was right, I shouldn’t have hung out with you so much. Bad influence.” She shook her head and depressed the accelerator.

The vehicle lurched forward with renewed vigor as Kaycee turned the corner of the block.

I leaned to the side, eyeing the rearview mirror to catch a glimpse of the vehicle tailing us. My stomach felt choked by barbwire. “They’re not running plates.” I jammed two fingers against the lenses, driving them back into place around my eyes.

With a quick succession of hand gestures, the screen shifted into a black command prompt. I returned to work.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to talk to the brain on that thing. See if I can pull up the car’s VIN and find out who owns it. Meantime, hit the lights.”

“You want us to get arrested?”

“Who’s going to pull over a police car?”

Kaycee mumbled something under breath. I managed to catch the end of it, “—face.”

“You’re lucky, you’re driving. Talk about my face again and I’ll kick your ass.”

She snickered. “You need to kick the junk food before you think about kicking anything else.”

I inhaled a sharp breath and shifted in my seat. “I’m going to stab you—”

The deafening sound of a police siren erupted from the vehicle.

A spinning cascade of red and blue lights washed over my glasses. The colors and brightness refused to be dimmed by the dark lenses. My head struck the back of the rest as the vehicle picked up speed.

“Can’t hear you, Lilah. Sirens. Loud. Shit!”

My world snapped to the right and I had to brace a forearm against the door to keep from smashing my head against the window. “Damn. Drive straight.”

“I am. Screw you, road humper.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Asshole was straddling the end of his lane, coming into ours and then drifted into another before coming back—oh my god—don’t drive and send dick picks—dick!”

My throat seized in a battle between breathing and sputtering laughter. A few breaths later and I’d steadied myself. I returned to the command prompt.

“Crap, they’re still following us, and they’re getting closer.”

“How? Isn’t everyone moving out of our way?”

“Yeah, that’s the problem. Everyone’s out of their way too! And it’s not exactly I can pick this thing up and call for help.” She yanked the mic for the dash radio, shaking it before letting it fall.

“Brake check.”

“What?” She snarled and the world jerked to the left.

“Slam the brakes. If they’re hounding our ass, they’ll either stop or—”

“Be wedged up our butts. Can’t lie, I’ll try anything once, but, not a fan of that.”

“We’re not exactly going to lose them in this thing. It’s kind of ostentatious.”

“Whose plan was that? You couldn’t have stolen a KIA?” Kaycee didn’t argue the point further however.

The world ground to halt as I snapped forward. The belt went tight around my torso like I was being hugged by a python.

Metal and polyurethane crunched. The world shook harder and my brain felt like it was doing jumping jacks inside my skull. Brakes and rubber squealed in protest of the opposing force. The SUV rolled forward despite Kaycee leaning hard on the pedal to stop.

Everything slowed.

My glasses barely hung on my face, sitting at the end of my nose and the sides nearly off of my ears. “That was unpleasant.”

Kaycee coughed. “Why didn’t the air bags go off?”

“Rear end. We slowed down and the car’s armored enough.”

“Yeah, they didn’t slow down—shit.” She unbuckled her belt and flailed, looking to the mirror. “Dudes in suits, and I’m not talking the cheap government kind.”

She was right. Two men approached, dressed in the kind of clothes and with the looks that belonged in a crime noir thriller. They weren’t subtle about their motives. The sleek, burnished silver handguns that each held onto made it obvious.

“Hookay, they’re actually carrying.” Kaycee’s chest heaved and quickened with every passing second. She slammed the shifter into park. “What do we do?”

I slipped out of my buckle, fighting to stop the sudden increase in noticeable pulsing over my body. The arteries in my neck and wrist throbbed in unison. I stole a quick breath and grounded myself. “You still have the baton and spray?”

Kaycee glanced at me but nodded.

“Good. We’ve got one shot at doing this right.”

“And what exactly are we doing?” Kaycee shivered for a second before getting it under control.

“Go limp. Follow my lead.”

She acknowledged in silence. Her body went slack against the seat and her eyes half closed.

Atta-girl.

I follow suit and slumped. My brain tingled as numbers counted down. Each breath seemed heavier and louder than the last.

A garbled voice came from outside the window.

The door latch clicked.

“Now!” I spun on the seat, kicking out like my legs were pistons. My heels crashed into door, flinging it open.

A pained groan came from outside.

My fingers clawed into the seat as I hauled myself forward. I launched out of the car, reaching into my pocket. Cool metal filled my palm. I squeezed hard and wrenched the cylinder free. With a snap of my wrist, a narrow pole extended from the object.

The criminal righted himself and aimed the gun at me.

A cold chemical cocktail rushed through me in. It felt like my veins were snap-freezing from the inside out.

The notion of failing galvanized me more than the threat of being shot. I sank to a knee, casting the baton in a wide arc. Hardened composite material struck the gunmen in the soft tissue on the side of his knee.

He screamed and buckled.

My thumb pressed against a pea-sized bump on the baton handle.

Violent streaks of electricity crackled from the weapon’s tip. I twisted, sending it plunging towards his crotch.

His face tightened in something beyond pain and his body contorted in silent agony.

A scream from the other side of the vehicle tore my attention away from the gunmen.

I cast a look over my shoulder and through the open doors to see Kaycee standing above the other assailant.

She bore down on him with a small canister spewing a concentrated cone of pepper spray. Kaycee’s foot lashed out, kicking the gun from his grip. In a fit a poorly thought outrage, she flung the can at him full force.

He recoiled, pawing with renewed intensity.

Kaycee followed up with a series of kicks to his legs with one in between them for good measure. She raced back into the car, chest heaving. Her eyes carried a wild light in them.

I raised my knee to my chest and stomped.

There was a crack like dry twigs breaking. A shrill scream followed.

I dove into the SUV, fumbling for my belt. My fingers fumbled over the metal clip in an adrenaline fueled craze. A snap-tug of my hand sent the belt across my waist and clipping into place. I exhaled what felt like all of the air in my lungs. The hyperawareness left with it.

Kaycee placed the vehicle back in drive while I cast a wary look over my shoulder.

“Shit. Just shit.” Kaycee shook in her seat, her hands coming to the side of her head as if to hold it steady. “We just… Those were… Shit.” Her breathing quickened despite being visibly taxed from the short fight.

“I know. Hey, yeah, that was…” I touched two fingers to my throat, feeling for my pulse. My hand shook as I held it there. “I feel you.”

“No. No, you don’t.”

“Fair enough, K.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“Is sorry worth a new sense of calm for me?”

I pressed my lips tight to keep from laughing. “Not really, no.”

She waved me off with a hand. “Then I’m collecting from your delinquent brother. Make me get almost whacked by the mob. Make me rob an ATM. Make me steal a police vehicle. My ass.”

I held up a finger as a silent gesture of correction. “You can take the mob.”

She eyes me askance, quirking a single brow.

“You didn’t rob the ATM. I did. And you didn’t steal the car.” I flashed her a grin.

She didn’t return it. “Girl, if my ever-so-fine butt is occupying the driver’s seat—and it is—then I’m saying I stole it. Give me my dues.”

I relented and bowed my head in acquiescence. “Fine. Fine. Just get us to the other ATM we talked about. We’ll do this one faster.”

Kaycee mumbled something under breath.

I couldn’t make it out but the general tone and context had something to do about an electronic device, my genitals, and a bunch of ice.

Kaycee was a poet at heart.

The discontent grumbling kept up as she brought the damaged SUV into a shopping center. A carousel of fluorescent colors illuminated the square, emanating from each of the many stores.

“There.” I pointed to a small run-of-the-mill hardware store sitting recessed in a wall of gray stone.

Kaycee’s fingers drummed against the steering wheel. It wasn’t a fun, rhythmic beat.

“You good?”

She flashed me a look that told me she wasn’t.

I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Hey, thank you.”

Her drumming stopped and she looked at me.

I gave her the most sincere smile I could. “Couldn’t have asked for a better friend. Thanks, K.”

There’s something about the simple words, the honest ones. Words like, thank you. Telling someone that they genuinely mean something to you. That you give a damn that they give one back. It can help settle the most frazzled nerves and renew someone’s spirit.

She nodded more to herself than me. “I got you. And after this, you’re getting me drinks until I forget everything.”

I snorted and agreed.

Kaycee pulled the police vehicle into a spot and parked. She exited the vehicle in silence, steeling herself for a repeat performance.

I gave her all the space and quiet she needed.

We moved towards the machine with the sort of weary resignation that comes with working a full day.

I repeated the earlier process, occasionally shooting looks to my sides to ensure no one found our activity suspicious. I made every effort to ensure my glances looked like nothing than a reprieve from staring at the insides of the machine.

Do anything with enough confidence and an air of boredom, and people will think it’s natural.

“How long we got with this one?”

My mouth twitched. “That’s weird. No timer. No silent call went out…to anyone.”

“Don’t we need these guys following us for your plan to work out?”

“Ideally, yeah. Get the case.” My attention remained fixed on finishing the last bit of code.

Something heavy plunked down by my side. A black, nondescript briefcase that could’ve belonged to any banker.

“Way ahead of you on that one.” Kaycee booted it over with the tip of her foot before falling to a knee. She thumbed the clasps open and spun the case to face me.

My fingers finished typing through the air.

The ATM remained disconcertingly silent. A sound like flipping through a deck of cards emanated from its center before the dispensary slot opened. Cash slid out as fast as we could rake it into the case.

I yanked the link to the internals of the machine and replaced the paneling. “Dump the case in the back seat with the other one.”

Kaycee grunted as she moved off. “You still haven’t told me how to plan to get them to follow us. You know the first family hasn’t forgotten. They’ll be tailing us too.”

“I’m going to call them.”

Kaycee sputtered as she reached the rear passenger doors. She pulled the door open, tossing the case unceremoniously into the car. “You’re going to call them?”

“Yup.” I headed to my seat, opened the door and buckled in. “Start the car and take us back on the road. I’ve got two calls to make.”

Kaycee pressed her lips tight and gave me a sideways glance. She said nothing, turning her gaze ahead.

I held my blade in my left hand, sliding my thumb against the length of it. The end flashed once as a beep emanated from my lenses. One lens morphed into a background of black with an array of white numbers. I moved a finger through the air, keying in the first number I had committed to memory.

The temple tips of my glasses thrummed behind my ears. A line trilled.

Someone answered. “You’re calling from a blocked number. Who is this?”

“The girl with the fifty grand you asked for.”

Silence, but the line was live.

“There’s a warehouse in the Fulton River District. Unmarked, old brick place.” His lips smacked audibly together. He gave me an address that I seared into memory.

“How’s my brother? I want to hear him. Put him on.”

Silence.

My heart somersaulted into my throat just below my jaw. It felt like I’d swallowed a pulsating balloon, inflating without stop until it threatened to suffocate me.

Someone coughed. It was a dry thing like they’d gargled with a mix of sawdust and broken glass.

“Lye, that you?”

My throat tightened in response. It wasn’t an act. Nobody but that little mischievous shit would have known to call me by my nickname. “Yeah, Tycho, it’s me.”

He sniffled and racked his throat hard. “I’m sorry. I totally fah—”

“Tycho? Tycho!”

“You heard ‘em, he’s fine. Bring the money he owes and his debts are squared. After that I recommend you get him out of town…permanently. Your brother’s got a nasty habit.”

My teeth gritted against his each to the point I was worried about cracking them. “Sure thing.” I didn’t give him the pleasure hanging up on me. I slid my thumb against the blade, terminating the connection.

Kaycee let out a low whistle. “Well, that was tense. What now?”

“I make the call that’s going to screw them every-which-way to Sunday, and K, it’s only Tuesday.”

Her mouth moved in a series of micro-twitches like a rabbit’s. “Uh, I don’t even know what that means, but props, you made it sound scary.”

I growled.

Kaycee raised a hand. “Chill. How ‘bout giving me some directions?”

She had a point. I exhaled and flipped into a navigational menu on my lenses. “Out Streeterville. River North, Fulton River District is where he said. There’s a storage facility there.” I gave her the exact building address.

“You think it’s one they own? We all know some cops on the force are taking cuts and not logging electronics they pick back up off the streets. They’re keeping ‘em and reselling ‘em.”

“I don’t doubt it.” I took a breath to steel myself before dialing another number. The line rang as I pulled my glasses from my face. I yanked the connection cable from my blade and plugged the micro-sized tip into the small port in the lenses. A silent prayer went through my mind hoping that the voice distortion would work.

I placed them back on just as they answered.

“Whoever this is, you’ve better have one helluva damn good reason to be calling right now.” A chorus of angry yelling tinged with more profanity came from the background.

“I know who robbed you. That’s why you and your boys are throwing hissy fits right now, yeah?”

Another bout of silence.

I guess the mob and police force took drama classes together.

“Be real careful what words come outta your mouth next.”

My jaw tightened for a second. “You want your money, get your boys looking for this plate.” I gave them the vehicles license plate number. “Black SUV, it’ll be in the Fulton River district in a bit. Your money will be on the rear passenger seats of the car. You can take up the theft with the owners. Better hurry. Or, you’ll never see your hundred grand again.” I followed up by listing the same address the crooked cops had given us.

“You think you can—”

I ended the call. Yes, I can. And I did.

I’m not a vindictive person, but it felt good being able to stick it to three collective groups of scumbags in an evening.

“So, you gave them the deets on the car we’re driving. That’s cool. Cooool.” Her fingers beat against the wheel without pause. “Cool.”

“Say ‘Cool’ one more time.”

Kaycee huffed out a breath. “I don’t know if you see the flaw in your plan, but let me highlight you on it. We’re in the freaking car right now! The car you told them how to find? I mean come on, how long before those goons are on the road—by the way, there’s not a zillion roads to where we’re going—and come looking for us?”

“K, breathe. Attitude, not helping. We want them to find the car. Not us. So, step on it and get us there fast.”

Kaycee’s chest heaved several times before she relaxed. “They need invent a Zen shot. I swear, you’re bad for my blood pressure.”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t argue her point, and I hated losing arguments.

We arrived in the district without another accident, which was a small relief. Minutes passed before Kaycee found our way to the address we were given.

The officer’s description was close enough. The building was aged brick that was losing the test against time. Pitted mortar with some holes that had clearly had a more ballistic origin. The building was the color of a washed out macaroon, a sickly pale yellow.

Kaycee pulled the vehicle into a spot near a burgundy industrial steel door.

Cheap metal garage doors blocked any passage inside.

“What now?”

“We get out and finish this thing. Where’s the third case?”

Kaycee gestured over her shoulder with her thumb.

I leaned back, snatching the battered cheap case.

It had belonged to a travelling artist, used to store his small prints as he travelled to conventions across the country. The cheap black and brown vinyl covering peeled and sported holes from years of bumping into things. Our father had left it to Tycho, filled with my brother’s own scribbles from his youth.

My hands shook as I opened. Kaycee’s hand fell on mine, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I got you, girl.”

“Thanks.” My voice came out harsher than expected.

She fetched the other two cases and popped them open.

We shoveled fifty grand from each of the other cases into my father’s.

“That should do it. Here.” I rolled my wrist and flourished with my hand, producing an antiquated looking key.

Kaycee plucked it from my grip, looking it at like it was a foreign object. “Uh, you shouldn’t have?”

“It’s a car key.” I flashed her a smile. “This isn’t our only ride.” I patted the dash.

Her eyes widened. “You jacked another car?”

I shook my head. “I convinced the same auction that another vehicle sold—legally—to us. Was a bit of a pain to do. Police impound lots of cars. Some end up selling after long enough. This is ours now.” I gestured to the back end of the lot where a random series of cars sat parked.

Kaycee turned the key over, sputtering at the emblem. “You stole one of these?”

I nodded. “Dump this in the trunk and wait inside. Lay low, be ready to start and get it going.”

She nodded, exiting the SUV with the briefcase in hand. Kaycee sprinted over to the far side of the lot.

As soon as she vanished from sight, I shut the silver briefcase from the first bank heist. A few breaths helped settle the electric convulsions in my stomach. I leaned into the door and shoved it open with more force than necessary. My thumb moved to lock the doors on instinct, but I restrained. Instead, I flicked unlock switch.

I took one last look at the vehicle, and the remaining the briefcase on the back seat. Shaking my head for clarity, I sucked in another breath and headed towards the burgundy door. The base of my fist bounced off of it several times.

Something heavy clicked on the other end.

An officer in his mid-forties with a sharp, military cut, opened the door. He was built like someone whose diet consisted of protein shakes and anabolic steroids. His dark eyes fell to the case in my grip. He moved out of the way in silence.

I stepped inside, casting a wary look around the place.

The warehouse was dimly lit by a series of weak yellow bulbs that flashed intermittently. Rusted steel racks lined the walls and much of the interior space. Colorful cardboard boxes and bare electronics filled each shelf.

I bet that none of those items had been paid for. But they were damn sure going to be sold for a buck.

I fell in step behind the walking supplement advertisement while brushing my free hand against a pocket. My baton was still there, just in case I needed it. I hoped I wouldn’t.

The silent mountain of muscle led me to the center of the warehouse.

A trio of officers stood around a chair.

My brother sat unrestrained in it.

One of the officers had a gun leveled at him. The man was something pulled out of the eighties, from his long, mustache, to the sunglasses indoors. He had the same haircut at the musclebound freak.

They all did.

Nice to know they got a group rate at their local barbershop.

I threw the case at their feet. “It’s there. All fifty g’s.”

The rake of a man with the gun nodded a fellow cop on his right. “Check it.” He looked back to me. “See? He’s fine.” The officer took a step forward, whipping out his hand. The barrel clipped my brother across the temple, sending him out of the seat to the ground.

“Tycho!”

He coughed on the ground. Scrabbling to his feet. Tycho brushed hands across his stained white shirt and his faded jeans.

The cop waved the gun in admonishment. “Ah, hold up, kid. Not so much moving until my buddy’s done counting.”

Tycho’s mouth opened but he shut it. Instead rubbing a hand through his dark, ear length hair. “Sorry.” He didn’t look at anyone, but I could tell the comment was directed at me.

The kneeling officer grunted for the attention of the gun toting ass. “It’s all here. Fifty whole and large like she said.”

A feral smile spread over the man in charge’s mouth. “Who says crime doesn’t pay?” He looked around to his crew who burst into a fit of laughter almost on cue. “Take your brother. Free advice, don’t let him gamble in this town again. And, quit cheating, or, don’t get caught.” Another chorus of laughter filled the room.

Tycho raced over and wrapped his arms around me.

I placed a hand on the back of his head. “I got you. You’re good. Let’s get out of here.” I led the way until the unmistakable sound of gunfire thundered from the entrance. My fingers closed tight around my brother’s wrist as I led him down a hall comprised of towering metal racks. “Stay low and keep moving.”

He nodded in silence.

The officers had drawn their guns, waiting rooted in place.

Seven men, all dressed like the ones who’d rear-ended us, sprinted through the way the officer had led me down. The fanned out in a semi-circle facing the officers.

I tugged on Tycho’s wrist to remind him to keep moving.

“The fuck’s this?” One of the mobsters jabbed his compact machine gun at the case.

The officer frowned. “It’s one of my deals, why? Got shit to do with you.”

“Yeah? Funny, cause sitting out there is one of your cars. Same car some of my boys hit earlier for jacking us. Take the case.”

Three of his men moved to take the case.

The officers trained their guns on the mobsters. “Like hell.”

I jerked Tycho harder. “Move.”

We kept low, doubled over as we navigated through the aisles. Both of us made it to the door, stopping as we noticed the series of dents and holes concentrated around the lock.

I shut my eyes and pulled it, hoping it wouldn’t make too much noise.

It groaned in protest, but nothing loud enough to draw attention.

We slipped through it.

I jabbed a finger to the far end of the lot. “Silver car, see it? Run.”

He nodded and broke into a sprint that I matched.

“Thanks, again.”

“Shut up. Don’t mention it. Never do it again, or, next time, I’ll kill you.” My lungs strained from the effort of talking and running.

A staccato of thunder cracked out from inside the building.

It was nice to know that some people never learned how to use their words to solve problems.

We stopped when we neared a silver, black-topped coupe.

“Where did you get this?”

“Shut up, Tycho.” I rapped my knuckles on the rear bumper of the mid-2000’s Porsche 911. “Kaycee, drop the top. Open up.”

The vehicle flashed as the doors unlocked. A second later, an irritated burble emanated from the rear of the car as it shook into life. The top folded back.

I hopped the door, landing into the passenger seat. “Shotgun.”

Tycho grumbled something and tumbled over into the vehicles half-bucket sized rear seats. “Dad’s briefcase?”

“Got a going away present for you. Booked you on a train, thought you should take that. Get out of town. Call when you’re safe, ‘kay?”

He nodded without a word.

Kaycee hissed and grabbed my shoulder. “Duck!”

We did in unison.

“What’s up, K?”

“Another SUV. Another group of not-so-friendly looking dudes.”

I smiled. “The other family I called. They’re about to find their stolen money in the back of a police cruiser, and those officers inside…with another family.”

Kaycee eyed me. “Girl, you scary.”

I gave her wolfish smile. “When it comes to family, damn right.” I took a peek and noticed the men had entered the warehouse. “Safe. Back up out of here and let’s go.”

Kaycee matched my feral grin. “Don’t have to tell me twice. We’re keeping the car, right?”

“Hell yes.”

We tore off down the road, enjoying a rip-roaring soundtrack only six figures of car can deliver.

Sometimes crime does pay.

I looked over the seat at my younger brother.

And sometimes it saves.

Thank you for taking the time to read this short story. I hope you enjoyed it and leave a comment below!

 

Author Spotlight Alex P. Berg

Author Spotlight
Alex P. Berg

Author Interview Questions

 

1: Hi, and thanks for joining today. In your own words tell us about yourself, not you the author, but just you!

A: I’m Alex P. Berg, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction author extraordinaire. I have a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering (yes, really!), but I gave all that up for a shot at literary stardom. I usually listen to heavy metal while I write, mostly niche subgenres like progressive metal, symphonic metal, and melodic death metal (it’s a thing). In what little free time I have, I deadlift, watch TV that I’d probably be better off skipping, and sink far too many hours into my Xbox. I also enjoy long walks on the beach…with my wife, and dog. Sorry ladies (and other dogs).

2: Why did you decide to become an author and what’s the best part? Yeah, it’s a double-whammy of a question. So unexpected!

A: After graduate school, where I got that Ph.D. I referred to, I worked for a number of years at research facilities around the country, mostly manipulating multi-million dollar microscopes to look at the molecular and atomic structure of various materials, and as cool as that sounds, after a few years of it I realized it really wasn’t for me. So I quit to be a writer! And the best part is really threefold: I’m my own boss, I work on something I love, and I get to spend much more time with my family.

3: So, tell us about your work. Sell us on it! Why should we read it and why it will capture us?

A: Envision the following: A gritty, urban metropolis transitioning into the industrial age, a mid-nineteenth century New York or London analogue. Crime runs rampant. Drug lords rule the slums, which spread like diseases through the avenues. Only the police stand against the surging tide. Against this backdrop enter our protagonists: Jake Daggers, a jaded, grizzled homicide cop in his early thirties, and his beautiful, brilliant new psychic partner, the half-elf Shay Steele.

Oh…did I fail to mention this is a fantasy series? Magic and murder stand side by side, and you usually don’t find one without the other. This is the world of Daggers & Steele. Get the first one today for free!

4: Why did you choose the genre you write in over others to start your publishing career? Did others appeal to you more and you chose this? Was there a bit of choice weighing or was it rather simple?

A: Well, to be honest, I set out thinking I was writing urban fantasy, when actually it turns out I write mystery novels with urban fantasy flair. That’s not surprising given that my biggest influence was Glen Cook’s Garrett P.I. series, which is more or less the same thing. But I’ve also written science fiction mystery, which in many cases is harder to pull off successfully, but Isaac Asimov did it, so gosh darn it, I knew I could, too!

But really, it was an easy decision. I’ve read SFF my whole life, and the engineer in me likes the systematic nature of mysteries. Heck, scientific research in many ways is like trying to solve a mystery. It came naturally to me.

5: So far, what would you say has been the hardest part of being an author?

A: There are two hard parts. The first is finding your audience, and I don’t mean figuring out what you like to write. I mean literally finding people who are going to buy your books. Visibility is the single hardest part of being an author, indie or traditionally published. And once you find them, you have to hold on to them, which is a whole other battle.

The other difficult part of being an author is the financial instability. You never know how much you’ll make from month to month, current success isn’t a prediction of future sales, and you’re always worried the bottom is going to fall out of things. So it’s stressful at times.

6: Now for the ever-so-shocking follow-up question. What’s the best/easiest part, if there is one?

A: I already covered this, but being your own boss, working on things you love, and spending time with the people you love—that’s what it’s all about.

7: Tell us about what your experiences in the author life have been like. I don’t mean the writing aspects. I mean the daily human life. Tell us what it’s like to live the day life you do and be an author at the same time. What’s it like when people in your life and, the people you come across, find out you’re an author?

A: Well, I’m lucky enough to be a full time author (two and a half years running, woooooooo!!!), so I don’t have to balance my time between a day job and writing. I spend all my time writing, editing, and on my business—well, most of my time. Damn Facebook and phone games are a constant distraction. But I try to spend about 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week working on writing and related work, so more or less what I’d put into a regular job.

People are surprised to hear I’m an author, mostly because it’s my full time job. They’re impressed I’m able to make enough from it to get by, and then I explain the economics of independent publishing and they get it.

8: Writing is a hard craft and a harder career. What are the things that keep you going, both in improving the craft and enduring the downs/lows of the career?

A: Yeah, keeping yourself motivated is the hardest part, especially when sales ebb. One of the best traits you can have as an author is a staunch, unfounded sense of optimism, because otherwise you will surely get depressed and give up at some point or another. I mean, the odds against success are overwhelming, if we’re being honest—which isn’t to say you can’t be successful. I have! But I find that you have to keep yourself refreshed and interested in your profession. Part of that is taking time to recharge your batteries between projects. Indulge yourself a little, whether that means taking a weekend trip, playing some video games, or reading a good book you’ve been putting off. Sometimes, when you’re your own boss, you can drive yourself too hard, and in a creative profession, that can be counterproductive.

9: What do you love about the genre you write and what others appeal to you?

A: As I said, I write mystery, fantasy, and science fiction, mostly because I like the whimsy of SFF and the intellectual aspect of mysteries. But I read in all genres and I like to mix and match, which is possible because when we use the term genre, we mean starkly different things. Science fiction and fantasy are setting-based genres. Romance, thrillers, and horror are about the emotions elicited in the reader, and mystery is simply a plot device. So it’s entirely possible to write a sci-fi mystery thriller, for example, and I have. But whatever you write, be sure to read extensively in that genre, otherwise you’ll break all kinds of conventions that you don’t even know about and fall flat on your face—or be the next J. K. Rowling, lol…

10: What can we expect from you next? Tell us about the plans for your series and body of work.

A: I’m going to finish my Daggers & Steele series, which I suspect will go to ten novels, and then I have some more ideas that I haven’t made public yet, but I’ll probably be working on a new series that’s more conventional ‘urban fantasy’ while still having the flair of mystery and humor I’m known for.

11: The writing and publishing world has changed a lot. Self-publishing, small to medium presses popping up, and things like becoming a hybrid between indie pubbing and traditional. What are your thoughts on that? Any predictions on what the future might hold? What would you like to see, both as an author yourself, and, as a consumer/reader?

A: I’m an indie, and I’ve made a living at it, so I’m pretty gung ho on it. That said, it’s not easy to get noticed (see the topic of visibility above), and it keeps getting harder. There are millions and millions of ebooks available on Amazon, and thousands more get added every day. How does yours stand out? It’s not an easy question to answer…

As for the future? Well, eventually I think AI will become complex enough to write books on its own—good ones. Will it take 50 years? 100? 20? I don’t know, but better to get your money while the gettings good. But in all seriousness, as an amateur futurist, I think computers will take almost all our jobs, and them taking the creative work is the least of our problems. Are you familiar with the Luddites? They went about destroying technology in the early 1800s because it was taking their jobs. We could see widespread chaos of a similar nature in the next few decades as workers of all kinds are displaced.

Man, this got dark fast. On to the next question!

12: The always done and asked question. Who are your favorite authors? What are you favorite books? What are you reading now? Tell us. Tell us!

A: My favorite author is Glen Cook, and I love his Garret P.I. series (a pseudo urban fantasy private eye series) and his Black Company books (a gritty, military epic fantasy series focused on the soldiers outside of battle) almost equally. In general, I grew up on mostly sci-fi, reading tons of Heinlein and Asimov, until getting into the Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind monstrosities in my late teens. Now I bounce around genres much more.

Currently I’m reading Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars, which I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, it’s the most comprehensive novel on the colonization of Mars I’ve ever read, possibly the best one ever written. It’s the hardest of hard sci-fi at times. At others, Robinson goes on thirty page discourses of Islam and Marxism, told through the view of some thoroughly unsavory characters and without any obvious goals for the protagonists. So yeah…mixed feelings.

13: I’ve got to know…what’s your favorite word to use. Every author has one. What’s the word you catch yourself using a lot? We’ve all got those as well. What’s your favorite word just to say? Something where you like the way it sounds. What’s your favorite curse worse, if you’ve got one and or use them?

A: Just. I’ve gotten better about it over time, but I still have to carefully look for that one as I edit. Honestly, I have a Word document entitled ‘Words to Kill’ that I used as a template when I first got started. I still refer to it on occasion.

‘Truth be told’ was one I struggled with as I got started, but stuff slips through the cracks even now, after writing a dozen novels. I put something like fifteen instances of ‘narrowed an eye’ in my latest novel for some reason, which thankfully my editor noted before I published it.

14: You’ve just had a recent release a month back. The 7th book in your bestselling series. Tell us about it!

A: Book seven in my Daggers and Steele series, Steele of the Night. It’s a cross between an 80’s hair metal concert and the movie, The Hangover, with detectives Daggers and Steele trying to solve a murder of a famed rock singer with precious little to go on. The man’s murder hints at supernatural origins, but the case gets odder with each step forward. Some of my novels are more serious, but this one is intended to be a riot from start to finish. Check it out!

15: Lastly, where can we find you? Facebook? Twitter? Website? Links to your material. Go on, don’t be shy. Share!



A: The best place to find out about me is on my website, www.alexpberg.com, but you can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter. And if you haven’t read the first book in my Daggers & Steele series, Red Hot Steele, what are you waiting for? It’s free! Buy it today!

Bio: Alex P. Berg is a mystery, fantasy, and science-fiction writer with a doctorate in nuclear engineering and a passion for heavy metal music. His novel RED HOT STEELE, featuring hard-boiled homicide cop Jake Daggers and his psychic half-elf partner Shay Steele, is a perfect introduction to his style. Connect with him at: www.alexpberg.com

Author Spotlight David VonAllmen

Author Spotlight
David VonAllmen

Author Interview Questions

1: Hi, and thanks for joining today. In your own words tell us about yourself, not you the author, but just you!

A: Thanks for having me, Ronnie. The part of me that is not an author isn’t much to get excited about – I work my job and I’m married with two kids. I think everything about my kids is awesome, but I doubt anyone else is going to want to read about them. They both write stories as well, in twenty years they’ll be famous authors and everyone can read about them then. I live in St. Louis, where I grew up, and I love it here. Let’s see, is there anything about me that’s actually interesting… Okay, how about this: I am the only person ever to be Collegiate National Cycling Champion in all three disciplines: road, track, and mountain bike. Two of my former teammates rode on Lance Armstrong’s team in the Tour de France, and only one of them got suspended for performance enhancing drugs (the one who won an Olympic gold medal).

2: Why did you decide to become an author and what’s the best part? Yeah, it’s a double-whammy of a question. So unexpected!

A: I started playing a little bit of Dungeons and Dragons when I was 13, but it wasn’t long before I realized that I liked building the stories a lot more than I liked playing. So I sat on the computer for hours every day writing what I can only imagine were absolutely terrible science fiction stories. No one else ever read them, I knew they were no good. It never occurred to me that writing was something that you could practice and get better at, I thought writers were just born on planet Shakespeare and since I wasn’t born there I wasn’t going to be a writer. Many, many years later the desire to write caught back up with me and so just decided I was going to study it and practice it and do everything I could to become an author. Things are actually going a lot better than I expected.

The best part? Spending my time with other authors talking shop. I love the sport of trying to improve my writing skills, and I love when I get lost in a book and only afterward think to analyze what made it so engrossing. I love the excitement that comes with all that, the bolt of lightning between two authors when they both realize the other loved the same book they loved and the next hour is going to be spent talking about it at a thousand miles per hour.

3: So, tell us about your work. Sell us on it! Why should we read it and why it will capture us?

A: What made me fall in love with science fiction and fantasy are the ideas, the mind-blowing concepts that produce a sense of wonder and awe. My favorite thing in the world is when a story makes me say, “I never would have thought of that.” That’s what I aim to do in all my stories, from flash fiction to novels, give the reader a moment (or, hopefully, more than one moment) of “Oh, that’s cool!”

4: Why did you choose the genre you write in over others to start your publishing career? Did others appeal to you more and you chose this? Was there a bit of choice weighing or was it rather simple?

A: In my short fiction I primarily write fantasy, though I do write a little science fiction. Novels I’m exclusively fantasy, and very adventure oriented – standard length novels as opposed to epic. Years ago I thought I wanted to be a science fiction writer, but I wasn’t very inspired, I wasn’t coming up with ideas that I really thought clicked. I had never considered fantasy because I didn’t really know anything about it, I didn’t read it and didn’t understand it’s potential. I thought it was all Lord of the Rings rip-offs, which, for a while there, it was. Then I read Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere and realized “If this is fantasy, then fantasy can be… ANYTHING.” After that I was off to the races, seeking out not just fantasy, but cramming my head full of anything I could find in my attempt to stretch my brain in hopes of thinking up some wild fantasy concepts that were far outside the norm.

5: So far, what would you say has been the hardest part of being an author?

A: Finding time. I’ve got a full-time job, and two kids that are in the latter half of grade school. My kids are only going to be young once, so I’m just not willing to sacrifice these handful of years when they’re at home with me to speed up my career. A lot of writers who aren’t yet making a full-time living write on weekends, but I’m always doing stuff with the kids. Evenings? I’m helping them with homework or coaching their basketball teams or what have you. I get in an hour or two after they go to bed, and usually I manage to drag myself out of bed at 5:30 or so and get maybe an hour in before they wake up. In a handful of years they’ll be teenagers and spend all their free time with their friends, so I’ll get more writing in then.

6: Now for the ever-so-shocking follow-up question. What’s the best/easiest part, if there is one?

A: The easiest part is coming up with ideas. Too many ideas… I can hardly get any reading done because at least once every few pages I have to stop and write down another idea that popped into my head. A lot of people are dangerous because they text while they drive, I’m not texting, I’m typing down the five ideas that occurred to me during my twelve minute drive to work. (Just kidding, I use dictation, people who text and drive are horrible human beings.)

7: Tell us about what your experiences in the author life have been like. I don’t mean the writing aspects. I mean the daily human life. Tell us what it’s like to live the day life you do and be an author at the same time. What’s it like when people in your life and, the people you come across, find out you’re an author?

A: Because I haven’t yet gotten to the point where I’m supporting myself full time on my writing, I never tell anyone I’m an author, though it does come up from time to time when I brag on social media about selling a story. It always takes a lot more explanation than it seems like it should. It’s called a short story. Perhaps you read a few in a college English lit class? No? Well, it’s kind of like a novel, in that it tells a story, only it’s shorter. That’s why it’s called a short story. I write fantasy. Huh? No… you’re thinking of erotica. I’m not talking about that kind of fantasy. I mean like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. (I swear at a party this woman really thought I meant erotica when I said “fantasy.”)

8: Writing is a hard craft and a harder career. What are the things that keep you going, both in improving the craft and enduring the downs/lows of the career?

A: I’d be interested to hear how other authors answer this question, because in my mind there can be only one answer. I keep going because I love storytelling so damn much. And I keep working to improve my craft because there’s so many talented writers out there that you have to be damn good to poke your head up above the crowd.

The career definitely has more downs than ups, but it never occurs to me to quit, literally doesn’t cross my mind. When I stopped and thought about that, I never really knew why that was, why the rejection letters didn’t deter me. One day I came across a TED talk by Melissa Gilbert where she summarized it quite well: “I loved writing more than I hated failing at writing, which is to say that I loved writing more than I loved my own ego.” That’s it for me: your ego is going to take a beating, but if you love writing enough, that’s just not going to make you quit.

9: What do you love about the genre/s you write and what others appeal to you?

A: What I love about fantasy is the possibilities. You can do anything. That’s what I loved about science fiction when I was young, the idea that anything might happen, and if the storyteller was clever, things would happen that I never would have imagined even if I spent a lifetime dreaming up stories. The reason I like fantasy a little better than science fiction is that science fiction is limited to the things that are at least theoretically possible, fantasy doesn’t have that limit.

The genre that appeals most to me, outside of science fiction / fantasy, is probably thrillers. Mostly because of the mystery aspect of them. So why thrillers instead of mysteries if the mystery part is what I love? Well, it seems mysteries are almost entirely confined to murder mysteries, whodunnits, whereas thrillers have all range of questions as the central mystery. When I was a teenager I became obsessed with Dean Koontz books because he always pulled you into a mystery that was surreal or contained all these non-sequitur bits and you’d think, “How is any of this even possible?” By the end he’d pull it all together, always with one clever science fiction or supernatural twist, and I loved both the tension of thinking there couldn’t be an answer and the satisfaction of the resolution when there was.

10: Tell us about the plans for your series and body of work.

A: My plans for the near-future are to pause writing novels while I focus on one or two elements of my craft that I’d like to polish. Each novel I write I like a lot more than the last, but there was still something missing for me, and I finally put my finger on it – I was writing stories that I liked, but they didn’t include all the elements that make me love a story. That motivated me to really sit down and write out on paper “What is it that makes me love a story?” It’s a surprisingly short list, and I asked myself, “Why ever write a story that doesn’t have every one of these things?” One or two of them are the universal ones – a protagonist that it’s fun to take a ride with. But two are a bit more specific and I’ve never seen them combined before, so I’m excited to try that out. No, I’m not going to tell you what those are, that’s how I’m going to get rich and famous!

11: The writing and publishing world has changed a lot. Self-publishing, small to medium presses popping up, and things like becoming a hybrid between indie pubbing and traditional. What are your thoughts on that? Any predictions on what the future might hold? What would you like to see, both as an author yourself, and, as a consumer/reader?

A: The history of publishing has been one where there were a small number of gatekeepers, whose arbitrary (though, admittedly, refined) tastes decided what the publishers bought, what they put in bookstores, and what they put marketing money behind. The only other option was vanity press, which was pointless. Independent publishing is now legit, and anyone can get on Amazon, but that’s made it such a crowded marketplace that the question becomes “How do you get into the hands of the readers who will like your book?” Theoretically, the way it should work is that a handful of people buy a book when it comes out and give it either a good or bad rating and others either flock to or avoid it based on that rating. In this ideal situation it’s a meritocracy and the best books rise to the top. But let’s be real, it doesn’t work that way.

Independent authors don’t have millions to spend on marketing, but the big publishers still do, and they still pay to put the books they’ve chosen on the displays that people see when they walk into Barnes & Noble. So a million casual fans go on Amazon or Goodreads and give the one book they read that year a good rating and vote for it to top the list of “Best YA urban fantasy” or whatever. Which is ridiculous. How do you know it’s the best when it’s the only one you’ve read? I so much prefer the way Netflix does it, which, as far as I can tell, isn’t a rating based on the way the average Netflix subscriber rated that movie. It’s a far more complex algorithm that says, “This guy gave movie A five stars and movie B two stars, let’s look at what other people who rated A five stars and B two stars liked a lot, and suggest that to him.” So it’s not “What does everybody think is the best movie?” it’s “What do people who are similar to this guy enjoy watching?” If Amazon worked more like that, it would make marketing dollars significantly less of a factor, and the individual taste of the buyer more of a factor.

12: The always done and asked question. Who are your favorite authors? What are you favorite books? What are you reading now? Tell us. Tell us!

A: I’ve already mentioned Gaiman. Lets see… I read at least one Terry Pratchett novel each year, and I’m not even halfway through all the Discworld books, so I’ve got a lot of great years ahead of me. I like Brandon Sanderson, but I’m never going to read that Stormlight Archive thing he’s doing now, there’s too many other great books to read to commit myself to what’s shaping up to be a five million word series. I loved Scott Lynch’s Lies of Locke Lamora and I’m excited to read the sequels. My favorite fantasy books are the ones that really do something unusual. For instance, Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Stairs was fantastic, just really well written and set in a world so different than what most people think of when they think fantasy. I’m currently reading Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone and am really impressed with it – the prose is poetic without ever clouding meaning, and the story is clever and fresh. I also read a lot of comic books. The Sixth Gun by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt just wrapped up, so if you’re a fan of weird west do yourself a favor and go pick that up. Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples is mind-blowing. Rat Queens by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch is just a hell of a lot of fun. And I read whatever Rick Remender is putting out, his FEAR Agent is a blast.

13: I’ve got to know…what’s your favorite word to use. Every author has one. What’s the word you catch yourself using a lot? We’ve all got those as well. What’s your favorite word just to say? Something where you like the way it sounds. What’s your favorite curse worse, if you’ve got one and or use them?

A: Man, I don’t know. I know I use “heartbeat” a lot in action scenes because when adrenaline gets going time is so subjective, and it allows me to describe moments of action while brining an element of the visceral into it (“She paused for a single beat of her speeding heart.”) I think I’ve about run out of different phrasings to use with that one.

I don’t put curse words in my stories or novels. Not that I won’t eventually, but I generally like my stories to be enjoyable by all, no matter what age or sensibility. One of the series that I’m pondering is a bit of a hard-boiled thing (with magic, of course) and the main character in that actually has a supernatural reason for being surly, so I’m considering letting him curse. But if he does, I’m going full-out. It’s going to be raining F-bombs.

 

14: Tell us about your latest release. Or, when can we expect your next one? What are we in store for?!

A: The next thing from me will be a short story in Writers of the Future Volume 33, which will be coming out early April. I didn’t win the competition, I was a Published Finalist, which has the bonus that I’m allowed to continue entering, unlike winners who are not allowed to enter again. I love that competition because it allows for longer short stories, up through novelette length, and the judges like stories that have a little more action in them (as opposed to the majority of science fiction / fantasy magazines that lean more literary and abstract). Put that all together, and it’s a great place to build the worldbuilding and storytelling skills that translate into sellable novels.

15: Lastly, where can we find you? Facebook? Twitter? Website? Links to your material. Go on, don’t be shy. Share!

A: My website is www.davidvonallmen.com

My facebook is: https://www.facebook.com/davidvonallmenwrites/  and My twitter is @VonAllmenDavid.

Author Spotlight: Madeline Dyer

Author Spotlight
Madeline Dyer

Author Interview Questions

1: Hi, and thanks for joining today. In your own words tell us about yourself, not you the author, but just you!

A: I’m Madeline, and I live in the southwest of England. I’ve always had a strong love for anything dystopian, paranormal, or ghostly, and I can frequently be found exploring wild places. I also live on a farm, and have my own little herd of Shetland ponies, which I adore!

2: Why did you decide to become an author and what’s the best part? Yeah, it’s a double-whammy of a question. So unexpected!

A: Hmmm. I’ve always written, and writing is just part of who I am. I didn’t really decide one day to ‘become’ an author. I just love writing, and want to share my stories with everyone. I have to write. I need to. So being an author was the obvious thing for me to be, and it always has been.

And the best part of being an author? Definitely receiving emails from fans! I received a lovely message from a fan in the Philippines a few weeks ago, and it was so lovely hearing what my Untamed Series meant to her.

3: So, tell us about your work. Sell us on it! Why should we read it and why it will capture us?

A: I write speculative fiction for young adults, and all my stories tend to get quite dark. I’m just drawn to the darker stuff.

My debut novel, Untamed, was picked up by Prizm Books in 2014, and marketed as a dystopian tale for “edgy young adults” (because of the darker content: addiction, torture, and violence). In short, Untamed examines a world in which anyone who has negative emotions is hunted down, and a culture where addiction is encouraged. Seven Sarr, my main character, is a seventeen-year-old girl who’s on the run, as she’s one of the last Untamed humans and she desperately wants to keep the ability to feel all kinds of emotions (and not just the positive ones). But, when she’s kidnapped and converted by the Enhanced Ones, she soon becomes addicted to the lifestyle she hates. As the plot unravels, readers see Seven’s inner-conflict as she struggles with questions of identity, while she works out which group she belongs with—at the same time as being on the run, and trying to protect the other Untamed humans in her pack as they’re pursued by the Enhanced Ones. There are also spirits and Seers in the book too. Oh, and there’s some kissing.

New York Times bestselling author Pintip Dunn said this about Untamed: “A fantastic dystopian tale. Highly recommended for fans of strong heroines and intriguing sci-fi worlds.” So, I think that’s why you should read it!

4: Why did you choose the genre you write in over others to start your publishing career? Did others appeal to you more and you chose this? Was there a bit of choice weighing or was it rather simple?



A: Untamed was the fourth full-length manuscript I completed, but it was the first dystopian story I wrote. Prior to it, I’d only written fantasy and science fiction (though there are some fantasy elements in Untamed, and the sequel, Fragmented). I’ve always been drawn to the speculative fiction category as I love the freedom these genres offer, and how anything can happen. Untamed began as a bit of an experiment really (to see if I could write a dystopian story), but as soon as I got about 30,000 words into the first draft, I found that I loved writing in the dystopian genre and it really spoke to me. It felt right, and Untamed swiftly became the book of my heart.

Since then, I’ve predominantly stuck to the dystopian genre for my longer works, writing the rest of the Untamed Series, and a dystopian standalone that I’m still editing. I’m also moving back into fantasy and science fiction again, but mainly for shorter works. I’ve got a fairy tale novella releasing in April that’s a dark retelling of the Sleeping Beauty tale.



5: So far, what would you say has been the hardest part of being an author?



A: I’d say the nature of the business-side of being an author is quite hard. It’s the uncertainty that can be difficult, as you can’t guarantee that your next book will be a success or that in a year’s time you’ll still be making a living from writing. But, when I find myself starting to get bogged down by all the uncertainty, I remind myself that the best thing I can do is to keep writing and producing new works.

6: Now for the ever-so-shocking follow-up question. What’s the best/easiest part, if there is one?



A: The easiest part, for me, is the writing itself. It’s losing myself in a first draft that I absolutely love, and living in that world for weeks at a time. It’s the best feeling ever, having written.

7: Tell us about what your experiences in the author life have been like. I don’t mean the writing aspects. I mean the daily human life. Tell us what it’s like to live the day life you do and be an author at the same time. What’s it like when people in your life and, the people you come across, find out you’re an author?

A: Well, I’m now a full-time writer, and I’ve found people’s reactions to this generally tend to be either, “Oh, that’s amazing! You’re an author! Wow!” or “But aren’t you going to get a proper job?”

There seem to be many people who don’t see a creative job as a career, and it can be quite disheartening. (I even had a teacher tell me I should be a carpet-fitter instead, as no one can write well until they’re forty—yeah, I know.)

I also look quite young for my age, and I regularly come across people who don’t believe that I’m a writer—or that I’m who I say I am. This happened once at a book signing: a man came up to me and asked when the ‘real’ author was going to arrive. I told him I was the writer, and it was obvious he didn’t believe me. That was a little awkward, and he left really quickly.

But when I come across the people who understand that writing is something worthwhile doing, and that it can become a job and a career choice, it’s great. Also, meeting other writers is wonderful, and I’m in a lot of online writing groups that I love.

8: Writing is a hard craft and a harder career. What are the things that keep you going, both in improving the craft and enduring the downs/lows of the career?



A: Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat is an excellent book on screenwriting that I often apply to my novel manuscripts as I’m working on them. In particular, it’s the beat sheet in that book that really helps me in nearly every plot I’m working on. Other books on the craft, and writing as a career, that greatly help me are Stephen King’s On Writing, Indie Author Survival Guide and For Love or Money by Susan Kaye Quinn, and The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.

The thing that helps me most when I’m enduring the lows of the writer’s life tends to be getting back to the actual writing. I’ve found I get the most down about the writing life when I’m bogged down in all the admin stuff, when I’m working very hard on the promotions and marketing side of the business, and when I’m just not writing. For that reason, I try to do some free-writing every day (either first thing in the morning or last thing at night) and it really helps me cope with doing the things that I don’t like doing as much, but that are still necessary to build my fanbase.

The other thing that’s important for me to do is keep reading. It’s so easy to stop, or think you don’t have time for it when you’re building up to a release, and sorting out huge promos, and are also under deadlines for your next books. But I’ve found I’m much more balanced if I have ‘down time’, and for me that’s reading or watching a good film or exploring the countryside. It’s important to take breaks.

9: What do you love about the genre you write and what others appeal to you?

A: With dystopian fiction, I love how these fictitious societies that are so threatening and oppressive, and seem so far away from our own experiences, actually interact with our own societies. The relationship between a dystopia and the real world really is fascinating.

In terms of other genres that appeal to me, I love crime fiction and thrillers. I’ve been working on-and-off on a young adult thriller…

10: Tell us about the plans for your series and body of work.

 

A: So, following the closure of my publisher, Untamed will re-release on January 10th, with a brand new cover and interior design. Fragmented, book two in the Untamed Series, will follow with its own re-release two weeks later. Divided, book three, is scheduled for a July 11th, 2017 release, and I’m predicting that the final book of the series will be available in Spring 2018.

I’ve also got a standalone dystopian manuscript completed, (as well as another standalone dystopian that I’m editing) and I’m trying to work out what to do with them both. Plus, I’ve been shopping the first book of an adult SF thriller around, and I’ve received an offer from a publisher on it. But I’m waiting to hear back from others before I make a decision.

11: The writing and publishing world has changed a lot. Self-publishing, small to medium presses popping up, and things like becoming a hybrid between indie pubbing and traditional. What are your thoughts on that? Any predictions on what the future might hold? What would you like to see, both as an author yourself, and, as a consumer/reader?



A: I think both traditional publishing and indie publishing have their advantages, and some books are inherently better suited to one model than the other. I really think it depends on the author and the individual book. Though, I have noticed that a lot of self-published authors are doing really well, and reading Susan Kaye Quinn’s Indie Author Survival Guide was a real eye-opener into the indie author business.

I started off as traditionally published, but when the publisher for my Untamed Series closed, I made the decision to set up my own self-publishing imprint (Ineja Press) to re-release my back titles to prevent my work from going out of print. The later books in the Untamed Series will also release straight from my self-publishing imprint (though of course they’ll still be professionally edited, and I’m outsourcing interior design, covers, and formatting). But I still want to have books traditionally published, and I’m keeping my options open for my future works. Having a foot in both models will hopefully help me reach more readers, and if people are reading my books, however they find them, then I’m happy.

As a reader, I’d love to see more traditional small press books getting more exposure!

12: The always done and asked question. Who are your favorite authors? What are you favorite books? What are you reading now? Tell us. Tell us!

 

A: So, my favourite authors definitely have to be Jean M. Auel, Virginia Woolf, Louisa May Alcott, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Charles Dickens, Rick Yancey, Richelle Mead, Cormac McCarthy, Pintip Dunn, T.A. Maclagan, and A.A. Milne. I love all their books, and they’re all auto-buy authors for me.

I’m currently reading Warleggan by Winston Graham.

13: I’ve got to know…what’s your favorite word to use. Every author has one. What’s the word you catch yourself using a lot? We’ve all got those as well.

A: My favorite word to use varies a lot! At the moment, it’s a close call between ‘malleable’ (because I love the way it sounds), and ‘discombobulated’ (though I don’t think I’ve ever used it in a manuscript!).

It wasn’t until my editor pointed it out to me (and made me change a lot of the instances) that I realized I use the words ‘copse’ and ‘corpse’ a lot in my writing…sometimes in the same paragraphs! Now, I often catch myself using those words when I’m drafting and am surprised by how often they pop up.

14: Tell us about your latest release. Or, when can we expect your next one? What are we in store for?!

A: My latest release is the new edition of Untamed. It’s a new-look edition, so the only things that have changed are the publisher, cover, and interior design (seriously, the pages are so beautiful, in both the ebook and the paperback), but the words themselves are the same.

Here’s a little info about Untamed:

“A fantastic dystopian tale. Highly recommended for fans of strong heroines and intriguing sci-fi worlds.”
Pintip Dunn, New York Times bestselling author

 

As one of the last Untamed humans left in the world, Seven’s life has always been controlled by tight rules. Stay away from the Enhanced. Don’t question your leader. And, most importantly, never switch sides–because once you’re Enhanced there’s no going back. Even if you have become the perfect human being.

 

But after a disastrous raid on an Enhanced city, Seven soon finds herself in her enemy’s power. Realizing it’s only a matter of time before she too develops a taste for the chemical augmenters responsible for the erosion of humanity, Seven knows she must act quickly if she’s to escape and save her family from the same fate.

 

Yet, as one of the most powerful Seers that the Untamed and Enhanced have ever known, Seven quickly discovers that she alone holds the key to the survival of only one race. But things aren’t clear-cut anymore, and with Seven now questioning the very beliefs she was raised on, she knows she has an important choice to make. One that has two very different outcomes.

 

Seven must choose wisely whose side she joins, for the War of Humanity is underway, and Death never takes kindly to traitors.

15: Lastly, where can we find you? Facebook? Twitter? Website? Links to your material. Go on, don’t be shy. Share!

A: I’m @MadelineDyerUK on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

My website is http://www.MadelineDyer.co.uk and my Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/MadelineDyerAuthor

I’ve also got a newsletter you can sign up for at http://www.MadelineDyer.co.uk/newsletter

My books can be found at all the major retailers. Here are a few links for Untamed:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Untamed-Book-1-Madeline-Dyer-ebook/dp/B01MS5264O/

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/untamed/id1193040314?mt=11

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/untamed-82

Link to a landing page containing all retailers: https://www.books2read.com/untamed

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33526691-untamed

Untamed‘s page at my website: http://madelinedyer.co.uk/fiction/untamed/

Thank you so much for having me here! You asked some great questions.

Bio: Madeline Dyer lives in the southwest of England, and holds a BA honours degree in English from the University of Exeter. She has a strong love for anything dystopian, ghostly, or paranormal, and can frequently be found exploring wild places. At least one notebook is known to follow her wherever she goes. Her debut novel, UNTAMED, examines a world in which anyone who has negative emotions is hunted down, and a culture where addiction is encouraged. Her second novel, FRAGMENTED, debuted September 2016.

Author Spotlight: Kevin Ikenberry

Author Spotlight
Kevin Ikenberry

Author Interview Questions

1: Hi, and thanks for joining today. In your own words tell us about yourself, not you the author, but just you!

A:  Glad to be here – thanks for the invitation. Me? I served in the Army for more than twenty years. I’d rather be surfing than skiing even though I live in Colorado with my wife and two girls. There are a lot of writers who say they grew up wanting to write books – I wasn’t one of those. I wanted to be an astronaut, but in those days they only wanted folks with perfect vision, so I wasn’t eligible. Funny to think I ended up working at Space Camp (and managing the program for a few years), ended up working in space operations, and after retiring from the Army I still get to work with space every day. That whole retirement thing wasn’t my idea, though. I survived a necrotizing fasciitis (skin-eating) infection in 2014. For a few days, it was touch-and-go, but I made it through without losing my leg (or anything else). After I was released from treatment almost 16 months later, the Army said “Thanks for your service” and I was done.

2: Why did you decide to become an author and what’s the best part? Yeah, it’s a double-whammy of a question. So unexpected!

A:  Truth be told, I minored in English during college and thought the only writing I was destined to publish would be my Master’s thesis. While I was at Space Camp, I initially worked with the Aviation Challenge program and managed the high school program there. We flew simulated dogfights against the “trainees” and from that, we created a fictional fighter squadron with dossiers and fictitious intelligence briefings. From there, a few of us wrote short stories {Don’t ask, they’ll stay in my drawer forever} and I even merged a few of mine into a “novel” while I was mobilized in 2003. When that was done, I thought the writing thing was over. In 2009, I tell people I had a character “start talking to me.” That’s when I started writing with the idea of publishing my work.  The best part of writing is bringing the stories to life and seeing people enjoy them.

3: So, tell us about your work. Sell us on it! Why should we read it and why it will capture us?

A:  I write military science fiction, but with a keen eye on humanity. Being a soldier (or airman, marine, etc) is something very different than what most folks do on a daily basis. However, we’re human. So I’ve always tended to not focus on gigantic battles and technology and really get into that four-inch space between someone’s ears instead. By doing that, I can also get into the heart and most of my works have an emotional relationship that affects the characters. Technology doesn’t scare me, either, so my Protocol War series has a bit of a cyberpunk feel.

4: Why did you choose the genre you write in over others to start your publishing career? Did others appeal to you more and you chose this? Was there a bit of choice weighing or was it rather simple?

A:  I saw Star Wars 12 times in the theater in 1977. I am a child of science fiction. My dad was a college professor and had Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein on his office shelves. Growing up, I wore out our encyclopedia collections for all things space. Writing what you know – if you follow that advice – pointed me toward military thrillers, but science fiction was my first love so that’s where I hang my hat, so to speak. I’ve dabbled in horror and even a romance novel that’s stuck on a shelf for a long time to come, but science fiction, especially military science fiction, is my home.

5: So far, what would you say has been the hardest part of being an author?

A: Waiting. Not every short story market is as fast to respond as my friend Neil Clarke at Clarkesworld (more than 3 days is almost unheard of) and dealing with traditional publishing means a lot of waiting and agonizing over submissions and feedback. When you come from a background of being told what to do (and then becoming that leader), waiting is a very hard thing to do.

6: Now for the ever-so-shocking follow-up question. What’s the best/easiest part, if there is one?

A: There’s a lot of best parts to writing. Opening a box of your books always brings a smile. After my debut novel, Sleeper Protocol, came out. Having people find me at Denver Comic Con or WorldCon and say that they loved my work was mind-blowing. Having a supportive group of friends and fellow writers is the best thing for me personally. I know that they have my back and will not let me fall.

7: Tell us about what your experiences in the author life have been like. I don’t mean the writing aspects. I mean the daily human life. Tell us what it’s like to live the day life you do and be an author at the same time. What’s it like when people in your life and, the people you come across, find out you’re an author?

A:  When I tell people I retired from the Army, many immediately think I sit on my ass all day. My wife and I have two beautiful daughters and our lives revolve around them. My wife has a successful consulting business and I work as a military contractor. My writing life usually picks up at about 8pm every night. When I’m writing, I have a goal of 1,000 words per night. I’ve written much faster than that, but as for where I am right now with life and work, a thousand is a good night. My writing usually catches people, especially folks I’ve known for years, by surprise. I’ve been able to find a good group of writers where I live who are friends and part of our family, really. When I meet new people, though, it’s fun to see their reactions. I flew home from a summer trip to Oregon this year and the gentlemen next to me asked, “Are you some kind of writer?” I smiled and said I was and what did he like to read? He said science fiction. He bought Sleeper Protocol on the plane (thanks wifi!).

8: Writing is a hard craft and a harder career. What are the things that keep you going, both in improving the craft and enduring the downs/lows of the career?

A:  Craft is a constant learning opportunity, and it’s something I believe is known as a “perishable skill.” If you’re not writing, not being editing, and not learning from what you’re doing, you’re not going to get any better. When I started writing, I tended to take editing really personally. Now, I understand that it’s a push to get better. My editor told me this year that she didn’t worry about me because I was “good at edits.” That learning and challenging keeps me going. The ups and downs of the career thing are really about two things. I believe very simply that there is a place for everything we write – all it requires to find that place is time and heart.

9: What do you love about the genre/s you write and what others appeal to you?

A:  I firmly believe that science fiction is the art of the possible. That inherent optimism is something that’s been missing across the genre for years, but it’s why I keep writing. How far can we go as a species? As a civilization? How can we keep dreaming with our eyes open? To me, that’s science fiction. I read across genres – enjoying military history, personal management, science fiction, and the odd technical manual / textbook if I really need to get into the weeds on something. I recently read The English Patient for the first time. The movie is one of my favorites and the book was superb. I like stories – show me a good one and I’m in.

10: Tell us about the plans for your series and body of work.

A:  So, Sleeper Protocol was originally a standalone novel. We were just about to finish the content edit when my editor asked “What if (NAME REDACTED) lived at the end?” I rolled my eyes and said. “Well, I really don’t know what I’d…oh…oh!” A few weeks later, I built the outline for Vendetta Protocol. We’ve named the series The Protocol War and I’m expecting four books total.

I’m also trying to find a new home for a novel. A small press in Colorado released my military SF novel Runs In The Family last year and, like Sleeper Protocol, it went crazy. Unfortunately, the head of the press had to have emergency heart surgery during the summer. As part of his recovery was the elimination of stress, and that meant shuttering the press. The rights have reverted to me (and the audiobook is still available on Amazon), so I’m working to find it a new home.

11: The writing and publishing world has changed a lot. Self-publishing, small to medium presses popping up, and things like becoming a hybrid between indie pubbing and traditional. What are your thoughts on that? Any predictions on what the future might hold? What would you like to see, both as an author yourself, and, as a consumer/reader?

A: Being a hybrid author (I have self-published some short fiction), I love the concept of being able to put my work out there and widen my fanbase (that’s a fun word to use!). My publisher, Red Adept Publishing, is a very solid company run by folks with a lot of experience in the publishing world.  They’ve published two New York Times bestsellers in the past few years. There are great small/medium presses out there that are viable alternatives for authors.

12: The always done and asked question. Who are your favorite authors? What are your favorite books? What are you reading now? Tell us. Tell us!

A: The two books to influence me the most as a person are Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein and The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. As a writer, I also love Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen King, Elmore Leonard, and Ernest Hemingway. My favorite writers are as diverse as my music collection – I bounce around all over the place. Right now, I’m thoroughly enjoying Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss. Finding a way to better handle life/work/writing/health is very important to me, and this book is full of ideas and ways to do it.

13: I’ve got to know…what’s your favorite word to use. Every author has one. What’s the word you catch yourself using a lot? We’ve all got those as well. What’s your favorite word just to say? Something where you like the way it sounds. What’s your favorite curse word, if you’ve got one and or use them? I tend to behave in public, but hit my thumb with a hammer? Yeah, I can add a few more “Uses of the Word F***.”

A: In the manuscript for Vendetta Protocol? Looked. Wow, I used that word way too much. One of my former commanders would halt conversations by saying, “Okay. Stop.” I’ve found myself using that a lot more the older I’ve gotten. A favorite curse word? We don’t want to go there. Trust me.

14: Tell us about your latest release. Or, when can we expect your next one? What are we in store for?!

A: The sequel to Sleeper Protocol is Vendetta Protocol and we’re in the final stages of edits. I expect we’ll have a publication date soon. I’m also working to re-release Runs In the Family (mentioned above) with the goal of re-publishing it this year as well. I have a novella in the Runs In The Family universe titled “Lancer One” that I’ll self-publish later this year as well.

15: Lastly, where can we find you? Facebook? Twitter? Website? Links to your material. Go on, don’t be shy. Share!

A: As for me, here’s where you can find me:

Website: http://www.kevinikenberry.com

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/authorkevinikenberry

Twitter: @TheWriterIke

You can find my work here:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00ASFBXT4

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sleeper-protocol-kevin-ikenberry

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/sleeper-protocol

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/kevin-ikenberry/id808497444

Bio: Kevin’s head has been in the clouds since he was old enough to read. Ask him and he’ll tell you that he still wants to be an astronaut. A former manager of the world-renowned U.S. Space Camp program in Huntsville, Alabama and a former executive of two Challenger Learning Centers, Kevin continues to work with space every day. A retired Army officer, Kevin lives in Colorado with his family. His home is seldom a boring place.

Kevin is the author of SLEEPER PROTOCOL, which Publisher’s Weekly called “an emotionally powerful debut,” and the military science fiction novel RUNS IN THE FAMILY. His short fiction has appeared internationally across various publications and anthologies. Kevin is an Active member of the Science Fiction Writers of America and is a member of both Fiction Foundry and Pikes Peak Writers. He is an alumnus and staff member of the Superstars Writing Seminars.

Author Spotlight Collier Hageman

Author Spotlight
Collier Hageman

Author Interview Questions

 

1: Hi, and thanks for joining today. In your own words tell us about yourself, not you the author, but just you!

A: I have had a pretty interesting life.  Have lived in the Midwest and both coasts AND overseas.  USMC veteran.  Managed a gym, personal trainer, caver, biker, bicycle racer, bodybuilder, martial artist, father.  Those are some of the highlights.

2: Why did you decide to become an author and what’s the best part? Yeah, it’s a double-whammy of a question. So unexpected!

A: I can’t remember ever “deciding” to become an author – its something I’ve always wanted to do.  The best part is simply engaging and entertaining people, maybe making them think.

3: So, tell us about your work. Sell us on it! Why should we read it and why it will capture us?

A: I’ve published two works of fiction – “Heroes of Legend” and “Hole In the Soul” that garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews.  Everyone feels that they are very interesting and highly entertaining.  “Heroes — ” is a traditional ( I hesitate to call my own work classic) high fantasy, but “Hole — ” is almost unclassifiable.   Someone called it a “contemporary urban fantasy,” and while that’s not completely accurate, it comes closer than any other label.  My non-fiction, “The Power Cycle” outlines the training methodology I have used successfully for years working as a personal trainer and strength athlete.  It received high praise from none other than Dr. Fred Hatfield – aka “Dr. Squat” – executive editor of Muscle & Fitness magazine for  eight years, world-record weight-lifter, and legendary trainer.

4: Why did you choose the genre you write in over others to start your publishing career? Did others appeal to you more and you chose this? Was there a bit of choice weighing or was it rather simple?

A: I like and read lots of genres, but began writing fantasy because it is an excellent outlet for my over-active imagination.

5: So far, what would you say has been the hardest part of being an author?

A: Definitely being rejected.  Its very de-motivating and can actually be depressing.  You have to be EXTREMELY patient to be an author, and that’s not easy.  Also, receiving negative reviews.  That can be absolutely soul-crushing.  You have to develop a very thick skin.

6: Now for the ever-so-shocking follow-up question. What’s the best/easiest part, if there is one?

A: Best part: Creating worlds and characters, telling a story.  Easiest:  Reading daily and calling it “research!”

7: Tell us about what your experiences in the author life have been like. I don’t mean the writing aspects. I mean the daily human life. Tell us what it’s like to live the day life you do and be an author at the same time. What’s it like when people in your life and, the people you come across, find out you’re an author?

A:  People are generally very interested and intrigued when they find out I’m an author.  They are almost always very positive and many reveal to me that they also like to wrote and want to be authors too.  This makes me realize that nearly everyone has a book in them, but most people never sit down and try to write it.  My daily life includes writing, and often in public places like the library or a coffee house, so people see me writing, and when they see me frequently some become intrigued enough to ask about what I’m doing.  I’ve made wonderful friends and acquaintances this way.

8: Writing is a hard craft and a harder career. What are the things that keep you going, both in improving the craft and enduring the downs/lows of the career?

A: I am extremely fortunate to be able to spend as much time as I do writing.  I never take for granted the fact that most people can’t dedicate the amount of time it requires.  I keep this “attitude of gratitude” foremost in my mind.  Being a natural storyteller helps.  Telling a story through writing is not merely something I decided at some point I wanted to do.  I basically have to do it.  A fish has to swim, a bird has to fly, a writer has to write.

9: What do you love about the genre/s you write and what others appeal to you?

A: Fantasy is so wide-open.  You are bound only by the fact that it has to have some sort of continuity and make a sort of sense within the world that you create.  Other than that – you can do anything.  That’s not to say that it will necessarily appeal to everyone, or even anyone, but you develop that sense as you mature as a writer.  I also love sci-fi and am collaborating with another author on a grand space-opera that may see print before 2018.  A good thriller and/or horror story is something I want to tackle one day also.

10: Tell us about the plans for your series and body of work.

A: “Heroes of Legend” was always planned as the first of three fantasy novels, and I’m finally nearing the end of the second one – “The Queen of Thieves.”  It took on a life of its own and will be nearly three times the length of “Heroes — ”.  The third will be “The Shattered Lands.”  Then there is the sci-fi novel I am working on with another author.  Title as yet undecided, but the universe we’ve created therein is fertile ground for more stories.  Then there are plenty of people who clamor for another story about Blake and Nora, the main characters in “Hole In the Soul,” and there is more I have to say through that storyline.  Its much more introspective than the other two, more about me.

11: The writing and publishing world has changed a lot. Self-publishing, small to medium presses popping up, and things like becoming a hybrid between indie pubbing and traditional. What are your thoughts on that? Any predictions on what the future might hold? What would you like to see, both as an author yourself, and, as a consumer/reader?

A: I won’t even make predictions along these lines, because everything in the traditional publishing world has been turned upside-down by self-publishing and indie presses.  I will just say that I think that, while it has been very upsetting to a lot of authors and publishers, it has turned out to be a very good thing.  Its true that there is a lot of crap out there now that would never have been published by a brick and mortar publisher, but the market will take care of those, and the good stuff will be proven.  It’s the way of things now, and those who try to resist it may as well try to resist the tide, because that is how futile it is.  Roll with it and take advantage of the opportunities that it presents.

12: The always done and asked question. Who are your favorite authors? What are you favorite books? What are you reading now? Tell us. Tell us!

A: Wow – too many to list all of them, but a few of my favorites are Jules Verne, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Kenneth Robeson, Jack Kerouac, Louis Lamour, J.G. Ballard, Larry Niven, Ian Fleming, Michael Herr, John Varley, Mike Resnick, Hunter S. Thompson, Neal Stevenson – who I grew up with and know personally, Ray Bradbury, Stanley G. Weinbaum, R.R Verdi – I could go on for an hour.

As to what I’m reading now – I just finished a non-fiction book that tells the inside story of the world’s most feared soldiers – “The Gurkhas. Better To Die Than Be a Coward” by John Parker.  I just started “The Drought” by one of my favorite sci-fi authors J.G. Ballard.  Like all his stuff it is weird and wonderful and very believable.  His sci-fi is always about stuff that could actually happen in the very near future, which makes it extremely compelling.  I can hardly recommend his books enough.  If you ever saw the incredible Spielberg movie  “The Last Emperor”, that is a J.G. Ballard book.  Historical fiction rather than sci-fi.  He was incredible versatile.

13: I’ve got to know…what’s your favorite word to use. Every author has one. What’s the word you catch yourself using a lot? We’ve all got those as well. What’s your favorite word just to say? Something where you like the way it sounds. What’s your favorite curse worse, if you’ve got one and or use them?

A:  Ha!  Are you kidding?  I’m a wordsmith and I love words!  Its just impossible to choose one.  In writing sci-fi I use the word “pharg” as an expletive – a cuss word.   I’ve always liked the way the word arugula rolls off the tongue.  And Walla walla Washington is a lot of fun to say, especially quickly.  Syphilis is a word that is intriguing because it is a beautiful word and means something repulsive.

14: Tell us about your latest release. Or, when can we expect your next one? What are we in store for?!

A:It’s a toss-up between this sci-fi collaboration and the re-release of “Heroes of Legend” that will be concurrent with “The Queen of Thieves.”   The sci-fi novella will be a space-opera along the lines of “Firefly” and “Serenity” with a dash of  Mike Resnick’s “Santiago.”  “The Queen of Thieves” is a very swashbuckling tale with fantastic creatures, magic, and battles on a grand scale.  It is hugely fun!

15: Lastly, where can we find you? Facebook? Twitter? Website? Links to your material. Go on, don’t be shy. Share!

A: All my books can be found on Amazon, though I use my first name Collier as an author.  Collier Hageman.  I can be contacted on FaceBook – on which I am very active, where I do use the name I’m actually known personally by – Todd Hageman.  I am the only Todd Hageman currently residing in Ames, Iowa.  If you send me a polite private message introducing yourself along with a friend request I’ll probably accept it.

Author Spotlight Kyleen Valleaux

Author Spotlight
Kyleen Valleaux

Author Interview Questions

 

1: Hi, and thanks for joining today. In your own words tell us about yourself, not you the author, but just you!

A: I am a 50-year-old magical girl masquerading as a functioning adult. I am single. Have one adult child and three German Shepherds. We have one cat. My paying job is a telecom mercenary. I find places to hang antenna for wireless companies. I have worked for Sprint, Clearwire, Cricket, Verizon, and am now working “turf” projects on behalf of AT&T. That is upgrading existing cell sites to new technology. I do leasing, zoning, and permitting.  I don’t watch much television; I revel in silence, and feel like there is nothing better than a good snuggle from a creature who loves you.

2: Why did you decide to become an author and what’s the best part? Yeah, it’s a double-whammy of a question. So unexpected!

A: That’s sort of a tricky question, because I don’t think I ever “decided.” I started writing stories when I was around twelve. I was an avid reader and comic book collector. My first job was in a used book and comic store. I grew up on animation and science fiction. I have a lot of those early stories still buried up in my storage trunk. In high school I knew I wanted to be a writer, and I hoped to be a comic book writer. But real life got in the way, I graduated from college, got married, started a graphic design business, had a child… but I was still writing. For many, many years I wrote with my “elf ladies” who I met on the Internet when it was young and before the World Wide Web. We did round robin type writing together and forged worlds and honed our skills.

And that brings me to the “best part” – the people I meet and bring into my life. I have wonderful, talented, diverse friends— because I write.

3: So, tell us about your work. Sell us on it! Why should we read it and why it will capture us?

A: I write character driven stories where bad things happen to good people, or even good things that happen to bad people. The story is in the conflict; but I believe you have to have a connection to the characters to make it worthwhile. Because I’ve been writing so long, I have a huge back log of things that need shining up for publication.

My flagship series is The Chronicles of the Garlon T’zen. It’s a space opera fantasy that I started writing around 1990ish. It’s a story that is heavily influenced on my love of Japanese anime and manga. My original idea was this to be a comic book. But, because I can’t draw, I wrote it. It follows the story of Kiku, the high princess of the empire, and her two love interests, Leader Dessalen and General Lysis. The empire has been cursed by a race of beings known as “the Celestials” for a misdeed of Dessalen’s mother, the former High Queen. The key to breaking the curse is the earth and people themselves. It’s very rich with layers of stories and multiple characters who all have their own agenda. I have probably close to 15 novels that are written. The first book, Manor Town, is out now and I’m hoping to have the second book out by April of this year.

My next series is more fantasy, with a shifter vibe. There are two realms of existence, the Thaumaturgic Realm, and the Geotic. One is where we live in modern times, and the others where magical creatures, fairies, unicorns, elves and dragons hail from. A young dragon falls in love with young human, and it triggers a war that has been brewing for hundreds of years in the Thaumaturgic Realm. The story itself takes place in both realms with enemies in both and the very survival of the dragon race is at stake. The first book in this series is in the final stages of editing and my projected publication date is the end of January. The series name is “Dragons of the Thaumaturgic Realm” and the first novel is called “Revolt.”

4: Why did you choose the genre you write in over others to start your publishing career? Did others appeal to you more and you chose this? Was there a bit of choice weighing or was it rather simple?

A: I am terrible at genres. I write all over the place and then try to figure out where it should fit. I really don’t write for the market, but rather, for what I want to write. I’ve even got a smutty romantic comedy that I’m going to be publishing this year as well. It’s the story about a male writer who is over a year behind on his deadline. His editor gets her revenge by hiring a nanny for him. It’s a happily ever after story, with a lot of steamy scenes as well as ones that make you laugh out loud. That one is called “Nanny Business” and I just ordered the cover art for it a few weeks ago.

5: So far, what would you say has been the hardest part of being an author?

A: Real life. And it’s not just my paying job that gets in the way. Lately it had been one crisis after another. There are so many stories and projects I need to be working on, but things that need my urgent attention pop up. Important things, like a sick parent. Things you can’t say “my writing is more important” for. But the takeaway is this. You don’t give up on writing, but rather, push the deadlines out and know you’ll get to them. Pausing and delaying, is not failure. It’s part of life.

6: Now for the ever-so-shocking follow-up question. What’s the best/easiest part, if there is one?

A: Coming up with stories! I can plot all day! Simple things will trigger a story idea. I try to jot them down and then let them cook in my head for a bit. Sometimes things will end up as elements in something or their own stand alone work.

7: Tell us about what your experiences in the author life have been like. I don’t mean the writing aspects. I mean the daily human life. Tell us what it’s like to live the day life you do and be an author at the same time. What’s it like when people in your life and, the people you come across, find out you’re an author?

A: People who find out I’m a writer are often disappointed in what I write. They seem to expect something more literary from me. When I explain it’s for fun with no real socially redeeming value, they are surprised.

8: Writing is a hard craft and a harder career. What are the things that keep you going, both in improving the craft and enduring the downs/lows of the career?

A: I don’t see a lot of lows with it. Because I am fortunate enough to have a “day job” I don’t rely on my writing to be my only income. I know that building your audience is slow going and I know I need to be patient. I pretty much believe in a “five year” plan. But even then, if I’m not making enough money to live on, I’ll be sharing my stories. That’s really what I’m in it for, to be honest. I have stories. Let me tell them to you.

9: What do you love about the genre you write and what others appeal to you?

A: I think I’ve written something in nearly every genre. I keep being drawn back to fantasy stories though. I believe in real magic. I do. And I think that we can grasp and see that magic through the words of a story.

10: What can we expect from you next? Tell us about the plans for your series and body of work.

A: Dragons of the Thaumatrugic Realm is a great story. So far, there are two novels, and two associated novels, written in that world. The first two books are really part of one over reaching arc, about Maug and his human mate Bobby. They are going to be published in the first half of 2017. I have a plan for a hardcover omnibus of the two novels planned for Awesome Con in June. It will be very limited and won’t be available via normal retail outlets. You’ll either have to come to the con to buy it, or preorder from me direct.

And, of course, we have a lot more adventures of Kiku and the Garlon T’zen empire ready, but needing some shine and editing work. I would like to try for two novels a year for that series.

11: The writing and publishing world has changed a lot. Self-publishing, small to medium presses popping up, and things like becoming a hybrid between indie pubbing and traditional. What are your thoughts on that? Any predictions on what the future might hold? What would you like to see, both as an author yourself, and, as a consumer/reader?

A: I don’t honestly believe that the average reader cares where their book comes from. I don’t think they look at “publisher” when deciding to buy a book or not. An engaging cover, and blurb, is the hook. Given that, if you put out a good product, people will buy it. Traditional publishers are even asking writers to do most of their own marketing.

Traditional publishers are getting lazy. They really aren’t interested in a good story, but what is going to make them money. I think the future is going to be publishers looking at Indies and approaching them, rather then the other way around. They expect you to come with an audience, and if you don’t, they aren’t going to publish your work.

We are in the midst of upheaval in the industry. My best advise, put the best possible work out there, publish for yourself, and if you want a book deal, they’ll come courting you.

12: The always done and asked question. Who are your favorite authors? What are you favorite books? What are you reading now? Tell us. Tell us!

A: Growing up, I was a Robert Heinlein girl. I LOVED his books. Anne McCraffery was also a favorite; the Dragonrider books have been a strong influence. But then, I love classical literature. (I have a B.S. in English – long story, but I’ve read a LOT of really good shit). My favorite poet is a toss up between Robert Frost and Walt Whitman. And I come by all of this honestly- my mom is heavy into genealogy and I’ve got a pretty straight line back to Geoffrey Chaucer.

What am I reading now? Well, I’ve got your book Grave Measures open and reading when I get a moment. I have a whole stack of other Indies waiting too. I do review and folks can follow that on my Goodreads profile.

13: I’ve got to know…what’s your favorite word to use. Every author has one. What’s the word you catch yourself using a lot? We’ve all got those as well. What’s your favorite word just to say? Something where you like the way it sounds. What’s your favorite curse worse, if you’ve got one and or use them?

A: I know this one! I do! Because my editor is beating me up about it. I way over use “eyes” and the various descriptors of them. And here’s the thing. The first thing I notice about people is their eyes. I meet your eyes, I watch your eyes, and I try to look into your soul. Eyes are the most attractive thing about other people to me. So, I over use them in my writing.

14: You’re going to have a release this month. Tell us about it!

A: That is the first dragon book! Let me tell you about this one. The first draft of this novel was written in 2006. It was terrible. I thought I was going to have a nice YA story about a ghost boy. I introduce a dragon, and he took it over. Three rewrites later, I have a really good story.

Maug is a red dragon. He is also the Lord of the West. He is, in fact, the youngest dragon ever to claim his title and hold it. He happens to meet a young human woman and completely falls for her. Bobby Parks is the granddaughter of the Advocate of Spoons Forge and has a good deal of magical talent herself. When she meets Maug, she didn’t have any idea that this dragon would become the one that she would want to spend the rest of her life with, it just worked out that way.

What wasn’t expected was the interference of the Fairy King and Queen, and that their love for one another would trigger a full Revolt of the dragons against the Crown.

Dragons of the Thaumaturgic Realm: Revolt  will be available  on January 30, 2017.

15: Lastly, where can we find you? Facebook? Twitter? Website? Links to your material. Go on, don’t be shy. Share!

A: Website: http://garlontzcomen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kyleenvalleaux/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kyleen66

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15340060.Kyleen_Valleaux

Livejournal: http://kyleen66.livejournal.com

Bio: Kyleen Valleaux writes because it’s cheaper than therapy. She works as a telecom mercenary and takes the stress out on fictional characters. Never one to back down from a writing challenge, she will go without food or sleep to get the stories written. Her family and friends have adjusted to her complete withdrawal from the human race each year during the month of November. She resides in Michigan with three big German Shepherd Dogs, and a millennial.

Author Spotlight John Murray McKay

Author Spotlight
John Murray McKay

Author Interview Questions

 

1: Hi, and thanks for joining today. In your own words tell us about yourself, not you the author, but just you!

A: I am a 30 something teacher out of Pretoria, South Africa. Mad about cricket and pineapple on pizza (come at me you cretins!). A marvel fan boy and collector of African face masks as well.

2: Why did you decide to become an author and what’s the best part? Yeah, it’s a double-whammy of a question. So unexpected!

A: I always knew there was a story inside me and I had to find something to do while I was an assistant teacher, so I started with a long running web series and then worked my way slowly up to novels.  And yeah, here I am 8 books later. Still feels unreal. Best part? Touching the emotional core of a reader, seeing how my book affected their lives for the better. It’s an amazing feeling.

3: So, tell us about your work. Sell us on it! Why should we read it and why it will capture us?

A: Because I specialize in the unusual and the unexpected. You won’t have a chance to catch your breath for even a moment. That and the unique feature of coordinates so you can follow the story on Google maps. I can honestly say you have never read a book quite like this.

4: Why did you choose the genre you write in over others to start your publishing career? Did others appeal to you more and you chose this? Was there a bit of choice weighing or was it rather simple?

A: I loved the wide creative scope that fantasy offered me and it fit in nicely with my story idea, so I went with it. Not a difficult choice at all, it came very natural to me.

5: So far, what would you say has been the hardest part of being an author?

A: Editing. Dear God the editing.

6: Now for the ever-so-shocking follow-up question. What’s the best/easiest part, if there is one?

A: Getting the initial story idea and watching fans embrace the nuttiness with you.  It’s a total ride which I simply adore!

7: Tell us about what your experiences in the author life have been like. I don’t mean the writing aspects. I mean the daily human life. Tell us what it’s like to live the day life you do and be an author at the same time. What’s it like when people in your life and, the people you come across, find out you’re an author?

A: I have met the most amazing, diverse and interesting people you can ever imagine. They made the long and lonely journey fun actually. I will be forever grateful to them. Yes, some people stare at me when I try to explain the concept of my book (Don’t break eye contact, back away slowly, ready the pepper spray) but I still love them long time.

8: Writing is a hard craft and a harder career. What are the things that keep you going, both in improving the craft and enduring the downs/lows of the career?

A: The fans. They have carried me through the lowest of lows. Dragged me back when I wanted to quit, shave my head and move to a monastery. That and the kickass fellow authors I met along the way, best people ever!

9: What do you love about the genre you write and what others appeal to you?

A: The opportunity to go as mad as I want to. No restrictions or limits. The only thing stopping me is my imagination. But I am already branching out into other genres with my next series. But not romance! For the love of Dr Phil no, just no.

10: What can we expect from you next? Tell us about the plans for your series and body of work.

 

A: I’m going Historical fiction next and heading to 1980’s New York! Violence, kickass leading lady, drama and all the good stuff is waiting there. Get ready for one hell of a ride, I am not going to be gentle with you.

11: The writing and publishing world has changed a lot. Self-publishing, small to medium presses popping up, and things like becoming a hybrid between indie pubbing and traditional. What are your thoughts on that? Any predictions on what the future might hold? What would you like to see, both as an author yourself, and, as a consumer/reader?

A: There’s room for both and it’s great that the small presses are giving the big boys a run for their money. An industry dominated by the traditional publishers can never be a good thing. I see the market as being very responsive and favorable to both sides of the coin.

12: The always done and asked question. Who are your favorite authors? What are you favorite books? What are you reading now? Tell us. Tell us!

A: I just finished “Nasty Bits” by Anthony Bourdain and it is amazing as usual. He is my favorite author but I must say I am really getting into Mario Battali’s books as well. Cook book junkie to the end here.

13: I’ve got to know…what’s your favorite word to use. Every author has one. What’s the word you catch yourself using a lot? We’ve all got those as well. What’s your favorite word just to say? Something where you like the way it sounds. What’s your favorite curse worse, if you’ve got one and or use them?

A: Although and softly. I’m trying to cut down on the them although (he) it’s not always so easy. My favorite words to say? No worries. I just like to keep things calm and cool, that’s just me.  As for my favorite curse word? Dude, I’m Afrikaans- we have swear words that will make you go grey instantly!

14: You’ve just had a recent release this month. Tell us about it!

A: It’s called “The N Days” And I decided to throw the traditional alien invasion story on its head. Here’s the blurb:  In a world gone terribly wrong. Where the monsters of our deepest nightmares have come alive. One girl is on a journey to find Sanctuary in America. These are the N Days. Welcome to the story of Samantha Worthington Day. On the run from a demon horde that tore through the dreamscape and destroyed everything she ever loved. She is looking for Sanctuary in America, a place of safety and hope where humanity can start rebuilding their shattered world. Follow her journey across the United States with real life GPS coordinates and experience true life locations with her. She has a long way to go and her amazing destiny is yet to be revealed.

15: Lastly, where can we find you? Facebook? Twitter? Website? Links to your material. Go on, don’t be shy. Share!

A:  Pop in and say hi @ https://www.facebook.com/NDaysSeries/?ref=bookmarks and you can find my book @ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1520228759. I also do a free book over on Wattpad

https://www.wattpad.com/story/44004639-the-venom-protocols

Grab the book by clicking on the image!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author Spotlight Amanda Fasciano

Author Spotlight
Amanda Fasciano

Author Interview Questions

1: Hi, and thanks for joining today. In your own words tell us about yourself, not you the author, but just you!

A: My name is Amanda Fasciano and I am a happily married mother of 2, and we are a house of geeks and gamers. Currently I’m working full time for the local school district here, and I am in college full time as well as I am finally getting back to pursuing a Creative Writing Degree.

2: Why did you decide to become an author and what’s the best part? Yeah, it’s a double-whammy of a question. So unexpected!

A: I have wanted to be an author since I was about 14 or so. Although I have at times despaired that it was a pipe dream, that I would never get there, never be good enough, I kept at it (sometimes under pressure of my husband, who believed in me and didn’t want me to quit). Finally this year I published my first book. The best part is simply getting to put the stories down on “paper” and seeing people actually enjoy them. The highlight so far was when a friend drove me home from work and I found out he had read the book because he was using the drive home to pump me for information about things from the book, whether his hunches on what was coming in the series were right or not, etc.

3: So, tell us about your work. Sell us on it! Why should we read it and why it will capture us?

A:I m telling a ghost story from a very unique perspective. Not only am I telling it from the view of the ghost, it is a ghost whose job it is to keep other ghosts in line and keep them from giving too much away to ghost hunters. There is also an over-arching plot throughout that threatens both the living and spirit world alike. I have done my best to make my characters as real as possible, and keep the reader guessing as to some characters true motivations.

4: Why did you choose the genre you write in over others to start your publishing career? Did others appeal to you more and you chose this? Was there a bit of choice weighing or was it rather simple?

A: This was a rather simple choice for me. I could have gone fantasy and I might at some future point. My love for horror and the supernatural has been a strong defining characteristic in me since I was a child (5 or so) when I lived in a haunted house. So I decided I should start writing the kind of ghost stories that interested me, the kind that I would like to read.

5: So far, what would you say has been the hardest part of being an author?

A: The hardest part for me has been self-promotion. While I will talk up the projects my friends are working on and be loud and loyal advocates for them, I truly do lack in the skill of being able to talk up my own works.

6: Now for the ever-so-shocking follow-up question. What’s the best/easiest part, if there is one?

A: The easiest part is writing. Probably not the most shocking answer, I know, but it is the truth. I love giving voice and color and form to the characters and situations that roll around in my head.

7: Tell us about what your experiences in the author life have been like. I don’t mean the writing aspects. I mean the daily human life. Tell us what it’s like to live the day life you do and be an author at the same time. What’s it like when people in your life and, the people you come across, find out you’re an author?

A: So far people have been very supportive. Family, friends, and co-workers, even college professors, have been very supportive and encouraging. Some people are very impressed when they find out. That’s been a ton of fun.

8: Writing is a hard craft and a harder career. What are the things that keep you going, both in improving the craft and enduring the downs/lows of the career?

A: In pursuing my Creative Writing degree I have been able to take a great many courses to work on and improve my craft. Otherwise my family and friends keep me going. They believe in me, even when I think they may be crazy to, and they don’t let me give up on myself.

9: What do you love about the genre you write and what others appeal to you?

A:As I said before, I have had a really strong interest in the paranormal for a very long time. So I obviously love that, and that I get to mix it with horror and urban fantasy in creating my own “After Life” world. Straight fantasy has also always appealed to me, as I have loved reading that since my teen years, and I do still toy with stories in that genre as well.

10: What can we expect from you next? Tell us about the plans for your series and body of work.

 

A: The first draft of book 2 in my “Life After” series is done and going through edits/rewrites before I submit it to my editor for polishing. The draft of book 3 is in the works as well, and a couple of short stories have been written through my Creative Writing class this past semester that have promise.

11: The writing and publishing world has changed a lot. Self-publishing, small to medium presses popping up, and things like becoming a hybrid between indie pubbing and traditional. What are your thoughts on that? Any predictions on what the future might hold? What would you like to see, both as an author yourself, and, as a consumer/reader?

A: I think Indie and self publishing is opening up the doors for a lot of people who might otherwise have been passed over or taken much much longer to be discovered by the traditional publishing industry. Now granted, some of those people give indie published folks a bad name because they do not polish the book, go through a professional editor, etc. I don’t think the trad publishers will die out by any means. I think eventually an equilibrium will be found between the two, just as has happened in film. As an author who is self published, I would like to see the stigma of “self-published” go away. As a reader, I would love to see self published authors go to the trouble of being edited by a professional before going to press. Yes it costs money, but so does everything else associated with self publishing, and you need to know that going in.

12: The always done and asked question. Who are your favorite authors? What are you favorite books? What are you reading now? Tell us. Tell us!

A: I love Jim Butcher, Stephen King, Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs, Kat Richardson, Barbara Hambly, Guy Gavriel Kay, and of course, R.R. Virdi.

13: I’ve got to know…what’s your favorite word to use. Every author has one. What’s the word you catch yourself using a lot? We’ve all got those as well. What’s your favorite word just to say? Something where you like the way it sounds. What’s your favorite curse worse, if you’ve got one and or use them?

A: I think my favorite word is seriously. I tend to use it all the time. That may be a side effect of having teenagers though. It’s a statement, a question, an exclamation, it’s just so versatile! F*** tends to be my most used cuss word. I also use fuzznuggets when around my nieces, who are under 5.

14: Tell about your latest release!?

A: Detective Cadence Riley never believed in ghosts, until she became one. Killed in the line of duty, she finds herself recruited into a group that monitors haunted sites, making sure that the spirits don’t give too much away to the living. All seems to be going well until a group of cultists unleash a chaos demon in a haunted asylum. Now Cadence and her new partner find themselves in a race against time. They have to find a way to stop the demon before it devours both the spirits and the living, and they may just have to break a few rules to do it.

15: Lastly, where can we find you? Facebook? Twitter? Website? Links to your material. Go on, don’t be shy. Share!

A: On Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/AmandaFascianoAuthor/ . Working on a website.

 

Author Spotlight Shanan Winters

Author Spotlight
Shanan Winters

Author Interview Questions

 

1: Hi, and thanks for joining today. In your own words tell us about yourself, not you the author, but just you!
A: Well, there’s a question. I’m just your typical Wife-Mother-Author-Computer-Scientist-Turned-Copywriter.
And in the back of my mind, I hear a friend of mine from long ago saying, “That’s what you do… tell me *who you are*” My website for a good number of years was titled, “The Irish Gypsy.” It fit… I played Irish music and I roved the land with a wild spirit and a free heart. Now I call myself “The Interpreter of Inspiration.” At this point in my life, I’m a (somewhat neurotic) mish-mash of myself and a bunch of voices vying for air time.
2: Why did you decide to become an author and what’s the best part? Yeah, it’s a double-whammy of a question. So unexpected!
A: I didn’t choose the write life. The write life chose me.
When I was in the first grade, my school hosted a writing contest. I wrote and illustrated a guide to all of the horses I’d ever met. It won “best nonfiction, first through third grades” division. In the first grade, I was reading at a junior high level. In fact, I don’t remember a time in my life when I couldn’t read. I know I learned at some point, but I really don’t remember the process. So, from very early on, I loved, loved, loved all-things-written.  You would think I would have dedicated my life to writing… yeah, no.
I had a lot of influences in my life pushing me to “the career that makes the monies.” I studied math and science, and ended up going into software engineering. My rebellious half (Aka, the half of me with a solid clue) made sure I got a minor in English writing. Over my 20-year software career, I wrote short stories, longer stories and halves-of-novels-never-to-be-finished. I also wrote web content, took copywriting gigs, helped people (mostly musicians) build websites, and taught myself all-things-content-marketing. And yes, my IT career did what it was supposed to do. It made me the monies. It was also largely unfulfilling and deeply frustrating. It never felt right.
Somewhere around 2012, I said, “Enough, dammit!” and I buckled down and started taking my writing seriously. Okay, maybe it wasn’t THAT immediate… but with a lot of family support and determination, I published a novel and eventually jumped ship from the safety of a 20-year-long IT career to become a full-time copywriter for a marketing agency.
The best part is that I now get paid to make shit up and write it down. It doesn’t feel like work, and yet they pay me. That’s kind of cool. At 43 years old, I can dye my hair purple and wear bling-out cat-ear headbands to work and they’re like, “Oh yeah, that’s just the writer.” That’s amazing.
As for my fictional life, there’s that moment when you meet people and they’re like, “You wrote a novel? Like a whole novel?” And I’m like, “Why yes… yes I did.” It definitely gives one a deep sense of pride and accomplishment!
3: So, tell us about your work. Sell us on it! Why should we read it and why it will capture us?
A: I’ve been told by a good many readers that Rising keeps the reader reading until the last page, and then makes you want more… but in a good way… not in the “that’s it?” kind of way. One of my reviewers said, and I quote, “It grabs you by the balls and doesn’t let go.” I’ve also been told I have great command of setting without being over-explain-y, and that there are many laugh-out-loud moments. I’ve also been told I “write like a dude”… I don’t know what that means, but I kind of loved hearing it. So if you like fast-paced, action-filled, twisting-turning plots with deliciously flawed yet lovable characters set in a world that looks like ours, but isn’t… then pick up Rising: Book One of the Adept Cycle and enjoy!
4: Why did you choose the genre you write in over others to start your publishing career? Did others appeal to you more and you chose this? Was there a bit of choice weighing or was it rather simple?
A: I once said, “If I were to write a children’s story, there would be some magical element and someone would be fearing for his life.” The urban fantasy/action/adventure story is just in me. I can’t help it. I can write other genres. I force myself to write outside my little box occasionally. But when it comes to novel-length works, I’ve not been able to keep up the steam to push through to conclusion with any other genre.
5: So far, what would you say has been the hardest part of being an author?
A: Finishing the sequel. In all honesty, the year I wrote my book was the year before my kids became hyper-involved in their own lives. I now have two extremely dedicated and driven pre-teens, one who plays hockey (with absolutely achievable NHL aspirations) and one who is quickly becoming a fiercely competitive figure skater. If I could just convince myself that I really *can* write at the ice den, I could totally get through book 2. I just have a hard time writing when I’m surrounded by 100 strangers. I super need to get over that.
Also difficult: writing to a chorus of, “Mom. Mom. Mommy. Momma. Mom. MOM!” When my husband alpha-read my book, he told me he could tell where I was kid-interrupted. He started highlighting the disjointed parts. I told him I was surprised I didn’t actually write, “SERIOUSLY, WHAT?!” in there at some point.
And then there’s the crippling self-doubt. *ahem* Yeah… pretty sure I don’t need to explain that one. I’ve yet to meet a writer who doesn’t experience this.
6: Now for the ever-so-shocking follow-up question. What’s the best/easiest part, if there is one?
A: The best part is holding that finished proof in your hands. It’s a total high… and not just because of sniffing the print.
Right behind the finished-proof-high are those “ah-ha” moments, where the plot, the characters, the twists and the threads all come together and the entire story lights itself ablaze… and you just run headlong into the fire and let it consume you.
7: Tell us about what your experiences in the author life have been like. I don’t mean the writing aspects. I mean the daily human life. Tell us what it’s like to live the day life you do and be an author at the same time. What’s it like when people in your life and, the people you come across, find out you’re an author?
A: It’s pretty much entirely consumed by feelings of guilt. I’m writing too little. I’m writing too much. I’m neglecting the laundry (no seriously… you should see it… It’s reaching “national monument” status). I haven’t talked to certain characters for so long that they’re pouting in a corner. I haven’t talked to real-life friends for even longer. My kids need to be fed… again! Seriously, they want to eat several times per day. I’m literally answering these questions while cooking sausage and pancakes…
And yet, somehow, it’s all worth it and it always comes together in the end. Now if I could just remember that when I’m mid-emotional-crisis, that would be great.
As far as meeting people… I typically don’t lead with, “So I wrote this book….” If it comes up, it comes up. (Unless I’m at a conference or some other bookish event, then it’s totally on.) However, when it comes to being introduced by friends to their friends, it’s usually goes like: “Hey! This is my friend Shanan. She’s an author. She writes novels.” And the warm glow of the follow spot comes down on me and the room goes silent, and I start searching for exit signs.
8: Writing is a hard craft and a harder career. What are the things that keep you going, both in improving the craft and enduring the downs/lows of the career?
A: It helps that writing is my day job. When I was a software engineer, I felt like I had to beg, borrow and steal my writing moments. As a copywriter, even though it’s B2B marketing, it’s still writing, so I’m honing the craft daily. I also receive daily editing by my amazing and talented boss, and critique by our equally amazing and talented product managers and company owners. Every day at work makes me a stronger, better and more polished writer.
9: What do you love about the genre you write and what others appeal to you?
A: When writing urban fantasy, the rules are entirely up to me. And if I don’t like one of the rules I’ve created, I can break it… as long as I have a compelling explanation