Kory M. Shrum's Blog, page 34

Nancy Christie & Traveling Left of Center @NChristie_OH #MondayBlogs

Q&A with Nancy Christie   About TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER--

**Say Hello in the Comments section and get a free copy of  her story "Annabelle"! :)** The characters in the stories all seem a little (in some case, a lot!) wounded or vulnerable. What draws you to write about these types of characters?I’m not entirely sure. It’s not like I set out to write stories about odd, eccentric or unstable people. It’s just, for some reason, I am drawn to those types of people—perhaps it’s one of those “There, but for the grace of God” things. My fiction—or at least, my short fiction—tends to be about people who are damaged in some way—by what they have done to themselves or by what was done to them, by what they have received, what they gave up, or what was taken from them. They are, for the most part, struggling to navigate through dangerous waters. Some survive and move forward toward land, some are just treading water, and some don’t even know that they have lost the battle and are, even now, drowning.I feel sorry for those people, wish I could do something for them, and perhaps, in the writing of their stories, that is what I am doing. Because somewhere out there, there is a real person who is held in thrall by his or her obsessions, who is controlled by past or present circumstances, who wants to live a happy, normal, balanced life but finds that the tightrope of life vibrates too much and maintaining equilibrium is but a dream. “Dream”—and there it is again. The idea of what we want and what we have. For some of us—perhaps for most of us—the former is the dream and the latter is the reality and never the twain shall meet.
Dreams and dreaming figure into several of your stories—“Misconnections” and “Beautiful Dreamer,” to name two. Did you “dream” these stories? And what kind of dream history do you have?Actually, ever since I was little, I have been an active dreamer. The description of her children’s nocturnal activities in “Misconnections” is taken from my own life. I was (and, when I am very tired or stressed, still am) a sleepwalker and sleep-talker, and prone to dreams that are so real that, when I wake up, I’m not entirely sure if it was a dream or not! And sometimes, the images in the dreams do end up being part of a story. As a matter of fact, the dream image the character has of the little child in “Misconnections” came from one of my own dreams! Unfortunately, I am unable to dream on command—if I could, I would have lots more stories!
Where did the idea of the cover art for TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER come from?From the very beginning—even before I knew it would be a book!—I had an image in mind for the book cover. The cover is a literal interpretation of each character’s metaphorical journey on the road of life. Some of them zig-zag across the center line only to pull back to the right side at the last moment, while others cross once and never make it back in time. And then, there are the few who are merrily driving right down the center, every now and then drifting first to the left and then to the right, blissfully unaware that they are courting disaster. When I shared the concept with my publisher, it took only a few tweaks before we had the “ah hah!” moment and said “This is it!” and after a few revisions, we successfully “birthed” this book cover!
Enough about the book—let’s get personal! How long have you been writing? When did you start? Why did you start —what triggered your writing?I was always a reader—the best gift anyone could give me was a book—so I would imagine that influenced me. And as a child, my next-door neighbor Danny and I were always making up stories, acting out scenarios, creating our own worlds out in the woods. From making up stories to writing them down was a natural progression. I wrote my first short story (actually I called it a book—it even had a cover!) in second grade.There’s a lot to be said for not having all those electronic games that only require button pushing. When children are left to their own devices and have nothing but their imagination to work with, they can be very creative. 
What does writing fiction bring into your life?It is less a question of writing fiction as recounting what my characters choose to tell me. I am their conduit, their confidante; I wait for their stories and then do my best to put them in written form so others can understand what they have done, what they have experienced and why they are the way they are.Writing fiction gives me the freedom to imagine certain circumstances and scenarios, and then watch my characters cope with them. Of course, that freedom comes at a price—the cost being an inability to let go of the characters, to close the book on them, so to speak. They become real to me and so, years after I have written about them, I grieve for lonely, lost Annabelle, for Connie who gives to the children as a way of coping with her empty life, for Sara’s mother, who longs to turn back the clock and hold her daughter once again.In a sense, fiction is also my coping strategy. Like most people, I have had my share of pain and loss, disappointment and heartbreak. Many times, I will use fiction as a way to heal. The stories, while not necessarily mirroring my own experiences, do explore the attendant emotions. I watch from a distance, as my characters deal with their own private anguish, and little by little come closer, until eventually, I can allow myself to face my own. Their grief and pain becomes mine—we share, and in that sharing, I can move on.
If you weren’t a writer, what would you like to be?I often thought I would have liked to be an archeologist. In some way, the professions are similar. The archeologist carefully digs through stone and sand and dirt until he uncovers a world that has long been hidden, and, in some cases, the remains of people who lived so long ago. I dig through thoughts and memories and emotions until I find the imagined world and imagined people. Then we both do the same thing: we re-create that world. The only difference is the archeologist recreates what once was while I recreate what existed only in some space and time outside of this reality.
When do you usually write: are you a morning writer, late night writer, any-time-you-can-grab-a-minute writer?I am at my most creative first thing in the morning. For years, I kept to a 30-minute a day writing schedule, heading into my office with my second cup of coffee by 5:30 (that’s AM, not PM!) and working on fiction. Lately, though, my schedule has been in flux and my writing has been temporarily shunted off to one side. Bad, bad Nancy!
Is writing your full-time career? Well, writing is my full-time career, but unfortunately that is not fiction writing. I do a lot of writing for companies and magazines—that’s what keeps the cats fed and the lights on!—so since that’s my income, it takes up the bulk of my time. Fiction, however, is my passion, so I try to get it in there regularly. As I previously mentioned, lately it’s more irregular than regular, but there is always some part of my writer brain that is thinking and imagining and creating.

BIO
Nancy Christie is a professional writer, whose credits include both fiction and non-fiction. In addition to her fiction collection, TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER, and two short story e-books, ANNABELLEand ALICE IN WONDERLAND (all published by Pixel Hall Press), her short stories can be found in literary publications such as EWR: Short Stories , Hypertext , Full of Crow , Fiction365 , Red Fez , Wanderings, The Chaffin Journal and Xtreme.Her inspirational book, THE GIFTS OF CHANGE, (Beyond Words/Atria) encourages readers to take a closer look at how they deal with the inevitability of change and ways in which they can use change to gain a new perspective, re-evaluate their goals and reconsider their options. Christie’s essays have also appeared in Woman’s Day, Stress-Free Living, Succeed, Experience Life, Tai Chi andWriter’s Digest. She is currently working on several other book projects, including a novel and a book for writers. A member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and Short Fiction Writers Guild (SFWG), Christie teaches workshops at writing conferences and schools across the country and hosts the monthly Monday Night Writers group in Canfield, Ohio. Visit her website at www.nancychristie.com or connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or at her writing blogs: Finding Fran, The Writer’s Place and One on One.

Keep Reading For Story Teasers! 
Website: www.nancychristie.comBlogs: Finding Fran http://www.nancychristie.com/findingfranThe Writer’s Place http://www.nancychristie.com/writersplace/One on One http://www.nancychristie.com/oneonone/Make a Change http://www.nancychristie.com/makeachange/Social media links:Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nancychristie.writerGoogle+: http://gplus.to/nancychristieLinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nancychristie/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NChristie_OH  @NChristie_OH

***Keep Reading For Story Teasers!

(From “Traveling Left of Center”) “Girl,” my mama had said to me the minute she entered my hospital room, “on the highway of life, you’re always traveling left of center.”Mama was always saying things like that. She had a phrase for every occasion, and would pronounce them with a certainty that, in my younger days, I accepted as gospel. But that time, I didn’t pay her no mind. I just went on painting my nails “Passionate Purple,” hoping that the sexy polish would catch the doctor’s eye.I was justifiably proud of my hands, especially since, at that particular time, they were the only part of me that was skinny. A girl’s body sure takes a beating from having a baby. It had taken me at least a year to get my shape back after Robert Nicholas, and it looked like Rebecca Nicole wouldn’t be any kinder to her mama than her big brother had been.~~~~~~~~~~
(From “Alice in Wonderland”) “Alice! Alice! Where are you?”Her mother’s shrill voice crept up the stairs, seeping around the corners, through the cracks and under the door like a damp chill until it found Alice, sitting cross-legged on her rumpled bed, a scratchy woolen blanket wrapped around her, holding tightly to her book.She heard the words as though they came from a great distance, not just the floor below. But instead of responding, she kept on chewing, tearing off more bits to slip into her mouth and onto her tongue. “Cairo… Alexandria… Mozambique… Tangiers…”“Alice! I want some tea!”—complaining, demanding, the words pulling at Alice like a rope around her neck.“Nebet, the master awaits your presence,” said the servant, bowing before her with the respect due to one of great beauty and power.“Tell him to wait,” Alice answered calmly. She extended one slim leg to allow the servant girl to free her delicate, high-arched foot from its sandal. “I will bathe first and then see him. Perhaps. Or, perhaps not”—the control she wielded evident in her tone, her attitude… The heat from the Sahara desert permeated the room, melting her muscles and bones into a sinuous form, curled and waiting like a cobra. The perfumed water tempted her…“Alice! Dammit, you get down here right now!”One last bite, one final swallow, and then Alice reluctantly set the book back on the shelf, the bangles and caftan vanishing as the cover closed… She had tarried too long and the price she paid for any delay, any deviation from the daily routine, was an endless litany of complaints and grievances, lasting until her mother was fed, bathed, and finally put to bed.~~~~~~~~~~(From “Watching for Billy”)The sound woke her from her usual afternoon sleep. One of the curses of old age was the need to nap at odd hours of the day, coupled with the inability to stay asleep during the dark hours of the night. And since Roger died, it was even worse. Agnes found herself nodding off at mid-morning while the game shows played on the television screen, during the afternoon courtroom dramas, after the soup-and-sandwich dinner that almost always constituted her evening meal. Why not? There was no one to talk to and nothing else to do.Brad said that she wouldn’t be bored if she moved into one of those retirement homes. But she didn’t want to leave her home and go live among strangers—even if sometimes the loneliness was more than she could bear. “I’ve lived here more than 60 years and I’m not leaving now,” she had told her son. “There’s nothing you can say that will change my mind.” “Fine,” he answered, an unmistakable note of irritation in his voice. “But if you won’t move, then you need to at least have an alarm installed. There have been too many break-ins in your neighborhood lately.”Agnes agreed reluctantly… was dutifully attentive when the technician explained how the alarm worked and what each noise and light represented. During the long summer days, she didn’t bother to activate it until bedtime, trusting in the safety of daylight to keep thieves and robbers from her door. But as winter drew near and the days grew shorter, she found herself turning the alarm on at the first sign of dusk, feeling for the first time a little unsure, a little vulnerable, in the house where she had lived for six decades.~~~~~~~~~~(From “Anything Can Happen”)“Where are my keys?” Charlotte alwaysput them on the hook right near the front door. Each night when she came home from work, she followed the same exact procedure. First, she would check to make sure the door was locked, that she had bolted it securely against any intruders. Then quickly, before anyone could come up behind her, she would unlock all three bolts, slip inside and quickly lock them behind her, before hanging her key ring on the small brass hook next to the doorframe. Only then would she set her handbag—the one she had chosen specifically because of its multiple zippered compartments inside a larger section that itself was secured with two clasps—on the side table. Finally, after she had hung up her coat, she would look around to make sure that everything was where they belonged. And sometimes, if the day had been particularly stressful, she would even go back and check, just to make sure the door really was locked and the keys were there, where they belonged, that they hadn’t somehow disappeared from their appointed location.And yet, this morning, the hook was empty. No key ring hanging there. No keys on the floor. Or in her purse. Or in her jacket pocket. It took her nearly twenty-five minutes of increasingly anxious searching and feverish speculation (What if she had left them in the lock outside her door? Might someone even now be carefully, quietly turning the key, releasing the bolt, preparing to come in?) before she finally located them. “A place for everything and everything in its place,” her mother had drilled into her, and Charlotte had to admit that it made life so much easier when things were kept where they belonged. And, like so many of the strictures that narrated her life, Charlotte always followed her mother’s rules and admonitions to the letter.
So how didher keys end up in the silverware drawer?

#Sexy #Vampires & an #Authorreveal

Meet Carole Gill!

If you like historical fiction and sexy vampires, you may be interested in her newest release  Justine: Into The Blood (Blood and Passion Book 1).


Born in pre-Revolutionary France and orphaned as a child, Justine Bodeau is taken in by a family friend who employs her as a seamstress. Eventually, she winds up to work in the court of Queen Marie Antoinette. 

A strong-willed survivor, defeat does not occur to her. When she fights off an attack by an aristocrat and kills him, she is given refuge but is soon betrayed and winds up on the streets of Paris, where she is attacked and killed by rogue vampires. But for whatever reason, love will not let her die. 

Justine goes from wishing to be destroyed to wanting to survive, when she feels passion for the one who brought her back, Gascoyne — the one they call the Vampire Prince of Paris.

***
Since I'm interested in historical fiction and vampires, I thought this was an awesome idea and invited Carole for to share a little about herself and her book:
What is this book about in 140 characters?
Love, lust and passion among the undead—this is the tale of Justine and the Vampire Prince of Paris who would not let her die.
What was the name of your first completed work? 
The House on Blackstone Moor, Book 1 in the acclaimed Blackstone Vampires Series
How old were you when you finished?
40 plus J
Favorite author growing up?
Daphne du Maurier
If you could be anything BUT a writer, what job would interest you?
Forensic psychiatry
What gets you in the mood to write?Deadlines! Seriously, anything and everything.

When not writing what are you reading?
I read widely, good stories with great characters are what I like! I also enjoy doing research being the nerd that I am.

What is the message you want readers to take away from your latest book?

Vampires are complex beings. They love hate, feel passion and regret. They are haunted by the living lives they left behind. Their tales, as in Justine: Into the Blood are fraught with irony, the irony of fate and circumstance.
For more about Carole or her new release Justine: Into the Blood, follow the links below. 
Best of luck, Carole! :)




Blog

Amazon Author Page
Author Page at Facebook
Twitter 

#ThursdayTreat: A Look Under My Hood #Books #amreading

Lucky me, that my partner is beautiful, smart--
-- and also a blogger--
The danger of course is that in blogging about us, she reveals a lot about me, whether she means to or not. So if you'd like to know a few of my secrets, take a peek at my bookcase, and enjoy a good characterization of what it is like to live with this *&^$% author, then you should read this super cute post:
Merging Our Book Collection
At the very least, you'll love the GIFS, which feature JLaw, Mr. Darcy, and other bits of fabulous :)
Don't say I never gave you anything.

#MondayBlogs Meet @Hans_Hirschi Author of New Release The Fallen Angels of Karnataka

If you do not yet know this face, then you clearly didn't see the book spotlight I recently posted for this talented guy. Scroll down! Go ahead! We will wait for you.  
Back already?
Fabulous! 
So, as I was saying, Hans recently released a new book and I wanted to pick his brain about it, as well as about his writing in general.  But before you get wrapped up in the interview, scroll to the bottom and enter his giveaway for your chance to win a free copy of his newest book--assuming you didn't already enter the contest on the Book Spotlight Page. 
So here's what happened:

THE INTERVIEWThe Writing

Why the switch from nonfiction to fiction?Switch back, you mean? I’ve written fiction decades before I wrote my first non-fictional book, and my first published work was poetry. But yes, I did publish three books in the realm of corporate life, two on e-learning and a management handbook (which is on my to-do list to revise.) Thing is, I’ve always dreamt of writing a novel. As a teen, I started several, but being the Gemini I am, the next morning another shiny object caught my eye and all these fantasy, Science-Fiction or whatever projects fell by the wayside. As a young adult, heartbroken more often than not, I wrote poetry, sullen, dark, nothing I’m particularly proud of. Then I studied literature, and the process of getting that degree was so gruesome in terms of reading demands that I completely lost the appetite to read (and all literature.) I barely read from the age of 30 until I was 45. Then I had an amazing opportunity to take a leave of absence (I was basically unemployed) before the birth of my son. I had just gotten back into reading fiercely and somehow my brain came up with a story. Within five weeks, I had two finished novels in my laptop’s hard drive. Your new release THE FALLEN ANGELS OF KARNATAKA has a great title? How did you come up with it?The story deals with two very different topics. HIV and child abuse. I recall the amazing play “Angels in America” by Tony Kushner where the connection is made between the disease and HIV, and how the angels fell from the heavens. For me, children are angels, but in my book, I write about how literally tens of thousands of children are abducted (or sold by their parents) from their homes in various parts of India (sadly a harsh reality, and not fiction) and are sold into virtual (real) slavery, either to work off family debts in factories or to work on fields or in prostitution. In the book, there is an organization that works with such children, and the organization’s name is “Fallen Angels”. Since much of the Indian part of the plays out in Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, I suddenly had an epiphany of sorts and the title appeared before my eyes. I had no choice. *laughing*Where were you when you started writing FALLEN?At my desk. LOL I do all of my writing at my desk, unless we have guests (my office also serves as guest room.) Then you’ll likely find me in one of our reading rocking chairs with my laptop burning on my lap or at the dining table. I am fortunate (and cursed) to be able to work from home. I get up with my husband in the morning, make sure our son gets his breakfast, is dressed and ready for pre-school. Once they leave the house, I read the news, drink copious amounts of coffee before sitting down at my desk to work. Am I allowed to say that I often forget to shower until lunch as I get so engrossed in work? It’s really a curse working from home. Easy to focus, but hard to draw the line between work and whatever else you’re supposed to do in a household. And it does get lonely at times.

You’re a dad! Is it really hard to balance family life and writing life? Any tips for those parent-writers?We live in Sweden, where we are fortunate enough to have a great welfare system. Our son is entitled to full time pre-school from the age of one, and he’s been doing great and loves his mates and teachers. So I do get to write and work from (technically) 7:15 in the morning when they take the ferry until 5 pm when they return. However, being the stay-at-home dad, I also run parts of the household on the side. I manage.I don’t think I should be the one giving tips. Not my thing, but I do try NOT to work on weekends unless its absolutely unavoidable. I don’t blog on weekends, and spend that time with my family instead.

You also work as a badass blogger. Did you blog then write or write then blog?*blush* thank you… I started blogging because for me, as an exhibitionist about to happen, blogging is the ultimate diary. I’ve always written, and I started my first blog back in 2007 or 08 on my own website, as I didn’t want to lose control over it. I moved over to Blogger in 2011, but I had been writing before and I’ve always done articles, contributions to others and what not. I cannot not write. It’s impossible for me not to write.Do you often draw your inspiration from other books or a different mediums altogether (movies, anime, etc.)?I guess I do. However, the process for me is very unconscious and I rarely remember how or why I started writing something (except for my blog posts, which are very real time commentaries to things happening out there) In FALLEN, the thing that got me going was a book from a fellow author friend Larry Benjamin, “What Binds Us”. There is a short sequence about traveling that inspired me to write a travel novel. But the real meat on the bone came from things that happened in my real life, friends and acquaintances who are troubled, and books I’ve read. I’m always amazed how my brain takes these things, chops and mulches them into nothingness to then build my stories from the rich earth those inspirations provide.When you write, do you have a process that helps get you “in the mood”?Coffee? I don’t do drugs, never have, not even a little. I remember being scared after “The Opera House”, my third novel, to have run out of inspiration. I started to plan to work on something else, non-fiction, squeezed out the book about our parenting journey (non-fiction), Dads, and had my mind set on working on the second edition of my management book “Common Sense”. Then I read Larry’s book and I knew I better sit down and get going…What are you working on now? And what can we expect to see from you in the future?

Right now I’m working on the most successful launch possible for FALLEN. It’s a challenge, as I’m a writer, not a marketing executive. But I cope and I try to do my best, along with the publishing duties of my company. But I’m back to where I was last december, after the previous novel got released. What now? What next? Do I still have another novel in me? If no inspiration comes, I’ll just work on “Common Sense”, that book deserves a better fate than the first edition received at the hands of its publisher.Furthermore…You live in Sweden…? Is it cold there right now?LOL It depends. Is it cold in America? Sweden is immensely long, north-south anyway. So the northernmost points, which reach far beyond the arctic circle, there’s snow falling already (as you’d likely see in parts of Alaska by this time of year). In our part of the country, the south-west, it’s still summer, albeit late, and we’re currently plagued by the left overs of your Atlantic hurricanes. Once they turn north-east, they eventually hit Scandinavia and bring stormy weather and tons of rain… So the answer for Gothenburg, where I live, is no. It’s still fairly warm.

If the world was burning and you could save but one book, which would it be?My iPhone? It contains ALL of my books… LOL This question is impossible to answer. If I say “my latest” I’m a prick, and if I say something by Shakespeare I’d be lying… I honestly don’t know. By the time I have made up my mind, all books will probably have burned up already.What’s your go to snack food? Something salty, chips, pretzels, or fruit.If you could have any (but only one) super power, what would you choose?When my brother and I were kids, we used to play super heroes. He was the Batman, I was the Flash. I loved to run, so that would be cool. to be really fast (too bad it’s never been turned into a really good film, the ones I’ve seen were soooooooo bad) When I was in my teens and tween years I would’ve like to have x-ray vision. These days I’m glad I don’t. So let’s stick with being the Flash. Fast!If you could pick the brain of any famous person anywhere across time and space, who would it be and why?Alexander the Great, Ceaser (great author btw), Cleopatra, Lord Buddha, I would’ve loved to have met Gandhi (I hear he was quite the self-righteous prick) and of course the amazing one and only Madiba, Nelson Mandela. But as an author, it is equally interesting to get to know the real villains, people like Nero of Rome, or Hitler or Stalin, to find out how they tick. And who knows, in terms of the still living I’m curious about the new pope (is he as genuine as he appears) or the Dalai Lama (same question), or Putin (what makes him tick?)

Now these are all famous ones, but I find that I often get the most inspiration out of people like you and me. I recently met a reader of my books. We’ve known each other for about a year now, she stumbled across my first two novels and devoured them. She then wiggled her way (thanks to my unconscious mind) into my third book, 8 months before I met her. I was amazed at the resemblance between the real person and the nurse in the book.

If you could have lived in any from any of the fictional universes, which would it be and why?StarTrek, I’d be Captain Kirk. No doubt about that. To me, Roddenberry’s creation is the ultimate utopia, a sort of communism of good, where human needs are expressed through art, the betterment of humanity since our bodily needs are all met. Utopia for sure, but I’ve always wanted to leave earth and fly to the stars…What is your favorite word?I’m an author. I love many words… But since you want one, I’ll give you Sascha, my son’s first name.What is your least favorite word?Invoice. (unless it’s sent by me)If Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell existed, which circle would you be trapped in and why?

LOL That’s a good one. I would definitely choose the second circle. Sounds like a lot of fun and the perfect playground for my libido… *blush* Although, when you read about being blown back and forth by terrible winds without rest? Keats puts it like this in “On a Dream”:... But to that second circle of sad hell,
Where ‘mid the gust, the whirlwind, and the flaw
Of rain and hail-stones, lovers need not tell
Their sorrows. Pale were the sweet lips I saw,
Pale were the lips I kiss’d, and fair the form
I floated with, about that melancholy storm.Who decorates these places? Nah, on second thought, not a good place. No sex, no fun…As an atheist and fierce critic of organized religion, I’m probably also a candidate for the sixth circle of heresy, and I believe the people I criticize so fiercely would probably stick me into the inner ring of the seventh circle to reside in the desert of flaming sand, with fiery flakes raining from the sky…Dante was such a douche. I’m glad no one needs to take him seriously any more…Is that it? Thanks for the opportunity! :)


My pleasure, Hans! Good luck with the new book! :)

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Book Spotlight:The Fallen Angels of Karnataka

THE FALLEN ANGELS OF KARNATAKA:

In an isolated mountain town in Norway, Haakon dreams of traveling the world, pursuing adventure, seeing great places, finding love. His very first trip to London with friends from university offers much promise, yet soon after tragedy strikes. Still young, and mourning the loss of his lover, Haakon is not ready to give up on his dream, so when a rich Englishman offers him the chance to join him on a tour of the world, Haakon takes it, daring to believe that his dream is finally coming true...but at what price?
ABOUT HANS
Hans M Hirschi (b. 1967) has been writing stories ever since he was a child. Adulthood and the demands of corporate life efficiently put an end to his fictional writing for over twenty years. A global executive in training and channel development, Hans has traveled the world and had previously published non-fictional titles. The birth of his son and the subsequent parental leave provided him with the opportunity to unleash his creative writing once again. With little influence over his brain's creative workings, he indulges it, going with the flow. A deeply rooted passion for, faith in a better world, in love, tolerance and diversity are a red thread throughout both his creative and non-fictional work. His novels might best be described as “literary romance, engaging characters and relevant stories that won't leave you untouched, but hopeful.”Hans is a proud member of the Swedish Writers’ Union, the Writers’ Center in Sweden and serves as chair of the Swedish Federation of Self- & Independent Publishers.




Don't forget to enter the giveaway and check back on September 8th for the full interview with the author! :)

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Congratulations! It's a ....#book! #UrbanFantasy Big #Giveaway

It's official! I'm the proud "mother" of my second book, Dying by the Hour. This is a sequel to Dying for a Living and picks up one year after the events of Book 1. 


Here's the back cover blurb:
After 83 deaths, Jesse Sullivan knows how to die. As a Necronite, she is one of the population’s rare 2% who can serve as a death replacement agent, dying so others don’t have to. But using her NRD to save lives is why she’s being hunted. For Ally Gallagher, death is permanent. If she fails to protect Jesse again, there will be no third attempt. After a quiet year the signs of serious danger have returned. People connected to Jesse are disappearing. Her home is vandalized and threatening messages are turning up in the safest of places. Then Jesse is taken and Ally has only hours to get her back. But no salvation comes without its price.

*  *  *
This officially kicks off my blog tour for this book, which will run for two weeks, culminating in an afterparty on September 16. Be sure to join us for the afterparty--it gets its own prizes!--as well as enter my giveaway below.
And if you're interested, two interviews are already up and live--with more to come.

Kory's Nancy Christie Interview (This is a two-parter; Part 2 September 15)
Kory's Carrie LaHain Interview

I just want you guys to know how lucky I am to have such awesome fans. You made it hellacious fun the first time, and I'm pleased as punch to go again.

You're *literally* making my dreams come true--which means more than I can say. It wasn't that long ago that I was a poor, unlucky kid from nowhere--and you're changing all that.
Thank you.

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#Book Spotlight: Traveling Left of Center @NChristie_OH

The Book There are some people who, whether by accident or design, find themselves traveling left of center. Unable or unwilling to seize control over their lives, they allow fate to dictate the path they take—often with disastrous results.
TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER details characters in life situations for which they are emotionally or mentally unprepared. Their methods of coping range from the passive (“The Healer”) and the aggressive (“The Clock”) to the humorous (“Traveling Left of Center”) and hopeful (“Skating on Thin Ice”).
The eighteen stories in TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER depict those types of situations, from the close calls to the disastrous. Not all the stories have happy endings—like life, sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t.
In these stories, the characters’ choices—or non-choices—are their own. But the outcomes may not be what they anticipated or desired. Will they have time to correct their course or will they crash?
The Stories ALICE IN WONDERLAND—Alice is constrained by circumstances and unwanted obligations to live an unfulfilling life. Books are her only way to escape, serving as sustenance to feed her starving soul. But what will she do when there are no more pages left to devour?
ANNABELLE—A lonely young woman, all Annabelle wants is to love and be loved. But she’s fighting by the twin emotions of fear and guilt, unable to let go of the past and embrace the possibilities of a future.
ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN—Sometimes, what one fears most comes to pass because of those fears. If Charlotte hadn’t been so afraid, would the outcome have been the same?
BEAUTIFUL DREAMER—For Eleanor, it was becoming increasingly more difficult to tell the difference between being awake and dreaming, reality and fantasy. The boundaries were blurring. Would she be able to see clearly again?
EXIT ROW—He wanted an escape. After all these years, he was ready to go. But could he get away before it was too late?
MISCONNECTIONS—Anna’s recurrent dreams echo through her day, as she attempts to reconcile her inexplicable feelings of loss with what would appear to be a “perfect life.”
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND—Despite being more than three steps over the mental health line, he’s holding fast to his belief in his own sanity. Or is the rest of the world crazy?
SKATING ON THIN ICE—Is it possible to overcome childhood trauma? And, even if you do, are you ever really “cured” or simply skating on thin ice, waiting for it to crack? Sarah is trying to skate across the thin ice. Every day, she makes a new path on the surface of her life. So far, the ice has held.
STILL LIFE—Mirror images of her life: how she wants it to be and how it is. Which one would be her true reality—and does she even have a choice?
THE CLOCK—Everyone has a breaking point. For Harold, it came one fateful evening when the clock once again stopped ticking.
THE HEALER—Cassie didn’t ask for the gift. She didn’t want the gift. For all the good it had done other people, it was killing her. All she wanted was her own healing.
THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS—Mona was relying on the kindness of strangers to rescue her. One stranger, in particular. However, thanks to the interference of others, her plans keep going awry. But she’s not giving up yet.
THE SHOP ON THE SQUARE—His attitude of superiority had gotten him quite far in life. Until a chance stop at a small Mexican town illustrated that he had much to learn.
THE STORYTELLER—Connie makes up her stories as much for the children’s sake as her own. But even her stories can’t stop the pain of reality from hurting her listeners—or herself.
THE SUGAR BOWL—Although Chloe’s life story changes with every listener, each time her tale has achieved its intended purpose. Until she chooses the wrong person to tell it to.
TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER—Her mama was forever telling her that, on the highway of life, she was always traveling left of center. She wasn’t a bad girl, mind you—just incapable of looking down the road and seeing where her actions are taking her.
WAITING FOR SARA—Her daughter Sara is gone, and while it was by her own choice, it was a decision ill-conceived and poorly executed. And so Sara’s mother waits, alone and fearful, hoping against hope that someday her daughter will return, safe and unharmed.
WATCHING FOR BILLY—Agnes was all alone until Billy came to stay. Would he bring new purpose to her life? Or take what little hope she had for companionship?



Nancy Christie is a professional writer, whose credits include both fiction and non-fiction. In addition to her fiction collection, TRAVELING LEFT OF CENTER, and two short story e-books, ANNABELLEand ALICE IN WONDERLAND (all published by Pixel Hall Press), her short stories can be found in literary publications such as EWR: Short Stories , Hypertext , Full of Crow , Fiction365 , Red Fez , Wanderings, The Chaffin Journal and Xtreme.
Christie’s essays have also appeared in Woman’s Day, Stress-Free Living, Succeed, Experience Life, Tai Chi andWriter’s Digest. She is currently working on several other book projects, including a novel and a book for writers.Visit her website at www.nancychristie.com or connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or at her writing blogs: Finding Fran, The Writer’s Place and One on One. 


Check back on September 15th to meet Nancy Christie and receive a free story! And of course, keep your eyes open for her new release, September 9th :) 

#Goodreads #Giveaway for #NewRelease Dying by the Hour

Two lucky winners will receive signed paperbacks of Dying for a Living, and its sequel, Dying by the Hour. (Kindle version on sale for 99 cents). The giveaway is international and I'll also throw in a little author swag ;)

So help me celebrate my new release and play. Just click the button on the right to enter.

Good luck!

Kory

P.S. For those of you who dislike/don't use Goodreads, no problem! My blog tour kicks off Tuesday, culminating in an Facebook afterparty (Live Q&A, prizes, games, and more). Join us! There will be plenty of stuff to win, so I hope I see you around! :)

This One Is For the Fans: #NewRelease #urbanfantasy #sale

Fellow Necronites!

Book 2 is available for pre-order NOW!

While I’m still working out the kinks of the Amazon page and compiling editions, you CAN buy Dying by the Hour: A Jesse Sullivan Novel for your kindle. 

If you purchase the pre-order for $2.99, it is my understanding that it will be delivered to you at midnight on September 2nd, when the book is officially released.
Dying for a Living on sale now.
In honor of the sequel's release, I've dropped the price of Dying for a Living to $0.99 from now until the end of Dying by the Hour's blog tour (September 16). So if you know a friend who would love Jesse and the gang, gift that *&^%.
Don’t have a kindle?
No problem! I’m currently working with Smashwords to expand distribution for both books, Dying for a Living and Dying by the Hour. Once we sort out the formatting kinks, the books will be available everywhere! Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple, you name it. :)
Prefer audio?
More good news! I’m working with narrator Hollie Jackson and we are wrapping up production of Dying for a Living now and it will be available through Amazon, Audible, and iTunes soon! And once that is done, we will immediately start production on Dying by the Hour.
Like to win stuff and socialize with me and other fans?
Pending approval, a Goodreads giveaway will run this weekend up until the release day with signed paperbacks for both Dying for a Living and Dying by the Hour available, as well as other fun swag.

Also, the Dying by the Hour blog tour will run from September 2nd-September 15, hosted by 17 great bloggers. Lots of prizes! Not to mention the Facebook afterparty hosted by ½ of the Dark Moon Series duo, Shelly Burrows. This afterparty on September 16th will have its own prizes/giveaways as well as a Live Q&A with yours truly. You can join us here. If you're free that night, I'd love to see you there! :)

There will also be all kinds of guest appearances and interviews throughout September, into October, and I’ll try to keep you updated on my progress.

But not TOO updated ;)

Until next time, Kory M. Shrum,
Jesse’s handler

"Where Do You Get Your Ideas" #amwriting

“Let’s get one thing clear right now, shall we? There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers; good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky; two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn’t to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up.”                                                              ---Stephen King, On Writing
Amen.

I’ve been told that I have original, fantastical ideas—which is always nice to hear. But even when I hear it, I can feel something inside me tightening, hardening, bracing for the question that will most definitely come next.
Where do you get your ideas?
I refrain from grabbing the person and shaking them, screaming I don’t know! I don’t know damnit! Because in doing so, I would have to admit to the person asking that I just work here. That I am not, in fact, a mythical, magical creature who can conjure awesomeness simply with willpower alone (though I convince myself otherwise when it’s editing time).
But I have learned that there are ways to improve my chances that a good idea will be captured. Because that’s all I’m doing really, capturing the idea. And then laboriously pinning that writhing sucker to the page.
So here are the TOP THREE ways that I  improve the chances that I’ll snag those great ideas out of the air before the little sucker flies past me and on to a better writer.
Keep a notebook handy. This might sound dumb, but I can’t tell you how much brilliance I’m squandered simply because I forgot to write the *&^$% down. My best ideas come to me in the most inconvenient of times: showers, jogging, walking, or on the verge of sleep—all of which aren’t really times I’ve got a notebook on hand. But when I was in Europe in January, I DID carry a notebook everywhere and it made all the difference.
Property of the The Oatmeal
Read.             If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write.                          Simple as that. – Stephen King

It never fails to surprise me how many writers tell me they don’t read. I understand, of course. When life gets busy, finding time to lay (lie?) about and read seems absolutely impossible. The dishes?! My mind says. All those essays to grade!?! Just an extra 30 minutes of sleep!  But reading is really conducive to generating ideas. How many of us are writing because we read something amazing? Because a story or character came alive for us? Reading breeds ideas. Read more, and more ideas will come to you.  This can also be said of movies, TV, or anything else that you feel invigorates your mind, rather than dulls it.


Write. Yes, actually write. Many writers make the mistake of waiting for the inspiration to come.  But that simply isn’t how it works. Take it from someone who has done a lot of waiting... Sometimes the writing will be so hard that it is like you’re learning to walk all over again, except you don’t have feet, or knee caps, and you’re just wobbling all over the place. But you need to sit down and do it anyway.

                 Keep working. Don’t wait for inspiration. Work inspires inspiration. Keep working.

                                               –  Michael Crichton
This might all seem like common sense to you, but you’d be amazed how often (myself included), we forget our sense when it comes down to doing the actual work. All I can say to that is to just try again.
          “Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts.”
                                                          ― Larry L. King, Writer's Digest

…and perhaps also have a little faith—that the ideas will come. That if you're doing all this, the right idea will find you.