V.R. Leavitt's Blog, page 4
February 19, 2015
Interview – Author, Simon Williams
As part of author Nancy Chase’s, “The Seventh Magpie” book launch extravaganza, I’ll be interviewing a series of participating authors. Check out all the interviews here.
Today, I’m happy to have Simon Williams!
Q: What are some of the rewarding aspects of your work?
A: By far and away the most rewarding aspects are the times when a reader tells me how much they enjoyed one of my books or takes the trouble to write a long and detailed review. Although writing is something I would probably do regardless of any recognition, the fact that a growing number of people seem to really like my work spurs me on like nothing else. I write for myself but I also write for them.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I always have a number of projects on the go. The main priority at the moment is The Spiral Heart- which is the fourth Aona book, and the biggest so far. Very excited about this and can’t wait to get the final editing done.
I’m also working on the sequel to Summer’s Dark Waters- it doesn’t have a name yet but I’ve started writing it anyway. I’m hoping that this will be out by the end of the year.
I’m also preparing an anthology of short stories, and I have notes for a couple of other series and a standalone novella- but these are for a little further ahead. I’m not one of those Nano-type writers who can write thousands upon thousands of words each day so I try to be sensible with targets and release dates.
Q: What are currently reading?
A: Well, like many people I’m waiting in limbo for George R R Martin’s next book in his series to come out- I’m also reading Tad Williams’ Shadowmarch books and I’m part way through “Last Night In Twisted River” by John Irving (probably my favourite non-fantasy author)
Q: Who is your favorite author and what is your favorite genre to read?
A: I don’t have a single favourite author but there are several who are top of the tree- off to the top of my head I would say Clive Barker, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Alan Garner, Tad Williams, and Ian Irvine. George R R Martin is up there too- at least he will be if the Game of Thrones series is completed. I read mainly fantasy or speculative fiction but I’ll read most genres. The one genre I don’t read is porn- not from a moral or religious standpoint but because it’s all been done before and I simply don’t see the point of it- and it seems to have become “trendy” and popular in recent years (due in party to the “Fifty Shades” effect no doubt)
Q: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
A: The Aona books are really about what it’s like to be the people in the middle when two great evils clash and the world may soon end. It’s also about the opposite ideas of damnation and redemption and I explore the idea, using some of the characters, that even the most well-intentioned people can fall into dark times and likewise the most reprehensible characters can achieve a certain amount of redemption. I like exploring themes like this with the people in my books, it helps give them dimension and character and helps the readers identify with them.
Bio: Simon Williams is an author of fantasy and speculative fiction and is based in the UK. He has published three books in the Aona dark fantasy series so far and the fourth book is out very soon. He has also written “Summer’s Dark Waters” a fantasy / sci-fi adventure for all ages 10+ and a sequel is being written.
Website: www.simonwilliamsauthor.com
Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00P0ZZYS8
Facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Simon-Williams/167649143291810
Twitter: @SWilliamsAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6094097.Simon_Williams
Summer’s Dark Waters:
Oblivion’s Forge (Book I in the Aona series):
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oblivions-Forge-Aona-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0082XW04G/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Oblivions-Forge...
Interview – Author, Elisabeth Wheatley
As part of author Nancy Chase’s, “The Seventh Magpie” book launch extravaganza, I’ll be interviewing a series of participating authors. Check out all the interviews here.
Today I’m happy to have author, Elisabeth Wheatley!
Q: How long have you been writing either as a hobby or professionally?
A: That depends whether or not you count all the times I stole copy paper and duct tape to make “books” out of my crayon drawings. I started working on what would be my first novel around eight/nine years ago, so let’s go with that.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I’m reediting my debut novel, The Key of Amatahns, for re-release along with the other five written books in the series and drafting the last two. I’m also working on the third in my Fanged Princess vampire novellas as well as a new quintet of epics set to debut in 2016. Sleep is for the weak.
Q: Who is your favorite author and what is your favorite genre to read?
A: I cannot choose a favorite author, you can’t make me! But I am huge fan of Intisar Khanani, Tad Williams, T.L. Shreffler, Brandon Sanderson, and Rhiannon Paille. My favorite genre to read (and write) is what they all have in common—epic Fantasy—though I also dabble in Paranormal/Paranormal Romance with a preference for Young Adult.
Q: Where you have lived and what you have experienced can influence your writing in many ways. Are there any specific locations or experiences that have popped up in your books?
A: Fanged Princess takes place in Central Texas, where I was born, so that one’s kind of obvious. The entire series probably draws the most from my personal experiences, both with the setting and some of the characters. I grew up around men in John Deere caps who drove trucks with sisters perpetually wearing camo and that played a large role in my creation of the Huntsmen.
Q: What do you do when you’re not writing?
A: Eat and sleep and pretend to go to school. I tell people that books are my life and I don’t think they understand everything I do can usually be traced back (even if in a roundabout way) to books. What can I say? Reality sucks.
Aside from that, I hope to one day infuse the internet with my consciousness via social media and thereby achieve immortality. My brother has agreed to make me his general when he rises to power, and then I shall force that one kid in my Japanese class to fix his asymmetrical haircut. (Does he have no compassion for the OCD among us?) Also, American football will be outlawed in favor of jousting and archery—just a heads up.
I’m good with those changes! 
I wish you the very best of luck! Let’s chat again soon.
A: It was a blast and thank you so much for having me!
Elisabeth Wheatley began what would be her first novel at eleven and hasn’t stopped writing since. When she’s not daydreaming of elves, vampires, and/or hot guys in armor, she can be found wasting time on the internet, fangirling over her latest obsession, and pretending to be a functional citizen.
February 18, 2015
Guest Post – Thank you, Mercedes Lackey
Like many of my generation—and to avoid admitting I’m old, let’s define ‘my generation’ as those born before the 1990′s—who fell in love with fantasy, our first taste was J.R.R. Tolkien. I read, The Fellowship of the Ring before, The Hobbit, but it doesn’t matter, because I don’t know anyone who read one and failed to read the other. Before I’d finished The Fellowship I was hooked. To give you an idea just how addicted I’d become, I can’t give recall what I did for my thirteenth birthday, but I vividly remember being thirteen and my mother surprising me with a copy of The Two Towers. (Remember I’m old, so that was a long time ago and the memory is still with me.)
Once I’d finish every Tolkien book I could find, I scoured the Fantasy/Sci-Fi aisles of the bookstores—which back then meant Waldenbooks or B. Dalton—for my next obsession. By the time I graduated high school, I had hundreds of books. (Think those mass-market paperbacks.) Authors like Anne McCaffrey’s, Patricia McKillip’s, Terry Brook, Michael Moorcock, Roger Zelazny and others filled my books shelves. When my bookcase got too full, it was a struggle deciding which ones to put in a box in the attic.
I never really took to Sci-Fi as well, though I did read Asimov’s Foundation series, Herbert’sDune, and Clarke’s 2001. I enjoyed quite a few Sci-Fi books, but my first love always pulled me back. Paul O. Williams, Fritz Leiber, Julian May, Andre Norton, Raymond Fiest, David Eddings, new Stephen Donaldson, Melanie Rawn and R. A. Salvatore and so many others battled for space in my already crowd rows and rows of books.
But the biggest influence for me, however, would have to be Mercedes Lackey. As a young gay man, Magic’s Pawn, the first book of the The Last Herald Mage series was an eye opener for me because its main character, Vanyl, was gay. Lackey didn’t call them ‘gay.’ Instead she had a word for it—shay’a'chern—but the effect was the same.
By the time I read Magic’s Pawn, I’d been writing my own fantasy novels for a few years, though none of them saw the light of day. Having read Robert Adams’ Horse Clans novels, where he regularly vilified gay men—often portraying them as pedophiles—it didn’t seem my characters would be accepted. It was wonderful to read about gay characters who were not the bad guys, but actually the protagonist. It also gave me hope to keep writing.
Cycle forward a few decades, life, work, career all derailed my writing train, relegating it to a hobby and an infrequent one at that. One day, my now husband encouraged me to get back into writing. We’d been together for ten years, had settled down, and were moving toward starting a family. He suggested taking some writing courses, which I did, but neither of us expected I’d ever publish anything. It was still a hobby and destined to remain in a drawer to be found one day by someone cleaning out my house after I died.
Perhaps it would have remained there had not the Internet changed how people interact. For me, I didn’t have the confidence to let anyone I knew read my writing. On-line boards and websites, however, allowed me the chance to post things to get feedback—something my writing teacher encouraged. If people said it sucked, I’d be hurt, but they were faceless screen names on the web, not co-workers, friends or family. When the response wasn’t too bad, it encouraged me to learn more and work harder. It would still be several years before I felt comfortable submitting a manuscript to a publisher, but when I did, they accepted it and this book is the result.
I’ve never met Mercedes Lackey and probably never will, but I hope I do so I can thank her. On the off chance she sees this post, thank you, Mercedes Lackey for having the courage to write the Valdemar series. I’m sure I’m not the only one you’ve encouraged by your example.
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Visit Andrew Q. Gordon’s website.
Google+
The Last Grand Master Synopsis
In a war that shook the earth, the Six gods of Nendor defeated their brother Neldin, god of evil.
For the three thousand years since, Nendor and the Seven Kingdoms have known peace and
prosperity.
But then a new wizard unleashes the power of Neldin. Meglar, wizard king of Zargon, uses dark
magic to create an army of creatures to carry out his master’s will.
One by one, the sovereign realms fall. Soon the only wizard who can stop Meglar is Grand
Master Farrell, the Prince of Haven, the hidden home of refugees. An untried wizard, Farrell
carries a secret that could hold the key to defeating Meglar-or it could destroy the world.
While helping Nerti, queen of the unicorns, Farrell saves Miceral, an immortal muchari warrior
the Six have chosen to be Farrell’s mate. But Farrell approaches love with caution, and before
he can decide how to proceed, Meglar invades a neighboring kingdom. Farrell and Miceral find
themselves in the middle of the battle. Farrell pushes himself to the limit as he and Miceral fight
not only to stop Meglar but for their very survival.
Buy Links:
Dreamspinner Press
Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Interview – Author, Intisar Khanani
Q: What is a typical day like for you? Or are there no typical days?
A: I’m a stay-at-home mom, so most of my day is structured around my two little people (ages 2.5 and 4.5). The only typical part of each day is our meal and snack schedule and bedtime! (And, twice a week, preschool for the older one.) Of necessity, I write at night. As soon as the kids are in bed (~7:30 pm), I sit down at my computer and pretty much stay there till about 10:30 pm. In that three-hour segment, I try to get a minimum of 1.5 hours of straight writing done. This is also the only time I have for checking e-mail, engaging on social media, blogging, and generally relaxing, so 1.5 hours of writing is actually pretty decent. Two hours of focused writing is ideal.
Lately, I’ve had more trouble buckling down to write, so I’ve starting doing what I call “social writing.” I set up writing nights with writer-friends where we both get online at the same time, chat for a few minutes, share what we’re working on, and then get off line for about an hour to write. Then we get back online to check in and, if everyone is game, do a second shorter spurt. I’ve actually found this method to be amazingly productive for me, I think because I know I’ll have to report on how happy I am with my progress.
Q: What compelled you to write your first book?
A: I’d always wanted to write a novel, so my senior year of university I decided I’d better buckle down and try. I chose a fairy tale (The Goose Girl) to give me an over-arching plot and narrative structure, and then went to town with it. I really wrote it as an exercise to test myself, not intending to do anything with it when I finished. But, by the time I finished, I loved my characters so much that I ended up working through over a dozen revisions to take it from “writing exercise” to my debut novel, Thorn.
Q: What are currently reading?
A: I just finished two books pretty much at the same time. The first was The Pygmy Dragon by Marc Secchia, which is a fantastic story that follows a young girl from the age of eight, when she’s taken as a slave from her native jungle, on through to the age of fifteen where, wow, she has some seriously cool dragon-related adventures. I loved Secchia’s nuanced approach to racism, as well as just how spunky and smart our heroine is. Definitely recommend it!
The second book was Cairo, a graphic novel by G. Willow Wilson. This was a brilliant and humorous story set in, you got it, Cairo, where a group of unlikely characters come together around a jinn in a…hookah. Because, you know, the genie in the lamp is so last millennium, and really doesn’t do justice to jinn. And that’s only the beginning. Another book I definitely recommend.
Q: If you could live in one of your books, which one would you live in?
A: Definitely the world of my novella, Sunbolt. The story follows Hitomi, a young thief with a propensity to play hero when people need saving, and her nemesis, a dark mage intent on taking over the Eleven Kingdoms. Although there is a lot of darkness in Sunbolt, there’s also a lot of light. It’s a real world, in its way, and I love the diversity and vibrancy of the cultures and creatures that populate it. I’d have my choice of living in a tropical island sultanate reminiscent of historic Zanzibar, or among the nomadic desert tribes that eke out an existence alongside the cursed Burnt Lands, to name my two favorite options. Then again, there’s the decaying grandeur of the old capitol of a fallen empire that feels a lot like an Istanbul of old, right at the heart of the Eleven Kingdoms. Plus, I wouldn’t mind having shape-shifting friends and charms to keep my bread from burning.
Q: It’s one thing to write a book and another to edit it. How do you feel about the editing process? What was it like to edit your book?
A: Editing is the primary reason why I still have seven unpublished manuscripts on my computer. It takes me a lot longer to edit a book than it does to write that first, glorious draft. I know there are some writers who live for the editing phase. I’d die a happy author if I could skip it. To give an example, my initial draft of the book I’m currently working on, Memories of Ash, was about 60,000 words. The revised draft, which I am only about halfway through, is now about 80,000 words, which is average for a young adult novel. My file of discarded scenes and chapters? It’s about 55,000 words, and it doesn’t even contain everything I’ve deleted. I’ve written about 2/3 of a book (or the almost as much as my first draft on its own) and thrown it away just in the process of revision, working to get each scene and chapter right. That’s grueling.
Q: Do you have a favorite brand, flavor, type of coffee?
A: Hot Chocolate. All. The. Way.
I actually mix up my own spicy hot chocolate, including cinnamon and hot pepper, and it’s become a staple drink while writing.
Final thoughts?
If you’re interested in checking out my writing, I do have a free short story titled The Bone Knife, available at most major e-retailers. Although it takes place in the same land as Thorn, it introduces a new main character, so you don’t need to know anything about my writing to enjoy it.
Thank you so much for your time. I wish you the very best of luck! Let’s chat again soon.
A: Thank you!
Synopsis for Thorn
For Princess Alyrra, choice is a luxury she’s never had … until she’s betrayed.
Princess Alyrra has never enjoyed the security or power of her rank. Between her family’s cruelty and the court’s contempt, she has spent her life in the shadows. Forced to marry a powerful foreign prince, Alyrra embarks on a journey to meet her betrothed with little hope for a better future.
But powerful men have powerful enemies—and now, so does Alyrra. Betrayed during a magical attack, her identity is switched with another woman’s, giving Alyrra the first choice she’s ever had: to start a new life for herself or fight for a prince she’s never met. But Alyrra soon finds that Prince Kestrin is not at all what she expected. While walking away will cost Kestrin his life, returning to the court may cost Alyrra her own. As Alyrra is coming to realize, sometimes the hardest choice means learning to trust herself.
Add to GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14059999-thorn
Purchase Your Copy of Thorn Here:
Amazon | B&N | Apple | Diesel | Sony
Author Bio
Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. She first remembers seeing snow on a wintry street in Zurich, Switzerland, and vaguely recollects having breakfast with the orangutans at the Singapore Zoo when she was five.
Intisar currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and two young daughters. Until recently, she wrote grants and developed projects to address community health and infant mortality with the Cincinnati Health Department—which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy.
Intisar’s latest projects include a serial novella project titled The Sunbolt Chronicles, about a young thief with a propensity to play hero, and her arch-nemesis, a dark mage intent on taking over the Eleven Kingdoms. She’s also developing a companion trilogy to her debut novel Thorn, which will feature a new heroine introduced in her free short story The Bone Knife.
Website: http://booksbyintisar.com
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/Intisar_Khanani
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/booksbyintisar
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/booksbyintisar/
Tumblr: http://booksbyintisar.tumblr.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BooksByIntisar
February 17, 2015
Interview – Author, Krishnarjun Bhattacharya
As part of author Nancy Chase’s, “The Seventh Magpie” book launch extravaganza, I’ll be interviewing a series of participating authors. Check out all the interviews here.
Today I’m happy to have author, Krishnarjun Bhattacharya!
Q: What compelled you to write your first book?
A: A need to communicate, an urge to simply tell stories. It’s pretty incredible that something like that can hit a boiling point that makes you drop everything and simply work on a book. My head’s bursting with stories most of the time, it’s really the medium you choose to express those thoughts that defines you—might be ink, celluloid, paint. Might simply be words. I love writing Fantasy, and I suspect I always will. In fact, I’m starting my own Storytelling Sessions soon enough, Stories of the Supernatural, something which is, again, part of my expression.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I’m working on the third novel of the Tantric Trilogy, titled Myths of Old, as well as a graphic novel titled Stormcatcher. I’m also re-writing and editing the second book of the trilogy, Horsemen of Old, trying to get it out there by Christmas. Keep an eye out!
Q: If you could live in one of your books, which one would you live in?
A: Seeing that my debut novel and future books are fraught with all kinds of creatures that make your flesh crawl, and environments dystopic and desolate, survival would too much of a scary thing. No, I’d keep my distance from my own books. I’d probably move over to J. R. R. Tolkien’s side of the library, and settle in the Shire once the War of the Ring is done with.
Q: How do you balance out the writer’s life and the rest of life? Do you get up early? Stay up late? Ignore friends and family for certain periods of time?
A: This is extremely difficult. I moonlight as a Film Maker and Editor (that’s what my Education has shaped me as), and Time is perhaps the greatest enemy, a fact I subconsciously or otherwise include in my work. I have a lot of hobbies, and working on Films, Gaming, and Reading are things I consider extremely important, and it takes incredible effort to stay up to date on everything, not to mention the writing.
I’m mostly nocturnal with my writing, so my days are spent with other activities. After the sun sets, it’s unhealthy shots of coffee that keep me sharp—though the silence of the night is essential—and going through the night. I sleep after dawn, grab a few hours before getting up again. There’s no time to lose. Too much to be done.
My Family is the dearest thing to me. I might disconnect from time to time, particularly when I get too obsessed with my work, but they love me, support me, and above all, they understand, even though they’ve got nothing to do with any of my chosen professions.
Q: What is your writing space like? Do you have a designated space? What does it look like? On the couch, laptop, desk? Music? Lighting? Typing? Handwriting?
A: I believe writing demands a certain kind of discipline, something only a desk does for me. I work on a well built, antique wooden writing desk. I used to write on a Macbook Air, preferring its mobility, but lately I’ve been writing on my desktop, an assembled supercomputer of sorts. I like large screens in which
I type in silence—music distracts me, the only sounds allowed are the lack of it, the silence, and the low, low hum of my machine; a reassuring noise. I believe in being serious about what you do, and having the proper technology to support it. I can see the entire page without having to scroll, and I use a very high end mechanical keyboard (I’m REALLY picky about keyboards) with a typewriter-like clicking response and backlights for the dark.
Thank you so much for your time. I wish you the very best of luck! Let’s chat again soon.
A: Thank you! It’s been fun talking.
Author Bio
Krishnarjun Bhattacharya is the author of the dystopian, dark fantasy Tantrics of Old. He dreams of writing compelling Fantasy Fiction for a living, madman that he is, and telling stories lost to those who would remember. A wanderer of cities and a passionate Game Reviewer, he’s an absolute lover of all things dark and grotesque. He resides in a post apocalytic world, terrified of aliens, the walking dead, and secret government WMDs, not to mention what lives under his bed.
Krishnarjun is a graduate in Film and Video Communication from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and a post graduate in Video Editing from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.
Tantrics of Old Synopsis
Tantrics of Old is dark fantasy, following a young Necromancer, a Tantric, Adri Sen, as he runs from an ancient Horseman, Death, in a city just as old.
Enter the two cities; New Kolkata, pristine, untouched, ruled by an iron fist by the perfect government, MYTH—a city existing in the shadow of the old one, and Old Kolkata, forgotten, broken, crumbling, where demons roam free and shadows whisper.
In a world where death is sudden and quick in its tendency to not forgive, Adri must wade through threats new and old; political conspiracy, the demons of his past, a government that remembers, and above all, whispers of impending doom, the coming apocalypse, drums of the dead.
Follow Krishnarjun’s short fiction on twitter at https://twitter.com/akta_golpo_shon
Find out more about Tantrics of Old at http://www.krishnarjunbhattacharya.com/books.html
Watch the book trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcrKbzVyv4w
Like us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/Tantricsofold
Interview – Author, Eldritch Black
As part of author Nancy Chase’s, “The Seventh Magpie” book launch extravaganza, I’ll be interviewing a series of participating authors. Check out all the interviews here.
Today, I’m pleased to have author, Eldritch Black.
Q: How long have you been writing either as a hobby or professionally?
A: I’ve been writing stories since I was taught how to write. My first memory of needing to write something which wasn’t set as homework, was after a teacher read us a story in infants school. It was called Meg and the Moon, and was about a witch and her cat who went to the moon on a broomstick. I can still remember seeing the book and thinking I want to write a story about a witch and a cat too.
So I’ve written for most of my life but over the last few years I’ve really started to try and take it to a professional level.
Q: What is your writing space like? Do you have a designated space? What does it look like? On the couch, laptop, desk? Music? Lighting? Typing? Handwriting?
A: The space I use most days is a round white table before a window overlooking the garden. I have a slight ritual where I like to clear everything off the table, clean it, and then set up my laptop for writing. Something about a clean space allows my mind to run riot, plus it’s nice to see the towering trees outside and the various battles between chipmunks and squirrels.
I often use soundtrack music when I write and will often try to find instrumental soundtracks in a similar tone to the stories I’m writing.
For lighting, I like candles when I remember to use them, and for atmosphere, I use apps like Noisli that recreate the sounds of running rain and storms to inspire me.
Q: It’s one thing to write a book and another to edit it. How do you feel about the editing process? What was it like to edit your book?
A: Some writers say the real writing of a book is in the editing, and I agree.
I love going back and refining my words and ideas and improving them. I also get a huge buzz from rediscovering scenes I’d written months ago and had completely forgotten about. That’s a definite advantage to leaving the editing to the end of the process, rather than correcting as you go.
Right now, I’m on a fairly harsh edit, where I’m trying to cut as many unnecessary words as possible. I’m using an incredibly useful book called ‘The Word Loss Diet’ by Rayne Hall to achieve this, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Q: Where you have lived and what you have experienced can influence your writing in many ways. Are there any specific locations or experiences that have popped up in your books?
A: I grew up in London and spent most of my life in England. London definitely has a very big influence on me, but so does the countryside and it’s history and mythology. As a child, whenever we used to holiday in England, I’d often search out local bookshops. Mainly so I could find books on local myths and legends, and then terrify myself reading about local beasts and monsters.
Now I live on a small island in the Pacific Northwest of America, and its forests of giant trees (at least by British standards), coasts and mists definitely inspire my writing.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I’ve just finished editing a new novel. It’s about myths and legends and why their characters and creatures have vanished, and where I think they’ve gone.
It’s another darkly fantastical book, and I’m very proud of it. Like some other writers, I write stories and adventures my younger self would have loved to have read and dreamed about. So I’m now waiting for a breakthrough in time-travel. That way I can send my books to my twelve year old self so he can terrify himself and his friends with them.
Q: If you could live in one of your books, which one would you live in?
A: Definitely not The Book of Kindly Deaths, although I wouldn’t mind spending an hour or so in the Malady Inn. Just to see the various monsters sipping their pints and plotting their dark schemes.
I’d probably like to live in a cottage down the road from my Victorian inventor Professor Thistlequick. I could visit him for tea and hear all about his dark and peculiar adventures. That’s probably the safest place in my story worlds so far.
Q: Use this space to tell us more about who you. Anything you want your readers to know that hasn’t been covered otherwise.
A: I just want to thank you very much for taking the time to feature me on your wonderful site. And also a big thank you to Nancy Chase for putting us in touch. I love dark fairy tales so I cannot wait to read The Seventh Magpie!
BIO & LINKS:
Eldritch Black was born in London, England and now lives on a small island near Seattle. He has written a number of books and short stories, and his novel The Book of Kindly Deaths was published in the autumn of 2014.
You can find more by visiting:
http://eldritchblack.com.
You can also find Eldritch on Twitter:
@EldritchBlack
and Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/EldritchBlackAuthor
February 16, 2015
Featured Author – Lee S. Hawke
As part of author Nancy Chase’s, “The Seventh Magpie” book launch extravaganza, I’ll be interviewing a series of participating authors. Check out all the interviews here.
Today I have author, Lee S. Hawke. Welcome!
Q: What inspired you to get into writing?
A: The stories I read that shifted the world around me. As an example, I vividly remember growing up with the main character, Garion, in Eddings’ epic fantasy series The Belgariad. He’s pushed from his understandable teenage selfishness into growing up and understanding the world around him, and I’m ashamed to admit I needed that lesson when I was thirteen. Also the books that leave you feeling breathless, enchanted, haunted. It’s like a drug. You’re clutching a motley collection of words to yourself and laughing madly or sobbing into the cover, and all you can think of is I want to be able to make someone else feel this way. I’ve wandered around in a daze for several hours after finishing particularly affecting books. So I constantly aspire to crafting stories that inflict that same sort of magical, thought-provoking trauma on my readers.
Q: What are some of the rewarding aspects of your work?
A: Getting in touch with readers! Once I finish a piece, it’s like throwing out a sheaf of paper to the wind and seeing if anything comes back. When it does, it feels a little magical – someone I’ve never met before, but who has read the product of my frustrated hours and ecstatic soul. So yes – whether it’s constructive criticism or just discussion, I definitely find connecting with my readers one of the most rewarding aspects of writing.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I’m currently working on LICENCE REVOKED: A CYBERPUNK NOVELLA. Funny story: firstly, I didn’t realise it was cyberpunk until I was chatting with a friend about it. And secondly, it was actually inspired by a particularly vivid dream. I know how that sounds, but it was a pretty frightening dream, actually, almost a nightmare. No, scrap that. It was definitely a nightmare. If I can do it justice and leave readers in the same state of heart-pounding, haunted awe as I was upon waking, then I’ll be over the moon.
Q: What are you currently reading?
A: Neuromancer by William Gibson. I’ve been hopping between him and all these other science fiction classics recently, such as Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5. I also changed up the mix recently with literary fiction piece The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and I’m looking to read The Lies of Locke Lamora next by Scott Lynch, or maybe a thriller. I’m a firm believer that you have to read both the best in your field and as broadly as possible to keep the creative juices flowing and remember what it’s like to be a reader.
Q: How do you balance out the writer’s life and the rest of life? Do you get up early? Stay up late? Ignore friends and family for certain periods of time?
A: At this point, I’m trying to get up early (around 6.15am) and fit in about 25-30 minutes of exercise, and then write 500 words on the bus on the way to work. And then another burst of 250-500 words on the way back or while I eat dinner. The exercise bit is important, otherwise I feel sluggish all day. It’s a pretty low word count compared to most professional writers, but I do my best. And yes, I’ve been guilty of ignoring my partner and family for quite a while in the past. They understand. I hope.
Fun random facts, thoughts, ideas?
I love to hear from you! You can find me at the following places:
Blogging about my life and books at on my website;
Offering news, specials and freebies through my monthly newsletter;
Hanging out in The Next Best Book Club and Apocalypse Whenever on Goodreads; and
Pretending to be witty and interesting on Twitter under @LeeSHawke.
Thank you so much for your time. I wish you the very best of luck with your work!
A: Thank you! Best of luck with all of your work too.
BIOGRAPHY
Hi. I’m Lee S. Hawke and I write science-fiction and fantasy storytales. Because I can’t make up my mind, this can be anything from novellas to novels to short stories and poetry.
My hobbies include, in no particular order:
Devouring fantasy, sci-fi, and speculative fiction
Following several fantastic writers and their equally fantastic blogs
Learning Tactical Krav Maga
Drinking excellent tea
Meeting up with friends for a good session of Fate or D&D
Being in an ‘It’s Complicated’ relationship with coffee
Becoming a gym nut
Playing Cards Against Humanity
DIVISION: A COLLECTION OF SCIENCE FICTION FAIRYTALES – SYNOPSIS/BLURB
BEAUTY. GRIEF. MINDS. EVERYTHING IS DIVISIBLE. From LEE S. HAWKE, author of The Changeling and the Sun (published by Ideomancer Speculative Fiction Magazine) comes DIVISION: A COLLECTION OF SCIENCE FICTION FAIRYTALES.
Featuring 7 original, fairytale-inspired science fiction short stories, this collection explores the division between mind, body, technology, and humanity in Hawke’s trademark haunting style.
Inside:
A chronically ill civilian discovers that his immune system may be the key to human survival
A schoolgirl tries to escape her demons through levels of virtual reality
A data analyst falls in love with a software coder during a forced government assignment
A young boy is confronted with a horrifying truth about his constructed world
A jaded medical technician rediscovers the meaning of beauty
A girl scrambles to escape a horrifying alien invasion in a futuristic dystopia, and
A spaceship engineer struggles with the death of her only daughter.
Metaphysical and visionary, this collection of fantastic fiction combines humor, wonder, horror and humanity to create an enduring anthology of fairy tales for adults.
LINKS
Website: http://www.leeshawke.com
Newsletter: http://leeshawke.com/join-story/
Facebook: Lee S Hawke
Twitter: @LeeSHawke
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/103732528570467981677/posts
February 15, 2015
Interview – Artist, Katrina Sesum
As part of author Nancy Chase’s, “The Seventh Magpie” book launch extravaganza, I’ll be interviewing a series of participating authors. Check out all the interviews here.
Today I am very happy to have artist and illustrator of “The Seventh Magpie” Katrina Sesum!
Q: How long have you been drawing/painting either as a hobby or professionally?
A: Like most people I started drawing at an early age; drawing is universal amongst children, and I was no different. I continued to draw and make things for my own enjoyment as I grew up, and it was only when I began showing my work online that I started to seriously consider it as a career.
Q: What are some of the rewarding aspects of your work?
A: Sometimes I will get a comment, an e-mail or a message some other way from someone who knows nothing else of me but my art, and they will express to me their thoughts and views of a particular painting, matching perfectly with my own intent for the piece. For me, a major purpose of art is communication. In that way I see my art as like a beacon saying “I am here”, and it’s always nice when someone waves back, “I see you”.
Q: What is a typical day like for you? Or are there no typical days?
A: Even being self employed, I prefer to keep something of a regular, but flexible, schedule. I am always free to start work on something else if inspiration starts tugging, but having a timetable of sorts is a useful safety net for those days when making a decision is the last thing my mind wants to do and I can simply run on autopilot.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: Bookbinding is taking a lot of my time currently, but I’m always working on new paintings in the background. Moths are a current favourite, and I’m quietly working away on writing and illustrating some personal fairy tales.
Q: What are you currently reading?
A: I tend to have several books on the go at any given time. The current main three are Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, His Dark Materials trilogy, and Otter Country.
Q: How do you balance out the artist’s life and the rest of life? Do you get up early? Stay up late? Ignore friends and family for certain periods of time?
A: I’m introverted and very much a night owl, so I am often up late working alone. Night time is when I naturally gravitate to wanting to create. Day time is better spent on other people, and getting the business side of things in order, responding to e-mails, posting out work, etc.
Q: What do you do when you’re not art?
A: Baking is a favourite, along with roaming the woods and fields where I live. I’m also a fairly avid gamer.
Q: What is your creative space like? Do you have a designated space? What does it look like?
A: Messy, but efficient. Whatever I’m working on, I like to have all the materials close to hand, and not need to go in and out of drawers. I don’t clean up at the end of each day, I clean up at the end of a project. The items I use most, such as ink and pencils, never get put away and have become a permanent fixture of all my work spaces.
Q: Do you have a favorite brand, flavor, type of coffee?
A: A good gingerbread latte and I’m happy.
You can find out more about Katrina and her work here:
Website: www.katrinasesum.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/katrinasesum
Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/kaelycea
Star of the Show – Author, Nancy Chase
As part of author Nancy Chase’s, “The Seventh Magpie” book launch extravaganza, I’ll be interviewing a series of participating authors. Check out all the interviews here.
But today I am very happy to have my good friend and author of the highly anticipated novel “The Seventh Magpie”, Nancy Chase.
Hi Vanessa! Thanks for having me.
Q: How long have you been writing either as a hobby or professionally?
A: I’ve been writing for as long as I could write. I remember in second grade writing a series of little ghost stories, just for fun. I was always writing stories and poems. In sixth grade, I alarmed my teacher by writing a short story about a man who survived a small plane crash in the snowy Alaskan wilderness, only to eventually be killed and eaten by his own hungry German shepherd before he could reach safety. My explanation? “I read a lot of Jack London.” In fifth or sixth grade I wrote, directed, and starred in my one and only play, about two girls who sleep in a graveyard on Halloween night and encounter Hades and Persephone, the gods of the Underworld. So even from as far back as I can remember, my writing has had a tendency to head over onto the dark and mythical side.
As for writing “professionally”, I had my first paid sale (a short story and some poems) in a local magazine at age 18, and won occasional cash prizes for poetry throughout my twenties. In my thirties, I worked for a while as a writer/editor for an industrial trade magazine. It was boring subject matter, but good for discipline and attention to detail. Plus it was exciting to have a readership of 90,000, even if I was writing about things that didn’t interest me. After that, I worked for several years as a freelance book doctor, but I found that working full time editing other people’s work drained my own creativity. I got burned out and had to quit.
So now, here I am with my first novel coming out, and several more in the pipeline. With a bit of luck and a lot of work I hope to become a “professional writer” for real over the next few years.
Q: What inspired you to get into writing?
A: Ha! That feels a bit like being asked, “What inspired you to get into breathing? Or eating, or sleeping?” It’s such a natural part of me, I wouldn’t know who I am without it. Which isn’t to say it’s easy. But it’s necessary. Stories are how we shape and understand our experiences, and writing is how we shape and understand our stories.
Q: What are some of the challenges of your work?
A: I hate to admit this, but my biggest challenge so far has been that at heart I am a lazy person. I like to do things that come easily for me, and I have a tendency to avoid things that are hard. Unfortunately for me, about half of the aspects of writing fall into each category, so if I let myself get away with it, I will keep starting more and more stories, doing all the easy parts, but never finish them because I’m dawdling on the hard parts.
On the bright side of this, my self-discipline has gotten a lot better lately, which means I can now revisit all these lovely half-finished novel manuscripts from my past dawdling and actually tackle what is necessary to finish them. Readers can expect to see a lot more books by me in the coming years!
Q: What are some of the rewarding aspects of your work?
A: I see a lot of writers discussing whether they write “for themselves” or “for their readers,” but I don’t feel like I’m in either of those categories. I feel like I write for the stories themselves, almost as if the stories are there already, waiting somewhere to be brought into existence, and it’s my job to construct shapes for them to fill, so they can come into being. Sometimes the results aren’t what I expected or even what I wanted, but if I can bring the story to light and make it real, that’s the best satisfaction there can be.
Q: What is a typical day like for you? Or are there no typical days?
A: First thing in the morning, I get up and milk the goat. I have a small flock of goats, all named after characters in my books. The one I’m currently milking is named Kleio after the android in my science fiction novel-in-progress, The TransSomnium Needle.
Anyway, I milk the goat, make some tea and maybe have a little breakfast, and then I check the internet and browse on social media for a little while. Mornings I try to spend doing the non-writing stuff on my to-do list, like updating my website, or concentrating on the production and/or marketing aspects of my work. I usually can’t settle down into the right frame of mind to do any real writing until sometime after lunch.
When my husband comes home from work in the evening, we’ll eat supper, and if I’ve already gotten whatever progress I wanted for the day, maybe we’ll watch a movie or play computer games or work out or read. If I haven’t gotten everything done, I’ll work until bedtime. I always have to read for a while before going to sleep, and once I’m too sleepy to read, I’ll drift off to sleep thinking about whatever story I’ve been working on, because often that leads to me waking up with great new ideas the next morning.
Q: What compelled you to write your first book?
A: I actually started writing The Seventh Magpie 30 years ago, when I was 19, as a way to process my feelings after a youthful heartbreak left me feeling like my world had shattered. The circumstances in the story are, of course, completely different from what happened in my life, but the emotions it draws on were the real thing.
I wrote most of the book in my early 20s, but eventually I set it aside. I was never able to bring it to the point where I felt it was ready for publication until I finally revisited the manuscript last year. I’m glad for the long delay, though, because it gave me the chance to discover my amazing illustrator, Katrina Sesum, who created the gorgeous illustrations and cover art for the book. The book just wouldn’t have been the same without her beautiful art!
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I’m compiling a quirky collection of flash fiction stories, entitled Signs & Oddities, which I plan to release only in e-book format on April 1. For a limited time, it will be available for free to anyone who subscribes to my author newsletter (http://www.nancychase.com/subscribe.html).
I’m also getting ready to begin the second draft of my next novel, a sci-fi adventure entitled The TransSomnium Needle. It’s about a misfit band of survivors from a terrible space wreck who take shelter in a tiny, derelict ship (the eponymous TransSomnium Needle) and must struggle to evade their enemies and reach their destination alive. The twist is that the universe they are sailing through is not space as we know it, but the vast, ever-changing, liquid universe known as the DreamSea, literally the stuff that dreams are made of.
It’s a fun book to write because it has a terrific cast of interesting and quirky characters who are great to spend time with.
Q: What are currently reading?
A: Lately I’ve had a hard time sticking to just one book at a time. So right now I’m reading: Happy Hour in Hell, by Tad Williams; Dead Harvest, which is a horror anthology; Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke; and Lucifer’s Drum, which is a Civil War thriller by my friend Bernie MacKinnon.
Q: If you could live in one of your books, which one would you live in?
A: Oh, that’s easy. No question, I would want to live in the world of The Seventh Magpie. I would go to Magpie Island and live in the White Tower. Just think how wonderful it would be to explore all the other parts of the tower that Catrin never went to. Maybe I’d spend a few centuries in that crazy magical library with Hugh. I could go adventuring with Baldwin, roam the forest with Ambrose, and visit all of Catrin’s other companions.
I’d have it made, you see, because unlike the main character Catrin, I already know the answers to all the Magpie riddles!
Q: How do you balance out the writer’s life and the rest of life? Do you get up early? Stay up late? Ignore friends and family for certain periods of time?
A: What is this “the rest of life” of which you speak? No, but seriously, at the moment, I’m one of the fortunate few who doesn’t have all that much competing for my time and attention. As you know, for about a decade, I ran my own farm, raising horses, cows, pigs, chickens, and sheep. I loved doing it, but it was the kind of lifestyle that grinds you up and swallows you whole. I worked constantly, 365 days a year. I was always too exhausted—physically, mentally, and emotionally—to get much writing done.
But when a chronic knee injury made it impossible for me to continue farming (except for my little gang of goats), it allowed all that time to open up and become available for my writing now. When compared to 10 years running a farm, the discipline required to write a novel suddenly seems totally manageable!
Q: Who is your favorite author and what is your favorite genre to read?
A: Tad Williams is my favorite, with Joe Hill and Stephen King also high in the running. If I started naming all my favorites, we’d be here all day!
I mostly like reading fantasy, horror, and some sci-fi, though I do like historical novels too. My favorites usually combine some dark, gritty realism with some beauty and wonder, some psychological exploration, and often some sort of myth, magic, or supernatural element. I like complex, multi-faceted stories and characters, and clean, tight prose, but the most important thing to me is the story. Tell me a story with movement, shape, and substance that takes me to new places among interesting people. That’s what I want.
Q: Where you have lived and what you have experienced can influence your writing in many ways. Are there any specific locations or experiences that have popped up in your books?
A: In The Seventh Magpie, the concept of Magpie Island with its tidal causeway was inspired by my long-ago visit to St. Michael’s Mount in Cornwall. The marsh around the Isle of Bones was influenced by a fishing weekend with my dad when I was a kid (which was not at all spooky despite what the Isle of Bones chapter would have you believe).
In my work-in-progress novel, Crossroads, the mysterious corner store that is sometimes a window to Somewhere Else was inspired by the idea (although not the actual appearance) of the corner store near where I used to live, which always seemed to have whatever you needed, no matter what it was.
Another work-in-progress novel, a multi-generational haunted house novel entitled Quarry, is very much inspired by the spooky old Victorian house my husband and I rented before we bought our current home.
Q: What do you do when you’re not writing?
A: I spend way too much time on the internet, for one thing. I have a very quiet, reclusive life right now, which has been great for my writing productivity, but sounds really boring when I try to describe it to other people. When I’m not writing, I play with my animals (currently dogs, cats, and goats), spend time with my husband, read, cook, play computer games, browse the web. There are always new ideas brewing, new subjects that catch my interest and must be researched.
Q: What is your writing space like? Do you have a designated space? What does it look like? On the couch, laptop, desk? Music? Lighting? Typing? Handwriting?
A: I have a nice little office that was all set up for me to do my writing, with bookcases and windows and a spacious oak desk, but then my husband started working from home a couple of days a week and sort of took over the space. Most of the time now, I write at my laptop, sitting on the couch in my living room. Which is fine, except for those times when my cats and dogs feel they have to “help” me by climbing all over me while I’m trying to work.
Now that I have my laptop, the actual space where I write is not as important, but solitude and quiet are crucial for me. I never want any music or noise when I’m writing, and I even have a hard time if someone else is sitting in the room with me, even if they’re being quiet. Luckily, I have a lot of hours per day when I have all the peace and quiet I could ask for!
Q: Is there anyone who has inspired, motivated, encouraged or supported your writing
A: So many people, over the years. Including you, Vanessa, so thanks for being so awesome like that! But I’d really like to express my appreciation for my husband Ken, who tolerates my eccentricities without batting an eye, accepts me for exactly who I am, and has made it possible for me to have this time now to concentrate on my writing.
Q: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
A: The Seventh Magpie is a story about what we do when life shatters us. How we hold on, how we let go, and the struggles we go through to make our way across the terrible landscape of our grief.
Q: It’s one thing to write a book and another to edit it. How do you feel about the editing process? What was it like to edit your book?
A: I love editing. First drafts exhaust and terrify me—that sense of venturing blindly into the unknown territory of the blank page—but editing is satisfying to my sense of creativity and craftsmanship. For me, the rewrites are where the magic happens, when you’re polishing and refining that awkward first draft into something that finally resonates with what you’re really trying to say.
Of course, once you get to the later stages of editing, especially the proofreading and page-layout stages, that can be pretty mind-numbing. By that point, you’ve looked at the same words so many times, you can’t even see them properly anymore. You really need someone else with fresh eyes to do at least one or two rounds of final edits for you, because you’ll never catch all the last little mistakes on your own.
Q: Do you have a favorite brand, flavor, type of coffee?
A: My favorite brand of coffee is Twinings English Breakfast tea! I’m not fan of the coffee at all. I have had one cup of coffee in my life, nearly 30 years ago, and even that was an accident. Who knew that when you’re traveling through Cardiff and a gay Welsh druid offers you a “cuppa,” he means coffee, not tea? I sat there politely drinking what I first thought was the vilest cup of tea I’d ever tasted, when finally it dawned on me that it was coffee. I drank it and never said a word.
Thank you so much for your time. I wish you the very best of luck with your new book!
A: Thank you! I’ll see you at the book launch!
Bio:
Nancy Chase writes fantasy, sci-fi, fairy tales, and paranormal fiction, often inspired by mythology, dreams, folklore, or history. Born in Maine, she now lives in Virginia, USA, with her husband and an ever-changing family of pets.
Synopsis:
Sometimes you must give up what you value most to gain what you want even more.
Princess Catrin is just a child when her mother vanishes, leaving her a cryptic legacy: a priceless magical book and the warning that if Catrin ever loses it, she’ll surely die. But she is a young woman on the brink of a whole new life when, in a moment of defiance, she forgets that warning and triggers a catastrophe that shatters all her hopes.
Stricken with grief and guilt, and seeking a way to correct her terrible mistake, Catrin risks everything on a dangerous bargain. Too late, she realizes just how much more she has to lose.
With advice from a half-mad witch and help from companions she meets along the way, Catrin embarks on a desperate quest to defeat seven riddling Magpies—magical tricksters who can shapeshift into anything or anyone—and win back her book or face losing everything she holds dear.
With each step the stakes get higher, and there are secrets she still doesn’t suspect. How much is Catrin willing to sacrifice to finally unmask the Seventh Magpie?
A dark fairy tale of loss and renewal.
Links:
Website: http://www.NancyChase.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyChaseAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NancyAChase
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+NancyChase/
February 11, 2015
Featured Artist – Photographer, Dawn Gardner
Hello! Today I am very happy to have a friend of mine, Dawn Gardner from DG Photography. Let’s jump right in!
Q: How long have you been doing photography either as a hobby or professionally?
A: Hmmm…I started being interested in photography at a very young age. I am going say around 7 or 8. I loved capturing the moments of our family weekend outings. We went into the mountains, rivers and camping a lot. Also, I loved taking photos of everything else, especially macro shots. In high school, I quickly gravitated towards being a part of the school yearbook for the sole purpose of being able to take photos! That was a great experience; I actually learned to process film in a darkroom and make prints on enlargers, all through being on the yearbook staff. So, the short answer: as a hobby since let’s say 7, and professionally since 2007—that’s when I started DG Photography.
Q: What inspired you to get into photography?
A: I drew cartoon characters a lot as a child, wrote poetry and loved playing creatively. One of my favorite television shows was Bewitched. First, I wanted to have those powers SO bad!! But more importantly, I loved Darrin’s job! I thought it was the best thing ever. I do believe it is what drew me to graphic design (which is what I did to pay the bills before I went full-time into photography a few years ago). Darrin’s crazy marketing campaigns introduced me to the power of images and words together. So, wow, now that I really think about this, I may have Darrin Stevens to thank for inspiring me towards photography! Too funny…And for the record, I also liked the first Darrin better.
Q: What are some of the challenges of your work?
A: I am a wedding and contemporary portrait photographer. So… as you can guess weddings can get a little crazy. Tight timelines, brides running late, dark churches, brown venue walls, weather, keeping everyone looking at me during family formals are just a few of the challenges. But, I LOVE the chaos and ALL the challenges. Every wedding has its own challenges and they can be different every single time. Geez, that seems clear!! I mean, you get kind the same challenges, like for example, dark venue…but you may different limitations on where you can stand or you can’t use flash, etc. I guess what I am trying to say is that the challenges maybe similar –but it is always unique situation. And I thrive on this!
Q: What are some of the rewarding aspects of your work?
A: There are so many! When my couples tell me that they loved their photos, or it made them cry going through their wedding gallery, or the parents of the bride thank me profusely for capturing their daughter’s day or a woman I photograph in a contemporary portrait tells me she can’t believe she is that beautiful…or a senior girl says she feels like a supermodel…it just sends me! In a good way of course! And all those challenges that we talked about in that last question, well, with each new challenge I grow as an artist/photographer and that is a HUGE reward for me. The next rewarding aspect is the tingly, on-top-of-the-world, endorphin energy overload feeling. (I am sure there is a name for this phenomenon–but I don’t know it. I have heard other artists/photographers talk about this feeling too.) But when I am creating photographs, and then it strikes… BAM! I am pushing the shutter, I know I have MADE a photograph instead of taking one.
Q: What is a typical day like for you? Or are there no typical days?
A: Ha, Ha, Ha
Q: Are there any special projects you’re working on at the moment?
A: I have an ongoing project that I am calling the Collection of Queens. I have photographed two of them, and my third Queen has made herself known in my mind. I just have to get all the things together to photograph her. One of my intrinsic photography missions—I guess I can call it that—is to photograph women of all ages allowing them to see their own beauty!!
Q: Are you listening to any music currently that you’d like to tell us about?
A: I love Taylor Swift’s new album! And I do love editing to anything by Usher and Shaggy!
Q: Do you have a favorite brand, flavor, type of coffee?
A: All kinds of coffee!! I LOVE espresso. My favorite coffee drink is Chai tea with espresso shots!!
Thank you so much for your time. I wish you the best of success. You’re welcome back any time to let us know how it’s going!
Dawn Gardner is a wedding and contemporary portrait photographer based in Northern Virginia. She loves her husband, her family, her black dog and any kind of adventure! (camera in hand of course)
Website: www.dawngardner.com
IG: @dgeephotography
