What is Variable Pricing?

Intricate Entanglement goes live at 12:01a.m. PST March 1^st on Damnation Book’s website. How about you take advantage of the Variable Pricing scheme and get a bunch of scary books for yourself or for a friend who has a taste for the darker side of things?

What’s Variable Pricing?

It means that at 12:01am PST on the day new books go live, in this case, March 1st, the newly released e-books on Damnation Book’s website are offered free.

Yes, you read that right, but mind you, only the first e-copy is totally free. After that, and as more people download the e-book, its price rises by 25cents until either:

•   The e-book reaches its full retail price.

Or

• 24 hours passed since it went live.

So, what are you waiting for? Setup that alarm on your watch, cell phone, or kitchen timer. Don’t miss this opportunity to grab some mighty dark fiction…I can hear the distant grating sounds of Damnation Book’s gates opening.

See you there.

About Intricate Entanglement:

Trapped in a lunatic asylum and compelled to listen to the stories of the deranged patients, Doug Pinkham becomes entangled in the twisted mind of a cold-blooded killer. As the reporter tries to get to the bottom of a mysterious murder case, he gets more than he bargained for. He must separate truth from fiction as he realizes he no longer controls his own world. Will Doug manage to escape the asylum, or will the killer’s stories lure him into an enigmatic world full of mazes, each so fascinating that he can’t stop listening?

Author Interview - James Dorr

Today, I'm interviewing fellow Damnation Books author, James Dorr. He was kind enough to accept my invitation to visit with us today.

• First a bit about yourself.  Did you always want to be a writer or when and why did you begin writing? 

When I was a kid I actually wanted to be a scientist, to learn new things about the world around me.  As it happens though, when I grew up I eventually became a technical writer, working for an academic computing center.  In the midst of this I had been a cartoonist and illustrator on my college humor magazine, occasionally writing articles too, and in graduate school I started to write a science/humor column for a weekly "unofficial" newspaper, moving from there to editing another paper, this time a literary and arts weekly.  And so it grew.

• Was it then that you first began to consider yourself a writer?

 Yes and no.  The arts paper spun off into the technical writing gig, my first post-college "real" job, which included editing a monthly house magazine.  Nevertheless I tended to see myself more as an editor (the job also entailed, for instance, putting together manuals and other instructional material) who also wrote when the task required it, rather than a writer per se.  One who cajoled others into writing, then whipped the results into proper English.  After that I worked briefly for a start-up computer software company (which immediately fell prey to "bad" economic times), then freelanced a little (business and consumer topics, including real estate -- good for world building?) and realized at that point that what I was doing was really writing.  Also I was able to use a more flexible schedule to work on writing fiction and poetry, something I'd always wanted to do but that had eluded me, and then, with another turn of the economy, get a regular non-writing job on a part time basis, drop the nonfiction, and concentrate on -- and start to sell -- my more imaginative creative output. 

• What books or writers have influenced you -- and do you have a particular writing "style"? 

Going back to childhood I was an avid reader of science fiction, yet one book that influenced me perhaps even more was the Modern Library Giant edition of The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe.  Add to that the works of Ray Bradbury who perhaps contributed to, when I choose to use it, a relatively lush writing style.  Then, more broadly, add The Complete Greek Tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides which represent the first, and still among the best, literary horror, and, unique to my taste perhaps, various works of Bertolt Brecht which attempt to tie in the epic universality of the ancient works to modern real-world societal horror.  

Stylistically, I attempt to vary my writing according to the needs of the story (or poem) I'm working on, something historically set, for instance -- or something in a completely made up world -- tempting me to a more descriptive, "poetic" style as opposed to a sparer approach I might take to contemporary mystery or horror.  Also, perhaps the influence of Brecht, I'm willing to "distance" readers in some stories, casting them as fables or fairy tales "once upon a time," while in others I may prefer a more immediate, intimate voice, perhaps told in first person. 

• What book or books are you reading now?

 As it happens, I've returned to Ray Bradbury at the moment with a fairly recent collection, A Pleasure to Burn, which puts together his stories on censorship and societal bounds on imagination as a sort of sourcebook for Fahrenheit 451.  However, like many writers, I read much more nonfiction than fiction, sometimes for immediate research purposes, sometimes just to broaden my knowledge, and right now I'm going through a book by Tom Jokinen called Curtains about training to become an undertaker.  Then finally I've been dipping into a just received copy of Illuminated Poems by Allen Ginsberg.

• Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

This one's easy:  generating ideas.  Or more properly speaking, ideas that can be translated into a story or a poem.  Sometimes it does take more than one idea to come together and, possibly through the tension between them, suggest what may become a story, or sometimes a single idea will do, but put into a context, perhaps that of a themed anthology or just something that happened during the day.  Once that's done, though, the real work begins, that of actually writing it.

• Along those lines, do you have a particular work schedule when you're writing? 

Some writers do, and more power to them.  In my case I've never been able to set aside say one or two hours a day and say "that's my writing time."  I'm a slow starter, I procrastinate, and I need to feel I have an open-ended time of at least four hours (preferably more) so that I can get properly started and continue on, if I wish, until I'm exhausted.  That's one reason, I think, that I started to get into fiction seriously when I was freelancing -- nonfiction is another matter, that I can schedule -- in that I could take all night on something if I wanted.  When I had regular work hours again though, I made a point of doing most of my first drafts on weekends, then using more limited weekday time for rewriting as well as the business-side tasks like submitting work and record keeping.   

• What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I enjoy playing music.  I lead and play tenor in a Renaissance recorder consort that performs at local Society for Creative Anachronism functions, and perhaps for me that's a way to be creative but by working with something that someone else wrote.  I also listen to music -- I like jazz, and sometimes I've used jazz themes in my writing -- and watch movies on DVD or VHS (I'm building a collection of obscure classic horror), again to enjoy somebody else's imaginative work.  And for unwinding from my own work sessions I like to take walks, both for the fresh air and to get reacquainted a little with nature. 

• Are there any current projects you'd like to tell us about? 

Yes, I'm expecting to have a full-size poetry book, Vamps (A Retrospective), out later this year from Sam's Dot Publishing.  It will be illustrated by Marge Simon and will, as the title suggests, consist of mostly vampire and vampire-related poetry and art, to be published in early April 2011 if all stays on schedule.  Also, but farther in the future, I've been negotiating with a publisher for a novel composed of stand-alone components -- somewhat like Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles or Christopher Barzak's The Love We Share Without Knowing -- that add up to a larger story set in the "Tombs," a vast necropolis and its environs on a far-future, dying Earth.  As a sort of preview, several Tombs stories have already appeared independently in various places, including one in my collection Strange Mistresses and three in Darker Loves (the latter of which right now, however, won’t be in the novel but may become part of a follow-up volume).

For more details on these and other projects as they come up, as well as occasional "lagniappes" -- free sample stories and poems just for the enjoyment -- readers are invited to check out my doings at http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com 

Comments and suggestions are always welcome. 

James, thank you for stopping by and for answering my questions. Good luck with your books.

AUTHOR BIO FOR JAMES DORR

James Dorr is a short story writer and poet working primarily in dark fantasy and horror with occasional forays into mystery and science fiction.  He has two collections, Strange Mistresses:  Tales of Wonder and Romance and Darker Loves:  Tales of Mystery and Regret, from Dark Regions Press as well as a now out-of-print poetry chapbook, Towers of Darkness, originally in Nocturnal Publications' "Night Visions" series.  Dorr also has a novella, The Garden, available in electronic and print chapbook form from Damnation Books, along with three to four hundred appearances in magazines and anthologies in the US, Canada, Britain, France, Australia, and Brazil ranging from Aboriginal Science Fiction and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine to Xenophilia and The Yellow Bat Review.

A Past and A Future Blog Tour - Winner Announcement

The winner of one copy of "Crash Landing" by author Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz  as part of her A Past and A Future blog tour is ...

Sara Durham

Congratulations, Sara. Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz will contact you shortly. Thank you for taking part in the giveaway and for stopping by Vivid Sentiments.

Su

Author Interview and Giveaway - Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz

This interview with Author Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz is part of her A Past and A Future blog tour.
Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz has published more than 100 articles, 75 stories, two e‑books, a chapbook, and her stories have been included in two anthologies. She writes for both adults and children. Her fiction has appeared in numerous genre and children’s publications and non‑fiction work has appeared in a variety of writing, parenting, and young adult print magazines and on line publications.  She edits for three small independent publishers.

Welcome, Penny. Thanks for visiting Vivid Sentiments.

Hi Su, thank you for the opportunity to talk about my recently released collection of short stories, A Past and A Future.  This book is published by Sam’s Dot Publishing, and is available through Genremall at http://www.genremall.com/anthologiesr.htm#pastfuture

• Tell us a bit about yourself.

I retired from my position as Office Manager for our County District Attorney in 2008.  Since then, I have been able to write full-time.  I am also an editor for MuseItUp Publishing, Damnation Press, and 4RV Publishing.  When I’m not reading as an editor, I enjoy reading for pleasure and primarily read fantasy and science fiction.  My husband and I live in rural Oregon on six acres, and while we’ve had numerous animals in the past, we’re now down to two small dogs and three cats.  We have two grown married children with one 3 year old granddaughter and a grandson due in June.  I also enjoy gardening, crocheting, and water aerobics. I’m trying to learn to knit, but that’s not coming along too well.

• As a child, what did you want to do when you grow up?

This is an easy one!  I wanted to be a writer.  It’s something I’ve always known I wanted to be from the time I started to dream of life after childhood.  It’s nice to finally be a grown up and get to do what I enjoy doing…telling stories and entertaining people.

• When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I always thought of myself as a writer, even when I wasn’t published.  It was hard however to introduce myself to people as “Hi, I’m Penny. I’m a writer.”  Now that I’m retired and writing full time, with several book contracts signed, it’s easier to identify myself as a writer.  I’ve been writing stories for my own enjoyment since I was a child.  If I wasn’t writing stories, I was writing letters to friends, relatives and pen pals.  I still have some of the stories I wrote as a child. It’s fun to read them to school kids when I do an author’s visit.

• Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

I would say the most challenging thing in writing is marketing.  Telling stories is easy, but selling the finished product is hard for me.  I’m not an outgoing person and knocking on doors and asking people to buy my book is difficult.

• What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

When I start to write, I tend to write every day. Since I’m retired, I have the luxury of being able to write whenever I want to and for as long as I want to.  I find my stories play in my head like a movie when the scene is being played out on the computer screen.  Sometimes, I close my eyes, see what’s happening and then start writing.  I like being able to pick and choose when I write, since on beautiful days (which happen only on rare occasions here in Oregon), I like to be out in my garden.  I have found, though, with my recent laptop purchase, I can now take my writing work outside with me.  This is a plus.

The one thing I have to try not to do when I’m on a writing binge is get side-tracked with email, Facebook and Twitter :-)

•  Where do you get your ideas for your books from?

I get my ideas from a lot of different places.  Sometimes, it’s a story someone told me.  For example, my middle grade novel, Ghost for Rent, got its start after a friend told me about ghostly apparitions in the house she was renting.  Other times, I get an idea when I’m reading a newspaper or magazine article.  Ashley of Ashland, in the A Past and A Future collection, came from an article I read in a newspaper.  Rebels with a Cause was prompted by my work as a secretary in our county juvenile department.   My picture book, Boo’s Bad Day, came out of a true life story of our black cat that, during a severe ice storm, climbed up a 75 foot tree and didn’t know how to get down.

• What does your family think of your writing?

I think they have mixed emotions, although they are supportive.  I started my professional writing career when my youngest was ten years old.  At the time, she didn’t believe I was a “real” writer because I focused on non-fiction articles and short stories.  She said I couldn’t be a writer until I had published a book.  That was the beginning of my first  children’sbook, Ghost for Rent.  Now, as a grade school teacher, she has invited me to her classroom to talk to her students and read from my book. My husband is thrilled with me each time I see my name in print. My daughter-in-law is perhaps more excited about my writing than my son, but he also thinks it’s great. My mother, of course, is immensely proud of my writing accomplishments, but isn’t that what moms do best?

• How many books have you written?

My first book was an eBook, Then and Later, which had a short life since the publisher went out of business about a year after publication.  My next book was Ghost for Rent, published by an eBook publisher but also available as a POD.  I’ve written over a hundred short stories for both adults and children which have appeared in a variety of genre and small press magazines and online.  Now that I’m retired, I am more focused on the books.  I have two novelettes coming out from MuseItUp publishing this year and four children’s books coming from 4 RV publishing over the next four years. The recently released A Past and A Future is a collection of some of my favorite short stories.  Some of these were in the original collection, but many are new to this book and a couple have never before been published.

• What do you think makes a good story?

For me a good story needs to entertain me, and I hope I do that when I write my stories.  I’ve had a number of jobs where I dealt with nasty things…working for a women’s crisis center, working at the juvenile department, and working at the district attorney’s office.  So, when I pick up a story to read, I want to be transported to another realm.  I guess this is why I write fantasy and science fiction.  I like good strong characters who also have their flaws.  I tend to include relationships in my stories because I believe those interactions are important to my stories.

• Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, what do you do about it?

I have definitely had dry periods.  I’m not sure they would be considered writer’s block.  When I think of writer’s block, I think of someone sitting at her computer screen unable to think of what to write.  I tend to write in spurts.  I’m not a writer who has to sit down every day to write, although I’ve read in numerous writing manuals that’s what I should do.  When a story idea hits me, I’m ready to go.  If I don’t have an idea in mind, I don’t worry about it.  One will come along.  One thing I have found useful is being able to vary what I write.  If a fiction idea isn’t coming, I can turn to non-fiction. I have had success with writing parenting articles, teen self-help articles, and writing tips. Also switching genres helps…thus my fantasy, science fiction, romance, and children’s stories.

• How do you develop your plots and characters? Do you use any set formula?

I don’t use a set formula.  I’m what is called a “pantster.”  I write from the “seat of my pants.”  When an idea comes along that I want to pursue, I tend to sit down and start writing. Sometimes a character comes to mind first and then has to tell his or her story. When I wrote Down So Low, The Ground Looks Like Up, I had the concept for someone so down on her luck there seemed like no options for her.  The story went from there.  I would have to say that each story develops differently based on what story I want to tell, or what story my character wants to tell.

• What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

My tools, besides my computer, are my collection of writing reference books.  Although my computer has a dictionary, I rely on my good old Random House Webster’s Dictionary.  I also have both the Roget’s Super Thesaurus and Roget’s Thesaurus of Phrases.  I often refer to my Strunk and White, Elements of Style, and The Craft of Writing by William Sloane.  Finally, I’ve become fond of The Writer’s Digest, Grammar Desk Reference.

• Do you look to your own phobias to find subject matter? Are your stories the products of nightmares, childhood experiences, fantasies?

I think most writers do, and I often include things which are either my own or my children’s experiences.  As a woman writer, I like my female characters to be strong, not necessarily physically, but able to find ways to defend themselves.  Sometimes they use magic, sometimes they use their intellect, but I want them to win.  My dad died when I was a child, so I definitely have a fascination with ghosts and the afterlife. 

• Where do you as an author draw the line on gory descriptions and/or erotic content?

I tend to write more PG-13 material than gory descriptions or erotic content.  I think the imagination of the reader is so much more vivid than anything I would want to put on paper.  I will write about sexual relations without describing the act.  I will also write about physical violence but not give graphic descriptions.

•  What are your current projects?

1. A Past and A Future – my latest release, is a collection of sixteen short stories, half are fantasy and half are science fiction. 
2. Ghost for Rent – is a middle grade paranormal mystery. 
3. Dragon Sight – is a young adult illustrated chapbook. 
4. Love Delivery – is a contemporary romance, coming August, 2011.
5. Lady in Waiting – is an historical romance, coming November, 2011.
6. Funny Dog –  is a picture book, coming May, 2012.
7. Ghost for Lunch – is a middle grade paranormal mystery and sequel, coming September, 2013.
8. Many Colored Coats – a picture book, is coming October, 2014.
9. Boo's Bad Day – is a picture book coming June, 2015.

• Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Stories included in A Past and A Future are:
1. Flight of the Roc: What would you do if your master told you to collect a roc's egg?  What would happen if the egg you collected hatched?
2. Blurred Vengeance: Temur's father is murdered.  Will his journey to avenge his father's death bring him what he wants, or will it destroy him?
3. Who Will Heal the Healer: Marzan teaches Niane to control the winds, but what about the winds of fate?  Will Niane be able to save her mentor when the underworld claims him?
4. Ashley of Ashland:   Ashley, a young magician covets his brother's fiance, but what are her feelings?  Can Ashley's magic be enough to save him and his true love?
5. The Watcher: Zerelda is a watcher in a world of women.  When a prince comes to impregnate her ruler, will they find a forbidden love instead?
6. Enchantress:  Merlin knows his fate, but he struggles to stand against it.  Will his powers be stronger than his apprentice’s, or will he find himself a victim of love?
7.Drakoni: She is from this world.  He is from another.  A dragon draws them together.  Will she look beyond his pointed ears and see the man of her dreams? 
8. Heshe: Lyda runs, hiding her identity from her abusive stepfather.  Her rescuer has a secret of his own.  Will they both find happiness or will their pursuers stop them before they find their paradise?
9. The Baby Makers: How far would you go to have a baby if you can't conceive on your own?  Would you accept a clone?  Would you fight for that's child's rights in a world unprepared for it?
10. 3-D Pictures:  Avery's boss thought he was crazy, but was he?  When he stared into the 3-D picture, he saw a land others couldn't.  Will he enter the picture, or accept the doctor's diagnosis?
11. Screen Saver:  Clancy is used to strange people.  His boss represents them.  But when the bullets start flying, will the screen saver save him?
12. Isolation:  The world has died, except for small pockets of isolated communities.   But what if you are tired of the isolation?  What if you wanted to find somewhere to be free?  Would you take the chance?
13. Love in a Different Hue:  Chiri's father is a scientist who invents artificial life.   What should she do when the robot her father created looks better to her than her husband?
14. Down So Low The Ground Looks Like Up:  Sylvan is sensitive to others feelings.  It drives her crazy, so she drinks to dull the pain.  Will Dev, the police officer who finds her, rescue her from her demons?
15. Rebels With a Cause:  Shahleena is bored with her existence.  Will volunteering to help juvenile offenders help her or help them?
16. Clockworks:  John lives in Structured.  His ancestors came from Upheaval.  On a whim, he decides to visit.  What will happen to him when he cannot leave fast enough?

• How did you come up with the title for your book?

Since the collection is half fantasy and half science fiction, I wanted a title which reflected the past and the future.  An earlier collection, which also included both fantasy and science fiction, was Then and Later.  Since I couldn’t use the same title  again, I went with A Past and A Future.

•  Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

Again, since this is a collection, rather than a novel, I don’t think there is any one message.  I write to entertain and allow readers to move outside the present world in which we live.  I think, though, that all my stories have a message of hope.  No matter when, no matter where, things can get better,

•  Are there parts of the book based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

I would say my characters are composites of people I know or have met or seen somewhere.  No one character is exactly like a real person or completely based upon a real person.  However, each character might have a trait or physical resemblance to a living person.

• If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

No.  I like the stories I chose to include in the book.  People who have read it, tell me they are enjoying it.  This is always pleasant feedback for an author to hear.

•  What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Above when I answered a similar question, I said the marketing of the book.  But I would also say the discipline to sit down and actually write and not get distracted by a sunny day or a household project that needs doing. 

•  Where can we find you online?

My website is http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.yolasite.com

My blog is http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com/

Su, I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today.  You asked some great questions.

Thank you, Penny for stopping by. Your books sound interesting and worth checking out. Good luck!

The Giveaway

Leave a comment below with your email address if you would like to win a copy of Crash Landing, a free story not part of the anthology. The author will email the book to one lucky winner.

Giveaway ends Wednesday, February 16, 2011.

The Zargothian Tales: Return of the Son of Hamorin - The Trailer

Yes, I'm back, and I bring with me a bag of goodies.

Well, one goody really, but it's worth it. I've been gone for sometime doing this and that, but mainly I was designing a trailer for a heart warming young adult book:

The Zargothian Tales: Return of the Son of Hamorin by Aidan Lucid.

It is a fantastic story of a boy, who finds a coin that takes him to another world. Oh, boy, what a world!

Here's the blurb:

Outside the walls of Zargothia, two forces will collide in bloody combat. King Zakarius and his Sadarkian army fight for total supremacy; Argoth, king of the humans, and his allies - the Jenormes and the Volarks, fight for their freedom. Argoth's most powerful ally, however, is Henry Simmons, a 15 year-old boy from our world who was transported along with three others (two airmen from 1945 and a cat named Jasper) via a portal to Zargothia to save Argoth and his people. But Henry is no ordinary boy for he has come into possession of a golden coin that holds incredible powers which aids him in the battle. Will young Henry be able to free King Argoth and his people or will he fall to the might of Zakarius' army? The outcome will be revealed in the battle that will change Zargothia forever!

Some of the royalties from The Zargothian Tales: Return of the Son of Hamorin, will go towards helping Friends of ABLE, a charity based in Tralee, Co. Kerry, Ireland. ABLE helps people with disabilities by providing them with an opportunity to gain new skills and then assists individuals in becoming part of or rejoining the workforce.
The lovely illustrations are done by Leonardo Borazio. One illustration (dragon breathing fire on an airplane) was illustrated by John Blackford.

Like the book?

Here are its details:

Title: The Zargothian Tales: Return of the Son of Hamorin

Author: Aidan Lucid

ISBN: 978-0-9819158-2-10-9819158-2-5

Genre:  Fantasy/young adult.

Till next trailer  :-D

Sister Hoods - Book Review

Sister Hoods by P.L. Blair

ISBN Number: 978-0-9796974-4-9
Genre: Fantasy/Suspense
Publisher: Studio See

Buy Link: http://www.studiosee.com/sisterhoods.aspx

Sister Hoods starts with a robbery carried out by Nymphs and Satyrs, an attempt to stop developments on a magical forest, the Woodlands. Detectives Kat and her partner Tevis get involved in their capacity as officers of the law, but soon their role is changed dramatically. The rest of their elite team (Wizard Arvandus, his nephew—a half lovetalker—Gairth, the Djinn Achmed, and a Hobgoblin who calls himself Jorge Ramirez) who monitor and fight magical crimes get involved as well in this race against time to save the magical land, to let a sleeping wyvern be. An awakened wyvern is not a good thing. First it goes through a random killing spree, and then it feeds until it gorges itself on food; humans.

P.L. Blair did it again.
She’d created this otherworldly world of magic, wizards, spells, enchanted devices and locations. There were fantastically beautiful creatures with the power to turn their allure into a deadly weapon, example, unicorns and Nymphs to name a couple.

The characters are amazing, even the secondary ones. I felt an instantaneous liking to one such character (a secondary one,) Elaine Todd. She stood out and I’m still not sure of the reason. Perhaps she reminded me of someone I know or maybe her strong personality was something that impressed me! This shows Ms. Blair’s solid grip on human nature.

Achmed the Djinn came through in a touching scene, one that showed a clear character development. That scene warmed my heart, made me change my mind about Achmed’s coldness.This is a book that can be read by adults and teens, even smaller kids if they can handle the big words. It would be a pity for any to miss this world.

A great job indeed

Top Ten Reasons to Write about Zombies by Karina Fabian

Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, by Karina Fabian, takes place 30 years in the future when causes unknown make people to rise from the grave. Unlike the dystopic tales like Zombieland, Fabian's world has taken measures to curtail the spread of disease. The result: zombies are pests and nuisances--and who better to take care of such things than an exterminator?
Neeta Lyffe is a professional exterminator down on her luck when a zombie she sets on fire stumbles onto a lawyer's back porch. Desperate for money, she agrees to host a reality TV show where she'll train apprentice exterminators in a show that crosses the worst of The Apprentice with Survivor with Night of the Living Dead. Can she keep her bills paid, her ratings up, and her plebes alive and still retain her sanity?
Now, here are the Top Ten Reasons to Write about Zombies ((In no particular order, from the home office of Karina Fabian, author of Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator)
10. They're the next big trend! Forget your sparkly vampires--maggoty zombies are the hot literary trope in the fantasy horror world!
…okay, this is really a lame reason to write about them. Write what you enjoy and what's in your heart--make the trend; don't follow it. However, this is the first time I actually was part of the current, and it's a new experience for me. Wonder if it will mean much sales-wise.
9. Need to incorporate all five senses? Zombie stench makes that easy!
8. There's so much uncharted territory. Let's face it--if you have to add glitter to your vampires to make them new, the genre's been done. Zombies are still wide open. Really--see the guts?
7. No more pressure to put in that sex scene to bump ratings
6. You can abuse them freely. They're dead. You can whack off their heads without remorse. Or, if you choose to go for the legs and leave them crawling and groaning "flesh wound!" it's funny. Bonus--the ASPCA doesn't care about them!
5. Body humor! No one can lend you a hand with that better than a zombie! (From Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator: " He moved in to cover her while she checked out some zombie spoor: dried skin, a rotting finger, what looked like part of a nose. Must have been some sneeze. ")
4. Easy to write dialogue for.
3. What a literary device. In Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, I use zombies as a foil to attack some of the finer aspects of society--conspiracy theorist, radical ecologists, activists, etc. It was a lot of fun to point at these groups with a rotting finger.
2. When you've explored all aspects of life, what's left? Oh, wait!
1. To prove you have the braaaiiiins for it!

Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator is available from Damnation Books here. Want to learn more about your favorite apprentice, catch up on all the episodes, and learn more about the strong, sincere and totally hot Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator? Visit The Zombie Death EXTREME website here:  http://www.zombiedeathextreme.com/index.php.

About Karina Fabian:

From zombie exterminators to dragon detectives to nuns in space, Karina Fabian's universes make readers laugh, cry and think. Winner of the 2007 EPPIE Award for best sci-fi and the 2010 INDIE Award for best fantasy, she lets her characters take her where they will and is never disappointed. Karina Fabian is married to Colonel Robert Fabian. They and their four kids call home wherever the Air Force sends them. Learn more at www.fabianspace.com

Sister Hoods by P.L. Blair - The Book Trailer

Author P.L. Blair was kind enough to request a trailer for Sister Hoods, her fourth book in the "Portals" series, and is a continuation of the adventures of Kat Moralez and Tevis McLeod, Corpus Christi police detectives. Their days are spent dealing with a world complicated by the opening of Portals between our normal "human" world, and a parallel world of magic and home of all manner of mythological creatures.

In Sister Hoods, police detectives Kat Morales, and her elven partner Tevis McLeod deal with dark wizards, satyrs, wyverns and a deep forest pulsing with ancient magic in this tale of a modern-day real-estate developer and evil double-dealing. And the whole thing begins with a bank robbery perpetrated by three sister nymphs and their satyr accomplices.

Pat, thanks for this opportunity!

It’s Complicated…

Not my life, but the book trailer that kept me away from blogging for sometime. To be fair, Intricate Entanglement is not the only culprit. I’ve been busy writing and designing other projects. So, there you have it…I’ve been in front of the computer for so long that part of the chair’s leather is now attached to my glorious behind.
So, about Intricate Entanglement:
Damnation Books contracted it with a release date of March 1st, 2011. This is exciting because this story IS complicated. It takes place in a mental asylum for the criminally insane, and you get a royal tour of some of the sick minds that reside there. 7 stories in total, if you don’t count the eighth one, the mega one, the mama that connects them all together.

Here’s a bit about the book:
Trapped in a lunatic asylum and compelled to listen to the stories of the deranged patients, Doug Pinkham becomes entangled in the twisted mind of a cold-blooded killer. As the reporter tries to get to the bottom of a mysterious murder case, he gets more than he bargained for. He must separate truth from fiction as he realizes he no longer controls his own world. Will Doug manage to escape the asylum, or will the killer’s stories lure him into an enigmatic world full of mazes, each so fascinating that he can’t stop listening?

And here’s the updated/modified/revamped trailer. Since I design book trailers for myself and others, I did it again--> I went to that special place, a soft ethereal cloud like, where I go when creativity hits me. :-D

His to Possess is on Examiner.com

Today, Bertena Varney, the Vampire Sociologist, showcased His to Possess on Examiner.com here:

http://www.examiner.com/paranormal-literature-in-national/his-to-possess-by-su-halfrek-is-a-2011-epic-awards-nominee

I’m beside myself with joy and couldn’t help but share it with you here.

Bertena has several pages on Examiner.com:
1. Lexington-Vampire-Examiner
2. National True Blood Examiner
3. Paranormal Literature Examiner
4. Cultural Events Travel Examiner
5. Lexington New Age Examiner
6. Associated Content
You can find out more about her on her official website.
Also, visit her blog where she discusses, reviews, and promotes books.
She's one energetic lady :-D
Bertena, thank you!

His to Possess – An EPIC Finalist

Yes! His to Possess, is a finalist in the Paranormal Romance Category of the prestigious 2011 EPIC eBook Awards Competition™.
The rush and excitement that came with the news flooded my heart with joy; recognition as one of the worthy is indeed a different ballgame.
I’m honored, and would like to express my sincere "thank you" to the anonymous judges.
Writing is my passion, I won’t last long if I stopped the creation of my worlds and ceased to invite others to visit and play with me. If that ever happened, I might go insane, or rather become insaner.. :-)
The writing of His to Possess took much shorter time than any other story, and I've written short stories before. A soft and fluffy feeling encircled me while writing it. Even now, talking about it make me smile with joy. There's something about writing a story that challenges the author to come up with a plausible solution to an impossible situation.

In His to Possess, Stacy doesn’t know that a dashing ghost is in love with her, but when she conjures him one stormy night, he charms her to her core.

After weeks of watching Stacy turn the act of book appraising into a tantalizing experience, Jeremy—once untouchable and invisible—discovers that Stacy is more than just an infatuation. She’s all he wants, and she’s staring right at him, not through him.

A passionate kiss seals the deal and kindles their hearts with burning passion for each other. But if given the choice, will Jeremy selfishly have her join him in the realm of the dead, or allow fate to keep Stacy alive—and thus apart from him?

When Stacy searches deeper into their connection to discover the ultimate truth about their relationship, does she find out that this is another fateful blow to her heart or a new chance at love? As former lovers and thieves in the night attempt to tear them apart, their love is put to the ultimate test.

If you were in Stacy’s shoes, would you fall for a ghost? Perhaps you’ll be motivated to answer if you glimpse her ghost!

Here’s the book's trailer (created by yours truly). Go ahead, see Jeremy :-)

His to Possess is available here:

• Publisher: Devine Destinies:
• Amazon
• All Romance eBooks
• MobiPocket

Author Interview: Clare Dargin

Clare Dargin is an author of science fiction and science fiction romance books. Her newest work “Speculative Sky” is available from Red Rose Publishing.

 

•  What inspired you to write this book?

Well, ever since I was a child I always wanted to be a writer. It was a dream of mine to be published and to write stories that everyone could enjoy. Speculative Sky was created because I’ve always had a fascination with stories about Extra-Terrestrial Life and S.E.T.I. and I wanted to integrate such a story with a female character as a strong and intelligent lead.

 

• Do you have a specific writing style?

Yes I do but I am not sure what to call it. When people read my work I want them to feel as if they are right there in the midst of it all. I want them to be able to hear, taste, smell and see the action as if it is happening all around them. I also tend to write tight stories with quick pacing. It's what I like to read and consequently how I write.

•  What is the name of your latest book? And how did you come up with the title?

To be honest I’ve always been attracted and fascinated by the abstract and the symbolic. I wanted the title to be symbolic of what April Mullen, the main character, has to deal with as an Astronomer and all that came with her assignment.

•  What is Speculative Sky about?

It is about a woman who takes a chance and leaves for an assignment on a science colony far away from Earth. As an astronomer it is her job to monitor the stars at night and to record her findings. Nothing more than that. But when she arrives, she notices that her new home is a bit odd, and that though there is evidence of life out there… they don’t want her to either acknowledge it or do anything about it. She of course finds this troubling.
Here’s an excerpt:
“I’m sure that’s the case but how can I not be excited over this? It’s the find of a lifetime,” she said reveling in the thought of making contact with extra-terrestrial life.

“You don‘t have to try to impress us. Just do you your work and you‘ll be fine.”

“What does that mean?”

 “It means you don’t worry about it. There is plenty of research to be done. You could spend your entire lifetime studying the Jugis Star Cluster alone.”

“Haven’t you ever looked up in the sky and wondered if there was anyone else out there?”

“Of course I have. And if anyone back home asks, tell them it’s just us,” he said finishing off his drink.

 Speculative Sky is available from Red Rose Publishing: http://redrosepublishing.com/books/product_info.php?products_id=681

• What books have most influenced your life most?

To be honest, in fiction category, it would have to be the old star wars books that came out in the eighties after Return of the Jedi. The expanded universe books taught me more about atmospheric and expanded universe development then any book I know! I read them over and over again and learned about non-human creature development, planetary science fiction and description of space travel and not to mention how to write a cool leading man. I still read them!

• If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Douglas Preston and/or Lincoln Child. They write incredibly compelling books of which I generally can't put down.

• What book are you reading now?

To be honest and I am almost finished with “Book of the Dead” with Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I'll be going through their back list very soon in order to get caught up.

• Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Last night I was thinking about the Friday House about D. K. Gaston and how it's a compelling story about assassins who have no memory of their being programmed and stuff. I think it's cool. And several books on the military scifi romance front that I have recently heard about. I write in a tiny subgenre so it's nice to see what other authors are doing in it. That way I don't get lonely!

• What are your current projects?

 Presently I am finishing up the final editing for “Ice and Peace” the sequel to Cold Warriors. As well as having another expanded universe book in the works. Not to mention, two futuristic romances that are completely different from my military fiction.

• Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.

The Motown Creative Writers Group-- they helped get on the road to being published. And not to mention the many groups in the Romance community. They really pointed me in the right direction. I'm grateful for that.

• Do you see writing as a career?

Yes! One day I hope to do it full time.

• If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

Yeah that's why I have to hurry up and get it out of my hands cause I keep changing it!

• Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

As a child my father use to encourage it. I use to write stories for my family and give it to them and they would say “Maybe one day you could get this published!” I was like five.... and then when I was in middle school I found out that S. E. Hinton had been published at sixteen-- I became truly determined then.

• Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Yea, getting through the first draft!

• Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Just get the first draft down on paper and don't be afraid to make stupid mistakes and have dumb lines on paper cause it's the first draft and you are allowing the characters to come alive. Later on you can fix and micro manage but don't try to do it the first time through cause it will stifle your creativity.

• Do you have any advice for other writers?

Don't give up on being published! Try every avenue! There is away for you!

 

Clare, thank you for visiting Vivid Sentiments, and good luck with your book.

You can find Clare on any of these links:

• The Haven http://www.claredargin.host22.com/
• Scifi Romance http://www.coldwarriors.com/
• My Blog http://www.claredargin.bravejournal.com/

Morpheus Tales' Review of Zuphreen

Zuphreen ~ Bestower of Damnation was reviewed by Morpheus Tales, a quarterly magazine, featuring the highest quality fiction, artwork and non-fiction.

I love the reviewer’s take on the story and the metaphorical elements in the book. Here’s a small peek into the review:
“…right from the initial incantation and from there the story takes us on a riveting trip through a teenage wasteland beset with supernatural creatures, and to be perfectly honest, I don’t know which is most frightening.”

To read more, please follow this link to their 10th issue in PDF format: http://www.morpheustales.com/reviews.htm
Thanks, Christian!

Taming Temptations

The need to curb a desire can bump up the temptation's level in one's life; like the craving for chocolate while dieting, or the urge to have excessive sex while partner/spouse/lover is out of town. Too much of a good thing, is bad.
What makes it harder to resist temptations is the conceived theorization to just-have-it, whatever ‘it’ may be. I knew a girl who believed plastic surgeries were her way to happiness; a nose job here, a lift there, a tuck in that corner, and voila! She would feel all different, all new. She did look all different and all new!
Loneliness and inactivity can weaken us enough to succumb easily to temptations.
Leading a busy life leaves no time for, let’s say, bingeing on chocolate. Yes, there will be the occasional morsels here and there, but they won’t come close to the quantities consumed while watching TV, for example.
Think of all the ‘anonymous’ groups; there is strength in numbers; solidarity brings people together to develop a solution, a way out, a distraction.
However, there are those odd temptations, the ones that are more delicious if they remain untamed.

Magnolia Colby, in Untamed Temptation, my shapeshifter romance, suffers her fears and doubts alone, never possessing the valor to find more of or about her kind. She’d chosen that path out of consideration for other’s safety, but ended up almost sacrificing herself out of self-imposed unknowingness. She had attempted to control the untamed, her otherness. Add to that, her attraction to Alex, who had failed—no, refused, to resist her.
Tangled in her emotional turmoil, the Amazon jungle, and her self-doubt, Magnolia must choose between surrendering blindly to the untamed temptation churning within her heart, or taking a chance on Alex to find her true soul and peace with him.

Deathtalker - Book Review

Deathtalker by P.L. Blair

ISBN Number: 978-0-9796974-3-2
Genre: Fantasy/Suspense
Publisher: Studio See

Buy Link: http://www.studiosee.com/deathtalker.aspx

Deathtalker by P.L. Blair is the third book in her Portals series. It is fantasy and detective adventures mixed into one preternatural package. There are spells, unique powers, and creatures from another world. There’s one such creature who crossed the portal from the Otherside—the non-human one—and chose Corpus Christi as his hunting ground. His victims are women who had one mistake in common, falling in love.
Detective Kat Morales and her elven partner, Tevis McLeod are on the hunt for this serial killer, whose hunger is rivaled only by his vengeful nature. Both detectives are members of an elite little team led by Arvandus the wizard, whose main task is to face threats from the Otherside.
The question is not whether they will find the Deathtalker, but whether they will survive him.

I admit, I haven’t read the first two books of the series, but I didn’t feel lost or missing details. Whenever necessary, there were explanations that didn’t give away the previous books’ plot, but shed light on this magical world of P.L. Blair's.
I enjoyed this dull-moments-lacking story. There are mythical creatures who aren’t as cute or helpful as we were given to believe in folklore.
Deathtalker is a solid, well written, and intriguing story. It draws you in and doesn’t let go. You keep cheering the good guys, and you hate the bad guy’s gut enough to want to throttle him.
There were, however, times when I missed the romantic attraction/s in the book. And although the main characters were interesting, Kat was a bit indistinct at times; there was more in this book about the non-human’s powers than about her as a human. This could be because it’s the third book in the series, perhaps more about her was revealed in the previous two books.

Will I be reading another book by P.L. Blair? Definitely! I just need to decide whether I’ll go for the previous two or the ones following Deathtalker!

Perhaps all.