John Catenacci - Dianna's Way - Author Interview & Guest Post

About the Book

Dianna is a young woman in her late 20’s when she meets John, a man in his late 40's. They fall in love and marry. A central feature of their life plan is to have one child to fulfill her fervent lifelong dream of being a mother.

Not to be.

Not long into their marriage, Dianna discovers she has an aggressive form of breast cancer.

Hand in hand, they begin a 17 year spiritual journey into the nature of love and healing. Along the way, she discovers and fulfills her life purpose and, in the process, takes John by the hand, gently helping him to reveal, then fulfill, his own.

In the beginning, John, being much older, thought he would be her teacher but gradually discovers in the most important dimensions of life quite the opposite is true. With Dianna’s guidance, he ultimately discovers we are all teachers, we are all students and we are all one.

Theirs is a story of courage, determination and a lightness of being, as they descend into the deepest valleys of crushing disappointment, pain and suffering only to rise again to ever higher peaks of appreciation, gratitude and love. Throughout it all, their journey is laced with light and laughter.

Even today, after her passing, they continue their relationship, piercing the Illusion that veils this reality, exploring its limits while continuing a spiritual journey without end.

Author Interview

Open your book to a random page and tell us what’s happening.
In my reality, nothing in life is random — or accidental. When I was about to write this response, I happened to look out the window and saw three – three – hummingbirds dancing around a honeysuckle – have never seen this before – like Dianna saying “talk about the hummingbird chapter.”

While I was writing the book, it occurred to me to use a hummingbird as one metaphor for how Dianna lived her life – flitting from person to person, embracing their love whole heartedly while impregnating each one with a simple grace, unflagging humor and ineffable love in return, all in one magical spontaneous exchange.

The look of triumph on her face, her excitement and joy, when the first hummingbird showed up in our yard was unforgettable. She had worked so hard for several years, planting for them, and finally there it was, this little Ruby Throated blur. In that moment I saw, once again, her determination, patience, faith, appreciation and gratitude all in one tiny vignette during one day of our lives.

Do you plan any subsequent books?
An already almost fully formed book is in my mind now. Better writers than I have said don’t talk about a book idea or the energy for writing it will bleed away, leaving it stillborn.

John's wife, Dianna

Tell us what you’re reading at the moment and what you think of it.
The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die by John Izzo and The Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware because I am old enough now where I should pay attention to these things — probably before tomorrow — and A Broken Sausage Grinder by Hank Thomas, a friend of mine and The Almost Archer Sisters by Lisa Gabriele, a relative and friend of mine. I often read several books at a time, switching back and forth depending on my mood. All are interesting in different ways and for different reasons.

There is so very much talent in the world isn’t there?

***

Price: $16.95 paperback
ISBN: 9780985247904
Pages: 365
Release: December 14, 2012


About the Author

After spending his youth doing cement construction work while getting his education, John Catenacci earned a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He went on to work on the Apollo 11 Project as a member of the USAF in California, then as an engineer for the Dow Chemical Company in Midland, MI, doing both process research as well as designing and building chemical plants.

Mid-career he became interested in group dynamics, leading to another 20-year career in team building that took him across the U.S., Canada, Europe and Saudi Arabia.

With a sprinkling of published short stories and articles in small magazines along the way, his abiding passion has always been writing, something now coming to fruition in this, his first book.

Connect with John:
Web Site
Facebook
Blog Tour Site

Giveaway:

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Suzanne Stroh - Tabou - Author Interview & Giveaway (explicit content warning)

Due to a lack of entries, there is no giveaway winner.

About the Book

Teenage brewing heiress Jocelyn Russet begins her Odyssey as erotic love and adventure collide with hidden desires, forgotten memories and secret histories in Book One of the five-part TABOU saga.

When disaster strikes after pursuing her heart's desire in a Swiss ski chalet, Joss locks horns in a London ballroom with another fiery, powerful heiress from a different generation: Patience Herrick, daughter of the three-time American ambassador to Britain. Their fireworks launch a double coming-of-age story that jets from Madeira to Capri, from Paris to Boston, with its unexpected climax in New York's '21' Club.

Why can't they remember their first meeting in the Virginia countryside when Joss had been a girl of six and Patience had been a raging addict? What key does this forgotten memory hold, ten years later, as revenge strikes and terror looms in Los Angeles?

Meanwhile, Joss fights dynastic pressures. "Show me the legacy of a lesbian couple," challenges her English mother.

“A girl could be born rich, but nobody was born a hero," as Joss soon discovers on the eve of a first date that will rock her world and change her life forever.

Author Interview

1. Please tell us about your current release.
Patience launches my sexy quintet of novels, TABOU, a saga that spans 100 years on four continents and recounts the erotic Odyssey of Jocelyn Russet, the 27-year old brewing heiress born in London and raised in the Virginia countryside.

In each book, Jocelyn meets her destiny on one big night, when her fate turns on secret histories and forbidden encounters with a different woman every time. The novels interlock, as in The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell, and they can be read in any order, thanks to the Prologues that open each novel and the indexes that help readers keep track of the cast of characters. The whole project hearkens to the heyday of the 19th century novel, where readers could immerse themselves in detailed worlds peopled by dozens of characters. Edgy, modern action and full-spectrum erotic writing updates the series to give it a “classic modern” feel.

Book One is a double love story that is part rollicking adventure, part sexy romp through the glittering 1980s and 1990s, set in London and Los Angeles. It’s the tale of two British-born heiresses of different generations, Jocelyn Russet and Patience Herrick, both coming of age at the same time. Are they made in heaven, or star-crossed? What forgotten memories do they share, what secret legacies must they uncover and take charge of, and why are their families being targeted for terror?

2. Can you tell us about the journey that led you to write your book?
TABOU began as an unproduced Hollywood screenplay that focused on Jocelyn and Sylvie Russet and Jocelyn’s climbing partner, Zander Duffield. It fulfilled the basic requirements of good drama: three act structure and a compelling narrative with a love interest and an antagonist. I dreamed of Catherine Deneuve in the role of the 45-year-old Cognac heiress, Sylvie Russet, in the vein of INDOCHINE, the blockbuster epic Deneuve had just starred in so magnificently, but the movie project fell through.

My characters had really come to life, and now they wouldn’t let me go. Early on, I realized that there were deeper stories I wanted to tell about how love and Eros, business and spy craft, run in families just like other heritable traits. Telling stories that spanned four generations or more required a format more ambitious than film, or even a single novel. It took years for me to find the right “glue” that would bind nine families together on four continents over four generations. The day I realized Patience Herrick was an epic heroine strong enough to parry Jocelyn and Sylvie, with her own family business story that could carry a quintet, I knew I had a series on my hands. Aurore de Fillery and Valerie Drummond, Countess of Tiffin and Ross, sprung out of that seed. And soon I could see the organic whole taking shape.

So Book One of TABOU is a love letter to the real Patience. She is one of only two characters in TABOU modeled closely after a single person; the rest are truly composites.

TABOU is not autobiographical fiction, but it does draw deeply from my experience, and it is fair to say that as a mountaineer, motorcyclist, screenwriter, field medic and family business specialist based in the Virginia countryside, I truly live what I write about in TABOU.

I worked feverishly on the first draft of TABOU six days a week while still nursing my baby daughter, completing it in about seven months. Then I took a break and re-read a lot of period biographies, along with two great novel cycles from the late 1950s that compliment one another and balance the stylistic influences of TABOU.

First I re-read The Alexandria Quartet, a literary masterpiece by Lawrence Durrell, whose artistic aim was to explore the four dimensions of love in an era when Einstein had just discovered time as the fourth dimension of space. I followed that with another run-through of the Peter and Charlie Trilogy by Gordon Merrick, published after Merrick’s death from 1959-1961. This was a serious work of literary erotica by a successful author of gay “potboilers,” his explicit, homoerotic romances that critics had ghettoized. Merrick was a major talent. But as E.M. Forster had done with Maurice, he refused to publish the Peter and Charlie books during his lifetime. The subject matter was too taboo.

No longer! What really gripped me about the Peter and Charlie books, besides the first class erotic writing, was the family saga. What other gay epic gave the heroic lovers children—and the struggles of parenthood pitted against Eros? Merrick was taking Durrell’s “fourth dimension” (the enduring powers—both creative and destructive--of love over time) to the next level. Literary giants like Forster, Lawrence, Woolf, Sackville-West and others had dreamed about it—but never accomplished it. I wanted all that sexy continuity for TABOU…and more.

For readers around the world, generations of their own family histories have been lost because of taboos that forbid truth telling about the wide range and variety of sexual desire and experience, not to mention its power to transform history. Helen’s face launched 1,000 ships, remember? Bosie’s charms landed Oscar Wilde in prison. Who paid the price? Who inherited the spoils?

Historians and biographers have become franker in writing colorful and meaningful gay, lesbian and bisexual lives. Recent biographies of Alan Turing and Walt Whitman vie with my personal favorite by Victoria Glendinning, Vita, in the pantheon. But the living legacies of these lives remain unclaimed by their heirs, or else squandered. Who knows the adventures of her great-great gay uncle, or the heroic deeds of his three-greats lesbian aunt? Greta Garbo’s niece threatens legal action against those who pry too deeply into Garbo’s life story, as if their consanguinity is still a threat. For those of us who crave connection and continuity across generations, James Joyce made much of the difference between spiritual paternity and actual paternity in Ulysses, but does anybody remember? Dolly Wilde told anyone who would listen, in Paris between the wars, that she was more like her uncle Oscar Wilde than he was like himself. But when she died, that continuity appeared to have vanished…until, out of the blue, Jamie O’Neill wrote a brilliant novel called At Swim, Two Boys, which revealed him as the spawn of the gay Wilde and the hetero Joyce. Why have so few talented writers addressed this huge gap in consanguinity and continuity between us and our queer forebears?

This is the great question that spurred me on through many drafts to finish and publish TABOU now. My mission: to mind the gap. Then to bridge it, one erotic fiction at a time, since we have lost the links in the real human daisy chain over the last century.

I bring an unusual perspective to TABOU. As a descendant of John Hart, who signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and as a fifth-generation owner of the international Stroh’s brewing business that had been in my family since 1848 in America, then back to 1509 in the Palatinate (Germany), it seemed like nowhere was this yawning gap more visible than in my own milieu. So I built the mythology of TABOU around the world I was born into and raised in and now pass down to my daughter: the world of political dynasties and business families that bears some resemblance to the Olympian heights. Here on Earth, with the help of the “chattering classes,” it’s a world that has taken such painstaking care to trace its own history from generation to generation for centuries. But it’s a history that has left out the biggest change agent of all: the wide variety of sexual experience that perennially inspires us, nourishes our souls, enlivens our art, and strengthens our connections between love and Eros in every generation.

I don’t want to spoil it for you, but one of my beta readers summarized what I’d accomplished like this: “At first I was like, ‘who are these people?’ And then I got it! They’re dripping rich and saving the world!”

3. What book on the market does yours compare to? How is your book different?
TABOU is a literary reader’s Fifty Shades of Grey, without the BDSM. It has great sex writing, like Fifty Shades of Grey, but it is neither mommy porn nor genre fiction built on the formula for stock erotica. The gaps between the sex scenes are much longer, and those gaps are filled with more intriguing plots that involve many more characters. It also presents all kinds of couples in love: gay, straight, bisexual, single and partnered, young and old, able-bodied and disabled, faithful and unfaithful to their spouses.

Like the novel series by Edward St. Aubyn, TABOU is set in a glittering world of bluebloods and elites. But these elites are not your typical “1%.” Unlike St. Aubyn’s abusive elites, TABOU’s international elites are productive, not destructive. They are on a mission led by a moral code, a reason for being—a higher purpose that is revealed progressively as characters accept hidden legacies and face life-threatening challenges after discovering secret histories.

4. What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
I’d start with the sex writing. Very little literary fiction published today has truly great sex writing in it that explores the full range of sexual experience. And almost no erotica delivers the deep satisfaction of a good literary novel. My work bridges this gap. You won’t find hot sex every 30 pages, as in genre fiction. But you’ll keep every volume of TABOU by your bedside, no matter whom you share your bed with!

My writing is a personal blend of deep artistic influences in several genres, including biography, giving rise to some unconventional quirks. One of my goals has been to counteract the predictability of so much contemporary fiction, in part by re-inventing the experience of really getting lost in a juicy 19th century saga peopled with dozens of fascinating characters, each with his or her own vivid storyline. To make it easier for readers to follow all the characters, I’ve provided character indexes, the way a biographer would index a biography.

Technically, TABOU requires commitment from the reader, in the way that the music of Kanye West is challenging—but worth it. It’s not a breezy read; nor is it a slim volume. It takes at least 100 pages to “get into” a novel cycle this big, but then you’re hooked, if you’re like 50% of my beta readers who became addicted! TABOU’s pleasures are deeper. They grow on you.

For instance, TABOU is ambitious in throwing out the conventional linear narrative in favor of the pleasures of being able to peek into the future and to jump back into the past instantaneously. A benefit of blending the past, the present and the future together in every book is that you can read the books in any order. It’s kind of like enjoying the possibility of multiple endings in a computer game. You will have a unique experience of TABOU, depending on how you choose to read it. The dual narratives begin, in Book One, on the same March day in 1993 and 2003, each progressing from there. You know you’re in a flashback, recalling past events, when you see dialog ‘in single quotes like this.’ Dialog in the main story “looks like this.” And future events are written in bold italics. You won’t get confused because all this is explained in the Author’s Note that appears in the end matter of every TABOU eBook.

Readers will also notice lots of interior dialog, reflecting multiple points of view, along with lots of verb phrases in my books. Screenwriting has taught me to craft edgy sentences that begin with verb phrases. It’s a screenwriters’ convention that energizes the pace and adds immediacy to the narrative.

5. Open your book to a random page and tell us what’s happening.
It’s 4:00 p.m. in Los Angeles in 1993 at the height of the “British invasion” of Hollywood. Patience Herrick, daughter of the three-time American ambassador to Great Britain, pretty much rules the city’s social calendar. Tonight she needs to get out of throwing a dinner party in Bel Air for a French champagne princess, where the Hollywood elite will mingle with the US Vice President—all so she can celebrate her tenth anniversary with Jocelyn Russet, the love of her life, the brewing heiress Patience seduced in a London ballroom. So tonight is a date made in heaven—that Patience completely forgot about.

She calls her best friend Calandra Seacord for help. Calandra can definitely host the party in her place; she’s Greek and gorgeous, an Arianna Huffington double, married to the man running for Governor of California. Calandra and Patience grew up together in London. Patience knows her well and loves her like a sister. But Patience doesn’t know everything. Calandra is a secret agent working for the champagne princess, hunting down unprosecuted Nazi war criminals, kidnapping them, and bringing them to mock trials in order to recover stolen assets. Calandra can’t risk being seen socially with the princess, so she has to make up a plausible reason why she can’t do this important favor tonight for Patience.

There’s another problem: Patience is a world-class judge of character. Nothing slips past her. Calandra can’t let Patience on to her secret. So in order to distract Patience, Calandra reveals the biggest secret of Patience’s life. And when she does, Patience begins a journey of recalling lost memories that will change her life forever….starting with her anniversary date tonight….

6. Do you plan any subsequent books?
Book Two, Jocelyn, is now available. Book Three, Sylvie, will go on sale in time for the 2012 holiday season. The cycle will conclude with Books Four and Five in 2013. Each TABOU book features a sneak preview of the next book.

7. Tell us what you’re reading at the moment and what you think of it.
I’ve always got a few books going at any given time. I love reading in multiple genres. Do you?

In erotic fiction, I’ve started Fifty Shades Darker by EL James, and while it’s a fun, breezy read with the sex writing as good as ever, I’m not surprised to find the thin plot growing even thinner. I love to read great sex writing, but I like it in better taste and more measured doses with deeper character development, more going on with more characters, and exciting story lines. I much preferred The Last Nude by Ellis Avery, which I devoured, almost in one sitting. It’s about the cocaine-fueled obsession of Modernist painter Tamara de Lempicka for her 17-year old model Raphaela, whose portraits secured Lempicka’s rock star status in Paris between the wars. I’m also reading Afterimage by Helen Humphreys, the fictional account of another muse obsession, this time by pioneer English photographer Julia Margaret Cameron for her housemaid.

Two graphic novels have captured my attention. I just finished really Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home. It’s the first work by Bechdel I can really connect with. It’s a very compelling, but heavy, memoir by a Midwestern intellectual whose closeted father took his own life when Alison came out as a lesbian. I’ve turned now to Logicomix, the story of Bertrand Russell’s quest to lay a unified foundation for mathematics, set in Edwardian England and beyond. Apart from The Invention of Hugo Cabret, it may be the most beautiful graphic novel I’ve ever read. It took four authors and artists to make it: Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos Papadimitriou, Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna. What a cool collaboration.

Nonfiction titles are always by the bedside and on my Kindle. By the bedside is Marina Warner’s scholarly book about the Tales of the Arabian Nights, Stranger Magic. It’s well researched and beautifully published. Comprehensive. Kate Summerscale’s biography of Toughie Carstairs, The Queen of Whale Cay, made me laugh out loud. She was the very butch Standard Oil heiress who ran an ambulance unit in World War I and then became “the fastest woman on the water” racing hydroplanes between the wars. My father would have seen her challenge the Harmsworth Cup on the St. Clair River in Detroit in 1929 and 1930. After she lost both races, Toughie retired to the Bahamas, where she became the autocratic ruler of her own island.

I try to read in French as much as I can. Right now I’m gripped by Francesco Rappazzini’s biography of Elizabeth de Gramont, set in Paris during the first half of the 20th century, which has never been translated. The “red duchess” Lily de Gramont, from one of France’s oldest families, was Proust’s fact-checker; she was the best friend of the man Proust pined for; and she was the only woman Natalie Barney could never control: they were lovers for 45 years. If you don’t read French, you can get an idea of “Natly’s” escapades with Lily de Gramont in Diana Souhami’s wonderful and hilarious book, Wild Girls.

***

Tabou can be purchased at:
Kindle, Nook, MyBookOrders.com

Price/Format: $2.50 ebook
Pages: 463
Publisher: Publish Green
Release: October 11, 2011


About the Author

Suzanne Stroh is a screenwriter and film producer, author of published case studies on family business. She grew up in Michigan where her family brewed Stroh’s beer for five generations. She studied art history at Wellesley College and Newnham College, Cambridge then worked in the New York art world before turning to writing. A mountaineer and field medic, she lives with her family in the Virginia countryside. TABOU is her first novel.

Connect with Suzanne:
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Facebook
Blog
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Blog Tour Site


About the Giveaway

Leave a comment with your email address to win a PDF of Tabou. Ends 10/31/12.

Elisabeth Doyle - War Stories: Short Fiction - Author Interview & Giveaway

About the Book

We all carry our own battle scars.

This is the premise of War Stories, a rich collection of short fiction that draws upon both the literal and figurative meaning of its title. Through a diverse array of characters, settings, and circumstances, War Stories delivers a series of powerful tales from the home front of war: the stories of parents, siblings, and spouses of those who have fought, as well as those who have returned from battle.

Set against the backdrop of contemporary conflicts, War Stories’ compelling nine narratives tell of a wounded veteran who seeks renewal through an imagined relationship with a neighborhood girl, a grieving father who finds peace and reconciliation at the site of a disastrous bus crash, a young woman who searches for identity and meaning in the wake of her husband’s injury, and an urban teenager engaged in a fateful standoff with local recruiters. Interspersed with these tales are powerful, non-traditional “war stories” – of youth, unexpected loss, and heartbreaking love.

War Stories’ thoughtful and beautifully crafted tales, which range in style from deceptively simple to rich and complex, tell of people young and old, male and female, who share two things: humanity and resilience. These diverse and deftly written stories are joined through Elisabeth Doyle’s remarkable style and ease in creating a universe full of despair, hope, and dreams. At turns tender and harsh, tragic and yearning, these stories will leave you wanting more.

Author Interview

1. Please tell us about your current release.
War Stories is a lean collection of short fiction – nine stories – many of which are set against the backdrop of contemporary conflicts, including the war in Vietnam and current wars.

2. Can you tell us about the journey that led you to write your book?
In January 2002, I traveled for the first time to the country of Vietnam. I went there on a bit of a lark – a childhood friend of my mother’s was working there and had extended a kind of “open invitation” to visit. For some reason, I decided to go. Maybe I shouldn’t say “for some reason” – I was born during the war in Vietnam, and the conflict endured throughout my early childhood. I had vague memories of the images of war that flickered on our small television screen each evening. Usually, these images were mere background to our lives – they played out as my mother cooked dinner. No one seemed to pay great attention. I also had vague recollections of the scenery of Vietnam – some mountains and a village. I’m not sure where or when I saw those early childhood images – perhaps on a news program, or in a later documentary.

In any event, I traveled to Vietnam in 2002, and it’s safe to say that the experience changed my life, and opened for me new doors of interest, of passion, and of compassion. I returned with a deep and abiding interest in the war in Vietnam, its history, and its effect on American soldiers and Vietnamese citizens. I read – and continue to read – anything that I can get my hands on regarding the war. I focused primarily on first-hand autobiographical accounts by soldiers.

I had a background in fiction writing, but hadn’t written a short story in years. When I relocated to Washington in late 2006, I resolved to return to writing, mostly at the urging of my mother and grandparents. Away from the distractions of family and familiarity, in a new city, I was able to find the peace in which to write. It should be noted that I did not set out to write a collection of short stories on the topic of war. In fact, I did not set out to write a collection, at all. I just wrote – one story after another. And what I found, as I wrote, was that the theme of war continued to assert itself in each of these stories, in one way or another. After years of reading and learning, war had apparently become the foremost, organizing principle in my mind; the circumstance around which all other things revolved. It emerged as a theme that linked all of the new stories that I wrote, without conscious or deliberate effort or planning on my part.

It should be noted that these are not combat stories, nor do they attempt or purport to be historically accurate or to give voice to the actual experience of those who have fought. Only those who have had to fight, or who have lived in a war zone, can truly understand that experience. These stories are just that – stories – written with the deepest respect and empathy for those who have found themselves in such extreme circumstances, and who have faced the kind of difficult, unforgiving choices that most of us can only imagine.

3. Can you tell us about the story behind your book cover?
Sure. Well, suffice it to say that the book cover underwent a lot of changes, much to the annoyance of the cover designer, who (nonetheless) was a wonderfully good sport about it. It was important to me to create a cover that was NOT obviously rooted in or reflective of the topic of war. This was so because, first, the title “War Stories” is used both literally and figuratively. That is, while the majority of stories in the collection are set against the backdrop of war, other stories are not. These additional tales reflect “war stories” of another kind – the kind that we might all experience. So I wanted the cover to encompass all the themes in the book.

I chose to use a triptych of photos - a series of photos that could each be traced, if a reader so desired, to one or more of the stories in the collection. The characters in the photos are loosely representative of several of the characters in the book.

4. What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
I tend to write in a “spare” style, and make a deliberate, conscious effort to avoid sentimentality or over-statement of any kind. That’s just me. I don’t know that I succeed, but I try to convey the characters’ circumstances and states of mind without excess or manipulation of the reader. I also deliberately write without any “message” or agenda in mind. None of these stories, even those that are set against the backdrop of war, are intended to convey any kind of political message, and none of them were written with any kind of agenda or judgment. I wouldn’t even begin to know how to write a story with an agenda or message in mind. In general, I write short stories as a series of vignettes – as moments in time, things that happened - from which the reader can draw his or her own conclusions, messages, etc. I prefer to leave the interpretation of the “meaning” of my stories in the hands of the reader.

5. Open your book to a random page and tell us what’s happening.
I did as you asked and opened the book to a random page. It happens to be the first page of the story “The Deepest, Darkest Part of the Woods,” on page 53. This happens to be one of my favorite stories, and one of the last in the collection that I completed. It’s one of the stories in the collection that takes the most risks, I think, and revolves around a young veteran who returns to his suburban neighborhood and struggles to re-integrate. This first page is also one of my favorites in the book, as it describes the return of this young man – and others like him – into a familiar setting that is now entirely unfamiliar to him.

***

War Stories: Short Fiction can be purchased at:
MyBookOrders.com

Price: $14.95 paperback
ISBN: 9781937928407
Pages: 119
Release: August 7, 2012


About the Author

Elisabeth Doyle is a writer and attorney living in Washington, D.C. She studied fiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College and the University at Albany, and is completing a Masters of Laws Degree at Georgetown University Law Center. Ms. Doyle’s short fiction was published in the literary journal Nadir and was awarded the University at Albany’s Lovenheim Prize for best short fiction. Her first short film, Hard Hearted One, was admitted into the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema and the Street Films Film Festival, and was shown on Public Television and Manhattan Cable. War Stories is her first collection of short fiction.

Connect with Elisabeth:
Web Site
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About the Giveaway

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Dr. Gerry Steiner - Gotta Call BS on That One - Guest Post & Giveaway

About the Book

Was missile defense started to save the free world or start a new empire? Do religions help us understand God or help keep God a mystery? Do schools prepare us for life or delay our lives? Does Congress help protect us or help exploit us? Has there ever been any BS involved in any of the above? Have we embraced or challenged the BS.? Could we make a difference? Would we want to make a difference?

Whether reading a newspaper, watching TV, or listening to a song, we are probably observing and absorbing a certain amount of BS. Do we recognize it, realize it, reject it or absorb it. This book provides a beginning to considering these questions. It can provide a basis for understanding, a basis for action, a cause of laughter, a foundation for tears, or some combination. This book often states the obvious, but it’s the obvious that often we collectively don’t seem to own up to. Much of the strife of life, the inequities of the world, even the causes of wars and disasters of the economy might be rooted in our collective self-deception.

The adventure starts with a reflection on a fairy tale from our childhood and one from Washington. It then joins a pair – a professor and his young assistant on an American adventure. They look at such topics as social interaction, sports professional and local, and our individual fitness. Business and education provide many examples and insights. Next, religion and science provide contrasts and similarities.

Government, politics, the legal system, and military service complete this brief trip. In each area, the presence and effects of BS are noted. The final section is devoted to the three greatest downfalls of society in the last century. They are identified and their drastic effects on our society are briefly examined.

Guest Post

Have you ever wanted to stand up during a speech, lecture, sermon, advertisement and just yell. You weren’t being directly harmed or attacked. Nothing was physically being stolen from you. No one was demanding your mind or your money. Just the same, you felt violated in a very real sense. BS steals from us all. Pretending to accept the false makes it harder to trust the authentic.

It seems very important that we know what is real and what is BS. It is also important that those that generate BS, (we all do some) realize that they’re not fooling anyone. It would really mess things up if all BS were challenged and rejected, but it might be useful if it were identified and acknowledged. As I started to collect my thoughts, I was almost overwhelmed by the examples and challenges that life presents us. Almost every area of our experience is affected. In the book I have not put much emphasis on politics. As we proceed in this election year I am sure that we will have ample opportunity to find “sterling” examples. (Sterling BS is sort of an oxymoron!)

As we proceed we’ll need active participation to make this the best experience. Maybe we can have some awards on the blog for different classes of BS. Your suggestions are encouraged. As with any blog, it is your participation and our interaction that will provide the richness.

I have spent much of my life being frustrated by the BS and by the frequent pretense that the BS is reality. Through the book and this blog I want to challenge this. I believe most of us recognize BS when we stop and think about it. I’ve often felt that putting up with BS is societies definition of maturity and wisdom. I don’t think most of us really feel that way. This is an effort to observe, laugh and possibly change.

Throughout the book you will see a wagging finger beside the text. There was a small group of us at work that would silently use this finger wagging as means to silently, but visibly, point out BS when we see or hear it. It would be great to establish this as a nationally recognized and accepted symbology, It might even become an effective way of communicating our knowledge and feelings to those that provide the BS.

Maybe we can also create a list of BS. Postulates. The first might be: “If you wonder if it’s BS, it almost certainly is!”

Please enjoy. Laugh at the BS, act but don’t get mad!

***

Gotta Call BS on That One can be purchased at:
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Kindle
Nook

Click here to read an excerpt.

Price: $13.99 paperback, $6.99 ebook
ISBN: 9781937928919
Pages: 178
Release: August 5, 2012


About the Author

Gerry Steiner has enjoyed a life that is varied in location, vocation, and activities. He started in the land of tradition and history, Hampton, Va., the oldest continuous English speaking settlement in the United States. After high school and eighteen years surrounded by history. Gerry was ready to venture away from Virginia. After considering Cornell, he caught a train to California and went to Caltech. He left Caltech after a couple years to work in seismic oil exploration. His Uncle invited Mr. Steiner to visit Asia. Gerry picked the Navy as the best way to get there. This kept him busy for ten years. A year of Navy school as an electronics technician started the process. Fortunate circumstances led him to his wife and “stability?” for the next 40 years. Gerry then finished his BS and an MS in oceanography before sailing for Vietnam, There gunfire support and chasing aircraft carriers kept him in touch with the real world. Receiving fuel and supplies at sea gave him an appreciation for close quarters’ steerage. A pleasant break provided a week in Olongapo followed by a week in Hong Kong. His wife, Marilyn joined him.

After the Navy and back in Seattle he continued his work in sonar research at the UW Applied Physics Laboratory. He started work on a PhD in electrical engineering. He made sonar measurements from an ice floe in the Arctic Ocean north of Barrow, Alaska. Two visits by polar bears approaching to 20 ft. added to the excitement Dr. Steiner moved to Ridgecrest, CA where he held a position at China Lake Naval Weapons Center. Several years in automatic target recognition included radar field measurements from Pt. Loma, San Diego. Next he started the Airborne RF Targeting Branch. Gerry also completed his doctorate in electrical engineering.

From China Lake Dr. Steiner ventured off to Denver, Colorado to join Martin Marietta. The initial year in Denver was focused on space based radar plans. A movie and a president changed his focus. The movie was Star Wars, the president was Reagan, the focus became the Strategic Defense Initiative. He spent the next decade on issues related to SDI. After the space based interceptor there was a space based laser concept. His efforts contained analysis, management, design, and testing. A couple years were spent developing a new rocket to provide a re-useable single stage to orbit vehicle. Only physics stood in the way.

Gerry’s wife was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer and given six months to live. They had great times that were ended. Dr. Steiner moved to Maui five years ago. He has written this book to share his observations on how the world works and how it could work better.

Connect with Gerry:
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Natalie Wexler - The Mother Daughter Show - Guest Post

About the Book

At Barton Friends a D.C. prep school so elite its parent body includes the President and First Lady - three mothers have thrown themselves into organizing the annual musical revue. Will its Machiavellian intrigue somehow enable them to reconnect with their graduating daughters, who are fast spinning out of control? By turns hilarious and poignant, The Mother Daughter Show will appeal to anyone who's ever had a daughter - and anyone who's ever been one.

Guest Post

I’ve written one novel set in the 1790s and another set in 2009—in Washington, D.C., where I’ve lived for the past 25 years. Not surprisingly, the process of creating a setting in each of these instances was quite different.

For A More Obedient Wife—my historical novel—I immersed myself as best I could in the world of the 1790s, always conscious that my grasp of it would be imperfect. I had letters to and from my main characters (who were based on real, though minor, historical figures) to help me imagine myself back in their world, and I immersed myself in primary and secondary sources about the period.

For each of the cities in which the book was set—New York, Philadelphia, Bethlehem, PA, and Edenton, NC—I acquired maps dating from the late 18th century, and as I wrote I would often refer to them, working in the names of actual streets and tracing a character’s path through town. I also went to each city and tried to imagine it as it would have looked 200 years before. This worked particularly well in Bethlehem and Edenton, both of which are highly conscious of their history and have done a great job of preserving their old buildings.

The book is in the form of diary entries, and on the wall above my desk I taped a calendar from the 1790s, so that instead of dating an entry as merely “December 12, 1793,” I could specify that it was “Thursday, December 12, 1793.” This may seem trivial, but every little detail helped me conjure up the world of the past.

When it came to writing The Mother Daughter Show, all I had to do was look around me—to some extent, that is. The story was inspired by real events at a real place—my daughter’s school, Sidwell Friends. But make no mistake: it’s fiction! And it’s satire. I never intended to paint an accurate portrait of either the school or of Washington, but rather a version of both that suited my purposes. Certain things are left out, and others are exaggerated.

I did, however, throw in a few real place names, and there are some asides that may resonate with the experience of those who live here (I’m thinking in particular about one character’s rant about tourists clogging up the subway system!).

So you might conclude that it was easier to write the contemporary novel, given my familiarity with the setting. Well, yes and no. I think that in some ways having to do the work of creating an unfamiliar place in my head, and then capturing it on paper, propelled me into a fictional world and allowed me to invent more freely. With The Mother Daughter Show, I had to work a little harder to achieve the freedom from real life that makes a novel take off.



***

The Mother Daughter Show can be purchased at:
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Fuze Publishing
Kindle
Nook

Price: $19.95 paperback, $9.99 ebook
ISBN: 9780984141296
Pages: 274
Release: December 2011


About the Author

Natalie Wexler is the author of The Mother Daughter Show (Fuze Publishing 2011) and an award-winning historical novel, A More Obedient Wife. She is a journalist and essayist whose work has appeared in the Washington Post Magazine, the American Scholar, the Gettysburg Review, and other publications, and she is a reviewer for the Washington Independent Review of Books. She has also worked as a temporary secretary, a newspaper reporter, a Supreme Court law clerk, a legal historian, and (briefly) an actual lawyer. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband.

Connect with Natalie:
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L.M. Preston - Flutter of Luv - Author Interview

Author Interview

1. Why did you choose this setting?
The setting for Flutter Of Luv is urban. It’s a setting I remembered from my childhood and wanted to share a bit of that city scenery with the reader. Also, it provided a great environment for many kids to converge together easily.

2. How is it a fundamental part of your overall theme?
The city setting speaks to Dawn, the main character’s troubled life. She has a city grit that is deeply embedded but softened by her youthful outlook on the life she could never change. Also, she glosses over the dangers of the city around her, like she glosses over the unhealthy friendship she has.

3. How challenging was it to write about?
This Young Adult Romance short story was extremely difficult for me to write. It stretched me. Before this piece I’d never really explored writing in first person. Also, although I love romance novels, writing them never held my attention long enough to consider finishing. But writing Flutter Of Luv was an experiment that grew me as a writer.

4. How did you develop your setting as you wrote your book?
I developed the scenery with the character’s development. The opening starts the reader off on Dawn’s porch. She doesn’t leave it, but observes Tony, her love interest from a safe spot. As she wants to get closer to him she progressively explores more of the neighborhood.

5. How do you transport them there through your writing?
My characters evolve with each Episode. Dawn starts off sounding and appearing rather immature for a 15 year old girl. It’s like she is fighting against becoming like the other teen girls because she doesn’t fit in. As the story progresses, Dawn’s dialogue and outlook on her relationship with Tony evolves and by the end of the story she sounds mature, thinks mature and acts mature.

6. How do you introduce them to an area they may not be familiar with?
Dawn is introduced to a wonderful place outside of the city by the character that’s helping her bloom. He gives her the courage to bloom.

7. How do you go about making the setting come alive for the reader?
To make a setting come alive I share it in pieces through the eyes of the character. Sights, sounds, and smell are the big descriptors.

About the Book
Dawn, the neighborhood tomboy is happy to be her best friend’s shadow. Acceptance comes from playing football after school with the guys on the block while hiding safely behind her glasses, braces and boyish ways. But Tony moves in, becomes the star running back on her school’s team and changes her world and her view of herself forever.

eBook
Price: $0.99
Release: June 1, 2012
Buy Link: Kindle
Other Links: Goodreads

About the Author

L.M. Preston loved to create poetry and short-stories as a young girl. She worked in the IT field as a Techie and Educator for over sixteen years. Her passion for writing science fiction was born under the encouragement of her husband who was a Sci-Fi buff and her four kids. Her obsessive desire to write and create stories of young people who overcome unbelievable odds feeds her creation of multiple series for Middle Grade and Young Adult readers thirsty for an adventure. She loves to write while on the porch watching her kids play or when she is traveling, which is another passion that encouraged her writing.

Links to connect with L.M.:
Web Site
Blog
Facebook #1
Facebook #2
Twitter
Goodreads
 

 




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Hillary E. Peak - Wings of Hope - Author Interview & Guest Post

About the Book

The letter said he was dying, that’s all Jules Weinstein knows when she leaves her life in San Francisco and moves to New York City to be with her father. She goes for the remarkable opportunity to really know her father. She never dreamed he had liberated a concentration camp, dealt cards to Bugsy Siegel or saved the life of a Black Panther. Wings of Hope is a road trip through the memories of a man making peace with his life. Little does she know that by getting to know her father, she will find herself. While her father struggles with whether his life was meaningful, Jules discovers that her father’s last gift to her is the ability to reach for her dreams. Her journey teacher her that “the goodbye” is sometimes the most heartbreakingly beautiful part of life.

Author Interview

1. Why did you choose this setting?
This story is a tribute to my father. He grew up in New York City, so I picked that as my main location. I chose to have my main character from San Francisco because I love that city. They travel to Switzerland and France because my father actually went to medical school there.

2. How is it a fundamental part of your overall theme?
This is a book of both looking back and learning to move forward. It is in visiting these places with her father that Jules learns who is he and why. It is going to Paris where she begins to find her true self and take steps to becoming who she really wants to be.

3. How challenging was it to write about?
I've been to all the places, so it wasn't too difficult. I did do some quick research to make it feel authentic.

4. How did you develop your setting as you wrote your book?
This sounds silly, but I close my eyes and try to imagine it. Then, I work on writing it down so that someone else could see it too.

5. How do you transport them there through your writing?
It is actually really hard for me. I have to keep going back and making my descriptions more real and vivid. It takes me multiple re-writes to get my readers there.

6. How do you introduce them to an area they may not be familiar with?
I try to place myself there for the first time, remembering how I saw it and what was exciting and interesting to me about the location.

7. How do you go about making the setting come alive for the reader?
For me that is in researching the place, learning the history, adding details about it. Also, I have a much keener ability to describe what I eat and drink. I also remember a lot more about what I eat and drink. So in each location, there is a lot of descriptions of the food and the drinks. I think this helps the place become more alive for the reader.

Guest Post

Formulation of Setting

For me, a place is more than sights and sounds, it is tastes and feelings. I generally use places that I have been. Mentally, I return to those places to formulate my setting. I think of my visit or visits. What did I like? What did I not like? How did I feel? In answering these questions, I begin to put together a place for my readers to travel to. For example, Paris was wonderful bread, the best French fries I've ever eaten, tough steak, creamy desserts, tables that were so close you might as well have been dining with the people next to you and watching the fashions go by on the Champs Elysee. New York is delis, take out Chinese, bagels and constant noise.

I'm not great at long descriptions, but I do remember these details, which is what makes a place feel authentic in my writing. Then I start researching. One of the most interesting things I found out about Lausanne Switzerland is that there used to be pirates there! I try to integrate places of interest, things a reader would see if they were actually in the location. I even research restaurants and menus to give as much authenticity to the places as I possibly can.

It is my hope that the reader feels connected to the story through the tastes, sights and sounds of my settings.

***

Wings of Hope can be purchased at:
Amazon
Barnes&Noble.com
Kindle
Smashwords

Price: $9.99 paperback, $2.99 ebook
ISBN: 9781466312197
Pages: 226
Release: December 2011


About the Author

Hillary Peak is a recovering idealist. She became a lawyer to change the world and is still somewhat shocked that didn't occur. Now, her goal is to retire from practicing law and write novels that people love. She is currently a practicing attorney in the District of Columbia. She lives with her family in Alexandria, VA.

Connect with Hillary:
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Molly Best Tinsley and Karetta Hubbard - Satan's Chamber - Author Interview

About the Book

He was a crack CIA operative, who vanished from the streets of Khartoum, Sudan.

And he was her father.

She followed him into the Agency’s National Clandestine Service, and now despite her junior status, she gets the assignment she covets: Khartoum.

From the minute Victoria Pierce arrives in-country, nothing is what it seems.

The one-eyed Kendacke, descendant of the first female black pharaohs, is a fugitive in her own land. Bart Wilkins, the buff but bumbling supply officer at the Embassy, keeps turning up one step ahead. The super-rich Adam Marshall has information, but it comes with strings attached.

Whom can she trust as she begins to uncover the pieces of a horrific plan? Thus the mystery begins.

Author Interview

1. Why did you choose this setting?
The settings for Satan’s Chamber are real places, one intimately familiar to us, Washington, DC, and one completely unknown, Sudan, Africa. We selected the latter for two reasons.

First, for its rich historical background centering on the sacred mountain Jebel Barkal, which the ancient Egyptians believed was the birthplace of their gods. In its shadow, an early female Black Pharaoh led her people into battle against the Egyptian aggressors, and won. Based on this impressive woman, we created a modern character, dedicated to saving her people, named for her royal ancestor, Kendacke. The second reason we chose Sudan involves the discovery in the late 1980’s of oil underneath its soil, which has prompted both exploitation by external forces and internal violence. This greed and lawlessness lend an evil energy to our action-packed thriller, which begins when our protagonist, Victoria Pierce, junior officer in the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, is posted to Sudan.

2. How is it a fundamental part of your overall theme?
The dual nature of Sudan was ready-made for a story about heroes and villains-- the contrast between its homicidal government, greedy for oil, and the displaced anonymous tribes, the victims, who retain their humanity and grace in the face of persecution. The most important location in the book, the sacred mountain Jebel Barkal, is also a symbol of the theme—the promise of unity and hope in the midst of dark conflict.

3. How challenging was it to write about?
The biggest challenge was working out the logistics—getting our characters from one place in Sudan to another plausibly, given the vast distances, primitive modes of transportation, and the time constraints of the story. We also had to work with the eleven-hour time difference between the two continents.

4. How did you develop your setting as you wrote your book?
We used the satellite maps and the posted photos on GoogleEarth a lot, to get a feel for the lay of the land. We also read numerous blogs by English-speaking travelers who passed through Sudan. Thank god for the adventurous kids who rode or hitchhiked from one end of Africa to the other, then wrote about it online! We did not travel to Sudan, given that there were advisories against it.

5. How do you transport readers there through your writing?
The challenge of wrapping a setting around the reader requires fully imagining yourself in the situation of each character, checking in with all five senses. For example, Bart Wilkins, one of our key characters is stranded in the desert in the morning and has to get to Port Sudan by the end of the day. It is at least an eight-hour journey by car, and he is on foot, with little water, no cell phone, and 20 kilometers away from a train that travels to Port Sudan. The sun beats down mercilessly and the sand is hot. Once he makes it inside the crowded train, the smells of bodies and foods are overwhelming. How does all that register on the senses?

6. How do you introduce readers to an area they may not be familiar with and bring it to life?
Again, through images that appeal to all five senses. We describe the heat, sweat, sand, the food smells in the market places, the rich colors of the attire, the musty interior of underground chambers. In DC, by contrast, there is opulence, elegance. Real-life archaeologist Tim Kendall, who has excavated the temples around Jebel Barkal, made sure we included an auditory event which dominates the Muslim regions of Sudan: the call to prayer, broadcast five times a day from different mosques.

***

Satan's Chamber can be purchased at:
Amazon
Fuze Publishing
Kindle
Nook

Price: $19.95 hardcover, $14.95 paperback, $5.99 ebook
ISBN: 9780984141203
Pages: 294
Release: August 2009


About the Authors

Air Force brat Molly Best Tinsley taught on the civilian faculty at the United States Naval Academy for twenty years and is the institution’s first professor emerita. Author of My Life with Darwin (Houghton Mifflin) and Throwing Knives (Ohio State University Press), she also co-authored Satan’s Chamber (Fuze Publishing) and the textbook, The Creative Process (St. Martin’s). Her fiction has earned two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Sandstone Prize, and the Oregon Book Award. Her plays have been read and produced nationwide. She lives in Oregon, where she divides her time between Ashland and Portland.

***

As a businesswoman and entrepreneur, Karetta Hubbard has more than twenty-five years of experience in consulting, strategic management, and organizational change for companies throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Japan. Having recently turned to literary endeavors, Ms. Hubbard credits her five grandchildren as her inspiration and encouragement to put pen to paper.

As an active member of the Washington, DC community, Ms. Hubbard has held appointments at the Small Business Advisory Council (SBA), the Tyson Business and Professional Women Foundation (BPW), and the Fairfax County Democratic Committee. Ms. Hubbard attended the University of Virginia and received her B.A. degree from George Mason University. She also attended Catholic University’s Graduate School in Social Work.

Connect with Molly and Karetta:
Satan's Chamber Web Site
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Fuze Publishing Web Site
Fuze Publishing Blog
Fuze Publishing Facebook
Fuze Publishing Twitter

Daniel Armand - Adam Orser: Chronicles of Evolution - Excerpt

About the Book

Adam Orser: The Chronicles of Evolution

Book One in the Adam Orser Trilogy

A visitor in the celestial realm of interdimensional communication

Adam Orser seems to be a regular guy, leading a fairly successful life in Toronto as a psychologist with a loving girlfriend, Jazmin.

But there is nothing ordinary about Adam.

Fate interrupts his planned marriage proposal, and a serious car accident thrusts him into a metaphysical reality behind a deep coma that holds his physical body in check. Through an advanced system of training and evolution created by the celestial realm, Adam is called to a dangerous mission with profound implications for the world he knows, and life and death consequences for one missing nine-year old girl, who is no ordinary kidnapped child. Fantastical forces are at work on both sides of the veil between the world we recognize and those yet to be discovered.

Destiny compels Adam to freely choose the part he will play in a no-limits competition between good and evil. Questions of existence, causality, and truth converge as Adam struggles to find his way back to Jazmin and a life that will never be the same.

Paperback
Price: $17.95
Release: April 2, 2012
Buy Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Excerpt

Chapter 2
The Proposition

"It’s gonna rain,” I said, looking out and up from my fourth-story office window in the Clemensdale Professional building. I was beginning to get a little “steamy” under the collar, primarily because I was not in the best of moods; but also, I had the morbid sensation that my life was very quickly heading nowhere. Apart from that, the erratic weather was going to ruin the outing Jazmin and I had planned. To be more precise, the Ontario Place visit, which Carly anxiously anticipated.

“Beatrice, do we have any more appointments scheduled for today?”

“No, Doctor, Mrs . Palmiero called and canceled her son’s four-thirty appointment.”

Naturally I thought. Why waste time and effort on a useless remedy? If Albert wasn’t ready to put away his childhood and begin accepting the challenges of adulthood, his world would still revolve around Power Rangers and Loony Tunes at sixteen or sixty-one. It’s not like I hadn’t tried reaching him. Lord knows, I’d practically exhausted my means. It’s just that every time I managed to get closer to him, he took a quick step back and built another wall defending the spot where he left behind.

“Beatrice, is Mr Towanna still scheduled for tomorrow?”

“Towanka. Yes, Doctor, he’s still scheduled for his nine o’clock.”

“Thank you, Beatrice.”

Marcel Towanka, twenty-one years old, and a construction worker by trade, was half French-Canadian, half Native Indian. He came to me one day with a very interesting proposition. According to this self-proclaimed “Dragon Chaser,” once, under the influence of drugs that helped him to “psychically travel,” he encountered a tribal ancestor known as a shaman. The grim elder warned Marcel of the dangerous path he had chosen. The shaman severely pointed out how their race was on the verge of extinction, and the young man’s negative conduct was helping to speed up the burn of their long-rooted heritage and proud millennial traditions.

That’s when this young native came to see me. He literally begged me to help him get reacquainted with his lost traits. It’s been nearly four months now since our first meeting, and I am proud—no, that’s not the right word—I am thrilled that Marcel Towanka has not consumed anything more stimulating than aspirin, or drunk anything more relaxing than herbal tea, for over two months now. As for his heritage, Marcel attends religious ceremonial rituals held biweekly on sacred conservation grounds, as well as taking part in Native Indian arts and crafts.

It is said that when a man’s future looks shaded with gloom, he should attempt turning over a new leaf. The way I see it, this young man, armed only with native courage and fueled entirely with compassion, had managed to turn over an entire season. Regarding my role in his quest for spiritual freedom, all I can say is that he is the artist, the master who, day by day, piece by piece, painstakingly chipped away at his monumental totem pole, in honor of the great warriors of the past and the ones yet to come. I, his humble assistant, merely swept away all the flying dirt and debris, clearing the path for all those who wish to come and see the work of a genius.

My time with Marcel is quickly coming to an end; although this man wishes to continue therapy, and I equally wish to continue to help him. I must honor him and let him go, for he no longer needs my help. Ironic though as it may seem, he never really did.


About the Author

Daniel Armand lives in Toronto, Ontario. His inspiration behind Adam Orser: Chronicles of Evolution originated during the summer of 1983, after a near death encounter offered an incredible insight into the obscured aspects of life, love, and the progression of the human spirit.

Daniel is currently working on the next novel of the Adam Orser saga. "I truly hope this novel will help inspire readers all over the globe, to embrace their spirituality. It is through clarity of mind and understanding that we may one day 'bloom' into harmony and unlock our limitless potential."



 



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Kaitlyn Davis - Simmer: Midnight Fire Series: Book Two - Guest Post

Guest Post

Eudora Welty once said, “Every story would be another story, and unrecognizable if it took up its characters and plot and happened somewhere else… Fiction depends for its life in place.” And I couldn’t agree more! The setting of a story is absolutely crucial. Not only is it the place – the sights, sounds, and colors – all around the characters, but it is also an important tool for revealing character personalities. What situations amuse your character? How about frustrate? Is it a new place or is your character returning to a land seeped in personal history?

The decision of the setting for a novel is huge and boils down to three basic categories: a real world setting the author knows extremely well, a make-believe place the author creates or a real-life place the author is barely familiar with. Each different setting comes with its own process and complications, and the first three novels in my Midnight Fire Series display this perfectly!

The first book, Ignite, is set in Charleston, South Carolina – a place I know very well! For the first novel, I wanted to concentrate on creating wonderful characters and an intricate plot, I didn’t want to have to worry too much about researching a setting. So, I thought of a few different places where I have lived and in the end Charleston was the perfect choice. I love the city and its personality, but more importantly my characters could each form their own bonds with the place. For Kira, it is new, exciting and somewhat scary – just like her life now that she has discovered the truth about her past. For Tristan, the nostalgic city perfectly mirrors his own preoccupation with his former life – the city, like Tristan, is somewhat stuck in its history. And for Luke, the relaxed yet chivalrous vibe of the city goes perfectly with his own happy-go-lucky, protective demeanor.

In Simmer, the second book in the series, things change a bit: the setting is Sonnyville, a town I made up. Sonnyville represents Luke’s home, Kira’s new life and Tristan’s foreignness – and the setting allowed me to explore many complications and themes I introduced in the first book. Though it took a lot of brainstorming and prior planning, I truly enjoyed creating my own civilization. The greatest challenge to creating a make-believe town is ensuring that there are no loopholes. Sonnyville had to fit into the real world despite being separated from it and I needed to make it come alive for readers – a feat I hope I accomplished.

Finally, in Blaze, the third book, we’re headed to Europe – a place I don’t know very well but want my characters to visit. What does this mean to me, the writer? Research! Unlike the first two locations, I am heavily researching the towns I want Kira to visit and the history I want her to learn.

So there you have it: three books, three different settings and three different processes! I hope you check out my books -- let me know if you like the different settings I chose and places I created!

Some food for thought: what is your favorite fictional setting? Some of mine are the worlds of Graceling and The Mortal Instruments!

About the Books

Simmer: Midnight Fire Series: Book Two

Slowly, like a whisper almost blown away in the wind, two words streaked across her mind: "Kiss me."

Kira may have survived the eclipse, but her troubles are far from over. She's headed to Sonnyville with one goal in mind: to learn more about her parents. But with Luke and Tristan competing for her heart and Diana gunning for her head, time is running out on the search for her mother. And the closer Kira gets to answers, the more terrified she becomes. The conduits fear her, the vampires fear her, and Kira is starting to wonder if maybe they're right...

Simmer eBook
Price: $0.99
Release: April 4, 2012
Buy Links: Kindle, Nook, Smashwords
Other Links: Goodreads

Ignite: Midnight Fire Series: Book One

With one last look, one final search of the lines of his face for some sign, Kira turned and ran away from the sound of the man she loved laughing in the face of her death.

When Kira Dawson moves to South Carolina, she meets Luke, a blond goofball who quickly becomes her best friend, and Tristan, a mysterious bad boy who sends shivers down her spine. Kira knows they're keeping secrets, but when she discovers Tristan's lust for blood and her own dormant mystical powers, Kira is forced to fight for her life and make the heartbreaking decision between the familiar comfort of friendship and the fiery passion of love.

Ignite eBook
Price: $0.99
Release: October 9, 2011
Buy Links: Kindle, Nook, Smashwords
Other Links: Goodreads

About the Author

Kaitlyn Davis graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in Writing Seminars. She's been writing ever since she picked up her first crayon and is overjoyed to finally share her work with the world. She currently lives in New York City and dreams of having a cockapoo puppy of her own.

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Dan Romain - The Quaker State Affair - Guest Post

About the Book

What happens when “some day” finally arrives?

A mysterious explosion in Taiwan. Nuclear secrets stolen from Los Alamos. China’s manifest destiny at hand.

In the near future, America and China go head-to-head in a battle of technological bluffs, setting in motion a chain of events that could lead to skyrocketing oil prices, the end of the dollar, the American way of life, and the republic itself. The only man who might have an answer in the midst of the international crisis is Patrick “Mac” McDaniels, a world-renowned physicist who wants nothing to do with the government. Has he been conducting revolutionary energy research in secret? And if so, will McDaniels be America’s salvation—or its ruin?

Guest Post

When writing The Quaker State Affair, I realized that Americans have grown numb from all the buzz killing news thrust upon them every day. All of us are suffering from chronic media "TMI." As a result, we’ve become desensitized at precisely that moment in time when our perspectives need to be challenged.

So, I endeavored to write this book to be an enjoyable read notwithstanding the fact that all hell breaks loose. And, from the various books reviews we’ve enjoyed, I guess that I managed to do just that. I hope you enjoy the book and I’d love to hear from you.

The world revolves around the drill bit and yet, man has passed the point where we pump more black, unctuous goo (oil) today than we did yesterday. This comes at a time when our oil appetite continues to grow exponentially. Just imagine 1.3 billion Chinese with average incomes in 2035 equal to American incomes today (fact).

The problem is that oil is priced in US dollars and those greenbacks are losing their buying power at an unparalleled rate. Meanwhile, a worldwide movement is afoot to replace the US dollar as the sole currency used to purchase oil. When, not if, that occurs, life as we know it will turn to pooh. This book is about such a moment in time, sans the buzz kill, of course.

Compounding the geopolitical problem is an emerging China with serious structural and cultural issues that they will not be able to suppress for much longer. Their economy is riddled with corruption, unofficially high levels of inflation and political unrest arising out of the enlightenment of its people. Socio-economic tensions in China are real. Its rural population is depopulating at a time when Chinese need evermore from those migrating farmers. Pollution in China is out of control. They thirst for oil. Their imports are growing faster than their exports. The overall trade surplus of China has fallen 34 percent since 2009. America, China’s favorite buyer, is dead, flat, irritably broke. That’s a problem if your job is to centrally plan the world’s second largest economy.

Amidst all the turmoil, China is amassing a naval armada unequaled in man’s history. It uniforms over one million men and trains them at a pre-war frenzy. For what?

If one could construct a financial balance sheet to depict the world’s economic “net worth”, that image would paint a dire picture. The world’s sovereign paper-based currencies and the countries that print them are bankrupt. The corresponding Credit Default Swap redemptions would collapse the financial systems if that realization ever took hold. This, then, is a tale about all such things coming to a point in time when a seemingly harmless event pushes the inevitable into motion and sets upon the landscape a hundred years of backdrop that unfolds "overnight." It’s a story of intrigue, tragedy and hope.

***

The Quaker State Affair can be purchased at:
Amazon
Barnes&Noble.com
MyBookOrders.com

Hardcover
Publisher: Two Harbors Press
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 9781937293406
Pages: 375
Release: November 1, 2011


About the Author

Dan Romain is a nationally recognized business consultant who built one of the most successful insurance firms in the country. A graduate of the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a member of the Omicron Delta Epsilon International Economics Society, he currently resides in Seattle, Washington, with his wife, Lori, their two children, Danielle and Brian, and their black Labrador, Kona. He has been widely credited as one of the few who accurately predicted the economic melt down.

http://www.thequakerstateaffair.com/

The Kingdom on the Edge Of Reality by Gahan Hanmer Spotlight

About the Book

Sometimes it's funny how fast things can change, and sometimes it's not...

Welcome to Albert Keane's beautifully designed medieval kingdom nestled in a completely isolated river valley in the Canadian wilderness. Peaceful, happy, and prosperous, it takes nothing from the modern world, not so much as a single clock.

There is a castle, of course, and a monastery. There is even a pitch dark, rat-infested dungeon - because you simply have to have one if you are trying to rule a feudal kingdom!

Farmers work the land, artisans ply their trades, monks keep school and visit the sick, and nobody (well, almost nobody) misses the modern world at all.

So why has Jack Darcey - actor, wanderer, ex-competitive fencer - been tricked and seduced into paying a visit? And why hasn't anyone told him that the only way to leave is a perilous trek across hundreds of miles of trackless wilderness without a compass or a map?

Because a tide of fear and violence is rising from the twisted ambitions of one of King Albert's nobles, and Albert's fortune teller believes that Jack could turn the tide - if he lives long enough ...

***

The Kingdom on the Edge of Reality can be purchased at: MyBookOrders.com

eBook
Kindle - $7.99
Nook - $7.99
MyBookOrders.com - $7.99

Print
Publisher: Two Harbors Press
Price: $22.95 hardcover
$14.95 paperback
ISBN: 9781937293642
Pages: 360
Release: April 2, 2012

About the Author

Gahan Hanmer enjoyed a colorful career in the theater as actor, director, designer and technician, and also wandered extensively searching for love, happiness and truth. He unintentionally became a grown-up raising two beloved daughters and now lives in the high chaparral desert of California.

In describing his book, Hanmer says, "The Kingdom on the Edge of Reality has the shape of a fantasy (small kingdom set aside in time and space, saintly king, evil duke, prophecy, unlikely hero), the book is about a real kingdom set up in the present day by a wealthy eccentric in the Canadian wilderness; there is no magic, no bizarre weapons or fantastic creatures. Everything that takes place is the story is possible and plausible. It's not a fantasy. Among other things its a serious book about the human predicament and lies across several genres, or maybe falls through the cracks between several genres, and that's what makes it unique."

http://www.thekingdomontheedgeofreality.com/