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~ My interviews with many authors

authorsinterviews

Monthly Archives: May 2014

Here is my interview with David Murray

31 Saturday May 2014

Posted by fionamcvie1964 in Uncategorized

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Name  David Murray
Age   49
Where are you from
I was born in London but spent the first 34 years of my life in Hemel Hempstead. Then in 1999 I moved to East Yorkshire.
A little about your self `i.e. your education Family life etc
I have a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Hull. I’m married with an 11-year-old son who has taken after his father by becoming involved in writing and reading. I’m self-employed as a proof-reader, copy editor, researcher and writer.

 

 

 
Fiona: Tell us your latest news?
Well, I’m working on a fantasy novel in collaboration with Fran Terminiello. We’ve been writing it for a number of years now and it’s gone through several different forms; we’re now concentrating on two central characters who interweave through the book, almost meeting each other until they finally come together at the final chapter. I’m hoping to be able to take the first three chapters to FantasyCon in September but nothing’s certain. I’m also working on beta-reading Scott Oden’s new book and it’s a real privilege to be involved in this stage of a writers’ craft.

 

 

 

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?
I’ve been writing all my life, really. I have had various attempts at getting stuff published but nothing successful to date. I think I started at junior school; a very early story called “Saboteurs of Verushka” was passed around the staff room.

 

 

 

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I’ve always thought of myself as a writer in that I wrote stuff. But since I got a poem published and two others won prizes in local competitions, I think I could legitimately call myself one. Now I’m self-employed as a copy editor, proof-reader and writer, it must be true!

 

 

 

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

I suppose that the book I’m working on now could be considered my first book (if it ever gets published, that is). Earlier efforts were rather imitative of other authors but this one is more original. It started off as a short story by Fran, which I reviewed at her request and rewrote, fleshing it out and expanding it, then suggesting that we try to turn it into a novel. We made it all the way to the end of the novel, then started to rewrite, a process in which we’re still engaged today.

 

 

 
Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?
I think my style is perhaps what some people might call a little old-fashioned; heavy on the description, with lots of dialogue and plenty of metaphors and similes. I try not to make it too hip or fashionable; I know there’s a trend for edgy and grimdark but to be honest, I can’t seem to manage it when I write. I like to leaven the narrative with a bit of pathos and perhaps torment my characters too much, although I like to have a happy(ish) ending, although those tend more towards bittersweet.

 

 

 

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?
Ah, the title. The problems coming up with one aren’t just doubled when two people are writing it, they’re quadrupled. We went through a great many titles when we were trying to work out what to call it and eventually settled on “Where Dead Gods Lie Buried” but to be honest, that’s losing its appeal for me, particularly because the theme of the book to which it refers has been lost in the repeated rewrites and revamping of the plot. I suppose we’ll have another fraught and argumentative session when we try to come up with a new one. Or we could just leave it to the publisher to see what they think.

 

 

 

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
I’m not really sure. I don’t often set out to write something with a message in mind. I may see a theme or message emerging as the story evolves but it’s not really put in from the start.

 

 

 

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?
We have a character who can steal the life force of others to heal people, but apart from that, there’s not a lot of magic as such in the book. We try to keep things realistic to a certain extent; Fran is very into sword fighting and she brings her experience to the sections of the book where the steel comes out and the blood begins to fly. I try to introduce a bit of nature into the landscape descriptions; the flora and fauna of forests, mountains, etc. There’s war, refugees, burned towns, politics and heartbreak so really it’s a bit like the news.

 

 

 

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
The character that I’m writing about is based to a certain point on myself, but as I was before I met and married my wife. He’s a man whose father sold him into servitude to pay off his debts to the landowner and he’s always sought a surrogate father figure; he’s also a lonely man whose life is the army and who can’t quite handle emotional relationships. He’s also in his mid to late forties, which means I can feed through a lot of what I’m experiencing ageing physically into how he feels marching hither and thither. The aches, the pains, the limitations.

 

 

 

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most?
It’s hard to pin down exactly what influence particular books have had; my early introduction to fantasy was via Narnia. I read Lord of the Rings at school and re-read it each decade of my life. An early encounter with the Oxford English Dictionary confirmed me as a word nerd. Whilst at secondary school, I read Sven Hassel and John Norman’s Gor series, and realised that fiction did not have to be safe or nice. Robert Holdstock’s Mythago Wood made me look at landscapes anew and realise how tied up with mythology they were, as well as being a very good story in itself. I can still feel the influences on my writing of Richard Adams’ Shardik. Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion confirmed in writing many of the things that I had believed in private. More recently, Abercrombie’s First Law Series and Best Served Cold showed how a different approach to fantasy can work wonders. Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth opened my eyes to the ways in which women have suffered in a patriarchal society.

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
If he hadn’t died, Christopher Hitchens would have been a great writer under whom to study. His prose is immortal; erudite and witty, wise and educational.

 

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

I’ve just finished Son of the Morning by Mark Alder (aka M D Lachlan) and that’s a very enjoyable read. I’m now reading Scott Oden’s new novel as part of the process of being a beta-reader.

 

 

 
Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

John Gwynne is very good; I’ve watched his career with interest. I think he’s the closest thing to David Gemmell that we have right now and I’d love to see how his writing develops and where he goes once he’s finished his trilogy. Stella Gemmell’s first novel, The City is absolutely brilliant. Robert Lyndon did a book called Hawk Quest that was an amazing novel – one of the best I’ve ever read. I shed manly tears at the death of one of the characters.

 

 

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

I’d have to say that Hull University did a very good job of boosting my self-confidence as a writer and developing my skills and ability.

 

 

 
Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?
I’d love for it to be so, although I’m realistic enough to realise that the chances of me actually being able to make a career out of it are remote. I’d like to think that any career I stumble into will involve writing in one way or another.

 

 

 

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

I’d not mess around with the intermediate stages we had to go through before we settled on the format we have now. I think we wasted a lot of time on stuff that didn’t advance the book and ended up being cut out or discarded because it belonged to a redundant plot line.

 

 

 
Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
It sprung out of the fact that I read books continually; I wanted to write similar stuff to what I was reading and that motivated me to pick up a pen. For a long time, I wrote for my own enjoyment and that meant imitating the books I loved to read, but slowly I moved away from imitation to something more original. I have the university to thank for that; having to come up with written work every week means you don’t have time for self-doubt. You get on with it and take the criticism that ensues.

 

 

 

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?
It’s fantasy, dark and ‘gritty’ – which to my mind means not shying away from showing the unpleasant consequences of a character’s actions and decisions. It’s set in a world riven by civil strife, a polytheistic religion facing attack by a monotheist whose aim it is to wipe out all other gods save his alone. It’s got an interesting set-up; imagine that in 1066, the Saxons are defeated not by the Normans but by the Zulus. Now, 250 years after the conquest, there’s a black warrior elite that rules the nation and the white natives are the underclass, not allowed anywhere near the reins of power. We have two main characters, a grizzled old soldier and a streetwise thief, both of whom are trying to find the last of the Gatherers, an order of necromancers, who rob the living of their life-force to heal the sick. One needs to save him, one wants to kill him. Here’s a little excerpt:

Ash and frost; the smoke rich and greasy on the cold air. Even from the edge of the field, Thalk feels the heat of the pyres and the dreadful wails ring still in his ears. He turns at a movement by his shoulder. An aide hands him a beaker of warm spiced wine. A curt nod signals his thanks.

The frozen ground is starting to melt; his boots squelch through a slick glaze of mud as he walks the edge of the burning ground, seeking out the grey hair of his master. There, talking to two other officers, Vecneon, the solid centre of the storm that runs in indecent haste around him. Thalk strides across to him, expecting the lesser ranks to move aside for him; he is rudely disappointed and spills some of the spiced wine.

As he approaches, Vecneon turns as if he had felt Thalk’s approach. His face casts off its frown, putting on a smile for his servant.

“Well, Thalk, what did you think of today’s little show?”
Thalk casts a glance around the field again; it is as if he is seeking the words, trying to snatch them out of the cinder-filled air.
“We did grand today, mLoia.”
“We did indeed,” says Vecneon, drawing in a deep breath. “I love the smell of burning heretics. There is no surer way of doing the bidding of the gods than to aid in the destruction of their enemies.”
“Quite right, mLoia.”
“And yet I sense in you some element of distaste. Why might that be?”
Thalk, silent once again, squirms inwardly; he had hoped to hide what he had felt as one by one, the pyres had burst into bright orange flame. Vecneon smiles, extends a hand, lays it on Thalk’s shoulder.
“You know you are the same age as my youngest son would have been now,” he says. “So when I call you bPeba, it’s not just a term of affection for my squire; in a way, I like to think that he is still here, in some form or other.”
He lets the hand fall, then turns and sets off across the field, gesturing with his head for Thalk to follow.
“You would not be human if you did not look at what we did today and not feel something. At my age, I have seen a lot of suffering; a lot of death, much of it either at my own hand or by my order. I have learned to put it into perspective. Otherwise, I would be mad by now, overwhelmed by the tide of tragedies. It’s a trick that you must learn soon; we are going to be seeing a lot more of this…” he gestures with one gloved hand towards the nearest pyre, where Thalk can see a charred claw reaching out of the ash as if begging them for help “…before our work is done.”
“I know, mLoia.”
“If it helps you to put it into its place, consider this; what we burnt today were not people as such. They may have had the appearance of people, spoke like people but it was just inert flesh, inhabited by demons. When the blind, the foolish, the greedy and the arrogant enter into the compact for which this is their destination, their souls are driven out and entities from the Darkness possess them. Clad in flesh, they make their way amongst us, spreading their corruption. Why else do you think that they have been on the wrong side so many times?”
Thalk does not reply; they are nearing the gap in the hedge where only a handful of hours earlier, they had lit the darkness before the dawn with an amber-coloured orgy of screams and crackling.
“No humans died here today, Thalk. We sent demons back into the Darkness. Their masks and disguises destroyed. We are going to win this battle, just as we have won every other battle in which we have fought. Ours will be the generation to wipe the stain of the Gatherers from the world.”
“I hope so, mLoia. Where to from here?”
“I have had word of miraculous healing taking place in Petera. If the gods will it, we shall uncover the truth about that. One more blow against our enemies. One more step towards redemption for us all.”

 

 

 

Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I always find chapter endings difficult; to end them on a cliff-hanger but make them natural. Another thing that I have problems with is writing convincing religious characters. In fantasy, the gods often get left out or mentioned peripherally but in our work, the gods are real. I’m an atheist and rationalist and the part of me that would experience things religiously just isn’t there, so I have trouble digging inside myself and finding some way of writing about characters whose religion would form a central part of their lives. I end up having to crowbar in rather artificial references and hope they work.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who is your favourite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

It’s unfair to pick one particular author as many writers occupy a special place on the bookshelf. I’ll think that one is the bee’s knees and then pick up something by a new author and get blown away by it.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
Only as far as the library! My writing is set in an imaginary world, and to a certain degree, I use the memory of landscape to help with scene-setting. I’d like to set a work in my own backyard, East Yorkshire; there’s a lot of great landscapes here and it’d be interesting to use what I’ve got rather than have to invent from scratch.

 

 
Fiona: Who designed the covers?
We’ve not had it published yet, so that’s a question for the future; I like the art of Larry Rostant and Jason Chan very much and in an ideal world, it’d be great if one of them could do something for us. But that’s in the lap of the publishers, so I guess the question is academic.

 

 

 
Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?
For me, it’s the areas where Fran and I don’t see eye to eye. The synchronisation of writing and prose styles; the debates over swearing in the narrative (she’s in favour, I’m against), the realisation that a lot of what we loved writing and really got enthusiastic about has been lost in the rewrites. We’ve had to knuckle down and treat it like professionals; it’s a job now and we can’t afford to be precious about it.

 

 

 

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
I think there is a certain element of “kill your darlings” in writing; that whilst you may feel absolutely great about what you’re writing right now, tomorrow, you may either look at it and think “no, that’s not working” or perhaps six months down the line, when the book’s first draft is finished, you realise that although what you’ve written is great, it doesn’t work within the structure of the book and you need to get rid of it. There’s a process to writing and part of that process is learning to step back and view your work dispassionately – and knowing when to do so.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?
Read, read, read. Not just in your chosen genre but outside it as well. Every genre can teach writers about their own work and it’s unhealthy to restrict yourself because you could be missing out on some great writing merely because it’s the ‘wrong’ genre. And be kind to yourself; not indulgent but cut yourself some slack. You’re going to make mistakes, go down blind alleys, write some cringe-worthy prose. Keep going; it’s all part of the craft. You’re learning as you go. Don’t be afraid to show others your work and take all criticism as constructive, even if it doesn’t feel like that at the time.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I hope you enjoy what we’ve written; we’re not out to preach to you, shock you, horrify you or provoke you. We present a good story, well-told and we want you to go away at the end of the book, thinking “I liked that”

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?
No; it’s a very long time ago now and I’ve read so many books that I can’t recall them all. My mother used to read to us (my brother and sister and myself) and there’s a point at which her reading and ours overlapped and blurred into each other.

 

 

 
Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?
Yes, I like role playing games, Dungeons and Dragons and Call of Cthulhu. I’ve played D&D since 1979, and to me the act of playing is quite analogous to the way that a story comes together. I like to give my players the sandbox experience – no overarching predetermined plot but a setting in which they can create their own stories as they choose. And of course, being a writer, I love reading too. I’ve always got a book on the go and cherish my local library.

 

 

 
Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?
I don’t watch much TV regularly; I did make time for Sherlock, the Musketeers, Dr Who and if there’s a good documentary on, I’ll try to watch that as well. I like Great British Railway Journeys. I’ve only got terrestrial, not satellite, so a lot of the shows that people rave about are inaccessible to me. Film – I don’t get to the cinema much; we tend to do things as a family and that means any films we go to see need to be family friendly. We tend to wait until they come out on DVD and then buy them cheap from Morrison’s. We liked Despicable Me 1 and 2. I like the Star Wars films, Indiana Jones 1 and 3 (not Temple of Doom, mind), Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Memento – a real mix, both the intellectual and the action-packed.

 

 

 

Fiona: Favourite foods / Colours/ Music
I like carrot cake, but as a main meal, you cannot go wrong with fish and chips, particularly if it’s at a seaside chippie. There’s a lovely place in Bridlington called Audrey’s, which has a view of the harbour but my recent discovery of Mr Chips in Whitby has trumped that; they do great puddings as well and there’s beer too!
My favourite colour is purple.
Music – I like classical music, seventies and eighties stuff, but I can play over and over again the Dr Who soundtracks by Murray Gold. Now he’s someone I’d like to do the soundtrack to the film of our book

 

 

 

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?
That’s a tricky one. I suppose something to do with gaming; perhaps I could have been a video game designer, which is kind of like writing, isn’t it? Working at a bookshop or in a library would keep me close to books all day (and I could sneak some reading of the new titles in). Or perhaps a baker, since I’m always making scones and cakes for the family at home. My grandfather was a potter but I’ve never really felt inclined to get to work with clay.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?
My D&D blog is called Daddy Grognard. The first word because I game with my son and his friends and the second one because I’m a person who won’t accept change merely because it’s the latest thing. Grognards are regarded as old-fashioned grumblers, who hold on to the way things used to be because they like it. I don’t have a website dedicated to my writing because I’ve not got anything that’s published and would need publicising. That’ll probably change when we get a publishing contract.
And then of course there’s my Facebook page. I’ve made some good friends there and gained some fortuitous opportunities.

Here is my interview with Scott Bradley

31 Saturday May 2014

Posted by fionamcvie1964 in Uncategorized

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Name: Scott Bradley
Age: 41 (Born July 25, 1072)
Where are you from: Born in Springfield, Missouri; have lived for the past 16 years in Los Angeles, California.

 
A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc:
Born in the Midwest; father in Education, mother worked for the phone company and later the airlines. Two sisters. Raised mostly on a farm in Brighton, Missouri, but went to school in a nearby smallish city, Springfield, which is notable as the birthplace of Francis Dolarhyde, the killer in RED DRAGON by Thomas Harris. This amused me to no end when I was introduced to that book at age 13 by my friend Joe Straughan’s very cool mother Liz.
Received my Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Missouri – Kansas City in 1997, then moved to L.A. the following year. Worked a variety of jobs, including in development at RKO Pictures, at a Hollywood talent agency, in the classical music department at the Virgin Megastore that used to be on Sunset, and at one of the last of the mom-and-pop video stores.
A pretty dry recitation, but it was more exciting than it probably sounds.

 

 
Fiona: Tell us your latest news?
The release of a charity anthology I edited called EXPLOSIONS: TALES OF OUR LANDMINED WORLD, which is for Mines Advisory Group (MAG). These are the folks who go out and take care of unexploded munitions all over the world in former war zones. Places where, literally, there’s unexploded stuff that has lingered for 40 years or more.
I had the opportunity to observe this – and the work MAG does – close up on a series of trips to Southeast Asia that I have taken with my Dad, and was intensely moved, particularly during the time we spent in Laos. I wanted to do something that could help the cause and a project like this one seemed to be a way I could bring something to the table.

 

 

 

It’s turned out to be the most difficult professional experience of my life, but it’s also something I’m very proud to have done.
The book is published by Evil Jester Press and is available as an eBook and print on demand. 100% – yes, all – of the earnings of the book will go straight to MAG. This represents an extraordinary commitment of generosity, creative vision, and energy on the part of Peter Giglio and Charles Day of EJP, as well as our cover artist, Pulitzer Prize winner Matt Wuerker, and our line-up of authors, including Jeffery Deaver, David Morrell, James Grady, John Skipp, Amy Wallace, and the proverbial many, many more.

 

 

 

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?
I used to think I started as a teenager, but as I’ve reflected, I think it was a bit earlier than that – say 9 or 10. These would have been pastiches of my favorite things that age, STAR WARS and James Bond. A couple of years later, I discovered horror and thrillers – Stephen King and Robert Ludlum for starters – and got into imitating them.

 

 

 

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Interesting question. I think, without being entirely conscious of it, that I believed there would be a predetermined moment of “Eureka!” but I discovered it was more fluid and complex than that. In other words, it wasn’t like losing your virginity. I thought, for instance, a first publication would make me feel that way, and it did…to a point. But then I wanted to be paid, and I made that first sale and suddenly I was a writer…to a point. I wanted more sales. And on and on – a book, multiple books, coining a word that ends up in the Oxford English Dictionary, take your pick – they’re all respectable writerly goals, but I think I could achieve all of them and still find something to aspire to.
So this is all a long-winded way of saying: I know I’m a writer, but there’s always something on the horizon – and not even something that’s necessarily very likely – to encourage me to strive.
God. That sounds so pretentious. Sorry.

 

 

 

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?
At the risk of coming off as ungodly long, I’m going to cheat and talk about my first two books because they were both vital but entirely different experiences. So maybe you can lose your virginity twice. Anyway…
My first book was THE BOOK OF LISTS HORROR (HarperCollins, 2008) and it was compiled in collaboration with my late girlfriend Amy Wallace and our friend Del Howison.
My first novel, THE DARK, was co-authored with a very old friend named Peter Giglio (himself a writer and editor of much distinction), and was based on a idea by another friend, New York Times bestselling author John Skipp, who ushered into print during his tenure as editor of the short-lived genre imprint Ravenous Shadows.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?
I know I like certain things and they seem to pop up in things I write. I like alliteration, for instance. Since I’ve done so much collaboration, I can definitely see things that are my style in the finished product, but I don’t ever consciously set out to do them.

 

 

 

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?
For BOOK OF LISTS HORROR it was a no-brainer (though the original title was THE BOOK OF LISTS: HORROR – HarperCollins wanted to change the order and delete the punctuation).
THE DARK is funny because John Skipp and I were watching a wonderfully bad seventies horror film called THE DARK on DVD and howling at how bad it was and how completely generic the title was…and then Skipp said “Did I ever tell you the idea I had for a story called THE DARK?” And the rest is history.

 

 

 

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Not really. I hope it’s a good story, well told. If there are certain messages or themes, that’s simply the a product of who I am.

 

 

 

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?
It’s got a pretty good handle on the geography of the Silverlake/Los Feliz area in which it lives and a certain grasp on the zeitgeist, but – plotwise – not very realistic.

 

 

 

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
Chunks of THE DARK definitely is drawn on time I spent working for a video store in Silverlake.

 

 

 

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most?
So many; just gonna name them as I think of them (with the proviso that there are a bunch I’m going to forget): RED DRAGON by Thomas Harris, BLOOD MERIDIAN by Cormac McCarthy, Stephen King, Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels, THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS by Ernest Hemingway, Harlan Ellison, THE SHORT-TIMERS by Gustav Hasford, FRISK by Dennis Cooper, Ross MacDonald, Carson McCullers, Patricia Highsmith, John le Carre.

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
My friend Yale Udoff, who wrote the Nicolas Roeg film BAD TIMING. On individual projects: Amy Wallace on THE BOOK OF LISTS HORROR, John Skipp on THE DARK, and James Grady on EXPLOSIONS.

 

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?
POLICE by Jo Nesbo.

 

 

 

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
You mean that I’m interested in? I try to keep aware of things, but I’m often the last one to know about cool stuff. I’m pleased to say that Ryan Gattis, a contributor to the EXPLOSIONS anthology, is getting a lot of attention for his most recent novel, and I’m very much looking forward to that.

 

 

 

Fiona: What are your current projects?
I’m working on a screenplay called TOPANGA CANYON with my dear friend, writer/director Charles Pinion.

 

 

 

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
My friends.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?
Yes.

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
I would have chosen not to lost the love of my life Amy Wallace and have a nervous breakdown, thereby putting Jim Grady and Peter Giglio in the position of having to get the book in order for publication.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
Probably because I was often looking for an escape.

 

 

 

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Not really. Sorry.

 

 

 

Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
All kinds of things. It varies. Sometimes it’s smooth, sometimes it’s rough.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
I can’t answer this. Sorry.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
No, but I LOVE to travel.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who designed the covers?
On THE DARK it was a fantastic lady named Paula Rozelle Hanback, whose cover frankly looks like a snapshot of the inside of my head while working on it.
On EXPLOSIONS it was Pulitzer Prize winner Matt Wuerker, who – like everyone else involved in the project – donated his work.

 

 

 

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?
All of them are hard for different reasons. Sorry – I’m shooting snake eyes on a good answer to this.

 

 

 

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Kinda like the previous answer – I learned things from all of them.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?
The usual: Read, write, repeat.

 

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thanks for reading.

 
Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?
No.

 
Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?
I like to travel.

 
Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?
For TV: I’m absolutely mad for THE BIG BANG THEORY, which I think is destined to go down as one of the truly classic sitcoms. And I’m equally convinced that Jim Parsons as Sheldon will go down as one of the iconic TV series characters in any genre.
It took me awhile to warm up to it, but I found myself loving TRUE DETECTIVE, though it’s narratively imperfect – and seemed all the more so because the first 4 episodes really set such an extraordinarily high bar. But whatever flaws, it was great. So like everyone else, I’m very curious to see what Nic Pizzolatto does with Series 2.
In my slightly hermetic way, I’ve managed to miss out on a good deal of popular culture – particularly on TV – in the last 20 years. I don’t, for instance, have cable. This has had its up sides (dropping out on THE SIMPSONS before it got lobotomized; missing out on most reality TV) and down sides (I’m assured that I would adore THE SOPRANOS, DEADWOOD, MAD MEN, et al., none of which I’ve ever seen).
There are certain seminal old shows that are very important to me: THE TWILIGHT ZONE and to a lesser extent NIGHT GALLERY; classic STAR TREK; a few sitcoms like CHEERS, WKRP IN CINCINNATI, and NIGHT COURT. Given my age and interests, TWIN PEAKS was huge when it came out in 1990 – I was a little bit ahead of the curve since I already knew David Lynch’s work from BLUE VELVET and ERASERHEAD, but none of us could have foreseen what a radical jolt that show was – it’s pretty easy to see the through-line, for instance, from TWIN PEAKS to TRUE DETECTIVE, although the former was, like the latter, ultimately a flawed gem.
For film: So many and I know I’ll manage to leave stuff out. First and foremost, Stanley Kubrick – I often say, with tongue only partially in cheek, that his films are what I have instead of religion.
Although age has considerably mellowed my obsessions with them, I can’t deny or underestimate the profound influence the STAR WARS and Indiana Jones films had on me. Throw in James Bond and you essentially have the trifecta of how I was formed.
Then as I got older: the aforementioned David Lynch; Peckinpah; Scorsese (though I absolutely hated THE WOLF OF WALL STREET); Schrader; Malick; Michael Mann. Horror films – Romero’s DEAD trilogy; Cronenberg; eighties slasher movies. THE ROAD WARRIOR, John Carpenter. The great seventies paranoia movies like THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR and PARALLAX VIEW.
CHINATOWN was huge for me – Watergate with real water!
As I’ve gotten older, I find myself less and less movie mad, and find I just don’t have the patience for many of them. Being really out of the comic book loop, I’m pretty disconnected from the blur of bazillion-dollar superhero epics. The trailers are enough to wear me out.
Certainly there are have been a few movies in the past several years I loved: CACHE, ONLY GOD FORGIVES, THE TREE OF LIFE, THE HURT LOCKER CARLOS, and MELANCHOLIA come to mind.

 

 
Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music
Foods: I’ve joked that if I can digest it, I’ll eat it, and that’s kinda true. I was sort of an insanely picky eater as a child, but now as an adult I do things like eat a beating cobra heart in Vietnam (seriously). So I’m pretty adventurous.
Living in Southern California, I’m addicted to great Mexican food.
For whatever ambivalence I might have about other aspects of Midwestern culture, I certainly can’t say food is among them: I love Springfield style Cashew Chicken and Kansas City BBQ. Stroud’s in Kansas City also has probably the best Chicken-Fried steak in the known universe.
Outside the U.S., I love Bangkok street food; the Blue Lagoon Café in Luang Prabang, Laos; and St. John’s in London. For both physical and financial health I should cook at home more – and I do enjoy cooking – but I just sometimes don’t have the energy.
Foods I don’t like, by the way, include cherries, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes.
Colors: I dunno. I tend toward dark, but having just visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, I find myself liking all colors.
Music: Another tough one. I fell in love with music with movie scores when I was a kid (John Williams and STAR WARS, ‘natch). That led me to classical.
I also love the great sixties trinity – the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Doors.
When I’m in the right mood, I’m all over Jazz – especially Miles Davis.
Bobby Darin – especially for “Beyond the Sea” – is one of my idols.
As for current stuff – I honestly don’t hear much of it outside of movie trailers and/or commercial. I know Miley Cyrus is pissing off people and controversial, but I think she seems lovely and anti-establishment.

 

 
Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?
In a different world I might have been an okay shrink. Or a bartender.

 
Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?
Nope. But I can be found messing about on Facebook occasionally.

Here is my interview with Eli Constant

30 Friday May 2014

Posted by fionamcvie1964 in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Name: Eli Constant
Age: 28
Where are you from: Around the U.S. My dad was in the Air Force. I spent the most time in South Carolina though. =)
A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc :

 

 
Author Bio:
Eli Constant is a genre-jumping detail junkie, obsessed with the nature of humanity. She believes that there is beauty at the core of most everything, but that truly unredeemable characters create the best stories. Eli is the author of “Dead Trees,” “Dead Trees 2,” “Mastic,” “DRAG.N” and is a contributor to the charity anthology “Let’s Scare Cancer to Death.” (LSCtD: TW Brown, Editor | MayDecember Publications) | 100% sales proceeds go to the V Foundation, a leader in cancer research for the past twenty years).

Her works-in-progress include the final book in the Dead Trees Trilogy, a 3-author anthology exploring the psychosis of serial killers, a 6-author anthology exploring humanity in the face of hopelessness, the second companion novel to DRAG.N, and a zombie origins novel (this last work in progress comes as a huge surprise to Eli; she honestly thought she’d never write about zombies, but somehow, she fell down the zombie hole and couldn’t crawl out, or rather, didn’t want to crawl out). Keep posted on these upcoming publications by following Eli on social media (links below bio).
******
While completing coursework at USC-L, Columbia College, TAMU-CC, and George Mason University, Eli enjoyed a varied course load, but finally settled on Biology and focused on a career in lab research. She spent time in Texas volunteering at Flour Bluff Shrimp Mariculture Lab [and being paid in Pink Hawaiian Shrimp- which was, in a word, delicious.] and also spent time at NIH participating in an Animal Research Program in the Infectious Disease Dept. It took two years working in Histology/Pathology in Sterling, VA for Eli to realize she wanted to be a writer. She is still very interested in the Sciences and hopes to use her background knowledge effectively within her stories.

Eli lives in Virginia with her husband and two daughters. She is surrounded by battlefield country, farmland, and lakes. Currently, she spends her days being a devoted mother and, of course, writing. Eli feels fortunate that her marriage is one of real love and she thinks her children are the coolest people in the world. She also feels so lucky to have an extended family that is ever present with encouragement and kind words. Her other interests include art with a focus on charcoal medium, walking her American Foxhound Dottie, eating egg-drop, wonton soup from the local delivery place, and watching low-budget Sci-Fi movies with her awesome family.

 

 

 

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?
Eli: Well, let’s see- on the personal front, my husband and I just found out we’re pregnant again! This will be our third child and we are thrilled. We already have top names, but it will be several months before we find out the gender! We like Liam and Lilly. On the writing front- I have a new book out 5.30.2014, the sequel to my 2012 debut ‘Dead Trees!’ A lot of people are excited about it, so I hope it lives up to their expectations.

 

 

 

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?
Eli: I started writing when I was really little, fascinated by my mother’s journals. Attending Charleston School of the Arts for Creative Writing heightened my love of writing and I won several awards before college. I lost my passion for writing for a short time- while pursuing the Sciences in college, but once I took a sabbatical to raise my first child, I started writing again and realized how much I really loved it. Writing is a part of me, a deep-seeded section of my soul.

 

 

 

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Eli: To be honest, sometimes I still don’t. ‘Dead Trees 2’ will be my fourth publication, not including anthologies and short stories, and I still get that niggling fear in the pit of my stomach that I’m a ‘poser’. I push past that and keep going, of course, but it inevitably resurfaces. I guess I gained a modicum of confidence as ‘an author’ when I found out a peer had put ‘DRAG.N’ up for an Indie award. That made me feel like my writing was really worth something.

 

 

 

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?
Eli: I’d just visited my folks in Pearisburg, VA. My Dad is a retired USAF SERE instructor and always has a bunker full of food, etc. That, coupled with passing the Natural Bridge in VA, inspired ‘Dead Trees’.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?
Eli: Not really. I love to experiment, cross genres, play with POV and break rules. My style is always changing and progressing.

 

 

 

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?
Eli: The titles of my books are always solidly connected to the story material. If you read them, the reasoning for the titles is really obvious.

 

 

 

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Eli: There are always moral slants in my stories- whether it’s a novel, novella, or short story. People tend to read and decide what those are. I’d never change my readers’ observations and opinions by outlining my personal intent.

 

 

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?
Eli: Obviously its fiction, but I try to weave in details and occurrences that are wildly realistic. I feel that makes a reader connect more fully to the material.

 

 

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
Eli: Several of my characters are modeled after people in my life. I’ve been to many of the places, I like that connection I feel when writing about somewhere I’m intimately familiar with. The events are fictitious though- I haven’t fought with beasties, sabotaged a government facility, or lusted after a jeweled man.

 

 

 

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most?
Eli: Every Orson Scott Card book I’ve read has given me some insight into life and personal choices. He is the reason I like to infuse morality into my books.

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Eli: Claire C Riley (Odium Series, Limerence). It’s not just her talent that I admire, it’s her ability to put herself out there, to face scrutiny, and market her works.

 

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?
Eli: Ken Mooney’s The Hades Contract (follow up to Godhead).

 

 

 

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Eli: Lately, I’ve gotten into Author TW Brown’s That Ghoul Ava series and Jack Wallen’s I Zombie I series.

 

 

 

Fiona: What are your current projects?

Eli: “Dead Trees 3,” “ARC,” “CON-troll,” “Fading Hope (a 6-author cooperative anthology,” “The Murderous Campbells (a 3-author cooperative anthology),” & several short story submissions.
Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
Eli: Indie Authors- as a group, on the whole, have been wildly supportive. That’s how we should be, helping each other to succeed rather than being in competition.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?
Eli: Yes. I will continue writing, marketing, submitting manuscripts, and this will be my career.

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
Eli: Not my latest, but I’d change quite a bit in my debut book. I actually address that in its sequel. This is a learning process. No one is perfect at a job the first go-around.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
Eli: I think I mentioned earlier that my mother’s journals were a big influence. And I loved reading from a young age. My grandmother used to read us the Wrinkle in Time books and those were… so inspiring and really got the imagination working.

 

 

 

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Eli: Let’s see… I have several. How about “ARC”? That first draft is actually finished:
This is a really rough draft, so don’t be too hard on me 😉
Earth year 3085

I was crouched down in the dirt in my brand-spanking-new uniform. The redesign was snazzy, a little too fancy for my tastes. Whatever idiot designed it must not have realized that cobalt blue wasn’t exactly discreet.
Shifting slightly, I peered around the beat-up hull of a decade old cruiser.
It was ridiculously hot on the junkyard planet, with the sun beating down on trillions of kilos of wrecked star cruisers, transport ships and unidentifiable, mangled bits of dull metal– all reflecting the rays of the three hot suns.
I’d been tailing the Xandarian for a week. The longest damn week of my bounty career.
He was tall, too tall– intimidatingly tall.
Eight feet at least and a complete neon-yellow, alien beefcake with bulging muscles and a curved spine covered in sharp ridges.
I’d been trying to catch the creep by surprise, but that was proving impossible since he quite literally had eyes in the back of his head. My mother used to tell me she had eyes in the back of her head; I’d believed her until I’d turned eight. I’d hate to have this guy for a parent– bet his ugly alien kids wouldn’t get away with jack or shit.
His hair was strange- if alien hair can be called strange without it becoming an oxymoronic observation- it only comes out of the peak of his scalp in one round, thick expanse of white. He had the strands twirled now– tied-up bun style on his weirdly-shaped, alien head. Looked feminine, but it was smart since it kept his rear eyes free to see.
Every time I’d come close to slapping my magna-cuffs on his wrists, he’d bolted. And he was fast, much faster than me.
Now though, he was lounging on the ground- his back and head leaning against a sawed-in-half shipping container- which meant his third and fourth eyes were useless. Yippee-hurrah. Something in my favor- must be a cold day in Earth hell.
I squinted, trying to read the writing on the container, but the letters were too faded. Not that the history of the container mattered. I was just trying to delay the inevitable fight.
I looked at the Xandarian again. His name was Devo.
‘Devo the Rapist,’ according to his bounty file.
He was wanted in four different star systems for fifteen counts of sexual assault. And he didn’t discriminate– no two victims were alike.
Apparently the guy wanted an all-you-can-rape alien buffet. If I wasn’t careful, the gigantic, muscle-bound Devo would make me number sixteen on his sexual bucket list. And he hadn’t screwed a human yet.
That wasn’t going to happen. No. Freaking. Way.
Because I was going to take the sleazy perp down. Here and now.

 

 

 
Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Eli: Consistency can be a problem, I tend to keep a long legal pad of notes next to my computer when I’m writing, jotting down any details that I might want to carry through the novel. Crossing genres can be problematic also- knowing how to categorize, who to market too, etc.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
Eli: Traditionally Published: Orson Scott Card. He doesn’t shy away from addressing politics, religions, and all the sticky things in life that folks don’t like talking about. I appreciate that. It makes me feel his writing is ‘real’ and honest. I like that it makes me really consider things, not just read his books for entertainment. And his books are entertaining- wildly imaginative and visual. If I could recommend one, it would be ‘Wyrms’ or ‘Magic Street.’ He’s best known for the Ender books though.
Indie: Claire C Riley. She has some of the same qualities I see in OSC. She views a situation from many angles, even the not-so-flattering ones like odor and the base nature of humanity.
I think both of these writers have taught me something- Claire, how to really make the readers ‘feel’ the story and OSC, how to really make the readers ‘think’ the story. They are one of the reasons I don’t shy away from the gross stuff, the sticky stuff, the things that people don’t always like to read about.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
Eli: Not really. I’ve been to a few book conventions, but I tend to keep close to home with my family. Social media is wildly useful for networking.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who designed the covers?
Eli: I do with my sister’s help (R.A. Newton); she’s a brilliant visual artist.

 

 

 

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Eli: The hardest part about writing my most recent release was killing off certain characters. A few of them left me in tears. But their deaths were part of the storyline, part of life. Death has to happen; it’s unavoidable.

 

 

 

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Eli: I’m constantly learning and trying to improve. There’s a laundry list of things I’ve learned actually, too many to list here.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?
Eli: Edit. Edit and edit and edit and edit some more. Do re-writes, don’t be shy about chopping whole paragraphs. That was probably my first lesson from book one. You want a story to be as near-perfect as possible before hitting publish, otherwise, you’ll spend months fretting and re-writing and catching mistakes. Better yet- find yourself a great editor. Mine’s the bomb- M.L. Colton Editorial.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Eli: ‘Thank you.’ That’s all. Thank you for sticking around and reading my books.

 

 
Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?
Eli: I don’t, but I’m sure L’Engle and Tolkien were among the first authors I was introduced to. If I had to take a guess… maybe The BFG by Dahl?

 

 
Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?
Eli: Drawing, scuba diving, watching b-rated horror and sci-fi movies with my family, among other things. =)

 

 
Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?
Eli: Once Upon a Time, Dracula (how could they cancel that!), Sherlock Holmes, Downton Abbey and many more.

 

 
Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music
Eli: Pho, Egg drop wonton soup, hot wings | True Red & Spring Green | The Civil Wars, Evanescence, Jack White, Billy Joel and many more.

 

 
Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?
Eli: Oceanography/Marine Biology. Anything that kept me in the water really (even though the ocean actually scares me… that thrill, the nervous flutters that filled my stomach as I rolled into the water in my gear was worth it).

 

 
Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?
http://www.eliconstant.com | Twitter | Facebook | Books on Amazon | Goodreads | WordPress

 

 

Release Information

DEAD TREES 2 | THE DEAD TREES SERIES | Eli Constant
Release Day Blitz!
eBooks:
Dead Trees Book 1 on sale @ $1.99
Dead Trees Book 2 @ $3.49
Set: Book 1 & 2 + Bonus Short Story (“Day of Amarok”) @ $4.49
Paperback: full price, available next week
Release Information: “Dead Trees 2” is the sequel to Eli Constant’s debut book, “Dead Trees”. Fans of the series include- Claire C. Riley (Odium Series, Limerence), Jerry Benns (Editor/Owner Charon Coin Press), Author TW Brown (The Dead Series, That Ghoul Ava) & more.
Book Blurb:
Two years of peace in a primitive setting can make anyone forget a past full of science, beasties, and blood.
******
On the day of her son’s birth, the past invades the Yukon valley where Elise and her family reside and they are once again forced to travel survival-road. The General has found her… tracked her across the miles. Elise is his obsession; he wants her for reasons beyond comprehension.
******
H2H was supposed to be the answer, but the world’s ‘savior’ has created a new pack of demons. The Rippers, beasties on steroids. Wild undergrounders are a mild nightmare in comparison.

Thankfully, humanity has an ace up its sleeves.

The question is: This time, when a new solution for saving humanity is put into action, what will the consequences be?

Watch the: DT2 Trailer

Author Bio
Eli Constant is a genre-jumping detail junkie, obsessed with the nature of humanity. She believes that there is beauty at the core of most everything, but that truly unredeemable characters create the best stories. Eli is the author of “Dead Trees,” “Dead Trees 2,” “Mastic,” “DRAG.N” and is a contributor to the charity anthology “Let’s Scare Cancer to Death.” (LSCtD: TW Brown, Editor | MayDecember Publications) | 100% sales proceeds go to the V Foundation, a leader in cancer research for the past twenty years).
Her works-in-progress include the final book in the Dead Trees Trilogy, a 3-author anthology exploring the psychosis of serial killers, a 6-author anthology exploring humanity in the face of hopelessness, the second companion novel to DRAG.N, and a zombie origins novel (this last work in progress comes as a huge surprise to Eli; she honestly thought she’d never write about zombies, but somehow, she fell down the zombie hole and couldn’t crawl out, or rather, didn’t want to crawl out). Keep posted on these upcoming publications by following Eli on social media (links below bio).
******
While completing coursework at USC-L, Columbia College, TAMU-CC, and George Mason University, Eli enjoyed a varied course load, but finally settled on Biology and focused on a career in lab research. She spent time in Texas volunteering at Flour Bluff Shrimp Mariculture Lab [and being paid in Pink Hawaiian Shrimp- which was, in a word, delicious.] and also spent time at NIH participating in an Animal Research Program in the Infectious Disease Dept. It took two years working in Histology/Pathology in Sterling, VA for Eli to realize she wanted to be a writer. She is still very interested in the Sciences and hopes to use her background knowledge effectively within her stories.
Eli lives in Virginia with her husband and two daughters. She is surrounded by battlefield country, farmland, and lakes. Currently, she spends her days being a devoted mother and, of course, writing. Eli feels fortunate that her marriage is one of real love and she thinks her children are the coolest people in the world. She also feels so lucky to have an extended family that is ever present with encouragement and kind words. Her other interests include art with a focus on charcoal medium, walking her American Foxhound Dottie, eating egg-drop, wonton soup from the local delivery place, and watching low-budget Sci-Fi movies with her awesome family.
Eli’s Social & Website Links
http://www.eliconstant.com | Twitter | Facebook | Books on Amazon | Goodreads | WordPress

 

Cover (Book 1, published Dec. 2012)

Cover (Book 2, TBR 5.30.2014)

 

 

 

 

 

Author Picture:

 

 
Optional Information:
Praise for Dead Trees 1:

~Dead Trees – one of my favourite dystopian reads of 2013~

Eli Constant writes with such intelligent charm, dragging her macabre of Beasties along for a post-apocalyptic ride of their life. This book chilled me in a way that a book hasn’t done for some time. It pulled on my heartstrings, whilst dragging its claws down my spine, with its realistic and often horrific storyline.

I predict great things for this author.

Claire C Riley
Author of Limerence, Odium: The Dead Saga & Odium Origins.
@ClaireCRiley | http://www.clairecriley.com
~Twisting the post-apocalypse story in a GOOD way!~

DEAD TREES is a morlock-esque take on the apocalypse. This reads much different than what you will find in the zombie genre (NO, this is NOT a zombie book, but rather a post-apocalyptic tale with “Beasties” as they are dubbed by the narrator hat have emerged from underground a la H.G. Wells.) First, know that there is some exceptional attention to detail here that is often lacking in the genre.

One thing that makes this book stand out is a strong female protagonist. SO often this genre is dominated by uber-military MacGyver types that have all the answers and can get out of every scrape. Elise is a mother simply trying her best to keep her daughter’s alive, and while she does “hook up” with Jason, you get the impression that she can do with or without him just fine.

What you need to know is that this book is a page turner. It has plenty of action and strong character development. There are time when it gets “sciencey” but those times flow within the scope of the story and are not cumbersome. There are some editing flaws, but nothing that will make you pause or detract from the flow of the story (and the author has worked to make improvements in that area for those wondering). This is a strong book and you WILL be pestering her Ms. Constant about the sequel. I did not rate this book 5 stars because it was perfect. Truly, nothing really is. I rated it 5 stars because it took chances (that paid off) and it kept me wanting to read more.

Author TW Brown
The Dead Series, That Ghoul Ava Series
@maydecpub | Amazon Author Page

What would you do if the world we knew didn’t exist anymore? What would you do to protect your children and survive?
Eli Constant answers these questions and takes the end of the world to new levels in “Dead Trees”. Starting on page one, readers are immersed into a world where humans are no longer at the top of the food chain and survival is measured in hours. Constant’s storytelling abilities bring the characters, setting, and the ‘beasties’ to life, making “Dead Trees” one of the most engrossing and ghoulish dystopian tales I have read in quite some time.
-Jerry Benns: Editor for State of Horror Anthologies, Charon Coin Press
State of Horror Anthology Facebook Page | Charon Coin Press Website

 

 

Here is my interview with Julie Ramsey

30 Friday May 2014

Posted by fionamcvie1964 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Name: Julie Ramsey

Age: 39

Where are you from: Monroe, Michigan

A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc
I am married with one 12 yr son, 3 dogs and 2 birds. After High School I worked retail until I wanted to see what else was out there. I went to college and got my degree. I am a Respiratory Therapist. If you don’t know what that is (I hear it a lot), I control the life support machines (ventilators). I primarily work in ICU’s. After high school and before college the reading bug bit me. I couldn’t get enough. Years later I started my own blog. On Julies Book Review we do reviews and promotional events for authors. Through it all I had stories I wanted to get down. I finally got the courage to put down my own story and The Wild Bone: The White Alpha of Monroe, was born.

 

 

 

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?
New release just came out Restraining an Alpha Book 2 in the White Alpha of Monroe Series

 

 

 

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?
I actually started back at college and in my creative writing class a project ran too long. So I put it on the back burner and came back to. That was the start of book 1.

 

 

 

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I guess now. I really am just getting used to having books for sale. They are still a work in progress. Not totally satisfied with everything yet.

 

 

 

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?
School assignment started it all but I have always had an imagination.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?
I am still developing my style to be honest. New author!!

 

 

 

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?
There is a bar in the book on book one called the Wild Bone. I liked the title because it was suggestive but it is about werewolves, so it fit that way as well.

 

 

 

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Not necessarily, but I like strong woman characters. I like women who are strong by themselves yet may be even stronger with a great partner or friends.

 

 

 

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?
Well it is about werewolves so not too realistic but the town of Monroe is real. I use real places.

 

 

 

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
No just characters I feel connected too. There are bits and pieces of people I know in the characters but not specific.

 

 

 

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most?
Christine Feehan, JR Ward, Laurel K Hamilton are probably some of my bigger influences

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
I have had several authors become friends of mine due to my review site. As I have been writing some of the ones who have stood by me and are so unbelievably supportive are Lorraine Nelson and RE Butler

 

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?
I just finished 2 by RE Butler

 

 

 

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Newer authors Lorraine Nelson and RE Butler are givens but Quinn Loftis does a wonderful werewolf series. When I found out they were YA, I really didn’t want to go on but I am so glad I did. What a wonderful series.

 

 

 

Fiona: What are your current projects?
Currently I am working on a sci-fi romance and then I will start book 3

 

 

 

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members. I have a couple really good Friends Belinda and Theresa who have stood by me from day one.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?
Eventually, right now I still work full time in the hospital. I would like to use writing to retire someday.

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
In the newest one, not much. Been having editing issues throughout. Because I am a new authors there is a pretty big learning curve.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
I have always loved stories and had a great imagination since I was a child. But it wasn’t until I became an adult that a writer ever entered my mind.

 

 

 

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Not my current but I will give you a taste of book 2 Restraining an Alpha

 
“Tony, how long do werewolves live?” “Well it is different for each. On average around 200 years or so. A little longer than humans but we also tend to have fewer children and there are just fewer and fewer of us in general. What brought this up?” “What about me? I have both human and wolf DNA. Will I die and get old way before you?” I looked at Tony with tears in my eyes. All of the sudden the thought of me living without him or us not being together was making me cry. Tony crossed the room in large steps almost running to my side. He sat on the bed in his boxers and put his hands on the side of my head to tilt it up. He looked into my eyes and said, “Sally mine, I honestly have no idea but the day you leave this world, I will be following right behind you. That is what mates do. It is for life and everything after. No one will separated us ever. You got that? “ I fell in love just a little bit more with this man. With his scar on his neck and tattoo on his arm, I reached up and ran my hands into his dark silky hair. His hands came off my face to my shoulders and worked their way down to my hands. He held them, his large with my small ones, forever together. As a tear slide down my cheek, I pulled his hand up to my mouth and kissed each finger and then one on his palm. Slowly I kissed my way up his muscled arms. So strong and so damn sexy. The heat between us had always been combustible. The attraction was so strong and the love we felt for one another was getting stronger every day.

 

 

 

 

Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Just not knowing everything I should. Anything new can be challenging.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
It is hard to pick just one. Christine Feehan’s dark Series, I have been reading for years. Her series are stories with in stories. You can read the books independently but each are connected and add to the overall story. JR Ward her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Just kick ass awesome characters and you never know what to expect. Laural K Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, Anita grows with each story. She grows as an individual but also you watch as her ideas change over time. The awesome monsters, bloody fights and later the oh so hot sex doesn’t hurt either (sex scene really don’t start until like book 10 or so). Read JR’s and Laurel’s in order.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
None so far. All are bases in Monroe.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who designed the covers?
Two totally different ebook cover companies

 

 

 

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Learning the process

 

 

 

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Still learning lots

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?
If you want something bad enough you can do anything with hard work and good support

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Please go out and get my books

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?
The first one that took me and transported me to a new world, the one that started me reading was Ender’s Game by Orsen Scott Card.

 

 

 

Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies?
Clash of Clans 2 ( my son and I play) playing with my dogs and reading

 

 

 

Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?
Big Bang Theory, Friends (yes I still watch reruns), and Teen Wolf

 

 

 

Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music …
Foods Lasagna is my fav ( I make a killer one), grilled tuna or samon, fav. Color Blue or purple, Music I like Katie Perry most rock and pop a little bit of rap

 

 

 

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?
Not sure ..i work in the medical field but I would not mind being a teacher I always loved to teach.

 

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?
http://juliesbookreview.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/julieramseyauthor

Thanks for having me
Julie Ramsey

 

Here is my interview with Elizabeth Loraine

29 Thursday May 2014

Posted by fionamcvie1964 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Name Elizabeth Loraine

Where are you from I grew up in a small Northern Minnesota town. I live in Florida now.
A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc I’m married with a grown son and daughter.

 
Fiona: Tell us your latest news?
June 5th I’m launch a new long Novella as an addition to my nine full book and two other novellas in the Royal Blood Chronicles series. I will also have two YA anthology pieces and a contemporary adult romance coming out this summer.

 

 

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?
Five years ago.

 

 

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I published my first book, Katrina, the Beginning.

 

 

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?
I could not find anything to read that interested me at the time, so I challenged myself to write something.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?
I’m a story teller and I love a twisting, page turning, ‘I never saw that coming’ plot.

 

 

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?
Sometimes titles come easily and sometimes it takes some real thought. That first book is Katrina began to chronicle her life, so that’s the title.

 

 

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
There’s a cause bigger than you and your needs. Classic good against evil and what are you willing to give up to keep good on the winning side.

 

 

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?
It’s fantasy, but as with all my novels I do research to make anything that appears in the normal life, or historical events correct. I love research.

 

 

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
Not with this series, but in my other YA series Phantom Lives I based it upon recurring dreams I had as a child.

 

 

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most?
Oh I can’t narrow that down, there are so many. My love of fantasy probably came being read Hans Christian Andersen’s work. Little Mermaid, Elves and the Shoemaker.

 

 
Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
I write so many different styles and genres. Anne Rice, Steve Berry, Clive Cussler, Dan Brown, J.K. Rowling, Tolkien, So many.

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?

Soulkeepers, by G.P. Ching

 

 

 

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
All the time so many great writers out there.

 

 

 

Fiona: What are your current projects?
After Julius, the Coven. I will be writing book ten for Royal Blood Chronicles. Power of the Secret. I am finishing a thriller/romance now and writing another after that. I’ll also do a short anthology piece for Halloween publication. I’m a very busy woman at the moment.

 

 

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
Oh my Facebook family, for sure. Along with great bloggers.

 

 

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?
It is my career. I do it full time and I have for four years.

 

 

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
No.

 

 

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
I have always had stories in my mind, I’d just never written them down. Now I do.

 

 

Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Writing is like breathing for me. It seems to be the most natural thing in the world. Marketing is much more challenging.

 

 

Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
I can’t narrow that down either. That’s like asking which child you like best.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
No.

 

 

Fiona: Who designed the covers?
I started out designing them myself and they were ok. Now Conspiracy Digital Arts does Royal Blood Chronicles and Creative Paramita does the contemporary ones.

 

 

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Deciding to write it.

 

 

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
I think you learn something with each one. I learned I could do it and learned I needed help to finish it, as in editing and formatting.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?
If you want to write, write every day. Taking it seriously and being consistent is everything. If you need help, ask. Writers are very willing to help and give advice if asked.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thank you, and I love you all. You’re the reason I continue to write. Your support means everything.

 

 

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?
I’m sure it was a comic book.

 
Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies?
I love to garden. I have a huge flower garden. I love to travel and spend time with family.

 

 

Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?
Again, such a mixture of things. I love action movies, fantasy. Lord of the Rings. The Avengers, XMen. I also love comedies.

 

 

Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music
Anything Italian especially Pizza. Blue is my favorite color. I love any kind of music, depending on mood from classical, jazz, pop, rock, country.

 

 

Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?
Oh I’ve done lots of things. I’ve been a secretary, book keeper, decorator. I liked many of them, but I love writing. It’s what I was meant to do.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?
I’m in the process of reworking my Royal Blood Chronicles website royalbloodchronicles.com

 

 

 
Here’s an excerpt from Julius, the Coven launching June 5th.

Julius stood at the gangway waiting to board the wind and steam powered clipper ship. He smiled at the scene before him. The way the ship filled the Eastern horizon, the way people crowded the rails and jubilantly waved to their family and friends seeing them off from the dock lifted the weight on his heart. Each passenger was so different from each other, by ethnicity, class, religion and economic situation. Yet their sameness, the very aspect of their being human, would unite in fear against his race. Their races were so close in origin. Yet, because his race possessed the gift of magic and were long lived, Witches and Warlocks were vilified, and if discovered, tortured and killed, often burned alive.
“It’s a little intimidating isn’t it?”
Julius frowned. “Rowena?”
“I guess we all got the message. I wasn’t about to go alone. There’s still some truth to the old adage, ‘safety in numbers’ isn’t there?”
“So the Western Coven is represented. What about Maine?”
Rowena smiled. “Byron sent word. He’s probably already here somewhere in the crush.”
Julius looked up and his gaze washed quickly across the throngs of people up on deck. A young woman caught his eye just for a second, and then she was gone. He frowned and glanced over to Rowena. He sensed she was totally at ease as they made their way up the gang plank.
“It’s really quite exciting Julius. Why do you seem so worried?”
“It’s my nature, and I don’t trust these…people.”
“Please, they’re harmless.”
“You’re a fool if you really think so. Enjoy the voyage, Rowena.”
Julius made his way through the crowd on deck to the purser’s desk. Offering his ticket he was directed to the first class section of the ship. Entering the small outside cabin, he tossed his bag onto the bed, opened the porthole and looked out. The image of the woman he’d seen earlier on deck was on his mind where it had taken up residence there, after he’d caught a fleeting glimpse of her earlier. She was no human. What, or who she was, was making him feel uneasy. A knock caused the image to fade and he turned to the door.
“Come.”
“I’m right next door. I thought I’d say hello.”
“Rowena assured me you’d be on board. Good to see you Byron.” He was genuinely glad to see his longtime friend.
Byron grinned and held out his hand in greeting and Julius shook it. “Should be an interesting voyage and meeting, don’t you think? I’m on my way to the bar. Join me, we’ll talk about it.”
“Yes, this is all very interesting, indeed. But, no, I have some things to do. I’ll see you at dinner?” Byron nodded and left the cabin.
Julius thought about staying in until dinner, but all he could think of was the woman he’d seen. Finding her won out, and he headed to the deck.
Once on the wide foredeck he walked to the center, and let his power survey the crowd. He knew, of course, he wasn’t likely to locate a person of magical origins this way, since they would most likely cloak themselves, but he learned many things about the humans he scanned. As he walked the deck ranging out with his power, he could feel their true emotions, and avoided those he sensed might be a danger. Getting closer to the bow of the ship he felt something unusual. Slowing his pace, he squinted as he turned his head from side to side, homing in first on the direction of the sensation.
He stopped and concentrated harder. As the crowd cleared in front of him, he saw her. She was wearing a Kelly-green wool coat. Her long, strawberry blonde curls billowed out around her with the breeze. She wasn’t cloaking herself, and when she turned he couldn’t stifle the involuntary gasp that escaped his lips. His reaction caused her to smile, her amusement curled across her full, pink lips. When she turned away to look once again out to the sea, Julius released the breath he’d been holding.
He swallowed hard and slowly approached her.
“The ocean is mesmerizing isn’t it?”
“Yes it is. It’s like trying to predict the future. No way of knowing what will happen, it’s ever changing.” She turned then and looked him in the eye. “Are you ready for whatever the future might bring?”
“If it includes you, I am.”
She chuckled and turned back, leaning against the rail. “Handsome and charming. Traits which serve you well, don’t they?”
He frowned. “Usually, yes. I’m Julius.”
She turned to him again. “Marcella.”
She didn’t offer her hand. Julius didn’t take it personally. Non-humans didn’t like to touch if they weren’t sure about the strength of the other’s power. He still wasn’t sure what kind of creature she was. A quick scan told him she was powerful, but he was sure she wasn’t allowing him full access. Of course he was blocking probes as well.
“Nice to meet you Julius. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other often on this trip.” She walked away and his gaze followed her until she disappeared inside. He shook his head. He was over a hundred years old, he’d experienced the pleasures of many women and had lost what he felt was the love of his life to the poison of evil. He’d ignored the signs as she’d became first withdrawn and moody and then insolent and combative. And when her darkening aura could no longer be disregarded, he thought he could save her, thought he had saved her and she almost destroyed not only him, but his Coven too.
This woman intrigued him. She instantly stirred feelings in him he hadn’t opened himself to for many, many years.
“You’ve seen something. Is it dangerous?” Rowena asked as she approached.
“I don’t think so. See you at dinner.”

Rowena was dumbfounded. It was the second time today Julius had abruptly left her standing alone. She was irresistible, she always had been anyway. She felt her ire rise. Men didn’t just walk away from her, men of any race. Wasn’t it ironic, she’d only agreed to represent her Coven because she knew Julius was heading the delegation. She had relied on her natural attraction to draw him to her, now it looked like she would have to come up with a Plan B.
“You seem upset. What is it Rowena?”
She glanced at Byron and sighed exaggeratedly. “This entire trip is going to be a waste of time.” She forced a smile as she laced her arm through Bryon’s and they started to walk together.
“You’ll find some distractions, Rowena. You always do. If not with Julius, then with someone else.”
Rowena stopped her mouth agape.
Byron smiled and looked away as they continued on. “You’re not fooling anyone, Rowena, least of all me. You’ve been interested in Julius for years. Everyone knows it.”
“Except Julius. He’s oblivious to my charms.”
“Indeed. Don’t blame him too much. He has many challenges as our leader, and now this.”
“Yes, at the insistence of the Protectors.” Rowena couldn’t hide her distain and Byron shook his head and leaned in.
“From Katrina herself,” he whispered. “You’d best be more careful in the way you react to our alliance. Without it, we’d truly be vulnerable. Our numbers already are at the lowest in centuries. If not for her…”
Rowena halted abruptly and jerked her arm away, her eyes flashed. “You can bow to them if you want, withholding the concerns I know that you feel. I, however, intend to be the voice of reason at the council meeting.”
Byron raised an eyebrow as he glanced past her and then back. “This is how you plan to endear yourself to Julius? Good luck with that, Rowena.” He tipped his hat, shoved his hand in his pocket and strolled away.
Rowena was fuming when she reached her cabin. She looked into the mirror as she unpinned her grey hat. She leaned against the vanity stroking the hat’s showy feather plume.
“I’m definitely losing my touch.”

 

 

 
Book one of the series is Free Here’s the Amazon link
http://www.amazon.com/Katrina-Beginning-Royal-Blood-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B004K1EVY6/ref=epic=cm_cr_pr_product_top
My facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Royal-Blood-Chronicles/135355462710

Twitter: @bloodchronicles

 

Here is my interview with Sarah Lyons Fleming

29 Thursday May 2014

Posted by fionamcvie1964 in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Name – Sarah Lyons Fleming
Age – 39–Ack!
Where are you from-
I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, but have lived in OR for eight years.
A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc
I have two kids, a husband and two cats. Lots of lovely parents and a brother and sister. I majored in Sociology in college–the best degree for a fast-paced career, no? I love to read, write (of course), sit around doing nothing, make artsy stuff and be silly.

 

 
Fiona: Tell us your latest news?
Well, I just released my second book in my Until the End of the World series: And After.

 

 

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?
I started in 2011. I had been reading a lot of prepper fiction, and I wanted to read about someone I could relate to in a post-apocalyptic situation. I didn’t want a YA protagonist, although I love YA, or a male protagonist, although men are cool. I wanted chick lit, post-apocalypse style. So I decided to write it myself.
I was trapped under my son’s napping feet (the only way he would nap–stinker!) for 1.5 hours per day and decided to try my hand at writing down the story that had appeared in my head and wouldn’t leave me alone.

 

 
Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I guess when I self-published my first book. It was kind of hard to say at first. I felt like more of a dabbler. I hadn’t been writing fiction since I was a kid or dreaming of being a writer for years. I wrote blog posts and random things for myself, but it was all non-fiction. But if you write, you’re a writer. Whether you’re unpublished, traditionally published or self-published.

 

 

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?
Hey Fiona: I don’t want to repeat myself, but I answered that above. 🙂

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?
Hmm, I’m not sure. I tend to be less metaphorical than a lot of writers. I love dialogue. I like writing that doesn’t make you have to work to see the story in your head, so I tend to write that way. Beautiful lines are, well…beautiful, but if I have to stop to admire every line of a book I lose the story. And I love story. I want to look up from a book and wonder why I’m still in my living room and not the world the author’s created.

 

 

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?
For Until the End of the World: It’s something the protagonist said with her parents when she was a kid. It was so fitting that I didn’t even have to think about it.

 

 

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
There’s always hope. Love, in all its many forms, is everywhere.

 

 
Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?
Well, it’s zombies, so that’s not very realistic. But I tried to keep the situations and emotions as realistic as possible. I wanted it to be like real life in that no one is perfect, although we’d like to be. And even if we’re not perfect, we’re still amazing people. We’re just human.

 

 

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
I know people similar to many of the characters, but they’re all a mixture of folks. And I love prepping and survival, so adding all of that was lots of fun for me.

 

 

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most?
I always joke that I got started on post-apocalyptic fiction when my dad handed me Malevil (a novel about the survivors of a nuclear holocaust) when I was nine. The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder probably started my prepping obsession. There are so many other books that I can’t think of at the moment that had a major influence. I feel like so many did their share in bits and pieces.

 

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?
I just finished The Echo Prophecy by Lindsey Fairleigh (Great book!). Like, an hour ago. My next book isn’t decided on yet. I have a to-be-read pile twenty feet deep. Well, it’s on my phone, but if it were paper books it would be twenty feet deep.

 

 

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Rachel Aukes, Claire C. Riley, Lindsey Fairleigh, Tracey Ward. Some zombie, some not. But all great.

 

 

 

Fiona: What are your current projects?
I’m working on book 3 of my Until the End of the World series, titled All the Stars in the Sky.

 

 

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
I just have to say that my family and friends rock! They are so supportive, and my husband is an amazing editor. Otherwise, I’ve met some really amazing indie authors and reviewers. I’ve found that most indies help each other out. I love to discuss, joke, commiserate and promote with the wonderful people I’ve met.

 

 

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?
I do. I didn’t at first. But I’m sort of addicted to writing. It’s a craving. So I have to justify my absence to my husband and kids somehow. Kidding!
Anyway, yes I do. And it doesn’t feel like work, which is the best feeling. The other day I took a break while I was writing, and I couldn’t wait to get back to my last sentence. That’s when I realized (once again and even more) just how freaking awesome it is. And how lucky I am. Yeah, I say awesome a lot. Child of the 80’s.

 

 

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
I’m proud of my latest. I had it where I wanted it, and the feedback was great. Every once in a while I get an urge to re-edit book 1, just because I feel I’ve grown as a writer, but I probably won’t. Onward and upward!

 

 
Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Here’s a couple of paragraphs from And After. I hate spoilers, so I don’t want to give you too much, or any of book 3:
—-
I can still smell the bodies when we get back to the farm. It sticks on your clothes and in your sinuses. The frozen Lexers don’t splatter the way thawed ones can, but they still stink. We park the snow machines quietly, well aware of how close a call that was. Toby dashes off to begin his celebration of life, quite possibly the least solemn of us all. Now that the Lexers are thawing, it’s only a matter of time until the pods come. They’ll find us eventually. They may not communicate, but they follow each other looking for food. Looking for us.
I haven’t forgotten what the ever-present terror of millions of zombies feels like, but it’s had a chance to fade since the autumn. The winter gave us time to heal from shell-shocked survivors back into the people we once were, barring the visible and invisible scars we all carry. We’ve grown used to not worrying. The rustle of the trees really has been the wind, every snap of a branch heavy snow or ice. We haven’t become complacent, but it’s time to get back into that old mentality—the world has never been more of an eat-or-be-eaten place than it is now.
—–

 

 
Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Action scenes. I’ve been told I do them well, but they take a million edits. I see the whole book as a movie in my head, so figuring out the action–where everybody is, what’s in the way, etc–takes a lot of work and rewinding of said movie. Interspersing a character’s reaction to what’s happening while also letting the action speak for itself can be difficult.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
I know I sound like every other person ever when I say Stephen King. But it’s true. I think he manages to create not only a plot that leaves me interested, but also wonderful characters. His sentences are deceptively simple yet sometimes beautiful, without smacking you over the head with it.
And Bill Bryson. I love that man. Like, marrying kind of love (don’t tell my husband!). His writing is sarcastic and funny as heck.
I also love chick-lit authors and have a special place in my heart for Sarah Bird.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
No, but maybe one day I’ll get to. I love to travel.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who designed the covers?
I did. They’re fairly simple. Anything more than that and I’d have to hire someone.

 

 

 

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?
I don’t think of it as hard. There were the normal frustrations–plot details, digging into a character’s motivations, etc. But even when frustrated, I love it all.

 

 

 

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
I learned a ton, most having to do with the craft of writing. It took a whole lot of edits to get it where I was happy with it. Mainly things like: stop using as and -ing. Be sure to include and be clear on a character’s emotions because that’s what readers relate to, even if they’re not “pretty” emotions. Maybe especially if they’re not pretty.
I also learned that it’s hard work but so much fun to be immersed in a world of your own making.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?
Write. I know, we all say that, but I mean it. No one ever sees my first draft and that allows me to write as badly as I want and never think of what people will say. I let the story come out and just plug along, knowing I’m going to fix that word or sentence that makes me cringe.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thank you! Really. I’m so touched when I get emails and messages and Facebook posts from people who’ve enjoyed my books. It makes my day and year and life and…I guess that’s all. And reviews–I LOVE reviews.

 

 
Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?
I don’t. But I loved the Little House and Narnia books most of all as a child.

 

 
Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?
I like to do artsy stuff, but I’ve done less since I’ve started writing. Really, there’s nothing I’d rather do in terms of hobbies these days.

 

 
Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?
I like The Walking Dead, of course. Firefly and Torchwood were wonderful. Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and all those critically-acclaimed dramas. As for movies, I love everything from Sci-Fi to Romantic Comedies, as long as it’s done well.
I know I’m forgetting so many, but you know when someone asks you what your favorite TV show is and the only thing you can think of is Family Matters? Which you don’t like. Yeah, happening now.

 

 
Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music
I’ve never met a pastry I didn’t like. I like indie rock mostly, and have a soundtrack that goes along with each book. I’ve posted the playlist on my blog after publishing each book.

 

 
Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?
What I did before, which was make stuff. I had a handmade soap and toiletries business for years, and most recently I made and sold concrete tiles, fairy doors and sculptures. I designed and made the molds, as well as hand-painted the tiles.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?
http://www.SarahLyonsFleming.com
My blog is the link “Whatnot.”

Here is my interview with Glenn Scrimshaw

29 Thursday May 2014

Posted by fionamcvie1964 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Name  Glenn Scrimshaw, although I tend to answer to Dad as often as not and being called Mr Scrimshaw always has me looking around for my Dad.

Age  In my forties, but doing my best to lose count.

Where are you from
I come from Bolton upon Dearne in South Yorkshire, it is in the heart of the old coal mining region around Barnsley. I left there when I was about twenty and lived for a while up in the North East in Sunderland before ending up moving down to Derbyshire.

 

 

A little about yourself `ie your education Family life etc.
My education was just the usual, I managed to get into University to study art, although back then it was Sunderland Polytechnic. I always struggled to study things unless they interested me and most of the interesting things were not studied in school. I was reading Beowolf and the myths of ancient Ireland while the teachers were droning on about the Spinning Jenny and the industrial revolution. I managed a year at Sunderland Poly before I was shown the door and spent another couple of years up there before moving down to the Midlands for a job. It wasn’t long before I met my wife in Rock City in Nottingham and far too many years later I’m a dad of 4 and a granddad.

 

 

Fiona: Tell us your latest news?
At the moment I’m working on the third book in the Comedy Sci-Fi Alienbutt Saga as well as a few ideas for the second story of John the Barman. I’m not the fastest of writers and get too easily distracted.

 

 

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?
I didn’t start writing until about four years ago and it wasn’t something I ever really thought about. Even when I began writing the first Alienbutt story I never thought about publishing it, it was just as a laugh because a friend suggested I should try it. I’d spent time playing a game on Facebook and posting on the discussion boards. There was a small group of us who began posting as our game characters and just being daft. To start with I just wrote bits and posted them up and was amazed people were enjoying the story and as it grew I decided I wanted a copy for my own bookshelf. I finished the story and with no thought of editing or proof reading I put it out through the Lulu self-publishing site. The book was rough and a mess as my English isn’t that great but the owners of Gingernut Books bought a copy and through the migraine inducing grammar of the book decided there was a story worth taking on. Several rewrites later I sent them in a better version that was sent off for proof reading and editing along with the first of my short stories about the Vampire Eloim.

 

 

Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I don’t consider myself a real writer and defiantly not an author. I tell daft stories, often while sat drinking whisky on a night. I create a daft hero and then drop them into situations to torture them in funny ways.

 
Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?
Like I said a friend suggested I try and I just set out to write a throw away story to get a laugh or two. Actually having two books and five short stories published was never the intention but as I’ve started the ride I want to see where it goes.

 

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?
Mainly drunken, the bulk of my ideas come from sitting with a bottle of whisky and just seeing where it takes me. I try to write stories with plenty of action and a good few laughs and it seems to be working.

 

 

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?
My first book is The Alienbutt Saga, War of the Coffee Bean and I named the main hero after my online game name and many of the other characters are named after other gamers. The idea was to have the most stupid idea for a universal war so coffee bean addiction became the central plot as an unwilling hero discovers he is the only hope for the universe.

 

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
There is some satire and twists on events that happen here in the real world but on the whole I try to just tell an old fashioned action story with added laughs that show how life is funny when you look at it from the right angle.

 

 

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?
Not in the slightest, on the whole they are total flights of fancy. The great thing about writing Sci-Fi is you don’t have to ground things in facts and events so you can wander where you want as the story develops.

 

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
I will use people I know as a basis for characters, using aspects of their personality to try and develop my characters. On the whole though any similarity to real life events are totally coincidental.

 

 

Fiona: What books have influenced your life most?
I’ve read a lot of fantasy especially Terry Pratchett that I think influences my style of writing with the way he twists normal things to make them funny. Raymond E Fiest and David Gemmill are also favourites for the way they build up epic stories and create characters that are not natural heroes. I’m not saying I’ve managed to repeat their style but that is what I aim at.

 

 

Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Without a doubt it is Michelle Gent, she is part owner and an amazing horror author at Gingernut Books. She saw something in my work and had the faith in me to take a chance and has since gently nudged me in the right direction to improve my writing. She has given me so much advice and help and always has time to answer my stupid questions.

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?
I’ve just finished reading A clash of Kings by George R R Martin and will be moving onto the third book soon. I’m avoiding reading it straight away as I’m reading through my Alienbutt saga as I work on the third book. Like the rest of the world I’m hooked on Game of thrones.

 

 

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
For the last few years I’ve been reading more indie and self-published authors than the traditional authors. Michelle Gent’s werewolf books are great and have gotten me back into horror which I hadn’t read for many years. I enjoyed Sherrill Willis’s Ruby Lake books which are really a style of book I would never have read. Marie Harbon’s Seven Point Eight totally gripped me from start to finish. The list could go on as there are so many high quality stories coming out if people would give them a chance.

 

Fiona: What are your current projects?
The third book of the Alienbutt Saga is my main project at the moment, as many of my characters didn’t make it beyond the end of the second book I’m working on developing new characters. I am also working on ideas for a second John the Barman story which is a more down to earth tale of a bar where the gods and supernatural go to unwind after a hard day’s work. This story is more a satire on how those creatures would view humanity and our often silly ways.

 

 

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
The online community of indie and self-published authors, they are always there with support and advise to help. It’s a great group of people who are willing to share what they have learned or just help get the word out about your work.

 

 

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?
At the moment it’s more of a hobby, it’s something I enjoy doing but I’m a long way from being in a position of making a living from it. As long as I can make enough to keep doing it then that’s great, any more than that is a bonus.

 

 

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
I’m reading through both my earlier books and I’ve found a few things I would change or didn’t get quite right. It’s the same as when you paint a picture, you always see the mistakes rather than the picture.

 

 

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
I never really had much interest in writing and was never any good at it throughout my school days. I guess it was just something I stumbled into by mistake or blind luck just put things together at the right time to get me started.

 

 

 

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?
I saw a post on Facebook saying no great story began with a salad so I set out to change that and this is the introduction to the third book.

“Do you want salad with that?” The girl behind the counter asked.
“Yes please, extra onions.” Dream replied with a smile.
“Dream, what are we doing here? The universe is about to collapse.” Trobjorn asked anxiously.
“We’re getting a kebab I’ve decided I want to try one.” Dream said watching as the girl heaped salad over the meat.
“Do you want any sauce?” The girl asked not looking up.
“Can I have some of that chili one please?” Dream answered happily.
“Dream, be serious. Your brother and sister are near death because of that damned cat ripping up the destiny of the universe and all you can think of is food.” Trobjorn pressed.
“Stop being so human Trobjorn.” Dream said as he accepted the kebab. “Alienbutt is back and things just need time to reset, trust me.”
“But you saw what happened, the prophecy is dead and everything is in ruins.” Trobjorn said throwing his arms up in desperation as Dream started to pick at the salad.
“You are not seeing the bigger picture in all this. Salad is actually rather nice, what is this red stuff?” Dream asked.
“It’s a slice of tomato, what bigger picture?” Trobjorn asked.
“How big can you dream?” Dream asked. “Fate and Destiny just had their prophecy crash and it’s going to take them time to jump start it and reload the programing. Is this cucumber?” Dream asked holding up a thin circle of cucumber for Trobjorn to see. “It’s very refreshing.”
“You’re not making any sense, how can the prophecy reset, the Coffee houses are destroyed and the Ick are entombed in dead space.” Trobjorn asked.
“Because Alienbutt is alive and he is still prophesised to save the Ick emperor and help save the Ick people.” Dream said finding his first strip of meat and popping it in his mouth.
“But the coffee Houses, just about the entire Federation navy have been destroyed by Fluffy’s droids.” Trobjorn pressed.
“The Coffee Houses have just had a change of leadership, sort of a hostile take-over.” Dream said with a grin. “This meat is good.”
Trojorn’s face split into a grin as Dreams words sank in. “So the universe isn’t going to end.”
“Of course not, you don’t think this is the first time we’ve messed up like this. Now why can’t we start more adventures with people sitting down to eat a salad?” Dream asked.

 

 

 
Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I’m terrible and grammar, punctuation and spellcheck is very active as I work. It’s the technical side of writing that I find hardest, well that and staying away from social media.

 

 

Fiona: Who is your favourite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
That’s difficult, I think overall though it has to be Terry Pratchett, I’ve loved his Discworld stories since my teens and I first discovered Mort. Over the years I’ve read each of his books many times and the humour never gets old.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
The great thing about writing Sci-Fi in worlds that don’t exist is I get to make it all up and don’t need to do any research on places. In my Vampire Eloim stories I’ve based some of the events in places I know or used google street view to get an idea of a place for the last story. As I just needed a rough idea for a place based on my research of the last of the English witch trials the maps and images allowed me to give a feel of the place without a visit.

 

 

Fiona: Who designed the covers?
I do my own covers, the Alienbutt Saga are CGI spaceships I designed while Vampire Eloim are based on photographs either me or my dad took of old monastery or castle ruins. I just edit them and add the effects and texts.

 

 

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Finding that idea that kicks off a story, the one that won’t lead to a false start. Often I will get those ideas from a comment or a picture I see. It’s that light bulb moment when something clicks and before you know it you’ve written a few thousand words and your fingers can’t keep up with your mind. I need more of those moments.

 

 

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Never edit and drink at the same time as that leads to a disaster. Also even when you’re sober no matter how many times you go through your own work you will end up reading the story you know rather than the words you wrote.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?
I was told when I first started to think about turning my story into a book that you need to know the start and the end of your story, after that it’s just a matter of filling in the middle. Many people start a story but struggle with the end so it never gets finished.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thanks for sticking with my rambling this long, don’t worry it’s nearly over.

 

 

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?
Apart from the old Ladybird Peter and Jane books? I think the first book I chose to read would have been something Kidnapped or Treasure Island. My Mum and Dad had a lot of books in the house so reading was a part of childhood.

 

 

Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?
I don’t watch much Television but instead spend time online or reading, in the summer if the weather is OK then I’ll try to keep the garden from becoming a jungle. Trying to keep the house from falling down isn’t really a hobby, more of an ongoing eternal battle but can take up a good deal of time.

 

 

 

Amazon Author page- Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Glenn-Scrimshaw/e/B009HNIXR8/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Glenn-Scrimshaw/e/B009HNIXR8/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Website – http://glennscrimshaw.weebly.com/
Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Glenn-Scrimshaw/188876677867600

Twitter – https://twitter.com/P_Alienbut

 

 

 

 

Here is my interview with Sam Reese

29 Thursday May 2014

Posted by fionamcvie1964 in Uncategorized

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Name Sam Reese
Age 32
Where are you from
Originally from McDonough, GA but currently residing in Kingston, TN
A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc
I’m married and have been for ten years this year. I have no children but I do have two dogs, Gracie and Prissy, a cat named Freya, and a guinea pig named Bam Bam. Education-wise, I have a Master’s in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. I’m really terrible with biographical information, so I’ll just leave it at that to add to the mystique.

 

 
Fiona: Tell us your latest news?
My book entitled “Immolation” is due out this summer from J. Ellington Ashton Press. I’m also working on a few novels and short stories, and I just ate dinner, so that’s pretty recent.

 

 

 

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?
I started when I was young, mostly because I wanted to write stories about me as a superhero. The first story I ever wrote was called, “The Big Dog” about a Godzilla-sized dachshund that walked on its hind legs. No one liked him, and he was sad, but then a space amoeba came and attacked the city, and only the dog could fight it off. He did, and everyone loved him. It was a classic of children’s literature I tell you.
Writing seriously, however, came later in life, probably about ten years ago. I read Stephen King’s “Bag of Bones”-my first King novel incidentally-and thought, “This is so amazing. I want to touch people with stories like this book has touched me.” So I started writing various stories and whatnot.

 

 
Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I don’t know that I ever thought about it. I guess it was when I read an interview with Mr. King in which he said, “Writer’s write.” I figured I must be a writer since I write.

 

 

 

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?
Like I said, “Bag of Bones” influenced it quite a bit. However, I think any writer will tell you that writing a book is something of a spiritual thing. You’re something of a portal for these characters to tell their stories, and one day Lydia woke me up and told me to write her story. So I did.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?
I don’t know. I’ve been told I have the style of Lovecraft with the imagination of Neil Gaiman, as well as the talent of King coupled with the snarkiness of David Sedaris but, like all good writers I think I suck. No one else shares the sentiment so far, so maybe I should give myself another chance.

 

 

 

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?
Well, Lydia controls fire, and the story talks about forgiveness versus vengeance, and which one ultimately wins out. So, I coupled fire with forgiveness-which in many religions requires sacrifice-and came up with “Immolation” which is a burnt offering to God or the Gods.

 

 

 

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
If there is any message to the novel that I hope people get, it’s that darkness does not have to turn one dark. Power does not have to corrupt. I hope that people will understand that life is beautiful and horrible, but it’s often much more beautiful than we realize because we’re too focused on the horrible.

 

 

 

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?
Well, it takes place in the “real world” though in a fictional town. Nothing is really unrealistic except perhaps Lydia’s powers, though I’m sure there are some who believe things like pyrokinesis exist. I tried to make it seem like something that could happen in your hometown to a girl who goes to the local high school.

 

 

 

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
Not really, although some of the characters are based on a hodgepodge of people I know and myself. Lydia and Michael are probably the duality that is me, but they contain other people I know as well.

 

 

 

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life?
My three favorite books are “The Thief of Always” by Clive Barker, “Bag of Bones” by Stephen King, and “The Ultimate Evil” by Andrew Vachss. But so many books have influenced my life that a list of them would inevitably leave something important out. The best I can give you is those three, “Watchmen” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, The Dark Knight Returns” by Frank Miller, “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman, and “The Vanishment” by Jonathan Aycliffe. And, lest I forget, the entire run of “Calvin and Hobbes” by Bill Watterson.

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Probably Neil Gaiman. I don’t like all his work, but his wisdom and encouragement through his blog and interviews have kept me going when I was ready to quit.

 

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?
I read something like ten books at a time. However, I’m currently focusing on “Rose and Steel” by Sharon L. Higa, “The Waste Lands” by Stephen King, and “Fragment” by Warren Fahy. Somewhere in the periphery I’m working through the second “Hunger Games” book, “The Dwarves” by Markus Heitz, and “Beowulf”.

 

 

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Jim Goforth, author of “Plebs” has garnered my interest, though I haven’t read “Plebs” yet. Also, the aforementioned Sharon L. Higa has captured my attention as well. Otherwise, I don’t really pay attention to the “newness” of an author, mostly because I’m fairly oblivious to how long someone has been around unless it’s obvious.

 

 

 

Fiona: What are your current projects?
I’m currently working on a haunted house story, a story about a human prince raised by dwarves with my friend Melissa, a series about twin sisters and their struggles with demons with my friend Amy Dees, and some short stories and such. I’m also potentially working on a comic book/graphic novel with my friend Jordan. We’ll see how that pans out. I’ve also got about 120 pages of a novel that is about a guy who meets an imp and his mute muse, teams up with Titania and Oberon of the Faerie Realm as well as the Norse Gods and the archangels Azrael and Raphael and fights against Lucifer and Loki for control of…well, I haven’t gotten that far yet.

 

 

 

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
I guess the staff at J. Ellington Ashton, as they were the first to not only publish me but were also the first people outside of family/friends who thought I wrote something worthwhile. It’s cool to know that people who don’t have to say they like your work actually do like your work.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?
I would like it to be, and I hope it can be something I’m successfully at. But if the only story that ever sees the light of day is “Immolation”, and it helps someone, then I would be content.

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
I’d make it longer. But hey, you never know when a “Director’s Cut” will come out.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
As I said before, it was primarily just a desire to tell stories with me as a hero, then it morphed to telling stories to entertain and hopefully help people.

 

 

 

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?
“Immolation” is the story of Lydia Allison Cantrell, daughter of the wealthiest man in the small north Georgia town of Sherman’s March. Her family is loved and respected in town, but Lydia lives with the knowledge that for the past four years her father has been abusing her. Because of the abuse, Lydia has chosen to be an outcast and only has one friend, Michael. Everyone else is either scared of her because they think she’s some kind of freak or they mock her and bully her. As she turns fourteen, her powers of pyrokinesis begin growing in strength and Lydia realizes that she has the power to destroy all those who have hurt her.

 

 

Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Mostly just sitting down to write. I don’t get writer’s block really, I tend to get what I call writer’s pity, meaning that I think I suck and that everything I’ve ever written sucks. But once I sit down and write, it just kind of flows out of me.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
I guess Stephen King. I like how he takes the everyday and makes it terrible, but still human.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
I haven’t had to yet, but we’ll see.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who designed the covers?
Susan Simone started, but Michael “Fish” Fisher completed the gloriously creepy art that is the cover of “Immolation”.

 

 

 

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Editing it the first time through. Trying to figure out what to cut and what to keep was like cutting off a finger. Okay, maybe not that bad, but it was tough. In the end, I cut what either didn’t work or what would need hundreds more pages of explanation to fit it in cohesively.

 

 

 

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
That I could finish a novel. That’s quite an accomplishment, and one that I’m proud of. Another is that I can make myself cry with my writing. That was a surreal experience.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?
The best advice I can give is to sit down and write. If it sucks, you can fix it in editing, but you can’t ever finish if you don’t start.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me a try as a writer. I hope I don’t let you down.

 

 
Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?
The first book I remember reading was some dinosaur book in Kindergarted. I read it our loud and was the first in my class to do so. My teacher was so thrilled that she took me around to other teachers and the Principal. I was pretty awesome if I do say so myself.

 

 
Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?
Reading, learning, and enjoying nature. Also, I’m big into the ancient Norse and their mythology.

 

 
Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?
The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, Vikings, Psych, Star Trek/Wars, Sherlock, Predator, Aliens, crusty horror films. Really too many to list, but these are some of my favorites. I also like good horror, but the really bad ones make me laugh.

 

 
Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music
Food: Steak and Macaroni and Cheese. Colors: Black, Blue, and Red. Music: Just about anything, but I really like metal. Bands like Extol, Demon Hunter, Marilyn Manson, Finntroll, Eluveitie, Slayer, Battlecross, etc. make me feel alive.

 

 
Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?
Been a vigilante. Good thing I chose writer, because I’d get killed my first night out on patrol.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?
I do. My blog is http://samueladamreese.wordpress.com/
My facebook is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sam-Reese-Author-and-Adventurer/140116649427941?ref=hl

 

 

Here is my interview with Will Viharo

29 Thursday May 2014

Posted by fionamcvie1964 in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Name Will Viharo
Age 51
Where are you from
Born in Manhattan, raised mostly in South Jersey, lived in California (mainly in the Bay Area) for most of my adult life, currently relocating to Seattle, WA.
A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc
I’ve been on my own since age 16, dropped out of high school, and worked numerous odd jobs to survive. I completed my first novel, “Chumpy Walnut,” a Runyonesque fable about a guy only a foot tall, when I was 19. My mother was Miss Houston 1960 and an aspiring actress until she was stricken with schizophrenia while I was in her womb. The illness destroyed her life and aborted our relationship. My father, Robert Viharo, is a retired professional actor/filmmaker. I am happily married to a beautiful actress/educator, Monica Cortes, who is about to enter the PhD program at the University of Washington School of Drama and realize her goal of being a professor. We are the proud “parents” of two cool cats, named Googie and Tiki.

 

 
Fiona: Tell us your latest news?
Relocating to Seattle after nearly three decades in California, mostly the Bay Area, though I spent my late teens and early 20s in Los Angeles. I am really looking forward to the change of scenery and climate. I’m sick of all this sunlight! My soul needs the cloud cover.

 

 

 

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?
When I was just a kid, maybe ten, I thought I wanted to be a comic book/comic strip artist. I created a character called “Chumpy Walnut” – literally a talking walnut – but eventually I realized I wasn’t that good an illustrator, so I decided I’d best express myself via the written word. It came very naturally to me. I was a voracious reader and loved all genres of literature. I reinvented Chumpy as a foot tall human being, and began writing a novel about him at age 16. I finished the final draft at age 19, while staying with relatives in Houston, Texas. After I returned to LA. later in 1982, I wrote a novel a year for the rest of the 1980s and into the 1990s. I’ve only published about half of them.

 

 

 
Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Probably when I was around 12.

 

 

 

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?
A lousy childhood and a vivid imagination.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?
Not really, although to paraphrase Elvis Presley, “I don’t sound like nobody.” My early influences include Damon Runyon, J.D. Salinger, and Raymond Chandler. I characterize my body of work as “pulp” because of all the lurid content, but I tend to mash up genres – horror, noir, sci-fi, etc. – so they are difficult to easily categorize. I think the novel that best represents my mature sensibilties is “A Mermaid Drowns in the Midnight Lounge.”

 

 

 

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?
All of my books start with a title. For instance, “Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me” was a phrase I dropped during a casual phone conversation with my father circa 1993. He said, “that’s your next book title.” And so it was. It became the first Vic Valentine story – currently in development as a film by Christian Slater, who has owned the option since 2001, after he happened to find it in a LA bookstore. A couple of years ago he flew me out to his home in Miami to rewrite his script, setting the action in South Florida instead of Northern California. He really relates to the main character, so naturally we hit it off. He plans to both star and direct the film.

 

 

 

Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Life is weird, sad, and beautiful, often all at once, like a strange dream.

 

 

 

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?
Assuming you mean “Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me,” some of the situations were inspired by some real experiences I was enduring while working as a delivery driver for the local blood bank. I just reimagined my own loneliness and romantic pursuits in the context of a hardboiled detective novel, but most of it is wholly fabricated. My recent books are much more fanciful and over-the-top, though still rooted in truth.

 

 

 
Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
All of my novels contain personal resonance, though I won’t reveal all the parallels. My novel “Lavender Blonde” is party inspired by my youthful friendship with actor Mickey Rourke in the 1980s, and an actess with whom I was totally obsessed. The Vic Valentine series is also somewhat auto-biographical, but in the end, Vic and I are quite different. Especially now.

 

 

 

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most?
“The Catcher in the Rye” is still my favorite novel. I read books primarily for The Voice, not the plot. I find continuous inspiration in the works of John Fante and Charles Bukowski, since they were working stiffs with literary aspirations, like me. I also really dig crime writer Jim Thompson. More contemporary authors I admire include James Lee Burke, Walter Mosley, Barry Gifford, James Ellroy, Joe Lansdale, Paul Auster, and Carl Hiaasen, though truth be told I haven’t read any of of their recent works. I mostly read books by struggling authors now.The established guys don’t need my support, and I’ve mined all the inspiration I need from them. I am far more influenced by cinema and music than literature, anyway. David Lynch is a major influence on my recent work, for instance, much more so than any single author.

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
None specifically. Most writers, even or especially successful ones, are very insecure and competitive with each other, unfortunately. My friend Joe Clifford, who edited the reissue of “Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me” for Gutter Books, is a rare example of a rising author who isn’t afraid to lend his literary brethren a hand. I wouldn’t call him a mentor per se, but he’s done a lot for my career lately, and I owe him a great debt.

 

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?
Several at once, mostly be friends and authors and I know personally – “Hustle,” by Tom Pitts; “Eli, Ely” by Ezekiel Tyrus; “Toxicity,” by Max Booth III.

 

 

 

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
The ones I just mentioned, including Joe Clifford. There’s a lot of awesome talent out there. It’s both invigorating and intimidating.

 

 

 

Fiona: What are your current projects?
I’m slowly working on the sxith Vic Valentine novel, “Hard-Boiled Heart.” It’s set mostly in Seattle so I’ll finish it there.

 

 

 

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
My wife, though she is my family, along with my cats.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?
I do, but so far it hasn’t reciprocated the faith.

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
No.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
From reading novels and comic books and watching movies. I wanted to relate my passions to an audience in a creative way.

 

 

 

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Here’s a line by Vic Valentine, from “Hard-Boiled Heart”:
“I wear my heart on my sleeve, like a broken cufflink.”

 

 

 

Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Writing itself is easy. Making money from it is hard.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
The writers I loved growing up and still love – Damon Runyon, Raymond Chandler, J.D. Salinger, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, Kurt Vonnegut, Jim Thompson, David Goodis, Charles Willeford, Dashiell Hammett, etc – all have distinctive styles. You may not like or relate to their work, but you know their Voice when you read it. With so many words out there competing for readers’ attention, distinguishing yourself as an individual with a unique vision is very important. Fortunately I am very comfortable with my identity as a person and as a writer, so freely expressing myself comes very naturally to me. I identify with writers who likewise bleed their unique creative DNA all over the page, without shame or restriction.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
Frankly I hate leaving my house. I wander around inside my own head. That’s all I can afford anyway.

 

 

 

Fiona: Who designed the covers?
The cover of the new edition of “Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me” was drawn by Matt Brown, the storyboard artist for the movie version. That’s Christian Slater depicted as Vic Valentine on the cover. Most of my other covers were done by artists who created event posters for my long running cult move cabaret, “Thrillville”, which I hosted/produced/programmed for 17 years, presenting classic B movies with live burlesque acts in various venues. Those great artistic talents include R. Black (“Down a Dark Alley,” “Fate Is My Pimp”/”Romance Takes a Rain Check”), Mr. Lobo and Dixie Dellamorte (“Lavender Blonde”); Rick Lucey (“I Lost My Heart in Hollywood”/”Diary of a Dick”); Michael Fleming (“It Came from Hangar 18,” co-authored with Scott Fulks); and Christopher Sorrenti (“Freaks That Carry Your Luggage Up to the Room”). I accidentally discovered the striking cover image for “A Mermaid Drowns in the Midnight Lounge” online and contacted the photographer, Mike Lewis, in Canada for the rights, since it perfectly suited the darkly erotic mood of that particular piece. The cover of “Chumpy Walnut” was designed by Miles Goodrich, using my original James Thurberish illustrations, which are also featured inside the book.

 

 

 

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Once I get started, it’s easy. I simply write my characters into corners and they write themselves out. So nothing, really. I love writing. Nothing else comes even close.

 

 

 

Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
I always learn about myself when I write, and then share those epiphanies with readers, albeit in a heavily disguised context.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?
Quit now and save yourself the grief! Then if you keep writing anyway, it means you are a born writer and are beyond needing anyone’s advice, including mine.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I hope you buy and enjoy all of my books, thank you for your support.

 

 
Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?
“The Jungle Book,” by Rudyard Kipling,when I was about 6 years old. I have a lifelong love of animals.

 

 
Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?
Watching movies, listening to music, drinking cocktails.

 

 
Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?
My all time favorite TV shows are still the 1960s “Batman” and “Miami Vice.” Also “Twin Peaks.” Currently I love “Mad Men,” “The Walking Dead,” “Archer,” and “Penny Dreadful.”

 

 
Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music
Food: Italian, Mexican, Japanese. Colors: blue, purple, and green. Music: jazz, lounge, New Wave rock, film soundtracks.

 

 
Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?
Can’t think of a single thing.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?
http://www.thrillville.net/
Will “the Thrill” Viharo
Freelance Writer, Pulp Fiction Author
“My Quill Is Quick”
http://www.thrillville.net/
http://www.facebook.com/will.viharo
http://twitter.com/ThrillPulp
http://www.linkedin.com/in/willthethrillviharo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Viharo
https://www.goodreads.com/ThrillPulp
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrThrillville

 

 

Here is my interview with David Joseph O’Brien

28 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by fionamcvie1964 in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Name David Joseph O’Brien
Age 40 (who said that?)
Where are you from?
Dun Laoghaire, just south of Dublin, Ireland
A little about your self `ie your education Family life etc
I studied Enviornmental biology in University College Dublin, then went on for a PhD in Zoology there, studying deer biology. I moved to Spain for 4 years, teaching English, then to Boston for 7 years, teaching Biology and back to Spain 3 years ago, teaching science and English. I married a Spanish girl who I met in Dublin while she was studying there. We have a 3 year old called Maia.

 

 
Fiona: Tell us your latest news?
I just got diagnosed with psoriasis after 20 years of having it…;-) no, my real news is I just published my first novel with Tirgearr Publishing, It’s called Leaving the Pack.

 

 

 

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?
I began when I was in my middle teens. I started writing poems and then wrote a few stories. I am not sure really why I started, other than I’d been given writing materials that were pretty cool and I thought I’d use them. I used to write all my poems in green ink. I still prefer that but I write in anything now, though for poetry I don’t like to type straight into the keyboard like I do with novels. I wrote poems that were ballads, telling a story, then went into prose. After a while I got to the stage that I had to write, had to put down the ideas or they’d stay in my head. That hasn’t changed. The ideas a bigger sometimes and they take longer to write down, though!

 

 

 
Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Good question. I, perhaps like others, for some reason separate poetry and other writing. I had my first poem published in a journal called Voices back in Ireland (my memory had fooled me into thinking the journal had another name, Cadenza, but I recently found the journal on my bedroom bookshelf back home!) and I have had a few articles published (and paid for) but I didn’t really consider myself a writer ever. It’s something I never trained for, while I did straightaway consider myself a scientist as soon as I had my degree, and a teacher as soon as I gave my first class. There’s something about saying you’re a writer that makes people look for proof: what did you write and where can I read it, that makes me a bit shy about saying it.

 

 

 

Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?
I got an idea and I wrote a novella and people I showed it to said it was a good idea and I expanded it. It happened over years and the details are blurred to me now. there were many version, though, I know that because I still have them on my computer. The first was written on a 286. Yes a 2 not 3 86. Many readers will not understand that that is, of course.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?
my doctoral thesis advisor told me that I write like I am speaking. It was a problem writing my thesis! And still a problem when I write, though not so much. It’s like me telling a story, and I know I am long winded about things (I get told that by my loved ones!) but when i write it, I can later cut it (and boy I have to cut it a lot) but something of the storyteller stays I hope. I’m not sure if that equates to a style, but it’s what happens when I put pen to paper.

 

 

 

Fiona: How did you come up with the title?
It took a long time to think of this one. Others have been easier. I started off with Wulfen, but that was just too similar to Strieber’s Wolfen, which was part of my inspiration for the idea. Then I called it Silver Nights for a few years and eventually after expanding to a real novel and rewriting it a few times, I saw that the basic story was about the hero leaving what he called the pack, after so many years running with them. The Silver Nights name I kept to call the trilogy after coming up with the ideas for two sequels while I was editing Leaving the Pack. In my head they are still called Wulfen 1, 2 and 3!

 

 

 
Fiona: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Werewolves are just people, and people are all different. We may fear those who look or act differently to us, but only irrationally. There have been too many cases of the different being discriminated against, and we won’t be able to live all 9 billion of us together over the next century, very well unless we eradicate stupid labels and invented differences that divide us into little groups or big groups that can bully the little groups. It’s all nonsense and if we don’t think like a single group we will only have more trouble that we are going to anyway because of the population bottleneck that faces us.

 

 

 

Fiona: How much of the book is realistic?
Well, starting from the premise that it’s a book about a race of werewolves…. a lot! These werewolves don’t do things that are impossible. They are strong, they are fast, they are aggressive and can do things most of us can’t. But free-runners can do things most of us can’t. A mother can lift a car to save a child trapped beneath it. Anyone who trains can do amazing feats, but the werewolves are just able to do it without training. The physiology is potentially possible, too. That a man and woman fall in love with secrets about themselves held back, and much doubt and delay about telling the partner those hidden facts, I think it’s very realistic.

 

 

 

Fiona: Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
No. It’s all invented. I stuck some names of my family on the characters, just to give the sense that these are anybody, everyday people who walk among the rest of us, unnoticed. But the characters don’t have any personality traits in common with their namesakes.

 

 

 

Fiona: What books have most influenced your life most?
My life? That’s a big thing! Jared Diamond’s Guns Germs and Steel, and Collapse, Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, James Lovelock’s Gaia, EO Wilson’s The Diversity of Life, Malcolm Gladwell’s books on statistics, too, and The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram.
Books like that have made me think of where I fit into the world, have shaped my thinking. They have also shaped my writing – I always try to put a little bit of science in my novels that will help make readers aware of the plight of the world, more knowledgeable or excited about the world.

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
If I could bring back Kurt Vonegut, I’d pick his brain all day. He was a genius and seemed to live the kind of life of a writer that wrote what he wanted and lived the way he wanted. I’d like to find out from him how you combine that with a modern Western life. I know he’d probably just laugh, though, or slap me on the back of the head.

 

 

 

Fiona: What book are you reading now?
I’m not reading much at the moment because I am trying to finish a novella and 2 novels, but I am plodding through a trilogy by Philip Mann called A Land Fit for Heroes and I just finished listening on Mp3 (which I do la lot of) to Millennium People by JG Ballard and have started Nemesis by Philip Roth.

 

 

 

Fiona: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
To be honest, I haven’t been looking much. I am looking forward to finally reading The Count of Monte Cristo this summer. It’s been sitting on my shelf for 12 years… I don’t actively seek new authors because I am only 40 and haven’t gotten through the older and deader writers’ works. I’ve read a few recent shifter novels that were very interesting. I didn’t take not of their names, though.

 

 

 
Fiona: What are your current projects?
I am one-third the way through a sequel to Leaving the Pack, which I hope to finish by Christmas. I am two-thirds though the first draft of a novel set in Scotland, which is mainly a romance novel, but has a lot of biology. I aim to have the first draft done this summer. I hope to publish a contemporary romance novel with Tirgearr Publishing later this year, which is at the editing-slash-rewriting stage now, and I just submitted a novella to Tirgearr as well. I have three other books I am still searching for homes for. I have three or four more books started but they’re on the back burner for now.

 

 

 

Fiona: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
My college friends. I met them 20 years ago and I’d love to be able to live next door to them every day.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you see writing as a career?
Now more than ever before. I finally found a place for my first novel, two decades after it was written. I have gotten better over the years and I think that after another 20 years I might be able to give up teaching and be a full-time writer for the 5 years before my old age pension kicks in!

 

 

 

Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
I was reminded of a line by my wife the other day that was never eliminated during all the rewrites and which she hated when she read an earlier draft years ago. Perhaps I should have changed that, as it is a life that shows how juvenile I was when I started writing it. But apart from that, if I started it now, it would be written better the first time and not require so many extensions and rewrites. But that’s like saying you’d live your first relationships differently if you could do them again, when you had to learn from the mistakes you made as a teenager so that you eventually become a person worth going out with and marrying. Nobody starts off perfect.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? In stationary, strangely. I was given a little notebook by my dad when I was fourteen, and I sat down on my bedroom floor, leaning against my bed in the sun and wrote a poem called An Innocent Child. I had written two poems before – both in primary school, the first of which I can still recite all eight lines of, and the second of which was much better but is lost because it was ripped out of the school copybook I’d started writing in by my older brother, who was looking for a new one and decided my poem was not important. 4 years after I lost that poem, I wrote the third and forth and kept on going, using up the little notebooks and then with a larger notepad, starting to write some simple stories. One of them became the seed for Leaving the Pack.

 

 

 
Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Sure. Here’s an excerpt:
Paul promptly caught another taxi home to get ready, eager to reunite with the gang, as Susan had called them. They weren’t really a gang, but that was how they appeared to outsiders and how it was easiest to explain to them. Paul and his companions thought of themselves as a pack.
The pack had no name, nor did it need one. Few people knew they existed, which was how they wanted it to be, how it had to be. It seemed to Paul that the pack had always run together and he hoped that they would for years to come. It would not be exactly as it now was, if but the pack itself could continue to exist, then he would be happy. The members, though they had never changed before, could not remain the same indefinitely. All would leave when their time came—his own nearing now—and others would replace them.
If they had to disband the pack, he would be responsible. He was the one chosen to control them, to make sure that their energies were channeled into acceptable activities. It usually went very well. They met every full moon and for three days they roamed the city and its suburbs, seeking women and thrills, drinking heavily and generally disrupting the lives of the inhabitants in an effort to expend the energy that surged through them all night. Only in daylight did they rest, the sun seeming to drain them of strength.
Discarding his soiled clothes, he began to shave the thick stubble which had grown on his face since the previous evening. His beard was heavy, reaching up to just underneath the top of his high cheekbones. He used an open razor, sliding the blade over his jaw and throat confidently. As he watched the skin pressed by the sharp steel, he mused that tonight, once more, he would walk a knife edge when he stepped out under the full moon. As the sun descended on these days, so his blood rose, taking him high above normality and creating a vacuum on either side, into which his fall seemed eagerly awaited. He rode along the ridge of blackness, galloping on a sword blade with the void on either side, its weight drawing him down, its depths calling to him, willing him into its unseen softness, its unimaginable seduction. But he disregarded its voice, ignored the ease with which he could sink, slip over the side into its luxurious violence.
Every night it was like that, staying just back from the brink. Often, he had brought himself to that verge in order to test his own ability to refuse that urge, to remind himself of its existence, its position, and the need to tread carefully when circumstances took him, sometimes almost uncontrollably, towards that precipice, so he would never be caught unawares by the temptation. He had leaned over many times, looked deep into the maw of that emptiness, and sometimes it was all he was able to do to drag himself back out against the force of its velvet gravity, to deny the smooth-voiced assertion that he belonged within its depths. So far, he had succeeded, had not succumbed to its suave argument.
Though violence frequently reared its head, the pack rarely broke the law in any serious way. They always ensured there was no interaction with the police – the police asked awkward questions.
As he strode along the darkening streets, his thoughts slipped back to Susan. He had been as entranced as he knew she had. He’d never before felt like he did then, sitting and conversing with her. She was beautiful and challenging. He had never felt a need to go out of his way to impress someone before, but he had used everything he knew to enrapture that girl. A part of him knew that he could, at any time after the dance, have asked her to get her jacket and she would have brought him home, but that would have been cheating. He could have done that with anyone. However, he sensed that if he had met her three days earlier, the same would not apply. Even then, she had done her best to level the playing field, to deny him the advantage he had over her. She was extremely strong-willed and exuded an inner strength he had encountered in few people. He felt she was a person who would stick to her principles in the face of anything opposing them, and that drew him to her.
Another part of him had known immediately that she was not to be like the others. He had wanted to talk to her so that he could be sure and would be truthful that morning when he told her he would be back. He’d seen, somehow, that he would never want to say goodbye, or ever tire of this beautiful creature, who felt, smelled and tasted so good. He could love her for life.
That thought, however, brought with it more baggage than he cared to deal with right now. In the middle of the very time his life was postponed, when all of his existence was condensed into these appetites and experiences, he was now confronted with something which could completely change the course of his normal life and signal the end of this periodic suspension in its present form, the only form he knew, and lead to a distillation of a different kind, one he wasn’t sure he would like the taste of. Unfortunately, he didn’t think he could simply defer his thoughts until after the sun sank next evening.
The gloaming was marching as he approached the sea. He could smell the brine of low tide on the estuary wafting in on the humid air. Above, the jet-streaks in the sky were dull grey in the twilight and the moon would rise clear over the water. A distant howl carried over the concrete to him. It quickened his pulse and made him smile excitedly. How could he contemplate life without that sound, without that tremor, that extra heartbeat which made the world spin a little slower and the detail of instants so much clearer? But his previous train of thought brought him to the same destination: he had been pondering this for some time. He knew, had known all along, that the pack was not an end but a means, and the meaning would not last for him, for anyone, forever. He had been waiting for just this kind of event to happen. Nevertheless, despite his expectation, his anticipation even, he had been taken by surprise. He’d just never imagined that after so many nights, moons, years of roaming, he would have been so utterly overwhelmed by emotion.

 

 
Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Cutting out excess words! I write too much, make my sentences too long, use the present continuous excessively (that’s an Irish way of phrasing things, I think) and so have to cut lots, but I only really see how much I have to cut when I print out a copy after thinking I’ve cut lots already. But I hate cutting words!

 

 

 

Fiona: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
Hemmingway has always been my favorite, though I read all his books years ago and I wish I’d time to go back to them, but there aren’t enough years in a lifetime to repeat many books. I also love Vonegut and Steinbeck, and luckily I haven’t finished all of theirs yet!

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)?
No. I have traveled a bit during my life and my books are generally set in places I’ve been, or in imaginary places. I am writing a long novel set in the Caribbean, and I hope I’ll have the time and money to go back there to do some more “research” soon!

 

 

 

Fiona: Who designed the covers?
EJR digital art. We had a few attempts before getting to the final cover, but I really like it.

 

 

 

Fiona: What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Probably extending it from a novella to a novel trying to figure out what the hell happened in the story, until I came up with a good subplot that in the end made the main plot much more satisfying. Also rewriting it so that what I had first written half as flashback became a straight from start to finish plot was a pain. I did it on the advice of an editor of another publishing house that eventually declined the book, but it made it better and I thank that person for the input.

 

 

 
Fiona: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
I learned that I had an ability to write an interesting story that had a beginning middle and end and I was probably better at writing novels than short stories. I also learned that notes are important to remind you of things but if you can’t hold the whole book in your head at once you’re not going to have an easy time as a novel writer.

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have any advice for other writers?
Never stop writing because you don’t think you’re as good as those you’d love to emulate. Don’t give up because you’re not getting books accepted, but also don’t go straight out at self-publish until you really are ready and your book has been through

 

 

 

Fiona: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I am giving 10% of anything I ever earn from this book for it’s entire lifetime to WWF the World Wildlife Fund. I plan to do the same with all my books, though I might vary the charity. For example the sequel to Leaving the Pack will have some royalties donated to Survival International, a charity that helps tribal people maintain their way of life in the face of governments that would have them change to be more western and sedentary. I think these charities are important because they are trying to preserve what in the end we will discover are most important about the planet for our continued prosperity on it.

 

 
Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read? No. I remember having Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvelous Medicine to me in primary school and going to the library as a young child, but which book was first? The Little Grey Men stands out a a book I loved around then, and of course I ate my way through all of Dahl’s children’s books and the Chronicles of Narnia pretty quickly.

 

 
Fiona: Other than writing do you have any hobbies ?
I love just being out in the natural world, watching wildlife. In Ireland my hobby is deer hunting. I still hunt when I am home in season, but in Spain I just take my camera out and try to get snaps and video of roe deer and other wildlife. It takes the same skills, but it’s not quite as exciting, and I miss the venison. I like mountain biking and I cycle everywhere around town. I have another bike at my weekend house in the country that I use to go for long cycles around the hills, which are really picturesque. I have been doing less of that lately, though, since I am trying to be more disciplined in getting writing done. I would like to do some fishing, but again, I’m too attached to my pen right now. I read, of course, and listen to books on MP3 which saves lots of time, since I can get through much more while I do other things.

 

 
Fiona: What TV shows/films do you enjoy watching?
I am making my way through Breaking Bad at the moment. I reward myself with a season when I have completed a project. I am also working my way through the Big Bang Theory, which I used to watch in Boston but fell behind on since returning to Spain. I like lots of different films, but anything with Christian Bale is a must see.

 

 
Fiona: Favorite foods / Colors/ Music
Venison roast potatoes, and paella, and pasta, and Thai curry and sushi are all great foods! I love chocolate, though I am diabetic and so have to stop myself eating as much as I’d like. my favorite color is green. Then blue. Then brown. I like female vocalists/singer songwriters, like Bjork, Tori Amos, Skin, Sade, and right now I am in a big Lana Del Rey phase. I am a bit of a fan of the 80s too, since that was what I listened to in my teens.

 

 
Fiona: If you were not a writer what else would you like to have done?
I’d love to have studied wolves and their predator prey interactions. I love teaching (my day job these last 14 years), but that was my first goal, kinda – animal psychology especially studying wolves, then trophic relationships. I stick a little of it in my books, though, and still read the research.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?
my website is http://davidjmobrien.wordpress.com/
I blog about writing and about ecology, and I have poems and short stories posted too.

 

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