tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27157165376320444552024-03-12T23:55:18.064-04:00Battered Suitcase PressAuthor inside interviews, publishing news, writer's resources and other stuff from Battered Suitcase Press. Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.comBlogger220125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-55474159419954677362015-06-16T08:00:00.000-04:002015-06-17T13:08:35.523-04:00Author Insides: Richard J. O'Brien - Author of THE GARDEN OF FRAGILE THINGS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Interview with Richard J. O'Brien</b><br />
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Richard J. O'Brien was born in Camden, New Jersey. He served in the army, attended Rutgers University, and worked a variety of jobs before attending graduate school. In 2012, he received his MFA in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Currently, the author lives in Pennsylvania and teaches English composition at Mercer County Community College, Rowan College at Gloucester County, and others.<br />
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His horror novel, <i>The Garden of Fragile Things</i>, releases today from Dark Alley Press, an imprint of Vagabondage Press.<br />
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<b>Richard, what was your inspiration for <i>The Garden of Fragile Things</i>? </b><br />
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The inspiration for this novel came from a dream. I was a boy again hanging out with some friends I had, and one of them had a hole in his chest. In my dream, my friend lifted his shirt to show me. He told me he could never go home again. That's where this tale began.<br />
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<b>What inspired the title? </b><br />
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For many years, owing to my Irish heritage, I was enthralled with old fairy stories. In Irish folk legends, things sometimes turned out bad for humans who experienced a brush with the fairy realm. The title for this novel came from thinking about a garden in which eldritch creatures were not kind to children.<br />
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<b>How much of yourself and your childhood is represented by the main character?</b><br />
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The main character in this story is more a portrait of many boys I knew. Throughout the novel there are many violent scenes. As a child, I did not like violence in any of its permutations—physical, verbal, mental, or otherwise. In many ways, I am a bit like Joe Godwin and a bit like Bobby McMahon. Both characters share a thirst for knowledge to some degree or another. And like them I learned at an early age that there was power in books. <br />
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<b>These four friends tend to get themselves into trouble now and then on their adventures. Did you have similar experiences with your friends growing up? If so, can you share a story with us?</b><br />
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Growing up, I got into trouble now and again the way most boys did. There were a host of people in my old town that we developed stories for the way the Swansons brothers in my novel did Mr. Von Braun. Also, the scene in which Joe takes Jack to a Catholic mass one Saturday afternoon was based on a true event that happened to me. I took a friend to mass when I was a boy. There were no cell phones. And everyone's phone numbers were listed. So by the time I got home that Saturday afternoon my father had heard all about it. In those days, part of good parenting was maintaining a loyal ring of spies. My father didn't raise hell over what had happened. He just told me that I would never take that friend to church again. <br />
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<b>What was your favorite scene in <i>The Garden of Fragile Things</i> to write and why?</b><br />
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It's a relatively short scene, but in the beginning Marcella and her friends follow the boys to the dock on Granny Swanson's property. Granny Swanson in no uncertain terms lets the girls know what she thinks of them. The response Marcella's friend Annie gives to Granny Swanson's accusation is one that I could hear some girls from my old neighborhood saying.<br />
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<b>Which was the most difficult and why?</b><br />
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The most difficult scene for me to write was when Bobby realizes his fate, and afterward Adele leads the other boys to the garden behind the mansion. What happens to the Swanson brothers there in the garden still haunts me.<br />
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<b>What sort of research, if any, did you do for <i>The Garden of Fragile Things</i>?</b><br />
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A good amount research for this book had to do with the forest. I was born in Camden, NJ. I don't think I spent any length of time in the woods until I joined the army. What I spent most of the time researching for this novel was the mansion the boys find and ancient belief systems concerning birds and the souls of the dead.<br />
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<b>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </b><br />
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My earliest memory of making things up was when I was sitting on the stairs in my old house. My mother came into the hallway and asked me if I was talking to someone. I was, of course; though I never had a name for my imaginary friend. I began making up stories based on comic books when I was a little boy. Then I got my first library card. By the eighth grade, I was heavy into science fiction and fantasy and horror as well. I started writing stories around that time. It seemed healthier than maintaining a relationship with an imaginary friend. That sort of thing was frowned up, I guess. As children grow up, they are not allowed to have imaginary friends past a certain age. Personally, I always liked their company. So I created characters in stories. <br />
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<b>Why do you write? </b><br />
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I write because I love language. I love how characters act and react. I love that in real life and in stories people have all kinds of faults, and, for the most part, they endure no matter the hardship. But most of all I love creating a reality based on a premise or a situation, or even one particular character.<br />
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<b>Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be? </b><br />
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It's better than I imagined it. There's a certain amount of rejection that comes with writing if you put your work out there. A writer has to be thick-skinned if they are going to submit their work for possible publication. One thing I have little tolerance for is hanging around with other writers for too long. It can be depressing. People think actors are fickle. Try joining a writers' group.<br />
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<b>What do you think makes a good story?</b><br />
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A good story stays with you. It is a dialogue between the writer and the reader. We hear about 'voice' all the time in fiction. An authentic voice lends itself well to a good story. We know it when we read it. It's like when someone tells you a fantastic story. The story is so good you don't worry or wonder if it is at all true. The way a story is told makes it sound true. That helps to make a good story.<br />
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<b>What's your favorite genre to read? </b><br />
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I don't have a particularly favorite genre. There's good writing and there's bad writing. The writer's job is to read both over time so he or she learns the difference. As a teen I lived on science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Then when I got to college I had professors who more or less told me that those genres are not worthwhile pursuits if I wanted to be a serious writer. Never mind that these same professors taught <i>Frankenstein</i> or <i>Fahrenheit 451</i>, <i>The Turn of the Screw</i> or <i>The Picture of Dorian Gray</i>. It took a long time for me to come back around. I write stories and novels that satisfy me. If they are scary, so be it. If they are not, then that's fine.<br />
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<b>Who is your favorite author or poet? </b><br />
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Like most writers, I have many favorites. But if I had to make a list I would include Salman Rushdie, William Faulkner, Shirley Jackson, Jonathan Carroll, Toni Morrison, J.D. Salinger, Angela Carter, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Vladimir Nabokov, Thomas Pynchon...the list could go on and on.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </b><br />
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The summer after I left the army I read Hemingway's <i>The Sun Also Rises</i>. That was the first time I thought seriously about writing a novel. There's something about the way that Hemingway put that novel together that made it seem so effortless. And of course I fell into the trap of thinking novel-writing would be easy. Before that, in my early teens, some of the old fantasy novels I had read like Michael Moorcock's Elric Saga and others like it moved me as a writer. Likewise, much of the early Stephen King novels (<i>Cujo</i>, <i>The Stand</i>, and the like) kept me enthralled. One book I return to almost every year since I had first read it is <i>Boy's Life </i>by Robert McCammon. People either hate it, or they love it. I am among the latter of those two categories. <br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </b><br />
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When I read Nabokov's <i>Lolita </i>the first time I knew that I had so much to learn about writing. Thomas Pynchon's novels are the same way. Some people can make heads or tails out of Pynchon. For me, especially in <i>Against the Day</i>, there are few who can construct a sentence like him. Salman Rushdie was another writer who influenced me as a person. His <i>Satanic Verses </i>was such a work of the imagination. And Octavia's Butler's <i>Kindred </i>kept me awake for weeks after I read that novel. <br />
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<b>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? </b><br />
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Inspiration can come from anywhere. This particular novel's initial spark came in a dream. Sometimes I eavesdrop on people and just listen. The way other people construct sentences in their everyday speech is enough to inspire me. Other times I will read something in a magazine and think 'what if...' And still more often than not I hear voices as I am falling sleep. I find it best to let stories stew a bit before I put them down on paper.<br />
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<b>What does your family think of your writing? </b><br />
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My wife is supportive. Growing up, my parents loved to read. But it was other people who wrote, who painted, who composed songs, and such. My father always said find something practical (read: pay-worthy) to do with your life. I was never much for following advice of that kind. My brother once asked me long ago if I was going to be one of those guys with a closetful of manuscripts when I die. If there's a God, maybe.<br />
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<b>What is your work schedule like when you're writing?</b><br />
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I try to write every day. And when I do it's mostly at night. All writers have different schedules. For me, as long as I am working every day on something then I know I am doing something write.<br />
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<b>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </b><br />
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I don't like people reading over my shoulder when I write. Also, I write everything longhand first. Then I transcribe handwritten pages onto the computer. And I have favorite pens. I am superstitious about letting anyone else write with them.<br />
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<b>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </b><br />
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At times I find myself wanting to write big sprawling novels with a thousand characters in them. That can be a challenge. Also, research for a particular story can be challenging to me. At the same time it is rewarding...if that makes sense.<br />
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<b>What are your current projects? </b><br />
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Right now I am reworking a novel that concerns a man who pursues a young woman that might be purely a figment of his imagination after he's diagnosed with brain cancer.<br />
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<b>What are you planning for future projects?</b><br />
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Some of my future projects a novel about a university professor and the author he admires most, and how their worlds intertwine with each other, even though nearly a century separates them, when a series of strange events tear rents in the space-time continuum.<br />
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I might also revisit Franklin Forest depicted in <i>The Garden of Fragile Things</i>. Since I have completed this novel, I have been thinking about the girl Adele the boys meet at the mansion in the woods. I would like to write her story. And I would like to set another novel completely within the mansion in Franklin Forest...perhaps reveal the person who made the mansion and populated it with so many books and other curios.<br />
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Also, my wife recently challenged me to write a novel about aliens who abduct a heroin-addicted vampire and what might happen to a vampire in throes of addiction on a planet where none of its inhabitants have blood flowing through their veins, or even possess veins for that matter. It could be fun...<br />
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<b>Do you have any advice for other writers? </b><br />
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Write for yourself. It sounds like bullshit you'd read in a writing magazine, but it's true. And I would echo people like John Gardner and Toni Morrison when I say write the stories and the novels you would want to read. Another important thing to remember is to write every day. Always be working. Lastly, accept the fact that some works may shine while others are going to not as good. Whatever the case, never throw anything away. A character in one failed story may end up saving the day in another.<br />
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<b>Where else can we find your work? </b><br />
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My stories have appeared over the years online and in print at various magazines. And I am eager to publish my next novel. In the meantime, the best way to keep up with my writing pursuits is to visit me at obrienwriter.com or look for me on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/richard.j.obrien.904) and Twitter (@obrienwriter).<br />
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<i>In the late 1970s, Joe Godwin was just twelve years old, living in a working-class neighborhood. Plagued by bullies and a volatile home life, Joe spends his time with his three friends in search of adventure. The discovery of an abandon mansion during a simple camping trip in a state forest sets of a series of consequences in motion between the boys, inhabitants of the mansion, and the others who occupy the garden behind the colossal home. </i><br />
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<i>The Garden of Fragile Things is a literary dark tale that chronicles four boys’ coming of age against paranormal forces that operate between two worlds.</i><br />
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<i>Read an except <a href="http://vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/gardenoffragilethings.html" target="_blank">here</a>. The Garden of Fragile Things is available at the <a href="http://www.vagabondpressbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=106" target="_blank">VBP website</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZH0X8A2" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, B&N, and other fine book retailers. </i><br />
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-10920960536487079802015-05-22T04:30:00.000-04:002015-05-22T18:01:23.258-04:00Present and Past - Guest Post from J.S. Watts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am really pleased that this current stage of the blog tour celebrating the May launch of my paranormal novel, “Witchlight”, is being hosted by the Battered Suitcase Press blog of my publisher, Vagabondage Press.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Vagabondage are the people who, in the past, have had sufficient faith in me and my writing to publish two of my novels, first “A Darker Moon” and now, in the present, “Witchlight”. It gives me the opportunity, in the here and now, to thank them for their past trust and the mammoth and ongoing effort involved in designing, publishing and promoting a book and to say, “Thank you, guys. You rock!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">I love the way present and past so often come together, sometimes positively, sometimes not, but inevitably in an intriguing and fascinating way. Two sections of existence’s timeline, separated by months, decades or centuries, but influencing one another and combining to create and shape new events and occurrences.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Writing, whether a letter, a blog post or a novel, is a way of capturing the present and fixing it so that, however long ago something was written, it will always seem the present for someone reading it for the first time. My present thanks to Vagabondage for their past efforts will be available for you to read in your present for as long as this blog remains on line, even when this moment, as I am experiencing it, has long since faded into the past.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">There is a coming together of past and present in “Witchlight”. The novel’s lead character, Holly, is content with her present at the start of the novel, but it turns out her past has been holding out on her. The birth mother she has never known, and was sanguine about not knowing, has gifted her magical witch powers. Moreover, these powers turn out to be stronger than anyone initially realised, so the secrets of the past suddenly become rather pressing in the present and the present is dramatically changed for Holly because of them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Holly, supported by her fairy godfather, goes in search of her and her biological parents’ past. In the present, however, something is stirring: accidents start to happen, people die, Old Magic is on the hunt, but in the age-old game of cat and mouse, just who is the feline and who is the rodent?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">After the initial fun and amusement of discovering her magical powers, Holly has to learn the hard way that, in a world fuelled by magic, appearances, and reality itself, can be magically deceptive and trust can be difficult, if not downright dangerous.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Before the novel ends Holly will discover the truth of her birth, find love (and struggle to keep it) and learn that a darkness begun centuries before has shaped her past and is now influencing her present.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">“Witchlight” is a book set in contemporary Britain, but in a world grounded in the here and now, present and past come together in a conflagration of mystery, magic and (what else?) witchlight. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><a href="http://vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/witchlight.html" target="_blank"><b>About Witchlight</b></a>: Holly has been mortal all her life. Now at thirty-eight, her fairy godfather arrives to tell her she’s a witch, and suddenly she's having to come to terms with the uncertainties of an alarmingly magic-fuelled world. Magic is not like it is in the books and films, and Holly starts to doubt whether her fairy godfather, Partridge Mayflower, is the fey, avuncular charmer he appears.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>When appearances are magically deceptive, Holly cannot afford to trust those closest to her, including herself. Accidents start to happen, people die, Old Magic is on the hunt, but in the age-old game of cat and mouse, just who is the feline and who is the rodent?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>About The Author: J.S.Watts is a British writer who lives and writes in the flatlands of East Anglia in the UK. Her poetry, short stories and reviews appear in a diversity of publications in Britain, Canada, Australia and the States. Her poetry collection, “Cats and Other Myths”, and subsequent multi-award nominated poetry pamphlet, “Songs of Steelyard Sue”, are published by Lapwing Publications. Her dark fiction novel, “<a href="http://vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/adarkermoon.html" target="_blank">A Darker Moon</a>”, is published in the UK and the US by Vagabondage Press. Her second novel, “<a href="http://vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/witchlight.html" target="_blank">Witchlight</a>”, is available at Amazon, B&N and other bookstores. You can find her on Facebook at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/J.S.Watts.page">http://www.facebook.com/J.S.Watts.page</a> or on her website <a href="http://www.jswatts.co.uk/">www.jswatts.co.uk</a></i></span></div>
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-13515091251984742172015-04-29T08:00:00.000-04:002015-04-29T08:00:01.143-04:00Author Insides: Thomas Lopinski, author of THE ART OF RAISING HELL<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Interview with Thomas Lopinski</b><br />
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Thomas Lopinski grew up in a quaint small town in Illinois called Georgetown with one stoplight, one high school, one square, one lake, one police car, and one hundred ways to get into trouble. It was a wonderful place to be a child. He studied at the University of Illinois and later moved to Southern California with his wife and children to work in the music business. He is also a member of the Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC). His first novel, Document 512, won several awards and recognition in 2012-2013 from Readers View Reviewers Choice Awards, Best Indie Book Awards, IndieFab Awards and the National Indie Excellence Book Awards.<br />
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His edgy young adult novel, The Art of Raising Hell, was released on April 28, 2015, by Dark Alley Press, an imprint of Vagabondage Press.<br />
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<b>Thomas, what was your inspiration for The Art of Raising Hell?</b><br />
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I’ve always wanted to write a book about some of my best friends growing up but wasn’t quite sure how to approach it. I couldn’t write the truth because that would get everybody into trouble so I just put the idea to the side and forgot about it for several years. I also wanted to write about a few guys in my hometown who were real hell raisers that showed no fear and were feared by many. Then in the middle of the night last summer, I woke up with the opening line rolling off my tongue. I picked up the laptop and didn’t stop writing for about six weeks. That became the basis for the novel. As I was writing, other subjects like bullying, the environment, racism, and the absurd conditions we find ourselves in started creeping into the pages inspiring me to take the book to a whole other level.<br />
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<b>What is the “art” of raising hell?</b><br />
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It’s more a frame of mind than anything. Anyone can howl at the moon, knock over a few trashcans and get into trouble. It takes skill to learn how to raise hell at just the right time, with just the right amount of moxie, and get away with it.<br />
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<b>Is there any of yourself or your childhood friends in your characters? If so, how?</b><br />
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There were four of us in a backroom growing up. I remember sitting in the back of an old MG drinking beer at 4:00 in the morning saying, “We should write a book about all this.” Of course, when I finally got around to it, I couldn’t remember half the stories and the ones I did remember weren’t that fantastic. So, I took pieces of this story, traits of that person, made up the rest and molded it all into Bunsen Creek.<br />
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I also pulled inspiration from several residents in town that I didn’t know very well but knew about their reputations. You’d think growing up in a small town that there wouldn’t be a lot to draw from but that wasn’t the case. There were so many eccentric personalities running around my hometown that we’d classify as abnormal or psychotic today. When we were kids though, we just thought people were supposed to act like that. In the bigger cities, they’re the folks you see living on the streets or hiding behind a fenced in yard. In a small town, they’re somebody’s crazy uncle.<br />
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<b>Did you raise hell as a teenager? If so, give us a good story of one instance.</b><br />
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I think the statutes of limitations haven’t run out yet so...no comment. All I will say is that many of the stories in the book are based on personal experiences.<br />
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<b>Running on all four is a theme throughout your book. How does that theme play into your everyday life?</b><br />
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To me, the metaphor reminds me to take chances. We all walk around on two feet and lead fairly normal lives. When you’re running on all four, you’re taking a golden opportunity and acting upon it before it’s too late. Moving to California was a big one for me. It was scary and I still miss the family and friends I left behind. But in the end, it was the right move. <br />
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<b>Your characters go through a lot of loss. Is that something you experienced at a young age? Why was it important to your characters to experience these losses?</b><br />
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I didn’t really lose anyone close growing up. That’s always one of the dangers of writing in first person. I’m sure readers will want to know what it was like growing up without a mother, but in reality, my parents both lived long fruitful lives. In college, there was a guy who always used to say “To your mother” before drinking a shot. I took that memory and built it into the storyline. People just started dying after that.<br />
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Later on in life, I did lose two of my closest friends though. They both died sudden deaths within a few years of each other. One had a brain aneurism and the other died in a freak scuba accident. Those experiences taught me that I should never take anything or anyone for granted. I think writing about loss in the book did help me heal those wounds.<br />
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<b>What was the most challenging part of writing The Art of Raising Hell?</b><br />
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Keeping it short. I could have written twice as many pages easily but didn’t think it was warranted. I want people to read my book and walk away with a smile, not fall asleep.<br />
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<b>What scene did you enjoy writing the most?</b><br />
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That would have to be the streaking incident. I can still remember the night it happened and how festive the whole town was throughout the evening. Of course, it didn’t quite happen the way I described it in the book but, just like any good story over time, it took on a life of its own.<br />
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<b>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </b><br />
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I used to play in rock bands and write very silly songs when I was younger. I was never that good at it, but boy, did I have fun. Then a group of my friends asked me to join their writers group. While most of them were struggling to finish their books and losing interest, I was already working on a second novel. That’s when I realized my calling.<br />
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<b>Why do you write? </b><br />
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That’s such a hard question to answer. Why do people sing or wear tattoos? It’s just who I am, I guess. Let me see if I can explain this a little better. If I didn’t write, my head would explode. How’s that?<br />
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<b>Is being an author anything like you imagined it would be? </b><br />
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…and then some. I’ve spent my whole life around musicians, singers, writers and artists. I’ve seen the good that comes from people getting together and spontaneously creating a wonderful song out of thin air. I’ve also seen the pitfalls too where the most talented person you’ve ever met ends up in the gutter and dies of alcohol poisoning. Writers have to be thick skinned in order to survive. That’s hard to do when you’re sharing something you’ve created from your heart and soul with the rest of the world. I knew all of that going in, so there were no visions of grandeur in my mind. That allowed me to just enjoy writing, which has made this experience so much more satisfying than I ever imagined.<br />
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<b>What do you think makes a good story? </b><br />
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Any plot that takes people to places they’ve never been and makes them feel sensations they didn’t know they had is a good story. But, if you can wrap it all up nicely in the end and leave them still thinking about it days later, you’ve written a great story. <br />
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<b>What's your favorite genre to read? </b><br />
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Like most things in life, I’m all over the place. I’ll read anything if it’s entertaining and interesting.<br />
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<b>Who is your favorite author or poet? </b><br />
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When I was young, it was Kurt Vonnegut Jr., then it was Stephen King, then J.K. Rowling and John Grisham…then Stephen King again.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </b><br />
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I loved Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” series. “Slaughterhouse Five”, “One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest” and “The Great Gatsby” have always been favorites too.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </b><br />
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There are too many to list. I think the first one was “Siddhartha”. I remember walking around in school starving myself and giving away my baseball cards to people while reading it. It was the first book that I’d read where I actually became so engulfed into the main character that I physically started acting like him.<br />
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<b>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? </b><br />
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In the most unlikely place: my hot tub. I know it sounds so “L.A.” but I’ve solved the world’s problems many times over and all of my storyline problems by just sitting in hot water and looking at the stars.<br />
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<b>What does your family think of your writing? </b><br />
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Everybody’s been supportive. Most of my girls read my books and add constructive criticism. When I first started writing, my wife was a bit worried when she found out how much it would cost to self-publish a book the ‘right way’. She cautiously reminded me that we had three girls going to college soon and would need every dollar. Then after she read my first novel, she looked at me and said, “Keep writing.” Of course, maybe she just said that so I’d stay busy and not bother her as much too, who knows.<br />
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<b>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </b><br />
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There isn’t a day that goes by where I’m not writing or at least thinking about what I’ve written. I don’t sit down with a timer or a schedule in mind. With a family, that’s nearly impossible to do. I write whenever I can find the time. If my wife sets a bag of trash down next to me, then I know it’s time to stop writing.<br />
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<b>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </b><br />
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I like to write outdoors in my back yard. There’s something about the trees, birds, water, wind, spider webs, the warmth of the sunshine, the neighbor’s chainsaw noises, motorcycles racing down the block that gives me inspiration. That is the great thing about living in California. I also don’t read other books while writing because I’m afraid they might influence me is some way.<br />
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<b>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </b><br />
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Trying to find a niche or genre to stay in. I like writing different styles about different subjects. From what other writers tell me, that’s not the formula you need to be successful but, hey, it keeps me running on all four.<br />
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<b>What are your current projects? </b><br />
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I’m working on the follow up book to my first published novel, “Document 512”. My mind is back in the Amazon jungle racing through the ancient ruins of Peru.<br />
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<b>What are you planning for future projects? </b><br />
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I envisioned three books in the “Document 512” series so I need to finish that. There could even be a follow up to “The Art of Raising Hell”, maybe the college years. I have some other ideas about alternate universes, soul searchers, raising triplets, and adult diapers that could wind up becoming storylines too.<br />
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<b>Do you have any advice for other writers? </b><br />
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The best thing I’ve ever done was finding a person who reads everything I’ve written and doesn’t hesitate to tell me how good or bad it is. Without him, I’d never finish anything. Also, make sure the person you find is smarter than you are because you’ll want to bounce your crazy ideas off them with the hope that they’ll come back with something even wackier. Every bit of input or feedback makes you a better writer. <br />
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<b>Where else can we find your work? </b><br />
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I’ve never had the desire to become a journalist or work in the industry. Again, probably not the best career move, but I don’t know if I could write novels if I spent my whole day writing for someone else. You can find little stories and tidbits on my blog https://thomaslopinski.wordpress.com/ and website www.ThomasLopinski.com. You also might be able to catch a nasty letter to the editor in the local newspaper every once in a while. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JH2qIqeYwfXxBGUSB2Uk-ECkK51e7rBu22oneLm5WcSwtlq-5bAB0kPgU9AHvjAAtYXWh4IK02oh818WkyVIUn016yqhiKFSum1w-Ol8LTLQo6pXocfEKBE6Q6HcOTVKl7LpAWHQeOtL/s1600/ArtOfRaisingHellFinalTHUMBCover200x300p72dpiRGB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9JH2qIqeYwfXxBGUSB2Uk-ECkK51e7rBu22oneLm5WcSwtlq-5bAB0kPgU9AHvjAAtYXWh4IK02oh818WkyVIUn016yqhiKFSum1w-Ol8LTLQo6pXocfEKBE6Q6HcOTVKl7LpAWHQeOtL/s1600/ArtOfRaisingHellFinalTHUMBCover200x300p72dpiRGB.jpg" /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">In <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Art-Raising-Hell-Thomas-Lopinski-ebook/dp/B00V7BPT52" target="_blank">The Art of Raising Hell</a>,</i></b> Thomas Lopinski takes the readers
along on a journey as four boys grow into young adults and all the trials and
tribulations that entails when living in a small town, where minor disruptions
linger on the rumor mill for years. Friendships, adolescent love, and loyalties
are put to the test as these teenagers face challenges that force them to
decide what will define them and what will break them.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt;">Both entertaining and at times heartbreaking, <b><i>Raising
Hell</i></b> reminds us all how our teenage years can shape us and how
important it is to have true friends to see you through it. </span></div>
Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-76678225227186492872015-04-11T08:00:00.000-04:002015-04-11T08:00:09.303-04:00Author Insides: Tamela Ritter, author of FROM THESE ASHES<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Interview with Tamela Ritter</b><br />
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Tamela’s truck driving father taught her the value of stories, travel and adventure. Her housewife mother taught her the value of daydreaming, family and escapism. Though she was raised in Spokane Washington, it wasn’t until she moved to Missoula Montana that she felt she was “home.” She currently lives in Virginia, but still dreams of the Big Sky.<br />
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Her debut novel, <a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/fromtheseashes.html" target="_blank">From These Ashes</a>, was released in March 2013 to numerous 5-star reviews. We wanted to take a peak into her inspiration and her writing process.<br />
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<b>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </b><br />
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I remember the exact moment. I was 10 years old and my teacher, Mr. Knowles, gave us inanimate objects and we were told to write their life story. I received a beat up A&W Root Beer can. I remember how excited I was to create this story for the object, how I imagined a long and torturous life for this misused can. I did research on the recycling process and created transformation and rebirth, only to be separated by his pack family. It was pretty epic. I remember taking my story to school and being horrified and terribly embarrassed when I saw that everyone else’s stories were a page or two long; mine was 10 pages. But, that fear of fourth grade public humiliation was short lived because what I remember most was the awe of my teacher and the praise bestowed on me by the school. I won my first award that year. In fact, in my entire school career from then to college, the only awards I ever won were for my writing. I was hooked. <br />
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<b>Why do you write? </b><br />
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Haha, if it’s true that there are only a handful of original ideas out there, I’d say there are even less so original reasons why anyone writes. Mine is just as clichéd as everyone else’s. I’ve never NOT written; I can’t imagine I’d be very good at it.<br />
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<b>What was the inspiration for From These Ashes?</b><br />
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I wanted to tell stories about my brother. I remember talking to my sister who is three years younger than me and I was telling stories about him—he died when I was 10, she was 7—she told me that she feels horrible that she doesn’t remember much about him. That broke my heart. I feel like he’s been such a motivational force in my life and I wanted her to know a bit about what I remembered. Of course it turned into something completely different, but that was the inspiration.<br />
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<b>How has your own heritage played into this story?</b><br />
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I didn’t set out to write about American Indians. Like so much of this story, I just arrived at it organically, and discovered I couldn’t tell it any other way. I honestly know very little of my own heritage, my being Cherokee. My mother came from a very troubled and dark background and I believe she blamed a lot of that on her heritage and so walked away from it. We never got to spend too much of our time with her family, but the time I did spend with my grandmother I remember two things distinctly: she was extremely proud of being Cherokee and she loved my brother Tim the best. I somehow had it in my head that these two things were linked. My brother looked way more Indian, was way more curious about his heritage then any of the rest of us.<br />
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Sadly, since I’m unfamiliar with most things having to do with Cherokee, but am really well educated in, and have been surrounded by Spokane, Kootenai, Coeur d'Alene and Flathead my whole life, I have committed a horrible sin. I have assimilated my characters into a tribe not their own. Since this whole book is about them trying to find a place to belong, and not feeling they ever really knew who they were in relation with the heritage, it seems rather appropriate. Besides, this story needed to be told in the West of my childhood, of my earliest memories and the home I turned to in Montana when I myself went looking for a family, a place to belong.<br />
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<b>Do you see any of yourself in your characters and their hopes and dreams and struggles?</b><br />
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Yes. So very much. Though we didn’t live on a reservation, we did live in extreme poverty and the struggle to survive, the hope for a place to belong and the dream that somewhere out there is a family that will accept you for what you are and see all your strengths and all that you can offer and welcome you. Those are all themes I’m familiar with.<br />
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<b>You put your character through a very traumatic incident – something that happened to you personally. Care to talk about what it was like to write that scene.</b><br />
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Yikes. Which one? I stole a lot of painful memories from my own life for this story. When I was 10 my brother was run over by an 18 wheeler on his way home from school. For years after I had nightmares where I was there that day, standing beside him, watching and not able to do anything. Later, I tried to see it from everyone involved’s POV, including the man who was driving the truck; a man I know nothing about but had to imagine experienced something just as life-altering. For me, the rest of the novel exists as a way to tell that story.<br />
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<b>What do you think makes a good story? </b><br />
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Characters.<br />
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<b>What's your favorite genre to read? </b><br />
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Literary fiction is my go-to. I also really enjoy and am amazed by Young Adult.<br />
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<b>Who is your favorite author or poet? </b><br />
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Steinbeck and Whitman: two men who had distinct views on America—the good and the bad and articulated them masterfully.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you as a writer? </b><br />
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Sherman Alexie’s “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.” I read it for the first time in college. One of the stories was given as an assignment—I can’t remember which one—and I remember this overwhelming sense of optimism that someone could exist and be heralded as a voice of a generation who came from where I did, and wrote about characters who were flawed in stereotypical and not so stereotypical ways like I did. That you could be funny and also heartbreakingly honest, like I desperately wanted to be.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </b><br />
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S.E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders.” Without that book I don’t think I’d have dreamed of being an author from the age of 12. I mean, at 10 I knew I wanted to write, at 12 I wanted to write honest to goodness books! I’m certain that “From These Ashes” wouldn’t have been written if I hadn’t had “The Outsiders” in my life first.<br />
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From the very beginning, walking out of the movie theater (yes, I saw the movie first—best adaptation EVER!), I couldn’t get the comparison of my brother and a lot of those characters—mostly Johnny Cade—out of my head. I remember just weeping the entire ride home and it’s really the first time I remember mourning my brother’s death.<br />
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It’s almost embarrassing now how very obsessed with that book I was and for how long. At one time I had the first two pages memorized and to this day can recite the first paragraph. I walked around barefoot for six months because Sodapop Curtis did, I read Frost because Ponyboy did and I started smoking because…wait, nevermind.<br />
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<b>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? </b><br />
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Just everywhere. There are different sorts of inspiration that I seek out and they occur at very different places. For ideas and character-study inspiration, nothing beats book stores, bars, malls and amusement parks. To write, or to become inspired to write, I like to be outside—at the beach, lake, river, or in the mountains.<br />
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<b>What does your family think of your writing? </b><br />
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My family is extremely proud of any accomplishment I achieve and I truly think they like my stories.<br />
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<b>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </b><br />
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Schedule? What’s that? These days I grab any free moment I can to write but I am constantly—no matter what I’m doing—creating, plotting, thinking of my characters and where they are in the story and where they need to go.<br />
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<b>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </b><br />
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None that I’m proud of and absolutely none I’d condone others to emulate.<br />
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<b>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </b><br />
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Um… all of it? No, seriously, I usually have no problem coming up with stories, finding characters that have worthwhile things to say as they travel through tremendously painful traumas on their way to self-actualization. I know how blessed I am to have that come so easily, and yet, I am constantly feeling I let down that gift when it comes to actually sitting down to put the words on the page. So, for me, I guess the most challenging thing is mustering the concentration it takes to get the story from my mind to the page before I lose it.<br />
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<b>What are your current projects? </b><br />
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I just went through every computer I’ve ever owned and pulled out all the things I’ve started and never finished. In there were at least 10 short stories I still think might have value and 4 novels in varied levels of undone. My current project is going through all of these files and sorting what needs to be banished to hard-drive hell to burn for an eternity and what needs to be dusted off, spruced up and finished.<br />
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<b>What are you planning for future projects?</b><br />
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Ahhhh, so many future projects, so very little planned. I get stifled when I think too far in the future.<br />
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<b>Do you have any advice for other writers? </b><br />
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Read everything. Don’t be afraid to suck. Don’t be afraid that you won’t find your own voice. You will. Until then? Fake it ‘til you make it.<br />
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<b>Where else can we find your work? </b><br />
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I have a few short stories online, there are a few obscure literary journals floating around with my work included. Or, if you’d like to help a worthy cause, there’s the anthology “Ripple Effect” that I’m still extremely proud of and whose proceeds still go to New Orleans Public Libraries.<br />
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<b>Anything else you’d like to add?</b><br />
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I always feel the need to be witty when asked this question—or whip out pictures of my pets. Honestly though? I got nothing.<br />
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<i><b><a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/fromtheseashes.html" target="_blank">From These Ashes</a></b> is available in paperback from <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-9780615777535-1" target="_blank">Powells</a>, Amazon, and B&N, and is also available for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/These-Ashes-Tamela-J-Ritter-ebook/dp/B00BSEGWMM" target="_blank">Kindle</a>, Nook, and other eReaders.</i></div>
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<i>From These Ashes chronicles the journey of two siblings looking for “home,” while searching for themselves, each other, their heritage and their destiny.</i></div>
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<i>In a center for cult recovery in Phoenix, Arizona, 16-year-old Native American Naomi West refuses to talk; instead she writes — about her life, about her brother, about the prophecy, and about the fire that nearly destroyed it all. </i></div>
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<i>Meanwhile, her half-white brother, Tim West, awakes alone in a forest without memories of his past, only an unconscious urge to head west. It is on a Cascade mountaintop where he once again gets too close to a fire, and what starts as a horrifying nightmare wakens him to the truth of his past and a devastating choice that cost him everything.</i></div>
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-39036522913434764162015-03-28T08:00:00.000-04:002015-03-28T08:00:05.675-04:00Author Insides: Alex Miller, Author of OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Interview with Alex Miller</h3>
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Alex Miller grew up in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and lived in Nashville for a few years. He’s a newspaper editor who lives with his wife in Hilo, Hawaii. He misses the South, and especially all the hot weather, poverty, crime and rampant unemployment, but—if he must—he’s willing to go on living in Hawaii for a little while longer. Or maybe forever.<br />
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Alex's young adult novella, <a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/osamabinladen.html" target="_blank">Osama bin Laden is Dead</a>, is a story about adolescent frustration in a post-911 America.<br />
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<b>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </b><br />
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It happened when I was in the fourth grade. Every few weeks the teacher would make everybody in the class write a story. I think we had to include a bunch of spelling words in the stories. And we had to read them out loud in front of the whole class, which, by the way, is terrifying, especially for a 10-year-old. But there was this cute girl who liked my stories, and at the end of the year she walked over to my desk and asked me if I was going to be a writer someday. That’s when I made up my mind.<br />
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<b>Why do you write? </b><br />
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To meet cute girls. And because I just can’t seem to stop. Writing is as meaningful to me now as it was when I was a kid, or when I was in college, or afterward when I worked crappy jobs and wondered what was the point of anything. Other stuff came and went, but writing is the one thing I can’t let go of.<br />
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<b>Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be? </b><br />
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I always thought that becoming a writer would change me, like I’d be a different kind of person, a “writerly” person. But that’s not what happened. I’m still the same person. I just spend a lot of time writing.<br />
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<b>What do you think makes a good story? </b><br />
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A story needs to give the readers something that matters to their lives, something they can relate to, something that feels universally human. Any story can do this, even crazy stories about robots with serrated knives for hands. If the robot falls in love or gets chewed out by its boss, the robot will matter to the readers. And if you can write a story that makes the reader say, “Sometimes I feel exactly like a robot with serrated knives for hands,” that’s going to be a good story.<br />
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<b>What's your favorite genre to read? </b><br />
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Realistic fiction. Basically I’ll read anything in the “literature” aisle at Barnes & Noble. And sometimes I take a break from the heavy stuff and read a book about hobbits or elves or whatever.<br />
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<b>Who is your favorite author? </b><br />
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Tim O’Brien. He’s the best there is.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer?</b><br />
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“The Sun Also Rises,” by Ernest Hemingway; “Winter Dreams,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald; and “The Nuclear Age,” by Tim O’Brien.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </b><br />
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The same three as above, but here I’ll add “Ishmael,” by Daniel Quinn; “A People’s History of the United States,” by Howard Zinn; “The Once and Future King,” by T.H. White; and “The Insurgent,” by Noah Cicero.<br />
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<b>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? </b><br />
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Just from life. The experience of being alive in a world that makes no sense. Or if all else fails I read a newspaper. Newspapers are brutal. If you want to know everything bad that happened in the world today, read a newspaper.<br />
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<b>What does your family think of your writing? </b><br />
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My wife is extremely supportive. She’s also a writer, so we swap our stories and proofread and give each other advice. And over the years we’ve learned how to do this without a lot of yelling.<br />
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<b>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </b><br />
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I have a day job, so I write at night. It works for me because I like staying up and sleeping late. If I wake up before noon on a weekend, I feel like I’ve failed myself.<br />
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<b>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </b><br />
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The hardest part is judging what I’ve written, trying to determine if it’s good or bad. Because I lie to myself. I’ll crap something out and tell myself it’s great. I’ll really convince myself. That’s why editors matter. A good editor will set you straight.<br />
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<b>What are your current projects? </b><br />
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I’m putting together a short story collection, and I’m writing a novel about Hawaii and people who have no interest in working 9-5 jobs or being productive members of society.<br />
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<b>What are you planning for future projects? </b><br />
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Global Socialist revolution. Or maybe something sort of inspired by Socialism, but without all of the oppression and mass killings. Some new kind of Socialism that’s all about rainbows and ecstatic dancing. It’s a work in progress.<br />
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<b>Do you have any advice for other writers? </b><br />
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Just sit down and do it. Write something. Finish it. Rewrite it. Hit it again and again until all the words are right. Then try to get it published, because the process of writing for publication will take your writing to another level.<br />
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<b>Where else can we find your work? </b><br />
<br />
I’ve had stories published—occasionally in print but mostly online—in New Wave Vomit, DogzPlot, Bartleby Snopes, The Boiler Journal, Fifth Wednesday Journal, WhiskeyPaper, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Thunderclap, Barely South Review, Queen Vic Knives, One Title, The Bombay Literary Magazine, The OFI Press, 50 to One, Fiction365, Dr. Hurley’s Snake Oil Cure, Open Road Review and We Feel Pretty.<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Osama-Laden-Dead-Alex-Miller-ebook/dp/B00FX7V4J6" target="_blank">Osama bin Laden is Dead</a> is available on Amazon, Kobo, and B&N. </i></div>
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<i>Osama bin Laden is Dead is about growing up in a sad little town in the middle of nowhere. It’s about going to high school with a bunch of rich kids who hate you because you buy your clothes at Walmart. It’s about your parents manipulating you into enrolling in a creepy Christian college where morons go to be brainwashed. It’s about dating a girl who won’t put out. </i></div>
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<i>Osama bin Laden is Dead is about Mark, a high school senior who can’t imagine how his life could ever stop being pathetic. Mark is neither happy nor well adjusted. He likes to pretend that Osama bin Laden is some kind of anti-Christ superhero who can save him from the bleak hellscape that his life has become. “Osama bin Laden is Dead” is about all of Western civilization crumbling and collapsing on top of you. It’s about war and terrorism and making out with your best friend’s girlfriend on a sticky couch in her basement. It’s about finding a new way to live.</i></div>
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-20111959298063439122015-03-17T09:10:00.000-04:002015-03-17T09:10:00.173-04:00Author Insides - Interview with Stacey Longo, Author of Ordinary Boy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23t3DiinziRN_c47yYewmR9kstwygP1vJikmV0IwNvlvgQonpjXQgg8vYfS4UhQmSKbBOVth7JCcm6F35WV0d7JD4g2esXlPGT47MQy63hLplgdCaq8ujtOpKaNv8iSiaxpeCdLgL5Jvw/s1600/StaceyAuthor+(1).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23t3DiinziRN_c47yYewmR9kstwygP1vJikmV0IwNvlvgQonpjXQgg8vYfS4UhQmSKbBOVth7JCcm6F35WV0d7JD4g2esXlPGT47MQy63hLplgdCaq8ujtOpKaNv8iSiaxpeCdLgL5Jvw/s1600/StaceyAuthor+(1).png" /></a>Stacey Longo is the author of <i>My Sister the Zombie</i> and <i>Secret Things: Twelve Tales to Terrify</i>. Her stories have appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines, including <i>Shroud, Shock Totem</i>, and the <i>Litchfield Literary Review</i>.<br />
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A former humor columnist for the <i>Block Island Times</i>, she maintains a weekly humor blog at www.staceylongo.com. Longo lives in rural Connecticut.<br />
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Her young adult novel, <i>ORDINARY BOY</i>, has been released today by Dark Alley Press.<br />
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<b>What was the inspiration for Ordinary Boy?</b><br />
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I knew a boy in high school who was murdered by his stepfather. It always bothered me. I learned a little more about the actual case as an adult, and realized what I’d imagined had happened was much more interesting, so I decided to write that story instead.<br />
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<b>Do you see any of your life in your book? If so, how?</b><br />
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Of course—I grew up in the eighties, so Curtis is growing up in a world I’m familiar with. Some of his memories—watching MTV, playing Atari, the People magazine with Rock Hudson on the cover—are certainly mine. And while his relationship with his sister is much different than the one I have with mine, the true moments of camaraderie they share are lifted right from my sister and me.<br />
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<b>What was the hardest part of this book for you to write and why?</b><br />
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Killing off Curtis was terrible, even though I knew it was going to happen as soon as I started writing the book. I enjoyed Curtis so much as I wrote him—his sense of humor, in particular—that I considered letting him live. But his character and the story demanded he die, so I had to do it. It hurt, though.<br />
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<b>As a female writer, why did you choose to have a male protagonist?</b><br />
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I wanted to stretch my writing chops. I had a pretty non-eventful childhood, and a story about a girl growing up in the eighties and developing a crush on the members of Duran Duran would be pretty boring. Writing about Curtis opened up a whole new world for me.<br />
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<b>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </b><br />
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I’ve always been a writer. I grew up on a dairy farm. When I was bored as a kid, I’d make up stories about the cows and pigs and cats on the farm. Then my friends started asking me to tell them these tales when they came over. I thought “Hey, maybe these stories aren’t just entertaining for me!” and started writing them down. I haven’t stopped since.<br />
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<b>Why do you write? </b><br />
<br />
I can’t not write. It’s stress release, revenge, and entertainment all in one.<br />
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<b>Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be? </b><br />
<br />
Yes and no. I always thought I’d be like Fitzgerald or Capote, traveling in literary circles and being invited to fabulous parties where we’d discuss books and writing into the wee hours. Ha! But I do get to hang out with other writers and talk about writing, even if it’s on someone’s back porch over coffee. That’s all I can ask for.<br />
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<b>What do you think makes a good story? </b><br />
<br />
Intriguing characters. Plots that aren’t transparent from page one. Well-written prose that makes me think long after I’ve finished the book.<br />
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<b>What's your favorite genre to read? </b><br />
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I read everything except romance and fantasy. Non-fiction, fiction, horror, history, true crime, mysteries . . . everything.<br />
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<b>Who is your favorite author or poet? </b><br />
<br />
I’m a huge fan of Edgar Allan Poe. And Erma Bombeck. Augusten Burroughs, Wally Lamb, Stephen King, Carl Hiaasen, Larry McMurtry, John Irving . . . it’s impossible to narrow it down to just one.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </b><br />
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Probably King and Bombeck. It’s impossible to write in the horror genre these days and not be influenced by the King. But growing up I also studied the clever nuances of effective humor, and I’ve re-read everything by Erma Bombeck several times.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </b><br />
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Probably Bloom County by Berkley Breathed. I quote him daily. Nothing makes me laugh quite like an old Opus or Bill the Cat cartoon.<br />
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<b>What does your family think of your writing? </b><br />
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They’re mostly supportive. I have to be careful when I’m killing off a character in some horrible way to make sure that character doesn’t too closely resemble anyone I know, so as not to cause offense. But my family is my biggest cheerleading section.<br />
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<b>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </b><br />
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I try to write every day, though it doesn’t always happen. And if something’s coming up that I don’t want to put down on paper—like Curtis’s death—I’m a huge procrastinator. I left Curtis hiding in the closet for weeks while I did more important things, like laundry.<br />
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<b>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </b><br />
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I require a lot of coffee while writing—several pots. And complete silence. My husband’s a talker, so it’s hard sometimes.<br />
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<b>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </b><br />
<br />
Did I not mention my husband is a chatterbox?<br />
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I’m so fortunate, though, because I have an awesome support system in place. When I’m done with a story, I have several trusted writers I can send it to for critique, and they don’t pull any punches. They’re vital to my process, but when they’re all done, it’s rewrite time, which can be daunting.<br />
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<b>What are your current projects? </b><br />
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I just sold a YA novel, so I need to start the recommended edits on that from my publisher. And I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a novel about Penny Paradise, Curtis’s girlfriend. I thought I wanted to make it parallel to Ordinary Boy, but I’m about 10,000 words in and I think the story really wants to be about her as an adult.<br />
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<b>Do you have any advice for other writers? </b><br />
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Make sure you love writing, because otherwise, it’s not worth doing. And don’t quit your day job!<br />
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<b>Where else can we find your work? </b><br />
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On Amazon, of course, and wherever books are sold. Visit my website at www.staceylongo.com to order books, peruse anthologies I’ve been in, and get a weekly dose of all things Stacey on my blog.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqmK2LsZvqRMvDIy6Es6SH7V2tSUv6YysSjkdLtlDvhVOqQ8r7Hyk1p9EMmcVcjnJ8kUpOkmfnJ5XYah6gs181Z272POoD0hPYnoFO_2TYI_4NV_WEY80utxMtuaXOZy73jthv5DAvjqW/s1600/OrdinaryBoyFinalTHUMBCover200x305p96dpiRGB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqmK2LsZvqRMvDIy6Es6SH7V2tSUv6YysSjkdLtlDvhVOqQ8r7Hyk1p9EMmcVcjnJ8kUpOkmfnJ5XYah6gs181Z272POoD0hPYnoFO_2TYI_4NV_WEY80utxMtuaXOZy73jthv5DAvjqW/s1600/OrdinaryBoyFinalTHUMBCover200x305p96dpiRGB.jpg" /></a><i>His name is Curtis Price. Until his extraordinary death, he lives an ordinary life on the poor side of town in Osprey Falls, Maine with his mother and older sister. He is the boy that nobody sees, ignored in the shadows of the hallway. He is the kid that is picked last in gym. He is the student that is never called on in class to answer the question, and, after a while, he stops bothering to raise his hand.</i><br />
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<i>It is not until his stepfather shoots him that he is finally—finally—noticed.</i><br />
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<i>Before he meets his untimely end, let him start at the beginning of his tale.</i><br />
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<i><a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/ordinaryboy.html#.VQY" target="_blank">ORDINARY BOY</a> is available in digital and print from Amazon, B&N, iBooks, and other online retailers. </i><br />
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-79831311867531252152015-03-14T08:00:00.000-04:002015-03-14T08:00:00.958-04:00Author Insides: Lee Hitt, Author of BREAKING THE SEAL<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Interview with Lee Hitt</h3>
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Lee Hitt lives and writes in Southern New Hampshire. His first story, “The Power Man,” is featured in Best Gay Erotica 2014, published by Cleis Press. He is currently working on an erotic short story collection while his alter-ego writes a memoir.<br />
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Lee's erotic short, <a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/breakingtheseal.html#.VNaFc2jF-So" target="_blank">Breaking the Seal</a>, was published by Vagabondage Romance in March 2014.<br />
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<b>What was the inspiration for your story?</b><br />
<br />
Well, I’ve been to Mexican restaurant and had a few too many margaritas before. Who hasn’t? Nothing like this has happened to me, but I love exploring what-if situations. What might have happened if different decisions were made? I took that setting, and the phrase “Breaking the Seal”, which is uncommon enough to have an Urban Dictionary entry, and went from there. This story goes off in a crazy direction, so by the time I finished, it was hard to imagine that any of this was inspired from real life.<br />
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<b>Do you see any of yourself in your characters?</b><br />
<br />
Yes, but only barely. Of course, since they sprung from my brain, there’s a part of me in all of my characters. But the characters in this story ended up taking on a life and personality of their own, turning out nothing like me at all. My board game night has never ended up like this.<br />
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<b>What drew you to the erotica genre?</b><br />
<br />
I think erotica is an under-appreciated literary genre. Some popular fiction that gets billed as “erotica” gives the genre a bad image, in my opinion. That “erotica” is more like pornography, which is sex for the sake of sex. Erotica uses sex to achieve a goal, a catharsis, an epiphany. Erotica can be very complex, deep, and literary, like any other genre, from historical fiction to mystery or sci-fi.<br />
<br />
I started exploring it as a reader when I stumbled across a copy of Best American Erotica 1999 in a used bookstore. The first story in that collection, “Je t’aime, Batman. Je t’adore” by Kelly McQuain turned me on (so to speak) to exploring the genre myself. It can have all the best facets of other genre of fiction: symbolism, imagery, strong characters, a little humor. Instead of sex being incidental, erotica explores incredible themes through sex. Sexual positions can be very symbolic.<br />
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Anyway, I later read online that DC Comics sent a cease and desist to Simon & Schuster, scrubbing “Je t’aime, Batman…” from future printings of BAE1999. The fact that I found a copy with the story in it in a used book store felt like fate whispering to me.<br />
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<b>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </b><br />
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I wrote Maniac Mansion fanfiction in the second grade, before knowing that “fan fiction” was even a thing. I can’t say I wanted to be a writer then, though. When I was in my late teens early twenties, I kept an online journal, and had a friend tell me over and over that I should. When I published my first story, she pretty much said, “I told you so.”<br />
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<b>Why do you write? </b><br />
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I write to explore possibilities. I write to put my thoughts in order. I write to make sense of a chaotic world. I write because I overthink every little detail and mannerism.<br />
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<b>Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be? </b><br />
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It is, actually. I get to make my own schedule, do whatever I want, and I get to talk about myself all the time. People think it’s a cool job. What more could I want?<br />
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<b>What do you think makes a good story? </b><br />
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Strong characters make a good story. The strongest characters don’t even need an intricate plot. I can watch good characters do anything, the same way I can watch Jennifer Lawrence do anything.<br />
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<b>What's your favorite genre to read? </b><br />
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I like contemporary fiction, especially short stories. And when I have the time, I like delving into a really complicated science-fiction novel.<br />
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<b>Who is your favorite author or poet? </b><br />
<br />
My favorite author is Nicholson Baker. His book The Fermata taught me that it’s possible to want to create positive change in the world and be a kinky pervert.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </b><br />
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In addition to Kelly McQuain’s short story inspiring me to write erotica, Nicholson Baker’s The Fermata, George Saunders’s “Sea Oak”, Dan Simmons’s Hyperion, and the short fiction of Karen Russell and Alissa Nutting are the types of magical masterpieces I one day aspire to write. Nicholson Baker does some great erotic/pornographic writing too, like the sci-fi porn opus House of Holes.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </b><br />
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David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas kind of changed my life. (The movie… well, we can talk about that later…) Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried changed the way I think I about writing. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books kept me sane as a teenager (but only barely sane).<br />
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<b>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? </b><br />
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I find the most inspiration by shutting up and paying attention to my surroundings. It’s hard to do. I love traveling to new places (I consider that location scouting) and meeting new people. Aspects of other people’s personalities stitched together, like some sort of psychic Frankenstein’s monster, make up my best characters.<br />
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<b>What does your family think of your writing? </b><br />
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My mom supports everything I do. Whether or not she’ll read my kinky gay fantasies… that remains to be seen.<br />
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<b>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </b><br />
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I like to read in the mornings. Something non-fiction, like a magazine article, something interesting online, or something I’m trying to research. I pair the reading with a hot cup of coffee and a warm breakfast with some spicy sausage. (Links preferred over patties. Does that say something Freudian about me?) That gets the inspiration flowing, and I’ll usually start writing around 11 a.m. and go until I get hungry. If I’m really picking up steam, I might forget to eat until late at night.<br />
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<b>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </b><br />
<br />
I like to handwrite a lot, which can be a problem because my handwriting often devolves into meaningless scribble. And when I revise, I like to print out a hardcopy and write on it in pen. Also, I can’t write at home, so I could probably find any café within a ten mile radius of my house while blindfolded.<br />
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<b>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </b><br />
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Um, everything? I find the whole process extremely difficult, at least until I have a workable first draft. Plotting, creating characters, just coming up with a concept can be very challenging for me. I enjoy the revision process, because I just pretend I’m revising someone else’s work and making it better.<br />
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<b>What are your current projects? </b><br />
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I’m working on an erotic short story collection and my alter ego is working on a memoir.<br />
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<b>What are you planning for future projects? </b><br />
<br />
Whenever someone tells me that they’re writing a novel, my stock answer is, “That’s ambitious.” If I’m ever feeling ambitious, I have two hot messes of novels in process. One is a modern-day retelling of a super-classic epic story (one that actually hasn’t been done before), and the other is a supernatural romance that I would actually want to read.<br />
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<b>Do you have any advice for other writers? </b><br />
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Just the basics: write every day. Show don’t tell. And find someone you trust to read your work… and tear it apart. A good editor will rip you a new one out of love!<br />
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<b>Where else can we find your work? </b><br />
<br />
My only other publication (at the moment) is my first short story, “The Power Man” in Best Gay Erotica 2014, published by Cleis Press in softcover and e-book. It’s the first of many great stories in that book.<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/breakingtheseal.html#.VNaFc2jF-So" target="_blank">Breaking the Seal</a> is available for eReaders through <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Seal-Lee-Hitt-ebook/dp/B00IS5LSXC/" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, B&N, Kobo, and Google Play. </i></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Perhaps it’s the many, many drinks clouding your vision, but tonight, you notice </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">something different about the way Jackson, your presumably hetero coworker is </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">acting toward you. Maybe it’s just the change of atmosphere — coworkers having </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">an office party at a bar — or maybe it’s something else entirely. When Jackson </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">notes you are entirely too intoxicated to make it home on your own and offers you </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">a ride, you decide to find out if there was any double meaning in that offer.</span></i></div>
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-20437986274355673842015-02-28T08:00:00.000-05:002015-02-28T08:00:04.420-05:00Author Insides: Joe Clifford, Author of JUNKIE LOVE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Interview with Joe Clifford</b></h3>
Joe Clifford is an editor at Gutter Books and producer of Lip Service West, a “gritty, real, raw” reading series in Oakland, CA.He is the author of the short story collection Choice Cuts and the novels <i>Wake the Undertaker</i> and <i>Lamentation: A Novel</i>.<br />
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His novel, <a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/junkielove.html" target="_blank">Junkie Love,</a> was published by Vagabondage Press in April 2013, and of course we needed to grill him about this breathtaking tale of redemption and his inspiration in creating it while we had the chance.<br />
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<b>How did Junkie Love come about? </b><br />
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That’s a loaded one. The first part is that it is based on the roughly ten years I spent as a drug addict in San Francisco in the 1990s. Even when I was mired in that life, on the darkest of days, I knew there was a story in there somewhere. And not just mine, but that of some amazingly wounded and wonderful people I met, many of whom sobered up (if they didn’t die first) and who are my friends to this day. Except that it isn’t really a story about drugs. It’s a story about growing up and trying to find a place one belongs. The heart of the novel is about a need to be loved; it’s about redemption and reconciliation. And, of course, rock ’n’ roll. It’s very much a book about being an artist and an outsider, and to that end some other authors figure prominently, the biggest probably being Jack Kerouac. I like to joke the novel has taken up half of my life: the first half making the mistakes, and the second half (straightening out and) writing about it. I suppose in the end, Junkie Love, like all novels is concerned with relationships—to ourselves, each other, and to that person we hope to one day become.<br />
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<b>Why did you want to share what essentially is your life story?</b><br />
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I’ve always believed the job of the writer is to render the unique universal, and the universal unique. It’s communication. This is what good art is supposed to do: make a connection with another so we don’t have to feel so alone, can glean some meaning and comfort, joy, empathy, whatever you want to call it, from our time here. To me, even though the novel uses addiction and some harrowing settings, the story itself is a classic bildungsroman. It’s Catcher in the Rye. It’s Portrait of the Artist. To Kill a Mockingbird. It is a book about growing up. There are a lot of people—not everyone, but a lot, especially in America—who drag their heels becoming an adult. Part of that is obviously a luxury other places don’t have. But it makes this theme, I believe, pertinent. Crossing from boy to man isn’t neatly delineated, 17 to 18, or even 20 to 21. Sometimes it takes a lot longer than that. <br />
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<b>What was the hardest scene to write and why?</b><br />
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Probably the very last one. When writing a book, it isn’t always true that the last scene was the last one written. But it is here. The Epilogue was added long after the final draft. Without giving the ending away (not that the book relies on any great twist), that final scene was a goodbye. To someone I cared a great deal about, let down, and can never fully make amends to. That’s a tough burden. And in terms of writing, giving such a scene the proper respect and weight isn’t easy.<br />
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<b>Who should read your book?</b><br />
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Everyone! Even though the subject matter can be grim and gritty at times, I tried to invoke and infuse some brevity, some humor (if you can’t laugh, you cry). I didn’t want to write a book about a junkie. I wanted to write a book about someone trying to find his way, who happened to succumb to drugs. And I love language, the rhythm, the cadence, the musicality of words. Much of the novel takes place in San Francisco, and in many regards the city itself is a character. Who should read it? Certainly fans of Kerouac. But honestly the writing itself draws on the hardboiled probably more than the Beats (I write mystery/noir novels, mostly). Raymond Chandler. Hammett. Jim Thompson. And it’s not just a “boy’s book,” either. I mean, the heart of this thing is a love triangle and forbidden love. Wuthering Heights is very present in terms of influence…<br />
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<b>What do you hope people take away from your story?</b><br />
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The first goal of all creative writing should be to entertain. I sought to evoke a mood and deliver the reader into a particular world that he or she might not normally see. But even if some of the situations in the novel seem exotic or outlandish, I’m hoping a few universal themes do come across. You can’t find what you’re looking for without searching, and it’s never too late for a second chance. Those are the big ones.<br />
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<b>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </b><br />
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From the earliest age, I’ve identified as an artist. Musician, painter, writer, all those things that make it tough to earn a paycheck. Writing specifically? I began making up stories and acting out narratives soon as my mother first bought me a Star Wars action figure. I began to think I’d like to do it professionally I suppose in my teens when I read On the Road and Catcher in the Rye.<br />
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<b>Why do you write? </b><br />
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When I was in grad school in Miami after getting sober, I helped run a true story reading series (which I later brought with me back west to San Francisco) called Lip Service. I remember a line from one of these stories, which has always stayed with me. It was about a man trying to swim the English Channel, and he wakes up one miserable, cold, overcast, gray morning to practice, which is the last thing he feels like doing, wishing he could just crawl back in bed. But as he stares out into the frigid, blacks, he knows that isn’t an option. He gets in the water because he has to. The line was something, like, “This is what I do. It is who I am.” I can’t say it any better. That is why I am a writer.<br />
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<b>Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be? </b><br />
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Ha! That’s a good question. Yes. And no. The image of writing as a profession, like many occupations I suppose, has been shaped—and distorted—by pop culture. Writing is a little like piracy in the lingering romance that surrounds it. With the latter, you disregard the scurvy and starvation, thinking only of the splendor and riches. Same with writing. Well, maybe not the scurvy part. When you make writing your job it is work. This is the biggest difference from starting out. Novice writing is mostly throwing words down about how you feel. I did it too. What I do now, however, is write books for an audience. A lot of writers don’t make that transition. I have many good friends who want to be (published) writers but can’t get over that hump. (Good) writing isn’t about your enjoyment; it’s about providing that experience for others. It is the trade-off any writer makes: you give up on the magic. Anyone who wants to do this professionally discovers that. When you first start reading books as a kid, and on through adulthood, you are transported to another world. It is magical. When you opt to become a writer, you make a choice to strip away the casings and shells and veneer and get inside to see how it all works, so that you can produce that magic for someone else. I still love reading books—you can’t be a writer if you don’t read more than you write—but it will never be the same again. Once the curtain has been pulled back, you can’t un-see it.<br />
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<b>What do you think makes a good story? </b><br />
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In a word, conflict. “Everyone was happy and they loved each other very much and nothing ever went wrong” doesn’t make for a very compelling read! It’s all about those things we want—love, money, acceptance, whatever—that we can’t have. Or at least not right away. And not for long. And it’s insatiable. It’s like the Boss says: “Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and the king ain’t satisfied till be rules everything.” What you have you don’t want. What you want you don’t have. And when you do manage to get it, you lose it or give it up or piss it away, and then you want it back more than anything. Human beings are forever searching. And they are equally unsatisfied. In one regard, of course. Not that we all walk around as one big ball of yearning. But for me a good story is built around a lack and a want.<br />
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<b>What's your favorite genre to read? </b><br />
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Hardboiled pulp. My window is pretty narrow there, at least in terms of my favorite books, 80% of which seem to have been written between 1939 – 1955.<br />
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<b>Who is your favorite author or poet? </b><br />
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That isn’t so simple. My favorite author is Jack Kerouac. Even though I wouldn’t put any of his books in my Top Ten all-time, and even if I haven’t read one of his books in over a decade. His influence on my life is simply too great to ever knock him from that mantle. My favorite book is Catcher in the Rye. The writer I enjoy reading the most is probably Raymond Chandler. Currently I am all about Hilary Davidson and her Lily Moore mystery series. That question is sorta like asking who my favorite band/musician/singer is. Depends on the day. Usually involves some combination of Springsteen, the Replacements, and Pink Floyd. And a whole bunch of other bands too.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </b><br />
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Catcher in the Rye; Razor’s Edge; Wuthering Heights; a Phillip Marlowe book (take your pick); Slaughterhouse Five. Those are probably my Desert Island Five. Knockemstiff is the best collection I have ever read (although I recently read another amazing one by Jordan Harper, American Death Songs). The best short story I have ever read is “Ordo” by Donald Westlake. But influence? I am probably as influenced by pop culture as I am anything else. My story stories are very influence by The Twilight Zone. Bruce Springsteen is a major influence on my work, from lyrics to prose. I mean, all my interests, from Cracked.com to Richard III, impact my writing. Like the fellow Bay Area writer Will Viharo, my three biggest literary influences in my work and life are Holden Caulfield, Philip Marlowe, and Batman.<br />
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </b><br />
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On the Road and Catcher in the Rye. I moved to San Francisco, a decision that triggered every major event in my life, because of Kerouac (and a line in a Replacements’ song). Junkie Love wouldn’t have been written without my reading that first book. And I named my (only) son Holden. It’s really those two, and then everything else.<br />
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<b>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? </b><br />
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Man, this is going to sound schmaltzy, but my son is pretty tough to top in that department. If you read Junkie Love, you’ll see that I probably should be dead. But for the grace of God I am alive…and my son seems to be the reason.<br />
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<b>What does your family think of your writing? </b><br />
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My lovely wife, Justine, is supportive. Although I am sure it helps that I am proving successful at it and I have money to play the bills. Being a writer at 42 is a little different than being one at 23. Outside of the occasional glass of wine with dinner, I don’t drink much. I don’t go out much. My work is pretty much my life. To quote Philip Marlowe: I work it; I don’t play at it.<br />
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<b>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </b><br />
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I try to keep as regimented as possible. I know there are writers who claim to write 8 hours a day. Not to call them liars or anything, but I don’t believe them. Still, when I am writing, I strive for a solid 3 or 4 (the Internet willing). Part of what a writer has to do these days is hustle—I guess he’s always had to do it. Now, though, with the Internet and social media, there are different avenues to promote your work. And the rub is that that can’t be all you are doing. The best advice I received with social media is not to forget the “social” part. You can’t just be linking your own work and ignoring your peers. You need to see what others are up to, say hello, be, well, social. I think of Facebook as “the Office.” It can also be a colossal waste of time. All of the Internet can. But that is where I work. I am also an acquisition’s editor for Gutter Books, and one of the flash fiction editors for Out of the Gutter. I also produce Lip Service West, a “gritty, real, raw” reading series in the Bay Area, managing subs online, working with venues and authors. Then there’s my actual paying job, which is also online (and thankfully from home). I am literally on my computer 10 – 12 hours a day. Plus, I also almost died in a motorcycle accident a few years ago, so daily exercise is a must, or my body shuts down.<br />
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<b>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </b><br />
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I have severe OCD. Does that count?<br />
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<b>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?</b><br />
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First drafts. I deplore them. I once heard that a writer doesn’t like writing; he/she likes having written. It’s different for everyone, I know. My good friend and fellow writer Tom Pitts (who is a character in Junkie Love) is the exact opposite. He loves first drafts, hates re-writing. I would seriously rather spend the day at the dentist getting 10 root canals than writing a first draft. In fact, that is a pretty apt comparison since both entail pulling teeth. The part of writing I enjoy, love, is that final stage where I’ve rewritten and I can start to play with the language a little more. Until I get that foundation down, though, it is, frankly, hell.<br />
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<b>Do you have any advice for other writers? </b><br />
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This what someone told me. And I hated hearing it at the time because I didn’t have any books out. But… If you are good, keep at it, and you will get published. Simple. And true. Writing is all about rejection. But like Rocky says. “It ain’t about how hard you can hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit—and keep moving forward.”<br />
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<b>Where else can we find your work? </b><br />
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www.joeclifford.com<br />
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<b>Any additional thoughts/comments?</b><br />
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Thanks to Battered Suitcase & Vagabondage Press, Fawn Neun and Nanette Morges for having faith in Junkie Love and taking on this book and working with me. To say it’s dear to my heart is woefully underselling. This book is the story of my life and the people I loved and lost and won’t forget. A lot of heart and hell (and humor, too, I hope) went into writing it. I hope readers walk away seeing that effort on the page and feeling touched.<br />
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<i><a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/junkielove.html#.VNaAwGjF-So" target="_blank">Junkie Love</a> is available in print at booksellers like <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-9780615782959-1" target="_blank">Powell's</a> as well as in eBook for Nook and Kindle.</i><div style="text-align: left;">
<i><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">From the cow fields of Connecticut to the streets of San Francisco, Joe Clifford’s </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Junkie Love traverses the lost highways of America, down the rocky roads of mental </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">illness to the dead ends of addiction. Based on Clifford’s own harrowing experience </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">with drugs as a rock ’n’ roll wannabe in the 1990s, the book draws on the best of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Kerouac & the Beats, injecting a heavy dose of pulp fiction as it threads a rollicking </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">narrative through a doomed love triangle, lit up by the many strange characters he </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">meets along the way. Part road story, part resurrection tale, Junkie Love finds a way </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">to laugh in one’s darkest hour, while never abandoning its heart in search of a home.</span></i></div>
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-17028568685851257722015-02-14T08:00:00.000-05:002015-02-14T08:00:03.929-05:00Author Insides: Charlotte Rains Dixon, Author of EMMA JEAN'S BAD BEHAVIOR<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Interview with Author Charlotte Rains Dixon</b></h3>
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Charlotte Rains Dixon is a writer and writing teacher. She has published numerous articles and stories as well as three non-fiction books. Charlotte received her MFA in creative writing from Spalding University and teaches in the Loft certificate-writing program at Middle Tennessee State University. She lives in Portland, Oregon.<br />
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Her humorous novel, <a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/emmajeansbadbehavior.html#.VNZ8EWjF-So" target="_blank">Emma Jean's Bad Behavior</a>, was published by<a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/" target="_blank">Vagabondage Press</a> in February 2013, and is a hilarious and clever mash of chicklit, romance, contemporary women's fiction.<br />
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<b>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </b><br />
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I spent hours as a child writing poetry and illustrating it with crayon pictures. From an early age, I wanted to be either a writer, or a fashion designer. As a young adult, I dabbled in fashion, designing and selling children's clothing, but the writing won out, simply because I find it more compelling than anything I've ever done. One of the best things about being a writer is that there's always something else to learn about it—mastery (if there is such a thing) is a lifelong pursuit.<br />
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<b>Why do you write? </b><br />
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I write because I can't not write. Truly, if I'm not writing I get cranky and ill at ease. The world seems a bit off kilter and I'm not quite sure of my place in it. Conversely, when I'm writing regularly, I'm in love with the world and everything in it.<br />
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<b>What was your inspiration for “Emma Jean”?</b><br />
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I had the idea to explore what it might be like to get pregnant at an age far past when most women are having babies. And then Emma Jean started talking to me and I couldn't get her to shut up. Her voice came out strong and unique from the moment I started writing and she told me a lot about herself along the way.<br />
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<b>How, if at all, is Emma Jean like you?</b><br />
<br />
Well, we both struggle with our weight. We both tend to fall in love with places and people instantly (conversely, we both easily fall in hate as well). And we both have a passion for quirky subjects that we want to learn everything about with a book-buying habit to match. Beyond that, Emma Jean is much gutsier than I am. She is the proverbial character who always has the perfect thing to say in the moment while I think of it a day later. Emma Jean lives her passions large and out loud and me? Not so much.<br />
<br />
<b>What do you think of having children?</b><br />
<br />
Having children has been the defining event in my life. I can't imagine my life without them. I'm one of those women who have always known she would have children, and I had names picked out for my two future daughters when I was in college. (Alas, I ended up having a daughter and a son so the names had to be revised.) I had to stretch a little to imagine a character who didn't want children, but learning the secrets to Emma Jean's backstory and true motivations helped. Also, I have many good friends who are childless—it often seems to go with the territory of being creative—and so I've been able to see the issue through their eyes.<br />
<br />
<b>Do you consider yourself a wine coinsurer? </b><br />
<br />
I am most decidedly not a wine expert. I drink hearty red wine exclusively, whether it's a hot summer day or I'm having fish or meat. I keep telling myself I need to take a class in wine appreciation so I can figure out the correct pairings and all that. And then I shrug and go back to my red wine.<br />
<br />
<b>What is your favorite wine?</b><br />
<br />
Cabernet. I'm especially fond of the Cabs from the Walla Walla region, one of the places Emma Jean visits in the book. (This will probably earn me a few rotten tomatoes from fellow Oregonians, since we are known particularly for our Pinot Noirs.)<br />
<br />
<b>Have you ever experienced a scandal like your character? If so, what was it about and how did you deal with it?</b><br />
<br />
Oh, thank the Lord, no! Just the thought of it makes me tremble.<br />
<br />
<b>How would you describe Emma Jean’s actions and motivations?</b><br />
<br />
Emma Jean believes strongly in the value of creativity and the art of story and because of this, she fancies herself as presenting a unique, authentic self to the world. But in truth, the persona she's invented is anything but her true self. Much of the novel details the process of her stripping away her invented self to uncover the real jewel that lay beneath. She also has a strong, if at times misguided, drive to learn about spirituality after an epiphany she has in one of the novel's opening scenes.<br />
<br />
<b>Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be? </b><br />
<br />
It's better. There's just something about creating stories from thin air and putting them on the page that is magical. I always say I have the best job in the world, and it's true, I do. <br />
<br />
<b>What do you think makes a good story? </b><br />
<br />
As far as I'm concerned, characters make a good story. If you don't have characters with strongly defined desires, you don't have a story. I tell my students this so often they don't want to hear it any longer, but I believe it's true—all great stories start with character.<br />
<br />
<b>What's your favorite genre to read? </b><br />
<br />
I have fairly eclectic reading tastes. I read a lot of non-fiction and I'm a sucker for personal development and spiritual titles. As for fiction, I'd love to report that I'm fond of the classics and literary fiction, but alas, such is not the case. I adore women's fiction, and that's what I read most often.<br />
<br />
<b>Who is your favorite author? </b><br />
<br />
Can I have several? I love the early novels of Barbara Kingsolver and for classic, readable women's fiction, I enjoy Jennifer Weiner and Joann Mapson.<br />
<br />
<b>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </b><br />
<br />
I love Animal Dreams, an early novel by Barbara Kingsolver. I admire the sense of place and the characters in that novel. A sense of place is important to me as a writer and because I'm a child of the west, I'm drawn to novelists that utilize setting strongly in their stories. Willa Cather comes to mind, as do the mystery novels of James Lee Burke. I had the great good fortune to study with Sena Jeter Naslund and Melissa Pritchard, and it is safe to say their work has had a big influence on me.<br />
<br />
<b>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </b><br />
<br />
Crossing to Safety, by the late, great and highly underrated Wallace Stegner. He's brilliant and the first time I read this book I was blown away—in many ways it told a similar story to part of my own life. What also comes to mind are non-fiction titles such as The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, and anything by Marianne Williamson and Geneen Roth.<br />
<br />
<b>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? </b><br />
<br />
Everywhere. I'm a web surfer and a huge blog reader—there's some pretty inspiring blogs out there, both on writing and creativity. I'm a sometime knitter and stitcher (wish I did more of it) so I get inspired by craft blogs. I started my writing career by writing about art, so visual imagery inspires me a lot, too.<br />
<br />
<b>What does your family think of your writing? </b><br />
<br />
They've been fans and supporters from the outset. I'm blessed that way. Though they might cringe a bit when they actually read some of the scenes in Emma Jean.<br />
<br />
<b>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </b><br />
<br />
Since I teach and coach writing, much of my day is spent with those activities. But here's something I wish more would-be writers knew: you can get a lot of writing done in a relatively short amount of time if you're focused. I wrote the first draft of Emma Jean in a few months, getting up early and writing first thing in the morning for an hour or so. That's a schedule I follow to this day, getting to the page immediately when I rise. I'm a strong believer in working on the thing most dear to you first thing, if at all possible.<br />
<br />
<b>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </b><br />
<br />
Let's see, I always light a candle when I'm writing in my journal. But not when I'm writing fiction. And I'm superstitious about keeping my desk too clean. Or maybe just lazy. Beyond that, no. In truth, I've learned that every project has its own life and its own quirks and its own requirements. The novel I'm working on now has been written largely by hand, in a spiral notebook while sitting in a comfy chair. This is hell on keeping track of plot, but it is what the project demands. Believe me, I've resisted and tried to go directly to the computer, but over and over again, the work sends me back to writing by hand. So mostly I've learned to just go with the flow.<br />
<br />
<b>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </b><br />
<br />
Balancing my desire to write fiction all the time with the demands of making a living.<br />
<br />
<b>What are your current projects? </b><br />
<br />
I'm about two-thirds of the way through a story about a woman of privilege who loses everything—house, marriage, money, business. And I'm planning to resuscitate the novel I wrote while earning my MFA, either starting the submission process again or publishing it myself, though it needs some work first. I'm an inveterate blogger, and I update my blog (on writing, creativity and spirituality) two or three times a week. I'm the Portland correspondent for a Nashville based literary journal called 2nd and Church.<br />
<br />
<b>What are you planning for future projects? </b><br />
<br />
I've got an idea for a mystery series set in a unique location that I'm quite excited about.<br />
<br />
<b>Do you have any advice for other writers? </b><br />
<br />
Yes, I do. Write and read. Write as much and as often as you can and don't worry about quality at first. Just write. Write in a journal, write short stories, play around with a novel or a memoir, start a blog, just put words on the page. The more you write, the easier it gets. And read! I once had a client, who after we worked together for a year on a book, confessed that she never read. I was shocked. How can you hope to be a writer if you don't read? Why would you even want to try? Reading and paying attention to how other authors do it is a great way to educate yourself to become a writer.<br />
<br />
<b>Where else can we find your work? </b><br />
<br />
You'll find tons of articles—five years worth—on my blog, www.charlotterainsdixon.com. Also check out www.2ndandchurch.com. I've written for magazines such as Vogue Knitting, Interweave Knits and the online publications Pology.com and Santa Fe Writer's Project. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85u0SLwR3XiAIuDLqwzJmv_o9visyYrJVkvXlJXQrwpxqMwYM85jO53NNmC40HvjvBvUE2VmlzBx_nBpyhknqMyoYa0ClsIUkTdE_-u0W0WwVtcd97LnVn4Em4hc9rGjNvIeFu2OrOMf9/s1600/EmmaJeanCoverThumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85u0SLwR3XiAIuDLqwzJmv_o9visyYrJVkvXlJXQrwpxqMwYM85jO53NNmC40HvjvBvUE2VmlzBx_nBpyhknqMyoYa0ClsIUkTdE_-u0W0WwVtcd97LnVn4Em4hc9rGjNvIeFu2OrOMf9/s1600/EmmaJeanCoverThumb.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/emmajeansbadbehavior.html#.VNZ8EWjF-So" target="_blank">Emma Jean's Bad Behavior</a> is available in paperback from <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-9780615738178-1" target="_blank">Powell's</a>, B&N, and Amazon, as well as for Kindle and Nook for eReaders.<br />
<br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Best-selling novelist Emma Jean Sullivan longed for a baby for years, but after she and her husband Peter were unable to conceive, she staunchly vowed to become the standard bearer for all childless couples. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And she succeeds spectacularly. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">At age 48 (43 according to her blog, Life, Full Tilt) Emma Jean enjoys a rabid anti-baby fan base and her novels have sold millions. But now she confronts a dilemma larger than any that her heroines have faced: she’s pregnant. And the baby’s father is not her husband. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Through no fault of her own (he was just so damned adorable), Emma Jean had begun a passionate affair with Riley, a fetching airplane mechanic she met at a book signing in L.A. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Terrified of losing both her fan base and her identity, she struggles to maintain her sham brand and her marriage. But Peter is busy embezzling Emma Jean’s money and completely uninterested in fatherhood, and Riley has his hands full with problems of his own. Not only that, her latest novel is a miserable failure, and a Vanity Fair reporter, who plans to out Emma Jean’s pregnancy to her fans, is stalking her. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What’s a suddenly broke, failing, middle-aged, pregnant novelist to do? </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Why, flee to a glamorous resort town, of course. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There, Emma Jean plots her next move. </span></i><br />
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-41834478035420263612015-02-07T15:18:00.000-05:002015-02-07T15:18:16.005-05:00Author Insides: Paul Abercrombie, Author of TROUBLE BREWING<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3txYD8VAkcKQvzHjgHrO5q50T3DsaVmwFTQvO2PQwJPDQS_goxBV6OD6ExbRKCG8mszCNEEUqbdfS9WJNBI9gys7SIgTI5KVXC_XZTL3n0gpoQfMfBYSK-9pHlxk2mGbGNX7yy9hWfl6u/s1600/TroubleBrewingFinalSLIDERCover300x457p72dpiRGB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3txYD8VAkcKQvzHjgHrO5q50T3DsaVmwFTQvO2PQwJPDQS_goxBV6OD6ExbRKCG8mszCNEEUqbdfS9WJNBI9gys7SIgTI5KVXC_XZTL3n0gpoQfMfBYSK-9pHlxk2mGbGNX7yy9hWfl6u/s1600/TroubleBrewingFinalSLIDERCover300x457p72dpiRGB.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a><br />
In <a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/troublebrewing.html#.VNZv8GjF-So" target="_blank">TROUBLE BREWING</a>, Paul Abercrombie takes a satircal look at just how far some ambitious microbrewers are willing to go to make a name for themselves and their company. With tongue firmly in cheek, Abercrombie delves deftly into murder, blackmail, and cover ups, all fine ingredients for an award-winning ale and a great read!<br />
<br />
TROUBLE BREWING was released by Dark Alley Press (an imprint of Vagabondage Press in October of 2014, and is available in<a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/troublebrewing.html#.VNZv8GjF-So" target="_blank"> paperback and for Kindle or Nook</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>What was your inspiration for Trouble Brewing?</b><br />
<br />
Well, I like beer. And weird Florida stories. The idea for this book just popped into my head one morning in the shower. Maybe that’s too much information.<br />
<br />
<b>Beer and micro-breweries play a big role in this story; is this a passion of yours? Tell us about it?</b><br />
<br />
I can’t pretend to be an expert on making beer. But I do enjoy drinking it. Especially some of the genuinely great craft beers being produced here in Tampa Bay.<br />
<br />
<b>If you owned a micro-brewery, what kind of beer would you make and why?</b><br />
<br />
Ha, definitely nothing with added protein of any kind.<br />
<br />
<b>Is there any of yourself in your characters in this book?</b><br />
<br />
I don’t think so.<br />
<br />
<b>What was the hardest/easiest part of writing this book?</b><br />
<br />
Hardest was, as I imagine with most wannabe authors, forcing myself to sit and write. Easiest was fantasizing about having written it.<br />
<br />
<b>What about dark fiction is a draw for you?</b><br />
<br />
Who doesn’t want to be scared and laugh at the same time?<br />
<br />
<b>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </b><br />
<br />
High school.<br />
<br />
<b>Why do you write? </b><br />
<br />
Probably some deep character flaw of mine.<br />
<br />
<b>Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be? </b><br />
<br />
Except for the curious lack of groupies, it’s about what I imagined.<br />
<br />
<b>What do you think makes a good story? </b><br />
<br />
The usual – good characters, nifty conflict, thwarted desires.<br />
<br />
<b>What's your favorite genre to read? </b><br />
<br />
Wow, can’t say that I have a favorite genre.<br />
<br />
<b>Who is your favorite author or poet? </b><br />
Again, I don’t really have a single fave.<br />
<br />
<b>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </b><br />
<br />
I’d like to hope all the ones I liked.<br />
<br />
<b>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </b><br />
<br />
Stuff like Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises; anything by T.C. Boyle, Charles Portis.<br />
<br />
<b>What does your family think of your writing? </b><br />
<br />
They’re awfully tolerant.<br />
<br />
<b>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </b><br />
<br />
I try to put in at least an hour or two every workday morning.<br />
<br />
<b>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </b><br />
<br />
No, but now I’m inspired to get some.<br />
<br />
<b>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </b><br />
<br />
Yes, not sounding like a moron.<br />
<br />
<b>What are your current projects? </b><br />
<br />
I’m plotting out another novel.<br />
<br />
<b>What are you planning for future projects? </b><br />
<br />
I have all sorts of goofy ideas, but I’m trying to force myself to concentrate on the next one first.<br />
<br />
<b>Do you have any advice for other writers? </b><br />
<br />
Yes, change your name to J.K. Rowling.<br />
<br />
<b>Where else can we find your work? </b><br />
<br />
I write about travel and booze topics for publications such as The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, BBC Travel, Tampa Bay Times, Wine & Spirits, National Geographic Traveler, Penthouse and Wine Enthusiast.<br />
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-4138335446058396702014-11-20T08:00:00.000-05:002014-11-20T08:00:10.277-05:00Interview with E.H. Lupton, author of The Joy of Fishes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc0jchLvTUCS66YfMyNn1uaQ6cRbTrsKdp-wZ7REmYQNJEx4egi1BFeRrsOJmVlqwhRoQ7Ei-Kk0rJlw7mG2_NCbNjRADPPfvsfMyafTqsBvGSzO1W80Cct-RfxUDwnhUSqjQYnEOB_Eht/s1600/_MG_1580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc0jchLvTUCS66YfMyNn1uaQ6cRbTrsKdp-wZ7REmYQNJEx4egi1BFeRrsOJmVlqwhRoQ7Ei-Kk0rJlw7mG2_NCbNjRADPPfvsfMyafTqsBvGSzO1W80Cct-RfxUDwnhUSqjQYnEOB_Eht/s1600/_MG_1580.JPG" height="320" width="312" /></a><b>Interview with E.H. Lupton, author of <i>The Joy of Fishes</i></b></div>
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E.H. Lupton lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband and
various pets. In her spare time, she pursues a number of hobbies including
running, baking, making things up, and taking naps.</div>
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Her novella, <i><a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/thejoyoffishes.html" target="_blank">The Joy of Fishes</a></i>, was published by Battered
Suitcase Press in December of 2013. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>When did you first
realize you wanted to be a writer? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I was about twelve
or thirteen and having an argument with my father about a TV show we both
liked. I didn’t like the direction it was going in. My father challenged me to
write my own version. I haven’t stopped since.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why do you write? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I feel like I have
stories to tell. Also, I don’t have a TV, and if I run too much my joints get
angry, so I have to have a “sitting down” hobby.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Is being a writer
anything like you imagined it would be? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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No. When I was young
I thought all writers just wrote full time. Also, I’m guessing I thought
writing was easy. In fact I <i>still</i> want to believe that, because I am
continually surprised by how difficult writing is—I keep hoping I’ll come
around a bend in the road and suddenly find everything is a cinch.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What do you think
makes a good story? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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It has to have
compelling characters and a good plot. Artistry of writing is nice, and if the
story fails on plot, sometimes artistry can get you pretty far (I mean, look at
<i>Ulysses</i>). But if it fails on characters, I don’t care about the rest.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What's your favorite
genre to read? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Probably mysteries.
I read a lot of genres, because I’m always reading things that people recommend
or that I find somewhere, but left to my own devices I look for a mystery
novel. I’m especially fond of hardboiled detective novels.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Who is your favorite
author or poet? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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This is a hard question.
Raymond Chandler is up there. Salman Rushdie. James Joyce. Zora Neale Hurston. Thomas
Pynchon, especially his more recent stuff, like <i>Inherent Vice.</i> I’m
probably leaving out a lot of worthy names here, but I think if you’ve read any
of these writers you might begin to detect a trend: I like incredibly
well-written works with interesting characters and (in most cases) dense,
complex plots that are funny and heart-wrenching by turns.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What books or stories
have most influenced you the most as a writer? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Probably the biggest
influence was James Joyce’s <i>Ulysses</i>. I learned from it that books don’t
have to stick to a single topic; you can put all of life into them. This book,
more specifically, was influenced also by Kurt Vonnegut’s <i>Slaughterhouse-Five</i>,
Milan Kundera’s <i>The Book of Laughter and Forgetting</i>, and<i> </i>by <i>Wandering
on the Way</i>, a collection of Daoist stories translated by Victor Mair. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What books or stories
have most influenced you as a person?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I started down the
path to study philosophy when I read <i>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance </i>by Robert Persig. I think a lot of my work is deeply rooted in
philosophy in general, though it’s not always as apparent as it is with <i>The
Joy of Fishes</i>. As an undergraduate, I studied philosophy and Chinese, which
led to me taking the class in Daoism that inspired <i>TJoF</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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More prosaically, my
mom used to read me Kipling’s <i>The Just-So Stories</i> and a lot of the works
of James Thurber, and I think both of those had a big influence on me. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Where/how do you find
the most inspiration? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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When I’m lucky (that
is, when I’m not recovering from an injury), I do a lot of thinking when I’m
out running. When I’m not able to run, driving or biking can have a similar
effect. (I live in Wisconsin, so the window for biking is pretty small.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What does your family
think of your writing? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I think they’re
proud. Maybe a bit surprised that this is what I do, but proud.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What is your work
schedule like when you're writing? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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While I was
finishing my thesis recently, I would get up around 5:30 and write until 7ish
(sometimes pausing earlier or later depending on whether the puppy needed to go
out). After I took the dogs out, I put the thesis away and went to the gym for
an hour. Then I’d be ready to go to my day job. I find it easiest to get things
done in the morning when there are fewer distractions. I’m sleeping in a little
later now though.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Do you have any
writing quirks or rituals? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I really like to
write off the computer—I write longhand quite a bit, and when I have the
opportunity, I like to write on my grandmother’s old typewriter. It is about
fifty years old and probably weighs twenty or thirty pounds. I really like the
feeling of connecting with the keys. Also, I like being away from the Internet.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Is there anything you
find particularly challenging in your writing? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The Internet.
Especially when things get difficult, I have a hard time focusing. Also, I know
that in the course of writing a first draft, there are going to be boring bits
that will have to be cut out later. But I hate writing them down. I have to
force myself to press forward. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What are your current
projects? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I have a short story
I’m rewriting, and a novel I’m doing the first draft of. There are probably a
few other things, too. I pick stories up and put them down all the time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What are you planning
for future projects? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I don’t really know.
Someday I’d like to do a graphic novel, if I ever meet an artist with whom I
could work. But I don’t always know what I’m going to do ahead of time. I
squirrel away little bits of information for the future all the time, but I
don’t usually have a plan of what I’m going to do with them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Do you have any
advice for other writers? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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No. I know enough to
know that I know nothing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Where else can we find your work? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I have a blog at
pretensesoup.com where you can find all of (or a lot of) my comic “Em ơi!,”
which chronicles my various adventures in a somewhat piecemeal and occasionally
imaginary fashion. I’ve been drawing it since 2008ish, and have amassed nearly
four hundred comics at this point, making it probably my longest-running work. I
have had a story published in issue 6 of <i>Greatest Uncommon Denominator</i>/<i>GUD</i>
(“Salad Days,” which can be found here: <a href="http://www.gudmagazine.com/vault/6/Salad+Days">http://www.gudmagazine.com/vault/6/Salad+Days</a>).
And I have had a story published in issue 5 of a magazine called <i>Wilde Oats</i>,
but it appears to have been archived and isn’t on their website right now
(looks like it will be in the future though). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH0emzv0Ba2qErSqTXak7eR1lO6OTkmFXYuYOxVxbP8ps-2PmPYUD1sSMvY3QbJntzqvWtW0U_fNYp5FOsiWHG6f3YBhTdBCP0bQ-jmK7fTW1w51zEQkI1nQP1v8xYn2_8ZHBJk1ukMPAt/s1600/JoyOfFishes200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH0emzv0Ba2qErSqTXak7eR1lO6OTkmFXYuYOxVxbP8ps-2PmPYUD1sSMvY3QbJntzqvWtW0U_fNYp5FOsiWHG6f3YBhTdBCP0bQ-jmK7fTW1w51zEQkI1nQP1v8xYn2_8ZHBJk1ukMPAt/s1600/JoyOfFishes200x300.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">E.H. Lupton's The Joy of
Fishes is available for immediate download from our <a href="http://www.vagabondpressbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=85" target="_blank">website</a> or your favorite
ebook retailer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><i>Mara Daniels is a physicist doing cutting-edge research into
the nature of reality at the University of Chicago. She’s an astronomer. She’s
an amateur student of Chinese philosophy. And she’s still recovering from last
summer’s car crash that killed Benjamin Zhu, her fiancé. It’s a slow process;
she can walk without a cane now, but she still suffers from migraines,
nightmares, and seeing Zhu’s ghost everywhere she goes. The novella The Joy of
Fishes follows her through the day on which these threads begin to unravel.</i></span></div>
Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-75592819771458966872014-11-06T08:00:00.000-05:002014-11-06T08:00:01.060-05:00Interview with Nancy Moore, author of The Vicar of Wrynbury<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Interview with Nancy Moore, author of <i>The Vicar of Wrynbury</i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5j9P84imONUOSp-iTSuh_Kr5fhK8Lcnk8nEHD-2f_spuQTYgAY1ocndL1hLH0hv-eBCMEyGbE6UqJIM-3ogIotj6T-uKTK2Uz-S2pagHaULa_3fDXVvozNujVKWvOiaV_vblG1JpeFcG7/s1600/NancyMooreColourHeadshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5j9P84imONUOSp-iTSuh_Kr5fhK8Lcnk8nEHD-2f_spuQTYgAY1ocndL1hLH0hv-eBCMEyGbE6UqJIM-3ogIotj6T-uKTK2Uz-S2pagHaULa_3fDXVvozNujVKWvOiaV_vblG1JpeFcG7/s1600/NancyMooreColourHeadshot.jpg" height="320" width="291" /></a>Nancy Moore is originally from Northeastern Missouri and graduated from Truman State University with a degree in mass communication. She's worked in publishing, marketing, journalism, and in the non-profit field. She's dabbled with writing since childhood, winning a few awards for creative writing in her youth. It wasn't until later in life that her hobby developed into a serious pursuit. She is an unabashed Anglophile who lovesHarry Potter, Doctor Who, and Sherlock as well as any historical drama series to come out of the U.K. Nancy loves reading historical dramas, horror, biography, and non-fiction historical. She currently lives in St. Louis with "the greatest guy ever," her cat, and dog.</div>
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Her debut historical romance, <i><a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/thevicarofwrynbury.html" target="_blank">The Vicar of Wrynbury</a></i>, is set in the late Edwardian era, and was published by Vagabondage Romance in May of 2014. </div>
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<b>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </b></div>
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I dabbled even before I could really write very well. I would draw pictures and make storybooks when I was really little. I did various stories as I grew. In high school, I got third place in a creative writing competition through a university and it really advanced my daydreams of writing as a profession.</div>
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<b>Why do you write? </b></div>
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Because I have movies playing in my head. There are people in there, living stories and doing these great scenes that need to get out and on to paper. I’ve found that escaping into those story lands has been a great fantasy life for me. I can get away from real life, but also be creating something tangible too.</div>
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<b>What do you think makes a good story? </b></div>
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A good story is one that you never want to end and characters that you want to have contact with forever. My favorite stories are ones I go back and visit, especially in times of stress or unhappiness, and they comfort and soothe me like an old friend or warm, snuggly blanket.</div>
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<b>What's your favorite genre to read? </b></div>
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I love a good ghost story! A novel about a creepy house and mysterious haunting is such a treat that is rather hard to find. I also love biographies of the golden age of Hollywood stars. Usually their lives are very different than what was projected on screen or perpetuated by the big studios of the day. </div>
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<b>Who is your favorite author or poet? </b></div>
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I discovered Margaret Mitchell’s <i>Gone With the Wind </i>when I was in junior high and it is still my favorite. Others include: Sarah Waters, Martha Grimes, Christopher Moore, and Audrey Niffenegger.</div>
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </b></div>
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Sarah Waters's <i>Affinity </i>influenced me a lot for its pacing and style. The delicate mix of formal construction and sensuous context was really well crafted. I remember going through the last pages and feeling like I was on the fast downhill of a roller coaster.</div>
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<b>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </b></div>
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In college I had to read <i>The Unbearable Lightness of Being</i> by Kundera and was just amazed at how someone had put down in words a lot of the things I was struggling to understand as a young adult.</div>
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<b>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? </b></div>
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I’ve got a vivid imagination that has a bizarre trigger. A movie or a picture can start the ball rolling for me and begin a whole story arc.</div>
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<b>What does your family think of your writing? </b></div>
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My mother is my biggest cheerleader. She is an avid reader, and when I nervously let her read the first draft of my story she said to me, “This is as good as any book I’ve ever read. And I’ve read a LOT of books!”</div>
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<b>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </b></div>
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Very unstructured. My first draft of my novel took a year and that was with working on it most days. But, I run hot and cold about writing. I’ll work on it for several days then not touch it for a week or a month or more. I won’t say that this is the best way to write, it’s just how it has worked for me in trying to make it a part of my busy life. </div>
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<b>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </b></div>
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When I’m stuck I walk away. If I start cooking or ironing or doing anything that allows my mind to wander, I can usually work out a solution. </div>
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<b>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?</b></div>
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I’ve realized creativity is like a cat. It can’t be summoned on demand. You just have to leave the door open and hope it wanders in on its own.</div>
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<b>What is unique about the Edwardian and WWI era that made you place this story at that time? </b></div>
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I’ve always said I was born too late. The era of 1910-1930 is my favorite in many ways. There were many changes going on very quickly, especially for women. The world was progressing at an amazing pace. A lot of very old-fashioned notions and practices fell to the wayside as the world came into the twentieth century. Yet there is still this aura of romance, class, and formality. </div>
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<b>In what ways are the character of Anne and you alike? </b></div>
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Anne is a lot like me, and I don’t know if anyone would believe me when I say that I’d never written a female character like that before. We both have had lives that didn’t turn out how we had expected and felt the need to nurture and cultivate positive relationships, not always with the best results. We both, also, went through changes when forced to be out on our own and learn from our struggles, which only made us stronger. The end of the novel reflected a lot of the change in my own life and my evolving views of love, romance, and lasting relationships.</div>
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<b>What are your current projects? </b></div>
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I have started a modern day ghost story and would like to see how I am able to do with this genre. </div>
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<b>What are you planning for future projects? </b></div>
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I have another turn of the century drama-romance started but sitting on the shelf. It would be a tale taking place in St. Louis at the turn of the century and centering around another woman going through some difficult life changes that affect her views on the people around her and herself.</div>
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<b>Do you have any advice for other writers?</b></div>
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It takes nothing to put it on paper. Write like no one will ever see it. Write for yourself and you may end up creating something everyone appreciates.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MouJjDZS8oH7hCuUmIPFnm3ASS9t-VCrY33rngXpL70WSbt6MS74GfHRedCNROJDjI_CaXvA-qjrPIfQJ9JyHjUKCIvPGFwaPGj9SU5Vx48yvpzyP1rjphrtRKG2on_MVozjrhu916ZI/s1600/VicarThumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MouJjDZS8oH7hCuUmIPFnm3ASS9t-VCrY33rngXpL70WSbt6MS74GfHRedCNROJDjI_CaXvA-qjrPIfQJ9JyHjUKCIvPGFwaPGj9SU5Vx48yvpzyP1rjphrtRKG2on_MVozjrhu916ZI/s1600/VicarThumb.jpg" /></a></div>
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Nancy's debut historical romance, <i>The Vicar of Wrynbury</i>, is set in the late Edwardian era, and was published by Vagabondage Romance in May of 2014, and is available in print and ebook from our <a href="http://www.vagabondpressbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=92" target="_blank">website</a> or from your favorite online bookstore. </div>
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As the Edwardian era fades into WWI, Cyril Dunstan, a man with a mysterious past, accepts the post as vicar in a small country town of Wrynbury. His benefactor and only ally, Anne Gladwyn, repeatedly attempts to assist the reticent and surly vicar with the task of reviving the dilapidated village church against all odds. Anne hopes to find some purpose to her dull and unsatisfying life as well as solve the mystery of the vicar’s history and demeanor. Their journals and accounts show the tenuous beginnings of a partnership that turns into a friendship then blossoms into a passionate emotional tie that could destroy all they have worked for. In a time when religious and social constructs would never allow the two to satisfy their desires, they must decide what to sacrifice in order to have happiness during the tumultuous early days of the 20th Century.</div>
</div>
Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-42032148976848245182014-10-23T08:00:00.000-04:002014-10-23T08:00:03.366-04:00Interview with Tim Dankanich, author of Old Hag Syndrome<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Interview with Tim Dankanich, author of <i>Old Hag Syndrome</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRSKMmNeNBxR_qRWZ4os93IsbdLde3KqTq81Ur0K-9HxOY1uazpvIFTeGimRZ3v2C5cJdluK_9Q4q1xXpakUPa5aqTQLv-Gmx02lI-JhtpHh-AajEYH6aFEX9hElxn4sdqzJoijhE5FmO/s1600/OldHagSyndrome200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRSKMmNeNBxR_qRWZ4os93IsbdLde3KqTq81Ur0K-9HxOY1uazpvIFTeGimRZ3v2C5cJdluK_9Q4q1xXpakUPa5aqTQLv-Gmx02lI-JhtpHh-AajEYH6aFEX9hElxn4sdqzJoijhE5FmO/s1600/OldHagSyndrome200x300.jpg" /></a>Tim Dankanich was born within the state of Pennsylvania, a
state which happens to be (in his <o:p></o:p></div>
opinion) the insane little sister of
historical Transylvania. Without any formal training or education, he is a
completely self-taught author, screenwriter, and artisan with a pathological
obsession toward the dark, frightening, unexplained realms of the unknown. You
can visit him online at www.timdankanich.brushd.com<br />
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His creepy horror
thriller, <i><a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/oldhagsyndrome.html" target="_blank">Old Hag Syndrome</a></i>, is soon to hit the big screen and was published by
imprint Dark Alley Press in September 2013. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What was your inspiration for Old Hag
Syndrome?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The Old Hag Syndrome
was inspired by the very real and terrifying phenomenon experienced by more
than half of the world's population, myself included. The Old Hag Syndrome is a
mysterious and horrifying sleep disorder documented throughout almost every
ancient culture and known today by its modern medical term as sleep paralysis. For
this story I was first inspired to create my own explanations for this
widespread and unexplained nightmare that cannot be fully rationalized by
psychology, culture or medical science. Then I tried to create characters who
were not only likable but worth caring about. Consequently I led these poor
people through every insane and disturbing horror my mind could imagine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Twins and the psychic connection some seem to
have is critical to your novel? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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“Critical” is a very
interesting word choice to use in that question. That particular adjective
contains different meanings, yet looks exactly the same. Much like identical
twins themselves, which are statically the only sets of twins to sometimes share
acute psychic abilities between each other. But I honestly think the only
critical aspect of such a connection would be that the novel itself would have
looked very differently had I not mentally given birth to identical twins as
important characters, when I first started to compose the skeletal structure of
the story itself. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Are you a twin? If so do you have this
connection with your twin? Could you give us some examples? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Sadly no, I do not
have a psychic twin. It’s rather depressing to think of how quickly and
efficiently the writing process would be if I had such a twin finishing my
thoughts and typing them out for me while I had other things to do. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>If not, where does your fascination with
twins and this connection come from?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Honestly, I’m not
exactly sure where my fascination with biological nonconformity and the entire
spectrum of the paranormal originates from. I wish I knew. Although I do
remember when I was younger (about the age of 9) a friend’s mother took her and
I to see a psychic, who only told me very vague and incomplete thoughts during
my reading. After my friend and her mother had their readings and we all left,
her mother told me that the psychic refunded the money she had paid for my
reading. When she asked why, the psychic told her that I had frightened the
poor fortuneteller because no matter how hard they tried, I could not be read
psychically. Or it could have something to do with being born five days after
Halloween. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The story mentions many different sleep
disorders. Is this something you’ve experienced yourself? If not, what drew you
to delve into this topic?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think the basic
biological need for sleep has always disturbed me in some way. Not only do we
spend more than half our entire lives asleep, but modern science is still
searching for the exact reason behind why we as a species need to sleep and
dream in the first place, and why it’s a necessity in order for us to stay
alive. I myself have always been nocturnal by nature, as well as being able to
stay awake for several days at a time. I think I may have experienced almost
every sleep disorder at least once or twice in my life, including the Old Hag
Syndrome. But it wasn’t until a friend of mine confessed to suffering through
Hag Attacks on an almost nightly basis that this phenomenon first became the
larval stage of a nightmare that I set out to explore artistically. It was an
attempt to better understand exactly what I had experienced, and why so many
others throughout human history were also afraid of falling asleep in fear of
it happening again. The most frightening aspect of this experience is the
widespread, dramatic, realistic, and bizarre elements of this phenomenon that
cannot be fully explained as being nothing more than a sleep disorder.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What sort of research did you do for this
book?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the risk of
sounding pretentious, I honestly did extensive research online, at libraries,
in bookstores as well as contacting a university professor said to be an expert
on the subject, (but he never wrote me back). However I think the most
interesting and insightful research I did was when friends, strangers, or
second hand acquaintances would ask me what I was writing about. Once I told
them about the Old Hag Syndrome, I was shocked to learn just how many people I
knew or happened to meet that had experienced it firsthand. Some of which never
even knew there was a term used for what had happened to them. Some of those
people had never even told anyone about their encounters before, or were even
aware that other people have had the same thing happen to them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Is there any part of you in Annette?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="Default">
<span style="color: windowtext;">I think Annette is comprised of
a lot of people I used to know, as well as me. In the most compassionately
simplistic terms, Annette Chambers is a beautiful mess. Despite everything
she’s ever been through she retains her self-taught independence. She prides
herself on never asking for anyone’s help. She is careful with the little money
she has managed to save. But she still eats poorly, dresses poorly, and cares
very little about what people think of her. She understands that exterior
beauty and inner strength are nothing more than psychological projections upon
strangers. She knows the power of a single action, and the influence of a nice
smile. She has also helped more people than she knows by being able to
distinguish between the two. One thing Annette perfected during her abandoned
education in psychology was how to compartmentalize all her flawed human
emotions. She is able to place all of her fear, anxiety and sadness into large
formaldehyde filled jars within her mind and seal them shut in order to
function properly and efficiently as a person. She places these jars in her
psychological basement storage facility, amongst all of her other deformed,
well preserved, and euthanized emotions. She already knows that storing so many
cognitive containers behind walls of repression is in itself a dangerously
detrimental defense mechanism, which could potentially possess severe and long
lasting consequences. But she is also fully prepared to one day go through
every imaginary jar from the past and thoroughly dissect and study every saved
specimen, in order to one day better understand herself and the f**ked up world
around her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What was the toughest part of this story to
write?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As an avid horror
fan I would have to say the hardest part was trying to frighten myself as I
wrote. I would rewrite and rewrite rewrites until what I wrote scared me enough
to never write it again. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What is it about Annette that you think will
draw readers to her?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I suspect readers
will be drawn to the challenges which test the character and resolve of Annette
that happen to be a series of inescapable psychological horrors. I think the
readers may establish immediate sympathy for Annette through her relatable and
understandable struggle of just barely scraping by in life, while walking that
thin line between things going from success to failure at any given moment. But
no matter how bad they think her life seems, they could never even imagine the
nightmare that awaits her at the bottom of the downward spiral of being forced
to not only question the foundation of reality but also surpass the boundaries
beyond all known fear and insanity. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>When did you first realize you wanted to be a
writer? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The realization was
a very slow process starting at a very young age after I first started drawing
and before having the ability to read. It was through comic books that I first
noticed the exquisite craft of connecting written text with visual art to
create a captivating story. Prior to being old enough to even spell simple
words correctly, I was illustrating and writing the stories for my own childish
comic books. I remember it frustrated me to the point of tears that I couldn’t
draw what I saw clearly in my imagination, so I would just rip up the paper and
start all over again. This process led me to focus more on practicing and
perfecting my visual art throughout high school. I would always have a notebook
on hand to write down ideas, stories, or any interesting conversations I had
that day. I soon noticed I was subconsciously adding more and more words,
random text and cryptic storytelling into my artwork. That was around the time
when I alternated my complete attention from a canvas and paintbrush to a
notebook and pen. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Why do you write? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I write as a
personal artistic challenge, as an attempt to fine tune, document, and expand
upon my overactive imagination. With my writing I aspire to show and share
everything I see in my mind by using only words. I write because I came to the
conclusion that every form of art contains its own deadline for someone to
formulate their own negative or positive opinion of it. With visual art, personal
opinions are immediate. You like what you see, or you don’t. Music on the other
hand takes a little more time to listen closely and decide how it makes you feel.
But reading a book from cover to cover, that takes time. That is a commitment. But
sometimes you gain more from art than just an opinion of it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Is being a writer/poet anything like you
imagined it would be? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Honestly, I’m at a
loss for words. *insert comedic drum roll here*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What do you think makes a good story? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well established
believability, especially towards the unbelievable aspects of the story, and a mutual
trust between the author and the reader.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What's your favorite genre to read? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I love horror,
including all of its varied subgenres, especially non-fiction books on the
paranormal, supernatural, and the unexplained.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Who is your favorite author or poet? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I respect and admire
so many authors, each to their own credit. However my top three would be:
William S. Burroughs, H.P. Lovecraft, and Hunter S. Thompson. As for pure
poetry, nothing beats a case of beer and something by Bukowski. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What books or stories have most influenced
you the most as a writer? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stalking Is a
Contact Sport, by (a brilliant bastard and friend) Fred Seton. As well as the
author’s entire unpublished works. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What books or stories have most influenced
you as a person? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Tell-Tale Heart,
by Edgar Allen Poe. This was read to me and my fellow first-grade classmates by
a sweet old librarian during story time. It all spiraled downward from there. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I find the most
inspiration from imperfections, mistakes, and the unknown, easily found both in
myself and the world around me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What does your family think of your writing?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I assume they think
the same thing as they thought about my visual art; if I’m not getting paid
every time I do it, it’s not a job.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What is your work schedule like when you're
writing? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
…I’ll answer that
question as soon as I have or find the time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<b>Do you have any writing quirks or
rituals? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not that I’m
consciously aware of…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<b>Is there anything you find particularly
challenging in your writing? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The middle and
endings are always a challenge. Starting anything is easy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<b>What are your current projects? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m currently
composing several horror movie spec screenplays, while continuing to raise and
be responsible for an abandoned baby squirrel that I rescued from the hands of
death earlier this summer, a squirrel which is now a happy and healthy blur of
chaos and destruction. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What are you planning for future projects? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I really hate to plan
anything too far ahead so I’ll just cryptically say, “It’s a surprise.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Do you have any advice for other writers? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My only advice is;
adopt a monkey. Or if you live in a place where monkeys are readily available,
invite one to stay inside your home… because if you are able to continue
writing while a temperamental primate screams and destroys your house, you will
obtain discipline and focus. A monkey will also teach you the proper way to
handle discouragement and rejection by learning to wipe it all away and move
on. Just like all the feces the monkey will throw at you… and yes, you will be
repeatedly hit with monkey excrement… monkey excrement that smells of
humiliation and shame… just wipe it away, and move on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Where else can we find your work? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some of my artwork
and prose can be found in <i>Migraine
Expressions, </i>a beautiful book of powerful migraine poetry, prose, art, and
photography promoting awareness and understanding of migraine and the need for
further research, understanding, and treatments.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That and I sometimes
vandalize roadside billboards with profound anti-consumerism truths. Or you may
find one of my notebooks filled with strange drawings and written madness that
I am compelled to purposely loose in random public places whenever I travel. <a href="http://www.timdankanich.brushd.com/"><span style="color: windowtext;">www.timdankanich.brushd.com</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-UtzQNjfhadgB92XK2sFFM784eanVWRptTDGbrF1Q0ScjPB3t7rRHW5p3-bVvwqPI4W4eIdKHsR5tsaYN4Vm9se9GtF3wYRmOPaoP0TPxrbwCsQZ1NXbYQMEWf8gEBwim_7wIPDqLb-o/s1600/Tim+Dankanich+image2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-UtzQNjfhadgB92XK2sFFM784eanVWRptTDGbrF1Q0ScjPB3t7rRHW5p3-bVvwqPI4W4eIdKHsR5tsaYN4Vm9se9GtF3wYRmOPaoP0TPxrbwCsQZ1NXbYQMEWf8gEBwim_7wIPDqLb-o/s1600/Tim+Dankanich+image2.jpg" height="320" width="215" /></a>Tim's chilling
supernatural novel, Old Hag Syndrome can be purchased from our <b><a href="http://www.vagabondpressbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=82" target="_blank">website</a></b> or from
your favorite online bookstore in print or ebook format. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>For the last twenty
years, Annette Chambers has been haunted by the same recurring nightmare of her
beloved twin sister’s death. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>When a cryptic
stranger warns Annette that she is in danger of being murdered -- just like her
sister -- by an ancient evil that dwells between dreams and reality, Annette
initially dismisses the idea until she is attacked in her sleep by an unseen entity.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Annette soon learns
what she experienced is known throughout history as Old Hag Syndrome, a
horrifying affliction that causes victims to awake, paralyzed, unable to scream
while they are tormented by hallucinations.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Soon Annette
realizes the Old Hag she faces is real and has been killing off her friends and
family. Her nightmare becomes a frightening reality where the only hope of
survival lies somewhere between death and madness.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-86992472467620835372014-10-16T12:15:00.000-04:002014-10-16T12:15:00.032-04:00New Releases for 2014: New Edwardian Historical Romance Novel from Debut Author, Nancy Moore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>New Edwardian Historical Romance Novel from Debut Author, Nancy Moore</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MouJjDZS8oH7hCuUmIPFnm3ASS9t-VCrY33rngXpL70WSbt6MS74GfHRedCNROJDjI_CaXvA-qjrPIfQJ9JyHjUKCIvPGFwaPGj9SU5Vx48yvpzyP1rjphrtRKG2on_MVozjrhu916ZI/s1600/VicarThumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MouJjDZS8oH7hCuUmIPFnm3ASS9t-VCrY33rngXpL70WSbt6MS74GfHRedCNROJDjI_CaXvA-qjrPIfQJ9JyHjUKCIvPGFwaPGj9SU5Vx48yvpzyP1rjphrtRKG2on_MVozjrhu916ZI/s1600/VicarThumb.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Vagabondage Romance launches historical
romance novel, THE VICAR OF WRYNBURY, by debut author Nancy Moore. The book
explores the lives of Ann Gladwyn and Cyril Dunstan as old world propriety and
formality slips away under the stresses of The Great War in turn of the century
England. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">As the Edwardian era fades
into WWI, Cyril Dunstan, a man with a mysterious past, accepts the post as
vicar in a small country town of Wrynbury. His benefactor and only ally, Anne
Gladwyn, repeatedly attempts to assist the reticent and surly vicar with the
task of reviving the dilapidated village church against all odds. Anne hopes to
find some purpose to her dull and unsatisfying life as well as solve the
mystery of the vicar’s history and demeanor. Their journals and accounts show
the tenuous beginnings of a partnership that turns into a friendship then
blossoms into a passionate emotional tie that could destroy all they have
worked for. In a time when religious and social constructs would never allow
the two to satisfy their desires, they must decide what to sacrifice in order
to have happiness during the tumultuous early days of the 20<sup>th</sup>
Century.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">"Fans of the Downton
Abbey television and other period pieces and costume dramas will fall in love with the tumultuous
drama as Ann and Dunstan learn to navigate the changing values
of the new century," says managing editor, Fawn Neun. "Ann is the
epitome of the new woman, headstrong and passionate, and she has her hands full
convincing the staid vicar, Cyril Dunstan, to lead with his heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">"Many readers
romanticize the Victorian and Edwardian era as a time of proper etiquette, prim
manors, and a focus on beauty and elegance," Ms. Neun continues. "Behind
these stoic facades and social rituals were men and women who wanted love and affection
and relationships were they could feel fulfilled both in and out of the
bedroom. Ms. Moore's novel bravely and honestly addresses how two people face
these challenges and what they ultimately find they need to sacrifice."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<em><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Nancy Moore graduated from Truman State University,
and has worked in publishing, marketing, journalism, and in the non-profit
field. She is an unabashed Anglophile who loves </span></em><span class="yshortcuts"><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Harry Potter</span></i></span><em><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">, </span></em><em><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Doctor Who,</span></em><em><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> and </span></em><em><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Sherlock</span></em><em><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> as well as any historical drama
series to come out of the U.K. She currently lives in St. Louis with "the
greatest guy ever," her cat, and dog.</span></em><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">For a sneak preview of this
fresh new historical romance novel, visit our <a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/thevicarofwrynbury.html" target="_blank">website</a>. <a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/thevicarofwrynbury.html">http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/thevicarofwrynbury.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">THE VICAR OF WRYNBURY is
available from all major online bookstores in both US Trade Paperback and
e-Book format, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, and OmniLit, as well
as on the <a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/" target="_blank">Vagabondage Press website</a> at <a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/">http://www.vagabondagepress.com</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
</div>
Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-44339865029811871912014-10-16T08:00:00.001-04:002014-10-16T08:00:00.977-04:00An Interview with Stephanie Minns, author of The Tale of Storm Raven<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>An Interview with Stephanie
Minns, author of The Tale of Storm Raven</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBnuysl0vkOwDD9lkbOpZAOWZqBYruNrduqYEVgm803iPUl6W8MEJkrWpaMoc0u54asTn8OmHyYX6tCKnrb_19-vwy3Ug22XGyUCiWLhTcYyWgQE4GnHR5-rY8Sojm37DuCnlwQXj7I-Pe/s1600/StephMinns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBnuysl0vkOwDD9lkbOpZAOWZqBYruNrduqYEVgm803iPUl6W8MEJkrWpaMoc0u54asTn8OmHyYX6tCKnrb_19-vwy3Ug22XGyUCiWLhTcYyWgQE4GnHR5-rY8Sojm37DuCnlwQXj7I-Pe/s1600/StephMinns.jpg" height="277" width="320" /></a></b></div>
<b><o:p></o:p></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Steph Minns has been a keen reader, writer, and artist since
childhood. Her professional career has predominantly been in publishing,
website, and print design, including positions as publications manager and
commissioning editor. She has also worked as a freelance illustrator for
Talking Stick and Pentacle magazine. You can visit her online at
http://stephminns.weebly.com.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her spooky short, <i><a href="http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/thetaleofstormraven.html" target="_blank">The Tale of Storm Raven</a></i>, was published by
imprint Dark Alley Press in April 2014. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What was the
inspiration for <i>The Tale of Storm Raven</i>?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Funnily enough, a comment from my boss. I’d been responding
to enquiry emails at work and remarked on yet another marketing email from a
wig company in China (to the Forestry Commission in England?) My manager
remarked on people buying wigs made from real human hair and how creepy it
would be to have someone elses’ hair on your head. That set off the idea of a
haunted wig that comes with ghost attached, as old objects are often claimed to
do by paranormal researchers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What draws you to
horror?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The fact that it takes you completely out of normal everyday
mundane existence. You can lose yourself in a dark, creepy tale and forget your
worries for a while.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>When did you first
realize you wanted to be a writer? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I’ve always written stories, even as a child, although they
were mostly about ponies until the age of ten. Then I progressed to ghosts and
things lurking in forests.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why do you write? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I love reading and always have stories in my head waiting to
pop out, maybe inspired by a chance comment overheard or a street scene where I
borrow a scenario or character I’ve observed and think that would make a good
story.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Is being a writer
anything like you imagined it would be? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I do it for the love of it. I don’t think I’ve ever imagined
being a writer as such, but to be able to make a reasonable living from
something you enjoy doing anyway is everybody’s dream I guess.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What do you think
makes a good story? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Credible characters and a plot that keeps you guessing and
keeps you wanting to turn the page. I like unusual and off beat characters who
maybe don’t always fit comfortably in the world, and have a different take on life.
A surprise ending that gets the reader thinking also helps.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What's your favorite
genre to read? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Horror, mystery/crime or dark fantasy at the moment. I’m not
a chick-lit type of girl. My first (only) self published novel though was a
historical fiction set in the 18<sup>th</sup> century and based around real
history, smuggling specifically, in the West Country where I live.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Who is your favorite
author or poet?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Lots but Poppy Z. Brite and Neil Gaiman come to mind. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What books or stories
have most influenced you the most as a writer? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Best of horror collections I guess, and Neil Gaiman plus
Stephen King’s collections. I grew up on a diet of 2000 AD comics with
characters such as Slaine and Judge Dredd.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What books or stories
have most influenced you as a person? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann is a book that’s still on
my shelf and I’ve read it three times. I’ve always liked Oscar Wilde’s shorts
too such as The Portrait of Dorian Gray, creepy in a subtle way.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Where/how do you find
the most inspiration? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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People and things I see around me mostly. I’ve just written
a short humorous story for a competition inspired by a recent trip to the eye
hospital and what happened on the bus, the characters in the waiting room for
example. I watch the crime channels too on TV and sometimes ideas come from
real life, the dark, terrible things people do to each other. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What does your family
think of your writing? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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They enjoy reading my efforts (so they say)! My parents were
always great readers and encouraged a love of books.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
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<b>What is your work
schedule like when you're writing? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I work part time in an administration post but have the
mornings free so make myself sit down most mornings for a couple of hours, even
if I don’t feel very inspired. I’ve got a few notebooks with scribbled ideas
and half-formed stories in to trawl through when I’m feeling a bit lost for
some ideas.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Do you have any writing quirks or
rituals? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Lots of cups of tea.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Is there anything you find particularly
challenging in your writing? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Trying not to be too wordy with short stories. They tend to
lapse into long short stories if I’m not careful.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What are your current projects? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I’m working on a series of dark fantasy short stories but
have a novel idea drafted ready to start.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What are you planning
for future projects? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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To finish the novel and try and get that published.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Do you have any
advice for other writers? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I belong to a small Writers Group where I live in Bristol
which has proven invaluable for feedback as we critique each others’ work, helping
each other with stuff like plots and endings that may not work.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Where else can we find your work? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I have a short story called The
Watcher From The Woods on UK e-publisher AlfieDog’s website and my own website <a href="http://www.stephminns.weebly.com/">www.stephminns.weebly.com</a> has a
couple of freebie reads on it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggyHvg4RjhB29ZQ4ndLbuTK_ljnaCs7h5Owp_oUUt1g2LDK0O9YBn1BMhxpZCK5sRSuQAHc0DthuNjN5LgOtuGfgqut753xZsto4AnA0Au3bKRsn6LTsjJINsSUMjE84viObUh6Cr8Bv2A/s1600/StormRaven200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggyHvg4RjhB29ZQ4ndLbuTK_ljnaCs7h5Owp_oUUt1g2LDK0O9YBn1BMhxpZCK5sRSuQAHc0DthuNjN5LgOtuGfgqut753xZsto4AnA0Au3bKRsn6LTsjJINsSUMjE84viObUh6Cr8Bv2A/s1600/StormRaven200x300.jpg" /></a></div>
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Steph's horror short, The Tale of Storm Raven can be
downloaded from our <b><a href="http://www.vagabondpressbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11&products_id=89" target="_blank">website</a></b> or purchased at your favorite ebook retailer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Nick, a London musician and bookstore manager, falls for a Goth
beauty he meets online. However, Suzy
has a problem. No one believes a ghost is gradually taking over Suzy’s life,
until Nick and his friend Zac start to investigate. But is it too late though
for Suzy, who is gradually spiraling into a sordid decline?<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-67922001290141109172013-07-18T07:00:00.000-04:002013-07-18T07:00:09.248-04:00Author Insides - Kevin R. Doyle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uzsN0pBsPjXBnS4wIkMUhoERgzOh8xs2ElbrBYLQ8LZ1FnUGHmbVhw4OZ6o6Cmnx7-FP_K5Ja015e4k0NUaS-LBkHuSGWhghlj3eE1fhnK-9RH796a3CqpG2gprg_-wv2spts9jzm0At/s1600/kevinRDoyle_digitial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uzsN0pBsPjXBnS4wIkMUhoERgzOh8xs2ElbrBYLQ8LZ1FnUGHmbVhw4OZ6o6Cmnx7-FP_K5Ja015e4k0NUaS-LBkHuSGWhghlj3eE1fhnK-9RH796a3CqpG2gprg_-wv2spts9jzm0At/s320/kevinRDoyle_digitial.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
Kevin R. Doyle is a native Midwesterner. For the last sixteen years, he has worked as a teacher at the high school and community college level. He currently teaches high school English and speech at a rural school in Missouri. <br />
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Born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, he received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wichita State University. He worked his way through college in a candy store, about the same time he began attempting to write short stories. He had his first story published way back in the late eighties in a small Southern publication called <i>Starsong</i>. <br />
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Ten years ago, he moved to Columbia, Missouri, only intending to be there for about four years before moving on. He had no idea how much he would fall in love with the area. During the summers, though, he gets as far away as he can, usually to somewhere along the Gulf Coast. <br />
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His novella, One Helluva Gig, is available at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A6JB4WI" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-helluva-gig-kevin-r-doyle/1113786303?ean=2940015835014" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a>.<br />
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<strong>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </strong><br />
I first started dabbling with it when I was around nineteen years old. I’d always enjoyed reading, but as a kid hadn’t really thought much about writing. I do remember one time when I was about eleven and I first read "The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke. When I got to the end of that extremely short story, I thought at the time how cool it would be to be able to create something with such impact. <br />
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<strong>Why do you write? </strong><br />
I really don’t have a clear answer for that. It sounds kind of corny to say "because it’s what I do," but that comes close to being the truth. It’s simply something that’s been a part of me for a long time, and as of now I don’t see it going away any time soon.<br />
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<strong>Is being a writer anything like you imagined it would be? </strong><br />
Heck, no. When I first started this, in my late teens and early twenties, I naturally figured that at some point, say around twenty-five, I’d be famous and rich. It too a couple of years to realize that the fantasy that most people have comes along very rarely in the real world. When I was around twenty-nine, I pretty much gave up on that kind of dream and began to look around for a real career. A few years later, I accidentally ended up in teaching and figured that the best I’d ever do, as was true for several years, was managing to publish one or two short stories a year.<br />
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<strong>What was the inspiration for Helluva Gig?</strong><br />
It’s kind of hard to believe, but the basic idea came to me while I was watching a late night rerun of an old <i>Married with Children</i> episode. It was one of the earlier ones, back when it was at least partially realistic, and involved Peggy finding a sweat stain shaped like Elvis on one of Al’s shirts. That got me to thinking about Elvis impersonators, and the way people try to hold on to their celebrity icons even after they pass, and the story came from there.<br />
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<strong>Have you ever worked for a tabloid paper?</strong><br />
No. The closest I’ve come was a couple of years serving as the advisor to a student newspaper at a small community college. And I didn’t do a very good job of that.<br />
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<strong>If you were to write a tabloid story, what would it be about?</strong><br />
UFO’s because it’s so easy to get people to believe in them.<br />
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<strong>What sort of music are you into?</strong><br />
Mainly soft rock, what used to be called adult contemporary, and oldies, from the sixties and seventies. I’m also a big fan of a syndicated radio program called <i>Hearts of Space</i>.<br />
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<strong>Which celebrity would you like to see impersonate him/herself?</strong><br />
That’s a tough one. I would say, going back to the classic TV of the seventies, either Carroll O’Connor or Henry Winkler, mainly because they played such broadly-defined characters.<br />
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<strong>What musician would you most like to interview?</strong><br />
Without a doubt, the main crush of my youth: Olivia Newton John.<br />
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<strong>What do you think makes a good story? </strong><br />
If I knew that, I’d probably be able to produce more of them. For one, things have to be as realistic as possible. The various elements of a story should, even in something fantastic, hew as closely as possible to reality. In other words, the characters have to act and speak the way that people act and speak. One of the biggest things that turns me off from a story is when the dialogue isn’t realistic. If characters aren’t speaking the way people really speak, I can’t finish the story.<br />
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And if you’re doing horror, as most of my shorter work is, for Heaven’s sake don’t show us everything. Give us something to imagine and figure out.<br />
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<strong>What's your favorite genre to read? </strong><br />
It depends on the format. For short stories, I prefer horror or dark fantasy. For novels, I’m more into suspense. I still read a lot of the old paperback men’s adventure series that I collected as a kid, and now and then I go on an Edgar Rice Burroughs tear for a few years, but I can’t really tolerate any of his imitators. And really stretching it back some, I’m still trying to add to my collection of the old <i>Doc Savage</i> paperbacks.<br />
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<strong>Who is your favorite author? </strong><br />
If I had to pick one single favorite, and it would be tough, I’d probably go with Don Pendleton. When I was younger, I couldn’t get enough of his <i>Executioner</i> books, but when he stopped writing them I kind of lost interest.<br />
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<strong>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </strong><br />
"The Star" for sure. That’s an almost perfect example of the precisely-written short story. Because most of what I do is in the short story field, anyone who can write a subtle, get-under-your-skin tale ranks right up there for me.<br />
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<strong>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </strong><br />
Although it’s not what people consider "great literature," I’d have to go back to Pendleton’s early Executioner books, up to number thirty-nine when new writers took them over. As a young teenager, and a rather weakly, awkward one at that, Pendleton’s books provided basic lessons about how a man’s supposed to act, not in physical terms but morally and intellectually. Then again, for anyone at all interested in language, Leslie Charteris’s <i>Saint</i> stories and books test how many pages you can get through without grabbing a dictionary.<br />
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<strong>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? </strong><br />
Basically just all around. It took me a while to develop the knack, but if you go through the day with eyes and ears wide open, you can find inspiration anywhere. As just two examples, driving through Iowa several years back I saw an old wall, the last remnant of a barn, standing in a field. That inspired my short story, "Visage," which got me my first Featured Story slot in a magazine (<i>The Edge: Tales of Suspense</i>). One time I stumbled upon this old, quaint inn in a coastal town in Texas, which eventually led to a piece called "The Dead Spot." So, lame as it sounds, inspiration is everywhere. You’ve just got to open yourself up to it.<br />
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<strong>What does your family think of your writing? </strong><br />
It’s better now. Way back when, the idea was met with about equal shades of disgruntlement and skepticism. Nowadays, possibly because I’m actually making some progress, things have become more accepted. The biggest problem I’ve had over the years is the constant comments about my writing "Stephen King stuff" when I’ve never done anything even remotely along his line.<br />
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<strong>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </strong><br />
It depends on the time of the year. During the school year I have a full-time job at a high school and usually teach college courses at night. So basically, I just try to do a page or two a day, but sometimes don’t even get that much done. If I have a slow weekend in terms of grading or lesson prep, I may be able to crank out eight or ten pages. But when school’s in session, it’s basically whenever I get a few free moments.<br />
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During the summer, I have a much more regular schedule, usually working in the afternoon or early evening. This last summer, with the severe drought and heat, I would usually get up early, do an hour of so of walking or hiking and close to an hour in the swimming pool, then end up in front of the computer by nine thirty or so, refreshed and energized. Some days, if I focused enough, I could sometimes get a good ten pages done. Unfortunately, that whole time I was in the revision stage of my current project, so it wasn’t really that exciting.<br />
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<strong>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </strong><br />
Not really. I basically just sit down when I can and go to it.<br />
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<strong>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </strong><br />
Continuity. Lately, I’ve been working on longer works, primarily novels, and I find it kind of difficult to keep timelines straight. I’m not a very organized person, you should see my apartment or my desk at work, and I tend to just start typing and gush stuff out. Then I have to go back and spend a lot of time making sure that dates, ages and time spans all match up. For example, in "One Helluva Gig" the project editor caught that at one place I have a character’s age about ten years off from what it was in the rest of the story. I’m trying to get better at this, trying to train myself to work off outlines and notes, but it’s not in my nature so I’m finding it rather difficult. <br />
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<strong>What are your current projects? </strong><br />
I’ve been spending most of this year trying to hammer out a suspense novel that involves political advertising and a serial killer. I’m currently about a third of the way through what I hope to be the final draft, and hope to have it done by the end of December.<br />
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I also have an idea bouncing around in my head for a short horror piece concerning the drought that the Midwest has gone through this year and hope to have a few days soon to pound out at least the first draft of that. And a few weeks ago, while driving along the Mississippi River, again heavily impacted by the drought this summer, I had a great title pop into my head. I think it will work for a new novelette, but I don’t have even the beginning of the story, just what I consider an awesome title.<br />
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<strong>What are you planning for future projects? </strong><br />
I’ve had a dearth of short stories lately, mainly because so many have been published in the last year or so (a rare event to be sure) and really need to get a handful of new ones generated. And if "Helluva Gig" does well, I’d like to tackle a few new novelettes. I have some notes generated for a novelette, or novella I’m not quite sure which, set in Hollywood of the late thirties and concerning a B-list actor who seemingly returns from the dead.<br />
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<strong>Do you have any advice for other writers? </strong><br />
In the most general terms, the oldest cliché still holds true. Don’t plan on doing this for a living. My first short story was published over twenty years ago, and if I had to live off my writing I’d be hungry and homeless within a week. Often acquaintances will say to me "well, yeah. But what about (insert name of rich and famous author)." At which point I smile and ask them to name a second one, which they usually can’t. Mainly because rich and famous authors are just too freakin’ rare. I had two short stories out in September, one an original and one a reprint, and between the two of them I could possibly afford to treat myself to a decent dinner. But just myself. I couldn’t bring a date along.<br />
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When it comes to short stories, which is still my main area of interest, I’d have to say not to ignore the "for-the-love" markets. Just because they don’t pay (as the majority of short fiction markets don’t), doesn’t mean that they don’t have standards. Over the years, I got tons of help and advice, plus more rejections than I could keep track of, from editors of markets, both print and online, that didn’t pay anything to publish my stories. And in the last few years several of those pieces that originally appeared "for-the-love" have been accepted and reprinted by semi-professional mags. I still haven’t made a lot off them, but I have made some, hence allowing me to eat out from time to time.<br />
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<strong>Where else can we find your work? </strong><br />
Because I’ve been so tied up with the current mystery novel, 2012 has been a rather soft year in terms of new publications. At least, compared to the two previous years when things really began popping. Compared to most of the time I’ve been involved in this, 2012 has been phenomenal. <br />
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Currently, I’ve got what I think is a rather neat story recently released by <i>Allegory</i>. It’s called "Eighty Feet Deep" and can be found through December at <a href="http://www.allegoryezine.com/">www.allegoryezine.com</a>. After that, it will be in their archives. Also this fall, what I personally consider to be one of my most unsettling stories ever, and definitely probably the hardest I’ve ever written (mainly because I had to keep walking away from it because it was creeping me out too much) has been reprinted after being originally available online about five years ago. It’s called "The Old Dogs" and appears in the current issue of <i>Cover of Darkness</i>.<br />
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Also, my one and only ever attempt at poetry "Nocturnal Retribution," was reprinted in the summer issue of <i>Illumen</i>.<br />
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-9825796544926851692013-07-04T07:00:00.000-04:002013-07-04T07:00:07.475-04:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sarah-Jane LeHoux resides in Southern Ontario with her husband, and her ever growing horde of Machiavellian cats. For more information, please visit www.sarah-janelehoux.com.<br />
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Her young adult novella, MY SANCTUARY, is available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0083CVFIS" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-sanctuary-sarah-jane-lehoux/1110816157?ean=2940014438308" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a>.<br />
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<strong>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </strong><br />
I’ve always enjoyed creating stories. I am a natural introvert, and as a child, I’d spend hours reading and day dreaming. As I grew older, I took up a pen in place of my dolls, and would write little stories that I’d read out in class, much to the chagrin of my teachers. However, it wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties that I began to write in earnest, and only after finishing my first novel, Thief, did I realize that I wanted to make my writing more than a hobby. <br />
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<strong>Why do you write? </strong><br />
I write to express everything I’m not able to express in real life. As I’ve mentioned, I’m an introvert. I have a difficult time in social situations, and keep a lot of things bottled up inside. I write as an outlet, as a way to work through various issues, both current and from my childhood. Or to be blunt, I write to shut up all the voices in my head. <br />
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<strong>What was the inspiration for My Sanctuary?</strong><br />
The inspiration for My Sanctuary, like most of my work, was a dream. I have no idea what that dream was now, but I remember it happened on a Saturday night. lingered from my dream was a sense of loneliness and depression, and the next morning, I began to research orphanages. I read true life accounts from a man who had been in and out of orphanages all his young life, and I felt that same sense of loneliness. I realized that I wanted to tell the story of a female orphan. It wasn’t long after I started work on My Sanctuary, that I realized it went beyond the orphanage, that it was, at its heart, a coming of age story. <br />
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<strong>What sort of research did you do for the project?</strong><br />
I was raised Catholic, so it seemed only natural to have the Church be the back drop of my story, considering the issues the story raised. I relied on my memories and childhood beliefs to flesh out the details. I also did a good deal of internet research on the 1950’s, the time in which the story is set, in order to make the dialogue as realistic as possible. <br />
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<strong>Do you see yourself in your work?</strong><br />
I don’t see myself, per say, but I do see aspects of myself. I am a survivor of childhood abuse, so I drew on that to help me create not only Dot, but the other children and even the adults as well. Each character has some piece of me in them, be it sadness or anger, hope or despair, victim or abuser. <br />
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<strong>What do you think makes a good story? </strong><br />
I think a good story is one that is more concerned with character development than plot. Just look at Hollywood movies as proof. All the explosions and car chases and special effects in the world don’t leave the indelible mark that a truly well-rounded, well developed character does. <br />
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<strong>What's your favorite genre to read? </strong><br />
Horror is my genre of choice, judging by the number of horror titles I have on my book shelf. But if I go by what books I reread until the spines break and the pages rip, it’d have to be historical fiction, particularly women’s historical fiction. <br />
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I also read a lot of non-fiction books about mythology and folklore. <br />
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<strong>Who is your favorite author or poet? </strong><br />
Again, it’s hard to pick a favourite. I don’t really pay much attention to who the author is when I pick out a book to read. <br />
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<strong>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </strong><br />
I think it is the non-fiction I read that influences me the most as a writer. They make me want to explore different themes, and not just rehash the same old stories I grew up with in my culture. They also help me to understand universal truths, such as love and death, which helps me create realistic motivation and character arcs. <br />
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<strong>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </strong><br />
This is going to sound kind of silly. I don’t even remember what the name of it was. When I was in grade school, we read a story about a young girl collecting water for her family. She finds a small glass bead on the river bank, and picks it up. She then saves a woman from a crocodile attack. When she gets home, the first thing she does is tell her mother about the bead. <br />
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I remember my teacher telling me that, even though a crocodile attack sounds terrifying and fantastical to us, it was of little significance to the girl because it was a part of her daily life. The bead held more importance to the girl because it was something out of the ordinary. <br />
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It was that story, and that teacher’s explanation, that made me think about my life, and realize that my way of living was not the way other people lived. I think it was the beginning of my understanding that I was not the centre of the universe. <br />
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I wish I knew the name of the story and of the author who wrote it because I’d love to read it again.<br />
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<strong>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? </strong><br />
Most of my inspiration comes from my dreams. I have, for as long as I can remember, had very vivid dreams. I also experience sleep paralyses on a regular basis. This is when the mind is awake but the body is still asleep. It can create some pretty intense hallucinations, and is what many scientists believe is behind many ghostly encounters and astral projection. <br />
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I’ll either have a great that I remember in great detail from beginning to end, or I’ll have a dream that leaves me with an emotional response to a few fleeting images. Of course, when I wake, these dreams are at the forefront of my thoughts. I go over them, try to interpret them, expand upon them, and suddenly want to write them down in the form of a story.<br />
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Usually, a story will start with one dream, but then be expanded upon with numerous other dreams by the time it’s finished. It never ceases to amaze me how all these dreams, sometimes months apart, can join together to create one cohesive tale. <br />
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<strong>What does your family think of your writing? </strong>My husband is very supportive of my writing. He’s the first person I show a new story to when it’s finished, and he’s gotten used to it when I start talking about my characters as if they’re real people. I don’t think I’d have accomplished as much as I have if it weren’t for his encouragement. <br />
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<strong>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </strong><br />
I have a very physically and emotionally demanding day job--I work at a veterinary hospital—so my biggest challenge is not only finding time to write, but finding energy to write. I try to write at least five days a week, but I only write for as long as I feel up to it. It’s very important for me not to try to force a schedule on my writing. Although it is work, I don’t want it to become a chore. Sometimes I can write for hours on end. Other times, I’ll write five lines and call it quits for the day. This means that I don’t get a story done as quickly as some other authors are able to, but it does mean that I keep my sanity. <br />
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<strong>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </strong><br />
Not really. I don’t want to become dependant on any one thing to write, so I don’t have any rituals associated with my writing. I’d say the only thing that is a must is music. I need it both as background noise to drown out neighbors and traffic, and also to help get me in the right frame of mind. If I’m writing a sad scene, I’ll put on a play list of sad songs to help set the mood. Sometimes, one song in particular is key to helping me finish a scene, so I’ll play it on repeat until the job is done. Thank goodness for headphones, or I’d drive my husband mad. <br />
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<strong>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </strong><br />
Writing is a solitary activity, by nature, and sometimes it’s hard to keep going without feedback from others. I want to make sure I’m doing a good job and that I’m on the right track, but I also can’t stand the idea of anyone reading it until it’s finished. <br />
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I’m also a bit of a perfectionist, and if I can’t get a scene right on the first try, it leads to much moaning and groaning about how much I suck. Never mind the fact that I know it’s a work in progress and that there’s a little thing called editing. I can’t go further with the story until I make each section as good as I can. This causes a lot of delays, and I end up obliterating all the deadlines I set for myself. <br />
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<strong>What are your current projects? </strong><br />
Currently, I’m editing Masquerade, the third novel in the Sevy series. The publisher, Mundania Press, hopes to have it ready for release in the near future. I’m also working on the first draft of a comedic fantasy called Red Rover. <br />
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<strong>What are you planning for future projects? </strong><br />
I currently have a list of fourteen story ideas that I’d like to someday write. I’ve made mini-synopses of each and ranked them based on how complete the ideas are and which ones I think will take priority. Once I’m finished with Red Rover, I’ll choose my next project based on this list. Any other plot bunnies that hop my way in the meantime will go onto the list and be ignored for the time being so that I concentrate on my story at a time.<br />
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<strong>Do you have any advice for other writers? </strong><br />
Write a lot. Most of what you write will be garbage, but some of it will be gold. Get used to reviewing your work with a critical, objective eye. Learn how to separate yourself emotionally from your work so that you can see its flaws and correct them instead of defend them. <br />
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Research the industry, and learn the steps involved in getting a story published. Be polite and professional in all your correspondences. <br />
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And most of all, keep your chin up. This is a rough job, from start to finish. You will get your feelings hurt and your ego will take a beating. Develop a tough skin and believe in yourself. <br />
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<strong>Where else can we find your work? </strong><br />
My novels, THIEF and SHADES OF WAR, are available at a variety of book retailers, including Amazon, Chapters, and Barnes and Nobles. Please visit my website <a href="http://www.sarah-janelehoux.com/">www.sarah-janelehoux.com</a> for links to purchase either the paper back or e-book versions. Also on my website, you’ll find links to a list of published short stories and flash fiction I’ve written that are free for you to read and hopefully enjoy. <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-54748304895943147792013-06-20T07:00:00.001-04:002013-06-20T07:00:03.435-04:00Author Insides - Christopher McKittrick<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Christopher McKittrick was born in Long Island, New York and currently lives in Queens. His short stories range in style from fantasy to literary fiction and have appeared in <i>The Adroit Journal, Burnt Bridge Literary Review,</i> and the <i>By Mind or Metal</i> and <i>Powers</i> anthologies from Static Movement Press. His nonfiction work has appeared in <i>Newsday</i> and <i>Good Times Magazine</i>. He also contributed an essay on director Terry Gilliam to <i>Roman Catholicism in Fantastic Film</i> from McFarland Press and he is a regular contributor to MovieBuzzers.com, a website focused on the film industry and DailyActor.com, a website focused on acting in all media. He has spoken about literature, film, and comic books at various conferences across the country.<br />
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His novel, Montauk, is available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009V3FW8C" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.<br />
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<strong>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </strong><br />
I grew up being a voracious reader, which was thankfully encouraged by my parents and my older brother. At some point – I’m not sure when – I went from devouring all the books on my bookshelf to coming up with stories on my own. Even when I used to play with my action figures I would write down – in my little kid handwriting, of course – what happened during this playtime session so I could continue the story the following day. I’m not sure if any other child was as obsessed about playtime continuity as I was!<br />
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<strong>Why do you write? </strong><br />
I’ve always been encouraged to do so. As long as people keep complimenting what I write I am going to keep writing. Actually, even if people trash my work I’m sure I won’t stop. I feel compelled to always write down a funny bit of conversation I overhear on the subway, as if it deserves to be recorded by someone. I might as well keep being that somebody. <br />
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<strong>What was the inspiration for<i> Montauk</i>?</strong><br />
It seems as I was growing up in the mid-1980s to the late 1990s a new approach to parenting developed in middle and upper class society that told children that they deserved nothing less than the pinnacle of success because everyone is special. I’ve seen people use that as a driving force to realize their goals and people who sit around expecting success to come to them – after all, it has been promised to them all their lives, so why work for it? Reality shows teach us that anybody can be a star no matter how talented or untalented one is; social media promotes the idea that everything one does is important and worth bragging about. For many people the fantasy lives they construct and promote online are far more important to them than what happens in the living, breathing world. I wanted to write a character that came to a moment in his life when he realized that real-world success was not guaranteed and is not often fulfilled by the instant gratification expected in today’s society. While we should celebrate the accomplishments of an individual, it’s far more meaningful when it is well-deserved and earned, not because we feel compelled to boost self-esteem for someone whose accomplishments are remarkably average. Why reward mediocrity as if it is the equal to success? <br />
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<strong>Do you see any of yourself in your character and his struggles?</strong><br />
I’ve had people who had read parts of this assume we’re one and the same and that the story is autobiographical – I even had people express sympathy in regard to the death of my father, who, thankfully, is very much alive! However, I definitely see the character and myself sharing the same DNA, except that perhaps the character has, for one reason or another, not had some of the more positive experiences that I have had. I guess you could say that I created a character very much like me but I made his life a bit more tortuous. Since I created him, I can put him through the wringer, right? No hard feelings, I hope.<br />
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<strong>Do you have any siblings? If so, how would you compare your relationship with them to the one of your main character and his sister?</strong><br />
Unlike my protagonist, I am the younger of two brothers. Since I’ve never had a sister – or a younger sibling for that matter – I thought it would be fun to explore a totally different relationship than the one I have with my own real-life sibling. I just hope it came off genuine.<br />
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<strong>Your character does some emergency thrift store shopping? Have you ever done the same? If so, what’s the most unique item of clothing you’ve found in a thrift store?</strong><br />
Never in an emergency, but there was a magnificent thrift store right by my college (and later my first apartment) that had a fantastic selection of oddities. I have to admit that one of my favorite purchases were the white Levi’s I mention in the story, which were about as fashionably out of it as you’d expect. But that’s why I bought them!<br />
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<strong>What do you think makes a good story? </strong><br />
A character worth reading about. Plot is obviously important, but a rich character will generate the plot. I taught literature in college for four years, and I would frequently point out to students that the plot of The Catcher in the Rye is actually rather pedestrian – but Holden Caulfield and his cocktail of inner conflicts makes the novel one of the best ever written, and the more interesting aspects of the plot come from his character. I hope that my protagonist is someone readers will connect with, which will engage them in the plot.<br />
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<strong>What's your favorite genre to read? </strong><br />
I’m actually more of a non-fiction reader than a fiction reader, which drove one of my creative writing professors insane. I just find that there are so many great stories stemming from real-life experiences that are more interesting than anything anyone could have made up. I guess that’s why when I do read fiction it tends to be more genre-based. For example, I read a lot of comic books (both superhero and non-superhero), simply because the stories in them often take great liberties with reality.<br />
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<strong>Who is your favorite author or poet? What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </strong><br />
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</strong>The one book which has continued to influence me, even though I first read it a decade ago (and about a half-dozen times since), is The Great Gatsby. I explained before how important character was to creating a story, and with Gatsby we have one of the most fascinating characters in fiction. We often look at Ahab as an example of a character driven by his obsessions, but I don’t see Gatsby as any less obsessive. I also connect with it because I grew up on Long Island and have spent my adult life fascinated by New York City, and I think this region offers writers the richest potential of settings and scenarios to work with. I frequently find myself completely engaged by Fitzgerald’s work.<br />
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<strong>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </strong><br />
The earliest non-children’s books I can remember reading are adventure stories like Robin Hood and Jules Verne and Superman and Batman comic books. While they didn’t inspire me to jump off of buildings or go on incredible adventures, I feel they shaped me in a certain mindset to explore the unexplored in life.<br />
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<strong>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? </strong><br />
It sounds cliché, but I honestly find the most inspiration in the world around me. A personal character quirk that I gave my protagonist in Montauk is that I am a huge music fan but I’ve never owned an iPod because I don’t want to cut myself off from the world around me when I ride the subway or walk down the street. There are dozens of potential story that surround me wherever I go, and why deny myself that?<br />
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<strong>What does your family think of your writing? </strong>
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I think my parents wonder where it comes from. They’re both very intelligent, but neither has a creative knack in that way. <br />
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<strong>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </strong><br />
Generally I write most of my work longhand first. I feel more creative with a pen in my hand. After I have accumulated a few paragraphs or pages I type it up, and not only do I edit my work while I do that but I tend to continue where I leave off. I gradually become immersed in the story – perhaps for a week I might only writer two or three paragraphs, but a few weeks later I’ll find that I suddenly can’t stop myself. Of course, the more I write, the more than needs to come out in editing later, because I get carried away when I am on a tear.<br />
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<strong>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </strong><br />
I have several jobs that all involve writing, so by the time I have some free time to work on my own writing I’ve probably have already written at least a thousand words during my day jobs. There’s no switch inside me to go from "work writing" to "creative writing," so sometimes I’ll sit down to write but I’ll find myself writing in a style that’s very dry and inappropriate for fiction.<br />
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<strong>What are your current projects? </strong><br />
I have about four short stories in various states of incompletion. At least one might grow into something longer, but we’ll see how it plays out.<br />
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<strong>What are you planning for future projects? </strong><br />
I’d like to tackle a project that is about double the length of Montauk, but I haven’t found the right character yet. Obviously the longer the work, the stronger the character I’ll need to sustain the narrative. I’m sure he/she is out there, somewhere; I just have to find that character.<br />
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<strong>Do you have any advice for other writers? </strong><br />
I was hoping they would have some advice for me! I’m no expert, but the best advice I could give is to keep reading. See how other authors write, but don’t consciously try to copy their style. I’ve read too many awful Hemingway pastiches to know that the only person who ever could really write like Hemingway was Hemingway himself. Anyone else seems like they’re just forgetting words.<br />
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<strong>Where else can we find your work? </strong><br />
Check out http://amazon.com/author/chrismckit</div>
Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-37235783845171009232013-06-20T07:00:00.000-04:002013-06-20T07:00:06.385-04:00Author Insides - Laury Egan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Laury A. Egan is the author of <i>Fog and Other Stories</i>, published in 2012 by StoneGarden.net, and two books of poetry, <i>Snow, Shadows, a Stranger</i> (2009) and <i>Beneath the Lion’s Paw</i> (2011), issued by FootHills Publishing. Her poems and short stories have appeared in over 30 literary journals and numerous anthologies. Web site: </span></span><a href="http://www.lauryaegan.com/">www.lauryaegan.com</a> <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Laury's highly regarded LGBT suspense novel, JENNY KIDD, is available from </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AEE403U" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Amazon</span></a><span style="font-size: small;">, </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jenny-kidd-laury-a-egan/1112976429?ean=9780615687612" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Barnes & Noble</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"> and </span><a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-9780615687612-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Powell’s Books</span></a><span style="font-size: small;">. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>What inspired the idea of Jenny Kidd?</strong></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;">I’ve visited Venice on three occasions, the last for over two weeks while teaching a photographic workshop. Focusing on the visual aspects of the city made me acutely aware of colors, textures, architecture, the changing light, as well as the behavior of its inhabitants. Venice is sublimely romantic and ephemeral, yet if you wander into a dark street at night, it can suddenly shift into a claustrophobic and frightening place. I loved this dichotomy and wanted to portray it in the novel, exploring a similar duality in the characters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Did any of the characters surprise you while writing? </strong></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;">The reader may find that Sebastiano Barbon and Randi Carroll transform into somewhat different characters by the book’s end. Although I didn’t have strict intentions regarding them, I was a bit surprised how they changed. And Jenny Kidd also showed unexpected strength and growth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>What other writers do you read?</strong></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;">I’m an avid fan of Donna Leon’s series set in Venice, which allows me the pleasure of "returning" to the city. For mysteries, Patricia Highsmith and Martha Grimes are favorite writers. Other much admired titles are Michael Cunningham’s <i>The Hours</i> and Jim Grimsley’s <i>Dream Boy</i>;<i> </i>Virginia Woolf has always fascinated me and is incorporated, in a minor way, in my newest manuscript, <i>Wave in D Minor.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Will there be more Jenny Kidd books?</strong></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;">There might be a spin-off story featuring Randi Carroll, one of the more interesting and quirky characters, but at the moment, other manuscripts are in process. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Who is your main audience?</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Good question! I love to explore the spectrum of sexuality and to create characters who struggle to define their orientation, sometimes decisively coming to grips with which gender they love, and sometimes remaining fluid. Most of my novels have strong psychological elements that appeal to mainstream readers, though gay and bisexual readers might find sympathy with some of the protagonists. However, I prefer not to write for a specific market because labels feel restrictive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>What was it like seeing your book in the bookstore for the first time?</strong></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;">Perhaps the better question starts earlier in the process: what is it like to read a bound, typeset copy? Even though I edit and polish my work over and over—sometimes reading a manuscript and proof 75 times or more—it is a different experience having a book in hand. Very much like someone else wrote the novel. When I do readings from my two poetry books, <i>Snow, Shadows, a Stranger</i> and <i>Beneath the Lion’s Paw</i>, for example, I am frequently struck by the bizarre sensation of foreignness, of quiet surprise to find a new poet that writes much like I do!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Do you find writing novels different than short stories? And poetry?</strong></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;">In many ways, I feel freer to take chances, to experiment with style, characterization, place, and plot in a short story because there is less commitment. My collection, <i>Fog and Other Stories</i>, is very diverse and allowed me to play in ways that a novel doesn’t. That said, it feels great to bear down and immerse myself in a long work, to achieve an arc and final closure after so many pages and so much effort. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">As for poetry, it is difficult to switch from prose to poetry or vice versa within a close period of time. Because I am also a fine arts photographer, I’ve noticed it’s hard to go out and spend time making images and then later sit down to write poetry, though what I see and capture on camera frequently inspires me to try. The verbal/visual processes don’t usually flow together very well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>What is your writing process?</strong></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;">I tend to work all day, most days, combining new writing with the tasks of editing, proofing, and assisting in a book’s publicity, a demanding job for authors these days. My ideas come from many sources. As in the case of <i>Jenny Kidd</i>, the setting of Venice was a dominant inspiration—I am frequently seduced by place. Other times, a character or a character’s name might pop into my head and demand attention, sometimes entering my mind almost fully realized. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>Why are you a writer?</strong></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;">I began writing poetry at seven, and a first novel was begun at twelve, so the urge to create was strong at an early age. As an only child who lived in a spectacularly beautiful place with views of the ocean and forests, I was deeply sensitive to my surroundings. In many ways, nature was my friend—there weren’t many children who lived nearby and my family</span> <span style="font-size: small;">was essentially limited to a triangle. I became an observer, like many only children are, and found that writing was my strategy to make sense of an often complicated world. As an adult, I spent my career in publishing, but only in the last eighteen years have had the opportunity and means to devote myself to the craft of writing fiction and poetry.</span> <br />
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-89019660188462891012013-06-06T07:00:00.000-04:002013-06-06T07:00:12.642-04:00Author Insides - Nicholas Carter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Nicholas J. Carter is a UMass Boston alum, currently living in Massachusetts with his wonderful wife. He credits his mother, a librarian, with his love of words, and his father, a smartass, for showing him how they don’t always mean what they should. Outside of his family, nonsense and chaos are the two things he loves most. His blog may be found at </span><a href="http://adequategusto.blogspot.com./"><u><span style="color: blue;">http://adequategusto.blogspot.com.</span></u><span style="color: blue;"></span></a><br />
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His tongue in cheek dystopian, JAM DON’T SHAKE, is available from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FCCDWG" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/jam-don-t-shake-carter?store=allproducts&keyword=jam+don%27t+shake+carter" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a>.<br />
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<strong>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </strong><br />
It didn’t really strike me until I was about halfway through college. I had all the usual boyhood dreams: fireman, comedian, post-apocalyptic barbarian chief; but I’ve always read a lot and writing felt like the next logical step.<br />
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<strong>Why do you write? </strong><br />
I needed a creative outlet and lack the steady hands of an artist, the keen eye of a sculptor, or the massive balls of a comedian (can I say that here?). My mother is a librarian, so we always had books in the house. My father is a smartass so there was always someone around to show me the many-faced aspect of words. I felt like I was most prepared to write, if I was prepared to do anything creative.<br />
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<strong>Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be? </strong><br />
It’s more work, and not just on the stories themselves. The search for places to publish that work never ends.<br />
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<strong>What do you think makes a good story? </strong><br />
I like a story that begins halfway through the wringer, or even all the way through. A story where the farm boy finds the magic sword, defeats the troll and saves the princess can get boring. One where the sword breaks and then the troll marries the princess and beats the farm boy until he’s so disfigured his own people shun him, is interesting. That is to say, I find the motivations of ruined characters make for great stories, because why should they do anything when they have nothing left?<br />
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<strong>What's your favorite genre to read? </strong><br />
Fantasy, typically. I like to see things that I can’t find in this world. Anything a little left of reality works for me.<br />
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<strong>Who is your favorite author or poet? </strong><br />
Terry Pratchett. I think he doesn’t get as much respect as he should just for being a fantasy author and a humorist, but no other writer comes anywhere near his understanding of human behavior. His characters feel very real. You can open up a Discworld novel and say "Hey, I know somebody like that!" even if said character is eight feet tall and made of stone. If we want to go a little more mainstream, gotta go with Kafka. I empathize with the anxiety and absurdity in his stories.<br />
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<strong>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </strong><br />
Most recently I was heartened to hear the story "Toaster of the Gods" by Randall Coots. It came at a time where I wondered if I should write a little more "normal," and ditch the stories about ghostly dogs and UFOs made of cheese, and convinced me that there really are people who want to read strange fiction. Stories about sentient toasters will do that I suppose.<br />
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<strong>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </strong><br />
That’s harder to say. There was a time in my life where I was reading books on Zen Buddhism, and I read in one that if you read books on Zen you learn about those books, but not how to live. I put them down and can’t recall what the book was, which I think was for the best. I like to believe that the best way to learn anything is by direct experience.<br />
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<strong>Where/how do you find the most inspiration?</strong><br />
Music. Which probably sounds like a cheap answer, but is the truth. I have plenty of ideas but I find that the best ones come as little flashes of light when listening to the right words and the right instruments at the right time.<br />
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<strong>What does your family think of your writing? </strong><br />
My parents are proud, though I think only my father enjoys my stories. Mom reads a lot but isn’t much for odd or dark fiction. My wife is willing to read anything I write but usually just comes back with a playful "What is wrong with you?" My extended family has been pretty supportive too.<br />
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<strong>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </strong><br />
Well, sad to say I’ve only been sporadically employed since graduating college. This means I can usually get 3-4 hours of writing done per day. If my attention span allows, these will be consecutive. If it’s acting up, it’ll be in 10-30 minute chunks scattered through the day.<br />
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<strong>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </strong><br />
None that don’t involve pig’s blood.<br />
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<strong>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </strong><br />
Figuring out characters. It’s incredibly hard to make a character psychologically real, and I envy those who can manage it.<br />
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<strong>What are your current projects? </strong><br />
Taking up most of my time lately is a project with the tenuous title of "Up in Hell", which is a full-length novel about the adventures of several puppets in, you guessed it, Hell. It’s my first attempt at a full length novel, and a first draft is only a scene or two away from completion as of this moment. I’m both excited and terrified about it. Other than that, I recently realized I have an enormous backlog of half-finished short stories that could stand to be fattened up and sent to market. <br />
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<strong>What are you planning for future projects? </strong><br />
In the works is a side story for "Up in Hell," and possibly a sequel if it seems worthwhile. As I’ve said above, there are a number of stories just sitting on the metaphorical shelves of my hard drive. Some of them were from several years ago and I’d love to revisit the ideas in each and give them full rewrites.<br />
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<strong>Do you have any advice for other writers? </strong><br />
The usual things: read a lot and edit often. Also, don’t get too attached to your story as it is or how you think it should be. There’s always something that needs tweaking but if you never stop you’ll never finish anything. Be ready to go where the story takes you.<br />
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<strong>Where else can we find your work? </strong><br />
Most recently on the podcast <i>Escape Pod</i>, where my story "Wheels of Blue Stilton" took second place in their flash fiction contest. I’ve also been in <i>Dog Eat Crow, Antipodean Sci Fi, Everyday Weirdness</i> and a few other places, and I occasionally show up in <i>Flashshot</i>.</div>
Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-81496077210121462102013-05-25T07:00:00.000-04:002013-05-25T07:00:00.236-04:00Strange Blog – or how I stopped worrying and learned to love blogging - Guest post from J.S. Watts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Strange Blog – or how I stopped worrying and learned to love blogging</div>
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Blogging hasn’t come naturally to me. My website may be hosted by Blogger, but it’s first and foremost a static website, rather than a chatty blog. My posts tend to be brief news items and updates, not opinion pieces or diary entries. Until 9<sup>th</sup> June last year I had never actually written a real blog post.<br />
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My first post, written for a writers’ online colony that I belong to, actually focussed on my blogging virginity and the losing of it. It was fun. I enjoyed writing it, but it didn’t exactly unleash a torrential flow of pent-up blogs.<br />
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It was a month until I managed another post. In fact, spurred on by an imminent trip to the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival to read some of my poetry, I managed two posts in July and one in August. Then my usual blogging lethargy returned and I didn’t write another post until December. <br />
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Almost a year later and by the beginning of October 2012, I had written the grand total of just six blog posts. That’s less than one piece every two months. I clearly wasn’t at risk of writer’s cramp, or its modern equivalent, RSI, when it came to blogging. So what was the problem?<br />
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Obviously, it’s not that I don’t like writing. I’m a poet and author; it’s what I do. I love writing, but blogging somehow worried me. It seemed to require an opinion, something factual to comment on and I didn’t think I had that much to say that would interest readers in the Blogverse. Plus, with so many blogs already out there, why write even more?<br />
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I was happy writing book reviews for various literary and genre magazines. There were my poems, poetry books and short stories and a brand new novel. I wasn’t exactly short of things to write and publish. Blogging was a worry I didn’t need.<br />
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It was the novel that finally propelled me into the world of blogging: the novel and its publisher, Vagabondage Press. Thanks guys…<br />
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There I was, hard work done: novel written, edited and about to be published. I was looking forward to putting my feet up for a bit when Vagabondage effectively said, "Great book, J.S. We love <i>A Darker Moon</i> and want others to love it too. You’ll help getting the word out, won’t you?" What could I do, but say, "Yes". The next thing I knew, there was a growing pile of interview and guest blog-post requests and an enthusiastic publisher telling me how great it was that we’d got so much upfront interest.<br />
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The interviews were fine. All I’d got to do was answer the questions provided and chat about <i>A Darker Moon. </i>The blogs, however, were another matter. They were blank, structureless pages waiting to be filled with comment and opinion. Yes, I wanted to promote <i>A Darker Moon </i>and talk about its mythic literary fiction qualities. As a result there was bound to be some similarity between posts, but I couldn’t churn out the same thing. I needed to do original pieces, find original things to say, write from different angles and do it differently over and over again: I needed to become a regular blogger.<br />
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I hesitated, dithered and worried and then I realised something so obvious that I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before. I am a writer. Writing, laying down and shaping words is what I do. Blogs are written pieces, collections of words laid down on the page and shaped. So where is the problem?<br />
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I picked up my pen (I always do first drafts in long-hand. I think better that way) and then I moved to the keyboard. I adored the stunning cover of <i>A Darker Moon </i>that<i> </i>the talented Art Director at Vagabondage had come up with. I loved the glowering, wide-eyed owl, the full moon and the black yet moonlit water because they are visually awesome and because they are brilliantly selected key motifs from the novel itself. I wrote about this and the importance of book covers in general. One blog post successfully completed.<br />
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The next piece looked at the significance of the novel’s London location (that’s London, England to anyone reading this in The States. I’m a British writer). Then came writing about myth and fantasy, followed by my personal take on the modern horror genre and another piece on the range of myth and legend I had drawn on to shape the dark psychological fantasy of <i>A Darker Moon.</i><br />
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In a little over one month, and including this piece, I have written six full blog posts. That’s as many as I had previously written in sixteen long months. And I haven’t lost the urge to blog. Indeed, the more I write, the more I find I have to write about: the importance of fine art to <i>A Darker Moon, </i>the essence of memory, writers writing about writing (my anti-hero, Abe, is a compulsive writer), the psychology of religious delusion, the impact of family and the implications of writing both poetry and prose. Such is the joy of a multi-layered story: there’s always another topic to pontificate on. I’m seemingly on a roll and if any blogger out there is looking for someone to write them a guest post , I’m your woman! So thank you, Vagabondage, for releasing my inner blogger. I just hope the Blogverse is ready and braced.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">J.S.Watts is a British writer. She was born in London, England and now lives and writes near Cambridge in East Anglia. In between, she read English at Somerville College, Oxford and spent many years working in the British education sector. She remains committed to the ideals of further and higher education despite UK governments of assorted political persuasions trying to demolish them. <br />
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Her poetry, short stories and book reviews appear in a variety of publications in Britain, Canada, Australia and the States including <i>Acumen, Envoi, Mslexia </i>and <i>Fantastique Unfettered</i> and have been broadcast on BBC and independent Radio. She has been Poetry Reviews Editor for Open Wide Literary Magazine and, until its demise, Poetry Editor for Ethereal Tales. Her debut poetry collection, <i>Cats and Other Myths</i> and a subsequent poetry pamphlet, <i>Songs of Steelyard Sue </i>are published by Lapwing Publications. Her novel, <i>A Darker Moon, </i>is published by Vagabondage Press<b> </b>Further details of her books <em>can be found on her website: </em></span><em></em><br /></span><em></em><a href="http://www.jswatts.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB">www.jswatts.co.uk</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><em><span lang="EN-GB"> . You can also find her on Facebook at </span></em></span><em></em></span><em></em><a href="http://www.facebook.com/J.S.Watts.page"><span lang="EN-GB">www.facebook.com/J.S.Watts.page</span></a><br />
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-5293035645682845772013-05-23T07:00:00.000-04:002013-05-23T07:00:05.781-04:00Author Insides - Jon Hartless<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTGlr7hrweDOHxhgtorgN4NUmZXJpGhdKBjJP0nTJJlDem0rZt_4gH34l23yVuJKS9jO7yP428n7kHEdNd9O1O2zicRGXCCG0DXjITRiti0qXxIYPDlKXxMymc_TqsDJgEcGfDJds2TS77/s1600/JohnHartless.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTGlr7hrweDOHxhgtorgN4NUmZXJpGhdKBjJP0nTJJlDem0rZt_4gH34l23yVuJKS9jO7yP428n7kHEdNd9O1O2zicRGXCCG0DXjITRiti0qXxIYPDlKXxMymc_TqsDJgEcGfDJds2TS77/s200/JohnHartless.jpg" width="200" /></a>Jon Hartless was born in the 1970s and has spent much of his life in the Midlands and Worcestershire, England. He is the author of three bleakly humorous science fiction books under his own name, and two even bleaker works under the pen name Barnabas Corbin.</div>
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His humorous historical satire, Jack The Theorist, is available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005H82HG0" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.</div>
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<strong>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? </strong><br />
About the only time I was happy at school was when I could write a story, so I suppose it grew from there.<br />
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<strong>Why do you write? </strong><br />
I simply enjoy it enormously.<br />
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<strong>Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be? </strong><br />
I never imagined the attitude of most publishers and agents, who simply reject your work out of hand without even bothering to read it. In the past, I’ve sent stuff off via snail mail on a Monday and get it back by Wednesday with the claim it ‘wasn’t right’. The quickest rejection, however, was by email; just under ten minutes. <br />
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<strong>What do you think makes a good story? </strong><br />
Simply ask: does it work by its own logic? If the answer is no, it has failed.<br />
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<strong>What's your favorite genre to read? </strong><br />
Probably murder mysteries, but recently I have been drifting more into factual works.<br />
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<strong>Who is your favorite author or poet? </strong><br />
Arthur Conan Doyle, for his brilliant style, characters, and ideas. EF Benson, for his wit and satire.<br />
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<strong>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? </strong><br />
Probably a mix of the above, plus some of Oscar Wilde’s work. I also enjoy the 1890s as a period, so the fin de siècle is bubbling about somewhere in the subconscious. Certainly my one book, <i>Romanticism Lost</i>, was inspired by popular figures from nineteenth century literature; Sherlock Holmes, the Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein etc. I just wondered how such characters would fare in today’s grey, bureaucratic, health-and-safety world…<br />
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<strong>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? </strong><br />
I’m not sure I could isolate any; we’re all a product of so many influences…<br />
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<strong>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? </strong><br />
Sometimes from a direct source, sometimes from years of seeing things, reading about a subject, hearing things etc, until they all mesh together. My YA novel <i>The Wolves of Androcolus </i>combined both these elements. <br />
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I was watching a documentary about BBC children’s television from the 1950s to the early 00s, and Jacqueline Wilson popped up to explain the concept behind her Tracy Beaker series.<br />
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As often happens in the modern media, where the audience is treated as a brain dead entity, we were only given a brief snippet of Miss Wilson before we jumped to another scene, so all she had time to say was that the story revolved around a girl in a foster home that nobody wanted, and then the scene shifted to something else.<br />
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This, however, left me with practically the whole plot laid out in my mind for my story. Why would no one want a girl from a home? Because she was an ex-junkie. Who would want her? Someone with very dark intentions. Who are these people with dark intent? Religious werewolves. Why religious werewolves? Because of what I’ve seen and read on religious fundamentalism over the years. It was all there, laid out, ready to be written…<br />
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<strong>What does your family think of your writing? </strong><br />
My big brother is very proud.<br />
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<strong>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </strong><br />
Hectic. I work full time, so I have to snatch whatever time I can to write. My latest project has been mostly written in my car between jobs.<br />
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<strong>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </strong><br />
The nearest thing to a ritual I get involves getting distracted from doing any work…<br />
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<strong>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? </strong><br />
Good grammar. I have to edit time and after time to get the prose flowing.<br />
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<strong>What are your current projects? </strong><br />
I’m writing a YA novella that reworks the Pandora myth. In it, we see what the world would be like if the moral minority were to attain supernatural powers that enable them to recreate the world as they think it should be.<br />
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<strong>What are you planning for future projects? </strong><br />
I must try and get started on the sequel to <i>The Wolves of Androcolus</i>, but it is finding the time.<br />
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<strong>Do you have any advice for other writers? </strong><br />
Edit ruthlessly, get some input from someone who knows what they are talking about and who will give a truly honest opinion, and keep trying.<br />
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<strong>Where else can we find your work? </strong><br />
At Double Dragon Ebooks, and also third party retailers such as Kindle, Nook, Fictionwise etc. I am also published under the pen name Barnabas Corbin.</div>
Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-76279334060231686902013-05-18T16:00:00.000-04:002013-05-18T16:00:05.423-04:00The Importance of Being Ruthless - Guest Post from Corinna Weyreter <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><b>Corinna Weyreter</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The problem with entering stories into competitions,
or submitting them to magazines, is that most editors lack either the time or
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wrong. If the rejections keep rolling in there comes a point when, clearly, she
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">When I found myself in this situation, a search of
the web led me to YouWriteOn, a peer review site for writers. Members can upload
a short story, or the opening chapters of a novel, and receive one critique in
return for each they write, with assignments allocated by the system at random.
It’s an excellent way to improve your writing, not only because people highlight
the weak points in your work, but also because you learn from seeing the weak
points in theirs, which can often be the same. To be a good writer you need to
be an avid reader, but high quality novels are written by experienced authors
and have been edited several times before publication. They make writing look
easy. So it’s extremely useful to also read the work of aspiring authors, where
problems with plot, pace, characterisation, clichés, similes, overused
adjectives and adverbs abound, because if these things are sabotaging your own
manuscript, you’ll be primed to root them out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Inevitably some critiques are less valuable than
others, usually because the writer is keener to receive a review than produce
one, but by the time you’ve amassed ten or so, valid criticisms start to recur.
In the case of my stories, these were of dialogue that didn’t sound realistic,
and a lack of description that prevented the reader from being fully drawn into
the story. I was told that one character was too much of a caricature, and that
another behaved in a way that seemed inconsistent with his nature. There were
also some positive reviews that made me feel good but ultimately left me no
wiser, and others that simply disliked the plot, but what could I do about that
except write a completely different story? No writer can please everyone. It
was the hardest reviews to read that were usually the most useful, and once the
dejection started to wear off, I could see that the criticisms were valid. In
fact, not only were they valid, I’d actually been aware of them myself but had chosen
to ignore them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I realised that the main reason for this was I hadn’t
always trusted my instincts when I was editing. A devilish voice had persuaded
me to spare those clichés that caused a twinge in my gut the instant I reread
them, insisting they really were sentences of poetic beauty. Not trusting my instincts
prevented me from cutting out words that I’d spent hours writing, and from investing
even more time knocking others into shape. It was only when reviewers confirmed
my suspicions, and after I’d seen similar mistakes in others’ work, that I learnt
to stop listening to that fiendish voice. Reading the stories aloud proved to
be a great help in doing this. Any problems with the flow of the prose quickly
became apparent, and unrealistic dialogue in particular was impossible to
ignore. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It’s sometimes hard to see what’s going wrong with a
story when you’re so involved in it. Only an outsider can tell you if it’s
really working the way you want it to. Other writers helped me face up to
aspects of my writing that I needed to work on; I wasn’t going to get away with
not putting more effort into it. I began to examine my writing with a more critical
eye, to be on the lookout for common mistakes, and to edit it more ruthlessly before
being satisfied. Because it didn’t matter how much time I’d invested in it up
until then, if I didn’t really believe it was perfect, why would anyone else? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><i>Corinna Weyreter won the 1998 Bridport Prize and has
had several short stories published. She worked in the oil business for fifteen
years before resigning to sail around the world with her boyfriend. Her book
about their trip, Far Out: Sailing into a
Disappearing World, was published this year by Sunpenny Publishing. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/far-out-corinna-weyreter/dp/1907984097"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><i>http://www.amazon.co.uk/far-out-corinna-weyreter/dp/1907984097</i></span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-1630104256666246972013-05-11T16:00:00.000-04:002013-05-11T16:00:01.056-04:00Why I Write Sad Stories - Guest Post from Darci Schummer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Why I Write Sad Stories<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Darci
Schummer</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On 1st Avenue and 28th Street in
Minneapolis, a house catches fire. Fire
trucks arrive in a blur of lights and a wail of sirens as flames cut the early
morning sky. In housecoats and slippers, the neighborhood watches from living
room windows and front yards. Sweat
gathers on its lip. Smoke fills its
nostrils. Its children, woken from their
dreams, point at the flames and vibrate with terrible excitement. A group of firefighters battles the flames
from outside while another group walks into the fire to save those who can be
saved. They rescue one person from
inside the house and then another. Then,
they rescue two more people from a second story window. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But by the time they rescue Jenny,
it's too late. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My stories have been called bleak,
brutal, depressing. And I have been asked why I write such sad stories. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I have a one-word answer: Jenny.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I write sad stories because of
ghosts, ghosts of the living and of the dead. I write sad stories to give voice
to ghosts and to give voice to those who live with the ghosts of their dead, and
the ghosts of their former lovers, estranged children, chances not taken,
aborted opportunities. I write sad stories because they are the adhesive that
binds people to ghosts. I write sad
stories because the stories themselves are my ghosts that, as Edna O'Brien
writes, "are like dogs that bark intermittently in the night." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Moreover, sad stories prepare us for
futures we are too brittle to imagine or too ignorant to recognize as
possible. They allow us to experience
death and loss and desperation with only a modicum of actual pain. They are precursors to seasons not yet lived. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I write sad stories because I want
to live in the past, present, and future simultaneously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On a perfect July morning, I am
walking down 1st Avenue in Minneapolis.
In front of a burned out 2 and 1/2 story house near 28th street, an
empty mailbox gapes like an open mouth, it's red flag 90 degrees in the
air. Mylar balloons tied to the front
gate bob in the breeze. Affixed to the gate as well is a red sign that reads, “Hi
Jenny, All students at Magic Beauty School miss you!” On the front stairs at the foot of the gate,
a plate of spring rolls sits untouched among bouquets of chrysanthemums. An open bottle of water and an open can of
juice wait among burning candles and incense.
And in the middle of these funereal offerings is a picture of Jenny, of
beautiful olive-skinned, black-haired Jenny.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The air still smells of fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I stoop down and leave a dandelion
between two candles that will burn for her until their wicks are spent. Then, I walk home on my strong, good legs,
the breeze whipping all around me, a new ghost whispering in my ear. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">At home, I will work on another sad
story—a story where there aren't neat explanations, a story where calculations
and probabilities all prove incorrect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And Jenny, my beautiful
olive-skinned, black-haired Jenny, this new story, a story where in the space
of one night the whole world trembles into darkness, this is the story I am
writing for you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Darci Schummer</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> lives, writes,
and teaches in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Links
to her work can be found here: </span><a href="http://darcidawn.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">http://darcidawn.blogspot.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">. </span></i></div>
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715716537632044455.post-14517516114962241802013-05-09T07:00:00.000-04:002013-05-09T07:00:03.087-04:00Author Insides - Brian D'Eon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWrv4PLoOFn-8uWwXAXBOR-IpMSihleiY6EdQEb57s5sv1BoaoPf6CHx6YkA80MLIL_pY78vxYvUapnszDwH5w5KcoSMV3jL9AqI290w62xrHqpL0BQhuxeF_AwdQoP1Nr0MhRBv0keRdJ/s1600/01_Newton+portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWrv4PLoOFn-8uWwXAXBOR-IpMSihleiY6EdQEb57s5sv1BoaoPf6CHx6YkA80MLIL_pY78vxYvUapnszDwH5w5KcoSMV3jL9AqI290w62xrHqpL0BQhuxeF_AwdQoP1Nr0MhRBv0keRdJ/s200/01_Newton+portrait.jpg" width="188" /></a></div>
D’Eon lives with his wife and two cats in one of the world’s true Shangri-la’s: Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. <br />
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His writing pursuits have been forged largely in the fires of live theatre where, for thirty years, he has participated as an actor, director and playwright. Four of his stage plays have been produced locally and one in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He also produced more than a dozen original radio dramas plus radio adaptations of famous classical scripts like <i>Oedipus Rex</i> and <i>Macbeth. </i><br />
<i>
</i><br />
<i></i>In recent years Brian has focused his attention more and more on fiction, and his short stories and poetry can be found in a variety of publications. Brian’s story <i>Sun Dancer </i>won the 2009 Okanagan short story contest. In 2011 his story <i>Badlands </i>won the fiction prize in the Kootenay Literary Competition.<br />
<br />
Brian likes to write stories that are speculative or which, at least, have elements of magic realism in them<i>. </i>For more information about his projects, check his website: </span><a href="http://www.briandeon.com/"><span style="font-size: small;">www.briandeon.com</span></a><br />
<br />
<b>When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? <br />
</b>I don’t think there was ever any one "eureka" moment. It has always been the natural way for me to interact with the universe. Even as far back as elementary school, if a notion excited me, my first response was to write about it. <br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Why do you write? <br />
</b>I write because I am "compelled" to. I start to feel antsy if I haven’t written for a while. More than that, it’s also an act of adoration, my affirmation of the great mystery of things and my gratitude to be included in the mystery.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Is being a writer/poet anything like you imagined it would be? <br />
</b>I don’t think I ever spent time imagining it. Except perhaps thinking that maybe, some day, I would be interviewed on a national radio show—one that I have been listening to all my adult life—that would be sort of surreal.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>What do you think makes a good story? <br />
</b>My views about this are old-fashioned and hark right back to Tolstoy’s little book on aesthetics—<i>What is Art?</i> A good story <i>must </i>be uplifting in some way. If I can’t find somebody I truly like or admire in the first fifty pages of reading, I’m not likely to finish the story, no matter how well written. And, finally, a good story must make me think. In new ways, or about new things or, at the very least, take me to places I’ve never been.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>What's your favorite genre to read?<br />
</b>In truth I read more non-fiction than fiction. There’s just so much to learn out there! But when I do read fiction, I like a good science-fiction piece, hard science fiction mostly, and am also very partial to well written magical-realism. All that being said, it’s very hard to beat the great classics: I still believe William Shakespeare is the greatest writer in the English language ever. Period. Case closed.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b> <br />
Who is your favorite author or poet? <br />
</b>Shakespeare, Homer, Cervantes, Tolstoy. But, in more contemporary terms, I’ve long been a fan of the writings of the Greek writer, Nikos Kazantzakis. My favourite poet is Dylan Thomas. I seem to be partial to dead guys.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>What books or stories have most influenced you the most as a writer? <br />
</b>The lyricism and utter musicality of Dylan Thomas has influenced my work greatly, I think, and Shakespeare too, for similar reasons. If a work doesn’t "sound" beautiful when read out loud, it doesn’t really work for me.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>What books or stories have most influenced you as a person? <br />
</b>Well, if I had to point to one book, I might have to choose <i>Zorba the Greek, </i>by Kazantzakis. The central character, Zorba, is a man larger than life, an older man (like me now!), but nonetheless with relentless energy, ambitions and appetites. This story ends with the narrator getting a letter from Zorba, whom he hasn’t seen in years. Zorba tells him to drop everything and come and see him at once. Why? Because he has discovered an extraordinary green stone…<br />
<br />
For me, the human condition can be summed up in that one scene. Are we willing to drop everything for the sake of a green stone or not? It’s a big question and a mistake to dismiss it.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Where/how do you find the most inspiration? <br />
</b>Nature, the world at large, the night sky, the laugh of a five-year old, any human being in the midst of doing what they love.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>What does your family think of your writing? <br />
</b>Ha! I am pretty much the last one on their reading lists! To be fair, my son, Jonathan—himself a fine writer--is a very careful reader of my work and, generally, very encouraging.<br />
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<b>What is your work schedule like when you're writing? </b><br />
<b>
</b>I very definitely prefer to write in the morning and I need quiet. Can’t have music of any kind playing. I have to close the door so my cats won’t bother me.<br />
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<b>Do you have any writing quirks or rituals? </b><br />
<b>
</b><br />
I always like to read what I have written during the day, just before going to bed, so it can stew in my subconscious overnight. Also, during the day, I will take little breaks in the writing by playing a game of Hearts on my computer. I have named my opponents Einstein, Archimedes and Curie.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? <br />
</b>I have to be careful not to let the musicality of the writing get in the way of the meaning. It can be hard for me to let go of a phrase if it "sounds" beautiful. I blame Dylan Thomas for this!<br />
<b>
</b><br />
<b>What are your current projects? <br />
</b>I am working on a historical-fiction novel, called Big Ledge, based on the true story of a murder that took place at the Bluebell mine in 1885, not far from where I live in British Columbia. I try to tell the tale from three different voices, but mostly from the POV of the man accused of the murder, Robert Sproule. I sneak a little magical-realism into the story as well.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>What are you planning for future projects? <br />
</b>I’m still working hard to peddle my novel, <i>Lunatics</i>. And then, after finishing with Big Ledge, I think I might like to go back to Australia. To the year 1994, pre-Facebook, to follow the fortunes of a somewhat alienated exchange-teacher, on the eve of a remarkable celestial event: the first observation of a comet crashing into another planet.<br />
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Then there is my collection of short fiction to polish.<br />
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And maybe a children’s fantasy, something after the fashion of C.S. Lewis whose work I greatly admire.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Do you have any advice for other writers? <br />
</b>Oh, heavens! There are so many paths to follow. I might only argue against the advice sometimes given to write "only about what you know". How dull the world would be if we all adhered to that tenet. I would alter that advice to: "write only about what you have a <i>passion </i>for." You can get to "know" about it as you write.<br />
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</b><br />
<b>Where else can we find your work? <br />
</b>The best place to start would be my website, <a href="http://www.briandeon.com/">www.briandeon.com</a><br />
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Sarah J. MacManushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03430266551248332700noreply@blogger.com2