Dream Big Blog Hop – Part 2

Yesterday, I posted my answers to the Dream Big Blog Hop.  Today, I am posting my  partner-in-crime’s answers.

I was invited to take part in the Dream Big Blog Hop.  I was originally scheduled to post on the 20th, but due to a car collision I was rather sedated and unable to attend to my blog, much less anything else for a short time.  Thankfully, I’ve been given a reprieve to go ahead and post this. 

Cody Martin was kind enough to invite me to participate in his Dream Big Blog Hop. Here are the questions and answers.

Writing is largely solitary, and sometimes a lonely endeavor. Sure, you talk to friends, experts for research, discuss what works and what doesn’t with your editor, and bounce ideas off of fellow writers. But in the end it’s one person pounding the keyboard or twirling the pencil. But what if it didn’t have to be completely alone? Who would YOU work with if you could work with anyone on your favorite project?

In this post, that’s what I’m asking. Choose a person for each category and tell why you want to work with them. If you want, feel free to post their picture, a piece of their work, or a link to something about them. The only rule is that the person must still be alive.

Writers dream. Now it’s time to dream BIG.

 

You have the opportunity to hire anybody as your cover artist. If you write children’s books or books that are heavily illustrated, who would you get for the interior artwork?

I really don’t know about artists to be honest, I mean I have always adored the work of Quentin Blake since given Dahl books as a child.I Think the Artisan series could justify a piece of his gorgeous sketch work.  As for Love Notes, I don’t know. I think Oleg Volk or Munger of Larue Tactical could do an amazing job with the weapons photography. I think so much would depend on the book really. I am also very fond of the artwork in Gail Simone’s reimagining of Batgirl post cure so it would really depend on the art style I and the publisher wanted. Although, I would be hugely tempted to contact my old friend Mark Holmes, who taught me what little I know about painting. The man can paint and draw amazingly well and make a painting look like a photo.

Obviously  we have different taste in art.  I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement though, as long as I get my way.

 

Who would you co-write your next novel with? What genre? Why?

In many ways I have my dream writing partner working on Love Notes.  I mean, we work amazingly well together and Ellie Mack is amazing to write with, and for.   But gosh ,really I have to say other than Ellie, or Cecile Hardy who graciously covers on Storytime Trysts on occasion, I would have to go for Pratchett.  Because, well who wouldn’t want to spend time with an author who has so shaped their lives and their reading and writing style. Though I adore his work, I don’t think I am good enough to write satirical fantasy with him.  But hell, I would have a bloody good go.

Aww,  OK.  After saying such sweet things about me, maybe I’ll let him have a say in the cover art. (I have to agree, I’ve only read a few of Pratchett’s books but he would be amazing to work with.)

 

Your publisher wants to do an audiobook version of your novel and they’re not sparing any expense. Who do you think can narrate your masterpiece?

Oh God, I would love to send it to Fry but his voice is soothing and I would just drift off.

 

They’re really going all out! Your novel is getting a full soundtrack. Who should compose it? If your novel uses a lot of songs, list your compilation here.  

Um, I think it would be a mix of what I wrote it too really; Mitch Benn, the long blondes, Pulp, Voltaire, Avenue Q.   I would just go wild in the country or rather my record collection.

 

Congratulations! Your novel is being turned into a major motion picture. As the creator of the original work, you get to pick the director.

If I am being greedy, Tarantino or possibly Moffat.

Hmmm, again obvious difference of opinion here.  We’ll have to work on that.

 

The director has some ideas on who to cast, but you get to cast one character. What role/character is it and who portrays them?

Sir Oliver in Love Notes portrayed by Alphonso Joseph D’Abruzzo,  just this amazing, breathtaking comic but dark actor who could easily pull off the loved and lost motif I want, plus I could bag an autograph and a martini with him.

Dear Diary I would cast Laura; I’m not quite sure but I would want someone slighty larger than life, someone who makes Siam look small and waifish and who could carry the weight of being sexy and competent, caring and funny.   I have a friend I modeled her on, but I am not naming names, someone who can fill out combats as well as she can a strappy dress.

 

You’ve been hired to write a novel based on a preexisting character or franchise from another medium. Which character or franchise is it?

I think I would go for something in the warhammer 40K franchise.  There is now good no evil only war, a very dark setting for moral soul-searching, to what extent do actions and the ends justify the means, social soul-searching in scifi literature. Plus ,I am a huge fan of the games and books and would love to see my books being read and becoming part of the game world –  this world where everything is slanted and everything has a bias - everything you read could be propaganda.

 

It’s the anniversary of your favorite literary character’s debut. You’ve been hired (yay, work!) to write an anniversary novel. Who is the literary character?

Arsene Lupin – from a series by Maurice Leblanc.  He was the first counterpoint to the detective.  French, a criminal with real style, a gentleman thief.  The french raffles if you will.  He paid homage to another of my favourites the esteemed Sherlock Holmes and I would say, is the first real subversive literary anti-hero.  My love affair began reading a short story where when confronted with a notorious murderer on a train he robs him.  Leaves him bound and gagged for the constables with a note.  He was a subversive criminal but he had a line  and the frankness and charm of the character I found enthralling.  Mugging a notorious murderer and leaving the police a note of thanks and a bank account for the reward to be wired to,  all the while escorting and protecting the wife of a Prison governor that had imprisoned him.  The sheer joy of crime with elegance, with verve and beauty,  it is just a wow moment for a young boy.

Since I used his answer yesterday – as I was totally blank on this one, I shall field this one for you today.
Ramoth from Dragonriders of Pern.   I began Anne McAffrey’s Pern series when I was maybe 14.  I developed a love of her stories, an admiration for her world building before I understood what world building was.   Ramoth is the golden dragon. Ramoth was hatched from Nemorth’s last clutch, the last queen egg on Pern. She mauled two female candidates before Impressing F’lar’s choice, Ruathan-bred Lessa.

The dragons in the Pern world are western dragons, modeled after European legend and myths.  I think it would be intriguing to write things from Ramoth’s perspective.  Ramoth is  a hinge pin in the series.  To tell things from her species, from her perspective would be a challenge, but a delightfully interesting one.  Ruth of course would have to be mentioned, as he is the only white dragon and has some interesting powers of his own.

The Dreaming continues  with Abyrne Mostyn.  Don’t miss it.

Thank you Cody Martin, for including me in this!

(A little bonus blog from my co- conspirator.)

Write on my friends, write on!  When you dream, dream big!

It’s Alive!

Those famous words from Dr. Frankenstein came to my mind this morning while in a discussion with a writer friend.  It’s November, which means roughly 350,000 people or more are trying their hand at writing.

Remember in Ratatouille when the chef said “Anyone can cook.”?  That’s true, but not everyone cooks well.  The same is true for writing.  Anyone can write, not all can write well.  NaNoWriMO is a great time to try your hand at writing.  Thirty days of literary abandon that  serves several purposes.

• Daily habit – A mere 1667 words a day, not a ridiculous amount but sometimes even that little bit is difficult especially if you are not in the daily habit of writing.
• Accumulative Incentive – the 1667 adds up quickly, and NaNoWriMO has charts, calendars, and many materials to show you where you should be  for the word counts,  and shows the cumulative effect of doing it daily.  In a way it’s nearly as magical as the principle of compound interest.  Both are investments, it’s up to you to utilize them.
• Get the first draft down – This point is confusing for many newbies.  A first draft is not a polished draft, and not everything you write is gold.  Voltaire wrote “Candide” in three days without the convenience of modern editing practices.  It is a short but enduring tale that entertains and mocks humanity itself, poking fun at every turn. The dry humor is as welcome today as it was shocking and in your face in its day. Hemingway it is said, edited one particular passage 37 times before he was satisfied.  Any writer worth their salt will spend more time editing than actually writing.  I know, sorry to burst your bubble but it’s true.
• NaNoWriMo has a deadline and a finish line – for those of us, Yes, like me, that have a mountain of unfinished projects collecting dust like an old ladies Hummel figure collection, NaNo sets the pace, puts the finish line in clear sight, and has a definite deadline.  Thirty days, not thirty-one, not thirty-two.  50,000 words not 49,500 or 36,800 – 50,ooo words in thirty days.  It’s a mini marathon with daily workouts. They practically hold your hand, encouraging you to the finish.

As some of you may know, I changed my mind about participating in NaNO.  Yes, I know – back and forth, back and forth, like a ship tossed at sea.  Which was the final straw as my new project is about pirates, ships treasure, and romance on the high sea – arggggghhh.  I am plugging away at the NaNo novel, but I made myself a deal.  I will tackle my other irons first before ever putting a single word towards my nano count.  I am behind the curve where last year I was crushing it.  If you take into consideration though, the number of words written and edited daily on articles, Kiss of the Dragon, Faere Guardian, Love Notes and whatever Storytime project I”m working on, my daily word count for total number of words written is more like 4500 – 5000 a day. I am well aware I need to focus, that’s not the point here.  Let’s move on shall we?

So what has my dander up?  It’s many people posting to the NaNo group bragging about their most recent paragraph or prose.  It’s not one person but a collective of the general idea that their writing is golden.  Let’s get this put into perspective – a NaNo novel is 50,000 words – which is short of any standard length novel including YA, which runs between 60,000 and 75,000. Harlequin romances sometimes come in at 50000 as other trade romance novels.  I could almost guarantee though, that even Harlequin novels are edited and revised from their initial draft.  November is for writing, December is for editing.  Many seem to forget that necessary evil.

My second complaint about the mass number of posts is the telling.  I”m sure you’ve heard the old mantra show don’t tell when writing.

Johnny and Susie went into the barn.  Rick was dead in  Stars stall.  There was a bloody scythe hanging over the door and the rear door to the barn w as standing open.  Who could have done it?   ( The character names have been changed to protect the writer, and condensed slightly to make a point.)

Where’s the description?  Where is the emotion? The shock?  What about the senses?  I should be transported into that barn, Johnny and Susie laughing with each other lightheartedly joking about the fact that their friend Rick was always late.  Perhaps they were going to the show, or to a rodeo. Where’s the senses in this?  What are they seeing, hearing, what about the smell? The coppery tang to the air as they approach finding their friend in a pool of blood soaked straw, the dark crimson blood dripping from the scythe that is wobbling back and forth on the stall door.  Where is the building terror?  The sense of fear that the murderer wasn’t far as the scythe was still rocking and the door was swinging on its hinges?  I want it to draw me into the scene,  make me want more.

Sadly, many think because there is a mass of words in the file that their novel is complete.  First draft we write the backbone of the story, we tell. Second draft we create – breathing life into a dead document, making the characters live, adding depth,breadth, and length, giving it flavor.  You don’t want to read my first draft for a love scene.  It often reads like a technical manual.  Insert tab A into slot B, repeat.  OK, not quite that bad but you get the idea.

Anyone can write, but it takes work to write a story that readers want to read.  It’s my goal to improve my craft, working towards a polished piece that leaves a reader on the edge of her seat, turning pages to find out what happens next.  I’m not the fastest writer, nor do I come up with the most ingenious plots.  Simple plots can come to life when the right words are strung together.  the basic plot of all romance writing is very simple – two people fall in love, and in my world, live happily ever after.  The same plot can be told millions of different ways.  When I can get my writer’s voice out-of-the-way enough to get the reader involved with my characters needs and desires, then I have succeeded in telling a tale worth reading.

Sadly, many NaNoers will put out a Frankennovel.  They have every right to feel proud for accomplishing the goal of 50000 words, and reaching the end, but much like The monster with the Abby Normal brain, it just ain’t quite right!  Do us all a favor and edit the crap out of that beast before publishing.

Write on my friends, write on!

More On NaNoWriMo

Previously I had polled my writing friends to get their input on participating in NaNoWriMo.  There were a few that couldn’t get back with me  right away with their responses.

Ticket to Write is Cassidy Frazee’s thoughts on NaNo.

I absolutely agree with Cassidy on several ponts here.  I’ve seen some of the “first drafts”  that people published through NaNo. One of the prizes for finishing NaNO, is that you get 5 printed copies of your book.  That was an enticing little tidbit for me, but when I reached the end of NaNo, and had written my story, I realized that it was in great need of editing.  There were plot holes that you could drive a fleet of semis through!  That happens when I totally pants a project.  It would have been the length of war and peace had I continued on the same path to reach the conclusion.

During NaNoWriMo, when I had lulls in my train of thought I would go back and edit.  I removed scenes because they didn’t progress the story.

A lot of would be writers would greatly benefit from reading Robert McKee’s book.  There is an art to storytelling.  Unless you’re writing ‘The Neverending Story’ , or ’1001 Arabian Nights’,  then the story needs to hae a beginning middle and an end.  Many books seem to get lost in the mire somewhere in the middle.  That’s what I did with my NaNo novel.  It got bogged down in scenes that werre fun, that were good writing but they didn’t move the story forward.  Adventures are one thing but they were no more helpful than a gratuitous sex scene.

The true work of writing is in the editing.  Anyone can write.  Not everyone can write well.  For those writer’s who consider themselves writers and not hobbyists, editing is a necessary and helpful tool.  Sometimes it may seem like we’re in a bad bdsm scene, taking stripes on our backs – “thank you sir may I have another” – but ultimately it takes maturity to realize thaht your prose is perfect on the first, or even second draft.

Cassidy also referenced that it isn’t like a sprint, but more of a marathon.  For the sake of NaNoWriMo, I will agree to a point.  It’s definitely not a sprint.  However, to me it was more like boot camp;  30 days of intense training.   At first it was hard, but as the days wracked up and the word count climbed it got easier.  I finished the designated goal – writing 50,000 words.  I finished my story.  I counted myself as a winner and was proud of myself for achieving a goal that I had set for myself.

I did not take advantage of the offer for five free copies because as I worked through that month, I would review and edit throughout the month.  I knew it needed work.  I knew I wasn’t satisfied with it.  I’ve spent the better part of this year revising, refining, and editing that project. This isn’t a game to me, this is no longer a hobby.  This is a passionate pursuit  in which I want to create a quality product.

For those that take the challenge as a hobby, it’s a great experience.  For those that take the challenge to help boost your self discipline I applaud you.  We should always be challenging ourselves at some level, pushing beyond where we are now.  If we don’t move forward, we tend to slide downhill.

NaNo WriMo is a major commitment.  If you choose to participate, don’t do so flippantly.  Also, I have to add here that if you are one of those people that post in Facebook ‘Epic Fail on NaNo today’.  I will feel compelled to comment.

Write on my friends, write on!

A Dragon’s Song

If I were to describe my book by a song I would choose “Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence, to describe Kiss of the Dragon (copyright Ellie Mack 2012).  Kiss of the Dragon is a paranormal romance about Isabelle Lennox, an interior designer from Texas.  She falls through a mirror to end up back in medieval times where she meets Zanathrus Fallon, Lord of the Green Dragons.

Everything that she has thought about who she is, is about to be shattered.  When she is thrown into Zane’s world, it “wakes her up inside” awakening her true being. Like a Celtic knot, her life is interwoven intricately into the tapestry of life, prophecy, and destiny. The hidden truths begin to surface as their relationship develops. The ordinary existence she had is nothing compared to the grandeur of who she really is.

In a world of dragons, wyverns, mages, and warriors; Isabelle discovers her own strength and purpose. She is either the destiny or the destruction for the dragon world.  Which will it be?  Either way, there’s no turning back to the darkness that was before.

In the chorus the female lead singer is singing “wake me up inside, bid my blood to run, save me from the nothing I’ve become.”  Then at the end of this song the lyrics are: I’ve been living a lie there’s nothing inside, Bring me to life.

Reality has never been as good as fantasy.

Lyrics to “Bring Me to Life”

How can you see into my eyes like open doors?

Leading you down into my core when I’ve been so numb.

Without a soul, my spirit’s sleeping somewhere cold

Until you fixed it there and lead me back home.

Wake me up (wake me up inside)

I can’t wake up (wake me up inside)

Save Me (Call my name and save me from the dark)

Wake me up (Bid my blood to run)

I can’t wake up (Before I come undone)

Save me (Save me from the nothing I’ve become)

Now I know what I’m without

You can’t just leave me

Breathe into me and make me real. Bring me to life.

Wake me up (wake me up inside)

I can’t wake up (wake me up inside)

Save Me (Call my name and save me from the dark)

Wake me up (Bid my blood to run)

I can’t wake up (Before I come undone)

Save me (Save me from the nothing I’ve become)

I’ve been living a lie. There’s nothing inside.

Bring me to life.

Frozen inside without your touch

Without your love, darling

Only you are the life among the dead.

All this time, I can’t believe I couldn’t see

Kept the dark but you were there in front of me

I’ve been sleeping a thousand years it seems

Got to open my eyes to everything

Wake me up (wake me up inside)

I can’t wake up (wake me up inside)

Save Me (Call my name and save me from the dark)

Wake me up (Bid my blood to run)

I can’t wake up (Before I come undone)

Save me (Save me from the nothing I’ve become)

I’ve been living a lie there’s nothing inside

Bring me to life.

“Kiss of the Dragon” is a current work in progress that I will be submitting for publication in 2012.

Write On my friends, write on!

What’s In An Edit?

I’ve spent a lot of time editing for friends.  I’ve edited for Storytime Trysts, for friends in the writing community, and for my high school teens.  I am not a professional editor, I am a writer.  My edits tend to be grammar calls, punctuation, sentence structure, and calls on the occasional sentence that just doesn’t make sense.  Once in a while there is a place where I will say ‘ Expand on this!  Or possibly ‘omit this!

Rarely do I make broad sweeping statements Like “What in the world are you thinking?”  I rarely question the author’s motives of why.  My editing is more ‘how’ they do it.  In my online writing groups there has been discussions about this.  It’s hard to get honest feedback from friends because, well your friends want to encourage you and tend to say flowery compliments.  there are times when my ego really needs the boost!  I can always count on a couple of readers to give me glowing comments unless I truly blow it.

My writer friends tend to give me the same type of editing as I give; the semantics, the grammar calls, and the occasional comments like: love this line, explain this better, expand here; where are the sensory details?, and this doesn’t make sense.

I have agreed to read things from people when they ask me to  in order to give them feedback.  WARNING:  if you do this you better ask some questions up front.  Writers are insecure creatures sometimes looking for validation.  giving an edit where a simple ” it shows potential” is wanted.  I gave an edit to a friend in a critique group thinking that she truly wanted a critique.  what she was wanting is a pat on the back, good job, there’s potential in your writing.  My grammar calls were devastating to her fragile ego, she quit coming to our meetings and I felt like a heel.  I ran into her in Wal-Mart, as she tried to shy away from her I took the chance to talk with her and explained.  She is now in full swing in the critique group, more confident than ever.  It wasn’t the right group for me so I’ve moved on.

Seeking validation is something I’ve done, and often got criticism in its place.  Ironically it wasn’t until I decided that I didn’t need anyone elses approval to pursue my dreams that I started getting validation.

I have readers that read my writing and can’t wait for the next installment. Love my readers!  I have writers that read for me with an eye for editing.  I greatly appreciated the tough calls.  I want to improve my writing , make it the best I can so that when  my book is on the shelf no one will feel like it’s a waste of money.

Knowing the questions up front helps me determine how seriously of an edit I am giving.  Is this just a light once over with a general feel?  Then I can give a friendly sandwich critique. compliment/editing calls/ compliment.  If it is a more serious, I really need some feedback sort of thing then I can make a Dagwood sandwich: compliment/edit call, edit call/compliment/ tough calls/ edit calls/ compliment.

This is part of the writing community, working together , getting feedback, giving a helping hand.  We’re all in this together even if at times we view each other as the competition.  At the root of it is the kindred spirit bond that unites us on one front.

I have hosted my friend Ben on here before in  An English Gentleman.  He’s been writing on Storytime for a few months now.  You can check out his blog here, A Road Less Traveled.

Write on my friends, write on!

Pushing Beyond the Wall

What do you do for motivation?

Is it reading?  Are you motivated by those little pictures that your friends share on Facebook?  What motivates you to keep going when you’ve hit the wall?  Ah, now there is a different matter.  It takes a different kind of motivation to start, than it does to continue, or even to persevere when you meet with adversity.

In a recent discussion with fellow writers, the topic of experience came up.  One young writer blushed profusely while sharing her difficulty in writing “those” scenes when she had yet to experience them.  Yes, that experience.  We all have our own ideas when it comes to love and romance.  The typical “dinner and a show” date that is common fare isn’t for everyone.  Some prefer attending a football game, cuddling together under a blanket.  Some prefer an active date; playing golf or racing moto-cross.  Some prefer the cozy comfort of dinner at home then a shared movie.

So it  only stands to reason that once we get to that moment, “the move” isn’t going to work the same on all of us.  The winning combination that may have scored with Lizzy, leaves Mark scratching his head wondering what’s the problem with Anita. Anita is wondering what the heck Mark is doing, Mark is thinking there must be something wrong with Anita for not getting into it, and when Lizzy finds out that Mark is with Anita I doubt his winning combination is going to work on her any more either!

So the conversation progressed from kisses to more intimate loving.  A little bit of humor helps ease the tension in the room, and we can discuss what things typically do work.  What makes that first knee-popping kiss?

As an innocent girl, my ideas were much different from my ideas now as a married woman.  I listened more than I talked.  I observed their subtle reactions, the embarrassed grins, the blushing cheeks, the twirling of hair as they shared their own ideas.  It was refreshing, encouraging, and challenging.

Mother was right, once you say yes, you can never go back.  When innocence is taken by force, it is a hard thing to get past.  It’s hard to imagine the dreamy state of the innocent teen girls. How much easier would it be for them to write a YA novel?  The perspective they offer allows a more real perspective than a mature woman. Likewise, it should be easier for me to write those intimate scenes.  You’d think so anyway, right?

Writing a really steamy scene is in some ways like videotaping your fantasy relationship.  It’s not necessarily anything you’ve ever actually experienced, but perhaps something you wish had or would happen. Often it’s not even your own personal fantasies, and here’s where a lot of readers of erotica don’t seem to get it, it’s your characters fantasies.  It has nothing to do with what you wold do, or how you would do it in your own personal life. Of course you’d have to have three dimensional characters to realize this.

For example:  I’ve never been to a castle.  I’ve never been kissed on the high parapets of a tower.  I’ve never had a picnic there either, but it was what Zane decided to do to get to know his beautiful guest Isabel when they shared their first kiss.

Most fiction readers get that it’s fiction.  There are those however that don’t seem to understand that concept.  I know as writer’s we are told to write what you know, but can you imagine a world where the writer knew what he wrote about?

That would mean that the murder mystery writer had committed murder.  The science fiction writer who tells a tale about aliens had experience with aliens.  That guy that wrote the Zombie book – yeah.  A historical fiction writer would have had to live during the time. Ridiculous

I have to say though, I must be impressive to someone. Someone that imagines that I can time travel, shape shift into a dragon,  work magic, have power over the Fae world and dragon world, as well as experience every detail in my other stories; I rock!

Yes, hail the all-powerful creator of fictional universes, conqueror of dragons and Fae!

I can’t even type it with a straight face.

Just because someone writes about a topic in fiction doesn’t mean they “live” or experience the things they write about.  A young writer is just as capable as a more mature writer in fiction.  Experience is a good teacher, but a good writer can use what they have within them to create their own masterpiece!

Don’t let anyone put limits on you because of your youth, or your maturity.  The last person that told me I was too old to do something was  put to shame when I proved myself.  (OK, I was saying a little prayer of Thank you God! inside that I didn’t embarrass myself.)

Write what you know, dare to write what you don’t know. Regardless of what genre you choose,

Write on my friends, write on!

 

 

 

 

 

Author Spotlight – Doug Simpson

Today my guest on the virtual blog tour is Doug Simpson.  Doug was my guest once before, Virtual Blog Tour – Meet Doug Simpson;  and it’s a pleasure to welcome him back.  I’ve had several interviews of authors, but this is my first spotlight.  Please welcome  Mr. Doug Simpson!   (Applause!)

Doug Simpson – Author Spotlight

Over thirty years ago, Doug’s wife introduced him to one of America’s almost-lost miracle-men. His name was Edgar Cayce. Edgar is regarded by many scholars in the field as America’s legendary mystic. Edgar gave over fifteen thousand psychic readings in a self-induced, trance-like state. His trance state was so deep that, in the early days of his amazing medical readings, a group of doubting Doctors performed their own sadistic experiments on him to prove he was duping his clients. One Doctor took his pocketknife and slid it fully under one of Edgar’s fingernails. He never reacted and there was no blood. Another sadist poked a hatpin right through Edgar’s cheek. He never reacted, but there may have been a drop of blood. But, as you can imagine, when Edgar came out of his trance state, all hell broke loose!

Throughout approximately forty years Edgar gave over ten thousand medical readings for people, some of whom Edgar never met and who were located a thousand or more miles away at the time of the reading. On occasion, in his deep trance state, Edgar prescribed treatments and remedies that had not yet been invented.

As amazing as the medical readings were, it was Edgar’s life or reincarnation readings that seized Doug’s attention.  Some two thousand real live individuals, or their guardians, requested approximately twenty-five hundred life readings where they were given information on a few of their previous incarnations, specifically those ones which were significant to their understanding of the reasons for their souls selecting the particular bodies that they resided in, in their current incarnations. Reincarnated souls that appeared in Edgar’s readings went as far back as the days of Adam and Eve, and included the souls of Mary Magdalene, Thomas Jefferson and Martha Washington, to name just a few.

Once certain individuals, seriously interested in researching life on the other side, were convinced that Edgar was the real deal; they asked inquisitive questions about Creation and many other topics. One answer, significant to our story, is Edgar’s account of the Creation of souls. In brief, think of God as an enormous energy field that can think. After God Created and evolved the Earth with its animals and numerous other creatures, but no humans, God realized that He had done a pretty good job but He was lonely. Man had not been in the original plan, so for company, God Created a calculated explosion in His energy field and all souls were Created at the same time from this God-Energy. There is much more to this story, but in a nutshell, God Created humans as residences where souls could experience ‘life’. Souls incarnate time and time again until they learn the required lessons to become God-like once more.

After years of researching the Edgar Cayce readings, Doug ‘had’ to verify his beliefs so he enlisted the services of a licensed hypnotist and experienced four past-life regression sessions and uncovered about a dozen of his past lifetimes.

Now one hundred percent convinced of reincarnation, Doug commenced to write reincarnation articles in 2010, using the Edgar Cayce readings. Building on his knowledge of souls and reincarnation along with some helpful guidance from the other side along the way, Doug began to assemble a manuscript for a first novel which eventually evolved into Soul Awakening.

Soul Awakening is a work of fiction, inspired by a series of actual events. It is a

spiritual mystery involving the apparently accidental, though actually orchestrated by

Divine Intervention, meeting of three total strangers and their ultimate discovery that

they shared previous lifetimes together. It delves into reincarnation, past lifetimes, spirit

communication, messages from God, past-life regression sessions, Guardian Angels,

past-life recall in the awake state, and soul attraction, which is the reincarnation of

groups of souls together in more than one lifetime. It is available in print form and as an

eBook.

With the success of Soul Awakening, Doug decided to expand the adventures of his

protagonist, Dacque LaRose into a series, appropriately titled The Dacque Chronicles.

Book II, titled Soul Rescue should be available this fall and Book III, titled Soul Mind

should be released around New Years.

 

Doug Simpson is a retired high school teacher who has turned his talents to writing. His first novel, a spiritual mystery titled Soul Awakening, was published in the United States in October of 2011, by Book Locker. Check it out at http://booklocker.com/books/5754.html. It is available in print and eBook format through most book stores around the world. His magazine and website articles have been published in 2010 to 2012 in Australia, Canada, France, India, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His articles can be accessed through his website at http://dousimp.mnsi.net.

Relative Sanity, NOT!

For this week’s guest on the Tasha Turner Coaching Virtual Blog Tour, my guest is Martin Reaves.  Welcome to Quotidiandose!  Martin joined forces with me in a recent 3 man (person) basketball game during an interview with Bruce Blake.  He has proven to be a good sport and has a fine sense of humor. 

This week’s topic is to share a deleted scene and explain why it’s deleted.  Here’s an opportunity to get inside the mind of a writer!  Instead of my dark caverns, Martin is going to allow you to traipse through his! Please welcome Martin “Mott” Reaves.

Well now…I’m trying to remember what I had in mind with this deleted scene (actual 2 scenes but I’ve only posted one here). This was originally the second and third chapter of my book Relative Sanity. Apparently I had an idea for an entire subplot involving a professional criminal in LA. I wish I could creep back into my thought processes of 8 years ago to ask my then-self what I had in mind. I still like these pages, but they make me nervous–clearly I know a little too much about a bank’s daily opening procedures. For your consideration:
He took his doughnut and coffee and sat next to the window facing Paramount Boulevard. Someone had left the sports section of the L.A. Times behind and he scanned the headlines as he ate his doughnut and burned his mouth on the coffee. Dunkin’ Donuts was nearly empty at this time of the morning and he was enjoying the quiet, and the way the early spring sun slanted across the plastic table.

He checked his watch. 9:23.
A glance across the street at First Mutual Trust. No sign of her yet.
Banker’s hours, he thought, and went back to the paper. The Sacramento Kings were looking good again this year, or so the paper said. The Laker’s were out of it. Cleveland was…shit. Too bad they hadn’t left something other than sports; he’d never been able to work up much enthusiasm for all the macho posturing. He remembered laughingly speculating once that he might be gay.
The woman he was with at the time—what the hell was her name? Casey? Candy?—had not found it very amusing. In fact, she’d seemed to think that sort of speculation usually meant
that you were gay, at least to some degree. Well, what the hell did she know? He’s lying there, giving her the ride of a lifetime, and she’s got to go and say something like that. You brought it up, she’d said. You’re the one was thinking about it. He asked her how he could perform so well
with her if he was gay. Maybe you’re bi, she’d said, and then made some crack about his performance not being all that great. Bitch.
He laid the paper aside and sipped his coffee. Across the street a royal blue Mazda Miata pulled into the parking lot. The driver parked facing the bank, placed a Hawaiian print sunshade in front of the windshield and opened the door. A long leg wearing a white high-heeled pump snaked out the open door.
He checked his notes. Her name was Amanda Welch and she managed the Paramount branch of First Mutual Trust. She was thirty-two, married, with two kids and a three bedroom mortgage
in nearby Downey. A little plump for his taste but attractive nonetheless. He knew it was probably not necessary to be quite so thorough in his research, but it certainly couldn’t hurt. Be
embarrassing to study her movements and find out she was the janitor. Best to be prepared.
She went into the bank and he watched the second-hand on the platinum Rolex strapped to his wrist. Sixty-seven seconds later, the blinds opened on the far left window. Second from the
left stayed closed but the next one over was opened, and so on down the length of the building. Sixty-seven seconds was fast, which meant she was sloppy. That was good, because it indicated they had not been hit in a long time. Maybe never. Nothing made you stupid like a false sense of security.
So, a blind open on every other window was Amanda Welch’s signal for All Clear. If the Operations Officer showed up and saw a different pattern, he would know something was wrong, if he was paying attention at all.
It was another fifteen minutes before the Ops Officer arrived and went into the building. He didn’t knock, just walked right in. Dumb bastard was supposed to let her know he was outside, and then she’d come out, away from the windows and any possibility of being under the control of an intruder. Then he’d know for certain all was well.
“What’s your name, stupid,” he said, consulting his notes. Clifford Farrell; forty-nine years old and single; lives alone. Probably watches a lot of Jeopardy and drinks light beer out of a can, he thought.
He sipped at his coffee. “I’ll take Twentieth Century Presidents for two hundred, Alex,” he whispered. “Ummm, ‘Lost his head while driving down the street in Dallas.’ Boy that’s a tough one, Alex, can I pass?”
Another twenty minutes elapsed before the rest of the employees began to trickle in.
“Don’t make it too easy, folks.”
Every other window means All Clear. And then fifteen minutes of free time. If the job wasn’t wrapped up by then—and it damn well better be—there’d be Clifford to deal with. That wouldn’t be too bad. In fact, it might be a good idea to wait for him. After Mr. Farrell arrived, there’d
be a full twenty minutes before anyone else showed. Worth considering.
He smiled at the ease of it and went to the counter for another doughnut.

 

*     *     *

Martin Reaves is a writer primarily of suspense/thrillers with a psychological edge. And sometimes horror…or humor…heck, even romance. (Aren’t all these things connected on some level?)

Upon turning 48 he realized he was no longer 47…he wasn’t sure what to do with this information so he moved on.

Martin is very happily married to his childhood sweet-patootie, and has two incredible adult daughters who he considers among his best friends.

Reading and Writing are twin first-loves, followed by music (he is a musician and singer and has been performing semi-professionally for longer than he’d care to think about).

 

When not selling plastic to pay the bills, he (and his books) can be found here:

Facebook Author: https://www.facebook.com/MartinReavesAuthor?ref=hl#

Facebook Personal: https://www.facebook.com/Mottlee

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Reaves/e/B005DI98LG/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mott342

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MartinReaves

WordPress: http://mott342.wordpress.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5042356.Martin_Reaves

Interview With Author Joseph Eastwood

You may have noticed I haven’t posted for a few days?  Anyone????  Computers are finicky things.  Temperamental beasts on their best day.  Hopefully now, we hae all previous issues resolved and  I think (fingers crossed here) we are back up and fully operational!

Today I have a special guest.  His just released book , hot off the press is flying off the shelves!   Joseph Eastwood shared a bit earlier on my blog about his work, check it out  HERE!

Let’s get right to it then.

Hey Joseph!  Glad you could make it.  Thank you for taking the time to let me interview you.

What’s your choice of beverage? That doesn’t count as a question, just making you comfy.

JE:  COFFEE! I love coffee!

Hernando and  Javier bring coffee and refreshments, setting a plate of light pastries, fresh fruit, and cheese in front of us.  My stomach growls, having not eaten yet.   Javier stands to the side, flexing his shirtless form for Josephs’s benefit.  I pour my cup, Javier has already poured Josephs. Hmmm, I can’t seem to get him motivated.

Welcome to Quotidiandose!  A place where you just never know what might happen.  Just when you think I’ve settled into a groove, ha fooled you!  LOL

Ready????

 You’re the eldest child of five.  Ironically, I’m the youngest of five.  Do you think there’s anything to that personality/birth order connection?

Definitely, as the eldest I’ve always been the first to do everything, high school, moving out, university etc. but as the eldest you also feel like you’re the guinea pig as parents might be seeing what kind of parent they are, or god forbid reading parenting books. Parents mollycoddle their youngest, and if there are middle children, then they are the ones to usually rebel. (That’s my theory anyway.)

Hmmm, I’d have to disagree.  As the youngest, my folks were done with any ‘mollycoddling ‘- never heard that term before.  I’m the rebel of the bunch.  

 I see you’re a student at UNI, what do you plan to do with your degree when you graduate?

I don’t want to do anything with it, maybe perhaps do my masters. But getting a degree in Eng and creative writing is what I do part time, it’s not all of my focus, my writing and self-publishing career is my real focus and my real goal in life.

  What do you do when you’re not writing or going to UNI?

I watch a lot of TV! Like, I am an actually a TV whore, but only the good stuff like Grimm, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, The Good Wife, Cupcake Wars, and some reality TV that I won’t mention as it’s embarrassing to speak about in public.

Javier refills Joseph’s cup.  He’s very attentive today.

 I had some really aggravating assignments when I was in college.  What was your worst writing assignment?  

The one I didn’t hand in I guess, but it the most simple of assignments I’ve ever had, all I had to do was write a 1,000 word essay and then annotate a poem and also write 500 words about that, but I didn’t hand it in. Eeek. 

You’ve said that you’re a TRUE BLOOD fan.  Who’s your favorite character and why? 

Jessica! She really doesn’t get enough attention. She was turned into a vampire after being taken from her strict Christian (don’t know which religion) family, and then she became some AH-MAZING vampire lady. I think she’s the only character that I actually like anymore. Oh, and Pam! Everyone else is just super weird, and Bill cannot act.

Pfft! Bill!  *rolls eyes* Give me Erik or Alcide anyday!!

 Have you read the Charlaine Harris books that are the inspiration for True Blood?

I haven’t, although I do have the first few books on my shelf… which I will one day get around to reading.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

A plotter. I’m a major plotter! I absolutely love plotting and I’ve actually plotted all of the books in my three series, which is around 11 novels and 2 novellas… and I’m writing them all… so my life is revolving around getting these stories out.

You’ve stated that you like to put your characters through hoops.  What is the most bizarre “hoop” you’ve made them (one?) jump through – without giving away your story?

Well, why don’t you read Lumen and see what hoops I’ve created for Daniel to jump through, or the characters that I’ve created to get in Daniel’s way.

 What qualifies a “writing session” for you?  Do you set a word count, a timer, or write until a scene is complete?  Describe.

To me, a writing session is when I hit the 500 mark and can’t stop writing, but a writing session becomes fulfilling when I hit 2,500 words. My sessions can go from 1,000 to 5,000 words, and it all depends on what I’m doing that day, or if I’ve planned the session or not.

What’s the most you’ve ever written in one sitting before?

Over 10,000 words.  It was the day the internet was down!

LOL

I wrote my first ever flash fiction for your blog.  It was surprisingly fun.  If I gave you a story prompt, how long would it take you to write a flash piece, a short story, or a scene?  Which would you choose and why?

I’d choose a piece of flash fiction as it only takes me around 30 minutes to go from plotting what’s going to happen in the 500+/- words to writing it.

Are you a neat freak, a scrunge, or somewhere in the middle of the road?  How about your writing area?  Does it tend to the sanitized surface, or a cluttered heap?

I think I’m in the middle of the road. I’m certainly not a neat freak though. I usually write in bed with laptop on my knees and a bunch of paper around me, so you could say that my writing area is just a cluttered mess.

Are there any characters that have given you complete fits?  Been difficult to work with, or refused to cooperate? 

Oh god no, if I can’t work with my characters I kick them out, they either work with me, or they hitch onto someone else’s imagination. I also love building huge character profiles up for my main characters so that I can get a feel for them and know how to work them with my writing.

Laughing here, because mine can be quite the divas at times.  I’ve had them show up, want their story told then play coy in how they want it told.  Trust me, dragons can be such divas!

When Lumen hits phenomenal status, and is contracted for a movie, what actor and actresses would you like to see play your characters?

Oh, if only this would happen to Lumen, although all the way through writing it, and then after so many rereads I always imagined it being played on the big screen inside my head. I’m not someone to go through a list of celebrities and pick out who I’d want to play it if I was turned into a film. But if I saw someone, I’d say. Nobody really stands out when I think about it being a film. I’d probably have some newbie actors with fresh faces.

One of the things I enjoy is playing video games.  My favorite is Tombraider, and Skyrim is becoming a huge favorite as well.  Do you play and what games do you enjoy?

SIMS! I absolutely love The Sims! That counts as a video game, right? Other than that I don’t really play anything else. I would probably play Skyrim if I had a PS3 or something, but I don’t.

LOL!  My kids love SIMS!

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

Self-publish my book. It was crazy. I didn’t know what to do once I’d clicked the upload button. So, the craziest thing I’ve ever done is self-publishing… whoa, my life is boring.

My kids and I have this weird little thing we do, memorizing lines from movies then reciting full scenes with each other.  Do you ever memorize lines from movies, and “reenact them with your friends or siblings”?

HAHA! Awh, that sounds so cute! I wish I could see that. No, I don’t do anything like that. We sometimes quote films, like Mean Girls etc. but not full scenes, although that would be fun.

The Olympics were just in London.  Did you go?  Did you watch?  What was your favorite event?  How do you feel about the US smokin’ everyone on the medals?

Hehe, I know I live in the UK, but at the opposite end from London… like, the north. Ha! I watched a couple of events, and my fav would have to be the mens gymnastics… who wouldn’t like to watch muscly men in lycra and spandex doing flips around a room.

Javier moves closer, then gets an odd expression staring at Joseph.

Thank you so much for visitng me here in the midwest.  I know it’s a far cry from the UK.  We’ve had a drought recently,  it’s usually at least a little nicer here.  *clears throat, turns pale*

How do you feel about spiders?

NO. NEVER. GO AWAY! I’ll start crying. I mean it.

Hernando steps in and knocks spider off Joseph’s shoulder.  I’m sorry.  With all this dry heat, they’ve become a real problem. 

Javier escorts Joseph quickly  out the door while Hernando cleans up the spider guts.

Speaking of unexpected, take a look at Joseph’s book for his unexpected twist with Daniel.

About Joseph

Joseph Eastwood is the eldest of five siblings, and he lives and grew up in Lancaster, England.

He has always had a giant creative connection in his life, from drawing and writing to having an eclectic taste in music and reading a wide range of books, which he hopes reflects in his own writing. He also loves watching sci-fi, supernatural and fantasy based TV shows and films. Among some of his favourites are Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries and True Blood. As well as those he loves dramas, like The Good Wife and Desperate Housewives.

Joseph is either busy doing edits and writing, that, or he’s on his Facebook page being a professional procrastinator. He lives for creativity, striving to be different and thinking up new hoops for his characters to jump through.

Links

http://www.josepheastwood.com/ – Blog

https://www.facebook.com/josephswriting – Facebook page

https://twitter.com/#!/Joe_Eastwood – Twitter

Got any questions for Joseph?  Leave him a comment adn show your love!!

Write on my friends, write on!

The First Time

This Virtual Blog Tour is winding down to the final weeks.   I hope you are enjoying my guests, they are an awesome bunch of people!  It’s been a great opportunity to get to know these writers, and learn from them.  My guest today is Nikki Noffsinger.  Last week she hosted me on her blog, so this week I get to return the favor.  I love it when I find like-minded authors, and I think my romance reading fans will appreciate Nikki as well.  So without any further delays, heeeeeeeere’s Nikki!

The First Time

by

Nikki Noffsinger

            I remember like it was yesterday and several bra cups smaller, my first time. I had waited for this moment it seemed all my life-well my life according to Molly Ringwald movies.  Anyone remember those movies?  How many of us thought our high school experience would be like one of those movies like Fast Times of Ridgemont High, The Breakfast Club, or Pretty in Pink?  We just all set ourselves up for disappointment, didn’t we?  I’m starting to get off topic here.  I can go on and on about the eighties forever if you let me. I guess for the most part, it’s due to the fact it was my childhood thus some of the happiest years of my life. The early nineties weren’t all that great.

Being a girl, it should be no brainer that with all the horror movies I loved to watch that there would be a few “love stories”.  Again, it is a perfectly female thing to do. I had gone over and over in my mind how I expected my first time to be. The stars would align; the cosmos would be in a total state of Eros.  I had dreamt of that crucial moment when sparks would fly and I would soar through the heavens on pure euphoria.

Funny how expectations often don’t go the way they should.

At sixteen, what did you expect dear reader? What were some of your crazy dreams? Did you accomplish any of those? What ones didn’t work out?  Okay you only have to highlight a few; never fear I remember being sixteen.  We all wanted to conquer the world in some way, didn’t we?

My first time though, was not met with flowered garlands or notes played on golden harps by chubby cherubs.  I do not think the cosmos was aligned nor was Jupiter in the seventh house or whatever. What I recall of it was disaster.  It was nothing short of horrific without all the Carrie White drama.  Wow, wouldn’t it have been cool to have been telekinetic in high school? I mean, not the killing people part of it but the possibilities are endless to a sixteen year old. Sorry, my mind is starting to wonder. So that should tell you right there how traumatic this event in my life truly was.

That afternoon, my sister had spent hours, literally hours curling and teasing my hair into perfection. It was winged, banged, and bulletproof.  My eyeliner was perfection with the exception my eyes were still burning like hot coals from my sister and best friend Cheryl trying to do both at the same time and using my eyeballs as testing sites. I never had to worry about full lips because I always had them but I was a reddish strawberry blonde at a time when blondes were considered, “cute”, “sexy”, and “popular”. Brunettes were a close second; probably thanks to starlets like Phoebe Cates and Kelly Le Brock. For some reason, only a few guys actually preferred us reds over those two. However, tonight was not about hair discrimination and the fact that I wasn’t the run of the mill model perfect looking girl; however I was a pretty nice looking size twelve.

My palms were sweaty and I couldn’t stop rehearsing a thousand and one scenarios in my mind. The radio was playing everything from Guns n Roses to Madonna. It was just what I needed; Madonna, the blonde ambition, on a night such as this; one of the more important nights of my sixteen years of life. This night was going to possibly affect the rest of my life!  I remember stepping out onto the asphalt and walking with trepidation. I was nervous. I had the mental image of the virgin in white stretched across a stone altar and then some hooded dude mumbling what sounded like gibberish right before ….well okay, you have to know I was and still am a huuuuge movie buff and I might have been watching too many horror flicks.

As my anticipation grew and there within my line of vision was what I had been waiting for and dreaming about for as long as I could remember. It was like being in the Olympics and finally seeing the finish line tape stretched across the track and knowing that you were right about to win and hear the crowd roar.  My finish line was a boy who I had spoken with over the phone and flirted with for weeks until he finally asked me out.  A lot of girls said he was quite the “babe” (term “babe” was used before it was cool to say “hawtie”). All I know is Boy X had hair clean down to his waist and looked like he came out of a MTV music video…well maybe not that good but he was close. Okay so maybe he wasn’t close but he was only a year older than me so he was in the neighborhood.  Anyhow, all I knew all my friends didn’t have a guy with hair like that and his face was unblemished by puberty and he liked me. Who wouldn’t want to have their first with a rarity such as an unblemished face at puberty and long blondish-brown hair?

We walked around the mall, talking and laughing. We held hands and even looked in a few stores. First was the music store so we could reaffirm we had the same taste in music and then Spencer Gifts, to kind of drop the hint that I was “ready for love”. Okay laugh now but who didn’t sneak a peek in the “naughty” section of a Spencer Gifts at the local mall? Yeah that’s what I thought.

As soon as I ditched my sister and best friend we went outside. I remember the weather was cool but not frigid. It was just coming out of spring. Summer would be starting soon and school would be out. I had gone from, Are you there God, It’s me, Margaret to Cheyenne Splendor. This was the moment I had dreamed about and waited for; well one of them anyhow.  He leaned in, closed his eyes, and our lips met. Our tongues danced and I waited.  I waited past the taste of stale Mountain Dew and the aroma of Stetson mixed with sweat.  Some things a girl can over look. However, I didn’t feel the earth move, hear explosions, or feel my body go limp and wanton. It hadn’t been a bad first real kiss, but it simply hadn’t been what I had expected.

We kissed often during our three-month affair – which to a teenage girl is some serious time. When we broke up, I cried. Oh how I would miss that hair and all those late night chats. Boy X hadn’t been a bad boyfriend until he dumped me for some other mall rat but for as pretty as he looked; his kisses had been underwhelming.  They weren’t like the fevered ones I had seen in movies or read in books. They hadn’t made my insides clench or had even stirred the butterflies. So when I wrote stories about kisses, I wrote what my mind had dreamt up. I mean all those hours of watching all those movies and the books on the subject hadn’t been for a lost cause here.

So tell me, what was your first kiss like? Was it anything like you imagined it would be? If you write any genre of romance do you draw on your own personal experiences or not?

I write love scenes both the way I see them in my head and from experience. I write how I want to be touched and what my character should be feeling.  I write more wanting to convey the connection not just the graphic act.  If someone is describing chocolate to the person who has never tasted it they would use their own feelings to create that taste.  I want to do that very same thing that all starts with a kiss.  All my favorite romance novels have all done that very same thing and for some of those books, I’ve been found fanning myself or heading to a cold shower or two.  In my opinion I think that it is why people are drawn to romance of any genre is because they want to feel and see what it is the author is describing.  For some, perhaps it’s a yearning to just want to feel for a moment the bliss of loving and being loved.  Who knows but it is fun to write and create. It is even more fun to watch someone who has never read anything in my genre and see the shock and blush that comes over their face  and then tell me how they really got the story not just the juicy stuff.

So that is one of my firsts. It wasn’t what I expected and it kind of let me down but here I am uncorrupted by the Dr. Phil assessment writing about thousands of kisses I’ve never had but have seen dozens of times in my mind along with lots of other things.  So tell me, who was your Boy X?  Did it live up to your expectations?  How has it influenced your writing or the books you select?

About the Author

            Nicole Noffsinger or Nikki as she is known is a 37-year-old mother of two children and has always loved writing and creating stories from a young age. She lives with her family in a mid-sized Indiana town. Aside from writing she has an eclectic taste in both music and art, loves to travel, and has a great love of all things that go “bump” in the night.

Links

http://www.xoxopublishing.com

http://nikkitrueblue.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/nicole.noffsinger

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Realm-Of-Author-Nikki-Noffsinger/191125007586215