Showing posts with label Goodreads. Show all posts

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Today's Authoberfest featured author is JAMES KNAPP

James is a Philip K Dick Award Finalist, his novel 'State of Decay' won the Compton Crook Award and his work will be featured in the upcoming 'The Doomsday Chronicles.'

Let's see what James had to say about reading, writing and zombies!

1. It’s Halloween, pick 3 of your favorite writers to paint the town red with and tell us why you chose them.
James says: I'd pick Paolo Bacigalupi, Stephen King, and, since it's Halloween, the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe. I'd pick Paolo because he is very nice, draws large crowds, and would probably put up with my constant ordering of candy corn shooters. I'd pick Stephen King because Stephen King. Finally, I'd pick the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe so that when I invariably need a break from the crowd we can hang out in a booth in the back of the place and talk shop (I am the only one who can see and hear Poe in this scenario), then later I can freak him out by watching Saw with him on my phone.

2. You’re ready to head out with your pillowcase to collect loads of confections on All Hallows’ Eve, what’s your costume and why did you choose it?
James says: I would dress as a Terminator, for a couple of reasons. One, as an 'intact' Terminator my costume would be relatively cheap. Two, it would give me an opportunity to flex my horrible Austrian accent for the night, something which everyone knows never ever gets old, and Three (and most importantly) I saw an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer a long time ago where some sort of supernatural tomfoolery caused everyone to literally become whatever they were dressed as on Halloween, and on the off, off, off chance that actually happens I'd love to be a Terminator.

3. Old Mrs. Robinson opens her door and you’re holding open your pillowcase patiently waiting. “Oh deary,” she says in her frail, little old-lady voice. “I forgot it was Halloween. Don’t know why you kids go begging anyways. Let me go find something to give you.” She shuffles off and finally returns three and a half minutes later with 5 pennies, 2 peppermint candies that look like they went through the dryer, and her deceased husbands dentures. “Take what you like,” she offers, squinting at you.
What do you choose and why.
James says: This is a classic trap - Old Mrs. Robinson is clearly a witch of some sort and is trying to pawn off 'Needful Things' style cursed objects to me. Assuming that the pennies are cursed to offer *bad* luck to whoever picks them up, the peppermint candies are cursed so that when sucked they actually coat your tongue with wintermint flavor, and the dentures are cursed so that while the wearer will always know 'just what to say' in any given situation, 'just what to say' in this case will invariably be something horribly racist and/or misogynistic. I would therefore pick the pennies, since I think pennies now officially cost more to mint than they are worth - it is far less likely anyone will bother to pick them up and get cursed, especially once I toss them into the same plastic bin where I discard our cats' used litter.

4. I really love reading Dean Koontz but some of his stuff scares the bejesus out of me. What’s the spookiest book you’ve ever read?
James says: This is a short story and not a book, but I have to pick it because it is one of the creepiest things I've ever read; Born of Man and Woman, by Richard Matheson. Double-U, Tee, Eff?

5. You’re a writer by day and supernatural creature by night. (Shed that human skin you sack of bones) What are you and why?
James says: I actually have to buck the trend, here (something I very rarely do, I assure you) - I write almost exclusively at night, and transform into a Werecoder during the day. My curse isn't as bad as you might think...at night I appear as a Fabio-esque hunk who has the pecs and abs of a young Brad Pitt, the hair of Brad Pitt, and the confident swagger of Brad Pitt...during the day I'm actually still a lot like that, except with the pecs and abs of Ron Swanson, the hair of Jason Statham, and the confident swagger of Brad Pitt (just not nearly as effective). My transformation occurs when the sun comes up, usually in the shower, and involves a certain amount of swelling and hair-graying.

6. Every author has a bookshelf filled with his or her favorite reads. Run on over to yours and tell us the scariest book you have.
James says: Honestly? Down on the bottom shelf, all the way to the left, are some old yearbooks of mine. Scarier than Saw.

7. We don’t all write horror but there comes a time when you’ve got to surprise your readers and make sure their hearts are still beating. How do you prepare yourself to get in the spooky writing mood?
James says: Sadly I don't have to - readers too often seem to find even my comedy dark...

8. Stephen King’s front porch light is on but there are no Halloween decorations.
Do you:
a) trick-or-treat and cross your fingers that he’s handing out the good stuff
b) run screaming
c) call your mom to bring your favorite King paperback and beg for an autograph
James says: Well...in my scenario, Stephen King is already with me, Paolo, and the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe and King already thinks it's kind of weird that I insisted on going to his house to trick or treat when we all know he isn't there, but after he goes around the back and opens the front door to humor me I then run screaming just to mess with him (and to make Edgar Allen Poe laugh because, let's face it, he's still kind of messed up from watching 'Saw' on a phone).

9. Congratulations, you just won the literary lottery and sold a million books at full price! The royalty check clears on October 28th. What are you buying for the neighborhood kids?
a) an assortment of mini candybars
b) an assortment of cheap, hard candies
c) full size Hershey bars
James says: I'm sorry, but in this scenario I am far too drunk and (with the exception of my monocle and top hat) far too naked to hand out treats to children.

10. Your writer friend calls you with some frightening news. They’re giving up on writing, can’t take the pressure any longer. What do you tell them?
James says: Remind them that, no matter how discouraging the business end of it may be, they love to write almost as much as they love candy corn shooters - never give up...everything worth doing is hard, that's why it's hard. If it's what you love, then never stop writing.

Connect with James!

Buy his books at his Amazon Author Page

About the author

James Knapp was born in New Hampshire in 1970, and has lived in the New England area since that time. He developed a love of reading and writing early on, participating in young author competitions as early as grade school, but the later discovery of works by Frank Herbert and Isaac Asimov turned that love to an obsession.

He wrote continuously through high school, college and beyond, eventually breaking into the field with the publication of the Revivors trilogy (State of Decay, The Silent Army, and Element Zero). State of Decay was a Philip K. Dick award nominee, and won the 2010 Compton Crook Award. Ember, The Burn Zone, and Fallout were all written under the name James K. Decker.

He now lives in MA with his wife Kim.

Friday, October 9, 2015

Please Welcome Isaac Marion author of WARM BODIES

Way back in 2013, I read WARM BODIES. It made me laugh out loud, it made me a little sad and it made my heart go pitter patter. Since then R's deepest thoughts have stuck with me and made me smile. So when the super awesome Isaac Marion said, "Heck yeah," to an interview, I was super pumped!

Let's see what Isaac had to say about reading, writing & Zombies!

1. It’s the zombie apocalypse and writers have got to stick together to survive. Pick 3 authors to be on your zombie apocalypse killing team and tell us why you’d choose them.
Isaac Says: Cormac McCarthy because he probably knows about guns and he could intone bleak poems about our misery while we sit around the campfire. Miranda July because she could pacify the zombies with whimsical bittersweetness. Joseph Aguilar because he’s an old friend and I don’t want to spend the apocalypse hanging out with a bunch of creepy celebrities I’ve never met before.

2. I tend to write about my fears, and one of those fears is losing authors whose books I love. If Stephen King and J. K. Rowling were drowning in a river, who would you save first?
Isaac Says: Stephen King, because I owe a good sized portion of my creative identity to him and he’s already had one brush with death; seems unfair for him to drown a few years later.

3. We authors are voracious readers. My TBR list is approximately 8 miles long. What are you currently reading?
Isaac Says: Currently in the middle of the above-mentioned Joseph Aguilar’s book of poetry and flash fiction, Half Out Where. Also Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Isaac Asimov’s The End of Eternity.

4. What is the one book that you could read a million times and never get bored with?
Isaac Says: There is definitely no such book. I have a restless mind. There are maybe four or five books I’ve read twice, but that’s as far as I can go. The one that seems the most inviting to reread is probably Everything Matters by Ron Currie Jr.

5. Last year my favorite read was The Martian by Andy Weir. What was your best read of 2014?
Isaac Says: Since you said this same thing in your interview with Andy Weir, I half expected you to tell me your favorite was Warm Bodies but it seems you’re speaking from the heart! Well, 2014 feels so achingly far away so I don’t know if I can even remember which books I read that particular year...I may be forgetting other favorites but Steppenwolf, by Hermann Hesse, springs to mind.
Meredith says: My favorite read from 2013 was "Warm Bodies." This blog held a placeholder for my Goodreads review of "Warm Bodies" in the top right-hand corner for almost 3 years :) I wish I had a screen shot to prove my love and dedication.

6. This year my favorite read has been The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. What’s the best book you’ve read so far in 2015?
Isaac Says: Now this is easier. I don’t even know if this counts as a “book” but I read the complete works of H.P Lovecraft (I may have skipped one or two less essential tales) and it sent my mind screaming into an illimitable void of nameless gibbering horrors!

7. You’re a writer by day and a superhero by night. (Take off those geeky glasses Superman) What’s your superpower?
Isaac Says: Immutability. My body can never be affected or altered by anything. This makes me invulnerable to everything: physical injury, disease, age, hunger, thirst--immortal and entirely self-sufficient. In this state I’d be able to explore every inch of the world and every activity in human life without any fear or urgency.

8. I have writing spots all over my house: my desk, my couch, the patio, and my bed. Where’s your favorite spot to write?
Isaac Says: I do almost all of my writing at local coffee shops. I spend enough time home alone already; if I made it my workplace too, I’d go crazy. But I do tend to do my editing at home, since I’m more easily distracted while editing, and I do most of that on my back yard deck overlooking downtown Seattle.

9. We’re supposed to love all of our children equally, but there are some scenes I’ve written that really stick out in my mind. Tell us your favorite scene from one of your books.
Isaac Says: I’m probably biased by their freshness but my favorite scenes are definitely in my upcoming Warm Bodies novel, The Living. But since I can’t talk about those yet, I’d have to say it’s a scene in my short story “Jerry Lives Forever” (published in Tethered by Letters issue #7) when Jerry lives through the expansion of the sun and subsequent collapse of the universe. I really enjoy going all the way out there.

10. Sometimes a little too much of myself slips into my characters. Which one of your characters most resembles you?
Isaac Says: Sometimes in short stories I don’t make much effort to separate the narrator from myself, but in any of my novels, it’s never me. I guess R from Warm Bodies comes the closest, but he’s just one slice of my personality, or maybe my personality at a certain era in my life, long ago. Combine R with Perry and you come a little closer.

11. I’ve always got tunes rocking while I’m writing. Tell us five songs that are on your playlist.
Isaac Says: My writing music is very different from what I’d listen to for pleasure. It has to be instrumental with fairly flat dynamics--no vocals and no big shifts in mood or intensity because that will throw me out of my head space. I have a playlist with a bunch of different songs for different moods, and I play whichever one matches the mood of the scene I’m trying to write--sad, bittersweet, triumphant, creepy, etc. A few that I come back to often are “Villa del Refugio” by This Will Destroy You, “Prospectors Arrive” by Jonny Greenwood, “Bookstore” by Jon Brion, “Lamb’s Breath” by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and “An Ending (Ascent)” by Briaan Eno.
Meredith says: I think "Lamb's Breath" is going to give me nightmares, I could only listen to a tiny bit of that.

12. If you could tell an aspiring author one tiny tidbit of information, what would you say?
Isaac Says: Don’t write “for an audience.” That leads to safe, impersonal, formulaic pandering. Don’t write “for yourself.” That leads to masturbatory noise that does nothing for anyone but you. Write to communicate. Write to connect to other minds and share something.

Connect with Isaac

About this author

Isaac Marion is a young hermit living in Seattle with his beard and his cat, starving, hysterical, naked. His first novel, WARM BODIES, was adapted into a film in 2013. A prequel novella, THE NEW HUNGER, will be released some time in 2015, and he is currently working on an absurdly ambitious concluding volume, which will hopefully be released late 2015 or early 2016. And he will let you in on a little secret: no one wrote this bio about him. He is writing it in third person, pretending to be some raving publicist or besotted fan for some reason of ancient and baffling literary convention. He is me. Hello, I'm Isaac, hello.

Enter the Goodreads Giveaway for a chance to win a copy of THE NEW HUNGER!

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Today's Authtoberfest featured author is Teresa Watson!

1. It’s Halloween, pick 3 of your favorite writers to paint the town red with and tell us why you chose them.

Teresa says: Victoria Laurie, because she’d be able to pinpoint the houses with the best candy; Stephen King, because he could tell the best scary stories; and J.M. Barrie, because he might have some extra pixie dust lying around, and who wouldn’t want to fly around on Halloween?

2. You’re ready to head out with your pillowcase to collect loads of confections on All Hallows’ Eve, what’s your costume and why did you choose it?

Teresa says: What little girl didn’t want to be Wonder Woman growing up (I had to be a princess; Mom couldn’t make a Wonder Woman costume…or wouldn’t)? Everyone always chooses to dress up as scary things, but she stands for all the things that are good, and sometimes, people need to have a little hope in this crazy world of ours, even if it’s just make believe.

3. Old Mrs. Robinson opens her door and you’re holding open your pillowcase patiently waiting. “Oh deary,” she says in her frail, little old-lady voice. “I forgot it was Halloween. Don’t know why you kids go begging anyways. Let me go find something to give you.” She shuffles off and finally returns three and a half minutes later with 5 pennies, 2 peppermint candies that look like they went through the dryer, and her deceased husbands dentures. “Take what you like,” she offers, squinting at you.
What do you choose and why.

Teresa says: I’m not sure I would take any of them. She might look like a frail, old lady, but you could really be an evil witch in disguise. She could have coated the pennies with poison; those peppermint candies could have been made out of mothballs; and the dentures, well, they’re just gross. For all you know, she slowly poisoned her husband with arsenic, which could still be on the dentures. All valid points!

4. I really love reading Dean Koontz but some of his stuff scares the bejesus out of me. What’s the spookiest book you’ve ever read?

Teresa says: Stephen King’s It. I’ve also seen the mini-series based on the book, and Tim Curry as Pennywise still scares the crap out of me!

5. You’re a writer by day and supernatural creature by night. (Shed that human skin you sack of bones) What are you and why?
Teresa says: Wow, this one is really hard! There are so many possibilities! I mean, who wouldn’t want to be a succubus (making love to a different gorgeous man every night), or an Amazon like Wonder Woman, kicking some serious butt? But I’m the type of person that likes to help other people, so I would probably choose a fairy, so that I could do nice things at night for the people I have witnessed doing good things for others during the day.

6. Every author has a bookshelf filled with his or her favorite reads. Run on over to yours and tell us the scariest book you have.

Teresa says: Again, Stephen King’s It!

7. We don’t all write horror but there comes a time when you’ve got to surprise your readers and make sure their hearts are still beating. How do you prepare yourself to get in the spooky writing mood?

Teresa says: I’m always trying to throw in little twists and surprises in the stories that I write. I think of what might upset them the most (i.e. killing off their favorite character, or upsetting the relationship between two of the characters), then I write it. I know I’ve done the right thing if my beta readers send me messages saying, “Are you out of your mind?!!!! How could you?” If they do that, then it stays in the story.

8. Stephen King’s front porch light is on but there are no Halloween decorations.
Do you:
a) trick-or-treat and cross your fingers that he’s handing out the good stuff
b) run screaming
c) call your mom to bring your favorite King paperback and beg for an autograph
Teresa says: In order, c, a, b…but, since this is Stephen King’s house, I’m pretty sure b may be the only thing that happens!

9. Congratulations, you just won the literary lottery and sold a million books at full price! The royalty check clears on October 28th. What are you buying for the neighborhood kids?
a) an assortment of mini candybars
b) an assortment of cheap, hard candies
c) full size Hershey bars

Teresa says: C, because I remember what it was like to be a kid and seeing all those mini-bars in the bottom of the bag. Besides, I don’t have to worry about dealing with the kids coming off the sugar high!

10. Your writer friend calls you with some frightening news. They’re giving up on writing, can’t take the pressure any longer. What do you tell them?

Teresa says: I have had someone tell me that. I told my dad the same thing once, and this is what he told me: “Keep writing! You’re writing to tell the stories that you want to tell, and there are people who want to read them. You’ve heard from them; they’ve told you this. As long as you are happy with the stories that you write, that’s what is important. Don’t give up what you’re passionate about. Find a way to do it better, and keep doing it. I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished. Keep it up!”

Connect with Teresa!

The first story I wrote was on the back of old homework papers in the fifth grade. I'm a voracious reader, so it makes sense that I grew up to be a writer. My favorite genre is mysteries. I always knew who did it on "Murder, She Wrote" fifteen minutes into the show!
I try to incorporate humor into my stories because of my wicked sense of humor. Laughter is the best medicine in the world! Throw in a good mystery and you've got the makings for a very enjoyable experience!
The reason there is more conversation in my stories than description is because I want the reader to feel like they are a part of the story. I want you to feel like you are sitting in the room, right there, listening to it as it happens. My mother, who is also a mystery lover, is the main reason I write my stories the way I do: with no graphic violence, no overly descriptive love scenes. Just a good old fashioned mystery with as much humor as possible.
If this is what you are looking for, you've come to the right place! Give my stories a try. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Today's Authtoberfest featured author is JOHN GREGORY HANCOCK!

1. It’s Halloween, pick 3 of your favorite writers to paint the town red with and tell us why you chose them.
John says: I'm assuming living, right ? although, its Halloween, so dead is within the realm. Okay, Living: Stephen King, Zoe Sharp, Clive Barker. Dead: Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, H.P. Lovecraft. And by "paint the town red" I mean "have a fantastic conversation with".

2. You’re ready to head out with your pillowcase to collect loads of confections on All Hallows’ Eve, what’s your costume and why did you choose it?
John says: George Clooney, because then my wife will love me. :)

3. Old Mrs. Robinson opens her door and you’re holding open your pillowcase patiently waiting. “Oh deary,” she says in her frail, little old-lady voice. “I forgot it was Halloween. Don’t know why you kids go begging anyways. Let me go find something to give you.” She shuffles off and finally returns three and a half minutes later with 5 pennies, 2 peppermint candies that look like they went through the dryer, and her deceased husbands dentures. “Take what you like,” she offers, squinting at you.
What do you choose and why.
John says: Dentures. always pick dentures. Unless you can be batman, then be batman picking dentures.

4. I really love reading Dean Koontz but some of his stuff scares the bejesus out of me. What’s the spookiest book you’ve ever read?
John says: Well, the book that most creeped me out the most was The Exorcist, because I read it when I was eleven, the only person in the house at night , during a crashing thunderstorm with no electricity and reading it with a flashlight. I should mention this was before the movie came out. My imagination was much, much worse than what Blatty came up with, trust me.

5. You’re a writer by day and supernatural creature by night. (Shed that human skin you sack of bones) What are you and why?
John says: Always be a werewolf. Howling at the moon has to be invigorating. Feasting on the blood of your enemies only more so.

6. Every author has a bookshelf filled with his or her favorite reads. Run on over to yours and tell us the scariest book you have.
John says: The 30 lb. leather covered oversized 150 year old bible with my ancestor's names scrawled in the front. If that isn't the beginning of a great horror story, I don't know what is.

7. We don’t all write horror but there comes a time when you’ve got to surprise your readers and make sure their hearts are still beating. How do you prepare yourself to get in the spooky writing mood?
John says: For my book crawlspace, there is a scene where Ethan is trapped inside an MRI that is too small for him. This happened to me. Writing this scene was reliving it, I was covered in clammy sweat when I finished writing it. I was not born claustrophobic, but since being trapped in a tube and dropping my panic button, unable to breathe, is why I am now.

8. Stephen King’s front porch light is on but there are no Halloween decorations.
Do you:
a) trick-or-treat and cross your fingers that he’s handing out the good stuff
b) run screaming
c) call your mom to bring your favorite King paperback and beg for an autograph
John says: D: break in a side window and start making pig noises.

9. Congratulations, you just won the literary lottery and sold a million books at full price! The royalty check clears on October 28th. What are you buying for the neighborhood kids?
a) an assortment of mini candybars
b) an assortment of cheap, hard candies
c) full size Hershey bars
John says: Nothing. Those neighbor kids didn't write the book for me. And they should get off of my lawn!

10. Your writer friend calls you with some frightening news. They’re giving up on writing, can’t take the pressure any longer. What do you tell them?
John says: If I'm truly a friend, I'll support them no matter what they decide. But if I'm a fellow writer in a horror story, I will tape them to a chair and make them use dictating software to write book 4, dammit because I've waited long enough.

Connect with John Gregory Hancock!

Author Bio:

John Gregory Hancock is a storyteller.
A graphic professional for many years (which is one way to tell a story), his graphic journalism garnered international awards, and was nominated for a Pulitzer. He incorporates his visual sense in his ability to spin compelling yarns.
Currently, he has seven books of his own, and has written for The Future Chronicles anthology series, whose titles have hit the overall Amazon Top 10 Bestsellers list. The Immortality Chronicles - a Top 5 SF Anthology and Hot New Release - featured his story 'The Antares Cigar Shoppe', which was also nominated for Best American Science Fiction.
His work has appeared in other anthologies, including; Prep For Doom, Bite-Sized Offerings: Tales & Legends of the Zombie Apocalypse, Flying Toasters - The DeadPixel Tales, and Off the Kuf.
Hancock is not tied to any one genre, but is comfortable in the science fiction/fantasy/horror realm. Even a dash of humor, at times. The foreword to his 'A Plague of Dreams' says it well:
"These stories, these lies, these Dreamwood Tales, are dipped in the heady ink of my fevered dreams. They travel unique and varied paths to arrive at your shuttered door. I entreat you to undo the latch and let them in to lie upon your hearth. They will not bite. Except for the ones that do."
He lives with his wife and soul mate (who puts up with him, beyond all logic) and a fantastically brilliant son (who thrashes him soundly in video games -- really, it's no contest). They are hopelessly landlocked in Midwest America, far from ocean or desert. Or glacier, come to that.
Like many of his characters, life has shaped and unshaped him.
His fingers itch to write and so far, luckily, people seem to enjoy the things he offers.

______________________

Other Titles by John Gregory Hancock:

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Today's Authtoberfest featured author is Lindsey Winsemius

1. It’s the zombie apocalypse and writers have got to stick together to survive. Pick 3 authors to be on your zombie apocalypse killing team and tell us why you’d choose them.
Lindsey says: Max Brooks; he's got the big picture concept of what's going to happen in the world. Jaq C. Reed; she's going to keep us positive when we're about to lose all hope. Robert Swartwood; he knows what the Zombies are thinking...

2. If Stephen King and J. K. Rowling were drowning in a river, who would you save first? And now you have to tell us why.
Lindsey says: Neither; less competition for the rest of us. Just kidding. They wouldn't need help; they are both creative genius' and could save themselves. They'd probably end up rescuing me...

3. We authors are voracious readers. My TBR list is approximately 8 miles long. What are you currently reading?
Lindsey says: I am just about to sit down and begin One Second After by William R. Forstchen (I know, I can't believe I haven't read it yet, either). It has been on my list for awhile, and I finally loaded it onto my kindle.

4. What is the one book that you could read a million times and never get bored with?
Lindsey says: Don't tell, but while I am totally addicted to Post-Apoc / Dystopian / Futuristic Sci Fi, my first love is romance. I have probably read Lisa Kleypas' Blue Eyed Devil at least thirty times. Although, Max Brooks' World War Z is a close second.

5. Last year my favorite read was The Martian by Andy Weir. What was your best read of 2014?
Lindsey says: I need to remember all the way back to 2014? Hmm. Daryl Banner's excellent post-apoc The Beautiful Dead was hilarious and so creative, I almost cried when he announced he was following it up with a sequel (or two) which are now the Beautiful Dead series, all phenomenal reads.

6. This year my favorite read has been The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. What’s the best book you’ve read so far in 2015?
Lindsey says: While I've read some really excellent books, like Kaitlyn Davis' The Shadow Soul, I think I might have to go with Jaq C. Reed's The Ungoverned as my fav. While it was her debut novel, it was a strong book with a great environmental angle that I loved and I think we can all relate to.

7. You’re a writer by day and a superhero by night. (Take off those geeky glasses Superman) What’s your superpower?
Lindsey says: I go by the name of Supermom; I don't need to sleep. Apparently ;) My second choice? I've always envied Matilda the power to move things with her mind.

8. I have writing spots all over my house: my desk, my couch, the patio, and my bed. Where’s your favorite spot to write?
Lindsey says: I feel like I should say something exciting like the beach (which is a great place to write, but I get so distracted) or a local tea shop (which is also nice, but the Internet can be too spotty for research), so my favorite place is in my home office at my desk. With a window cracked, my music on, and a glass of wine...

9. We’re supposed to love all of our children equally, but there are some scenes I’ve written that really stick out in my mind. Tell us your favorite scene from your book Reaper.
Lindsey says: I think I had the most fun writing the scene where Aerina and Marcus, my main characters, head "outside" of their carefully protected city-state and do some really fantastic off-roading over the mountainous terrain to get to the outpost towns. It reminded me of my adventurous youth...

10. Sometimes a little too much of myself slips into my characters. Which one of your characters most resembles you?
Lindsey says: I have two characters that both share equally my traits: My main character, Aerina, who is too opinionated and tends to offend people, and is also a little too worried about fitting in; and also Lina, a secondary character (and the star of my current book in progress) who is a pleaser, and tends to be nervous about trying new things. I love to write my characters overcoming the weaknesses I find in myself and struggle to overcome. But dang them, it is always so easy for them...

11. I’ve always got tunes rocking while I’m writing. Tell us five songs that are on your playlist.
Lindsey says: Yes! I was hoping for this question. I love to create soundtracks for my books. Reaper always included Bastille's Pompeii, Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men, Imagine Dragons' Radioactive, Avicii's Wake Me Up, and Ella Henderson's Ghost.

12. If you could tell an aspiring author one tiny tidbit of information, what would you say?
Lindsey says: Can I pick two things? 1) Don't worry too much what other people think. It can be so tough to put your book out there, with your whole heart in it, and hear negative feedback or even crickets. This brings me to my second thing: 2) Be tenacious. Don't give up because you only sell three copies of your first book. Keep marketing, keep promoting, and KEEP WRITING! And I hope to hell you enjoy it all, because it might be awhile before you make any money from it.

Connect with Lindsey!

About the Author:

Lindsey Winsemius learned from a young age that books hold the key to new worlds. As a young adult, she was often caught with forbidden romance novels under her mattress.

After studying Psychology and Anthropology at Michigan State University, Lindsey began working as an editor and marketer. Her passion for reading has led her to become part of an initiative to promote independent authors and literacy called Frantic Froggy. She lives in Grand Haven, Michigan with her husband and two young children. She is often at the beach with a book, or making up stories featuring her children.

"Writing about myself is much more difficult than writing a novel. It is easy to craft characters. I'm still learning about myself.

I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. In the meantime, I keep busy taking care of my husband and two children in West Michigan. I enjoy short summers on the lake and survive the long winters by hibernating inside, dreaming up stories. Some of which I actually write.

I'm a freelance editor, a part-time digital marketer, and full-time supermom. I'm very passionate about education, literacy, and supporting independent authors, which is why I am part of FranticFroggy.com.

Connect with me on social media or join my mailing list to keep in touch!"

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Today's Authtoberfest featured author is Carol Davis!

Let's see what Carol had to say about reading, writing and All Hallows' Eve!

1. It’s Halloween. Pick 3 of your favorite writer buddies to paint the town red with and tell us why you chose them.
Carol says: Actually there are only two I’d pick: Debbie and Beki. They’re the ones I go to Vegas with, the ones I hit fan conventions with – the ones who “get” me and my crazy emotional introverted fangirl writer life. They’re the ones I can laugh with, or not laugh with; the ones who are always there with a hug when I need it. I can brainstorm new stories with them and know I’ll get help I can actually use. They’re my teammates, more so than anyone else I know. The only downside is, we all live in different states. Oh… and as far as “painting the town red” on Halloween – we’d probably be curled up in front of the TV with a big pile of snacks, watching our favorite episodes of Supernatural.
Meredith says: I LOVE Supernatural!!

2. You’re ready to head out with your pillowcase to collect loads of confections on All Hallows’ Eve. What’s your costume and why did you choose it?
Carol says: I have a mental picture of myself dressed as Elsa from Frozen… and looking good enough that I won’t scare little kids. (Heh.) But since this is the real world (and assuming I could find a decent seamstress) I’d probably go in Starfleet uniform. Star Trek opened the door to my first sales as a writer, gave me a chance to work in Hollywood, and it’ll always have a place in my writerly heart. Beyond that – in the world of Trek, they don’t much care if you don’t look like Elsa from Frozen.

3. Old Mrs. Robinson opens her door and you’re holding open your pillowcase, patiently waiting. “Oh, deary,” she says in her frail, little old lady voice. “I forgot it was Halloween. Don’t know why you kids go begging, anyway. Let me go find something to give you.” She shuffles off and finally returns three and a half minutes later with 5 pennies, 2 peppermint candies that look like they went through the dryer, and her deceased husband’s dentures. “Take what you like,” she offers, squinting at you. What do you choose and why?
Carol says: The money. Always go with the money! No, seriously… if she’s an old woman, there might well be a rare coin in amongst those 5 pennies. You might end up with a 1943 copper that’s worth $80,000.
Meredith says: That would be awesome!

4. I really love reading Dean Koontz, but some of his stuff scares the bejesus out of me. What’s the spookiest book you’ve ever read?
Carol says: Books don’t generally scare me (which, yes, is an odd thing for a horror writer to say). I’m a very visual person – very affected by sight, sound, overall mood. Koontz tells some terrific stories, as does my lifelong favorite writer, Stephen King, but I can’t honestly say they scare me. What scared me the most was a 1980s movie called The Entity. I saw it alone in the theater at night, and it freaked me out so much I couldn’t go home. I had to go across the road to The Empire Strikes Back and detox before I could consider being home by myself in the dark.

5. You’re a writer by day and a supernatural creature by night. (Shed that human skin, you sack of bones.) What are you and why?
Carol says: Something that’s very ethereal, I think – something that can run, and fly, and slip through small spaces. Sometimes I feel very hemmed in by the limitations of my body, and I think it would be freeing to be “a wisp of air and smoke.”

6. Every author has a bookshelf filled with his or her favorite reads. Run on over to yours and tell us the scariest book you have.
Carol says: I’ve got an entire bookcase filled with Stephen King’s books, all in hardcover. He’s my guru, my Jedi master – the best storyteller I can point to, bar none. As I mentioned above, his books don’t honestly scare me because I’m too dependent on sight, sound, smell and so on. But a fair number of other people seem to be pretty spooked by The Shining, so I’ll go with that one. Dead women in the bathtub, creepy little-kid ghosts, a dad who comes after you with an axe… That’s got to hit all the buttons.

7. We don’t all write horror but there comes a time when you’ve got to surprise your readers and make sure their hearts are still beating. How do you prepare yourself to get in the spooky writing mood?
Carol says: Actually, it’s like writing anything else – you have to figure out mood and pacing. What images do you need to set up? What’s going on in the background? I’m a very visual person, so I parse out what’s there “on screen” as if I were creating a painting, filling in the details as I go.
Oh, and add some blood. ;)

8. Stephen King’s front porch light is on but there are no Halloween decorations.
Do you:
a) trick-or-treat and cross your fingers that he’s handing out the good stuff
b) run screaming
c) call your mom to bring your favorite King paperback and beg for an autograph
Carol says: If I happen to be with my Musketeers (scroll back up to question #1), I suspect we’ll be ringing the doorbell and hoping not only for good candy, but the chance to shake the man’s hand and hang out for a minute. Hoping too that I could remain coherent enough to say a few words. After all, he’s The Man, and you can’t squander a chance like that. Though I suspect he’s the one who runs screaming from trick-or-treaters! He’s probably had about 85 billion of them show up at his house.

9. Congratulations, you just won the literary lottery and sold a million books at full price! The royalty check clears on October 28th. What are you buying for the neighborhood kids?
a) an assortment of mini candybars
b) an assortment of cheap, hard candies
c) full size Hershey bars
Carol says: That’s thinking kind of small, isn’t it? I’d throw them a party. Music, costumes, apple-bobbing, games. A full-on haunted house thing. Candy and cookies and cake. Maybe some grownups who went all-out with their costumes doing a bit of role-playing. A magic show. Give ’em something to remember!

10. Your writer friend calls you with some frightening news. They’re giving up on writing, can’t take the pressure any longer. What do you tell them?
Carol says: The same thing I tell myself when I run into a wall: give yourself a break. I always think of my mind as a sort of story-generating blender. If you don’t fill it up, nothing comes out. So go live your life. Read. Watch TV and movies. Watch and listen to other people. Fill the well up with material – ideas for scenes, people’s voices, snapshots of the things around you.
I think one of the worst things that’s happening these days is the rush to Publish All The Things. A book a month, or (heaven forbid) 5 books a month. Writers seem to grow very accustomed to big paychecks very quickly, and if there’s a bump in the road, they panic. The same thing happens if they force themselves to write stories that mean nothing to them – writing in a genre they don’t like, or trying to write too much, just for the money. To my mind that just makes you a shill. Do what you love. Live your best life, and tell stories. Don’t let it kill you. Live with good intentions, and write with joy. You may not make the big bucks, but you’ll rest easier at night.
Unless there’s something with big, sharp claws scratching at your window…

Connect with Carol!

BIO:

Picture an 11-year-old girl with pen in hand, spiral notebook in her lap. That was me, back in the beginning: a shy little girl with glasses, who wanted more stories about her favorite characters...so she wrote them.

And nothing ever really changes.

What's been most important to me throughout my life is FAMILY, and that's what I write about - whether the story involves a couple of investigative reporters digging into a series of mysterious drownings, or a young girl who discovers that her colony's alien "staff" is being mistreated and killed, or a harried woman searching for "something simple." It all comes down to FAMILY, the one we're born with, and the ones we build through marriage, friendship, and shared experiences.

I was a secretary for 38 years. Now I'm a full-time writer and editor. I work on a laptop, but at heart I'm still a little girl with a pen who's anxious to share her stories.

My blog: http://caroldavisauthor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caroldavisauthor

Twitter: @caroldficwriter)

E-mail: ficwriter1966cd@gmail.com

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Today's Authtoberfest featured author is Peter Heller author of THE DOG STARS and other awesome books!

I came across 'The Dog Stars' one day while doing an author event at a nearby Barnes&Noble. This book was on the discount shelf. I kept picking it up, reading a few pages and setting it down. Finally I splurged and bought the hardcover before leaving. 'The Dog Stars' was a great read, poetic and perfectly paced. I really really loved it.

Let's see what Peter had to say about reading, writing and zombies!

1. It’s the zombie apocalypse and writers have got to stick together to survive. Pick 3 authors to be on your zombie apocalypse killing team and tell us why you’d choose them.
Peter says: Denis Johnson. Because he’s a crazy f**ker and if he has as much energy as his fiction he’d be a nonstop killing machine. C.D. Wright, the poet. She’s a truthteller, very brave. She’d wade in with a bat if you were in trouble. Stephen King, of course. Anybody who has written that many books about scary crap has superhuman stamina and is pretty much afraid of nothing.

2. If Stephen King and J. K. Rowling were drowning in a river, who would you save first? And now you have to tell us why.
Peter says: Oh, here he is, again, drowning now. Well, they would save each other. The river is actually the liquid incarnation of King’s dead infant identical twin, and Rowling would trick the evil imp into running up onto the shore by offering him a scholarship to Hogwarts and a synopsis of Book Eight.
Meredith says: Best response I have ever received for that question. Flat out.

3. We authors are voracious readers. My TBR list is approximately 8 miles long. What are you currently reading?
Peter says: Vila-Matas, The Illogic of Kassel; Collected Poems of Robert Pinsky.

4. What is the one book that you could read a million times and never get bored with?
Peter says: Any of Rexroth’s translations of the Tang Dynasty poets; Poems of the Masters, trans. By Red Pine.

5. Last year my favorite read was The Martian by Andy Weir. What was your best read of 2014?
Peter says: The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll by the Colombian Alvaro Mutis.

6. This year my favorite read has been The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. What’s the best book you’ve read so far in 2015?
Peter says: Hey, thanks! I am loving this latest Vila-Matas, mentioned above. He’s a genius. From Barcelona. Makes me want to move there.
Meredith says: :)

7. You’re a writer by day and a superhero by night. (Take off those geeky glasses Superman) What’s your superpower?
Peter says: I can drink as much coffee as I want and still sleep at night.

8. I have writing spots all over my house: my desk, my couch, the patio, and my bed. Where’s your favorite spot to write?
Peter says: Couch in local coffee shop.

9. We’re supposed to love all of our children equally, but there are some scenes I’ve written that really stick out in my mind. Tell us your favorite scene from your book The Dog Stars.
Peter says: It’s the one where Hig is heartbroken and walking out of the trees and across the sage plains pulling a kayak sled and he gets a call crackling on his radio from his gun-nut associate Bangley who is in a watchtower a mile away, and Bangley tells him that he is being followed by nine marauders. Tells Hig to walk forward calmly and to start singing and he will direct him.
Meredith says: I loved that scene! I think that was the first "oh crap, these dudes are in trouble" feeling I had when reading.

10. Sometimes a little too much of myself slips into my characters. Which one of your characters most resembles you?
Peter says: Hig is a lot like me. He loves what I love, shies away from what I shy from. Loves to fish, fly his plane, loves his dog Jasper. Poetry. Kind of a dreamer. But he is definitely not me: he is six-one and he can cook.

11. I’ve always got tunes rocking while I’m writing. Tell us five songs that are on your playlist.
Peter says: Rain. Thunder. Rain.
Meredith says: It's really the best 'song' to write to.

12. If you could tell an aspiring author one tiny tidbit of information, what would you say?
Peter says: Write a set amount of words every day. Every one. Pick an amount that you can get done with good energy and be very disciplined in not writing under or much over. But always stop in the middle of an exciting thought or scene. Write your quota and keep going a little longer if you have to, so you’re smack in the middle of something. Then make yourself stop. That way you can’t wake to jump out of bed and continue the next morning.

Connect with Peter Heller

Facebook

Goodreads

Amazon Author Page
Webpage

(Read about Peter Heller's life below and let me know afterwards if you also feel like you've done absolutely nothing for your entire existence.)

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About Peter Heller:

Peter Heller is a longtime contributor to NPR, a contributing editor at Outside Magazine and Men's Journal, and a frequent contributor to Businessweek. He is an award winning adventure writer and the author of four books of literary nonfiction. He lives in Denver. Heller was born and raised in New York. He attended high school in Vermont and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire where he became an outdoorsman and whitewater kayaker. He traveled the world as an expedition kayaker, writing about challenging descents in the Pamirs, the Tien Shan mountains, the Caucuses, Central America and Peru.At the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he received an MFA in fiction and poetry, he won a Michener fellowship for his epic poem "The Psalms of Malvine." He has worked as a dishwasher, construction worker, logger, offshore fisherman, kayak instructor, river guide, and world class pizza deliverer. Some of these stories can be found in Set Free in China, Sojourns on the Edge. In the winter of 2002 he joined, on the ground team, the most ambitious whitewater expedition in history as it made its way through the treacherous Tsangpo Gorge in Eastern Tibet. He chronicled what has been called The Last Great Adventure Prize for Outside, and in his book Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River.

The gorge -- three times deeper than the Grand Canyon -- is sacred to Buddhists, and is the inspiration for James Hilton's Shangri La. It is so deep there are tigers and leopards in the bottom and raging 25,000 foot peaks at the top, and so remote and difficult to traverse that a mythical waterfall, sought by explorers since Victorian times, was documented for the first time in 1998 by a team from National Geographic.

The book won a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, was number three on Entertainment Weekly's "Must List" of all pop culture, and a Denver Post review ranked it "up there with any adventure writing ever written."

In December, 2005, on assignment for National Geographic Adventure, he joined the crew of an eco-pirate ship belonging to the radical environmental group the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as it sailed to Antarctica to hunt down and disrupt the Japanese whaling fleet.

The ship is all black, sails under a jolly Roger, and two days south of Tasmania the engineers came on deck and welded a big blade called the Can Opener to the bow--a weapon designed to gut the hulls of ships. In The Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World to Save the Planet's Largest Mammals, Heller recounts fierce gales, forty foot seas, rammings, near-sinkings, and a committed crew's clear-eyed willingness to die to save a whale. The book was published by Simon and Schuster's Free Press in September, 2007.

In the fall of 2007 Heller was invited by the team who made the acclaimed film The Cove to accompany them in a clandestine filming mission into the guarded dolphin-killing cove in Taiji, Japan. Heller paddled into the inlet with four other surfers while a pod of pilot whales was being slaughtered. He was outfitted with a helmet cam, and the terrible footage can be seen in the movie. The Cove went on to win an Academy Award. Heller wrote about the experience for Men's Journal.

Heller's most recent memoir, about surfing from California down the coast of Mexico, Kook: What Surfing Taught Me about Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave, was published by The Free Press in 2010. Can a man drop everything in the middle of his life, pick up a surfboard and, apprenticing himself to local masters, learn to ride a big, fast wave in six months? Can he learn to finally love and commit to someone else? Can he care for the oceans, which are in crisis? The answers are in. The book won a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, which called it a "powerful memoir...about love: of a woman, of living, of the sea." It also won the National Outdoor Book Award for Literature.

Heller's debut novel, The Dog Stars, is being published by Knopf in August, 2012. It will also be published by Headline Review in Great Britain and Australia, and Actes Sud in France.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Wayward Pines Series Books 2 &3 by Blake Crouch

Books 2 & 3 of the Wayward Pines series did not disappoint. I finished this entire series in 3 days.

Fast-paced, action packed and littered with a bit of heartbreak.

Blake Crouch reminds me so much of Dean Koontz - whom I love.

I can't say too much about these books without spoilers so you should just read them.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

New Release Tuesday

Friday, August 7, 2015

Please welcome Nick Cole author of Soda Pop Soldier & other awesome books

I stalked Nick on social media. Since we live on opposite ends of the continent we had to do this interview via email. Wait... I do all of these interviews via email. Let's see what Nick had to say about reading, writing and zombies!

1. It’s the zombie apocalypse and writers have got to stick together to survive. Pick 3 authors to be on your zombie apocalypse killing team and tell us why you’d choose them.

Nick says: “I think I’d pick Michael Bunker author of Brother Frankenstein because he’s the off-grid Maestro and so his common sense, survival skills and integrity commend him well. Next I’d pick John L. Monk, author of Kick, because he’s got some guns, survival interests and I’ve played Left 4 Dead with him. He’s a team player and a shooter which makes a good wingman for the run and gun world of the Zombocalypse. Next I’d pick Christopher Boore, author of the novella Next Up. He’s the awesome DM for our podcast SciFi Writers Playing Old School D&D and we’d probably start playing first edition Dungeons and Dragons since there’s no TV or interwebz now that the zekes ruined everything.”
Meredith says: I've been waiting for someone to pick Bunker!

2. If Stephen King and J. K. Rowling were drowning in a river, who would you save first? And now you have to tell us why.

Nick says: “I’d save Miss Rowling because she’s a lady and I’m sure Mr. King would want it that way because he’s a standup dude. But, I’d go back for Stephen King because he’s one of my literary heroes. Even if he’d gone under for the third time. Plus, how bad would zombie Stephen King be? It’d make a great memoir once publishing got started again. Me and Zombie Stephen King: A Friendship... sort of.”
Meredith says: Sweet Jesus... a zombie Stephen King. I may not be sleeping tonight. Also, I can't wait to read that memoir, you know, if I survive the zombie apocalypse.

3. We authors are voracious readers. My TBR list is approximately 8 miles long. What are you currently reading?

Nick says: “Currently I’m reading Arturo Perez-Reverte’s The Siege. It’s bang-up historical fiction set during the siege of Cadiz during the Napoleonic era. I pretty much read anything Perez-Reverte writes. He tweeted me once.”
Meredith says: Awesome!

4. What is the one book that you could read a million times and never get bored with?

Nick says: “For fiction I bet it would be The Lord of the Rings. Including The Hobbit. But, I annually read The Old Man and the Sea in one day. Sometimes sitting in the pool, or the bathtub.”

5. Last year my favorite read was The Martian by Andy Weir. What was your best read of 2014?

Nick says: “I would agree with you on The Martin. A fantastic read that’s both witty and gripping. I did a panel with Mr. Weir at ComicCon and he’s one of the nicest writers I’ve ever met. Really super guy. I also really enjoyed Jonathan Maberry’s Patient Zero.”

6. This year my favorite read has been The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. What’s the best book you’ve read so far in 2015?

Nick says: “I finally got around to reading A Prayer for Owen Meany. It’s a heartbreakingly excellent book. The prose and pacing and pathos hurricane’d into a touching snapshot of a giant. Bold Statement: I sincerely doubt that even the author knew what he was creating in the character of Owen Meany. It’s one of those books that sticks with you as you walk away. Or are driven down the road, taking the bus, waving at it one last time through the back window. It’s probably influenced a fantasy memoir SciFi thing I’m futzing with.”

7. You’re a writer by day and a superhero by night. (Take off those geeky glasses Superman) What’s your superpower?

Nick says: “Ninja Skills. Because Ninjas are awesome and it’s probably a pretty healthy way to live. The training, I mean. Not the poisons, combat to the death octagon style and criminal underworld assassinations. Other than those things... ninja-ing seems great. Batman’s basically a ninja.”

8. I have writing spots all over my house: my desk, my couch, the patio, and my bed. Where’s your favorite spot to write?

Nick says: “Backyard on the patio. I live in a very balmy Southern California out near the edge of civilization. So, as a Wastelander I enjoy the melancholy loneliness of breezy afternoons.”
Meredith says: Since I live in the frozen north east, that actually sounds kind of nice.

9. We’re supposed to love all of our children equally, but there are some scenes I’ve written that really stick out in my mind. Tell us your favorite scene from one of your books.

Nick says: “The End of The Wasteland Saga. It gets me every time.”

10. Sometimes a little too much of myself slips into my characters. Which one of your characters most resembles you?

Nick says: “I’m probably a cross between the Old Man from The Old Man and the Wasteland, PerfectQuestion from Soda Pop Soldier and Holiday from Apocalypse Weird: The Red King.

11. I’ve always got tunes rocking while I’m writing. Tell us five songs that are on your playlist.

Nick says: “Right now...
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - Elton John Version
Rocket Man - Elton John
Nobody Told Me – John Lennon
Rock you Like a Hurricane – Scorpions
You’re So Vain – Carly Simon”
Meredith says: I love this playlist!

12. If you could tell an aspiring author one tiny tidbit of information, what would you say?

Nick says: “Perform your book. Read it, out loud, over and over again until it sounds as good as any audio-book performed by any of Stephen King’s celebrity narrators. As many times as it takes. I probably read The Old Man and the Wasteland upwards of twenty times, out loud, in my backyard, one spring.

Get your copy of SODA POP SOLDIER

Connect with Nick Cole

("I drink your Milkshake. I drink it down!")

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Nick Cole is a former soldier and working actor living in Southern California. When he is not auditioning for commercials, going out for sitcoms or being shot, kicked, stabbed or beaten by the students of various film schools for their projects, he can be found writing books for Harper Collins.