Wintersmith

Those of you who know me also know that I’m a shameless fan of Terry Pratchett, irrespective of his over-inflated ego and less than cordial interpersonal manner. I admire his quick wit, intelligence, writing style and the ability to sit down and produce at least one book a year (I’ve just completed a novel that I started in 1998 or 1999, so I’m speaking from the unenviable position of an expert in the field of procrastination).

Of course, some of his books are better than others. Some (like the children’s series Johnny, which is waiting for my children to grow up) I haven’t read yet. They are all unmistakeably pterry, though.

“Wintersmith” is a Discworld Novel and the third in the series of Tiffany Aching, the Sheep-girl Witch. I’m partial to all Discworld witches and Tiff is no exception. In this tale, she inadvertently gets Winter to fall in love with her, and - of course - the results will be disastrous if she doesn’t save the world, again.

I love Terry’s allusions to literature, so I’m glad to discover that the echoes of Snow Queen from the first Tiffany book (“The Wee Free Men”) resound here again. And I may be reaching, but the idea of becoming human in order to be with your loved one may have been borrowed from The Little Mermaid. There is also plenty of Greek mythology for those who like that sort of thing, myself included.

In “Wintersmith”, Terry also alludes to his own books, much to my enjoyment. The first place I spotted was a romance book Tiffany was reading, commenting about the author’s lack of knowledge when it came to a sheep farm (I wonder whether Terry was quoting from one of his own readers' letters there). The other reference was to “Where is my cow”, when Rob Anybody commented that the author hadn’t stretched himself there… that’s ok, my two-year old loved the book.

All in all, a yummy read. Now bring on “Making Money”… October is just around the corner!

Murder @ Work

Today's entry is a slice of shameless self-promotion. Enjoy!

(excerpt from a cosy murder mystery, "Murder @ Work" by Yvonne Eve Walus, Echelon Press 2004. Click here for more details.)

As usual, Christine longed for a swimming pool, and as usual, she knew that she and Tom could never afford it. It was something that belonged to the Old South Africa way of life.

"How was your day, honey?" she heard.

Tom was in the kitchen. Judging by the smell of fried chillies, he was preparing something deliciously Oriental. And deliciously fattening.

"Just great, thank you," she shouted back in a tone of voice that contradicted her words. "I'll tell you about it in a moment. I just want to make a phone call. The office phones are stuffed again. That's Africa for you."

The blouse was also too hot. She dialled her aromatherapist with one hand, tearing off the white cotton with the other. "Hi, it's your favourite customer," she said. "I need you. Desperately. Before I murder my boss. Can you give me an emergency massage tonight? Oh? Tomorrow before work then? Thanks. You're a star."

Wearing only her underwear, Christine ambled into the kitchen.

"Smells gorgeous. There goes my diet."

Tom looked up.

"Wow," he said. "A naked wife."

He dropped the knife onto the chopped pile of mushrooms and stepped toward her.

(excerpt from "Murder @ Work" by Yvonne Eve Walus, Echelon Press 2004. Click here for more details. Click here for reviews.)

Welcome A Dragon to the Blog!

Today we’d like to say a warm hello to writer Sandy Lender, who is visiting this blog as part of her online book tour. Sandy’s high epic fantasy novel titled Choices Meant for Gods has just been published by ArcheBooks Publishing. Check it out on http://www.archebooks.com/BookIDX/Indexes/Fantasy/CMG/CMGDesc.htm and read the interview with Sandy below.

Sandy will be available throughout the day to answer your questions, so feel free to post comments.

“Choices Meant for Gods” is an intriguing title. How does it relate to your book?
The lead character, Amanda Chariss, doesn't believe in herself at first. She views the confidence everyone else has in her as misplaced. Now, as she goes through her arc, she still has some reticence about the things she's asked to do, but she gets more comfortable with her role, but she still thinks the decisions she's asked to make are choices meant for gods, not a simple mortal girl.

I hear there are dragons in your book. Are they beautiful or scary?
There are two main dragons in the book. The first that we meet is terrible. She's an evil goddess as old as time itself who can actually morph between "human" and dragon form at will. And as frightening as Julette is in human/goddess form, you really don't want to see her in her dragon form…someone's probably going to get eaten.

The other dragon is wonderful. When we first meet him, he's just a fledgling—absolutely adorable and endearing. He lands on Chariss's balcony at night and watches her through the curtains because he's curious about this new human at the Taiman estate. And then one night Chariss catches hold of him…


Who are you when you’re not a writer?
Oh my…I don't think there's a time when I'm not a writer. I guess I have brief spells of insanity when I'm at Duran Duran concerts. I think my muse avoids me then because I'm just too loud. But I literally keep pen and paper with me at all times. I work for a magazine publishing company, so even my "day job" involves writing. Almost everything I do involves communicating through some means or another, and it's usually with the written word.


What made you decide to start writing?
Honestly, I think I was born with the desire! I used to write little stories for my great grandmother when I was a child; I wrote little one- and two-sentence "articles" for the class newsletter in first grade; it's just something I've always done.\

Who has influenced you the most in your writing?
There's a list, actually, that ranges from Jesus Christ, who kept me from getting too out of hand with the violence in Choices Meant for Gods (and who reminded me that Nigel and Chariss are NOT married—thus CMFG sports a PG rating instead of something insane like triple X), to Duran Duran to the Anglo-Saxon warriors that the Old English scops immortalized (I really want to meet the fellow who wrote Beowulf when I get to Heaven—I want to shake his hand!) to the Master of All Writing Charlotte Bronte.


Tell us about your road into the Published Kingdom.
This story would be horrific if not for the happy ending. I started out with the same depressing query-letter routine that most writers start out with. I'd research agents that represented fantasy authors, figure out which ones would accept new clients, send this sparkling query letter demonstrating my knowledge of publishing (I'd been in magazine publishing for 12 or 12+ years at that point as an editor and writer) and marketing. No one cared. Rejection-letter city, right? That got old fast, so, rather than continue getting beat up by that process, I decided to try something different—bypass the gatekeepers, as it were. I ended up going through a move in there, too, relocating to Southwest Florida to help someone in my life pursue his dream to go back to school. When I got to Florida, I joined a group that had a Writers Conference where I had a pitch session (which you can read about in the May 25 archives of www.alisonkent.com/blog) with ArcheBooks Publishing's Bob Gelinas. He accepted my manuscript and sent me a contract. Problem solved! I had my foot in the Publishing Kingdom door. And I am eternally grateful.

I cannot tell you how much effort it takes beyond that step, though. Holy cow. Marketing and promotion is not the job of the publisher in this industry these days. Even your high-n-mighty New York publishers don't have mongo budgets for marketing, and what budgets they do have are reserved for their big-name authors, not newbies. So a new author in the publishing industry has a path to beat through the underbrush to get noticed amid the 400+ titles being released each day to the marketplace. That's one of the reasons I'm in the middle of an online book tour for Choices Meant for Gods. I want to get my name out to as many online viewers as possible to let them now there's a new fantasy author on the scene. And that's why I'm grateful to you for letting me stop by your blog on that tour. You may not realize it, but you're providing me a great opportunity today and I thank you.


Please describe your usual day to us.
I'm up at 5:30 to prepare for the day. I post the Word of the Day and some other marketing-related and writing-related articles to my blog at www.todaythedragonwins.blogspot.com. Then I'm off to work (I have an hour commute) where I write and edit and produce magazines. After work, depending on the day, I'm either attending class, attending a writers meeting, or hitting a place to get a non-traditional venue to either hand out flyers about Choices Meant for Gods or sell the book on consignment. Once I get home, I fire up the computer to assist Nigel with his blog http://sandylender.blogspot.com because I can't really let him post without overseeing what he's writing about me. The evenings also see me editing Book II of the Choices trilogy, prepping future blog posts, managing the online book tour, helping out other writers with blogging questions (I give seminars on this topic), and writing. Now that the person I moved down here to support in following his dream has abandoned me and the house to foreclosure and bankruptcy (ooh, sounds like I made a mistake, doesn't it?), I have a few odd errands that interrupt my schedule, but I still make time to entertain my pet bird and keep up the marketing and promotion. Oh, once in a while, I eat. I usually go to bed around 1:30.


How much do you read?
A lot, considering my schedule! But I have found that most of my reading lately has turned into work, which is a shame. I'm reading specifically to provide reviews for other authors who need support in their marketing efforts.

Who are your favorite authors and why?
Hands down: Charlotte Bronte. (Are there other authors?) Seriously, I've been a Bronte fan since I read Jane Eyre one summer in high school. Holy cow. I think it was the first book that made me so mad I wanted to throw it across the room. The wedding scene (and everyone who's read it will understand) made me actually react out loud. And has anyone visiting today read Villette? Ugh…you read this fantastic story and get all the way to the end expecting roses and love and happiness and "oh, they finally get together," and Charlotte rips the rug out from under you in like the fourth- or fifth-to-last paragraph. That was another one of those moments where I was gasping at the page thinking, "She did not just end it that way." She's another one I have to meet when I get to Heaven…


Quick, sell us your next book.
Well, considering the working title may change, this may be odd. Choices Made by Gods is the sequel to Choices Meant for Gods, and it shows us Chariss growing in her role as the protector of a god who has just lost his power and who has an evil dragon hot on his trail. While Nigel Taiman struggles to keep her at his estate and bound to his side, the forces of prophecy, and the armies converging on his front lawn, threaten to take Chariss away. And it turns out he was right to try to make her stay…

Finally
Yvonne, thank you again for hosting me today at your site. I've enjoyed the questions you've had, and I'll check in to see what questions or comments I can answer from your visitors!

Five minutes with Jane Beckenham

"Hiring Cupid" by Jane Beckenham has just hit the stores, a fabulous new release with Linden Bay Romance. The premise itself is enough to set your whole body to "tingle" mode: you're rich and beautiful, and you find yourself hiring a gigolo...

Tell us a all about, Jane.
Hiring Cupid - I mean who would do this? Me? Nope, no way! But imagine you’ve bragged about some lover who doesn’t exist and to save face you hire a man. Of course no ordinary man. He’s absolutely got to be yummy. And of course Marco Valente is totally delicious. Hiring Cupid is set here in New Zealand, but the theme of the book, truth, honor, trusting your own heart, are universal for both men and women.

Well, if the gigolo were as yummy as the model on the cover of "Hiring Cupid", I would be tempted to hire him myself! Where can we get hold of a copy... of the book, not of the gigolo, that is?
Readers can check out the excerpt at http://www.lindenbayromance.com/comming_details.php?id=91 or order it at orders@lindenbayromance.com.

Jane, tell us a bit about your path to writing.
I get a bit embarrassed when people ask this, because most writers say, oh, they’ve always wanted to write, they were born to write etc, but I sort of fell into it. I read a lot as a teen particularly, as I spent many years in and out of hospital and became a voracious reader to pass the long hours. About 10 years ago, we got our first home PC and I love decorating, so was on one of those chat rooms, talking colors so on, and a lady I met (Terre Sexton of Sth Carolina) mentioned she was writing, and I got all enthusiastic and said I’d like to try that – why not she says – so what do I do, I write 30 pages that day and email it to her. She loved it! I was gobsmacked, but encouraged and that was the start of it all.

Going back in history now, so to speak, your books Woman of Valor, Leap of Faith and Be My Valentine are time travels- why time travel?
Well, TT is another world. Imagine going back in time, seeing history unfold. How exciting would that be? Okay, so they didn’t have modern plumbing, but a gal can side-step that for a few pages at least. Then again, what about some dashing highlander coming forward, seeing electric light, and imagine hot water on tap LOL! There is so much you can do with TT, also I loved history at school, and TT is one way of combining contemporary and history and of course romance.

So how do you choose an idea for a TT?
With Valor, it is co-written with Ellen Ben Sefer. Ellen and I met online – she’s an American transplanted to Australia, and I’m in NZ. We often said wouldn’t it be good to do a TT in Israel. Think of all the wonderful history there. Both of us had lived in Israel, and then one day chapter one arrived in my in box – and five weeks later, Woman of Valor was finished. We co-wrote Valor without having ever met, and in fact, Leap of Faith was the same, written before we’d ever met.

How does one co-write a book with someone they don’t really know?
There is a lot of trust there, faith in the other person. What we discovered along the way was that we each, at that time, had different strengths. Ellen was great with the intricacies of the history of Israel and ancient Judea, and I loved writing the setting and particularly the hero’s POV. It all fell into place. We would discuss each day how we wanted the story to go, then each would say what bit they wanted to write, and away we’d go. I would keep it all together and combine it into the master document. Writing with a co-partner is a great experience and one I can certainly recommend.

Be My Valentine was next, is that right?
Yes, I’d done 2 books with Ellen, but wanted to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. That I could actually do it on my OWN. Valentine was an exciting write, it fell into place so easily, and I could see the story as if it was a video in my head. I could see the slave auction, see the trek inland, hear and smell the Port Royal, where Valentine is set. At the end of it, I sighed with relief. I wasn’t going to be a one hit wonder.


What does the future hold, Jane?
I’ve got another two contemporaries with Linden Bay under consideration at the moment and I've just had one of them accepted. It's called "He’s The One". Imagine being a wedding planner and a virgin to boot. Imagine having your clients ask you questions about sex and you haven’t a clue how to answer. What is a girl to do? Easy really. She’s finds a hunk to teach her all there is to know about sex, of course!

Indeed. All in the name of research and better business service, of course, LOL. Jane, where can people get hold of you if they'd like to ask more questions?
I’d love to hear from readers, they can email me on neiljane@ihug.co.nz, and check out my website at www.janebeckenham.com, or see my books at www.lindenbayromance.com or www.trebleheartbooks.com

Well, I know I have one more question: "Who is that gorgeous guy on the cover and can I have his phone number?" :-)

Killing Johnny Fry

It’s labelled a sexistentialist novel, and with good reason. “Killing Johnny Fry” by Walter Mosley is a book about a man who’s come to question the meaning of his existence following his girlfriend’s infidelity. He chooses to explore the meaning of life by throwing himself into the arms of as many women as possible and by trying out kinky things not many people would be prepared to watch on the screen, much less participate in.

The title of the novel hints at some sort of a murder mystery or psychological thriller, but there is really very little in that line of plot, other than the main character’s obvious (though not immediate) desire to kill his rival (it took him about a week to stumble on that solution to the problem, but I guess he was too busy playing sex games with the upstairs neighbour and watching dirty movies to think straight).

The reviews warn that “Killing Johnny Fry” is only for those who enjoy sex and enjoy reading about sex. I think of myself as belonging to both the categories, and yet I couldn’t wait to be finished with the book and move on to something less depressing.

I’ve honestly read better on the not-so-reputable Internet sites... for research purposes, of course. Which reminds me: my erotica novella is finally finished and sent off to the publisher.

Writing, painting and archaeology

Today we are chatting to N.D. Hansen-Hill, a prolific writer and artist. She's written 28 novels and completed 500 paintings (working with acrylic and oils as well as cement to create texture)... all that while raising a family of 4.

1. Norah, you've recently heard that *The Hollowing*, is going to be contracted by Cerridwen Press. Tell us about the book.

The Hollowing's about a man with an unusual paranormal problem. As a kid, he wasn't nearly as terrified of the dark as he was of the dark patch which would appear in his room at night and threaten to swallow him up. As his life goes mad, Shawn Walsh is desperate to figure out why.

He should actually be looking at when.

The blurb:
Shawn Walsh's problems don't arise from his own troubled past...but from someone else's. His perception is off, because he's working within a time frame which has no relevance to him, or his present.
Unfortunately, his problems have everything to do with his family and his rather questionable heritage.
He refuses to give up hope. There is still a chance he'll be able to resolve his issues without dying, given the right place...
...and enough time.

2. Is that your first book with Cerridwen Press?

Gilded Folly was my first book with CP. It was published a little over a year ago and will be released in paperback soon. Gilded Folly's a story of lost royals from another dimension who no longer remember why they're here. When one of them is triggered to assassinate the others, their world is turned inside out, as are the lives of their closest friends on Earth, who (like themselves) have no concept of how "unique" these people truly are.

3. What is Cerridwen Press like to work with as a publisher?

They're part of Ellora's Cave and a rising star in the industry. There's a bit of a problem with books like mine, though - CP includes both romance and non-romance titles, but everything, promotionally speaking, is geared toward romance. Even the author-reader loop frequently chats about romance-oriented questions, which makes it difficult for books like Gilded Folly and The Hollowing (non-romances), to develop a readership. Many SF readers won't go to a site where romance appears to be the dominant genre.

4. Tell us more about your art.

I don't do nearly as much of it as I should! My writing takes me away from it. When I'm writing madly (as I frequently do), my creativity quotient seems to drop in other areas. That said, I'm putting along on a painting at the moment - trying to get back into a regular painting programme.

5. Where can we buy it?

Oh, I wish! I have a cafe owner who's been waiting months for me to bring her some paintings for display. If I keep up with my determined effort to develop some kind of "painting schedule", I'll probably list most of mine on Trademe.co.nz, just see the response. I've always sold most of them before I could get them up online, so I'll have to see what happens.
I'm not as good at it as I once was, either, because I had a painting hiatus of nearly a year, and I'm out of practice. Time to get my act together!

6. Readers are welcome to have a look at the cover of my "Sex Lies and Here Be Dragons" for an example of your work, but would you care to share another one with us?

I have one on my website (www.NDHansen-Hill.com). I want to give this painting away in honour of my paperback releases (In Trysts, Gilded Folly, etc).

7. You are a writer and a painter and a mother. To add to your load, you are an archaeology student. Tell us why.

No writer can exist in a vacuum. Writing is drama, and that needs to be balanced with normalcy, and everyday life. Archaeology fascinates me and I can utilise much of my past training (irrigation work, plant propagation, plant virology, etc.) to better understand and develop theories about prehistoric survival strategies. I enjoy the professional contacts, too!

8. I am full of awe for your time management skills. Any tips for our readers on how to cram 48 hours of work into 24?

I'm not really that efficient! The big thing is, I'm a single mum now, so I try to get everything finished by the time my youngest gets home at 3.30. Occasionally, I'll have a class that runs over, or some work that absolutely needs to be finished for a publisher, but generally, I'm there for her, even if it's just to watch TV, shop, or read Harry Potter aloud. I get up just after 4 a.m. every morning, and do what I can before the sun comes up! I also plan ahead. If something is due at a certain date, I try to break it up into manageable chunks.

Calling all the movies: the bad, the worse and the comparatively worthy

It all started with “Mr and Mrs Smith”, I think, that almost uncanny ability of mine to pick bad movies. “Mr and Mrs Smith” was the one movie I truly wanted to see when it was on circuit. I didn’t want to see Star Wars 3 (or 6, depending how you’re counting) that was also making the rounds at the time, but I did want to see Brad Pitt and Angelina. Basically, I fell for the advertising that promised a clever and witty thriller. Housewife-turn-spy is a fantasy that appeals to many women, and has been successfully implemented in “True Lies” and “The Long Kiss Goodnight”

For reasons varying from “not enough money to pay the babysitter twice as much as the tickets would cost” to “deadlines at work” and “deadline for a short story competition”, we only got to see the movie on DVD. And what a good thing that turned out to be: not only was it cheaper to stay at home, but also it enabled us to switch on the movie’s subtitles in order to understand the (mediocre) dialogue shouted amidst all the gory (mediocre) action. But even the dialogue didn’t help the (mediocre) plot.

That was in 2005. In 2006, I really wanted to see “Basic Instinct 2” and “Pink Panther” and “The Da Vinci Code”. “The Da Vinci Code” was so bad we stopped watching it twice, only to carry on in the vague hope of a clever twist at the end (there was a twist, but it wasn’t a clever one). If there was an Oscar for the absolutely worst movie of the year, I’d nominate this one.

“Pink Panther” was not as good as the Pink Panthers of the 20th century, too slapstick and with no finesse, but boy, was it better than “The Da Vinci Code”.... And we’re yet to see “Basic Instinct 2”, though I remember mentioning on this blog a year ago that it wasn’t a patch on the original.

Then there was an Australian movie (I forget the title - and good riddance) about a mathematician who predicted the stock market using fuzzy logic. That’s kind of like jacking up a car using cotton wool, but what I mainly had against that movie was that a kid died in it. A definite no-no ever since I’m a parent.

So, what have I seen that was actually not a waste of time (the precious time that I need to make writing deadlines of 1 June 2007 and 1 July 2007 and 31 August 2007)? Well, “Children of Men” - a SF movie - was very good, both the acting and the plot. Not exceptionally blow-you-off-your-feet clever or unexpected or thought-provoking, but good.

“Serendipity” - another SF movie - was also ok. Not having seen the series, I can only comment on the movie as a stand-alone. Good acting and a satisfying twist.

The irony is, I don’t even like SF.