Posts Tagged ‘novel’

Conversations with Dellani Oakes

Posted: October 1, 2015 in Author Interciew, Reflections, Writing
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It’s time for another author interview! This one is with a Facebook friend whom I’ve known for a couple of years now. And while what we write and how we write are very different, I’m glad to know her and I think she’s just terrific. She’s got a new book out and she’s got more on the way, apparently. I think we could all learn a thing or two from her.

Oh, and you’ve seen her name on the blog before. Remember that radio show I was on not too long ago? She’s the host. Ladies and gentleman, Dellani Oakes (hey, that rhymed!).

Welcome to my blog, Dellani. Tell us a little about yourself and what you write.

I’m an author of mostly romantic fiction. I have one historical romance, one retro-romance, three futuristic romances and three romantic suspense already published. My latest book, One Night in Daytona Beach, is an erotic romance, due out October 28th.

Many of my books are set here on the east coast of Florida, as I have lived here since 1989 and consider it to be my hometown. I may not be a Florida native by birth, but I am at heart. I think it’s impossible to live anywhere and not have it become a part of you.

What are some books you’ve written that you’d recommend?

Would I be awful if I recommended them all? It depends upon what you like:

Historical Romance set in Florida in 1739. Full of spies and intrigue – Indian Summer

Retro Romance set in Nebraska in 1976. Action packed thrill ride. – Under the Western Sky

Futuristic Romance/ Sci-Fi set in space in 3032, some hot romance, intrigue, action…. – The Lone Wolf Series – Lone Wolf, Shakazhan and The Maker

Romantic Suspense, all set in Florida in the present. Ice meltingly hot, each also features a fast paced suspense – Undiscovered, The Ninja Tattoo and Conduct Unbecoming

Erotic Romance. The genre and title say it all. Ultra hot, this is also a romantic suspense, which takes place in 24 hours – One Night in Daytona Beach

Each book has something different to recommend it. If you want exciting stories that make you laugh, cry and fall in love, then any one of them would be a good fit.

Good thing there’s quite a selection, then. What are you working on now?

I tend to hop around a lot when I write. From time to time, I am inspired and the story flows quickly, finishing as fast as I can type. Other stories come more slowly. I just finished a romantic suspense a few days ago, that I wrote in four days. I am currently working on book 3 in a YA series I started 3 years ago (not yet published).

What made you become a writer?

I never wanted to be anything else. Necessity sent me in different directions, but I always was compelled to write. I have told stories and written poems, songs, short stories and plays for as long as I can remember. I started writing my first novel in 1988, but it’s still unfinished. My first complete novel is my historical romance, Indian Summer.

You also run some online radio programs, including one I was on. Tell us about those.

It all started with April Robins. She came up with the idea of Red River Writers in 2007, a page on Facebook. I happened to join. Shortly after, author JD Holiday suggested that we begin shows on Blog Talk Radio interviewing one another and other authors. I hopped in as an assistant and was terrible at it. A couple other hosts left and April asked me to take over their show slots. Thus, Dellani’s Tea Time and What’s Write for Me were born.

Dellani’s Tea Time, 4:00 PM EST every second Monday of the month, was my first show. I wasn’t quite as bad at that as I was at assisting, and found I quite liked it. Things ran more smoothly once I brought on author Christina Giguere (Rachel Rueben) as my co-host. She keeps things running smoothly for me and is an absolute treasure.

What’s Write for Me was kind of an afterthought. We decided to add more shows to the schedule and we were asked to pick a day. I asked for the fourth Wednesday of the month (also at 4:00 PM EST) because I didn’t want shows back to back. (Though some months they are)

The shows are available, for free, to any author – or soon to be author. Best way to reach me is through Facebook. I also interview authors on my blogs.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

If I’m not writing, I’m reading. (I also admit to a terrible Netflix addiction) I enjoy re-reading books I love, as well as finding new ones to treasure. I also read and edit my own work. Once a week, I volunteer at the local Council on Aging where I facilitate a small writing group. It’s called Fun in Writing and we have a wonderful time. It’s a great way for older people to socialize and keep their minds sharp. I joke that most of my best friends are old enough to be my mother, but it’s true.

What is some advice you would give to other writers, regardless of experience or background?

Write the way that feels right. So many “how to” books will tell you that you must outline, plan carefully and draw up character sketches before you put pen to paper (or fingers to keys). I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to do that. There is no shame in just sitting down to write, often called pantsing (writing by the seat of your pants) by those who are supposedly in the know. (We panters call them plotters). I’ve been told that my way of approaching a story is inefficient, that I can’t possibly accomplish my goals as a writer if I don’t know where my story is going. According to the naysayers, I’m supposed to put all my creative energy into an outline. I beg to differ.

I have written books in as little as four days. I’m not talking about some 20,000 word novella (though I’ve done those as well), I mean a 54,087 word novel. That’s after I completed another novel for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writer’s Month) the day before, which was just over 50,000. (The Ninja Tattoo, available from Tirgearr Publishing). Tell me my way is inefficient, please!

Just to bring my point home, I’ve spoken to dozens of authors over the last few years and the majority of them write the way I do, rarely planning anything. There is absolutely nothing wrong with plotting and planning, but there’s nothing wrong with my way, either.

And finally, if you were stuck on a desert island and you could only bring three books with you, which three would you choose?

Oh, I hate this question, because I can’t think of only three books I’d want to have. Honestly, give me notebooks and pens so I can write my own. I will keep myself wonderfully entertained.

I’m seeing that response quite a lot these days. Well, thank you Dellani for joining us. Good luck with everything you do in the future.

If you would like to check out more about Dellani and her work, you can check out her blog, as well as Facebook and Amazon.

All for now. I’m going to try and get a few more interviews out, among other things, so look out for those. Until next time, my Followers of Fear!

Conversations with Barbara G. Tarn

Posted: September 29, 2015 in Author Interciew, Novel, short story, Writing
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It’s been quite a while since I’ve done an author interview, but hey, I’m glad when I have the chance to do one. Today’s interview is with someone else who’s work is being featured in When The Lights Go Out, which if you haven’t checked out I highly recommend you do.

Barbara G. Tarn prefers the term “world-creator”, which I can understand, seeing as she not only writes but does graphic novels and a few other things too. She’s lives in Italy, which I think is pretty cool, and she’s constantly working on something (boy, does that sound familiar). And apparently I know her husband, as do many other writers. Lots of interesting connections here. Her story in WTLGO is related to her upcoming novel, which sounds very interesting if you read the summary. And speaking from personal experience, her short story is pretty awesome as well.

So without further ado, let’s get into it!

Welcome to the show, Barb. What is your short story about and what inspired it?

The Return of the Crusader is historical fantasy. It’s Halloween – when it was still called All Saints Eve – in 1150 AD Lincolnshire and the lady of the manor is hoping her husband will come back from the crusade… which he does, but as a vampire.

This story was inspired by the fact that Miss Naylor [Joleene Naylor, who helped put together WTLGO] wanted a Halloween story and I thought it was a perfect day for someone to be turned into a vampire! So I wrote this “origin” story for Kaylyn, who is Rajveer’s sister-in-darkness, and next year I will write her full story. For now you can see her in Rajveer the Vampire, out Nov.1st.

I’m a middle ages lovers and my historical novel  The Fern and The Cross is still in the drawer since I’m not happy with it. But all the research I’ve done for it will be useful to tell Kaylyn’s story, from 1150 AD to the new millennium – out Nov.1st, 2016.

Tell us what else have you written?

Star Minds is a science fantasy series. Then there’s Silvery Earth, adult unconventional fantasy. All books are actually standalone in both series, but if you follow the chronological order, you might see a pattern. Both series have lots of LGBT characters. Urban fantasy – Samantha’s body switches – and other contemporary titles are also out now. You can find everything at the Unicorn Productions website (that’s a logo I’ve had since the 1990s, when I did photocopied b&w fanzines to sell at the Italian comicons)

Are you a traditionally or self-published writer?

Indie because I’m scared of the draconian traditional contracts. But I’m submitting short stories to traditional markets – and rejections are piling up. Although I did get a Honorable Mention at Writers of the Future (and then indie-published that novella).

Nice! What got you into writing in the first place?

I’m writaholic. I’m married to Mr Writing. I’m an introvert and hate spoken words. I’d rather be writing than hang out. Should I say more? Okay, I was uprooted at 13, so that kinda shut me off from the real world… That’s when I started writing stories!

What is it about scary stories that you think draw people in?

I don’t read (or write) many scary stories, so I have no idea…

That’s a shame. Now, are you working on anything these days?

Redrafting Daya (another vampire that appears in Rajveer’s novel – probably a novella that might come out maybe at the end of this year or the beginning of 2016)) and Beautiful (a “retelling” of Sleeping Beauty with m/m protagonists).

What is some advice you would give to other writers, regardless of their level of experience or background?

Heinlein’s business rules: 1) you must write 2) you must finish what you write 3) you must not rewrite unless by editorial demand (and I mean editor in New York if you have a traditional contract, not a hired freelance) 4) you must put it on the market 5) you must leave it on the market until sold (either trad or indie). Don’t look for perfection or you’ll be stuck in rewriting hell forever. If you must take a course, go to professional writers such as Kevin J. Anderson, David Farland or Dean Wesley Smith. I’ve taken online and offline classes at WMG Publishing – and I started writing back in 1978. Thing is… you never stop learning.

Finally, if you were stuck on a desert island and could only take three books with you, what would you take?

Aren’t we past this with e-readers? 😉 Without wi-fi the battery would last long enough to read more than three books! I don’t know, I don’t have favorite books at this time… I’d probably spend the time telling stories to myself that I might eventually write…

Thanks for joining us, Barb. If you would like to check out more of her work, head to her blog, Facebook, Goodreads, or Amazon page for more. And make sure to check out When The Lights Go Out or Rajveer the Vampire, out November 1st.

All for now. I’ve got a few more interviews coming up, so keep an eye out for those. You have a great day, my Followers of Fear!

“What’s Write For Me” is Tonight!

Posted: September 23, 2015 in Living and Life, Writing
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I’m writing this out quickly before the show starts. I’ll be doing an interview with Dellani Oakes at 4PM EST (or 10PM for me, hence why the title says “tonight”) on her online radio show “What’s Write For Me.” I’ll be reading an excerpt from Snake, answering questions, and just having a good time despite how late it is for me.

I hope you’re able to tune in for the show. If not, I’ll try and post the interview at some later point for you to listen to. Either way, here’s the link for the show.

See you in about half an hour, I guess. Wish me luck, my Followers of Fear!

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: September 18, 2015 in Novel, Scary Stuff, Writing
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It’s Friday again, and you know what that means! It’s #FirstLineFriday!

On Fridays, bloggers write a post titled like this one, hashtag and everything, and post the first one or two lines of a potential project, work-in-progress, or a completed or published work and ask your readers to give you their feedback. It’s a lot of fun, believe me.

Today’s entry is what could start out a novel I had the idea for last weekend. I don’t intend to write it anytime soon, but it’s fun to play around and think about what could end up starting it or what could end up getting into the novel when I finally do decide to write it.

Anyway, enjoy:

On the first Monday of the fourth month of our sophomore year, my friends and I made a suicide pact. Since then, there have been several times where I wish we had all followed through, rather than chickening out and letting what happened next happen.

Thoughts? Errors? Ways to improve? Let me know in the comments below.

Well, that’s all for now. I’m going on a trip to Wewelsburg castle this weekend. The castle’s got a very interesting history, and I’m looking forward to exploring it (as well as taking lots of photos and writing a blog post about it when I get home).

Have a great weekend, my Followers of Fear! Until next time!

Twenty-Five Hundred Comments!!!

Posted: September 9, 2015 in Living and Life, Writing
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I’m pleased to announce that as of this morning I’ve passed another blogging milestone. I now have twenty-five hundred-plus comments on my blog. Thank you to Joleene Naylor whose comments on some of my most recent posts helped me get to this point this morning (check out her blog here by the way, because it is awesome).

I say this every time I reach a milestone, but I remember for the first year or so of this blog, I rarely got any views, maybe one or two every other day, if I was lucky. A comment was even rarer. At times I was tempted to shut down my blog. I had gotten into blogging to build an audience for my books, and yet I was finding it difficult to get anyone to read my work when it was free. What was the point?

But as time went on, I got better at blogging, I blogged more often, and more people started finding me.The number of people reading my posts grew, as well as the number of people subscribing, liking, and of course commenting on my blog. Do I have a ravenous fan base who is begging for my next book every second of the day? No, but I’m happy for the audience that I have and I think I’m getting there anyway.

Anyway, I’d like to thank everyone who has been helping me and supporting me this whole time. It means a lot to me and I can’t show my gratitude enough for how much you’ve helped me along these past four years. I hope that you continue to support me in the future as I work hard to become a great and terrifying (and possibly full-time) novelist.

Cheers!

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: September 4, 2015 in Novel, Writing
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It’s Friday again, so you know what that means! It’s #FirstLineFriday! Here are the rules if you don’t know them: on Fridays, you write a blog post titled #FirstLineFriday and write the rules down. You then post the first line or first two lines of a potential work, a work-in-progress, or a published story. Then you ask your readers to give their thoughts on the lines.

This week’s selection is from an idea for a novel I had earlier this week involving chimeras. I think it has potential:

Wes glanced up from the bed at Tommy, who was nervously grooming himself in the mirror. If tonight’s job goes well, Wes thought happily, I’m going to marry that man and we’re gonna hightail it out of this fucking city.

That probably wasn’t the beginning you thought it was going to be, was it? If so, good. I love defying expectations.

But what are your thoughts on this? Notice any errors I should fix? Does this seem like something you would read? Let me know in the comments below.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. It’s almost the weekend, so the chances of me posting something this weekend are pretty high. Until then, have a good one!

On the Possible End of “Hannibal”

Posted: September 3, 2015 in Living and Life, Review, Scary Stuff
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It’s been one week since what could very well be the series finale as well as the third season finale of Hannibal, based on Hannibal Lecter and other characters created by Thomas Harris, premiered. NBC has declined to keep the show going, and while the show’s producers Bryan Fuller and Martha De Laurentiis, as well as series star Mads Mikkelsen and the many, many fans of the show (“Fannibals” or “Lecterites”, if you will), would love to see the show go on in some form, there is a chance that the show will have to hang up the carving knife and that everyone associated with it will have to move onto new projects.

Personally, I hope that the show is still able to go on, maybe as a feature film as Fuller has hinted at, or maybe moves to Starz or Amazon (though if it’s the former and not the latter I may have to wait till the show is on DVD or Netflix, depending on my financial situation). Also, I think it’s a good investment to keep the show going. Yeah, Hannibal has always been ratings-challenged, which is why NBC cancelled it in the first place. However, they knew a show focusing on a serial killer was a risk to begin with, and they still went with it for three years, as did huge legions of fans.

Why? Well obviously Hannibal Lecter is a famous character who was already well-known because of Harris’ novels, the movie Manhunter, and the three Anthony Hopkins films. But that only drew people to the show in the first place. The reason they stayed is because the show’s creators managed to take the concept of a serial killer show, and elevate it to art. Fuller and his team could’ve simply created a simple procedural show with serial killers like The Following with a famous literary and film character in the mix. Instead they built on that premise and made most of the sets exquisite to the eye, turned ordinary conversations into psychologically and philosophically engaging character explorations that could evolve into verbal tennis matches sometimes, and gave every shot a purpose in how it was filmed.

Add into all that the brilliant characters: Hugh Dancy as the socially-troubled empath profiler Will Graham, Lawrence Fishburne as the ends-justify-the-means, will-do-anything-to-catch-the-killers FBI director Jack Crawford, and of course the quiet gentleman devil with a love of grilling up those who are rude or offensive, Hannibal Lecter himself. Every character brings something to the table, making you want to watch them interact with each other right up until the very (sometimes bloody) end. And of course, the brilliant writing. Even at the show’s less exciting moments, the writers till were able to make you want to keep watching, to find out what happens next. From the growing relationship between Will and Hannibal in the first season, to the terrifying flash-forward at the beginning of the second season, and Will’s struggle to truly rid himself of Hannibal in the third season, it just kept you watching.

Hannibal is art. Creepy, bloody, psychologically strange and terrifying art, but it is art nonetheless, and that’s something you don’t usually see with television shows. I honestly can’t say if Hannibal will go on in some form or another (I’m not psychic), but if it doesn’t, at least we know that it had an ending that tied up most of the loose ends of the story, and the ones left behind we can easily guess at. And with streaming and DVD releases, fans could still watch it and relive the beautiful psychological horror that the show was.

Still, I hope for more. The show was awesome, and Fuller had a vision to continue the show, even if he couldn’t get the characters from Silence of the Lambs (I would’ve loved to see how they changed up Clarice Starling and Buffalo Bill, seeing as I found one annoying and the other slightly comical). If allowed to continue, we could see some award-worthy horror on our screens someday.

So while we wait and squirm and wonder at the show’s fate, I’ll continue to hope. Because if the story of the strange relationship between a man and a monster in a man’s skin can intrigue me and so many other people, then surely it can attract a TV executive or two. And the story that ended too soon won’t end at all.

Oh and NBC, why do you keep doing this to me?! First Dracula, then Hannibal? Stop cancelling these creepy genre shows I really like!

Self-Pub Authors: When Should You Release a New Book?

Posted: September 1, 2015 in Journalism, Reflections, Writing
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My latest post from Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors is out. This time, it’s When Should You Release a New Book? No seriously, when should you? I pondered that question, so I went to find out the answer myself. And this article is the result of what I found out. So if you’ve ever wanted to know when you should release your new book, this might help.

If you like the article, read some of the others on the site. Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors is full of helpful advice on writing, editing, publishing, and marketing independently and doing it well. I should know, I’ve benefited from it in many different ways.

All for now, my Followers of Fear. Things to do, people to scare. Bye!

“Stuck in the Horror House”: Finished!

Posted: August 30, 2015 in Novelette, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I’ve just finished a new story, “Stuck in the Horror House” (not to be confused with a previous short story of mine, “Hunt in the Slaughterhouse”). I’ve been working on this story for weeks, and at one point I had to go back and start rewriting it because I was dissatisfied with the way the story was progressing. But now I’m glad that the first draft is finished. And it’s a long first draft too, 12,607 words, making it a novelette. Boy, when I have a story to tell I just don’t care about word count these days, do I?

“Stuck in the Horror House” is a story inspired by an episode of Ghost Adventures. In one episode, the GA Crew investigates a factory that has been converted into a haunted attraction, and one of the hauntings there was purported to be an actual demon, summoned by an actor there dressing up as Satan and reading verses out of an actual Satanic Bible and attacking said actor whenever he had the chance. That story stuck around with me, and so I ended up adapting it into a story. In this case though, I made the story about a bunch of teenagers who sneak into a haunted attraction during the off-season and one of them does a summoning ritual on a lark, which leads to all sorts of trouble. The protagonist of the story is telling his story to a psychiatrist, leading to questions about whether or not he’s imagined everything or if there’s truly a demon afoot.

Now, as far as first drafts go…I’ve had better ones. Even in the writing I could see places where this story can be improved in future drafts. But, like Ernest Hemingway said, most first drafts are shit. A lot of writing is revision, and that’s when the story really starts to shine and entrance. The first draft is laying down the bare bones so that they can form something extraordinary later on.

In the meantime though, I’m excited for where this story could go in future drafts. I definitely feel like with subsequent drafts it could make for a very terrifying story. Maybe it’ll even go into Teenage Wasteland, seeing as most of the main characters are 18 or 19 years old. We’ll see what happens.

In the meantime, I’m taking a break to watch a scary movie I recently found online. I might even write a review of it later. I also would like to write a blog post or two for my other blog, From the Voice of Common Sense, and I think I’ll take the time to write an article for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors before starting another story and then working on editing Laura Horn.

Yeah, I’m busy. And that’s not even including work or searching for whatever comes after my internship is over. And the way I work, I doubt I’ll ever slow down. Until next time, my Followers of Fear. Have a great rest of your weekend!

#FirstLineFriday

Posted: August 28, 2015 in Novel, Writing
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It’s Friday, which means Shabbat, the weekend, enjoying what might be the last real week of summer while you still can…and oh, #FirstLineFriday! Here are the rules: on Friday you write a post with the title like I have above, and you post the first or first two lines of a potential story, a story-in-progress, or a published story. Then you invite people to give their thoughts on the story.

Last week I did the first two lines of the second novel in a trilogy I hope to write someday (I did the first actually a while back, if I remember correctly). Here’s the third book’s opening:

A girl who looked to be about sixteen, slim and lithe, dressed in jeans, a dark jean jacket and a glowing neon mask, stepped into the DJ booth twenty feet above a crowded dancefloor. The club’s patrons roared for New York’s hottest young DJ, unaware that in reality this girl had been considered middle aged when their grandparents were probably still in high school.

Thoughts? Grammatical errors? Sentences too long? Let me know in the comments below.

All for now. I hope to be around later in the weekend, so keep an eye out for me, my Followers of Fear. Not a literal eye though; as cool as eye patches are, I don’t want you to have to get one on my account.

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