We’ve just started work on the audiobook for “Dream Child”, and I’ve gotten the prologue and chapter 1 back from my fantastic narrator, Heather Jane Hogan.
So, without further ado, here’s a ten minute sample, featuring the real star of this book, Sara’s daughter Lizzie Alderson…
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I’m happy to be participating in the cover reveal for Venessa Kimball’s new novel this morning…
Here’s Venessa…
In 2010, Venessa Kimball was struck by an idea, a story, that needed telling. Having always been passionate about the written word, Venessa embarked on writing what would become her debut novel, Piercing the Fold: Book 1; a mature young adult/ adult crossover, paranormal, science fiction series. July 2, 2012, Venessa Kimball independently published the first book in the Piercing the Fold series. Book 2, Surfacing the Rim, released March 14, 2013.
In August of 2013, Venessa joined the publishing house, Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly. The Piercing the Fold series will be re-published with them beginning with Piercing the Fold: Book 1 on September 3, 2013. Surfacing the Rim: Book 2 will be re-published on September 24. 2013 and Ascending the Veil: Book 3 will be released for the first time on October 18, 2013. The final book in the series, Book 4 (Title TBD) will release in 2014.
As for the future, Venessa is already filling her Work-In-Progress folder. Two of her future projects are contemporary fiction and will reflect her diversity as a writer in other genres. When Venessa is not writing, she is keeping active with her husband and three children, chauffeuring said children to extracurricular activities, participating in charitable 5k and 10k races(crazy…but she loves to run), catching a movie with her hubby, and staying up way too late reading.
Follow her at her website, Facebook and on Twitter.
And now for the big moment, the cover for her brand-new novel, “Surfacing the Rim”…
It’s not just a pretty cover, it’s a pretty cool book, too. Here’s a little more about it:
The impending galactic event that will invade and evolve our world is upon us and our salvation lies in the hands of Jesca and her fellowship of Dobrian guardians. The sadistic Sondian fellowship’s inhumane corruption of our world is spreading like wildfire, redrawing lines between allies and enemies. Jesca’s fortitude is put to the test when she must make crucial decisions in battle and in love. She must choose between the predestined link that she shares with one man and the unresolved attraction she holds for another.
Will Jesca have enough courage to surface the rim of this reality?*The Piercing the Fold series is intended for Mature Young Adult and Adult readers due to the the paranormal and unorthodox scientific concepts addressed throughout. This series contains a rich mixture of the paranormal, science fiction, romance, adventure, and suspense. *
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My wonderful narrator Heather Jane Hogan finished up her recording of “Dream Doctor” on Friday, and it’s now in the hands of Amazon as they do validation/quality control. It should be available for sale in 2-3 weeks (and you’ll hear it here the moment it is).
And this morning, she’s starting on the audiobook of “Dream Child”. I’m really looking forward to hearing Sara’s daughter Lizzie; this should be a lot of fun!
And as a teaser for you, here are some samples from “Dream Student” and the forthcoming “Dream Doctor” audiobooks…
(from Chapter one of “Dream Student”)
(from the prologue of “Dream Doctor”)
(from chapter 9 of “Dream Doctor”)
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“Dream Student” has just been certified as “Awesome Indies Approved” – follow the link and see for yourself. It’s a pretty big deal – Awesome Indies has very strict standards and they’re showcasing independent books that are professional quality, and can stand proudly beside work published by major publishers.
So that’s very, very cool, and before too long, I’m hoping the rest of the Dream Series books will be there as well.
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I’m very pleased to introduce you to another indie author whose books is a very appropriate topic this week…DP Memory and her novel “Love is Patient”
D. P. Memory lives in Mars, Pennsylvania with her husband, Jerry. Her passion for books began at a very young age. After reading voraciously for many, many years she decided to tell her own story. ‘Love is Patient’ is a work of fiction, but D. P. strived to make the characters as real as you and me. She is working on her second novel ‘Love is Kind’, so you will hear more escapades involving all of the characters you loved in ‘Love is Patient’. Enjoy both stories and keep on reading.
You can find her on her blog, on Facebook and also on Twitter.
Her novel deals with the events of September 11th, and as we’re remembering them this week, I asked her to tell us a little about why she chose to write about that:
When I decided to write LOVE IS PATIENT the idea of the surrogate mother for a young couple was the first idea that came to mind. Then I felt I needed something with a lot of suspense to go along with that idea. September 11th proved to be about as suspenseful as you can get. I was particularly touched on 9/11 because my son was going into the Army and I knew the US would soon be at war because of the 9/11 attacks. My son did indeed spend 2 tours of duty in Iraq for a whole year each time. I am forever thankful that my son came back home safely both times.
And here’s her book…
Fran Kadylak is recovering from surgery that has stripped her of any hope she had of ever bearing the children she and her husband Ken have been praying for. She is going to leave her darling husband because she loves him too much to deprive him of the children he longs for.
Fran’s mother and Ken’s aunt are scheming together to get the young couple back together again. Aunt Alicia came up with the perfect solution to their broken hearts. She volunteers to be a surrogate mother for Fran and Ken. Alicia’s family is dumbfounded that she would be willing to go through a risky pregnancy when her own two sons are already teens. Her husband, Jonathan, is demanding guarantees that his own wife’s health won’t be sacrificed in the bargain.
Fran and Ken can’t believe their good fortune when Aunt Alicia’s invitro fertilization goes so well she is pregnant with not one, but twin infants. Now Fran and Ken have gotten their lives back on track. Aunt Alicia’s pregnancy is well underway at home in Mars, PA. Fran and Ken are taking off to New York City for a job interview that could mean a big promotion for Ken. They will be meeting with a financial advisor at the famous WorldTradeCenter to discuss how to invest some money Fran inherited from her grandmother. Fran and Ken are rejoicing; life is perfect.
The date is September 10, 2001.
You can buy “Love is Patient” at Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.
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I’m thrilled to be participating in the book tour for Brian Heffron’s new novel, “Colorado Mandala”
Here’s Brian…
After Brian Francis Heffron achieved a bachelor of Fine Arts in Writing from Emerson College, he has navigated across the Atlantic Ocean under sail (and found Gibraltar), was Director of Photography on “The Imported Bridegroom” a tiny Indy film that received a national theatrical release, created a heart-rending poetry blog within the Notes section of his Facebook profile that drew an avid, dedicated, and international audience, and all the while he wrote, produced, and directed hundreds of hours of television programming for KLCS-TV, a PBS Station focused on education.
On Valentine’s Day 2010 he published a handmade poetry chapbook that sold out in three weeks! “Sustain Me with Your Breath” then became, and remains, a promotional e-book sensation.
Heffron followed that up with “Something You Could Touch”, a one hour spoken word poetry CD that broke sales records in its category.
Heffron has also won Emmys, Tellys, Aurora, Videographers and the Davis Award, among others plaudits for both writing and television.
Brian Francis Heffron’s debut novel, Colorado Mandala, mines the complex landscape of 1970s post-Vietnam America to chart the love triangle of a former Green Beret, his lover, and a young wanderer. Colorado Mandala straddles the line between literary and young adult fiction, and distills the author’s poetic sensibility into a deeply lyrical work of art.
You can follow Brian at his website, Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Pintrest and his Amazon Author Page.
And here’s his new book…
Colorado Mandala comes from poet Brian Heffron, who departs from his established genre with a novel of the seventies recommended for fans of literary fiction.
—Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Reviews
With refreshing depth, distinct literary merit, and highly original poetic phrasings that spill from the pages like paint, Colorado Mandala is poet Brian Heffron’s debut work of literary fiction that mines the complex landscape of post-Vietnam America to unearth the deep connections that bind individuals together, and also ferociously rip them asunder.
Illustrative, luscious, seductive, and engaging, this rare piece of craftsmanship will stir the senses of any one who thirsts for artistic expression, or who longs for an era in our country now utterly, irretrievably gone. With underlying notes of romance, adventure, historical authenticity, and the poignant passages of coming-of-age, Colorado Mandala both elevates and transcends an era of America to seep into the heart and soul of the reader as flawlessly as a sumptuous poem.
In the heady, hippie backdrop of Pike’s Peak, Colorado, in the tumultuous 1970s, three souls swirl together in an explosive supernova. Michael is the flinty-eyed, volatile former Green Beret, whose tour in Viet Nam has left unbridgeable chasms in his psyche and secrets that can never find light. Sarah is his fair-haired paramour, the ethereal, Earth Mother widow of a fallen soldier and single mother to a ten-year-old son Stuart. Paul is a young wanderer, who soon quickly bears the mantle as both the minister and the scourge of their damaged love. As they are drawn together, and torn apart, each is changed forever. And our hearts race along with them, through the raw and rocky Colorado terrain amidst alcohol-fueled discord and the blood sport of man and beast.
Laying bare the loss and acceptance of a pioneering age, Colorado Mandala shines revelatory light on the crazy, glorious, and romantic notion that each generation conceives anew: that love can be a spiritual gift shared openly among all who feel it, rather than coveted, or hidden, or hoarded. If you wish to go barefoot again and climb an unspoiled Colorado trail, look no further. If you have been longing for something to wake you up in simple, clean language, a shimmering story awaits. Awaken to what you have always known: simple truths show you the way home. With his gripping and unforgettable Colorado Mandala, it is clear that Brian Heffron knows the way. Simply follow his trail.
You can see the video book trailers here, here and here and also read more about the book on Facebook. And you can buy the book at Amazon (Kindle or paperback) and at Barnes and Noble.
I’ve also got an interview with Brian – read on!
Who is your favorite author?
For me, reading the sparse, stark, prose of Ernest Hemingway was a life-changing event. Here was a writer who could paint like Monet with short brushstrokes sentences, and an authentic and deeply seeing sense of how people think, and what they do, and why they do it. He is thought of as a hyper masculine writer, but I find his work androgynous, coming from somewhere between being a man or a woman. This is unique in modern literature and is a part of his work that I think has been overlooked due to his ultra masculine behavior in his real life. I just think his body of work is real and undeniably good. I also like John Steinbeck for essentially the same reasons.
How do you describe your writing style?
Deeply descriptive and romantic: I reach for authenticity and accuracy in descriptions of physical places and people. Then I just let my characters live out their lives in front of the camera of my eyes. I like mixing the point of view, sort of moving the camera around between different types of narration like from omnipresent author to first person singular as I do in the format of Colorado Mandala.
Use no more than two sentences. Why should we read your book?
Because it will taste good and you will feel better at the end. Because it will evoke a time past and the people who lived then and you should know about that.
Have any of your characters been modeled after yourself?
The three main characters of Colorado Mandala could arguably be three parts of myself: Michael = action, Sarah = spirit, Paul = adventure. But they are also based on real people I knew back then and so they are with different in their approaches to life and that makes them very different personalities. I think all writers put themselves in their work, if not, why would anyone else want to read their work?
If you could exchange lives with any of your characters for a day which character would you choose and why?
I am Paul. I watch life and think about it a lot. He is my narrator and he does much the same thing. He is also very moral and consistent, even stubborn, and that can be a very good quality in a person if they are right enough of the time.
What books have most influenced your life?
For Whom The Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway because it showed me the height and depth and breath of what could accomplished in terms of story depth, physical recreation of a place, and the potential for portrayal of the complexity of human behavior on that canvas of the art we call the “Novel”.
If you could select one book that you could rewrite and add your own unique twist on, which book would that be and why?
I would have Sherlock Holmes get shot at least once in every story. No, just kidding.
Beatles or Monkees? Why?
The Beatles were the epitome of a new world of spontaneous, sometimes drug influenced life styles, liberation of women and other groups and the much taunted sexual freedom of the sixties… and the Monkees were formed by a record executive. Beatles.
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I’m happy to present a pair of indie authors (Lee and Gary Jordan, also known as ‘The Phoenix’) and their new book, “Leon’s Lair.”
What would you do if you thought you had escaped only to find you are caught in LEON’S LAIR?This international thriller/contemporary fantasy is a nail-biting ride that is grisly but somewhat tongue-in-cheek, a brutal tale of horror and the occult that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It includes romance, continental adventure, action, suspense, and dozens of vivid characters from around the world.
The adventure starts with The Jakarta, an elegant cruise ship sailing the exotic seas in Indonesia with a passenger list of ninety unsuspecting people. Jane and her best friend, Remy, are just getting to know the rest of the small group of young twenty-somethings when the ship is attacked by pirates. However, Leon and his band are not your usual pirates – they want something else.Jane and two male companions escape the horror, fleeing in a lifeboat. In their flight to escape Leon and his men, they become lost at sea for weeks, are out of water, and have nearly lost hope of ever finding rescue when they finally catch sight of land, a dangerous rainforested island that seems deserted.
However, their fight for survival has only just begun.
They are not alone.
Fate is cruel because this island is Leon’s Lair.
Meet some of the characters from the novel…
Jane O’Doherty
“Me, well. I’m twenty-two. I just graduated from Boston University. This cruise in Indonesia is a present from my parents. I thought it would be great to see some exotic ports of call, you know? Before deciding exactly how to apply my education. I studied in the field of biological research and forensics, with a specialty in toxicology. I was going to go into medicine. Be a doctor. But I got hooked on biology and became interested in forensic chemistry. I guess crime-solving runs in my family. My dad and my grandfather are both retired cops. My dad is Irish and my mother is Russian. I’m a workaholic. Terribly serious. And don’t sleep much. I live behind my parents’ house in a little cottage. I’m always rescuing animals, much to my mother’s distress. I have two dogs, four cats, a parrot, and a three-legged squirrel. And of course, to make this trip, I had to hire someone to take care of my menagerie. I’m a vegetarian, but I hate broccoli. Boom! There. Now you know everything about me.”
Peter Sorenson
“I’ve spent a lot of time backpacking, hunting, rock climbing, and that sort of thing. I am mostly a loner. I just graduated from college, and want to work for National Geographic as a writer/photographer, but they turned me down. I’m on this cruise to get some photos of Indonesia. With the photos and an article, maybe they will be impressed and give me a chance. Probably won’t work though. I’m pretty much a loser. I also wanted to publish novels. I’ve written three, but agents keep rejecting my queries. I’m completely attracted to Jane, but I can’t approach her. Why would a girl like that want a guy like me? I have the personality of an old gym sock.”
Obviously, Peter has lost all confidence in himself. He is shy, kind of geeky, and isn’t good at social interaction. However, extreme danger sometimes brings out a person’s real character. Peter is the hero in our story.
And here are the authors:
Hello. We are Lee and Gary Jordan, and we are THE PHOENIX.
We are passionate readers, reading many different genres. As a writer team, we don’t intend to go with custom and stick to one genre. We have several novels in the works.We enjoy getting to know readers and other authors via the Internet, love movies, and sitting outside to soak up the Southern California sun. We live in Hollywood with our crabby tomcat, Snickers.
Lee wrote A Whisper from Eden. She loves researching and is never content with the way things are explained, and likes looking into the nooks and crannies and wondering, what if?
Gary is a third generation Californian, born and raised in Anaheim. He has always had an insatiable curiosity about everything. He was involved with telecommunications for many years and now has his own business. He has always been a happy, laidback person. But now he has something to be very intense about.Lee invited him to help her with a paranormal thriller she had in mind, and once he sat down at the computer and started, his life transformed. He found his real passion – writing fiction. He has never been so excited to do something in his entire life.Both of us feel it is never too late to change the direction of your life.
From Gary to Lee: Well, we are a great team. I love all those brainstorming sessions. Amazing! I want to thank you for being my lover, my confidante, my best friend, and for your dedication to the craft of writing. You are so much fun and so sweet – most of the time.It’s just, I wish you weren’t such a crab sometimes. Let’s be honest – you nag.
From Lee to Gary: I want to thank you for being your loving, honest, ethical, and wonderful self. And I want to thank you for being my one true soul mate and for sharing with me your wonderful talent. It is truly a joyful experience co-writing with you.I’ll tell you what makes me crabby. You have been so caught up in writing our current novel, you keep forgetting to eat or sleep. Well, okay, I know. Writing this novel is so exciting, and I’ve been doing the same thing. I know, I know. Right now it’s 5:00 a.m. Okay, I know I haven’t eaten since yesterday at lunch. Oh well, to hell with it.
Links
Twitter
Goodreads Author Page
Facebook Author Page
Facebook Personal Page
Pinterest
Official Author Page
Blog on Books and Authors
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I always enjoy introducing you to fellow indie authors, and I’ve got another great one for you this morning. She’s Kate de Jesus…
Kate de Jesus is a wife and mother of two active boys who love to read. BUT, it wasn’t always that way; getting kids to love reading is usually an ongoing battle. Trying to find a story with all the things kids love: lots of action, likable characters, weird science, bizarre creatures, mystery and positive messages at a cost that parents can afford, well; that’s asking for a lot!. Enter Kate’s love of writing, and a new series that covers all these things! Kate lives in Las Vegas Nevada and is a graduate of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. She is hard at work on the third book in The Gateway Discoveries series, Arden’s War, The Gateway Discoveries Volume 3. The Brutal Ones, The Gateway Discoveries Volume 2 was just released and is now available on Amazon.com.
You can follow Kate at her website.
Her book is “Dark Fate Falling”, book one of The Gateway Discoveries. It’s a series for kids and teens, and it looks pretty cool to me, too!
Nick, Remedy, Simon and Owen are ready for adventure when they are invited to accompany their scientist fathers on a field expedition that will take them near the famed Bermuda Triangle. But their excitement quickly turns to terror when their plane falls from the sky in a freak storm, and they find themselves alone on a strange and beautiful island. Fearing the worst for their missing parents, the four friends set out to find them by trying to decipher the reasons behind this ill fated trip. But when Nick and Simon are attacked by a strange beast, and Remedy almost becomes lunch for a flock of bizarre birds, they quickly learn all is not as it seems on this tiny piece of paradise, and soon they are running for their lives toward an even darker fate…
You can buy it, RIGHT NOW, at Amazon! (book 2 of the series, “The Brutal Ones”, is also available on Amazon now!)
I’ve also got an interview with Kate…
Who is your favorite author?
I would have to say JRR Tolkien is my favorite author, not only because he wrote one of the best all time epic fantasy stories with The Lord of The Rings trilogy, but because I can pick the books up every few years, read them cover to cover again and love every minute of it.
How do you describe your writing style?
When I am writing I sink right into the characters and their surroundings. I can hear and see what they do; I think how they would react or what they would say in any situation. I think my writing style is geared toward getting the reader to see themselves in one or more of the characters, and to hopefully see themselves in the characters thoughts and actions.
Why should we read your book?
Something interesting happens in every chapter and the story is advanced in a way that keeps kids engaged and wanting to turn pages. Kids can also see themselves in the characters and their reactions to the circumstances; the characters over come doubts, fears, anxiety and impossible situations in a realistic way.
Have any of your characters ever been modeled after yourself?
Yes, I put a bit of my twelve year old self in the lead girl character, Remedy Hess. Namely her doubts about what the other kids think about her. But I also gave Remedy a lot of characteristics I wish I had had at that age. She’s kind of a mix of how I was and how I wanted to be at that age.
If you could exchange lives with any of your characters, which would it be and why?
I think it would be the girl character mentioned above, Remedy Hess. I see the potential Remedy has to shake off her doubts and really become a confident, happy young lady. In today’s world, we need more of that. Plus Remedy is living in some really interesting times, which some days sounds like more fun than paying bills and cleaning house. I think if Remedy and I exchanged lives for a day, I’d get the better deal!
What books have most influenced your life?
I read every book Stephen King came out with when I was younger. I think he was a big influence on my writing because I loved the wordy descriptions, the shocking twists and turns, and the way he could scare the heck out of me with words. I have a big imagination, and I think King helped make it bigger. As for a book that influences the way I try to live, I have to say the New Testament (wow, Stephen King and Jesus in the same answer – weird!)
If I could rewrite one book, what would it be and why?
I would have to say the third book in the Hunger Games Trilogy, Mockingjay. This book had such potential and was such a colossal disappointment to me! It had some glimpses of great stuff in it, but the ending just completely ran out of gas. The confusing thing to me was that it didn’t seem like it would have been hard to finish the book by following its logical course and thus improving it dramatically. Suzanne Collins’ first two books were great, I’m just not sure what happened in the last book but it seems like it is crying out to be rewritten. I feel like ‘Mockingjay’ is mocking the great work she did in the earlier books.
Beatles or Monkees? Why?
I’m really more of an Eagles fan.
Who should play you in a film of your life?
Hmm, I don’t know about who should play me, but there should be a part somewhere in the film for Gary Oldman. He is my favorite actor, and I always write a character into my work that is modeled after him. In The Gateway Discoveries series Dr. Gary Gilford is based on Gary Oldman. It’s a little bit like Alfred Hitchcock in the background of his own movies; I always find a spot for Mr. Oldman.
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Six chapters (plus the prologue) are done, ten more and the epilogue to go!
I just hope that readers will find the story as interesting and worthwhile as I do. In a sense, this book has the “smallest” stakes of any of the books so far. Sara isn’t trying to find a killer or unravel a mystery, and her life isn’t at immediate risk (unless something changes drastically). Her conflict in “Dream Reunion” is internal, between her desire to help a friend, and the dictates of her conscience.
Unlike “Dream Family,” where Sara’s struggle was also more internal than external, the problem this time doesn’t arise from something done to Sara, but instead from a promise she made to herself at the end of book #5, “Waking Dream.”
After seeing the havoc wreaked by her evil counterpart in that book, Sara swore that she would never use her dreaming ability selfishly; and further, that she would never, under any circumstances, attempt to alter anyone else’s thoughts while inside their dreams.
Her reasons are both ethical (it’s taking away their free will, after all!) and practical (the human mind is impossibly complex, and the possibility of catastrophic unintended consequences from even the most minor and well-meaning attempt to change someone’s thoughts is just too much to risk).
But as “Dream Reunion” progresses, Sara will be faced with challenges to break her oath and do what she’s sworn not to. The final challenge, and the main conflict of the book, will be when she visits the dreams of a college friend whose life is spinning out of control, and who simply can’t or won’t see it no matter how Sara tries to get through to them. Sara will realize that the only way to help this person is inside their dreams. She CAN do it…but at the cost of crossing a line she’s told herself she can never cross.
I personally think that’s a very compelling story, but it is very different than the previous books, and I hope my readers will follow Sara (and me) this time.
The other thing this book is doing, is setting up book #7. Sara and her family will be making some big changes, and I’m sowing the seeds for that and why it’s necessary throughout this book. Hopefully that will all work well, too.
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I’m thrilled to welcome back a great indie author, Jennifer Howard. I hosted her back in April, and she’s got a new book out TODAY, so I’ve got her back…
Jennifer Howard grew up in Athens, West Virginia, graduated from the former Athens High School, and received a BS in History from Concord College, now Concord University. She currently resides in Peterstown, West Virginia, with her husband, their daughter, and the star of the show–their crazy little dog, Lucky.
Jennifer has loved to write for as long as she can remember. As a child, she used to improvise poetry and recite it to her parents. Her very first short story, How the Hippo Lost His Snowshoes, did not garner any awards, but it did receive an A from her elementary school teacher and a coveted spot on the family refrigerator for too many years to recount! During her youth, Jennifer attended many creative writing workshops in the neighboring town of Princeton, West Virginia. It was through these that her spark for writing was truly fanned into a flame.
When not writing, Jennifer enjoys being a wife and mom, reading, cooking–especially the sweet stuff, and traveling. She self-published a children’s book, entitled Lucy and the Land of Lost Socks in 2009. The Healing Heart is her first true endeavor into the “adult” world, and she hopes to pen many more novels in the future.
You can follow Jen at her website, on Facebook, on Twitter and on Goodreads.
Her new book is called “The Steps to Karma”
Have you ever fantasized about walking away from your life? Just walking away–no looking back, no regrets, just freedom? Well, I did it. It didn’t happen easily; after all, there’s always got to be at least a little drama in every good backstory. But I walked away all the same. Am I better off for doing it? Why don’t you be the judge of that? ~~Karma Clark
Karma Clark is a big time D.C. divorce attorney. She’s also an emotionally detached, drunken burnout. After one case too many, one drink too many, and almost one step too many off an interstate overpass, the realization dawns that her life has to change. Dramatically.
In the course of a solitary weekend, Karma chooses to ditch her emotional baggage and walk away from the life that she knows. Spontaneously, she relocates to St. John, USVI. Almost immediately she finds herself intertwined with innocently quirky Jae Jourdain, gorgeous yet arrogant Tyler Jenkins, and equally gorgeous loner Will Jameson. Suddenly, Karma’s life is far from what it once was.
Does Karma dive into her island paradise for good? Or when disaster strikes back in D.C., does she realize that there are some things that you just can’t walk away from?
The book is out TODAY, and you can buy it on Amazon right here!
And, also, Jen is donating a portion of the proceeds from every sale today and throughout September to a 9/11 based charity, Tuesday’s Children – please visit their website to learn more about them at http://www.tuesdayschildren.org.
I’ve also got an interview with Jen…
Who is your favorite author? Oh wow! That’s like identifying my favorite molecule of water. (haha) A sampling of my favorites would be: C.S. Lewis, Jules Verne, William Shakespeare, Michael Crichton, Edgar Allan Poe, and J.R.R. Tolkien.
How do you describe your writing style? To me, my writing style is quirky, smart assedy everyday life with a splash of fairytale romance for good measure! I love to write in 1st person narrative style about real life scenarios and feelings. I want my readers to be able to say, “Wow! I’ve dealt with/felt like that before!”
Use no more than two sentences. Why should we read your book? You should read The Steps to Karma because who doesn’t occasionally want to just walk away from their chaotic or mundane lives and jump into an island paradise replete with sun, fun, and romance? (I know I surely do!)
Have any of your characters been modeled after yourself? Yes, bits and pieces of my characters have been modeled after myself (my own likes, dislikes, thoughts, feelings), as well as those I am especially close to. I’m also a hardcore “people watcher,” so I tend to throw in unknowns that I find exceptionally interesting. Who knows, YOU might just be a part of my next story! *be afraid, be very afraid* 😛
If you could exchange lives with any of your characters for a day which character would you choose and why? Most certainly Jae Jourdain from The Steps to Karma. She’s blissfully naive, trusting, and innocent. She always chooses to see the best in people, which is a beautiful quality only present in a few. She grew up around New Orleans, LA, a place that I love. And she lives in St. John, USVI, another place that I adore. Who wouldn’t want to trade places with her?
What books have most influenced your life? This is another tough question, because so many books are like my treasured, dearest friends. Having to choose though, I would say: The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. That series is beautifully, deeply, and richly layered, and has meant a lot to me throughout my life. Another HUGE one for me is The Shack by William Paul Young. Reading that book changed my perspective on life, for sure!
If you could select one book that you could rewrite and add your own unique twist on, which book would that be and why? I would choose Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express or And Then There Were None. Either of those titles would be FANTASTIC as one of those “pick your path” books that I used to love as a youth! That is the twist that I would add. And I would read every possible combination, just for fun!
Beatles or Monkees? Why? Beatles–what fun songs! John Lennon and Paul McCartney are amazing!
Who should play you in a film of your life? Betty White or Lucille Ball. (in her I Love Lucy days, that is!) I would be thrilled with either one. What sassy, spunky ladies!!
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