Off the Beaten Path blog tour – day 7

October 7, 2013 by sharonsant

The second bit of excitement today is that it’s the final day of the Off the Beaten Path Blog tour. Today I’m featuring fellow contributor, Monica la Porta, who is not only a very talented writer, but was also generous enough with her time to help this poor English girl get all Luca’s Italian dialogue right in the Sky Song books, for which both me and Luca will be eternally grateful! Monica has penned the short story’ Home Wet Home’ for the Off the Beaten Path anthology as well as her own brilliant fantasy books, The Priest and Pax in the Land of Women.

You can find Monica all across the usual internet hang outs:

Monica La Porta’s blog:
The Ginecean Chronicles’ Facebook page
Goodreads Author page:

The Ginecean Chronicles:
The Priest
Pax in the Land of Women
Children’s books and YA short stories:
The Prince’s Day Out
Linda of the Night

The Priest

Mauricio is a slave. Like any man born on Ginecea, he is but a number for the pure breed women who rule over him with cruel hands. Imprisoned inside the Temple since birth, Mauricio has never been outside, never felt the warmth of the sun on his skin. He lives a life devoid of hopes and desires. Then one day, he hears Rosie sing. He risks everything for one look at her and his life is changed, forever. An impossible friendship blossoms into affection deemed sinful and perverted in a society where the only rightful union is between women. Love is born where only hate has roots and leads Mauricio to uncover a truth that could destroy Ginecea.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway where you can win a bound copy of the anthology and Amazon gift cards.

The Sentinel by Holly Martin – cover reveal.

October 7, 2013 by sharonsant

Today I have lots of stuff to tell you about, but a biggie is this… a beautiful cover for a debut novel by fellow YA writer Holly Martin. I’m just slightly wildly jealous of this cover, it’s beautiful. You can check out Holly’s new website for more information about release and about her too.

The Sentinel:

When Eve is rescued from a horrific coach crash by her teachers, she is shocked to discover they possess super strength and speed. But what happens next is even more harrowing.

In the aftermath of the crash she discovers that everyone in her life from neighbours, doctors, dentists, teachers, shop keepers and even her family and friends are actually super strength Guardians sent to protect her. They all have one thing in common, a single minded ferocity that she must be kept alive at all costs.

However, she is surrounded by secrets and lies. Those in the know deny all knowledge of what happened that fateful night. Everyone else carries on as normal, seemingly unaware of the new strange world that she has stumbled against.

With the help of Seth, her best friend, Eve discovers the prophecies surrounding her true identity and the super strength she too holds. With her Guardians pledged to protect her, her closest friends ready to die for her, her own hopes and dreams are put on hold whilst she battles to control the amazing powers she has been bestowed with.

But those that seek to destroy her move ever closer. Will the Guardians be enough to protect her when so many are prepared to stop at nothing to see her dead? And will she be strong enough to fulfil her destiny when the time comes?

A fast paced fantasy adventure for young adults.

With high speed car chases, airborne fights, amazing stunts and super powered beings, this is a story of loyalty, friendship and love.

Off the Beaten Path blog tour – day 6

October 6, 2013 by sharonsant

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of featuring Jason T Graves, editor of Off the Beaten Path and author of Blood Roses and Morning Stars on the blog as part of a combined indie author event. To celebrate the release of Off the Beaten Path, I thought I’d give readers a second chance to get acquainted with this self-professed mad scientist of fiction and hat lover extraordinaire. Here’s a selection of the questions I put to Jason in that original interview:

Have you ever written a character that you’ve disliked so much you’ve scrapped them from a work?

A few times; Some of the people in Blood Roses are annoying enough to me that they die in the sequel.

Which of your characters would frighten you if you met them in real life?

Corelis and the undead Godek.

Describe yourself in 5 words.

Dashingly normal and audaciously humble.

Do you ever consult friends when you’re stuck with a plot?

In addition to my wife, I have circle of writer friends and beta readers who I consult with about issues that I have with my stories. I don’t usually get stuck on a point to that degree, though. If I have problems with a story, I set it aside and work on another story until the problem with the first unblocks and a solution presents itself.

What’s your personal kryptonite?

Doughnuts… they are the Dr. Horrible of pastries, and I cannot leave them be.

If you could converse, a la Dr Dolittle, with one type of animal, which would it be and why?

Cetaceans (dolphins and whales). I would ask them why they keep forgiving us despite our slaughter of them, and what they dream about.

Tea or coffee?

Tea… Chai. Rooibos. White. Green. Herbal.

You can find out more about Jason and his books at the following locations:

Jason’s blog

And don’t forget that you have two more days to enter the giveaway to win a bound copy of Off the Beaten Path and Amazon gift cards.

Off the Beaten Path – blog tour day 5, Debra R Johnson is in the hot seat

October 5, 2013 by sharonsant

Today I’m pleased to welcome a new friend to the blog, Debra R Johnson, one of my Off the Beaten Path fellow contributors. Debra’s story, ‘To Darkness I Fall’ is a ‘different spin on seething romance…. a darker, bloodier tale’.

Debra answered a few questions about her story and her other current writing projects, so it’s over to Debra…

What other works do you have available?

Currently, my only other book out right now is the first installment of The Phoenix Curse: After – Part One. You can download it for free on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, and a few other sites as well.

Here is the link to Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/After-Part-Phoenix-Curse-ebook/dp/B00D3B1C6Y

What other projects or events do you have coming up?

I am releasing After – Part Two later this month. Very exciting for me. I actually pushed back the release date a couple weeks due to the release of OTBP so I could fully dedicate myself to promoting both books without crossing my wires.

What was your inspiration for ‘To Darkness I Fall’?

‘To Darkness I Fall’, was not premeditated at all. I had a vivid dream one Friday night, woke up Saturday morning and started writing it down. I do this a lot with my dreams – get down a sketch so I can have a story prompt for later – but Darkness became a full story that weekend. I just couldn’t let it go.

Also, the main character got her name because my husband was playing the latest Tomb Raider that weekend, and I kept hearing that name over and over. It stuck!

Why do you write? Do you have any encouraging words for other indies?

I have always had a very active imagination and have been able to weave a story quite quickly out of nothing at all. When I was young, I thought I wanted to be a writer someday, but I never received much support from my friends and family, so the dream was intangible.

Then, years later, my daughter started writing. I supported her and decided to start editing her work and, in doing so, it revived something inside me. The indie author boom had just happened, so I started doing some internet searches and stumbled across NaNoWriMo.

50k words in one month? Me? I took me a decade to write 20k on one story. There’s no way I could possibly accomplish 50k in one month!

But it was still mid-October when all that was going through my mind, so I pulled out an old file, dusted it off and got to writing. It was a short story I had started nearly 20 years ago and it only had 5k words. Within those last 2 weeks of October, I finished the story at a little over 20k. Not the longest story ever, but it was just a test to see if I could do it. And I passed.

When I wrote the final words to that story, I actually cried. Now, looking back, it seems like such a little thing, but it was life-changing at the time. That happened one year ago this October.

I entered NaNoWriMo the following month and also won that with 5 whole days to spare. Not only that, but I actually finished that book I started then and it became my first published novel.

So much has changed in this past year; the way I look at things and what I can accomplish if I put my mind to it. I’m hoping this is just the tip of the iceberg and I can’t wait to see where I’m at next year in my budding writing career!

My advice to fellow indies and NaNoWriMos, don’t give up! Just keep writing. You owe the story that much. Also, not to scare anyone, but writing is the easy part. It’s the editing that’s the bitch!

Find Debra at these places:

Facebook

Twitter

The Pheonix Curse website

Goodreads

Website

Off the Beaten Path – day one of the blog tour.

October 1, 2013 by sharonsant

Earlier in the year, I was approached by Jason Graves, author of Blood Roses, to contribute to an anthology of paranormal stories he was putting together. after much deliberation and some frantic searching, I came up with Soul Trading, a story that I had half finished some years before. I decided that this would suit the tone of the book and promptly got to work knocking it into shape.

Soul Trading: As Sasha discovers during the weirdest night out of her life, it isn’t only the Devil who makes deals for your soul…

The collection features six other talented writers, all offering spooky shorts guaranteed to keep your light on all night.

There’s a Goodreads giveaway going on and also a rafflcopter giveaway where you lucky people can win ecopies of the book, Amazon gifitcards and a grand prize of a bound copy of the anthology.

During the next few days I’ll be featuring the other contributing authors on my blog so you can hear more about their stories and a little about them too.

If you can’t wait that long, here’s the link for the book on Amazon 🙂

Five TV boyfriends

September 16, 2013 by sharonsant

Since Victoria from Victoria Loves Books did her fantastic book boyfriend feature (and you can see my choices here) it got me thinking about other characters that I’ve fallen for on TV and film, because as much as I love books, I’m all about TV too. I’m the sort of person who tends to fancy an actor in a particular role, rather than the actor themselves (there are one or two notable exceptions, Colin Morgan I’m looking at you…) but generally that does seem to be the case. So it must be the character they’re playing that is the biggest factor in the attraction. I’ve only listed five here, because we have actual lives and I could be here for a lot longer. I’ve resisted the urge to list Father Dougal Maguire (don’t ask) and Vince Noir (purely because I think he just is Noel Fielding) but if you think those are weird choices, spare a thought for one of my best friends who had a crush on Edward Woodward in The Equaliser. After that particular revelation, it’s a miracle the friendship survived at all.

Merlin (Merlin 2008 – 2012 played by Colin Morgan)

Where do I start? From episode one when he walked into Camelot, wide-eyed but full of hope (and incredible cheekbones) I was sold. He still remains my all-time favourite and I can’t imagine anyone coming close. Why do I love him so? Because he’s quietly brave, intelligent, does what he believes is right, even when he’s misguided, is willing to sacrifice himself time and time again, not just for Arthur, but for others too, he’s just a little bit nerdy… oh yeah, and that really hot thing he does when he gets all manly and COMMANDS DRAGONS…

Connor Temple (Primeval 2007 – 2011 Played by Andrew-Lee Potts)

I adore Connor. Every time he’s on the screen I just want to squeeze the life out of him. He’s such a geek, but he’s really brave and incredibly clever. Just the way he spouts stuff about dinosaurs and sci-fi techy stuff makes me go all weak at the knees. And his massive crush on kick-ass Abby is just so cute that you’re just shouting at the telly ‘kiss her for god’s sake!’ It helps that he’s pretty darned attractive too, and he just gets better as the series go on; when it got to series five, he was a bona fide hottie.

Casanova (Casanova 2005 played by David Tennant

The first thing I really remember David Tennant in and I totally fell for him. I didn’t know the story of Casanova, particularly, other than the famous reputation for womanising. His Casanova was a quick, clever, cheeky chappie, starting out with optimism and a thirst for adventure. He justified his womanising reputation in a way that, far from being sleazy, made you understand his addiction and feel so sorry for him that you could forgive it. His devotion to a woman that he could never have was heartbreaking and every time he got close to happiness elsewhere, fate snatched it from him. It was no wonder he turned so bitter. DT shared the role with Peter O’Toole, who played him as an older man, and those closing scenes flitting between the two of them… I wasn’t sure my heart would ever mend.

Jeff Randall (Randall and Hopkirk Deceased 2000 – 2001 played by Bob Mortimer)

Yep, this is a weird one. Maybe only Bob Mortimer’s wife can call him a bona fide hottie, but I just loved him in this. I think it was just that he was so hapless but so sweet, and the adorable loyalty to his dead mate, and the equally adorable devotion to Jeanie, who he was quite clearly head-over-heels in love with but who had been almost married to said dead mate and so was morally slightly out-of-bounds. He was just the cutest thing and I was sold, bald patch, dodgy trousers and all.

The Doctor (Doctor Who, like, forever… played by Paul McGann, Christopher Ecclestone, David Tennant, Matt Smith)

I don’t know where to start with this man! How can it be that vastly different actors have all played him in vastly different ways and yet all have managed to elicit feverish crushes in me? It must be something deeply fundamental to the Doctor’s character that pulls me in, but what it is is anyone’s guess. But from the TV movie (awful, but a fabulous Doctor) to its subsequent return to our screens, I’ve developed an unhealthy interest in every single one. There’s McGann (foppish and vulnerable), Ecclestone (damaged and angry), Tennant (cute and cocky) and Smith (weird and… nope, just weird). Maybe it just demonstrates the old adage that ‘it’s what’s inside that counts’. Or is that a song from The Mighty Boosh? Now then, back to Vince Noir…

Oh no! I forgot Sam Tyler from Life on Mars! And Sam from Quantum Leap! And Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer! I’ll just have to do another feature. What a crying shame…

Who is X? Jack Croxall spills the Beans… Maybe…

September 9, 2013 by sharonsant

When I read Jack’s short story, I was immediately struck not only by how much tension and jeopardy he had managed to weave into small space, but by just how much potential there was to extend X’s world. So I was very excited when he agreed to answer a few of my questions about the possibilities of that, and also about X herself.

X’s story is just one experience of a much larger, clearly cataclysmic event. Are we going to get any more stories from this event? Will we get to find out who picks up X’s journal?

I hope so! If the response and reviews continue to be positive, I’d really like to explore more of X’s world with another, longer book. After all, X essentially takes place in a single room whilst, outside, the entire planet succumbs to chaos. I have a strong idea of what and who the next book would be about, and I already know it would be called Wye. As for who finds X’s journal, I know that too! There is actually a clue hidden somewhere in the ebook …

What first made you think to call her X?

There’s a line very early on, ‘Well, my name is – actually, I think I’ll refer to myself as X.’ When I got to writing that bit, the name X just popped into my head out of nowhere. The reason I kept it is because it feels kind of universal – anyone could call themselves X. That means that readers might just ask themselves, If I was in this situation, what would I do? That’s my ultimate hope for the story, anyway.

I know that you’re working on the second book of the Tethers trilogy. How did you find swapping between projects to complete X?

It wasn’t that bad, if I’m honest! Despite being a fifteen-year-old girl, X has a similar voice and tone to me. That little co-inky-dink meant that there were a lot less grumbles whilst writing X’s thoughts than say, Mr Cauldwell’s dialogue (from Tethers). I really struggle with Mr Cauldwell; he’s far more intelligent and eloquent than I am and so he takes lots of drafts to get right! Perhaps I should just kill him off?!

How conscious was the decision to make the setting for X a rural one? Why not do a 28 Days Later and have it in a city?

X was shacked up in a farmhouse cellar from day one – I had no idea why at first! And farmhouses are typically found in or around rural villages, so that’s just how the story developed. I’m glad that’s what happened though; a lot of books, films and TV shows have done city apocalypse much better than I could.

The response to X’s release was phenomenal, considering that it was quite spontaneous. How did it feel to be outselling Neil Gaiman?

Haha! Outselling one particular book of Mr Gaiman’s for one particular day in one particular chart feels pretty cool. Obviously though, it’s a relatively contrived and circumstantial factoid to draw from X’s opening day performance. I’m much more thankful and happier with the fact that readers seem to like X and have responded to her plight and the story!

A cheeky final one…. What happens to animals if the things outside get them? (You don’t have to answer this if you think it contains spoilers, but you can tell me in secret!)

Just between you, me and you readers, Sharon, all the animals are fine! Whatever happened to create the uglies seems only to have affected humans. Needless to say, my puppy-dog Archie survived the apocalypse completely unharmed!

***

Born in High Wycombe, Jack Croxall now lives in rural Nottinghamshire with his chocolate Labrador, Archie. He has a degree in Environmental Science from the University of Nottingham and currently toils away as a science writer in between working on his books. He tweets via @JackCroxall and blogs at http://www.jackcroxall.co.uk

You can find out more about Jack or where to buy X or Tethers by checking out his site. He also reviews books and films, so why not take a look and find out what he’s discussing today?

My Book Boyfriend by Sharon Sant

August 14, 2013 by sharonsant

My Book Boyfriend by Sharon Sant.

I don’t know – Jack Croxall talks parallel universe theories for Science in Fiction week

August 2, 2013 by sharonsant

It Friday, YAY! But it’s the final day of Science in Fiction week, boooo! We’ll just have to do it again some time. Last, but never least it’s the turn of the awesome Mr Croxall ,with his contribution on a subject that absolutely fascinates me. Take it away, Jack….

‘I don’t know.’ This is the default position of science. If you ask any half-decent physicist how the universe came in to being, they will say ‘I don’t know but here are some theories.’ Likewise, if you ask any biologist what colour a baby archaeopteryx was, they will probably say ‘I don’t know, but I can speculate.’ The lack of absolutes is what makes science great and what makes the scientific process so encompassing and so (mostly) open-minded. By a happy coincidence, it also leaves a lot of mystery and a lot of room for guess work, and this is where our good friend fiction comes in …

Because so much of our scientific understanding is far from complete, authors can take a scientific concept, and flesh it out however they want. In 1963 a physicist named Hugh Everett published a new theorem, The Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. His radical new idea proposed that, thanks to some incredibly clever calculations and observations, our universe must surely not stand alone. In fact, Everett’s groundbreaking theory proposed that there are actually an infinite array of other universes existing parallel to the one we call home. Whilst the theory was criticised at the time, it has since gone on to gain a huge following with notable scientists likening the significance of Everett’s work to that of Einstein’s.

Fast forward to 1995, when Philip Pullman, inspired by Everett’s work, published the first edition of His Dark Materials. The series takes place across an array of parallel worlds with the central duo being able to cut openings and travel between them. Now, Everett’s theorem says nothing about what any of these parallel worlds are actually like and so Pullman was able to imagine them however he wanted. Daemons, armoured bears, witches; all of Pullman’s sublime characters would not have been able to light up the world of fiction if Everett had not published his ideas thirty years beforehand.

So, at a glance, it’s perhaps easy to think of science and fiction as poles apart but, in my experience, this is far from the reality. In fact, it was Pullman’s work which inspired me to start writing fiction and simultaneously helped fuel my love of science. Are Pullman’s ideas anywhere near the truth? Well, I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that our world is all the better for them.

A YA Victorian fantasy, Jack Croxall’s debut novel, Tethers follows Karl and Esther as they become embroiled in a conspiracy engineered by treacherous Victorian scientists. The book is available through Amazon and you can find out more by visiting: www.jackcroxall.co.uk or the book’s GoodReads page.

Reaper’s Rhythm blog tour – author Clare Davidson talks about her inspiration and juggling demands

August 1, 2013 by sharonsant

I recently got a very exciting offer that I couldn’t refuse, and that was to host Clare on the blog tour for her new book release, Reaper’s Rhythm. As I was lucky enough to read this book in advance of its release, I was only too happy to oblige. So, without further ado, here’s the transcript of our little virtual chat…

Hi Sharon, thanks for letting me stop by for a chat.

Q. I have my magical pink writing cardigan. Do you have any writing rituals or things that you like to have around you to help focus you when you sit down to a WIP?

A pink writing cardigan sounds lovely and comfortable.

I’m not sure I have any rituals exactly, but I always sit in the same chair (from Ikea) and I’ll often have the TV on for background noise. I love distractions and hate silence. Obviously I always have my laptop. If I have a reference picture for a character or scene, I’ll make sure that’s visible somewhere too.

Q. I know that you have an incredibly demanding home life with your day job and family, how do you balance that with your life as a writer?

By neglecting my husband? Actually at the moment it helps that my husband is working away during the week. Yes, I miss him like crazy, but it means that for three evenings every week I’m home alone (I have friends over on the fourth), which gives me time to write, edit, format, or work on marketing/promotion. My daughter also gets three free pre-school hours each day, so on my two days off a week, I get that block of time for writing and related stuff, too. I’m not quite sure how I’m going to juggle things quite as well over the summer holidays, though!

Q. The premise for Reaper’s Rhythm is a highly original one. Can you remember the exact moment when the initial idea came to you? Where were you and what were you doing?

I’m glad you like the premise. I was at home, sitting in my chair, feeling pretty down about writing. I’d been waiting for feedback on another WIP (which never came. To be honest, I don’t blame the critique either), which was a mid-grade urban fantasy. I decided I needed a “for fun” project to get myself out of my writing funk, so challenged myself to write a darker version of the story, in first person present tense. As it was a fun project, I just started writing about two sisters, walking home on a dark winter night. The story evolved from there. For ages, I referred to the two stories as “light Kim” and “dark Kim”. As you’ve probably guessed, “dark Kim” won and became Reaper’s Rhythm.

Q. Your covers are quite striking, almost vintage in feel. How closely do you work with your designer to realise your vision?

Thanks! I love both my book covers too, which is why I’ve continued to work with the same illustrator and I’ve commissioned extra bits of artwork for both Reaper’s Rhythm and Trinity. With both books, I gave him the blurb, some character details and my own vision of the cover. For Reaper’s Rhythm, I also gave him reference photos for Kim and Matthew. He then works with that to produce a pencil sketch for me to approve (or not). He sends me several “in progress” versions, so I can make suggestions or ask for any changes along the way. I’m really lucky that my illustrator, Bramasta Aji, is great at realising my vision, from just a small bit of information. He’s surpassed my expectations and my original vision both times.

Q. Reaper’s Rhythm has a contemporary setting, where your previous novel, Trinity, was more of an epic fantasy. Was it a conscious decision to make the new one so different?

I’m not sure it was so much a conscious decision, as a subconscious one. The idea for “light Kim” popped into my head while I was on holiday in August 2011 and I just ran with it.

Some quick fire to shake things up!

Tea or coffee?

Neither. The only hot drink I like is hot chocolate.

Twitter or facebook?

Both? I used to spend more time on Twitter, but lately I’ve been using Facebook more.

Heels or flatties?

Flatties. How does anyone walk in heels?

A dinner party with six guests of your choice, living or dead, who’s on your invite list?

Edward I, Eleanor of Castille (his wife and my daughter’s namesake), Edward III, River Phoenix, Jonathan Brandis, Tamora Pierce. Spot the history theme in that list!

What book do you wish you had written?

I’ve been asked this before and gave a boring answer then – my own!

If the devil offered to take your soul in return for JK Rowling type success, would you strike the deal?

No.

***

Thanks so much to Clare for stopping by. You can find out more or get your copy of Reaper’s Rhythm at the following places:

America:

Kindle:

Paperback:

UK:

Kindle:

Paperback:

Amazon:

Waterstones:

Throughout the tour there’s also a giveaway, which you can enter here (which is also where you can visit Clare’s website) or you can find her on Twitter for more chat.