Where are you from and what do you love most about your hometown?

S.S. – I was born and raised in Dallas, TX. My favorite thing about Dallas is the Oak Cliff area that my books are set in. It’s like no other place in the city. The diversity and characters you’ll find there is amazing. It’s like a city in itself.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? How has that childhood dream affected your career?

S.S. – I wanted to be part of the Scooby gang so badly I could hardly stand it. When I realized that dream was never going to happen, I started rounding up my cousins and kids from the neighborhood, making up stories for us to investigate. Eventually, I started writing those stories down.

Tell us about your latest book.  Do you have anything new in the works and can you tell us a bit about it?

S.S. – My latest book, Voodoo Dues is the first in a planned Urban Fantasy series about a pair of unlikely heroes helping others deal with paranormal problems. I’m currently working on the second novella in the series, titled Vampire Blues.

Why did you write this book?

S.S. – The simple answer is because it was fun. I’d gone through a period of forcing myself to write something I thought would sell. That was like slogging through muck. When Lian and Figg started knocking on the inside of my skull, begging to be written, it was a relief to write something that was a little scary and fun all at the same time.

How did you come up with the title?

S.S. – At the time, I didn’t give it much thought. Oddly enough, after I published, I realized that Voodoo Dues is also the name of a now defunct World of Warcraft quest.

How did you choose your genre?

S.S. – I’ve loved Urban Fantasy since before it was labeled that. The idea of the monsters and mythological beasties living among us is fascinating. The possibilities are almost endless.

What inspired you to be a writer?

S.S. – Lots of things have inspired me to keep at it over the years, but if I look all the way back to the beginning, the inspiration definitely came from my mother. She made sure I could read before I started school. The other part of the equation, was being an only child, dependent on my imagination for entertainment. Writing down my stories seemed to flow from there.

Who is your favorite character in your books? Why?

S.S. – That’s a tough one. They’re all remarkable in one way or another, but if I have to choose, I’m going with my female lead, Eleanor Figg. She comes into Voodoo Dues completely unaware that magic and other races exist. She’s a normal human who is made extraordinary by her gung-ho determination and compassion for those in need. Her significant skill with firearms doesn’t hurt.

Have you ever used contemporary events or stories “ripped from the headlines” in your work?

S.S. – Not yet!

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing?

S.S. – The hardest part for me is avoiding distraction.

What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

S.S. – Writing it is the easy part.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

S.S. – I refuse to acknowledge writer’s block. I find that just pushing through, writing anything, however uninspired it may be works just fine. Later, in the re-read, I often find that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was when I was writing it.

Who is your favorite author and why? What books have most influenced your life?

S.S. – I love Christopher Moore, his sense of humor is wonderful.

Laurell K. Hamilton’s Guilty Pleasures was a huge influence because it was the first time I read shapeshifters written as a race instead of a cursed Wolfman type of character. It opened up a whole new world of imagination for me.

How did you deal with rejection letters?

S.S. – Early on, I decided to self-publish. I suspected that Voodoo Dues was not mainstream enough to get the attention of big publishing and I didn’t want to wait months or even years to find an agent who was willing to take it on.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

S.S. – Determination and a willingness to work for your success.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

S.S. – Trying to pry a shotgun shell apart by hand.

Visit Stephany On The Web!

http://stephanysimmons.com

http://stephanysimmons.com/blog

http://pastyhen.com

Where are you from and what do you love most about your hometown?

J.B. – I am from Bancroft, Nebraska, a small village in the Heartland. Overall, I do not have much to recommend it and there aren’t all that many fond memories of the place outside of being with my grandparents. In fact, there are a lot of bitter and painful memories from my youth in that village.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? How has that childhood dream affected your career?

J.B. – I did want to be a writer when I was growing up and I did my first rough draft of a novel when I was 16 (it wasn’t very pretty). I also wanted to be an Evil Overlord, heh. I just knew that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life tinkering with cars or working in a slaughterhouse like so many of the classmates seemed to be destined for. Sadly, there really wasn’t much support for an aspiring writer when I was young, even though Bancroft has a museum in town for a famous writer/poet (John G. Neihardt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Neihardt).

I eventually went into English in college. Since I was specializing in genre fiction I again didn’t find much support from the university faculty. It was extremely discouraging. Disheartened, I pretty much allowed my grades to fall and I flunked out of school. When I returned to college I was well into the throes of a decade long writer’s block and majored in International Business and Economics.

Unable to secure a decent job with my degree, I’ve found my creative juices bursting the dam and I can’t seem to find enough time to write all of the projects that I want to do, which is strangely ironic.

Tell us about your latest book.  Do you have anything new in the works and can you tell us a bit about it?

J.B. – My latest (actually, first published) book is entitled Blackstone: Drawing the Circle and begins a series of novels set in a fantasy world. While magic shapes much of the world and society, I am doing all that I can to keep things centered on the characters and plot. To that end, I have eschewed tight geographical references and religious structures. At the core of this book are the relationships between the three protagonists, Blackstone, Hiroe and Loralune the Moonhavoc. Each one is a damaged character and much of this book is about the friction between Blackstone and Hiroe.

Blackstone is a mercenary sorcerer who hires himself out to a rather powerful and unsavory Sorcerer Queen to do a quick assassination job. At the last moment he balks at his orders and turns against her employer. The damage is done, though, as she had used him as a stalking horse and the rest of her forces are causing terrible havoc not only for Blackstone’s mark, but for all of the people of the lands that he was infiltrating. Tasked by the mark to look after his son, Blackstone finds himself the guardian for 14 year old Hiroe. Raised to hate and distrust sorcerers, Hiroe is less than thrilled by the proposition.

The two learn, bit by painful bit, to accept each other, though Hiroe remains open to the idea of seeing the sorcerer dead. Things are complicated when Blackstone frees a caged werewolf and returns her to her human form. Again, Hiroe finds himself in the presence of a sorcerer whom he instinctively hates, but upon hearing her story he begins to soften towards her.

Now the trio has the agents of an empire, the Warden of a small community and an uncontrollable werewolf causing them havoc. Just when they seem to find respite, things go horribly wrong.

One of the things I have been hearing from reviewers is that they loved the plot twist that occurs in the last section of the book. I hadn’t realized that this would be such a hook to readers and reviewers. Now I fear that I will never be able to match this plot twist in my future works!

Why did you write this book?

J.B. – It was taking up space in my head and refusing to pay rent!

Actually, this book took ten years to be written. In recent years my writer’s block has finally fallen away and this was the oldest project I had swimming in my brain. Over the years the characters have become very personal to me and I have come up with not just an initial series, but three different possible series to write. These character and stories were demanding to be let out!

How did you come up with the title?

J.B. – Initially, this was to be trilogy with the titles reflecting concepts of alchemical philosophy. Drawing the Circle refers to the beginning of a great magical working. It also is a setting of boundaries. This book begins the life adventures of our characters and the three core characters represent the initial circle of friendship, love and mutual reliance. Other characters will come and go from Blackstone’s group in the future, but these three are the core.

The original titles for the trilogy were: Drawing the Circle, Black Sun Alchemy and Gold Sun Seeker. The series has greatly expanded since then and these titles have had to be abandoned in favor of others. The second book in the series will now be titled Butcher’s Winter and the third book will be Masquerade of the Black Sun. I have tentative titles for the rest of the series but I better hold back on them in case things change again.

How did you choose your genre?

J.B. – I think it was Jim Henson’s fault, actually. He put out this little movie entitled The Dark Crystal. It had a powerful impact on me when I was young and steered me to the fantasy genre. Then there was this dude in California named George Lucas. In 1977, I went to see Star Wars in a local theatre with my father. I spent the whole half hour ride home lying in the back seat, my six year old mind blown by what I had seen and experienced in the movie. From that night onward this world has been too small for me…

What inspired you to be a writer?

J.B. – This goes all the way back to my first grade class. Even then I had a very active imagination (which got me into trouble more than once). My first little story was about aliens invading Earth and I had to read it in front of the first grade class. The teacher even turned out the lights to “enhance the mood”. I was SO embarrassed! I’ve been writing and/or daydreaming ever since. I even got a few local writing awards when I was in school. Sadly, this was nowhere near as cool to the local populace as winning the District football championship.

Who is your favorite character in your books? Why?

J.B. – When it comes to my writing I have found that, to one extent or another, I am ALL of the characters. I don’t think it’s caused by split personality disorder or schizophrenia, but some of my best conversations ARE with myself.

Blackstone represents the tall, quiet and intimidating type of person that I think I would like to be when I grow up (whenever that is…).

Hiroe is what I wish I had been like as a teenager, susceptible to fears and doubts but plowing on despite adversity and loss. While he is not the titular character of the series, he is my focus in the series and that will become more and more evident in the books to come.

Loralune is the most broken, traumatized character, but also presents the resilience of the individual. She could well have fallen into becoming a horrid evil or even committed suicide out of guilt and fear of what she had and would do to innocents in the future. She refuses to give up, though. I am glad to report that she will shine even more in future books. I’ve done a lot of roleplaying over the years and I often run a female character. I guess I have a strong Yin influence in my personality.

I am going to give out a sneak peek on the next book and reveal the next regular character, Musty. He’s the old, surly bastard whose intentions are not really known and he really can’t be trusted. But he is old and wise compared to the rest and becomes something of a shepherd to the rest. More than any other, I think he reflects who I am today in my old age looking back bemusedly (and with a touch of jealousy) on youth.

Have you ever used contemporary events or stories “ripped from the headlines” in your work?

J.B. – No, I really don’t like works that do that. You date a work by doing that and limit the work’s long-term relevancy. There are, of course, exceptions to this such as Catch-22, The Count of Monte Cristo (based on real events) and The Three Musketeers (also based on true events).

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing?

J.B. – The research, particularly in terms of technological levels in a medieval fantasy setting, social norms and the different cultures that I am trying to emulate throughout my writings.

Also, I want my writing to be about the characters and the plot, not the magic or weapons or geography. It is always a challenge keeping this focus and maintaining a level of quality story telling that will keep readers interested and enthralled.

What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

J.B. – Never listen to professional literary critics. They are a horrible influence on the literary world and they try to fulfill their own shattered dreams by tearing down others (I feel that they are one of the root causes for Ernest Hemingway’s suicide). Stick to fellow authors in your field and to reviewers who happen to love the field in which you are writing.

Read the classics, even some of the boring ones. Even if they are nowhere nears what you are going to write, you will still learn a great deal about the writing craft.

We have all seen how horrible the Hollywood culture has destroyed great works (the most recent horror was Susan Cooper’s book, The Dark Is Rising, which was turned into the terrible The Seeker.) You will find much of the same thinking in the New York publishing industry. Sometimes the best bet is to go with the small publishing houses or even going independent.

Going independent means that the writing is the easy part. After you publish through Amazon, Smashwords or another platform you are stuck with all of the rest of the work, including the marketing and promotion. It’s a steep learning curve, but I am actually quite happy with how much I have learned since publishing independently. You will also find a lot of hate being directed towards the indie world, but also a pretty satisfying field of support.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

J.B. – As stated earlier, I went through a decade of writer’s block, much of which was brought on by discouragement by the wall of rejection letters. I spent those years keeping the stories in my mind and constantly playing through different scenes, dialogues and ideas. When the block finally crumbled I had a torrent to deal with and I am still dealing with the flood.

I suffer from severe depressive disorder and much of that has been an influence on my writing. Writing has been a tool of therapy for me. Now, more than ever, I really don’t care what others think of my hyperactive imagination and some of my strange quirks.

Sometimes I force myself to write through a blockage period, but I have not really been satisfied with what I produce during those periods. I find it much more productive to write out plot points for future use when I am ready to get back to writing.

Who is your favorite author and why? What books have most influenced your life?

J.B. – A single favorite author? That would be a very hard thing to choose. One of the most influential authors on me has been Lloyd Alexander with his Chronicles of Prydain series, which really opened up the fantasy world experience to me. Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising series was a wonderful experience on me as well. In middle grade I was also strongly influenced by John Christohper’s Tripod Series. In high school I was swept away by Frank Herbert’s Dune. Recently, I have fallen in love with the works of Alexandre Dumas, Fyodor Dostoevsky and others, including James Ellroy and Raymond Chandler.

How did you deal with rejection letters?

J.B. – Not well. It’s one of the reasons why I finally said to heck with it and went with the indie publishing route.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

J.B. – Coffee, beer, a good internet connection (I do a lot of on-the-fly research, all hail Wikipedia!) and a good word processing program.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

J.B. – Bugging the Astrophysics graduate student department of my local university for their thoughts on Jupiter and its relations with its moons.

Cooking classic Georgian dishes, some of which came out quite good!

Visit Jason On The Web!

Blog: http://jasonbeineke.wordpress.com

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BCPEHG

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005BCPEHG

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12385277-blackstone

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jason-Beineke/136625806414033

Where are you from and what do you love most about your hometown?

J.C. – I was born in a two-street town in New Mexico—or so I’m told; I don’t have any memories of that time. When I was two, my family moved to Aurora, that suburb made famous by Wayne’s World. Of that period, all I can recall is the neighbor’s orange cat, Mr. Pitts, though it is possible the neighbor was Mr. Pitts and I, being too small and too lacking in anything approaching intelligence, confused the man and the cat. After a year or so, we moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where I learned to love cheese curds and the Green Bay Packers. Four years later, we moved to what I now call my adopted hometown: Lincoln, Illinois. I spent the following fourteen years there.

What I love about Lincoln sounds strange to most people: I love the way it persists. When I left Lincoln the summer after my sophomore year in college, the town felt like it was dying. Economically, the town’s best days were long behind it, and I felt I was leaving little more than a rotting corpse. However, whenever I visited childhood friends during college, I was surprised by how the town seemed to be finding its footing once again. The downtown area was renovated, new businesses began dotting the outskirts of town, and people started building new homes. I recently took a trip back to Lincoln for the first time in almost eight years, and I was shocked by how different and alive the town felt. I think there is something to be said for a rural community not only surviving in this economic climate, but actually thriving.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? How has that childhood dream affected your career?

J.C. – I wanted to be a computer programmer. I was virtually—pun intended—baptized in circuitry and I’ve been a tech geek for as long as I can remember. As a child, I really wanted to get beneath the surface and make these marvels that I so enjoyed. When I got to college, however, I quickly learned how little aptitude I possessed for the mathematics required. Knowing that I needed to change paths, I switched to English, but I still thoroughly enjoy technology and the progress that has been made in the past twenty years.

Tell us about your latest book.  Do you have anything new in the works and can you tell us a bit about it?

J.C. – Youth and Other Fictions is the end result of ten years’ work. It is how I understood high school life to be at the end of the millennium and how that conflicted with my understanding going back years later as a teacher.

Since shortly after beginning the first draft of Youth, I’ve had a number of projects begin, only to later consign to a drawer or a file folder somewhere. When I finally finished readying the ebook, I started going through those “discarded” projects: what had I started or thought about or scribbled down that still interested me? As it stands, I have three projects that I’d like to see through to completion, three projects that I feel can be great in their own ways. The first is a contemporary take on Moby-Dick and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The second is a comedy about an intervention. The third is a kind of love story. Which one will end up being finished is anybody’s guess, though. I may start on a horror story tomorrow and end up working on that for the next three years.

Why did you write this book?

J.C. – The Columbine incident.

When I first started Youth in the fall of 2000, Columbine represented a tragedy not only in what happened, but also in the aftermath. The notion of children taking arms against their peers was terrifying, but it was almost negated by the way the media began assigning blame and asking “Why?” without ever waiting for a real answer. It seemed there was some kind of pleasure being taken in the spectacle and the speculation. “Marilyn Manson made them do it” is not a real answer. “They played Doom” is not a real answer. People needed to do something with their grief and their anxiety, but what they chose to do was trivialize what happened because no one actually wanted to understand.

The first draft of Youth came out of my frustration with that entire situation. I understood, as did any high school outcast at that time, how it could happen. I will never claim to understand the specific details of those two boys’ lives, but I do understand the stresses that can push a person in that direction.

At the same time, I never wanted to write about a school shooting. What interested me was the stress of high school life, the experience itself, and its after effects. Saying this book is about a school shooting is akin to saying the New Testament is about the birth of Christ. I wanted to use the shooting as a central event around which I could bring characters into conflict.

How did you come up with the title?

J.C. – The title is a reference to the volume in which Joseph Conrad first published Heart of Darkness. The novella was originally serialized, and when Conrad arranged for its publication in book format, he included it with two other stories of his in a volume called Youth: A Narrative; and Two Other Stories. Any further exegesis I leave to my careful readers.

How did you choose your genre?

J.C. – Short answer: I didn’t.

Those who have read this novel have referred to it in any number of ways: a coming-of-age tale, erotica, horror, young adult fiction, and satire, to name but a few. None of these were labels I actively sought. Is there strong and graphic violence in this novel? Yes. Is there strong sexual content? I suppose, but I don’t think the book is nearly as “sexy” as some of my readers have claimed. Is there lyrical writing? I hope so; I tried. What then should I label it? Literary horror porn?

Genre is nothing more than a label applied to make interpretation easier, to lessen the work needed on the part of the reader. If I were to say yes, this is a work of horror fiction, the reader would enter the book with a set of expectations and understandings already in place; he or she would not have to engage the novel as fully, to learn its rules. I want my readers to react to the novel itself, to its content, to its ideas. The notion of labeling any work with a particular genre does that work, its creator, and its audience a grave disservice.

What inspired you to be a writer?

J.C. – Books are a way of escaping the banality of our own lives. We look at the adventures of the heroes and the villains and live vicariously through them. We experience things we’d never have the opportunity to experience. It’s cliché, but that attracted me from a very young age to writing. I am far too pragmatic a man to say anything so absurd as “I want to change the world,” but I believe that experience, even vicarious experience, can influence people and set them to pondering the world around them.

Who is your favorite character in your books? Why?

J.C. – I imagine many of my students want me to say something along the lines of “Jason Brays because he’s really me with a much better sex life.” As if the content of the novel didn’t start enough chatter.

I find the character who most moves me is Jamie. My heart breaks for her every time I read the novel all the way through.

Have you ever used contemporary events or stories “ripped from the headlines” in your work?

J.C. – As I mentioned before, the Columbine incident played a major role in this work.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing?

J.C. – The biggest challenge I had with Youth was finding an appropriate distance from the material. I needed to be close enough to write something valid, something true, but far enough away to maintain some semblance of objectivity. Writing a novel, one cannot afford to go wild, to lose himself or herself in the words. At the end of the day, a novel is a story. A writer needs to continuously ensure that whatever he or she writes is in support of the story. Ideas, philosophies, themes: these are all just icing.

What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

J.C. -

a. Know what you want to say. Figuring that out is half the battle; the rest is just figuring out how the hell to say it.

b. Do not show your drafts to other people. Finish the damn thing first, and then worry about whether anyone else will like it.

c. Do not read books on the craft of writing. Why would you want someone else telling you how to do something if it’s supposed to be your work?

d. Read. Everything. All the time.

e. Write something every day. A line. A chapter. A character sketch.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

J.C. – I go for drives in the country with the windows rolled down and the music turned up. It helps clear my head and get rid of the excess voices. Then I sit down and watch some television or take a nap.

Much like insomnia, trying to force it leads to nothing but frustration. I find that by accepting temporary blockage and refusing to let it get to me, I get over it much quicker.

Who is your favorite author and why? What books have most influenced your life?

J.C. – John Fowles and Cormac McCarthy are my favorite authors. Both are master stylists and master storytellers. In particular, Fowles’ The Magus remains one of the few novels I read regularly. Its portrayal of a reprehensible young man who nevertheless remains intriguing to the audience is well worth the required effort. Likewise, McCarthy’s Blood Meridian and Outer Dark are two of the most intense philosophic works I’ve ever read outside of explicit philosophy. McCarthy dissects the nature of good and evil with such minute clarity that he is able to make manifest our most base angels.

How did you deal with rejection letters?

J.C. – The very first rejection letter I ever received actually made me laugh. It was a skewed photocopy of their form rejection letter. Since then, I’ve always accepted that not everyone is willing to take the time to give me a chance. That is basic human nature. My novel may be the best ever written, but that doesn’t mean everyone should drop what they’re doing and read it. Does rejection hurt? Sure, but nowadays, there are other ways of getting one’s work to the public.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

J.C. – A 16-year-old Lagavulin, a pen with which it is a pleasure to write, and a yellow legal pad. Anything else is just shit that gets in the way.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

J.C. – I took three bullets to the chest, man!

No, not really.

In order to write a relatively short section of Youth, I needed a list of every noteworthy event between 1990 and 2000. I filled a notebook with all of these dates and descriptions, and then created an elaborate cross-referencing system to link events together. My notebook quickly became unwieldy, and I was forced to create a Tinderbox database of the events and their links.

Little did I know that Wikipedia had already compiled lists of noteworthy events by year. All I would have needed to do was print them out and start drawing the links.

Visit Jonathan On The Web!

Jonathan M. Cook’s Official Website: http://www.jonathanmcook.com

Youth and Other Fictions on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Youth-and-Other-Fictions/279678705377413

Where are you from and what do you love most about your hometown?

P.F. – I’m from Australia originally, born and (mostly) raised in Sydney. I grew up in a beachside suburb, and in hindsight I really loved being able to go to the beach pretty much whenever I wanted to; though at the time, obviously, I really took it for granted. The other thing I took for granted was the affordability of property in Sydney beachside suburbs. Not anymore though. Oh no. (Sigh.)

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? How has that childhood dream affected your career?

P.F. – I can remember daydreaming about being a pilot when I was eight or nine, exploring a globe of the world with my finger and picking out all the places I’d be able to fly myself to. A lot of this daydreaming was probably borne out of family holidays to exciting places like Tasmania, or Canberra, or Surfers Paradise. I got my revenge by moving to the UK where I’ve lived for over a decade, and still do. I still daydream about faraway countries though, which is why I set a lot of my fiction in places like … er … London?

Tell us about your latest book.  Do you have anything new in the works and can you tell us a bit about it?

P.F. – My latest book, Punchline, is my first published book. It’s a dark comic mystery about a failed writer whose books go and get published without him. I know what you’re thinking: ugh, a book about a writer. Well, it is and it isn’t. The key phrase here is failed writer. The main character, Luca Pope, embodies all the anxiety and bitterness and neuroses I’ve developed while writing and submitting and being rejected over the past however many years (I stopped counting at fifteen). This can make him come across somewhat unpleasant at times, so I compensate by doing really horrible things to him. It’s a kind of therapy.

In the works: At the moment I’m editing a book I wrote this year called “Cellar Door”. It’s about a young couple (who live in London! Wow! Bet you didn’t see that coming …) who discover a hidden room in the cellar of their house. They find guns, a corpse, and many shoe polish tins.

Why did you write this book?

P.F. – I asked Stephen King to do it, but he said no.

How did you come up with the title?

P.F. – It’s kind of a recurring theme in the story, that all the bad things happening to Luca were like someone’s idea of a bad joke, but without the punchline. The title came almost at the end of writing it.

How did you choose your genre?

P.F. – I read a lot of books which fall into the black comedy / mystery / transgressive category, and that’s the way my stories tend to shift. It’s not as simple as writing in “crime” or “thriller” – I’ve tried doing that, but I tend to lose enthusiasm for the story.

What inspired you to be a writer?

P.F. – I used to read a lot of Stephen King when I was younger, and when the library ran out of Stephen King books, the librarian suggested I try Dean Koontz. After reading about three of Dean Koontz’s books, I can remember thinking, “I could do this!”

Who is your favorite character in your books? Why?

P.F. – Hard to say, because I don’t keep characters. I’d say Luca Pope, the MC in Punchline, but my friends might stop being my friends if I said that, so … I’ll go with Sara, one of the characters in Cellar Door. She’s an authoritarian and eccentric lady, and I found her great fun to write.

Have you ever used contemporary events or stories “ripped from the headlines” in your work?

P.F. – Not really. The poor state of the economy is present in a lot of my books, because it provides great material for comedy. Don’t ask me how, it just does.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing?

P.F. – Getting up at 5am every morning to write, because my employers get upset if I do it in the office. Also, discussing it with people who aren’t writers. Also, discussing it with people who are writers.

What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

P.F. – Have you tried singing?

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

P.F. – I don’t know if it’s writer’s block or just periodic bouts of laziness. Whichever it is, listening to music usually helps. Am I allowed to say drugs? No? Music then.

Who is your favorite author and why? What books have most influenced your life?

P.F. – Elmore Leonard, Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut Jr, Chuck Palahniuk, Peter Carey, Christopher Moore … kind of hard to keep the list small. The books which have most influenced me would include Catch-22 for the absurd humour, Fight Club for the minimalism and transgressive themes, and True History of the Kelly Gang as an example of what creative literature can be.

How did you deal with rejection letters?

P.F. – I run a permanent marker over my name and pretend they were sent to someone else by mistake. Then I feel sorry for that poor rejected writer, whatever their name is.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

P.F. – Mean beta readers.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

P.F. – No way am I sharing that.

Visit Paul On The Web!

Blog: http://fentonton.blogspot.com

Fake publisher website: http://www.bohicabooks.com

Twitter: @p_fenton

Amazon (US) link: http://www.amazon.com/Punchline-ebook/dp/B005JJTUC6/

Book one of the Akasha Series, Water by Terra Harmony, is the story of Kaitlyn Alder–the newest member of a mysterious organization called The Seven. Once with them, she discovers that there are people who can connect with and control the elements–and she is one of them.

Water has very few typos in it and is well-written. The characters are well-developed and believable, although the author doesn’t provide much history into the development of their personalities until after the reader has already formed an opinion about the characters. The details are rich and varied. Most importantly, while the idea of interacting with the elements is a popular one for fantasy novels, Water has managed to be fresh and avoid cliches.

This is a book that “magic” lovers will most likely enjoy, as well as those who enjoy element based fiction or fantasy with a modern setting. There is also an element of romance in the book, so those who enjoy paranormal romance should also enjoy this story. For the first time in a long time–perhaps years–I found a book that was good enough that I chose to finish reading it rather than go to bed and get some sleep. Definitely 5 stars and eager to read the rest of the series when it comes out!

Where are you from and what do you love most about your hometown?

S.G. – I don’t really have a “hometown”. I was born in Pennsylvania, but I spent my formative years in Colorado Springs. If I had to choose, I would consider my home to be Charleston, SC where I went to college. There is so much to love about Charleston; southern hospitality, excellent food & the weather, to name a few. But I’d have to say, I love the history of the city most.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? How has that childhood dream affected your career?

S.G. – I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but at one point I thought I’d do something else like graphic design or raise golden retriever puppies… really. Then I realized my soul would shrivel up and die if I didn’t start writing again, even if the writing was just for me. I’m a bit dramatic.

Tell us about your latest book.  Do you have anything new in the works and can you tell us a bit about it?

S.G. – Yes, I do have a new book in the works! I’m very excited about it. It takes place in the time frame of Prince John, Richard the Lionheart’s younger brother. John warred with France and with his own people. My book takes place amidst those struggles. A young woman finds herself as nothing more than a political pawn and she takes her future into her own hands.

Why did you write this book?

S.G. – I had been thinking about The Defiant Lady for a long time, but through the writing process it turned into something I did not expect.

How did you come up with the title?

S.G. – Bounced off a bunch of words and put them together, essentially. The Defiant Lady was the combination that made me say, “Oh yeah! This is it!” It just made complete sense because of my heroine, Ivy.

How did you choose your genre?

S.G. – I have always loved historical romance, and I have always felt that I am out of place in modern times. But I can journey to any time in the past through my writing.

What inspired you to be a writer?

S.G. – No one thing in particular. I have been writing since I was very young.

Who is your favorite character in your books? Why?

S.G. – Usually the male protagonist. I like my men to be real men, and I attempt to write a strong lead that other women will find “swoon worthy”.

Have you ever used contemporary events or stories “ripped from the headlines” in your work?

S.G. – Nope.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing?

S.G. – Sometimes I don’t connect well with certain characters. It can be hard to paint a clear picture of someone that is supposed to be real, and it can be difficult to like all of the characters I write, even though they are fictional people.

What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

S.G. – Learn how to craft a true story with tangible characters. Don’t skim the surface. Really dig deep and create a background for your characters so that the reader understands they have a past, just like they would if they were real. And don’t let your characters do something out of character!

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

S.G. – Of course! I am humbled by “the block”! When I have writer’s block, I bake… a lot. I do Martha Stewart-type projects around the house. And then I run back to the computer when the urge to write hits me!

Who is your favorite author and why? What books have most influenced your life?

S.G. – This is an unfair question. I have so many. J.D. Salinger, of course. David James Duncan, who wrote The River Why. I read it in high school and it was a book that just spoke to me. But then I also love Diana Gabaldon, author of the incredible Outlander Series. Her central relationship of Jamie and Claire is what I strive to write; passion, emotion and strength.

How did you deal with rejection letters?

S.G. – I have not sent my book out. I came upon self-publishing as a byproduct of my generation. I don’t need a traditional publisher, but I am not opposed to being signed if a publisher ever becomes interested.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

S.G. – A good thesaurus, and a great editor!

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

S.G. – Haven’t had to do anything too weird, yet. I’ve twittered questions, though. They come back answered. That’s pretty cool.

Where are you from and what do you love most about your hometown?

C.P. – I’m originally from New York City. I now live in San Francisco.
What I love most about it is… It’s San Francisco!

Tell us about your latest book.  Do you have anything new in the works and can you tell us a bit about it?

C.P. – Reel Life Crime is a tongue-in-cheek hard-boiled detective story that’s a tribute to The Maltese Falcon (Chandler’s book and Houston’s film), the noir genre, and movies in general. It’s also a mystery that can stand on its own. (But the better you know The Maltese Falcon, the more you’ll appreciate this.)

As for what’s in the works… I generally pretty much always have something new I’m working on, whether it’s on paper or in my head. At the moment, I’m finishing a new play and mapping out a sequel to Reel Life Crime.

Why did you write this book?

C.P. – I’ve always been fascinated by The Maltese Falcon. In addition to Reel Life Crime, I’ve written a full-length play (The Maltese Frenchman) about it. I’m drawn to the general concept of The Quest, and to this quest in particular. Years ago, the Maltese falcon (the prop from Houston’s film) came to San Francisco and I began to think, “What if…?” From that moment on, the idea never left my head. Some eight years later, I finally wrote the book.

How did you come up with the title?

C.P. – Movies (and their impact on our everyday lives) are at the heart of the story. I took the concept of “real life crime” and spun it.

How did you choose your genre?

C.P. – If you’re gonna write a mystery based on The Maltese Falcon, it’s gotta be a hard-boiled detective story of some sort. The play I wrote started from a (creatively) silly, very playful idea. That play is an out-and-out comedy.
So I guess, in general, the core idea — and how you want to handle the material — dictates the genre. And of course, your style and predilections as a writer.

What inspired you to be a writer?

C.P. – Took a Playwriting class in college. Came away from the first assignment on a natural high. From the point on, I was hooked. There was never any real question of being anything else.

Have you ever used contemporary events or stories “ripped from the headlines” in your work?

C.P. – All the time. I’ve written plays based on things I’ve read in the newspaper or seen on TV, and I’ve incorporated incidents I read/saw as smaller parts of larger work.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing?

C.P. – Not writing itself, fortunately. But for me, the process can be challenging. I’ve had to learn to allow myself to be stuck along the way, whether for an idea, a plot point, or less than free-flowing creativity. I now know that if I leave it alone, give it free rein, and not stress out about the fact that’s it taking longer than I’d like it to, it’ll all come on its own. In its time, when it’s ready.

What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

C.P. – Learn — and develop — your craft…. Have (or develop) discipline — writing is work… Know your character(s) before you start writing. It all comes from character… Don’t be lazy. Develop each part of whatever you’re writing as much as it needs to be developed to work… And don’t stop writing.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

C.P. – I have slow periods where either no ideas are coming or the ideas that are coming don’t excite me enough to want to pursue them. But once I have an idea, and I’m ready to work on it, I just start writing. In that way, I’m lucky.

Who is your favorite author and why? What books have most influenced your life?

C.P. – My favorite authors are William Faulkner and Tom Robbins.
A lot of books have influenced me. Too many to mention.

How did you deal with rejection letters?

C.P. – How do I deal with rejection letters? I save them. I have every one I’ve ever received. They fill a warehouse around the corner from my house. And I just keep writing.
Acceptance/rejection is completely subjective. My basic response to a rejection letter is “What do they know?” And then I send the work out again. (A caveat: This is only after I’ve put the work through my own rigorous edit/rewrite/show-the work-to-people-I-trust process. I always think about the reason(s) why something’s been rejected. I just don’t let myself be stopped by rejection if I know this is what I intended to write and it’s as good as it can/should be. So I’m not talking ego here; I’m talking about having the confidence in my work to not let “them” discourage me.)

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

C.P. – Craft. Discipline. Talent.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

C.P. – I’m not sure anything within the law and that doesn’t hurt other people is weird in terms of research, because you have to know the world you’re writing about. So you do pretty much anything you have to do (within the above parameters) to know that world. Although there was that incident in Hoboken…

Visit Cary On The Web!
www.carypepper.com

Where are you from and what do you love most about your hometown?

D.C. – I grew up in Waterbury, Connecticut, and I high-tailed it out of there as soon as I turned 18. As a child growing up, I think it’s hard to recognize the beauty that’s right in front of you. Waterbury is hardly a beautiful town anymore, though it was at one time; unfortunately for me, that time was long before my birth. But Waterbury has a certain undeniable charm, and it carries with it so many stories from generations of people who made their lives there. Who lived and died there. Who raised children, started businesses, ran for office, got stuck in traffic. Waterbury has so many stories that now, as an adult, I’m fascinated by it.

I was lucky enough to spend some time there recently, and I saw childhood friends, went to places that reminded me of some of the most poignant moments of my life. Childhood is rife with those: poignant moments happen so often to children because the child’s mind is often experiencing something for the first time. Waterbury is that trigger, that muse, for me as an adult. It is not necessarily a beautiful town. It is gritty. It is a place that has experienced its hey-day and is now simply struggling to survive. And that, to me, is what makes it so beautiful. As a writer, struggle is beauty.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? How has that childhood dream affected your career?

D.C. – The first thing I can remember wanting to be was an architect. I liked to draw back then, which is surprising, because I’m terrible at it now. I also don’t have a head for numbers or any kind of math, but I am still fascinated with buildings, and design, and structures in general.

As a writer now, and a photographer, I am still fascinated by architecture because I really feel like buildings can be alive. They can be as significant of a character in a story than a person can, as is the case in my book, as is the case in “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle”, as is the case in just about any haunted house story. I have a deep appreciation for the amazing human ability to create, and structures in various stages of their lives are, to me, a reason to write. I love old, decaying buildings. There’s even a certain strange beauty in strip malls, because in essence, they are tragedies. They will fall eventually because they are designed to. What’s more tragic than that?

Tell us about your latest book.  Do you have anything new in the works and can you tell us a bit about it?

D.C. – My latest book on the market is “Confusing the Seasons”, which is essentially a story about mourning, and missed opportunities. A man approaching his elderly years is struggling to act fatherly to his two grown sons, and he’s struggling to do so after his wife dies. But what book wouldn’t be complete without revenge? The boys, though in some ways sympathetic characters, are often brutish and selfish, and as they navigate a difficult winter in northern Maine, they are coming to the realization that the people who have been burned in the past don’t ever forget…and sometimes forgiveness just simply isn’t a real option.

I have a new book in the works called “Men Waiting For Sleep.” I am hoping to finish up the first draft this month. This story also takes place in Maine (the second installment of what I’ll tentatively call my Maine stories), and this story is essentially a tale of redemption. I won’t give too much more away, except that you will hear about a boat that sinks and floats when it wants to, a 92 year old fisherman with major regrets before death, a shotgun that breathes, and a man who tries to plant cardboard in his backyard—perhaps successfully.

Why did you write this book?

D.C. – I didn’t have a choice. The characters needed their stories told. I love writing because once I find the characters, all I have to do is watch what they do next and write it all down. It’s an adventure for me, but more importantly, it’s compelling. “Confusing the Seasons” was my fourth complete novel manuscript, and when I wrote the last few pages, I was devastated. It was a relief to be done, but I felt like my best friends had moved away and I would never see them again. The feeling becomes addictive after a while, so I found the urge to find more characters and peek in on their lives.

But really, I just missed being in Maine. I lived there for five years before I moved west, and shortly after leaving Maine, I was really just homesick. So I wanted to follow a story set there…

How did you come up with the title?

D.C. – There’s a scene in the book in which a female character is embracing a male character, and she tells him he “smells like December.” During this embrace, the woman is finding the warmth she so desperately craved for years…but she’s finding it from the wrong person.

The title is essentially a vague way of saying sometimes we look for warmth in the wrong places, in the wrong seasons, as so many characters in the book do. What we think is comfort may end up just being a temporary respite in a snowstorm…another log on the fire that may eventually die out.

How did you choose your genre?

D.C. – That’s a tricky question because I write stories in so many different genres. I chose literary fiction, and family saga in particular, because I felt that I wanted to focus on good writing rather than gimmicky plot. So much writing today is focused on shocking, on pandering, on driving through a plot so blindly that the writing gets ignored. Text messages, e-mails, social networking…it’s all useful, but it all glosses over the beauty of language.

I chose this genre because I wanted to prove that a good story can be told with beautiful language, with well developed sentences and paragraphs. More importantly, I wanted to tell the story of a family in the midst of struggle, because that is a story I find inspiring.

What inspired you to be a writer?

D.C. – My English teacher freshman year of high school gave my class an assignment to write a short story. I had never done this before, and while I found the assignment fun, I didn’t think a whole lot about it after I finished…until she submitted my story to a citywide writing competition, and I won.

After that, writing became more intriguing to me. I went to the University of Maine and discovered so many great writers because of my fantastic professors that it became very clear to me writing would be my game in some capacity. I love telling stories (just ask my wife. I tell her the same stories over and over again, much to her annoyance), so it seemed logical that I should try to create them myself.

Who is your favorite character in your books? Why?

D.C. – I am drawn to elderly men for some reason. I feel like they are in unique positions to harbor so much knowledge, but also so much fear and regret. The struggle almost writes itself. In “Men Waiting For Sleep,” two characters in the latter stages of life fascinate me: Abe, who is the kindly old man who is rekindling decades-old regrets, and Morris, who couldn’t feel regret if it was a scratchy wool sweater against bare skin. Each man is struggling with many of the same issues of fear, but they do so in such different ways.

Have you ever used contemporary events or stories “ripped from the headlines” in your work?

D.C. – Yes, I have. I based an entire novel on it, in fact. That novel will never see the light of day, but it was fun to write. I think focusing on headlines is a great way to get distracted with your own viewpoints, and that doesn’t always make for great fiction. Great essays, sure, great editorials, definitely. But fiction? Well, more talented writers than I am can perhaps tackle that.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing?

D.C. – Writing is hard! Every part of it is difficult. If it comes easy to you, you may be doing something wrong. I love it, but it’s always a wrestling match. I particularly struggle with writing female characters. I tried in “Men Waiting For Sleep” to make the women characters as well rounded and interesting as possible without becoming caricatures of feminism or fawning swooners. It’s hard because I’m not female. Everything’s a guess. I have to think carefully about how I would feel if I was dealing with the social constructs women face every day, and I can’t because as a white male, I will never struggle with some of those things…women are tough. Women are strong—usually stronger than men—and that’s hard for me to wrap my head around sometimes.

What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

D.C. – Get ready to hear “NO” early and often. Keep going anyway. Write every single day, and read as much as possible. Don’t read junk; have more respect for yourself. Read things that challenge you, read books that entertain you, read books that fascinate you. Just read read read. And when you’re done reading, write. You won’t get better at it if that great novel stays “up here” in your brain and never makes it to paper.

And never be embarrassed about being a writer. People will mock you, believe me. They will belittle you and ask you when you’re going to get a real job. You’re doing something more important than sitting in a cubicle. Keep writing.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

D.C. – All the time. I didn’t touch one of my novels for a year and a half. There’s no set cure for it, either. At some point you just have to sit down and put words on a page, even if those words turn out to be CRAP CRAP CRAP. Turn off the television. Turn off the internet. Put your phone away, and close the door. Create something. What’s life about if you’re not creating?

Who is your favorite author and why? What books have most influenced your life?

D.C. – I have so many favorites, but top four, in no particular order, are John Irving, Richard Russo, Stephen King, and Jonathan Safran Foer. These guys have vastly different styles, and they create compelling characters that never leave your brain. I dare you to read “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Foer and then forget about Oskar Schell, who lost his father on 9/11; or about Owen Meany, John Irving’s little “instrument of God.” Do it, I dare you.

Stephen King’s “On Writing” is one of those life changing books that I will read over and over. If you’re a writer and you haven’t read this, you’re cheating yourself. Buy it today.

“Night,” “Dawn,” and “The Accident” by Elie Wiesel were all pivotal stories for me as well. Gutwrenching, and borne from real struggle. Borne from a life truly lived. This is great writing: simple, sparse, but incendiary and explosive.

How did you deal with rejection letters?

D.C. – I still have every rejection letter I ever got. I will continue to get more, I assume. They’re just letters. They’re just from people who didn’t care for what you wrote. There are still about 5 billion more people to reach and say, “hey, do you like this?”

Rejections are tough, though. I’d be lying if I said they didn’t get me down. But what else can you do as a writer but just keep on writing? If you get a rejection letter and stop writing because of it, you were never a writer to begin with.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

D.C. – I always told my writing students that you need to know the rules before you can break them. So many young writers today don’t know the basics of sentence structure, of grammar, of rhetoric…learn it all! Become passionate about it! Learn how to write in all the ways your grammar teacher wants you to write, and once you know how, you can throw all of it away and write in any way you want. Not capitalizing the first word of a sentence is only clever if you know it’s wrong and are using it as a tool. If you’re just being sloppy, that only makes you a sloppy writer, not a genius.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

D.C. – I once snuck into the Bangor water works in Bangor, Maine, which was basically a condemned building that jutted out over the river. The floor boards were torn up or otherwise rotted in a lot of spots, and you could look down and see the river rushing past. It probably wasn’t a good idea to be in there, but it was damn cool to see this amazing building and a unique view of the river. I wanted to get a feel for a dangerous place that could basically kill me at any moment…and that building certainly delivered.

Visit Dan On The Web!

Writing—www.danielcavallari.com

Photography—www.d2photos.net

Facebook—www.facebook.com/dancavauthor

Twitter—www.twitter.com/dancavauthor

Kick off your shoes and kick back with this six-pack of sci-fi cool, chock full of thugs, drugs, femme fatales, and cosmic secrets.
THE MUTAGENIC CYCLE
A thief discovers the drug he stole is more than merely mind-altering, and the designer from whom he stole it more terrible than humanly possible … love and betrayal clash in a world in which the only escape from slavery is to become inhuman … one man provides hope to a world devastated by genetic catastrophe.
OTHER STORIES
A down-on-his-luck journalist interviews a man who may be a god, a kook, or the perfect solution to a life of misery … a group of intrepid explorers touch the edges of space only to discover ancient terror … a man discovers disturbing hidden powers behind human motivation.

 This is one of the best science fiction collections I have seen in a long time.  As an author, James White is master of the short story.  Many of the short story collections that I’ve read recently give the reader the impression that they were supposed to be longer stories-novellas or full length novels.  That is not the case here.  Each of these stories has been crafted complete-maximum impact in few words.  They are all absorbing and varied enough to keep interest throughout.

Mr. White’s characters are fascinating and three dimensional.  They have rich inner lives and their interaction with the world around them makes for a great read.

The worlds themselves are well thought out.   The first three stories make up the Mutagenic Cycle and explore the realm of ‘what if’.  The world is polluted and practically unlivable, and science is advanced to the point of humans being able to physically change themselves at will.  The physical and psychological toll this takes on the characters is absorbing to read.

The Other Stories portion of the book is equally good-the stories are a fantastic mix of actuality and possibility.  To say more here would be to give away too much, but if the reader enjoys a solid science fiction book to add to his or her collection, I can’t recommend this higher.

Buy it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Mutagenic-Cycle-Other-Stories-ebook/dp/B005IBP3JE

The painting loomed, large and foreboding. At a little over six feet tall and five feet wide, it wasn’t the strangest he’d ever seen, but close. A girl with a wounded, sack-like face; a boy with pinhole eyes and a cruel sneer; and a distant shadow peering out from behind a dying tree, all stared back at him.
Yet it wasn’t only the subjects that challenged him, but the note that came with the anonymous painting.
“Here in Art, Denial.”
For Professor Daniel Rineheart, these four words herald a riddle that sets off a surreal nightmare. Where objects from his past manifest in canvas and oil. Where painted clocks tick-tock away in the dark hours before dawn and a missing dog whimpers from between the walls. Where the painted subjects themselves leave the canvas to stalk the halls of his once quiet house.
And where all answers lead back to a blind artist and an impossible creation, one that threatens to destroy his family and devour his sanity.

This book is gripping and I read it through in one go. One of my first favorites in this genre was Stephen King-especially his early novels.  Andrew Van Wey, like King, is great at creating characters that the reader can actually care about.  Mr. Van Wey has written a well-scripted novel where the characters come to life with all of their hopes and fears.  Daniel Rineheart is an everyman character-art professor, husband, and father.  An unfortunate incident from his past leads to denial, fear and a web of tangled lies that only grows deeper as the novel progresses.  As Daniel’s life starts to fall apart, he starts to fall apart and what he reveals is shocking.

Many horror novels use images of gore and fear as crutches-as if the author can’t think of anything else to spice things up.  In contrast, this is one of those horror novels that use the ‘horror’ to spice up an already gripping psychological story. 

I recommend this book wholeheartedly and I look forward to more from this author.

Buy it here:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LT35MA