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Author Interview: Connie Corcoran Wilson

3/28/2013

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Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing author Connie Corcoran Wilson, who is currently promoting her new release, Red is for Rage.  She's giving away a few books, so be sure to enter through the Rafflecopter form at the bottom of this post.
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How did you come up with the idea for The Color of Evil series?

The Color of Evil grew out of a short story in my first Hellfire & Damnation short story collection entitled “Living in Hell.” I felt guilty leaving Tad McGreevy in such bad psychological shape and made up my mind to write him out of the corner I had written him into, so he jumps forward to his junior year in high school when God’s in his heaven and all’s right with the world. Until it isn’t any more. (www.HellfireAndDamnationTheBook.com).

You new release, Red is for Rage, seems to be crossover of a few genres.  Would you consider this work to be a YA thriller or a New Adult novel?

I think it is both. I agree that it is a crossover of a few genres and aimed at both a YA audience aged 18 to 24 and aimed at adults. I do think it is a thriller more than any other genre. I log-line it as “Carrie” meets “The Fury” meets television’s “The Medium.”

What is your favorite genre to write?  Is it the same as your preferred reading genre?

As my readers will know, I’ve written nearly “one of everything,” with only a few exceptions. My first book (1989) was written for Performance Learning Systems, Inc., (the nation’s largest teacher training firm) and was a heavily research-based nonfiction look at teaching entitled Training the Teacher As A Champion.  I also have written 5 short story collections, 2 humor collections, 1 children’s book, 1 science fiction novel, 1 nonfiction book on movies of the seventies (based on my reviews from the Quad City Times) and the two novels in The Color of Evil series, which, as you have accurately pointed out, is both a YA thriller and a New Adult novel.

According to your Amazon Author Page, you are a college professor who has been writing for fifty-five years.  What do you teach, and how did you get your start in publishing?

I started writing (for pay) for my hometown newspaper as a gimmick, ( on the newspaper publisher’s part) when I was ten years old, conducting interviews. I continued writing for our high school newspaper as Editor-in-Chief. I started college intending to write for a living (Journalism major) attending the University of Iowa on a full-ride Ferner/Hearst Scholarship.

I taught at the junior high school level (Silvis Junior High School, Silvis, Illinois) for 17 and ½ years (Chairman of the English Department) and was school newspaper advisor. My student teaching was at high school levels (Iowa City Lab School).

I left full-time teaching to go to work for Performance Learning Systems, Inc., of Emerson, New Jersey, and Nevada City, California as an educational writer. That was my start in publishing.  I was working from home by computer for PLS in 1985 using a WANG PC they provided and writing the company Bible.  It was not easy, because Al Gore had not yet perfected the Internet (she said, facetiously) and I knew nothing about computers, having learned to type 250 wpm on a manual typewriter with Mae Hanlon in Independence, Iowa in the sixties. I mainly networked (via the Internet) with One Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C.. to secure studies on effective teaching methods to document data used in the book. In those days, you needed to have a screwdriver handy to adjust the “teeth” on your modem so that they were in synch with the modem on the other end, and then the message came across looking like Egyptian hieroglyphics and you had to convert it. There were about 10 steps. It was a far cry from today’s Internet.

During the time I researched and wrote Training the Teacher As A Champion for PLS, (which dubbed me an “educational writer” and flew me around the country on various assignments, having me write their newsletter) I asked for and received permission to teach one class at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. I wanted the human contact, because writing can be a lonely pursuit and I had been used to teaching as many as 150 twelve and thirteen-year-old students daily for close to 20 years. I was assigned an Advanced Composition class at St. Ambrose and subsequently wrote some recommendations for a few of my students to attend the University of Iowa’s acclaimed Writers’ Workshop.

I had taken one year off in 1979-1980 prior to leaving Silvis permanently in 1985,  looking for a permanent position in our area at a higher teaching level (I went back and taught 5 more years before the PLS writing job). I had PhD concentration in Victorian Literature, for example, from my college studies, which wasn’t really doing me much good teaching 12 and 13-year-olds. I felt like a lot of my college program education was being wasted at the junior high school level, although I loved the age of  the student(s) and it’s still my favorite from the age of twelve on up.

Since the district I was teaching in was among the least well-paid districts, I thought that I might be able to find a better-paying job in a high school job that needed someone to supervise their school newspaper---the job I started out to do full-time. (I changed my major to straight English in my junior year of college.)

To keep my hand in writing,  I wrote for the Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) as  Film and Book critic from 1970 until  the mid eighties, while teaching school full-time. I also wrote for the Moline Dispatch, interviewing local television and radio celebrities and writing a humor column and for “Metro East” and the “Rock Island Reminder”.

During my one-year sabbatical from  regular junior high school classroom duties (1979-1980), I taught at Augustana College, Marycrest College (now closed), and Blackhawk Junior College. I was assigned incoming Freshman Rhetoric or Composition . At St. Ambrose I taught Advanced Composition. At Marycrest I taught American Literature: 1865 to the Present. At Augustana I was in charge of  the Reading and Writing Lab, a Learning Center, filling in for a woman who was getting her PhD at Iowa and had to take her comprehensive exams. One summer I taught a film class at Blackhawk Junior College.

After I sold the two businesses I founded (Sylvan Learning Center #3301 in 1986 and  Prometric Testing Center in1995), I taught at the two remaining colleges in our IA/IL area, Kaplan College, where I mainly did Public Relations, because I had owned, operated and marketed a Sylvan for close to 20 years and at Eastern Iowa Community College.

 My “start” in publishing was the PLS writing job. The book was published in 1989; the founder of the company, Joseph K. Hasenstab (now retired) is listed as the co-author. I guess you could say I was their “ghost writer,” although I insisted on equal credit if I were going to quit my tenured junior high school teaching job. PLS was starting its own book publishing concern.

After I finished writing the book, I founded my Sylvan Learning Center (second in the state of Iowa, across the I74 bridge from where I live, in Bettendorf, Iowa) and, nine years later, Prometric Testing Center, which, at that time, licensed all nurses in North America, among 250 other groups.

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What author would you say has influenced your writing the most throughout your career?

That would be William F. Nolan, a wonderfully encouraging mentor who wrote “Logan’s Run” (along with George Clayton Johnson) and was also once an artist for Hallmark and worked for “Dark Shadows” guru Dan Curtiss. He wrote the script for “Burnt Offerings,” episodes of “The Twilight Zone” and  is a great writer and a living legend in dark fantasy. Bill was friends with all the greats, like Ray Bradbury. He is a tremendous writer and also a great oral reader and still as busy as ever in his 80s, working on ten projects at once, he told me. 

There are many other writers whose works I read and admire. Some, like David Morrell and Jon Land and Kurt Vonnegut and Joe Hill and Anne Perry and Frederik Pohl, I have interviewed for print or online publications. Jon Land was very encouraging and we were both in Hawaii presenting at the Spellbinders’ Writers’ Conference last Labor Day. Jonathan Maberry was kind enough to provide a blurb for THE COLOR OF EVIL and Lisa Manetti and Gary Braunbeck have provided them for HELLFIRE & DAMNATION books. 

I read a fair amount of genre fiction (Stephen King, John Grisham, Scott Turow, Jonathan Maberry, David Morrell) as well as literary fiction (AWP member) and I would categorize what I write as suspenseful thrillers, sometimes with some horrific real-life twists. I’ve had reviewers say my writing reminds them of Stephen King or Dean Koontz or Philip K. Dick or E.C. Comics. I’m not a very good judge of who else I might write like; I try  to write like I write, as I have been writing for over half a century now, just not writing fiction until 2003.

THE COLOR OF EVIL series, as you have pointed out, has crossover appeal to adults and is suitable for older teens (YA), plus it is  a paranormal thriller, like “Carrie,” with teenage romances, etc. The themes I write about  could really happen in the world , so it’s not as much paranormal fantasy as it is paranormal romance or paranormal thriller and, to a lesser extent horror, [although it was discovered by enough open-minded horror writers to make the preliminary Stoker ® ballot when I know precious few folk within that group, one of many to which I belong.] 

I’m sure all the genre novels I have read (and enjoy reading) over the years have shaped what I prefer writing, but the one person who has been most instrumental in keeping me at it and who has been unfailingly generous and supportive and kind,--- that  person is Bill Nolan. (Thanks, Bill!).

Your author bio says you play four instruments.  What do you play?  Do you see a creative correlation between playing music and writing?

(I didn’t say I played them all WELL!) I had 22 years of classical piano training and I used to accompany my daughter and her friends for annual music contests. My parents insisted I take lessons and learn to play the accordion (which I did my best to conceal from one and all for years.) Now, I don’t mind  if people know of this hidden talent, but back then, I was humiliated by having to play the accordion. About the most interesting thing I can say about my accordion lessons is that Mary Beth Koob had her lesson right before me (in Jesup, Iowa, a town we had to drive to for lessons) and she later was one of the Iranian civilian hostages. [She wasn’t one of those rescued by the likes of Ben Affleck in “Argo,” but she was held prisoner with the others for days, and I remember watching that play out and being very concerned for Mary Beth.]  

I also played percussion instruments (tenor drum, snare drum, cymbals) in marching band, and I played oboe and English horn in the school band. 

But my folks never bought me an oboe.  We rented it from the school. So I pretty much just went with vocal music after that, in college, participating in Old Gold Singers for 3 and ½ years, Oratorio Chorus and University Choir while at the University of Iowa for 4 and ½ years.

Many of the creative people I personally know, if they write creative fiction, also are musical or artistic.

If you had to choose one of your works as your favorite, which one would you name?

If fiction, it would be a toss-up between THE COLOR OF EVIL series (novels)---i.e., the first and second new book RED IS FOR RAGE--- and the HELLFIRE & DAMNATION series (short stories), which also has two books, HELLFIRE & DAMNATION and HELLFIRE & DAMNATION II. 

If nonfiction, I spent 8 years writing IT CAME FROM THE 70s: FROM THE GODFATHER TO APOCALYPSE NOW. It was a labor of love and is a very fun book with reviews from the day (50 of them), 76 photos and interactive trivia. It won quite a few awards, including a NABE Pinnacle award.

Some writers meticulously plan out their stories, while others simply write and see where it takes them.  Under which category do you fall?

More the former than the latter, but I spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out where the plot MIGHT take me and figuring out the time-line. The characters lead me the rest of the way and sometimes surprise me.

What do you find to be the easiest aspect to your writing?  What’s the hardest?

I agree with Jon Land (“Pandora’s Temple”) that “finishing” is the hardest part. It’s also hard if you go away from the work for a while remembering where you are in the story and keeping the characters and time line organized. 

I asked Jonathan Maberry for some tips on writing books in a series in New Orleans at Writers for New Orleans in December----i.e., how much of the FIRST book do you have to repeat for readers of the SECOND book, etc. 

I  have had editors or Beta readers tell me that I’m using too many names that start with the same letters. So, I changed the names, but I miss one or two “changes” from the first name I started with; that has happened more than once. I’m actually going to have to stop paying that much attention to my Beta readers. I think it’s a bogus complaint, in some ways. At my house, everybody’s name starts with the letter “S” (Scott and Stacey) or “C” (Connie and Craig.) At my brother-in-law’s house, all the children have names that start with the letter “M.” So what? I have tried to please everybody, and ended up pleasing o one and confusing myself. I’m going to try to please myself in the future and stick with the original names I select.

 As for the easiest aspect, when the creative juices are flowing, it’s a pleasure getting the rough draft down on paper, but there’s so much polishing that has to take place after that.

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As both a professor and an author, what advice do you have for unpublished writers with only one or two books under their belt and are seeking to turn their craft into a career?

The flippant answer would be to say: “Don’t give up your day job.” 

My helpful answer is to say that, IF those writers have thoroughly mastered the basics of writing (some have not),  they should learn all they can about self-publishing, join and attend relevant writing groups (network, in other words), learn to market what they write, and  be very, very persistent and tough-skinned.  I used to be very thin-skinned. I would give up at the first sign of rejection. Now, I know that is just one person’s opinion. Everyone goes through having someone reject their work (even Stephen King). You cannot let it defeat you. Be a bigger and kinder person than those people have been, to you. Rise above the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Soar like an eagle! (Smile)

I have a feeling that very few authors are making mega-bucks. It’s a little like music or art or the entertainment business, in general. Many good writers combine their writing with a separate job, like teaching or working in a library. I write because I always have written; that’s what I do. That’s who I am. I know I have certain skill sets, and I am working to add to those skill sets and expand them to include the fiction I “saved” to write until I could devote all my time to doing it. 

I am not teaching at any level, at the moment. I’m not saying I’d never teach again (“never say never”) but I want to concentrate on writing, right now.  I have written for 11 blogs and am a Featured Contributor to Yahoo, which has 600,000 members. I was Content Producer of the Year (2008). It is probable that writing of that sort will make you more money than writing fiction---important if supporting yourself by writing is your goal. 

I honestly don’t know how most writers make ends meet if they don’t have a day job; I know that I am fortunate to have turned to writing fiction only in 2003, after years spent running businesses that did well. I saved my pennies to pursue the dream of writing, full-time, that first came to me when I was in 6th grade. Now, I am happy to be able to write what I want to write.  I truly like the idea of self-publishing, although I may change my mind for the promotional benefits that a large house could provide. I just try to do the very best job I can do with everything I do in life, and I try to forgive, although I seldom forget.

Bonus question: Why is a raven like a writing desk?

I’m answering these questions at 4:00 a.m. the morning after the Academy Awards. I haven’t been to bed yet. We just had our Annual Oscar party (complete with predictions in all 24 categories) with our best friends, Pam and Dr. John Rhodes in Des Moines, Iowa. My husband won. You can see his “Chicken Dance” (victory dance tradition) on my YouTube page (Connie Corcoran Wilson) where he thanks “the Economy” for reasons no one can figure out. 

Everyone but me has gone to bed, as I’m answering these questions---and none too well. 

I’m exhausted after traveling 40 hours straight (17 hours flying from a month’s trip to Australia/New Zealand, where I had a book signing at the Galaxy Book Store at 131 York Street in Sydney). Then, I hostessed and cooked for my son, four-year-old twins, my daughter-in-law, who were already in my house when I got home from a month spent “Down Under.” I also took the little ones to the newly revamped Children’s Museum for several hours.

We added into the weekend mix my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law and niece. As soon as the weekend was over and my son’s family had departed, we left for a 3 and ½ hour drive to Des Moines, Iowa on Interstate 80 heading west during a small blizzard, to be present at the annual Oscar party. 

We got to bed very late every night and then we drove home today (Monday after the Oscars), another 3 and ½ hours to the east, this time. We are supposed to go pick up our 25-year-old daughter in Chicago tomorrow (another 3 and ½ hours) further east on I80, and drive back (make that 7 hours in the same day). But Blizzard Rocky is now threatening, so maybe the daughter will have to stay put till the storm blows over. I’m really, really tired.

All this is by way of saying that I cannot think of a “clever” response when I’m too tired to make a fist. So, I asked the 3 others (also tired) for help interpreting this riddle. Nada. Zip. Zero. Lots of, “I have a hangover” looks.

Here’s what I’d say about that question, (which I ran by all the assembled Oscar Party participants, in the hopes that they’d have something intelligent to add): we have no clue, nor do we care. 

But here’s my “clever” response, such as it is, and it does not answer the question, (which is what a good politician always does, so I’m stealing a page out of that book).

We know that, in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven,” the line is, “Quoth the raven, nevermore.” 

The raven simply had the word wrong, in my case. 

For me, the raven should have been saying, “Forevermore.”

I will always write, till the day I die. 

I hope you’ll READ what I write and thank you for reading this.



About the novel:

RED IS FOR RAGE is the second book in the award-winning THE COLOR OF EVIL series by Connie Wilson. THE COLOR OF EVIL won the E-Lit Gold Medal for Horror (Jenkins Group) and the Silver Feather (IWPA). Three evil-doers rise up to wreak havoc on a small, mid-western town in this hot follow up.

When Stevie Scranton goes missing, best friend Tad vows to do everything he can to find him. Even if Stevie is dead, his family craves closure. Tad enlists the help of retired policeman Charlie Chandler and a team of volunteers, including Charlie’s old partner, Evelyn Hoeflinger. This rag-tag team of detectives continues searching for Stevie Scranton, the runty misfit of Cedar Falls’ Sky High. In their search, they discover a monster every bit as dangerous as Pogo the Killer Clown.

Michael Clay (the serial killer Pogo) escapes custody. On the loose again, Pogo’s actions restart a vicious cycle of violent nightmares for Tad McGreevy. Pogo has one main goal: kill Tad McGreevy so that Tad cannot disclose Clay’s location. Pogo doesn’t realize that, up until now, Tad has been unable to harness the paranormal ability he possesses. Now, Tad McGreevy must try to learn to use his unique gift.  Stevie Scranton’s fate hangs in the balance. Tad’s power, if precognitive, could save everyone he loves.


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About the author:

Connie Corcoran Wilson is a University of Iowa grad and college professor with 55 years of writing experience. She's written for 5 newspapers and 7 blogs, founded 2 businesses, play 4 musical instruments, and has 2 children (born 20 years apart). She followed the '04 and '08 presidential campaigns "live," writes for Yahoo, and is sometimes referred to as T.Q. (Trivia Queen).  She also has 2-year-old twin granddaughters who are great fun.


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Excerpt: Sara Brooke's CURSED CASINO

3/24/2013

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August 21 – 5:00pm

He wasn’t going to do it.

He didn’t care what the news was reporting. He wasn’t going to do it. Hell, they always tried to panic people anyway.  Twenty four hours of nonstop reporting on the skies or the puff of wind that happened to blow through. 

It was ridiculous.

Despite the storm, the Van Vincent Hotel was at half capacity.  Numerous flights out of Biloxi and New Orleans had been canceled due to the hurricane and many people were stranded. 

It all happened so quickly.

Hurricane Jill had come out of nowhere.  Several days prior it had been a simple storm system churning out in the Atlantic Ocean.  But a sudden change in the water temperature and wind direction baffled the National Hurricane Center and created a strengthening storm that was heading straight for the Gulf Coast.

Many people evacuated, but others like the tourists, were hesitant to leave.  The projected storm track had been so unpredictable that people were questioning the validity of the reports.  They’d spent so much money to stay at one of the luxury hotels along the Biloxi coastline that the idea of leaving was unappealing.  They wanted their dream vacation.

So, when the corporate office called him, Richard Windler, the general manager of the Van Vincent Hotel, decided that he was going to recommend they keep the hotel open and allow stranded tourists to find refuge from the storm. 

And gamble while waiting it out.

The Van Vincent was known for its lavish and sprawling casino.  A floating barge of nearly 100,000 square feet, it was connected to the primary hotel structure and constituted  a vast array of twinkling lights, music, and luxury mahogany tables surrounded by gamblers of every type.  Thousands of people tread through the brightly carpeted floors and tried their hands at lady luck. 

Richard looked out of his office window at the gray skies overhead. 

It doesn’t even look that bad outside, he thought.

Sighing, he picked up the phone and contacted his primary night manager to inform him that the hotel would remain open throughout the storm.

***

Sandra Sheehan was running low.  She had agreed with her husband that she would only spend $200 on the slot machines while he tried his luck at the $20 blackjack table, but the machine she was on hadn’t been good to her.  Once in a while, she would hit, but instead of stopping, she would continue gambling and lose all of her winnings.

Come on, come on, she thought.

Watching the dials on the screen spin in an almost hypnotic fashion, Sandra became aware of a sound in the distance. It sounded like the white noise made by a TV that had lost its signal. The storm outside had begun.

Glad I’m in here, she thought.

Sandra and Jake Sheehan lived in Lake Worth, Florida and were not accustomed to vacations.  With a combined household income of $60,000 and a few children to take care of, they spent most of their time working and taking brief excursions to the movie theater or the nearby water park.  But they rarely traveled anywhere farther than the state line.

So, they were extremely excited when a friend recommended the Van Vincent Hotel.   Due to the recent recession, the hotel was offering numerous specials for Florida residents.  The one Sandra and Jake took advantage of was offering a 3-night stay at $100 a night.  That included coupons for the buffet and a reduced rate to take a day-trip to New Orleans. 

But soon after they arrived in Biloxi, the news started talking about the Hurricane and how the trek of the storm might take it straight up through either New Orleans or the nearby cities.   

Instead of trying to find a flight home, the Sheehans decided to take their chances and thankfully, the Van Vincent wasn’t kicking them out.

On the other side of the casino, Jake wasn’t doing much better than his wife.  After winning several hands initially, the house changed dealers and now he had a woman who clearly wasn’t interested in giving him some extra cash.  She stared straight ahead, unsmiling and proceeded to take his money over and over again.

Finally, Jake sighed and decided to grab his chips and cash out.  They still needed spending money after all, and the trip to New Orleans promised to be a fun day of drinking and general debauchery.

If the fucking storm doesn’t hit first, he thought grumpily.

Stepping away from the table, Jake slowly made his way across the casino towards his wife.  He’d been drinking for several hours, so figured that the ground underneath his feet wasn’t shaking, it was just the alcohol.

But when the shaking started to get really bad, he realized that it wasn’t his alcohol consumption.  The barge was vibrating. 

Some of the gamblers on the slot machines didn’t pay attention. They simply held on to their machines to steady themselves and continued pressing the “SPIN” button over and over again.   What finally caught their attention was the loud roar that suddenly filled the casino.

Jake felt it almost immediately.  He was several feet away from his wife when he felt an invisible force suddenly suck him backwards.  He barely had time to scream, when his body was suddenly pulled through the air and yanked into a hole that was now growing in the middle of the casino’s back wall.

Sandra screamed and shouted for her husband, but the sound of her shrieking disappeared into the howling winds.  Chaos erupted around her as air rushed out and water rushed in. 

People charged in a mad stampede towards the casino exit, but were caught by the rushing of water as waves tore through the barge and began filling any available space.   Some were killed instantly as they were pushed down and trampled, their heads caught underneath the salty torrents of water.

The hole quickly began to enlarge from the force of the waves, while the freestanding tables and chairs floated in the water for an instant and were then sucked back by the wind, piling up against each other as they flew backwards in a tumbling motion of mahogany, water, and screaming people.

Sandra held on to the slot machine that had taken all of her money, no longer caring that it had cheated her.  It was the only thing left between life and death.  And as her hands began to slip and she felt her body being pulled backward as the barge disconnected itself from the hotel, she thought about her relatives safe and sound in Florida.

We should have gone to Disneyworld…


About the author:

Sara Brooke is a horror and suspense novelist living in South Florida. A lifelong avid reader of all things scary, Sara's childhood dream was to write horror books that force readers to sleep with their lights on. Her first novel, Still Lake, was released Spring 2012. Sara's influences and favorite authors include Bentley Little, John Saul, William Blackstone, and Joe McKinney.

Find Sara Online:

Sara Brooke on Facebook
@SaraBrooke8 on Twitter
Biting Dog Press on Facebook


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P.M. Terrell on Crafting Suspense

3/22/2013

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Please welcome guest author P.M. Terrell, who is promoting her new release, Dylan's Song.  Make sure to leave a comment for your chance at winning a lovely Celtic know necklace.
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"Crafting Suspense" by P.M. Terrell

Years ago, I read a book titled What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson. It was the first book that I truly could not put down; I read the entire book in one sitting. When I finished the last page, I turned to the first page and began reading again—but this time, I analyzed how the author kept me turning those pages long after I should have put the book down and attended to other, more pressing, matters.

I found that each chapter left me at a cliffhanger. I try to use that same method in my own writing, and my fans tell me that they also find themselves reading far into the night because they simply couldn’t bear to stop. I try to begin each chapter in the middle of a scene and I end it with a sentence or two that leads to the next suspenseful chapter. The result is I don’t waste time leading the reader through all the background: Vicki drove to this place, she said “hello, how are you?”, etc. That isn’t suspenseful unless something actually happens to her in the car or in the parking lot or while she’s introducing herself.


Most of my books are going to be in the vicinity of 300 pages long. Rather than begin the book with an eye toward the end, I work toward a climactic scene in the middle of the book. That scene is always going to be pivotal and from that point forward, it’s going to propel the reader through the rest of the book like they’ve been launched from a cannon.

So the first half of the book sets the characters, the locales and all the pieces of the puzzle that lead to that first climactic scene. It must be fast-paced because now I am writing toward something that’s going to occur around page 150. Once I have written that chapter, I am now thrust toward the ending and an even larger climax that will occur around 120 pages later.

In writing suspense, words can’t be wasted. I choose action over inactivity and dialogue over thoughts. 

Each of my books contains these elements and each time one of my new releases is reviewed, I get the same feedback: the reader couldn’t put it down.


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About Dylan's Song:

Dylan Maguire returns to his native Ireland with psychic spy Vicki Boyd. Their mission: to locate and extract a CIA Agent who disappeared in Dublin while on the trail of a known terrorist. But when Dylan receives word that his grandmother is dying, he is plunged into a past he thought he’d left behind forever. His mission and the dark secrets he’d sought to keep hidden begin to merge into an underworld that could cost him his life. He must now confront his past demons and the real reason he left Ireland—while Vicki harbors a secret of her own.

Suspense Magazine says, “p.m.terrell’s writing is powerfully written and masterfully suspenseful; you have to hang on for the ride of your life.” Midwest Book Review says the Black Swamp Mysteries series is “page-turning action, unforgettable characters, breathtaking descriptions and unexpected plot twists.” And syndicated reviewer Marcia Freespirit says the series is “riveting, spell-binding, sexy and intense!”


Excerpt from Dylan's Song:

The bogs were no place to be during the witching hour. 

Dylan had grown up with stories of the bogs at night. The ground percolated; it lived and it breathed. There had been many a time when he was harvesting peat in broad daylight that he’d heard a whisper at his ear or felt hot breath on his neck, only to find there was no one near. Now as he rode his horse in silence, he felt that presence tenfold; there were eyes watching them. The intermittent tuffs of heather swayed in the growing storm and he found himself watching them with narrowed eyes, waiting for the plants to morph into sinister creatures that claimed this land after the sun went down.

He knew there was a simple reason why animals were required in lieu of an all-terrain vehicle and he was glad Sam had taken this unique land into consideration when planning the mission. He could feel the hooves beneath him sinking into the spongy earth; a wheeled vehicle wouldn’t have stood a chance, especially as they ventured from the area farmed for its peat to one far less stable.

A mist began; a slow, fine spray that he knew well. One moment the air was still and dry and the next, as though they’d passed through a curtain, the air swirled around them, the moist haze further inhibiting their ability to see. It was said many a man lost his internal compass in the Irish mist; it taunted as it grew into monstrous shapes, turning the landscape into something foreign and active.


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About the author:

P.M. Terrell is the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 16 books. Vicki's Key, one of the first books in the Black Swamp Mysteries series, was one of five finalists in the 2012 International Book Awards (Mystery/Suspense) and 2012 USA Best Book Awards (Mystery/Suspense.) River Passage, an historical work based on her ancestor's migration to Fort Nashborough in 1779-1780, won the 2010 Best Fiction & Drama Award. The Nashville (TN) Metropolitan Government Archives determined it to be so historically accurate that they entered the original manuscript into their Archives for future researchers and historians.

Prior to becoming a full-time author in 2002, terrell founded and operated two computer companies in the Washington, DC area. Her clients included the United States Secret Service, CIA, Department of Defense and federal and local law enforcement. Her specialty is in the areas of computer crime and computer intelligence. Her experience in these areas have greatly influenced her books' plots.


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She is the co-founder of The Book 'Em Foundation, whose slogan is "Buy a Book and Stop a Crook" and whose mission is to raise awareness of the link between high crime rates and high illiteracy rates. She founded Book 'Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair, an annual event to raise money to increase literacy and reduce crime.  For more information on Book 'Em North Carolina, visit www.bookemnc.org and www.bookemnc.blogspot.com.

You can find P.M. Terrell on Twitter @pmterrell, on Facebook and at her Facebook author page.

Leave a comment for your chance to win this lovely Celtic cross necklace.  For more chances to win, stop by these other blogs:

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3/19/2013 Andi's Book Reviews
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3/21/2013 The Muse
3/21/2013 SECOND STOP Full Moon Dreaming
3/22/2013 Out of the Lockbox
3/22/2013 SECOND STOP The Cerebral Writer
3/25/2013 Fiction Writing and Other Oddities
3/26/2013 Hywela Lyn - Romance That's 'Out Of this World'
3/27/2013 The Write to Read
3/28/2013 Desiree Holt Tells All
3/29/2013 Happily Ever After
4/1/2013 Deal Sharing Aunt
4/2/2013 Janna Shay's Fair Play
4/3/2013 Beckstar Reviews
4/4/2013 Long and Short Reviews
4/5/2013 A Writer's Life
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4/8/2013 SECOND STOP Hope Dreams. Life... Love
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4/10/2013 Writers and Authors
4/11/2013 Celticlady's Reviews

10 Comments

Guest Author Sara Brooke: Facebook, a Love-Hate Relationship

3/15/2013

2 Comments

 
Today, guest author Sara Brooke is here to promote her new release, Cursed Casino, and share her feelings on social networking through Facebook.  She will be giving away a complete set of her books in electronic format, so don't miss the Rafflecopter entry form near the end of her post.
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Sara Brooke: Facebook

Is it possible to love something and hate it at the same time?

That’s how I feel about Facebook.  Maybe you feel the same way too.  Allow me to explain.

Why do I love Facebook?  Well, for starters – it allows me to connect with readers.  As a newer author, Facebook helps me reach people who love horror and are interested in reading about things that are creepy and frightening.  In addition, it gives me the chance to showcase new book covers, publicity photos, book news, signing news, and so on.  Finally, it also helps me connect with readers who have questions, want autographs, are thinking about writing themselves and need advice, and those who just want to share feedback with me directly.  It works way better than trying to contact me through my website www.sarabrooke.com  and is more personable than Twitter (which I still can’t figure out, despite numerous attempts to become educated).

So, why do I hate Facebook?

It’s a huge distraction.  You can sit on there for hours “liking”, “commenting”, and “sharing” your entire life away.  Several months ago, I caught myself browsing through the comments instead of writing.  And that’s when I realized that it is a dangerous thing.  It’s addictive…like a drug. And many of my fellow author friends are struggling with it.

I’ve made it a habit to visit Facebook several times a day to answer mail, read comments, and connect with my readers and online family.  That’s fine.  But when I scroll through comments, I see that some writers have posted literally hundreds of single-line updates for the past 6-9 hours.

That’s insane.

How do they get any work done?  I just can’t understand it.  As fellow authors know, it’s not easy to write and immerse yourself into a world of fiction.  The last thing you need is to stop because you are reading posts like...

“I just got sick with the flu. Ugh.”

“My cat threw up on my bed.  FML!”

“I can’t sleep.  Any suggestions?”

These are ACTUAL posts that I pulled up before writing this.  And, I’ll bet you’ve seen similar ones. 

So, the tug-of-war with Facebook continues. If you enjoy my work and haven’t friended me on Facebook yet, please do.  I sincerely enjoy receiving your posts, comments, and feedback.  Just keep in mind that if I don’t respond immediately, it’s because I’m working on the next novel and trying to keep from letting the site’s addictive spirit take over my mind.

And…hope you enjoy the new book.


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About Cursed Casino:

The Van Vincent Hotel is ready to reopen. 

It sits along the Mississippi coastline, welcoming tourists with its lavish shops and a vast casino that's home to sparkling slot machines and elegant gaming tables.

A group of friends is gathering for a reunion and a chance to experience the luxury of the Van Vincent before it officially opens, but a night of gambling turns into a night of hell.  

Because when darkness descends on the Van Vincent, the dead don't always stay underground. And the phantoms of the past like to play for keeps.

Take a haunting trip around the internet with author Sara Brooke as she talks about life, writing and the paranormal. There will also be reviews of Sara's latest book Cursed Casino, book giveaways and excerpts from Cursed Casino.


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About the author:


Sara Brooke is a horror and suspense novelist living in South Florida. A lifelong avid reader of all things scary, Sara's childhood dream was to write horror books that force readers to sleep with their lights on. Her first novel, Still Lake, was released Spring 2012. Sara's influences and favorite authors include Bentley Little, John Saul, William Blackstone, and Joe McKinney.


Find Sara Online:

Sara Brooke on Facebook
@SaraBrooke8 on Twitter
Biting Dog Press on Facebook


Book Giveaway

Biting Dog Press is giving away one set of the complete Sara Brooke digital library. These books include The Zyne Project , Still Lake, Kransen House,  and Ghost Swim. To enter, use the Rafflecopter form below. This giveaway runs from March 10 (12:00 am EST) through March 30 (12:00 am EST).


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Cursed Casino Tour Stop List

March 14 – The Dead Centre 

Guest Post

March 15 – The Cerebral Writer 

Guest Post

March 16 – Evil Girlfriend With a Pen 
– Guest Post

March 17 – Mallory Heart Reviews 
– Review

March 18 – The Blog World of Kat Yares 
– Excerpt

March 19 – My Cozie Corner

Review

March 20 – The FlipSide of Julianne 
– Interview

March 21 – Fundinmental 

Excerpt

March 22 – Timothy Dean's Pirate Radio 
– LIVE Interview

March 22 – Sylv-Jenkins 

Guest Post

March 23 – Krystal's Enchanting Reads 
– Guest Post

March 24 – The Cerebral Writer 

Excerpt

March 25 – A Girl and Her Kindle 

Review 

2 Comments

Guest Author Nicholas Wilson: International Women's Day

3/8/2013

2 Comments

 
Please welcome guest blogger Nicholas Wilson, who offers a provocative, fictitious take on the gender war.  Don't forget to take him up on his free book offer (details below).

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I always knew I was in trouble writing Whores. The title is provocative, and it was hard for me not to feel the politically correct pull to change it. That was my inner coward, who needed to be ignored. The story isn't really about "whores"- that's the epithet slung in the direction of the strong women at the center of the novel. And I knew to tell their story, I was going to have to have a modicum of the strength they had.
 
But before we get too deep into the media of our res, I should mention how those women came to be in the first place. Last year, I became outraged and terrified when politicians started using words like "legitimate rape" in public, without the expectation that it would cost them. But Whores was dangerous concept, and I quickly realized the story needed to be about the characters and how they dealt with that danger, not about my perhaps paternalistic desire to shield them from bad men.
 
So I started with a question. How bad could it really get? Back alley abortion is one of those terms that gets trotted out early in any abortion debate. But would they be in back alleys? Certainly not at the beginning. There would be plenty of people with training, and sympathy, willing to put their livelihoods, their careers, and possibly even their lives on the line to safeguard a woman's rights. I imagine most of them wouldn't think about that last possibility too hard- after all, not that many abortion providers have been murdered in cold blood (unless we're talking proportionally). 
 
That phrase, 'safeguarding a woman's rights,' became a central theme very early on. I think too often the "rights" part of the reproduction debate gets overlooked. This isn't just about a woman's desire not to gain weight and have swollen ankles. It's about a woman's ability to plan her life, and her career- and for employers to be able to count on a woman's ability to do the same- things men like me can frankly take for granted. Not that I disregard that first argument, either; there is no other circumstance I can think of where people attempt to use the government to take sovereignty over a person's body.
 
But, as is often the case, asking that initial question of how bad it could really get didn't get us to an answer. Because the answer was really that it could get fairly bad- but that it wouldn't end there. Illegal abortion doesn't end the discussion- it's just the opening gambit. This isn't just about abortion- it's about the entire realm of reproductive rights, and frequently spills even beyond those shores. Witness the way that Sandra Fluke has been personally attacked for months for daring to suggest that birth control should be included as a minimum standard for health insurance plans.  And of course you have the legislation put forward by Paul Ryan just last month to grant personhood to eggs that haven't even implanted yet- effectively banning the most common and effective forms of birth control. 
 
And maybe, despite the bill being cosponsored by a major party Vice Presidential candidate, that seems like a leap . I'd probably grant you that- in the same way I don't think Orwell thought 1984 was really about to happen in 1948. But if you'd asked your average American in 1910 if the country would ever ban booze, they'd have laughed hard enough at the question to spill their beer- but less than a decade later, America dried up. And plausibility is kind of beside the point. The point was asking the question: if birth control prohibition happened. what then? 

Black market birth control seems like the obvious answer, and a black market birth control crackdown the obvious render, which would leave every woman with an IUD, the implant, or taking the pill for whatever reason to be in possession of contraband, and a criminal.

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I wanted to look at the people on the edges, fighting for what they believed in, or fighting because they were pissed off and crazy. In particular, the 'villains' represent a virulent stray of thought that today is entitled and misogynistic, but left unchecked could quite easily metastasize into a societal cancer that could easily turn fifty percent of our population against the other half. And the women represent as diverse a melting pot as I could create without shoehorning; I wanted to have a platform for women to tell their personal (if fictional) stories, because it wasn't about the chilling world I'd created- it needed to be about how they survived in it. 

I was happy when after the last election cycle, when the likes of Richard Mourdock and Todd "Legitimate Rape" Akin were punished by voters. It's still something I take comfort in. I have no desire to be a prophet. In fact, as far as Whores is concerned, I would be deliriously happy to have history remember me as a delusionally paranoid crank whose fever dream is laughable even to the slowest of school children. But even when we step away from the precipice, there are always forces pushing us back. 

Last year, the Republican House that failed to renew the Violence Against Women Act remained in power. Likely fearful over having an International Women's Day dedicated to ending violence against women pass by while they refused to renew a fairly uncontroversial law that had been doing just that for 18 years, the House finally passed it last week. But their recent failure to avert the sequester means a reduction in funds for the programs in VAWA.  

I want Whores to be irrelevant, for us to be able to live in a world where women's health and safety aren't something to politic over. On this International Women's Day, that's what I hope and pray for. But sadly, we aren't there, yet. 

I invite everyone to download a free copy of Whores at Smashwords this International Women's Day (March 8 through March 10), and to pass it along to your friends, family, or anyone you think it might speak to. And thanks for reading.   

About the Novel:


In the near future, women’s rights are eroding, and those who buck the system are hunted as gender criminals by the authorities and rogue militias. This harrowing dystopia is seen through the eyes of a woman cast into a resistance group by circumstance, and a newly minted gender crimes detective tasked with bringing them to justice, as he grapples with whether or not that word still has meaning. 

Available at Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.



2 Comments

Pandemics, Predictive Sci-Fi, and WORLD-MART

3/6/2013

1 Comment

 
Many times over, science fiction has predicted future issues, innovations, and inventions. The microwave, the satellite dish, robots, hand-held computers, and weapons of mass destruction all existed in science fiction before they became pieces of modern reality.  Many of these predictions have been lucky guesses, while others have emerged from precise meshes of inspiration, scientific backgrounds, and creativity.

Recently, healthcare officials have begun to give increasing attention to the growing issue of antibiotic resistant bacteria.  Up until this last year, MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) was the big threat.  MRSA causes painful boils and can causes sepsis and disease in vital organs, and it’s very difficult to treat.  Now, a bacterium named Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) has created a threat that makes MRSA look rather innocuous.  CRE is not only highly contagious and resistant to every antibiotic on the market—but it has the ability to trade DNA with other bacteria to make them equally antibiotic resistant.  Hypothetically, they could be responsible for future drug resistance in every known species of bacteria, and the implications are terrifying.

Eli Perencevich, an infectious-disease doctor and professor working at the University of Iowa's Carver College of Medicine told USA Today, "We're entering the post-antibiotic era; that's a very big problem."


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In my dystopia, World-Mart, antibiotic resistant disease has ravaged the population to the point where antibiotics have become outlawed and those found to carry previously treatable diseases such as Staph and Strep are euthanized to prevent further pandemics.  While this is only a part of the story’s B-plot, I found myself dumbstruck at the possibility of currently treatable diseases becoming the scourge they had become in World-Mart.  I must also question whether researchers will turn to germ-line therapy in an attempt to create future generations that are more disease resistant.  Could the genetically engineered “deviants” of World-Mart also become a reality of the near future?

I’ll admit without any reservations that I wrote World-Mart as a warning of the possible future in store should we allow corporations to expand and render small, privately owned businesses obsolete.  It is a future I hope will not come to pass, as fearful as I am that the potential is there.  I also saw and wrote about the growing threat of antibiotic resistant bacteria and the possible worldwide threats various diseases, if rendered untreatable, might pose.  I pray neither occurs to the extent I envisioned in my fiction, although the chances are looking increasingly likely.

What do you think about these latest bacterial outbreaks?  What do you think we can do to reduce their threat?  In light of current events, do you personally view World-Mart an even more terrifying look into the future, or do you think most of the novel will remain strictly science fiction?


1 Comment

Book Blast: A BLOOM IN WINTER by T.J. Brown

3/4/2013

7 Comments

 
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Please welcome author T.J. Brown, who is promoting her new release, A Bloom in Winter.


About the Novel:

After Prudence’s desperate marriage and move to London, sisters Rowena and Victoria fear they have lost their beloved friend forever. Guilt-ridden and remorseful, Rowena seeks comfort from a daring flyboy and embraces the most dangerous activity the world has ever seen, and Victoria defies her family and her illness to make her own dream occupation as a botanist come true. As England and the world step closer to conflict, the two young women flout their family, their upbringing, and their heritage to seize a modern future of their own making.

Victoria Buxton

With her delicate constitution but strong, unflappable spirit, Victoria has never followed societal conventions, the rules of fashion, or the pursuit of a husband. Instead, she finds herself drawn to the controversial—and dangerous—fight for women’s suffrage. But her dream is compromised, and her heart divided, when her struggles for equal rights collide with unexpected love.

Rowena Buxton

After yearning to no avail for a certain young pilot to fly back into her life, Rowena fears her chances for happiness have been jeopardized by recklessness and scandal. Burdened with guilt for bringing her sister Prudence to Summerset Abbey as a lady’s maid while she herself led a life of privilege, Rowena hopes to one day make amends. But her desire to set things right is complicated by her passion for flight and a sudden engagement…to the wrong man.

Prudence Tate

Raised like a sister to Victoria and Rowena, then banished to the servants’ quarters when their father passed away, Prudence has seen both sides of life, upstairs and down. But once the truth about her parentage was revealed, Prudence forged a new life for herself, married to a penniless veterinary student. Living in poverty in a shabby London flat, she wonders if she’s made a terrible mistake—and there’s no turning back... 


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Excerpt:

The nurse got Victoria into bed and settled the covers over her. Victoria’s bones ached and even the roughness of the gray woolen blankets and the hard mattress felt wonderful. When the woman moved to leave, Victoria caught her arm. “Wait,” she pleaded. It seemed as if this woman was the only person between Victoria and unknown terrors. “When will I see a judge? When can I see my family?”

The woman shook her head and flicked a switch off. The only light now came from the open door, and long shadows spilled over Victoria’s bed “I don’t know. It’s hard to tell.”

“What’s your name?” Victoria pleaded. Anything to keep the door from shutting.

“Eleanor. I’ll check on you before my shift is up. Now try to get some sleep.”

The light slivered and then was gone. The darkness, once the door had closed, was absolute, and Victoria trembled. She’d never liked being alone at night, and for years she had slept with Prudence to keep the nightmares away.

There was no one to keep the nightmares away now. Of course, how could anything her mind conjured be worse than her current reality?

Tears rose and fell down her cheeks in the darkness. How did she get here? Why hadn’t she just ignored Mary’s note? The woman was mad. Victoria wondered where she was and then realized that Mary was no doubt locked in a cell in this very prison.

She wiped the tears with her hands. Her uncle would get her out if he could. He was an important man and a rich one to boot. Surely he could do something.

With a sinking heart, she remembered some of the newspaper articles she’d read over the preceding months. Public opinion might be mixed on the suffragettes, but the justice system was not. Most judges had no sympathy whatsoever, and they had been known to throw a suffragette in jail and toss the key at the same time. And if they really thought she had plotted to destroy the painting . . . Victoria shuddered.

Something dropped outside the door and she stilled. She could hear muffled voices for a bit as the nurses and orderlies worked their way from room to room, checking on patients, and she listened intently. At least she knew there were people out there and she wasn’t all alone. But the noises grew fainter and fainter and soon there was only the sound of her own ragged breathing. Then a soft moaning began and her heart leapt jaggedly in her chest. She screwed her eyes up tight against the darkness and began to recite:

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe. . . .


Victoria paused with a shudder. No. Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” was much too frightening for this situation. Her father used to run his fingers through his hair and recite it while making the most horrible faces. Father! She swallowed and began again. This time choosing Rudyard Kipling’s, “The Bee Boy’s Song.”

Bees! Bees! Hark to your bees!
"Hide from your neigbours as much as you please,
But all that has happened, to us you must tell,
Or else we will give you no honey to sell!"



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About the Author:

TJ Brown is passionate about books, writing, history, dachshunds and mojitos. If she could go back in time, she would have traveled back to England, 1910, Paris, 1927 or Haight-Ashbury, 1967. She resides in the burbs of Portlandia, where she appreciates the weirdness, the microbreweries, hoodies, Voodoo Donuts and the rain. 

Links:

Website
Twitter: @teribrownwrites
Facebook

A Bloom in Winter is available through Simon & Schuster, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, and Indiebound.


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T. J. will be awarding to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour a 4 piece Whimsical Butterfly Tea set. The tea set is handcrafted by artist April Cook of white stoneware slip and painted with a unique whimsical design of a butterfly in lime green and plum glaze. It is both dishwasher and microwave safe. The set includes a 32 oz. tea pot with lid, creamer and sugar bowl.  (US ONLY)


For more entries, follow the rest of T. J.'s Blog tour through Goddess Fish Promotions.

(To see more of April's designs, see www.etsy.com/shop/speeglecreations) 

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