Month: May 2014

May 24, 2014

April Author Interview Answer #2

Last week Saturday, we have posted the April author interview answer #1. It’s time to reveal the second answer today! For those of you reading this post and not knowing what’s going on, we interviewed Romance and Erotica authors last month. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all seven authors who took part in this author interview!

Here is the answer to the second question: Do you have a specific goal to achieve through your stories or is your story just for pure fun? (For instance: to promote certain moral values or love via your story)

1) Author #1 Anne Conley

Some of my stories, I do.  Some, I don’t.  I try not to preach, because I don’t want to alienate readers.  I think everyone has opinions, and sometimes my own outlook will shine through in certain parts of my books.  Other times, I educate readers through the story, if I can.  For example, Hot Mess was an attempt to attack the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, as the main female character is HIV positive.  But I tried to round it out with a hot firefighter.

2) Author #2: Marie Lavender

When an idea first comes to me, it is just a seed.  I would say I do it for the pleasure of writing.  If moral values come out of the story, that is great.  For example, with my recent release, Upon Your Honor, I found that when I was almost done writing the manuscript that Chloe’s motivation really came out and she became a more three-dimensional character.  You could see her moral struggles throughout the book, but I certainly didn’t plan for that to happen.

3) Author #3: Emily Eck

I started out just writing a story, but it spiraled from there. I am writing the a book in series that will conclude one set of characters’ story. I never planned for the book to have a “lesson” but I recently received this in a review. 

“This is a series that I probably wouldn’t have read but I am so glad that I have it has opened my eyes and helped me to understand people who I may very well have simply judged in the past, if a book can help us understand others and helps to make us more tolerant of differences then it is doing a wonderful job and if in doing this we are being swept up and entertained then the author has indeed earned the right to be called a writer.” 

I didn’t set out to write about undocumented youth in the United States, but as the story came out of my fingers, pieces of my life were woven into it. This is a piece of my life. In the end, I was elated to share the struggles of a population that is essentially silenced out of fear. They have a story to tell, and I was honored to tell it. At the same time, the series is not about politics. It’s a fictional story with an adult and teenage romance running in tandem. Although fiction, I write things that really could happen, and sometimes things that really have happened. This is the world we live in, so you are bound to get some sensitive issues when you are dealing with reality. 

4) Author #4: AJ Summer

I hope to inspire. My characters go through hardships just like any of us, but they pull through. Never give up. Life is hard, but we are made of tough stuff, so we pull through!

5) Author #5: Lucien Bane

I do have a goal that stemmed from the sudden uptick of poor portrayals of true Doms. A lot of people are confused about the entire lifestyle and what’s currently out there in fiction form is rather frightening. I’m just offering my definition of it for a more complete picture.

6) Author #6: Annie Edmonds

 I don’t think I have specific goals in mind when I start the books.  But I do have strong female characters.  I think that comes from having a strong mom, two strong sisters. Most of the women in my circle all strong women. 

And I have always been surrounded by strong male figures.  I have always known that with one phone call I would be alright. My dad, and brothers which include my brothers in law.  And my husband. I have great strong men in my life. All with Character of steel.

And I use their qualities for the characters in my books. Yes the moral values and love that I have always been surrounded with shine through in my stories. 

7) author #7: Larae Parry

My fictional stories are for fun. I don’t want to preach to anyone, and I don’t want to be preached to. Just fun, fun, fun for my characters and me—although some of my characters do naughty things that I hadn’t planned on—it’s still fun. I love it when that happens.

Question #3 is “Who is more powerful in your story? The hero or heroine?”

What do you think these authors’s will be? Watch out for the next post !

Signing out,

Jasveena

Founder of IBP

http://www.internationalbookpromotion.yolasite.com

May 17, 2014

April Author Interview Answer #1

Hello everyone! So, it is time to reveal the answers for our April author interview session. We interviewed Romance and Erotica authors last month. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all seven authors who took part in this author interview!

Here is the answer to the first question: Do you plan the characters in your story? Do you believe that strong characters should resemble real-life people?

1) Author #1 Anne Conley

Absolutely.  The one book I wrote freely, with no planning, was a disaster.  J  I feel like characters should resemble real life people that readers can relate to, so I write my own stories with that in mind, giving characters real problems.  Most of my characters are in their thirties and forties, with real jobs.  I’ve never really spent much time with CEOs or billionaires, so I don’t write about them.

2) Author #2: Marie Lavender

Most of my story ideas come to me in the form of dialogue or full scenes so I wouldn’t say the characters are exactly planned.  Their personalities do come out in the writing of the book or story.  I do a major character work-up when I am more focused on the project; when I do that, I try to figure out the character’s secrets or how they would react to certain situations as well as their background.  I do believe that characters should be complex and as close to real people as we can make them.  I don’t usually base them on anyone in my life, but I do want readers to relate to them.

3) Author #3: Emily Eck

Most of my characters are based on someone in my life, or a mash-up of people. When I am coming up with a side character, I draw on people I have met. If I need an aggressive person, I will go through my mental Rolodex of people I’ve met to pull traits for that character. If I need someone more passive, I do the same. 

My primary characters tend to be based more so on a single person, although sometimes a side character demands to be heard and ends up in a more visible role in the story. When this happens, they tend to already have developed their personality in my mind and are easy to write. 

In regards to if strong characters should resemble real-life people, I think it’s to each their own. There are so many different books out there, so many different story lines, that I feel it is unfair to make hard and fast rules about characterization. We all like different things. I can give a book 5 stars, and someone else gives it 1 star. Who am I to say what someone else should read or like? I think the diversity of books available represents the diversity of the world we live in. 

4) Author #4: AJ Summer

No – they kind of just happen as I write. I do use some of the quirks and oddities of real people I know to make my characters seem more real.

5) Author #5: Lucien Bane

The characters in Dom Wars are a fictional form of my life.

6) Author #6: Annie Edmonds

 I do believe the strong characters should resemble real-life people. I plan the hero or main characters in my books but as I write and the story evolves the character’s come alive. 

You will see their flaws, their fears. Why they are who they are. Sometimes or most time I surprise myself as to how the story unfolds. 

7) author #7: Larae Parry

Um, that’s two questions, but I’ll answer both truthfully and honestly.   Yes. I plan the characters in my stories. Sometimes, however, some characters just show up and I have to make room for them. I love it when characters pop in.

I believe all characters, whether strong or not should be realistic—not cardboard. Even the strongest character has flaws. Even the weakest character has strengths. For readers to be able to connect, all characters must emit some kind of quality—even if it isn’t written outright, but implied instead. As writers, we need to ask ourselves, “Why should the reader care?”

Question #2 is “Do you have a specific goal to achieve through your stories or is your story just for pure fun?”

What do you think these authors’s will be? Watch out for the next post !

Signing out,

Jasveena

Founder of IBP

http://www.internationalbookpromotion.yolasite.com

 

May 17, 2014 Image

Larae Parry: April Author Interview Participant #7

LaRae’s Short Bio

I was born with a loose screw. No kidding, I was. It has gotten me into trouble and out of trouble, so I can’t complain about being a little daft.

I was also born with an umbilical urge to write, or to tell stories I made up on the spot. That got me into a lot of trouble, and out of trouble, so, I can’t complain. 🙂

In 1991, I became a VERY famous artist. (wink, wink). I drew, painted, and wrote painting instructions for a publisher. I had 13 painting books published-which is weird, because I never considered myself an artist. I was a faux artist, I guess.

In 2005, a simple medical procedure went terribly wrong and landed me in the ICU on life-support because of respiratory and multiple organ failure. Even though I beat the odds and survived, the doctor told me that my brain had crashed and and needed to be rebooted.

The good news was I had a brain. The bad news was it wasn’t working. I had to relearn how to stand, walk, go upstairs, comb my hair, etc. Forget about reading.

In 2010, I learned how to read and write again. I never did get my faux artistic skills back, but that’s okay. I didn’t have them to begin with. 😉

So now I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do . . . write. Tell stories, make-up stories and enjoy the little fantasy world I have always loved. My stories will take you on some crazy journeys if you’d like to go.

My Comedy/Romance/Paranormal, The Danish Pastry, is the result of my learning to read and write again therapy. I still struggle with reading, but being able to write is a lot easier . . . weird, huh? What can I say? I’m weird . . . in a good way though.

Author Website:

https://www.amazon.com/author/laraeparry
https://www.facebook.com/thecrazylady3
http://www.amazon.com/The-Danish-Pastry-LaRae-Parry/dp/1493646141

May 17, 2014 Image

Second Interview With Kelli Landon, Author of Summer Shack

Second Interview With Kelli Landon, Author of Summer Shack

• Where are you from? Peoria, Illinois

• Why do you write? It puts me in another world. One that I create with my own people.

• What do you write about? Murder mysteries, usually with women as the main characters.

• Do you have a specific writing style? I was writing in first person, but then finally started branching out into the third person narration. I use more dialogue than description.

• What are obstacles that come in the way of writing? If the story is set at a particular time, make sure that whatever is mentioned was invented by then (Computer games, a certain song or movie, types of automobiles). Watch basing characters off of real people, since some may be offended. Don’t repeat plots or characters (I have caught myself doing this by accident).

• Whats the most memorable thing asked/said by a reader about your work? My first review from Suzanne Parrott of Seattle mentioned that she would definitely read more from me and that Sudden Moves was the best YA mystery she’d read in a long time. That made my day!

• How long have you been writing? Thirty years.

• When did you first realize you wanted to become a writer? When I was a teenager and loved starting out with a blank page and pen, just doing it for fun.

• What is your work schedule like when you are writing? I write after work (3:00 pm to 5:00 pm) and on my two days off. I use all morning to write, from 7:00 am on to the afternoon.

• How long does it take to write a book? (if you’ve written one -published or non) For me, it’s normally about two months.

• Do you have suggestions on how to become a better writer? Read the genre you write in, watch how other authors’ flow and description work. Try to find a local writers group and do writing exercises. Prompts are great for practice.

• What challenges do you come across when writing/creating your story? When the characters and plot come to a stop. Sometimes I get hung up and cannot think of what to do next. I also have to introduce new characters into the story to help motivate my main character or give that person obstacles.

• What do you think makes a good story? I like to combine two ideas with one. It also helps to keep it fast paced with action or dialogue, so the story doesn’t lag in spots.

• What does your family think of your writing? My family never talk about it, if they like my work or not. I think it’s one area they don’t want to discuss for fear of hurting my feelings or bragging too much on their child, wife or sibling.

• Do you see writing as a career? It would be my dream career if I could live on it.

• Do you have anything specific you’d like to tell the readers? Please don’t take offense to an antagonist whom I describe as a “popular” high school cheerleader or a “jock”. These are the terms that’s used in my books and there are good and bad in every type of student. I feel that some who read my books are popular students themselves, and will hold my descriptions against me. I write through my main characters eyes, not my own. So if my character insults another person, it is not how I view someone of that stature.

• When did you first consider yourself a writer? When I had my first short story published by a local Peoria magazine and got paid $50! It was my story entitled Pizza Night that featured a prank that went too far.

May 11, 2014 Image

An Exclusive Interview With Kelli Sue Landon

An Exclusive Interview With Kelli Sue Landon

Describe yourself in five words – Independent, quiet, impatient, happy, committed

What fact about yourself would really surprise people? I had a job once as a church secretary.

How do you work through self-doubts and fear? Drink alcohol.

What scares you the most? Never being able to drive a vehicle again.

What makes you happiest? Finishing a novel.

Why do you write? I get excited when I get a new idea I think would work.

Have you always enjoyed writing? Yes.

What motivates you to write? When I write a chapter or scene, I email it to a couple of retirees that I know from the post office. They love to read and have more free time. After they read something, they email me back, saying how great it was and how involved they are in the plot. It is the biggest motivator, because I feel that I have got to continue the story and see what they think about it.

What writing are you most proud of? .My time travel novel, now in production. It’s the most original idea I have ever gotten.

What are you most proud of in your personal life? My happy marriage.

What books did you love growing up? Mary Higgins Clark mysteries

What do you hope your obituary will say about you? Local Author with the number of novels I had published.

Location and life experiences can really influence writing, tell us where you grew up and where you now live? We moved a few times – Peoria, Illinois but in different areas. My mom and dad were split and they both moved a couple of times, putting us in four or five houses between them. I went from a neighborhood with other kids, riding my bicycle up and down the road to moving out in the country, secluded with no neighbors, and on a highway, so riding my bike was out of the question.

How did you develop your writing? Started with short stories as a teen, just messing around when I was bored, then longer stories as I got into my twenties and finally, a full length novel at the age of 40.

What is hardest – getting published, writing or marketing? Marketing, because it’s hard to be known.

What marketing works for you? Having my books available everywhere, ebook, internet, book stores, libraries etc.

Is your family supportive? Do your friends support you? My friends definitely do. They love reading what I write as I’m writing it. My family tends to just be hush up about it. Maybe they don’t like what I write, because they feel they are part of the characters, or they are surprised by the content of my stories (language, violence, etc).

What else do you do, other than write? I work as a clerk for the U.S. Postal Service and work out regularly at a local health and recreation club.

What other jobs have you had in your life? Mostly office work – Kelly Temporary Services sent me all over Peoria. I also worked as a secretary/receptionist at a church and I was a data entry clerk at Bard Optical in Peoria before starting at the post office over twenty years ago.

If you could study any subject at university what would you pick? Journalism or multi-media.

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Orange County, California

Tell us about your family? My family is mostly split – my parents divorced way back before I remember and I have an older brother and an older sister who are 7-8 years my senior. I have two sweet nieces from my brother and I’ve been married for six years.

How do you write – lap top, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk? lap top or computer, because I am a fast typist. I only write on paper when I am at work and have to jot down ideas or plot points.

How much sleep do you need to be your best? .6-8 hours.

Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge and thank for their support? Yes! Kathy Orten, Laurie Smith and Tanya Olds – three retirees who have shown me the most support a local author could ever have! From making signs to reading my manuscripts, I would not be where I am today if not for these ladies.

Every writer has their own idea of what a successful career in writing is, what does success in writing look like to you? Being known all over.

It is vital to get exposure and target the right readers for your writing, tell us about your marketing campaign? The right readers are hard to target, because I have many of all ages. I advertise mostly on the internet, because I have tried newspaper ads and book signings and neither have worked. Book trailers, Twitter and Facebook and my own website have been my main marketing, except for what my publishers have done.

Tell us about your new book? Why did you write it? Summer Shack was a book that I basically started just for fun. It’s a throwback to the different types of short stories I wrote as a teen. It’s predecessor, Nightmare At Camp Forrestwood, was also a throwback. I did not expect to publish Summer Shack. It was just going to be for fun, but then as I wrote and had my friends read what I had written, they ended up loving the characters.

When you are not writing, how do you like to relax? With a glass of wine and the shows I DVR (Bates Motel, Dateline and 48 Hours Mystery).

What do you hope people will take away from your writing? How will your words make them feel?
I want my stories to grab them and give them a jolt near the ending.

Thank you Kelli for your exciting answers! It’s a pleasure reading your interview. To all those reading this post, feel free to join our book trailer release event here https://www.facebook.com/events/313025572187912/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

May 10, 2014 Image

Annie Edmonds: April Author Interview Participant #6

Annie Edmonds: April Author Interview Participant #6

Author Bio:

Annie is a Jersey Girl born and bred. She has been happily married to the one man that stole her heart 30 yrs ago. She hopes to one day move to the sunshine state as the winters are hard on someone who lives with chronic pain.

She loves to write and has been doing it her entire life. In 2013 she reached a milestone birthday and decided it was now or never to write and published her first erotic romance novel. Second Chances Sammy’s story is the first in the series. Annie is currently working on Master Mike’s story.

When she’s not writing/blogging Annie loves to spend time with her husband and family at the beach. This is where she gets her inspiration and can Collect treasures from the sea. Her interest also include, Photography, gardening, and she is a foodie that loves to cook.

Being an independent author or indie isn’t always easy. But it can be fun when you write a blog that you love.…

http://www.amazon.com/Annie-Edmonds/e/B00G3IN528/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

May 10, 2014 Image

Lucian Bane: April Author Interview Participant #5

Lucian Bane: April Author Interview Participant #1

Author bio:

I’m an Ineffable Dom. That just means, do yourself a favor and please don’t try to describe me or fit me into your categories. Complicated Dom, Intricate Dom, Confounding Dom work too.

May 10, 2014 Image

AJ Summer: April Author Interview Participant #4

AJ Summer: April Author Interview Participant #1

Author Bio:

Mommy, Wife, Self Published Author.
AJ Summer’s debut, Guard My Heart, released in November 2013 and she has loads more of stories on the way.
She loves writing darker, emotional stories and challenging her characters to breaking point.
If you love poetry, her books have that too.

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Guard-My-Heart-Tainted-Hearts-ebook/dp/B00GXHPKA4

May 10, 2014 Image

Emily Eck: April Author Interview Participant #3

Emily Eck: April Author Interview Participant #3

Bio:
Emily is a Midwestern Gal, but could be anywhere as you read this. She gypsy’s the country, as well as south of the border. Adventure feeds her soul, and offers great writing material. She loves kids and working with kids, but can only handle caring for four-legged furry friends. A crazy dog and laid back cat have trained her to be their partner in life. Vices include Swedish Fish, ignoring chores in favor of reading, and caring too much for people in her life. She chose to write this bio in third person as she is an Aries, and found writing in first person ended up with her writing an excessively long life story. Aries like to talk about themselves. It is something Emily is working on being more mindful of.

Amazon Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Steel-Ice-L-Emily-Eck-ebook/dp/B00I33VP1Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1397165020&sr=8-3&keywords=emily+eck

May 10, 2014 Image

Marie Lavender: April Author Interview Participant #2

Author Bio
Bestselling author of UPON YOUR RETURN and 17 other books. Finalist and Runner-up in the MARSocial’s Author of the Year Competition. Honorable mention in the January 2014 Reader’s Choice Award. Liebster Blogger Award for 2013. Top 50 Authors on AuthorsDB.com. Winner of the Great One Liners Contest on the Directory of Published Authors.

Marie Lavender lives in the Midwest with her family and three cats. She has been writing for over twenty years. She has more works in progress than she can count on two hands.

At the tender age of nine, she began writing stories. Her imagination fueled a lot of her early child’s play. Even growing up, she entered writing contests and received a certificate for achieving the second round in one. She majored in Creative Writing in college because that was all she ever wanted – to be a writer. While there, she published two works in a university publication, and was a copy editor on the staff of an online student journal. After graduating from college, she sought out her dream to publish a book.

Since then, Marie has published eighteen books. Marie Lavender’s real love is writing romances, but she has also written mysteries, literary fiction and dabbled a little in paranormal stories. Most of her works have a romantic element involved in them. Upon Your Return is her first historical romance novel. She just released Magick & Moonlight, a paranormal romance. Feel free to visit her website at http://marielavender.webs.com/ for further information about her books and her life. Marie is also on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

A list of her books and pen names are as follows:

Marie Lavender: Upon Your Return; Magick & Moonlight; Upon Your Honor (coming soon)
Erica Sutherhome: Hard to Get; Memories; A Hint of Scandal; Without You; Strange Heat; Terror in the Night; Haunted; Pursuit; Perfect Game; A Touch of Dawn; Ransom; Leather and Lace

Kathryn Layne: A Misplaced Life

Heather Crouse: Express Café and Other Ramblings; Ramblings, Musings and Other Things; Soulful Ramblings and Other Worldly Things

Author Links

http://www.marielavender.webs.com/
http://marielavenderbooks.blogspot.com/