Lily Luchesi's Blog (formerly Kelly Smith Reviews): writer

Showing posts with label writer. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

BOOK REVIEW: "Finders Keepers" by Stephen King

A masterful, intensely suspenseful novel about a reader whose obsession with a reclusive writer goes far too far—a book about the power of storytelling, starring the same trio of unlikely and winning heroes King introduced in Mr. Mercedes.

"Wake up genius." So begins King’s instantly riveting story about a vengeful reader. The genius is John Rothstein, an iconic author who created a famous character, Jimmy Gold, but who hasn’t published a book for decades. Morris Bellamy is livid, not just because Rothstein has stopped providing books, but because the nonconformist Jimmy Gold has sold out for a career in advertising. Morris kills Rothstein and empties his safe of cash, yes, but the real treasure is a trove of notebooks containing at least one more Gold novel.

Morris hides the money and the notebooks, and then he is locked away for another crime. Decades later, a boy named Pete Saubers finds the treasure, and now it is Pete and his family that Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney, and Jerome Robinson must rescue from the ever-more deranged and vengeful Morris when he’s released from prison after thirty-five years.

Not since Misery has King played with the notion of a reader whose obsession with a writer gets dangerous. Finders Keepers is spectacular, heart-pounding suspense, but it is also King writing about how literature shapes a life—for good, for bad, forever.

I purchased this book from Barnes And Noble for my own pleasure.

A reader experiences two things when they first hold in their hands the newest novel by their favorite author: excitement (of course), but there is also a bit of trepidation. Will this live up to their last novel? Will I be disappointed? Will I want to hit their computer with a hammer?
For me, I ask myself those questions whenever there is a new Stephen King novel released. If you know me, you know he is the man whose work has influenced me since I was in middle school. And you will also know that I have absolutely loved everything he has put out lately.
I'm not a literary snob. I read popular current authors as well as indies and classics. Rarely will you ever come across a novel that, aesthetically, is true literary gold as well as frightening and entertaining. Finders Keepers is that novel, possibly the novel future generations will look at as two things: how to write a kick-a** thriller that leaves readers on the edge of their seats, and a commentary on human nature in various ways. I won't go into those ways here (I am not a scholar. I read for pleasure 99% of the time.) but I will say that I hope I can take part in these discussions, because I know that King brought up some really dark and accurate points about life in the recession, about obsession, madness and human nature as a whole.
This is a continuation of Mr. Mercedes, his 2014 thriller about a madman who killed and injured dozens of people with a fancy car, but that story takes a backseat...for a while.
We do get to see the heroes of Mr. Mercedes in all their glory: fast-thinking Det-Ret Bill Hodges, the obsessive-compulsive yet lovable Holly Gibney and the intellectual and humorous Jerome Robinson. In this story they have to help a teenage boy get out of a pretty big jam thanks to one crazily obsessed literature fan, Morris Bellamy.
When people read the description, their first thought is, "Oh, he's repeating Misery." No, no, NO! Do not think that. Wipe that thought from your mind. Yes, Finders Keepers is about an obsessed fan of a certain writer and their outrage over what said writer has done to their favorite character. But the similarities stop there, reader. Morris is not as crazy as Annie Wilkes, and his crazy is of a different kind. I could go into psychoanalysis, but I won't bore you.
Here are the high points for me: the amazing cast of characters. Reading about Bill and the gang was like reuniting with good friends. I love them, and will be sad when the third and final book about them is released, because I will miss them.
The characters original to the book are also well developed and memorable: Morris and the Saubers family, even John Rothstein, the fictional novelist killed in the first chapter. Morris and Peter Saubers are two sides of the same coin: both huge Rothstein fans and both obsessed with the stories he wrote about his protagonist but never published. Morris is the insane side, and Peter is the caring side. You, like me, will melt with joy when you see how much Peter cares for his family.
The other thing I loved was how literary appreciation is so prevalent in the story. A love of literature is a beautiful thing, even the insane love Morris has. It's compelling and made me enjoy the story more, because those are emotions I can relate to as a Constant Reader.
Stephen King can write horror better than anyone else I have ever read. But his scariest villains are not the Barlows or the Randall Flaggs. No, his most frightening antagonists are the ones we can relate to, the ones who are all too human. I did not fear the woman in the painting in Rose Madder, because she could never be real. I do fear the Annie Wilkeses and the Morris Bellamys, because they are very, very real. They are the dark part of every human soul and they could be your neighbor, your friend, your sibling...or they can be you.
When it comes to crime thrillers, you will also never come close to the gritty, realistic way King writes. If I can ever be half as good as him, I will be quite pleased.
Finally, the killer we met in Mr. Mercedes has not been forgotten! I can't say much about it, but there is a cliffhanger from Hell at the end, and we will definitely be seeing the murderous son of a b*tch in book three, or my name is Kelly Smith!

5/5--Did you expect anything else after this long, gushing review?

Purchase Finders Keepers at your local bookstore or favorite online retailer in hardcover, ebook or audiobook format! Click here for more information.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Ronel van Tonder

1. When/why did you decide to become a writer?

I've been writing since about the age of 10. I think it was the allure of creating imaginery worlds and places. Perhaps being (and still being) an introvert contributed to this in some way. That, and my parents belief that a child should always have their noses buried in a book.

2. What authors inspired you when you were younger? What books do you enjoy reading today?

I read a ton of Terry Pratchett, Stephen King, Robert Jordan, Dean Koontz and James Herbert, to mention but a few. I preferred the fantasy and horror genres. My tastes have remained practially unchanged. However, I'm finding great joy in reading indie authors' books. There are some talented writers out there.

3. What was the inspiration behind your novel Compile:Quest?

The concept of the domes came from Jacques Frescoe's "The Venus Project", which is a societal model that stems from a resource-based economy. From this came the idea of how life in the future could operate. But I knew not everyone would be able to get inside the domes. So I started wondering about the people living outside. From those scraps the story just evolved into the beast it is today.

4. Why futuristic science fiction?

Futuristic sci-fi is like a petri dish for the mind. You can grow the most fantastic things in there. New societies, technologies... the sky's the limit. Or... well... space is the limit. Or is it?
Basically, it allows for a blank canvas that makes painting the world you want your characters to reside in so much easier. You write your own history (depending how far into the future your novel is set), and you can decide which path mankind wanders (or stumbles) down.

5. Will we see these characters again in the future?

Yes. There is a second and a third book on the way. Depending on the interest in the series, I'll consider writing a prequel. But I have tons of other writing projects, so the prequel might take a backseat for now.

6. Were any of your characters' personalities or emotions taken from real life?

I'm sure they were. I lack any kind of cataloguing system in my brain. So when I see the characters in my mind, I do often find they do have their own quirks. I assume some of these might be from people I know, or movies I've watched, or other books I've read, but it's as if they have all been processed and spat out as something completely different.

7. What other genres would you like to try your hand at?

I will be writing a horror novel after this, then switching back to sci-fi. I might ressurect an uncompleted fantasy novel from my youth or start a new one.

8. What would you do if you were in either of your protagonists' positions?

I really don't know. I'm so different from any of them that I probably wouldn't even *get* into those positions were it me. But if I did? Then I'd probably curl up into a little ball and sing a happy song until all the weird goes away. I'm neither brave nor scrappy.

9. You say on your site that you also write horror. What are your plans on releasing anything horror-based in the future?

Yes, I will be writing a horror after I'm done with the second and third books of the Corrupted SUN Script. I would estimate, if all goes well, that is should be released March/April next year.

10. Would you like to see as Compile:Quest as a film or TV show? Who do you want to play your characters?

Yes please! I think the books are a bit lengthy for a movie, but I can definitely see it as a 8-episode, 3-season television series.

11. Where do you see yourself and your career in the next ten years?

Best-selling author. (Which author doesn't?)

12. What would you be doing if you weren't writing?

Cannot compute. Life without writing is like... Life without life.

13. Can you tell KSR what you're working on next?

Once done with the second and third book in the Corrupted SUN Script trilogy, I'll be writing a horror, "Zealot", and then another sci-fi series.

14. What authors, dead or alive, would you like to collaborate with?

Most definitely Terry Pratchett. I am constantly in awe of his writing skills, and to be able to collaborate with him would be amazing.

15. Thank you for participating in the interview. Can you please leave the readers with three things that may surprise them about you?

1 - I love dancing to dubstep/glitch hop/trance and various other forms of electronica.
2 - I've never riden a train or flown in a plane.
3 - I'm a terrible poet.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ronel is a brand-spanking new indie author. She loves creating fantastical worlds set in the future, the mythical, and the horrific. Translate: She writes science-fiction, fantasy and horror novels.
Her life story is not particularly fascinating, but her love of technology, PC games and writing is. Beside writing, she spends her time slaying rendered baddies in the form of robots, gangsters and aliens - with any weapon that happens to be at hand.
Ronel has published her first science-fiction book, Compile:Quest. She's currently hard at work creating the second book in the Corrupted SUN Script trilogy. When she's not writing, she's gaming, and when she's not gaming she's either sleeping or eating, as these are prerequisites for a continued life on planet Earth.

truth = (trust/ignorance) * propoganda

Website Link:
http://ronelvantonder.co.za

Social Media Links:
http://www.twitter.com/RonelVanTonder
http://www.facebook.com/Ronel.Van.Tonder.Author
http://za.linkedin.com/in/ronelvantonder/
http://www.wattpad.com/user/ronelvantonderza
https://www.google.com/+RonelvantonderCoZa
http://www.pinterest.com/ronel1014/
https://www.goodreads.com/ronelvantonder

SYNOPSIS OF COMPILE:QUEST:

In the year 2036, solar storms batter Earth. The world's electrical infrastructure is crippled. Night falls and the ensuing pandemonium claims millions of lives, catapulting mankind into chaos.
In the midst of this global turmoil a hero emerges. The altruistic SUN Council intercedes. They construct enormous domes on each continent to protect the world’s population from the radioactive CME’s of the incessant solar storms.
But not everyone makes it to the domes. In an attempt to survive the deadly radiation, hundreds of thousands of people burrow into the earth, living in squalor under an oppressive dictatorship.
Now centuries later, the final stage of the SUN Council’s plan to decimate the world’s population approaches. But as victory glimmers on the horizon, two women from discordant halves of this new world start to unravel the conspiracy.

**** Book Links ****

Amazon:
http://amzn.to/1vKiQJU

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23342596-compile

**** Video Trailer ****

http://bit.ly/1xquBry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItFMeh3hAkU&feature=youtu.be
<iframe width="480" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ItFMeh3hAkU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Friday, December 5, 2014

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Gena D. Lutz

1. When/why did you decide to become a writer?

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to read a good book or write my own stories.

2. What authors inspired you when you were younger? What books do you enjoy reading today?

The first full-length novel I read was a part of a historical romance series by Constance O'Banyon, titled the Savage Summer. I was really into true crime novels when I was in my twenties. But throughout my life I’ve always loved paranormal romance and urban fantasy. The authors that inspire me the most are Laurell K. Hamilton, J.R Ward, Kelley Armstrong, Stephen King, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Anne Rice.

3. What was the inspiration behind your novel Created Darkly?

The inspiration for Created Darkly started with a name. I told my cousin Christina that I was going to create a character just for her. Chris is short for Christina of course, so I just messed with the spelling a little bit and BAM, Kris Chase was born. The story itself took on a life of its own as soon as I started writing it.

4. Will we ever see those characters again?

Yes you will! Devil’s Playground, book 2 in the Kris Chase series, will be released early 2015.

5. How did you choose which paranormal creatures to put into the book?

The only thing I was sure of when I started writing Created Darkly was that I wanted it to be about a kick-ass heroine who also happened to be a very powerful necromancer. Her specific abilities came out on the page as I wrote more about her. I was just as surprised as any of my readers that she could actually create vampires.

6. Were any of the characters personalities or emotions taken from real life?

I think in each heroine I write there is always a little bit of myself in the character-- a part of me who wishes that I could be out there in the trenches slaying my own monsters.

7. What other genres would you like to try your hand at?

To be honest, I only ever see myself writing paranormal romance and urban fantasy.

8. What would you do if you were in Kristina's position?

Oh that’s tough. Kris is stubborn, has an overwhelming thirst for vengeance, and can kick some major ass. I would like to see her take a break. So if I was in her position I would talk Rush into taking me to the Bahamas.

9. Would you like to be able to see ghosts?

Nope, not at all. While ghosts do fascinate me, I like them best when they are kept inside of the pages.

10. Would you like to see Created Darkly or any of your other works as a film or TV show? If yes, who do you want to see play your characters?

I would jump at the chance! As for who would play them? I have no clue…but they’d have to be super sexy!

11. Where do you see yourself and your career in the next ten years?

Oh my, I really don’t think that far ahead in regards to my writing. Writing is something I do for myself, so the only real goal in regards to it is to get as many of the stories floating around in my head down on paper before God pulls my plug.

12. What would you be doing if you weren't writing?

I would probably be miserable! Writing is my own personal mood stabilizer. I need it to release stress and to stay sane.

13. Can you tell KSR what you're working on next?

My current WIP is Devil’s Playground, book 2 in the Kris Chase series. But I also have a pretty big project in the works with some amazingly talented authors. There will be more info to come about that soon. (I’m also in the process of re-writing my first published book, Ember’s Curse.)

14. What authors, dead or alive, would you like to collaborate with?

That’s easy. Stephen King. The man is so talented and one of the most creative writers I’ve ever read. I could learn so much from him.

15. Thank you for participating in the interview. Can you please leave the readers with three things that may surprise them about you?

1: I am obsessed with vintage My Little Ponies.
2: I can never eat the ‘first’ thing cooked in a pan. I have to have the second or third grilled cheese, pancake, burger, etc. I just think it tastes better that way.
3: By the age of 24, I owned and operated my own business. It was a sports bar that featured country music and dancing on the weekends. Up until recently, I’d been in the bar business as a hostess, waitress, bartender, and then owner, for most of my adult life. If I had a nickel for every time I yelled “Last call!” at closing time, I’d be rich!

Find Mrs. Lutz online via:

Twitter
Amazon
Website
Facebook
Goodreads

Saturday, November 29, 2014

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Ryan McSwain

1. When/why did you decide to become a writer?

I’ve always loved writing—I was the weird kid that got excited about school writing assignments. A good thing, too, because my papers usually saved my grades from my test scores. It just took time to figure out how to write fiction that was worth sharing.

2. What authors inspired you when you were younger? What books do you enjoy reading today?

As a young kid, I read non-stop. I loved Baum’s Oz series, the Alice books, Tolkien, and that classic, Ralph Fozbek and the Amazing Black Hole Patrol. And comic books, always comic books. When I got a little older, I was all about Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, J.D. Salinger, Spider Robinson, Philip K. Dick, and H.P. Lovecraft. And comics by folks like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, and Warren Ellis.
Right now, I’m mostly doing research for my next book. But I’m getting into the works of Haruki Murakami and Gabriel García Márquez, and I just finished The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien (Brian O'Nolan). One of my favorites is the underrated Lucky Wander Boy by D.B. Weiss.

3. What was the inspiration behind your novel Monsters All The Way Down?

The premise bounced around in my head for about ten years, and it was reading too much Philip K. Dick that I finally figured out how to make it work. It started as my take on a PKD paranoia thriller set in modern times, and the Lovecraftian elements crept in on their own. Musically, I found a lot of inspiration in The Mountain Goats’ Heretic Pride album. The road trip element of the book definitely comes from my love of Supernatural.

4. What would you do in Brennan's predicament?

Get killed around chapter four! Seriously, though, Brennan is miles away from being an author surrogate, but much of what he does in his early investigation comes from how I would try and figure things out. A big difference between Brennan and me is that I have a support system of friends and family. I like to think I have people I could call if I really got into trouble.

5. You say you're a stay at home dad and former youth pastor. How have those things effected your work, if they have effected it all?

Being a youth pastor was very fulfilling, but it was emotionally exhausting and left me drained creatively. I thought being a stay-at-home dad would give me time to write, and it did—at first. Once my son stopped napping most of the day, there wasn’t room for anything else. I had plenty of ideas, but no time to write the stories. Monsters All the Way Down was written and revised in about three years of staying up too late. I realized I couldn’t be a good dad without sleep, so now I do most of my writing in marathon stints on Sundays.
I’ve blogged about the challenges of writing and being a stay-at-home parent, if anyone would like to check out my site.

6. Were any of the characters personalities or emotions taken from real life?

Some of the conflict in the book has its roots in the sibling rivalry I used to have with my younger brother. He’s a great guy, and amazingly talented, so it was strange to have him coming up behind me, able to do some of the things I did, only so much better.

7. What other genres would you like to try your hand at?

My next book is going to fall in the superhero novel category, although there’s a lot more to it than capes and punches. There’s a YA murder mystery I’ve been dying to get down on paper. There are quite a few sci-fi and literary fiction ideas to try out..

8. If you could successfully clone a human, who would you clone and why?

I have a couple of friends, Dustin and Jon, who are self-disciplined, intelligent, and focused. If I had an army of either one, I could take over the world in a fortnight. If you cloned me, you’d just have a roomful of folks pondering their existence and identity.

9. Was there any intended symbolism behind the fact that, out of all the clones who acted pretty much the same, Brennan was different?

(I’d rather not have this big a spoiler in the interview, if that’s all right. Could you rephrase the question or leave it out?). There’s some nature versus nurture going on there. It’s scary to think how much our heritage and upbringing are out of our control.

10. Would you like to see Monsters All The Way Down as a film? If yes, who do you want to have play your characters?

I would love to see it as a film—I could cameo as one of the decapitated heads. As for casting, I’d hate for my word of god to steal the opportunity for people to cast it themselves. But the only character I really had cast in my head was Benjamin Rosen, the guy in the ruffled tuxedo. I think a young Rufus Sewel (Dark City; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) would be perfect for the part.

11. Where do you see yourself and your career in the next ten years?

I’d love to get to the point where I can put out a book a year, preferably one every six months. If getting my work out there leads to paying the bills, all the better.

12. What would you be doing if you weren't writing?

I’ll always have my safe, mature backup plan of becoming a magician.

13. Can you tell KSR what you're working on next?

Definitely! My next book is about comic books, obsession, and the nature of reality. It will be the second book in a very loose trilogy, so it shares themes, settings, and maybe a few characters with Monsters All the Way Down. It’s currently in revisions, and the plan is to launch a kickstarter in the spring to raise money for illustrators.

14 . What authors, dead or alive, would you like to collaborate with?

It kills me that Philip K. Dick never finished The Owl in Daylight, so I’d be happy to bring him coffee so he could give us some closure. And I would do just about anything to be the Royal Historian of Oz—does that count?

15. Thank you for participating in the interview. Can you please leave the readers with three things that may surprise them about you?

Thank you for the opportunity—this has been great fun! As for three things, (1) I think it’s healthy to be offended at least once a day. (2) I cry at movies. (3) I used to ride a pretty mean unicycle.

Find Mr. McSwain online via

Author Website: http://www.ryanmcswain.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanmcswain

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ryanmcswainwrites

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4878662.Ryan_McSwain

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Suanne Laqueur

1. When/why did you decide to become a writer?

I’ve always written, since I was a little girl. I don’t think you choose these things—they choose you. The decision to finally DO something with my writing was conscious, though. And very immediate. I had been blogging for some time on eatsreadsthinks.com. My social media network was growing bigger and bigger. I was getting more and more comfortable showing people the literary side of myself. I was sharing more and more of my writing. People kept saying I needed to get it in front of a wider audience and I brushed it off. But around this time last year, a sudden determination filled me. I’m doing this. What am I waiting for? What’s the worst that could happen? Of course the doubts come in on the flank: what if no one likes it? To which I answered, what if they do like it?

2. What authors inspired you when you were younger? What books do you enjoy reading today?

If I had to narrow it down to two influential authors, I would say Laurie Colwin and Rumer Godden. When I read Godden’s In This House of Brede, I was amazed at how she was able to create well over two dozen characters and make each one unique and vibrant and alive. And I loved her attention to detail when it came to settings and surroundings. Colwin’s Family Happiness blew me away with its thoughtfulness and depth of emotion regarding a sort of taboo subject—this very ordinary woman found herself having a love affair and struggling with emotions she didn’t have names for. I found myself thinking, “I want to write this way. Make ordinary people extraordinary. Take extraordinary circumstances and show how ordinary and universal they really are.”

3. What was the inspiration behind your novel The Man I Love?

The characters were in my head for a good two decades. But they were like literary paper dolls. I just played with them, writing little vignettes. Fan fiction.
Then someone from my past came back into my life, twenty years after we had gone through a terrible experience and then completely disconnected afterward. I was completely unprepared for the emotional whirlwind that came with resolving this event from my youth. I went into a bad depression and I didn’t understand what was happening to me. Working it out in therapy, I came to realize that disconnecting from pain doesn’t end it. Maybe it hides but it’s never gone. It’s there waiting for you when you tear open that boarded-up door. Often with more power than it had before. You have to feel it—even twenty years later—or it will never leave you.
This was the story I wanted to write. Needed to write. Both to channel it away from me in a positive way, but also because I suspected this kind of experience is universal and I wanted to connect with others through it. I wanted to write a story about the effect of trauma. And not limited to trauma from a shooting or an accident or war—I wanted to write about emotional trauma. Abandonment. Loss. Heartbreak. Particularly emotional trauma that goes unresolved. Grief that’s left un-grieved. And that’s where one of the taglines for the novel comes from: “You never got over her. You just left.”

4. Will we ever see these characters again?

Absolutely. I’m currently working on a companion novella to The Man I Love which will tell Daisy Bianco’s side of the story.

5. Why ballet?

My mother was a ballet teacher and she started her studio in the basement of my house. As a very young child I would sit on the stairs and watch until I was old enough to participate and then dance quickly became my life. After I graduated high school, I attended Alfred University in upstate New York and earned a double degree in theater and dance. I knew I didn’t have the chops to make it as a professional performer but I slowly realized I had a gift for choreography and teaching. I taught for two years at the State University of New York at Fredonia, then came home to teach at my mother’s dance studio until she retired. I love the art of dance, and I love ballet because it’s the foundation. If your ballet technique is good, you can dance anything.

6. Were any of the characters personalities or emotions taken from real life?

Certainly the theater and dance aspects are taken from real life. And it’s emotionally autobiographical based on my own experiences with anxiety, depression and recovery. The line “Live the truth,” came to me when I was in a very dark time. Like this one ray of sunlight piercing through heavy clouds, I suddenly thought, “Live the truth of who you are and what you feel.” It was instantly calming. I wrote it down and pinned it up by my desk, knowing it was going to be something important but I didn’t know what yet.

7. What other genres would you like to try your hand at?

I’m working on a bit of historical fiction. A story that spans generations of one family through both World Wars. The amount of research required is daunting, I’m a little nervous about it but I think I can do it.

8. Why did you choose a school shooting, since it's such a sensitive topic?

I think it chose me. I needed a traumatic event that would drive Daisy and Erik apart. Something that would send them into a spiral and eventually push Daisy to do what she did.
One day I came across a YouTube video of Viviana Durante and Robert LaFosse. In it they are dancing the pas de deux “The Man I Love” from George Balanchine’s ballet Who Cares? Robert is blond and handsome and nothing like I picture Will Kaeger looking. However, Viviana is petite and dark-haired and just an exquisite dancer. I watched her in this video and she seemed to embody Daisy right away. And certainly the chemistry she has with Robert evokes the relationship Daisy has with her partner Will.
Anyway, I was watching the video and I came to the part where Viviana does this very difficult lift on Robert’s shoulder. And you can see, right around the 4:04 mark, that she overshoots the jump and she teeters on his shoulder. It’s this precarious three seconds where you can see Robert discreetly adjusting his weight and getting her back on balance. And something just popped in my head. I thought, “something happens here.” I don’t remember exactly when that thought coalesced into “she gets shot” but it did and I had my story. Sadly, instances of gun violence have become prevalent in our society today, with much focus on the assailants and their motives. But I’ve taken a more emotional slant on the issue by focusing on the victims and their connections to each other before and after the shooting.

9. What do you most want readers to take from the novel?

A friend of mine who is a psychiatrist just finished The Man I Love. She said one thing she often tells patients is that after a trauma, you have to decide if the event is going to be a dot on the timeline of your life, or if it’s going to define your entire life. You can’t bury your pain—it thrives in dirt. You have to feel it. You have to embrace going into the black because it’s the only way to come out the other side. But you can be in the black and still be a functioning human being. It’s not an either-or situation.
Human forgiveness works much the same way. People make mistakes. The ones we love often hurt us. Is the mistake something you can incorporate into the architecture of your love affair? Or does it define the entire relationship, in which case you will never be able to move on and grow.

10. Would you like to see The Man I Love as a movie? If yes, who do you want to play your characters?

This is tricky because everyone has their own image of the characters in their head. Sometimes I think Justin Timberlake would make a great Erik. And lately I’m following the rising star of ballerina Misty Copeland: her body and technique, the way she dances and looks and carries herself is totally Daisy to me.

11. Where do you see yourself and your career in the next ten years?

Doing this. Writing, blogging, creating, sharing. Enjoying a following and doing what I love.

12. What would you be doing if you weren't writing?

I’d love to have a little farm-to-market stand in the country.

13. Can you tell KSR what you're working on next?

I anticipate publishing my novella Give Me Your Answer True in January. And then I have an idea for a prequel which will tell the story of Erik’s family. Particularly his absent father.

14. Thank you for participating in the interview. Can you please leave the readers with three things that may surprise them about you?

I worked three weeks as a Verizon field technician which allowed me to finally add “pole dancer” to my resume.
I once rode in an elevator with Baryshnikov. I’m still recovering.
I love bed. Bed is the best place to read and if I could write comfortably in bed, I would.

Find Ms. Laqueur online via:

Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq8WLkEzYwY
Website: www.suannelaqueur.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suannelaqueur
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8317803.Suanne_Laqueur?
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Suanne-Laqueur/e/B00L2C9ML8/
Twitter: @suannelqr
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+SuanneLaqueur/posts
Email: swainblqr@gmail.com

RELEASE DAY BLITZ: "Interception" by Morgan Black

<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-2524" data-mce-src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/MISCONCEPTIONDECEPTIONMISPERCEPTION-2.jpg" height="304" src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/MISCONCEPTIONDECEPTIONMISPERCEPTION-2.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="821" /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-2522" data-mce-src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/INTERCEPTION-641x1024.jpg" height="1024" src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/INTERCEPTION-641x1024.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="641" /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">Purchase on Amazon: <a data-mce-href="http://amzn.to/1xsNlmS" href="http://amzn.to/1xsNlmS">http://amzn.to/1xsNlmS</a></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">Lena is alone. After having three boys fight for her heart she has royally screwed it all up and is left broken and lost.</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">Now there is competition. Lena knows what she wants, and she'll kill Harli to get it.</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">Wedding bells are ringing and Lena won't go alone. She'll have a date. Her date.</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">That b*tch is going down.</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">Excerpt</span></div>
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">"Get out of my face." I wanted to spit on her. I knew it would be gross, but I wanted to do that more than anything. Teach her a lesson.</span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">She didn't move. "Why? Just so you can mess with Blake some more? You know some of us are a little tired of your shit Lena."</span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">"Back up Harli. I only wanted to talk to Blake. Nothing else."</span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">She rolled her eyes. "It starts with a conversation. Then it's always more."</span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">I swirled the spit in my mouth and swallowed it. She was right. I did want more.</span></div>
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">I sat on the sand crying, the black fabric swirling around me like my secrets once had. I thought the truth would set me free, instead it swam around me threatening to drown me with every breath.</span></blockquote>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">Haven't started the Finnegan Brother series yet?  Misconception is available for 99¢!</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<img alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-2391" data-mce-src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/misconceptionfinal1-641x1024.jpg" height="1024" src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/misconceptionfinal1-641x1024.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="641" /></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">Purchase on Amazon:<a data-mce-href="http://amzn.to/1prgxgG" href="http://amzn.to/1prgxgG"> http://amzn.to/1prgxgG</a></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">The Finnegan brothers are bound to hurt any girl that gets between them. But that doesn't stop Lena. She loves pain with her pleasure. When things get too hot for her to handle, she does the only thing she can do to protect herself... she runs away.</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">Three years later, Lena is back in town for her father's wedding. She prays she can avoid her past, hoping nobody remembers her parents’ messy divorce or how she disappeared. However, as soon as she arrives, she finds she can't run from her past anymore.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">There's no escaping the Finnegan brothers. Not this time.</span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<br /></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">About Morgan Black</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2394" data-mce-src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/71477c0ac2fa0a82390b91.L._V326278542_SY470_.jpg" height="470" src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/71477c0ac2fa0a82390b91.L._V326278542_SY470_.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;"><a data-mce-href="http://authormorganblack.wordpress.com/" href="http://authormorganblack.wordpress.com/">Website </a>   <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Morgan-Black-Erotic-Romance-Author/533330676677161" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Morgan-Black-Erotic-Romance-Author/533330676677161">Facebook </a>  <a data-mce-href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6548903.Morgan_Black" href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6548903.Morgan_Black">Goodreads</a></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">Morgan Black is a hair stylist by day and hottie writer by night. She walks her dogs in high heels and never leaves the house without red lipstick. She firmly believes in the power of Zen, and does Yoga freely in her backyard, in her favorite set of pumps.</span> <span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">Morgan Black also writes hot vampire erom under M. Black.</span>  </div>
<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<br /><a data-mce-href="http://www.markmywordsbookpublicity.com" href="http://www.markmywordsbookpublicity.com/"><img alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-2315" data-mce-src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MWM-Logo1.jpg" height="143" src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MWM-Logo1.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="386" /></a></div>

Friday, November 21, 2014

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: J. Giambrone

1. When/why did you decide to become a writer?

Well, in high school I wrote so many songs/poems that I really thought I was on the path. A friend of mine introduced me to the guitar at 16, and my eyes opened to the world's possibilities. It wasn't until a college literature course, at my engineering school, that I wrote my first novella. That was a futuristic sci-fi tale about assassinating a certain leader with a tiny flying drone, the size of a quarter. This was 1985 or 6.

2. What authors inspired you when you were younger? What books do you enjoy reading today

I always go back to Kurt Vonnegut for a slap in the face and a re-sorting of reality. Philip K. Dick, of course. For a while I got in on the Lestat vampire kick, and Anne Rice was an inspiration. My first screenplay was a Rice style vampire flick. I discovered that I was more into imagery than language, and I really wanted to get into movies. Hunter S. Thompson kicked my neocortex around a bit too, crazy bastard.

Lately I'm drowning in so many kinds of everything I can't remember the last novel I picked up (other than the three of my own I'm currently juggling).

3. What was the inspiration behind your novel Transfixion?

I have written about propaganda and war for many years. At the heart of Transfixion is a metaphor about war propaganda, mindless obedience and the demonization of official enemies.

4. Will we ever find out how Kaylee and the others fared in the future?

I'm sort of philosophically opposed to milking it. The real Kaylee story is the one already told here. If I were to revisit these situations, it would have to be a different character and storyline.

5. Why did you write a book within a book with Ghostliest?

Ahh. Good question. I feel it works on several levels. It distracts from the “reality,” the main Kaylee story sufficiently, and at the key opening moments, so that things happen in the background. This hopefully adds to the surprise and shock factor.
It also gave Kaylee an obsession, a compulsion that readers of these kinds of novels will undoubtedly notice. So there's maybe a tiny bit of pandering. Plus, there are practical survival tips to be found in literature, which she uses.
Some reviewers absolutely loved that subplot with the ghost hunters. It opened up another unanswered question: what will happen to the two? Believe me, I had no idea when I first started writing it.

6. Were any of the characters' personalities or emotions taken from real life?

Yes.

7. What other genres would you like to try your hand at?

I've written twenty-six or seven full-length screenplays over a couple of decades. Add that many short film scripts. So I have material across numerous genres, but usually I blend genres and I do anything I can to avoid formulas.
What I don't like are gory, sadistic horror or sweaty grinding romance. Other than that, I'm pretty open.

8. What would you do if what you wrote ever came to fruition?

You mean the hypnosis weapon? I wrote another piece with a more likely hypnosis scenario. It would work a bit differently, and I probably shouldn't say any more :)

9. Was there any intended symbolism behind the way the dupes were made, and that a teen bibliophile (the main demographic behind KSR) was the heroine?

Definitely. It's about an awakening from childhood to adulthood, but to what? To war, to the realities of war as opposed to fictional escapism. Wars are raging now, and this may be a perpetual state. The first casualty in every war is, of course, the truth.
In the novel the hypnosis is delivered via television, the main medium of propagandizing in our society today. The Internet is catching up, and these screens mostly emit one-way broadcast messages.
But are these messages true?
And how does it change us if we believe them vs. if we reject them as false? Personally and socially there are consequences as we face the world's propaganda streams and try and sort through them. Are we then potentially two very different people?
By unquestioningly accepting someone else's framing of sides, of enemies, and of conflicts, do we cede control to them, like a dupe?

10. You said you want to see Transfixion as a film. Who do you want to see play your characters?

Well, the writer has less clout in Hollywood than the caterer's girlfriend.
But I recently saw a short film with a wonderful Australian actress in a similar role. She was mute and highly intense. Perhaps people would want to check out a vimeo short called Yardbird. Not that she's the one, but that's exactly the kind of performance I would love to see.
I'm not familiar enough with the up and coming Hollywood brats today to even name names.

11. Where do you see yourself and your career in the next ten years?

I have a few more novels picked out, and I'll see where that heads. I'm also back in school, if you can believe that.

12. What would you be doing if you weren't writing?

Never occurred to me, since there's little to stop one from writing. I guess I'd be in a coma of some sort.

13. Can you tell KSR what you're working on next?

I created a poll on my website to ask the people what kind of story they'd prefer to read. I posted 5 concepts, and they ranked them for me.
So superheroes it is. The story is a bit political. It's about power, the will to power, who has it and who doesn't. It's the perfect arena for a supernatural battle.

14. What authors, dead or alive, would you like to collaborate with?

Kurt Vonnegut of course. I'd love to write the screenplay and direct Sirens of Titan. In a perfect world.

15. Thank you for participating in the interview. Can you please leave the readers with three things that may surprise them about you?

1. I'm legally blind.
2. I live in Redding California, a small city with rednecks and country music, homelessness, hipsters, black, white, brown and red. And a lot of trash strewn along the side of the road which I'd like to lodge a formal complaint about.
3. I have a backyard full of various type chickens and quail for some reason that you'll have to ask my wife to explain. There are fresh eggs, of course, but: why so many, Kirsten? Why?

Find Mr. Giambrone online via:

Twitter

Goodreads

COVER REVEAL: "Free Fall (Long Summer: Donovan Brothers #6)" by Kailin Gow

</div>

<strong><span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">Release Date: December 15th</span></strong></div>

<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">Add it to Goodreads:<a data-mce-href="http://bit.ly/1qXVSfi" href="http://bit.ly/1qXVSfi"> http://bit.ly/1qXVSfi</a></span></div>

</div>

<span data-mce-style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: small;" style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">Although Summer has made her choice, the danger is far from over. </span><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">In order to protect everyone he loves. Nat must continue living with his new identity for however long it takes, even if that means several years later.</span></span></span></div>

<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">Would the love he feels for Summer still lasts, even when he is no longer the Nat Donovan he used to be?</span></div>

</div>

<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">Haven't started reading The Loving Summer series yet?</span></div>

</div>

<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">Purchase on Amazon: <a data-mce-href="http://amzn.to/1F4L6fm" href="http://amzn.to/1F4L6fm">http://amzn.to/1F4L6fm</a></span></div>

<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">Purchase on iBooks: <a data-mce-href="http://bit.ly/1xQmHHj" href="http://bit.ly/1xQmHHj">http://bit.ly/1xQmHHj</a></span></div>

<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">Purchase on B&N:<a data-mce-href="http://bit.ly/1uSjLKh" href="http://bit.ly/1uSjLKh"> http://bit.ly/1uSjLKh</a></span></div>

</div>

<span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;">Summer has always looked forward to spending her summers at her Aunt's beach house with the Donovans. To her, summers at Aunt Sookie's beach house was magical, especially getting to spend time with the Donovans - her best friend Rachel and Rachel's brothers Nathaniel, and Drew. Here at Aunt Sookie's beach house, they can be anyone and anything they dreamed. For Summer, she had always wished to become as pretty as Rachel and for her brothers to think of her as more than Rachel's friend. For Nat and Drew, summers at Aunt Sookie's beach house meant fun and escape, a place where they go to with their mom and sister for the summer, away from city life. They never thought this summer would be different. They never thought things would change as much as they did...and it all began with them falling for and loving Summer.</span></div>

</div>

</div>

<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">About Kailin Gow</span></div>

<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong><a data-mce-href="http://www.KailinGowBooks.com" href="http://www.kailingowbooks.com/">Website</a>     <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/OfficialKailinGow?ref=br_tf" href="https://www.facebook.com/OfficialKailinGow?ref=br_tf">Facebook </a>     <a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/kailingow" href="https://twitter.com/kailingow">Twitter</a></strong></span></div>

Kailin Gow's life is sometimes more fascinating and stranger than fiction, which is being chronicled in a feature film based on a treatment optioned and in development for a release date of 2018. (IMDB.com - The Colorful Worlds of Kailin Gow 2018). Her true life experiences as a world traveler where she has traveled to over 25 countries, logging hundreds of thousands of miles, absorbing the cultures and collecting stories relating to places and the romance of the land, and incidents in her personal life, has inspired her to write and publish over 170 books with over 30 series.</div>

She is noted as an indie pioneer, as one of the first to publish in 2001. Breaking stereotypes, her books has crossed traditional and indie lines, gaining recognition in schools and libraries, as well as the indie community. Her action adventure young adult fantasy series, The Frost Series, an ALA YALSA Reader's Choice Nominated book series - had been optioned by an international film company and is currently in development as a game and a film at http://www.facebook.com/thefrostseries. Five of her fantasy/action adventure series have been optioned to be made into worldwide games.</div>

Kailin Gow has been known in The World Journal, an international newspaper, to be a phenomenon. She was profiled on the homepage of Amazon.com as an Author Success Story who overcame personal obstacles to become a bestselling author, appeared as one of Amazon's top authors for the Kindle Fire launch release, and is one of the earliest indie authors who have sold over a million books. She writes for Fast Company as a publishing expert, had appeared on a major network Television News as a bestselling author who writes fiction and non-fiction with a social conscious, and has made speeches and appearances across the U.S. and on top 15 national radio regarding self-esteem and issues relating to women.</div>

Kailin Gow was an invited speaker and signing author at Book Expo America (BEA)2014.</div>

Having experienced bullying firsthand and slander as a woman, Kailin Gow is an active advocate against bullying in the workplace and in schools. She has written Shy Girls Social Club Handbook Against Bullying and has helped launch Stories for Amanda where all proceeds go towards the Amanda Todd Foundation against bullying. She has written several books with the theme of abuse towards women and children, especially the steamy international bestselling The Protégé Series, which launched a book club initiative in battered women's shelters and won The Indie Excellence Awards at NIEA for Erotica in 2014.</div>

She holds a Masters Degree in Communications Management from The University of Southern California, and degrees in Drama and Social Ecology.</div>

She resides in the American West with her husband and daughter, but had lived for a decade in Texas, and briefly in England. Besides being a full-time author, she volunteers for many organizations, is active in church helping build homes for the homeless and visit orphanages. A voracious reader, when she is not writing, she loves reading an entire series in one sitting! She spends way too much time on Facebook than she is supposed to at http://www.facebook.com/kailingowbooks, but loves meeting new people from all walks of life.</div>

She has over 30 Series, written under Kailin Gow, and more under her middle grade, women's fiction, and mystery pen names:</div>

***For 16 and up***</div>

The Frost Series - COMPLETED. Bitter Frost Series Consists of 8 full-length novels.<br />

The Wolf Fey Series - COMPLETED. Consists of 2 full-length novels and one novella.<br />

Fairy Rose Chronicles - age 13 and up.<br />

The PULSE Series - Next Book - Blood Ring (PULSE #9), releasing due to readers' demand to continue the series. Consists of 9 full-length novels and one novella.<br />

FADE Series - COMPLETED. ALL Full-length novels.<br />

DESIRE Series - All Full-length novels. Last Book, FRENZY - 2015.<br />

Fire Wars Series - All Full-length novels.<br />

Alchemists Academy - All Full-length novels.<br />

Wordwick Games - All Full-length novels.<br />

Wicked Woods Series - COMPLETED. Consists of 5 full-length novels.<br />

Steampunk Scarlett - All Full-length novels.<br />

The Phantom Diaries - All Full-length novels. Last Book, DARK VICTORY - 2015.<br />

Stoker Sisters - All Full-length novels. Last Book, SISTER OF THE STRIGOIS - 2015.</div>

Beyond Crystal River - 2015 NEW SERIES.</div>

SHADES - 2015 NEW SERIES. This is a high concept psychological thriller.</div>

***For 18 and up (New Adult/Coming of Age)***</div>

Loving Summer - All full-length novels.<br />

The Donovan Brothers - All full-length novels.<br />

Saving You Saving Me (You & Me Trilogy)- COMPLETED. Consists of 3 Full-length novels.<br />

Never Knights - COMPLETED. Consists of 3 Full-length novels.<br />

Rock Hard Love Hard - 1st book, Rock Hard Love Hard is now Available.</div>

Sawyer House Chronicles (Spin-off of You & Me Trilogy) - Coming in 2015<br />

Canvas - Coming in 2015</div>

***For 18 and up (Adult/Steamy Romance)***</div>

The Protege - COMPLETED. 3 Full-length novels.<br />

Master Chefs - COMPLETED. Consists of 3 Full-length novels.<br />

The Blue Room (Spin-off of Never Knights Trilogy) - Romantic Suspense.<br />

Barely Legal (Spin-off of The Protégé) - Romantic Suspense.<br />

The Oyster House - Artistic Romantic Thriller set in Hong Kong and England.<br />

- Coming in 2015.</div>

For information on the series, new series and new book releases, contests, appearances, KG-Convergences, and more, sign up at http://www.KailinGowBooks.com.</div>

Thursday, November 20, 2014

BOOK REVIEW: "Transfixion" by J. Giambrone

Every so often, you read a book that makes you stay up till all hours of the morning just so you can finish it. Transfixion is that book.

Kaylee Colton is a high school girl and bibliophile. She has just received the latest book in her favorite series, Ghostliest, and all she wants to do is read it. No TV, no internet. Just good ol' ghost hunters Jasmine and Kurtz.
But then, the world ends.
Everyone has been hypnotized by the TV and computer transmissions. She watches as her older brother stabs their mother to death. On a quest for survival, she meets a bad boy named Dustin and they hole up with a few other survivors in the high school, but is it a futile attempt, add the rest of the world has gone insane?

First of all, this is NOT your typical YA dystopian novel. It's not the future. It's right now, featuring kids just like us, including the endearing main character, Kaylee The Bibliophile. Dustin could be the bad boy you crush on in the back of the class, Sara your little sister, and the other kids your classmates.
Aside from the believability of the characters, there's the vivid way in which Mr. Giambrone tells the tale. You're inside Kaylee's mind, you're watching the "dupes" try and kill all the normal people. You're fighting along with her.
She's also got a psychological quirk, suddenly becoming mute after the events occur. It's a topic for discussion for sure one you've read the book.
There's everything from a to z in this story, and it will keep you up all night (I'm writing this at one in the morning). Your next obsession? Transfixion.

5/5--absolutely amazing! Must read!

Purchase Transfixion via:

Amazon

Barnes And Noble

Createspace (paperback)

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Harry Shannon

1. When/why did you decide to become a writer?

I've been a fanatical reader all my life, and like many folks my dream was to write my own novel someday. I remember drawing my own comic books as a child, and writing my first short story in middle school, something about a basketball game. Music and acting distracted me, though I wrote a directed two school plays, so the itch was still there. I started my first novel Night of the Beast at around 20 years old, but didn't finish the book and sell it until I was 50. It's been a long, strange journey, with many different day jobs and distractions along the way. Now I've done fifteen novels, dozens of short stories and hundred of song lyrics.

2. What authors inspired you when you were younger? What books do you enjoy reading today?

John D. MacDonald, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Robert Heinlein, Saki, Ambrose Bierce, Hemingway, John Steinbeck were all favorites as a child and adolescent. I was precocious. Later, Stephen King of course, plus Michael Connelly, John Connolly, Robert Crais, and my writing Gods are James Lee Burke and Cormac McCarthy.

3. What was the inspiration behind your series The Hungry?

Joe McKinney approached me about making a contribution to a charity anthology about zombies. Steven W. Booth had expressed an interest in writing, and his wife suggested we do it together. It was a solid story, but when I impulsively changed the main character from male to female, something magic happened. Then Steven stuck poor Penny in her old wedding dress and magic happened. We liked the story so much we uploaded it as a free book on Amazon. Tens of thousands of people downloaded it, which launched the first full novel version. Sales motivated us to continue, and now there are six books in the series.

4. Why choose zombies as your main paranormal focus?

As I said, it started with a charity anthology. I’d written about zombies before of course, in PAIN and a number of short stories. Perhaps my best early take on them was in Daemon, a ghoul novel that touched on the zombie craze. Zombies are wonderful stand-ins for social anxieties such as terrorism, Ebola, and economic uncertainty. The real stars are the characters, not the zombies. It’s all about the human beings and how they react to the existential crisis. There is something thrilling about the constant threat of a nasty surprise, and no need for the long build up of most monster stories. You can hit the grounds running.

5. Was there any intended symbolism behind it and how the zombies were created in your book?

Steven would give you a different answer, but as far as I am concerned, Joe McKinney nailed it when he wrote the introduction to The Hungry series. The country was reeling from the economic collapse of 2008 and still at war in two countries, plus scarred by a terrorist attack on our own soil. We were not aiming to be so high-brow but Penny Miller is an American icon, the reluctant western hero, the Sheriff who’s got her duty. Her character anchors the series. She is hope and courage and humanity in a nutshell, and uniquely American.

6. You had a career in the music industry and your daughter is following in your footsteps. How important or inspirational has music been to you?

We all remember the music of our teens and twenties for the rest of our lives. I grew up on Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell and the Eagles and good country songs. Being a musician and a songwriter shaped my personality. It seems to be the same thing for my daughter, and she plans on working in the entertainment industry as an executive if not a performer. It’s in our blood and we come by it honestly. Her mom plays guitar and writes as sing as well, she just didn’t do it for a living. Music is a constant in our house, we have ten guitars and a keyboard and a dulcimer and a mandolin and a banjo and….you get the idea.

7. What other genres would you like to try your hand at?

I enjoy a great western. I’ve done a few short stories, and may do a novel someday as well.

8. What is your personal favorite zombie story, film or book?

I have a soft spot for the original Night of the Living Dead in black and white. My favorite story would probably be The Monkey’s Paw, if I had to choose a novel perhaps Pet Semetary. I love Jonathan Maberry, Joe McKinney, a lot of authors who work with zombies, too many to name.

9. If the zombie apocalypse actually happened, what would you do?

Gather up our 357 and speed loaders and the earthquake kits and if we couldn’t get the hell out of town and into the mountains, just batten down the hatches. I have some faith in the government to respond given enough time.

10. Would you like to see The Hungry in theaters? If so, what actors would you like to see play your characters? All of then were so individualized!

I’d love to see it as a cable television series, the genre has exploded and anything goes. Penny Miller’s ribald humor wouldn’t need to be watered down, it could be violent and sexy and funny at the same time, just like the books. Our friend Gillian Shure has modled Penny Miller on our covers six times, I cannot imagine anyone else in the part. Gillian played Constable Kate Eidson in my little horror movie Dead and Gone, so we go way, way back.

11. Where do you see yourself and your career in the next ten years?

Well, I will be 76 in ten years, and hope to still be writing and enjoying being a Dad, and perhaps watching my daughter Paige in her mid-twenties having a successful personal life and music career. I’ve been a counselor for pushing thirty years and feel like I’d want to cut back on the day job long before that, but you never know. I enjoy that work too.

12. What would you be doing if you weren't writing?

I love the arts, and also the counseling work. If I stopped writing I’d perhaps playing with doing some low budget films, writing music again, acting with friends. Just staying busy.

13. Can you tell KSR what you're working on next?

I have been working hard on Mick Callahan #5, tentatively entitled Rough Men. The series is quite popular, people enjoy the character and his adventures, but I’d grown weary of writing alone. Now it sounds like fun again. I have a novella in Limbus 2 that I’m very proud of, and it is an honor to be in a project with the likes of Jonathan Maberry, Joe McKinney, Gary Braunbeck, and newcomer Brett Talley. I miss short fiction, and intend to get back to writing some stories over the holidays.

14. What authors, dead or alive, would you like to collaborate with?

I love co-writing. Ed Gorman and I have threatened to work together for years now. Same with Joe McKinney. I’d love to try something with Jonathan Maberry, I think we’d create something much darker than his usual work and perhaps more commercial than mine. There are so many good writers I admire.

15. Thank you for participating in the interview. Can you please leave the readers with three things that may surprise them about you?

Hmmm….well, I am a speed reader, though age as slowed me down, and used to read five or six books a week, so my house and office are jammed to the rafters with books, much to the annoyance of my wife. I was nominated for an Emmy in 1982, for the title song to a CBS TV movie called The Gift of Life. We have six cats, at one time I had nine, three of them feral. I love animals. Thanks for asking me to stop by.

Find Mr. Shannon online via:

Official site (has social media and Amazon links)

Pages

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

BOOK REVIEW: "Finders Keepers" by Stephen King

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Ronel van Tonder

Friday, December 5, 2014

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Gena D. Lutz

Saturday, November 29, 2014

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Ryan McSwain

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Suanne Laqueur

RELEASE DAY BLITZ: "Interception" by Morgan Black

Friday, November 21, 2014

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: J. Giambrone

COVER REVEAL: "Free Fall (Long Summer: Donovan Brothers #6)" by Kailin Gow

Thursday, November 20, 2014

BOOK REVIEW: "Transfixion" by J. Giambrone

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Harry Shannon

Blog Archive

Translate