Wednesday Wing – Writing Crime? Ask the experts on #ACrimeChat @SueColetta1 #wwwblogs

This week on Wednesday Wing: Do you write #Crime? Got a question for the experts? Today’s guest Sue Coletta has set up a Twitter Chat Hour which may be just the answer.

Thank you for inviting me to your online home, Rosie.

Over the years I’ve been fortunate to connect with homicide detectives, coroners, cold case experts, profilers, and talented authors. So, as my way of giving back to the writing community, I gathered a few of my dear friends/consultants and created #ACrimeChat on Twitter. In fact, I brought one of the experts with me to help explain what an incredible opportunity this is for crime writers, or anyone whose book revolves around a crime.

Joe Broadmeadow   @JBroadmeadow

Joe Broadmeadow retired with the rank of Captain from the East Providence, Rhode Island Police Department after twenty years. Assigned to various divisions within the department including Commander of Investigative Services, he also worked in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and on special assignment to the FBI Drug Task Force.

 

What is #ACrimeChat?

It’s an opportunity to make your writing more realistic and more interesting. The information given is geared toward the writer. It’s that perfect blend of both worlds; real-life investigations and well-established authors whose perspective benefits both the practical aspect—research, realism, accuracy, and authenticity—and the creative—voice, point of view, dialogue, theme, plot, and sub-plot.

We focus on solving the writer’s problem of crafting an interesting story with the right blend of realism, touching the real-life nerve of crime and creativity.

Who’s involved?

Experienced investigators (international in scope) and best-selling authors with broad writing experience.

When and where does #ACrimeChat take place?

Every Wednesday on Twitter.

3-4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time

12-1 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time

1-2 p.m. MDT Mountain Daylight Time

8-9 p.m. IST Irish Standard Time

8-9 p.m. BST British Standard Time

How to submit question(s)?

Tweet your question(s) to Sue’s Twitter handle @SueColetta1 and include the hashtag: #ACrimeChat. The questions will be numbered and retweeted to the group.

For example: Sue will tweet your question marked with Q1 (question one).

The experts will reply to that tweet with the corresponding answer marked as A1 (answer one).

The following day a recap of all questions will be posted for review and reference. If you’ve asked a question during the chat, you will be notified of the recap.

We launched on 6/1/16, where we discussed Crime Scenes. You can check out the recap here: https://storify.com/SueColetta1/acrimechat-topic-crime-scenes

Since then, we’ve streamlined the process to make it easier to follow along (by tweeting to @SueColetta1 w/ #ACrimeChat).

List of Topics…

Wed. 6/8/16 Evidence (Real, circumstantial, witness)

Wed. 6/15/16 Forensics (including digital forensics)

Upcoming List of Topics…

Wed. 6/22/16 Fingerprints

Wed. 6/29/16 Dying Declaration (how and when they’re admissible in court)

Wed. 7/6/16 Courtroom Testimony

Wed. 7/13/16 Jurisdictional Issues (this is a confusing area, so we’ll ask that the questions stay on topic)

Because the launch garners so many questions, if you have something you’d like to ask about a topic we’ve already covered, send it my way and I’d be happy to get the answer for you.

Sue Coletta’s latest book is Wings of Mayhem;

Shawnee Daniels — cybercrimes specialist by day, cat burglar by night — ignites the hellfire fury of a serial killer when she unknowingly steals his trophy box.

A SERIAL KILLER STALKS THE STREETS… Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Catch up with all our Wednesday Wing posts here http://wp.me/P2Eu3u-7Lw

Making a Difference Makes Me a Better Person

Today I’m chatting to Joanne about how blogging and writing have changed my life.

Joanne Guidoccio

Welcome to my Second Acts Series!

Today, we have author, blogger, and book reviewer Rosie Amber chatting about her multi-layered life.

Here’s Rosie!

My second act journey began as my youngest child’s Primary education journey came to an end. It felt like the ending of an era and I wanted to have something to remember it by for myself and my friends. So I wrote a book loosely based on all my experiences along the years of Primary school education. In just three months I had my book full of fun memories covering incidents from the eleven years that our family had been going to a small village school. It’s called Talk of The Playground.

I never thought much further than that, but my friend introduced me to self-publishing. I had no budget for anything to do with the book, I’m a full time house-wife with a part-time job…

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Author Interview Rishika Sitlani

Today our guest is Rishika Sitlani author of yesterday’s book “One Chance”, here is a link to the post if you missed it. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-53V

Let’s find out more about Rishika and her writing.

1. Where is your home town?

My home town is Pune, in India. I have travelled to Europe and Africa, and have even lived there for some years, but Pune has been my home for most of my years – and will probably continue to be so.

2. How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing for about eleven years. The first thing I ever wrote was a story that had popped into my head. I would write every night for half an hour – it felt like a creative release. It was just something I would do to give myself satisfaction. I took up writing full time only two and a half years ago. I wrote content and even short stories for others. But towards the end of last year, I decided that I wanted to get into writing full time for myself. That’s how I made the final transition from writer to author.

3. What is your favourite genre of writing and why?

To be honest – I like writing in multiple genres. When I started writing, I loved writing mystery, thrillers, and romantic suspense. Along the way, I developed an interest in writing contemporary romance too. I’ve also worked on historical fiction and have loved it! For me, the story matters, not the genre. If an idea comes to me in which I believe wholeheartedly, I will write the story. My style may vary slightly to allow for the change in the genre, but I write what feels right and I will still enjoy writing every word.

4. What was the idea which began your story of “One Chance”?

Without giving away too much, I’d have to say that it was the way the story ends. An image of the end hit me one day and the rest of the story just built itself around that vision.

5. Can you tell the readers a little about Ava and Ethan Russell and their backgrounds?

Ava and Ethan are bound together through a past that Ava assumes to have left behind. She married Ethan within months of meeting him and they are very much in love. But when she learns the truth about who her husband really is, her trust is completely shattered. She’s left trying to make sense of the lie that had once been everything in which she’d believed.

Ethan too wants to let go of his past, even though he is the reason it comes to haunt them. The only problem is that their past won’t leave them; which leaves Ethan struggling to build a future from the ashes of a past that have burned them both. One Chance looks at Ava’s ability to forgive and Ethan’s ability to love, while the past that connects their families continues to test their abilities.

6. What is this past that their two families have faced?

As was common in many regions at the time, the families were pitted against each other for land that they refused to share. The greed for the land led to a gruesome and tragic past, one that is tainted with anger, greed, and ego; and one that destroys both families completely through death, hatred, and darkness.

7. What do you think are Ava and Ethan’s strengths?

Ava’s strength lies in her ability to pick herself up. From the difficult decisions she made as a teenager, to the point when she has to face Ethan’s betrayal, she never shies away from what is required of her. She hurts, yes, but she pushes forward to see the real picture, however painful that might be. She makes an attempt to understand everything in its entirety and that makes her the well-rounded, strong woman that she is.

Ethan’s strength lies in his ability to look beyond himself and be loyal to that in which he believes. That is what gives him his integrity. It isn’t just about his personal gain or loss – he’ll stick by you even if it’s not in his best interest, as long as having him by your side is in your best interest.

Do you think there needs to be more forgiveness in the world today?

In the end, we’re all human beings. People will make mistakes and they will hurt. And as long as this happens, there will be a need for forgiveness; because it is only through forgiveness that we can move forward with our own lives.

   9.  Are you working on another book?

I recently completed and published my second short story in the Kindle store – A Bond Unbroken. After that, I began work on a much larger project – a historical fiction novel. This historical fiction is based in ancient India and follows a fictional story line woven into real events. It talks about political conspiracies, it depicts love and faith, and it shows the best and worst of human desire and belief. While I can’t say when this will be completed, I am looking to publish it by the end of this year or the beginning of the next, at the very latest.

   10. Where can readers find out more about you?

I have a Facebook page where I post updates about my work and discussions. Anyone can follow this page at http://on.fb.me/R4HfLU

I also have a Goodreads author page which can be followed at http://bit.ly/1ga5Hkp

My Amazon author page is available at http://amzn.to/1oOt1h5

You can participate in the various discussions on my Google+ profile at http://bit.ly/1huJ6V2

You can also follow me on Twitter @RishikaSitlani and my personal blog where I post book reviews, discussions, and tips at http://bit.ly/174LsiN

 

 

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

 

 

 

Thank you Rishika and Good Luck with your writing.

 

 

Sugarcoatin’ is for Candy and Pacifyin’ is for Kids by Nonnie Jules

Sugarcoatin is for Candy, and Pacifyin is for Kids! by Nonnie Jules

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a collection of the best posts from Nonnie’s blog. Nonnie tells it as it is, straight talking mixed with inspirational quotes and good advice. She talks about creating a nation full of happy loving people and she is inspired by some great people from her life.

I read this right on the back of a book that was all about creating a better world for our children by turning our world from one of fear to one of hope. I couldn’t believe the serendipity feeling that occurred when I read some of the points in Nonnie’s book. Nonnie even names Pope Francis who had a very closely related character in the book I read. (See yesterday’s book review of The Rubicon Effect)

Back to Nonnie’s book, she has a wonderful quote ” A tiny spark ignites a flame, just as a helping hand can do the same”. Nonnie helps others and enjoys doing a good job. She gives plenty of advice to writers and authors about how they can promote their work and she talks about another book she’s written The Good Mommies’ Guide to raising (Almost) Perfect Daughters.

A great writer, this lady deserves your support.

Find a copy on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads.

Guest Author Della Connor (7 Feb)

Today I’d like you to join in and welcome Della Connor to the blog, author of Spirit Warriors, yesterday’s book review. If you missed the post here is the link. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-4po

Let’s Find out more about Della.

1) Where is your home town?

My hometown is Lufkin, Texas about 100 miles north of Houston, Texas. It is a small town surrounded by towering pine trees. Hotter than Hades in the summer, wonderful in the winter!

2) How long have you been writing?

I have been writing something all my life. I have stories that run constantly through my mind. I just don’t have the time I need to write them all down. I finally stopped writing on bits of paper and actually wrote them down on the computer. That action started the Spirit Warriors Series.

3) What was the best bit about growing up on a farm in Montana?

Well at the time I thought nothing was good about it. I was a typical teenager, ready to get the hell out of there and live in a big city. Now looking back at it, I miss the summers. I miss the smell of warm alfalfa grass and wildflowers, the cool breezes, the turquoise blue of the Montana skies. I miss riding horseback on my pony Silver and lying on my back watching the clouds in the sky. I learned the value of hard work and the love for land and animals in the beauty of Montana.

4) What was the worst bit?

The winters! They last forever. The sun is gone by 4:00 in the afternoon. It seems to be dark more of the day than it is light. Recently, my parents had a temperature of -30 degrees at the ranch. I don’t miss Montana then.

5) Tell us about the Native Americans who lived in Montana.

The Native Americans in Montana are of varied tribes. In the part of Montana that I was raised, they include the Northern Cheyenne, the Sioux, the Crow, and the Flatheads. Each tribe is distinct with their cultural practices. The tribe in my book is not a particular Native American tribe but rather a fictional tribe based on several tribes practices and beliefs.

6) Can you tell the readers who or what the Machayiwiw was?

He is an evil spirit who has been around for centuries. He was once a powerful medicine man and took the path of power and hatred. He has a huge score to settle with this tribe and he will not stop until it is completed.

7) I’m from the UK can you explain the type of Rodeo racing that Lilly took part in.

She was a barrel racer. It is a competition for women, based on the speed of the horse and rider completing an obstacle course of 3 barrels. The horses are specially trained to take tight corners around the barrels with great speed. It is very exciting to watch. Rodeos here include several events for the ladies, including barrel racing, goat tying, and pole riding. The men ride the bucking horses and bulls, and calf rope.

8) I loved the emotion in the writing, how much work did it take to get right?

Oh my gosh! So much work! I always think it is perfect until my wonderful editor gets a hold of it. She tells me, “We are not mind readers. We don’t live the world in your brain. Spell it out.” I just wish I could let everyone into the world in my mind. It would be easier than trying to write it down. The characters are all there playing over and over like a movie. I just eavesdrop in their world.

9) The Spirit Warriors begs for a second in the series, are you writing one?

It is already written and in editing right now. It will be called Spirit Warriors:The Scarring. It will take off from where we left the kids. This book includes the history of the machayiwiw and more insight into the personalities of the kids, especially Bets. Did you notice the first book had Lilly and Arion on the cover? The second book will have Bets and Electra on the cover.

Here’s a teaser:

Jack walked back to the mangled bodies. He stood there with his head bowed and his hands folded. I knew he was worried for us. We were killers. Charlie, Ollie, Bets, and I had each killed. It didn’t matter that they would have killed us. What mattered was that we were killers. That was the first time I had ever felt a tiny part of my humanity die. It wasn’t a nice feeling.

10) Do you have an expected publication date?

April or May 2014! Sooner if I can get through editing.

Thank you Rosie, for the interview and review of my book Spirit Warriors: The Concealing. You rock my world!

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Thank you Della, it’s been great hearing more about your work.

 

The Osiriad by Sue Vincent

The Osiriad: Isis and Osiris, the Divine Lovers by Sue Vincent

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a delightful book which looks at the role of stories throughout history and their purpose in explaining day and night, the seasons and life and death. By looking at the Egyptian Gods, Sue retells the birth of the Egyptian world through the eyes of the God Isis. The Egyptians are known across the world and the stories of their Gods are echoed in many other religions. In fact Sue adds her own thoughts at the end of this book about the importance of stories and their use in explaining life through pictures and images. She draws together beliefs that we still learn from stories if we can engage with the writing and share the messages. In fact a story can be a many layered article depending on the reader. I really enjoyed my own lessons from the book, it was a delight to read about the Gods in a short easy to read style and then to think about the messages that the Egyptians were giving their people and handing down to future generations to come.
Find a copy of this book here on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Guest Author Pete Denton

We’re back with another guest author interview today. Please welcome Pete Denton to the blog, I met Pete during the April A to Z Challenge 2013 as one of the many great people who were taking part and I began to follow his blog afterwards. Pete kindly agreed to be our guest today and talk about his writing journey.

Let’s find our more about Pete;

1) Where is your home town?

I am from Sheffield, which is the capital city of the People’s Republic of South Yorkshire, once the stainless steel and cutlery capital of the world. Now, littered with Starbucks and Costa Coffees like the rest of the planet.

2) When did you start writing?

I think I’ve always enjoyed writing or at least imagining stories and characters in my head. At school I enjoyed English lessons and have always tinkered with stories. I wrote my first book, a dungeons and dragons style book, when I was thirteen.

3) I’m very impressed that you went “Back to school” and took a creative writing diploma, tell us why?

I’d written many first drafts, but lacked the confidence and skills to taken them to the next stage. My wife sent me an email from our union that they were paying for members to do a writing course with the Open University. I jumped at the chance and enjoyed it so much I decided to enrol for the Diploma in Creative Writing. I learnt about editing and re-drafting so I could understand what I needed to do next with my work. Having tutors and fellow students read and critique my work helped me improve my writing and it brought me into a writing group. Without doubt, the best decision of my life!

4) You have written short stories, flash fiction and scripts, tell us about some of your work.

My preference is for the longer writing. I wrote the script for my final assignment on the OU course about a teenage girl who returns home to questions from the police after being missing for three days. I keep meaning to tinker with it and send it off to the BBC as a one-off drama, but never seem to get around to it.

Short stories for the course have been enjoyable and I love writing flash fiction to help hone my skills, but I never seem to write enough of them as I’m always working on novels.

5) You’ve just completed the July Camp NaNoWriMo, what is it? how did you get on and what did you write about?

The original National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo is in November and encourages you to write a 50k novel in a calendar month. Seems crazy, but it seems to work. It’s free to take part (though they encourage donations) and you find good support from fellow participants.

They also run two Camp NaNo during the year where you can set your own word count. I have to say, July seems so long ago already! I managed to hit the 50k word count, but haven’t written anything since. The novel is the second in what I hope will be my British Crime series. I need to finishing mapping out the rest of the book and just need to get my finger out and write the damned thing!

6) We met (virtually) during the April A to Z Challenge, was that your first year of taking part?

It was. I’d intended on taking part last year, but in the end didn’t have the time to dedicate myself to it properly so decided to wait until this year.

7) Would you recommend the A to Z Challenge to others? Why?

Now, there is a question! And, I’m not sure how to answer. During April, I had a blast. I had a vague plan for about a third of the posts when April hit. Looking back, I don’t think that was enough. I found it hard going trying to visit and support fellow bloggers (like yourself) taking part and keep writing the posts each evening. A title alone does not mean a post is written and ready to post!

May was a tough month as a result and my blogging seems to have suffered each month since as I seem to have had a bit of a burn-out. More planning and writing 90% of the posts ahead of time would have made all the difference so I won’t be taking part again in 2014, but might the following year. Just the reading next time.

If you post a lot anyway and have time I definitely recommend it. If in doubt maybe better to read other posts instead.

8) I loved your post “Twitter made me buy a Kindle” can you quickly tell the readers why Twitter did this?

Thanks 🙂

When I started blogging I was firmly in the NO TO E-READERS camp. Then I joined Twitter and met a whole host of writers who had self-published their work and I wanted to read them. My writing group decided to self-publish a collection of short stories from our course and I decided to take the plunge into self-publishing and e-books. The next step was to buy a Kindle.

I suffer a bit from arthritis in my hands and holding a thick book like a 600+ page David Baldacci curtails my reading time sometimes and the Kindle has solved that. Every book now weighs the same. I’ve downloaded loads of e-book that are not available in print. I’m so glad Twitter forced me to make the purchase.

9) Do you go down the e-book route for all of your own work?

So far, my only published work is in the anthology. I do plan on self-publishing when the time is right and I finish my latest draft.

10) Where can readers find your blog? What are your writing plans for the rest of 2013?

 You can find me at http://petedenton/wordpress.com and I do plan on stepping up my blogging again as it’s a great way to get back into a regular writing routine.

Plans for 2013 are to finish the latest draft of my crime novel. Once that is done it will be off to my beta readers and I’ll take it from there. I hope to finish the first draft of the follow-up by the end of the year and try and self-publish and see what happens.

Thank you Pete and Good Luck with the writing, is anyone going to be taking on the NaNoWriMo this November?

Romancing September – Author V. Steele (Day 3)

Day 3 of Romancing September, we had another fantastic day yesterday, thanks to everyone who stopped by and showed us their support. Our guest today is author Victoria Steele, come and meet her, then in a few hours head over to Georgia and catch up with her views on writing in today’s society with Stephanie.

1)  Where is your home town?

A small town in rural Georgia. I don’t give out a lot of information due to privacy. That was a piece of advice that I received when I first started publishing in January.

2) How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing for a long while, but only just started publishing my books this year. Reading is a hobby of mine and I love to take a story to the finish line.

3) Have you always written romance?

Yes, pretty much. I’ve played with a couple of mysteries, but never finished those. Of course you never know… But I love a good romance. Hopefully my books will make someone reconsider romance. It’s the thought of losing yourself for an hour or two in another world.

4) I love the book cover, can you tell us who designed it?

This is the collaboration of some of my ideas and the cover designer at Horseshoe Publishing. I knew I wanted a cowboy, a woman, and a bull rider. I found the cowboy myself, but Kaleigh Payne, the cover designer just took off with it. She told me to just let her do something and she’d let me see it. When she sent it to me via email I just sat there and said “Holy Cow! She’s read my mind. It was more than I’d expected.” I really think a cover is very important. That’s the first selling point of your book.

5) You’ve chosen to publish with Stephanie’s Horseshoe Publishing, was this an easy decision?

No, this was not an easy decision to start with. Actually, while the first book I published “Sweet Innocence” was in the works, I sat down and played with a couple of crudely designed covers. Then I ran across Stephanie’s books. (Which I’m now a fan of by the way). The covers were incredible. I messaged her and asked where they were designed at or better yet who designed them. She told me her assistant did the cover designs. After I pretty much begged her to help me,  I let her take the ideas and run with them. Her designer totally blew me away. They’ve been really nice and you get your money’s worth. I edited my first two, but the last book “After Hours” I let them edit it. It’s been a great investment and believe me, it gives me more time to write.

6) “Not This Time” is the first book in the “Chasing Cowboys” series, how many books are you planning to write in the series?

Well, I’m not really sure. When I started writing this book it was going to be a stand-alone. But when I neared the end I thought, cowboys are hot right now, why not do a series. I’m working on the next instalment, but not sure about the name. I’ve had to put it on the back burner as I’m trying to finish the second book in the My Prodigy Trilogy. Hopefully, book 2 will be completed before Fall in the Chasing Cowboys Series. I really want to do a Christmas edition.

7)  I recently heard about a new market for books N/A (New Adult), what market is your book aimed at? How steamy is the romance?

I read something a couple of months ago on the Harlequin website about this genre. I don’t know if my books fit in this or not. I haven’t quite figured out what New Adult is. My romances are rated in a scale of 1 to 5 and 5 being “Fifty Shades”, I guess I would put mine at a high 2 or 3. They’re steamy, but not over the top. I always put an age warning. I know I wouldn’t want anyone under 18 reading it, but it’s not that bad.

8) I’m from the UK, where we have few cowboys, farmers! But no cowboys, so I don’t read much western material. In a few lines entice me to pick up your book.

Well, let’s see now. Over here in the states, cowboys are getting popular again in the romance genre. So let’s see if I can bring you over to the cowboy side. She made a half laugh, half growling sound. “Ok, I’ll bite. Who’s the one for me since you seem to know me so well?” She looked up into his mesmerizing eyes and had to hold her ground.

“I do know who’s good for you. That person is standing right here.” He looked serious for a change.

She snorted and pulled her hand out of his. Walking over to the tree she leaned her shoulder against it. “Luke, have you lost your mind? Every time we get close you run away. My heart can’t take this anymore.” As hard as she tried the tears that threatened to overflow slowly ran down her cheeks. “It hurts too much when you get scared and run.”

Sorry, I got a little carried away and did more than a few lines. It’s one of my favourite parts. Don’t worry it’s reeling me in!

9) How do you tackle the romantic / sex scenes in “Not This Time”? Are they tricky to get right?

The romantic scenes can get a little tricky. How far do you go or how far do you have to go to keep the reader interested? Sometimes I will rewrite these scenes several times. Other times they will just flow out of my fingertips. Oh, and the sexual scenes take on a life of their own. It’s like you have to picture it, or it doesn’t flow right. Sometimes I embarrass myself.  But fortunately, the scenes in this book almost wrote themselves. They are based on some things from my own relationship with a cowboy and other things that were from a daydream of what could have been.

10) Can you let us know a planned publishing date for your next book in the series?

I’m shooting for late September/early October. That is if things work out.

“Not This Time” is available from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

I’d like to pass on our warmest thanks to Victoria for joining us on the blog and wish her well with her new book.

Get Ready for Romancing September

Get ready for the start of our Romancing September Across the World Tour, starting on Sunday September the 1st. 30 Authors, 30 Days, 2 Locations!

Stephanie Hurt and I are just finalising all the posts and checking that we have all the information for you.

First there will be a book based interview with the author on each day here at my blog, then ALSO on the same day, Stephanie will post more details about the author and their work PLUS get their views on “Writing Romance in Today’s Society”.

We have authors from across the board covering many of the romance style such as contemporary, thriller, historical, western, erotica and paranormal.

Here is a list of all our guest authors for you;

Sept 1st – Marin Thomas

Sept 2nd – E. L Lindley

Sept 3rd – V. Steele

Sept 4th – Erica Dakin

Sept 5th – Robynn Gabel

Sept 6th – Briana Vedsted

Sept 7th – Olivia Stocum

Sept 8th – Cheryl Koevoet

Sept 9th – Juliet Hill

Sept 10th – Annie Acorn

Sept 11th – Swarupa N Ovalekar

Sept 12th – Terry Tyler

Sept 13th – Kristy Feltenberger Gillespie

Sept 14th – Jean Fullerton

Sept 15th – Fenella J Miller

Sept 16th – Lizzie Lamb

Sept 17th – Marina de Nadous

Sept 18th – Layla Tarar

Sept 19th – Jade Reyner

Sept 20th – Hazel Osmond

Sept 21st – Sonya Loveday

Sept 22nd – Candace Knoebel

Sept 23rd – Fay Cunningham

Sept 24th – Kylie Sabra

Sept 25th – Ana Calin

Sept 26th – Cassandra Giovanni

Sept 27th – Camelia Miron Skiba

Sept 28th – Alison Morton

Sept 29th – Sherry Gammon

Sept 30th – Cynthia Harrison

So make sure you’re signed up for both our blogs and we’ll look forward to introducing you to some great reads. Stephanie can be found here and Rosie here

Guest Author Charles E Yallowitz

Please join me in welcoming Charles to the blog, come back tomorrow for the launch of his second book, but first, meet Charles and check out his first book in the Legends of Windemere series.

Name: Charles Yallowitz

Comment: 1) Tell me your name:  Charles E. Yallowitz

2) Where do you live?  East Meadow, NY

3)When did you start writing?  I started writing in high school after reading Fred Saberhagen’s Book of Lost Swords series.  I loved the way he drew me into his world.  I was already interested in writing and telling stories, but this is when I realized how much I truly loved writing.  I set out to make it my career and began working on a science-fiction, superhero series called Immortal Wars.  It was very juvenile, but it was a start and it helped me learn a lot before I started my current series Legends of Windemere.

4)What type of books do you like writing the most?  I love writing fantasy books that are character driven.  The freedom to create a world from the bottom up is invigorating to me.  There are standards for the genre, but you can get away with anything as long as you can explain it beyond ‘magic did it’.  The genre definitely has this freedom that Earth-based genres don’t have.

5)Pass on 3 tips about writing or publishing.
1.  Never stop writing, especially after you published a book.
2.  Be active in the community of self-published authors because this will help you make friends and contacts.  This can be done with blogging, reviewing, and using all levels of social media.
3.  Always have fun.  If you don’t enjoy what you’re writing then your audience probably won’t enjoy it either.

6)What was the last book that you read? How would you rate it?

The last book I read to completion was Shadows Over Sheradan by Scott Barker.  I rated it 4 out of 5 because it was a fantastic world with amazing characters, but there was some choppy exposition sections in the beginning.  I would recommend it.

7) http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Hero-Legends-Windemere-ebook/dp/B00BL9GBU2/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beginning-Hero-Legends-Windemere-ebook/dp/B00BL9GBU2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373974261&sr=8-1&keywords=legends+of+a+hero+by+charles+yallowitz