A Word Please

Maria Savva is one of those authors who sneaks up on you. She tiptoes over, whispers in your ear. Then she wacks you over the head.

I mean that figuratively, of course. Maria would never bop her readers on the head. But reading her work can feel that way, except without the resulting headache. Her writing has a subtle flow. She lays her characters bare, allowing us to see both the good and the bad. In doing so, she holds up a mirror, showing us the good and bad in ourselves as well.

Maria has a new book out called Fusion, which is a collection of short stories. Each story is a unique experience; a moment in time captured by an author who understands human nature. I read the book – loved it – and, as is typical of me, asked questions. Maria graciously answers me today. She has also given my 2 ebook copies of Fusion to give away! All you’ll need to do is leave a comment here. We’ll get back to that soon. First, let’s take a look at Fusion:

Crime, passion, ghosts, obsession, hope, faith, and new beginnings—you will find all these things, and more, within these pages. A mixed collection of short fiction, by the prolific writer, Maria Savva, who has been praised for her story telling abilities by fellow authors as well as her fans. Sit back, relax, and begin your journey with a story of deep love, and follow through to read insightful tales reflecting our world today, but at the same time taking you away to a world of fantasy. Thought provoking and eventful stories written to entertain and inspire. Maria Savva’s latest collection is sure to please, with haunting and psychological tales, blended with romantic and humourous ones. A diverse assortment, brought together by ‘fusion’.
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Now let’s chat with Maria:

Over how long of a period of time were these stories written?

Maybe about 13 years or so. I’ve written lots of short stories over the years and these have been stored either on my computer or in piles of papers in my house. When I was made redundant a couple of years ago and started concentrating more on my writing, I thought it would be a good idea to try to put some collections together. I think the idea came to me after I’d written ‘Pieces of a Rainbow’, which was a new collection of stories I wrote when I first lost my job and had a lot of time on my hands. When I saw that the stories were being well received, I thought it would be an idea to publish some of my other short stories. I went on to publish Love and Loyalty (and Other Tales) and found that I still had many short stories unpublished. That’s when I decided to read over and edit some more stories for ‘Fusion’. Some of the stories in Fusion are quite new, but others, for example ‘The Reunion’ and ‘The Valentine’s Card’ were first written in the late ‘90s. With all the stories in this collection, I read over the originals and edited them, updating them where necessary.

Do you sit down with the intent to write a story, then work on characters and plot? Or do ideas randomly pop into your head and you write when the mood strikes?

When I write a novel, I will usually have a plan written about what I expect to happen. With short stories, I just sit in front of the computer or with a pad of paper and a pen, and write it, working out the story as I go along. I can usually write a story in less than an hour. But of course, there is the inevitable editing that is required and stories often go through a few changes before I’m happy with them. I think with short stories the endings are always a difficult part because you want to complete the story without leaving any loose ends. You don’t have the luxury of too many words in which to tell the tale, so it’s important to find a way to include everything you want to say, and put your message across in a very succinct way.

I loved all the stories but a few stand out for me. The Legacy is one of those. Do you remember what the inspiration was for that story?

When my sister finished reading the book, she also said that ‘The Legacy’ was one of her favourites. I didn’t think it would be one of the standout stories. It must strike a chord with people in a way that I’m unaware of.

I wrote that one many years ago, so I can’t really remember if there was anything significant that inspired it. What I do remember was that I wrote it for a competition where the theme was ‘saving’. So it turned out to be a story about an old man who saved his pennies, and the relationship between the man and his carer developed from there. In my day job as a lawyer, I often deal with Wills and Probate, so I suppose there could have been something in my mind at the time — maybe from a conversation with a client about a Will, or something that had captured my imagination when administering an estate — that led to the idea behind the story.

The Time Machine made me think about all the difficulties of being a teen and how I‘d like to take back some of what I did and said. If you could go back in time, would you change anything? Why or why not?

I always say that I wouldn’t change anything because everything in life happens for a reason, to teach us something and to make us who we are. When we go through hard times, we often come out wiser. Of course, we will all look back at some situations and wish they’d turned out differently, but then you have to ask yourself whether if those things had changed, would we be the people we are today? I often get my inspiration from the things that I would, in an ideal world, like to change about my life. So, without the regrets and angst, I probably wouldn’t have anything to write about.

I loved Me and My Dictionary. That story made me want to dust off my dictionary and start reading! Does a little of that character live within you?

I do have a slightly obsessive personality, definitely. Not to the extent of the character in ‘Me and My Dictionary’. That would be something to worry about! I remember that when I was a child I used to try to learn definitions of things in the encyclopedias we had at home, so there’s a bit or a correlation there with what the character in this story was doing. I’m sure there is a bit of me in all the characters I write about.

What is your favorite part of writing short stories, as opposed to full-length novels?

Short stories are fun to write because they don’t take much time to complete. You don’t have to plan them. The feeling of accomplishment comes a lot quicker with a short story than a novel, which in most cases take years to finish. With short stories, apart from a few tweaks here and there, there’s not too much editing required. Editing has to be the worst part of a writer’s job.

What do you find more difficult about writing short pieces over longer pieces?

There’s not much room to develop characters or to describe things with a short story, so much more will depend on the imagination of the reader. With a novel you can almost tell the reader everything, but in a short story you just give them snippets of information, they have to fill in the background, but you have to give them enough information to be able to do that. It can’t be too verbose. The whole idea of a short story is that it should contain fewer details, but still tell a story in a way that will keep a reader’s attention. There is definitely an art to writing the shorter form. Over the years I have become more adept at this. I suppose the most difficult thing is trying to satisfy the reader. Where you are serving up such a small chunk of writing, you have to make sure you’ve put enough drama, suspense, intrigue in there to make the reader feel that they got something out of reading the story. When it’s only a few pages in length, the concern is always that the reader might feel that they wanted to know more or have something explained. The trick is to find fewer words to say what you want to say, almost like summarising a novel, but in a way that contains enough of the substance so the reader can fill in the blanks.

What are you working on now?

I’m currently editing my first novel ‘Coincidences’ which was originally published in hardback in 2001. It is now out of print, although I do still have some copies which I sell through the Amazon.co.uk marketplace. I would like to get the book onto kindle and perhaps republish it as a paperback. I don’t have an electronic copy of the book and I don’t have a scanner, so I decided to use the opportunity to totally rewrite the book. I’m copy typing it, but editing it at the same time. I’ve learnt a lot about editing over the past 10 years and although ‘Coincidences’ is well written, it could, in my opinion, use some editing to make the prose flow more easily; sentence structure needs working on. I’m a bit of a perfectionist and would like to rework the book before I republish it so I can feel that it’s the best that it can be. I’m not going to change the story, but there may be a few extra twists or additional scenes added that don’t appear in the original. That way, it would be interesting for people to read the original and then read the new version to see how my writing has changed over the years. We all develop as writers, and when I wrote ‘Coincidences’ it was my first full length work. Many people have read it and enjoyed it, so I don’t want to change the story, I just want to fine-tune it. The problem with knowing too much about editing is that it can spoil your enjoyment of a story. Whereas I read ‘Coincidences’ ten years ago and was very happy with it, I now read it and think ‘That could be improved’.

I’m also working on proof-reading my fourth novel which is a fantasy/paranormal tale. The book will then have to go out to someone else for proof-reading before I can publish it. I’m hoping to publish that by the end of this year.

I’m looking forward to both!

Time to discuss that giveaway I mentioned earlier. I have two PDF copies of Fusion to give to two lucky winners. I know you’re expecting rules. Contests always have rules. So here we go:

1. You can live anywhere in the world.
2. You can only enter once.
3. You need to enter before midnight EST on Monday, February 28.

That’s it! To enter, just leave a comment here along with a valid email address. Please keep an eye on your spam folder. I’ll announce the winners here and send the PDF to the email address provided within the entry.

Fusion will soon be available on Amazon. For now, you can find it on Lulu: http://stores.lulu.com/MariaSavva

You can learn more about Maria and her work on her website: www.MariaSavva.com

And here’s a look at all of Maria’s books on Amazon, in both print and Kindle format:

Don’t forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a PDF copy of Fusion!

Thanks for reading.

For today’s Sample Sunday, I’m sharing the first chapter of No Justice: A Michael Sykora Novel. But, wait, there’s more! After all, this is giveaway month here on A Word Please. I’ve dug through my treasure chest (which is really just a cardboard box full of assorted merchandise) and come up with an ‘I Love Michael Sykora’ t-shirt. It is, I think, quite cool! Are you a Sykora fan? Know someone who is? You could win this shirt! If you’re not a fan, you could always wear it to bed, when the lights are off and no one is looking.

Okay, more on the contest soon. First, here is an excerpt from chapter 1 of No Justice: A Michael Sykora Novel

Let him laugh. One more hour and he’d be dead.

Michael Sykora put the binoculars down on the empty passenger seat. The man he’d soon be killing went by the name Alan Nystrom, an alias, of which he had three others. His real name, the one he hadn’t used in over 20 years, was Bruce Renwick.

More laughter. Good to know that Renwick was enjoying his last day. Soaking up the sun on the golf course, making jokes with his buddies. Would Renwick, if given the choice, pick golf as his last hurrah? Doubtful, though the choices people made often baffled him.

Michael was being paid $40,000 to dispose of Bruce Renwick. Twenty of that had already been deposited into his offshore account. The other half would be received upon completion. His price had been a little higher for this job since the client had chosen the method of death. An indulgence Michael had allowed this time. Though after what he’d found while rummaging through Renwick’s home last night, Michael would gladly take this trash out for free.

Calling Renwick an animal would be a grave insult to the non-human world. Renwick was a pedophile. A predator of the lowest sort. The last child he’d raped, an 11-year-old boy, had hung himself afterward because the shame and trauma had been unbearable. That boy had not been Renwick’s first victim. He would, however, be the last.

The next day Michael had been contacted. The boy’s father did not want Renwick given the chance to walk away. Not ever. He had to be wiped off the earth before the police finished their investigation. That call had come five days ago. Michael had inside information that a warrant would be issued for Renwick’s arrest tomorrow morning.
Renwick would be dead this afternoon.

Bruce Renwick, as Alan Nystrom, strode confidently toward the clubhouse. The man had an odd stoop, like he was training to be the hunchback in a play or something. His hair was that shade of brown that women called mousy and his eyes were covered by small round glasses reminiscent of John Lennon. He wore tan shorts and one of those polo shirts in blue. To all the world he appeared as a harmless geek.

The locked metal storage unit in his garage had told a different story. Michael had checked. He liked to be sure before he killed. Death wasn’t something he could take back. The pictures had confirmed more than he’d needed to know. Renwick would not be a mistake.

Michael set his binoculars on the seat beside him and did his best to stretch in the cramped car. He’d been sitting in this parking space for 11 minutes, having moved once Renwick had finished the 18th hole. Now he had a perfect view of the clubhouse, as well as Renwick’s silver Saab.

The clock continued to tick on Renwick’s life.

Eighteen more minutes passed. Then Bruce Renwick, golf bag slung over his shoulder, emerged from the clubhouse. One of his golf buddies walked beside him. They headed toward the parking lot.

The other man, a 40-something balding executive type, parted company with Renwick as they moved toward their respective cars. Michael turned the key in his ignition. He pushed the gear into reverse, kept his foot on the brake.

The executive climbed into his car. A bright yellow Volkswagen. He tooted once, then pulled out. Renwick lifted his hand in a wave as he kept walking. Fortunately for Michael’s purpose, Renwick liked to park his Saab in the back of the lot, far from everyone. He was also one of those guys who parked diagonally across three spaces at the grocery store so that no one would ding his car when opening his or her door.

Michael glanced around him. The strip mall had been fairly busy this morning. Right now, however, he was alone. No one had parked close to him. No one was outside. The timing couldn’t have been better. He tucked the binoculars under his seat. He would no longer need them.

His heart sped up. Just a slight increase but enough for him to notice. His breathing remained even. He watched.

Bruce Renwick held his key chain. He pressed the button on his remote to unlock his doors. The alarm chirped off. Then the trunk popped open. He slid the golf clubs off his shoulder and placed the bag inside the trunk. Then he pushed the trunk lid closed.

Back around to the driver’s side. Renwick reached out, gripped the door handle and pulled. A grimace, probably from the heat inside the car. He smoothed his hair back, adjusted his glasses, then slid inside.

Michael eased his foot from the brake. Renwick yanked his door closed. A moment passed. The engine caught. Then a deafening blast that shook the pavement. The vibration reverberated through Michael’s hands as he gripped the steering wheel. Thick smoke, orange flames. Bits of metal rained down around the blaze that had once been Renwick and his car.

Screams from the golf course. Michael calmly backed out of his parking slot. No one looked his way. The billows of smoke were far more entertaining.

Once out on the main street, Michael took his cell phone from his pocket. Not his usual phone but the disposable one with the prepaid card. The boy’s father had one just like it. Michael dialed his number. When the father picked up, Michael said, “It’s done.”

The squeal of young children playing sifted into the silence through the connection. The father had taken his advice, making sure he had a solid alibi. Yesterday he and his wife had driven up to Georgia to stay with family. They had told police that they needed to get away from their house and the memories. No one could blame them. Their son had hung himself in their garage.

Now the father said, “Good. Thank you.” A pause, then, “How did it go?”

His voice had that gravelly quality that came from too many cigarettes and sleepless nights. There was also something sadly robotic in the way he pronounced his words. Michael had killed the monster but he could never bring the child back. The man and his wife would never be okay.

Michael said, “You don’t want details. It’s better that way.”

The client hadn’t been after the usual vengeance of extreme pain and suffering. He’d wanted Renwick’s body ripped apart. Shredded, was how the client had put it. He’d wanted to be sure there was nothing left for Renwick’s family to mourn over.

Michael would have liked to give the man the details. He deserved that much. But he’d explained from the start, knowing too many details wasn’t a smart idea. The cops would inevitably question him. After all, Renwick had raped his son. Caused his suicide. Therefore, the less detail he was sure of, the easier it would be to lie.

“Right,” the father said. He cleared his throat, probably wiped away tears. Then, “The balance will be taken care of today.”

From the client’s offshore account to Michael’s. No paper trail for the police to trace. “Thank you,” Michael said.

Sirens wailed in the distance. Michael said, “I’m sorry. I hope you find peace.” Then he flipped the phone shut and rode the rest of the way in silence.

You can find No Justice in both print and Kindle format on Amazon:

You can also find it in print and ebook format in a variety of other places, including all ebook formats on Smashwords. As a thank you to all my readers, you can now download No Justice on Smashwords for just 99 cents, using the coupon code NT64H. The code is good until March 1.

Now, about that t-shirt. You have a choice between medium or large only. Here are those pesky contest rules:

You must live in the U.S. or Canada
You must enter before midnight EST on Friday, February 25
You must have a secret crush on Michael Sykora
You must love ice cream

Yes, I know, that’s not fair to those who are lactose intolerant. Seriously, only the first two rules stand. The other two, well, I’m probably talking about myself there.

To enter, leave a comment, a rant, an opinion, a passing thought on why Starbucks insists on making us speak Italian, or a love letter to Michael Sykora. Include a valid email address and keep an eye on your spam folder. That’s it. Oh, and you can click your heels 3 times if you think it’ll help.

Thanks for reading!

Good luck!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Today it’s all about giveaways. I’ve got lots of prizes to offer you. Books, ebooks and assorted other stuff! Ready?

First up, we have print books with added extras up for grabs:

My novels:

The Cutting Edge, along with a notebook and pen

and

Hit List along with a new hat

And we have the print novel Breathing into Stone by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick

Then we have a bunch of ebooks, listed here by author and the title(s) he/she is offering:

Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick: 1 ebook copy each of Breathing into Stone, Shared, and Harmony’s Passing

Jaleta Clegg: 1 ebook copy of Nexus Point

Jason McIntyre: 1 ebook copy of THALO BLUE

Stacy Juba: 2 ebook copies each of: Twenty-Five Years Ago Today and Sink or Swim

Sylvia Massara: 1 ebook copy of her brand new release Like Casablanca

Susan Helene Gottfried: 1 ebook copy each of ShapeShifter : The Demo Tapes — Year 1, ShapeShifter : The Demo Tapes — Year 2, and Trevor’s Song

Sharon E. Cathcart: 1 ebook copy of You Had To Be There

Darcia Helle: 1 ebook copy each of The Cutting Edge, No Justice (A Michael Sykora Novel), Beyond Salvation (A Michael Sykora Novel), Miami Snow, Hit List, and Enemies and Playmates

Here’s a look at all the books on Amazon:

There you have it – 24 separate prizes for 24 winners! Now, as much as I dislike rules, a few need to apply here:

You must live in the U.S. or Canada
You must be 16 or older
You must have a passion for indie authors (Okay, this is negotiable, though appreciated.)
You must enter before midnight EST on Monday, February 28

That’s it for the rules. Now all you need to do to enter is leave a comment, along with a valid email address. Please keep an eye on your spam folder to be sure your prize information doesn’t get lost there.

Good luck!

youre dead and i killed you

Happy Sample Sunday! Today I’m going to share something I should have shared weeks ago. The multi-talented Pablo D’Stair put together an anthology of short stories, written by various indie authors. The stories and writing styles are as diverse as they are entertaining. I was honored when Pablo invited me to share a piece of my own work. While I don’t normally write short pieces of fiction, I did have a short – and by that I mean quite short – piece that I’d written not long before. The scene had popped into my mind from nowhere in particular. I thought that, at some point, I might use it as a launching point for a novel. I still might. For now, though, this short piece stands on its own within this anthology.

Have I mentioned that I’m going to give away one print copy of this anthology? No? How could I have forgotten that! This book is called youre dead and i killed you: a conversational anthology of crime, noir, and murder. (The lower case letters and missing apostrophe are intentional.) To win it, you need to live within the U.S. or Canada and be 16 or older. Leave a comment with a valid email address before midnight EST on Friday, February 11. I’ll pick the winner Saturday morning.

Now, back to Sample Sunday. As I said, my piece within this anthology is short. I hope you enjoy.

I’ve never accidentally killed someone. That’s the thought I have as I step around the bed and peer down at him. His eyes are open but I can tell he doesn’t see anything. He’s lying on his back, framed by the edges of the black and crimson rug I’d bought to hide the wine stain on the hardwood floor. The blood leaking from his head gets lost in the crimson, making it hard to tell where the carpet ends and his blood begins.

I ease closer, looking for signs of life. His chest isn’t moving.

I’ve never accidentally killed someone.

I sit on the edge of the bed and look into his unblinking eyes. They’re brown. But saying he has brown eyes is really not telling the story at all. Brown can be dark and rough like old tree bark or light and soft like a new leather jacket. Brown has so many variables. It’s really not a color of its own but more of a category. His eyes are a wilted brown, like they’ve been left in the sun too long. Little dots of green brighten them, making me think of a crisp fall morning, before winter settles in and kills off that last bit of life.

I’ve never accidentally killed someone.

I always loved his eyes. The first time we met, he’d handed me a glass of champagne and said, “Hello. My name is Jake.”
“You have amazing eyes,” I’d said. Just like that. Words spilling from my mouth untethered.

Now Jake’s eyes stare up at the ceiling. The blood has stopped drizzling from that awful gash on the side of his head. His blood is on the nightstand. All over the sharp corner. Dripping off the edge.

I’ve never accidentally killed someone.

I sit for what might be a long time or might be a few seconds. Jakes’ eyes won’t look back at me ever again.

I’ve never accidentally killed someone.

Does it matter, really, if the act is intentional? Killing someone means they are dead, regardless of intent. Dead is dead. Right?

I’ve never accidentally killed someone.

I shake off this mantra I’ve been reciting in my head. Whether I’ve ever accidentally killed someone is of no importance. I killed Jake. And it wasn’t an accident.

The other stories within this anthology are not quite so short. I’m honored to be a part of this anthology. The talent there is spectacular. This book is available on Amazon. And it’s cheap! Take a look:

This one has some stories and authors that you won’t want to miss. In the meantime, don’t forget to leave a comment, along with a valid email address, for your chance to win a print copy of youre dead and i killed you: a conversational anthology of crime, noir, and murder.

Thanks for reading!

Caraliza. The name alone beckoned me. The cover pulled me in and demanded I read it. And, today, you’ll have a chance to win this haunting tale! Have a look:

A seventy-five year old secret waits in a lovely old portrait studio, at the end of a street in New York City’s Lower East Side. It is a secret, that drove to madness, a renowned photographer, ‘Papa’ Menashe Reisman, and left him to waste and die in his own studio, but haunted by every photograph he tries to take.When his great-grand daughter, Shelly, begs to have the old building, for a new renovation, she awakens more than any secret that Papa kept. She also awakens something darker, more evil, just across the street. Across the street, under the stoop, down a foul stair, where Caraliza was kept prisoner for two years; until the horrid events of that summer, in 1919.
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The talented Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick authored this haunting story. He’s a bit shy about looking at the camera but he doesn’t hold back a thing when he writes. Caraliza is just one of his four brilliant books. As part of Giveaway Month, Joel is offering a free ebook copy of Caraliza to one lucky winner! Details to come.

Joel puts up with my questions and agreed to answer a bunch for me. Here’s what he had to say:

What and/or who was your inspiration for Caraliza?

Her name. I had finished my first novel a few weeks earlier, and wondered if a ghost story would be fun to write. I love ghost stories, but didn’t know if I could write something frightening. One night, very late, her name suddenly came to mind. Just rolling it around in my mind seemed to bring her to life. Instantly, she was my ghost, but writing her, realizing her condition – I arrived at the point in the story when she had to die, and cried while I wrote that.

I cried then, too!

I loved the photography angle, with the old cameras. Did you have to do a lot of research on that?

I’m a photography buff, but honestly believe that plate images, and the process to make them, is really magic; I certainly cannot do it. It was very magical 120 years ago. For a time, the public could not believe such things could be real. But when it became popular, as smaller cameras became available to average people, photography exploded. My research was mostly into which types of cameras were being used at the turn of the century, to select one that would fit the story. I wanted an easily used camera, which was still quite beautiful as an item. The Waterbury fit that description nicely.

Do you believe in spirits and hauntings?

I may have to. My family certainly does. They believe this house to be haunted, but I cannot feel it. And, that’s funny, cause I don’t like dark places. This house is secluded and quite dark at night. While others hear and feel strange things, I don’t get to participate. I’ve never had an encounter of mine own. It might be fun.

There were times, while writing this story very late at night, when the house was just a bit too quiet. I would distract myself with music, and lights.

If you could come back and haunt one person, who would it be and why?

I have a list. Honestly. I know someone who is so cruel in life, they deserve to be haunted. I would haunt family, but only in a good way, only to let them know I was still lingering.

You’ve been told by someone who is apparently an idiot that you use too many words. I couldn’t find any that were in the way or had the feel of excess baggage. What do you think of the current trend of major publishers to require cookie cutter books with specific word count requirements?

It is a dead end trend; limiting authors just to satisfy marketing needs. We are seeing the whole industry wobbling – resisting change while they thrash about trying to sell books. I don’t purchase books because of size, why are they all as similar as eggs? I only look to see how many pages there are, because I love long stories. Keep me reading for two weeks in a book…please! What I find humorous, in the last twenty years the number of ‘how to write’ books has multiplied a thousand fold. Not a one of them solved the problems in the industry. So, I say, leave the writers alone. They didn’t make the mess that the Big Six find themselves in. Put all the templates in the trash. That’s what they’ve proven themselves to be.

I’m all for tossing the templates.

Mashed potatoes or French fries?

Mashers, loaded, gooey – with Tabasco sauce in them. Yum! We only do fries in the car.

Tabasco sauce? Seriously? My mouth is on fire just thinking about that!

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

I won’t reveal that. But it’s been a lifelong passion. Gummy bears make a good answer, take that instead. No? Writing then. I set many things aside to write. I’m a bad boy about that.

Now you’ve only made me more curious about that first guilty pleasure!

Rock and roll or country music?

Almost never country, but I do like folk music, which is very individual. I hate current Pop. I loved the British invasion of punk and weird from the 80’s. You didn’t ask all that, did you? Too bad. I’m passionate about blues, Stevie Ray Vaughan…

Music does things to me; I can be very connected to it emotionally. My happy place is inside my headphones.

Headphones = happy place. Yup! For me, too! There’s something magical about crawling inside the music. I am a huge blues fan. Of course, that’s a conversation for another time.

When you write, do you require silence or do you prefer background noise?

Just answered that. I prefer to write with my headphones on. I lose any sense of time when I get to do that.

Getting back to Caraliza – this book is a mix of historical fiction and modern day. That might be a difficult mix for many authors but you pulled it off without a single glitch. What was the hardest part of blending these two worlds?

I’m an admitted amateur at the whole process. Nothing of it was planned or outlined. I just open my mind, close my eyes, and begin to see the world. I just dictate what comes to me visually. Every instant of the book plays for me, and I wander in and out of the settings, between and around the characters. I know what Yousep had in his pocket the first time he saw Caraliza. Admittedly, I might view a few photos of my setting, look into a bit of history of the place. I always turn to maps, to get a sense for where things are, but that is only to spark the visuals, which will come anyway.

Later, as the tale unfolds, the past mingles with the living, and you can hear that within the words. I don’t just tell you a spirit has appeared, I try to make you hear it.

And you did that beautifully.

What is the biggest challenge for you in being an indie author?

Time. Finding time. I wish this had all started for me years ago. I think I’m missing the books I might have created. The second? Finding readers. But, it is only natural I want more of them. We can never have too many readers, can we?

Nope, no such thing as too many readers!

Final words?

I have been terribly proud of one element in the book, which opened up so many wonderful things for me. The language. People cannot know, just looking at the cover, or reading the blurbs – Caraliza doesn’t speak a word of English in the entire text. All of her speech is Dutch, flawless Dutch, and her words are translated for the reader. I have a Dutch penpal, from The Netherlands, and she put so much love into correcting Caraliza’s voice. Her name is Irma van der Staal. That could have been the downfall of the story; to get all the Dutch dialogue wrong, or to just bore the reader with it. But, it becomes the key to the sweetness of the love that Yousep and Caraliza share. It was a barrier, which became a bond. I liked that a lot.

I read what you’d written about that at the back of Caraliza. You and Irma combined to do a beautiful job of showing us Caraliza’s native language. And I loved how her and Yousep’s bond grew, despite their language barrier.
***

Caraliza is one of those characters that will haunt me for a long time to come. Want to learn more about Joel and his work? You can find him on his website at www.BrownBrushBooks.com. You can also find him on his blog – The Tale’s the Thing – where he shows off his mad writing skills and his slightly off-kilter personality.

Here’s a look at Joel’s books on Amazon in both print and Kindle format:

I hope you’ll take the time to check out Joel’s books!

Now, I did promise the chance to win your own ebook copy of Caraliza. So here we go. All you need to do is leave a comment with a valid email adress. You must be 16 or older and you can live anywhere in the world – an igloo in Antarctica or a hut on a Hawaiian Island. Anywhere at all! Enter by midnight EST on Wednesday, February 9. I’ll post the winner’s name here. Be sure to keep an eye on your spam folder, as Joel will be contacting the winner with his/her prize information.

Good luck!

Are you tired of the cold, dreary weather? Ready to go outside and play on a swing set? I know I am! I can’t speed up the onset of spring but I can make the day a little brighter. I’ve decided to make February Giveaway Month! To launch us off, CSN Stores has offered a $25 gift certificate to one lucky winner! CSN Stores has over 200 stores, where you’ll find just about anything you could want. You’ll find that swing set I mentioned. You might also consider looking for a new bookshelf, which could come in handy if you win a book later in the month!

For your chance to win the $25 CSN Stores gift certificate, all you need to do is leave a comment here with your name and a valid email address. You need to live within the U.S. or Canada and be 16 or older to enter. The deadline for entry is Saturday, Februrary 5, at 9 AM EST. I’ll announce the winner that day.

Keep an eye out for more giveaways this month!

Good luck!

If you’ve read my blog before, or hung out on the BestsellerBound message board, you might be familiar with Nestor Maronski. We’ve had a lot of fun with Nestor, the miserable book critic whose mission is to destroy all indie authors. He and some of his victims have made appearances on various blogs, giving interviews about Nestor and his mysterious disappearance. All this fun stems from a book written by today’s guests – Maria Savva and Jason McIntyre. These two authors “met” on BestsellerBound. An idea tossed out within a thread evolved and a book was written – all within posts on this same thread! The book is titled Cutting The Fat and Maria and Jason are here to tell us about it.

But there’s more! I’m giving away a ‘Nestor Must Die’ t-shirt to one lucky winner. Plus, Maria and Jason have generously offered to give away 25 PDF copies of Cutting The Fat! Before we get to those annoying but necessary contest rules, let’s take a look at the book:

Nestor Maronski is the world’s most notorious book reviewer, meticulously crafting his scathing critiques every week for the Daily Post. The massive Maronski fortune allows vile-tempered ol’ Nessie to become a puppetmaster in countless other arenas, all of which are dedicated to his passion for desecrating the careers of independent authors everywhere. Now a myriad band of such wronged writers has glommed upon one scary idea: kill Nestor Maronski… but after he’s made to suffer.

That cover, by the way, was designed by our brilliant Jason McIntyre.

Now let’s talk to Maria and Jason about their book and the writing process:

Jason, you wrote the first scene for Cutting The Fat. Can you tell us what the inspiration was?

The idea struck me as my wife and I took a very rare evening away from home and went to our favourite local restaurant which has a bar at one dark end, just as it is described in the opening bits of ‘Cutting The Fat’. There was a man seated there, heavy set, wearing a suit and a tie that matched the red liquor in his snifter. He was alone, and very demanding of the barkeep, kept wanting more napkins or something. In between his barks at the young bartender, this balding man was studiously typing at a net book as if he was instead at a table in a Starbucks, writing poetry or a love letter. But then I laughed as I do when I self-edit a real-time situation. I instead started thinking that he looked like he was composing some kind of bad news. Not a love letter, but perhaps a Dear John letter. I had read the suggestion on Bestsellerbound earlier in the day (or the day before, I can’t remember which) about co-writing a story and it immediately occurred to me that this man’s name was Nestor Maronski and he worked in the media, his primary job being a well-read and powerful book reviewer. Later, I wrote what I saw in my head, laughing over his visage and how he delighted in his wicked craft at the bar on that computer. After I pared it down to the essentials, I posted it to the bestsellerbound website. In what felt like moments, we were off to the races with the start of our story.

Maria, you almost immediately took up the challenge and wrote the next scene. What drew you in so quickly?

I just loved the idea about writing a novel featuring an evil reviewer—which of course was your idea, Darcia, so you can take the credit for that! I felt inspired by the subject matter, because as an indie author, I have come across many Nestors in my time—and we all know someone like Nestor, don’t we?

When I read Jason’s first chapter, I found it very amusing and loved the way he had described Nestor, he just seemed like the perfect character that a writer could have a bit of fun with. If I’m honest, I didn’t think I’d be able to write a second chapter as good as Jason’s first, it was a brilliant start; in just that first chapter, Jason had created the nasty excuse for a human being—the Nestor Maronski we now know and love. Jason made it easy for me to use the essense of Nestor’s personality from that first chapter and expand on it. When I wrote that second chapter, of course, I had no idea that it would be just me and Jason writing this story; I thought lots of Bestsellerbound authors would step in and add a chapter or two, so I didn’t really feel that much pressure to write anything earth-shattering at that stage, it was just a bit of fun.

Jason, you and Maria quickly found a rhythm together. Was that surprising to you?

It still surprises me and, in fact, I’m looking for another writing partner but no one will have me! I also worry that it won’t be as easy as it was with Maria. How could it possibly be?

Maria, when did you realize that you and Jason were in the midst of writing a brilliant book?

Quite near the beginning, when Jason had written the first chapter and I’d followed with mine, when I realised that no one else was going to add any other chapters and that everyone was waiting for Jason to continue, I had a feeling that maybe people were seeing something great in the story. To be honest, I was so busy writing it and trying to focus on each new chapter, that I didn’t really have time to stop and think about whether it was any good. Each chapter I wrote came with a great deal of anxiety about whether I would be able to think of anything to add. None of it was planned. I would just read Jason’s chapter and type up the next one direct onto BestsellerBound, no editing, nothing. All completely improvised. And I didn’t even know Jason, had never even exchanged an email with him when we started writing the story, and we didn’t exchange any emails about the book until we were right at the end and wondering how to finish it.

Whenever I read Jason’s chapters I was always blown away at how he’d managed to write so many twists into the story, he really kept me on my toes. On reading his chapters, I was spurred on to try to write the best chapter I could. I also tried to make sure that what I was writing fitted in with his style and what he wrote; it’s clear from reading the book that we both have very different ways of approaching a story—yet somehow our chapters fitted together perfectly. It was encouraging to have some cheerleaders on the forum (you and Joel in particular). Knowing we had an audience and people were actually liking the story did get me thinking that something special was going on, but it wasn’t until near the end when Joel was asking for a ‘Nestor Must Die’ t-shirt, that I started to realise that we’d caught the imagination of so many of the members at Bestsellerbound.

Jason, what was the most enjoyable part of writing with Maria?

The anticipation! After the first few back and forth turns, I started to expect the best from her and I knew I would be surprised and challenged by the threads she left dangling for me to either sew up or completely rip out. I was right about this.

Maria, what was the most enjoyable part of writing with Jason?

Just the whole experience of writing with someone else, which was completely new to me, was surprisingly enjoyable. Before I co-wrote Cutting The Fat, I’d always thought of writing as being a solitary thing, but it taught me that it’s a whole lot of fun when you bounce off another writer and try to keep up with them and come up with something that inspires them. It was fun reading his chapters and trying to write a chapter that followed on, linked in, added something to one of the characters he’d created etc., etc. I was always looking forward to finding out what he’d come up with. His chapters were very entertaining. I feel honoured to have been able to write with such a talented author.

Jason, what was the most difficult part of writing with Maria?

The timeline. We were really enjoying ourselves so we were writing a 1500 or 2000 word piece each per day at the height of it. That’s a lot for most writers, particularly given that I was marketing and doing interviews and writing my own material at the same time, added to all the other responsibilities of life.
It really helped me get down to it and produce my end (I suppose my ego wouldn’t let it hit the floor!) but the irony is that I think it also made my writing better than if I had more time to hem and haw about the direction of the story. There’s much to be said for following your writing instinct and this kind of experience proves it.

Maria, what was the most difficult part of writing with Jason?

Just the fact that he seemed to keep producing the chapters very quickly. Sometimes I’d wish that he would just take a day off or something, because I’d write a chapter and then breathe a sigh of relief that I’d be able to relax a bit until the next chapter (what with the time difference between the UK and Canada) but then I’d log on to BestsellerBound a few hours later to find he’d already written another chapter! So the pace was very quick. Having said that, he might think the same about me, because I’m the sort of person who will try to reply to messages, emails etc. straight away rather than leaving them until later, and I kind of took that attitude with the writing of Cutting The Fat; whenever I saw that Jason had written a new chapter I’d always try to respond straight away. So, maybe I’m the one to blame for not having any rest for a couple of weeks while we wrote the story! But it all worked out for the best in the end!

Jason, who was your favorite character and why?

Richard Jameson became my fave because he seemed like the moral centre of the story. He was the second character introduced and I felt a kinship with him because I made him a husband and father just struggling to get by and get his book read. He’s understandably devastated by what Maronski does to his fresh writing career but he’s still reluctant to go down the path so many of the others do so readily.

It was particularly hard when Maria figured this out and kept drawing him back into harm’s way!

Maria, your favorite character and why?

I would have to say Nestor, just because I’ve had so much fun pretending to be him on Facebook and Twitter recently. But I also really like Shrieker, aka Russell Flemming, because he’s just a complete nutter.

Jason, did you each write from specific characters points of view? Or did you share your characters?

Both of us wrote all the characters when we needed to because we didn’t communicate with one another, other than through each installment we wrote. We took ownership of the story when it was our turn, not at the expense of the other writer, but because we knew certain doors had been opened and they either needed to be walked through or closed. Avoiding certain characters would have made this impossible without getting together to plan it out in a more structured way. I think the lack of such a plan or agreement made each twist and development more exciting for us and the readers.

Maria, was there ever a time when Jason wrote a scene that stumped you or that you wish he?d done differently?

I remember thinking that it would be hard to try to get Richard Jameson and Flemming out of the hospital after Isabelle caught them in Nestor’s room at the end of one of Jason’s chapters. I hadn’t expected that. But I managed to find a way for them to worm their way out of it. Also, when Richard Jameson was getting away with his wife after he’d decided to quit topic 777, I personally didn’t want him to get away because I think I had more planned for him. I brought him back later (the police caught him on the highway). On the whole, it was always a challenge when Jason would write something unexpected at the end of a scene, because then I would have to try to look at things differently and work out the story to fit what I thought might be his plan (even though I had no idea which way he wanted to take the story!), or try to twist the story back around to what I wanted. It was a lot of fun.

Jason, what do you think Nestor would say about his newfound infamy?

He’d hate it. First, because he hates everything, and second, because this infamy has more to do with his faults than with his accomplishments. Even though, you and I could stand in a room and laugh together, exclaiming, “What accomplishments?”

I do occasionally worry that I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and Nestor Maronski incarnate will be standing over me with a length of rope and a wicked grin, but other than that I think it’s stellar that the writing community has embraced his snarky, foolish presence. I think that presence is a facet of me, by the way, and not Maria.

Maria, we’re giving away a ‘Nestor Must Die’ t-shirt today. I understand that one of your Nestor groupies came up with the design. Can you tell us who the designer is and how that came about?

Initially, Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick (one of the cheerleaders), shouted out that he wanted a ‘Nestor Must Die’ t-shirt. And, then I made a comment that maybe we should give a t-shirt away in a competition, and I think you said something about knowing where we could get them printed. Eventually, Jaleta Clegg (who, along with Lainey Bancroft, also helped out with the editing of Cutting the Fat) volunteered to design the t-shirt. She has experience of graphic design. When she posted her fabulous design on the forum, we were all very pleased with it.

Anything either of you would like to add?

Maria: Yes, it would be great if all your blog followers would follow Nestor Maronski on Facebook and @NestorMaronski on Twitter. If you tweet something at him, he’ll respond in a very evil way.

Cutting The Fat has just been published on Amazon’s Kindle store! Have a look:

There is no print version – yet. Want one? Tell Maria and Jason!

You can learn more about this book and others by these two authors on their websites:

Maria Savva: www.MariaSavva.com
Jason McIntyre: www.TheFarthestReaches.com

Okay, now about that giveaway. The first prize winner will receive a ‘Nestor Must Die’ t-shirt (large only) and a PDF of Cutting The Fat. 24 more lucky winners will receive the PDF! I don’t want to restrict the winners to just the U.S. and Canada, particularly since Maria happens to live in the U.K. That wouldn’t be very nice of me, would it? So this contest is open to everyone 16 and older, everywhere on earth! Just leave a comment with a valid email address before midnight EST on Friday, February 4. I’ll post the winners here the following day. Please keep an eye on your spam folders. If you win, you don’t want your PDF to get sucked up by one of those dreaded spam filters!

Cutting The Fat is truly a great read. Don’t miss out on your free copy! And the t-shirt is quite cool. Go ahead, leave a comment. I know you want to.

Thanks for reading!

As promised, author Craig Lancaster joins me today. Yesterday, I talked about his new novel, The Summer Son. Craig has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I’m already waiting impatiently for his next book!

I’ll stop my usual rambling and step aside. Here’s Craig’s piece:

WHERE FACT MEETS FICTION
By Craig Lancaster

Literary fiction brims with characters and settings that draw heavily upon – if not outright reflect – real-life models. Think of the nurse Catherine Barkley in Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms; she was built from Agnes von Kurowsky, a nurse Hemingway fell in love with while in Italy during World War I. F. Scott Fitzgerald (Jay Gatsby), Philip Roth (Nathan Zuckerman), Pat Conroy (Ben Meechum) and hundreds more – all of these writers use fictional characters imbued with their own experience as vehicles to explore the thoughts and societal mores of their time and place.

So rather than be coy about the two main characters in my new novel The Summer Son – Mitch Quillen and his estranged father, Jim – I’ll instead cop to the influences, and to the fictional extrapolations:

• Like Jim, my father was an exploratory well digger who spent his working days as an itinerant in the American West.
• Like Mitch, I was 3 when my parents divorced, and I went through much of my childhood separated from my father. Throughout my youth, I spent summers with him wherever he happened to be working at the time.
• Like Jim, my father grew up abused.
• Like Mitch, I spent the summer of 1979 in Milford, Utah. I was 9 years old; in the book, Mitch is 11.

For the most part, however, that’s where the similarities end. When I have an idea for a story, it’s often ignited by some real-world event – a memory, a news item, an anecdote I hear. I’m thankful for the initial spark, but really, that’s all it is. The meat on the bones comes in the days and weeks that follow, as I twist the idea around in my head and play “what-if” games: What if I change the setting or the circumstance? What if I put this character in extreme duress? What if the unthinkable happened? As those notions build, the idea takes on a critical mass that compels me to begin writing. That’s how I know I’m on to something. And by the time the “what ifs” are played out, my fictional idea often bears scant resemblance to the very real piece of inspiration that set it afire.

In writing “The Summer Son,” I was driven by two big “what ifs”:

What if a father and son had been separated for nearly 30 years by the fallout from a violent summer?

And what if one of them didn’t know the whole truth?

The novel begins this way:

The first call came on a Tuesday night. I yelled at Cindy from the garage to pick up. On the fourth ring, I dropped the armful of newspapers I was packing into the recycling bin and ran to the extension in the kitchen.

He was gone.

I hope you’ll give The Summer Son a whirl and see where the story – mostly but not entirely fictional – goes from there.

The Summer Son, which will be released tomorrow (January 25) by AmazonEncore, is Craig Lancaster’s second novel. His first, 600 Hours of Edward was a 2009 Montana Honor Book and the 2010 High Plains Book Award winner for best first book. His website is CraigLancaster.net.

Leave a comment below for a chance to win a signed copy of The Summer Son.

Thanks for reading!

My first experience with author Craig Lancaster was when I saw his novel 600 Hours of Edward listed as a giveaway on the Goodreads website. I didn’t win the giveaway but I did eventually get the book. One page in and I couldn’t put it down!

Shortly after finishing that book, I contacted Craig about an interview. He graciously agreed. I quickly learned that Craig Lancaster is a humble, truly nice guy. And I already knew that he was a great writer! You can read that interview and learn a bit about 600 Hours of Edward here: http://quietfurybooks.com/blog/2010/05/1155/

When I learned that Craig was coming out with a new book, I wanted to be first in line to read it! I got that wish. (Proves that wishes do come true!) Tomorrow, Craig will be joining me here to talk about ‘Where Fact Meets Fiction’. He’ll also be giving away a copy of his new book and, trust me, you will want to read it! So don’t forget to stop by tomorrow.

Today, I’d like to share my thoughts about his new novel The Summer Son, which will be released tomorrow, Tuesday, January 25. I know of a handful of authors who have the ability to shatter me with their words. Craig is one of them.

Here is the blurb for The Summer Son:

He owed a lot of people, but I was the only one left to collect. I told myself that I didn’t care about him, only about what he owed me, whatever that was.

I even tried to believe it.

When Mitch Quillen’s life begins to unravel, he fears there is no escape. His marriage and his career are both failing, and his relationship with his father has been a disaster for decades. Approaching forty, Mitch doesn’t want to become a middle-aged statistic. When his estranged father, Jim, suddenly calls, Mitch’s wife urges him to respond. Ready for a change, Mitch heads to Montana and a showdown that will alter the course of his life. Amid a backdrop of rugged peaks and valleys, the story unfolds: a violent episode that triggered the rift, thirty years of miscommunication, and the possibility of misplaced blame. In Craig Lancaster’s powerful novel, The Summer Son, readers are invited into a family where conflict and secrets prevail, and where hope for healing and redemption is possible.
***

This is a story about a man desperate to come to terms with the troubled relationship he has always had with his father. It’s a story of understanding, deceit, secrets, trust and, ultimately, redemption. You’ll be sucked in, held there, not allowed to breathe. You’ll forget you’re reading and live the story. Craig Lancaster has that gift.

Here are Craig’s books on Amazon. Check them out. You won’t be disappointed.

Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow to meet Craig and get the chance to win his new book!

Books, books, and more books!

We had an amazing group of authors participating in the first of what I hope will be an annual event. Hundreds of print and ebooks were offered and nearly 1,000 people entered! The event is over and the winners have been picked. Are you one of them?

If you haven’t been contacted, don’t despair. I have not finished notifying all the winners and authors. It’s a daunting process but it’s also been fun! I hope to have everyone notified by mid day tomorrow.

The winners’ list-in-progress can be found on the page where the entry form used to be: www.QuietFuryBooks.com/evententryform.html

The event pages listed all the books will also remain for a couple of weeks. You can do a little browsing and perhaps some book shopping, if the mood strikes!

www.QuietFuryBooks.com/holidayevent.html

Thank you to all the indie authors for participating and making this event such a huge success! And thank you to all who took an interest in our books and entered our contest!

Congratulations to all the winners!

Happy New Year!