Linda Acaster - Reading a Writer's Mind

It is our pleasure to have Linda Acaster with us today to share her book "Reading a Writer's Mind: Exploring Short Fiction - First Thought to Finished Story."

Where do you currently live?
Yorkshire, northern England, part of the United Kingdom (of her ma’am, Queen Elizabeth II).

Tell us a little bit about your life.
I live in a house, drive a car, shop at the local supermarket, complain about Government taxes. It’s as boring as most people’s; that’s why I write fiction.

When did you first start writing?
At school. I was hopeless at music, hopeless at maths, hopeless at sport, but found I enjoyed composition in English. My teachers took an interest in my stories, too. Nothing beats encouragement!

What was your very first story about?
A boy and girl going through a wood and being hunted by wolves. I was about eleven and it was the first I wrote for myself. It ran to fill an exercise book. Don’t ask where it came from, I have no idea. It certainly wasn’t any life experience – but that, I think was the whole point. It has been the point in my writing ever since.

Have you written anything that you were too afraid to let anyone read?
No matter how much I’ve had published my heart always beats fast when it is shared for a response. But yes, there is one novel that I stopped at p80, despite it being well outlined. It was so dark that I decided that I didn’t want to go there, never mind have anyone else go there.

Did you experience anything you’ve written yourself?
Not in its entirety, though I mine parallel emotions. The closest “this happened to me” was a near-death experience that triggered a novel idea while I was still experiencing it – how bizarre is that? It still has to be written further than the opening.

Who are several of your greatest literary inspirations?
Oddly enough, I don’t think I have any. I’ve liked different writers in different genres through my life, but if I were to re-read those books now I think I’d go… meh. They were right when I needed them and I certainly learned from their techniques.

What kind of education have you received, and how has that affected your writing?
I have no degree or higher educational certificates. I left school at 16 to go to work – oh that life was that simple for the current generation – but I’ve never stopped learning about what catches my interest. I think this is a must for writers, or anyone. Going with what you have been dealt can be seriously limiting.

How much research time customarily goes into your projects?
Depends on the project. I’m currently on the second of a trilogy of supernatural thrillers set in university cities in the north of England. The first, Torc of Moonlight, was set in my home city of Hull and I set it up so that readers can use the novel as a route-map round the city. What can I say? I like to make things difficult for myself. Having marked this structure I have to follow it through with the next book which is based in York about an hour from where I live. Although it is a contemporary novel, a main thread deals with its Celtic and Roman origins as a fortress and colonia. So apart from internet research which is on-going, I have enough books and maps about the city to rewall the boundary to the front of my house, enough photos to fill a hard drive, have been on guided walks, attended lectures, visited museums, talked to people with the knowledge I’m after, and generally soaked up the atmosphere of the mediaeval city centre so it becomes a character in its own right. Doing this sort of thing opens up unexpected plot strands so I would never skimp it, but it’s not something that can be done over a couple of wet Sunday afternoons.

Who is your favorite literary character?
Shakespeare’s Falstaff – because he’s so flawed yet so rounded.

Who is your favorite character of your own creation?
This is a movable feast, depending on what I’m working on, but it is never the main character, always a subsidiary which takes on a momentum of its own. In my Mediaeval Hostage of the Heart it was a reeking Welsh wise-woman with penchant for natural poisons, and readers have mentioned her when they’ve contacted me. In Torc of Moonlight it was Murray, the main character’s rugby-playing mate and sounding board.

Tell us about your featured book.
“Reading A Writer’s Mind: Exploring Short Fiction - First Thought to Finished Story” does as its title states. It shows the detailed thinking behind the writing of ten of my short stories across a range of genres using different methods of delivery. I’ve had over 70 print published and these were chosen specifically as the examples. The Horror story comes with a warning; it’s not for the faint-hearted.

Why did you write that?
In a separate life I critique genre fiction for the Literary Consultancy in London. 95% of beginner writers make the same mistakes, the mistakes I made when I first started. Having an aspect pointed out as working or not within the context of a story is neither use nor ornament unless there is the explanation as to why. In the book I had space to explain why I made the decisions I did.

Is there anything special you would like your potential readers to know?
It’s going to be the first of a series of what-to-consider when writing fiction. The next will be about handling character, the centre around which all other elements revolve.

What activity or hobby, besides writing, do you find most enjoyable?
Reading – obvious, really.

What was your favorite childhood toy?
A red fire engine.

If you lost the ability to see every color but one, which one would it be?
Green – the tones are a kaleidoscope in themselves – and green is relaxing.

How do you treat people you’re not fond of?
As little as possible.

What is hiding in your closet as we speak?
You want to look? Go ahead, I’ll call the ambulance now for what falls on you.

What do you see as your greatest achievement?
Having what passes for a non-dysfunctional family.

What, to you, is absolutely wrong?
Stealing. I’ve worked hard for what I have. I expect others to do the same

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Show, don’t Tell – explained by a writer during a lecture many years ago. It’s the advice I always pass on.

You’ve decided to buy an exotic pet, what do you go for?
I’ve got one. I wear his ring. He takes a lot of looking after. Either that or I’m bad at training.

What do you classify as an “Adventure?”
Life. I think this goes with the in-built writer aspect of my psyche. Even a walk to the local shops can start a “Why if…” train of thought in motion.

If you could learn one new thing instantly, what would it be?
Photoshop!

Finish this sentence. “I sometimes find it hard to…focus.”
You know the saying, so much to do, so little time. I’m not a fast writer and fresh ideas queue, screaming to be heard. I need to write them down in case they drift off because they think I’m ignoring them and they can be seductive.

Our thanks to Linda for her time and engaging responses. Her book can be found just below, and when you give it a look, do check out her fiction as well.

Heather Ross - Highway 90

We are honored to have Heather Ross with us today to talk about her book Highway 90.

Where do you currently live?
Los Angeles. Right next to the airport so I can envy all of the people going someplace else.

Tell us a little bit about your life.
I'm obsessive compulsive about certain things during certain times of the month. Weird, I know. I'm a germaphobe when not in my own home, which means I don't mind eating something that hit the floor unless, of course, it's yoghurt or honey. I think I have adult ADHD, but not sure since my four-year-old keeps me hustling throughout the day. I home school my daughter, but won't list teacher on my resume, ever! (read what you will into that statement)

When did you first start writing?
Can't exactly put my finger on it partly because I'm old. I do remember a high school poetry project for my English class, which I took pretty seriously. I wasn't sure any of my poems were worthy until my brother read one I wrote about him and got teary eyed. Later I started keeping journals, which I'm glad I still have, you know, for reference and such.

What was your very first story about?
Oh geez, don't remember. Probably something about a dog, candy and roller skates.

Have you written anything that you were too afraid to let anyone read?
Yes. Still haven't let anyone read them and the outlook is grim.

Did you experience anything you've written yourself?
Yes. I'm in the details of my stories. Sometimes I write about things I WISH would happen to me.

Who are several of your greatest literary inspirations?
Robert Frost, Lois Lowry, Nora Roberts to name a few. All for different reasons. I like how writers are so varied in their craft. If they can make me feel something I envy them.

What kind of education have you received, and how has that affected your writing?
Well after graduating private high school I jumped around between three different community colleges before going on to university. I studied journalism for years at the CC's writing for the newspapers and magazines at each school. I liked it, but I was too...descriptive with my words so they all got butchered to the point it wasn't even my writing. I studied Public Relations at the university ('cuz I wanted to eat after I graduated), which I found interesting, however, boring. Come to find out, the degree isn't necessary to work in the field of PR and, for me, it was like the scarlet letter. Oh, to answer your question, I always felt pigeonholed with my writing, which is why I left it to pursue fiction writing.

How much research time customarily goes into your projects?
As much time as it takes to have the story makes sense on some level. Honestly, I'm not sure.

Who is your favorite literary character?
Winnie The Pooh. Does he even count? I just like how he's always so, shall we say, positive?

(Editor's Note: Winnie the Pooh always counts.)

Who is your favorite character of your own creation?
Probably Brooke from Highway 90.

If you were ever to write an autobiography, what would its title be?
"What The Hell Happened Here?"

Tell us about your featured book.
Highway 90 is a young adult novelette. It follows the MC through her thoughts and experiences, some good, others she'd like to forget. She's tired of life in a small town, but more than that, she's tired of the monotony, the cycle of "just surviving" and the lack of direction and meaning in her own life. After visiting a night club in Mexico with her best friend she's faced with a decision that will change her life, a change she's been seeking, but maybe didn't know it.

Why did you write that?
Memories of certain things in my life, places I've been, people I knew, came to my mind one night, so I just started typing. It helped to have friends around that I felt a real connection to while writing. One I consider my "muse" was particularly inspirational without knowing it. I don't believe the story would have been written if I were alone with my thoughts.

Is there anything special you would like your potential readers to know?
It's short and there are things you may not see coming. I've been told it's more for the female crowd too. (Probably just killed some sales with that tidbit.)

What's a negative trait about other people that you most notice, or that
bothers you the most?
People who talk incessantly, about themselves.

Do you ever notice it in yourself?
Now that you mention it...yeah I guess I do. That would explain all the "not everything's about you" comments I get.

If you were forced to give something you adore up for the rest of your
life, what would it be?
Raw honey. Sounds shallow, but I'm addicted.

Do you own any kind of art collection?
Not sure what comprises a collection, but I have five Lladro's (still in their boxes because that's how paranoid I am).

What is the hardest thing about growing up?
Taking it slow, living in the moment, NOT wishing I was a grown up every day. Did you mean one thing?

Was it worth it?
Growing up? Yes and no.

What is the biggest lie you've ever heard?
"Trust me, it won't hurt."

What is something you absolutely must have in your kitchen?
My Omega 8006 juicer.

What is pain to you?
God telling me I'm alive, appreciate it.

What is your dream house?
A huge warehouse with lots of glass block, a pool, skylights that open and a loft.

Where would you want this house located in our wide world?
On a mountain high above the sea with lots of trees.

You've been forced under various circumstances to choose a personal motto. What is it?
"Press On Regardless."

You're pitching a television pilot to a network. Describe it.
A curious monkey, big red dog and a bunch of puppets come together to open a day care. What? Too far fetched?

Have you ever received a present you really hated? If so, what was it?
Yes. A candle holder. One, single, solitary candle holder painted bright colors, lacking a mate and candles. (I know what you're thinking and no, it wasn't from one of my kids.)

What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten? Would you have it again?
Snails. No, I'm done trying to impress people.

What's the first thing you would do if you could become invisible?
Jump up and down thankful that no one could see my "muffin top." (Google it.)

Do you ever have recurring dreams? What is your most common one about?
Yes. Spiders. I don't like them, maybe it's their long legs or quick movement, but they've always freaked me out. My dreams usually entail one of them crawling on me, near me or biting me. (I blame you if I dream about them tonight.)

What is the kindest thing that anyone has ever done for you?
Hugged me.

More information about Heather can be found on her website: HeatherRoss.net

Aliya Anjum - An Arranged Marriage

It is our pleasure to have Aliya Anjum with us today to speak about her short story An Arranged Marriage.

How old are you?
Age is a state of mind, and my age can -without exaggeration- range between 8 - 80

Where do you currently live?
I live in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. It's a city by the sea, with a population of 25 million and growing. Its a city of paradoxes, where you can buy Prada and Gucci and also buy handmade fans made from straw and where you can ride a traditional camel or a quad at the beach. It hosts an 8,000 year old Hindu temple where the legendary Ram of Hindu Holy scriptures rested. It's also a city that never sleeps, you can see cars on the road at 3 am. It hosts an international book festival every year and it is home to people of the most diverse ethnic and religious groups in Pakistan, including Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Zoroastrians. Every time I go outside the country, when I am on a return flight home and the pilot announces we have entered Karachi airspace, my heart does a somersault.

Tell us a little bit about your life.
I grew up in Karachi and attended university here, after which I joined a French Bank. I worked in Banking for over two years and then headed off to the US for graduate school. After returning, I worked for the government for another two years. Since quitting from that job, I took a one year long hiatus from work and then turned into a full time author last year.

When did you first start writing?
I used to write snippets about life, and poetry from the age of seven onwards. Unfortunately none of that survives today. I have been writing for newspapers since the age of 17. I first wrote YA short story fiction in 2008. It won me a Commendation Certificate from the National Book Foundation (NBF). I have won a first prize from NBF for small children's short stories. These stories are however, unpublished todate.

What was your very first story about?
My first story is titled "The Farmhouse." It's a YA short story with a 14-year-old male protagonist who gets himself into trouble after being dared to show bravado. It's a horror tale and I got chills narrating the scenes, which was fun.

Have you written anything that you were too afraid to let anyone read?
I once wrote a novella, which showcased the dark side of human nature. I later thought that it was a bad idea to write about evil, so I deleted it.

Did you experience anything you’ve written yourself?
Plenty! All fiction has an element of truth to it. Sometimes, the experiences are my own and sometimes they are of friends and family. At other times they are observations. Pure fantasy is not believable, when it comes to adult fiction or even YA.

Who are several of your greatest literary inspirations?
Most writers who have endured the test of time are inspirational for me. Fine writing captures human hopes, emotions and desires. It is thus timeless.

What kind of education have you received, and how has that affected your writing?
I hold an undergrad in Business from Karachi, and an MS from the US, in Textile Marketing. Education is however, a continuing process and I owe my education more to books than to degrees. I am a very avid reader of non-fiction. It helps hone my worldview and I am able to see things from an informed perspective, which I hope carries over in my fiction. I may add that I have also penned three non-fiction titles relating to history. One of which won an NBF Prize.

How much research time customarily goes into your projects?
I write fiction about subjects that I have read about, which cuts research time, since I may already be familiar with the subject. It does take a few weeks to research about my specific subject. However, when I am writing non-fiction, research time can stretch anywhere from six months to two years.

Who is your favorite literary character?
Scheherazade. She is the epitome of feminine mystique, combining intellect with charm and witticism.

Who is your favorite character of your own creation?
The hero of my latest novel, which is a work in progress.

If you were ever to write an autobiography, what would its title be?
A wonderful life!

Tell us about your featured book.
My featured short story "An Arranged Marriage" is inspired from true events. It is based on the lives of women Physicians of Pakistani origin in the US. It covers diverse themes such as immigration, assimilation, the Pakistani diaspora, immigrant subcultures and last but not the least, arranged marriages.

It would take readers through 11 years of my protagonists life, beginning in Pakistan and ending in the US.

Why did you write that?
I know a lot of Physicians. Most immigrated to the US, they include family and friends as well as friend's husbands. Through them, I met other Physicians and I noticed a common theme, amongst some women Physicians. Thus this story was born.

Is there anything special you would like your potential readers to know?
Yes. Despite the fact that this story showcases an unfortunate turnout of events following an arranged marriage, it does not mean that there can never be a happy ending with such arrangements. Arranged marriages run the whole gamut from being blind marriages to serving only as introductions. Most of them lead to stable, successful and relatively happy marriages. They are practiced in Asia and Africa, by more than half of the world's population.

Where is the one place you’ve traveled where you’ve felt most like you fit in?
Nowhere! I am too eastern for the west and too western for the east.

What activity or hobby, besides writing, do you find most enjoyable?
Swimming and Travel.

What was your favorite childhood toy?
Barbie! I may add that during the 1980's, they were smuggled in Pakistan. They were only available at one or two stores in the country, which happened to be close to my house. My father bought me one and I was over the moon. I later did the customary thing of buying accessories including Ken (yes he is an accessory). My father must have shared Art Buchwald's sentiments when the latter lamented in his column that Barbie was overly ambitious to keep seeking new professions, which always meant new purchases.

What is your most valued personal possession in life? Who gave it to you?
My books, which I have collected over the years. They have taught me so much.

How do you treat people you’re not fond of?
I try and be the bigger/better person and make an attempt to be nice.

What do you see as your greatest achievement?
Being able to sell books that people are reading in three continents :)

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
My mother always says to me "we have to do the right thing, no matter what."

If you had to explain the concept of “love” to someone who’s never heard of it before, how would you?
Love comes in all forms. Love should not be reduced to a romantic notion, although romantic love is precious. To be loved by anyone, is a gift which we must learn to value.

What about “hate?”
Hate is a negative emotion, which does not exist in a healthy mind. Haters hate you because a) either you are a reflection of what they want to be, b) they are angry about life and act vindictive or c) they have been taught to hate.

You’ve decided to buy an exotic pet, what do you go for?
I love animals and I'd be happy to keep as many pets as possible. However, if by exotic pets you mean Iguanas and other reptiles, then I'd take a rain check.

What do you classify as an “Adventure?”
A trip to the Amazonian rain forests.

If you could learn one new thing instantly, what would it be?
Native level fluency in Italian.

Our special thanks to Aliya for taking the time to be with us. Please check out her book below.

Alisa Jeruconoka - Unparallel Worlds

We are pleased to have Alisa Jeruconoka here today. She will be sharing with us her book "Unparallel Worlds."

Where do you currently live?
I live in the best city in the world London! Samuel Johnson once said that ‘’When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life…’ I completely agree, there is still so much to see and do here even though I have been here for the best part of my life. London is really cosmopolitan, my friends come from all over the world and we enjoy a different night out every time we meet over the years, from drinking in Cuban themed bars to eating great Ethiopian food and that’s on top of always finding great attractions and buildings to visit.

Tell us a little bit about your life.
I was born in Latvia but moved to London when I was young. I enjoyed school and eventually went to University to study medicine. However when I left University I did not stay in medicine but got a job as a professional interpreter/translator for a private multinational corporation, I did this job for 10 years. A couple of years ago I got married and decided to start a family, I also decided to work freelance during this time so that I could have more time to write.

When did you first start writing?
I started writing when I was young. My mum got me into the habit of writing fantasy fiction as a way to enjoy homework from school. She always told me that if I enjoyed school I would enjoy learning and if I enjoyed learning I would always enjoy and do well in life. So as a small child I would write imaginary stories for her and as part of my schoolwork, and then at weekends I would read and act out my stories to my mum, we both enjoyed this immensely.

What was your very first story about?
Although I had written stories before this, my first proper story, or the one I am most proud of, came when I was 9. I had been to a funfair with my mum and on the way back in the evening we stopped at the roadside to admire the night sky. I remember it being full of twinkling stars and then for the first (and last time since) I saw what my mum explained was a shooting star. She told me that this meant that a special person had come to visit earth. Being so young I believed my mum and so when I got home I gathered all the best chocolate sweets for the visitor and while I waited over the next few days to meet him/her I decided to write a story about the visit, it was called -‘ My Special Guest’.

Have you written anything that you were too afraid to let anyone read?
Yes, I had written some poetry for a friend who wanted to present this in a valentines card to a girl he was (as all boys are at 18) deeply in love with. In the end I never gave it too him or let anyone read it since, for although I spent loads of time on it, the best way to describe the final outcome was that it was completely cheesy and if a boy gave that to me I would have run a mile away in minutes, I could not do that to my friend.

Did you experience anything you’ve written yourself?
As much as I would like to say yes, the truth is no, Unparallel Worlds is so rich as a fantasy fiction in all aspects that nothing in its pages could happen in real life.

However I will say that our world is as beautiful as any imaginary world and things such as diving in the red sea to witness the sea life around coral reefs is an experience as good as any in my book.

Who are several of your greatest literary inspirations?
This is a hard one as I love so many books and writers, but if I was stuck on a desert island and had a choice of three books then I would take Tad William’s ‘The War of the Flowers’, Neil Gaiman’s ‘Neverwhere’ and Kim Newman’s ‘Anno Dracula’. All three have the ability to not only take your mind into completely different worlds but also to get you thinking about the areas and parts of the books world that they have not written about.

What kind of education have you received, and how has that affected your writing?
I have two degree qualifications, one in medicine and the other in international business, none of these have actually had an influence on my writing, but whilst at college I studied A level literature and A level Drama. Both these studies helped me a lot, Literature got me writing like a writer but Drama showed me new a way of writing, I started planning my stories out like a play so when you read ‘Unparallel Worlds’ you will see that it can be converted to a play very easily. I also think that using this style of writing helps build a stronger picture in someone’s head when they are reading my story.

How much research time customarily goes into your projects?
I spent almost 6 months researching opposite effects that occur in nature and cultural belief. This ranged from Ying and Yang in Chinese culture, to the effects on our planet of night and day and how this developed both human and animal psyche. In between I also studied a bit of chemistry to understand the universe within an atom and understand how the positive and negative charges in it help it to exist.

Who is your favorite literary character?
It has to be the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. She fascinated and scared me at the same time when I was a child and fascinated me even more when I read Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

Who is your favorite character of your own creation?
I would say that it’s Zalion- The King of Darkness. Although the book starts by portraying him as hateful towards the light side and evil in everything he does, later you understand that it is the events that happen on the light side that have made him this way, especially him knowing that the weird mutations occurring on his side of the planet are a result of events on the light side.

If you were ever to write an autobiography, what would its title be?
‘My Own Adventure’


Tell us about your featured book.
"For any reader who is hoping to be transported to a different world, this is the book of choice. The imagination oozing from the pages of this novel is transcending. Picturing completely new worlds that are either bright beautiful and happy, or dark dangerous and full of monsters is the easy part of reading this novel. Though fantasy and science fiction don’t typically overlap, the reference to mythological characters along with the incorporation of scientists (rather than someone magical, like a wizard) is what makes this book teeter in the sci-fi genre. ’Unparallel Worlds’ opens an original world of dual dimensions of Light and Darkness that hints to the making of a new series.’’
-Amelia Albanese EZRead eBook Specialist.


Why did you write that?
One day I visited a bookstore with my fourteen years old niece to choose a book. She’s read a lot of fantasy books and she did want to find something different where it’s not written only about mythological livings and superheroes. That’s when I decided I would use this time to write a book for her age group that was completely different to anything else out there.

Is there anything special you would like your potential readers to know?
I mixed many genres in my book ‘Unparallel Worlds’- romance, magic, otherworldly fantasy and urban fantasy. Most importantly I would like to say that I wanted to create a book like no other out there and from the reviews I have received on Amazon I think I might have done it. What’s most important is that people enjoy it.

Where is the one place you’ve travelled where you’ve felt most like you fit in?
For me it has to be the Red Sea from Sharm el-Sheikh. It is paradise on Earth for scuba divers like me; the corals and sea life that you can see so close to the shore are amazing, I could stay there all year round.

What activity or hobby, besides writing, do you find most enjoyable?
I love swimming and travelling to new countries around the world.

If you lost the ability to see every colour but one, which one would it be?
It would have to be indigo! I love the deep rich feel it gives you.

How do you treat people you’re not fond of?
I try to be nice if they speak to me but otherwise I try to ignore them.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Live each day as if it’s your last.

If you had to explain the concept of “love” to someone who’s never heard of it before, how would you?
A dizzy dreamy feeling of joy and comfort every time you are with a special person.

What do you classify as an “adventure?”
Something new I have never experienced before whether I like it in the end or not.

If you could learn one new thing instantly, what would it be?
To be an astronaut, I would love to go to space.

Finish this sentence. “I sometimes find it hard to…"
Wait for exciting news!


Our thanks to Alisa for taking the time to be with us today. The cover below will whisk you away to her website. The included video is a one minute trailer for the book.

George Berger - The Crimson Scars

We are pleased to have George Berger with us today to speak about his book The Crimson Scars.

What is your name?
You can hug me and love and me and squeeze me and call me George... except for the hugging and squeezing and probably the loving parts.

How old are you?
I was born early enough in the Cold War era to have legitimately bought records at a record store when they were still a prevalent form of entertainment, and not 'audiophile' or retro-cool.

Where do you currently live?
In Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Tell us a little bit about your life.
I've had the traditional American lifestyle, I think. I was conceived, then born; I had a very forgettable (and now mostly-forgotten) childhood during which I was probably both precocious and irritating. Adolescence arrived right on schedule, leaving me alienated and ostracized. A bunch of other stuff happened, I fell in love, acquired a stalker, got adopted by a cat, got shot at, and discovered the hard way that the employment prospects for ugly misanthropes with attitude problems are very, very poor...

When did you first start writing?
I'm one of those sad people who has been telling stories of one sort or another since I was a wee anklebiter. I first started writing in, oh, middle school, I think. I had absolutely zero talent whatsoever, but a teacher encouraged me nonetheless.

What was your very first story about?
I don't remember any of the specifics, but I think it was probably “loosely” inspired by a computer game.

Have you written anything that you were too afraid to let anyone read?
With great frequency! It's fairly well-established that right now the audience for e-books is overwhelmingly female – something like eighty or ninety percent so. I try to ignore this fact as much as possible, because, despite all the instructions to “only write what you know”, I occasionally include sex scenes in some of my books. Not as erotica, or an attempt to titillate, but for mostly plot-related reasons. Well, usually. Anyway, on the rare occasions when I stop and think about it, it's pretty much bed-wettingly terrifying to think that women I don't know are reading these books and, well, rolling their eyes and sighing, or something.

Did you experience anything you’ve written yourself?
Many of the cynical life lessons in my slightly dystopian (and completely clean) first novel, Mendacities, are the product of first-hand experience. And my intimate familiarity with storm sewers came in handy when writing my thriller, Without A Spark.

Who are several of your greatest literary inspirations?
'Inspiration' is a bit tricky. I'm not really sure why I started writing fiction, but I suspect some of the blame might fall on the editor of some random old short-story anthology. Back in the day it was common for SF or fantasy anthologies to feature comments or introductions to each story from the editor, or the author... or both. I remember reading several such anthologies – Harlan Ellison's infamous Dangerous Visions series, and Robert Asprin's Thieves' World series come to mind – and being inspired by the apparent ease with which pretty average-seeming people produced memorable fiction. If they could do it, surely I could do it, y'know?

In a more general sense, I'm a big fan of the late Roger Zelazny; he had a distinctive but understated sense of humor that I feel some sort of kindred bond to – and the background to his story 'Unicorn Variations' always makes me smile. I also greatly admire the even-more-obscure E. Phillip Oppenheim, an amazingly prolific British writer who pretty much single-handedly invented the thriller genre as we know it today, and wrote a huge number of other works, as well. His novel Havoc is particularly brilliant, as far as I'm concerned.

What kind of education have you received, and how has that affected your writing?
I went to greatly overrated public schools, and was a pretty indifferent student. Around the fifth grade, I think, I decided I was probably going to be single all my life – the impetus for this decision can be found in my short story 'Nothing Like Love', available on Amazon – and so started taking classes with an eye towards perpetual bachelorhood. Where other boys were taking shop class, I was taking Home Ec, because being able to cook seemed more important than being able to make a cribbage board. Food and cooking feature largely in a lot of my fiction, probably for that reason, and in a rare display of actually writing-what-I-know, most of my male protagonists tend to be a bit oblivious to romance, which did not figure largely if at all in my formative years.

How much research time customarily goes into your projects?
I suppose that depends on the book, and how you define 'research'. I do extensive amounts of plotting and outlining prior to writing most books. As far as facts-and-figures research, it greatly depends on the title. I sometimes spend inordinate amounts of time fact-checking all sorts of strange details as I write. I try desperately both to get everything right, and not be one of those people who shares every detail he's researched with the reader; after doing research for Without A Spark, I know a possibly dangerous amount about how to manufacture chemical weapons in the comfort and convenience of your basement. Oh, and after writing a pair of early-Victorian stories, I know far, far more than I ever wanted to about the history of insurance. It was a bit of a nuisance to discover that theft and burglary insurance didn't exist until the late 1890s, as I'd plotted out a perfectly delightful comedy of errors about insurance fraud in the 1850s. Oops.

Who is your favorite literary character?
Y.T., the protagonist of Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash. She's pretty much just made of win, as the kids these days say.

Who is your favorite character of your own creation?
I'm not sure. I'm honestly not that attached to any of them, in particular. I know it sounds terrible, and perhaps it is. Most of my characters are – or so I like to think – very real, and very flawed, people. Not quite into anti-hero territory, usually, but... if I really had to pick one, it'd probably be Nataliya, from my first novel, Mendacities. She was extremely fun to write.

If you were ever to write an autobiography, what would its title be?
“Mr. Dumbass – or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Hate Myself”.

(Editors Note: Massive brownie points for a Dr. Strangelove reference.)

Tell us about your featured book.
I honestly have no idea. No, wait... It's a strange and quirky story of chance meetings, drunken frat boys, and the improbable ways in which love seems to, against all odds, function. It's not really all that great, but it's also not really very expensive...

Why did you write that?
I regularly haunt (though 'infest' might be a better word) the Writers' Cafe at Kindleboards. A couple times a month someone posts in desperate confusion wondering how on earth to write a short story. They're not trolling, usually; they've often written several novel-length books, but just can't wrap their heads around writing short fiction.

Now, because this is, alas, the Internet, they get a lot of advice, much of it less than completely helpful... My usual recommendation – and it's not necessarily any better or worse than any other arbitrary approach, of course – is to go out and study some perfectly ordinary, run-of-the-mill short stories, and then try to imitate them. Literally, pick an obscure short story at random somewhere, and read it critically, as a writer, thinking about the plot and everything. Then, take that plot, and create your own story, changing as much as you can. Do that a half-dozen times, and you'll probably understand much of what there is to know about how to plot a short story, which is 98% of the process, really.

While posting such advice several months ago, I realized with a certain degree of sappy nostalgia that it had been a long time since I'd done that myself, if only as an exercise. So, I found a magazine from 1912, picked the first story that wasn't an appalling period romance, and followed my own advice. The result is, well... strange. But so was the story that provided inspiration, once you got past all the extraneous bits; the author had apparently been paid by the word, and padded it out rather dreadfully. And to be honest, taking a story about a well-to-do bachelor, set in New York City around 1900, and producing a story set in the midwest around 2000, featuring a college co-ed, isn't as easy as it sounds.

If you had to live in another time period, which one would you choose?
The 1950s. Despite the civil rights problems and the Red Scare and the post-war housing crisis and tuberculosis and all that fun stuff, it seems, from a half-century later, to have been a time of this kind of wonderfully naïve optimism, where science and technology were constantly just months away from giving us the absolutely most awesome future. It seems like one of the few points in modern history where even I could have believed that the future held something more than bleakness and misery...

Our eternal thanks to George for being with us. His book can be found below. Just right down there...yes...yes, that's the one. Click it.

Simon John Cox - Distant Machines

Simon John Cox is with us today to promote his short story collection Distant Machines.

What is your name?
Simon Cox, but I go by Simon John Cox when writing because there's already a Simon Cox writer out there. He wrote something about the Da Vinci Code.

How old are you?
Let's say I was born in the 1970s.

Where do you currently live?
I live in Tunbridge Wells, in the UK.

Tell us a little bit about your life.
When I'm not working as a marketer or writing fiction I spend a lot of my spare time running or doing Taekwon-Do.

When did you first start writing?
I've been writing for as long as I can remember, but I think the first time I sat down and wrote fiction seriously - by which I mean writing a plan and deciding on what the ending would be before even writing a word of the narrative - I was about 24.

What was your very first story about?
I wrote a novel about a fictional Spanish island in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War (I learned Spanish at school and as a result became interested in Spanish history). The two hated Civil Guards who were posted to the island are murdered, and an investigator is sent from the mainland to find out who killed them. Most people on the island see him as the same as the Civil Guards, but he befriends a local boy and the local priest, and they help him to carry out his investigation. Eventually the people of the island try to kill him and he is saved only by the intervention of the priest, who then confesses to the murders in order to absolve the islanders and to allow the investigator to return to the mainland in safety.

Have you written anything that you were too afraid to let anyone read?
Yes, the one about the Spanish island. Although writing it taught me a huge amount about how to write, it's not good enough.


Did you experience anything you’ve written yourself?
Many of the situations, conversations, relationships, characters etc are based on experiences from my own life, or else on the lives of people that I know. It's inevitable - when we create we only have our own experiences on which to draw.

Who are several of your greatest literary inspirations?
Thomas Pynchon, Gabriel García Márquez, Philip Roth, Charles Bukowski, Margaret Atwood, Alan Moore...a fair old mix.

What kind of education have you received, and how has that affected your writing?
I did a degree in chemistry, which I think was actually a great help. I've found that a logical, "scientific" approach to writing helps me to iron out the inconsistencies and to rework the unrealistic elements; it's a case of writing something and then asking yourself "why would he do that?" and "what would be the consequence of him doing that?" Constantly asking "why" and "how" and "what if", and finding the answers before continuing - it seems to me to be a pretty scientific approach.

How much research time customarily goes into your projects?
I suppose it depends on the setting. Writing the novel set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War meant that I needed to do a lot of reading about the war and its aftermath, for example, but by contrast parts of the novel that I'm currently working on are set in Namibia and in a UK defence company, and I've been to Namibia and I've worked for a defence company, so far less reading was required there. My own experiences provide a huge part of the content of my writing, so that research is being done every day.

Who is your favorite literary character?
Depending on your perspective it might be stretching the boundaries of what constitutes "literature", but Rorschach in Alan Moore's Watchmen is certainly one character who I find endlessly fascinating. Violently heroic, rigidly bound by a personal moral compass and ultimately tragic. Plus that cool mask.

Who is your favorite character of your own creation?
There's a character called Azamat who seems to keep cropping up in various pieces of my writing. He's a demon who takes the form of a snake in my novel, he appears as a magician's demonic assistant in The Great Meliakoff, a story from my Hallowe'en short story collection Totentanz: A Macabre Triptych, and he is a jealous god in The Pélissier Scroll, a short story that recently won a competition run by the Diamond Light Source. I think I enjoy writing him because with him I can give vent to all kinds of enjoyable malevolence.

If you were ever to write an autobiography, what would its title be?
"Princess Diana: The Cocaine Diaries". Just because then I'd know that it would sell.

Tell us about your featured book.
Distant Machines is a collection of short stories with a generally speculative theme (I hesitate to describe it as science fiction as there are no aliens or epic space battles, but the stories are all set in the future and all incorporate some kind of technology that we don't currently have). One story is about the implications of "designer" genetic modification; another is about what becomes important in a world in which the oil has run out; and another is about what might happen if euthanasia were accepted to the point that it became a consumer product.

I'd like to point out that the cover was designed by Tony Healey (http://fringescientist.com).

Why did you write that?
I love writing short stories - partly because it gives me a chance to try out different styles of writing, and partly because they act as a kind of "writing holiday" from working on the novel - and the speculative theme just fits with the way my mind works, I think. I said earlier that I have a pretty scientific approach to writing; well, if you ask "what if?", "why?" and "how?" enough times then sooner or later you're probably going to end up in unknown territory. I really enjoy writing about things that don't exist or that haven't happened yet (and in fact will probably never happen). I suppose it's a form of escapism. It's daydreaming, really.

Is there anything special you would like your potential readers to know?
I think I'd just like to thank those people who have read my work so far, to say that I hope they all enjoyed it, and to say that if they have any comments or feedback that you'd like to make on how I could improve my writing then they should feel free to get in touch - www.simonjohncox.com

What’s a negative trait about other people that you most notice, or that bothers you the most?
Hypocrisy.

Do you ever notice it in yourself?
I don't notice it, and I do try always to be consistent, but maybe I'm hypocritical nonetheless from time to time as well. I hope not.

If you were forced to give something you adore up for the rest of your life, what would it be?
The three things that I adore are writing, Taekwon-Do and my partner, and wouldn't want to give any of those up. I suppose if I absolutely had to give up one then it'd be Taekwon-Do, just because I can't imagine being without the other two.

What is the hardest thing about growing up?
The gradual horrifying realisation that adults don't have any kind of plan and they've just been winging it.

What is something you absolutely must have in your kitchen?
At least one very good knife.

What is pain to you?
Accidentally cutting your finger with a very good knife.

What is your dream house?
I'd like a little isolated cottage out in a fishing village somewhere, with a study that had a large bay window looking out over the sea so that I could set up my desk in front of it and watch the fishing boats go out and come back in again.

Where would you want this house located in our wide world?
Somewhere tranquil, by the sea, but not too far from a decent-sized town. Whenever I've visited Devon and Cornwall I've daydreamed about living there.

You’ve been forced under various circumstances to choose a personal motto. What is it?
For New Year's Eve the year before last a friend asked a group of us to provide three goals that we'd try to achieve within the year, so instead of choosing "own a Ferrari" or "get a promotion" or "uppercut a horse" or whatever I decided to pick three things that would help me out and were definitely achievable, so I went for "be braver", "be more disciplined" and "be more determined". I think I've stuck to them pretty well, so maybe I could use them in my motto as a way of reminding me: Be brave, be disciplined, be determined. But in Latin, obviously: Beum bravum, beum disciplinedum, beum determinedum. NB I don't know Latin.

Have you ever received a present you really hated? If so, what was it?
Not really...I think at worst I've been ambivalent. I think the fact that someone has bothered to get you something is a positive thing.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten? Would you have it again?
Jellyfish, in a Chinese restaurant. It felt like eating slightly gelatinous shredded cabbage, and it didn't really taste of anything much. I only ate it the first time because my friend ordered it; I don't think I'd order it again myself.

Our thanks to Simon for being with us. His work can be found below, merely a click away.

Martin Pond - Dark Steps

Today we have Martin Pond with us to talk about his book Dark Steps.

Where do you currently live?
Not far from the city of Norwich, England.

Tell us a little bit about your life.
By day I work in IT, and have done for nearly 20 years. Outside of work I spend most of my time with my partner and our toddler. Beyond that, I try to fit in some writing time!

When did you first start writing?
I wrote a lot as a child and in my student days, but then career pressures put paid to that. I starting writing again in 2007, and have really enjoyed getting back into the swing of it.

What was your very first story about?
The first story I wrote after resuming writing, The Inheritance, concerns a man who, on his death-bed, confesses his murderous past to his son. Not a comedy!

Have you written anything that you were too afraid to let anyone read?
I'm usually a bit afraid to let anyone read anything I write, and the closer the person is to me the more afraid I get. What if it's not any good?

Did you experience anything you’ve written yourself?
Not precisely, though sometimes personal experience inspires an idea. For example, being a new father and listening to a baby monitor every night gave me the idea for Dream Feed, a story in my collection Dark Steps.

Who are several of your greatest literary inspirations?
The writer I have read more than any other is Stephen King, and I think that probably shows in my writing. I'm also a big fan of Nick Hornby, and admire his skill with conversational narrative. Similarly, I can only aspire to Cormac McCarhty's concision. David Morrell's collection Black Eveninginspired me to create my own book - I had an "I wish I'd written that" moment, and from there the idea of publishing what I had written grew.

What kind of education have you received, and how has that affected your writing?
I am postgradute educated but not in creative writing or an arts subject. I have done a diploma in creative writing with the highly regarded University of East Anglia, and that made me re-evaluate every aspect of my writing process. The most productive side-effect of the diploma is that my course-mates and I continue to meet as a critique group, some years after the course ended. That, and the trusted, honest feedback it brings, are invaluable.

How much research time customarily goes into your projects?
It varies tremendously, based on the story. For example, The Inheritance required some knowledge of police procedure and medical practice. Another, Egg, required me to know a little about poisons. Others, where the subject matter is entirely within the realms of your own experience, require no research at all - life has already done that for me.

Who is your favorite literary character?
A tough question, and the answer varies depending on my mood. Right now, I'm going to say Rob in High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby. I identify with him more than perhaps any other, his compulsive list-making, his record-collecting, the over-analysis of his relationships. Now if I could just run my own record store...

Who is your favorite character of your own creation?
Peter Potter, the narrator and anti-hero of my work-in-progress novel Drawn To The Deep End. Being a much longer piece than anything I've written before, I've really had the time to get under his skin.

If you were ever to write an autobiography, what would its title be?
Given my surname, I might take the opportunity to strain a Bob Dylan pun and call it "Pond on Pond".

Tell us about your featured book.
Dark Steps is a collection of eight short stories, each one with a twist in the tale. I try to avoid genre pigeon-holing, and I certainly wouldn't call them horror stories per sé, but I hope that they are at least unsettling, tales of the unexpected. There is darkness all around us, and I've tried to write about that, in the hope of creating something that lingers in the memory long after the reader has put the book down.

Why did you write that?
Having written a lot of short fiction over a three year period, I took the opportunity to collect the best examples together, to see what the rest of the world things about them. I also hope to build a readership in preparation for the aforementioned novel, which I plan to publish later this year.

Is there anything special you would like your potential readers to know?
I think you'll like Dark Steps, I really do. Try it. As the advert says, what's the worst that can happen...?

What is hiding in your closet as we speak?
The last 30,000 words of my work-in-progress novel!

If you could learn one new thing instantly, what would it be?
To play like a concert pianist.

Our thanks to Martin for taking the time to be with us. His stories can be found below.

Paul Dennett - The Goalkeeper Part 1

Paul Dennett joins us today to share his book The Goalkeeper Part 1.

Where do you currently live?
Sydney, Australia

Tell us a little bit about your life.
I've worked in a normal job for a great company for eleven years. Recently they were kind enough to let me go part-time to have a shot at being an entrepreneur and I've just released my first book for sale on Kindle. My actual real dream is to become a sporting superstar but too much partying during my twenties - and a lack of any sporting talent - has prevented this from happening!

When did you first start writing?
When I was six.

What was your very first story about?
It was a recount of a day spent racing my plastic dinosaurs down a slippery dip. It was not picked up for publication.

Did you experience anything you’ve written yourself?
No - I have experienced the opposite of it though - my book deals with a successful sportsman.

Who are several of your greatest literary inspirations?
Douglas Adams and Irvine Welsh. Also, although he doesn't write novels, Bill Bryson.

What kind of education have you received, and how has that affected your writing?
A science degree. It taught me how to be succinct.

How much research time customarily goes into your projects?
Quite a lot. Because my work is aimed at improving people's vocabularies while being entertained, I spend a lot of time choosing which difficult words to weave in and making sure the meaning of the words is abundantly clear from context.

Who is your favorite literary character?
Bruce Robertson, from Irvine Welsh's novel, Filth. He is the most horrible, despicable, repugnant character imagineable. I'm not sure it is a good thing that I like him so much!

Who is your favorite character of your own creation?
Forbes Zanchester. After realising his dreams of becoming a successful soccer player are finished, he takes up goalkeeping and discovers he has prodigious talent.

If you were ever to write an autobiography, what would its title be?
'I'm amazed this has been published', the Paul Dennett story.

Tell us about your featured book.
The Goalkeeper Part 1 is a fun journey as Forbes discovers his stunning goalkeeping talent and starts to amaze people. But its main point is that every chapter the reader learns ten difficult words without really having to try.

Why did you write that?
Everyone says that the best way to learn new words is to be a voracious reader - you gradually encounter them and your subconscious works out what they mean. I thought, why not condense the process? Write a normal novel, but strategically add in lots of difficult words and make it as uncontrived and free flowing as possible. It's meant to be like a vitamin shot of words.

Is there anything special you would like your potential readers to know?
There are not actually all that many words separating an OK vocab from a great one. My hope is that my readers enjoy the story for its own sake, and marvel at how their subconscious just picks up the new words. And obviously if you have a big vocab it benefits you in so many ways.

Where is the one place you’ve traveled where you’ve felt most like you fit in?
London. It is 12,000 miles from Sydney, yet I instantly felt at home.

What activity or hobby, besides writing, do you find most enjoyable?
Bowling in cricket. It's a bit like pitching in baseball. When you deliver a ball that sends the stumps flying in all directions it is a stunning feeling.

What was your favorite childhood toy?
Big Ted, a small yellow teddy bear. If I was asked a question and didn't know the answer I would apparently proclaim, 'Big Ted doesn't know that.' Psychiatrists would probably have a field day with that.

What is your most valued personal possession in life? Who gave it to you?
My big television. I gave it to me.

If you lost the ability to see every color but one, which one would it be?
Green

How do you treat people you’re not fond of?
Politely.

What is hiding in your closet as we speak?
25 t shirts that I had printed with a catchy slogan on them that I've been too lazy and timid to try to sell.

What do you see as your greatest achievement?
Actually deciding to have a go at writing.

What, to you, is absolutely wrong?
1. Violence. 2. Illogical thinking - it amazes me how many people deny the moon landing yet believe in ghosts.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Whenever you use 'should' in a sentence, replace it with 'must'. For example, 'I should join a gym'. I almost never follow this advice though.

If you had to explain the concept of “love” to someone who’s never heard of it before, how would you?
Love is when you have feelings for someone else that are similar but stronger to the feelings you have for yourself.

What about “hate?”
Hate is an intense hostility. It is occasionally justified (for example I'd hate a person who deliberately burned down my house), but usually an indication of a lack of intelligence.

You’ve decided to buy an exotic pet, what do you go for?
A chimp. I'm fascinated by their intelligence.

What do you classify as an “Adventure?”
Doing something you've never done before that scares you - preferably in a good way.

If you could learn one new thing instantly, what would it be?
How to play tennis three times better than Federer. More realistically, how to speak French.

Finish this sentence. “I sometimes find it hard to…”

I sometimes find it hard to consistently back winners at the races.

Our thanks to Paul for stopping by to answer our questions. Find his book below with your eyes, then let your clicking finger guide you.

Keira Michelle Telford - SILVER: Acheron (A River of Pain)

Keira Michelle Telford is with us today to promote her book SILVER: Acheron (A River of Pain.)

Where do you currently live?
British Columbia, Canada.

Tell us a little bit about your life.
I’m a British ex-pat, born and raised in Worcester, UK. As a child, my favorite toy was an old badger trap. Since I have no siblings, while I was growing up the only thing standing between me and boredom was my imagination – and it got a LOT of exercise. I had so many invisible ‘characters’ in my repertoire, I was never alone.

When did you first start writing?
I’m pretty sure I was born with a Parker fountain pen stuck up my bum. I’ve been writing since before I can remember, but in those early days it was a lot of poetry about birds and nature and how cute bunnies were.

What was your very first story about?
It was so long ago, but the earliest one I remember clearly was a micro-fiction story about a girl who was standing on a mountaintop and saw a UFO. It was called ‘Oval’, and it was probably quite terrible.

Have you written anything that you were too afraid to let anyone read?
Not unless you count the really ancient material from the years when I was still developing as a writer. Much of it is horrifyingly bad, and I’d die of shame if anyone ever saw it. In particular, I used to write a lot of X Files fanfic, much of it involving Mulder and Scully professing their undying love for one another. I guess that’s pretty embarrassing.

Did you experience anything you’ve written yourself?
There’s a grain of truth in everything. When you’re a kid and you’re in English class and you’re being taught how to write creatively, you’re told to ‘write what you know’. The best way to find the raw emotion in anything is to draw it out from someplace real. Here and there I scatter random truths in my books, expanded upon and fleshed out, some details tweaked slightly. One such random truth appears in Entropy (due out this May), in which a little five-year-old girl keeps a dead bird in a plastic box and checks on it every day, watching it decompose until finally there’s nothing left but bone and feathers.

I am that five-year-old girl.

Who are several of your greatest literary inspirations?
Dante Alighieri (The Divine Comedy – where the title of my book, Acheron, comes from), Edgar Allan Poe (who made me believe in undying love), Fyodor Dostoevsky (especially his book Crime & Punishment, the themes of which inspired my second book in the Silver Series, The Lost & Damned). And there are many others: Oscar Wilde, Sadegh Hedayat, Samuel Beckett. I don’t read very much contemporary fiction.

What kind of education have you received, and how has that affected your writing?
I’ve got a background in biology, and canine behavioural sciences – both of which helped me to create the Chimera in my books. They’re genetic freaks, and knowing a little bit about biology helped a tonne when I was trying to figure out their morphology. And I utilized my education in animal behaviour to give them a realistic set of vocalizations and behaviours. In actual fact, the behaviour of the Chimera is entirely based upon guinea pigs.

How much research time customarily goes into your projects?
It’s an ongoing thing. I watch a lot of documentaries on biology, evolution, quantum mechanics and other science topics. I’m constantly making notes on things I think might become relevant as the Silver Series develops. Anything that catches my interest, I’ll go and buy a few books on the subject and learn more. Before I write a new scientific element into a book, I’ll research it to make sure I fully understand it before I put pen to paper.

Whether it’s how to make C-4 explosives, or how to cook crystal meth, I’ll spend anywhere from an hour to several days exploring the science behind something before it gets a place in one of my chapters.

Who is your favorite literary character?
Sherlock Holmes. Intellect is sexy.

Who is your favorite character of your own creation?
Ella ‘Silver’ Cross, from the Silver Series of books. Ella has become almost like my alter-ego. Sometimes I feel like I know more about her than I do about myself. She’s incredibly strong, and I admire that in her.

If you were ever to write an autobiography, what would its title be?
Living Left of Main.

Tell us about your featured book.
SILVER: Acheron (A River of Pain) is the first book in the Silver Series. Set more than 300yrs in the future, the series takes place in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian world where humans are a species on the brink of extinction. No longer at the top of the food chain, humans are preyed upon by the Chimera – genetic mutants that outnumber humankind 25:1.

Silver is a Hunter – and she’s the best in the city. She’ll risk her life in the pursuit of a human resurgence on Earth... but there’s a problem. When we meet her in Acheron, she’s been dishonorably charged from the Hunter Division, and banished for crimes she didn’t commit.

Left for dead in a segregated area of the city called the Fringe District, she’s surrounded by murderers, thieves and rapists. Starving, and desperate for money, she reluctantly accepts the Police Division’s invitation to enroll in a covert Bounty Hunter program.

And so the adventure begins...

Why did you write that?
The idea for the Silver Series had been circulating in my head for over a decade. The Lost & Damned was actually written first, as a script, and the series expanded from there. Acheron was conceived because Ella Cross’ banishment is an incredibly significant event in her life, and it seemed like the perfect place to introduce readers to her character.

Is there anything special you would like your potential readers to know?
The Silver Series is a love story. It’s a tale of the passionate, enduring love between Ella Cross and the man she’s been in love with since she was fifteen years old – Alexander King. A love that would be much simpler, were it not for Ella’s childhood friend, the charming womanizer, Luka Kinsella.

What’s a negative trait about other people that you most notice, or that bothers you the most?
Narrow-mindedness.

Do you ever notice it in yourself?
I’ve got many flaws... but that’s not one of them

Do you own any kind of art collection?
I have a massive collection of art. My house is filled with it. My father was an artist, so I have many of his original paintings. I have a collection of old etchings, many of which were part of his collection before I inherited them. I have some contemporary art, too. My contemporary collections includes a few works by Angelina Wrona, a Canadian artist. And in my office I have all of the art for my books, made into canvas prints. For that art, I have to thank the enormously talented artist Kitt Lapeña. His skill blows my mind.

What is something you absolutely must have in your kitchen?
Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. I would die without them.

What is pain to you?
A broken heart.

You’ve been forced under various circumstances to choose a personal motto. What is it?
Don’t dream it, be it. (Stolen from the Rocky Horror Picture Show).

Do you ever have recurring dreams? What is your most common one about?
I sometimes have sex dreams involving Brent Spiner (aka, Data from Star Trek TNG). How much of a nerd does that make me?

What’s the first thing you would do if you could become invisible?
Sometimes I think I am invisible.

Our thanks to Keira for taking the time to answer our questions. Please, seek out her work below.

Jennifer Rainey - These Hellish Happenings

 Today, we have Jennifer Rainey with us. She is promoting her book These Hellish Happenings.

Where do you currently live?
Southern Ohio.

Tell us a little bit about your life.
I have an English degree and a minor in Spanish, and I work at a well-known department store (college is expensive; make that degree count!). I’m also in a folk band where I sing and play the piano. I’m a cat person, I occasionally go ghost hunting, and my favorite movie is A Hard Day’s Night.

When did you first start writing?
I’ve been writing in one way or another since I was about twelve and I started writing fan-fiction. Yes! Go ahead! Laugh! But it was actually a really nice way to learn the ropes of storytelling and get feedback on my writing very early on. I’ve been writing original fiction predominantly since I was about sixteen.

What was your very first story about?
The first piece of original fiction I remember writing was essentially Robin Hood in Hell! It never had a title, I’m afraid.

Have you written anything that you were too afraid to let anyone read?
I would be horrified if anyone found the aforementioned Robin Hood in Hell story, haha! Also, like I said, I used to write a lot of fanfiction. I’d cry myself to sleep if some of that made it into the light of day.

Did you experience anything you’ve written yourself?
Little bits and pieces of things I experience make it into my writing all the time! Like I said, I work in a department store and one of the short stories in my upcoming collection was seriously inspired by my experiences, both good and bad. My writer eyes are always open no matter where I go. I’m always paying attention because I never know when I’m going to run into the next situation or little detail that I could fit into my writing.

Who are several of your greatest literary inspirations?
Aldous Huxley, Neil Gaiman, F. Scott Fitzgerald and recently Ray Bradbury immediately come to mind.

What kind of education have you received, and how has that affected your writing?
I have my BA in English from The Ohio State University (and no, I don’t care about football!). When I was studying at university, I tried to take away a writing lesson or two from many of the writers I studied. I was never simply looking at a piece from the standpoint of literary analysis; I was also looking at it as a writer.

How much research time customarily goes into your projects?
That depends on the project, I’d say. For These Hellish Happenings, I did a lot of research on Hell mythology, and then ignored it. Haha! For that book, I was really focusing on reinventing Hell, but it helped to have done the research.

Who is your favorite literary character?
Sherlock Holmes. I’ve been on Team Sherlock since I was about 11.

Who is your favorite character of your own creation?
I’ve always been fond of Alex Ridner, my demon character in These Hellish Happenings. He’s this outwardly snarky and arrogant go-getter who secretly wants nothing more than to abandon his position in Hell and be human. He’s always fun to write, but recently I’ve been falling in love with Erasmus Bramble, the protagonist of my next novel, Green-Eyed. He’s a very anachronistic character and something of a mad scientist, and I adore writing him.

If you were ever to write an autobiography, what would its title be?
“Jennifer Rainey Who?”

Tell us about your featured book.
These Hellish Happenings is about the poor sap who has to work at the Registration Office of Hell. The book follows Jack, my protagonist, as he lives, loves and works in Hades. The book is darkly comical, and it’s definitely good for someone who is looking for a read that’s a little quirky.

Why did you write that?
I wrote it for so many reasons. For one, I love Hell and Hell mythology. For another, I love writing comedy. The idea of the book really appealed to me. I loved humanizing this place that’s supposed to be very scary and epic. The Hell in the book is very similar to our own world, but with these little hellish touches. It was so much fun to write!

What is your favorite season of the year, and what makes it so?
Autumn. The food is great, the fashion is great, the weather is great and it’s got Halloween going for it. It’s perfect!

When you think of the word “Writer” what comes to mind?
A lonely individual hunched over a typewriter in a cramped apartment. That is the very first thing I think of. Is that horrible?

If you could pick one thing about yourself that would be passed onto your (imaginary/actual) child, what would it be?
I have a fantastic bullcrap detector. I don’t buy into things that are “trendy” or “the flavor of the month.” I can see what’s really important in a situation. I’m not planning on having any kids, but if I did have one, this is what I’d want him or her to get from me.

How about one thing about yourself that you absolutely wouldn’t want passed on?
I am a massive worry-wart! I would not not wish my compulsive worrying upon anyone!

If you had to live in another time period, which one would you choose?
The 1920s. I’ve been positively in love with that decade since I was a teenager and I discovered F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Of course now we know what comes at the end of the 1920s, so if I retained that knowledge when I went back in time, I doubt I could be terribly carefree!

Name one movie that always has a huge effect on you. Why do you think that is?
A Hard Day’s Night. I first watched it when I was 11, and I felt at the time that it was the first movie I had ever watched that was “adult,” purely because I didn’t understand half of the script! I felt classy watching that movie when I was a kid, and I as I grew up, it really affected my sense of humor and my sense of what is aesthetically pleasing. I still love black and white movies and early 60s style, and it’s still my favorite movie. I’m a huge Beatles fan, though.

What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to try, but never have?
Poutine. I can’t tell if I think it’d be awesome or bizarre or both.

What is your favorite thing to do when you have a day to yourself?
I enjoy just writing! When I know I’m going to have a solid block of time to myself with no interruptions, I just want to write. It can be very difficult finding time to write.

First thing you’d do if you were handed a million dollars?
I’d ask, “What’s the catch?”

What was/is your favorite thing about your childhood home?
Its location. It is only 20 minutes from downtown, but also only 20 minutes from parks and nature trails. So, when I was growing up, I really got to experience the best of both worlds. I could go see a concert one night and head out to do some hiking the next day.


Our thanks to Jennifer for being with us. Please find her work below and don't be shy with your clicking finger.