Nicci Book Reviews, Romance

Author interview, Barbara Edwards, Journey of the Magi

Welcome Barbara! You have been writing for a while. Can you tell us where are you in your career?

Barbara: I’m a multi-published author. That means I’m working to increase my readership and write the best books I possibly can. Journey of the Magi is a different type of book for me since it is a sweet romance instead of a paranormal romance or a historical romance.

Nia: Are you a “plotter” a “pantser” or a mix?

Barbara: Although I ‘know’ the beginning and the end of my story before I start I don’t do advance plotting. My characters keep me writing until their story is told.

Nia: Another “pantser”! I’ve had a lot of those on this blog. I’m going to have to hunt for some other plotters, like me!

But for now, can you tell us, what is the most challenging part of the writing craft for you?

Barbara: Everything. I’m always rewriting, editing and re-editing.

Nia: I know the feeling! Writing fiction is, I think, the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. But now for the good part. What is your favorite part of the writing craft for you?

Barbara: I enjoy having a reader like my stories. That’s my ego talking. I also like to share what I’ve learned with other writers. Writers are like sponges soaking up every detail that will make their writing better.

Nia: That’s a nice thing to say about us. Thank you. What aspect of writing took you the longest to master?

Barbara: Keeping to a daily writing schedule. It’s difficult to ignore all the distractions that real life throws in my path.

Nia: Do you mind if I borrow that answer?! What are your aspirations as an author?

Barbara: I want to have a best-seller in the New York Times. I also want to keep publishing novels until I run out of ideas.

Nia: Forever, in other words. That’s so great. How many people want to keep doing their job forever? But that’s a rhetorical question. Here’s a real one. From what neck of the woods do you hail?

Barbara: I am a New Englander. I grew up in a small town and went to college at the University of Hartford in Connecticut.  I did live in Florida for ten years and will travel anywhere the road takes me.

Nia: That’s the spirit we like around here! There are a lot of travelers in this neck of the blogosphere woods.

 

Please follow, friend or like me. I love to hear from my readers.

Blog http://barbaraedwardscomments.wordpress.com/

Website http://barbaraedwards.net

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Twitter  https://www.twitter.com/Barb_ed

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Facebook like page

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Nicci Blogisphere Appreciation Day, Book Reviews, Literary

Party! Inside the artist’s mind interview series 3, Mercedes Webb-Pullman, Looking for Kerouac

Welcome to the party! Why a party? Because I feel like celebrating:

  • An enjoyable and thought provoking book
  • the amazing author and
  • YOU, my fellow blogger/bloggees. Like Listening to Kerouac, you have opened up the world to me.

Commenters and “likers” to this post will be entered in a raffle for a copy of Mercedes’ fabulous new book and/or some Mrs. Fields cookies. I’ll leave the raffle open for a few days.

Here’s my review:

Reading Looking for Kerouac lets you take a challenging and interesting journey the easy way. The author’s voice is so engaging that you can read some before bed one night, put the book down (that is, turn off your Kindle or other device), open it the next day and pick up right where you left off, speeding by train through today’s America and via the author’s mind through an America of a different time.

The realism and honesty throughout the book are deeply engaging. You learn a lot about the Beat Poets and the history “goes down easy” interwoven with the author’s vivid portrayal of America and her life, now and then. Looking for Kerouac is a Must Read.

Kerouac 2

Mercedes, congratulations on the publication of your stunning “travelogue, memoir, quest,” LOOKING FOR KEROUAC. Thank you for letting me read an advance copy and for being here today to talk to us. Beautiful cover, by the way!

Looking for Kerouac feels very stream of consciousness in the way the prose flows between present day thoughts and observations, memories of the past and history. Did much of the prose style happen as you were jotting notes while you traveled or did you write notes and then compose the draft to have that effect?

MWP: Thank you for the invitation, Nia, and for helping me by reading and commenting on the advance copy. It is almost exactly two years since I took the trip, and I’ve worked on the book since then, to the extent that I couldn’t see it any more! Your notes helped me with revision, and regaining perspective.

I took notes all the way through my trip, and saved the oddest things; tickets, menus, timetables, hotel bills, the ephemera of travel. When I was ready to start writing I brought these all out, sorted them along with my photos, and sort of recreated the places, went back into them all.

The style of writing is very much a choice – I wanted to emulate Kerouac’s style, using his method of ‘spontaneous prose’.

NS: There is so much detail I marvel at how you collected it all. Did you use a voice recorder or pad and pen?

MWP: I took notes, notebook and pen. I could have taken film with my iPad but just took still shots. When I started writing though, the scenes in my memory came back to life prompted by the pictures and the collection of ephemera.

NS: I also marvel at and learn so much from your honesty. Sometimes I want to write something true and when I read this work it has that feel of truth to it. But there is no one Truth; everything is filtered. Can you comment on the travelogue as memoir technique, using travel as a filter on your own memories and also on using Kerouac’s On the Road as a template?

MWP: Veracity is very important in my writing – but as you note, there is no one Truth. In the end all I can do is call it as I see it! I think Travelogue is a wonderful vehicle for memoir – have thought so since I first read Paul Theroux’s books. Maybe I tried to accomplish too much with Kerouac, weaving his story in with my past and present, so we all floated together in book time. I just know that’s the way the story wanted to be told.

NS: I don’t think you tried to accomplish too much, Mercedes, because you really pulled it off. The way you wove the story threads completely worked and was marvelously seamless and intriguing. In fact, it’s difficult to make one’s own travelogue interesting to others, because a chronological sequence of events can read like a phone book. What you did is the most interesting one I’ve ever read, including Travels with Charley (Steinbeck). I also applaud your veracity and hope one day to dip a toe a bit more deeply in that pool as a writer. Your book caused me to reflect on my own life and thoughts about our society. I found myself in your shoes exploring what my reactions might be and learning from yours.

You mentioned several times that you were no longer interested in having possessions. Can you tell us a bit about what this choice makes available to you?

MWP: I’ve studied Zen Buddhism – or rather, tried to live as an aware person. I acknowledge that attachment and desire cause suffering, and I try to remind myself of this. On a more personal level, I had to leave my home and garden in another country to come back to New Zealand and help care for my mother. Along with this loss I think I have gained in compassion and have learned a little more about the world and my place in it.

NS: Thank you for sharing yet another experience and insight. I agree about learning more compassion and about learning our place in the world. My heart wrenches for you having to leave your home and garden. I can relate to taking care of your mom (a journey in itself) and learning to hold things in life with an open palm instead of a clenched fist. Your sensitivity, wisdom and writing ability allowed me to examine these lessons in a new light and resonated not just with my mind but with my heart. Bravo! And thank you!

Looking for Kerouac is available as a Kindle e-book here: http://amzn.com/B00EU6U26W

You can also find out more about Mercedes on the new blog at Poetry Sans Frontieres. Here’s the direct link to Mercedes’ guest blogger post.

Thank you, blog readers! Say hello or drop a “like” to be entered in the cookies and book raffle.

Nicci Book Reviews, Poetry, Uncategorized

Giveaway/Inside the Artist’s Mind: interview series 2, John Holland

UTDS Hammer and Anvil (1)

Today’s interview is with author/poet, John Holland, whose latest book, Under the Dog Star, has hit number one and stayed near the top in Amazon Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Australia & Oceania. If you don’t win one of the five freebies I’m giving away today (or even if you do win and want to give copies away as gifts), you can buy it here:

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00E64XY2M

Autographed print copies:  http://poetrysansfrontieres.weebly.com/online-store.html

Welcome, John, and thanks for being interviewed for my Inside the Artist’s Mind series. Note to the audience: I’m giving away 5 copies of John’s new book of poetry today, to a random selection of anyone who leaves a comment or emails me by going to my website (niasimone.intuitwebsites.com) and clicking the “Email me” button. (I don’t post my email addy here in case of spam.)

Nia: John, you are another of what I call the “open spigot writers,” meaning your writing seems to flow out of you. You are a very prolific poet and I happen to know you are also working on a novel. Let’s start with the poetry. Can you tell us a little about your writing process?

John Holland: I find my methods difficult to explain.  In some cases I start with a line and just write whatever comes into my head as quickly as possible.  A brief revise, mainly line breaks.  Then leave it at that.

At other times I might spend a lot of time writing and revising a short poem.

Nia: Your new book, Under the Dog Star, has a mix of styles in it, something of a range between spare bites and stream of consciousness and shades in between. Another Helen struck me as an in-between one because it has a dream-like quality to it even as it alludes to the classic Helen of Troy story. (“day slides/slipping away/from under me…” Holland, John (2013-07-25). Under the Dog Star (Kindle Locations 113-114). Hammer & Anvil Books. Kindle Edition.) Can you tell us about your process in writing that poem?

John: Another Helen was written as “a stream of consciousness” poem.  Or more correctly, my version of that.  Almost automatic writing. I did have something in mind when I wrote Another Helen.  But still allowed it to flow with the “stream”.

Nia: On the further end of the spectrum, Wheels Within seemed very stream of consciousness. How did that come about?

John: Wheels came out of thin air.  Another Helen was written with a purpose in mind.

Nia: I can relate to different modes of writing. I’ve had similar experiences. Although I didn’t get anywhere near Wheels Within or Another Helen, I had those kinds of experiences in the spring when I was writing so much poetry. I love that kind of writing. And dream-inspired writing, even prose, is my best. But you can’t really decide to write that way, can you?

John: I can.  At least to a degree.  But it is probably not a good thing for most poets. The work does come out a bit disjointed and “jiggly” as your mind quickly reacts to the preceding line.  Of course you can revise when you are finished.  But I think any more than minimal revision destroys the whole purpose of the exercise.

Nia: I agree, don’t overdo the revisions. There’s a fluidity to the auto-writing that is powerful and beautiful. Thank you for sharing a bit about your poetry writing process. Now, you are also working on a novel and I’ve seen bits of it. Okay… for readers who’ve made it this far, you’re the first to know… John and I are co-authoring a series of novels. So, I’ve seen quite a bit of your writing and it interests me because we are opposite types of writers in many ways. I like to think through and do a lot of planning on plot. I tell you what I have up my sleeve and you’ll say, “That sounds good.” Then I don’t hear anything. Then you tell me you have a little time to write today. Then I get 2,000 fantastic words from you, with likeable characters, vivid scenery, realistic and individual dialog, all aligned with the big picture of the plot. Do you do the same thing as you did with Another Helen? Have an idea of what is needed (from the plot) then let it pour out of you?

John: Yes and no.  I do write fairly quickly while the thoughts are fresh in my mind, but I take a lot more time to revise.  With poetry you can leave more unsaid and allow the reader to put flesh on the bare bones.  With prose I try to add that flesh for the reader.

It has been a learning experience for me to work with you on our first novel of the series.  But I think our styles blend together well.

That we are both intensely interested in the metaphysical aspects of our perceived universe is a big plus I think.

Nia: Way to slip in a sneak preview of the theme, there, John! Writing with you has been a learning experience for me, as well, and a lot of fun. I can’t wait to finish telling this long saga with you and sharing a bit of our totally different backgrounds, Australian Outback and California Sierra Nevada, through the vehicle of this story.

Thank you for sharing a bit from inside your artist’s mind and best of luck with Under the Dog Star.

I’m sure John will answer questions if you would like to post one here and comments are always welcomed. Today they are also rewarded! So, do say hello.

Nicci Book Reviews, Romance, Writing

Inside the Artist’s Mind: interview series 1, Marie Tuhart

I have had the pleasure of getting to know some authors and artists in both my physical and virtual lives.

As someone with a lot of curiosity about such things, I’ve asked these artists about their processes. Today I’m going to start a new series and my first subject is Marie Tuhart, who writes erotic romance.

Marie, thank you for joining me and the readers of this blog today and sharing a bit about your process. I call you and the next author I plan to feature in this series “open spigot writers.”

Marie: Thanks for having me, Nia! Open spigot writer – I never thought of it that way.

Nia: Well, I have, because I’m more of the “Sit at the keyboard until beads of blood form on my forehead” type of writer! And over the years in conversations I’ve had with you I’ve marveled at how you can take a premise and spin out a story. In fact, readers, Marie helped me retool an old suspense story I had into a straight contemporary (with a touch of suspense) and that became my first published story, The Last Straw.

Marie: I used to be like that, Nia. It takes time to cultivate your writer’s mind.

Nia: That’s good news! Actually, I’m having a lot more spigot moments with my work in progress. So that is encouraging.

Marie: Because you know how to put a story together.

Nia: It’s starting to come together for me. My learning process is… somewhat… slow… but that’s okay. I usually eventually get there. But back to you. Do you have a process and if so, how did you develop your process?

Marie: In a way, it helped me not to have published until I was almost ready to retire because it gave me time to learn what really worked for me.

Nia: Where do you get your ideas?

Marie: Oh geeze, I have no clue where I get my ideas. Actually I do know how More Than One Night came about.

Nia: Do tell!

Marie: Basically, I was trying to write for Harlequin Desire and they wanted flirty fun with friends books.

So I thought about what if four girlfriends went out to celebrate a birthday and one of them went off with a handsome stranger for one night. The story just took off from there.

Nia: Wow. You’re kind of a “What if…” author. See, that’s super interesting because I’m not.

Marie: Sometimes. When something comes to me, it’s not always a “what if” question. Like with Theirs Forever, I just thought what fun it would be to have two guys and a gal come back together after seven years. The story came from that thought.  I really don’t think “what if”, my brain supplies it.

Nia: (Note: Theirs Forever is a work in progress. To learn more about Marie’s WIPs, click here.) So a thought comes out of the blue?

Marie: Yes, out of left and right fields, so to speak. Silver Screen Dom was sort of the same way. Michael is a secondary character in Movie Magic and I thought it would be fun to give him his own story. No plot, no what if.

Nia: When do the ideas come to you? While washing dishes, driving, showering?

Marie: Ideas come to me at all different times.

Nia: Do you have some examples?

Marie: Walking, sleeping, just sitting and people watching.  In the doctor’s office, waiting in line. Those are some examples.

Nia: With your work in progress, did you get the idea first, the heroine first or the first scene first?

Marie: Actually the hero was first, then I found a heroine that fit him. The first scene was kind of organic, the hero was supposed to be one way and the heroine the other, but she didn’t like that, so the hero and I let her have her way!

Nia: That’s really interesting. So the characters have free will, a little or a lot!

Marie: Oh yes, my characters act on their own a lot of times.  They tell me what they will and will not do, LOL!

Nia: Do you write up character sheets about them or are they just born and developed in your mind and on the manuscript page?

Marie: It depends.  Sometimes I do character sheets, but at least 75% of the time they’re just born and developed in my mind and in the book. This approach can create a lot of re-writing, but it’s more fun to let the characters reveal themselves.

Nia: Did that change? Like when you started you did more sheets and then you changed to repeat drafting and organic writing?

Marie: Yes, when I first started writing, I did a lot of character sheets, plotting, etc. Now it is more organic, as I learned what works for me as a writer. But the more complicated a book is the more I need to keep track of stuff.

Nia: Thank you, Marie! I have a lot of wonder about the magic behind the book, so thank you for sharing today!

Marie: You’re welcome! It’s hard sometimes to figure out what the creative process actually is. And it’s important to remember there’s no “right” way. Everybody is different. Discovering your own process is a large part of the work.

Nia: Thanks for your closing comment and for all your reassurance and encouragement. B

I’ve also interviewed New York Times Bestselling author Brenda Novak, and although the interview didn’t focus on process, the topic did come up. So if you’d like to check that out, it’s on my Book Reviews page or here’s a direct link: When Summer Comes, Brenda Novak.

Nicci Book Reviews, Literary, Poetry

10 new titles, a Giveaway, and a New publisher’s debut release

HAMMER n ANVIL 1

Hammer & Anvil Books is the new imprint for coloratura fiction and international poetry from the creative team behind Danse Macabre. Comment on this post and be entered to win a book of your choice from this new list!

Nightmares – A Collection of Tales, by J. Eric Castro: author of Rowdies

The Water-Lily Bloom, by J.C. Frampton: a one act play

Quicksand, by Arlene Greene: a debut novel

Phantasizer – Tales of Dread and the Fantastic, by Kyle Hemmings: short stories

Under the Dog Star, by John Holland: author of the #1 bestselling/Kindle regional poetry Dry Bones

La liebre de marzo / The March Hare, by Marosa di Giorgio: newly translated by Kathryn A. Kopple, author of Little Velásquez

A Feather of Fujiyama, by Bozhidar Pangelov, poetry in Bulgarian and English

Into the Blue on New Year’s Eve, by Valerie V. Petrovskiy, flash fiction

Kate Moss & Other Heroines, by Samantha Memi, short fiction with dark humor from a British chef and author

Death of a Lottery Foe (The Harry Krisman Mysteries), by Tom Sheehan, called “…the sort of writer who comes along once in a reader’s lifetime.” by the Midwest Book Review

Nicci Blogger award, Romance

Versatile Blogger Award and new Romance: mine!

You toil for years and years, quietly putting words on the screen, deleting them, putting them on there again… kind of lonely, but it’s your life. Then one day, everything happens at once.

Disappointment was quickly replaced by relief when I learned my first-published story, The Last Straw, wasn’t coming out until November 13th. Ah, I said, leaning back in my chair, linking my fingers in front of me and stretching my back. Plenty of time to figure out some promo ideas. More like pick a few ideas out of a gazillion available in this writer’s sphere that has gone from quiet and lonely to tweetingly, bloggingly, noisily busy.

Well, my publisher (love saying that) just released The Last Straw for a 3 month exclusive on Kindle Direct Publishing! (The book will go out to all retail outlets 11/13.)

What’s that popping sound you hear? Yes, it’s the champagne.

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Not only am I celebrating the release of my book here today, I’m also am celebrating…

A blogger award!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!! The Versatile Blogger!

This beautiful nomination was bestowed upon me by the fabulous Gynji, whose brilliant blog domesticgeekgirl makes me laugh and learn and catch a glimpse of what it’s like to be young (which I no longer really can claim to be), pregnant (which I never could claim to be) and married to a fabulous Navy man (which I usually can only experience through Romance novels)!

versatilebloggernominations

The rules for this award are as follows:

1. Display the Award Certificate on your website/blog

2. Announce your win with a post. Make sure to post a link back to me as a ‘thank you’ for the nomination.

3. Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers

4. Drop them a comment to tip them off after you have linked them in the post

5. Post 7 interesting things about yourself.

7 Interesting Things About Me:

1. I’m collaborating on a novel with another author, a first for me, and I love it. I know a pair of authors who collaborate and always wondered how they did it, why they did it and thought I would never do it. They are an amazing team, though, and now I know why they do it. See #5 below.

2. I left my day job last September, a dream come true.

3. I started writing novels in 2001 and tried to quit many times over the next 12 years.

4. Quitting didn’t stick. I thought I was over it, but I started writing again 3 days after I left my day job. The story that was just published yesterday!

5. I actually loved my day job! I was a project manager and worked with really great people. I was sad to leave, but I’ve found I’ve recreated many things I loved about work: I have a critique group, belong to a couple RWA chapters, and now I even have a writing team for my novel(s). (It’s a series!)

6. I’m not a fast reader because I subvocalize. I think I’m an auditory learner. Or I just really like the sound of words. Both, probably.

7. I forget a lot of stuff but remember a lot of conversations verbatim. 

Now for the best part, getting to acknowledge more hard-working bloggers!

  • gwenniesgarden.com celebrates the joy of gardening and has lots of tips as well as photos from her travels.
  • Want pictures from all over the world? This one’s versatile! toemailer.com
  • Ren X. Kyoko delights and amazes with her funny and fascinating not to mention brilliantly illustrated posts. I cannot stop reading one of her posts, once I start. Can. Not. Stop.
  • You must see beautiful pictures and the beautiful island of Patmos offered by Manos, Flora and Marinos.
  • For a brilliant travel blogger offering a humorous theme and plenty of info, see Traveloops. (Isn’t that a great blog name?)
  • Check out the happy themes and get inspired with challenges here: Ese’s voice.
  • Getsetandgo produces very informative as well as beautiful posts on travel; learn how she gets in and out of exotic places on a budget.
  • I appreciate lachlancathy.com for great photos and for telling about his experience of living with a chronic illness. His blog is down-to-earth and inspiring.
  • This blog lives up to it’s beautiful name: thehourofsoftlight.
  • Scott at scott2608 has gorgeous photos of a variety of subjects.
  • ronscubadiver offers amazing photos from all over the world on his well-organized blog. That link will take you to Haleakala, for example.
  • Just about everything you need to know about traveling to Costa Rica is available from this team: costaricatravelblog.
  • Trinity is a wonderful and versatile artist who I bet will inspire you as much as she does me: creativetrinity.wordpress.com.
  • There are so many ideas and recipes to enjoy and keep you healthy at Moveeatcreate, and some fun ones like the second link provided here for whiskey sours.
  • And now for something completely different: The Leadership Freak. If you work on teams even if you’re not a project manager, I highly recommend his blog. Every post is brilliant.
Nicci Book Reviews, Romance

Book review, Forbidden, Jacquelyn Frank

Forbidden was highly recommended by a reader in my romance reading group and it was a good tip.  This is a very good paranormal romance. Jacqueline Frank weaves a wonderful tale around not two but four souls in two bodies. The blended souls really work. She develops the characters of each soul well enough to make them distinct and then shows different combinations interacting in adventurous, romantic and occasionally humorous situations. A great cast of characters and solid world building draw you in while also setting a solid foundation for the Nightwalker series.

No vampires here, rather, a wonderful mix of Egyptian Pharaohs, mythology and a bit of history (delivered with a spoonful of sugar).

And you get two very distinct yet equally alpha males in one immortal, beautiful man… yeah. Like a chocolate sundae without the calories.

There’s a good secondary romance.

The ending is a real punch. Fantastic. And now I have to read the next one.

Nicci Book Reviews, Romance

A really good romance! Book review, A Real Cowboy, Sarah M. Anderson

This book is a Harlequin Desire. I found it when I was looking for examples of covers to send in with my Cover Sheets. (For a post about my final cover, see The cover is here!) I liked the cover (can we just pull the tongue back into the mouth, Nia?) and the blurb intrigued me. See? Covers and blurbs do help sell books in this crazy, wonderful market, with so many fabulous books to choose from. (From which to choose, I know, I know, but who really talks that way?)

In A Real Cowboy, the hero is wonderful and so is the heroine. The writing is superb. The book pulls the heart strings. The most difficult part for me was knowing the Big Black Moment, as we call it in romance writing, was going to come. It always does. And when it did, Ms. Anderson handled it brilliantly. Every step of the story is well motivated. When the characters make mistakes, I understand why.

The setting is fabulous. The blizzard is so realistic and interesting. Quite different from the blizzards we get at Lake Tahoe, which is where I’m from.  (From where I come? Yeah, right. Please forgive me, I do know grammar and choose to ignore it sometimes.)

You can get it here: http://www.amazon.com/A-Real-Cowboy-Harlequin-Desire/dp/0373732244

Enjoy!

Nicci Book Reviews, Nonfiction

Progress report, New Rules of Lifting for Women, Lou Schuler

6/28/13 update to readers: I had an injury to my forearm, not long after this. Not from the program though! From lifting a heavy dumbbell out of an awkward position in the garage. I am now a member of the YMCA! Much safer… the equipment is all laid out neatly so you can square yourself before lifting it out of the rack. Also, the barbell rack makes a huge difference for safely getting the barbell onto your back  once the weights start getting big for things like squats and step-ups. I rested a few weeks and then started over with Stage 1. There is no rush. Life is long.

Starting Stage 3:

Barbell bent-over row
Barbell bent-over row
Dumbbell single-arm overhead squat close u
Dumbbell single-arm overhead squat
These are too heavy
These are too heavy
Dumbbell incline bench press
Dumbbell incline bench press
Plank 1
Plank
Plank 2
Plank, continued. Will this ever end?

Link to first two book reviews:

Lou Schuler, New Rules of Lifting for Women and
5 Reasons I Love Men: Book Review of The New Rules of Lifting for Women, by Lou Schuler