Monthly Archives: December 2012
The Next Big Thing
Mary J. McCoy Dressel (http://mjdresselbooks.wordpress.com/2012/12/19/the-next-big-thing/) tagged me in this award thing called The Next Big Thing. I’m not really sure what it is or if I’m even doing this right, but here’s my post. I was asked to answer these 10 questions.
1) What is the working title of your novel?
A: Well, I just published Love Claus, and now I am working on Romantic Death.
2) Where did the idea for the novel come from?
A: I wanted to highlight the beautiful part of death. So many things can come when you least expect them and that’s what these stories are about.
3) What genre does your novel fall under?
A: Romance
4) Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
A: Now, this is the one that tripped me up. Since there are four different short stories in this book, that is a lot of actors to choose.
In story #1: His Brother’s Widow, I would choose Ashley Tisdale to play Annie Belladona and I would choose Bradley Cooper for Greg Markham.
In story #2: Bedhead of Roses, I would choose Anne Hathaway for Abagail Woods and I would choose Tom Cruise for Richard Carson. I’m not a huge fan of Tom Cruise, but for this role he would be perfect and if I had to watch him in any role it would be a romantic one lol
As for story #3: Conflict of Attraction and story #4: In the Eyes of the Lord, I can’t pick actors and actresses yet, because I haven’t written them yet… I will update this when I do.
5) What is the one sentence synopsis of your novel?
A: From death comes great love.
6) Will your novel be self-published or represented by an agency?
A: Self of course
7) How long did it take to write the first draft of your manuscript?
A: Still working on it, but since I hope it to be done by April, it will be about six months that I will have been working on it.
8) What other novels would you compare this book to within your genre?
A: I don’t know that any other books are similar to this one, but if I had to choose it would be First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones
9) Who or what inspired you to write this novel?
A: A lot of loved ones have been lost lately- either for me or friends or just people around the world- and I wanted to show that life can go on after death
10) What else about your novel might pique the reader’s interest?
A: Each story shows what could happen after death, either actual death, close death, death of a loved one, etc. Each story is unique and each character will capture your heart.
I guess that’s my best attempt. Hope I did this right.
I tag and nominate:
Mila A. Ballentine
Anya Kelleye
Jacqueline Driggers
and
Trudy Powders
Interview of Author Lindsay Avalon
Lindsay Avalon is the writer of the new book, Breaking the Nexus.
Throughout history, myths and legends of extraordinary creatures have been told and retold. Fantastic tales of demons and banshees, gryphons and dragons, and of course, magic. Stories that every child grows to learn are nothing more than fantasy…or are they?
Beyond the world you see lies a hidden realm, the Mythrian Realm, inhabited by all of the creatures you’ve been told are mere fiction. Only one thing lies between humans and the truth: the Nexus. A magical barrier erected millennia ago to separate the two realms, it has stood the test of time. Until now.
For Mythrian Sha Phoenix, magic is nothing new. But when she stumbles upon a portal on the verge of collapse, her fate will forever change. Pulled through the portal into the Human Realm, she lands in the middle of Detective Connor Flynn’s brutal murder scene. Soon it is obvious someone is using blood magic to try to bring down the Nexus. Together, Connor and Sha must work to unravel the secrets before the barrier falls and the realms collide.
The Nexus is breaking and all hell is about to unleash…literally.
She describes herself as,
“I am a wife, a programmer, and now an author. I have an adorable mini Schnauzer and more books than I have room for. I love reading romance because no matter what may be happening in my life, I can always count on my books to end happily ever after. The day I met my husband was the day I truly began believing in happily ever after. After hearing me complain a few too many times that I had “nothing” to read despite the hundreds of paperbacks scattered around the house, my husband began suggesting I write my own stories. When I finally took his advice I discovered that although I enjoy my day job as a software engineer, my true calling is to be an author.
My sister drilled into me an appreciation for fantasy and mythology, something I try to bring to my books. My debut novel, Breaking the Nexus started as a book written for NaNoWriMo and has grown to so much more. It was the conduit that introduced me to a fantastic group of independent authors who have changed my life in unimaginable ways.
When I’m not writing, I’ve found a passion for blogging and interviewing fellow authors. I also love reading (of course!), baking, crochet, sewing sock monkeys, playing video games, and all sorts of random crafts. I have an incurable love of rubber duckies and stuffed animals, and I believe nobody should have to grow up if they don’t want.”
She is very talented and a great person to chat with. I had such an opportunity to chat with her recently and I decided that instead of focusing too much on her writing, I was going to grill her for more personal information… This was what she gave me lol
1. When did you start writing and why?
L.A- I started writing poetry and such when I was in junior high and high school, but I used to swear that I hated to write anything long. I’ve always loved reading, especially paranormal romance, and every time I’d complain to my husband that I had nothing to read (this while being surrounded by a couple of hundred paperbacks scattered around the house), he’d reply that I should write my own stories. When my sister began pestering me to join her for NaNoWriMo in 2010, I caved. My first attempt was an abysmal failure, a pure fantasy story that I lost motivation to finish halfway through, and I almost gave up until my brilliant husband pointed out that I should write what I know. In 2011, I wrote a paranormal romance and fell in love with it. Finally I had an outlet for the stories and daydreams swirling around in my brain.
Me- I recently had my first shot at NaNoWriMo as well and also failed miserably, but now I am writing Love Claus- a 25,000 word book in only about a month. Wish me luck!
L.A- Good luck!
2. What moment in your life do you consider the point in life when you found the real you?
L.A- Probably the day I realized how much I love to write paranormal romance and how much I loved the whole process of trying to promote myself and meeting other indie writers. This is what I want to do with the rest of my life, instead of being a programmer.
3. Where’d you get the idea for Breaking the Nexus?
L.A- My sister drilled into my head a love of fantasy and mythology that has influenced my daydreams. In addition, I’ve always wished magic were real and I wanted to come up with a way that would explain paranormal reports like sightings of fairies or leprechauns, while still explaining why only a few people ever see these creatures. From there the ideas just started pouring out.
Me- Speaking of magic, what are your thoughts on some of the tales of Ireland?
L.A- I ADORE the tales out of Ireland. I’m a bit obsessed with all things Irish, in particular their legends and mythology. Something about it just speaks to me. One of the first creatures my hero encounters in Breaking the Nexus is the banshee. My husband has promised to one day take me to Ireland so I can see the castles up close, and part of me hopes I may even see a leprechaun or fairy 🙂
Me- I’ll admit, I’m a bit obsessed with all things Irish as well. Ireland calls out to me. *Sigh*
4. Is there a single source of inspiration? Example: A favorite author, etc.
L.A- I draw my inspiration from so many sources including legends/fairy tales/mythology, songs, other books, my fellow authors. It’s hard to really pin down a single source.
Me- What is your favorite mythology? Greek?
L.A- Greek and Roman are what I’m most familiar with because my sister was a Latin freak and loved the classics. Her major in college was either the Classics or Latin, can’t remember which, but for a while she was a Latin teacher lol. Anyway, she’s the one who first taught me the various myths and legends. I’m not sure if I have a particular favorite one, though. I’m drawn to any stories of fantastical creatures and magic but I guess I’m a bit more partial to the classical mythology and Irish mythologies.
Me- No wonder we are so drawn to each other 🙂 We have a lot more in common than we knew!
5. If you had to choose a dream career, other than writing, what would it be and why?
L.A- My day job is as a computer programmer and I do love writing code, so I suppose it would be to continue in my current career if for some reason I couldn’t be a writer.
6. Since it’s the Christmas season, tell us your favorite Christmas memory, real or fictional, and why it’s your favorite.
L.A- The first year my husband and I lived together in our current house, I was still feeling homesick from moving away from my family. I’m a procrastinator and lazy so I hadn’t put the tree up. It was a family tradition in my parents’ house to put it up after Thanksgiving and I remember being so sad when it was a couple of days before Christmas and we were getting ready to go visit family and I realized it was too late to bother putting up the tree. I wanted to burst into tears but tried to rationalize it by telling myself it didn’t matter that much. When I went to bed, my husband (then fiancé) stayed up after I did which wasn’t unusual. I woke up to the sound of something hitting the floor, so I got out of bed to investigate. When I looked in the living room, I saw him putting up our little Christmas tree for me so I’d see it when I woke up. He didn’t put the ornaments on so we could do it together after I woke up. We ended up leaving the tree up until February I think lol. It was just so sweet that he did that because he knew how much it meant to me.
Me- That is so sweet! I think every woman in a 100 block radius just sighed and swooned over your husband. Hold on to him!
7. If you could be best friends with one of the Looney Tunes, which one would you pick? Original or more current ones (I.E Lola Bunny) are both acceptable.
L.A- I think I’d like to be best friends with Taz. He’s so insane and always on the move, just like I am 🙂
Me- Haha, we won’t go in to further detail there 😉
8. What nickname that men use drives you crazy (in an annoying way) and why?
L.A- I can’t stand names like “sweet cheeks” or “honey bear” or weird overly-cutesy names like that. “Sweetie” or “honey” are ok, but some of the things people come up with are just bizarre.
9. Same question, but in a good way.
L.A- My husband calls me “angel” and I love that. Otherwise, I’ve always been partial to “baby” or “sweetheart”
Me- That fits in with the whole Christmas story 🙂 Is that when he first started calling you Angel or is it just a coincidence?
L.A- Haha it does, doesn’t it? He actually started calling me his angel when we were in college. It’s one of a couple of nicknames for me 
He also calls me baby duck (I have a mild obsession with rubber duckies) and baby angel. We’ve been together for over 8 years now and married for one!
Me- Congratulations!
10. Describe for us your favorite food without mentioning what it actually is.
I have so many favorite foods, it’s hard to pick one lol. Umm, rich, decadent, moist, chocolatey, creamy, layered, slight coffee flavor. That’s my best shot haha.
Me- That was very good. I’m hungry now…
Bonus Questions
1. Favorite vacation spot?
L.A- Disney World!
2. Favorite subject in school?
L.A- Math or Spanish
3. 3-D movies or regular?
L.A- Regular, really don’t get the 3-D hype.
Me- Me either!
4. Twilight or Pirates of the Caribbean?
L.A- Pirates of the Caribbean all the way!
Me- *giggles*, I do like me some Captain Jack Sparrow, but I’m partial to Twilight myself… Though, not for the vampires 😉
I had a great time and it was a great pleasure to interview Lindsay. For more information about her or her books, feel free to visit these pages.
https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/lindsay.avalon.7?fref=ts
Blog Tour and Release Day Party Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/events/174143076057719/
Description of Blog Tour:
Welcome to the official release tour for Breaking the Nexus by Lindsay Avalon! This action-packed paranormal romance will be released on 12/12/12 on Amazon in ebook and print!! To celebrate, Lindsay will holding giveaways throughout the month and a release day party filled with games and plenty of prizes!
The blog tour runs from Dec 1-31 and there are over 40 blogs participating! Join her on each stop as she shares exclusive snippets from the book, answers interview questions, or guest posts, and leave a comment to enter for your chance to win prizes! Don’t forget to enter the rafflecopter grand prize giveaway while you’re at it! Prizes include Breaking the Nexus swag, ebooks, custom jewelry, and more!
For a complete list of blogs participating, dates of special giveaways, the grand prize rafflecopter, and a list of the amazing authors generously donating books and swag, check out the special page on Lindsay Avalon’s blog: http://lindsayavalon.blogspot.com/p/breaking-nexus-blog-tour.html
Distractions
9 out of 10 people are playing Words With Friends right now. Am I right? Whether it be on your phone, Nook, or computer the world is addicted to this game. But, that isn’t the point of this post. This post is about distractions. There are too many of them out there in the world for any of us to get anything done! Facebook, games, cell phones, television, and even society. The list goes on and on, but the point I am trying to make is this… would life be easier if we didn’t have so many distractions?
Personally, I feel that distractions are essential to everyday life. Without distractions like Facebook, we’d all go mad. A lot of our elders will say something like “well, when we were young we didn’t have Facebook, TV, or cell phones and we did just fine.” That’s true, they did do just fine, because they made do with what they did have. Technology wasn’t a big part of their lives then, but for us in the younger generation, we’ve always had it. But, I’m getting off topic again. The point is, our brains are wired to want technology and the TV shows we watch like rituals (I think I’d die without my Castle). It all gives us a break from the stresses of everyday life and helps us to forget about our responsibilities, even if just for a few minutes.
So, what am I trying to say here? Well, I say embrace technology and the distractions in life, because if you don’t we may all become stress induced zombies walking around talking about spreadsheets and homework assignments.
Have a happy few weeks at the end of your semesters you crazy college kids and remember, the stress can wait long enough to play that 60 point word against a friend and feel good about yourself. Even stress needs a break!
CSI- Creative Scene Investigations 