Ignore This Blog Chain At Your Own Risk...Bwahahahaha!

Not another blog chain!!!! Gasp! It’s been a while and I had a “feeling” that I should do this one…not that Belinda Frisch was threatening that I would be cursed for eternity if I didn’t participate, but still, when I get the “feeling” I try not to ignore it. Here it is, a riveting interview with moi ;-) In turn I have tagged J Thorn,  Krista Walsh and Ella Grey…gentleman and ladies, if you do not continue this chain you will be cursed to an eternity of….hehe just kidding…kind of ;-)

What are you working on right now?

Haha….what am I NOT working on would be the better question ;-) I’ve got edits underway on a werewolf novella, another one started, ideas for a full length novel rolling around in my head too. These sexy men will not leave me alone…not that I’m complaining.

How does it differ from other works in its genre?

If I told you that I’d have to kill you ;-) I’ve developed a mythology that is different from what’s out there…hopefully I’ll be able to share more in a few weeks but for now all you need to know is that it revolves around a group of mouth-watering rock stars who also happen to be kick ass werewolves.

What experiences have influenced you?

The three Rs: Rejection, Rewrites, and Reading.

Rejection and Rewrites belong in the same category as far as I’m concerned, both have broken me down more than once, shattered my confidence, quite a lot at the beginning (which seems like an eternity ago)…it’s helped me to develop a thick skin, see the flaws in my writing, improve, grow, become better and toughen up…there are still vulnerable parts of me but ultimately I’ve learned what I can bounce back from which has been a huge influence on my drive.

Reading…well, you know, if you don’t read, you shouldn’t write. I stray from my genre here and there but for the most part I’m immersed in what I love, paranormal erotic romance.

Why do you write what you do?

I’ve always been drawn to supernatural stuff, ever since I was a little kid. I discovered Anne Rice’s vampire series when I was quite young and haven’t looked back since. The erotic romance came gradually…something that I really enjoyed reading and then started experimenting with in my writing. Turns out that I really enjoy writing it too…go figure.

How does your writing process work?

Usually with a what if that then spawns a scene, which plays out in my head like a movie. That’s how it always begins. Then I spend some time plotting out a basic story in point form (this will always change by the time I start writing full out, but I need to have some sense of where I’m going with things.) When I’m writing, I write to quota: 10K a week at least. Once the first draft is done I do a quick preliminary edit then let it sit for a while before the hard core editing begins.

What is the hardest part about writing?

Chasing that dream: some days it can seem further away than others.

Fighting the envy: reading something you think you can write better. Being happy for those around you who are achieving their dreams.

Quitting: Even if I wanted to, staying away from writing would be impossible. 

Who are the authors you most admire?

I could list a bunch of names here and I have in previous posts but I think this time around I’m going to say the writer’s who I speak to on a daily basis. The ones, like me, who are working in the trenches, at the grass roots,

fighting to pull ahead in some way. These folks are the ones who are always, always ready to bolster you when you’re down and keep you fighting when you feel like curling up in a ball and dying.

What would you like to try as a writer that you haven't yet?

Possibly horror, I’ve got some ideas that I think would make some great horror stories but haven’t read enough in that genre to give it a go yet.

Who are new authors to watch out for?

Seleste DeLaney

Pj Schnyder

What scares you?

Failure. 

Ad Astra Take Two.....

Sword Play....the weird r-rated version.

So, last week I told you all about my experience at Ad Astra and the unfortunate confusion over the Weapons Check panel... well, that wasn't the only funny incident that happened...oh no, not by a long shot. There was also the Sword Play panel...to which one of my non-writing friends said, "that sounds like a bad porn title" and it kinda was...

We got there a little late and the place was packed...standing room only...luckily some of our quick thinking friends had snagged us a few seats near the front. We sat, we listened, we tried to keep our eyes on the front...I mean, it was interesting stuff... about swords through history...with no props, pictures or illustrations of any sort...just two guys, talking (excitedly) about swords. (I think we've established that this may not have been the best convention to go to with expectations for learning more about the "craft" of writing). And then, just when my friend Tammy started glancing back at me, giving me the "lets get outta here look" the two sword-a-philes got up, walked to the front of the table and proceeded to "demonstrate" sword manoeuvres...with imaginary swords. It was fascinating, for all the wrong reasons, especially when one of the girls pointed out the extremely well packed “equipment” of the one presenter. Sword play indeed. I contemplated asking for some pointers on stance and thrusting...but then figured going to lunch would be safer ;-)

Yet another humorous incident at my first ever convention, not sure it will ever be topped...especially considering the stuff I'm not telling you all ;-)

Weapons Check

Check, check...is this thing on????

So, I recently attended my very first convention, Ad Astra, which took place in Markham, Ontario last weekend. I was pretty excited from the start. Not only was I meeting up with the amazing Kelley Armstrong but I had several writing pals attending, some of whom I'd never meet in real life. It was loads of fun and I learned quite a bit, some of it a little disheartening but all of it valuable. I had a few pretty funny mishaps as well...one of which was attending the Weapons Check panel.

The Weapons Check panel...sounds interesting right? For those of you who are writers, sounds promising...a chance to talk weapons...view weapons...perhaps touch weapons? Um...yeah....

So a gaggle of us writer ladies parade into this little seminar room, all coming off of a Kelley Armstrong induced high, giddy, excited, looking forward to a night of learning. We take a seat near the front (don't want to look to keen) and watch as our panel host begins to unload some weapons...a bow, a musket...a plastic looking futuristic gun of some sort....that was the first hint that I might be in the wrong place. Toy weapons? Really?

Once all the weapons were on display, our host looks up and says, "Wow, I wasn't expecting so many people to attend! This is great! It's only going to take about five minutes to go through the information and then I can start checking weapons." Or something like that....which was my second hint. Checking weapons? You mean literally?

"That's why I'm here!" Says the guy in the front row, fake parrot attacked to his left shoulder as he lifts his homemade, gigantic, anvil like weapon on a pole.

And that was when I knew...we had stumbled into a realm that none of us was prepared for...this Weapons Check panel was for folks who were dressing in character, folks who had fake weapons as part of their costumes and needed to make sure they met regulations. In other words, not us.

It was funny...awkward but funny. We figured out a way to get the heck outta there quick, ignoring the pleas of the host to "just stay" "we can talk weapons", feeling like we narrowly escaped an hour of painful weirdness.

We laughed our way downstairs not knowing that while we were running away, at that exact moment, 14 floors up, all of the mega authors were holding a meet and greet, an event that we sadly missed out on because we'd been too fixated on the idea of a tactile experience with weapons.

So, lesson learned...when attending cons, take the titles literally cause a Weapons Check might just mean you'd better have your light sabre or photo torpedo or whatever.

Guest Interview: Author Anne Michaud

Once again, I've got my good friend, Anne Michaud on my blog with an interview and a contest! 

1) The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Give me a quick run down of what’s happening in your writing world these days.

Well, I've been hard at work on my sequel, Girls & Aliens, and I'm outlining the next installment, Girls & Ghosts. There's this French novella about Hiroshima that needs editing and a screenplay idea floating around in my brain. Oh, and did I mention my next YA novel, Killer Girl? Yep, I'm busy all right.

2)  What kind of writer are you? Do you plot your stories out? Do you have a particular routine? What does your writing “day” look like?

I outline everything that comes up as the story gestates, then write accordingly.  I often stray, but then I readjust the outline, to not get stuck. My routine is write as I wake up, eat, walk the dog, write, eat, write, read, go to bed. My life is so glamorous, I fear people will get jealous.

3) How long have you been writing for?

Full-time, since my Master's in screenwriting eight years ago. It never stopped since, it comes out in short stories, novellas,  novels, scripts. It just won't leave me alone. Seriously, is there a drug for it to stop? Help!

4) What’s your opinion on agents? Traditional Publishing? Self publishing? Etc.

I used to dream of traditional publishing and agents, but recently, I'm not so sure. I want to make a living out of this writing bug, and from what I'm reading on the internets, it doesn't happen as much as it used to with trad pub. I'm adjusting, I'm not locking doors, I really want to see my work in hardback at Indigo, but if it doesn't happen, no one's gonna die.

5) Where do you think we’re going in this crazy publishing world?

Exactly where we are: some will buy indie, some will buy trad, some a mix of both. I refuse to believe paper books will vanish, and I'm fed up of readers snubbing indie from bad experiences. Like everyone else, I want to read good books, and hardbacks aren't immune to suckiness, just as indie isn't either.

6) What is the best way to sell books?  To get your name out there?

If I only knew. I'm guessing good reviews get word of mouth, then some sort of blog tour to reach potential readers, and if luck is involved, it'll work. If not, all that hard work for nothing – until the next book comes out and it starts all over again!

7)  What are your goals for the future? Where do you want your writing to take you?

I want to learn a living from my writing, which means after I finish my transcription contracts at 4 in the afternoon, I go to my WiP and write until my brain bleeds. On free weekends, I write some more. I've read over and over again how indie writers can actually reach their goals by productively releasing more than one book in a year, so that's what I'm trying to to.

8)  If you could get inside the head of one writer (living or dead) for an hour, who would it be and why?

Neil Gaiman, because his world is beautiful and frightening, and I wish so much to be part of it. Not in a creepy fangirl way, more like a character he shapes into someone dark and demure. Oh yes, me loves the dark.

Anne is not only a talented writer but she also makes these super cute skeletons...here's your chance to win some! 

Contest Info

Author Bio

She who likes dark things never grew up. She never stopped listening to gothic, industrial and alternative bands like when she was fifteen. She always loved to read horror and dystopia and fantasy, where doom and gloom drip from the pages.

She, who was supposed to make films, decided to write short stories, novelettes and novels instead. She, who’s had her films listed on festival programs, has been printed in a dozen anthologies and magazines since.

She who likes dark things prefers night to day, rain to sun, and reading to anything else.

She blogs http://annecmichaud.wordpress.com

She tweets @annecmichaud

LIVE CHAT on APRIL 30^th 9PM east http://www.darkfuse.com/events.html

The Secret

Shhhhhhhhhh

Isn't much of a secret really. I mean, I've understood the idea of “The Secret” for some time...think I watched a show on Oprah about it or something. In case you haven't heard of "The Secret", it's something along the lines of visualizing one's goals to the extent that you believe it will happen. The power of faith. Believing in yourself. Whatever.

I'm not a very spiritual person, neither is my husband. In fact, he makes fun of me whenever I talk about astrology or “nonsense” like that cause it’s all superstition as far as he’s concerned.  We were talking one afternoon about my writing goals and some decisions that were pending...decisions that were out of my control. I said something negative (which is typically the way I roll when talking about myself) and he surprised me by saying that I needed to believe in my goals if I wanted them to happen and that speaking negatively about it went against the principles of “The Secret”. I think my mouth actually dropped open and I thought about checking his forehead for fever. The Secret? Really? That's bordering on spiritual in many ways. The power of faith? Restricted territory in our world.

He went on to say that he'd been watching a documentary about “The Secret” and although he couldn't finish watching it cause it got too preachy and boring (this is when I knew he was still the same level headed man I married) he did find it intriguing that the idea of believing in your goals could have such power. When I tried to argue about track record he said, "you can't base what's going to happen in the future on what has happened in the past, not when you're talking about things that are out of your control". Hmmmmmmmm....now, that made sense to me, it really gave me something to think about. Nothing that has happened in my past could impact the decision that was coming, at least not luck or superstition or anything like that..

So, that night, while reading in bed, I started thinking about what he said. I closed the paperback I was holding and looked at the cover. Of course it was the genre I write and it just so happened that the author’s last name name starts with a capital A...so you know what I did? I covered all the other letters in that author's name except for the A, and then I envisioned myself holding my own book, tracing that embossed A over and over again. It felt good. It felt powerful. So that’s my secret. ;-)

It will happen. I will hold my own book in my hand. One day.

Guest Post Cover Reveal!

My good friend and gothsis, Anne Michaud has a book coming out very soon. I invited her on my blog for her cover reveal and to give you all a little taste of what is to come! 

Death Song Excerpt

Something catches in the back of my throat. I

hide my face in my hands to quiet the sobs. But then,

something ain’t right. Air moves around me and I

stop. I look between my fingers, but the blur of my

tears thickens everything: the bathtub, the towels,

and someone on the floor.

A woman’s in here with me, door still closed and

locked. An exhale, like after a deep swim, and a smell,

like the swamp close to my empty home. A chill runs

down my back, I wipe my eyes, rub and scratch them

to see more clearly. And I do.

Two gray hands scratch the floor tiles, nails green

with algae, putrid flesh sagging on her legs, arms

and torso, hair so long and wet and heavy, it drags

her down. Diluted, impossible to focus on, like little

waves rippling over her body from head to foot, seaweed

in the water. Scales and fins, mermaidlike, little

knives, those are. And they scrape the floor, like a

fork on a plate. It’s her—Limnade.

She opens her mouth of scissor-teeth and the rotten

smell of fish wraps around my throat like two

hands trying to choke me.

“You can’t be…” I don’t finish my breathless

thought and jump backward, knocking over the dish

of decorative soaps. Blurry waves, vision impaired,

out of focus, unreal. She crawls toward me, eyes unblinking,

lethal, hands inches from me: my legs refuse

to move, as my body feels like stone. Frozen,

hypnotized, a statue. Then I hear something coming

from within her…

A melody, reminding me of something lost, tickles

my ears. It drags on until the sweetness turns sickly,

vibrating into a full-on super-scream, hyenalike,

enough to pop my ears and make them bleed. Her

large mouth deforms her face into one gap of black,

the cry so high and strident, I scream from the pain.

Limnade stares at me, everything but her fades

away—Jo’s nice bathroom, Jo’s new life, Jo himself—

none of it matters anymore. Her fingers brush my

forehead, they’re cold and sticky like clams. And I let

the darkness take me away.

Goodreads

She who likes dark things never grew up. She never stopped listening to gothic, industrial and alternative bands like when she was fifteen. She always loved to read horror and dystopia and fantasy, where doom and gloom drip from the pages.

She, who was supposed to make films, decided to write short stories, novelettes and novels instead. She, who’s had her films listed on festival programs, has been printed in a dozen anthologies and magazines since.

She who likes dark things prefers night to day, rain to sun, and reading to anything else.

She Blogs

She tweets @annecmichaud

Finding Cupid's Arrows Blog Hop

So Valentine’s Day…ugh…not a holiday I particularly cherish. It’s too pink for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love the chocolate that typically comes with the day but all that lovely dovey stuff gets a little noxious and seems so…put on?

To me, romance doesn’t just happen one day of the year, and even though I write erotic romance where everything is hot, heavy and all tied up into a neat little bow by the end, real life and real love isn’t always pink.

As I’ve mentioned in past posts, I’m not the most romantic of folks. I don’t ewwww and awww over flowers (actually, I hate getting flowers) and jewelry.  I don’t like the gushy bad poetry that flies around all over the place. I’m not into teddy bears or other cutie things. If my husband ever posted a sappy love note to me on FB I would barf and then kill him. I understand that some women love that kinda thing but that’s not what romance is to me.

Recently, my hubs and I were having a conversation about a situation at work that I was dealing with. I was very upset that I wasn’t getting support about a really important issue. 

Me: “I just don’t understand why they won’t stand up and fight along side me. It’s important for us all to stand strong.”

Hubs: “Because they are all cowards, Angie. And you, are not.”

I swear, those words actually had me tearing up a bit, (I didn’t let on of course cause I’m a tough lady) but his support, at that moment, was exactly what I needed to hear and those words were the epitome of romantic to me. He gets me. That’s better than bad poetry, ugly roses, expensive jewelry, maybe even chocolate (gasp) and corny posts on my FB timeline.

So there you go, another anti-romance, romance post.

In the name of anti-romance, romance, I’m giving away a copy of my Cupid’s Conquest novella, Going the Distance. All you have to do is leave a comment and your email to be entered to win. I’ll randomly draw the winner next week.

Then you need to hop on over to the next stop on our….BLOG HOP for a chance to win more amazing prizes, including the BIG prize, a beautiful, Cupid inspired Arrow necklace and a $25 GC for Evernight Publishing!

Enter here for a chance to win the necklace and GC!

a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

Evernight Publishing All of the Cupid's Conquests titles are all sale this week too!