ChrisChat Talks Creativity

Creativity for the New Year

2012-01-08T22:38:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year.

So, what's new on the creativity list? Does blog/website designing and revamping count? I'm still working on the review site's website (truthfully, I kinda of forgot it still needed work).

Is making your blog/website creative?

We try to present a page that is clear, concise, and pleasing to readers' eyes. We pick through face styles, fonts, colours, pictures or no pictures. Blog/website names are important. We want something to stand out, something to catch the mind, something memorable, and it still must be quick and easy to say.

We also know these sites are an extension of who we are and what we do. If I'm writing something with degrees of "heat" I'm going to want a site which expresses these degrees. A site which conveys visually what I'm talking about or showcasing. If I mean for my site to be family oriented...super child friendly...same thing.

What if I want my sites to match? Convey a sense of belonging and groupings? Then, I need to look at something familiar for all. A theme of some sort. Are you a visual person when it comes to groupings or mental? Visual as in colour, set up, and overall look. Mental as in name, topic, or logical placements.

I'm visual. Each of my review sites...blog review sites, that is...are the same, except in name. I wanted the same look and feel as well as name. I wanted them to be linked visually. Which leads me to now needing to fix the website home. It's easier to give out one address rather than seven or eight.

My writer's blog home has it's own look. Same for this one and my Indulges blog. Each holds to a different topic and aspect of my personality. However, the writer and creativity blogs tend to mirror each other in topic at times...writing is creative.

My answer to...is making your blog/websites creative...yes. Remember there are people who have made this part of their career.

Enjoy 2012 and all its Creative Newness

Welcome - Roseanne Dowell

2011-12-15T00:02:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things to do when I’m not writing is embroidery. Another is quilting. I’ve found a way to combine the two. First, I made baby quilts for my nieces. White on white, I machine embroidered them with the darning stitch so I had control. They turned out so nice, but I really love to hand embroidery. That’s when I discovered red-work. During a quilting shop-hop, one of the stores highlighted red-work. For those of you who don’t know what red-work is – it’s embroidery done in all red floss. Just the outline of the picture, not filled in like other embroidery patterns.

Anyway, I fell in love with it. Every year I make something for Christmas (often a Santa) for my six children and give it to them on Thanksgiving. I found a Santa pattern and did it all in red-work, framed it and gave it to them.

That’s when I decided to make a baby quilt for each of my grandchildren – for their first born. I started out with coloring books for designs. I traced the images onto 12x12 squares of muslin. After I finished embroidering the squares I cut sashing and sewed them together. For the backing I used various fabrics, not nursery print. None of the quilts have nursery fabric in them at all. I’ve used patterns from animals to Winnie the Pooh.

Eventually, I found transfer books and started using them for designs. I looked everywhere for baby designs. Thirteen of them are finished, but I now have 14 grandchildren, that’s a lot of baby quilts. Most of the quilts are done in red work, but several are done with various colors, too.

I finally finished them about a year ago. It took a couple of years to do all the squares. Since then, I also made quilts for my niece’s twins. One of the patterns is kittens and the other is bunnies. She had a girl and boy, so I thought the bunnies would be good for him. Now, she’s having another child. A boy –so I’m working on baby animals for her.

Last year, I gave my first grandchild’s quilt to my oldest granddaughter, whose baby boy was born in June – my first great grandchild. Last August, my fourteenth grandchild was born, another boy. I have the perfect quilt pattern for him. Puppies. I haven’t started it and it’s going to be many years before he’ll need it. I’ve marked each quilt with the name of the grandchild they’re supposed to go to in case I’m not around to give it to them. My daughters have been instructed to pass them out.

If you’d like to know more about me or my books, check out my website www.roseannedowell.com or my blog http://roseannedowellauthor.blogspot.com

Creativity Is My Profession

2011-12-05T10:12:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here writing up one blog, networking a couple of social sites, interacting with MIU's readers, and the forever checking of emails when it hits me (again)...creativity isn't my free fun time, it's my job. My career. My Profession. This is what I do as much as it is who I am.

Each and every aspect of my online life is tied to my profession. Some parts mix with family and friend fun. Truthfully, even my professional online life is filled with fun. More fun than any office job I had in the past.

My writer's cave is located in our master bedroom. Right now, from the corner of my eye, I see the mess of the unmade bed and I'm feeling guilty. I know the dust bunnies are populating, again, and I feel guilty. The vacuum is hungry and I feel guilty. Let's not even talk to the screaming laundry.

Here and now is where I give thanks to hubby for bringing in the pay cheque which pays the bills. Here is where I thank the family for listening to my closed door and tapping fingers. None are quite used to my talking to myself, though.

They know the bed will get made...at some point. They know the dust bunnies will get hunted...at some point. The vacuum will get fed the dust bunnies...at some point. However, the laundry has yet to walk itself to the machines.

Hey, they live with a writer.

If you truly want to annoy a writer...and I'm sure anyone else whose work cave is somewhere under their sleeping roof...just ask them "What. Are you still playing on the computer?" or "You've been home all day, what did you do with yourself?" or another favourite "Boy, sure must be great being at home all day eating bonbons and watching TV." If you want to see them hit the roof, just ask about the bed, dust bunnies, vacuum, and laundry.

There are advantages to having creativity as one's profession. We know how to hide the bodies and get away with it.

Does Creativity Live Alone

2011-12-04T22:24:00.000-05:00

Just home from a NaNoWri end of month dinner and something is niggling the back of my mind...does creativity live alone?

Through a couple of conversations the idea of writing with others vs writing alone crept up. Some easily write alone in our caves, while others do better with face-to-face occasional contact. I'm a cave dweller with multi-contacts via online. I don't feel alone, but I've recognized the difference of "live" conversations and interactions. There is a different energy.

But, still I'm wondering if creativity truly lives alone. It is our imagination, our outlet, but don't we all feel the need to share. The excitement of talking about our creations. Or do some of us prefer to keep it private. Our own secret escape.

I am a cave dweller, but I'm looking forward to our next write in. My creativity may live alone, but I don't think I can.

My Farmville: Time Waster or Strange Creativity

2011-12-03T17:53:00.000-05:00

Yes, I play Farmville. Yes, it is a slightly silly game with strange animals and double yes, it can be annoying. It's also a mental break...for me.

Farmville has a love/hate relationship with those who know it. Many cannot stand the thought of this game. They don't want to hear it, see it, know it, or be bugged to join it. Others, well, we play it, share it, set goals for it. It's just one of those Internet/Facebook items everyone knows about.

Is it a time waster or is there a strange creativity aspect to each and every farm? This thought came to me while working on one of my other blogs. I kept switching between what I was typing and a patch of veggies I was harvesting in the English Countryside of my Farmville. The mini break and distraction allowed my mind the freedom to sort out a thought. Which then grew into this whole idea of...am I actually being creative on a simple Internet game?

Think for a moment...okay, those who are sticking around to read more, think for a moment. Each and every farm is individually created by the player. Each player decides the building, animal, planting location. Some have set areas for items, while others create patterns with the items available. Some participate in the game quests. Others, like me, play to see how many levels they can reach or how much Farmville coins they can collect.

I can't believe I'm actually going to share this, but...I do have a storyline going on in my head regarding my farms. There, I said it. My imagination runs away with why I have each farm set up the way I do. Why one farm has more of this and less of that. Why another is smaller and another is the vacation spot.

No, I don't have three Facebook ids, Farmville allows you a home farm, an English Countryside, and a Lighthouse Cove farm. I think there's a winter one, too, but I haven't reached it...yet.

How is playing this little distraction any different than those who play role-playing games online? Each requires an imagination of character, world, theme set-up. In each the player loses him/herself for a little bit.

Game playing, no matter the medium, requires imagination. Requires you to create outside of your normal self. It's creativity as it's meant to be...a way to escape from the mundane.

My Creativity Took A Holiday Without Me

2011-12-02T11:02:00.000-05:00

Well, not really. It's been tied up doing its other duties.

Let's see, since September, what have I done creatively? Re-organizing the basement, does that count? Re-organizing/re-arranging my bedroom...well, hubby's bedroom, too...does that count? Figuring out daughter's schedule...yoga, dance, musical theatre, school, violin lessons at school, filling out way too many forms, math homework, reading homework, b-day parties, playdates..hmm, should change this to "being a mom."

Creativity doesn't always mean creating something grand. It's not always about designing something, making something, a hobby or even your career choice.

Being creative is part of your daily life, be it boring routine, mad craziness, or simple sparks of fun.

No, my creativity didn't take any holiday...with or without me...it just switched gears.

Creativity Requires Food

2011-09-24T16:35:00.000-04:00

Now for some silliness...wait, food is not silliness, never is my need for writing snacks silliness. Well, yeah, maybe.

Right now, yes, this very moment, I'm sitting with candy corn, semi-sweet chocolate chips mixed with sweet coconut flakes, salted sunflower seeds, dried pineapple bits, and candy heart circles. The fuzzy sour peaches and raisins are still downstairs. Don't forget my pepsi.

I'm in a mentally mad dash of insanity. I require wild and wacky and really bad for me snacks. I don't want smart food. Smart food is for when I'm settled and concentrating...when I'm sane (yes there are times I'm sane).

Just as writing is a dash of this, a smidgen of this, sometimes an over indulging of that, and wicked evilness, my quick picks of snacks needs to fit what I'm working on.

I do snack on fruits and veggies, too. But, they require more thought and time in preparing and eating...and appreciation. Last night's apple was soooo good. It was crisp, the right level of tart, juicy and firm. It screamed...time, take time, savour me, worship me.

Today's sunflower seeds are a bunch of fast-paced munch-munch keep up with the thought process poppers. Chocolate...brain food. Dried pineapple...it's fruit, right?

Candy corn? Well, uhm, yeah, they're just pure sugar sin.

Now, don't leave me hanging here alone...what food feeds your creativity.

Emotional Creativity

2011-09-22T13:54:00.000-04:00

So, what's new? What can I say, I'm in one of my emotional writing moods. You know those moods...sure you do. I won't believe you if you say no, so you might as well just agree with me. You know those emotional moods which send you to your creative outlet. The outlet that allows you to express yourself...to realize the emotions flooding your system.

I'm doing so right now. Okay, a few minutes ago I did it when I wrote my ChrisChat Indulges blog (blatant plug...see link to the left ;) Normally, I would write in a journal. No, not the cyber journals I've seen, but a real paper and pen one; however, almost everything ends up like a blog post these days. At least this need came out that way.

As you may note, I'm already in a different mindframe. I'm lighter. Much more relaxed...well, at least back to the same level of crazed as before.

I'm a writer. Some people run their EM (emotional moods aka stress) away; paint it away; read, knit, crochet, cook, yak, shop, anything their EMs away.

Me, I write.

So, the obvious question is...what's your emotional creativity?

The confused question is...am I writing this to explain Indulges blog or did Indulges blog prompt this thought?

Two blogs? Of course, I'm a writer...there's always more than one voice talking in my head.

New Beginnings -- Really

2011-07-28T22:52:00.000-04:00

Boy, it has been a long time. I've allowed myself to become lost and locked in the editing cave...something I love, but maybe I should have looked up and breathed a little more creatively more often.

Well, this August my own short story will become a published eBook. Yup, it happened. Now to promote it. That in itself is a creative process I have no clue about. I'm learning and figuring it out...slowly :)

Hence the new blog - Christine Irene Steeves - writer

Strange thing, though, I just realized this means I really need to write more. What good is a writer blog with only one book?

The creativity needed will be finding more hours in the day :)

Later

Rambles from a Mad Mind or Creative Crazies

2011-04-05T12:31:00.004-04:00

Hello, It's me the crazed creative person who flies by the seat of her pants.

Normally, I'm quite calm when working under my multi-hats...editor, writer, blogger, reviewer, mom; however, today I'm losing it. Or as I told hubby...there's an insane little hamster running on his wheel in my head...hubby's answer - speeding and going no place fast. Oh yeah, hubby knows me too well.

Instead of pulling out my authors' edits and working on this month's deadlines, I decide I should start a new twitter account for my upcoming eBook release. Oh sure, let's go off half-baked.

That's when I realized, I'm always going off half-baked on any new venture. Promoting myself is so totally out of my comfort level that anything I do will start out half-baked.

And that's when I succeed!

You see, years ago I raised my cyber-arm and ended up a reviewer.

Later, I raised it again and I'm a columnist.

Yet, again and I'm subbing my finished fiction...and it's getting published.

Let's not raise the cyber-arm, but let's jump into blogging...can kinda tell how that ended up.

Then, and then, I'm an editor. Not for one house, but two.

For me creativity is flying by the seat of my pants, hanging on for dear life, and doing the naked chicken dance.

Come on, let's have some fun.

Silence

2011-03-17T14:31:00.003-04:00

My high school English teacher, Mr. Thwaites, challenged me to take pen to paper and write in the silence of darkness. When I said I wouldn't be able to see what I was writing he said use the light from the window, the light from under your door.

I did what he challenged and wrote two pages of ramble thoughts watching dust specks float around. I still remember the tiny threads of my braided rug. I don't need to close my eyes to see the bright light coming in from under the bedroom door. Who knew there was that much light low to the ground.

It has been a long time since I last listened to silence. Even now the fan from my laptop's cooling pad is the only noise, but it is noise. Writing in the dark is difficult when using a computer. Turn the monitor off and who knows what keys you're striking, let alone the clacking of my keyboard.

I take pen to paper and end up lost in the silence, staring out the window. My mind wanders. Sometimes it wanders to story ideas...I look out of my window, it's two in the morning, someone is standing there looking up at my window...looking out now at 2:41 pm and I wander what if there was no one else left, but me...what if my gargoyle statue started to talk to me...what if I walked out my front door and never stopped walking.

It's St. Patrick's Day...are the wee folk watching me?

Silence...I challenge you.

Well, it's been over 2 weeks

2011-01-15T21:36:00.003-05:00

Life happens and time flies. These are favourite sayings when we find we haven't kept up with promises or just lose track of what we're doing.

I've lost track, been overwhelmed, sick, holidays, and a family death. All of this can hamper one's creativity and zap the energy for what used to be enjoyable.

I still enjoy writing. I still enjoy being creative. As you can see I've added twitter to this page and have decided to show my own picture and not my brand.

What's coming next? I'm honestly not sure, but hope you stick around.

Thanks

Chris

I'm coming back

2010-10-12T10:33:00.002-04:00

I'll be back in the next two weeks. I'm creating my weekly planner...who says creativity doesn't require planning :)

Organization

2010-05-03T09:23:00.001-04:00

Yes, creativity requires planning and organization. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

What has the mystery of freedom and wonder actually is planned and calculated. Where’s the fun in that? Isn’t creativity supposed to be wild and imaginative? A spur of inspiration and careless abandonment of rules?

Only in the movies. Only in your imagination. Only in your dreams does a perfect piece emerge in one sitting or during one crazed non-sleep night.

Creativity is calculated. It is laid out in a fine detailed mosaic of bits and pieces and, at times, tediously placed into perfection.

Interruptions

2010-04-26T10:22:00.000-04:00

Whether your creativity is for pleasure or profit, at some point it will be interrupted. There will be phone calls, emails, family, and dust bunnies, all demanding your attention. On top of these normal life happenings, you may even feel guilt. Guilt for taking time for yourself, taking time because you need to work, and for not being super human.

What can be done? Not much. Life does not end while you’re creating. There comes the time you just have to do what needs doing. Turn off the phone…why else have answering machines. Shut down the computer or, at least, your email program. Leave the dust bunnies for breaks when you’re dying to kill some frustration.

Family? Not so easy and more frustrating. Shutting the door sounds easy, but is it? What stops the knocks at the door? Who can take your place within the family structure? And, locking the doors just feels so isolating. Are you locking interruptions out or yourself in?

The only time where you are guaranteed no interruptions is the dead hours of the night or when you’re dead. Wait, those night hours are interrupted by the need to sleep. So, if you’re waiting for a time of no interruptions…well, that might just be too late.

Life, creative life, requires determination, dedication, and doors that close.

Fun Friday Photo - Spring in the Air

2010-04-23T07:00:00.003-04:00

Photo by Christine and Philip Speakman (please do not copy without asking or giving acknowledgement, Thank you)

Monday Fun Photo - Magic of Bunnies

2010-04-05T08:00:00.001-04:00

Photo by Christine and Philip Speakman (please do not copy without asking or giving acknowledgement, Thank you)

Thursday Fun Photo - Simplicity

2010-04-01T09:00:00.001-04:00

Photo by Christine and Philip Speakman (please do not copy without asking or giving acknowledgement, Thank you)

What my child taught me about creativity

2010-03-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

Freedom.

Freedom to express myself.

Freedom to have fun.

Freedom to not be perfect.

Freedom to imagine.

Freedom to ignore boundaries, rules, predictability.

Freedom to explore.

Freedom to laugh at myself.

Fun Friday Photo - Garden Magic

2010-03-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

Photo by Christine and Philip Speakman (please do not copy without asking or giving acknowledgement, Thank you)

Journals and creativity

2010-03-22T09:00:00.001-04:00

Do you write in a journal? Why?

This blog came to mind as I was writing in my journal and mentally wondering as to what my daughter may think, in the future, and if she would be able to read my writing. Or, would I some day look back on these writings for a memoir. Hey, everyone should dream big.

I do know some of my creative ideas have come when I’m journaling. Is my journal writing emptying out the collective normal stress and non-stress items so the creative muse has more room? Am I so concentrating on the everyday items that my subconscious is able to come forward and tap my consciousness?

Many books talk about revisiting and refilling your creative well, maybe we also need to empty ourselves, too. Empty our minds of the mundane irritants, even of the great memories and special times, so we can refill.

Why do I journal?

1) My obsessive need to write. Sometimes I just have to take pen to paper and write. Sometimes I have no clue what to write so my internal thoughts just flow forward.
2) I need to get my feelings out. Whether I’m in a positive mood or feeling hurt or am just a witch, I have to unleash somewhere. Somewhere safe, where no one will try to explain or misunderstand what I’m saying. Somewhere where no one will interrupt me and offer their two bits.
3) Journal writing helps me figure out myself. I can ramble away and find my own conclusions, my own way back to acceptance and calm.
4) I can rant and rave and let out all my anger at anyone or anything without consequences. No one will read my journals while I’m alive and if they do, well, when you invade someone’s personal space, private space, one should always be prepared to learn something they may not like.
5) Journal writing means no one will overhear me talking to myself.

This very blog came from journal writing. I know some organizing ideas have come when I’m journaling; even to do lists have been born this way…sorry hubby.

Creative memories have inched forward while my mind has been busy…rug hooking, for one.

I fill my creative well with music, reading, photography, people watching, garden walking, and quiet moments. I empty it...clean it, by journaling.

You?

Fun Friday Photo - strength in movement

2010-03-19T09:00:00.002-04:00

Photo by Christine and Philip Speakman (please do not copy without asking or giving acknowledgement, Thank you)

When did you start

2010-03-15T11:33:00.000-04:00

There is always a time before we realize we have an ability to make something out of nothing, to change the ordinary into the special. Whether it is with words or paints or needle, something prompted us to try. There was a moment in our life that said, “Hey, look what I can do.”

My moment came when I was around 10 and playing pretend in my room. For some reason, I decided I had to write a poem…or was it the pretend character who was the sudden poet. I’m not sure, but in my mind…yes, I remember this clearly…my character wrote this little poem for her “friends,” reading it now, it could have many meanings. Decide for yourself what this childhood poem means, to you:

Thy Power is in thy
Master's hand
He does with it
As he pleases
He may destroy
He may help
Or he may just see
Another way

Mind you, I may have been playing vampire.

Prior to this writing, I read. Boy, did I read. I couldn’t get enough books. Luckily, my parents never said no to books.

I also like drawing. I use to draw ‘fashion’ girls, now my daughter is doing the same thing and I’ve never told her about my own drawings. I drew square and rectangle houses, something I did share with my child. All during my high school years, I took art class. I wasn’t very good, but I tried and I enjoyed. I still take pencil to paper and I’ve improved.

I’ve also discovered I enjoy photography. I always took pictures, at the family gatherings, but over the last few years I’ve discovered photos of texture and emotions and creative questionings…who or what lives in that tree trunk. The strength and power of a thundering sky. The unshared knowledge in an animal’s eye.

We’ve all started somewhere, at sometime, and have grown from there; maybe we’ve also forgotten why we started. Maybe we’re still doing something that has long since lost its shine. Allow yourself to think back to when you started, when you first remember picking up your creative craft and running with it. Where are you now?

Creative Season

2010-03-08T09:43:00.000-05:00

There are seasons of growth: spring, summer, fall, winter. The seasons of life: babe, child, adult, elder. There are even seasons for school: fall start, winter break, spring break, summer.

Are there seasons for creativity?

Do you have a time where you burst with creative energy? A time you reflect upon your work and goals? Is there ever a time you just walk away?

Spring is just around the corner and I’m feeling the end-of-winter-itch. The feeling of rebirth, renew, start-over and freshness. A wakening.

Is this the spring of my creativity? Or am I imagining it all?

Double Fun Friday Photo - think I duplicated myself

2010-02-26T08:25:00.004-05:00

Photo by Christine and Philip Speakman (please do not copy without asking or giving acknowledgement, Thank you)

Fun Friday Photo - All in the perspective

2010-02-26T07:00:00.003-05:00

Photo by Christine and Philip Speakman (please do not copy without asking or giving acknowledgement, Thank you)

Encouragement and Enablers

2010-02-22T08:18:00.001-05:00

Waiting is tiring. Waiting is a royal pain in the butt. Waiting for the worse possible news is draining and physically painful. Waiting, for this writer, is when I am driven to the pen and paper. The need to put words to paper or charcoal to sketch is what keeps me sane during a time I want to shout and rage.

I’m reminded of those in my life who have encouraged me, who have enabled my book addiction and need for self-expression.

My parents never said no to a book. I may not have been given those designer jeans or that Barbie, but ask for a book and it was given to me.

The joke between my grandmother and I was, how many Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books I read that weekend. Best time was four in one weekend. I still have those books…is it because they opened the mystery world to me or because of the grandparent memory?

I have been told two second-cousins used to write poetry, like me. My dad would doodle and draw. I had an uncle who could build anything, so my dad told me.

My mom and grandfather were puzzle people, the jigsaw puzzle. And, whatever you do don’t hand my mom those block puzzle pieces.

Anyone ever build playing card houses? Yup, that was an early game between my cousins and me. Stack them high or build out and wide it never mattered.

Creating and growing a garden. Mom was the vegetables and dad the roses.

Mr. Thwaites, one of my high school English teachers. He told me once to go and sit in a darkened room with just an enough light to see the paper and pen point…now write, don’t think, just write.

Mr. Mills, high school art teacher (oh I hope I’m remembering his name correctly) I still can’t draw a straight line without a ruler, but contour drawing is my favourite starting point.

I wish I remembered my high school drama teacher’s name, she had a Quiet Chris and a Shy ____ in her class, but my expression found a voice.

Mr. St. John, Latin teacher. Thankfully, he didn’t laugh when reading my reason for taking Latin…I wanted to know what it was, what was so great and special about Latin. Oh, for the love of words.

And, still my heart belongs to GREEN EGGS AND HAM and driving my grandmother crazy with insisting she read it every single visit…by the way, we lived just up the street, so you can guess how many times a week (day?) this request was heard.

I’m still waiting for the phone call, but the memories have calmed me. Be an encourager, an enabler, someone will be forever thankful.

Fun Friday Photo - Busy as a bee, but smell the flowers

2010-02-19T07:00:00.003-05:00

Photo by Christine and Philip Speakman (please do not copy without asking or giving acknowledgement, Thank you)

Friday Fun Photo - Creative Storm

2010-02-12T07:00:00.001-05:00

Photo by Chris & Phil Speakman, do not copy without permission

Being Honest

2010-02-06T14:17:00.000-05:00

How honest should a writer be? I guess this goes along with how each piece we write is a part of ourselves.

Each character is someone we’ve been, wished to be, have known…the good, the bad, and the ugly. Why else include the safety phrase – any similarity to anyone living or dead is…is what? Coincidental? No, the writer doesn’t mean, you. Yes, the writer means, you; well, if the character fits; why do you think the writer means you; so, you did recognize yourself; hey, you are oblivious.

Every character we write is a recreation of attributes we have experienced, whether through someone’s fiction, through history, or through our daily interactions with those around us. How many writers have ever created an original character?

I don’t mean a new brilliant character who pushes the envelope a little differently than what we’ve seen before. Not a refreshing view on an old personality trait or theme. Not even a character with an added quirk.

How many writers have created an Original character? Not many. I’ll even go out on a limb and say, very few have created an original.

One definition of original is “arising or proceeding independently of anything else” and another is “new; fresh; inventive; novel.”

Can a writer create a character without them being “arising or proceeding independently” from anyone the writer has ever known?

Which brings me back to…how honest should a writer be?

Would you be as flattered if you realized the mean, ugly, petty character was based on you? Or the pompous, cold emotionally devoid being was how you have been seen?

Probably not. We don’t hold mirrors up to our own behaviours and personality flaws, unless they show us in a ‘good’ light, a laughable light. Turning and looking at the darkness within is something many refuse to see.

But, as writers we know this darkness exists. We recognize it, in ourselves and in others, how else can we write about it. Our experiences of the world and the people around us are food for our creativity. Nothing and no one is safe around a writer. We absorb each tiny nuisance into our creative well like a sponge soaking up spilled wine.

Our experiences of those around us tell us more about that person than anything. Actions speak louder than words…show me don’t tell me.

Of course, a person’s positives also influence our character writing. However, most everyone loves the flawed character…whether the hero/heroine or villain. No one enjoys a perfect person—who’s perfect?

Still, the question remains—how honest should a writer be? Simple, as honest has you dare. Besides, any similarity to any living or dead is purely…you know.

Quoted source for definitions: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/original

Off for a bit

2010-01-27T07:24:00.002-05:00

Hi,

I'm sorry, but life has thrown a little curve so I won't be here for another week or so...hoping to have something for you February 12, 2010.

Thanks

Chris

Friday Fun into Weekend Fun

2010-01-15T16:29:00.003-05:00

I'm a little late, so let's call this some weekend fun.

Any inspiration from this photo?

Creative Learning

2010-01-11T18:23:00.001-05:00

Can you learn to be creative?

Hmmmm, I tried knitting…nope, funky fingers failed. Hmmmm, I tried crocheting…nope, same funky fingers. Hmmmm, I have rug hooked, but became a little bored (probably why my fingers failed at the other two items). I tried gardening…bugs = icky. I tried crossed stitching, but only ended up with crossed eyes.

I took music lessons, once. The scales were boring and practice was tedious. I did Tai Chi…have I ever mentioned my two left feet. Singing? Hmmmm, ever hear a frog with a frog in its throat.

Sketching, drawing, yup I can do that. I have to concentrate and dedicate a couple of hours and turn my extremely critical artistic ego off, but I like sketching. I learned techniques that work from my art classes more than any talent nature gave me.

Writing, storytelling, prose, that’s just in my blood. I can’t not make up stories or place myself inside a favourite television show or exciting new book…did I really just share this?

Did I learn these creative endeavours or are they just part of me?

Both.

I am naturally drawn to words and sketching is an itch I can’t ignore. Whether I’m good at either of them, well that’s not the real point, now is it.

Where Am I Going?

2010-01-04T09:23:00.000-05:00

I did a restart back on September 21, 2009 changing this blog to ChrisChat Talks Creativity. At that time I asked “Where Did I Go?” now I’m asking – where am I going?

We all need a direction, if not many directions, in our life. We share our directions with those we live with, work with, friends and/or family; however, some directions we take on our own. Should our individual directions worry us? No, but they do. Who hasn’t wished to be completely understood, accepted, and even cheered when we create our own path? Not everyone in your life will understand, accept or cheer. Some may even think you’re wasting your time on foolish nonsense.

Guess what?

That’s OKAY.

I am one woman wearing many hats taking many paths. As a writer, creative being, I walk in my own direction in the path of my making--beside you. And that’s…FANTASTIC!

New Year, New Beginnings

2009-12-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

Every New Year’s Eve many of us make resolutions—promises—to ourselves. Whether we mean to lose weight, stop smoking, write the great novel, be kinder, be…whatever, we are determined this will start with the changing of the year.

Why?

Why this particular date? Are you setting yourself up for failure? I know I am when I make these year-end declarations. So, I don’t.

Each day is a new beginning.

Set your goals and dream your dreams, but don’t become a slave to them. Don’t become locked into must do, have to do; I’m a failure because I didn’t.

Creativity does need planning, organization, you to show up. Never let your creativity become a duty—a job.

Keep your creativity flowing by easing off on yourself.

Enjoy this New Year start by opening up and letting go. Allow yourself to be amazed at what you will accomplish.

See you in 2010

Let Your Light Shine

2009-12-18T08:00:00.001-05:00

Shine now and into the future
Dream now and into the future
Remember those we loved and those who loved us
Hug and Love those still here

Venture into 2010 and Be, yes just Be.

Thank you. You are appreciated.

See you December 28th

ChrisChat

Must You Be Creative

2009-12-14T08:00:00.002-05:00

This is the question that plagues many of us—must we be creative? Must we have some hobby, creative or otherwise, to be a fulfilled member of society? Is there something wrong with us if all we prefer to do is look after our families and home?

Think about the pros and cons of your creativity.

Pros:

- Enjoyment
- Fulfills a need inside…I write because if I don’t I emotionally and intellectually explode. Writing is that form of my personality that has to escape.
- It either helps our income or is our income
- Its our meditation, our recharger
- New friends
- New ventures
- Keeps us mentally and emotionally sharp

Cons:

- time
- not everyone understands why we do what we do
- its not what anyone else considers creative or necessary…maybe that goes with the point above
- cost
- frustration…especially when we hit that blank wall.
- it’s not making money

I’m sure you can add your own Pros and Cons; these are just a few that have cropped up in my life over the past few years.

But, still, do we need to be creative? The simple answer is—No.

What we do need to be is happy, content, and here in the present and presence of our lives.

If this is fulfilled by taking care of your home and family, fantastic. If this is fulfilled by knitting, fantastic. If this is fulfilled by writing, fantastic. If this is fulfilled by swimming, fantastic.

If you don’t know what fulfills you, relax we’ve all been there and I know I’ve revisited that frustration and will again. Close your eyes, breath, and go do something that always needs doing (mine is dusting and killing dust bunnies) and soon enough you’ll hear your own voice then all that’s needed is to listen.

Friday Fun: Silly Sayings

2009-12-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

“Such an old-fashioned baby.”

Say what???? Don’t ask me, or any in my family, we have no idea what my maternal great-grandmother meant. But her daughters, my Nanny, keep using it and we keep laughing.

“How much do you charge to haunt a house?”

Yup, dad used to say this to me all the time…when we were goofing off and a kidding voice…and I never had a clue for years what it meant. Said it once to my daughter and her reply – more than you can afford. She’s 7.

“Never ___ into the wind”

Well, of course not. Who needed telling?

“Knock on wood” while knocking on your head.

Nanny still does this…hmmm, so do I.

“Don’t let the door hit your backside on the way out.”

What, is this just a silly way to tell me not to slam the door or you telling me to get out?

What can I say, this came to life during an email when I wrote: How is it the more you know the less you realize you did know

Yes, I am the self-acclaimed Queen of the Lost and Confused. But only on Fridays.

Creative Time Management

2009-12-07T12:48:00.002-05:00

Hello,

I'm writing this off-the-cuff today. Meaning, I really have no idea what words are coming next as I figure out how to better manage my time.

I've re-app'ed my tweets to show on facebook figuring I post more writing info and my professional persona on Twitter, so now FB friends can see me, too.

And you know what I discovered?

I'm getting more done by tweeting what I'm doing. I know, I know, who really needs to know every hour or so what I'm doing...what any of us are doing. However, if it's your book I'm reading or searching for the perfect word/phrase to use wouldn't you like me to talk as much about it as I could?

See, I have 3 very good books to write about, but I'm having the worse time finding the right words to tell you about these books. Let alone having been living in a houseful of sick and recovery people...my brain went from writer to nursemaid to sickie and is fighting its way back to writer.

But, this morning I tweeted about working on the review and having that simple statement out there, with the book's title, really kicked my butt.

Using this idea even kicked me into getting a book storage situation moving forwards.

I'm even thinking of using my email system for help. I already use it to mark appointments and school functions, why not creating moments, too?

Then there's the ability to free myself from thinking I need more time than what's available. Wonder how much I can accomplish in 5 minutes? Betcha I could sort the mail or update the bank book...hey, they take time, too.

Now, I'm off to the next tweet.

Friday Fun - What am I thinking

2009-12-04T11:29:00.001-05:00

Creative Space

2009-11-29T22:35:00.014-05:00

I thought I would talk about our creative space this week. Whether it’s our quiet corner or entire home, we all need a space where we can create our work.

A cook will thrive in their kitchen. A woodworker may have their workroom or outdoor shed. The knitter may carry their materials in a bag or case and only need the couch corner. As a writer, I spend my time with my computer and desks.

Yes, desks. I have two that are kitty-cornered to each other. One faces my inspiration wall. The wall with photos I’ve taken and a large print I found at the Mall. You might even see my slinkys on the shelves, along with my bowl of stones and crystals.

My other desk faces out our front bedroom window. It allows full afternoon sunlight in and is where I stare outside daydreaming. I have a few items I love, too. Some just for their look--like my pottery bowls. No, I didn’t make these; a local artist did and they just grabbed my attention. No, I didn’t find the shells on the beach. I bought them at the craft store…just because.

I need my area clutter-free. I have drawers filled with papers and stuff…oh those folders on the wall contain different notes and papers, too. But, when I’m working I normally have my computer files open on screen and bounce back and forth between them all.

There’s also my reading corner. Well, one of them. I’ll also read here at my laptop or sprawled just about anywhere else in the house.

If you’re curious, that gorilla is something I’m attempting to sketch. I remember doing a piece of artwork back in high school using different mediums with monkeys as my theme. Silly me, I threw it and other pieces away.

Some of you may remember these pictures from my facebook, but since then I’ve rearranged the set up. I do that a lot…rearrange my stuff. Every time I do, I find something new; something I had forgotten.

So, what’s your creative space like? You do have one, right?

Creativity Takes A Sick Day

2009-11-23T09:08:00.001-05:00

Hi,

Am under the weather with nothing prepared. What I have prepared just doesn't make sense, so it would appear Creativity has taken a sick day.

Back Friday with some fun.

Friday Fun - Classic Movies

2009-11-20T11:08:00.000-05:00

Whether it’s for Fun Fridays or Movie Night there is something magical about classic movies. Due to a wacky week, I nearly missed writing a Friday Fun Blog; however, as I was checking out the TV guide I came across “The Falcon” movies. These starred George Sanders and then Tom Conway.

I’ve never seen “The Falcon” movies, but am enjoying them and wouldn’t mind adding them to my DVD collection.

I love Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy movies, too. THE THIN MAN series is another in my collection of fun classics.

There are days all I want are Don Knotts. Yes, Don Knotts – THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT, THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST and a few others.

Checking my movie database, what can I say, give me Annette and Frankie; Dean Martin’s MATT HELM; ARSENIC AND OLD LACE; Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi. Even Jerry Lewis can hit the spot.

How can I forget Sherlock Holmes – Basil Rathbone?

I’m also a fan of those movies that, sadly, are not politically correct. As a child I loved and believed; as a teen shocked; as an adult I still appreciate the talent, if not the reasons Hollywood and society dictated. Who would make a great Charlie Chan, today? Did you know the comic, Mantan Moreland, who portrayed the taxi driver, Birmingham Brown, was ostracized for this role? Granted society grew up, but to ostracize a man, and others, for working; forgetting their talent…I’ll never understand. We walk forward from the footsteps of those before.

I look at the movies offered today and wonder where the magic went. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I find many movies I must have, but so many are pushed out and rushed and just never deliver.

Guess I’m just a classic movie gal…you?

Looking through creative eyes

2009-11-16T09:00:00.001-05:00

What makes a creative eye different from other eyes? A writer’s eye is different from a painter’s eye, which are both different from a musician’s eye. We all see the same object, feel the same emotion, but will understand and name it completely different.

Why is this? I don’t really have an answer to give. It’s probably just in how we are internally wired. Which may give us the answer as to why some write romance and some horror. Or an artist who can work in paints, but not in charcoal…or clay and not stone. But, a classically trained musician has been known to play both classical and heavy metal. Are the creative ears more adaptable than the creative eye?

Going back to the painter’s eye, it can differ from a photographer’s eye, too. My father-in-law and I can see the same scene and capture it completely different for different reasons…he, the painter--me, the writer. Hmmm, maybe it’s the creative person behind the eyes?

Below are two photos I have created from one photo I took (please ask before copying or at least acknowledge it was taken by me ;) The first photo was the full picture, and then I wondered a little closer. I know where my writer’s eye took me…where did your creative eye take you?

Friday 13th Fun

2009-11-13T09:29:00.002-05:00

I was going to ask a different question; however, considering it is my favourite day - Friday the 13th....are you superstitious?

Me? Birds in the house, not because I believe it means someone is about to die, but because I know the silly creatures are searching me out just to poop on my head. Hey, you would, too, if you've been used as a bird toilet as many times as I have.

Then, again, I had an Italian friend tell me that Friday the 13th is a lucky day for Italians?

Come on...what about you? What serious or silly superstition has its hold on you?

Creating Can Be Like Pulling Teeth

2009-11-09T21:18:00.000-05:00

Creating is not easy. If it were, wouldn’t everyone do it? To create, for most nowadays, is to put something of ourselves out there for others to see, and judge. It’s not a normal job, for most. We don’t, normally, get a steady pay cheque; therefore, it’s deemed a hobby or a sideline or just that-thing-she-does. It’s not, normally, a physical activity; therefore, we’re not doing something for our health or against someone else or a clock. The creativity I am familiar with is very individual and lonely.

And, sometimes creating can just plainly be like pulling teeth. You end up banging your head on the computer because the hero wants to be the villain and the villain changes to hero, erasing line after drawn line, mixing paints for the right shade that just will not materialize, re-throwing the clay as it refuses to take shape.

So, what to do when that creative tooth won’t budge?

Throw words up on the computer screen. Yes, just type the dang words. Talk to yourself via the computer. Tell that blank screen what you want, or need, on it and just type away and slowly the written shape will show itself. Allow the mistakes, that’s why we have edits. Listen to your characters; let them go their own way, that’s the surprised joy in creating them—bringing them to life.

Because nothing we create will ever be perfect in our eyes, you must allow the non-perfect line to stay drawn and the colour to be what it is. The beauty of clay is contained within its imperfections.

Think back to your very first driven need to create. Was it to be perfect or to be free or was it—is it—because of you being you.

Friday Fun - Blank Page

2009-11-06T13:04:00.005-05:00

And empty space is as real as objects and solids; what is left out is as important as what is left in. - attributed to Zen philosophy

photographed by Chris and Phil Speakman, please ask first, Thank You

Missing in Action - so Another Fun Photo

2009-11-02T10:13:00.004-05:00

Hi,

I'm sorry, I missed finishing my topic for this week. Hope you don't mind a Fun Photo instead.

photographed by Chris and Phil Speakman, please ask first, Thank You

Fun Friday - Word Fun

2009-10-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

First Thought(s)

ORANGE

and/or

PURPLE

Okay, I’ll admit this is extremely short and silly, but, hey, it’s Fun Friday.

Wanderings

2009-10-26T07:11:00.001-04:00

I have a little book titled A THOUSAND PATHS TO CREATIVITY by David Baird. He has quite a few of these little books with the Tao symbol on them. Another, that I have, is A THOUSAND PATHS TO TRANQUILLITY.

I like these little books because they offer quick thoughts when I need a boost. Some are quotes from others; some, I believe, are from Mr. Baird. But, still in that brief moment of wandering sometimes a quote is all it takes…just like a picture or a piece of music.

Today I was a little lost so I dusted off the book and opened it:

“Creativity is rarely swift, nor does it often come easy.” (A THOUSAND PATHS TO CREATIVITY by David Baird)

That, in the nutshell, is me today…so why has a lightbulb just gone off in my mind?

Where have your wanderings taken you?

Fun Friday Photo Fun - What Do You See

2009-10-23T09:00:00.003-04:00

The family and I love taking photos. Hubby is a framed composite taker, he likes to balance and focus the shot for future cropping.

Me? I’m a gut reaction feely taker. I snap away while thinking what creature might live within the tree roots or flower petals. Or what is that snapping turtle thinking or how strange a Flamingo’s eye looks.

I’ve attached two photos I have taken. What do you see?

Please do not copy without permission from Christine and Philip Speakman

It's All In The Words...Or Is It?

2009-10-19T13:19:00.001-04:00

This past week I’ve been in and out of the Muse Writers Conference and something clicked when checking out a publishers’ website.

Book covers.

How many times have I picked up a book and just read the back blurb without looking at the cover? Most times, if I’m honest.

Allow me to be clear; this is very different from when I’m reviewing a book, then I pay more attention to the cover. I have more time, too.

But in a bookstore with shelves upon shelves of books with their spines facing me, sorry I don’t have enough time to pull each and every book out. Because I rarely look at a cover before choosing, I’ve turned into a title gal. Okay, once in awhile, bright cover colours or a simple nothing cover have grabbed my attention.

Well, today I saw a book cover that is still haunting me. DEAD SOULS at http://www.morriganbooks.com/ is crisp in its creepiness. This book is on my Xmas list (mind you, I have no idea how I’ll hold this book to read it—yes, it is that shiver-making)

So, I ask you…how much attention do you pay to the artists’ creative work? I’ve learned this weekend; I need to pay more attention and my apologies for not doing so before now.

Friday Fun...at the Muse Writers Online Conference

2009-10-16T11:11:00.004-04:00

Well, this has been the week long Muse Writers Online Conference. Talk about fun, informative, creative times.

I wish I had something more to offer today, but I failed to finish today's notes.

However, let's think about this...sometimes the fun is in the quiet, too. Take reading, needlepoint, cross-stitching, rug hooking...all quiet creativity.

Oh...can't forget writing, too

http://themuseonlinewritersconference.com/

When Creativity Takes Control

2009-10-12T10:52:00.000-04:00

I am writing this three days before the Muse Online Writers’ Conference is set to begin. I’m feeling both energized, excited, and even stressed. This conference is a weeklong affair with multiple live one-hour chats and weeklong drop in forums. Mass of word loving people all sharing, coaching, encouraging, and buzzing with creativity.

Talk about a rush!

This is what happens when you’re with a group of people who share your passion…you can’t help but be swept up and do what you do. And this week I’ll be smack in the middle of word lovers. Those who write them, edit them, publish them, and buy them.

I can’t wait!

But, don’t wait till you have a conference or group around you to let creativity take control. Oh no, let go and be crazy. Allow your Creative Muse take control.

We’re making craft pumpkins at a craft supply store…or made by the time you’re reading this. We’ve made spoon people. In a week or so, we’ll be learning to make beaded jewelry…something I want hubby to learn because there are few items I wouldn’t mind for Xmas. Halloween T-shirts later in the month.

Does Halloween decorations count as creating? The house is a tad wild. Or what about my inspiration wall? It’s right in front of me semi-filled with photos I’ve taken of nature that just grabbed my attention, sure a few were taken by the hubby and we argue over one or two…pssst, I did take that one, the one he says he took.

Which is another area that I go wild with…photos. Good thing I have a digital camera. I don’t need to have the photos printed, I just load them onto computer or iPod or PDA…okay some I’ve printed and I still need to scan a few from the old camera. My photos are driven by my mood, my imagination. That tree trunk is a home for mini trolls or was it leprechauns? That flower, well it isn’t a flower is a secret alien world within a normal flower. The rush of the waterfall. The secrets within the elephant’s eye. Yes, when I take photos, I go crazy.

Where does your creativity take control?

What Character Are You?

2009-10-09T09:00:00.001-04:00

I’m actually writing this on the Friday before today because I feel like a Queen of Hearts’ victim. You know “Off with their heads!”

I’m doing that boring paperwork, filing stuff that comes with household duties and writing/reviewing joys. Setting up the formats, finding .jpeg files, gathering publishing information, paying bills, watching the spider up in the corner (hoping it does not move), watching dust bunnies fight…hey, wouldn’t you rather read/write than kill dust bunnies. Besides, why do we call them dust bunnies? Okay, that’s next week’s Friday Fun.

You’re getting the picture. Loads of hats + limited time + 1 brain = Exploding Head.

So, it came to me…what character am I? Well, of course, multi-characters.

Queen of Hearts – for when ‘they’ are on my bad side
Alice In Wonderland – for when I’m just plain lost
Dwarf Dopey – well, this one I put on when I’m feeling silly
Sebastian (Little Mermaid) – if you know a child, you know why – it’s all the head shaking and confusion
Sleeping Beauty – I wish, what’s sleep?
Beast – you need to ask?
Jessica Fletcher – well if you didn’t do it, who did?
Cowardly Lion – I did mention that spider up in the corner, right?
Bruce the Shark’s mom – eat the fish, it’s good for you
Mary Poppins – nursemaid, nanny, strict one, all in one

Hmm, are you seeing a pattern?

So…what character are you today?

Time For Creativity

2009-10-05T10:17:00.001-04:00

Our lives are busy. Between keeping ourselves; keeping our homes; keeping our families; keeping our friends; keeping our employment; keeping our interests, we are busy.

So, when do we create?

Multiple times throughout every day, seven days a week.

Think about it. We are creating our look when we are getting ready for the day. We are creating our sanctuary whenever we’re making our beds or tidying our homes. We are creating meals that feed our families. We are helping create our children’s minds when we’re reading, helping with homework, repeatedly telling them to pick up or do this or that. Yes, this is creating.

Sure, it isn’t the master painting or best-selling novel or knitted sweater or quilted blanket; however, it is creating.

Creating isn’t something for special days or when we have time or for that spare moment. Creating is a part of who we are…every moment we are awake. Heck, we even create in our dreams. It is all in our perspective.

Let’s take making the bed. Why that blanket? Why those sheets and those pillows? Simple answer…they were on sale. Okay, but why that colour or pattern?

Now for the bathroom…why that style shower curtain? Towels? Again, why those colours?

Living room…couch, chair, colour and style, layout of room?

You created your living space and no matter what the functional reason is, you still created it for you. Why? Because it is home and home comforts us.

All our normal mundane routines prepare us to handle our waking hours. Allow these normal mundane routines to pump up our creative spirit.

Lucille Ball has been quoted as saying “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do.” Guess what, if you take every moment as a creative moment, you create more.

What’s your normal mundane creative?

Friday Fun – What character describes you?

Friday Fun - Old Favourites That Made Us Imagine

2009-10-02T09:00:00.003-04:00

- playdoh
- lego
- blocks
- slinky
- puppets
- fingerpaints
- crayons
- shadows on the wall
- etch-a-sketch
- I Spy

From Deb Hockenberry - Books. Please read her full comment.

From Margaret Fieland - Music. How did I miss this one, too!

From Walt - cardboard boxes.

Thank you, Deb, Margaret, Walt and everyone who's dropped by

Blahs 5 Me ????

2009-09-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

I am bored.

Yes, that’s right, I’m bored. I am like a lump on a log that doesn’t care about the book I want to read or the story that needs writing. I can barely keep my eyes open and just feel like a lump of mush, don’t try and move me I’m perfectly happy just sitting here, blah.

Happy? Okay, that’s not the word. I’m neither happy nor unhappy. I’m just blah.

Dig deep and get motivated…ha, and double HA. Leave me be. I’m fine just wallowing in total blahness. Everything just takes up energy and I don’t feel the desire to use any or find any.

Okay, so how is this getting written? Why is this getting written? What’s the point of writing this?

Writing because somewhere behind the blahs and boredom is the writer who cannot walk away from the books to be read or the stories to be written. Behind this cloak of laziness is the struggle to succeed. We all know there are mountains of work to get done…that must get done. Some we actually enjoy doing. Some we try and hide from and some we use as excuses not to get others done.

But in the end, it’s what we don’t get done that bugs us the most. Why would we want to bug ourselves?

Because we’re in the midst of tiredness, blahs, and boredom.

Hey, look what I wrote during the middle of being blah and bored…what could you get done?

Let's Create Titles

2009-09-25T12:47:00.003-04:00

This idea came from watching "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and my goofy status line on Facebook.

I like brainstorming. I like thinking up silly things. So come on, let's create some silly titles...might just lead somewhere.

Forget - Friday the 13th.

I want - Thursday the 12th

Forget - Halloween and Michael Myers (or is it Jason?)

I want - Science Fair with _______________

Forget - Nightmare __________________

I want - Bunnies on Parade

How about - Now What Do I Do?

or

I'm Not In Your Closet...Nope Not There Either...Getting Warmer

or

You Are Here, But Where Is Here

or

Open Me and You'll Find Out Why You Should Read Me

or

Buy Me Or You'll Regret It

Hey, it's Friday, it's gloomy here, and I have a silly horror slasher movie on...let's have some fun

Where Did I Go?

2009-09-21T13:07:00.003-04:00

I went missing.

Yup, I became all tangled up in life and went missing. Did I forget I had a blog? Did I forget people actually stopped by and read my blog?

No, I knew it was here and that you were here. I…well you see…uhm it was…ahhhh, time…the family…no, the summer…sheesh…okay, I couldn’t…no, I didn’t know what to write and allowed myself to become busy with other stuff.

Sorry.

Why do I blog? What made me set up a blog? What could I possibly have to say that would be of interest? Why would you be interested in stopping by and spending your busy time reading me? Specially, since I’m such a hit and miss blogger?

I named this blog “ChrisChat Talks Books” and yet I don’t really talk about books. I have hosted some pretty good authors. We’ve talked about what we love and dislike about storylines and characters.

But, you know, I think I should rename this blog. How about…ChrisChat Talks Creativity. Yeah, that’s what interests me more…for here. My website is where I talk books, through my book reviews. But it’s here, this blog, where I can ramble away about the creativeness that I think is inside me.

And, let’s face it writing is creative. Whether we’re writing flash stories, short stories, novellas, novels, prose and poetry or drawing (attempting in my case) these are all forms of creativity. Why just talk books when we can talk about all forms of creativity?

All right! This excites me.

This week’s question: What do you create?

Am I The Only One?

2009-08-07T07:56:00.001-04:00

Am I the only one who would prefer spending the day locked away with my books than with anyone else? Not always, just sometimes.

I was originally going to ask what characters bug you; however, today I just want to lock the door and lose myself with my books.

Whether its fiction, non-fiction, favourite characters or those that drive me up the wall. I just don’t feel that need to deal with those not within the pages of imagination…paper or electronic.

Stop the world; today I want off to escape into someone else’s world.

Favourite Character(s)

2009-08-03T10:45:00.000-04:00

I would like to thank everyone for commenting on character vs. story. It is true we need both for a full, engaging, and entertaining read.

Whether specific or general who is/are your favourite character(s)?

I enjoy Mickey Spillane as much as I enjoy Louis L’Amour’s Sacketts. I like meeting up with Qwill from “The Cat Who…” series and then hopping over and spending time with Alex Cross or Lincoln Rhyme.

Sherlock Holmes is a tad formal, but a good match when reading Perry Mason or Brother Cadfael.

And speaking of the dear Brother, have you met Sister Fidelma? I got my father hooked on her before he passed away.

I’m sorry to say I have not managed Tolkien’s world, yet (loved the movie versions, maybe there’s hope for me). However, I do enjoy escaping with Terry Brooks and his Shannara and Magic Kingdom creations. And I cannot forget the world of Pern and her flying dragons.

And the list goes on with Father Brown, Pamplemousse, Mrs. Jeffries, Anita the Vampire Bounty Hunter, Warshawski and Spenser. Oh, how can I not include Mycroft Holmes and Lestrade?

My list goes on and on, I haven’t even started with those characters I cherish through my reviewing library. Both paper copies and electronic.

Without a doubt blame clearly lies with my parents for putting Dr. Seuss, Trixie Beldon, The Hardy Boys, and dear Nancy Drew in my childhood library. You’ll have to thank Miss Ainsworth for introducing me to the Famous Five.

Why are these my favourites? Why so many? I haven’t a clue. All I did was open their pages and climbed in, guess I never left.

P.S. No, I did not forget Harry Potter or the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe or the multitude of fairy tales…oh no I better stop while I can.

Story or Characters

2009-07-29T20:59:00.000-04:00

Whether you write or read every book/ebook contains a story and characters. Which do you need before you are absorbed into the tale? Does fiction require both; a balance of both, or can one outweigh the other and still be a great read?

Every time I accept a request for a review project, it is the story I’m accepting. I never know the characters before I open the tale. Even as I start to read I’m never sure who is the hero; who is the villain. Those answers come with the unfolding of the story.

However, I have fallen in love with characters. It is the characters that call me back to a series.

Or

Is it simply the surroundings of the character that I want to revisit? The fantasy quest where it doesn’t matter which characters survived the previous book. The horror tale of new attacks by the same unchanging, undying monster…wait, that might just be a movie series. A mystery set in one location with each new tale seen through new characters’ eyes.

Can you have a story without characters?

Can you have characters without a story?

Probably, but don’t think I would want to read either.

Swimming Kangaroo's Bruce Cooke

2009-07-16T09:00:00.002-04:00

Bruce Cooke lives in Shepparton, Australia.

"At first I had no passion for writing as my time was taken up with my family, career and sport, but when I took an early retirement after 29 years teaching, the writing bug hit me. I always had an interest in Colonial Australia, particularly the gold rush days so I decided I would write a story about this time involving the outback. The saga of the era was like a narcotic because very little of the times are taught in the education department schools. I undertook several creative writing courses and developed a passion I couldn’t control."

ChrisChat: Thank you for not controlling your passion!

Reviews: http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

THE IRISH RETRIBUTION
By Bruce Cooke

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/index.php

Genre: Mainstream
ISBN: Paper: 978-1-934041-26-0
Pages: Paper: 381
Price: Paper: $17.99

Revenge is a dish best served at the hands of an estranged daughter.

This is what Carrie’s Irish IRA Uncle thinks and what he hopes Carrie will do – kill her journalist father.

Tully Sanderson is a hard drinking, women-lover, war correspondent whose daughter believes killed her mother. Faced with his daughter and her gun, Tully takes his child back through his life, his errors; his lost dreams and lost loves. Will they survive the telling?

“The Irish Retribution” is, yet again, a very different read for me. It is, at times, jumpy in its telling; however, Tully’s journey is memorizing. Mr. Cooke’s writing places you in Tully’s shoes.

Tully’s travels start in his homeland of Australia and leads to the Emerald Isle where he finds love with the sister of a major IRA player. When she dies, during a blotched IRA attack, her brother waits years for his revenge.

Left with a small child, Tully strikes out earning their living the only way he knows how – as a war correspondent. Leaving Carrie with his sister and the long years away does not make Carrie’s heart grow fonder. She feels abandoned, and even though she follows in her father’s footsteps, the unkind years are enough for her to believe an unknown uncle over her father.

Mr. Cooke takes Tully through the tropical heat of Vietnam to the battle weary lands of Sarajevo. Through Mr. Cooke’s writing you will feel the powerlessness of these areas and learn to like Tully as he struggles with his life.

But, Mr. Cooke doesn’t stop with just a father/daughter tale. He incorporates those Tully have left behind or who have left him. Each character’s life is weaved throughout Tully and Carrie’s own existence. Whomever said what you don’t know can’t hurt you should ask the children of “The Irish Retribution” they might disagree.

Thank you, Mr. Cooke for restoring my faith in mainstream fiction. You gave me a tale that held my interest and has me wondering what happened after I closed the book.

THE PURSUIT OF MARY MCBRIDE
By Bruce Cooke

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/index.php

Genre: Historical Romance

ISBN: Paper: 978-1-934041-44-4

Pages: Paper: 262
Price: HTML Format - $3.99
MOBI Format - $3.99
Adobe Reader Format - $3.99
Paperback print copy - $14.99 + s&h

Content: Sexual aspects in context with story.

When was the last time you could not put a book down? I mean, the last time you really could NOT stop reading?

Yes, this is me talking about a romance story. Yes, I lost a day reading “The Pursuit of Mary McBride.”

Growing up in the London slums, on the streets, alone, in the 1800s, Rebecca Smith had extremely limited options. One option was to be a prostitute; lucky for her Claire, the owner and operator of London’s The Gentleman’s Club, took her in. Here Rebecca was at least safe. She learned to read and write and even how to carry on a ‘proper’ conversation; she learned to be used, but what else is new.

Caught up in the ‘morals’ of a society who shunned the used in favour of the users, Rebecca was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in Australia and, in addition, could not return to London for another fourteen years. Why? Because a Gentleman’s Club client was kicked out for abusing a working girl and lied that he was robbed.

Survival. What would you do to survive? You have no rights. You have no power. No one will speak for you. No one cares.

Rebecca Smith survived. Marrying the abusive bully, Michael McBride, offered her an early prison release and a slightly better chance her unborn child would survive.

After Michael rapes and sells her sixteen-year-old daughter into marriage, to another lout of a man, Rebecca vows to find and save her child, Mary.

No, “The Pursuit of Mary McBride” is not a gentle read. It is an honest read. Mr. Cooke takes his reader from the dirt of London’s alleys and prisons to the holds of overcrowded ships to the new world of Australia and from there he opens up the settlement of his country’s history where everyone can try for a new beginning.

I’ll say no more about what happens to Rebecca, Michael, and Mary.

Gentle read? Honest read? What do these mean? Are they just old words reused?

At times I was not comfortable reading “The Pursuit of Mary McBride.” I can read, between the lines, what the guards, the ship’s crew, wanted from the women in exchange for a less stale piece of bread. My imagination can paint its own picture of fun and games at another’s expense…we hear about such things too often in the news and with our entertainment CSI, Law and Order, what have you, shows.

Mr. Cooke takes away the sugarcoating, takes away the shock-value descriptions.

He writes with plain blunt language which leaves no doubt about what is happening and that is the power of his writing. That is the honesty of his writing.

Society deemed Rebecca a whore. Rebecca chose to survive. Rebecca sees with her experience. She has no rose-tinted glasses. She is a strong character that accepts the truth before her.

Is there a happy ending for Rebecca, and her daughter, Mary? I’ll just say I’m extremely happy.

Mr. Cooke, thank you and I look forward to reading you, again.

Swimming Kangaroo's Dave Artuso

2009-07-15T09:00:00.002-04:00

David Artuso, born in Illinois, was raised and now resides in Southern California. Bear Goddess is his first novel.

Review: http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

BEAR GODDESS
By David Artuso

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/index.php

Genre: Science Fiction
ISBN: Paper: 978-1-934041-54-3
Pages: Paper: 231
Price: Paper: $14.99

Can a Goddess be redeemed?

I ask this while only halfway through “Bear Goddess.” Why? Why write this before I finish the book? My first impression, the start of the story, I was lost; however, I now feel there is a depth to the fantasy quest story.

Mr. Artuso offers a condensed fantasy quest using elves, dwarves, humans, and the mysterious stranger. These characters are searching for the sacred relics of the Elf Goddess, Eldea and the Dwarf God, Dwardeus. With these items—Staff of Eldea and War Hammer of Dwardeus—Awna, the human sorceress, will destroy the Bear Goddess and her undead army.

In “Bear Goddess” the evil one is known, the decision to vanquish her has been made, the objects of the quest are known as are the questors, and the relics’ location determined. In most fantasy quests that would all be in book one.

What makes “Bear Goddess” different is who she is and how she became the evil one. In the distant past the being Maydeus found and fell in love with Puldea. While hidden behind a cloak of despair and darkness, Puldea was convinced by her soon-to-be-love, Maydeus, to explore the void beyond. Deeply in love they created a world where their children, Eldea and Dwardeus, were born. Puldea died during their birthing and from her children the Elves and Dwarves were created.

Eldea and Dwardeus had a major case of sibling rivalry, so much so that their own father dealt their final blow. Here is where Puldea, again, loses herself in her cloak and over the years turns away from truth becoming the Bear Goddess.

At times Mr. Artuso’s story is told through Maydeus and it is here I became a tad lost. Whose voice was speaking and where in the story were we. I am still debating whether Mr. Artuso’s ending was too fast or just right. As I stated earlier, there is more to this fantasy quest than just a quest.

For a first novel, this reader was left satisfied and curious.

Thursday – Bruce Cooke, the last of the Swimming Kangaroo Spotlight Authors

Swimming Kangaroo's Karen Wiesner & Chris Spindler

2009-07-09T09:00:00.004-04:00

Currently there are five books in the “Falcon’s Bend” Series, I have read book one “Degrees of Separation” and am currently within the pages of “Tears on Stone.” Over the summer please join me at http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/ as I discover the people of Falcon’s Bend.

Please tell me something about yourself.

Karen: The Falcon’s Bend Series was my first foray into the mystery genre. I’m an accomplished author with 62 books published in the past 11 years, which have been nominated for and/or won 92 awards, and 15 more titles under contract. My books cover such genres as women’s fiction, romance, mystery/police procedural/cozy, suspense, paranormal, futuristic, gothic, inspirational, thriller, horror and action/adventure. I also write children’s books, poetry, and writing reference titles such as First Draft in 30 Days and From First Draft to Finished Novel {A Writer’s Guide to Cohesive Story Building}, available from Writer’s Digest Books. My previous writers’ reference titles focused on non-subsidy, royalty-paying electronic publishing, author promotion, and setting up a promotional group like my own, the award-winning Jewels of the Quill, which I founded in 2003. The group does two anthologies, edited by myself and others, together per year. In addition to my writing, I enjoy designing Web sites, graphics, and cover art. For more information about me and my work, visit my Web sites at http://www.karenwiesner.com/, http://www.firstdraftin30days.com/, http://www.falconsbend.com/ and http://www.jewelsofthequill.com/. If you would like to receive my free e-mail newsletter, Karen’s Quill, and become eligible to win my monthly book giveaways, send a blank e-mail to KarensQuill-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Chris: I quit my job in the late 90's to make a living as a writer. It took a while before this came true, but I feel truly blessed that I can live my dream now. Most of my books are published in Germany. I write mysteries, children's books, YA romance and novels, mostly under my maiden name, Tina Zang. My books have been translated into Spanish, Polish and Hungarian. Find out more by visiting my website at http://www.christinespindler.com, or at my German website http://www.christinespindler.de

On a side note: Her first mysteries introduced London's Inspector Frederick Terry to high praise from critics and readers alike. They're available from Hard Shell Word Factory. And, her quirky "Karate Hamster" series is a roaring success with 7 to 10 year olds. She also writes YA romance and novels

I see that you and Chris Spindler are collaborating on the Falcon’s Bend Series. Can you tell me how the two of you came to begin writing together?

Karen: A strangling had just occurred in the park. The victim? A dancer from the local scandaleux strip joint. When the local small town lieutenant, who’s longing just to go home to his new wife, goes to the nightclub to investigate, he encounters the radical personalities of the other dancers: one far-too-young-and-innocent; another older, vengeful and jaded; and a blond bombshell with unfathomable depths.

When I woke from this intense dream in the late 1990’s, I immediately started writing. My pen flew over the paper as I wrote down everything I saw in my dream-movie. When it finally faded out, leaving a heaviness in my chest, I’d filled pages with the start of a book I couldn’t imagine myself ever writing. I was a romance writer who occasionally wrote writers’ reference books. I didn’t write mysteries or even psychological thrillers, though of late the occasional suspense plotline had slipped into my contemporary romances—always as a secondary element. So I put the notes into my plot cupboard where I expected it to fade from my imagination quickly. It didn’t. It continued to haunt me as time passed and the plots of my romances became more suspenseful, and I sold some children’s books and poetry. I even delved into an experimental paranormal (SWEET DREAMS) that won rave reviews, became a finalist for the Daphne du Maurier Award and was chosen as a Top Pick of the month from Romantic Times. Seems my imagination didn’t want to be contained simply because I’d started out as a contemporary romance writer.

At the time, in the year 2000, SWEET DREAMS was published by Avid Press (now available from Hard Shell Word Factory), which was also the publisher of a friend, Christine Spindler, who wrote an award-winning mystery series and happened to live in Auenwald, Germany. Christine and I started talking, almost casually at first, about writing something together. My first thought was the dream I’d had about the small town detective tracking a killer in a strip joint while missing his wife. I told Christine about this idea gathering dust in my cupboard, and she told me about an idea she had about a mystery involving twin sisters.

When she sent me the notes she had on her story, I became wildly excited. Without a break, I spent the rest of that day combining the best elements from both of our ideas, and DEGREES OF SEPARATION—a full-blown whodunnit mystery—was born. Soon Christine and I were brainstorming non-stop from our ends of the world. In no time at all, we’d completed the novel, which was so much like the dream I’d had, I knew it had to be fate. We both accepted that we wouldn’t want this to be a single book. We’d fallen for Pete Shasta (and his beloved wife Lisa) and Danny Vincent, investigators for the Falcon’s Bend Police Department, and together we plan to visit often the ‘small, sleepy Wisconsin town that owns more taverns than churches but fills both on the appropriate days. A place where nothing seems to happen...except the occasional murder’. You can visit the Falcon’s Bend Community, too! Just point your browser to http://www.falconsbend.com/ in order to find information about and excerpts from the Falcon’s Bend Series.

Chris: This was a truly amazing collarboration, right from the start. I've written about 30 books alone, and it's a totally different experience. Working with a co-author is a lot of fun, it's so inspiring to brainstorm together.

Please tell me why you chose this particular setting/genre for THE FIFTEENTH LETTER, Book 3 of the Falcon’s Bend Series?

Karen: Chris and I had already spotlighted our Falcon’s Bend Police Department detectives, Pete Shasta and Danny Vincent, in the first two books in the series. We introduced Patrol Officer Amber Carfi (and her partner Warren Jensen) in Book 2. Even in her brief introduction in TEARS ON STONE, Amber intrigued both of us because she had so many interesting facets. Here was a cop who had a father in prison, a woman who really understood people yet was completely messed up herself, a tough cookie who occasionally showed her softer side. We knew we wanted to expand her character, and she and Jensen kind of took over in THE FIFTEENTH LETTER, where you find out what happened to put her father in prison—and almost gets Amber blown up in the process, and in ROMANTIC NOTIONS, Book 4, which is more of a howdunnit than a whodunnit that we think police procedural/mystery fans will really enjoy.

The amount of research involved in THE FIFTEENTH LETTER was monumental—let’s just say it wasn’t the kind of thing either of us would like to do again, not that it wasn’t worth it. Oh, and Chris was the one who came up with the brilliant idea about the fifteenth letter that really cinched the entire plot and gave us such a fantastically intriguing title.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Falcon’s Bend Series titles are available now in trade paperback and electronic formats:

DEGREES OF SEPARATION, Book 1 of the Falcon’s Bend Series re-issue Who is killing the midnight ladies?

TEARS ON STONE, Book 2 of the Falcon’s Bend Series re-issue
Is murder ever justifiable?

THE FIFTEENTH LETTER, Book 3 of the Falcon’s Bend Series
Sins of the father...

ROMANTIC NOTIONS, Book 4 of the Falcon’s Bend Series
Love—and murder—is in the air.

FALCON’S BEND CASE FILES, Volume I {The Early Cases} re-issueThe first collection of Falcon’s Bend Detectives Pete Shasta and Danny Vincent’s early cases.

FALCON’S BEND CASE FILES, Volume II The second collection of Falcon’s Bend Detectives Pete Shasta and Danny Vincent's cases, with Patrol Officer Amber Carfi.

Steals & Deals on Falcon’s Bend Series titles!

-Buy the trade paperbacks of DEGREES OF SEPARATION and TEARS ON STONE together from the publisher and pay only $25—including shipping! (almost a $15 savings!) Find out more here: http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/degrees.html

-Purchase the trade paperbacks of THE FIFTEENTH LETTER and ROMANTIC NOTIONS together from the publisher and pay only $12 each or $20 for two books! (almost a $10 savings!) Find out more here: http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/notions.html

-Buy DEGREES OF SEPARATION, TEARS ON STONE, THE FIFTEENTH LETTER, ROMANTIC NOTIONS and FALCON’S BEND CASE FILES, Volume I and receive all five books for only $50! (almost a $30 savings!) Item # 425684 http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/degrees.html

Buy any 3 of Karen’s titles and get them for only $9 each! Visit http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/specialorderform.html
to take advantage of this sale.

Find out more about the Falcon’s Bend Series at http://www.falconsbend.com/

REVIEW - http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

FALCON’S BEND SERIES BOOK 1: DEGREES OF SEPARATION
By Karen Wiesner and Chris Spindler

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
www.swimmingkangaroo.com

Genre: MysteryISBN: Paper: 978-1-934041-88-8
Pages: Paper: 319
Price: Adobe Reader Format - $4.99
HTML Format - $4.99
MOBI Format - $4.99
Paperback print copy - $16.99 + s&h

Yes! A new series for my collection.

Ms. Wiesner describes her and Ms. Spindler’s new series the following “None of the Falcon’s Bend Series books are cozies. They’re all Mystery/Police procedurals. All are whodunnits except….” I’ll keep you in suspense as to the “except.”

I agree completely. There is something gritty and basic about Falcon’s Bend. While set in Wisconsin, Falcon’s Bend, isn’t some cliché filled “one-horse town.” Lieutenant Pete Shasta and his partner Danny Vincent are not bumbling, overly polite, happy go lucky, perfect officers. They’re cops. They have a murder (or two) that needs solving and like dogs with old bones they’re not letting go.

They are flawed; they are human. Pete’s failed first marriage haunts his new marriage…will he get past that Lisa isn’t his first wife. Lisa understands and supports Pete, she may not like Pete’s long dedicated hours, but she knew this when she married him. Danny’s the ladies man (a nice guy ladies man, but a ladies man) but when he falls for a suspect, well that just might cause some trouble.

I like Pete and Lisa and the challenges facing them. Pete and Danny have a presence here, but it's subtle and knowing there's four other books my gut tells me the complexity of the characters will show more as the series moves along.

“Degrees of Separation” surrounds the murder of a stripper. Nothing unusual or different, right? Have you ever heard of a men’s club where all the strippers live with their boss and his wife? That one stripper, Cherry, is the wife’s twin sister? Why did they all move from Los Angeles to Falcon’s Bend, Wisconsin? Their parents really named them: Cherry, Teresa (okay this one doesn’t count) Deidre aka Dee (okay same here) Vanessa, Lacey, Sugar, and wife, Melody? All right, their names might not be that out of it, but come on--they’re all twenty-one?

Boss, Andre Trelawney is guilty of something, but is it murder?

Something strange is going on at the Danse de Minuit.

One character’s abuse history did get to me, pushed my comfort levels, but not enough to turn me against story. Sadly, it was needed for this character’s realistic development. Behind every face there’s a story and reason why they are who they are and how the monsters find them.

Did I solve the murder mystery? Sorta. Given the quality of writing, I knew Ms. Wiesner and Ms. Spindler wouldn’t throw their readers an out-of-the-blue-unwarranted solution. However, they offered enough evidence that I could have been wrong.

The ending left me well satisfied. As the title might suggest to you, “Degrees of Separation,” we’re all linked and our lives change by degrees. Take a left here; make choice A over B; one misunderstanding and our lives change. Each solution fit the individual with only the minimum fairy tale ending. Hey, even a realistic police mystery deserves at least one happy ending.

A potentially strong series that I suspect will have a few surprises.

I’m visiting Falcon’s Bend again and again, but you’ll have to come back for those.

Monday: David Artuso

Swimming Kangaroo's Larion Wills aka Larriane Wills

2009-07-08T09:00:00.001-04:00

Larion Wills, a multi-genre author, also writes under the name of Larriane Wills. From science fiction to western romances she holds up to her tag of ‘two names, one author, thousands of stories.’ Little Sam’s Angel is the second of a series of western women. Be sure to read the first, Mark of the Sire and watch for the third, soon to be released, Hard Rides Hard.

Born in Oklahoma, but raised in Arizona she feels native to the state and has settled in the high desert country. In a quiet, rural area with a family who tolerates her writer’s single-mindedness, she presents us with a series of unique westerns while still producing contemporary romances, many laced with paranormal settings, all with strong characterizations and suspenseful plots, capable of dragging you into a story in a genre you may have thought you didn’t care for. At her website, http://www.larriane.com/ , you can keep abreast of releases under both pen names, and she invites you to contact her at larriane@larriane.com

REVIEWS - http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

THE KNOWING
By Larriane Wills

Swimming Kangaroo Books, October 2006
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/
Fantasy
ISBN – MS Reader 1 934041 11 4
Paperback – 1 934041 12 2
297 Pages
MS Word Format: $5.99
HTML Format: $5.99
Adobe Reader Format: $5.99
MOBI Format: $5.99
Amazon: $10.88

Control the religion; control the power.

It is said that one day the Atat Comm will lead the people back to All Who Is One. The Priests of Oldspushner fear that is Garran of Lockmer. The Sisters of Treach have taught Garran their ways…ways not normally taught to boy-children. Both sects have their reasons for Garran’s death and life. Garran believes in nothing, he’s just a solider made Governor of Sheritan. And now he’s caught up in the politics of people who’s soul desire is power.

The people of Sheritan don’t like Garran. They work the mine and have only ever been used by past Governors. Why should Garran be any different. But he is. There’s a leader, Caslock, who is taking over wherever he goes and he’s on his way to Sheritan. However, Garran’s preparing a way to safety…tunnelling through the mines to the other side of the mountains, a chance for the people of Sheritan to escape slavery and worse. However, Caslock is also chasing the Princess Fayahstella, future Queen of Ives. Her father wants to use her for aid; the Priest, High Priest Bashsay, Consular to the King, Guardian to the Princess, would use her to trade for power with Caslock.

Now, Princess Fayahstella is an interesting character. She must be guarded against all evil, temptation, and sin at all cost. Her clothes are of such volume she cannot sit; when she walks she appears to glide. Her headdress barely fits through Garran’s office door. She must always wear a veil; therefore, eating or drinking with others is impossible. There are always three ladies attending to her…they stand between her and all. Then there’s her voice; the Royal Voice. It has been said it was given to her by Oldspushner to protect her from evil. And, no one is allowed to talk about anything informative in front of her…again to protect her innocence. Is it no wonder everyone thinks she has no brain.

But, that’s far from the truth. This is a story of two very different people whose lives become entangled. She to escape from being a pawn used to gain power. He to unite the people abused from those in power. Together they try to bring peace and harmony to a struggling world.

At first glance “The Knowing” appears overly confusing and even tiring. However, this is a great read! The character Garran is blatantly honest and open. He’s a rough man used to living by his rules all the while knowing what others planned for him, and what others would do to him. He’s loyal to his men and well liked. The safety of the everyday citizens of Sheritan comes first. He’s a character that will stay with you, an original.

Princess Fayahstella is very interesting. I’ve never read of a character so wrapped up in protectiveness, catered to at every turn but not a whining pain in the butt. She’s no dummy. Fully aware of the priests’ plans for her, she looks for a way out. She stands on her own two feet.

Background characters are richly written as well. Immediately you sense the beginning of a possible series of stories. They’re too good to leave.

Larriane Wills’ book “The Knowing” is simply written. A fast paced story, which is difficult to put down. Thoroughly enjoyable, leaving me wanting more stories with these characters. Please, may I have some more?

LOOKING GLASS PORTAL
by: Larriane Wills

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/
Genre: Science Fiction
ISBN: 978 1 934041 17 8 (electronic)
978 1 934041 18 5 (paperback)
Pages: 372Price: $5.99 (electronic) $17.99 (US Print) 15 pounds (UK print)

Simply Fantastic!

No matter which room I was in “Looking Glass Portal” was with me. I could not put it down, could not stop reading. I already miss Garrett, Chief, Glemm, and all the rest.

Ms. Wills has taken a broken-down cowboy, someone who is slowly losing the use of his legs, and has dumped him onto a spaceship filled with either scholars or hunters. Sink or swim. Garrett really hopes he’s in some type of coma or even dead, cause this is all just too weird.

Men that look and smell like pigs; giant bumble bees licking and healing wounds; a real Pegasus; let alone a walking fluffy disappearing spider-thing. And what exactly is a trohog?

One day, Garrett’s just minding his own business mending fencing with his horse, Boss. While resting he’s shot by a pigman with something that literally punched holes through him. Now, he’s stuck on a Thornn research spaceship with no way home. And, due to his confusion, he’s been placed with the hunters…all from different planets. Doesn’t help his case that he’s protected by the giant bumble bees and seems favoured by Midradina, the only female around who also seems to talk for the unseen Thornns.

Ms. Wills has created a world locked on a spaceship that contains dangers and humour and the underlying need for friendships. Garrett is quick-witted, sarcastic, baffled, and cares more than he will admit. His ‘friends’ are distinct and fully developed characters while still containing their own mysteries and objectives.

However, there’s more to this tale than meets the eye. I never expected the ending. I was wonderfully and brilliantly blindsided. Every bit of information was right there in front of me and I never had an inkling to the secret of the “Looking Glass Portal.”

Outstanding! A Must Read!

MARK OF THE SIRE
By Larion Wills

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/
Genre: Historical RomanceISBN: Paper: 978-1-934041-36-9
Pages: Paper: 321Price: Paper: $17.99

Do you like westerns? Do you like romance? Do you like a smartly told story?

“Mark of the Sire” is for you.

My all time favourite storyteller is Louis L’Amour, specially his westerns and definitely his Sackett family. Ms. Wills creates a western town and inhabitants to, in my opinion, rival those of my favourite reads.

Her tale is simple. Girl leaves the ‘civilized’ city because society branded her unsuitable. Girl arrives in Colorado to live with her stuck-up Uncle and Aunt. Bad Boy, who ruined Girl’s reputation, shows up in Colorado. Is he following Girl or someone else?

Of course, “Mark of the Sire” isn’t this simple. There are family secrets, gunfights, land takeovers, abductions, and personal truths.

While “Mark of the Sire” is a romance, there is very little between our heroine and hero. The story is seen through the actions of Lon (the Boy), his long-lost brother, their friends, their estranged father, and unknown uncle. Through the unravelling of their secrets and pain Lon finds the freedom to be himself and not the rogue fake he wears.

The Girl, Catherine, is internally strong and when she finally breaks away from her righteous uncle she is able to start opening her eyes to the real Lon.

“Mark of the Sire” is not a typical romance. Sure, the two characters are back and forth between admitting they need/want each other and running away. However, it is the surrounding story that makes this an excellent read.

Once again, Ms. Wills captures her readers’ attention with her storytelling. She easily paints the setting and emotions of her story to the point you are living in her pages. Her characters breathe with believability and their journey stays with you once you close the book’s covers.

Ms. Wills never disappoints and “Mark of the Sire” is one of her best.

MOURNING MEADOW
By Larion Wills

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/
Genre: Mystery
ISBN: Paperback: 978-1-934041-16-1
Pages: 275Price: Paperback: $15.00
PDF: $3.99

Isn’t a house just a house? Not when it is a haunted mansion.

Stephen Chase wrangles an invite to view the famous Fulton DeBain’s Morning Meadow mansion; all he’s hoping for is a chance to talk the owner into developing it into something worth millions…for them both. What Stephen gets is a strange mix of socialites, an even stranger lady in the form of Kari, ghosts, secrets, and nearly killed.

What do we, Ms Will’s readers, get? Yet another terrific read with more twists and turns and switches than I can ever begin to tell you about here. As if I even could tell you more, doing so would give too much away as Ms. Wills is still writing a close knit story that unravels in her own unique way…one that keeps me guessing.

I have been trying to figure out what I can tell you about “Mourning Meadow.” There are family secrets and strained relationships. There are lies and misunderstandings and surprisingly, romance from the most unlikely pairing. And underlying it all is an unbreakable will that will drive someone to murder.

What else…yes, Ms. Wills still uses her words to clearly paint the picture of her settings. There are no wasted descriptions or thrown in information, everything has its reason…even when you don’t catch it the first time around. Ms. Wills’ characters are interesting as they hide behind their own facades.

I have one complaint, Ms. Wills, your “Mourning Meadow” kept me up to 3:00am and the only reason I didn’t finish it that night was because I fell asleep…glasses on, light on, book open, dreaming “Mourning Meadows.”

Still, in the end, Ms. Wills throws yet another curve. Makes me wonder if a revisit to “Mourning Meadows” is needed.

Another success.

THIRTEEN SOULS
By Larion Wills

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/
Genre: Romantic Suspense
ISBN: Paper: 978-1-934041-30-7
Pages: Paper: 300
Price: Adobe Reader Format - $3.99
HTML Format - $3.99
MOBI Format - $3.99
Paperback print copy - $15 + s&h

Caution: Some hot sexual scenes, within context. Some graphic descriptions of sadistic abuse, well within context.

Larion Wills aka Larriane Wills is one of my favourite writers. I read her name and know I am in for one surprising, emotional, thrilling, and pleasing read. “Thirteen Souls” is one of these reads.

“Thirteen Souls” is a simple enough story. Heather Winstrobe, who really isn’t Heather Winstrobe, wants something from the DuBois property. Gene DuBois, the black sheep of the old money family, is the cynical, distrusting, argumentative, sexy-as-all-get-out owner of the property who’s tired of hearing about a hidden family treasure.

Together they are an explosive duo in bed (or anywhere) and major thorns in Gene’s family’s sides. His mother, quite a ‘witch’ and snob, will have you wanting to strangle her scrawny little neck. His brother oozes slimy playboy confidence that have you cheering Heather and her putdowns.

Are Heather and her team after the family treasure? I wasn’t sure. Does Heather really communicate with the spirits and ghosts of past slaves? I wasn’t sure. What haunts us more—our past or our present? Gene’s about to find out and it could cost him his life.

“Thirteen Souls” is not an easy read due to the abusive history that is vital to the story. It is unsettling. Some characters survive and grow beyond their abuse, while others wallow in their mistaken belief that they deserved it…that they owe their abusers.

“Thirteen Souls” is a spectacular read. In its darkest moments it shines with hope…for those trapped in the past and those fighting for their future.

Romantic Suspense and Me? Yup. Double yup, if it’s “Thirteen Souls.”

Thursday: Karen Wiesner and Chris Spindler

Swimming Kangaroo's Terry Lloyd Vinson

2009-07-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

Terry Lloyd Vinson was born and raised in Northern Alabama and has resided in five states as well as overseas. He currently makes his home in Nashville with his wife of twenty-one years, Kum Hui.

He is the author of such recent novels as 'Half Past the Witching Hour', 'Desolation Island', and 'The Dead Effect'.

REVIEW - http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

SPECTRAL REWIND: THE CLASS OF ‘81
By Terry Lloyd Vinson
Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/

Genre: MysteryISBN: Paper: 978-1-934041-68-03
Pages: Paper: 279

Price: Adobe Reader Format - $3.99
HTML Format - $3.99
MOBI Format - $3.99
Paperback print copy - $14.99 + s&h

Would your high school graduating class make an interesting documentary? What if your twenty-fifth reunion was…murder interesting?

Matt Kirby is a documentary filmmaker who proposes to tell the story of one small town success stories. Four graduates all made it big, The Infamous Four. Peter Vincent went from class clown to stand-up comedian and character actor in low budget movies. Brenda Jamison went from being dead poor to being a U.S. Senator. Christopher Greene was the quiet star athlete who ended up writing successful books under a pseudonym. High school’s Most Beautiful cheerleader, Lisa Monroe Clarke turned model then opened her own modeling agency. All from the same small Alabama town; all in the same graduating class.

What will be remembered more--the accomplishments or the murders? Matt wants to showcase the successes, but knows he will have to show the chilling unsolved murders and his new producer wants more death and less success. The townsfolk want peace. They don’t want any more Vengeful Phantom theories.

At first “Spectral Rewind” reads similar to “The Blair Witch Project.” However, there is far less jumble and more suspense. “Spectral Rewind” is a page-turner. It is as simple and straightforward as any suspense mystery can get. It is subtly powerful.

Mr. Vinson uses Matt’s voice to bring the action and setting alive. Matt’s narrative breaks the fourth wall to make an intimate connection with this reader. Mr. Vinson uses straight story writing along with an interview format to unfold his mystery. This smoothly breaks the reading into snippets of current action and remembered experiences through other characters.

I could not put “Spectral Rewind” down. I could not uncover the conclusion even with all the pieces presented. I would read Mr. Vinson again…and again.

More, please.

Wednesday: Larion Wills aka Larriane Wills

Swimming Kangaroo's C.S. Davidson

2009-07-06T09:00:00.001-04:00

Cali Davidson (Sue) is a children’s author who developed a love for books early in her childhood when she first discovered the joy of reading. Cali now writes to pass on some of that joy to the children of today and of tomorrow.

Berin Uriegas is an artist and illustrator living in Washington DC. An avid reader since childhood, when not elbow deep in paint, Berin likes to spend his afternoons devouring a good book. A habit he hopes to pass on to his little girl. This one’s for her.

REVIEW - http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

BAD DRAGONFLIES
Written By C.S. Davidson
Illustrations By Berin Uriegas

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/index.php

Genre: Children
ISBN: Paperback 978-1-934041-48-2

Pages: Paper: 19

Price: Paper: $9.95

What do you get when you have one hungry frog, one smart ant, and a whole lot of dragonflies? You and your child zooming, buzzing, crawling, squashing, and gobbling as you giggle your way through “Bad Dragonflies.”

In “Bad Dragonflies,” Ant teaches Gus, the hungry frog, just why frogs have such long tongues, while saving herself from becoming Gus’ meal.

C.S. Davidson’s “Bad Dragonflies” is an enchanting read. Berin Uriegas’ illustrations are beautiful. Together they bring a story that will have families laughing and being silly.

Tuesday: Terry Lloyd Vinson

Swimming Kangaroo's Robert Burns

2009-07-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

Robert Burns' academic career was serendipitous. He started on a degree in nuclear engineering at age 17, dropped out expecting to be drafted for service in Vietnam (but was spared by a medical disability). He went back to college several years later after emulating Jack Kerouac for a few years. Back in school, he began another technical degree, this time in physics, but found the English and philosophy departments would allow him to write his way through college and wound up taking a degree in English Literature.

In 1983, just after finishing a second degree this one in journalism he had to hit the ground working. He had no choice: His Chevy pickup truck had burned a head valve, and his bank balance was less than zero. Though his journalistic training was in investigative reporting and science writing, he accepted a job at a five-state agricultural weekly because the starting salary was considerably higher than it would be at a mainstream newspaper.

Unselfish Gene will be his first published novel. An earlier novel, Messengers of an Alien God, which he characterizes as "occult science fiction," is contracted to Swimming Kangaroo books with a tentative publication date of Summer 2009. He is currently working on a sequel, Dreamtime of an Alien God. He suspects, but can't promise, the characters he developed in Dreamtime may force him write a third novel in the series as novels are what happens when one's characters take on a life of their own.

REVIEWS - http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

THE UNSELFISH GENE
By Robert Burns
Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/

Genre: Science FictionISBN: Paper: 978-1-934041-69-7
Pages: Paper: 337Price: Paper: $16.99

A pandemic has killed everyone on Earth; those it hasn’t killed are walking dead – flesh-craving zombies. Don’t worry some humans were immune. The Moon has been colonized, but everyone’s developed some form of phobia/disorder and a whole new class system has emerged. Soon a comet will crash into the Earth and destroy it and items the Moon colony need to survive.

Solution, send a team from the Moon to Earth and pick up healthy human DNA samples and as much equipment and medical supplies as possible before there is no more Earth.

Simple. What do you think?

The heroes of “The Unselfish Gene” are the Moon’s underdogs, the lower class. They didn’t ask to take over the mission to Earth. This task was forced on them via sabotage and one of their own is the saboteur.

I truly like “The Unselfish Gene.” It is a very different read for me. The characters really struck a cord with me because they are the underdogs, the disposable ones. Why should they bother helping a society that insists they do the work but not enjoy the full benefits? Yet, our crew tries and maybe even changes a few rules along the way.

“The Unselfish Gene” is not a quick and easy read; however, it is a read you can’t put down…once you are within its grasp. Yes, it took a chapter or two to hook me. I was a tad lost between the characters on the space ship and the characters on Earth.

Mr. Burns incorporates old movie standards into the dialogue and character situations. His characters, having limited entertainment on the Moon, have watched far too many movies. So, instead of cliché scenarios that we see/read all the time, Mr. Burns develops these into acceptable aspects of his story. His characters know they are walking into trouble; they know nothing good can happen if they walk into the dark room. The characters are relatable.

The main story itself – Moon colonized, comet destroying the world, humans into zombies, sabotage, and characters falling in love during danger times – is good old fashion fun.

Based on “The Unselfish Gene” I would read Mr. Burns again.

Swimming Kangaroo's Janis Susan May & Aletha Barrett May

2009-07-02T09:00:00.000-04:00

Janis Susan May

Janis Susan May was born in Amarillo, Texas, the only child of Aletha and Donald May. She was a precocious child who read anything handed to her by the age of 3, wrote her first story at 5 and by 9 was working in her parents' advertising agency.

Janis Susan is the first to admit that she does not handle boredom well, and so has had a most varied career, ranging from banker to supervisor of accessioning for a biogenetic DNA testing lab, actors' agent to travel agent, opera singer to novelist to jewelry designer... and more too numerous to list. She was one of the original 50 or so women who began Romance Writers of America in 1980 and one of the 8 member Organizing Committee which founded the North Texas Chapter of The American Research Center in Egypt. She founded the NT-ARCE Newsletter and was editor/publisher for 9 years; during this time the Newsletter was the only monthly publication for ARCE in the world.

Janis Susan published her first novel in 1979, but quit writing in 1995 to care for her mother when Aletha fell ill. In 2001 - at an age when most women are becoming grandmothers - Janis Susan married for the first time, after being proposed to in the moonlit gardens across the street from the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. She and her husband, a dashing officer in the Navy Reserve several years younger than she, had met through ARCE. Three weeks after their marriage, Aletha died.

Two years later, when Janis Susan's husband was called for active duty in Iraq, he told her while he was gone she should go back to writing. She did, and since then has sold five novels and two novellas as well as this memoir of her mother. She has also been contracted to write on the history of archaeological illustration before 1798 as a part of a textbook.

Janis Susan and her husband live in Texas with a miniature white poodle and a black and white tuxedo cat, both aged and slightly neurotic rescued animals.

Aletha Barrett May

Born near the tiny town of Trenton, Texas in 1911, Aletha Barrett was the first of four daughters. Both sides of her family had pioneered that part of North Texas several generations before. Learning was prized in the Barrett family, but Aletha was prevented from getting her degree when the Great Depression made it necessary for her to go home and work on the family farm. Ten years after leaving college, she was able to go back and graduate and eventually be hired in 1940 by the Extension Service as a County Home Demonstration Agent.

Aletha left the Extension Service in 1944 to marry Donald Wright May, a journalism teacher at Texas A&M University and her high-school sweetheart. They moved to Amarillo, where Donald had accepted a position with the Farmers' Co-Operative. Two years later their daughter Janis Susan was born. Aletha was delighted to be a stay-at-home wife and mother, though during those years she wrote a monthly magazine column. After the family moved to Dallas, Donald, a former teacher of journalism at Texas A&M, began his own advertising agency and Aletha became the bookkeeper. Don May Advertising existed for 17 years, 16 of which it was rated by AADA as being in the top 300 in the nation.

The business was closed when Donald fell ill, and Aletha devoted the next 18 years of her life to caring for him. She also took care of her elderly mother for many of those years. After both of them had passed away she took life easy. She was a long-time member of the Cosmos Review Class and helped form the North Texas Chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt.
Aletha loved to travel; she and Donald had traveled widely, and as long as her health would permit she and her daughter traveled often, even fulfilling her childhood dreams of seeing Istanbul. Her last years were a trial of arthritis so painful she sometimes could not move. In 2001 Aletha Barrett May passed away in her daughter's home, just days short of her 90th birthday.

REVIEW - http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

The Land of Heart’s Delight
A Memoir

Written by: Aletha Barrett May and Janis Susan May

Published: Swimming Kangaroo Books
www.swimmingkangaroo.com
March 2007

Genre: Memoir/Non-Fiction

ISBN Electronic: 978-1-934041-13-0
ISBN Paperback: 978-1-934041-14-7

Pages: 156

Retail Electronic: $4.99
Retail Print: $11.99

I don’t normally read biographies, or other non-fiction for that matter, but sometimes you just have to reach beyond your comfort zones. I’m glad I did. “The Land of Heart’s Delight” was a delight to read. Ms. Aletha Barrett May’s life was beyond anything I ever knew and the telling twice as entertaining.

I never knew the USA Government actually had women teach other women how to take care of their homes. How to can and preserve their foods, make mattresses, make their clothes, even repair their sewing machines. I don’t remember a time were you could leave all your windows and doors open on a hot summer night without worry. And I sure wouldn’t want to drive through a herd of cows or through a living stream of frogs. And let’s just forget about listening to rattlesnakes outside my bedroom window.

Janis Susan May has taken the stories her mother told her and has woven them into the memoir her mother would have written had she had the chance. I felt I knew Aletha, and my heart ached realizing that, yes, this wonderfully brave woman was no longer with us…as a matter of fact had died years ago.

I hadn’t laughed out loud while reading in such a long time. My neighbours must have thought me crazy. Even as I read Aletha’s story on the porch, I now write this review surrounded by those same neighbours.

I even did something I had never done before…I contacted the publisher because I so enjoyed this memoir.

I’ll tell you what I told Dindy Robinson – Not only is “The Land of Heart’s Delight” a great look back at a personal history, but it’s marvellous glimpse into a small portion of the USA’s post-depression history.

A must for memoir-reading lovers.

Friday – Robert Burns

Swimming Kangaroo's Elaine Charton

2009-07-01T09:00:00.001-04:00

A voracious reader from an early age, Elaine would often change the end of a book or a movie if it didn’t please her. She always insisted on a happy ending. With an imagination like that, she should have known it was only a matter of time before she began writing her own stories. They may include, ghosts, and witches, dead bodies and all manner of such things but they all end well. Married to a fellow writer and book lover for over twenty years, he promised life with him would never be dull and boring. She can honestly say he has kept his word. They now live in Southern Arizona with two feline children Miss Lucy and Yerbalot aka Yerbie.

REVIEW - http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

EASY LOVIN’
Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
www.swimmingkangaroo.com

Genre: Romance
ISBN: Paperback: 978-1-934041-65-9
Pages: 212Price: Paperback: $10.00
PDF: $2.99

They say opposites attract, but it ain’t easy.

“Easy Lovin” is a sweet old fashion romance that even I couldn’t argue with. It fulfills all the needs this genre dictates. There’s the cute socialite, Abigail Fairfax, who wants out from under her mother’s demands. Then there is Texas’ Ezechial Zachariah McAllister, EZ to his friends. He is a U.S. customs officer who is in a heap more trouble with Abigail than any art smuggler he’s ever been after. Even if that smuggler is Abigail.

If you know me, you know I need a really big story in order to mix with a romance. “Easy Lovin” isn’t a really big story, it is about as straightforward as a male/female butting heads can get. However, it is a well thought out and planned story that will leave its reader content. I’m writing this a couple of weeks after reading and I still remember each character and the full storyline…this is a story that will stay with you.

I enjoyed “Easy Lovin” because it delivered an easy quiet read when I needed one.

Thursday – Janis Susan May and her Mother’s Memoir, Aletha Barrett May

Swimming Kangaroo's Kate Fellowes

2009-06-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

Kate Fellowes has always lived in the Upper Midwest, earning her degree from Alverno College in Milwaukee. Her working life has revolved around words—editor of the student newspaper, reporter for the local press, cataloger in her hometown library. She is the author of three previous novels of romantic suspense and numerous short stories and essays. Married, she and her husband share their home with a variety of companion animals. They live near the shore of Lake Michigan.

REVIEW - http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

When Shadows Fall

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
www.swimmingkangaroo.com

Genre: Romantic Suspense

ISBN: 978-1-934041-21-5 (Electronic)
ISBN: 978-1-934041-22-2 (Paperback)

Pages: 160
Price: $11.99 (US Print) $3.99 (Electronic)

Simply enjoyable.

Ms. Fellowes has written an effortless little mystery with just a touch of romance. An uncomplicated weekend read.

Gretchen Waller is an artist, a starving out of work artist. One day a friend gives her the number of someone looking for a research assistant. Gretchen’s hired. The boss just happens to belong to the Honeycutt Family…think fictional Kennedys. John David Honeycutt is determined to clear his grandfather of murder charges, and Gretchen’s going to help.

There are no big love scenes. No big car chases. Not even one instance of the two lovebirds battling over their developing love.

Just a simple enjoyable little mystery. A perfect balance of story and character.

Well done.

Wednesday – Elaine Charton

Swimming Kangaroo's Colin Harvey

2009-06-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

Colin Harvey's short fiction has appeared in Peridot Books, The Pedestal Magazine, and Flash Me! He is also the author of science fiction and fantasy novels, Lightning Days, The Silk Palace and Vengeance. He lives in Keynsham, UK, with his wife and two spaniels.

His fiction can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/colin_harvey

REVIEWS - http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

BLIND FAITH
Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com

Genre: MysteryISBN: Paper: 978-1-934041-37-6
Pages: Paper: 263 Price: $14.99

Sight isn’t everything.

Frances Dedman and Faith DuQuayne are the same person; just don’t tell them that. Frances is blind. Faith is not.

Confused? Frances and Faith are the easy parts of “Blind Faith.” Frances woke up one morning, as a young teenager, without the ability to see and with no reason why this had happened. However, she can ‘see’ colours surrounding a person when they talk allowing Frances to see their emotions and parts of the area around them.

Faith is the personality who took over Frances’ life after an out of hand teenage prank. Faith can see. Faith is as wild and out of control as Frances is deliberate and controlled. Even with no memory of her life as Faith, Frances is still paying the price for Faith’s ill choices.

“Blind Faith” is a detective story, a private investigator tale. Frances works with her uncle, an ex-policeman. They have been asked to find a missing fifteen-year old girl.

Simple?

No. Frances finds herself recognized as Faith; finds herself facing an old nemesis; finds herself trapped within a cult; finds herself too close to death’s door; and finds herself needing Faith’s help to survive.

“Blind Faith” is not a cozy read. At times it’s not even that pleasant a read. “Blind Faith” is rough around the edges. Frances/Faith is not an easy character to like. Her barriers transcend the pages.

Colin Harvey has proven himself a masterful writer. He has weaved a complex character idea into a very believable being. His use of personality language adds depth and realism to characters.

“Blind Faith” is jarring in its telling. I was not comfortable, at times, in reading “Blind Faith.” Why didn’t I just stop reading it then? I couldn’t.

Mr. Harvey’s writing demanded I continue to read and find out what happened to Frances/Faith. “Blind Faith” demanded me to think about my reaction to it.

While I am not sure about “Blind Faith” and I am 100% sure about Mr. Harvey as a storyteller.

Whether it is fantasy, science fiction, or mystery, Mr. Harvey delivers.

THE SILK PALACE
Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/

Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy
ISBN: Paperback: 978-1-934041-42-0
Pages: 389Price: Paperback: $15.00
PDF: $4.99

What’s in a name?

Welcome to Bluestocking’s world, the world where your name is offered up to the “Great Hall of Names” forever locking you into your place in life…no matter what you want from life.

Bluestocking was born and named Blue. She was never meant to be a translator of ancient scrolls. She was never meant to travel with royalty, nor visit and live with royals. If her secret was discovered…well, it won’t be an easy death.

Now, before you start thinking this is just another fantasy adventure of some poor girl raising above her life’s station and overcoming the odds…it’s not quite like that. It’s more, much more, maybe a bit too much more. I’m still digesting the story and finding little surprising nuisances I missed when I was reading. You see, “The Silk Palace” is also about religious corruption, greed and evil, murder, sacrifice (voluntary and non-voluntary) and, of course, love. It also has the Gods and Goddess of the different beliefs walking among the mere mortals for a day, talk about watching your Ps and Qs.

Blue wasn’t supposed to unravel the mysterious scrolls as fast as she did. She wasn’t supposed to fall in love with the slave girl, Kyr, nor Kyr with her. And never ever was she supposed to say the unleashing spell when she did, that’s when all hell went to hell in a hand basket…at least for those using Blue as their pawn. Because she was never supposed to become the avatar of a goddess. But was she supposed to succeed; did she succeed, sorry I can’t tell you.

“The Silk Palace” is a very complex fantasy read. At times I was lost in the twists and turns and shocks. Mr. Harvey did things in “The Silk Palace” that I’ve rarely read in any fantasy story before…a writer isn’t supposed to do that to their heroine, are they? Mr. Harvey did keep me guessing. I was never sure where or when the story was going to end. I wasn’t sure how I wanted it to end.

Did I like “The Silk Palace”? I did have problems putting it down. It’s still playing around in my mind. I’m curious as to what happens next? So, yes I did enjoy this fantasy story.

There’s nothing typical or traditional about “The Silk Palace.” And for those who love a good mind-whirling fantasy then Colin Harvey’s “The Silk Palace” won’t disappoint.

VENGEANCE
Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
www.swimmingkangaroo.com

Genre: Science FictionISBN: Paper: 978-1-934041-25-3
Pages: Paper: 277 Price: Paper: $15.99

You’ve heard of the Hounds of Hell, the Hounds of Baskerville, now meet Spellhound and whatever you do, do not touch that spell.

I am not sure how to review Colin Harvey’s “Vengeance” because I didn’t quite understand it all. However, I loved the ending. Which, you know, I won’t share.

The basic premise is a detective story. The rich power hungry client wants his stolen spells back. The client is Stanislav Duff. Duff wants any who touches or uses his spells killed. The detective is Jocasta Pantile and her partner/tracker, the Spellhound.

Spellhound is also the killing tool. Each spell is imprinted with Duff’s scent and Spellbound will sniff down the individual smells. Spellhound is more possession than partner to Jocasta. One day he might be able to earn enough, along with the right, to buy his contract from Jocasta. Theirs is a complicated relationship.

Simple enough, right? And for the most part I got it; however, parts of the tracking storyline lost me. I became confused as to why and what was happening.

My gut reaction tells me there is something here for a science fiction fan; however, I didn’t get it. And, that happens; sometimes a reader just doesn’t get the telling whereas others do. Knowing Mr. Harvey’s writing I believe this is what happened here with “Vengeance” and me.

With that said, I suspected some of the end surprises, but Mr. Harvey blew me away with his final conclusion.

I want to say I enjoyed “Vengeance’ however, I did get a tad too lost in the spell hunting. I feel that is more me than Mr. Harvey’s writing.

“Vengeance” is a strange read, but there is something very secretive about the concept of vengeance. A little more than meets the eye, if you find it.

Tuesday – Kate Fellowes

Swimming Kangaroo's Ilene Schneider

2009-06-26T09:00:00.001-04:00

Rabbi Ilene Schneider, Ed.D. is a native Bostonian who hasn't decided yet what (or who) she wants to be when she grows up. (She lives by the t-shirt logo: "I may grow older, but I'll never grow up.") In her current incarnation, she is Coordinator of Jewish Hospice for Samaritan Hospice in Marlton, NJ, near Philadelphia. (She was one of the first 6 women ordained as a rabbi in the US, back in 1976.) Interested in nature and conservation, she also works for the New Jersey Audubon Society at the Rancocas Nature Center.

In addition to ordination, she has earned a few degrees over the years, all in different disciplines and none worth much in the market place. (BA in Publication from Simmons; M.Ed. in Psychoeducational Processes from Temple; Ed.D. in Foundations of Ed. from Temple; honorary D.D. from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College for surviving 25 years in the rabbinate). She also began piano lessons for the first time in her life when she was in her 50's -- a total disaster (especially for the teacher), but fun.In her spare time (which she finds by never cleaning the house), she's a birder and gardener, although her garden's almost as much of a mess as her house. (She believes in benign neglect: she plants it; if it comes up, great; if it doesn't, she tries something else. She lets nature do the watering, which is why everything in the flower boxes is dead, and refers to the weeds as "wild flowers and decorative grasses.") When the weather's nice enough to garden, she's more apt to be birding.

She's been married for 30 years, and has two teen-aged boys, making her part of the trendy group of "older" parents

Chanukah Guilt
Reviewed by: ChrisChatReviews

Publisher: www.swimmingkangaroo.com 2007
Genre: Mystery ISBN: 978 1 934041 31 4
Pages: 312Price: $16.99 (print – US) 10pounds (print-UK) $4.99 (electronic – US)

I love “Chanukah Guilt”

It was recently brought to my attention that my family knows when I’m crazy about a book -- I don’t shut up about it. I haven’t stopped talking about “Chanukah Guilt.”

Simply put this is the story of Rabbi Aviva Cohen. She’s in her fifties, twice divorced, and lives quietly in South Jersey. Rabbi Cohen is finally doing what she loves and enjoys her life. All she has to do is officiate the funeral service for the disliked, self-made millionaire, William Phillips.

A simple routine duty.

Until someone confesses to her that they killed Phillips. Until the confessor commits suicide. Until Rabbi Cohen discovers suicide was murder, and it was someone else who killed Phillips.

I had ten pages left and I still wasn’t sure who did the killings. I thought I knew; I was pretty sure I had figured it out; I wasn’t totally wrong. But it rarely takes me that long to figure out any mystery! Thank you Rabbi Schneider!

I want more!

The characters are clearly defined and very individual. “Chanukah Guilt” is funny when you need it to be, and realistic when it needs to be. The family relations, both Rabbi Cohen’s and the deceaseds’ are dysfunctional and loving. I’ve found new fiction friends.

“Chanukah Guilt” is a whodunit that weaves through family lies and secrets and doubts. Rabbi Schneider brilliantly leaves all the clues where they can be seen, but not quite seen. You need to turn the next page and the next just to be sure, and still there’s that little bit a doubt.

Yes, “Chanukah Guilt” is set during the time of Chanukah. Yes, there are a few references to the Jewish tradition and its rituals (my apologies for any error in my word choices) but this is completely normal given the main character is a Rabbi. I found the references very interesting and added depth to the characters. These references also added a time line for the story, a pacing to the story.

Again, I want more!

“Chanukah Guilt” is a mystery for all readers. Rabbi Ilene Schneider is an author you must add to your library.

Swimming Kangaroo's Iryna Bennett

2009-06-25T09:00:00.002-04:00

Iryna Bennett was born in the Ukraine and shuffled through her reasonably conventional formative years with her head buried in books. By the time adolescence rolled around and the scenery settled in around her, she was pleasantly surprised to find herself fresh out of college and residing in Texas. When not writing or being brilliant at her day job, Iryna spends any spare time left over from wardrobe crises taking target practice and adopting felines. Whoever Fights Monsters is her first novel

ChrisChatReviews: http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

Whoever Fights Monsters
Written by Iryna Bennett

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books

http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/

Genre: Suspense
ISBN: 978-1-934041-19-2 (electronic)
978-1-934041-20-8 (paperback)
Pages: 210
Retail Price: $13.99 (US Print) $4.99 (US electronic)

How long can you walk the line before you fall off?

Character, ex-FBI agent Aya Morell, has been forced into early retirement. Ethics seem to be a problem; she doesn’t quite have many. Only her ex-partner Gavin Wade wants to believe in her.

Now separate, Aya heads to Arizona to work for Neuetch, a pharmaceutical conglomerate that is the victim of intellectual property theft. Wade is sent on a mini vacation, if working for a blackmailed recluse can be called a vacation. Fate isn’t done with Aya and Wade, what appears to be two very different problems converge into one surprise ending.

It is this ending that has kept “Whoever Fights Monsters” in my head. I had some problems with the logic of the story’s events and questions on reasoning and non-believable actions. However, and I really can’t say more without giving everything away, the ending has me intrigued. I don’t believe the story could have been written in any other order, just small some areas filled in a bit more.

“Whoever Fights Monsters” has me thinking and rethinking on its characters, and that’s not unsatisfactory in any story.

Tomorrow: Ilene Schneider

Swimming Kangaroo's Mary Andrews

2009-06-24T09:00:00.003-04:00

Mary Andrews was born in Salina, Kansas but was raised in England, Hawaii, and Texas as a member of a military family and is the eldest of seven children. She has three sons who have grown into good men, and she has been happily married for over ten years.

Mary is an unconventional thinker who has no trouble dwelling ‘out of the box.’ Her favorite all around question is: WHY, since once you find the answer to that, everything else makes more sense and can be dealt with. She claims little fear of change: in fact, she has adventured through many career choices, testing the waters of the mechanic, assembler, receptionist, puppeteer, artist, merchandiser, customer service attendant, structural aircraft worker, relay operator for the deaf, mother, a Gypsy merchant, and finally realizing a love for writing and a need to infuse life into inanimate objects.

She can’t wait to see what happens next.

ChrisChatReviews: http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

THE FIREBORN CHRONICLES
By Mary Andrews

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/

Genre: Sci-Fi/FantasyISBN: Paperback: 978-1-934041-50-5
PDF: 978-1-934041-49-9
Pages: 270Price: Paperback: $10.00
PDF: $3.99

Universal justice or universal corruption? Order or Chaos?

In Mary Andrews’ world there is a planet were all the ‘unacceptable’ members of society are taken into employment…the Hive Planet. Here they work for all members of the Universal Government and its planets. And they even get paid…a very nice addictive drug.

Only Rael Pointe has ever escaped this happy prison, as a rescued baby. His implanted compu-link interface temple plates make him a perfect Dark Ops leader, or was this always the plan? Either way Rael and his team are in for the ride of their lives.

It is my understanding that Ms. Andrews is working on the sequel for “The Fireborn Chronicles” and I would ask one thing…HURRY UP, PLEASE! Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Ms. Andrews has weaved computer technology with physic abilities mixed with espionage and personal revenge into one fantastical tale. She has written a balance between the computer sciences and human emotional abilities without losing track of each character’s individuality. When introducing new characters she doesn’t just have them fit in smoothly, she allows this well-oiled unit their doubts and caution. Even to the end she leaves you wondering…what now?

I’m not normally a big fan of science fiction; I like it in small dosages. Ms. Andrews delivers and I want more.

Tomorrow: Iryna Bennett

Swimming Kangaroo's Jack Adler

2009-06-23T09:00:00.003-04:00

Jack Adler is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. His published books in print include two novels, Parthian Retreat and Blackmail High, and five nonfiction books: There's A Bullet Hole In Your Window, Southern India, Exploring Historic California, Consumer's Guide To Travel, and Travel Safety (co-authored). The Library of Congress selected the latter book for translation into Braille. Two novels, Blind Gods and A Savage Duty, have been published in electronic format.

As a playwright, Adler has had several one-act plays produced Off-Off Broadway, and one published. He has also received a grant as a playwright from the Yaddo Foundation.

Adler teaches a travel writing course at UCLA Extension and nonfiction courses for Writer's Digest School. He was a columnist, on a freelance basis, for nearly 15 years with the Los Angeles Times' travel section. Adler and his wife, Barbro, have two sons.

ChrisChatReviews: http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

DITZY AND CHAMPION
By Jack AdlerPublisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/

Genre: MysteryISBN: Paperback: 978-1-934041-40-6
PDF: 978-1-934041-39-0
Pages: 168Price: Paperback: $10.00
PDF: $2.99

How well do you know your cyber friend?

Ditzy is really Faye, married to Jeff, and living in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. She’s not really ditzy; it’s just a nickname her husband uses.

Champion is really Ray. He’s single and a slight know-it-all…what else do you call someone who feeds their need to show how much they know and have read?

Chatting online is the new way to find old friends and make new ones. It’s a great way to just relax and partake of a good discussion. Like Ditzy and Champion do.

However, when Champion brings online life to Faye’s everyday life, that’s when things get out of hand. Is he friend or foe? Would a friend take photos of Faye’s husband giving another woman a kiss, and then send them to her?

“Ditzy and Champion” is a straightforward fairly simple story of two people whose lives cross and tangle. How they untangle, if they do, you will have to read for yourself.

Mr. Adler has written an easy weekend book. It will fulfill anyone’s need for a quick escape read containing a slight mix of tension and suspense. He also offers a strange twist that I’m still not sure I agree with; however, sometimes it’s the twist that keeps an author in memory.

I would read another Mr. Adler book. He writes a comfortable enjoyable story.

Tomorrow: Mary Andrews

Swimming Kangaroo's Karina Fabian

2009-06-22T09:00:00.006-04:00

Karina answers new questions

You may remember meeting with Karina and her Swimming Kangaroo novel “Magic, Mensa, and Mayhem” back here in April. Karina has graciously agreed to answer new questions about Swimming Kangaroo and Marketing one’s self.

ChrisChat: Why Swimming Kangaroo Books? What attracted you to submitting to them?

Karina: It'd be more accurate to say Swimming Kangaroo chose me. Dindy had held a crit workshop at the MuseOnline conference, and I sent her a story "Amateurs" form my DragonEye, PI universe. (Incidentally, you can download that story for free when you register at http://www.dragoneyepi.net/.) She loved the story and asked if I had enough to make a collection. I didn't, but I was working on this DragonEye serial mystery for a Mensa newsletter that I could novelize. Magic, Mensa and Mayhem was born. link: http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/mensa

However, I had such a great experience with Swimming Kangaroo! The editors were thorough--even after I'd gone through the manuscript five times and sent it to about 20 people for critique, they still found room for improvement. They caught bad habits that Vern had in his narrative style. (He's gonna roast me for saying that, but there ya go.) In short, they made a better book--and a better writer. I was very excited to offer Dindy the next DragonEye, PI, book, Live and Let Fly. It's with SK right now.

ChrisChat: When Dindy was talking about artists, she mentioned the search you and she had for Vern's artist, how you had a 'very specific image' in mind. How/Why was this aspect of publishing "Magic, Mensa and Mayhem" so important to you? What did/does it mean to have your publisher go to these lengths for your book?

Karina: I'd already had a couple of short stories in the DragonEye, PI universe published, and Vern, as is expected of a dragon, describes himself pretty well, so I knew what I wanted. I also knew that since it was a comedy, I wanted a more lighthearted style--and I'm very enamored of Phil Foglio's early work. So I wanted something like that. All I can say is that Dindy is a very patient woman and I am sooooo pleased with how the book cover came out.

I'll be honest: if I were with a large traditional publisher, I would have been willing to accept something less than my personal vision. That's the price you pay for the other bennies like getting on bookstore shelves. The great advantage to smaller presses is the joy of being more involved in the publishing process--and Dindy made it a joy!

ChrisChat: Dindy also mentioned you have "set up several types of marketing classes" would you share some information about them...where to find them, how to join, please?

Karina: That's another great thing about Dindy and Swimming Kangaroo: she wants her authors to succeed, and is willing to go to some lengths to help them. She realized that while she'd found great writers, not all were good marketers. So she called on some of us with experience to help--and offered to subsidize the training of the rest. After some discussion, I decided to start my own business, the Marketing Mentor.

I offer several programs:

1) 30-Minute Marketer newsletter: Do you know what you should do, but can't seem to find time or motivation to do it? This weekly newsletter contains a choice of three marketing tasks with instructions, any of which takes 30 minutes or less. Do just one thing a week and you're well on your way to marketing success.

2) Marketing classes: Every 6 weeks, I offer a class on some aspect of marketing--from generating a marketing plan to creating your own book trailer video. The classes are run via a forum, so you can do the work at your convenience, and every course ends in a product you can use in your marketing efforts. (If you do the homework, that is!)

3) Marketing Mentoring: I will mentor authors in their marketing efforts. Through phone calls, live chats or e-mail, I will direct you in your marketing efforts. I offer a group program if a publisher or writing group wishes to make the class available for its members.

You can learn more or sign up for programs and classes at: http://www.karinafabian.com/index.php?name=Content&pid=24

ChrisChat: What's next for Karina?

Karina: In the DragonEye, PI world:

1) "The Faerie Truth Behind the Fairy Tales" comes out in Mother Goose is Dead from DragonMoon books. Vern's article gives you a practical look at all the common fairy-tale-based scams.

2) "Mishmash" comes out in Book of Tentacles from SamsDot. Vern and Grace's first case. They must learn to trust each other--and themselves--in order to defeat the evil Octothulu.

3) Live and Let Fly is coming from Swimming Kangaroo. Super-spy spoofing as only DragonEye can do it. Vern and Grace travel the world and go undercover to stop a maniacal goddess from ushering Armageddon into an unsuspecting world. Saving the universes? Easy. Vern being human? Not so simple!

Of course, the next issue of A Dragon's Eye View comes out in July. Register on the website to get it!

In other worlds:

1) I have a story--maybe two--coming out in The Zombie Cookbook by Damnation Books. (Yes, I see the irony of writing for Damnation.) In "Wokking Dead," zombies attack a Korean restaurant. "My Big Fat Zombie Wedding"? The title says enough. I actually just finished it this morning.

2) April of 2010, Infinite Space, Infinite God II comes out. We have some terrific stories. It'll be a very different book from ISIG, but it's still Catholic sci-fi at its best. (http://www.isigsf.com/)

3) I recently finished writing Catholic school planners for a publisher, so if your middle school or high school student has a planner from Premier, then those are mine!

I'm also working on two more novels: Gapman, which is a superhero spoof in the DragonEye, PI world; and Discovery, which is a sci-fi set in my Rescue Sisters universe.
Plus, we're moving to California and I may homeschool my two younger kids for at least that year, so life is busier than I try to think about, or I get stressed.

Just to remind you…Who is Karina Fabian?

After being a straight-A student, Karina now cultivates Fs: Family, Faith, Fiction and Fun. Winner of an EPPIE award for best sci-fi (Infinite Space, Infinite God) and a Mensa Owl for best fiction (World Gathering), Karina’s writing takes quirky twists that keep her--and her fans--amused. From and order of nuns working in space to a down-and-out faerie dragon working off a geas from St. George, she juggles the stories from at least three different universes. Mrs. Fabian is President of the Catholic Writer’s Guild and also teaches writing and book marketing seminars online. Visit her website at http://www.fabianspace.com/.

10 Things About Karina Fabian

1. Born in Glennwood Springs, CO; grew up in Pueblo, CO.
2. Former Air Force officer (active and reserves)
3. Mother of four--former homeschooler.
4. Former freelance writer specializing in pregnancy and home births, home education, and people features.
5. Never intended to write fiction that incorporated religion so extensively, but those are the stories that ask to be written.
6. A seat-of-the-pants writer, she usually knows the beginning of a story and the end of a story, and a few events in the middle. Her characters lead her through the rest.
7. A notorious punster, she and her husband fell in love while trading puns while out to dinner with a friend.
8. As an editor, her pet peeves are logical disconnects and characters that act outside their characterizations.
9. Has lived in Japan and Italy as well as in five different states.
10. Loves hats--wears a Santa cap to December book signings and a fedora when writing DragonEye, PI. (No space helmet for sci-fi, however.)

Never to be missed websites:

http://www.dragoneyepi.net/: The home of DragonEye, PI, website. If folks register on the website, they get a free story ("Amateurs," an Honorable Mention in Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, 2008), and subscription to "A Dragon's Eye View," with special offers on stories and products.

http://www.fabianspace.com/: Where you can learn more about Karina and her other books. I also have a lot of resources for writers including free e-books, and classes and programs on Marketing.

http://www.northdakota.us.mensa.org/karina.htm To read the serial story. Be warned--the book is quite different!

ChrisChat Reviews: http://www.freewebs.com/chrischatreviews/

MAGIC, MENSA & MAYHEM
By Karina Fabian
Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
www.swimmingkangaroo.com

Genre: FantasyISBN: 978-1-934041-78-9
Price: Paper: $13.99
eBook: $3.99

Can an agent for The Church be both a PI and a Dragon? Certainly, if the writer is Ms. Fabian.

On the other side of The Gap, in Los Lagos, Colorado, is the Faerie world. Yes, the Faerie world. No, not the fashion store, but the border crossing between our Mundane world and the Faerie world. The world, Vern, agent of the Faerie Catholic Church and the only dragon PI, I have ever met, comes from.

Yes, dragon. Okay, I see you’re a little confused. Catholic Church? Faerie Catholic Church? The Gap? Private Investigating Dragon? Let me start from the beginning, at least the beginning I know.

Vern is a dragon. He was created by God and did live in the Faerie World. St. George, of the Faerie world, trapped Vern in a holy spell and now Vern works for the Faerie Catholic Church and is a PI living in our world. In “Magic, Mensa and Mayhem” we also meet his partner, Sister Grace of Our Lady of the Miracles, a high mage in the Faerie Catholic Church.

Bishop Aiden, their superior, has directed them to attend the Mensa World Gathering in Florida. This year a number of the Faerie have been invited and Bishop Aiden wants Vern and Grace there “to help keep order, supernaturally speaking.”

What could possibly go wrong at a convention of highly intelligent human and faerie citizens?

Right, I’m really going to tell you and ruin the surprises. Be prepared to meet pixies, dwarves, brownies, High Elves, Brunhilde the Valkyrie (yes the very same) and naiads (do not call them mermaids). And the Native American Spirit Trickster, Coyote.

“Magic, Mensa and Mayhem” is a different read due to the levels of fantasy and faith Ms. Fabian incorporates. They are then mixed together with Vern’s unique voice.

Consider Ms. Fabian’s writing to the fantasy genre as you would Peter Tremayne is to the historical mystery genre. Or Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series each contain elements of The Church but never is the story secondary. Vern goes so far as to call the Faerie St. George “the magically overpowered pain in the tail.”

When I am offered a Karina Fabian book I know the voice and quality I will be reading. When writing fantasy and science fiction, the two genres I have read, Ms. Fabian fulfills the demands of each genre and adds a piece of herself. She is a storyteller…something I treasure in those I read.

Vern…what’s next?

Tomorrow: Jack Adler

More With Dindy and

2009-06-01T09:00:00.003-04:00

About the Swimming Kangaroo Staff

http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/

Dindy Robinson
Publisher

This is the hardest thing for me to write but here goes. My name is Dindy. Yes, it is my real name, the one on my birth certificate. My dad made my name up to get revenge because I was the fourth girl. (He says that he “plucked it off a little star.”) Yes, I know it’s an unusual name. No, I don’t particularly like it. No, I don’t think it is pretty. But it is my name. And I may change it sometime, but I don’t have any plans to in the near future.

My maiden name was “Naugle” (pronounced “noggle”). I didn’t like it either. So I married Bill because he had a nice, ordinary last name. “Robinson”. Can’t complain about that one. Except for the Simon and Garfunkel song, it’s a pretty good name. One time my kindergarten class sang it to me. I’m not sure which parent put them up to it. And one time I called a babysitter and got her father instead. When he heard that it was “Mrs. Robinson” on the line, he started singing it to me. “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!”

Okay, maybe I can complain about it. But it’s still better than “Naugle.”

We are atheists and have raised our children as atheists. Bill and I were both raised as Methodists. We independently came to the conclusion that there is no god for reasons that are outside the scope of this bio. I’m not particularly interested in debating religion with you, but Bill is so if you have a problem with us being atheists, direct your comments to him. He’ll love it, I promise. Some people have wondered why I think it is necessary or appropriate to put this declaration on our website. I would like to ask those people if they ask the same thing of publishers who prominently display their Christianity on their websites. Other people have thanked me for having the courage to make a public declaration of our atheism. That's why we make the statement—to let other atheists know that they are not alone.

Another thing you might like to know is that Bill and I love animals. We can’t step outside the front door of our house without a dog or a cat running up to us and begging to be adopted. Once I even rescued a hamster that was running down the street. I scooped him from right under the nose of a highly indignant cat who was stalking him. We named him “Alley Oop,” and he lived for three or four more years after that. We currently have one dog, a sharpei named Wrinkles. We also have six cats, a two gray tigers, Gollum and Sir Robin, and two white and black cats, Quinn and Motoko, one patchwork cat, George, and one black cat, Chibi. (Yes all of our animals are neutered. I told you, we pick up strays.) We also have two beautiful grand-kitties named Gabrielle and Miki and a grand-doggy named Amelia. I have lots of animal stories to tell and probably will sometime.

Swimming Kangaroo is my passion. I have met some truly wonderful people in the three years we have been in business, and I am very proud of what we have accomplished. Not only that, but I have the joy of working side by side with my husband and daughter. It's a wonderful experience! Since Jaala and I started Swimming Kangaroo, I've been attacked by a killer elevator in San Antonio, propositioned by drug dealers in Virginia Beach and had my car nearly flipped by aliens in Roswell, NM (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) I can't wait to see what happens next!

Jaala Robinson
Associate Publisher and Web Designer

Jaala probably won't write her own bio so I get to write one for her (snicker!) Jaala (pronounced jay-la) is a blonde, although she's dyed her hair since she was in junior high school to try to hide the fact. She seldom lets me have any fun. For instance, I came up with all kinds of great ideas for this website, such as a game with Tommy swimming through a pool of sharks, but she wouldn't let me do them. She tends to be practical that way.

Although she can be a real stick in the mud, I couldn't operate Swimming Kangaroo without her. Not only does she design the website, but she also screens submissions and assists with editing and proofing. She's almost as committed to SK as I am (I say almost because if she were completely committed to SK, she wouldn't have balked at using an SK backpack for school.)

Bill Robinson
Resident Curmudgeon

Bill's title has fluctuated over the years since we've started but that's what he has finally settled down into. Every business should have a resident curmudgeon—it gives the other staffers somebody to poke fun at. But seriously, as far as submitting authors are concerned, Bill is probably the most important person at SK, because he makes the final decision as to whether the books are accepted for publication or not. He's perfect for the job since he's a curmudgeon.

More QandA with Dindy

ChrisChat What do you get from being a publisher?

Dindy: For one thing I get to read lots of really great books! :-) However, it also ties in to what I said earlier—most of our authors are new, and I find that very exciting. I like introducing the world to new authors. It’s very satisfying for me to work with these writers and to help them hone their craft and to see how good their books are. .

ChrisChat Do you have any advice, pro/con, for those who are thinking of becoming publishers? Is there room for more publishers?

Dindy: Right now it’s a very difficult time to be a publisher as the entire industry is in turmoil, largely due to the economy but also due to a lot of the changes n the industry itself with the rise of digital technology. If someone is going into publishing to make money, I would very strongly discourage it because they probably won’t make money. However, if they are going into it for other reasons, then my advice would be to learn as much as possible from people who are already in the biz. There are several good listservs out there for small publishers, and the people on them are VERY helpful and willing to provide the benefit of their experience and knowledge to newbies. Two of the best are: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Self-Publishing/?yguid=276760644 And http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/smallpub-civil/?yguid=276760644

ChrisChat Being the Publisher, the Boss you work for, how do you structure your work day? How do you get everything done?

Dindy: I never get everything done. I have a list a mile long and emails coming out of my ears. I also work full time at a day job so my life gets very interesting. I am a big listmaker and I keep a list of things I need to do, separating out things that have a short due date or things that won’t take very long. During the day at work I keep an eye on my email via my cell phone. When I get home, I respond to emails and then tackle whatever is next on my list of things to do.

ChrisChat Please give a Thank You to Jaala and Bill...the ease of Swimming Kangaroo's website and for the books that got Bill's final decision...much appreciated. How important is it to have people who will say no to you? I do like the idea of some Tommy games.

Dindy: I KNEW it was a great idea! There are several things that are important to me. First, Bill and Jaala have complete autonomy in their roles. If Bill wants to accept a book, we accept it. I don’t second guess him. If Jaala wants to do something with the website, she does it. I don’t second guess her. I’ve made mistakes and they’ve made mistakes, but they’ve also accomplished some really great things and they haven’t had to worry about getting the blame when something hasn’t worked out the way they planned. As far as having people who will say no to me, I think it is very important. I don’t WANT people who are afraid to tell me no. I want people to tell me things I need to hear, not what I want to hear. That’s not to say I always like it- sometimes it really gets my dander up. But once I get over my first defensive reaction, I listen., and SK is the better for my having done so.

ChrisChat I really want to hear about the killer elevator in San Antonio, let alone your animal stories...my cat wasn't called Psycho for no reason...however, I'll just end with - what's next for Swimming Kangaroo?

Dindy: Ah, this is the $24,000 question. In the short term, we have a trilogy of western books from Larion Wills coming out this summer, as well as some new science fiction and new fantasy novels, including my older daughter’s first fantasy novel, The Errand, which will come out this fall. However, we are in a bit of limbo at the moment. The poor economy has hit us very hard, so we are closed to submissions till January 2009 while we wait to see what happens with the economy, especially in regards to the book industry. We also have some private family issues going on, and we need to see how those play out before we resume acquisitions. During this time, we’re not just sitting back and twiddling our thumbs, but we are studying our business practices and our business model to see what, if any, changes we need to make. So to be truthful, I don’t know what is in store for us in the long term. I recognize there is a risk in saying this in public, however I also believe in being honest and up front. I’ve discussed this with our authors and have appreciated their support and encouragement as we work our way through the current economic crisis.

Next…Swimming Kangaroo’s Karina Fabian

ChrisChat Talks with...

2009-05-27T09:00:00.004-04:00

Swimming Kangaroo Books is a publisher for both electronic and print books. When we established ourselves in 2006, we said, "We think that gives us a fresh voice in the publishing scene. We are a small, independent publisher. In general, we publish adult fiction in the following genres: Mystery, Fantasy, Science Fiction and Romance. We may publish books that do not quite fit into any of these genres—our main criteria for determining whether to publish a book is if we like it or not." At the time, we quite honestly didn't know what that meant. What made our voice so fresh compared to all the other independent publishers that are out there. It seemed like a nice thing to say, so we said it.

Now, however, at the ripe old age of THREE, we can tell you what we think sets us apart. For one thing, we aren't married to any one particular genre. We have books that are genre books—mysteries, science fiction, fantasy and romances—but we also have books that don't fit neatly into one specific genre. We actually had a reviewer complain one time that one of our romance novels didn't fit the traditional romance structure. That's high praise to us because while we love genre books, we don't like formula writing. So if you are looking for something that doesn't quite fit into a particular category, there's a good chance you'll find it with us. Do you like cowboys? Aliens? Flying horses? We have a book about a cowboy who gets abducted by aliens and tames a Pegasus http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/portal.html Do you like science fiction and horror? We have a novel that combines both genres in a suspenseful mystery. http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/feral.html Whatever your tastes, if you like genre fiction, we're willing to bet you will find something you like among our books.

Another thing we've found is that we really like working with new writers. Most of our writers had never been published before they came to us. Their work is different—non-formulaic. They either don't know or don't care about the so-called "rules" of writing genre fiction, and as a result, their books are slightly different from traditional genre novels.

So that's what we mean by being a FRESH voice on the publishing scene means. We don't care about formulas or genres or labels. We don't care about what someone has published in the past, or IF someone has published in the past. All we care about is if the story that is presented to us is a good story. We think that if we like it, others will too.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS WITH SWIMMING KANGAROO’S DINDY ROBINSON

ChrisChat Why publishing? Why did you open up Swimming Kangaroo? Personally, I'm extremely happy you did because I have read some amazing authors. The diversity of their stories, just an individual writer's diversity, is exciting. I can't wait to get a Swimming Kangaroo book opened.

Dindy: I’ve always been a writer, but ran up against the usual blocks in trying to get my fiction published—trying to break past the wall of agents and publishers to get someone to just look at my material. I’d had some nibbles—an editor who really liked one of my SF novels but requested changes. By the time I made the changes and sent it back, that editor had moved on and the publisher was no longer interested. We had an agent who took on the mystery my husband and I wrote, only to turn out to be the type of agent who nowadays would be found on the Preditors and Editors listing--At one point I gave up writing for several years; I completed my masters degree and got very involved in my career and just didn’t have time to write. Then in December 2005 I found myself unemployed and decided I was going to work on writing again. During the time I had been away from writing, the ebook revolution had happened, as well as the development of print on demand technology, so I decided that I would publish my books myself. Then, as I got more involved in it I decided that as long as I was publishing my own stuff, I might as well publish other people’s stuff. So Swimming Kangaroo was born and launched in February 2006.

ChrisChat We've talked, via the Muse Conference that not following a publisher's guidelines is the major mistake any writer can/does make when submitting. Are there other pet peeves that have developed over the last three years? What are some of the strangest (lame?) reasons a writer has made for not following Swimming Kangaroo's guidelines?

Dindy: Actually I don’t get too upset about not following submission guidelines. We ask writers to submit 30 sample pages, but if they forget, it’s a simple enough matter to email them and request it. If they submit the complete ms, we just look at the first few pages. I’m not wild about multiple submissions (the author submits to other publishers at the same time they submit to us) but I recognize that this is part of the business and I also know that there are a lot of writers’ sites out there telling authors to go ahead and do multiple submits. We have people that submit non-fiction or juveniles or poetry and it’s an easy enough matter to let them know that we don’t publish those things. We don’t really care about the font type or size or anything like that, so we’re really pretty easy going when it comes to the guidelines.

That being said, there are things that do drive us nuts, but it’s usually on the back end. It drives me nuts when we’ve rejected something, and we get an email from the author asking for specifics about why we rejected it. One author said she expected more than a form rejection letter from us, and I have to wonder why when it says pretty clearly on our webpage that we don’t comment on submissions. It is not practical to do so, given our acquisitions process and it takes time and focus away from the books we HAVE chosen to accept, so it’s an annoyance to be asked.

Another pet peeve would be the writers who argue with us after we’ve rejected their work. One writer told me that we were making a big mistake because everyone he knew had read it and loved it. Well that’s fine, but those people aren’t coming up with the money to publish it now are they?

ChrisChat I'm a book addict. I'm not happy if I'm not reading; however, sometimes I really don't know why I like what I'm reading. I know that may sound strange, but some books are unique because they don't fit any description. Has Swimming Kangaroo experienced this? The gut reaction that a book is a Swimming Kangaroo book. Is there anyway to tell what books fit Swimming Kangaroo or should writers just write what grabs them?

Dindy: This is a tough one, but I think in a lot of ways it defines what is a Swimming Kangaroo book. Our books are quite often the square pegs that don’t fit in the round genre holes. That’s not to say that we don’t do straight genre fiction because we do, but if someone has a book that crosses genres or doesn’t quite fit within one particular genre, it is very likely to appeal to us.

ChrisChat Once a submission is accepted, what can a writer expect next? I have not experienced a published book, so I have absolutely no idea what happens after the acceptance. Frankly, I feel a little ditzy asking because I think it should be straightforward common knowledge, but I'm lost. Help.

Dindy: It’s actually a very good question. The first thing that happens in our case is the writer is going to wait—which can be frustrating because the writer is really eager to get published. However, we have to fit the book into our editorial schedule and it may be months, or even a year or so, before we can do so. During this time the writer should be working on the next book and learning everything s/he can about marketing, and learning how to network and make connections in the writing world.

As soon as we can, we send the book to a content editor. The Content Editor addresses the overall structure and organization of a manuscript, including character and plot development, pace, organization, introduction of subplots, examination of character motives, and tone. The content editor works closely with the author to substantively improve the manuscript. It is not unusual for the author-content editor relationship to last several months and involve a slew of e-mails and communications. Over this period of time the content editor evaluates the manuscript to determine whether the material is organized in the best possible way and challenges the author on cloudy explanations, inconsistencies, biases and other story elements that just don’t seem to work.

After the content editor finishes, the book then goes to a continuity editor who specializes in the picayune minute details. It is this editor who makes sure that a character who has blonde hair on page 6 doesn’t inexplicably have black hair on page 92. This can be a very frustrating process for the writer because this editor is so unbearably picky, but it is an important and essential part of the process.

After the content editor is done, we will format the book for print and then send it to the copy editor who looks for grammar, punctuation, spelling and typos. After the copy edit, we will have advanced review copies printed up and sent to Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal and some other publications. Finally we have an editor proof it—look at it one more time for typos and formatting issues. About 4 months after the completion of the copy edit, we will release the book.

ChrisChat How is the final genre classification picked?

Dindy: We put it where it fits the best. With books that cross genre, that can sometimes be rather difficult, but generally we can identify that a book fits more in Science Fiction than in the Mystery genre, for example. Probably the hardest book we’ve had to place was Killers, an anthology by Colin Harvey, because it had elements of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Mystery. We put it in Science Fiction because Colin is primarily a science fiction author, but we could just as easily have put it in any of the other categories.

ChrisChat How is the artwork and artist picked? Artists can read Swimming Kangaroo's FAQ for information on how they can possibly become a Swimming Kangaroo artist (link below).

Dindy: Our writers are heavily involved in the cover art process. When we come to the copy edit stage, I ask the writer if s/he has anything in mind for the cover. Some writers have a very clear idea of what they want while others are much more open. If they want a concept cover, we have some artists we work with who are very good at digital manipulation and are quite good at putting these together—Spectral Rewind: Class of ’81 is an example of one of our concept covers. Skylar Sinclair did a terrific job on this cover.

If the writer has a specific scene in mind or something that involves a free-hand drawing, I have an email list of artists who have expressed an interest in doing cover work. I’ll send out a description of the cover to these artists, asking them to let me know if they are interested in doing the cover. I then look at the ones who respond, checking their on-line portfolios to see if their styles match what we are looking for and to see if they are capable of drawing the individual elements we want. I then send the list of possible artists to the writer and the writer chooses the artist for the book.

This can sometimes be very difficult—case in point was Karina Fabian’s Magic, Mensa and Mayhem. We had a terrible time finding an artist for that because Karina had a very specific image of a dragon in mind for the cover, and we could not find an artist who seemed to be able to do the particular type of dragon we wanted. We had been looking for about two months, and Karina and I were both getting pretty desperate—she was browsing random pages at deviantart.com, and I was contacting anyone I knew who had ever picked up a drawing pencil of some type. Then, quite by chance, another author, Mark Eller, suggested Roe Mesquita for the cover of HIS book (Traitor: Book 1 of The Turner Chronicles.) I checked out Roe’s website to see if the quality of his artwork was up to SK standards and I found, tucked away on a back page, a dragon that fit the type of dragon we needed for the cover of Karina’s book perfectly. I emailed it to Karina for her opinion, she loved it, and I asked Roe to do the cover for Karina’s book as well as the cover for Traitor.

So to answer your question, the artist is almost always picked by the writer. There have been exceptions—sometimes I’ve just unilaterally picked the artist because the writer didn’t really have a strong opinion one way or another, and I do have one or two artists who we’ve worked with quite a bit that I will ask to do covers on a regular basis. Skylar Sinclair, Berin Uriegas and Kelly Carter have done a lot of covers for us. I like working with them because they all have a gift for honing in on what the author wants for the cover, sometimes on very little information. They are familiar with SK, they know how important quality is for us, and they understand the format the artwork needs to be in for publication so I tend to work with them a lot because it doesn’t require as much effort on my part. Skylar does a great job with the concept covers—she did the covers for Cherished, Mark of the Sire, Evil Reflections and Thirteen Souls. Kelly did the covers for Love Under Suspicion, The Irish Retribution, The Pursuit of Mary McBride, Mother Feral’s Love, Ditzy and Champion, Pandora’s Justice and The Knowing. Berin did the covers for The Silk Palace, Vengeance, Bear Goddess and Looking Glass Portal. I liked Berin’s work so much that when we were looking for an artist to do the pictures for Bad Dragonflies by Sue Frye, he was the first person I thought of.

ChrisChat Finally, what can a writer/author expect when it comes to marketing their Swimming Kangaroo book?

Dindy: Why they can expect is that we will be as supportive of their efforts as we possibly can be. We have a listserv set up just for SK Authors, one of the purposes of which is for them to exchange information about marketing with each other. My opinion and my position on this has changed quite a bit over the years—when SK first started I spent a great deal of time in marketing the author’s books for them, whereas now I expect them to do most of the work themselves—and that is because I have learned through experience that the writer is the best one to market their book. It does absolutely no good for me to go onto a radio show and say how good a book is if I am not the person who wrote it, nor does it do much good for me to pop onto various listservs and announce the publication of new books by such and such author. With that in mind, we are trying to teach our writers how to market—Karina Fabian has set up several types of marketing classes and I provide tuition reimbursement, as it were, for the Swimming Kangaroo Writers who participate in Karina’s classes.

ChrisChat: Thank you, Dindy for providing information on and about Swimming Kangaroo and taking the time to answer my questions. I always look forward to opening a Swimming Kangaroo book.

SWIMMING KANGAROO LINKS:

Main site: http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/

Submissions: http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/submit.html

FAQ for Readers: http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/faqr.html

FAQ for Writers/Artists: http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/faqw.html

Next visit is with the people behind Swimming Kangaroo

ChrisChat asks and Penny shares

2009-05-22T09:00:00.001-04:00

CHRISCHAT: Why write about a family that is going through a separation and possible divorce? Was this aspect more important to you because (a) for the story or (b) because there are so many children/families going through this very difficult time?

PENNY: I think the story would have worked just as well if Mom and Dad were not separating, but it gave me a good reason to have Mom move to a cheaper rental in the country. The separation added conflict to the story. I think a lot of kids can relate to a family in emotional crisis. When you look at statistics, it seems more families separate than stay together. It's a sad situation, but unfortunately a very real one. My dad died when I was ten, so I grew up in a single parent household, and I know how difficult it can be. I guess that type of family is more familiar for me when I think as a child.

CHRISCHAT: Regarding the mom character, is she close to your own writer experience? From discussions, on many writing lists, we all seem to have those moments of 'oh, mom's (dad) writing her stories' which are then met with surprise when something sells. Our families mean well, I hope all our families mean well, but sometimes it is frustrating.

PENNY: My husband and I never argued about how much my stamps cost, but I think I was more excited about my publications than he was. Being a writer is what I always dreamed I would be when I grew up. Seeing my byline is a real thrill for me. My daughter never felt I was a writer until this book was published, despite my numerous magazine sales. My
son seemed oblivious. My mom, however, would get very excited every time I had something published. But, you're right, it is frustrating when your family doesn't see the value in your work. I decided a long time ago, I would write for myself if for no one else.

CHRISCHAT: The Wendy character reminds me of myself at the same age – writing little quick lines as my poetry. Were you a, Wendy, as child?

PENNY: I was a Wendy in that I was very opinionated and stubborn. My poetry writing, however, didn't come until my 20's. When I was Wendy's age, I was writing "books." In fact, I still have one my mom saved called "Patty and the Country Ghost." I find it ironic that my first published novel is about a country ghost. My daughter, at around the same age, was fascinated by Edgar Allan Poe and Sylvia Plath, thus the references to dark poetry.

CHRISCHAT: Do you believe in ghosties?

PENNY: I definitely believe in ghosts. In my early 20's, I shared a haunted home in New Hampshire with several friends. One evening I was home alone, and I spotted our ghostly roommate going up the stairs. It still gives me goose bumps to think about it.

Regarding the craft of writing:

CHRISCHAT: How do you research the young adult/children genre/market?

PENNY: Every other year, I purchase a copy of Writer's Market. I subscribe to several "free" newsletters, including Funds For Writers, Writing World, Writing for Dollars, and Women on Writing. I have subscriptions to Gila Queen's Guide to Markets and The Children's Book Insider. I also frequently check Duotrope, Spicy Green Iguana, and Ralan's Market Listings. Sometimes, I'll get a notice from someone who has sold to a market I've never heard of, and I'll check it out. I've been doing a lot more on-line sales the past few years. It's easier to research the market, since you can readily see what the editor is buying and what direction they want to go. I've had the pleasure of attending the Muse On Line Conference for the past few years, and I've had the opportunity to chat with publishers and editors there. This is a great way to learn what they are seeking.

CHRISCHAT: Do you have any pet peeves about how writers write for elementary/middle/secondary children/young adults?

PENNY: Not really. There are a lot of different kinds of readers and a lot of different kinds of writers. I think there is room for everyone. Not every child who picks up my book will like it. When my daughter was in grade school, a group of parents tried to get James and the Giant Peach banned from the school library. Some parents I know wouldn't let their
children read the Harry Potter series. I think children should be exposed to lots of different writing styles and genres. When I was young, I enjoyed everything from the Secret Garden to Call of the Wild. I guess if I had any pet peeve, it would be writers who talk down to kids and try to preach a lesson. I think reading should be for fun and enjoyment.

CHRISCHAT: Why do you believe an adult can offer to this age market when, at times, the generations seem so far apart?

PENNY: Did you ever notice how things tend to come back around? When my daughter was in grade school, suddenly bell bottom pants were back in style, and the girls were wearing peasant tops. History tends to repeat itself, with slight modifications. Times change, but emotions and problems tend to stay the same. Young people may be forced to confront
their problems earlier than I did, but they are still the same kinds of problems. There are always bullies. There are the kids who are nerds, and the kids who are popular, and the nerds who want to be popular. There are always kids whose parents don't get along or who have siblings who tease them unmercifully.

CHRISCHAT: Your bio mentions you write for both adults and children, do you prefer one over the other, or, is it the individual story that excites you?

PENNY: I would say it's the story that excites me. I enjoy writing for both, which is why I do it. Once I get an idea for a story, I let it take me where the characters want to go. Sometimes it ends up being a children's story, other times it's definitely for adults. At times, it's caught in the middle. My illustrated chapbook, Dragon Sight, is one I thought would be an adult story, but my publisher thought it better promoted as a young adult tale.

CHRISCHAT: Lastly, "Ghost for Rent" is a fast and fun ghost story, a paranormal. What genres would be used to classify your writing and which genres would you like to tackle?

PENNY: I mostly write in the areas of fantasy and soft science fiction, although almost all the stories have a slight touch of romance. I have written and published a couple of romantic short stories as well as a couple of light horror stories. I probably prefer fantasy above all of them. Sometimes I think I would be better off writing romance, especially when I meet so many romance writers who seem to be quite successful. But since I don't enjoy reading romance, I would find it difficult to write it. I am usually reading at least one fantasy book, so I guess that's why I enjoy writing it. I think the best way to relax is to suspend disbelief for awhile and get lost in another world. In many ways, the reader needs to do that to enjoy Ghost for Rent. I enjoy being versatile in my writing and often play around with different genres, but if I don't like where the story is going, I usually don't finish it. I worked in a district attorney's office for many years before I retired, so who knows, maybe there's a detective story in me somewhere - but of course, it would have to be a witch or vampire who solves the crime!

ChrisChat Reviews "Ghost for Rent"

2009-05-21T09:00:00.005-04:00

By PENNY LOCKWOOD
Publisher: Hard Shell Word Factory
http://www.hardshell.com

Genre: Children/Middle GradesISBN: Paper: 0-7599-0340- 9
eBook: 0-7599-0337- 9
Starting at: $3.15

First it’s separating parents, then moving (out of the city, no less) and now her new home is haunted??? What is eleven year-old Wendy to do? Solve the mystery of the haunting ghosts, of course.

This is the simple basis for “Ghost for Rent.” However, there is more here than first meets the eye. Ms. Lockwood explores the emotions of one child; as Wendy deals with annoyance, hurt, anger, fear, not being believed, to finally being accepted. Emotions we adults tend to forget are very strong in our young. Emotions I can remember running through on a weekly basis with my childhood friends. However, I never lived in a haunted farmhouse. Wish I had.

It is the ghost story that brings Wendy and her teasing brother together. Even when their mother refuses to acknowledge what her own eyes are showing her, Wendy and her brother become more determined to uncover why these spirits are still here.

Why do ghosts haunt? What chains them to their old homes? Sorry, I’m not about to tell you, but the ghosts in “Ghost for Rent” will haunt you in more ways than one.

“Ghost for Rent” entertains on different levels. It is a read that brought me back to my own childhood and what I loved to read at Wendy’s age, a spooky tale with just enough scare without the horror. As an adult it’s a refreshing fright from the more sensual scares that seem to be the norm, today. More importantly, as a mother I can’t wait to share “Ghost for Rent” with my daughter and introduce her to the fun of being scared.

Thank you, Ms. Lockwood; I hope you revisit Wendy and friends.

Who is Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz

2009-05-20T09:00:00.001-04:00

Over the next three days you will meet Penny and her middle grade novel "Ghost for Rent."

Today, we'll take a tour through Penny's bio and where she lives on The Net. Come back Thursday for my review on "Ghost for Rent" and let me just tell you it is a top read. Friday, rejoin us as Penny answers questions my questions on ghosties, genre writing, research.

Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz has published more than 75 articles, 50 stories, two e-books, a chapbook, and her stories have been included in two anthologies. She writes for both adults and children. Her fiction has appeared in numerous genre and children's publications and non-fiction work has appeared in a variety of writing, parenting, and young adult print magazines and on line publications. Her writing blog is available at ttp://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com/

Her middle grade novel Ghost for Rent, in trade paper back is available at http://www.hardshell.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=0759910057 and as an eBook at http://store.fictionwise.com/servlet/mw?t=book&bi=8656&si=42

It's published by Hard Shell Word Factory, ISBN 0-7599-0340- 9 in trade paperback and ISBN 0-7599-0337- 9 as an ebook.

Sites where the book can be purchased:

http://www.hardshell.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=0759910057

<http://store.fictionwise.com/servlet/mw?t=book&bi=8656&si=42>

<http://ebooks.ebookmall.com/ebook/114776-ebook.htm>

<http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/penny-lockwood/ghost-for-rent/_/R-400000000000000123759>

<http://www.ebooks.com/ebooks/book_display.asp?IID=225738>

<http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/cgi-bin/item/parent-9780759903371/Ghost-for-Rent-eBook.html>

<https://secure.ereader.com/servlet/mw?t=book&bi=8656&si=59>

Thank you and please stop by Thursday for more on "Ghost for Rent"

Magic, Mensa & Mayhem - Day 5

2009-04-23T09:00:00.001-04:00

Who is Vern?

Hi, again. By now you may think you know Vern; however, to get a fuller picture of Vern I’ve asked a few friends and Faerie World citizens to give us their impressions of Vern.

Thank you, everyone for taking the time to drop in and share your thoughts with us. I really have just one question – Who is Vern?

Sister Grace of Our Lady of the Miracles: Vern is an incredible blessing to our worlds and to me.

Natura: Oh, wow! Like Vern is this totally groovy dragon. It's just too bad that the speciest Establishment we have to live under is so down on him. Some days I just want to, you know, gather the Magicals of Los Lagos and stage a protest. Hey, like, I'm totally into the power of the Internet; maybe if you help, we could--

Bert Logan: Pardon my wife. Vern's had some tough breaks, but He's doing all right for himself. Helped me with plenty of baffling cases when I was sheriff of Los Lagos County; does more than his fair share of saving the worlds. He's pessimistic and bad-tempered at times, and you gotta be careful if he's had a gallon or three from the local Texaco; but hey, we all got our faults. Er, pardon me. Natura, put the sign down!

Bishop Aiden: Vern is both Jonah and Job--the unwilling servant asked to endure more than most of his kind. Like them, he has had railed against his situation, but just in the past decade, I've seen a growth, an acceptance, in him. It's certainly taken awhile, by human terms, but for a dragon, I'd have to say he's a quick learner.

Kent: Ah, he puts up a show, but he's got a big heart. Don't tell him I said that.

Garn: A heart of mithral, has he! The soul of a True King and the courage of a ... dragon. Och! Cut! Can I do that one over?

Brunhilde: Vern, he's a sweet thing, ja? I'm sorry I caused him so much trouble, but it was all in good fun, and no one was hurt.

Kazak: I'll get that dragon yet--then he'll be damned! And no, no maniacal, demonic laughter. I do not have to follow cliché.

Siegfried: He's too small for a dragon, but that doesn't stop him.

Theodore “Led” Zepplin: I knew Vern and Grace from a year back. I'm a pilot on a LagosLines airship, and they'd been hired because we suspected sabotage. First time he walked onto my airship, I didn't know whether to bow or shit my pants. Sorry, ma'am. I mean, come on! A real dragon. A few minutes of his wise-cracking, though, and I thought, "This is going to be all right." Of course, I was an Air Force pilot. I'm used to egos.

Coyote: Why would I want to talk about Vern when there's such a beautiful lady asking me questions? Can I ask some? Do you like Montana? Do you like me? Are you married? Can I come home with you? We could get a doggie carrier! I won't tell if you won't. Let's definitely not tell Vern!

Charlie Wilmot: Vern puts up a fierce show, but he's a good friend. We've worked together on a couple of assignments now, and I can say you can always depend on him. Of course, if it weren't for him, I'd have never met the love of my live. In fact, I'm going to ask him to help me when I--aw, but no spoilers. You'll have to wait for the next book.

Gozonvabosomofic of the House Eternal Winds of the High Elves: Ah, Vern, great wyvern, master of the skies over Caraparavalenicana, where once he flew with grace and unconcern; yea, filling the hearts of those who beheld him with awe and terror and bestowing his fiercesome contenance upon those who would treat with him, with magnamimous mercy to those who understood his most reasonable preference to voluminous antelope over anorexic virgin--tho oft did he show mercy to the unwitting tribe who, in his most witty of phrases "they got the take-out order wrong" (verily shall that sying evermore be found inscribed on the historical texts...

{This goes on for you-don't-want-to-know how long. Summary: Wise, strong, snarky, good listener.}

...and to you, fair lady, of Chris of the Chat, for your most endearing patience in recording my briefest of descriptions.

Princess Galinda Tavendor: Sigh. Vern is so brave and self-sacrificing! I hired him to help me find necklace that I'd lost, and he not only found it, but ended up saving my life and bringing me together with my True Love. He even helped translate during those first few awkward dates--you know how it is with Elvish speech. Those long hours on the phone--mostly Galendor talking; then he'd tell me what he said. He was best dragon at our wedding, of course. And then, in this most recent crisis. Oh, what would I have done without him?

Oh, don't worry. Galendor speaks Human very well now. This should only take a few minutes. Galendor? Galendor, most dear to my heart--have you a few words about Vern for our guest?

Galendoropynphordaladys of the House Eternal Winds: Ah, kind lady, ChrisChat, blogger of reviews who claims an addiction to book--and a most healthy addiction that can be, one that heartens me to--oh, of course, my dear Galinda.

With a grateful heart do I say that Vern, the great Wyvern, once of Caraparavalenciana and now so recently of Los Lagos, is both steadfast friend and hero, confidant and counselor. Verily, I was in a position where I had become something most heinous to my kind, yet knew it not. For your Mundane products bear their own malicious sort of magic, and my addiction was not so beneficial. No matter. He, the detective, the problem solver of keen eye and sharp mind, saw through my fascade--though it fooled even she who is closest to my heart--and so did he uncover the problem, reveal the cause and discover the possibility of cure. I shudder--yea, to my very soul--to think what I would be now ere it not for him. With great pride do we name him Friend of Elves--and my friend besides.

Duke Galen: Snort! He's stuck on the other side of the Gap with the Mundanes. Ha! Best joke I ever played.

Euterpe: What? The dragon? Who cares? But that...nun! Oh! My lyre still isn't the same, and whenever someone plays D-natural... (covers her hair protectively.)

Is there anyone willing to speak for the Pixies, the Brownies, the Naiads, and the environmentalists?

Pixies: "Did you see him sneeze?"
"See him? I was in his mouth, was I!"
"Quit whining! He didn't swallow."
"He looked like he was coughing up a hairball! Hee!"

Brownies: Could not be found for comment. Or could they?

Naiads: We ate the koi. Sorry.

The environmentalists submitted this only

Magic, Mensa & Mayhem - Day 4

2009-04-22T09:00:00.003-04:00

Welcome Vern!

ChrisChat: Thank you, Vern, for taking the time to answer my questions and visiting my blog. I’m sure I’ll be asking some old and tired questions, but your patience is much appreciated. On to the first routine question, I know there are some who know you from your case files and Karina’s writings; however, would you please introduce yourself to everyone reading the blog.

Vern: I'm a Faerie dragon. Yep, really. I'm about a third of my size and weight and way below my normal power level--but that's increasing; don't underestimate me. St. George took everything away from me almost nine centuries ago, and I've had to earn them back by serving God and His creatures through the direction of the Church. Don't ask me why; he doesn't even know what the reason. "God's ineffable" and all that. George was a pain-in-the-tail but a friend after a fashion, God bless him.

I've done it all, from Pope's pet to agent of the Inquisition (ours, not yours). I've translated ancient texts and fought demigods. Now, I'm a private problem solver for the particularly desperate. When magic and technology clash in mysterious ways, I'm the drake to call.

ChrisChat: Since reading MAGIC, MENSA & MAYHEM, I’m having difficulties with there being no male or female dragons. Is this something I’ve misunderstood? Are there only so many dragons in the Faerie World? No baby dragons? This is something so very different than the fables of dragons here in the Mundane World.

Vern: God created a set number of us and gave us eternal life in the flesh. Can you imagine if we reproduced and never died? We'd overrun the place. So no baby dragons. No male or female, no procreation... And you know what? That's just fine by us.

ChrisChat: I must admit to being nervous, as you are quite a formable presence. From reading your files, you are just coming back into some of your power. When, if blessed, you do reach your full power again, do you see yourself changing very much from who you are now?

Vern: Absolutely. For one, I won't fit in the Mundane world. Literally. For another--while this has been an interesting gig, I'd dearly love to go back to my old stomping grounds, where I can swim in the ocean, get my food on the run (literally), snuggle into my treasure and basically indulge my dragoness once more.

And don't worry about being nervous. Even in my diminished state, I have that effect on people.

ChrisChat: I would like to ask you about your friends and the other Faerie World people we meet in Magic, Mensa & Mayhem. But, would you tell us why you picked Karina Fabian to be the author of your tales? And, if you don’t mind, would Karina be available to answer these questions, too: What was your/her favourite part of this recent tale to write? What challenges did you two face while working together? What do you hope readers will discover and take away with them upon reading these tales?

Vern: I blogged about that. (http://dragoneyepi.net/index.php?name=Pro_News&aid=89) Basically, my friend Natura decided I needed some good press for a change, and Karina seemed like an intelligent Mundane with a good sense of humor. She offered to let me review her work before it was published... and to feed me. It's been a good deal for us both. Of course, why she had to pick our most frustrating and embarrassing cases to write--

Karina: It was hilarious. When you told it to me, I almost snorted coffee out my nose, it was so funny.

Vern: Lovely image, thank you for that. And it's funny because it's embarrassing.
Karina: You were laughing, too.

Vern: Yeah, well.... No real challenges in writing. After all, she's the transcriber, though for the tales, she gets some leeway. Karina does stay pretty close to the tale, though she took some creative license with the serialized version. No one minded, though.

Karina: I couldn't put all the details into 1000-word increments, and the other characters thought it would be fun if it enacted differently, too. Except Coyote.

Vern: snickers

ChrisChat: Vern, one last favour, please. Would you be willing to give us a quick lesson on what we Mundanes should expect upon meeting: Sister Grace, Brownies, Dwarves, Gremlins, High Elves, Naiads, Nymphs, Bishop Aiden, Pixies, Brunhilde, Coyote. I am hoping they will stop by and offer some insights into you.

Vern:

Grace: Lovely soul with an incredible singing voice. Don't cross her; when she slaps you across the knuckles, it's with magic.

Brownies: Don't bribe them with milk; they're lactose intolerant and never put things where you want them to.

Dwarves: Don't ask them if they're grumpy or sleepy. They get the reference.

Gremlins: You don't want to meet them. Trust me on this.

High Elves: Make sure you're weekend's free for small talk. All weekend.

Naiads: Don't call them mermaids.

Bishop Aiden: Very holy man, worthy of respect. Expects obedience and gets it.

Pixies: Vicious little buggers when mad; prone to practical jokes; otherwise all right.

Brunhilde: Bruni's got a great heart-great body, too. Ladies, take it easy on your men if they stare. They can't help it; it's a demigod thing.

Coyote: Do I have to mention him? How about "Keep your distance." Think charisma with fleas.

ChrisChat: Now, without mentioning my questions, are there any questions you are tired of answering? In fact, what are you aching to share with us…if anything?

Vern: Don't treat me like an animal. Don’t treat me like I'm just a funny-shaped human. I'm neither. Nor, for that matter, are any of the other sentient Magicals. The sooner humans learn this, the better we'll get along.

ChrisChat: Thank you, Vern. Thank you, Karina. I’m very happy you were able to stop by and able to answer some questions.

Come back tomorrow and read what Vern's Friends are saying.

Magic, Mensa & Mayhem - Day 3

2009-04-21T10:45:00.000-04:00

MAGIC, MENSA & MAYEHM
By Karina Fabian

Publisher: Swimming Kangaroo Books
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/

Genre: FantasyISBN: 978-1-934041-78-9
Price: Paper: $13.99
eBook: $3.99

Can an agent for The Church be both a PI and a Dragon? Certainly, if the writer is Ms. Fabian.

On the other side of The Gap, in Los Lagos, Colorado, is the Faerie world. Yes, the Faerie world. No, not the fashion store, but the border crossing between our Mundane world and the Faerie world. The world, Vern, agent of the Faerie Catholic Church and the only dragon PI, I have ever met, comes from.

Yes, dragon. Okay, I see you’re a little confused. Catholic Church? Faerie Catholic Church? The Gap? Private Investigating Dragon? Let me start from the beginning, at least the beginning I know.

Vern is a dragon. He was created by God and did live in the Faerie World. St. George, of the Faerie world, trapped Vern in a holy spell and now Vern works for the Faerie Catholic Church and is a PI living in our world. In “Magic, Mensa and Mayhem” we also meet his partner, Sister Grace of Our Lady of the Miracles, a high mage in the Faerie Catholic Church.

Bishop Aiden, their superior, has directed them to attend the Mensa World Gathering in Florida. This year a number of the Faerie have been invited and Bishop Aiden wants Vern and Grace there “to help keep order, supernaturally speaking.”

What could possibly go wrong at a convention of highly intelligent human and faerie citizens?

Right, I’m really going to tell you and ruin the surprises. Be prepared to meet pixies, dwarves, brownies, High Elves, Brunhilde the Valkyrie (yes the very same) and naiads (do not call them mermaids). And the Native American Spirit Trickster, Coyote.

“Magic, Mensa and Mayhem” is a different read due to the levels of fantasy and faith Ms. Fabian incorporates. They are then mixed together with Vern’s unique voice.

Consider Ms. Fabian’s writing to the fantasy genre as you would Peter Tremayne is to the historical mystery genre. Or Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series each contain elements of The Church but never is the story secondary. Vern goes so far as to call the Faerie St. George “the magically overpowered pain in the tail.”

When I am offered a Karina Fabian book I know the voice and quality I will be reading. When writing fantasy and science fiction, the two genres I have read, Ms. Fabian fulfills the demands of each genre and adds a piece of herself. She is a storyteller…something I treasure in those I read.

Vern…what’s next?

Come back tomorrow and talk with Vern

Magic, Mensa & Mayhem - Day 2

2009-04-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

About DragonEye, PI

There's nothing like blowing a hole in space-time to change your perspective on the universe....

Welcome to the multi-verse of Faerie/Mundane, where the Faerie are fae, the Mundanes are...not, and the clichés get twisted until they shatter!

The Mundane world is very much like ours: technological, commercial, and diverse in governments and cultures. The Faerie is the world of magic and legend--but not quite how we think of it. Brownies are transdimensional beings who will clean your room--and finish your Sudoku puzzles (in a different numbering system.) Elves are long-lived and long-winded to a fault (takes half an hour in Elvish to ask where the bathroom is). Just as our world obeys the laws of physics, theirs obeys the laws of magic, which means some clichés can't be avoided.

The two "meet" when a combination nuclear accident at Los Lagos Nuclear Power Station, Colorado, on the Mundane side and a magical mishap near Peebles-on-Tweed, England, on the Faerie side, create a wormhole (dubbed by one of the scientists as "The Gap," and wasn't the clothing chain pleased!). Both worlds discovered that magic and technology do not mix well, and an enchanted artifact can be as dangerous to our world as an iron griddle is to the Faerie--and equally innocuous.

Also not always mixing well, are the cultures and governments of these universes. From economic espionage to Satan's Faerie forces trying to get a toehold in the Mundane, there's plenty of side issues to keep a dragon detective busy. Then, there are the minor irritations of American citizenship for non-humans; censorship across the Gap; and the simple misunderstandings that can sometimes erupt into Interdimensional Incidents.

Into this enters Vern: a Faerie dragon living out a geas to serve God and His creatures. He emigrated to the Mundane and circumstances caused him to remain and become a professional problem solver for the particularly desperate. Over the years, he has gained respect among the Mundanes--even does some consulting for the local police--but still doesn't have that Green Card. He's a little miffed about it still.

Sister Grace, a nun and mage of the Faerie Catholic Church, is his partner. A heavyweight among mages, she channels magic mostly through the power of her voice and has gotten them out of more than one tough scrape.

Together, they solve mysteries, fight crime--Mundane, magical, neutral or evil--and save the universes on an much-too-frequent basis.

All in all, it keeps Vern and Grace on their toes. But Vern does enjoy living in interesting times....

About Vern and Grace

Vern is your average North African Faerie Wyvern with a not-so average lifestyle.Immortal and androgynous, he and his kind are no more evil than any other natural phenomenon. In fact, they’re rather preferable to many natural phenomena; as Vern would tell you, he never wantonly destroyed anyone’s property or took anyone’s life--unless he was hungry, or had been provoked, or (just on occasion) if it would be funny. Most of the time, as long as the locals treated him with respect, tossed him a cow when he came calling, and left his treasure alone, he was a benevolent neighbor. Can you expect similar treatment from a hurricane?Around 870 years ago, the Faerie St. George trapped Vern in a holy spellBy the time the saintly mage knight was done, Vern was little larger than a gila monster, with no fire, no flight and just enough of his former knowledge to speak Latin and understand most aspects of human life. St. George the told him he could earn back all his former abilities and regain his dragon glory by serving God and Man through the Faerie Catholic Church. He started as the Pope’s pet, became his bodyguard and advisor, been a scribe, a convent watch-dragon, served as a warrior for the Church, and pulled a plow for a monastery farm. When the Gap opened between Mundane and Faerie, he felt a calling to come to our dimension. Now he’s living in an old warehouse on the seedy side of Los Logos which also holds to office of Dragon Eye, PI. He’s a professional problem-solver, no job too big or two little, wisdom of eternity, knowledge of the ages, virginity verified…you know the drill. Flights extra. Saving the multiverse, lots extra.

Sister Grace is a High Church Mage with Faerie Our Lady of the Miracles (FOLM). She stands not much higher than five feet, has eyes the metallic blue of the calm Mediterranean and hair of a silvery red color that few have ever seen and (since she keeps it tucked under her wimple) few ever will. She entered the FOLM as a child, both because of her sincere desire to follow the Lord and because of her unusually strong natural magical talent., which is channeled through her beautiful but not-quite-human voice. Her first years at the convent were spent in seclusion and strict training until her abilities were well harnessed to God's will. She has taught others and served in several magical capacities, including proelium ecclesiae, or "Defender of the Church." This is an assignment she does not talk much about, but it was after this last duty that she took a sabbatical to move across the Gap and study Mundane religious music. She attends Little Flower Catholic Church, and Father Rich coaxed her into serving as cantor. After working with Vern to defeat a beast summoned by an inchanted song, she became a partner in Dragon Eye Private Detective Agency. She lives in the warehouse with Vern, where she has her own "workshop" and has gotten her private investigators' license. Together, they've saved our world and Faerie several times. As Vern would say, "It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

DragonEye, PI Publications

Magic, Mensa and Mayhem: (Swimming Kangaroo Press, March 2009): Vern is a cynical dragon living on the wrong side of the Interdimensional Gap and working off a geas by St. George as a professional problem solver and agent of the Faerie Catholic Church. In this case, he and his partner, Sister Grace, a High Mage of the Faerie Catholic Church, have been asked by the Church to chaperone a few dozen Faerie citizens at a Mensa convention. Should be a cushy job, right? Not when pixies start pranking, Valkyries start vamping and a dwarf goes to the equivalent of Disneyworld hoping to be "discovered." Environmentalists protest Vern's "disrupting the ecosystem," while clueless tourists think he's animatronic. When the elves get high on artificial flavorings and declare war on Florida, it turns into the toughest case they'd not get paid for. Based loosely on the award-winning serial "mystery" in the North Dakota Prairie Dawg.

Live and Let Fly: (Swimming Kangaroo Press, late 2009): When Charlie Wilmot, the Duke's herald and Vern and Grace's friend, gets mugged and his fiancé's engagement ring stolen, they agree to find the culprit. But his courier pouch held more than just a ring--the secret device sewn into it could help others create their own Interdimensional Gap--or usher Armageddon into two universes. Drafted into an Interdimensional intelligence network, Vern, Grace and Charlie go undercover--Vern, as a human! It's super-spy spoofing at its best as 007 meets Ragnarok!

"Christmas Spirits" : (available as download on the website): When FlintCorp Developing threatens to destroy the businesses and homes of Territory to build a mall and luxury condos, neither Vern nor Grace are feeling the Christmas spirit. But when Flint is threatened by the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, they put aside their humbug feelings in order to solve the mystery. Will they succeed before the Ghost of Christmas Future makes a lethal visit? And will their modern-day Scrooge have a change of heart?

A Dragon's Eye View: (bi-monthly newsletter to DragonEye, PI, website members): All the news from the Gap! Notes form Vern and Karina, events in the DragonEye world, and an article about the Faerie.

http://www.dragoneyepi.net/: The official website for DragonEye, PI, with notes about the characters and the stories, Vern's blog, forums and stories for sale.

COME BACK TOMORROW FOR MY REVIEW

Magic, Mensa & Mayhem - Day 1

2009-04-19T09:00:00.003-04:00

MAGIC, MENSA & MAYHEM

By Karina Fabian

Publisher's Weekly: Religion and humor suffuse this well-imagined and densely plotted comedic mystery, based on a short story of the same title. Cursed by St. George to serve the Faerie Catholic Church, dragon detective Vern now sleuths in the mundane world. His latest (unpaid) assignment is to babysit a group of faeries attending a Mensa meeting. Vern quickly has his claws full juggling crises, from invisible brownies to two elves whose rivalry threatens to become interdimensional war. Distinctly memorable and occasionally silly supporting characters, from Brunhilde the Valkyrie to Native American trickster Coyote, steer the action. While the conclusion sticks perilously close to genre formula and the narrative is jumpy throughout, most readers will forgive the clichés (and Vern’s groan-worthy puns) and chuckle all the way through. (Mar.)

About Magic, Mensa and Mayhem: I consider Magic, Mensa and Mayhem a natural for Swimming Kangaroo. I don’t see how we could NOT have accepted it. After meeting Karina at the Muse Online conference in 2006 and critiquing a sample of her work, I knew that I wanted Swimming Kangaroo to be her publisher. The book is extremely well written, funny, with a clever mystery and it has a dragon! I am looking forward to presenting many more of Vern’s adventures to the world!
--Dindy Robinson, Publisher, Swimming Kangaroo Books

http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/index.php

Swimming Kangaroo Books is a publisher for both electronic and print books. And we are new, established in 2006. We think that gives us a fresh voice in the publishing scene. We are a small, independent publisher. In general, we publish adult fiction in the following genres: Mystery, Fantasy, Science Fiction and Romance. We may publish books that do not quite fit into any of these genres—our main criteria for determining whether to publish a book is, if we like it or not.

Who is Karina Fabian?

After being a straight-A student, Karina now cultivates Fs: Family, Faith, Fiction and Fun. Winner of an EPPIE award for best sci-fi (Infinite Space, Infinite God) and a Mensa Owl for best fiction (World Gathering), Karina’s writing takes quirky twists that keep her--and her fans--amused. From and order of nuns working in space to a down-and-out faerie dragon working off a geas from St. George, she juggles the stories from at least three different universes. Mrs. Fabian is President of the Catholic Writer’s Guild and also teaches writing and book marketing seminars online. Visit her website at http://www.fabianspace.com/.

10 Things About Karina Fabian

1. Born in Glennwood Springs, CO; grew up in Pueblo, CO.

2. Former Air Force officer (active and reserves)

3. Mother of four--former homeschooler.

4. Former freelance writer specializing in pregnancy and home births, home education, and people features.

5. Never intended to write fiction that incorporated religion so extensively, but those are the stories that ask to be written.

6. A seat-of-the-pants writer, she usually knows the beginning of a story and the end of a story, and a few events in the middle. Her characters lead her through the rest.

7. A notorious punster, she and her husband fell in love while trading puns while out to dinner with a friend.

8. As an editor, her pet peeves are logical disconnects and characters that act outside their characterizations.

9. Has lived in Japan and Italy as well as in five different states.

10. Loves hats--wears a Santa cap to December book signings and a fedora when writing DragonEye, PI. (No space helmet for sci-fi, however.)

Never to be missed websites:

http://www.dragoneyepi.net/: The home of DragonEye, PI, website. If folks register on the website, they get a free story ("Amateurs," an Honorable Mention in Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, 2008), and subscription to "A Dragon's Eye View," with special offers on stories and products.

http://www.fabianspace.com/: Where you can learn more about Karina and her other books. I also have a lot of resources for writers including free e-books, and classes and programs on Marketing.

http://www.northdakota.us.mensa.org/karina.htm To read the serial story. Be warned--the book is quite different!

Purchase links:

http://tinyurl.com/mmmamazon - for Amazon
http://tinyurl.com/mmmkindle - for Kindle
http://www.swimmingkangaroo.com/mensa.html - to order direct from the publisher (note: the publisher can beat Amazon on International shipping.)

If folks purchase and want an autographed bookplate, they can contact me through my website, http://www.fabianspace.com/

YouTube video:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36ao0_gkEjY

Contest:

I am having a trivia contest for people who have read Magic, Mensa and Mayhem. On April 30, I'll post 10 questions whose answers can be found in the book. I'll accept answers until May 15. The winner gets a free copy of Live and Let Fly, the next DragonEye, PI, novel. Folks can find the details on http://www.dragoneyepi.net/.

For April, where has Karina been and where will she be?

TWEET TOUR: www.twitter.com/karinafabian (note: Mention Michelle Falsetta as the model from Brunhilde)

tour announced on http://www.virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com/, http://www.fabianspace.com/, http://www.dragoneyepi.net/

Interview with Jane Lebak: http://philangelus.wordpress.com/

Interview: http://www.thecomingevil.blogspot.com/

Live interview on Snark Infested Waters with Taylor Kent, 9-10 PM EDT at http://thesnarkyavenger.com/

Interview with Vern on Larion Will's website: http://www.larriane.com/

Guest blog on character creation on http://www.kidsbooksuk.blogspot.com/

Interview about Florida and Gater Louie scenes: http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/

information about Magic, Mensa and Mayhem at New Book News, http://doylebooks.blogspot.com/

Information and interview of Vern; http://blog.frankcreed.com/

Quotes from the characters of MM&M: http://www.virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com/

Interview at snoringscholar.blogspot.com

Worldbuilding post and interview on http://www.amberstults.com/.

EST Second Life: Meet & Greet To get to the meeting: http://slurl.com/secondlife/North%20Bound%20Marina/227/24/25. They can then click on the link that says teleport now and that will open their software and after logging and they land in my living room. We will also have the surf boards out so that after the meeting we can surf around the marina. Also just on the other side of the marina is a Christian "night club" called Grizzlies where they can dance and mingle. Or they can just hang around and chat at my place.

TWEET TOUR: www.twitter.com/karinafabian

Review at http://www.splashdownreviews.blogspot.com/

Interview with the content editor: http://www.virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com/

Interview http://unwriter1.wordpress.com/

Talking about blog tours at http://www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

Review: www.shoutlife.com/cindysbooks

Plotting MM&M on Writer Wow: http://writewow.blogspot.com/

Interview on Imperfect Clarity http://www.imperfectclarity.net/

Interview with Nancy Famolari: http://sites.google.com/site/nancyfamolari/

Book review; http://www.freewebs.com/brynnacurry The Fairy Ring'

Book Review: http://bibliophilesretreat.com/

Interview on Mommyblog, Mama Bear Knows Best http://www.imperfectclarity.net/mamabear/.

8 PM EST: Live chat at Author! Author! http://xat.com/WordBox

Book Signing at Minot AFB BX 10-2

Interview at http://joyceanthony.tripod.com/

Interview with the copy editor: http://www.virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com/

Guest post about writing funny on Ascroft, eh? http://www.dianneascroft.wordpress.com/

Talking about worldbuilding: Speculative Friction http://francespauli.blogspot.com/

Review by CF Vici: http://cfvici.blogspot.com/

On blog with Karen http://karenandrobyn.blogspot.com/

Tweet Tour: reviews and mentions:
@nasharpe
@JaneLebak
@Frederation
@gracebridges
@terrimain
@josephcabadas

interview and review http://www.frederation.wordpress.com/

Review: http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com/

Guest column on worldbuilding: http://pennylockwoodehrenkranz.blogspot.com/

Interview with Deb: http://debsbookreviews.blogspot.com/

Interview: http://www.jennifersbookreviews.com/

Excerpt: http://www.virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com/

Review with Cathi Hassan: http://cathischatter.blogspot.com/

Interview with Cathi Hassan: http://cathischatter.blogspot.com/

Review and interview on Wayfarer's Journal Blog Review: http://www.wayfarersjournal.com/blog.htm

Vern interview on "Scribblings": http://tree-lady.livejournal.com/

Review snoringscholar.blogspot.com

Vern interviewed on snoringscholar.blogspot.com

MM&M Trivia contest: http://www.virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com/: Note: you'll need to have read the book.

Several features including interview: http://writersontour.blogspot.com/

COME BACK TOMORROW TO MEET VERN