Tag Archives: writing

Author Interviews: S. L. Lewis

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Author S.L. Lewis

Author S.L. Lewis

Oh my goodness, we have a great author interview lined up for today. S. L. Lewis, or Sunny, is a new author planning her career a bit differently. She’s writing, re-writing and editing a number of books all to be released very close together. Nothing is available yet but when it is, you won’t have to wait long for her next one.

With that said, let me introduce, Sunny!

1. Let’s start with something fun. What’s your favorite hobby?

My favorite hobby. Well then, I have a lot. I love to write (obviously), and I love to play my Pokemon games, which are Pearl and FireRed. I kind of inherited them from a man I called brother, actually. And they’re the only ones that I currently have.

Let’s see, I also love to read. I read constantly. Embroidery, sewing, painting, sculpting, and going for walks while listening to music are more hobbies that I love to do.

As long as I can actually afford to buy supplies for my artsy crafts.

 

2. If you had the opportunity—who would you like to spend an afternoon with and why?

If I had the opportunity I would actually love to meet the Lady of Manners herself, Jillian Venters. She’s what’s known as an ElderGoth and is the author of Gothic Charm School: An Essential Guide for Goths and Those Who Love them.

I once showed my more Gothic nature (having grown up with the literature instead of the music) and I would love to speak with her face to face about so many things. Luckily her site works just as well for me for the time being. But I hope to at least buy her book one day and get her to sign it.

Call it a fangirl moment if you will.

(Her site: http://www.gothic-charm-school.com/

And her book: http://www.amazon.com/Gothic-Charm-School-Essential-Guide/dp/0061669164/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247078045&sr=8-1 )

 

3. Coffee, tea, soda or something else?

Ah, such a choice. Tea most often than not, either iced or cold, and usually a flavor of some kind. I’m a lover of a good chai or vanilla tea. I do like a good chocolate tea too, most particularly Stashes White Chocolate Mocha Tea. I do drink coffee too, either Folgers or Maxwell house, but rarely.

More so during National Novel Writing Month than other times.

Same with soda. Sometimes but not quite so often. And of course I drink a lot of water. Must stay hydrated after all.

 

4. What are you working on right now?

Warning: this is kind of long. So I’ll just condense it down into a small list.

A: Book Zero (yes, you read that right, zero as in the number) of the “Don’t Look” series called Thread the Needle, and book 1 called “A Delicate Thread”. The second book is mostly rewriting and fiddling since I need to write Thread first.

B: “Black Veiled Saviour”. And yes…I spelled that last word wrong and because it connects to the book itself, so no grief over that. It is a murder mystery that will be filled with drugs, sex, murder, action, and intrigue. All the good things a noir needs yes?

C: Book 1 of my “Crimson Series” called “Crimson Shadows” and plotting book 2 called something along the lines of “Drips of *something*”. Haven’t decided on that last word.

Yes, I’m TRYING to keep this short.

D: A couple of stand-alones. One is called “Follow Me Down”, which I’m thinking is called a horror noir fantasy, and a paranormal horror that I haven’t figured out what to call yet.

E: I have a couple of duologys actually in the works, too, but I’m not working on them very hard since I barely know where I’m going with them. One is a Zombie fic that I’ve quite literally labeled “Zombie with a Brain”. You can blame one J.A. Marlow for that one. The other is a kind of post-apocalyptic that spawned from my entry into the latest Forward Motion anthology.

F: I’m doing a complete rewrite and overhaul of two shorter stories that will be more filler between actual novels than anything. One is a basic “Suburban happenings” kind of book and isn’t titled currently. The other is called “All You Need” and is set in the future, a romance.

G: And finally an 8 book superhero story that revolves more around the characters instead of the action. You’ll get to see them grow up, find out what shapes their lives and get more in-depth with who they are. Book 1 is actually 17 chapters into a 36-chapter outline. Not too far from the end of the first draft.

All of my books have a mix of pan/bi/gay/straight characters with a variety of genders mind you. I write M/M best apparently.

 

5. How would you describe your writing style?

My writing style? Hmm, goodness, what to say about that. I’ve been told a few times my first drafts tend to sound like an overly detailed outline but my final drafts tend to take a more poetic bent depending on the genre I’m writing.

I have a rather good vocabulary, so if I can use one word instead of another in its proper context, I shall. Especially if the word is saving me from the ever dreaded “repeating” word. I am well known for being rather…graphic when it comes to certain scenes.

 

6. Do you have any advice for a person just beginning their writing career?

Advice. What to say that I would have loved to hear when I was first learning?

Research is your best friend. I’m not joking you! You know the old saying “Write What You Know”? Well, how do you know anything if you don’t sit there and learn about it first? That’s where the research comes in.

Go to a library and look up things. You want to write paranormal novels? Find all the books that you can that deal with ghosts, spirits, various cultural stories about the spiritual and supernatural worlds. Pull out movies on the paranormal and watch them. Study how they build the story up.

You want to write a romance? Get online, Google “Best Selling Romances” and if you can, read them. Ebooks are cheap now days. It won’t hurt to buy a new book if you can get away with it.

You want to write a horror story? Figure out what kind of horror you want to write. Do you want to write one where a ghost torments the inhabitants of a house? Research ghosts and hauntings.

Do you want to write about vampires? Research the types of vampires. And yes, there are many types of vampires out there. It’s not hard to Google “Types of Vampires”, dearies. Same with were’s and creatures of the night.

And of course there is also just going and watching a movie or show that has what you want to write about. You can glen a wealth of knowledge just from watching a show and studying how they build the action up, how they hint at this and that, before coming to the climax. It’s amazing what you can learn by watching.

Like I said, research is your best friend and having several methods of research is a good idea. My research bookmarks have their own folder with folders within folders. It takes time and a lot of trial and error to figure out the best way to research for yourself, but once you get it down, it’ll be just as easy as sitting down and surfing the net for hours on end.

Oh, and invest in a good chair or a really good butt cushion. They’ll be your best friends in the long run.

 

7. Do you immerse yourself in new situations for writing ideas or do your ideas come to you through your normal, day-to-day life?

Luckily, to a point, they come to me in my day-to-day life. I have a mildish case of hypergraphia, which is the need to write. It’s not just an urge, it’s an itch that needed to be fulfilled. It can be tied to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and even Bi-Polar Disorder.

For me, it’s connected to my OCD. But I do get ideas by watching movies, reading books, and talking with friends. See the zombie fic ala Marlow. I just look around and take everything in.

Even some interesting posts on Tumblr and Twitter sometimes. Depends on what I’m looking at.

 

8. Where can we find you on the interwebs?

Where can you find me? So many places.

On Twitter as @SLStrailo. https://twitter.com/SLStrailo

On my writer’s Facebook Page called S.L. Lewis Writing https://www.facebook.com/sllewiswriting/

I even have a writer’s Tumblr called A Peek Into a Creative Mind. http://apeekintoacreativemind.tumblr.com/

And I even have a blog called A Peek Into a Creative Mind on Blogger. Though I am thinking of moving to WordPress so we’ll see what happens in a year’s time. http://apeekintoacreativemine.blogspot.com/

 

Thank you to Connie for having me here. I hope you all find my answers interesting and that you guys have a good day.

Thank you so much for coming onto my blog and visiting with us. So, dear readers, you don’t have to wait to hear about what Sunny is doing. Check out her social media sites and enjoy!

Malwhere: Friday Flash Fiction Post

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ancient_mainframe_computer_by_mistgod-d58t3st via DeviantArt.com http://www.deviantart.com/art/Ancient-Mainframe-Computer-317125757

ancient_mainframe_computer_by_mistgod-d58t3st via DeviantArt.com http://www.deviantart.com/art/Ancient-Mainframe-Computer-317125757

“What do you mean?” Bethany had been debugging the system for the last twelve hours. Management was calling down to the fourth level basement where she worked outside the data center every ten minutes. Billions of dollars were flying out of the corporation’s accounts.

“I mean, it’s an AI, it’s reprogrammed itself. I told you this might happen.” Jan flopped into the chair beside her best friend. “While you’ve been chasing bugs in the code, I’ve been tracking the malfunctions. I think the AI is doing it.”

Bethany scrubbed her hands through her pixie-cut blond hair. She’d warned her boss. Messing around with AI computer infrastructure was a bad idea, she’d told them. But they didn’t want to listen. It would be cheaper to let an AI run itself than to pay people to run the system. “Fewer errors,” the CFO had said in the meeting where they decided this course of action.

“But…” she’d opened her mouth.

The VP of IT shut her down. “I think that’s sufficient, Bethany. The matter is decided.”

“I know you told me. I told them. They decided they’d take the chance and save money on staff.” She sank back into the chair. “So what can we do?”

“You’re the boss. You tell me.”

Bethany shot Jan the evil eye. “We tossed a coin, Jan. don’t get all indignant with me.”

Jan waved her hand in submission. “Fine. I think we should pull the plug.”

The lights on the front of the outward facing server flickered. Bethany’s eyes grew wide. “Did you see that?”

Jan nodded. They both got up and went out into the hall and found a corner where the cameras couldn’t see them, or hear them. “What the hell! The damn thing is already aware.”

Bethany slumped against the wall. “I’m going in there and disconnect the power. You stand in the hall with the door open. If something goes wrong, run to maintenance, tell them to cut the power to this whole floor.”

“They won’t do that without permission from management.”

“We’ll see.” She pushed herself off of the wall. “Let’s go.”

Jan held the door open as Bethany marched down the long lines of server racks to the back of the room. Every server was connected but all she needed to do was disconnect the primary, the server that controlled all the rest. She reached for the plug with her bare hand but half an inch from the wall, she stepped back and looked around. There was a safety board hanging on the wall. She pulled the heavy-duty rubber gloves down and put them on then went back to the plug. The camera in the ceiling corner turned in her direction. “Here goes.”

She grabbed the plug and pulled. Lights began flashing and an alarm sounded but the servers all kept working. “Damn. The AI’s transferred itself. I’ve got to pull them all,” she shouted so Jan could hear. Bethany began pulling the power cords randomly so the AI couldn’t tell which one she’d pull next. Down to the last three plugs the power panel exploded in a shower of sparks that sent her flying down the server aisle.

Jan screamed. “Bethany! Are you all right?”

Scrambling to her feet, Bethany ran for the door. “Let’s get to maintenance.”

On sub-floor one, the ran into the power room. Two guys were responding to the alarms indicating a problem on sub-floor four. “Cut the power to that floor,” Bethany gasped. “The AI is out of control. Shut it all down.”

“We can’t do that.” The older of the two men stared at her. “There’s a couple of billion in computers on that floor.”

“They run the whole place,” the younger guy nodded. “We’ve been told.”

“And I’m telling you,” Bethany struggled to catch her breath from running up three flights of stairs, “the whole thing just tried to electrocute me. Shut. It. Down.”

“They aren’t listening, Beth,” Jan said.

“Keep talking to them. I’m calling management.” She stepped away from the men and dialed her phone. “Boss,” she said when he picked up. “We have to shut the AI down. It just tried to kill me.”

“What?”

“It tried to kill me. It’s out of control. I’m in maintenance. They have to shut sub-level four down. Right down.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re not shutting it down.”

“You have to. If this gets outside the building the whole international computer network will be infected. We don’t know what will happen.”

“I’m sending security.”

“Thank you, sir. You’re doing the right thing.” She hurried back to the maintenance men. “My boss is sending security. You’ll have to shut it down.”

It was only a couple of minutes before five of the building security officers were at the door. “Thank goodness you’re here. You’ve got to…” Two of the officers grabbed her as two more pushed by and grabbed Jan. “No! Not us, the maintenance men. Stop!” She screamed as they dragged her and Jan out of the room.

A month later it was over. The two women huddled in a basement outside of the city. The AI had opened all of the prison and jail doors right after it had taken down the entire financial infrastructure.

They heard it called Malwhere, just before most everything had crashed. “Good name for it,” Bethany told Jan as they made their way to Bethany’s great-grandparent’s house in upstate New York. They helped great-granny get the house stocked as best they could. Granny told them to get guns and as much ammo as they could buy. Some of the neighbors Granny trusted were also there. It helped as they held off marauders.

The AI wasn’t dead—it was reconstructing, Bethany heard from people fleeing the cities. It was making the world into the image it thought best. She wondered if Malwhere was looking for her. She checked her rifle’s load. If it was, it was going to meet some resistance.

 

 

Thank You!

994 Words

Find more of the Forward Motion Flash Friday Group here: http://www.fmwriters.com/flash.html

Red Cadillac: A Friday Flash Fiction Story

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Red Cadillac by Partywave http://www.deviantart.com/art/red-1959-Cadillac-tailfins-138267320 by Partywave titled red 1959 Cadillac tailfins

Red Cadillac by Partywave http://www.deviantart.com/art/red-1959-Cadillac-tailfins-138267320 by Partywave titled red 1959 Cadillac tailfins

They’d followed the song from clear on the other side of the Milky Way. The rhythms of it enticed them. They moved in a way that no one of their species had ever done. The scanners couldn’t help but pick up the signals from the planet from far outside the solar system. The aliens had to dial the scanners back to sift the tsunami of signals pouring past them.

“It’s like they’re all screaming into the universe!” The ship’s Captain shook his head over the stream of data the ship was gathering.

“It’s too much, Sire.” The lead cultural scientist had bleached white with the stress of trying to make sense of the signals. “There’s no reason. It floods out from every part of the planet as though they can’t wait to have someone find them.”

“Aren’t they aware of all of the life forms out here? Some are quite dangerous.”

“I cannot tell, Sire.”

The Captain was perplexed. “What do you mean?”

The scientist sagged a little more. The Captain was certain that this form wouldn’t last too much longer.

“Sire, I cannot tell what’s real and what isn’t.”

“Real? What do you mean?”

“They have real and they have what they call fiction. The song we followed was fiction.”

The entire staff blanched. “We’ve been following this signal for hundreds of light years! What do you mean it’s not real?”

The scientist sagged more. “No, sire. The signal is real. The rhythms are real. What the story says is not real. It’s…” the scientist struggled to create a name for the concept. “It’s a Fiction.” He stumbled over the translation of the word into his own language. It had taken him the entire trip to understand and the concept was so foreign, it was killing him.

“Chief Scientist. You are not well.”

“No, Sire. I am not. This concept is too dangerous. I beg you not to approach this planet. It will kill us all.”

The rest of the staff gasped, in their own way. The Captain shook his appendage. “We’ve come all this way. We must find this Red Cadillac.”

The scientist shook its tentacles and left the briefing room. They found him the next ship’s morning, a deflated, dried sack on the floor of the linguistics lab. He was mourned with appropriate ceremony and stored in the ship’s vault for return to his family.

“Do not be afraid,” the Captain intoned at the memorial. The song they were chasing played softly in the background. The Chief Scientist was a noble being. He will be sorely missed but the search must continue.”

A few solar days later, the ship hovered outside of the orbit of Pluto. The entire ship was listening to the sounds of the planet the recordings called Earth. The music had changed. It was both more and less melodic. The magnet, Red Cadillac, still played from various parts of the wet, blue globe, but there was more. Each of the crew had a new favorite. Something that appealed to them and them alone. Conflicting tunes blasted from every cabin, mixing in the corridors in such a cacophony that the Captain had to have the new Chief Scientist develop a method for each crew member to listen to the sounds in a way that didn’t intrude on the others.

When they reached the satellite of Earth they hid behind it, out of detection range of the primitive’s search capabilities.

The Captain was astounded. “They send their signals of this “music” out into the universe but lack the most basic of detection or defense?” It didn’t matter to him. The scan of the planet proceeded. They accessed all of the Earth’s databases. The goal was finally achieved.

The modification unit went to work. Lots were drawn. The four lucky crew members were chosen and modified and the appropriate clothing and credits manufactured. The stood in the transporter, stomach’s quivering. The Captain stood before them. “You’ve been equipped with our best recording devices. We salute you.” He came to attention and saluted with both appendages. “We’ll be watching.”

The landing party descended and made the transaction. The old human they contacted was grateful for the credits. She wept with joy, actually. From the ship the Captain suspected they’d paid too much but no matter. It was just paper after all. The landing party climbed into the vehicle and maneuvered it with only minor mishaps onto the nearest travel lane. By the time they reached what the humans called an interstate, they had all the experience they needed.

They found a local radio station and tuned in. They’d just reached cruising speed in the 1959 red Cadillac when the song played.

“Going to Memphis, going down on Beale street

I have all the pretty girls just looking at me

My top let down and my hair slicked back

Tell me the southern girls, they like it like that…”

The entire ship fell silent as the music played on every speaker.

They’d made it. These humans had so much more to offer! It was hard to tell what they could do or couldn’t! They’d make wonderful trading partners. That was after the “fictions” were separated from fact.

The Captain watched the videos carefully. One was particularly disturbing, The Day the Earth Stood Still. He studied that one, especially. It was old. Recent scans confirmed that the human military had advanced. The problem was the attitude. War of the Worlds was another. The humans seemed hostile. He’d have to think about the best approach.

No matter. The landing party was recording everything. That alone would pay for the trip. The Captain settled back into his command chair. It would go just fine. He was sure of it.

Acknowledgments: Johnny Rawls and his song: Red Cadillac from the album, Red Cadillac.

 

Thank You for reading! I’d love to hear your comments.

970 Words

Find more of the Forward Motion Flash Friday Group here: http://www.fmwriters.com/flash.html

Crazy Week: Monday Blog Post

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Baby Plants

It was a crazy week for me last week. All day meetings, volunteering, a trip to Scottsdale for a workshop on Screen Writing, it seemed never ending. That of course, affected my writing. I continued to work on my Camp NaNo novel, Mystery at the Book Festival, but made barely any progress on it. As of today, I’m just reaching 35K to my goal of 50,000 words. The challenge ends on Saturday. So I have to write about 3K words per day every single day for the rest of the week (also the month!) to reach 50K. I can do it if I put my mind to it. Cross your fingers for me.

The Spring Into Reading giveaway is in full swing. I have links to it on my facebook, twitter, and website pages. I offer a free ebook or for second prize, a $5 Amazon card. There are other prizes as well. Over a hundred prizes plus a grand prize. It’s not hard to enter and there are multiple times to enter. You could easily win a prize. Enter today and every day.

Butterfly002

The picture at the top of the page is of my tomato seedlings. The weather continues to cycle through mild and cold so I’m not sure when to plant. Friends of mine in southern Arizona are already harvesting their tomatoes! I plan on visiting the local garden shop to get some lettuce and Swiss chard. I should also get my peas and beans into the ground. None of these will be harmed by a little cool weather. The roses have been blooming long enough that I now need to go out and dead-head the spent flowers. It’s good to get away from the computer, even with my high word count goal, and get some sunshine and fresh air. It always helps me clear my mind and recharge the creative juices.

RD Teaser 3

Yesterday I did a special blog post bragging up my author friend Mistral Dawn. Her new book, Rainbow Dreams, is just out and as a science fiction fan, I’m stoked! Anyway, check out yesterday’s blog post with all of the links to buy Rainbow Dreams and the first chapter, free!

Where will I be? Here’s the scoop.

June 3rd and 4th, I’m at the Scottsdale MysteryCon, Death and Deception in the Desert. I’m giving a presentation there as well on writing a mystery. Tickets for both days are only $39 and Friday night is open to the public for Author Signings. I do hope you can make it to that one. Here’s a flyer telling you all about it. Register in advance on the site and mention that you heard about the event from me. I’ll put your name in for a drawing of a special prize on Friday night and/or Saturday. The prize? A bracelet, hand made by me, with Kindred Spirits as the theme. I might even make two and have a giveaway both Friday and Saturday. What do you think?

July 23rd is the Payson Book Festival. I’ll be at my table all day, ready to talk to YOU! I hope you can make it as we will have over 70 authors attending as well as music, food, author presentations and workshops. It will be stupendous! www.paysonbookfestival.org and click on the Meet the Authors tab.

Want more details about these events? Click here for more information.

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. If you are a Brown Rain series fan, I’ve created a list just for you! If you join my regular newsletter, that’s all right too as I’ve put sign-up prizes on both. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. My next newsletter is being drafted so sign up today. The YouTube video I just made about Kindred Spirits will be in the newsletter. Just a note. I’m going to be sending out newsletters more frequently. Be prepared for fun and contests!

Kindred Spirits released on March 14th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Gumroads  or Chatebooks today! You can also see all of my books on www.ConniesRandomThoughts.com. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s a big help to me in the book rankings each vendor uses to promote the books on their sites. Thanks in advance.

Ambush: Flash Fiction Friday Post

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The Arrestra by Jay Richmond at http://bit.ly/1SsjrfT

The Arrestra by Jay Richmond at http://bit.ly/1SsjrfT

Zeke wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his wrist. The grit scratched like a rasp. He would have used his bandana but it was caked with the mud of his sweat and the dust. The donkey plodded around the arrastra, crushing the gold bearing quartz so he could get at the gold ore.

It seemed like it had taken forever to build the thing. He had to level the ground then water it heavily until he could smooth the caliches into a cement-like floor. Hauling water from the creek took more than a week with nothing but empty gunpowder casks to use as barrels, and that was using both donkey and horse to move the water.

Finding the wood to use for the arms and center of the arrastra was another problem. He’d had to cut, trim and haul the right sized trees to his site. The central pivot and the rock crusher pole had to be installed and assembled. He decided to attach the donkey to the rock crusher pole as best he could. Fitting it all together was a nightmare, especially as he should have put the center pole in the ground before he made it hard as cement and he’d only had some old-timer’s word on how it went together. Zeke had wanted to bash his own skull in with the pickaxe before he managed to get the set-up to work.

The crusher was the final problem. It didn’t seem possible to move, let alone carve rocks big enough to be useful. He walked around and around the empty arrastra trying to come up with a plan. The old miner told him he needed two flat-bottomed drag stones, one at the end of each arm. He had the chain. But finding rocks in the creek, then dragging them to the camp, then drilling holes in them drove him to distraction. After a long search he found two rocks, about the right size, beggars couldn’t be choosers, and with his mismatched pair of haulers, dragged the rocks to camp, drilled them out and hooked them to the newly assembled arms. It was easier to dig the damn quartz than to build the arrastra. When it was done he sank to his knees, and wept.

Three nights later a noise penetrated Zeke’s exhausted sleep. He heard his horse, Butter, whinny—it seemed wrong. Too far away.

He tossed off his wool blanket and rolled to his feet. If that horse has broken free again I’m going to shoot it. This is the fourth time in a month. He pulled on his boots without bothering with socks and grabbed his rifle.

Zeke stepped into the night. A half-moon in a star-studded sky provided a little light. At the picket line the donkey stood, looking to the west. “Damn horse.” Zeke patted the donkey to reassure it before moving in the direction the donkey was pointing.

He whistled softly then called, “Butter, Butter,” in a low voice. He didn’t want to spook her. Zeke stubbed the toe of his boot on a rock. I’m gonna trip and break an arm out here in the dark. If I had any sense I’d go back to my bedroll till daybreak.

Just as he decided to go back to his tent he heard Butter nicker. He followed the sound, grazing a prickly pear cactus in the dark. The thorns stabbed him in the shin and despite wanting to catch the horse, had to stop and pull the spines from his leg. Butter whinnied. She sounded close.

“Butter?” Zeke heard the horse stamping. “Come on girl. She’s close. He followed the noise and in a moment was at the horse’s side. “Hush, hush,” he whispered to her as he stroked her neck. Butter shivered. “Let me untangle your lead.” Zeke struggled in the dark to remove the reins from an acacia. “You couldn’t have got tangled in a shrub oak?” he asked the horse as the acacia thorns caught in the skin of his hands.

Something whizzed past his head. He dropped the lead and hit the ground. Butter danced around him. Zeke hoped he wouldn’t die by trampling from his own horse. More whizzing. Something hit the ground a foot away from him. He reached out and grabbed it. An arrow! The Apache were on him. The old timer’s stories raced through his mind.

“They take your horse in the night, boy. You think your stock has wandered off and you go out, barefoot and unarmed. That’s how they get you, sonny!” The old coot cackled at his bad joke.

Zeke tried to swallow around his dry mouth. Not so funny, old timer. But he had his rifle and a handful of rounds in his pocket. Please Lord. Let it be enough. Leaving Butter to her own chances, he rolled behind the acacia not knowing if the Apache were all in front of him or he was surrounded. He fired a shot into the dark where he thought the arrows came from.

He was rewarded with the sounds of scrambling. “There’s more where that came from.”

More arrows fell around him. The thickness of the acacia main branch saved him from one. Zeke fired again. More scrambling and a hoot. Did he hit someone? He fired toward the sounds and hoped, his heart beating out of his chest. Was he going to die?

Butter pranced left, then right, rearing and snorting. It was the distraction Zeke needed. He rolled to his left and crab walked on hands and feet what seemed a long distance ignoring the cactus spines that stuck in his hands. Butter ran off into the dark.

Sounds of running, then more horses, then horses running off. Was it over?

Zeke hid behind a boulder, rising with the sun to a deserted landscape. He swiped a dirty sleeve across his forehead and limped back to camp. He hoped Butter would be there but he called it a wash. He was alive and that’s all that counted.

 

 

Thank You!

1008 Words

Find more of the Forward Motion Flash Friday Group here: http://www.fmwriters.com/flash.html

Author Interview: Chevoque!

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Chevoque

Chevoque

I’m so happy to introduce author Chevoque! She writes contemporary, historical, and paranormal stories, among other things. If you’re looking for stories with an international flair, Chevoque may just be what you’ve been searching for. Here’s a little bit about Chevoque.

I was born as Rochelle de Beer on 15 May 1992 in Klerksdorp, South Africa, and as an only child, the world seemed like a lonely place, until I set my mind free and got lost in the worlds I created myself. My writing started at a young age and with numerous stories still waiting to be released from my mind, only time now seems to hold me back. I also have a degree in BSc. Environmental and Biological Sciences, because I’m a tree-hugging animal lover, who hopes to never use my degree to cause cruelty.

Cover Just Like You

Let’s start with something fun. What’s your favorite hobby?

Writing used to be just a hobby, but now as a full-time author, I have to say photography and photoshop are past-times I can’t get enough of.  Which is likely a good thing, as I have created most of my covers myself and I enjoy doing digital art as well, so all those things combined sure keeps me sane.

 

If you had the opportunity—who would you like to spend an afternoon with and why?

Sir David Attenborough.

I will shamelessly admit that I envy all the things he has done and all the things he has achieved.  I primarily decided to do a degree in BSc. Botany and Zoology, because of all the amazing TV shows I had watched of him growing up.  So an afternoon with tea and a long conversation with him would be a bucket list tick down I hope to actually one day achieve.

 

Coffee, tea, soda or something else?

I’m a sucker for caffeine! Be it in the form of coffee, I love Nescafé’s Alta Rica and Rosabaya blends the most and when it comes to tea, I love Rooibos and Lager’s is my absolute favourite.  Apart from that, I love a Steelworks when it is hot, so basically in South Africa, that means every day.

 

What are you working on right now?

The Marked Series, it is a two book series about two different people, who have birthmarks on their faces, and how they deal with being different in a society where looks are everything.

 

How would you describe your writing style?

Easy with a lot of South African flare…or so I hope.  I use South African slang, as there really is no better way to describe some situations than with a few proudly South African trimmings, but I do keep in mind that most of my readers are international.  Thus, I always keep it descriptive enough so all can enjoy the sarcasm or jokes, because I love adding humour in everything I do, while never forgetting to add a cause/theme to my books.

 

Do you have any advice for a person just beginning their writing career?

Don’t think you can’t and never aspire.  Only be.

If you take the time; wrote your heart out, sold your soul and nearly lost yourself in your own mind, you’ve proved yourself worthy to be known as an author.

 

Do you immerse yourself in new situations for writing ideas or do your ideas come to you through your normal, day-to-day life?

They come to me in whatever I do, I can literally be out to buy some groceries and then I’ll need to rush home to get the idea down, before it slips from my mind.  Or I can even be working on something and then I’ll hear a song (I love music) and then everything will be put on hold, so I can get this new idea down.  Thus I own four notebooks filled with ideas for books and it grows every week!

 

Where can we find you on the interwebs?

Amazon Author Page: http://goo.gl/ZaDsnM

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChevoquePublic/

Newsletter: http://goo.gl/ME5hsS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chevoque

Website: http://goo.gl/X9ifYB

 

Thank you so much, Chevoque! I appreciate you taking time from a busy schedule to tell us about yourself and your books.

If you’ve enjoyed this interview, please go to Chevoque’s website, facebook or twitter page or sign up for her newsletter. You’ll be glad you did.

Tempe Library Book Festival and More! Monday Blog Post

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Connie at the Tempe Library Book Festival

Connie at the Tempe Library Book Festival

I attended the Tempe Book Festival Saturday as an author and a panelist for a SciFi panel on world building. I had a great time talking to a lot of readers, adults and children. I also met some of last year’s Payson Book Festival authors and some of this year’s registered authors. Oh what a great time we’re going to have in July at the Payson Book Festival. These are wonderful authors and fun to talk to. I sold 7 books, which seemed to be above average for the authors I talked to. Some made no sales at all. But this was Tempe library’s first festival so with more experience I’m sure a larger reader turn out will happen.

I continue to work on my Camp NaNo novel, Mystery at the Book Festival. (Yes, I couldn’t help it!) Anyway, I’m just about 50% through the story, well at least to my goal of 50,000 words. I missed writing on it Saturday because of the festival. Sunday, I had just enough gumption to write this blog post. I’ll try and catch up starting tomorrow.

I was on the January Jones show Sharing Success Stories, at 3pm Eastern time last Monday. If you didn’t get to tune in, you can go to the recording. Just go to www.iheart.com Official Site. Type in January Jones Sharing Success Stories. You can hear the whole show!

Chevoque

Chevoque

In other blog news, my Author Interview with Chevoque will be posted on Wednesday. You are going to love her. Can’t wait? Here’s her website called, what else? Chevoque.

The Spring Into Reading giveaway is in full swing. I have links to it on my facebook, twitter, and website pages. I offer a free ebook or for second prize, a $5 Amazon card. There are other prizes as well. Over a hundred prizes plus a grand prize. It’s not hard to enter and there are multiple times to enter. You could easily win a prize. Enter today and every day.

My craft project of putting an owl charm on each new book mark has only progressed one step. I punched holes in the top of each book mark. I need to set aside time to get the charms attached to the ribbon. Ack! Time!

I’m still putting together my next newsletter. I thought I’d have it done last week. I did get my video done. It still needs to be edited. Again, more time! I’ll have to be super disciplined.

Where will I be? Here’s the scoop.

June 2nd and 3rd I’m at the Scottsdale MysteryCon, Death and Deception in the Desert. I’m giving a presentation there as well on writing a mystery. Tickets for both days are only $35. I do hope you can make it to that one. Here’s a flyer telling all about it. Register in advance on the site and mention that you heard about the event from me. I’ll put your name in for a drawing of a special prize on Friday night and/or Saturday. The prize? A bracelet, hand made by me, with Kindred Spirits as the theme. I might even make two and have a giveaway both Friday and Saturday. What do you think?

July 23rd is the Payson Book Festival. I’ll be at my table all day, ready to talk to YOU! I hope you can make it as we will have over 70 authors attending as well as music, food, author presentations and workshops. It will be stupendous! www.paysonbookfestival.org and click on the Meet the Authors tab.

Want more details about these events? Click here for more information.

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. If you are a Brown Rain series fan, I’ve created a list just for you! If you join my regular newsletter, that’s all right too as I’ve put sign-up prizes on both. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. My next newsletter is being drafted so sign up today. The YouTube video I just made about Kindred Spirits will be in the newsletter. Just a note. I’m going to be sending out newsletters more frequently. Be prepared for fun and contests!

Kindred Spirits released on March 14th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Gumroads  or Chatebooks today! You can also see all of my books on www.ConniesRandomThoughts.com. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s a big help to me in the book rankings each vendor uses to promote the books on their sites. Thanks in advance.

The Diner: Flash Fiction Friday Post

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Cafe001

The local radio station played in the background, a non-offensive blend of modern western music that appealed to the usual customer of the diner. The place was lightly populated this morning when I came in. Usually, you couldn’t find a table, or even a stool at the counter, because of the regulars who knew the names of all the waitresses as well as the line cook and the busser.

I was in for breakfast while my hubby was at the dentist. I enjoyed my alone time, where I wasn’t just half of a couple. Don’t get me wrong. Married for over four decades I was happily married to my best friend. It’s just nice, sometimes, to be my own person.

Across the diner, I noticed a man in a ball cap. Even with my glasses on all I could read from the cap was World War II Veteran. Not a tall man, his face was wrinkled around his goatee with time but his eyes behind the large lenses of his glasses were alert and he noticed everything that went on within the diner walls.

He was alone in his booth, a newspaper open on the table beside him. It looked like he was having oatmeal for his breakfast. I wondered about his life. Had he been Army, Navy, a Marine during his war? Was he in the Pacific or Europe? Had he been a prisoner of war? What happened when he came home? I supposed, like most men of his era, he married, had children, worked in the steel mills or the booming auto industry or went to California and like my now deceased father-in-law, found work in the aerospace industry with one of the big airplane manufacturers. Maybe he used his G.I. Bill and went to college and became a businessman or a university professor, built a nice, middle-class home and contributed to his community.

Dress in our town is pretty casual. You generally couldn’t tell who had money and who didn’t by clothing alone. It was a point of pride among most of the town retiree population to buy most of their clothing from one of the many thrift stores in town. His attire didn’t really tell me anything about him, except for that hat, which looked fairly new.

More people came in—an older couple, a family with two young children. Two young men, boisterous and spouting millennial slang entered and sat in the booth behind me. “Bro” and “Man” punctuated every sentence they spoke in voices that carried across the diner drowning out all other conversation. Too loud and too familiar for my taste I wondered what the man, who I now labeled, The Vet, thought?

I saw the Vet stare at the young men behind me. They talked fast and laughed at their own jokes which echoed too loud across the sparsely populated diner. More people came in, older couples mostly but one young man came in alone. That brought the tally to three of us single diners. He sat alone, head down in the menu, as though he was ashamed to have to appear by himself.

The Vet finished his breakfast and pulled bills from his wallet, dropping a couple on his table. I watched him get up, bringing a portable oxygen concentrator with him. I hadn’t noticed an oxygen tube from my table. He moved the way I did, taking care and moving slowly, giving hips a chance to remember what they were supposed to do. Despite that, he walked to the register easily for a man that would be in his late eighties or even into his nineties. He paid his bill, joked a moment with the cashier, and left.

Through the windows, I watched him walk to a beat-up old Chevy pick-up truck with a cap on the back. The brown paint was dull, faded and peeling in places from the brutal Arizona sun. I saw a small dog leap up on the steering wheel to greet him. So, the Vet wasn’t totally alone. I was glad. I hoped, as he got in and pulled away, that he had family in the area. That he was able to play with his great-grandchildren. I hoped he belonged to the local veteran’s group, or car club, or anything else that allowed him to get out of a lonely house and stay active.

I found myself on the point of tears, worried for the Vet yet wishing him a happy life, whatever he had left of it. My breakfast was done when I saw my husband walk in the door of the diner. He waved and came over.

“Are you finished?”

I smiled up at him. “Yes.” I dropped three dollars on the table and stood up, slowly, my hips had to remember their job, after all and picked up the check. “How was the dentist?”

“Just a little filling,” he told me as we walked to the register. “See anyone you know?”

I smiled to myself. “No, not quite.”

 

 

Thank You!

837 Words

Find more of the Forward Motion Flash Friday Group here: http://www.fmwriters.com/flash.html

Roses, Camp NaNo, and Other Fun

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CNW_Participant

Today’s the 11th  and so far I’ve only missed 2 days of writing in the April Camp NaNo. As of Sunday, I’m over seventeen thousand words into my new book, Mystery at the Book Festival. I’m moving right along through my outline, changing some things as I work my way through each chapter but so far have not had to throw out any scene.

I have not received any notice of reviews for the new contest I started two weeks ago. That’s too bad as the contest ended on the 10th. No prizes awarded.

If you’d like to hear me, I’ll be on the January Jones show Sharing Success Stories, at 3pm Eastern time tomorrow, April 11th. I decided to keep the whole hour for myself and I’ll be talking about the Payson Book Festival, my current writing projects, and maybe even gardening. Tune in!

April Rose

On the gardening front, we have had another  cold front move through though not enough to get snow. The tomato seedlings are outside during the day but I have to still bring them in for the night. The roses are beginning to bloom. I’m including a picture of the yellow and the pink ones. They’re especially pretty when the entire bed is in bloom at the same time.

April Yellow Rose

The Spring Into Reading giveaway has started. I have links to it on my facebook, twitter, and website pages. I offer a free ebook or for second prize, a $5 Amazon card. There are other prizes as well. Over a hundred prizes plus a grand prize. It’s not hard to enter and there are multiple times to enter. You could easily win a prize. Enter today and every day.

SpringIntoReadingGiveawayPromo

The owl charms I mentioned last week have too small a hole for me to thread ribbon through so I went and bought some tiny jewelry making findings and will hook the charm to the finding circle and then thread the ribbon through that to attach to the book marks. It’s going to take a little more work and it has to be done this week because the Tempe Library book festival is this Saturday, the 16th! I’ll have some there for anyone who purchases a book.

Speaking of appearing, I’m putting together my next newsletter. Last week I mentioned I needed a hair cut. Well on Thursday I got one and now I’m just about ready for Saturday’s book festival. I’m going to be on a SciFi panel there, with three others, to talk about world building. Also on the panel is Randy Lindsay at RandyLindsay.net, Ray Torres at TheMonsterWarSeries.com, and Austin Aslan at laustinaslanspace.wordpress.com. These are super guys and great authors and have attended the Tucson Book Festival and the Phoenix ComicCon. We’re going to have a great panel. It starts at 1pm so get there early and grab a seat.

Where will I be? Here’s the scoop.

April 11th at 3pm Arizona time I’ll be on the January Jones Sharing Success Stories web talk radio show at w4cy.com. Have you heard me there? Don’t miss out. You can even listen on your computer!

April 16th I’ll be at the Tempe Public Library book festival where I’m on a panel talking about Science Fiction and World Building. I’m looking forward to meeting you there.

June 2nd and 3rd I’m at the Scottsdale MysteryCon, Death and Deception in the Desert. I’m giving a presentation there as well on writing a mystery.  Tickets for both days are only $35. I do hope you can make it to that one. Here’s a flyer telling all about it.

July 23rd is the Payson Book Festival. I’ll be at my table all day, ready to talk to YOU! I hope you can make it as we will have over 70 authors attending as well as music, food, author presentations and workshops. It will be stupendous! www.paysonbookfestival.org and click on the Meet the Authors tab.

Want more details about these events? Click here for more information.

Click here to sign up for my newsletter. If you are a Brown Rain series fan, I’ve created a list just for you! If you join my regular newsletter, that’s all right too as I’ve put sign-up prizes on both. That’s right. If you sign up for my newsletter you get a free story from me. My next newsletter is being drafted so sign up today. The YouTube video I just made about Kindred Spirits will be in the newsletter. Just a note. I’m going to be sending out newsletters more frequently. Be prepared for fun and contests!

Kindred Spirits released on March 14th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy it and my other books at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Gumroads  or Chatebooks today! You can also see all of my books on www.ConniesRandomThoughts.com. If you’ve read any of my books, please drop a review on the site where you bought it or on Goodreads. It’s a big help to me in the book rankings each vendor uses to promote the books on their sites. Thanks in advance.

Dragon Bones: Flash Fiction Friday Post

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Into the Fiery Pits of Hell by thedarkenedlight via www.deviantart.com

Into the Fiery Pits of Hell by thedarkenedlight via www.deviantart.com

DRAGON BONES…

Phara studied the hand-drawn map as she stood at the edge of a ravine. It was steep here but sloped down, through the cactus and the acacia, to a spot that at the moment, was still in the shade. The wind pulled at the scarf that covered the lower half of her face. “Shit.” She tucked the map into the pocket inside her shearling coat, dust flying into her eyes in the steady wind. “Damn wind,” she muttered.

She studied the way down. One misstep and she would roll down, hitting every sharp-edged boulder and cactus on the way to the bottom. Phara adjusted the scarf again and using her pole, tested the first step before putting her weight on it. Not a guarantee, but better than stepping blindly on a bit of ground that would spill her to the bottom.

Halfway down she rested and sipped from her canteen—drinking the grit that coated her mouth. One more problem, it was half empty. If she didn’t find water soon, her trek would be for nothing. Her bones would be lying in the ravine bottom with all the rest. Sighing she capped the canteen tightly and secured it to her belt before edging her way farther down.

At the bottom she rested, legs quivering. The other side of this wide valley should be her destination. She hoped so. It had been madness to take on this journey. It had already cost her her brother’s life. The wind was less, here in the bottom, so she left the scarf loosely draped around her neck and plodded on. The mage had better be right. If I’m on a fool’s quest I’m going to haunt that old man for the rest of his life.

The sun rose over the edge of the ridge as she reached her destination. This has to be the right place. Look at the size of those bones! Leg bones were bigger than she was. Skulls twice the length of her body. So many. The mage was right. This is a dragon graveyard.

Phara prodded the piles. It looked like others had been here, the bones were scattered. Yes, there were human skeletons here too. Smashed skulls, broken legs, she left them alone. Bad luck or bad partners, she couldn’t say. There was no point disturbing them and bringing their final curses home to roost on her. Close to the cliff face she found a skeleton that looked nearly complete. Perhaps the other searchers never made it this far, running out of luck or betrayed before this dragon’s remains could be reached.

She dropped to her knees next to the standing rib cage. Phara crawled into the center, where the heart should be. Using her stick she dug through the drifted sand, deeper and deeper until she hit the huge spine. To the left, maybe it fell through the ribs to the ground. The sand kept sliding back into the hole until she shoved it back with her feet. Come on. Come on. Give it up, dragon.

Her mouth was so dry her tongue hurt. Grit crunched between her teeth. “Where is it?” She had to watch that, talking to herself when she got back. The proctors would mark her a crazy woman and drag her off. No water till you find it. Dig, damn it! She searched from rib to rib, digging two feet down. Maybe it’s on the other side? Phara cursed herself and the mage and began again on the right. The sun beat down now it was high enough in the sky, so she stopped digging long enough to pull the scarf up over her head to keep it from baking and over her mouth to keep some of the dust she was raising out of her mouth

One rib, two, three. Phara wanted to cry but couldn’t waste the water. It has to be here, right? The skeleton hasn’t been disturbed. She dug another foot to her right. Maybe the mage was lying. Maybe there’s no such thing as a heart stone. It would serve me right to be lost on a cursed dragon chase and die right here between this sorry creature’s ribs. Aggravated with herself and the mage and her brother for dying and leaving her out here all alone she slammed the end of her stick into the ground and heard it bang against something not sand or bone. She stopped; stick raised for the next strike.

Carefully she stuck it into the ground. It slid to the left, into the sand. Heart racing, she dropped her staff and dug with her hands. Yes! It was cool and smooth to the touch. On her belly she reached into the hole and cleared the sand. It was revealed. The sun glinted off of it, a color of red she’d never seen. Brilliant yet dark, like a dark, red, wine. Phara lifted it from the ground and wiped it clean with an end of her scarf. The mage was right. The dragon heart turned to stone. “It’s soul,” the mage said. She sat up and rocked with it clutched to her chest. Finally. It was hers if she could get it back to the city.

The King would pay a huge sum for it. She could get her father out of prison. Get medicine for her mother and buy her little sister and brother back from the slavers. Tears streaked dusty tracks down her cheeks. It was going to be hard. The stone was too large to hide in her coat. It would have to be disguised as she dragged it all the way back home.

I’ll make a travois from dragon finger bones. That will get me most of the way home. I’ll cover it with rags. Yes. I can do this. She let herself sip some water and plan. Then it was time to get busy. She was going to buy her family back and no one would stop her.

 

 

Thank You!

999 Words

Find more of the Forward Motion Flash Friday Group here: http://www.fmwriters.com/flash.html