Category Archives: Guest Blogger

1. What’s your favorite part of writing a new book or story? What do you like the least?

My favorite part of writing a new book is learning the rules of the world. Figuring out what the rules of society or, in the case of The Tethering, the rules of magic are is fascinating to me. I love finding a problem and creating a whole new way to solve it while getting to know my characters better.

My least favorite part is teaching my fingers to type a new protagonist’s name. I’m not the best typist, and teaching my fingers to type Margret quickly was terrible.

For The Tethering I did a lot of research on old fables of magic. I also climbed a mountain to make sure it would work for the story and did a lot of research on Latin roots of words with my husband, who is chief spell linguist for The Tethering.

2. Who are your favorite fictional characters—your own, and from other books, TV shows and movies?

My favorite fictional character of my own would have to be Jacob Evans of The Tethering Series. He is the heart of the story. However, Claire is another favorite just for her snarky sense of humor. She is from The Tethering and featured in my short story At the Corner of the Garden Wall in Athena’s Daughters 2.

As for favorites in others works, I love Lucy in The Chronicles of Narnia. I adore Septimus and Niko in the Septimus Heap series. And I really love Balthazar Blake in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Hiccup and Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon.

3. What do you read for fun?

I usually read fantasy and mystery, but I really love a good sci-fi or romance as well. It’s really just whatever catches my interest at the moment. Right now, I’m reading a novel from the Star Trek Universe.

4. Was there a book you read in your childhood or teen years that changed your world? Tell us which book and how it made a difference for you.

I would have to say The Chronicles of Narnia. I read them every few years and gain something new from them every time. Seeing how much a book can affect someone made me want to write, and I find new wonder in the series every time I go back to it. Further up and further in. Let the world grow with each step forward.

Click here to listen to a reading of The Tethering on our sister site.

What is the title of your newest book or short story? What’s it about? Where can readers find it?

My newest short story is At the Corner of the Garden Wall, which is a part of the Athena’s Daughters 2 anthology, currently up for preorder on Kickstarter.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/103879051/athenas-daughters-volume-2/description

How did you choose to become a writer?

I really didn’t. I’m an actor by trade, so I spend all my time living in imaginary worlds. During a not so artistically-fulfilling production, I began to write a story. It was about a boy who was all alone, waiting for a girl to come back. Finding out who that boy was and helping him became The Tethering. The same sort of thing has happened with all my projects. I write because I want to tell a story.

What inspired your new book or story?

When I found out about the open submissions for Athena’s Daughters 2, I knew I wanted to write something from the world of The Tethering. Figuring out who to write about was a challenge. I was afraid of creating spoilers in the series, and that left me with very few choices. My favorite character in the series is Claire, a twelve-year-old witch who is sarcastic, funny, and loves all things pink. I was afraid that she wouldn’t fit in with the rest of the characters in Athena’s Daughters 2, but a good friend encouraged me to write about her anyway. I did, and At the Corner of the Garden Wall was born. All about Claire, and a pink cat.

Where can readers find you on social media? (Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Library Thing, Redd It, etc.)

On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ORussellauthor

On Twitter https://twitter.com/MeganORussell

My website and blog MeganORussell.com

On TSU https://www.tsu.co/MeganORussell

And on goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8061709.Megan_O_Russell

What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?

Sit down and write. Don’t worry about commas or where in the room the couch is. Just tell your story. Get it all out. Then either you’ll feel finished (getting a whole story out is a huge accomplishment), or you’ll want your characters to go out into the world. If you want your story read, then you begin revisions and edits. But that’s a problem for another day. First, just write.

Click here to listen to a reading from Megan on our sister site.

What is the title of your short story?  What’s it about?  Where can readers find it?

My new short story, Crow Bait and Switch, is part of the Athena’s Daughters, Volume 2 anthology to be published by Silence in the Library Publishing.  Athena’s Daughters, Volume 2 is a collection of short works of science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction written by women, edited by women, illustrated by women, and about women and girls.  The diverse stories, written by very diverse authors, celebrate women and girls of all ages and races, abilities and physical attributes.

Athena’s Daughters, Volume 2 is being funded via Kickstarter.  We are at the end of the campaign and we really hope that you will support this fantastic anthology that gives under-represented characters a voice in exciting stories.  Our Kickstarter page is here.

What inspired Crow Bait and Switch?

My last published fiction was in Star Wars Gamer over ten years ago with my awesome co-author, Chris Cassidy. Though I have written lots (and lots and lots) of derivative work for 20 years, my last original story was for a writers’ workshop with the late Aaron Allston. Aaron was very much on everyone’s mind at Origins 2014 and, while there, I summoned his positive spirit (and my courage) and participated in a writing seminar with Mike Stackpole and Tim Zahn, who had both been so supportive when I was writing and working with them in Star Wars.  Also at Origins, Janine Spendlove, one of the editors of Athena’s Daughters, Volume 2, told me that Silence in the Library Publishing had an open call for short stories for the anthology and encouraged me to submit something.

With this collective encouragement, I began Crow Bait and Switch by dusting off the story I had written for Aaron’s workshop. The USDA Beagle inspector with a nose for maggots and rotten Sicilian cheese became a bossy, genetically engineered Border Collie. In addition to loving dogs and enjoying giving a literal voice to them in my writing, I am also very fond of the family corvidae, to which crows, magpies, and other canny birds belong. I have seen these advanced tool users steal car keys and flashing lights. As such, it was not surprising that, in the tradition of her astonishingly clever forbears, Morgana, the Jurassic Park-quoting, talking crow, flew into Crow Bait and Switch and stole it from everyone else.

Who are your favorite fictional characters—your own, and from other books, TV shows and movies?

Although I have many favorites, across many genres, examples of some of my favorite fictional characters are on display in Crow Bait and Switch.  I love talking sentient animals, like the dragons in Temeraire and Dragonriders of Pern, the Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny, the talking dogs in 101 Dalmatians, and the birds and beasts in the Chronicles of Narnia.  Science fiction also gives us genetically modified, fully sentient animals in stories like the Planet of the Apes, the Island of Dr. Moreau, and Startide Rising.  In Crow Bait and Switch, the animal tricksters of folklore, like Coyote, Reynard, Anansi, and Brer Rabbit,  are as much Morgana’s forbears as the velociraptors in Jurassic Park.

With these many favorites and inspirations, what I especially wanted to do in Crow Bait and Switch was to write characters like Morgana, not as a human with feathers, but as a real bird who also happens to be fully sentient.  In the story, the main protagonist, Dr. Jesse Harris, will realize that though Morgana speaks like a human, nothing about her is the least bit human. Morgana is a bird, truly alien, and far closer to dinosaurs than to any humans.  Morgana will prompt a crisis of conscience that will force Jesse to decide whether she stands with the Pan-Laurasian Fleet or with those who don’t have opposable thumbs.

Thank you again and I hope you’ll support the Athena’s Daughters, Volume 2 Kickstarter!

Listen to a special reading of Crow Bait and Switch on our sister site by clicking here.

* * *
Tish E. Pahl is a principal in a law firm.  At her day job, she advises on the federal regulation of drugs, dietary supplements, cosmetics, foods, and medical devices and regularly teaches a crash course in drug law.  With Chris Cassidy, Tish wrote for Star Wars, with stories published in the Tales from the New Republic and Star Wars Gamer magazine.  Tish is also a prolific producer of derivative genre, fantasy, and science fiction content.  She lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband, son, and two demanding dogs.

by Donald J. Bingle

Many years ago, an amateur graphologist told a business colleague that I was, based on my signature, a serial killer. When she assured the gentleman that she knew the signer of the document and that I was not, in fact, a serial killer, he responded “He may not have killed yet, but I assure you he will.”

All that occurred before I had done much writing, but I’ve done plenty since and I have, in fact, killed many, many since that time … all of them fictional characters. Look, I used to play a lot of tabletop roleplaying games; I used to write and run such games. I know all about killing characters and having characters killed. Having played more than six hundred different RPG characters in my classic tournament roleplaying career (I was the world’s top-ranked RPGA classic player for about fifteen years), having adjudicated failed resurrection rolls, looted the bodies of fallen comrades, and declared to the GM that my player-character was jumping into the maw of a fire-breathing dragon to save the party, I understand that killing off a beloved character, even one made of nothing but toner, paper, and imagination, can be wrenching both for the creator and the spectators/readers, but sometimes it must be done.

What are valid reasons for killing characters (in gaming or fiction)? Here’s a few:

1. To heighten tension. Much of fiction is about creating compelling, relatable characters and then creating increasingly difficult and dangerous situations for them to attempt to overcome. If the characters are too powerful or the dangers too small, not only is there not much tension or suspense, but there is nothing to spark the character growth that is important to the protagonist’s character arc. Sure, we all watch and read plenty of things where we know that good will ultimately triumph, but the creator has to somehow make that risk real. One way he or she does that is by killing characters. Sometimes these are secondary characters, comic side-kicks, love interests, or nearby innocents, but nothing ratchets up the feeling of risk like death. Sometime, when you really want to keep your readers/viewers reeling and off-base, you kill off a major character. Sure, in fantasy (and soap operas), they might come back, but you never know. When anyone can die at any moment, you’ve got some built-in suspense.
2. To stay true to the character. Sometimes anything but heroic sacrifice feels like a cheat, a betrayal of the morals and values of the character in question. If you’ve purposefully created (or somehow boxed yourself into) such a situation, the only way to resolve it that will ring true is to let the sacrifice be made.
3. To increase the pain being inflicted on one or more other characters. Remember when I was talking about increasing the difficulty and danger for the protagonist? Well, death of someone close or innocent or both can create a lot of difficulty and pain. You can then use such pain to fuel the change in that surviving character’s/protagonist’s arc. And, the loss of assistance and support (emotional and/or physical) can greatly increase the difficulty or remaining tasks.
4. To eliminate a played-out character. It’s bad enough when a character falls into disuse because they have nothing left to add to the protagonist’s development or resolution of the plot, but it’s even worse when that played-out character hangs on, doing nothing new, or becomes a caricature instead of a character. Sometimes, you just have to clear out the dead wood. Funeral pyre, anyone?

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What are some things to keep in mind when killing characters?

1. Keep your point-of-view in mind. Most novels and stories are written with third-person, limited perspective, which means that each separate scene is from the point-of-view of a particular character, often also reflecting that person’s internal thought process. Even if not overtly done as a narration, this gives the reader the feel that they are being told the story (or that scene of the story) by the POV character. That feeling is upset, even destroyed, when the POV character for the scene dies during the scene without having relayed that information to a third party. Sometimes readers don’t know exactly what bothers them about such a scene, but I believe there is a subtle disconnect that occurs in such situations. So, unless your character later rises from the grave or is telling their tale from beyond, don’t kill the POV character in a scene. Have some other character be the POV character for that scene.
2. Don’t use death as an easy way out. Sometimes authors don’t know how to end a scene or a story or a book. Death can be used to cover up such creative famine. If everyone, or everyone important to the story, dies, there is no need to tie up loose ends, resolve inconsistencies, or patch plot holes. It’s a cheat and it feels like a cheat to the readers. Try not to do it.
3. Make the death commensurate with the importance of the character. The more important the character, the more important the death should be, and the more volume it should be given in the work. Building up a character at length, just to have them offed by a stinging insect in a sentence fragment aggravates the reader. The death may be quick, it may be unexpected, but the total volume of space the death and its aftermath receives should be proportionate to the importance of the character.
4. Don’t make your reader/viewer throw the book/television across the room. If too many people die or characters die too often or for too little reason or with insufficient regard, your audience may get upset and start throwing things. Thrown things may never be picked up. Yes, you may surprise and challenge your readers/viewers, but if you want them to remain your readers/viewers, try not to piss them off too much. If you feel you must, or do, alienate your readers, do something in the work as soon as possible thereafter to ameliorate that feeling of disgust, whether that is showing them how the death was necessary or affects other characters or quickly giving them a replacement character to care about.

Of course, this is all just my opinion. It’s your work and you should do what is best for the project, regardless of this advice. I’ve killed a lot of characters, sometimes, in part, just because I tend toward writing dark stories and because I dislike the traditional Hollywood happy ending as unrealistic.

In my most recent project, Frame Shop, I write about a writers’ group’s involvement in murder … and then more murder. Link through the Kickstarter project at https://kck.st/YMyWaS. (Even if the Kickstarter is over, the last update will have a link to where you can find/buy it.) Then, you can tell me if I’ve followed my own advice. As always, more about me and my writing at www.donaldjbingle.com.

Aloha.

Donald J. Bingle, Writer on Demand TM

By T.W. Fendley

Earlier this year, two things prompted me to take a closer look at how to create audiobook versions of my books. First, as a reader, I’m a big fan—of the 58 books I’ve read so far this year, all but eight were audiobooks (and those weren’t available in audio). Second, I heard audiobook sales are expected to continue to rise for the next five years. As a writer, that’s a market I wanted to know more about.

With the popularity of Internet-connected devices like mp3 players, smartphones and eReaders, downloadable audiobooks are now accessible to most people. Due to this rapidly changing technology, audiobook revenue grew at an annualized rate of 12 percent from 2008-2013, to $1.6 billion, according to IBISWorld.

But that’s only part of the story. Libraries have seen a staggering increase in demand for audiobooks. In an online article, a library director reported audiobook usage more than tripled from 2009 to 2014 in the three-county Mid-Wisconsin Federated Library System, with Overdrive as their sole vendor. Other libraries—like the St. Louis County Library system I use—now offer a wide selection of audiobooks through Overdrive, OneClickdigital and Hoopla.

While I was convinced audiobooks were worth trying and knew several other authors who used Amazon’s ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange) to get audiobooks produced, I was put off by yet another contract and another process. It turns out, it can be really simple and–dare I say it–fun!

Here’s how the process works: I posted an excerpt from my short story on ACX, offering a royalty share instead of direct payment to the producer/narrator. Royalty share means ACX keeps half the proceeds, and the producer and I split the other half.

When Laurel Schroeder contacted me via ACX about producing my short story JAGUAR HOPE, I was thrilled with her audition. We signed the contract, which included deadlines, then I sent Laurel the complete manuscript.

While she worked on the narration/production, I contacted author/illustrator Jennifer Stolzer, who did the cover for the ebook back in 2012. Jennifer quickly converted it to meet ACX cover specifications. Everything worked like a charm. I approved what Laurel sent me, and on Feb. 12, I received notice that ACX would do a “final quick quality control process, and then begin distributing it to Audible.com, Amazon.com, and iTunes. Barring any issues in the quality check, that process should take upwards of 14-20 business days.” Six days later, it was available for purchase!

ACX works with authors and producers to promote the audiobooks by offering them free copies to send to reviewers. They also pay a “bounty” if your book is a new Audible member’s FIRST purchase. The $50 bounty is split by the author and producer—ACX doesn’t get a cut. But where to find someone new to Audible? (And alas, Missouri—where I live—is one of the few states excluded from the bounty program.)

I used ACX to find Tiffany Williams, who narrated my short story “Solar Lullaby,” and Shelby Lewis, who’s working toward a December release for the audiobook of my new young adult fantasy novel, The Labyrinth of Time.

If you’re considering getting into audiobooks, here’s some advice from Laurel and Tiffany:
Laurel Schroeder (Jaguar Hope) What advice would you give authors about how to solicit auditions for their book? For instance, ACX gives choices such as female/male/male reading as female, Spanish/British accent, brooding/storytelling/etc. Some of those categories are a lot easier to sort through than others. It’s pretty easy to decide if you want a male or female voice for your book, or if you’re open to either. Same with accents–you pretty much either want one or don’t, depending on where your book is set. But the ‘vocal style’ category is a little trickier. I think of it as a jumping off point, or a way to help the narrator understand the main tone of the book. But it always seems to me that a well-written story will require a number of different vocal styles!

Tiffany Williams/Airbending Media Productions (Solar Lullaby)–What makes you want to work with an author again? Communication. Responding to questions regarding pronunciation, or character notes; being flexible if there are unforeseen events that delay recording (a rarity, but things can happen); and sharing promotional/market tools/ideas. Also, if I’m not selected for a project, an email beyond the generic rejection from the Right’s Holder thanking me for auditioning is wonderful! Especially if I had resubmitted an audition at their request. I will be likely to audition for a future project if they post something.

Tiffany Williams–What three tips would you give authors about working with narrators/audiobook producers? Communicate! Collaborate! Enjoy the process and success of the medium!

How do you transform a classic? How do you take a well-known tale and make it your own, while still capturing the essence of the original? I have never attempted this before. It is a daunting task, one that requires familiarity with the source material and lots and lots of research. I truly respect those who have made a name for themselves retelling multiple fairytales. I found it challenging retelling just one, and I had help!

I am talking about Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, co-written with Day Al-Mohamed.

Originally this was to be a short story, written for the anthology Gaslight and Grimm: Steampunk Faerie Tales (Dark Quest Books, 2015), a retelling of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, but as anyone who has attempted (successfully or unsuccessfully) to retell a fairytale will tell you, there is no way to rewrite one short. There is so much content in those deceptively brief tales. Storytelling was much different back then, when most of these tales were spoken and not read. Maybe it is that people had to use their imaginations back then, so they needed less description, but in this age of show-don’t-tell it takes a lot more words to do justice to the classics.

Don’t get me wrong, this was a wonderful experience. If anything we had more content than we needed, and it was certainly fun to re-envision a story that was a childhood favorite of mine. It would be nice to explore some of these characters more deeply, though, and without even the loose restriction of keeping somewhat to the original.

You might ask why I selected a tale from 1001 Arabian Nights for the basis of a story meant for a collection of Grimm tales. There were several reasons. 1) An editor’s prerogative. 2) We wanted to explore more than just the European folk tales 3) Ali Baba being a favorite of mine from early childhood, I was familiar with it and saw a lot of potential for transforming it into a steampunk setting. (Little did I know that history itself would provide more than enough fodder to facilitate this transformation.)

Enough said on reason one.

On reason 2, one of my prime goals in bringing in other fairytale traditions was for variety. Different types of tales, different cultures, different backdrop all together. Now that can be very tricky all around. Fortunately, the story of Ali Baba is at least vaguely familiar to most people thanks to Disney. That left the cultural details, which I had to take great care with. My not-so-secret weapon: Day Al-Mohamed, a good friend and a great resource. At first she was just supposed to be my consultant but the details she provided were priceless. Then she showed me one of her own stories, Death’s Garden, to illustrate the Middle Eastern story-telling conventions and I was sold. I immediately asked her to co-write the story with me and it was one of the best decisions I could have made. Not only did she help me to remain culturally accurate and relevant, but our brainstorming sessions resulted in some truly inspired story developments that both built on the original tale and grew it out into lush dimensions, still maintaining the fairytale flavor, but transforming it with just the perfect amount of historical references and steampunk inventiveness to breath life into our creation. By layering technological innovation over cultural convention our tale builds on the foundation of a civilization with millennia of history not just as a people, but as engineers, making it the perfect canvas for our tale.

One of the first things we did was search for our historical references. Like the perfect application of fine spice, historic facts about Charles Babbage, Victorian England, the Persian Empire and a Middle Eastern engineering text dating back to the year 1206 added depth to the flavor of our tale. We referenced photographs and maps from the period as well as drawing on botanical and geographical features applicable to the region to lend authenticity to our characters and setting.

How well did we do? You’ll have to determine that for yourself. I will say, though, that with all of these resources we were able to create a universe others seem to want to explore every much as we do ourselves.

Let the exploration begin!

 Click here to listen to a special audio except from Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn on our sister site.

by Michael A Ventrella

“Politics, intrigue and vampires—a match made in Washington, DC. A bloody good political thriller that sucks you in from the start and gets its teeth into your imagination.”

At least that’s the opinion of one Gail Z. Martin about my latest novel BLOODSUCKERS:  A VAMPIRE RUNS FOR PRESIDENT.  (Even if there were two Gail Z. Martins, this is the opinion of one.)  She was kind enough to ask me to talk about the book here.

BLOODSUCKERS is a political thriller — with vampires.

Norman Mark is a politician with skeletons in his closet (literally).  He’s a liberal Democrat who is constantly attacked by the tea party extremists who say he’s a socialist and an atheist and wasn’t born in America — and a vampire!  Everyone laughs at the crazies but it turns out they’re right about all of that.

Disgraced reporter Steven Edwards supports Mark completely.  When Mark is shot at a campaign rally, Steve looks to his acquaintance who drops the smoking rifle, smiles, turns into a bat, and flies away – leaving Steve as the prime suspect.  He is rescued by the vampire believers (Jon Stewart calls them “Batties”) and he goes into hiding.  The only way he can prove his innocence is by proving to the world that vampires actually do exist while  constantly on the run from the bloodsuckers and the FBI.

Steve learns that vampires have been controlling things behind the scenes for thousands of years, accumulating wealth and influence.  Many vampires don’t like the idea that one of their own is running for President and they’re trying to stop him, worried that he will expose their existence.  Others support Mark. Many of them want Steve dead.

BLOODSUCKERS is not a traditional vampire novel but more a political conspiracy thriller with humor.  Oh sure, people turn into bats and drink blood, but as I said, this is political.

Readers of my novels and short stories know to expect plot twists and turns and surprises along the way.  Part of the fun in writing it is leaving the clues so that when the twists happen they are unexpected but logical.  I also enjoyed working in real journalists like Brian Williams, Rachel Maddow, and Stephen Colbert.  OK, mostly real.

There’s a lot more information on my web page, along with links to other reviews and the first few chapters (so you can get hooked).  You can get the ebook, nook, or kindle for as little as $6 or so.

www.MichaelAVentrella.com