A is for April 23: A to Z Blogging Challenge AND #IWSG

I was always going to write a book. Ask anybody. As far back as kindergarten in those "what are you going to be when you grow up" talks, author was always on my list (admittedly so were things like living in outer space and owning a unicorn).

It's kind of funny then, that it took me so long to get serious about it. Like "finish things" and "submit things" kind of ambitious. But I finally did. It was my birthday gift to myself two years ago: I promised to write every day.

And now I'm counting in mere days to the release of my debut novel: Going Through the Change, A Menopausal Superhero Novel comes out April 23, 2015. 

It's an auspicious day--William Shakespeare's birthday, the anniversary of my first date with my husband, and just a few days before my birthday. Amazing!  That's not to say I'm not still insecure--it's scary when your dreams come within reach, that's why so few people really reach for them: Fear of Failing. 

My A to Z postings this month will be about the book and my experiences in writing it and seeing it published. Thanks for reading and helping me celebrate!

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This posting is part of the A to Z blogging challenge, in which bloggers undertake to post every day in April, excepting Sundays, which amounts to 26 postings, one for each letter of the alphabet--preferably along a theme. My postings will all be about my debut novel and my experiences writing it and seeing it published.

Blogging A to Z is a great opportunity to connect with some excellent bloggers and interesting people. I encourage you to check out other participating blogs, too!
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This posting is also part of the Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop. To check out other posts by writers in a variety of places in their careers, check out the participant list. This group is one of the most open and supportive groups of people I have ever been associated with. You should check them out!

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click the image to preorder on Amazon!

Cover Reveal: The Black Oracle: by Michael Cristiano

THE BLACK ORACLE


Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Release Date: May 25, 2015


Cover Art: Alexandria N. Thompson


On a post-apocalyptic Earth, humans are not alone.


Joachim is a hunter. Though generations have passed since the Great Death, something has evolved in the trees beyond the giant glowing mushrooms, mutants that want to see human entrails spread along the jungle floor.


And now they've taken Joachim’s wife.


To get her back, Joachim will have to give the leader of these demons something in return: immortality. A creature knows when he is going to die, after all. Plunged into a world of magic and darkness, Joachim must find the only woman in who knows where the ingredients are. She is a prophetess known as the Black Oracle living in the realm of Zalm, but she’s a little preoccupied at the moment. She leads a rebellion against the ruthless High Council, and when Joachim seeks her out, he too finds himself consumed by her struggle.


In a story of betrayal, prophecy, and bloodshed, Joachim has ten days to retrieve the ingredients and return to Earth all while evading the High Council’s army, one that wants the Black Oracle and her associates killed — Joachim included.

Add it to your to-read list on Goodreads!

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Michael Cristiano is a Canadian writer. His relentless obsession with fiction began long before he could even spell the words 'relentless obsession'. Growing up in endless suburban sprawl, he spent most of his childhood getting lost in fantastical masterpieces and attempting to be published by the age of thirteen.


When he isn’t writing or reading, he can be found planning his next backpacking trip around the world. He is a recent graduate from the University of Toronto with studies in Foreign Language and Linguistics. Previously, he attended a Regional Arts high school where he majored in drama. He is fond of all things dramatic.


Michael currently resides in the Greater Toronto Area and he is using his years as a twenty-something to establish what he hopes will be a long career in writing. The Black Oracle, his debut novel, is due for publication on May 11, 2015.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Guest Post: Lia Mack, Author of Waiting for Paint to Dry

It's my pleasure to introduce you to Lia Mack. We're publishing twins: both of us have novels coming out in April! I met Lia through the Women's Fiction Writers Association and she's written a great book that you should check out!  So, dear reader, here's Lia Mack. -SB

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To write a novel based on true life events, or not… That is a good question… guest post by Lia Mack, author of Waiting for Paint to Dry

While in the shower this morning, I had a thought. Years ago I wrote a snippy little blog post about whether or not one should write a novel based on true life events. In it I asked four of the best questions writers should ask themselves before even thinking about typing that first word....

But there’s an even more important question you should ask yourself. One I never thought to ask myself until today.

Of course by now, with my book only months away from being published, this question is too late. For me, that is.

But it’s not too late for you.

While you ask yourself those 4 solid Q’s I postulated long ago (you can find them here), you should also remember to pointedly ask yourself this:

Do you, dear writer, want to endure, dredge up and relive this event over and over and over again, while you write your book?

Then relive it again and again and again while you edit and re-edit your book?

And then again when you have to go through the edits from your editor/publisher?

And then again while you’re answering questions about your book in interviews?

And again and again and again????

I think you get the logic here.

Is this an event – from your life – that you want to relive over and over and over again?

My book is a Roman e’ clef. That means it’s a fictional novel with real life elements. My life elements. I wrote my novel Waiting for Paint to Dry as a cathartic movement of sorts. The fact that it turned into a novel worth publishing is a testament to years of sweat, tears and – most recently – blood. (Publishing is a laborious journey.) And I’m excited to see it finally come full circle. I’m overjoyed about my first step out into the publishing world. As an author. And at the opportunity for my characters to breathe their first breath…

Only, I wish I had somehow been aware of the effects of reliving something that I healed from over and over again, through the eyes and life of my character. No matter that by the end of the book she’s a healed, lovely woman, ready to take on the world. Going back over the beginning parts where she’s a bruised and battered wreck was painful for me. I’ll admit it. Sometimes I felt as though I was back there, unhealed and all.

But then again, my book is a Roman e’ clef.

Not all of what my character lives through is from that one event. Rather, 90% of my book is fictional and fun. It was an adventure to create characters and lives that will soon live on in my readers imaginations.

And that helped. By having to read through the entire book over and over again, no matter how down I felt from the hard parts, I was lifted up – again and again – as I went through the motions, dreams and passions of my character. It’s a hard ride at first, but it turns out to be one soothing smooth ride in the end.

And its effect reaffirms just why I wrote this book in the first place.

I wrote it a purpose: to help survivors of sexual abuse find life again. Find love again. Find themselves again.

And, after finding my way out of the darkness again and again with all the edits to make it a publishable piece of art, I’ve accomplished just that.

A way up and out, and into life.

Now, that’s an ‘event’ I can live through over and over, again and again.

J

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As a born and raised military brat – Go Air Force! – I was born in Kansas and had the unique experience of growing up in many places such as Michigan, Texas, Colorado, Italy, and Maryland. I currently reside in Baltimore with my husband, two children and three American Rat Terriers. I graduated with a BS in Psychology from UMBC and have a severe passion/craving/need for real food. Good food. Local, organic, know-your-farmer kind of food.

And writing. I love writing.

A ceaseless cheerleader of the underdog, I write fiction that travels the line between everyday life and the extreme challenges we must face. I enjoy diving into the minutia of our human existence and finding those key moments when the turns of life can either make or break us.

That, and I’m a sucker for the ‘happily ever after.’ I’ll admit it. I’m a love junkie.

In addition to my debut novel Waiting for Paint to Dry, my creative non-fiction has been seen in such publications as The Washington Post, Nickelodeon Jr. Magazine, Advances in Bereavement Magazine and Nesting Magazine. I am also honored to be a guest blogger at author/activist Angela Shelton’s Survivor Manual, a blog dedicated to inspiring and empowering sexual abuse survivors.

Contact me anytime!

A to Z Blogging Challenge: Theme Reveal

If you haven't yet heard of the Blogging A to Z Challenge, you're missing out. The idea is that bloggers, all different kinds of bloggers, sign up to write 26 posts in the month of April, one per day (excepting Sundays), one for each letter of the alphabet.

It's not required that you have a theme, but having a theme is fun. Last year, I did evocative words. I know, I'm a word nerd (and I love it!). I read lots of others I really enjoyed, and made some blogging friends that I still visit online today.

I'm extra excited about Blogging A to Z this year because April is book launch month for me! My debut novel, Going Through the Change: A Menopausal Superhero Novel, comes out on April 23. So, this year, all my postings are going to be about my book and my journey writing and publishing it. I hope you'll come by and read about it.

https://curiosityquills.com/kindle/change/

You should also check out the other blogs participating. Bloggers bring creativity and passion to the posts they do during this time and you can find some great new writers to follow. In fact, here's the link to the list of other bloggers announcing their themes today. I hope you find something to spark your interest!

Guest Post: Developing the Winchester Brothers: Nat Hobson

I'm happy to bring you a guest post from Nat Hobson, author of Addy's Choice and the newly released Heart of Fire. During this blitz, Addy's Choice is free at Smashwords, with the code: TM47S. 

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Developing the Winchester Brothers

I always knew I wanted to base my story in and around Winchester in the UK. It’s a beautiful place, one I visited often when I lived in the south. I never intended the story to become a series, but my characters influenced the decision, as they so often do.

The story began with Adrienne Baxter, and I had a strong image of her in my head. Sebastian’s appearance was unexpected. I approach a new project in a variety of ways, but it’s safe to say I’m a pantser. The level of planning varies. Sometimes I have an outline, and sometimes I don’t. In the case of Addy’s Choice, I knew Adrienne worked for a radio station, could hear her voice in my head as she presented the early morning breakfast show. But that’s the only planning I did. Initially. I let Addy tell me about her life, and introduce me to the other characters who would later shape her journey.

I was drawn to Sebastian Davies immediately, and spent a little time with him before I continued with the story. He shared his background, his family, and his friendship with Chris Martin. This piqued my interest, so I wrote a little dialogue between the two, allowing them to converse in a natural way and gaining an insight into their relationship. I was amused by their experiences at university, and discovered they earned a nickname from their peers – a name they later used when they opened their first (and subsequent) restaurants. That name, and the name of the series, is The Winchester Brothers.

Guest Post: Z.R. Southcombe

I'm pleased to introduce you to one of my writing friends: Z.R. Southcombe. Please enjoy this guest post from her and check out her newly released children's chapter book! -SB

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Work-life balance is a (seemingly unattainable) term that’s tossed around a lot these days. It’s easy to understand why – we all need a roof on top of our heads, and we like to live comfortably so work is important; however, our family & friends are equally important, as is our own well-being.

But what does it mean? Are we trying to spend the same amount of time on each? Is it about leaving work at work and enjoying me-time or social-time in the evenings and during weekends? Is it about having our dream house?

In a chat with another writer friend, I expressed concern that I was becoming a workaholic – she said a better way of describing it is ‘driven and passionate’. I started seeing work-life balance in a whole new light.

For me, balance has become about my priorities and the things I love doing. My priorities are my own well-being, making a contribution and lifting up people around me. I love art-making, story writing, music and the outdoors (hm, maybe I should have been born a bit earlier!).

With this in mind, I choose to spend my time on the things I love doing, the things I don’t love doing, but enable me to do my art & writing (like bookkeeping enables me to publish my work independently) and healthy, restorative activities (like going for a walk, or listening to good music).

I choose to spend time the people I love and the people who get as excited about books and reading and art as I do. I especially love people who are enthusiastic, open to learning and give things a go, because just a little push in the right direction gets them going. It’s bread and butter for my soul to see people shine the way they were made to.

And so, balance might be working stupid hours on writing, marketing and *shudder* accounting, while making time to meet with friends old & new, but it’s all stuff I love, and stuff I believe in.

What does balance mean for you?  

Z.R. Southcombe is a children’s fantasy writer and surrealist painter, but no matter what project she is currently working on, Z. R. is usually accompanied by a cup of tea.

If you found this article interesting, you can read more about writing, marketing and life on her personal blog, zeesouthcombe.com. Her children’s chapter book The Caretaker of Imagination will launch with fanfare on the 21^st of March 2015. You can join the party at zrsouthcombe.com.

Cover Reveal: A Shade for Every Season: Chad. A. Clark

Cover Art by D.S. George-Jones

I'm happy to announce the release of a new collection of short stories from my friend Chad A. Clark, releasing on March 27, 2015. I was a fan of Chad's first collection (here's a link to my review on Amazon), and I expect to enjoy this one, too!


Description:

Photo by Clymer Photography

Explore the confines of your imagination with this new collection from Chad A. Clark. A Shade for Every Season consists of over seventy tales, reaching into the horror and science fiction genres and beyond. The stories may be short, but the impact is not. Take a stroll through the dark and the macabre. Read of revenge, snatched back from beyond the grave, and monsters that will thrill and scare you. Travel into the furthest reaches and isolation of outer space. See what lies down inside the darkness, where sometimes doors are best left unopened. Experience the thrill of the narrative ­- in the time it takes to finish your morning coffee.

Bio:
Storytelling has always been one of Chad A. Clark’s passions. Every week, he puts pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and spins a new yarn, which is then published on his blog, The Baked Scribe. This book collects the entire first year’s worth of these stories. For more on Chad’s work, go to bakedscribe.net. This is his second book.