Jamieson Wolf is celebrating a birthday!

My special friend Jamieson Wolf has a birthday today and to help him celebrate we are chatting about another one of his fabulous novels, HUNTED. Check out our interview below:

August has been such a fabulous month here at The Book Connection. And today makes it even better as I welcome back my talented friend, Jamieson Wolf so that he can tell us about another one of his recent releases, HUNTED.

Welcome to The Book Connection Jamieson. It’s great to have you back with us!

Awww, you're going to make me blush! And it's great to be here. I always love stopping by Cheryl! Thanks for having me.

If I remember right, you’re celebrating a birthday today. Happy Birthday!

That's right, I turn 29 today. It doesn't feel any different but it's a good to have a day for yourself. Thanks for the Birthday wishes!

So, are you old enough now to go out alone at night? Of course, with some of the creepy stuff you write maybe you’re afraid of the dark.

I'm pretty sure that everyone is a little afraid of the dark. Otherwise where would the excitement be?

Can you tell us what you’ve been up to this past year?

Gosh, what haven't I done? The Ghost Mirror came out in June in eBook format. HUNTED came out in June in eBook format as well, Hope Falls was published in July and The Ghost Mirror came out in paperback on Amazon in August.

I started writing for The American Chronicle and The Gotta Write Network. As well, my romantic novella Cupids Delight was accepted for publication by Mardi Gras Publishing for January 2008.

I've been hard at work on my memoir for The Friday Project and took on the post of Producer for PreViews (Book Videos) at ReaderViews.

I celebrated my one year wedding anniversary with my husband and tried to enjoy life as much as I can. But there's been lots going on!

I know I’ve asked this before, but when in the heck do you sleep? Seems you’ve always got a million things going on.

You know, I've actually slowed things down a bit. I quit the second job I was working and closed down two of my web sites and several of my blogs. I wanted to take it easy and focus on the writing that needed to get done.

I'm still busy but now I'm doing the things that need to get done. It's nice being able to breathe a bit.

You have been inflicted with Cerebral Palsy. If you don’t mind my asking, how has this impacted your writing? Does it have anything to do with how diligent you are when it comes to your work?

Well I was born with Cerebral Palsy. I personally feel that it's made me a better person. It's given me a tougher skin certainly and I've had to work harder for everything I want.

It's become such a part of me that I don't look at myself as having a physical disability anymore. I look at myself as differently-abled instead of disabled.

It's helped my writing a lot. I've had the determination to go for what I want and to achieve my dreams. I pushed myself so that I could walk without the aid of a wheel chair or crutches. After that, writing's a breeze.

We’re going to chat about another one of your recent releases, HUNTED, which was published by Write Words, Inc. - http://www.ebooksonthe.net/. This story--like many of your others--includes an element of magic and demons. Where did this fascination with magic and the undead come from?

You know, I don't think it's a fascination with the undead or with magic. I think it's more a fascination with "What If?".

I love to take characters and place them in real situations; then I usually like to say to myself "What if this happened…?" and see what comes of it.

Of course, I'm a speculative fiction writer. So fantasy elements and magic have always interested me. It's what I love to write and what I have the most fun writing.

In HUNTED, soap opera star Susan Halliway leaves television after thirty years to live a life as a writer in her secluded home in Pine Lake. But that ends up being harder than she thought. Someone is watching her and using an old script from the soap opera to torment her. How did you come up with this idea? What inspired you to write it?

Soap operas, naturally. I love how Soaps can throw so many things at you that don't make sense and people will watch them anyways, myself included. I thought what if there was a fan who just couldn't let go, just wouldn't let his favorite character leave the show?

I wanted it to be a strict police procedural but the story got away from me as it usually does. Which is fine with me as I don't know a thing about police procedures. I think it turned out a lot more fun anyways.

There’s a bit romance in this novel too. Afraid for her life, Susan turns to Derrick Madison who used to be the love of her life. Can you tell us a bit about Derrick and Susan’s past relationship and how that impacts the present day?

Well, I wanted there to be a bit of steamy romance in HUNTED. On soaps there's always a love scene or two so I had to have one or four. LOL Their past relationship was hard; Derrick was a lawyer and studying to be a cop and Susan was a mega successful actress. The two grew apart.

But that doesn't mean they still don't know each other, that they still don’t love each other. They will have to depend on each other, trust in each other again if they have a hope of surviving.

In walks Sandy Duran, the mother of the first victim killed by the man stalking Susan. She tells them that evil is afoot. The girls with blond hair and bright eyes are sacrifices to a demon who is hungry for lust, for blood, and for Susan. Up until now this seemed like a regular romantic suspense novel. But now, it’s much, much more. How do you bring paranormal elements into normal, everyday events?

Well like I said, I ask myself the What If question and see what happens. I wanted to throw something exciting into HUNTED and the paranormal was crying out to be used here.

Plus, look at soaps. On Days of Our Lives, Marlena has been possessed by the devil, a serial killer stalked Salem using mind control and Celeste saw visions of death. The paranormal is in every soap so I figured why not in HUNTED? And it's just more fun, don’t you think?

Now, on to the good stuff. Where can people get their hands on a copy of this chilling tale?

Well, you can buy HUNTED at several locations:

You can buy them at the publisher's web site:

www.ebooksonthe.net

You can buy it at Fictionwise:

http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/JamiesonWolfeBooks.htm

Or, you can buy it at MobiPocket Books:

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/BookDetails.asp?BookID=54712

Let’s wrap this up by finding out what’s up next for you. Can you tell us more about your memoir?

The memoir is for The Friday Project and will be published in the summer of 2008. It's called One Step at a Time and is based off of my blog with the same name. You can find the blog here: www.jamiesonwolf.wordpress.com

The memoir is about my growing up in an abusive home and living with Cerebral Palsy. It's probably the most difficult thing I've had to write and the most harrowing but also the most cleansing.

I'm beyond the half way mark so I'm in the home stretch. I hope that it will be a book that will give hope to survivors of abuse and others living with physical disabilities.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us today?

You can learn more about HUNTED by stopping by The Hunted Blog:

www.huntedanovel.blogspot.com

Or by stopping by the Hunted Web Site

www.huntedanovel.homestead.com

There's even a Free Ebook available at the blog! It's called SOMETIMES I WORRY ABOUT ZOMBIES By Howard J. Gogglewack! It's the survival guide everyone needs to protect themselves from Zombies!

And stay tuned to the Hunted Web Site which is being redone to include the next three books in the series. HOPE FALLS, the second book in the Hunted Series is currently available at MobiPocket too!

Thanks for stopping by Jamieson. It’s always such a delight to chat with you. HUNTED sure sounds like a novel that should be in a lot of people’s book collections.

Well I always love talking to you and it's been a pleasure as always. I'm just thrilled that you enjoyed the novel and I hope that others do too! Make sure you check out the sequel and I'll stop by soon to talk to you about that book too!

Thank you so much Cheryl! It's been a pleasure.

Military Brat Marilyn Morris talks about her latest book

July really is turning out to be a month of special treats. Today, author and editor Marilyn Celeste Morris joins me to chat about her latest novel The Women of Camp Sobingo, which was released by Mardi Gras Publishing http://www.mardigraspublishing.com/womenofcampsobingo.html in June .

Welcome to my blog Marilyn. I am thrilled to have you here.

It’s my pleasure. I think all writers love to talk about their work, and especially their latest project.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How long have you been writing? Did anyone inspire you to become a writer?

I think I was born with a pencil in my hand. My family was all about reading, and I learned to read before I went to kindergarten. There, it dawned on me that letters made words, and words made sentences, and sentences made stories. I wrote a lot for my own amusement when I was an army brat stationed overseas with my army officer father.

What is your writing process like? Do you write every day? Is there a time of day you are more productive than others?

I try to write something every day. I am more productive during the morning hours; I try to begin at least sitting at my keyboard at 9:00 a.m. but if I don’t make that schedule, I don’t beat myself up. There are plenty of people in the world who would be happy to do that for me!

After reading the synopsis of The Women of Camp Sobingo and an excerpt, I knew this was one book I had to make a part of my reading collection. What inspired you to write this story?

Wow, thanks! I had thought about my days in Korea when I was about 8-9 years old and my mother played bridge – a lot of bridge – with three other women. One of those women chose to end her life there, and although I had very little information about that, I always wondered why she did it. Through my mental health training, I realized her childhood must have had a large part in her decision, so I made up a background for her – and for the other women. From there, it just grew. My characters kind of took over the writing for me.

So, four very different women become friends on the trip to join their Army officer husbands in Korea in 1946. Three women learn to adjust to the situation, but one ends up taking her own life. And when these women reunite twenty-five years later, they discover new things about that time in their lives--including why their friend really decided to kill herself. How did you go about developing these four very different women? Did you use character sketches?

Actually, they are composites of women I have known, or wish I had known, and the main character is definitely one I would have liked to have been in real life! I did a sort of background sketch on each woman, where she came from and what were her strengths, and used those in the writing of the book, so all the plot advances would be consistent to that character. For instance, why did Trudy inherit her father in-law’s publishing empire instead of her husband?

Why will readers care about these women? What is it about these women that will help readers relate to them?

I think they will relate to how these ordinary women faced extraordinary circumstances, and they were strengthened by their backgrounds. Take Nell, for instance. She was a West Texas school girl who hoped she would escape her life of wood-burning stoves, hauling water from a well, etc. and yet she finds herself in a primitive country teaching other women how to cook on a wood-burning stove. Maggie is a rebel from birth and she uses her rebellion to her best advantage as she marries her childhood sweetheart despite her mother’s objections. I believe we all have something in our childhoods that we can draw upon for strength during tough times. Leah, however, had no such strength to lead her through her troubled life and affairs with men other than her hometown husband.

Being a self-proclaimed Military Brat yourself, is it different to reflect upon those memories of your childhood as an adult? Did a new understanding of that time in your life impact how you approached the writing of The Women of Camp Sobingo?

Great question! While I was writing my memoirs of my Military Brat days, Once a Brat, I relived my childhood and the ghost of this woman who ended her life in Korea came up repeatedly and I knew I had to do something about that. I had also watched my mother cope with such a nomadic life, and grew to really admire her and respect her innate strength. I am always finding my childhood traits as a Military Brat that either strengthen me or give me some insight into who I have become because of that life.

Did you rely solely on your past experiences for this novel or did you research certain details?

It’s about half my experiences and half fiction. I could have done some research into Camp Sobingo, but didn’t want the present day Camp to mar my memories of those days right after WWII. As this novel is fiction, I felt I could take some liberties with time and location, and felt that researching the present-day site would take away from the fictional content.

Like I said before, this sounds like a truly amazing story. How can readers get their hands on a copy?

It can be ordered online at the Mardi Gras Publishing site:

http://www.mardigraspublishing.com/womenofcampsobingo.html

What’s up next for you? Is there anything you would like to share with fans and your fellow writers?

I have several more novels in varying states of completion. One is a sequel to my first novel, Sabbath’s Room, which is titled Sabbath’s House, where Joanna and her little family move into a huge old house in the Texas Hill Country that has a sinister secret; a romance novel titled, The Unexplored Heart (my first venture into that genre); a novel about a military jet crashing into a crowded shopping mall during a terrible tornado, titled, Forces of Nature; another murder mystery, The Murders at 5400; and my newest effort will probably be a science fiction story, Fireflies in a Jar. I am having fun playing around with these novels and try to work on them whenever time permits.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I’ve always enjoyed writing; however, marketing my work is somewhat new to me. I may have been born without that gene, but fortunately, I have a couple of publicists who are handling that part for me. They are Dorothy Thompson and Jamieson Wolf, and their new business venture is Pump Up Your Book, found at http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com/
I recommend them highly.

Thank you for sharing so much about yourself and your novel. Good luck with the rest of your virtual book tour and much success in the future.

And thank you for thinking of me and inviting me to do this interview. Best to you in your writing.

Marilyn and her novel are touring the blogosphere the entire month of July so make sure you check out her tour schedule at http://virtualbooktoursforauthors.blogspot.com/2007/06/women-of-camp-sobingo-virtual-book-tour.html to see where you can find out more about this talented author and her amazing book.