And the winner is...

Joyce Anthony is the First Place winner of our contest. Joyce gets a copy of Jamieson Wolf's Write Now! Exercises for the Aspiring Writer.

Thanks to all who participated. Look for more contests coming soon!!!

Cheryl

Write Now! and author Jamieson Wolf

Today I have the distinct pleasure of chatting with Jamieson Wolf. I met Jamieson though the Muse Online Writers Conference (http://museonlineconference.tripod.com/) last year and I can’t believe all this guy does. He is truly an inspiration to his fellow writers. Jamieson has many books to his credit—fiction and non-fiction—and he maintains numerous blogs for his many novels, book reviews, author interviews, and so much more. He also has written several articles for The American Chronicle (http://www.americanchronicle.com/AMchronDefault.asp). With so much going on in his world, it was hard to decide what we should talk about, but I figured I would stick to the craft of writing and his wonderful eBook Write Now! Exercises for the Aspiring Writer. Stick with us to the end and you’ll find out about a great contest where you’ll have the chance to win one of Jamieson’s books.*

Wow! After all that, welcome to my blog Jamieson. It’s great to have you here!

Thanks Cheryl! It’s great to be here. It’s funny you call me an inspiration when that is how I think of you! I’ve been looking forward to this chat for a while!

Let’s talk about you for a minute. What can you tell us about yourself? How long have you been writing? What inspired you to become a writer?

Well, what would you like to know? Personal stuff first, I guess. I just celebrated my one year wedding anniversary. I read constantly (sometimes two or three books at a time) and write all the time too. I love Harry Potter and am anxiously awaiting and dreading the last book.

As for writing, the simple answer is that I’ve always been a writer, I just didn’t know it. I was always filling journals with stories or notations. I just didn’t realize that I was writing, or planting the seeds of what was to come.

For years I thought I wanted to be an actor. Turns out I loved the acting but not the people. I have no tolerance for twofaced people and theatre is full of them. So I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for a while. I had trained my whole life to be an actor and now I was adrift.

To while away the time, I started writing short stories. It helped me deal with walking away from acting and gave me another creative outlet. It wasn’t until someone read some of my scribbles and told me they were good that the idea of writing popped into my head.

I had always thought of my writing poetry and short stories as a pastime, as a hobby. I remember that day well because it was the day that it occurred to me that I could make a living writing. It was a powerful moment.

What is your writing process like? Do you write every day? Are you more productive during a certain time of the day?

You know, I usually ask this question in interviews too because I’m curious how it is for other people. I don’t tend to have a real writing process. Much like everything else I do, I’m kind of scattered all over the place.

I do write every single day. I don’t have any particular time of day where I’m more productive, but I tend to get great chunks of writing done on the weekends. I work full-time as well as doing all my writing and blogs, so I usually write early in the morning and after work during the week and then for most of Saturday.

But I can write any time, really. I always have a journal with me in my bag at all times because you never know when the Muses will strike you down with an idea. I hate when I have no paper when a line or a snippet of conversation pops into my head.

Having known you for a little while now, you always seem to have a million things in the hopper at one time. How do you juggle them all?

The simple answer to that is: I have no idea. I tend to focus on my blogs during the day and work on my current work in progress (right now I’m writing a memoir titled One Step at a Time for The Friday Project) during the evenings and weekends. But sometimes I just have to focus and push through to make sure I catch everything.

The blogs take up a lot of my time so there are some days where, if entries are piling up, I put aside my work in progress and just plow through. I find it’s all about balancing what needs to be done now with what can be done later.

Your eBook Write Now! Exercises for the Aspiring Writer(http://want-to-write-now.tripod.com/index.html) came out early this year and received rave reviews. What inspired you to write this book?

I would have to say that Stephen King inspired me to write it. I had read his memoir on the craft, ON WRITING, and it was fantastic. It was a very private look into where ideas for some of King’s work came from and his guidelines on how to write.

But I found it was lacking. There are tons of writing books out there that tell you how to write but they don’t SHOW you. I also find that most writing books place a large importance on grammar, punctuation, etc. While those are important elements, I find that it’s learning where to start that is most important.

I had written a book before WRITE NOW called THE MUSE: Learning to Write from Inspiration that talked about the Muses and how we are all inspired to write. The book was geared towards anyone who wrote or wanted to write and needed the inspiration to do so.

But it got me thinking. What if someone already had the inspiration to write, what if they already had that drive inside them, and didn’t know how? I wanted to write a book along the same lines as The Muse but a bit more simple and a lot more fun. I wanted to take the focus off of inspiration and look at the writing itself.

There are so many books out there about the craft of writing. What is unique about this one?

Like I said above, there are tons of writing books out there that tell you how to write but they don’t SHOW you. They always TELL you how to write, giving you detailed explanations about how a writer should do this, why a writer should do that. But then there are no examples.

I wanted WRITE NOW! to be different, so I resolved to use examples from my own writing so readers and writers would know they were on the right track and have a visual that they can refer to.

I felt it was important to use my own writing as examples because it’s one thing for me to tell people what to do but it’s a whole other kettle of fish if I SHOW them.

The Write Now! Website says this book includes everything a person would need to know to get her writing career started. You included chapters on description, setting, character, plot and more. How did you go about selecting which subjects you would cover?

This was actually a tricky process. I wanted to make sure that the book remained simple but would be a natural progression. I wanted it to have a starting point and then build from there so that writers would use what they learned in an earlier exercise in a later one.

It took some fiddling around but I got it shaved down to the bare basics. I needed WRITE NOW! to be simple and fun but I wanted it to have everything a writer could need to learn in order to write.

One particular topic caught my eye--fan fiction. It has been my experience that this type of writing is very controversial. Some writers think it’s great, while others think it’s a waste of time. Why did you feel the need to cover fan fiction?

Well, fan fiction is how I started writing stuff other than poetry. I figured it was easier to write something if I didn’t have to imagine everything (characters, setting, etc) when it was already there.

Later, I realized that fan fiction was limiting and I started creating my own worlds, my own characters. But it’s a great starting place for those who want to write but don’t know how to go about picking out a setting, characters, etc. It gets them writing, which is the most important thing, and they don’t have to worry about the other stuff.

While controversial, fan fiction is a great escape. It lets you play around in someone else’s playground. It’s great fun when you want to write but you’re experiencing writers block. It helps rev up the imagination and is just plain fun.

Now, of course, it’s better to write your own stuff, but fan fiction should be looked at as play writing. But it’s all about putting your pen to the paper, right?

So, tell us, how can you order Write Now! Exercises for the Aspiring Writer?

Well, that’s simple! Head on over to http://want-to-write-now.tripod.com and read all about the book and you can order it from the web site!

I know you have many books out there for fans to read, but it looks like you’ve got a lot going on in the next few months too. What do your fans and fellow writers have to look forward to?

I sure do! I’ve got three more novels coming out later this year from Write Words Inc (a trilogy of novels called Hope Falls, Eagle Valley and Dragons Coe), as well as a memoir coming out in early 2008. Aside from that, I’m working on a book of articles, a book of essays on Stephen King's Dark Tower Series as well as a book of short stories. No rest for the wicked, right?

Anything else you would like to share?

Just the most important piece of writing advice you’ll ever hear: Write every day and read everything you can. You can’t learn to write without practice and you can’t write well without reading.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with me today Jamieson. I loved being able to pick the brain of the master.

Master? LOL Hardly. I just love what I do. Thanks for having me here Cheryl, you’re always a pleasure to talk to!

Note: I really could have asked Jamieson at least a dozen more questions, but he’ll be back in July and August to talk to me about two more of his books The Ghost Mirror and HUNTED. So, here is your reward for reading the entire interview. Jamieson has agreed to give away free copies of three of his books. Just click on this link http://want-to-write-now.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/description.pdf and perform the exercise. Email your favorite description to me at cg20pm00@gmail.com. The deadline for entering is midnight on Sunday, June 24, 2007. Jamieson and I will select three winners. First Place will get a copy of Write Now!. Second Place receives a copy of The Ghost Mirror and the Third Place winner gets a copy of HUNTED. But to be honest, you’re all winners if you take the time perform that exercise because it might just be the first step you’ll take towards becoming a writer.

* This contest is now over.

Trust in the Wind by Women's Fiction Author Vicki M. Taylor

Award-winning author Vicki M. Taylor joins me today to talk about her latest release, Trust in the Wind. This is just one stop on her month-long blog tour. Welcome Vicki. I’m glad you’re here.

Thanks for hosting me during my Virtual Book Tour. I'm happy to be here.

Q: Let’s start by finding out more about you. Who is Vicki M. Taylor? How long have you been writing? Do you focus on a certain genre?

I'm a mother of three grown children, with one grandson and I live with my husband, dog, and parrot in Tampa, Florida. I wrote for fifteen years as a technical writer before turning to fiction around 1999. I call myself a Women's Fiction author because I think my stories go a little deeper into real life than a typical romance. I've written about teenage drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, murder and more.

Q: I’ve read the reviews for Trust in the Wind, and I have to say, it seems like this is one book that every romance lover needs to read. What inspired you to write this novel?

Trust in the Wind developed from a dream. A very vivid dream. When I woke the next morning, I could recall everything clearly in my mind. I knew I had something special. I instantly grabbed pen and paper (which I always keep next to my bed for just such occasions) and started writing. Furiously. I didn’t want to lose any of the story before I could get it all out of my head and onto the paper. When I finished writing, I had an entire story. The whole synopsis of the book. Even now, I can still recall parts of that dream clearly in my mind; it was that dramatic.

Q: Trust in the Wind has a pregnant teen who has decided to go it alone after her family disowns her; an absent father who is not involved in the baby’s life; a widowed sheriff who has lost his wife and child and has since turned his back on love; and loads of well-meaning friends who try to keep the two main characters apart because of the difference in their ages. How do you jam that much conflict into one novel?

It's what real life is all about. Things aren't perfect. My characters don't have storybook lives. They show me what happens to them. I write it down. It's kind of fun to see how they're going to handle each situation and get through it.

Q: We meet Joanne (your female lead), in Chapter One, where she and a friend are accosted by a group of vulgar, drunken hooligans after leaving a community laundry room. Obviously, she isn’t living the high life. How did you go about creating the world in which Joanne lives? Did you do research? Did you take some pictures of a location similar to what you wanted to depict in your story? Or did you approach it some other way?

Joanne's world is a combination of places I've been and my imagination. I used my imagination to give it more of an unfortunate, run-down, poor side of town feel to it.

Q: Tell us a bit about Roy. He lost his wife and child during a burglary and he has sworn off love, but he finds himself attracted to Joanne, who is several years his junior. How did you create Roy? What do you like about him? Is there anything you dislike about him?

Ah, Roy. He looks like Ed Harris. Back when Ed Harris was in The Abyss. He's a bit of a loner and a risk taker. After his family was killed, he took all the dangerous jobs. He didn't consider his life important anymore. Roy needed to see there were still things in life worth saving. Including his own life. I like that he connected with Joey so quickly and they bonded. He has a bit of a temper. That's apparent when one of the other officers tries to make Joanne look like a prostitute.


Q: Trust in the Wind deals with what some might say is a sensitive issue—love between two people who are separated by nearly two decades. How do you get readers to concentrate more on the love story developing between two people, than on their chronological ages?

I think when people are reading Trust in the Wind, I think they forget about Joanne's and Roy's ages and just see two people falling in love. The story of their journey could happen to anyone, not just a younger woman and older man.

Q: This is what Georgia Richardson of http://www.queenjawjaw.com/ had to say about Trust in the Wind: “Strong characters, suspenseful, and a love scene that massaged my heart. This was one time where the romance was beautiful; a gift . . . in a sense. As I read parts of it, I found myself saying, "I want that kind of love!" Every scene, every exciting movement, and yes, even the kisses exchanged, were given to me in such a way that an artist could not have painted a better picture for my senses to enjoy.” How do you feel after such a fabulous review?

I'm thrilled with it. Georgia really got to the basics of the book, the senses, and saw what I was trying to communicate. I'm really glad she enjoyed it so much.

Q: Can you take a minute to tell us about some of the author and writing organizations you are a part of?

I'm a founding member and past president of the Florida Writers Association (http://www.floridawriters.net). I belong to the National Association of Women Writers (http://www.naww.org). I'm a member of Romance Writers of America, and of my local RWA chapter, Tampa Area Romance Authors. (http://www.tararwa.com/index.php) Also, the Short Mystery Fiction Society (http://www.shortmystery.net/)

Q: I’ll close here with one final question. What else would you like to tell us about yourself and your work? What’s up next?

I love to write. That's what it's all about, really. Loving what I do. Even when it's writing humorous personal essays about my husband's latest handyman effort. I'm currently working on a women's fiction novel about a 39 year old mother of five who wants to adopt a 14 year old pregnant teenager and the tragic consequences. Pretty dramatic stuff.

Thank you so much for spending time with us today. It was a great pleasure. I wish you continued success in all you do.

Thank you, I appreciate that. I enjoyed my visit. I had fun!

Let Us Play by Karen Magill

I have a special treat for you to help celebrate Flag Day*. Joining me today is author Karen Magill, whose latest novel, Let Us Play, A Rock ‘n Roll Love Story is now available through Lulu.com http://www.lulu.com/karenmagill . Welcome to my blog, Karen. I’m thrilled to have the chance to interview you during your month-long Virtual Book Tour.

Thank you for inviting me. I consider it an honor to be here.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How long have you been writing?

Ever since I learned how to put words together, I have written. My paternal grandmother, Katherine Magill, was a published author. She helped support the family by writing articles as well has having two published books. I have always had a wild imagination and preferred living in a world of my own making rather than the real one. At 41, I’ll be 42 in June, I still be prefer my imaginary world. In 2000, I was diagnosed with MS and put on disability. Instead of looking at this as a negative, I instead focus on this as an opportunity to follow my lifelong dream of writing. In 2004 I independently published my first novel The Bond as an experiment. It went so well I published my second Let Us Play in 2006.

Let Us Play, is set in an uncertain time in the future where rock ‘n roll has been banned. Can you tell us what inspired you to write this story?

Rock n’ roll music has always been a scapegoat when young people have done things wrong. Never mind that millions of teens can listen to the same album without incident – a couple go bad and it is the music’s fault. Remember when it was the devil’s music? I don’t like all the music that’s out there but I don’t think it should be banned. Then in the nineties the United States had the PMRC. Tipper Gore’s efforts to help her husband get in the White House. My opinion. They helped a lot of musical artists get a lot of promotion. Not that that was their intention. And a lot of things over the years have combined to inspire me to come up with this idea.

Then, to make it different, I had to make sure that Kaya had the gift of second sight. She is facing a sadistic opponent in the government leader Judah Arnold. So she needs an extra edge.

Your main character, Kaya Moore, leads a group of rebels who are fighting to have everyone’s rights restored. What can you tell us about Kaya? Why will readers care about what happens to her?

Kaya is fighting PARR not only because she believes that everyone should have the right to choose – a factor I think that everyone will agree with – but because of the wrongs that they have done to her. I think the reader will feel for her. She is headstrong and passionate and driven and committed to what she believes in. LUPO is her world. Even when Kaya is stubborn and her passion can lead her to do things that are foolhardy, the reader may bite their tongue and shake their head, but they still empathize with what is driving Kaya.

Censorship can be a very challenging subject to handle in a novel. How did you approach it? Did you have any fears of addressing this issue in Let Us Play?

For Let Us Play I used the censorship of music and I used the extreme notion of total censorship – the music being entirely eliminated. When a person reads the novel they will see the methods that the government used to accomplish this.

I had no fears addressing this issue because it is fiction but as with all fiction, I intended for it to get people thinking. Could it really happen? I don’t know. Would the government ever do the things I say they do in the book? Who knows what power hungry, corrupt people are capable of?

With this novel I went over the top, I had fun with everything. From the characters to the situations. I let my imagination run wild and didn’t try to restrain myself at all. It was great.

When I read the synopsis of this novel and a review from The Book Pedler (http://thebookpedler.wordpress.com/2007/05/21/let-us-play-by-karen-magill/), I instantly thought your novel could be considered a larger scale, futuristic version of the movie Footloose. Do you see any connection between the two or am I just insane?

Thank you, what a compliment! The premise is the same but I guess the theory of censoring rock and roll music has been around since the birth of the music. You know, last year my apartment was broken into and all they took were my DVDs. One of the first ones I replaced was Footloose!

Yes, you could say there is a connection between Let Us Play and Footloose. As well as Let Us Play and Styx’s Kilroy Was Here. A funny story. The whole time I was writing Let Us Play, a line kept going through my head ‘it ain’t the music that’s in question. It’s called a freedom of expression.’ I had to fight not to put that in there because that is a line from a song on the Styx album. But that was playing in my head the whole time.

What’s up next in the world of Karen Magill?

I have to keep promoting this book and my first The Bond. I am working at learning how to change both books into screenplay format. I have to write my next book, which I am planning on being the sequel to Let Us Play. This one will focus on another character in Let Us Play. Keep learning all I can about this business.

Thanks for dropping in and sharing some insight into your last book. I wish you much success.

Thank you for having me, it’s been fun.

Check out Karen's next stop on her virtual tour, which will be tomorrow at The Romantic Fanatic - http://www.romanticfanatic.blogspot.com/

* This interview originally appeared at my Aspiring Author blog on June 14, 2007.

Trust in the Wind by Vicki M. Taylor - Book Review

What do you get when you put together a young single mother and a widowed deputy sheriff? A touching love story that you’ll want to read again and again. Vicki M. Taylor’s latest release, Trust in the Wind draws together two people who have sworn off love and makes them believe in its power.

Joanne Malone lost all she had when she went against her parents’ wishes to become a single mother to her son, Joey. Living in an apartment complex in an undesirable area of town, Joanne and her friend Sheila are accosted on their way back from the community laundry room by a group of drunken hooligans. In walks Roy Bonham, a deputy sheriff for Hillsborough County. He is instantly taken with the much younger Joanne, but the loss of his wife and child in a burglary a few years back has left him with a huge hurt and he has vowed he will never love again.

Roy keeps coming back to the apartment complex where Joanne and Joey live not knowing why he feels the need to stay in contact with them. Joanne’s and Roy’s friends discourage any type of involvement between the two. Roy is much older and has a dangerous occupation, Sheila warns her. And Roy’s best friend Tony questions whether it’s a good idea for him to get tied up with a young girl and her kid.

But the more time they spend together, the harder it is for Joanne and Roy to deny their deepening feelings.

Taylor weaves a group of unforgettable characters and real life issues into a story you won’t be able to put down. As you watch Joanne and Roy’s relationship unfold, you’ll laugh with them, cry with them, and cheer when true love conquers all. This is one novel that should be on everyone’s bookshelf, but it will never be there long, because you’ll be dying to read it again as soon as you’re done.

Look for my upcoming interview with Vicki M. Taylor on Tuesday, June 19th.

For information on how to order Trust in the Wind and other books by Vicki M. Taylor check out her Website at http://www.vickimtaylor.com/

Laurie Sanders talks about Black Velvet Seductions

Today I have the distinct pleasure of speaking with Laurie Sanders, Acquisitions Editor for Black Velvet Seductions. Welcome Laurie. It’s great to have you here!

Tell us a bit about Black Velvet Seductions.

Black Velvet Seductions is a small publishing company that publishes heterosexual romance of all types. The company, which was incorporated in April of 2005, was born as I was nearing completion of my own erotic romance novel His Perfect Submissive which incidentally is still not complete. As I looked around at the publishers that were then available for erotic romance I did not see one that was everything I wanted in a publisher. I considered self-publishing but quickly realized that if I were to self-publish it would require a huge commitment of time and money to promote my one book. I began to toy with the idea of making that commitment but using it to publish and promote books by other authors as well.

I spent the next several weeks thinking about what I wanted in a publisher and how I would incorporate everything I wanted into the publishing company I was devising in my mind. When I had a good idea of how I would organize things I discussed the idea with my business analyst husband Orville. He was excited about the idea. We spent several days trying to come up with the perfect name for our new venture and finally came up with Black Velvet Seductions. We were incorporated. I began to build the website, and continued to work on my manuscript. We sent out calls for submissions and got listed in Writer’s Market. The manuscripts began to trickle in…and then stream in.

In December of 2005 we released our first book, Jessica Joy’s Fool Me Once. Other books by other authors followed.

What role do you play in the company?

I am the CEO and handle most roles within the company. My primary roles are editor and director of promotion and marketing, though I also handle the Black Velvet Seductions website and newsletters.

What do you look for in a manuscript?

When I started Black Velvet Seductions the roles of editor and CEO were both new to me. Though I had read romance for more years than I care to admit, had written and published several pieces of fiction, and had edited a number of newsletters for organizations I had never been a CEO and had never acted as a fiction editor before.

The experience was daunting. When I received the first manuscript that needed a rejection letter I realized I didn’t really know how to write one. I had never received one, but there are samples available in books…and I adapted that, explaining in greater detail than the sample why the manuscript wasn’t right for us. When I received a thank you letter for the rejection letter along with the comment that it was the nicest rejection letter the author had ever received I figured I must be doing something right and we continued along that path. I never write form rejection letters.

Even when a manuscript is not a romance my rejection is written to the author and is specific to the piece.

The line between a rejection letter and a revision letter is a fine one. To me a rejection letter is for those times when a piece is just not suited for us, and there is no hope of making it suited for us. The piece is a mystery and we publish romance. The piece is a sex manual and we publish romance. It doesn’t fit. There is no way to make it fit.

Revision letters are more along the lines of the piece isn’t right for us, but here are the ways you could tweak it to make it right for us.

What I look for in a manuscript are first and foremost, is it a romance? For us the relationship between hero and heroine needs to be the primary focus of the novel. If the novel is a romantic suspense the suspense element will also be a strong focus, but it shouldn’t overpower the relationship between hero and heroine. If the cover letter and synopsis lead me to believe that the piece generally fits our lines then I read the first few pages of the manuscript. Unlike most publishers I do not usually make a publishing decision at this point, though I might if the piece is written in first person (we publish no material written in first person), or if the piece has so far to go that it needs to be rewritten entirely. In that case, I will read enough of the manuscript to explain generally what the manuscript needs. If it comes back improved I will give some more feedback until it comes back close enough that it can be coached up to publishable standard.

Nine times out of ten the manuscripts that I reject are rejected because the point of view is not deep enough. The story is told versus shown through the viewpoint character’s viewpoint.

I look for manuscripts that pull me into the story, that make me feel what the characters feel. That is accomplished by using deep point of view, by showing the story, by skillfully weaving, sensory details, thoughts, feelings, and motivation, into the action of the story. The goal of fictional writing is to provide the reader a vicarious experience…to make them feel as if they are experiencing what the character is experiencing. I look for manuscripts that provide that.

When I find a manuscript that captures the characters and their thoughts, feelings, and experiences there is a sense of excitement because even if the spelling and punctuation is atrocious those things can be fixed. The author who can come up with a story that captivates has talent that can be honed. One who can write pretty words but who cannot convey a depth of emotion are more difficult and time consuming to teach.

What are the most common reasons for rejecting a manuscript?

The most common reason is that the piece falls outside what we publish. The author has sent a non-fiction book and we publish only romance. Or the author has sent a mainstream with a bit of romance but the romance is not a strong enough focus.

The second most common reason I reject a manuscript is that it is written in first person and we don’t publish any manuscripts at all in first person.

The third most common reason that I reject a manuscript is that the viewpoint isn’t deep enough. The story is told on the surface. I see people acting, hear them talking, but I don’t feel what they feel. The piece lacks the energy that comes with a piece told in deep point of view.

Manuscripts in the first two groups are hard rejections. They are rejections as opposed to revision letters. In most cases I do not recommend that people rewrite a manuscript in third person point of view for us, though there have been cases where authors have rewritten and gone on to be published with us. Toy’s Story: Acquisition of a Sex Toy by Robert Cloud is a great example.

Manuscripts I reject because they don’t grab me, which is 99% of the time a product of shallow viewpoint, are soft rejections---more like revision letters. It is an area where an author needs to develop some knowledge and skill in order to deepen the viewpoint. However, if they are able to do that then I am delighted to look at a revision.

Tell us a bit about the monthly newsletter.

The newsletter for writers really stems from my desire to be a positive part of the romance writing industry. I receive hundreds of manuscripts, a high percentage of which I have to reject either because they do not grab me or because there is some other problem with character, motivation, plot, etc. The newsletter is really a teaching instrument in that the articles in it (at least those I write) are designed to address the issues I see in manuscripts that I have to reject. I can’t teach each individual author how to rewrite their manuscript with deeper point of view. However, I can write articles which provide information which will help an author to deepen viewpoint, write stronger dialogue, craft stronger characters, or make an unsympathetic heroine seem likeable. It’s both a gift to writers and an investment in them really.

What do you offer authors who publish with you?

We are a small company. We do not publish a huge number of titles. We are much more interested in producing quality reads than in producing a huge number of mostly mediocre ones. We want every Black Velvet Seductions title, in every line we publish to be synonymous with class and quality.

For authors our reputation spills over so that being published with us is a symbol of accomplishment.

Black Velvet Seductions was structured to be very author friendly. Our contract is free of the cringe worthy clauses that tie up future books. Our royalty structure is straight-forward and easy to understand. We pay 50% of the price we receive on all books. What we receive may vary as our books are carried widely in a number of different eBook stores including our own website, Fictionwise, ARe, AdulteBookShop, and Coffee Time Romance but the royalty rate for eBooks is always the same.

We pay 10% royalties on the price we receive on all paperback books. Again, what we receive varies because our books are carried on a number of sites (our own website, Amazon.com, and Booksamillion.com) and are available to brick and mortar stores through Ingram’s and Baker and Taylor. We also sell direct to small booksellers who do not have accounts or who wish to order direct from us. Though we receive varying amounts for books sold through different channels the royalty rate for paperback books is always 10% of the amount we receive.

Though promotion is in large part an author task, I do as much promotion as I can to assist our authors. I set up BVS group chats on various email loops, I give away a lot of books and eBooks on behalf of authors.

Authors receive a great deal from us on the books they purchase for book signings. Though our contract stipulates that authors can buy books for 65% of the cover price I have for a long time sold them to them at 50% of the cover price, which makes better sense for authors. Most chain stores want to sell books at signings on a 50/50 commission. At 65% authors would go in the hole 15% of every book they sold, which is not a good outcome for authors…though it is a pretty common one in the industry.

One of the things that all of us at Black Velvet Seductions really treasure is the closeness we feel as a group. Most of us look upon Black Velvet Seductions as a family. We support and promote each other. The feeling of our company, from the top down is friendly, caring, and considerate.

Anything else you want our readers to know?

Black Velvet Seductions is committed to the communities where our authors, artists, and readers live and work. Recently I asked each of my authors to choose a non-profit organization that they would like Black Velvet Seductions to sponsor on their behalf. Sherry James, author of Studs for Hire: Woman on Top(and a horse lover) came forward with Epona horse rescue an organization that rescues slaughter bound horses and prepares them for adoption.

We will soon be announcing a joint promotion with Epona. We will be assisting Epona with some press releases and an educational campaign about the plight of horses which are still (in spite of recent legislation banning their slaughter in the US) sold in the US and transferred across the border for slaughter.

During the three month promotion we will be donating a portion of all sales from the Black Velvet Seductions website to assist Epona in feeding, sheltering and providing veterinary care for 49 slaughter-bound horses that they rescued from a feedlot in Nebraska.

We will be featuring the stories of some of these horses on our site. There will be buttons for visitors to make donations to the cause without making a purchase of any kind. Of course, when they buy a book on the site a portion of the sale will automatically go to the organization.

This area will not be live on the site until late May/early June. But I would like readers to be aware. In the meantime readers can visit the Epona site to learn about the organization or to make a donation. Their website address is: http://www.eponahorserescue.com/

Thank you for taking the time to share with my readers what it’s like on the other side of the desk. Best of luck to you and Black Velvet Seductions!

To find out more about Black Velvet Seductions you can visit them on the Web at http://blackvelvetseductions.com/

Fantasy author Marilyn Peake

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with author and editor, Marilyn Peake. Thanks for joining me Marilyn. I’m glad to have you here.

Thanks, Cheryl. I’m delighted to be here!

Q: How long have you been writing?

In some ways, I’ve been writing most of my life. As a young child, I always thought I’d be a writer when I grew up. In high school, I wrote for several newspapers and had my own column in a couple of them. Eventually, I went off to college as an English Literature major; but switched to Psychology in my junior year. Around eighteen years ago, I started writing novels. Four years ago, I had my first novel published. Since that time, I’ve had quite a few books published.

Q: What is your writing process like? Is there a time of day you are more productive?

I work on writing almost every day--either writing or book promotion. When I’m working on a short story or novel, I try to write for at least 1-1/2 hours at least three days per week. I’m usually most productive in the morning or early afternoon.

Q: You write for both children and adults. What are some of the challenges of writing for different age groups? Do you find there are any similarities between writing for young people and adults?

The challenge in writing for children is to keep the work interesting and fast-paced while steering away from all mature content. For instance, if an author is writing about death or war in a children’s book, they need to make sure that the material is being presented in an age appropriate manner. It’s easier in many ways for an author to write about intense topics in adult books. The similarities in writing for young people and adults exist mostly within the craft of writing. Both age groups like well-written, visual material with captivating language and interesting, meaningful stories.

Q: How much research do you perform for your books? Is all your research done before you start writing or do you get to a certain point and then start writing, researching smaller details as you go along?

I do a great deal of research for my books and short stories. I research before I start writing if I need background information. Otherwise, I begin writing the story, then research as I need further information. I’ve written several articles about interesting research I conducted for my three short stories in the first Twisted Tails anthology: Witches’ Season set in the time of the witch burnings, Tiger in the Plum Blossoms set in the Heian Period of Japan, and Return to Roswell set in Roswell, New Mexico. You can find my articles about the writing of these three short stories in a free eBook entitled A Twisted Tale about Twisted Tails at the website of Biff Mitchell, another Twisted Tails author:
http://www.biffmitchell.com

Q: You contributed three stories to the anthology Twisted Tails. Can you tell us a little bit more about them? It seems like flavors had a lot to do with all of them.

The complete title of the first Twisted Tails anthology is Twisted Tails: An Anthology to Surprise and Delight. The Twisted Tails series is the brainchild of author J. Richard Jacobs who edits and compiles the anthologies. Although J. introduced each story in Twisted Tails: An Anthology to Surprise and Delight with a wonderful blurb about its “recipe”, the main requirement for each story was that it have a serious twist at the end.

For my short story, Witches’ Season, set in the time of the witch burnings, J. wrote the following blurb:
“With this scrumptious tidbit, Ms. Peake gives us a taste of bitter herbs and honey served over the burnt offerings of cute, loveable, sacrificial lambs. Here we get a glimpse of an ancient, delightfully quaint culinary custom that has served us well in our quest for purity, absolution, and evasion of guilt for as long as we have trod the surface of the planet. It takes different forms these days, but the idea remains the same. Ms. Peake has given us some wonderful children’s stories, but take heed, this is not one of those.”

For my short story, Tiger in the Plum Blossoms, J. Richard Jacobs wrote:
“Japanese cuisine is different. Much more subtle in its flavors than most Asian foods. There are some pointed exceptions, of course, but, in general, the flavors are delicate and the food must be eaten slowly to appreciate the sublime differences between one course and another. This holds true for Ms. Peake’s next treat. A most delightful blend of varied tastes, carefully and artfully assembled into a just-so elegance.”

For my short story, Return to Roswell, J. wrote the following blurb:
“Some places are best left alone. Would you return to a restaurant where the food was bad a week before you ate it and only got worse when it hit your stomach? If you knew in advance that a place served stuff with fungus hanging on it, would you go there? Probably not, right? You might be surprised to find out that not everybody follows their better judgement and they tend to wind up going places where uncomfortable, hard to digest things are bound to crop up. Such is the case for Layla, though she can be forgiven based on the notion that she’s a wee bit too young to know better. On the other hand, maybe she needed what was dished up. Let’s see.”

Q: Each of your stories in Twisted Tails takes places in a different time period. Do you have a favorite time in history that is often used in your stories?

I really don’t have a favorite time period in which to set my stories. I tend to like times and places that suggest mystery and wonder. In Twisted Tails II: Time on our Hands, all the stories have the same serious twist at the end as in the first Twisted Tails collection; but this time all the stories include the theme of time or interdimensional travel. The authors wrote so many pages for Twisted Tails II, it’s actually being published as two separate volumes! My short story, Mummy in the Art Museum, published in the first volume, is set in the New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the second volume, my short story, Devil’s Triangle, is set in the Bermuda Triangle. In that same volume, my short story, Moonbeams upon Stonehenge, begins in the year 2301 and involves time travel back to two historical events--the sinking of the Titanic and the “Great White Hurricane” that descended upon the Eastern United States and Canada in 1888--as well as time travel forward to the year 2501 and back to 1000 B.C.E. at Stonehenge.

Q: Your children’s fantasy adventure trilogy set in a fictional underwater city has received rave reviews. What can you tell us about The Fisherman’s Son, The City of the Golden Sun, and Return of the Golden Age?

These books are very dear to my heart. These are the first three books I had published; and the Audio Book of The Fisherman’s Son was recently named a Finalist in the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards. These are children’s fantasy adventure novels, and all three have received excellent reviews. The Fisherman’s Son is set far up North on an island that in some ways resembles Ireland around the beginning of the nineteenth century. The main character is a twelve-year-old boy named Wiley O’Mara. His mother dies from an illness passing through their very poor village, and his father is an alcoholic. Being a brave and good boy, Wiley sets out through a forbidden forest to find a priest to bury his mother. It is during that journey that he discovers he is meant to undertake an even greater quest--an incredible rescue mission in an ancient city submerged beneath the ocean. A magical woman named Lucinda and a magical dolphin named Elden guide him along his way. In The City of the Golden Sun, Wiley and six boys he rescued from the ancient city travel through time to visit the city in its heyday. I had great fun creating that city which is based on ancient Greece and Rome, and reports about Atlantis. In Return of the Golden Age, Wiley must bring news of the ancient city and the rich heritage of his people to his now impoverished village, and to his father. This Trilogy was meant to inspire children and let them know that one can do great things in life, no matter what the obstacles.

Q: What do you most admire about Wiley? Which of his traits do you find undesirable?

I really like Wiley! I admire his courage and goodness, his pure heart, humility and determination. There really aren’t any traits in Wiley that I find undesirable, although it made me sad that his life and struggles were so difficult at the beginning of the series.

Q: Can you tell us more about your audio book project for The Fisherman's Son?

This was very exciting! My publisher invested money to have an audio book of The Fisherman’s Son produced by a professional audio production company. It was produced on a sound stage and read by the voice actor, Andrew Dollar. Andrew did an amazing job, and that Audio Book was recently named a Finalist in the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards. You can listen to an audio excerpt from this audio book on the Double Dragon Publishing (DDP) and Fictionwise.com web pages for this publication:
Double Dragon Publishing:
http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/single.php?ISBN=1-55404-133-3AU
Fictionwise.com:
http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook35957.htm?cached

Q: The Golden Goblet is your monthly newsletter. In addition to letting fans keep up with your latest projects, your newsletter offers informative articles from published authors and Hollywood experts. How did this newsletter get started? Do you want to share the meaning behind its name with my readers?

I’ve been very lucky with The Golden Goblet Newsletter. I started it as a way to send out news regarding my books; but I felt that it would be a lot more interesting to readers if it featured an article by a different author or expert every month. As time went on, both very accomplished authors and Hollywood experts agreed to write articles. The articles during the first year of The Golden Goblet were so incredible that Deron Douglas, publisher at Double Dragon Publishing, agreed to publish every year of articles as a book! The first book in this series was recently published. Its title is From Hollywood Experts and Published Authors: Words of Wisdom for Starving Artists. All of the Hollywood experts are returning for this year’s newsletter, and two more people from Hollywood have agreed to write articles--including Hollywood photographer Kenneth Dolin http://www.kennethdolin.com , and Hollywood writer-director-producer John Klawitter http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0458487 and http://www.extinctionthefilm.com. I’m absolutely delighted! The meaning behind The Golden Goblet title is that a golden goblet was a very important item in The Fisherman’s Son Trilogy. It was handed to Wiley by the magical woman Lucinda, and had the following words inscribed on it: “Drink deeply by land or sea. Earth comes only once.” You can sign up for my free newsletter at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marilynpeake

Q: You took on an editorial role for From Hollywood Experts and Published Authors: Words of Wisdom for Starving Artists, which is available through Double Dragon Publishing (http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/single.php?ISBN=1-55404-426-X) Has that changed how you look at your writing?

It has definitely made me more enthusiastic and invested in writing than ever before!

Q: From Hollywood Experts and Published Authors recently made the best-seller list at Fictionwise.com. How does it feel to know one of your projects is so successful?

It’s a wonderful feeling. I’ve also received fantastic feedback from readers about the articles in the book, and that’s very gratifying.

Q: Twisted Tails II: Time on Our Hands - Volume 1 was released by Double Dragon Publishing in March, and has already become the #1 best-selling Anthology at eReader.com and has already ranked as a best-selling title in both the Fantasy and Science Fiction categories at Fictionwise.com. Can you tell us about the stories you contributed to this latest anthology?

I had a wonderful time writing these stories. Both the first Twisted Tails anthology, Twisted Tails: An Anthology to Surprise and Delight, and Twisted Tails II: Time on our Hands - Volume 1 made best-seller lists within days of publication, and that was exhilarating. As I mentioned earlier, the authors wrote so many pages for Twisted Tails II: Time on our Hands that it’s actually being published as two volumes. In Twisted Tails II: Time on our Hands - Volume 1, I have a short story titled Mummy in the Art Museum. This was inspired by a recent trip to the New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art where I discovered a mummy on display. I thought, “If that mummy woke up, would it be angry to find itself on display in an art museum?” For Twisted Tails II: Time on our Hands - Volume 2, soon to be published, I wrote two more short stories. Devil’s Triangle explores strange secrets about missing ships, planes and people in the Bermuda Triangle. Moonbeams upon Stonehenge explores time travel, and what it might do to the psyche of the travelers.

Q: What’s up next in the world of Marilyn Peake? Is there anything else you would like to add?

I have some very exciting projects coming up in the near future. You’ll be able to find all my future publications at:
http://www.marilynpeake.com

Thanks again for stopping by my blog today Marilyn. It was a pleasure to chat with you. May the future continue to bring you much success.

Thanks so much, Cheryl! I thoroughly enjoyed this interview!

Check out Marilyn on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=marilynpeake and hear her talk about her writing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mmQLyDWQnw