Author Interview – Sonja Hegman @ChiefWordsmith

*What’s your next project?

My next book is called, “Moving at the Speed of Twitter: How Authors Can Build an Online Platform to Sell More Books.” Marketing took over my life after writing “Trials,” so this book gives tips on how to use every social media platform imaginable.

*How do you feel about self-publishing?

It’s great. It’s about time authors were able to take control of not only their publishing futures, but also their financial futures. With all the hard work we put into our writing, it’s only fair that we get the profits, not an outside publisher.

*What social issues interest you the most?

I’m a bit of a political news junkie. Nothing in particular really, but I like knowing what’s going on in world and how it will affect me. If I had to pick one thing, it would be equality.

*Last book you purchased? Tell us about it.

Silver Linings Playbook. I wasn’t impressed.

*What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why?

“A true friend stabs you in the front.” Oscar Wilde

I only want people in my life who are truthful and tell me exactly what they think. I don’t have time for passive-aggressiveness. I have more respect for people who are brutally honest.

*What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?

Surviving. I had a rough adolescence so it’s almost a miracle that I’ve gotten this far.

*What is your favorite color?

Teal.

*Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Yes, I was assigned to write a “love” story in eighth grade for the Valentine’s Day Edition of school newsletter. It was a hit. My English teacher went so far as to ask if I wrote it. I was confused by her question and responded, “Of course I wrote it. Why? Is it bad?” She said she was “surprised” by it. I was quite introverted and reserved back then. Writing changed that.

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Genre – Non-fiction

Rating – PG

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Connect with Sonja Hegman on Facebook, Google+ & Twitter

Website http://www.writerschatstew.com/

#AmReading - Papoosed by Patricia Rockwell @par2323

Papoosed by Patricia Rockwell

Amazon

The Happy Haven Assisted Living Facility is a home for senior citizens--not newborn babies. So, when one of the kitchen workers asks ninety-year-old resident Essie Cobb to secretly care for his missing co-worker's infant, she is flabbergasted but determined. Along with her intrepid friends--Marjorie, Opal, and Fay--amateur sleuth Essie sets out to hide and protect the baby--and find his missing mother. Unfortunately, Essie is expecting to deal with exterminators, suspicious neighbors, virus outbreaks, and the snowstorm of the century. Luckily, Essie is one smart cookie, and if anyone can manage to reunite a mother and child right before Christmas--it's Essie.

The Eden Plague (Plague Wars) by David VanDyke @DVanDykeAuthor

A hard-hitting military technothriller, ON SALE for a limited time. Pick it up today before it’s back to its normal $3.98 price.

A Kindle Book Review 2013 Best Indie Award Winner semi-finalist. thekindlebookreview.net/2013-book-awards/ 

Rule #1: Try not to shoot your future wife. When special operations veteran Daniel Markis finds armed invaders in his home and it all goes sideways, he soon finds himself on the run from the shadowy Company and in possession of a genetic engineering breakthrough that might throw nations into chaos. Out of options, Daniel turns to his brothers in arms to fight back and get the answers he needs. Soon he takes possession of a secret that threatens the stability of the world, as he leads a conspiracy to change everything.

Eden Plague leads readers into the exciting and engrossing Plague Wars apocalyptic-thriller series. It borrows from the traditions of Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz, with shades of David Drake, Jerry Pournelle, S. M. Stirling, Vaughn Heppner and B.V. Larson.

Also from David VanDyke:

The Plague Wars Series:
- The Eden Plague
- Reaper’s Run
- The Demon Plagues
- The Reaper Plague
- The Orion Plague
- Cyborg Strike
- Comes the Destroyer

Stellar Conquest Series:
- Planetary Assault – contains First Conquest: Stellar Conquest Book 1
- Desolator: Book 2
- Tactics of Conquest: Book 3 (Winter 2013)

PG-13 for language, violence and adult situations (non-explicit)

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Genre – SciFi, Adventure

Rating – PG13

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Connect withDavid Van Dyke on Facebook &  Twitter

Blog https://davidvandyke.wordpress.com/

Author Interview – Claire Charlins @ClaireCharlins

What else do you do to make money, other than write? It is rare today for writers to be full time…

I am so lucky to say that right now I write full time. It’s not easy! I put in about 12-15 hours per day. And I work 7 days a week. But it’s a dream come true right now.

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

In a small cabin near a lake in Maine. My dream. J

How do you write – lap top, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk?

laptop at my desk. I’m in a basement that overlooks a mountain. It’s beautiful… every morning I watch the sun rise while I write.

How much sleep do you need to be your best?

I get about 5-6 hours a night. That’s perfect for me.

Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge and thank for their support?

My readers. Honestly. I know every author does that… but without them, where am I? From the second I started Brothers of Rock, the readers took it and ran with it. It was supposed to be five books and nothing more. BUT now it’s going to 10 books and maybe more! Because of the readers, I brought the western romance series to life. It’s just so heart warming and filling.

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Genre – Western / Christian Romance

Rating – PG

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Connect with  Claire Charlins on Twitter

Website http://clairecharlins.wordpress.com/

Love Unbroken (Love, Life, & Happiness) by Sheena Binkley @ChevonBink

Riana:

I wasn’t expecting to meet anyone when I arrived at Shaw University. After my last stint at love, the only thing I wanted to focus on is getting through my first semester of college without any drama. That was my intentions, until I met Shawn Walker. At first I didn’t like him. He was arrogant and cocky; someone that I could easily despised, if he wasn’t so damn sexy. But one night changed my thoughts about him. I was able to let down my guard and be myself. Now, I have a second chance at love. Will I let myself love again, or will I continue to live in the past?

Shawn:

After my last girlfriend cheated on me, love was not on my agenda. I tried to escape it at all costs, until I met Riana Robertson. After thinking she was like every other girl, I easily avoided being around her, but that night, when I saw what happened to her, I had to help her. I had to protect her. That night changed the way I felt about her and I realized I could fall hard for her. But will our relationship survive once she finds out the truth about me. Or will I lose her forever…

This story is intended for readers 17+ (adult content/language, sexual content/language).

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Genre - New Adult Romance

Rating – R

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Connect with Sheena Binkley on Twitter

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Date with the Dead by Chris Myers @CMyersFiction

Chapter 5

After the Caldwells give us our licenses back, Reese and I head out.

“Do you want a ride home?” he asks.

“That’s okay. It’s only a couple miles,” I say. “Let’s talk about the evidence tomorrow.”

“I’ll go over it tonight,” he says, grinning at me.

I’m glad he’s into the techie side of the business. Going through hours of video and voice recordings bore me. Drew and I climb onto my bike. Dark clouds cover the moon, so I pedal fast to beat the rain. I should’ve accepted the ride.

We aren’t even a quarter of the way home when fat droplets splatter my arms. “Shoot.”

Drew squeezes my waist. “Get over. This SUV’s going to clip us.”

Bike reflectors are hard to see at night, so I don’t look behind me but get off the road as far as I can. The headlights shine on me and light up the road in front of me. I’m right against the curb. Surely, he sees me. The SUV slows. The engine breathes on me. I don’t look back. Why isn’t he going around? The vehicle camps on my rear fender for a minute.

“What’s he doing?” Drew asks.

“I don’t know.”

The SUV slowly comes beside me. I look into the tinted windows. I can’t see inside, but the thought of someone staring back at me sends chills along my arms.

The SUV speeds up and brushes against my left pedal. My body jumps as if I’ve been struck by a live wire. The bicycle swerves. I hit the curb and flip, which would’ve seemed graceful if it had been on purpose. My body slides against the sidewalk then onto someone’s lawn.

“Jerk,” Drew yells, pumping his fist in the air.

“I don’t think he can hear you.” I gather myself while rain droplets plunk down on my head, matting my hair.

“Are you okay?” Drew asks, helping me to my feet.

“I’ll survive,” I say, assessing the damage. My right knee is banged up. Shin and palm road rash. I’m shaking hard like I’m holding onto the wing of an airplane flying through a storm.

Computer? I yank it from my back pack. It’s okay. I sigh with relief.

My front handlebars are askew. Great. I’ll have to walk my bike home in the rain. Another drop hits my nose. I tighten my thin jacket and shiver from the sudden wet cold. I pick up the bike and push it while wincing with each step I take. 

A blue FJ Cruiser drives onto the curb behind me. Add embarrassment now to my list of injuries. The rain patters my head.

The driver gets out. It’s Hayden, Mr. Terminator. My knees buckle, not that they needed much encouragement. Why couldn’t it be a teacher, someone I don’t care if he sees me looking my worst? Hayden’s in jeans and a snug polo shirt and looks fabulous whereas I probably look like road kill.

“Jesus,” he says. “I saw that guy run you off the road. He was probably chatting on his cell phone.”

That could be true, but the way he slowed down still has me trembling. “Did you get his license plate?” I ask.

“Sorry. I was too far back.” Hayden walks over to me. “Are you okay? Do you want me to call an ambulance?”

That would cost money. “No. I’ll be fine.” I hobble another few steps forward, because the rain is picking up its tempo.

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Genre - YA Paranormal Mystery, Romance

Rating – PG-13

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Connect with Chris Myers on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.chrismyersfiction.com

5 Essentials of Memoir Writing – Bobbie Cole @cole_bobbie

5 Essentials of Memoir Writing
One of the hardest things when you’re writing about yourself is to know what to include and what to leave out, so my first secret has to be:
1.     Don’t tell your whole life story.
There has to be a point. Your memoir has to add up to something. If you want to write about your interesting life, I would suggest that you plan a series of interesting stories, each with its own point.
Whether a single theme or a series, you will need to formulate a premise for each story. A premise is one or two sentences that sum up your whole plot.
Here are the elements: main character / their problem / resolution
Every story needs conflict, or it’s nothing but an anecdote. .
The premise for the movie ‘The Godfather’ was: Son is reluctant to go into family business but eventually agrees to do so.
2.     Create an ideal reader profile
Do this before you begin writing. Optimally, make that person understand nothing about your subject.
Note down details about your ideal reader’s age, sex, tastes, marital status, means and hobbies. You can even give them a name.
Then write your story for that one person.
3.     Assume Nothing
You have a whole vocabulary and history, things that are obvious to you but potentially foggy to your readers.
For example, my own memoir begins with me travelling in Israel with a friend from half way across the world. People naturally want to know how the two of us became friends.
A sentence or two covered it.
Questions like that left unanswered would leave your readers wondering, i.e. distracted.
4.     Write scenes
It is very tempting, when memoir writing, to set down what happened first and what happened next.
When you show, rather than tell, you’re writing in scenes. A scene is action set in a place and time.
Here’s a short example of part of a scene from She Does Not Fear the Snow:
A couple of weeks before I was due to leave, the phone rang early one morning.
‘Terry’s disappeared!’ Butch announced.
‘Disappeared?’
His voice sounded strained. It was still night where he was. ‘She hadn’t been to the house in more than a week, so Don used his key and went inside.’
She had been living in their home, Don just across the yard in his parents’ former home.
I saw scenarios of big rows ending in violence, Don furious with the court’s decision to let Terry live in the log cabin he built, while he was demoted to the little, old house. 
I saw my friend’s poor, broken body languishing in some forgotten gully, for the wolves and coyotes to feast on.
‘Everything was packed up, like she was moving out,’ he went on.
Ah, that put a different complexion on things. I couldn’t see him waiting to vent his passion while she packed everything away first.
This is how it might have looked, written as an account:
One morning, a couple of weeks before I was due to leave, Butch phoned early to tell me that Terry had disappeared. I worried that Don, who had been forced to move out of the log cabin he had built them, might have become violent with her.
However, Butch told me she’d packed everything, which reassured me.
Which do you prefer?
5.     Bring your story to life with telling details
Telling details allow your reader to ‘see’ what you’re saying and feeling. There are a few examples from the passage above:

• His voice sounded strained. Adds an atmosphere of anxiety.
• So Don used his key and went inside. We picture Don opening the door.
• I saw my friend’s poor, broken body languishing in some forgotten gully, for the wolves and coyotes to feast on. We picture my wild imaginings of violence on my friend.
• ‘Everything was packed up, like she was moving out,’ he went on. We picture what Don saw when he went inside.

Question: Do you have tips of your own you’d like to add?
(Note to blogger – I will participate in comments, if advised of their existence: bobbie@testimonytrain.com.)
Biog:
Bobbie Ann Cole is author of her faith memoir, She Does Not Fear the Snow. A trail of miracles led her from a Jerusalem church, where she wasn’t supposed to be, to meet and marry her Boaz in Atlantic Canada. Free sample chapter and promo video: www.shedoesnotfearthesnow.com. Bobbie, AKA The Testimony Lady, will help you write your testimony, too.  Download her free workbook, Start Writing Your Christian Testimony: http://testimonytrain.com.

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Genre –  Faith Memoir

Rating – PG

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Connect with Bobbie Ann Cole on Facebook

Website www.shedoesnotfearthesnow.com