Friday, October 4, 2013

Featured Author: Roje Augustin

Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours brings Roje Augustin here today to talk about her new novel, The Unraveling of Bebe Jones. Everyone who leaves a comment on the tour page will be entered to win a $20 Amazon gift card. Anyone who purchases their copy of The Unraveling of Bebe Jones before October 21 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five bonus entries.

About the book:

When Desiree Washington ventures into the darkly glittering world of legendary singer Bebe Jones, she gets more than just a job. She gets a family in crisis, a diva meltdown, and a head full of stitches...

The Unraveling of Bebe Jones revolves around the rich and famous Jones family and the people who work for them as they cope through an array of personal dramas. The story begins at the height of the Global Financial Crisis, when 23-year-old Desiree Washington lands a job with her idol, legendary R&B singer Bebe Jones. Desiree quickly discovers that the outwardly perfect Bebe is in fact a troubled and lonely diva reeling from a career in decline and a marriage in tatters, and that behind all the money, glamor and fame, there are skeletons in the family closet. Throughout all of this, Desiree seeks support from her best friend Sean Minton, an aspiring music producer who hails from the insulated world of New York’s black elite burdened with secrets of his own. Rounding out the cast are Bebe's husband, Magnus Chadwick, a British hedge fund manager who cares more about money than family; her disgruntled household staff—-all with strange ties to Bebe; and her children, brave casualties of their mother's nightmare.

Interview with Roje Augustin

Roje, how long have you been writing, and how did you start?

I’ve been writing pretty much all my life. My earliest memory is from 5th grade when I was 9 or 10 and working on a book report. We had only to hand in one page, but I ended up writing four pages, and when it came to my turn to read it aloud, I remember some kids griping about how long it was. But by the time I was done reading it, everyone applauded!  It was my first taste at realizing that there was something I could do well. But I didn’t really start to take it seriously as a career until I began work on Bebe Jones. Prior to that, I wrote articles and scripts for work as a TV producer, but it always seemed secondary, until now. Now it’s my primary focus. 

What do you like best about writing?

I love having autonomy over the work. I can create an entire world of characters and locations, and I don’t have to consult with anyone about my decisions while writing. It’s all mine, and I love the feeling of having complete control over my vision at the start.

What’s your least favorite thing?

My least favorite thing about writing is the isolation. So I’ve recently rented an office space where I can still work in a quiet place but have a bit of humanity about. You need that. 

Your title The Unraveling of Bebe Jones is great. How did you come up with it?
 

Through trial and error! Took years to come up with the title. I just tried to think, "What’s this book about?" My earlier titles were rubbish.

Do you have another job outside of writing?

Television production. Although that’s a bit slow at the moment.

How would you describe your book in a tweet? (140 characters or less.)

A story about the collapse of a rich and famous American family.

How did you create the plot for this book?

Again, through much trial and error. The earlier drafts are completely different to the finished product. When I started I had one story in mind, and the story that exists today emerged after years of tinkering. It told me what it wanted to be. I knew I wanted the story to revolve around this superstar mom and her family and I knew there would be a downward spiral due to this celebrity behaving badly, but everything else was revealed the way and archeological dig might reveal treasure beneath the dirt. 

Do you outline, write by the seat of your pants, or let your characters tell you what to write?

I outline, then let the characters tell me what to write, for sure.

IMO, that's the only way to do it! What about your cover art? Did you have any say in it?

I did have a say in the cover art. I found this brilliant and wonderful photographer named Christian Scott here in Sydeny where I live. We got together to do my press photos, and in the process we discussed the cover. I knew I wanted a face and the cool shade of blue, but Christian designed the look for both covers and I love them. Especially the blue half face, but I love the drama of the cracked mirror cover as well. He did an amazing job. 

Do you have imaginary friends? When do they talk to you? Do they tell you what to write or do you poke them with a Q-tip?

I do have imaginary friends! I talk to them when I’m alone of course, otherwise people might think I’m crazy! Really it’s more of me working out issues that I end up uttering aloud. Whenever the mood strikes me. 

How do you get to know your characters?

By spending time with them. And it’s a combination of me knowing what I want them to be and them telling me where I’ve erred. It’s a wonderfully magical experience.

Sophie’s choice: Do you have a favorite of your characters?

That’s very tough. I really enjoy them all equally. But readers seem to lean toward Sean, which I didn’t expect. 

When you start writing a new book, do you know what the entire cast will be?

In this case yes, because this is a series. All the characters will come back for more drama!

Which character did you most enjoy writing?

Bebe, because she can be such a complicated bitch! Plus, she’s rich and famous and can get away with a lot. That celebrity world is fascinating to me, because these really famous ones who’ve been in the game for decades are totally divorced from reality. That’s great material to work with. 

Yes it is! I’m constantly on the lookout for new names. How do you name your characters?

I try to find names that incorporate a bit of the character’s main traits. For example, Desiree is a young woman fueled by her desire to become a successful writer, Sean Minton comes from an elite family who are ‘minted’ as in a lot of coin, and Bebe is often a big bitch!

Be honest. What would Bebe say about you?

She’d probably say that I’m a pain in her ass!

Well, that's very honest! Are any of your characters inspired by real people? Who?

Bebe is definitely inspired by all the larger than life divas out there that I love.  There’s a bit of Whitney Houston, God rest her soul, in Bebe, a bit of Madonna, a bit of Mariah Carey, Aretha.  She’s a composite of all of these women. 

Are you like any of your characters?

I think I’m most like Desiree. She wants a successful writing career, I do too. She’s intrigued and fascinated by Bebe’s celebrity life, I am too. She’s caring and means well but is also flawed and a bit self-serving at times. And she sometimes struggles with self-confidence. I’m guilty of that as well. 

I like writing characters who do and say things I never would, as well as characters who do and say things I wish I could. Do you have characters who fit into one of those categories? Who, and in what category do they fall?

Bebe is definitely the character that does and says things I never would or wish I could.  That’s why I love writing her. She’s like my alter ego. 

If you could be one of your characters, which one would you choose? 

Again, Bebe. She can get away with bad behavior because she’s rich and famous! I think that would be fun to do, but only for a day...

With which of your characters would you most like to be stuck on a deserted island?

Bebe. She could entertain me!

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.

The scene that comes to mind is the first scene in which we get Bebe’s pov. It’s called "A Night For an Inventory" and it’s the first time the reader gets into Bebe’s head. You learn about her fears and her wishes, her sadness and loneliness. I don’t know why but I really enjoyed writing this scene. I also enjoyed the scene by the lake with the children and the scenes at the Caymen Gables Luxury Resort. 

What song would you pick to go with your book?

Funny you should ask because my book also has a "sountrack!" There’s the opening theme song: ‘L.E.S. Artist’ by Santigold, the end credits song: ‘Ready’ by Elizabeth Rose, and a couple of other songs listed in two chapters in the book: ‘Disparate Youth’ by Santigold, and ‘Calling Out’ by Lyrics Born.

Who are your favorite authors?

James Baldwin, Zoe Heller, Alexander Mccall Smith, Emily Bronte, James Joyce, Stephen King, John Knowles, Truman Capote, EB White, Maya Angelou, and Kate Grenville.

What are your favorite books...

A) as a child:
To Kill a Mockingbird  B) as a teenager: Tropic of Cancer C) as an adult: Notes on a Scandal.

Which author would you most like to invite to dinner, and what would you fix me? I mean, him. Or her.

Hahaha!  I would love Zoe Heller, I love her prose. She’s amazing. I’d make her Caribbean Oxtail. And you too!

Thank you for including me! What book are you currently reading and in what format (e-book/paperback/hardcover)?

I’m currently re-reading Wuthering Heights on my Kindle. Such a great story. 

How do you handle criticism of your work?

Pretty well I think. I’m under no illusion that my book is perfect. No book is perfect. There will always be someone who just doesn’t like your work. That’s okay with me. My self-worth or my passion for what I do is not shattered at all by criticism. 

Do you have a routine for writing? Do you work better at night, in the afternoon, or in the morning?

I have a little studio office space I rent, and I walk to work after school drop-off and work solidly until school pick-up. I do this three days a week for now but will pick up to five days a week when my youngest starts kindergarten. I prefer to write at night, but with two young kids, it just doesn’t work. So I’ve trained myself to get the juices flowing during the day, and it’s worked out just fine.

Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?

I prefer to do it in bed at night!  But I do it during the day at my office.

Where’s home for you?

Home is wherever my husband and daughters are. Really wherever my husband is, forget the kids! I love that man to death.

Tell us one weird thing, one nice thing, and one fact about where you live.

Nice thing about living in Australia is the weather and the space to relax. Lots of beaches, which I adore. One fact about Australia is that it is geographically as big as continental U.S. but only has 22 million people. The middle is freakin’ empty! Can’t think of anything weird about Australia, unless you think living with spiders and skinks and all kinds of motherflippin’ critters in your home is weird. 

Yeah, that would be me. Spiders and skinks and motherflippin' critters are weird to me. Do you ever get writer’s block? What do you do when it happens?

I never really get writer’s block. I think it’s because I’m very comfortable with writing garbage so as to get started and then letting the treasure emerge from that garbage over time. I never expect my first drafts to be anything but getting the thoughts down on paper. To that end, I can write whenever I need or want. 

Is there anything in particular that you do to help the writing flow? Music? Acting out the scene? Long showers?

I never ever write with music. I need quite. But I do like to act out scenes. Helps to get a level of authenticity in the writing if you can act it out. 

What’s one of your favorite quotes?


“I’m thankful to all those who said no (to me). Because of them, I did it myself.”  --Albert Einstein. 

What three books have you read recently and would recommend?

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and The Secret River by Kate Grenville.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I love to watch a good TV drama series. My husband and I really get into them. Or I’m partying with my friends!

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

I think I’m where I would choose. Sydney is a beautiful place to live.

If you could take a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I would try out every 5-star luxury villa in the warmest places on earth and just be totally pampered.

Take me with you! Please? Last question: What are you working on now?

I’m working on the second book in the Bebe Jones series. And a few other TV things.

Please come back and tell us about them!

Guest Post

Time and Heart: A Writer’s Best Friends
By Roje Augustin


One of the questions I get asked a lot is ‘how do you do it?’ ‘How do you get down to the business of writing a book?’ My first answer is, “With a pen and paper!” Then I get serious and tell them what I really believe to be true: Time and heart. That’s all it really takes to write something that is, at the very least, decent if not good or great.  And that’s not just time spent writing, but time spent reading and learning the craft.  The heart comes from your personal life.

In terms of writing there are very concrete, nuts and bolts things to keep in mind when getting started.  Most important is managing your expectations.  I think a lot of people get discouraged because they expect their first drafts to be good and I’m telling you right now, that is IMPOSSIBLE.  Veteran writers will know this already, but if you’re new to the game and reading this, please understand that no one ever writes a good first draft of anything, EVER.  The minute you give up this expectation, you’ll be well on your way to honing what I consider to be magical skill. 

That’s not to say that getting started isn’t difficult.  It is.  But it will be much easier if you make your first draft purely about getting your thoughts and ideas down on the page.  I like to pretend that I’m talking to a friend over dinner or a drink and I’m telling this friend my story.  I write it just as I would tell it, because after all, no one ever gets talkers block.  When someone asks you ‘what happens?’  I’ll bet that you can pretty much launch into a retelling with ease.  Well, listen to yourself telling the story to a friend and transcribe that voice.  Complete with ‘ums’ and ‘you knows.’  Grammar, syntax, style, structure, punctuation and even coherence are not important at this stage.  What’s important is getting it out of your head and on to the page.  It will be a mess, yes, but it’s also a start and that’s what you’re after at this point. 

Another helpful tip is to work in chunks if that’s easier.  Shoot for 10 pages a day, or whatever you’re comfortable with.  Once you’ve got your whole story out of your head and down onto the page, leave it alone for a few weeks and have some fun!  When you return to your draft, you’ll be reading it with fresh eyes.  You’ll no doubt cringe at what you’ve written, but you’ll also find some gems, things that resonate with you.  Those are the things you keep.  The other stuff either has to be reworked or taken out.  This is the start of your second draft, what I find to be the hardest phase because it’s here that you’ll start to shape your material for grammar, syntax, punctuation, etc…  This second draft is the beginning of your baby. 

In my own experience, getting past the 2nd draft is always a relief.  Subsequent drafts become more fun and exciting because by then you’ve hopefully got the foundation of your story built.  From there give it heart and spend TIME with it, lots of time, massaging the text and the prose until you have something that doesn’t make you cringe too much and that you can start to show others, preferably a paid professional editor.  Well worth the expense I assure you! 

After you’ve had professional eyes on it, leave it alone again for a few weeks and have some more fun!  Then come back and massage it some more and give it some more heart.  Do this until you can’t do it anymore.  As long as you’ve put time and heart into your work, along with some outside professional help, you’ll get great results.  Remember, no book is ever perfect so go for lots of time and lots of heart.

Excerpt from The Unraveling of Bebe Jones

WHILE DESIREE WAS fabricating her way into employment, Sean was seated, for the next eight hours, in chair #801 in the massive hall of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center for the New York State bar exam.  It was a viciously cold morning in February, the first of two days in hell, as far as Sean was concerned.

The fear and anxiety of nearly 2000 individuals surrounded him like a steady, low-grade electric current. One of the first things Sean noticed when he entered for registration that morning was the paramedics on site.  In case anyone passed out, or God forbid, died from the pressure.  Last year someone collapsed and had to be carried away on a stretcher.  But then it was the nature of the bar to reduce test-takers to a concentrated knot of stress.  Not only did it give Sean a supreme headache, it made him think of an unfavorable quote he’d read once, whose author was unknown to him, and which said, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, you’re about average.’  He’d been told dozens of times throughout his life to try try again.  It was a grade school mantra, for Christ's sake, a national anthem!  And the implication couldn't have been clearer: Trying was the sure step to succeeding.  So why wasn’t it working for him?  At the time that he’d read it, the quote had made him chuckle.  Not so much anymore.  Now he simply inched his way toward resignation, toward the devastating possibility that not only was he about average, but perhaps he was duped as well.

Six.  That was the number of times, including the present occasion, that he would sit for the bar.  There were the four failures since graduating from Hounslow University.  Add this year, and the year he walked out after lunch because his brain just couldn’t process anymore, and the year he chose not to sit, and that amounted to seven years of limbo, seven years of drifting toward uncertain tomorrows.  He was like Captain Ahab chasing the elusive white whale. 

He hated being there, hated it.  To him it was the path to an incommodious life.  But he had no choice.  His father had him by the purse strings, as it were.  Pass the bar or lose a sizeable trust fund.  It was that simple.  When Sean graduated from law school, his father had agreed to support him while he studied for the exam.  But after his fourth failure, he was cast adrift.  The senior Minton now only covered the monthly fees on the East Village apartment he owned and which he allowed Sean to occupy.

In the exam room, a cadre of senior citizens was peppering the aisles, keeping a shepherd's eye on the flock.  The lead proctor’s voice boomed suddenly over the heads of the bar applicants, calling out instructions.  Sean didn’t bother to listen.  Like a frequent flyer who has heard the what-to-do-in-case-of-emergency spiel, he knew the drill.  He knew what he needed to do.  The problem he faced was how to do it.  Try try again. 

With the instructions finally done, and the necessary materials handed out, a general sigh swept over the center and the test began.  Sean fixed his attention on the first question as one might a riddle that held one’s life in the balance.  Every question, in fact, would be read with the same exhaustive focus.

Question 1: In 2003 Sarah and Dan both operated a wholesale import clothing business next door to each other.  In the course of their dealings, Sarah and Dan became friends.  In 2005 they decided to go into business together...

Already he thought of cheating.  He would never do it, of course, but he would be lying if he said it wasn't a challenge to keep from peeking over his neighbor’s shoulder.  It was the ultimate irony, really.  The one area of his life in which he walked the straight and narrow was the one in which he continued to fail.  He scratched his head, bit his fingernails, crossed and uncrossed his legs.

...In 2006, Sarah won a lucrative contract with the large retail chain Mall Mart to supply them with clothing from her import trade business.  She and Dan had not yet finalized their merger...

Medicine just wasn't in the cards for him; he hated the sight of blood.  And injuries haunted him.  Politics was out of the question, as well, as it brought the wrong kind of fame, and there were too many skeletons in his closet anyway.  So he chose the law to please his father, a man rigidly against any profession outside this sacred trifecta.  But Sean had not anticipated the mind-numbing complexity of legal jargon.  To his mind, it was like a foreign language.  He’d spent literally hundreds of hours studying at the law library.  The staff had gotten to know him quite well by his third try.  A month and a half ago he turned thirty and that made his parents suddenly take notice of him in a way they hadn’t previously.  His mother had started really pestering him about marriage.

...Dan inadvertently learned of the Mall Mart contract through Sarah’s assistant, including the amount of the contract, which was estimated at $600,000 for the first order...

Music.  That’s all Sean wanted.  To be like Farrell, Kanye, Timbaland: a songwriter, rapper, music super producer.  But he’d never had the guts to go against his father, chief of surgery at Albert Einstein Medical, Summa Cum Laude graduate of Cornell University, president of the Medical Society of the State of New York, member of the Boulé.  It wasn’t until he’d struggled through law school and failed the exam the first time that Sean realized what a huge mistake he’d made.  That was when he had given the music a serious effort, at twenty-five, with no experience whatsoever.

He managed to get his foot in the door with a few b-list producers.  But in the main, he was sent out to dig for beats from old school jams that could be rekindled into new hits.  When it became clear that his talents weren’t getting the consideration he felt they deserved, Sean got himself the most up-to-date music software he could afford and set up shop in his bedroom.  A laptop, a pair of earmuff headphones, and an IKEA desk and chair became his studio.  He spent most of his evenings in musical bliss, coaxing from the software a beat or a melody that could change his life forever.  His father was openly disappointed in him for pursuing it, referring to it all as a pipe dream.  He insisted that Sean pass the exam so he’d have something to fall back on when the music fell through, or else no more money.  Sean deeply resented his father for this derailment.  They say one is responsible for one's destiny, but Sean wasn't convinced.  He felt like a loser and his father was to blame.

...Using information he obtained from the assistant, Dan offered Mall Mart the same merchandise for $500,000, which ultimately cut Sarah out of the deal...

So far so good, not too many distractions, except the urge to cheat.  The seniors chatting a bit.  Sean was able to block them out.  A cough sounded every now and then.  And a pregnant woman who had gone to use the bathroom shouted across the hall in a panic when she couldn’t find her seat.  But mostly it was the sound of typing that Sean heard around him.  His own included.  He’d opted to use the new exam software on his laptop, a pre-installed security program that put your files on lock-down while you word-processed your answers.  At the end of the exam, applicants were expected to upload their answers over the Internet to a secured site. 

...In 2007, Sarah duly commenced an action against Dan seeking $600,000 compensation.  Sarah also sought a preliminary injunction preventing Dan from furthering his contract with Mall Mart during the pendency of the lawsuit.  Under what legal theory can Sarah seek compensation and what crimes, if any, did Dan commit?

End of question one.  Sean cracked it open and analyzed each section.  A little less than ten minutes later, he began to type in his answer.  The issue, he wrote, is whether Dan obtained his contract with Mall Mart illegally...

He paced himself carefully, calculated where he should be on the exam by what time.  He’d been granted an additional hour for both the morning and afternoon sessions to make up for his ADHD.  Thirty-six minutes later, he was on question two, forty minutes after that it was question three.  By 10:30, an hour and half after he’d started, he was moving onto the fifty-multiple choice questions.  He allowed himself two minutes per question.  Then came lunch, during which he ate a dill tuna wrap followed by a Red Bull, his preferred midday meal for the last two and half months.  At 1:45, he began the second portion of the exam, the remaining two essay questions and the MPT.  He maintained this wave of smooth sailing right through to the end.  And then his computer froze. 

“What the f%$^?”  Sean muttered to himself.  He jabbed at the space bar for a terrifying few seconds before plummeting deep down into himself, into a rising primal scream.  His left eye began to twitch.  He rubbed it furiously, took a deep breath and tried ctrl, alt, delete.  Ctrl, alt, delete.  Ctrl, alt, delete.  He looked around to see if anyone else was having trouble.  His neighbor cast a cursory glance in his direction then went back to his exam papers.  A whirring sound began to issue from Sean’s hard drive.  He felt the scream rising higher in his throat, as if he had come to a great inner precipice from which he could see his trust fund go up in flames.  He was on the verge of crying out, of expelling pent-up years of resentment and bitterness, of blaming the bar, the law, and his father for a wasted life.  It was the sort of gut-wrenching protest that would declare to everyone in the hall that he was fucking fed up and he wasn’t going to take it anymore!

It was so intense and so visceral that he abruptly stumbled back from his internal cliff and was overwhelmed with the urge to laugh.  Of course he didn’t laugh or else the seniors would have kicked him out.  But he had the sense to do just that.  Such cruel irony, you had to laugh.  Or else drown in tears.  It was as if he’d reached rock bottom and was rebooted.  He came up and out of himself feeling like a new person.  In that beautifully horrific moment he decided that he would take his frozen computer as a sign that he and the law were no longer in business together, for this was a failed partnership.  And the stress, it was gone.  Just like that.  A sense of serenity had descended upon him.  Fuck it, he thought, feeling reborn.  F#$% it.  He was free. 

“YOU SHOULD HAVE been there; I don’t know how to explain it.  It was like a religious experience.  It was like an epiphany.”  Sean took a sip of his beer.  He and Desiree were at home, sharing a plate of buffalo wings and watching a dumb comedy.

“Amazing,” Desiree said licking her fingers.

“They managed to retrieve all of my essays.  But I don’t give a f#$% if I fail again; my dad can kiss my ass.” 

“How do you think you did?”  Desiree asked.

“Who knows?  I forgot what I wrote anyway.” An ad came on.  Sean reached for the remote and started to flip through the channels.

“Wow, you’re so blasé about it, I don’t know if I should be worried or impressed.”

Sean turned to her and shrugged.  “Look at you, you look like a hunchback.”  He began to adjust Desiree’s hood, which was crammed down the inside of her hoodie. 

She watched him for a moment while he fussed with her clothing.  It was so domestic; she loved it.  He only did it when they were alone.  Made her feel special.  It was the reason she felt so close to him.  He had a way of making her feel protected and cared for.  Some nights he’d come into her room and they would talk.  He was often high when he did this, a few drinks in him as well.  But she loved their late night chats.  They would talk about everything, their dreams, their fears, about religion, hate, love, sex. “I love your inner gay man,” Desiree laughed, “Can I have more of him, please?”

“I’m not a gay man.  I’m a black man,” he said, settling back on the couch. 

Desiree said, “It’s a wonder your people don’t know.”

“Cuz I’ve got you.  You do a brilliant job of throwing those wolves off the scent, mkay.”

“They must be blind.  Seriously, a year of holding your hand every now and then and they all think we’re getting married, mkay.”

Sean rolled his eyeballs.  “Whatever.  They don’t wanna know and I don’t want them to know.  So it works out.  You just keep doing what you do, woman.”

“I don’t see why you don’t just come out.  Now is a good time, you know.  You’re saying goodbye to the law, you need to say goodbye to the closet, too, like a purging of all your unwanted baggage.”

“I told you, I’m not in the closet niggy-nig, I’m on the DL.  There’s a difference.  Besides, I have a career to build, remember?  I can’t be openly gay in that world.”  He started counting on his fingers.  “I have a father, the very conservative surgeon, to keep on my good side; I have a younger, more accomplished b$%^&*^s sister to resent, childhood expectations to live up to, a trust fund.  I can’t afford to be gay.  And I’m not gay, I’m black, mkay.”

“Whatever,” Desiree laughed.  “All I know is you are living in sin.”

“And who isn’t?” 

They were quiet for a time while they ate and watched a basketball game.  “You know,” he said breaking the silence, “after my epiphany today, maybe what I need to do is pray.  Pray to the Lord for a miracle.”  He brought his hands together, began whispering under his breath, muttering a shapeless litany of pleases and promises, and Guide me oh Lords when Desiree’s phone rang. He continued his silent pleas while she went into their miniscule kitchen to answer it.  When he was done, he crossed himself and tore into another buffalo wing.

“Who was that?” he asked when Desiree returned. 

“It was Anan.  Bebe wants to meet me at her house in Beau Reve, New Jersey tomorrow.  She’ll send a car to pick me up at the station,” she explained mimicking Anan, “and I must remember to call her Miss Jones please.  I can’t believe it.  I’m actually going to her house, Sean!  Bebe Jones!  Gosh, what am I gonna wear?  What do you wear when you meet a superstar?  I wonder what her house looks like.  I wonder what her kids are like.  You know I don’t even remember their names.  Oh my God, what if...why are you staring at me like that Sean?” 

“Sorry, nothing, just thinking.  Please, go on.”  She talked his ear off. 

Later, when Desiree was getting ready for bed, Sean thought long and hard about their conversation.  He thought about her phone call, too, and his prayer, which preceded it, kept turning it over in his mind.  He had a Courvoisier while he ruminated, and then another, and still another.  Then he had a joint.  When he felt sufficiently stoned, he went into his bedroom, sat down at his ‘studio’ and composed beats for the next eighteen hours.  His prayer, he thought, had been answered.

About the author:

Rojé Augustin (pronounced ro-jhay) has more than fifteen years experience in television production. Born and raised in New York, Rojé began her career at the New York Daily News, where she wrote for the lifestyle publication BET Weekend Magazine. She then moved to television, first at CBS New Productions where she cut her teeth on hour-long documentaries, then to 20/20 with Barbara Walters and John Stossel, Primetime with Diane Sawyer, and Good Morning America Weekend Edition as a writer and producer for ABC. She has also produced for The Tyra Banks Show and E! In the summer of 2006, Rojé moved with her husband and two daughters to London where she began work on her debut novel The Unraveling of Bebe Jones. Rojé also established Breaknight Films shortly after her move to Sydney in 2009 to develop and produce television series. Rojé has lived and studied in both Paris and London, and she is an honors graduate of Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature & Writing.

Connect with Roje:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter 

Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Featured Author: Ken Boehs

The Tilted Truth...book #1 of the trilogy Desire is a Vicious Mistress is an action suspense thriller by Ken Boehs. I'm happy to have him here today to tell us about it and to let us get to know him a little bit too. I've had former police officers who now write crime novels, but Ken is my first guest who draws from his work in the intelligence field to write spy thrillers. To read an excerpt of the book, go here.

About the book:

The Tilted Truth introduces a heroic duo: the handsome and clever CIA agent Major Ben Kloes and the ambitious FBI Special Agent “Cat” Morella whose beauty and seductive ways are hard to resist. Together they turn an official in Hugo Chavez’s inner circle in Aruba, stop terrorists from using a suitcase nuke to destroy locks in the Panama Canal, and ensnare a murderous, criminal gang laundering money in a Nassau casino.

There are many surprising developments and plot twists in this action-packed narrative: The FBI is double-crossed and conned out of their money; a wily informant caught in his own web of deceit jilts the CIA; an extremely cunning woman seduces a prominent military general who has public office ambitions; and a business partner conned out of his life savings launches a vendetta against his associate.

The psychological underpinnings that motivate each character come into play in a maze of manipulation interspersed with the intrigue of clandestine operations and government entrapment, all ending in a diabolical turn of events.

This fast-paced, riveting story will leave readers satisfied and exhilarated.


The Tilted Truth Book Trailer



Interview with Ken Boehs:

Ken, The Tilted Truth is your first book. How long have you been writing, and how did you start?

During my career in Washington, D.C. I wrote hundreds of analyses and reports, as well as proposals to the government in response to their solicitations for work. I had plenty of fodder to write a novel along with the knowledge of intelligence community operations from an insider’s perspective. And many times I considered writing one, but job time constraints kept me from doing so – it’s a major commitment.

Then I retired and moved to Santa Barbara, California. I started on The Tilted Truth, my debut fiction novel, in late August 2011 after sitting in a court room for hours on end listening to a convoluted case involving the brother of my life partner, Lauren. Elements of the case stirred me. I had my own theories of what led up to his charges, considering that truth practiced by the prosecution’s witnesses seemed illusory. It was the catalyst I needed. I envisioned developing a highly fictionalized story around my suppositions. The day the trial ended, I started.

Lauren was my sounding board on the effectiveness and acceptability of various alternatives I considered while writing scenes, and whose point of view and ideas contributed to the overall story.

My editor, Gail M. Kearns, from Santa Barbara, was tireless in her support, superb guidance, and critical comments. At the end of the process I felt as though I’d received a college education in creative writing from her.

I love the title of your book. How did you come up with The Tilted Truth?

Lauren came up with the name. She was struck by the web of manipulation and intrigue woven by the characters in the story as they distorted the truth for their own self-interest. A tilted hat worn by the heroine in one scene was the trigger and - voilà - The Tilted Truth.

Do you have another job outside of writing?

I actively day trade stocks in the morning and read the day’s emergent news while I do it - to include tweeting comments for articles relevant to the CIA, FBI or sex, as necessary to build my social media presence.

How would you describe your book in six words?


Intrigue, manipulation, action, sex, FBI, CIA.

That's a powerful combination. How did you create the plot for The Tilted Truth?

It was inspired by the case of Lauren’s brother, mentioned above, who was conned out of a lot of money by an old friend. When he suspected he was swindled, he went on a vendetta to recover it. But his quest took a bad turn. He was set up by an interlocutor, entrapped by the FBI and arrested. Around that supposition I created an expanded fictional story, developed characters and subplots from my imagination and experience, and then seasoned it all with years of intelligence world insight.

How do you get to know your characters?

I prepared detailed psychological and physical attribute profiles for each character on a three page form. Then Lauren and I gathered up a few of our most insightful and creative friends, drank some wine, and based on the profiles, validated the psychological drivers I’d developed. We also dressed some of the characters and gave them unique gestures. It was a fantastic exercise that I’d recommend to any writer.

Which character did you most enjoy writing?

Electra. I liked the idea of a brother/sister pair of “bad guys.” Also, it gave me an opportunity to interject a controversial element into the novel. Electra and Barry Vador are half siblings with a common father. When they were teens they developed a sexual attraction for each other, consummated it, and in the story it becomes an important element in their relationship. Genetic sexual attraction (GSA) was first broached in Oedipus Rex, the Athenian tragedy by Sophocles, circa 429 BC…also found in Moll Flanders and Le Morte d’Arthur.

What would your main character say about you?

Ken your imagination has no limits. Couldn’t we just kick back sometimes? You’re always thinking up trouble for us.

Are any of your characters inspired by real people? Any real spies?

FBI Special Agent Caterina Morella is based on a KBG agent I was aware of during the cold war.

Are you like any of your characters?

I’m going to let readers guess that one.

Now that sounds intriguing! Can you tell us about your favorite scene in the book?

FBI Special Agent Caterina “Cat” Morella uses sex in a bondage scene to turn a foreign official into being an informant for the CIA.

Who are your favorite authors?

Ian Flemming, Tom Clancy, and Barry Eisler.

How long is your to-be-read pile?

It is piling up! Writing the trilogy is taking all my time.

Do you have a routine for writing?

I wake up between 6-7AM to trade stocks, read news, input social media, finish around noon and head to the beach. There I make detailed notes for how I want a scene to progress, write dialogue, make interaction diagrams, etc. I use an old fashioned composition notebook and write with a pen (seem to think better that way). I’ve found the beach is a very creative space for me. I sketch the story out while there and pound it out on the laptop keyboard at home.

Now that's what I'd like to do! Where is this beach?

Santa Barbara, California.

If you could only keep one book, what would it be?

The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk.

Neil Gaiman said, “Picking five favorite books is like picking five body parts you'd most like not to lose.” So...what are your five favorite books and your five body parts you’d most like not to lose?

Caine Mutiny, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, The Sum of All Parts. Head, eyes, ears, arms, and the family jewels.

LOL. Your last meal would be...

Lobster roll and blueberry pie.

Would you rather work in a library or a bookstore?

Library.

You won the lottery. What’s the first thing you would buy?

A marvelous house overlooking the beach.

I'm with you there. You’re given the day off, and you can do anything but write. What would you do?

Go somewhere fun with my darling.

You can be any fictional character for one day. Who would you be?

James Bond.

Of course! I should have known. What would your dream office look like?

A simple desk in a sheltered alcove overlooking the ocean.

What’s one of your favorite quotes?

Seize the opportunity.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Looking after a large begonia/orchid garden, exercising/gym/running on the beach in bare feet, seeking interesting cultural events and travel.

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

I already found it!

It sounds like you have. What are you working on now?

The second book in the trilogy Desire is a Vicious Mistress. It goes by the working title Citizen Ignited.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about it. I hope you'll come back once it's completed. One more question, Ken...what four legged black dog is always in your heart?

About the author:

Ken Boehs graduated from Muhlenberg College and served as an Army intelligence officer in special operations engaged in surveillance and intelligence collection for the National Security Agency, NSA, and the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, during the nineteen-seventies. After leaving the military, he was a private contractor to the government and performed analyses of command and control, communications, and intelligence systems programs. He lives with his life partner in Santa Barbara, California where he does his writing on the beach.

Connect with Ken:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Visit Ken's YouTube page for videos of interviews and a book signing talk.


Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble (also available on iTunes, Vook, and other online stores)

Monday, September 30, 2013

Featured Author: Glenn Shepard

I'm happy to have Glenn Shepard here today to talk about his thriller, Not For Profit, published by Mystery House Publishing Company.


About the book:

Renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Scott James is charged with murder after two bodies are found at his surgery center. Just weeks before the start of his capital murder trial, Dr. James is approached by a beautiful woman claiming she can help him gain information that would prove his innocence. 

As James hunts down the evidence that might free him, he faces a barrage of threats to his life and liberty--and makes one chilling discovery after another: Corporate corruption. A conspiracy to frame him for murder and for terrorist acts. A secret drone-control operation that takes out targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The true identity and intent of his beautiful ally. And a plot to blow up the local hospital and surrounding community.

Interview with Glenn Shepard

Glenn, how did you come up with the title for Not For Profit

From newspaper headlines and magazine and book titles dealing with some of the potential problems with non profit hospitals.

Describe your book in 5 words. 

Roller Coaster Ride in Writing. That's how I feel each time I read it even though I've read it thousands of times. My pulse races, and I turn the pages very fast as the end approaches, so much so that I've had trouble concentrating on the words of those last few chapters.

That's great! How do you get to know the characters?

When I write, I become the character I write about. I feel what they feel and see what they see. If they are happy, I am happy. When they are sad or scared or depressed, that becomes my mood. I become one with each person. It exhausts me at times.

That's the first time I've heard someone say that. Very interesting technique. What characters did I enjoy most in writing?

Scott James, Ethel Keyes, Detective Harris (it still saddens me that he had to die), Willie Wilson, Charlie Watson (I'm still depressed about this druggie), and in fact, I enjoyed each and every one of the characters. They were alive, vibrant, each had emotions and real feelings--even the "bad" people.

What would your main character say about you? 

He'd say that I put my heart and soul into his creation and the same into trying to save him from his inevitable fate.

Are any of your characters inspired by real people?

They are all real people in my world, a combination of people I've known, others that I've observed in daily settings (like people at restaurants I  hear and see). I have never copied movie actors or protagonists in a novel. Some are people who make news, and I try to project into their thoughts and motives for their actions. But in building them, I base the fictional characters on people I've met over the years, hence they're lifted from media sources and given a real place in the world as I see it.

Tell us about your favorite scene in the book. 

I like the use of orchids, scattered throughout the book. The story of Orchis sets the mood for the plastic surgeon, who is in plastic surgery to create beauty, peace, and harmony. This all gets disrupted as his life is shattered by the murder charges and his humiliation. But he fights, overcomes many of the obstacles, and in the end restores himself, just as Orchis restores himself in the final paragraph. That final piece is my favorite everything about the book. It brings closure to all the words before it.

What's the first thing you'd buy with a million dollar book deal? 

I'd probably give it all away to one of the charitable plastic surgery groups that treat facial deformities, or an art museum (one of my hobbies is museum jumping to view paintings), or the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Or maybe for relief aid to Haiti, if I found a group that would really use to money to help the people there.

That's wonderful. What would your dream office look like?

I've already lived in my dream office, it had 10 foot ceilings with art work on every wall (some of it Hudson River genre antique art), a waterfall with an 8-foot drop-over, an open pond with fish, parquet floors and a couple oriental rugs, sculptures in alcoves, and ....as you would guess...lots of orchids.

Wow. Sounds wonderful. What are you working on now?

Relief Aid Haiti is a novel, in the Scott James series, that will be ready for release later this year, projected for November. I gained a respect for the Haitian people in a brief rotation in a surgical hospital after the 2010 earthquake there. Plenty of money was donated to help, but it is slow to get back to the people. My story is based on people I met there and the poor conditions in which so many Haitians live.  

I hope you'll come back and tell us more about Relief Aid Haiti! Thank you for being here.

Excerpt from Not For Profit

Prologue


Deep in a forest in Ancient Greece, a young man by the name of Orchis stumbled upon a festival in honor of the god Dionysius. It was a wild celebration filled with drinking and dancing. Young Orchis was drawn to the party and decided to join in. After a few hours and a few too many goblets of wine, he tried to rape a Dionysian priestess. Upon witnessing this violation, his fellow revelers tore him to pieces. The next morning,his father gathered together the pieces of his dead son, but he could not resurrect him. As he fell to his knees, Orchis’ father prayed to his gods for aid in bringing his son back to life. The Greek gods wanted to help, but they could not just restore Orchis. He needed to be punished for what he had done. So, instead of bringing Orchis back to life as a man, they transformed him into a slender flower—what we now call an orchid.

Cartersville, West Virginia

My patient was almost six months old. Bright blue eyes. Curly, platinum-blonde hair. Cute pink fingers. Her name was Britney Ann Cooper. She was a perfect twelve-pound baby girl—except for the angry, open gash that trailed from her nose to her mouth. For most children, the palate fuses together before birth, but for one in every 700, it does not.

Britney’s mother was distraught. Her friends kept saying that God had given Britney a cleft palate for a reason. They kept telling her that she was being punished by God for her sins. They said that if she tried to change Britney, God would strike her baby dead.

I disagreed. “Nobody’s dying in my operating room today. Not if I can help it."

Britney’s mom asked, “Is she gonna be okay?”

“Yep. I promise. Never lost one yet. Trust me. Gimme an hour, and she’ll be good as new.”

Britney’s mom had no insurance. She was unmarried, seventeen years old, and on welfare. I was standing next to her in a makeshift OR in the back of a free clinic in a single-wide trailer. Sweat dripped down into my eyes. It was 97 degrees, and there was no air conditioning. This part of West Virginia is as poor as some cities in Third World countries.

“Okay. Fine. Whatever. Just do it, but I can’t watch,” Britney’s mom said through tears before turning to run out of the trailer.

A nurse anesthetist stuck an endotracheal tube down Britney’s throat. One slip on her part and my skills would be lost on a dead baby. I tried to focus on the task at hand. I turned to the circulator nurse as she wiped my forehead. “Hey, if it’s too easy, it’s no fun—right?”

My patient rested on a gynecology examining table, the only table the free clinic had for surgery. The leg stirrups had been removed, but the attaching mounts stuck up so far from the table that it kept me at armsdistance away from my tiny patient.

I stared though my magnifying loupes and traced the length of the cleft. It opened at the floor of the nostril and down through the upper lip and back over the palate, dividing it all the way through to the uvula. I paused before lifting the scalpel.

If I had been in my air-conditioned cosmetic surgery office in North Carolina, I would have repaired the lip then and the palate the following year. Closing the lip early is essential to containing the mouth, so the baby can suck and feed on a nipple. Without the lip repair, the baby will become extremely malnourished. The palate closure is necessary for proper speech development, which doesn’t begin until eighteen months. But, since we were in a rural area and I wouldn’t be back next year, I had to do it all then.

I took a marking pencil and quickly outlined the cuts on the upper lip, with rotation advancement of the two halves of the upper lip and a tiny Z-plasty on the vermillion border. With my thumb and index finger squeezing the labial artery—the primary blood supply of the lip—I made the lip incisions, discarding only the thin rim of tissue that blocked the repair.

I heard Britney gurgle and took her pulse. It was slow, which meant she wasn’t getting the oxygen she needed. I ordered the anesthetist to take out the endotracheal tube and put it back in again.

The cautery machine was an antique. I hadn’t used one of these old ones since med school, and I was worried about excessive burning. To be safe, I touched the individual bleeders with a small 25-gauge hypodermic needle.

I took the smallest suture material available, 4-0 gut, for the muscle repair. I preferred much smaller sutures, but none were available. Three of the stitches aligned the lip exactly.

Twenty minutes and four forehead wipes later, I was almost done. Just the palate left to stitch up, but it was the most complicated part of the procedure. I felt sweat about to drip in the wound and turned quickly for another brow wipe. My back was killing me, but I adjusted my posture and put the pain out of my mind.

Just suture the palate. With some fine silk, 5-0, which was perfect for a mucosal repair, I placed five fine sutures in mattress fashion, to turn the lining of the palate outward.

I stepped back to admire my work. Damn! The vermillion borders of the lip didn’t match; the left side was lower than the right. The baby started gurgling and coughing. Crap! The nurse anesthetist had disappeared to prep another patient, and I was on my own. It wasn’t safe for Baby Britney to be out so long. I had to do this fast and finish up. I breathed in deeply and tried again. I made a 5-0 silk stitch and placed each side exactly in the vermillion border. I slowly tied the stitch and pulled.

Again, I stepped back and looked at my patient. The two sides slid into precise alignment as God had intended them. Perfect!


About the author:

Glenn Shepard was raised on a farm in eastern Virginia, went to college and medical school at the University of Virginia, completed surgery and cardiovascular residency at Vanderbilt and plastic surgery residency at Duke, and spent two years in the Army at Ft. Gordon Hospital in Georgia and the Second Surgical hospital in An Khe, Vietnam. He practiced plastic surgery in Newport News, Va. for 28 years  and directed the Riverside Facial Deformities clinic and the Riverside Laboratory for Microvascular research for most of those years. Writing has been a hobby all his adult life.

Friend Glenn:
Facebook

Buy the book:
Amazon

Friday, September 27, 2013

Featured: Double Helix Books

Perfection Challenged, the fourth book in Jade Kerrion's Double Helix series, is now available. I'm happy to have her here today with a guest post.
 

SERIES: To Be or Not To Be (and when to stop being…)

If Amazon (the company) were a river and all the books in its vast online repository were drops of water, you wouldn't be able to skim a pebble across its surface without hitting a book that is a part of a series.

Series are popular--they work in movies, on TV, and in books--and for good reason. No one ever likes saying goodbye to the people they've fallen in love with. We like to see our heroes and heroines overcome adversity, and then do it again, and again.

Novel series come in at least three different flavors.

1. Standalone books within a series with a rotating focus on various protagonists. Each novel within the series focuses on, and resolves, one major storyline, but the protagonist (usually a side character in one of the other novels) will claim the spotlight for one book within the series instead of all of them.
Romance novels tend to lean this way (after all, happily ever after usually happens only once per couple.) Nora Roberts has written many trilogies of families and friends, with each book focusing on a particular person finding his or her happy ending. Sherrilyn Kenyon does this with her (apparently unending) Dark Hunter series as well.

2. Standalone books within a series focus on one or two key protagonists. Each novel within the series tackles one major problem and resolves the problem by the end of the book. Many detective and mystery novels adopt this flavor. As a teenager, I enjoyed Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. These days, I read P.L. Blair's Portals series that features human detective, Kat Morales, and her elven partner, Tevis.

3. Non-standalone books within a series focus on one or two key protagonists, and story is typically best enjoyed in order from the first novel to the last.
Fantasy and science fiction novels, with their sweeping storylines and their tendency to put entire worlds and civilizations at risk of extinction (hey, high stakes, right?) tend to lean in this direction. Each book should resolve a major crisis, but some threads are clearly left trailing as feeders into the next book. Some of my favorite authors fall into this category, including David Eddings who wrote the Belgariad and Mallorean series, and Neil Gaiman, author of the Sandman.

Just about all of my favorite authors are series writers. In hindsight, it’s no surprise that I would, as an author, lean toward writing a series. My Double Helix series is a series of four novels. When I finished writing the fourth book, I finally tackled the issue I’d been avoiding since November 2010, when I first started writing Double Helix series.

When do you stop?


Sometimes, the answer is easy: “when you save the world.” But what if the answer isn’t as obvious? What if the world careens from crisis to crisis (sounds like our world, doesn’t it?) What if the world always needs saving?

I wrote the Double Helix series as a blend between a type 3 series (non-standalone) and a type 2 series (standalone.) The fourth book, Perfection Challenged, was actually the transition book between a non-standalone and standalone series. In theory, I could have gone on forever, coming up with yet another crisis for Danyael Sabre, the alpha empath, to handle. Challenges would always abound in a society transformed by the Genetic Revolution. Danyael would likely encounter most of them, but did he have to be the protagonist?

Let’s segue briefly into another series—Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series. Occasionally a storyline or plot transcends each book and unifies the series. In Kushiel’s Legacy, it is the rocky path to love and happiness between the heroine, Phedre, and her protector, Joscelin. That storyline is the single thread that runs through the series, and for the series to end, the thread needs to be neatly knotted by the final book.

My readers love Danyael. It was hard to make the decision to move him to the sidelines, yet in practice, I knew that Danyael’s story was done, and for one primary reason. His story had come a full circle. He dealt with different challenges and antagonists over each of the four books, but the storyline that unified the series—his apparently unrequited love for the assassin Zara Itani—reached its conclusion in the fourth book. It was my gift to Danyael, the ending he deserved.

“But,” dismayed readers howl, “you haven’t yet done this, or that, or another. You haven’t finished telling all the stories…” I’ve moved the spotlight off Danyael, but that doesn’t mean he won’t appear in a smaller role in another novel. Spin-offs are popular among series writers. Some side characters in Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series show up as focal characters in her Dream Hunter series.

And so it will be for my Double Helix series. I’ve already written a young adult spin-off. I have others planned, including a standalone series of romantic thrillers featuring mercenaries from Zara’s agency, a novel about Xin, the Machiavellian clone of Fu Hao, a 1,200 BC general, priestess, and queen (busy woman indeed…), and a novel about Galahad, the genetically engineered perfect human being. Inevitably though, those novels and series will someday end.

Quoting one of my favorite characters, Death from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series: “It always ends. That’s what gives it value.”

“The best of the four books…the perfect ending to an amazing series.”
Perfection Challenged, the thrilling conclusion to the multiple award-winning, bestselling DOUBLE HELIX series, is finally here. Grab your copy today.

If you've never picked up the DOUBLE HELIX series, keep reading for a special offer on the six-time award-winning novel, Perfection Unleashed.

perfection-challenged-600x800

PERFECTION CHALLENGED

An alpha empath, Danyael Sabre has survived abominations and super soldiers, terrorists and assassins, but he cannot survive his failing body. He wants only to live out his final days in peace, but life and the woman he loves, the assassin Zara Itani, have other plans for him. Galahad, the perfect human being created by Pioneer Labs, is branded an international threat, and Danyael is appointed his jury, judge, and executioner. Danyael alone believes that Galahad can be the salvation that the world needs, but is the empath blinded by the fact that Galahad shares his genes, and the hope that there is something of him in Galahad? In a desperate race against time and his own dying body, Danyael struggles to find fragments of good in the perfect human being, and comes to the wrenching realization that his greatest battle will be a battle for the heart of the man who hates him.


E-books available at:
Amazon / Amazon UK / Apple iTunes / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Smashwords

Paperbacks available at: Amazon / Amazon UK
Perfection Unleashed

Perfection Unleashed

"Higher octane than Heroes. More heart than X-Men." Recipient of six literary awards, including First place in Science Fiction, Reader Views Literary Awards 2012 and Gold medal winner, Science Fiction, Readers Favorites 2013.

FOR A LIMITED TIME, E-BOOKS AVAILABLE FOR JUST $0.99 (Discounted from $2.99)



E-books available at:
Amazon / Amazon UK / Apple / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Smashwords

Paperbacks available at: Amazon / Amazon UK / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository  

Connect with Jade Kerrion:
Website / Facebook / Twitter

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Featured Author: Eddison McRoberts

Halloween is near, and Virtualbookworm Publishing brings Eddison McRoberts here today to talk about a delightful tale, Sneaking Treats (Tale of the Pumpkin Wraith), a children's book illustrated by Jessica Gadra.



About the book:  

Sneaking Treats is the Halloween tale of a candy-obsessed Prince. After a clumsy accident, he becomes so angry with himself that he inadvertently shoos away his own shadow. With the story given life by the remarkable artistry of Jessica Gadra, the royal family’s search becomes a playful game of hide-and-seek, the young boy’s shadow cleverly hidden among the illustrations’ intricate details. But whether the Prince will ultimately be reunited with his scorned ‘Self’ is not the only mystery that haunts the many twists and turns of the royal castle.


Interview with Eddison McRoberts

What inspired you to write a childrens book?

My own two Ethiopian-adopted children are excellent muses! But really, it’s about fundraising. Printing, publishing, and illustrating costs are expenses that need to be covered, but as the author, I’m accepting no profits of my own. Instead, all net proceeds are being steered to our favorite charity that helps teach underprivileged Ethiopian kids the reading skills they will need to transform their society into one of appropriate health and wealth and opportunity. Please buy our book and join the cause! Visit www.ethiopiareads.org for more info.

How long have you been writing, and how did you start?  

This is my debut as an aspiring childrens author. As a new dad watching my kids grow and learn, it really tickled my creative side. I kept seeing things that seemed like clever storylines and started jotting them down. Sneaking Treats is not my first idea, just what seemed a good jumping off point.

How did you come up with the title Sneaking Treats (Tale of the Pumpkin Wraith)

The title is meant to invite curiosity...Who’s sneaking treats? What’s a pumpkin wraith? My hope is the reader will feel doubly rewarded when the story takes a clever twist beyond what is hinted in the title.

How did you create the plot for Sneaking Treats

You know, I just had the most basic idea in my head about a kid who becomes so angry with himself, his Self gets fed up and storms off. Eventually, I got put in touch with Jessica, and I fell in love with the gothic style of her work. With its haunting tale of shadows, this story seemed perfect to fit her inspiration. After some back and forth, we realized this really was best as a Halloween tale. When we both simultaneously got the idea to use Jack-o-lanterns as a sort of surrogate audience, we were hooked!

Tell us a book you’re an evangelist for.  

There is No Me Without You, by Melissa Fay Greene. Especially, a must read for international adoptive parents.

Are any of your characters inspired by real people?

The royal family is loosely based on our own adoptive family. Some of the personality traits were invented to fit the story and don’t quite match up with real life. However, it is amazing how my real boy has grown to perfectly fit the mischievous character of the Prince. And just try to keep him away from the treats!

Are you like any of your characters?

As the head of the family, I am of course represented by the King: a bumbling, shameful mockery of a buffoon. I’m not like him at all.

I'm sure you're not! What song would you pick to go with your book? 

Ha! It IS a part of my book! Visit my website and watch for news on how to view the video production of the story, set to Edvard Grieg’s haunting “In the Hall of the Mountain King”.

Who are your favorite authors?

Jane and Chris Kurtz are both wonderful children's book authors with a refreshingly different perspective born of their own childhood growing up together as Americans in Ethiopia. My story owes much of itself to Jane’s steady encouragement. Much love to you two!


You get to decide who would read your audiobook. Who would you choose? 

Michael Caine, are you available??? Please bring along the cast of Monty Python to voice the characters!

You’re given the day off, and you can do anything but write. What would you do?

Only one day? How does anything get accomplished in a single day! I guess I would ride my bike into the Cascade Mountains, strap on my crampons for a quick trip to summit of Mt. Hood, teleski down the far side and paddle the Deschutes into Hood River. Unless there was a Blazer game on TV that day, in which case I would just sit around the brew pub while sipping an ice-cold IPA.

Wow. You sure do pack a lot into one day. What are you working on now? 

Jessica and I are teaming up again to continue the adventures of the Royal Family in an all new saga! It promises to become a must-read for any family considering adoption of a new pet. Bookmark my webpage and watch for news on an eventual release date for The Princess and the Puppy...

I will! I hope you'll come back and tell us about it when it's published.

Excerpt

The Prince couldn’t sleep. ‘Where would I go if I were feeling unappreciated,’ he thought. Unable to come up with the answer, he decided to sneak downstairs for a treat from the Hallowed Cauldron of Candy, singing softly as he went:

‘The Good King warns to keep our faith
Or risk the wrath of the Pumpkin Wraith
But tempted by the sticky sweets
We steal away their trick-or-treats
And risk the wrath of the Pumpkin Wraith
We’ll risk the wrath of the Pumpkin Wraith’

“And THAT’S when he heard a noise…”


About the author: 

Eddison McRoberts lurks in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and two beautiful Ethiopian-adopted children.  The Illustrator, Jessica Gadra, currently resides in Buffalo, New York, with her husband, Alex, her dog, Eisley, and ten thousand uninvited ladybugs.

Buy the book:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Barnes & Noble coloring book | virtualbookworm.com

The coloring book format includes the complete story and pictures ready for your child’s colorful imagination.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Featured Author: Ciar Cullen

Virtual Writers Inc. brings Ciar Cullen here today with her historical/paranormal book, Lillian Holmes and the Leaping Man, published by Boroughs Publishing Group. After you leave here, check out the Facebook party page and the Goodreads event page.

About the book:

At the cusp of the twentieth century, an heiress turned detective enters a world of deception and danger and must learn to trust her nemesis with both her life and her love.



Tormented by a tragic past, Miss Lillian Holmes nonetheless found the strength to go on, to become the greatest female detective of her time. To make her uncle proud. Except...he was not truly her uncle. Sherlock was a fictional character, and Lil was less a true detective than a sheltered twenty-six year old heiress with taste for mystery...and morphine. But then she saw him. Leaping from her neighbor’s second-story window, a beautiful stranger. With the recent murders plaguing Baltimore, here was a chance to reveal the truth.



Except, the Leaping Man was far more than he seemed. A wanton creature of darkness, an entry point to a realm of deception and evil, and to a Truth she had waited countless years to uncover, he would threaten far more than Lillian’s life. He would take both her heart and soul. And she would rejoice in it.

INTERVIEW WITH CIAR CULLEN

Ciar, by my count, this is your sixteenth published book. Wow. How long have you been writing, and how did you start?

I started writing about 7 years ago or so. I’d done a boatload of nonfiction writing in the day job (I was in publishing for years), but no fiction. I think what I first wrote was actually Lord of the Rings fan fiction, but I didn’t know what fan fiction was or what to do with it, so heck, I just subbed it to a publisher. Ha ha! Sometimes it’s best to be naïve. I’ve been a voracious reader my whole life, and literally sat down and started writing on a whim. I suppose in some deep recess of my psyche, it was more than a whim, but that’s how it felt at the time.

What do you like best about writing?

Because, as Nora Roberts so eloquently put it, “writing is hard,” I’m pretty happy when a book is finished. But there are moments, sometimes many of them strung together, in which time and space go away and you’re really in the zone, in the characters. I love that feeling. It’s difficult to come back to the real world after one of those “episodes.” I hate promotion. Simply hate it. And the worry about sales. I think a lot of writers are introverts (not shy, there’s a huge difference), and we’d rather just enjoy the quiet around us, and listen to the noise in our brain.

I totally agree. How did you come up with the title Lillian Holmes and the Leaping Man?

Lillian Holmes and the Leaping Man originally had “mysterious” in there too. It’s a nod to the era, to Sherlock Holmes stories, which obviously figure heavily here, and as for the leaping man? That’s a secret, for sure.

Do you have another job outside of writing?

I do. I am a bureaucrat at an ivy league school. It’s a nice environment, but I’m surrounded by scientists and often feel the lone dreamer in a crowd of 500. It’s a big department.

How did you create the plot for this book?

Um, what’s a plot? One page at a time. And I think that answers the next question as well.

Do you outline, write by the seat of your pants, or let your characters tell you what to write?

Seat of the pants, the whole way. My editor, Chris Keeslar, asked me to tell him what happens in the next two installments. Holy moly! I’m not sure what happens in chapter 2 until I open my computer and see what the characters have been doing while I’ve been at work.

I’m constantly on the lookout for new names. How do you name your characters?

For this book, I used a lot of family names. As it is set in my birthplace, Baltimore, my Irish, German, and British ancestry worked out fine. Schneider, Twamley, Cullen, Lillian, George, Phillip, Henry, Harry, even Aloysius (Al-u-ish-us)…all family names. For other names, I often simply look around at work and recombine first and last names. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.

Your secret's safe with me. What would your main character say about you?

Lillian would likely say that I’m a bit melancholy, like she is, but would be best to put my energies into something concrete, and stop all that dreaming. “Do not spend your time waiting for a handsome suitor, Miss Cullen. There are crimes to solve, adventures to be had. Now get dressed!”

I love her! Are any of your characters inspired by real people?

This book is about my family, in ways I can barely get my head around, much less describe. My grandmother was born in 1890, so her stories of growing up as a Victorian child still resonate loudly in my brain. My grandmother, mother and aunt were all “repressed adventurers” in a way, born into the wrong centuries. My Lillian is very much the embodiment of that longing. I am also Lillian myself, because as I wrote this, I had recently lost all members of my immediately family, and felt a bit of an abandoned orphan, as she does. This book is very close to my heart, and parts of it were actually quite painful to write.

What song would you pick to go with your book?


This is so cliché, I know, but my hero George Orleans would identify fully with Coldplay’s "Viva la Vida." Brooding, disillusioned, fall from grace and all that.

Which author would you most like to invite to dinner, and what would you fix me? I mean, him. Or her.

I have to cook for you? Um, we’re having Nutrisystem out of a box, is that okay? Actually, my specialties are spaghetti and meatballs (go figure, this Irish girl makes a mean sauce), or sauerbraten. Can we invite someone else cool? Nah, I prefer small groups. Or I can make some great Baltimore crab cakes and bake a pecan pie. That’s the ticket!

I'm totally there! How do you handle criticism of your work?

From my editor, I’m good. All good, and I’d like to think I’m easy to work with. I enjoy edits. From readers, as long as it’s sincere and sensible, also all good. I’ve actually learned a lot about what to improve upon from reviews. I take them to heart. The ones that drive me bonkers are things like “there are gay men in this book” for a M/M, or “not sexy enough” for an inspirational…

Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?

I live in a teensy place so my writing spot is actually a cubby in the dining room. It’s just a little desk, my laptop and my hazelnut coffee. Oh, and usually a cat or two on my lap.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I think I mentioned I’m an introvert, so I’m happy knitting away, reading, going to the beach in the evening (while the husband surf-fishes), easy stuff. I do like travel, but time… ugh.

What are you working on now?

I’m writing Lillian Holmes and the Final Solution, in which my heroine continues her quest to find… I can’t give too much away… and to take on all the evil that besets her beloved city, and her beau.

Puleease come back and tell us about it when it's published!

Book trailer:



About the author:

Ciar (KEE-er) Cullen hails from Baltimore, Maryland. She started her academic life as a theater major, but when she learned she couldn't act her way out of a paper bag she turned to archaeology, another love. She earned her degree at Indiana University, summered on digs in Greece and England, landed a gig in New Jersey, and eventually went into nonfiction publishing. Her third career is as a bureaucrat at a university. She is married to a photographer and has two cats. Eventually she hopes to retire to a small cabin, with the same husband and more cats.

Ciar is not one of those authors who dreamt of writing since childhood. She took up virtual pen on a dare in mid-life and forgot to stop. She loves reading just about anything, but especially nonfiction. Some of her favorite novelists are Mark Twain, E.L. Doctorow, and Nora Roberts. When she¹s not reading or writing, she loves to knit, to study all things Major League Baseball, and to jog.

Connect with Ciar:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon author page 

Buy the book:
Amazon | Boroughs Publishing Group