Guest Post & Grand Giveaway: Bluff by Lenore Skomal

Original Title: Bluff
Author: Lenore Skomal
Publisher: Lenore Skomal Press
Release Date: October 1st 2012
Genre: Psychological Thriller

"To the medical world, I was a host body, surviving only to bring a new life into the world. And while I wanted to die more than anything in the world, I never wanted this. No, I never wanted to cease to exist. This was the worst death of all.”

Jude Black lives in that in-between, twilight place teetering on death but clinging to life in order to bring her baby into this world. Only she knows the circumstances surrounding her mysterious fall off the bluff that landed her in the hospital being kept alive by medical intervention. Only she knows who the father of her baby is. In this poignantly crafted literary novel, the mystery unfolds and the suspense builds as the consequences of Jude’s decisions threaten to reveal everyone's deceptions, even her own.

Bluff offers a sensitive look at essential questions such as the value of human life, the consciousness of those in a coma and the morality of terminating life support. At the core is the story of a tragically misunderstood woman who finds peace, acceptance, understanding and even love on her deathbed.

Research in the making of Bluff 

- Guest Post by Lenore Skomal

Like most novelists, I believe having a great story line is the best place to start but it certainly doesn’t make the novel complete. For BLUFF, a story about a 40-year old coma pregnant coma patient teetering on death, the plot needed to be vetted by medical professionals. I knew this going into the writing and thankfully my skills as a journalist came into play.

Guest Post: My Trickster by Serafima Bogomolova

Original Title: My Trickster
Author: Serafima Bogomolova
Publisher: Souliris UK Ltd
Release Date: February 23rd 2012
Genre: Suspense, Thriller

When enigmatic Angela Moreaux, a woman he thought he had exorcised from his brain, calls and asks for his help, reluctant, but unable to resist, a hedge fund owner and an expert in stock market manipulation, Juan MacBride flies out to Moscow. On his arrival a bitter disappointment awaits him as he finds out that Angela fails to show up for their meeting in the Ritz. Instead, Juan is greeted by an elderly Swiss gentleman, who passes a mysterious note to him embarking Juan on a journey of discoveries that he wishes he never made…

What are the mistakes you see in beginner writers?

- Guest Post by Serafima Bogomolova

I can’t say for others since I don’t look for mistakes others do, but I can talk about myself.

I don’t think there are mistakes as such, rather there are learning paths and experiences we all go through while doing something. My learning path took start in loving books and reading a lot, then I moved onto having an urge to write and express myself. And finally, I found myself in a situation where I was suddenly faced with the task of writing a book in a foreign language (originally I am Russian). What I have learnt is to trust myself and have faith in what I do and my skills and abilities. I have also learnt to trust my intuition and use it while writing without thinking too much about structure, plot, and strategies.

Writing is an intimate process and what we learn along the way is very personal. It’s a subjective experience that cannot be replicated or blindly compared to anyone else’s. However, there are some similarities in writing experiences and common traits that all writers can relate to.

Perhaps the biggest lesson I learnt that success can’t happen overnight, it is a gradual process, and the more you learn and grow, the closer to success you become.

Guest Post: World of Shell and Bone by Adriana Ryan

Original Title: World of Shell and Bone
Author: Adriana Ryan
Release Date: December 7th 2012
Genre: Science Fiction

In a world ravaged by a nuclear holocaust, Vika Cannon knows there are no guarantees: no guarantees of safety, no guarantees that your neighbor is not actually a spy for the government, and no guarantees you’ll be allowed to emigrate to a new life in Asia.

New Amana is dying. Food and water are scarce, and people suffering from radiation-caused mutations—the Nukeheads—are the new class of homeless.

Vika has just one purpose: to produce healthy progeny using a Husband assigned by the Match Clinic. Unhealthy children are carted away to Asylums to be experimented on, just as Vika’s little sister Ceres was, eight years ago. Parents incapable of producing healthy progeny are put to death in gas chambers.
When she’s assigned a Husband shortly after her twentieth birthday, Vika expects him to be complacent and obedient. But Shale Underwood has a secret. He is a member of the Radicals, the terrorist group intent on overthrowing the government. And Shale has information about Ceres.

As she learns more about the Rads’s plan, Vika finds herself drawn to Shale in ways she’d never imagined. When freedom calls in the way of a healthy pregnancy, will she betray her government and risk death for Shale and Ceres? 

AUTHOR BIO:

Adriana Ryan lives and writes in Charleston, SC. She is currently at work on a dystopian and an urban fantasy series. A huge fan of spooky stuff and shoes, she enjoys alternately hitting up the outlet malls and historic graveyards.

Contact her using the form at the top right of this website or email adriana@adrianaryan.com.

Adriana Ryan is a member of the Romance Writer’s Association (RWA).

AUTHOR ONLINE: Email | Twitter | Facebook | Website

5 THINGS I LEARNED WHILE WRITING 

"World of Shell and Bone"

- Guest Post by Adriana Ryan

Every single book a writer pens, I believe, teaches her something. This is probably especially true ofher first couple of books. World of Shell and Bone is the third book I’ve ever written (though I’ve written countless short stories before it), but the first of its kind I’ve attempted. This is true on all counts: I’ve never written a dystopian or a book with heavy thematic significance before. I’ve also never written a book without humor sprinkled throughout the pages. I thought this last one would be hard, but I’d been thinking about Vika and her journey for so long that I found her voice came easily to me. That was a definite relief.

If I had to pick the top five things I’ve learned while writing World of Shell and Bone, they would be:

1.  The doubt never goes away. I thought my insecurities as a first-time writer would be gone for good when I got to my third novel (the first will never see the light of day, and the second has been contracted to be released in February 2013). That was most definitely wishful thinking. I was still insecure throughout the middle of WoSaB, which has historically been the hardest part of the book for me to write. I kept wondering if I was (a) smart enough to tackle heavy topics like feminism and class issues and (b) interesting enough to keep readers rapt for two hundred and fifty pages. I don’t know about (a), but early readers of World of Shell and Bone have been very kind, so I hope I’ve managed to accomplish (b).

2.  Writers aren’t islands either. You know that saying, “Man is not an island”? It’s true for writers, too. Although writing is one of the most solitary pursuits known to man (and woman), it is necessary to reach out and talk to others in the trenches. I’m lucky enough to have a great group of online and in-person writer friends who not only support me, but know exactly what I mean when I say I can’t get out of bed in the morning during the editing phase because I dread editing so much. They know to give me that kick in the pants I need when I’m procrastinating on Pinterest when I should be writing. And, of course, I do the same for them.

3.  Being entrenched in your work can give you nightmares. I remember waking up bathed in a cold sweat, skin rippling with goosebumps because I dreamt I was in Vika’s world. My children were there too, and if you’ve read the book, you know why that could be a major problem. It was awful. I actually had to wait for the freak-out to pass before I could get back to sleep. I guess that’s what happens when you spend too long in a fictional world!

4.  Be kind to yourself. This is true not just of writing, but of just about any endeavor you take on. I still have a hard time with this one, because I’m my toughest critic. There were moments during the writing of World and Shell and Bone when I just had to step aside and say, “You know what, I think I’ve worked hard enough today. I need to go take a walk and then eat some chocolate.” You have to know when to stop. That can be hard when you’re really into what you’re doing, but when the negative self-talk pops up is when you have to get firm with yourself.

5.  There’s almost nothing as incredibly exciting as finishing a book. I’ve been married, had two children, and bought a house, and I have to say, finishing a book is almost as exciting as any and all of those. Though finishing that first draft is a heady feeling, being absolutely finished—with edits, read-throughs, all of it—is a feeling like you wouldn’t believe. I cannot imagine doing anything else with my life.

Guest Post & Grand Giveaway: X-It by Jane George

Original Title: X-It
Author: Jane George
Publisher: Paper Grove Publishing
Release Date: March 28th 2012
Genre: Young-adult

LOVE IS A DRUG.

In 1980 NYC, eighteen-year-old J.J. Buckingham is an uptight trendoid. Working as a mannequin painter and a counter girl, she moonlights as a creature of the nightclubs. J.J. falls for aloof, crazy-talented artist and bicycle messenger X-It. In order to win his love, she succumbs to the dark machinations of drug dealer Marko Voodoo. X-It will love her if she’s the queen of underground Manhattan, right? Her plan backfires with horrendous consequences. J.J. must scrap her way out of a maze of drugs, clubs, and danger before she realizes she’s worthy of a better life. And true love might just come in the form of a clean-cut geek in Buddy Holly glasses.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author and illustrator Jane George lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a BFA in illustration from the California College of the Arts and has won awards for her art.

A dedicated writer for over a decade, she produces and publishes her YA fantasy and literary titles under her personal imprint, Paper Grove Publishing. Find out more at: www.Jane-George.com

A LOVE LETTER TO A SNAPSHOT IN TIME

- Guest Post by Jane George

My novel, X-It, takes place in New York City circa 1980-81, which doesn’t make it quite a historical novel, but we can at least call it a ‘vintage’ setting.

The Big Apple is as famous for how fast it changes as much as for Lady Liberty or Times Square. Screenwriter Nora Ephron referenced New York’s changeability in You’ve Got Mail, when children’s bookstore owner Kathleen Kelly writes to her secret email pal bemoaning the closing of her business: