King Arthur Movie Tristan

Today I'd like to give a warm welcome to Margaret Coel, author of Blood Memory & The Perfect Suspect. I will be reviewing both of these books tomorrow.






Onto the guest post...





I’m on my way to an author event in Denver where the hostess is known for asking authors what they are thinking as they write books. I can’t wait to hear what I’m going to say. What was I thinking when I was writing The Perfect Suspect? It’s easier to talk about what I was not thinking and what I am never thinking as I write.


I am not thinking about the words I type on the screen. Sometimes the words don’t make any sense. I don’t care. Sometimes I can’t wrest out of my brain the exact word to fit the situation, so I type a series of X’s and write on. I am not thinking about grammar, which was why, years ago, I had to learn how to turn off that doggoned computer function that corrects my grammar before I killed it. (I do write mystery novels.) I am not thinking about whether whatever I’m writing should be in another chapter. In short I am not cutting, editing and polishing to a shiny hue my first venture into a story. Which means I will have a one word answer to the question. What was I thinking about? Story.



From the moment I turn on the screen and type in Chapter One, I am lost in the story. All other thoughts are banished. The house could burn down around me. I’m not sure when I might notice. A blizzard could be raging outside, but if my story is set in the hot summer, I am mopping the sweat from my brow. Out my window may be a view of the rooftops of Boulder, but what I see are the wide open plains of the Wind River reservation in Wyoming when I’m writing a novel in my Wind River series. For The Perfect Suspect, all I saw were the streets, bungalows and neighborhoods of Denver as Catherine McLeod investigative reporter, chases down a killer.



Every novel is about story. Authors enter into the story in different ways.
I’ve heard authors compare writing to watching a play. The actors enter stage right, say and do something and make their exits, while the writer types away recording every move and word. For me, writing is a way of being right up there on the stage. I live the lives of all the characters simultaneously, laughing and crying when they do (oh, yes, I’ve shed a lot of tears over my keyboard), plotting revenge or forcing myself to do the right thing, making a general mess of my characters’ lives, then trying to extricate them (and myself) from the mess.
In The Perfect Suspect, I walked down Denver’s streets with Catherine McLeod, seeing what she saw, saying what she thought, and figuring out, as she did, how to find the person who had murdered the popular politician sure to be Colorado’s next governor. I’m scared to death, right along with Catherine, when she realizes she is now the one hunted by an increasingly psychotic killer. I’m madly in love with Detective Nick Bustamante, as is Catherine, and worried about the ups and downs of their relationship, as does she. An Arapaho, raised in a white family in Denver, Catherine is just beginning to get in touch with her own culture. I love the settled feeling that comes over her—and me—in the moments when she draws closer to the ancestors and to herself.




Non-writers think that writing is lonely work. After all, writers sit all day in front of a computer, no fellow office workers around, no one to shoot the bull with over the water cooler. Nothing could be further from the truth. Writers are never alone. We are surrounded all day by dozens of fascinating people, talking, acting up, doing all sorts of profoundly interesting things.

That’s because we are telling a story to ourselves, and story is the most critical piece of a novel. I have no patience for the so-called post-modern, minimalist, theme-driven novels—or whatever tag may be current in literary circles--because they have abandoned story. And story is what we live by, what connects us to other human beings and helps us to make sense of our own lives. All great novels tell great stories.


Only when The Perfect Suspect was safely tucked inside my computer did I allow myself to think about anything other than story. At that point, I could step out of the story, observe Catherine as she moved through the events, as if I were in the audience, and launch into the rewriting, editing, cutting, polishing and other feats of craftsmanship that, I hope, pushed Catherine’s story to stage front and center, in the spotlight where it belongs.

By Margaret Coel



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Special thanks to Margaret Coel for stopping by today. I just finished reading Blood Memory & The Perfect Suspect and will be reviewing them tomorrow. These were two great, suspenseful thrillers and I enjoyed reading a bit about Margaret's writing process.

I do agree she did, as Margaret puts it, 'pushed Catherine’s story to stage front and center, in the spotlight where it belongs'.











Special thanks to Kaitlyn over @ the Penguin Group for making this possible.

Today I'd like to welcome author Anne Easter Smith as she kindly stops by my little corner of the web to do a guest post. Anne is the author of Queen By Right, which I will be reviewing on May 26th.



About the book:

From the award-winning author of A Rose for the Crown, Daughter of York, and The King’s Grace comes another masterful historical novel—the story of Cecily of York, mother of two kings and the heroine of one of history’s greatest love stories.

Read on for Anne Easter Smith's interesting take on Protagonists in her novels....








Guest Post by Anne Easter Smith

Protagonists in AES Novels


While I was writing Queen By Right, people would ask me whether Cecily Neville was anything like my other protagonists. Certainly all of them were not afraid to speak their minds, except perhaps for Grace, until she was pushed. I like my medieval women feisty, history tells us they were--to a point. I confess my ladies are probably a little too contemporary in their behavior for the academic medievalist, but that’s why fiction is such fun.



Studies of the texts from the period tell us that men thought we had a greater desire for sex, that we were easily led, prone to unfaithfulness--especially sexually. That’s why men felt the need to control us. Fathers, priests and husbands thought it was their duty to keep us virtuous and threatened our reputations if we were not. A sullied reputation often meant no one would marry you, and that was a disaster.



Bold-speaking in women was a vice, so the men said, and there was nothing worse than being a “clatterer”! (Magpies, jays and women were dubbed the three clatterers, so droned on the men.) You could be punished for gossiping or scolding by being put on the cucking stool barefoot with your hair hanging down (very humiliating). It was a chair to which a woman was tied and left outside her door or in a public place, and some even had wheels so the clatterer could be clattered over the cobblestones around the neighborhood. (It is similar to a ducking stool, but no water is involved.) I know Kate Haute should have been put on one for sure! Margaret and Cecily were royalty, so I expect their husbands chastised them in private instead.



Another question I am asked is which of my “heroines” I like the most. Of course, I love them all, but here is what I love about them individually.

• Kate Haute because she was my first and, I thought, my only (and because I wasn’t expecting to write another book). I grew as a writer with her, so she’s special. And she is modeled on my younger daughter, Kate, who in puberty and teenage years mostly definitely would have been on the cucking stool a lot!

• Margaret of York is the one I related to the most as I was living with her. She was a rebel at heart, she was her father’s favorite, and she left her homeland for a new life (just like I did). She was also tall for a woman (like me) and loved books (like me).

• Grace is probably my antithesis. Petite, quiet, gentle, but I loved that she gave her heart in the wrong place at first (like me). I admired her tremendously for rising above her convent upbringing, being a bastard, being invisible at court, and yet managing to find herself among her beautiful and strong-minded siblings. I loved her loyalty to Elizabeth Woodville and John of Gloucester, and I loved the way she gently kept the peace and sorted out the mystery of who was Perkin Warbeck.

• Cecily is the woman I admire the most, and whereas I’d love to sit down to lunch with Margaret and have a natter, I’d be a bit intimidated by Cecily. This is no simpering miss! I am in awe of her strength, amazing health (she lived until she was 80), and her political savvy. She was lucky enough to experience one of the love matches of her century with Richard, duke of York, and her story is so colorful and dramatic it took me two years to tell. Cecily was in Rouen when Joan of Arc was tried and executed, she gave birth to a dozen children, she had a passionate marriage, she watched her husband fight his way to the throne to claim his right which eluded him in the end with his death at the Battle of Wakefield. And she watched her son, Edward, crowned in June 1461--550 years ago.

I invite you to dive into Cecily’s world with Queen By Right. I have been told by the wonderful woman who owns our local bookshop that this is my best book and she could not put it down. And Michelle Moran, author of Madame Tussaud, said “it kept me up for most of one night needing to know how it all wrapped up." It is my hope you will all be up nights reading it.



For more information please visit Anne Easter Smith’s WEBSITE and FACEBOOK PAGE.

*photo above is from the authors website*







“Thank you Naida, for hosting me here at The Bookworm”.


– Anne Easter Smith






Thank you so much for stopping by Anne! Queen By Right does have me up into the night reading, I'm finding it hard to put down.

I enjoyed reading a bit about your other heroines and where the inspiration for them came from.
It really is hard to believe that women were put on a 'cucking stool' in order to punish and humiliate them. How far we have come!


That is one of the reasons I enjoy historical fiction so much, you learn as you read and are very much entertained in the process.





Blog visitors Queen By Right is on a virtual book tour. For a complete list of tour links, click here. You can check out reviews as well as other guest posts, interviews and book giveaways.












Special thanks to Historical Fiction Book Tours for making this possible.

Author Harry Gilleland
is stopping by today for a guest post. His short novel is called Aldric and Anneliese. Please join me in welcoming him.




The Background Story of Aldric and Anneliese


This past February I published through 4RV Publishing (http://4rvpublishingllc.com/index.html) a short novel entitled “Aldric and Anneliese”. It was about time, since I started thinking about doing so in 2004. Back in 2004 I wrote a series of seven storoems (story poems) entitled The Wandering Warrior I -VII and later published them in Gilleland Poetry: Storoems and Poems (2005). Together these storoems made an epic poem, having a total of ninety rhyming quatrains or 360 lines. I always felt these poems would make a great story if converted into a prose book.


That thought nagged at me for years, but I was busy with publishing first a contemporary novel, White Lightning Road (2006) and then Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man (2008), a collection of my poetry. Finally, in 2009 I started to actually write the book but soon hit a point where I wasn't sure where to go with the story. The reworked storoems were to be subject matter for the middle portion of the new prose book. I knew how to write the lead up to that part of the story but did not know how to write the final section. So, I abandoned writing on it for more than a year, but I kept mulling over the plot consciously and unconsciously.


One day during February, 2010, I realized how the story should proceed and went back to writing it with a vengeance. I revised and finished the draft in about four months of steady writing. Last June I submitted it to 4RV Publishing. Editing required more rewriting, but I think the finished book tells a great story. My original choice of title was the same as the storoems, but that title of Wandering Warrior had already been used for another novel. Therefore, I decided to name it after two pivotal characters, Aldric and Anneliese.


As a corollary issue, I have been asked why I stopped writing at 46,100 words, making it a short novel, i.e. why didn’t I write until I had at least 60,000 words? The answer is simple. When I start writing a story, I do not have a minimum length in mind. I wrote the story I wanted to tell. It just happened to turn out to be a short novel at 46,100 words. I believe an author should set out to tell the story as he envisions the plot, not to set an arbitrary number of words as the goal. I could have padded the word count by adding characters or additional scenes, but I had the story that I wanted to tell it without adding any unnecessary filler. To me it is a tight read as is, which is what I strove to accomplish. I like to remind people that Dickens' famous A Christmas Carol was only about 29,000 words, and it turned out to be a pretty great story.


It took seven years for me to take Aldric and Anneliese from an epic poem to a prose novel, but I hope readers will think it was worthwhile.

Aldric & Anneliese is a tale of nation building, kings, knights, fair ladies, battles won and lost, triumph, betrayal, tragedy, revenge, redemption, and great loves It is a story for the ages.

Thank you, Naida, for allowing me to contribute to your blog today. I much appreciate the opportunity.


Cheers!


Harry Gilleland




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Thank you for stopping by to chat Harry. I have never heard the term 'storoems'. I can imagine Aldric and Anneliese is an interesting tale, historical fiction and romance being two of my favorite things. I am also a big fan of poetry and enjoy lyrical writing.

Best of luck!

I recently read and reviewed The Shepherd by Ethan Cross. This book is a faced paced thriller that had me on the edge of my seat while reading.




Ethan is kindly stopping by my blog today to do a guest post to discuss a bit about how he began writing and became a published author. Please join me in welcoming him.

Read on for his post...




Telling stories on a grand scale has been my dream for as long as I can remember. When a fireman or a policeman would come visit my school, most of my classmates’ heads would swim with aspirations of growing up and catching bad guys or saving someone from a blazing inferno. When these moments came for me, however, my dreams weren’t to someday be a cop or put out fires; I just wanted to make a movie or write a book about it. And my dream has come to fruition with the release of my first book, The Shepherd.



I had written a partially-finished screenplay in High School, and at one time in my life, I had considered moving to California and attempting to break into the film industry. But I knew that was an uphill battle, and much of my time was being consumed by another dream: music. While reaching for that dream, I was able to play all over the Midwest, record a few CDs, and open for national recording artists as the lead singer and guitar player for bands like Tormented and 1Adam12. But I never gave up on my dream of telling stories, and I continued to develop the ideas in my head.



Up to this point, I had never been a big book reader, but then a friend introduced me to a series of Star Wars books that picks up where the original movies left off. I had always been a Star Wars fan, so I decided to give the books a shot. I loved them, but I also discovered a love for books. It wasn’t long before I was reading three to four books a week, everything from suspense thrillers to action and adventure. I had always considered writing a novel, but it was at this point that I knew that was what I wanted to do. So I began writing The Shepherd, which was based upon a short story that I had written for an English class during my senior year of college. My main goal with The Shepherd was to write a book that I would want to read, and the books that I loved were fast-paced with a lot of action. After more work than I could’ve possibly imagined, I finished a first draft. But the book was far from finished.



After doing a lot of research and knowing that I couldn’t get my book published without an agent, I decided to attend a writer’s conference in New York City called Thrillerfest. It included a period of time where you were able to pitch your novel to a group of agents, but you only had three minutes with each. I did well during my pitches and generated interest from all but a couple of the agents with whom I spoke. However, during Thrillerfest, I also attended three days of classes taught by some of biggest authors in the world. It was at this point that I realized my book wasn’t ready for primetime, and I still had a lot of work ahead of me. I also made a lot of new friends and contacts within the publishing industry, and one of them referred me onto a man named Lou Aronica.



The funny thing is that Lou had been the head of several of the big publishing houses, and while heading Bantam Spectra, he was the guy that came up with the idea of having Star Wars books (the same books that got me into reading). It all felt very serendipitous, so I began working with Lou to take my work to the next level. But Lou wasn’t finished with me yet. He also loved my book so much that he referred me onto my agent, Danny Baror—a man who represents some of the biggest authors in the world. Then, a few months later, Lou contacted me about a new undertaking. He had decided to start a new publishing imprint that was going to be invitation only. He asked if I would want to be one of the first authors to be published under this new imprint. I was, of course, excited to continue working with Lou and accepted.



Beyond The Shepherd, I have written detailed outlines for the next two books in The Shepherd series (with at least five others planned after those). I’ve also begun work on a new action adventure series and a stand-alone suspense thriller called The Darkness Never Sleeps, which deals with a repentant serial killer that must fall into his old habits in order to save his daughter from a group of drug runners being financed by the CIA.




Thank You,


Ethan Cross


http://www.EthanCross.com




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Thank you again for stopping by Ethan. How interesting that you are also into music and have opened for artists as well as recorded CD's.
I think it is key for a writer to as you say, write a book that they themselves would want to read. It's a good thing you never gave up on your dream of telling stories, The Shepherd is a fantastic book.


Best of luck with your work!


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About the book:

Marcus Williams and Francis Ackerman Jr. both have a talent for hurting people. Marcus, a former New York City homicide detective, uses his abilities to protect others, while Ackerman uses his gifts to inflict pain and suffering. When both men become unwilling pawns in a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of our government, Marcus finds himself in a deadly game of cat and mouse trapped between a twisted psychopath and a vigilante with seemingly unlimited resources. Aided by a rogue FBI agent and the vigilante’s beautiful daughter -a woman with whom he’s quickly falling in love- Marcus must expose the deadly political conspiracy and confront his past while hunting down one of the most cunning and ruthless killers in the world.

Hello everyone, please join me in giving a warm welcome to author Denise K. Rago. She has kindly stopped by my blog for a guest post today.




I will be reading Denise's debut novel, a paranormal romance called Immortal Obsession , and I will be reviewing it here at my blog. Stay tuned for my upcoming review as well as a giveaway in March.





Now for Denise's guest post, she is here to discuss the Subtle Art of Romance Writing.






When I looked up the word romance in the dictionary, numerous definitions came up:


1) A love affair, especially a brief and intense one.

2) Sexual love, especially when the other person or the relationship is idealized or when it is exciting and intense.

3) A spirit or feeling of adventure, excitement, the potential for heroic achievement, and the exotic.

4) A fascination or enthusiasm for something, especially of an uncritical or inexplicable kind.

5) A novel, movie, or play with a love story as its main theme.


The genre of romance writing concerns itself with a love story, which could possibly be a brief, exciting and intense affair; includes sexual or physical love and can be filled with the spirit of adventure and generally, a fascination with the other person. The romance novel is a culmination of many things, but also, what the reader brings to the tale. As a writer, I recognize the need for imagination and in having readers fill in the nuances of sex and love based on their own experiences.
Each of us has our own perception of what an exciting or intense affair might be like, how we perceive adventure and experience physical love and passion and what might fascinate us about another person. When writing a paranormal romance, the writer has the additional responsibility of bringing romance into the world of beings that are not entirely human. In my case, vampires; those seductive and dangerous creatures whose very speech or touch can bring us to our knees and make us say and do things we might normally not do!


Within the realm of romance writing, I like to weave in a bit of the erotic, something elusive and arousing, yet my own personal preference is to leave much more to the imagination, than I put down on the page. I can visualize it as I write it, but I like to hint, to suggest and then let the reader fill in their own fantasies based on what sits well with them. This helps to form a connection between the characters and the reader and elicit their emotional response.


Yes, the prerequisite to the romance novel must be a romance, but to what extent varies from author to author. Some may just hint at an attraction between two characters, whereas another may be more forthcoming in the erotica department. We all have read both types of novels and they each have their place, but I would much rather have my reader experience what Amanda Perretti, the young mortal woman in my novel feels when she finally meets up with the man she has been searching for for over six months, the utter excitement when she realizes he truly exists. Her fascination and her need for him are palatable, even when she discovers he is a vampire.


When vampire Christian Du Mauré surrenders himself to her, I dwell not on the details of the physical aspect of their union, but on how surprised he is at being able to relax and be seduced by his mortal lover. Vampires experience love too and Christian Du Mauré is no different. Having loved and lost centuries ago, he still harbors guilt and pain and still pines for his lost love to this day. His regret and desire form an interesting paradox.


Love and desire are emotions I try to capture in my writing; subtle ways I work at creating a romance that is at once grounded in the familiar: candlelight, love notes and flowers, and is also paranormal, with characters that live is a very different world than you or I. Each of us experiences love in a myriad of ways and it might be safe to say, we would define romance differently as well, no matter whether we are mortal or immortal.

-Denise K. Rago



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Thank you for stopping by my little corner of the web Denise! Wonderful guest post, and how fitting since Valentine's Day is around the corner. I do agree when you say: The romance novel is a culmination of many things, but also, what the reader brings to the tale.'

How true that each reader digests what they are reading differently and each one of us does fill in the bits with our own imaginations. Everyone has their unique take on romance.

I can't wait to read Immortal Obsession . Christian Du Mauré sounds like quite the hero. Vampires, romance and Paris are a few of my favorite things.












About the author:


Denise K. Rago is a paranormal romance author whose first novel, Immortal Obsession, was published in September 2010. You can reach Denise on her website, http://www.denisekrago.com/, where you can also read an excerpt of her book – part love story, thriller, vampire romance and paranormal romp that takes place in Revolution-era Paris and modern-day New York.


Denise is also on facebook and twitter.















about the book: Immortal Obsession :

Christian Du Mauré impulsively follows his best friend into the complex, warring underworld of Parisian vampires. Against the fiery backdrop of the French Revolution, Christian's life is changed forever following an affair with a mortal artistocrat—for when he promises to watch over her daughter, she reveals the child is his.


More than 200 years later, in modern-day Manhattan, only two descendants of the star-crossed union remain. After one of them witnesses a savage murder in Central Park, she becomes determined to find the ethereal stranger who saved her life.



When their worlds inevitably collide, Christian finds he cannot prevent Amanda, his unwitting descendant, from becoming a pawn in a centuries-old struggle for power.



As a confrontation between ancient enemies comes to a head, Christian must finally face an unspeakable betrayal from his past—for himself, and the woman he loves.

I was recently read and reviewed The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli as part of the TLC Book Tour. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it will be on my top reads of 2011. If you haven't read The Lotus Eaters yet, I do recommend this intriguing and beautifully written story.




I am honored to announce that author Tatjana Soli has stopped by my blog for a guest post. Please join me in welcoming her and read on for her post.




The Origin of the Novel, or How Did You Two Meet?




Traveling around the country to talk with people about my book, The Lotus Eaters, I get asked the perfectly legitimate question: What inspired you to write it? I usually have a moment of hesitation, what my husband calls my deer-in-the-headlights look. It’s not because I’m trying to dissemble, mislead, be purposely vague, but it is such a complicated question that it’s hard to know where to start.



This month I’m teaching an Intro to Novel class, and the great thing about teaching is that it forces you to articulate what you know instinctively in your gut. You know how to drive a car, but when pressed to teach someone, the idea of “not knowing” in order to explain is a difficult one to master. It’s the same dilemma as when someone asks you how you met your husband (boyfriend, significant other). What was the moment when you knew this was the real thing? Complicated indeed.



The easy thing to reach for is the photo. I was flipping through a photography book, Requiem, honoring the work of photographers killed in Indochina during the wars there. One photo of a female photographer, Dickey Chapelle, was like a bolt of lightning. A surprise that women were there, and at the moment of learning that to also learn that she had been killed by a landmine at the very start of that conflict. But there was more, the novelistic detail: this battle-hardened, Marine-chasing, female combat photographer, out on patrol in rural Vietnam, was wearing pearl earrings. I was fascinated that in the strenuous denial of female qualities in order to fit in to the fraternity of journalists and soldiers, she took this one trouble to remind herself of who she was. My character, Helen, is nothing like the WWII-era Chapelle, and yet that picture did the all important thing — it ignited my imagination and took me on the ten year journey to this book. But still, this isn’t the whole truth.



I live in Orange County, CA, home to the largest community of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam. For the most part, these are Vietnamese from southern Vietnam who fled after the war ended. People who risked their lives, who left everything behind, to start a new life. I heard and read stories of the immigrant experience that had great resonance for me. My mom lost her parents and left Hungary for Austria. As a single mother, she worked for NATO in Naples, Italy, and when the chance came to move to America, she took it to make a better life for the both of us. But that, too, isn’t the whole story.



We came to America and moved to the very specific America of a military base, Ford Ord, in Monterey, CA, during the late sixties. Although I was a small girl, my friends all had fathers who were being sent off to war. Although as children we didn’t understand what was happening, there were huge emotional things going on around us. Fathers wouldn’t come back, and the mothers and children left. I never totally forgot that time. Understanding the war became an obsession.



All of these answers are part of the truth. The larger truth of novels is that they grow of themselves, that over time, both the work and the novelist change. The truth is that if you are lucky, the work over time creates a sum greater than the parts you consciously create. Even if the novelist is at times inarticulate to its origins.




---------------------------


Thank you for stopping by Tatjana and for sharing the different influences that led you to write your novel.


'The larger truth of novels is that they grow of themselves, that over time, both the work and the novelist change.' - What an interesting thought that the novel can take on a life of its own. Not only does the novel grow, but the writer does as well.



Best of luck with your book! I was truly taken in while reading The Lotus Eaters and felt transported to another other place and time while reading this passionate novel. I do hope to read more of your work in the future.



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About the author:

Tatjana Soli is a novelist and short story writer. Born in Salzburg, Austria, she attended Stanford University and the Warren Wilson MFA Program.
Her stories have appeared in StoryQuarterly, Confrontation, Gulf Coast, Other Voices, Nimrod, Third Coast, Carolina Quarterly, Sonora Review and North Dakota Quarterly among other publications.

Her work has been twice listed in the 100 Distinguished Stories in Best American Short Stories and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She was awarded the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Prize, the Dana Award, finalist for the Bellwether Prize, and received scholarships to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference.

She lives with her husband in Orange County, California, and teaches through the Gotham Writers’ Workshop.





Visit Tatjana's website here

I'd like to welcome a special guest here at my blog today. Simon Wood author of Terminatedis here to discuss his experience in Guatemala and attending a attending a Santeria ritual and his book Road Rash.

Read on for Simon's post:


CURIOSITY WILL BE MY UNDOING (BUT IT WILL MAKE FOR A GOOD STORY)

By Simon Wood




Road Rash plays to my two storytelling loves—crime and the supernatural. I don’t do it often, but I love to blend the genres. It’s the story of bank robber, James Straley. He might think his life is cursed, but it doesn’t compare to what lies ahead of him on life’s highway. He’s on the run with the proceeds of a botched bank robbery. It’s all he has. His crew is dead and his getaway car just died on him. He’s on foot with the cash when he comes across a two-car pileup. There’s no saving the drivers, but he saves himself by stealing one of the wrecked cars. Unfortunately, he boosts the wrong set of wheels. Within an hour of driving off, he develops a rash that eats away at his flesh. No doctor can help him—only the car’s original owner. If Straley wants his skin back, he must journey on the road to redemption.



The book started out as a short story and was one of a number of stories I’d been writing with the theme of road travel. I’d been examining the whole aspect of road travel by writing stories that ranged from cars to bicycles, from traffic offenses to road regulations and everything in between. I used these stories to put a dark twist on an aspect of our lives we take for granted. Road Rash was one of a number of tales I’d written based on turning a common term on its head. I liked the idea of road rash being something that could be contracted from the roads if someone wasn’t careful. I submitted the story to an anthology and the editor loved the story, but said it needed to be a book and an exotic twist would knock it out of the park.



When it came to the exotic twist, I knew just what to use. I’m quite an empirical person. I like to write about things I understand, things I’ve actually taken part in or things I have some experience with. So, I hoard experiences to the point of going out of my way to take part in things whether I need them for a story at the particular moment or not. So naturally, when someone offered my wife and I the chance to attend a Santeria ritual while we were traveling in Guatemala, I jumped at the chance.



I don’t think I could have made this up if I tried, it was that wonderful and spooky. The community that practiced Santeria lived in the shadow of three volcanoes and a lake isolated them from the mainland. The only way of getting to them was by boat. We took a trip out to the island, which amounted to a shantytown. People selling handicrafts covered the jetty where we landed. A kid no more than eight said he knew why we’d come to the village and for a buck he'd take us to the witch. He led us through the dirt-covered streets and down an alley into an unfinished cinderblock room. An effigy sat in a chair with a cigarette drooping from its lips and a trail of smoke leaking skyward. All sorts of knickknacks and trinkets surrounded it. A woman as old as time shuffled around in an adjoining room. A young woman asked us to sit on the floor and take part in some unknown ceremony. It goes without saying that it was more than a tad creepy and our nerves didn’t hold out, so we got the hell out of Dodge before something happened. I’m as superstitious as the next person. The imagery was very potent and the incident stuck with me and dovetailed nicely into the exotic element the editor wanted for Road Rash. I don’t pretend to understand half what I witnessed, but the incident inspired me to develop a great backdrop for James Straley when he's forced to travel to Guatemala. It gave the story a whole new different dimension.



James Straley wasn’t as fortunate as my wife and I, as he had stay for the ritual. The experience changes his life forever and hopefully it’ll change yours too when you read it.





Yours eagerly,

Simon Wood

simonwoodwrites@yahoo.com

www.simonwood.net




BIO: Simon Wood is an ex-racecar driver, a licensed pilot and an occasional private investigator. He shares his world with his American wife, Julie. A longhaired dachshund and five cats dominate their lives. He's had over 150 stories and articles published. His short fiction has appeared in a variety of magazines anthologies, such as Seattle Noir, Thriller 2 and Woman’s World. He's a frequent contributor to Writer's Digest. His fiction has garnered an Anthony Award and Dagger Award nomination from the Crime Writers Association in the UK. He's the author of Working Stiffs, Accidents Waiting to Happen, Paying the Piper, We All Fall Down, Asking For Trouble and Terminated. As Simon Janus, he's the author of The Scrubs and Road Rash. Curious people can learn more at www.simonwood.net.









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Thank you Simon for sharing that story! I do wonder about that Santeria ritual in Guatemala and can only imagine it was something that chilled and fascinated as well. Road Rash sounds like a thrilling read. Best of luck with your work!

I'd like to give a warm welcome to Dianne Castell, author of Hot and Irresistible. Diane has taken time out of her busy schedule to stop by my blog and chat.

About the book:

In a city of history, mystery, and more than a few ghosts, four best friends who have never fit in anywhere except with each other are about to get close—and closer still—to four sexy bachelors with alluring secrets of their own…



SOUTHERN COMFORT, SAVANNAH STYLE...


Bebe Fitzpatrick knows how to take care of herself until she stumbles into the arms of a damn sexy Yankee who’s gunning for Savannah’s favorite shady entrepreneur...



Detective Donovan McCabe is as popular as General Grant.What he needs is a better game plan. What he gets is a southern wildcat who makes his toes curl...

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Reader/Writer Get-Together: Authors Helping Authors Get Published


Whenever we achieve something in out lives we’ve had help along the way. Somehow, someway we all stand on the shoulders of others. Someone has helped us to get where we want to go.


When we do achieve our goal we must then help others. It’s the right thing to do and it’s fun! Now that I’m a published author I believe I must help other get published and I must give my readers the best read I can.


Lori Foster, a dear friend since before either of us were published, believes this too so we came up with the Reader/Writer Get-together. We’ve done this for five years now here in Cincinnati and the sixth year is in the works. The cost is fifty-five dollars, just enough to cover the costs of the three meals at the Marriott where the get-together is held. It is always the first weekend in June.


The idea behind the get-together is three fold. Lori and I bring in editors and agents who take author appointments where writers can pitch their work and find representation. We have over a hundred authors attend each year so readers have a chance to meet their favorite authors and get acquainted with new authors and talk books. And we also have a huge raffle of donated baskets and a huge book fair. All the proceeds of the raffle and a percentage of the Barnes and Noble book fair go to local charities. To date the get-together has generated over thirty-thousand dollars for local charities such as the YWCA Battered Woman’s Shelter, AAF the Animal Adoption Foundation a no-kill shelter, One-Way Farm a home for abused and abandoned children.


There is nothing more fun then talking about books and there is no group of people more generous and supportive than readers and writers. Lori and I want to do our best to give back to that community. The Reader/Writer Get-together is our way of helping others and our community as others have helped us.


To see photos of the get-together visit my website www.DianneCastell.com. It’s a blast and for all the right reasons.


About the author:




USA Today best selling author Dianne Castell writes for Kensington BRAVA. She also writes a monthly editor interview column for Romance Writers Report. Her books have won Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, been on the cover of Romantic Times Magazine and included in Rhapsody Book Club, Doubleday Book Club and have made the Waldenbooks Bestseller list.

The second book in her Savannah Sizzles series for the BRAVA line, Hot and Irresistible, hits the shelves Nov‘09. Hot Summer Nights is out May ’10.
Dianne lives in Cincinnati with her two cats and will do just about anything to get out of housework.

You can visit her website at www.DianneCastell.com .


------------------------------


Thank you Diane for stopping by today! The Savannah Sizzles series sound great! And the Reader/Writer Get-Together sounds wonderful. What a great way to get together with fellow book lovers and help others in the process.

Special thanks to Dorothy over at
http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com/ for making this possible.

I'd like to give a warm welcome to Jane Odiwe, author of Willoughby’s Return. Read on for her guest post and then for info on how to enter to win a copy of Willoughby’s Return!



Thank you Naida for inviting me to talk about my about my favourite Austen novel, and how it helped me to write my new book, Willoughby’s Return.



My favourite Austen novel is a difficult choice because I love them all, but, if I could only choose one, it would have to be Persuasion. Of course, Willoughby’s Return was inspired very much by Sense and Sensibility, another favourite, but my love of Persuasion is very strong, and sometimes themes and motifs from that book creep into my writing. One of these themes is of love being renewed after it is lost between the hero and heroine. I wanted to explore the idea in a different way in Willoughby’s Return. Although Marianne is very happily married, I wondered what would happen if her love was tested. If circumstances forced her to doubt her husband, and Willoughby returned to tempt her, would the love that Marianne and Willoughby had known be rekindled, or would Marianne’s “sense” prevail?



I also wanted to tell Margaret Dashwood’s story, as in Sense and Sensibility she only has a small part. I decided she was now old enough to fall in love! Enter Charles Carey – although we only hear of the Miss Careys in Sense and Sensibility, I thought it might be fun to introduce their brother. Charles is a sailor, and early on we learn he has gone to sea, and that he is strongly attached to Margaret. There are definite echoes of Persuasion here, but Mr. Carey is not her only suitor!



Finally, Jane Austen tells us that Colonel Brandon’s house is at Delaford in Dorset. I could not resist having Lyme Regis (from Persuasion) for some of the action that takes place in the book and it is also here in a village just out of Lyme that the Colonel’s ward has made her home. Marianne finds it difficult to talk about the Colonel’s ward, Eliza Williams, partly because she is the daughter of the Colonel’s “first love,” and partly because of Eliza’s past liaison with Mr. Willoughby. However, circumstances arise that are beyond Marianne’s control, and she is forced to face some ‘ghosts’ from the past.



Here’s an extract from Willoughby’s Return which was heavily inspired by Persuasion, taking place in the same setting as that book:

On the third day Marianne entered Lyme, weary but thankful she was nearing her destination. She had made occasional visits to the watering hole in the past with her sister Elinor and the children on hot sunny days and remembered them with happiness. The splendid situation of the town with the principal street almost rushing into the water looked very different in the winter light. Everywhere was shut up; only the fishermen were to be seen on the Cobb, their boats bobbing on the water, their nets prepared for fishing. In warmer weather the pleasant little bay would be lively with bathing machines and company in the season. Her eye sought the beautiful line of cliffs stretching out to the east of the town; they passed through Charmouth, backed by dark escarpment, trotting down narrow lanes and past Pinny, finally entering the village of Wolfeton Fitzpaine where the forest-trees and orchards waved bare, skeletal arms as if to hasten the warmer winds of summer.


They were soon stopped outside a cottage in the centre of the village, a neat-looking house with mullioned windows to either side of a canopied doorway over which was trained an old rambler. There was a small garden to the front behind a wicket fence with a bench under a window and a stone path winding between the flower beds, where the first signs of spring were starting to sprout in the form of green shoots. Now she was here, Marianne felt very apprehensive. With anxious fears attending every step, she was assisted down from the coach and took a deep breath as she looked toward the house. Before she took another step, the door was flung back and a young girl, her dark hair framing her pretty features, rushed down the path to take Marianne’s hands in her own.

© Jane Odiwe, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2009

It usually takes about a year for me to get a book together, and it’s about a year or more between the publications. My next book is written, a story about Elizabeth, Darcy, and Georgiana from Pride and Prejudice, to be published by Sourcebooks in Spring 2011. I wonder if you can guess which of Jane’s books is the inspiration for the novel I am writing at the moment? I’d also love to know – what is your favourite Austen novel?


-------------------------------------




Thanks again for stopping by Jane to do such a great guest post. I'm a big Austen fan myself, and Persuasion is one of my favorites. I don't think anything beats Wentworth's love letter to Anne.

Willoughby’s Return sounds really good, and the cover is great. I'd like to guess that Northanger Abbey is your inspiration for your current book. My favorite Austen novel is Pride & Prejudice . There's just something special about Darcy & Lizzie. It's one of the few books i'll re-read and I never get tired of it.








WILLOUGHBY’S RETURN—IN STORES NOVEMBER 2009

A lost love returns, rekindling forgotten passions…


In Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, when Marianne Dashwood marries Colonel Brandon, she puts her heartbreak over dashing scoundrel John Willoughby in the past.


Three years later, Willoughby's return throws Marianne into a tizzy of painful memories and exquisite feelings of uncertainty. Willoughby is as charming, as roguish, and as much in love with her as ever. And the timing couldn't be worse—with Colonel Brandon away and Willoughby determined to win her back, will Marianne find the strength to save her marriage, or will the temptation of a previous love be too powerful to resist?



About the Author


Jane Odiwe is an artist and author. She is an avid fan of all things Austen and is the author and illustrator of Effusions of Fancy, annotated sketches from the life of Jane Austen, as well as Lydia Bennet's Story. She lives with her husband and three children in North London. For more information, please visit http://www.austeneffusions.com/



--------------------------

Giveaway info:

To enter to win:

1. for one entry, leave a comment on this post, include your email.

2. for two entries, blog about this giveaway and leave me the link.

3 for three entries, share your favorite Austen novel or film adaptation.

4. open to US and Canada residents only please

5. deadline to enter is Monday November 23rd, a winner will be announced on Tuesday November 24th.

good luck!




Special thanks to Danielle over at Sourcebooks for making this possible.

I'd like to give a warm welcome to Pat Bertram, the author of Daughter Am I. Pat is stopping by my blog today to chat a bit.



Scarlett O’Hara was originally called Pansy. If Margaret Mitchell had kept that name, would her epic novel ever have become so popular? I doubt it. A Pansy would be sweet and biddable with rare moments of stubbornness, but she could never be as strong-willed as Scarlett, and she would never have caught and kept the attention of such a worldly man as Rhett.

Though Scarlett fits the name of the character in Gone With the Wind, it could not be the name of a medieval heroine. In those days, almost all girls were named Mary, with Elizabeth coming in a distant second.
I suppose if Gone With the Wind were written in the 1980s, Scarlett’s name would have been Heather. Odd to think that in another forty years, youth will scorn that name as being old-fashioned, fit only for elderly women, much like Effie is today. (I shudder to think how many babies being born right now are being named Britney, Lindsay, or Paris.)

But I digress. The point I’m trying to make is that names matter. I had fun naming my aged gangsters in Daughter Am I. In keeping with the times -- bootlegger times, that is -- I gave them nicknames that matched their characters. (Now that I think of it, I don’t remember what their “real” names were, only their nicknames.) I called my wise old conman “Teach,” my dapper little old forger “Kid Rags,” my ex-wrestler “Crunchy.”

And then there’s my hero, poor Mary. She starts out so young and innocent, and ends up on a road trip with six feisty old gangsters and one ex-nightclub dancer. I had not intended for her to keep the name Mary. It’s so not the name of a heroine of today! Nor is my Mary a medieval maiden. I named the character Mary Stuart after Mary Stuart Masterson in the film Bed of Roses because both Marys were strong but vulnerable when it came to love, both were very smart yet a bit naive. I never did change my Mary’s name. By the time I finished the book, the character and the name were inextricably entwined. At least it’s fairly innocuous. Like Margaret Mitchell, I could have named my heroine Pansy. Ouch.

Description of Daughter Am I: When twenty-five-year-old Mary Stuart learns she inherited a farm from her recently murdered grandparents-grandparents her father claimed had died before she was born-she becomes obsessed with finding out who they were and why someone wanted them dead. Along the way she accumulates a crew of feisty octogenarians-former gangsters and friends of her grandfather. She meets and falls in love Tim Olson, whose grandfather shared a deadly secret with her great-grandfather. Now Mary and Tim need to stay one step ahead of the killer who is desperate to dig up that secret.



About the author:

Pat Bertram is a native of Colorado and a lifelong resident. When the traditional publishers stopped publishing her favorite type of book — character and story driven novels that can’t easily be slotted into a genre — she decided to write her own. Daughter Am I is Bertram’s third novel to be published by Second Wind Publishing, LLC. Also available are More Deaths Than One and A Spark of Heavenly Fire.


-------------------

Thanks for stopping by Pat! I definitely can't imagine the heroine of GWTW being named Pansy. Daughter Am I sounds like an interesting book. To my blog readers, you can click here to read chapter one of Daughter Am I.

Hello fellow bloggers, I have a special treat today. The fabulous Laurie Viera Rigler
has kindly taken time out of her busy schedule to do a guest post here at my blog.





Laurie is the author of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict and Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict .




You can follow Laurie on Twitter where she is tweeting Jane Austen's PERSUASION and will soon be tweeting NORTHANGER ABBEY.


Read Laurie's guest post below, then read on for information on how you can win a signed copy of her book.





Scenes from the Writing Life: Embracing the "I Don't Know"


Not knowing can be a pretty unpleasant place to be. Not knowing the answer to the test. Not knowing what's in style. When you're going to find a job. What you're supposed to wear to the party. What you should say to that gorgeous neighbor of yours when you finally get up the nerve to introduce yourself.



When we don't know, we can feel small, uncertain, inadequate, out of control. Even frightened.



It's no wonder that when writers find themselves in the place of "I don't know," as in, "I don't know what's supposed to happen next in my story," they often freeze. Or block.



I've done it myself, many times. See, I tend to be a control freak. And the thought of not knowing what's going to happen can be terrifying, storywise and otherwise. How can I have control over something that I can't see coming? How can I prepare for it, manipulate it, and predict its outcome? Truth is, I can't.



And that doesn't have to be a bad thing.



When I was in the early stages of writing my first novel, CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT, I wrote an outline, figuring it was my key to certainty. I wouldn't have to worry about what was going to happen next, because I'd made all of the decisions beforehand. Makes sense, right?



Not for this author. By the time I finished the book, it bore almost no resemblance to the outline. And when I look at the outline now and see what I had planned for my story, it wasn't nearly as good (understatement; it was terrible) as what happened when I just let the story unfold in its own way.



That doesn't mean that plotting and outlining is a bad thing. Quite the contrary. I know many fine authors who are plotters. Plotting works for them. But what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another.



All well and good, you might say, but what about those times when nothing's coming out? What about those times when you're staring at the blank page or the blinking cursor on your screen?



If you find yourself in that position, I have some helpful rules for you—guidelines, actually—that helped me tremendously while I was writing my second novel, RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT.



By the way, these rules aren't only for those of you who are writing a novel or a short story—they could also be helpful if you are writing narrative nonfiction. Or a paper for school. Or a college application personal statement. Or a presentation to a prospective client. Or maybe even a difficult email (as long as you make sure you're not getting your brilliant ideas for said email while in a state of anger. Brilliance comes when your mind is clear, not clouded with anger).



Rule number one: Don't freak out.



Rule number two: Step away from the vehicle, i.e., stop trying to turn over that engine in your head. It's flooded with too much analytical, know-it-all thinking.



Rule number three: Decide that you are in the wonderful land of "I don't know," where magical answers appear without any effort.



Rule number four: Sit in a quiet space (it's often a good idea to get away from your desk) and close your eyes. In your mind, ask your character or whomever you're writing about or your inner wisdom or whomever you turn to (or wish you could turn to) for guidance to show you or tell you what happens next. Or what you're supposed to say. Trust that whatever you need to hear or see will be revealed to you.



Rule number five: Be open to the possibility that what comes to you may be quite different from what your analytical mind would have thought up.



Rule number six: If nothing happens and you start getting frustrated sitting around in silence, or you second-guess the process and start grinding your analytical thinking gears again, decide that the answer will come to you in good time. Then do something mindless. Like go for a drive,* do the dishes, take a shower, work in the garden, or organize your collection of DVDs. Or Jane Austen action figures.



Rule number seven: Have faith that the answer will come. Because it will. You'll see: Like magic, the ideas start flowing. You'll see/hear the scenes or words unfold in your head. At times you'll be hard pressed to keep up with the flow of words and/or pictures as you try and write it all down.


*If you start getting a flow of ideas while driving, do pull over. I once got so lost in a flow of creative ideas while I was pulling out of a parking space that I scraped the car parked next to me. In other words, don't try and operate heavy equipment while your muse or character dictates to you. Besides, if you pull over, you can actually take dictation on paper or pull out the mini cassette recorder you keep in your glove compartment.



Rule number eight: Decide to remember the exhilarating, mind-opening experience you've just had. Which will help you put into practice rules one and seven the next time you get stuck.



Has any of you ever had a similar experience? I'd love to hear about it.



Would any of you like to try out these rules with your own writing or with something else that doesn't involve writing at all? I'd love to hear your thoughts about that, too!



Please feel free to ask me questions as well. Who knows; I may even have an answer. :)

------------------------------------------


Thank you so much for stopping by and chatting with us Laurie! You've given some great advice here. I think rule number one is one to live by!

And I agree with rule number seven, 'Have faith that the answer will come'. So many times in life, if you just step back and take a minute away from the situation, the answer to the problem or dilema will come to you when you least expect it.




Giveaway info:


I'm giving away one personally inscribed copy of my new novel, RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT, which is the parallel story to my first novel, CONFESSIONS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT. I'm giving away an inscribed copy of CONFESSIONS, too. Everyone who enters a comment or a question gets a chance to win.



***This contest is now closed***




***Thank you again to Laurie for kindly offering two signed copies of her books!***



Here's a trailer for Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict .

I'd like to welcome senior vice president of the NBA’s Orlando Magic and successful author Pat Williams to my blog today for a guest post. Mr. Williams is on a virtual book tour promoting his latest book Extreme Dreams Depend on Teams. You can read his guest post below then read on to learn about the book.







There was a time in the NBA world that there was such a thing as an off-season, but those days are no longer. From the Finals to the draft to free agency to the summer leagues, fans of the NBA receive a steady diet of hoops to last them through July. This summer’s offerings have been especially tasty.





NBA fans are still trying to digest all of the front office maneuvering so far this summer: Richard Jefferson traded to San Antonio, Shaq to the Cavs, Vince Carter returning home to Orlando, Ron Artest teaming up with Kobe on the Lakers and the Celtics adding Rasheed Wallace to their frontline. The league’s elite teams visited the Golden Corral all-you-can-eat buffet while the rest of the NBA stayed home and had grilled cheese. The question is which of these teams helped themselves enough to be crowned 2010 NBA champions?





The general consensus is that San Antonio, Cleveland, Orlando, the Lakers and Boston are the clear cut favorites to contend for the Larry O’Brien trophy. Because of their off-season moves, each team is deeper, more versatile and, potentially, better equipped to win an NBA title. However, there is one major unknown component here. How will these newly constructed organizations come together as teams?





Team chemistry is a phrase often bandied about but never defined. Sometimes it even takes on another name; for the 2008 NBA champion Boston Celtics it was the African word Ubuntu. Throughout my four decades in the NBA, I have found that team chemistry is based on eight essential factors: playing with top talent; having great leadership, both on the bench and the court; being committed to team goals; playing with passion; thinking “team first”; empowering teammates; building respect and trust amongst players and coaches; and having people in the organization of great character.





I cannot speak for the impact that Richard Jefferson, Shaquille O’Neal, Ron Artest or Rasheed Wallace will have on their new ball clubs; I don’t know their locker rooms all that well. Those teams have talent and they have leadership, and I know that those organizations are made up of great people. I just think that you don’t get any better than the team in Orlando.





In Orlando, we have accomplished all of our goals. General manager Otis Smith has done a tremendous job surrounding our talented core – Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard – with an outstanding supporting cast. Our team is led by people of great character; players, coaches, staff and ownership are all committed to being champions on and off the court. From owner Rich DeVos to head coach Stan Van Gundy, we have some of the best leadership in all of professional sports.





The team and the fans in Orlando are not arrogant or cocky, we’re just confident. That confidence comes from believing that our staff, our leadership and our players will sacrifice their personal goals for the betterment of the team. In fact, for many of our players, the betterment of the team IS their personal goal. All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson always explains his personal goal as this: “To be the best teammate that anyone has ever had.” That’s the reason Jameer is one of the captains of this team. That’s also the reason Orlando is confident that the Finals will be back in town in June, 2010.







ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Pat Williams is the senior vice president of the NBA’s Orlando Magic. He is a popular motivational speaker averaging over 150 appearances a year. Williams has spent 45 years in professional baseball and basketball as a player and executive. He served as general manager of the 1983 world champion Philadelphia 76ers and managed the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks.



Williams is the author of 55 books. He and his wife, Ruth, are the parents of 19 children, including 14 adopted from four nations. He and his family have been featured in such diverse publications as Sports Illustrated, Reader’s Digest, Good Housekeeping, The Wall Street Journal, and Focus on the Family as well as all the major TV networks. Pat and Ruth recently received an award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute for their efforts in adoption. To learn more about Pat Williams, visit www.PatWilliamsMotivate.com.



ABOUT THE BOOK:



Human beings are designed for teamwork, and teamwork is the only way to make seemingly impossible dreams and bold visions come true. Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven consecutive times, not by himself, but with the backing of his coaches, mechanic, and teammates. Charles Lindbergh may have been called “the Lone Eagle” because of his 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic, but he assembled a first-rate team to make his dream possible.



In his new book, Extreme Dreams Depend on Teams (Center Street, July 22, 2009), Orlando Magic co-founder and Senior Vice President Pat Williams says that teamwork is the key to making extreme dreams a reality. Named one of the 50 most influential people in the NBA (National Basketball Association) after following his dream and helping to build the Orlando Magic from the ground up, Williams gives inspiring accounts of the power of teamwork—many of them personal—in a book that leadership guru Patrick Lencioni calls “the most comprehensive and interesting collection of wisdom on teamwork I have ever read.”



In Extreme Dreams Depend on Teams, Williams points out that extreme dreams are only fulfilled when teams are led with characteristics like respect, empowerment, commitment, trust and passion. “Once you put teamwork into practice in your organization, these principles will begin transforming everything. They will transform how you view the world, including our society and its problems, and the political and environmental issues we face…you’ll begin seeing the world through a lens of extreme dreams, extreme possibilities, and the power of teamwork,” says Williams.




Special thanks to PUMP UP YOUR BOOK PROMOTION VIRTUAL BOOK TOURS

"We take books to the virtual level!"

www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.com



And thank you to Mr. Williams for stopping by today! It's been a pleasure reading about him and his book. Wow, 19 children including 14 adopted from four nations! That is amazing.

I am happy to welcome Tomi Akinyanmi, author of A Worthy Legacy to my blog today.

About the book:

The quiet last words


The Harmattan wind scorches across Nigeria, and an old man lies dying. His community gathers to pay its respects; their haunting songs echoing in the warm twilight. Tomi Akinyanmi, his eldest granddaughter, is present along with the rest of the family, and as she listens to Grandpa’s last words, she feels a resonance deep within her heart. For Grandpa doesn’t talk of regrets, or petty grievances, instead he talks softly about life; how to survive, how to be happy, how to achieve self-respect.


A year on from her Grandpa’s death, Tomi returns to his village. The family bonds have crumbled, no longer held strong by their patriarch. Searching for some link to her Grandpa, in the hope of understanding more, Tomi looks for the journal she once wrote and in which Grandpa would set thought-provoking essays. She finds the journal, but instead of one last essay, she finds Grandpa has left her his thoughts, a continuation of those spoken on his deathbed.


He explains to Tomi that life is a gift, and that it should be treated as such. He also writes of love, and the importance of giving love to others to allow them to love in return. His final words speak of happiness and how it can be achieved through four different disciplines, each balanced and working together.


“Hard work does not mean wealth; Neither does wealth mean class. Age does not mean wisdom, And Love does not mean bliss. Hard work drives vision. Class comes with confidence. Wisdom is found in experience, And love is but a shelter for him who finds it. Amid all the life storms, A man would wade through; Confidence and vision, wisdom and love, Together pull him through.”


“A Worthy Legacy” is a book far greater than its sum of parts; a moral guide that does not preach or command, but simply presents a code for life with a confidence and credibility that allows the reader to relate to and apply its philosophies.

Now onto the author's guest post:

There is a lot to learn from life and each day, I am reminded of that. For instance today, while driving and running errands, I saw two different instances on that stretch of 8 mile road that once again reinforced the lessons of life.




First as I came to a stop at a red light, I tried to grab a pen lying in the middle console of the car to add something I just rememberered to my grocery list but as I reached for the pen, I mistakenly pushed it into the leg space on the passenger side. I immediately bent down to grab the pen and as I lifted up my head, from the corner of my eyes, I saw the car beside me start to move. At first, it seemed like I was going on reverse. If not that I was driving and I was pretty sure I had not put the gears into reverse and that my foot was jammed tight on the brakes, I probably would have panicked since there was this huge truck right behind me. To tell you the truth though, I did check the gears just to be sure. Anyways, I looked up and saw that in that brief moment when I bent to pick up the pen, the light had changed. As I drove away, it occurred to me that there were times in life when it seems like we are on the reverse when everyone seem to be going full speed but really it does take for us to realize what measure we are using to gauge our success. If we look at the pace at which someone else is going, it is quite likely that we would be led to believe that we are not doing as well as we ought to but if we look at focus on ourselves and see just how far we have come from where we started, we are most likely to celebrate our success.



As if to complete this lesson on life, not too far from the lights, the single lane road I was driving on turned into two lanes I decided to go in the right lane and the car behind me sped up on the left lane. Suddenly a bolt of truth seem to hit me: Many people (friends, siblings, cousins etc) start life from the same starting point however, most times, they continue on different momentum and the person in the back might outrun the those that are ahead. Also we all choose different parts and things might just happen for you in a different way than someone who had started on the same path with you. Like the adage in Yoruba language “Ika ko dogba” which translated literarily means fingers are not equal. Just look at the fingers on your hands and you see that even though they all belong on the same hand their width and length are different and it is the same way with life, siblings, friends, colleagues, you might have a common root but each person still ends up been different.



Every situation and circumstance in life has a lesson for us; some are plain enough for us to see and some of them are discovered. The book “A Worthy Legacy” contains a lot of advice and thoughts on life giving guidance and helping us identify learning situations in life circumstances in applying them we can change our lives for the better and also make a difference in the lives of other people.




From the desk of......

Tomi Akinyanmi

Author - A Worthy Legacy.

www.aworthylegacy.com

I would like to give a warm welcome to Kathy-Diane Leveille. She has kindly taken time out of her schedule to stop by for an interview. Miss Leveille is the author of Let the Shadows Fall Behind You.

About the book:

When Brannagh’s boyfriend, Nikki, disappears into thin air, she reluctantly returns to the east coast for a reunion of the childhood club Tuatha-de-Dananns. She hides out at her Grandmother’s cottage near the woods where her mother was murdered fifteen years ago. As Brannagh tries to solve the mystery behind Nikki’s vanishing, she is haunted by the secrets hiding the most startling disappearance of all.

Author Bio:


Kathy-Diane Leveille is a former broadcast journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation who discovered the only thing more thrilling than reading a wonderful story is harnessing the power of the imagination to write one. Her short story collection Roads Unravelling was published to critical acclaim after a selection from its pages Learning to Spin was adapted to radio drama for CBC’s Summer Drama Festival. The tale Showdown at the Four Corner’s Corral was revised for the stage and performed by New City Theater in Saint John . She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Kiss of Death RWA and Crime Writers of Canada.




And now...onto the interview....






Bookworm: Welcome Kathy-Diane, and thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to grant me a blog interview. Please tell us a bit about yourself.




Kathy-Diane: I’m a former broadcast journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. I’ve always written stories and poetry, but when I was on maternity leave with my youngest son I decided to tackle my dream of writing a novel. I had tried on a couple of occasions, but I think that was the first time I took the elements of the craft seriously. Of course, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing! I still believe that even if I had realized how extremely difficult it is, and how much there is to learn, I would have plunged in anyway. There is something inside me that needs to ‘live life on the page.’ I live on the east coast and most of my fiction is set here. There is an ethereal quality to the ocean landscape that lends perfectly to mystery, suspense and thrillers. I live with my family (husband and 2 boys) next to a lovely garden inhabited by cardinals and humming birds.





Bookworm: What inspires you to write?



Kathy-Diane: My story ideas are born from a question. For example, on spring day when I was walking along the river I spotted something floating in it that looked like a box. That aroused my curiosity. I wondered what it was, who it belonged to and who would find it. That led to the short story “Maggie’s Wake” in my first book “Roads Unravelling.” Maggie’s convinced her life is over when she spots a coffin floating down the river. Question and character go hand in hand for me.





Bookworm: In your new book, Let The Shadows Fall Behind You, you write about mysterious disappearances. How do you research for a book like this? How long did it take you to write this book?




Kathy-Diane: My imagination has always been twigged by unexplained disappearances. I’m actually starting a new blog to document them all. (I’ll post it the URL when it’s ready). Some are quirky urban legends or folklore; others defy logic and hint at paranormal phenomenon; tragically; still others when solved irrefutably indicate foul play. I think the reason these incidents catch my attention as a writer is because they are the kind of events that are life-changing. You’re following your normal day-to-day routine, business as usual, when an unexplained disappearance occurs and life, as you know, is in upheaval, and it’s impossible to return to the sure footing you took for granted. Think of the passengers on flight 815 in the TV series LOST. In reality, when I read history books or the headlines I find myself wondering about the living, breathing people behind unsolved disappearances. Some incidents appear quirky, speculative and as harmless as childhood tales around the camp fire. Then a real life headline brings shock and anger when CNN announces that the unthinkable is a horrific reality as in the Lacey Peterson case.




I started writing LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU on coffee breaks while I was at the hospital. I began working as a medical transcriptionist because it didn’t sap my creativity the way journalism did, and left room to pursue my dream of writing a novel. I can’t remember the initial spark for this story, but I do know I wanted to write about a woman whose lover disappears into thin air. I usually don’t do research in my initial draft too much. I start with the question or puzzle first, followed by the character, and exploring their journey as they try to solve it. I find if I start researching too soon, it can be a distraction, and an excuse not to write. Also, the story could change completely with time, and I may not even need the material I’ve researched if I do it too soon. When I know I’ve nailed the plot, I go through the novel making notes. In this case, I then contacted law enforcement, a historian and a naturalist. I find things go smoothly if I’m professionally prepared before contacting an expert. If I’ve researched on my own as much as possible at the Saint John Regional Library, and have the questions down, I don’t waste anyone’s time. I live on the east coast, but I did travel to Toronto because the reference libraries are huge, and who can resist being around all those wonderful books.




Having said all that though, I don’t write FACTION. No matter how much research I do, I’m just using it to legitimize and enhance a story that is pure FICTION. It sprang out of my imagination and nowhere else. That’s the thrill of being a writer! I always put in the disclaimer that any mistakes are solely my own and not those experts kind enough to answer my questions.






Bookworm: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?




Kathy-Diane: I hope you enjoy LET THE SHADOWS FALL as much as I enjoyed writing it. At heart, this is a book about the power of friendship. When Brannagh returns home for a childhood reunion of the Tuatha-De-Danaans, despite Nikki’s vanishing, she finally confronts the past she’s been running away from. Nothing can change the past, but friends hold the power to transform the future. Drop by my web site and let me know what you think. I always love to hear from readers: http://kathy-dianeleveille.com





Bookworm:Who are your favorite authors and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

Kathy-Diane: My husband and I love reading Harlen Coban because of his skilled plotting, and the challenge of trying to figure out who-dun-it. When I can keep guessing right to the end of the book, I’m your reader for life. I love novels that are intricate and unusual like the British Queen of Suspense Patricia Highsmith. (You may recognize her novel that was adapted to the motion picture “The Incredible Mr. Ripley”). I’ve read every book I can find by Nicci French, a British husband and wife team, who pen psychological thrillers because the plots are believable, the prose clean and poetic (an extremely difficult balance to achieve in genre); and the protagonists are smart, funny, sympathetic and real.





Bookworm: Do you have any advice for other writers?




Kathy-Diane: Join as many writers’ organizations and attend as many conferences as you can afford. Network, network, network. Even if you are a card-carrying introvert like me, you will connect with people in passing, in line at the wine bar or on the elevator. I started interviewing many of the generous authors I’ve met on the road to publication once a week on my blog, and always ask for a tip on how debut novelists can survive in today’s publishing world. It’s my security blanket! It’s nice to connect with friends when you’re heading into new territory. Most writers are big-hearted and willing to offer advice if time permits, and if approached in a professional manner. Never stop learning! That’s the unending challenge of writing. You complete one goal and another looms on the horizon. By the way, Shadows Fall N Friends interviews are every Thursday at http://lettheshadowsfallbehindyou.blogspot.com. For a schedule of who is up when, drop me a line at shadowsfall@kathy-dianeleveille.com





Bookworm: Last but not least, if you were stranded on a deserted island, and were allowed to bring 3 items with you, what would they be?



Kathy-Diane:

I’m going to assume that my desert island has water and fruit trees; landscape from which I could build a shelter, start a fire and fashion weapons for fishing/hunting/protection. I could rip down medium-size branches to weave into a shelter, and find razor-edged rocks or shells to carve weapons and shavings to start a fire in the Girl-Guide tradition. Once I got the fire going, I’d have to figure how to sustain it, but I’m sure like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, I’d manage. That means I can choose the three most important things outside of food, shelter and water. ONE: A box of pencils already sharpened. TWO: A box of note pads. THREE: The Narnia Series by C. S. Lewis in a plastic baggie.





The hardest thing to decide here was which book to put in that baggie. I settled on this one because it was a childhood favourite. It would be familiar and comforting. The theme is spiritually uplifting, Aslan is a gentle warrior/saviour. The powerful magic/fantasy in the writing would provide a huge distraction and escape from the pressures of surviving day to day. But most of all, the book is about my favourite topic: unexplained disappearances. Whoever steps into the magical wardrobe seemingly vanishes into thin air. You know, when I come to think about it, maybe that’s where my fascination began!



Naida, thank you so much for inviting me to be your guest and meeting all your readers. Let me know what you think of Let the Shadows Fall Behind You at shadowsfall@kathy-dianeleveille.com. I’d love to hear from you.
Happy Reading !

Kathy-Diane

http://kathy-dianeleveille.com




Bookworm: Thank you so much for stopping by Kathy, it's been a pleasure! I really need to read The Narnia Series, they sound like a fun selection to bring if stuck on a deserted island :) Let the Shadows Fall Behind You sounds like a great book, especially since it deals with a mysterious vanishing. It's always interesting to learn more about the author behind the book!