We Can Be Heroes Blog Tour: Interview With Scott Fitzgerald Gray

Today I have an interview with Scott Fitzgerald Gray, author of the recently released We Can Be Heroes, a Science Fiction Thriller.

Blurb:

Death and Friendship.
Love and Gaming.
Mind and Machine.
The Meaning of Life.
High School Graduation.
The End of the World.
That Kind of Stuff.

If you press them, anyone who games will admit to some variation on the idea of how they'd love to be the hero for real, just once. Just for one day. But right now, I'm on an empty street five hundred kilometers from home, barely able to walk. I'm soaked and shivering, wearing someone else's clothes, and with way too many memories of almost dying rattling around in my head. And right here, right now, all I can think about is what I'd say if anybody asked me how much I want to be a hero...

I try to focus. I need to bring the previous days into some sort of relief that will let me sum things up.

"Me and some friends of mine, we got caught up in something. We thought we were beta-playing a game. An online tactical simulation, but the game turned out to be... you know what, that doesn't matter. But none of it was our fault, and now we have something this guy Lincoln wants. A piece of tech. I want to give it back to him, but I can't trust him to leave things alone after that."

"What kind of tech?"

"A Soviet-era mobile weapons platform, whose heuristic on-board systems developed advanced artificial intelligence capability while it sat forgotten in a bunker in Smolensk." Saying it sounds just about as ridiculous as I expect it to.

"I didn't think you wrote fiction." Connor tries and fails to laugh. It's like he has some sort of esophageal deformity that routes all intent to guffaw straight from his lungs to his nose.

"Not fiction. This is the truth..."

And now, for the interview!

What inspired We Can Be Heroes?

The story behind We Can Be Heroes is one of those uber-geek recollections that really has no interest for anyone except me. But since you ask… :-)

The novel is a kind of homage to my own experience of high school, and being a geek and a gamer, and developing friendships at that age that helped shape the person I was and the person I became. The book starts out in a kind of analogue version of the small town in which I grew up, and features an analogue version of the high school in which my precocious intellectualism was first given voice, and its characters are an analogue version of me and analogue/gestalt versions of the above-mentioned friends, and its baseline emotional story is built largely on a question that really defined much of my own adolescence — How we meet the challenges of a world so large, so impersonal, and so out of control that we as individuals have no ability to face up to it?

Then as a kind of ironic metafictional thing, the larger techno-thriller plotline that sees the main characters on the run from a private paramilitary group with a load of stolen technology is actually inspired by a roleplaying game that was a big part of the high school experience of my friends and I. For me as a writer, it was fun to play with the resonance between the different layers of the story, knowing how they related to each other. And though the book contains pretty much nothing in the way of actual events drawn from real life, I was able to write it very much with the feel of something “based on a true story”. To judge by the initial feedback I’ve had on the book, that sense of the story feeling real — of it feeling very personal despite a fairly high-concept plot and a lot of action — has come through in the writing, and that’s very gratifying.

What draws you to speculative fiction?

Like a lot of bored middle-class North American kids coming of age in the 70s and 80s, I was first drawn to speculative fiction because it represented a great alternative to a real world that seemed pretty profoundly dull. (With the benefit of much hindsight, I’m happy to report that I understand a lot of significant things actually happened during the 70s and 80s. But growing up in a very small town in Western Canada, I wasn’t in a much of position to appreciate them at the time.) And though my interest as a reader covers just about every genre and type of fiction, I continue to focus on speculative fiction and fantasy as a writer because I like to be able to tap into the broad possibilities of those genres.

It’s been said before by people smarter than me, but working within a fictional world limited only by your own imagination is both a blessing a curse. A blessing because you can tell literally any story that comes to mind; a curse because it gets very easy to tell stories that disconnect from the core essentials of dramatic storytelling — morality, the struggle for survival, and what William Faulkner famously called "the human heart in conflict with itself." SF & F writers can too easily get caught up in the world building that's a core part of speculative fiction and fantasy, and character story too often suffers as a result. Even working within SF & F, I'm a writer who believes pretty strongly that real character story is the ultimate point and purpose of fiction, and I like the challenge of crafting effective character story within the wide-open narrative vista that speculative fiction represents.

How do you view the future of indie authors/publishing?

Again making full acknowledgement that this has been said by smarter people than me, the publishing world is obviously at a point of massive upheaval and transition, and it seems pretty clear that the larger publishers (what many call the Big Six or "legacy publishing") aren’t doing a particularly good job of navigating that upheaval and transition. I’m fairly ambivalent about the whole tradpub-vs.-Amazon/indie-vs.-legacy debate that a lot of writers get very passionate about, though I don’t begrudge anyone the right to voice their opinions and back them up with action. But I think the one thing that is clear is that indie-author publishing is a great opportunity for those authors willing to take advantage of it.

I think that in the future of indie author/publishers, you’re going to see a lot more authors making the leap to define themselves as publishers first and foremost, in recognition of the importance of the full process of publishing — writing, story/developmental editing, copy editing, proofreading, cover design, promotion, distribution. And I think that indie author/publishers are going to have to do so in order to separate themselves from the increasing numbers of authors who simply focus on the first and last steps in that process — writing the book, then getting it out there without any real sense of whether the book is ready to be out there. Uploading to Amazon, Smashwords, Lightning Source, or what have you is only the final stage of the publishing process, and the unfortunately large number of writers who don’t understand that are missing out on the ultimate rewards of what indie publishing can do for authors.

If you could have a conversation with any author (living or dead) who would it be?

Probably Joseph Conrad. There are any number of writers who have inspired me that I’d love to sit down with for an afternoon over a beverage. But for me, Conrad had a singular ability to weave intellect and emotion into his narratives in a way that made each aspect of the narrative stronger. A lot of literature does intellectual narrative really well, but at the expense of emotional resonance; a lot of literature focuses on the emotional journey of characters but creates a kind of internalism that comes up short when dealing with broad ideas. Standing right at the transition point between romanticism and modernism, Conrad managed to nail down both the internal and external, the emotional and the intellectual, with a degree of skill that gives his works an incredible resonance for me.

Additionally, I think Conrad's writer’s journey is a pretty interesting one, and I'd love to be able to hear about that first hand. He didn’t speak English until well into his twenties and didn’t publish his first works until nearly forty years of age, but still managed to create some of the most significant works in English literature. That seems pretty cool to me.

What's a random fact about you that isn't a secret, but which few people know?

I spend much of my day in a state of seething rage at the world and all the people in it. (Except for all of you reading this; you’re totally awesome.) This usually comes as a surprise to people who know me casually, though most of those who’ve put up with me for a number of years know of what I speak. I've always had a somewhat dark view of things that I’ve spent many years trying to deal with (thankfully mostly successfully). In We Can Be Heroes, the first-person narrator Scott is a semiautobiographical version of me during my high school days, and his somewhat bleak view of the world is very much an echo of me on my bad days. The book ultimately is a kind of expression of the process of coming to terms with understanding that the world is only as bleak a place as our own fear of the world allows it to be. The Scott in the book figures that out in the course of the events of the novel, which means that on some level he did a better job of getting his life in order than I did. Still, the fact that I was able to write the book means I caught up to him in the end. :-)

About Scott:

Scott Fitzgerald Gray has been flogging his imagination professionally since deciding he wanted to be a writer and abandoning any hope of a real career in about the fourth grade. The time since has seen him indulge in educational forays in science, arts, and film, and the bewildering variety of occupations that have driven his search for the secret of the human condition include information systems specialist, multimedia developer, teacher, facilitator, journalist, production manager, editor, graphic designer, and logger (because this is Canada, after all).

Purchase links for We Can Be Heroes:
www.amazon.com
www.amazon.co.uk 

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Also: I've been interviewed myself over at the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge blog! Hope you'll stop by--I talk about my favorite scientists and post subjects, and even what I might be doing for 2013's Challenge.

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What do you think of self-publishing? What author would you meet, if you could? Have you read We Can Be Heroes, and/or do you know Scott?


-----The Golden Eagle

Interviewed At Magpie Bridge! + Teaser Tuesday (86)

I've been interviewed (again!) by Paul Tobin at Magpie Bridge about my blog and my website, The Eagle Directory. I answer questions about the idea behind the site, how I put it together, and why I like eagles in the first place. Check it out!*

*If you want to, of course. And if you do, be sure to take a look around Paul's blog: There's poetry, writing posts, other interviews, all kinds of interesting and well-written content.

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And now, for Teaser Tuesday. This is a weekly--and, of course, bookish--meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

Rules for participating:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week, my teaser is from The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene. This is the first book I've read by him (though I did watch The Fabric of the Cosmos on PBS a while back, which he hosted--there's also an Elegant Universe TV series) and it's really good. I find his explanations of important concepts in physics easy enough to grasp without feeling like it's significantly dumbed down for the people who don't happen to be theoretical physicists like, you know, Greene himself.

Einstein found that precisely this idea--the sharing of motion between different dimensions--underlies all of the remarkable physics of special relativity, so long as we realize that not only can spatial dimensions share an object's motion, but the time dimension can share this motion as well. In fact, in the majority of circumstances, most of an object's motion is through time, not space.

-p. 49

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Reading any good non-fiction these days? How about fiction? Got any teasers to share?


-----The Golden Eagle

Spotlighted At The Kelworth Files

Dropping in to say that Chris Kelworth from The Kelworth Files has spotlighted me on his blog as part of a series of short interviews of writing ninjas.

Hope you'll check it out!


-----The Golden Eagle

I'm Over At Wednesday Writer's Workspace Today!

With an exclusive photograph of my writing space. Yes, in an interview at The Writing Nut that's part of Nutschell's Wednesday Writer's Workspace series, you'll be able to see the first image that I've ever put onto the internet.

(On second thought, perhaps the picture is rather anticlimactic . . . though I'll let you decide for yourself.)

Anyway--if you do hop over, take a look around Nutschell's blog. It's one of my favorite sites run by a writer, with all kinds of literary awesome. :)


-----The Golden Eagle

Write Dreams

I hope you'll excuse me for skipping Teaser Tuesday this week, everyone. Instead, I have an interview with Marieke from the Write Dreams auction here to talk about Write Dreams and its mission.

How would you describe Write Dreams and its goal in one sentence?
Write Dreams is a kidlit auction to raise funds for Donna's Dream House, a charity that helps terminally ill children, to recover from an arson attack shortly before Christmas.

What inspired you to start the auction? 
Last year we organized Write Hope, to raise money for Save The Children, after the tsunami and earthquake in Japan. While this is a much smaller scale disaster, it happened a lot closer to home for one of us. Luna lives only a busride away from Blackpool and was horrified to hear about the arson attack, that destroyed a good part of the Dream House. She asked us to help set up Write Dreams and we were more than happy to oblige. Luna and I both know how important it is to make happy memories when there's time. She lost both parents by the time she was 13, and at the same age I had spent a lot of time in hospitals already. Amanda, on the other hand, knows how deep seeded the fear of one of her children contracting a terminal illness can be for a mother.

What is Donna's Dream House? 
Donna’s Dream House is a holiday home for children and teenagers with life-threatening or terminal illnesses, situated in the heart of Blackpool, UK. The Dream House is run completely by volunteers and encourages and sparks the imagination. It’s how any child would imagine the perfect holiday to be. It’s full of light and laughter, fun and - most importantly - life. Since it's start, Donna's Dream House has hosted and helped almost 380 families. 300 of those children have now sadly passed away, but the families who are left behind will always cherish the memories from Donna’s Dream House.

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The auction is currently ongoing and ends later this week, so don't forget to check it out!


-----The Golden Eagle

South of Charm Blog Tour: Interview With Elliot Grace

***REN3 post below, if you've come by for that.***

Today I have the honor of interviewing Elliot Grace, author of South of Charm, here on my blog.

-What inspired you to write South of Charm?

When I was still quite young, a second or third grader if memory serves, my family moved north from Sarasota, to the lesser populated Holmes County countrysides of Ohio, and roughly a mile or two south of a town called Charm.  Many have written over the years of a certain nostalgia associated with growing up in quaint mid-western towns where the grass grows a bit slower, and where the retired salesman on the corner lot, is on a first name basis with the young family of four at the end of the block.  My goal was to capture some of that rural magic from yesteryear, garnish it with a healthy dose of family dysfunction, and sit back, allowing them to figure things out on their own. 

-Are any of the events in your book based on real-life experiences?

For every event that takes place in a story, there's a spark of personal inspiration that has somehow breathed life into the words on that page, regardless of the genre or subject matter.  Danny Kaufman, the main character, is a ten year old boy whose life slowly unravels around him.  As I wrote "Charm," I held his hand and walked him through some of the tough spots in the story, for many of them were snippets of my childhood as well. Memories in need of an outlet.  The experience was refreshing for the both of us ;)

-How did you come up with the title?

"South of Charm" was actually the third title of the book.  After deciding against the previous two, my editor and I kicked around several dozen ideas before this one snuck up on me during a production meeting at work one day.  I excused myself from the room, called David from my office, whispered the words, "How about South of Charm?" into the mouthpiece, heard him squeal in delight, and returned to an otherwise forgettable meeting at the day job.  I'm a fan of titles that may or may not suggest a double meaning.  Charm is an actual place, a tiny inkblot on an atlas.  However, there are many scenes in the story that one would consider far less than charming.  It took longer to decide on the title than to write the story, but once figured out, we were confident that we'd nailed it.    

-Which authors do you think had the greatest influence in your writing, and who are your favorite writers?

As a youngster, the work of Terry Brooks and Robert Cormier kept me up way past my curfew on most nights.  I hold those two responsible for the late hours I keep, drumming the keyboard.  Along with them, John Sandford stands alone atop my favorite list of authors.

-How long have you been writing?

I wrote my first story, "Terror Castle," during Write to Read Week in elementary school.  If memory serves, it was penned in the third grade.  That book earned me a face to face meet and greet with an actual writer who visited the school, and later read my story to the entire student body.  I haven't stopped writing since.

-What do you find is the most important element of a book? Is it the plot, characters, setting, writing style, something else?

My tastes have changed with age.  There was once a time when every book I read simply had to carry me to faraway lands, mystic planets littered with evil druids, and heroes wielding swords of flame, an ancient wizard at their side for good measure.  Nowadays, it's all about the penmanship.  When I open a book for the first time, it's not the story that concerns me, but how the picture has been painted.  I wouldn't hesitate in reading a story deemed "utterly boring" by many, if the writing is a masterpiece. 

-Is there any advice you would give to other writers?

Be willing to accept criticism.  Truly listen to the advice of peers, and those who've read your work.  And lastly, remember that some of the best writers are also admitted bookworms.  There are no high dollar critique groups capable of improving one's work, like that of a good book from an excellent storyteller.

-Do you have any new projects in the works at the moment?

I'm currently several chapters into a YA novel about a group of boys up to no good in, "The Fellas."  To be quite honest though, I've recently whispered an idea past my editor that's been nipping at my train of thought over the summer.  This one's about a girl.  Her name's Derby, and to be frank, she's been keeping me up at night, desperate for attention.  This girl has quite a story to tell...I think perhaps I'll tag along for the ride ;)

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An excerpt from South of Charm:

We're huddled in the far corner of my bedroom. Arms wrapped around our knees in the dark. The approaching footsteps grow louder. Ominous thuds. Our mother, but somehow not. She's standing outside my door. We listen to the creak of the hinges. My sister clenches my arm. "She's coming," she whispers. "She's broken."

Links to purchase:
Kindle Edition of South of Charm
Paperback version

And if you'd like to find out more about him, Elliot Grace blogs at So close, but.... He's also hosting a giveaway, the details of which are HERE.

Thank you so much for coming by, Elliot!


-----The Golden Eagle

It's October, Which Means A Lot Of Things Will Be Happening

Happy October, everyone!

The reason for this post is that I have a few announcements to make about things happening here on this blog:

1. NaBloWriMo
Can't forget this event. Basically, it's a challenge to write a post for every day of October. Yes, that's right, every single day. I did it last year, and had a lot of fun coming up with topics each day: this year, I'm going to try to be a bit more organized, though you will see some random posts crop up during the month. Or maybe just something along the lines of "I can't think of anything to say . . ."

2. The Rule of Three Blogfest


You've probably heard of it by now, but if not, this is a blogfest where writers post on Wednesdays/Thursdays throughout October (four posts in all) based on a writing prompt given by the hosts--but the setting has already been given to you to work with, called Renaissance. I'm really looking forward to writing/posting mine; I've got ideas for my characters from the first prompt already, which will go up next Wednesday.

3. Pay It Forward Blogfest


Sign up, and list three blogs you recommend on October 14th. I love meeting new bloggers, so I'm excited for this blogfest.

4. An interview with author Elliot Grace


If you don't know Elliot Grace, you have to go check out his blog and follow him. He's one of the most interesting authors around, and I will be interviewing him here on October 26th. Watch for it!

5. The Inheritance Cycle Re-Reading Challenge


This is a really good Fantasy series, and Christopher Paolini has finally finished the last novel, which will come out November 8th. Hooray!

6. The Insecure Writer's Support Group


Wednesday, again. I'll have to post double on that day, because that's also the day the Rule of Three Blogfest begins--these blogfests seem to be trying to thwart any plans I make. :P

7. Rachael Harrie's Third Writer's Platform-Building Campaign


There's a third challenge to come on October 17th, so of course I will be posting that as well. (If you haven't read my entry for the Second Campaigner Challenge, it is HERE.)

. . . and I think that's it.

Finally.

Do you have anything planned?




-----The Golden Eagle

UPGRADER Blog Tour: An Interview With Author Terry Tibke

Hello, everyone!

Today, as part of a tour to promote the YA Science Fiction novel Upgrader: Re-engineered, I have an interview with author Terry Tibke.

1. What was your inspiration for Upgrader: Re-Engineered?

Shannon Eric Denton, one of the Actionopolis founders and Chief Editor, I suppose you could call him, handed me over this paragraph:

    When Dylan Kent is exposed to a mysterious energy from another dimension he finds himself transformed into an ever-changing warrior in order to keep our world free from intradimensional invaders. These invaders have found a break in the Seam; the dimensional barrier separating our world from theirs. If Dylan is unsuccessful in repelling them, our world won’t be ours for long.

And that was my inspiration. From there, I fleshed out the story, collaborating with Shannon along the way. Actionopolis is fun that way. They supply the seed, and authors build from there. It was an altogether fun and exciting difference from what I'm used to.

2. What is your writing process like?

I have a busy life with a wife and two kids, another financial business job, an illustration and design job, and my job as a writer. With all that said, I typically do my writing at night. Seriously, the middle of the night. I go to bed the same time as my kids do at about 8pm, sleep till around 12am, then I get up a write. I hammer away at the keyboard for about two hours, then I go back to bed around 2 or 3am, then get up at 6am with my family. I've worked very hard to get as far as I am so far, and hope to further my writing career even more as time goes by.

3. Which books/authors have had the greatest influence on your work?

Stylistically, Orson Scott Card, Scott Westerfeld, and even Suzane Collins have had an influence over the past several years. When I started writing, it all sounded a bit more Tolkein'ish. Over time, I've found my own style--one that's much more comfortable to read. I'm sure anyone who's read my earlier works will agree that my writing now is much more efficient and crisp.

4. On writing and illustrating: do you find links between the two?

Both of these are very creative in nature. That's an initial similarity that's probably very obvious to anyone. In writing, you write a first draft, a second, then a third (and hopefully, though rarely) final draft that sparkles. In illustration, you rough your concept out, determine what works and what doesn't, clean it up, then color it to make it shine. But they're both jobs too, and like many jobs, they are repeatable processes that require discipline and self-motivation to complete. Neither illustration, nor writing, can you sit back and wait for inspiration to come. You have to keep forward.

5. What projects do you have in the works at the moment?

Several! Fans of my Armageddon series keep asking when the next book is going to come out, and will be pleased to know that book 2 is finished. However, I still have some illustrating to do, and I've had to put the series aside for now while I work with Actionopolis on the Upgrader trilogy. In the meantime though, head over to http://www.terrytibke.com to play the free Armageddon Card Game, which is in Beta testing right now.

   I also have another 1st draft of an Armageddon book done, though that's set as more of a prequel to the current series. I have a middle grade pirate adventure book I'm looking for an agent on, and I just turned in the first pass at Upgrader, book 2. I'll be starting on book 3 very soon, and am set up to do another completely seperate book for Actionopolis after the Upgrader trilogy.

   On top of all that, on the illustration side, I'm freelancing for an online game company doing character design. That's been really fun stuff to do. I also recently signed on to do script and story work with them. Working in games has been a lifelong dream, so I'm super hyped about it!

So, yeah. I'm way busy.

6. What's your best advice on writing?

Oh man, I have so much of it, because I've made most all of the mistakes you can make! :D Probably one that comes to mind though is on drafting.

   When I wrote my first manuscript, I'd write a chapter, then go back and read it through while editing it. Then I'd write the second chapter, then go back to the beginning and re-edit the whole thing. Eventually, I think I'd edited my manuscript over a hundred times. What a collossal waste of time! When you write a first draft, write it. Just keep going until you're at the end, doing your best not to go back and read much of it. Editing stuff is for second draft. Polishing is for third.

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About Terry Tibke:

Terry Tibke is the writer, artist and creator of the novel Armageddon: The Battle of Darkening Skies, published by Eloquent Books (2009), and co-created and wrote the new Young Adult Sci-Fi, Upgrader: Re-Engineered, with Shannon Denton, published by Actionopolis. Terry was an animator for FatCat Studios, working on such features as Dreamworks' Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Adam Sandler's Meatball Studios' Eight Crazy Nights before beginning his writing career. Born in 1977 in Seattle, WA, Terry garnered numerous local young artist awards growing up. Then, at the age of eleven, Terry began the creation of the Armageddon world in preparation for its many stories to one day be told.    

   Hard at work on the next two Upgrader novels, Terry fills the wee hours of each night with writing, and doing design work for Social Titans, an online game company. 

   Terry now lives in Chandler, AZ with his wife, Sophany, and their two adorable children.

About Upgrader: Re-engineered:

A dimensional rift has opened, and now a headstrong young man must learn to use an ancient power before the Earth is enslaved.
   Dylan Kent is exposed to a mysterious energy from another dimension! Transformed into an ever-changing warrior, Dylan must harness these new powers in order to keep our world free from intradimensional invaders. These invaders have come to our world in search of the power Dylan now possesses. If Dylan is unsuccessful in repelling them, not only will he die but our world will die with him!

Where you can find Terry:

Website
Facebook
Twitter



-----The Golden Eagle

Interview With Nicole MacDonald, Author of The Arrival

It is my honor to announce today that I have an interview with Nicole MacDonald! She is the author of the Epic, Contemporary Fantasy The BirthRight Trilogy Book One: The Arrival, which is now available on Amazon Kindle!

About Nicole:

I’m a 28yr old kiwi girl living in Wellington and I’ve recently completed my first novel, a 116,000 word fantasy with two sequels in the works. Although I’ve been an avid reader since age seven I’ve always loathed writing so discovering now that it’s something I love with a passion – well it’s rather surprising! Follow my blog as I navigate the muddy and pot-holed road towards achieving publication.

About The Arrival:

Cat, Kassie, Sian and Loi are anything but damsels in distress.
   Fed up with a lack of decent male specimens they cast a love spell in the hopes of finding their soul-mates. And inadvertently land themselves on another planet. Oops.
   The Arrival follows the girls' adventures as they stumble through a foreign and often hostile world where humans are NOT at the top of the food chain.
   Friendships are forged and love teeters on the horizon while the threat of civil war looms thanks to the girls' very unexpected 'gifts'.
   Will the girls master these gifts in time to survive a war in which, not only are they the ultimate weapons, but also the ultimate prize.

*****

Now, to the interview!

The BirthRight Trilogy: The Arrival is one amazing book! What gave you the idea for a story with 4 kick-butt heroines and a love spell?

I can't stand damsels in distress (had you guessed? Really?? ;p) so any girl lead I write is likely to be able to take care of herself.  Even if she doesn't have a black belt in jujitsu (I wanna do jusjitsu!!).  The love spell was the easiest way to get them to the other world and four girls were needed to 'make' the spell work J

Neither can I! Damsels in distress . . . nope, not my cup of tea. And I agree--would be cool to do jujitsu!

While there are similarities between Earth and Sytas, there are many differences; what inspired you to create all the different aspects to it, like the Griffon Guard, fabricers, and the many races?

Well it had to be a 'foreign' world and from a young age I've been fascinated with mythical creatures and the concept of having 'powers' or a gift as I refer to them.  I love the idea of a multi-racial world it just seems very natural. 

And Ada the fabricer is inspired by my Nana (Ada) who used to be a seamstress and was incredibly gifted at it.  As a child it looked like magic to me the way she could create something so quickly and easily.

Multi-racial words do seem natural, in a way--it does seem likely (in a world like that of The Arrival) people would have gotten used to living next to each other.

What's your writing process like?

Intensive plotting on scraps of paper/books/post its and just in my head.  I try to keep the flow of it in my mind and I aim toward plot points.  Most the time I have the plot fully in my head and I just keep 'rerunning' it on the movie reel in my mind.  I fix something then play it out again to see if I like the feel of it.  Writing involves a LOT of daydreaming *grin*

LOL. I day dream a lot, too--sometimes when I shouldn't be. *ahem*

For you, which parts were the hardest to write? Dialogue? Description? The action scenes? Which were the easiest?

The hardest were the first couple of chapters because the very first scene I wrote was the action scene in the forest when the girls meet the Griffon Guard.  OMG did those chapters take forever.  They also received some of the biggest overhauls in the re-writes.

I've had trouble with the beginning's of stories as well. They're hard!

There are many point-of-view shifts in The Arrival--it says on the website for the trilogy "The book is written in an unusual style, allowing the reader to see inside many of the main characters minds. This provides a broader perspective of the journey and gives a fuller reading experience." What made you decide that switching the POV was the best way to tell the story, instead of staying with a single character, or only 1st or 3rd person?

*grin* well yes it says that on the website… but truth be told, it's just what made sense.  I wanted the reader to be able to fall in love with any of the girls, not just the lead and then it's also due to the way I play the plot out in my mind.  I see it as a movie and then write what I see.  So it's not that surprising that it reads like that J

Cool!

It also says on the website "BirthRight is a Contemporary, Epic Fantasy that was inspired from a frustration of the typical 'damsel in distress' type reads". Do you think that there should be more books written from the perspective of damsels who can stand on their own? Have you ever come across a book whose female characters you have truly enjoyed because of their personality?

Claire in Diana Gabladon's novels.  Some of Tamora Pierce's novels have the right feel.  Anne McCaffrey's Crystal Singer series and quite a few of her sci-fi works have the right feeling.  Yes I would love more books with capable female leads, but it's making sure there's the right balance.  I don't make a big issue of my girls doing jujitsu because for them it's just a hobby they enjoy.  The same as I don't announce (normally *grin*) that I'm a target shooter - it's a hobby I enjoy and I'm good at.  It doesn't define me.  I also sew and do lotsa 'girly' stuff but again they don't define me.  I like being a contradiction in some senses and I like characters who are too.  They deal with crappy circumstances much better J

I'll have to check out those books! And, a target shooter? That is awesome. I agree, though, activities don't define a person, and balance is a must. It adds something to the character, and they're more 3-dimensional if they enjoy all sorts of different things.

Since some of the characters in the story--Kassandra, Sian, and Laura--are based on your friends, do you think it is easier or harder to write about people who already exist (in a way)? And is Catherine, the fourth, like you?

Easier.  Because they only influence the character so I can pick certain characteristics I find amusing or interesting and play with them.  A character we meet in book 2, Leseach, is a Northerner and she is based on a work friend and it's due to certain aspects of her personality that I adore.  Because I like to create characters this way it makes people watching so much fun and very necessary.

Yes Catherine is based on me.  For a newbie at writing it seemed the easiest way for me to be able to envision the story if I was there in it.  That’s the original reason too for selecting my friends as the inspiration for Cat's friends.

I always found basing characters on real people harder--and it always felt strange to me. But all writers have their individual ways of putting together their characters!

I could picture Cat as you, and vice versa. ;)

Self-publishing seems like such a big step: what was the hardest, and what did you find the easiest? Any advice for people who are considering self-publishing?

Ever step seems hard the first time.  At first it was the right cover (thank you Keary!) then it was editing and proofing (thank you Kerrin & Vicky) and then the most tedious part, the formatting.  And now getting the word out about it. 

It's a constant and demanding hobby but I just can't stop!  I would love for this to transition from a hobby to a career so it's worth it. 

Advice to those considering?  Go for it!

Nicole also has a helpful post "How to format an e-book for dummies", in case you want to learn about formatting.

What's the best thing about being a published author?

Getting reviews from people you don't know who love your book!!  Makes the months and months of work feel worth it J

Now that sounds like a plus!

*****

And so concludes our interview!

You can find out more about The BirthRight Trilogy: The Arrival HERE on the website, and you can find out more about Nicole at her blog, Damsel in a Dirty Dress. You can also purchase The Arrival at the Amazon Kindle Store HERE.

Thank you for reading, everyone!


----The Golden Eagle

Aspiring Author Interview, Awards, Ninja Writing, A-Z Blogging Challenge, and Snow

BREAKING NEWS:

The post in which I am interviewed at Perfecting the Craft--by the awesome Michelle Merrill--is up for you all to read!

Well? What are you waiting for? Go read it! And then come back to read the rest of this post, of course. ;)

*****

I was awarded the the Versatile Blogger Award by Hannah Marie at Distant Hoofbeats:

And the Stylish Blogger Award by Lisa Galek at Read. Write. Repeat.:

Many thanks to both of them!

(Again, because I've already been awarded before, and listed seven facts, I'm going to bypass that part of accepting the awards.)

*****

Ali Cross, at the blog of the same name, has declared February Ninja Novel Writing Month.

What does that mean? It means you sign up HERE and join in with the other Ninja's as you sharpen those writing skills.

I'm going to finish my novel this month. I am. I said that over a year ago, but I know more about my writing limits and what I can do in a month now--not to mention I have the ending set up in my head and I am getting close to the point where I can actually start writing it.

*****

Don't forget! You can still sign up for the  A to Z Blogging Challenge hosted by Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out.

What's the challenge part? Blogging every day except Sundays, with the theme of your post focused on something different each day--starting at A and going all the way down to Z, of course.

There are already 175 people who've linked up--are you going to help bring it all the way up to 300?

*****

It's a little icy around here, but nothing like the massive snowfall some places are got as the storm passed over North America. In fact, the sun's shining right now and everything seems to be dripping--hope the rest of you are safe and warm and that there's no more bad weather, wherever you are.

Have a great weekend, everyone!


-----The Golden Eagle

Interview With Galen from The Treasures of Carmelidrium by N. R. Williams

Today I have an interview with Galen, a character from The Treasures of Carmelidrium by N. R. Williams!

Here we go:

Interview with Galen, Scout of Gil-Lael.

Thank you, Golden Eagle, for allowing me to enter the eagles world of your blog with my book tour for “The Treasures of Carmelidrium.” There are golden eagles in my story but that's a different topic altogether.

For those who don't know: yesterday our interviewer was captured and made into Renwyk's slave. He's the villain. It was a scary moment. I quickly got out of the computer so he wouldn't discover me recording the whole thing. If you want to read about it go to Colene Murphy at The Journey: http://cejourney.blogspot.com/


I don't anticipate any problems today.

Q. Galen, can you explain what it is to be a “Scout of Gil-Lael?”
Galen: One must submit to many test to pass from a common soldier and become a scout. You must be able to travel over the land without leaving a trace. You must be able to track the enemy. You must be able to survive on the land and travel without sleep if needed. It is the highest honor a soldier can achieve other than commanding officer.

Q. What is the difference between an officer and a scout?
Galen: An officer doesn't need the same skills as a scout and must be able to read.

Q. Is reading a problem for most people in Gil-Lael?
Galen: Not everyone has the money to learn to read. However, I have heard that Prince Healden intends to change that when he inherits the throne.
(Healden is pronounced with a silent “a” like Hel-don).

Q. Can you read?
Galen: Oui, I was fortunate to have a caring teacher who visited the orphanage where I grew up.

Q. You are an orphan. What happened?
Galen: Both my parents died when I was young.

Q. I've heard rumors about you. Some believe you are half elf. Is that true?
Galen: I know not. But I do have green eyes like the elves. I am not as short as an elf, nor do I have pointed ears. But I seem to have a remarkable talent to be as quiet as a frozen deer watching her pray and preparing to flee.

Q. What are your goals in life?
Galen: I had not thought of it in those terms. I will continue to serve the royal family and do all I can for my home of Gil-Lael.

An older man, who I assume was Galen's commanding officer stepped up, and demanded that Galen to leave with him. Our interview was cut short.

Nancy: I'll be stopping by all day to answer your questions. Thanks for coming by on my tour. Remember, I'm giving away 3 e-books those who leave a comment with their e-mail.
N. R. Williams (Nancy)

*****

Here's the blurb for The Treasures of Carmelidrium:

When a hooded man steps in front of her car, Missie is thrust through a portal into a medieval world where she encounters monsters and mythical creatures. Here her flute has magical powers to heal and destroy and to empower "The Treasures of Carmelidrium." She is romanced by a prince and hunted by the villain. Will she find her way home? Does she want to?

The fantastic cover:

About the Author:

N. R. Williams lives in Colorado, U.S.A. with her husband. She is delighted to have two three year old grandchildren, cousins. She’s a long time member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and has been privileged to attend conferences and workshops. Since her formative years, she’s been inventing fantastical stories and since she could spell she’s been writing them down. While she majored in art in college, she didn’t make a living at it. Now, she uses her skills of observation to create fantastical worlds, interesting characters and stories that touch the heart.

*****

Thank you so much for the chance to learn more about Galen and your book, Nancy!


-----The Golden Eagle

I'm a Spotlighted Blogger!

Check out this post at Bookworming in the 21st Century!

Thank you, Kristen!

-----The Golden Eagle