Teaser Tuesday with Larry Payne

Today's Teaser Tuesday is from fellow Wild Child Publishing Author Larry Payne!

Enjoy & Comment 

When a Comanche raiding party abducts his wife, Jake Hollister unpins his star and ventures out on a quest to find his beloved Suzanne. Now, six years later, his close friend John Henry Parker's wife, Sarah, has befallen the same fate.

  Agreeing to ride together until Sarah is found, Jake and John Henry enlist the aid of an ex-buffalo soldier, Zachariah Benson. They follow a trail of death and destruction until a Comanche war party forces them to return home to recover from wounds.

  Their relentless search resumes when Jake visits an old friend, Charlie Bold Eagle, and persuades the Indian tracker to join their quest. A chance encounter with Lou Garvey, an Indian trader, soon brings them face to face with the feared Comanche War Chief, White Buffalo.  

   Sarah Parker flicked the reins of the big black pulling the buggy. She always enjoyed her visits to the ranch of Ed and Martha Johnson. They’d lost their only daughter at a very young age to typhoid and channeled all their affections toward Sarah. She was glad she could bring some happiness back into their lives. As she approached the ranch house, Martha Johnson appeared on the porch, smiling and waving. 

   “Hello Sarah, how are you, child? It’s so good to see you again,” greeted Martha, as Sarah pulled back on the reins to halt the buggy in front of the house. “Come inside, I’ve made some fresh lemonade. Ed will see to the buggy.”

   Sarah wrapped the reins around the arm of the seat and climbed down from the buggy. Martha, wearing a blue cotton dress and her salt and pepper hair up in a bun, met Sarah as she came up the steps and gave her a big hug. The two women wrapped their arms around each other’s waists as they walked across the porch and into the house. The pitcher of lemonade sat in the middle of the table along with a fresh baked tray of sugar cookies.

   “I made these for Ed, but he won’t care if we sample a few,” said Martha.

   She poured lemonade for Sarah and put two cookies onto a small plate. She then poured a glass of lemonade for herself. 

   “Ed will never know,” Martha chuckled and took a sugar cookie from the tray just as the dog began barking in the yard.

   Sarah looked up. “Rowdy must be chasing rabbits,” Martha began to explain.

   Three sudden shots from the rancher’s rifle brought the two women to the window in time to see Ed slump to the ground with two arrows in his chest.

   “Ed!” shouted Martha as Sarah spotted the string of riders galloping down the rise. She pulled her friend away from the window, barred the door and grabbed a rifle and shotgun from above the fireplace.

   “Where does Ed keep the shells?” asked Sarah      

   “In the hutch,” Martha replied, tears streaming down her face.

   Sarah pulled out a box of cartridges for the rifle and a box of shotgun shells from the hutch drawer and handed the shotgun and the box of shells to Martha.

   “Load this,” ordered Sarah firmly.

   Martha dropped a shell into each barrel of the shotgun while Sarah loaded the Winchester.

   “Shoot anything that shows itself,” instructed Sarah and levered the rifle.

   They heard unshod horses thunder into the yard and Martha eased back the hammers of the shotgun.  The bar held fast when Comanche braves put their shoulders to the door. A painted face appeared in the window and Martha triggered the shotgun, removing it in a spray of crimson.

   Sarah fired twice as the warriors battered the door with the log bench from the porch. After a moment’s hesitation the battering continued until the door splintered under the pressure.

   Martha’s shotgun roared as the first brave came through the door and Sarah levered the Winchester as fast as she could until it was empty.

   Grabbing the rifle by the barrel, Sarah slammed the butt into the face of the next brave through the door. She kept swinging the rifle until it was wrestled from her grasp and she was knocked from her feet. Screaming hysterically, Martha threw the empty shotgun to the floor.

   “Do not harm her.”   The brave holding the rifle and standing over Sarah, looked toward the sound of the voice.

   She gasped at the sight of the warrior standing in the doorway wearing the feathered bonnet of a war chief. Blood smeared his buckskin pants where Ed Johnson’s scalp hung from his waist. He entered the house and stood looking down at Sarah. He reached down and fingered her golden hair.

   Sarah jerked her head away and spit at him, earning a smile from the Comanche war chief.

   “Silence the old one,” he ordered.

    The brave sent the butt of Sarah’s rifle crashing into the side of Martha’s head, toppling her over.

   “This one will come with us,” the war chief declared.

   Two Comanche braves jerked Sarah up from the floor and bound her wrists with a leather thong, then led her from the house to a waiting horse. Two other warriors flushed the horses from the corral as Sarah came out into the yard. Sporadic gunfire told her nothing on the ranch would be left alive. Flames already licked at the side of the barn.

   The war chief vaulted up onto the back of his painted pony and pulled his lance from the ground beside it. He stepped his horse over to Ed Johnson’s lifeless body and buried the feathered lance into the mutilated corpse. He took the scalp from the waist of his buckskins and held it over his head to a round of screams from his warriors.

   Leading Sarah’s horse, the raiding party galloped from the ranch yard.

Larry Payne grew up in East Chicago, Indiana and now resides in Chandler, Arizona with his wife, Susan, and their two cats, Molly and Emily. He is a US Navy veteran where he served as a Hospital Corpsman. He currently is employed at Banner Heart Hospital in Mesa, AZ, as a Cardiac Monitor Technician. Besides western fiction, he has written short stories of crime fiction and science fiction. 

His western fiction novella, RIDE THE SAVAGE LAND, will be released on February 28^th by Wild Child Publishing. His short stories appear in Rope and Wire Western Short Stories Volumes 2 & 4 and The Best Of Frontier Tales Volume 1 as ebooks.

Amazon Author Page www.amazon.com/-/e/B007O3HW1Q   
Email: ecwalum@yahoo.com.
Website www.larrypayne.jimdo.com
Blog http://larrypayneauthor.blogspot.com
Twitter @LarryPayne2

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Larry-Payne/218717748143926  

Q&A Interview with Diane Gardner

Today's Q&A Interview is with Author Diane Gardner!

Enjoy & Comment

Why did you start writing and when did you decide to go professional?

Writing was a huge comfort to me when I was a teenager. I was somewhat of an awkward child, taller than most of the kids in my class, heck, taller than most of the kids in my school. Back in those days bullying was just something you took for granted. Everyone got teased, or bullied. That’s not to say it didn’t hurt. Being the introvert that I was, I bottled up my feelings of inferiority, brought them home, and wrote them out in abstract poetic form. For me it was a great release. I’m not sure anyone else could decipher what my poems said, much less what they were about. But I knew, and they helped me through a very trying time of my life.

I continued writing poetry during different stages of my life. I don’t have half of what I wrote anymore. Once I started painting and pursuing a career with my artwork I wrote less and less. It wasn’t until just a couple of years ago that I decided I wanted to write a novel. The first one was a fantasy about a little boy in a world of talking animals. Unfortunately I never did really find a plot for that book so it’s hidden away somewhere in the closet.

I’ve done some professional writing with a newspaper and worked closely with an editor helping her with some projects. When she invited me to the National League of America Pen Women’s meeting I felt the pull to be a professional writer. I think it might have been an inner dream of mine, I love getting lost in other worlds! I was then invited to a critique group and met some local authors. That’s when the I caught the bug. From there is was about attending writer’s workshops, critique groups and big conferences like SCBWI and PNCW that I decided to pursue what I love. My story came from my fulfilling the desire to one day paint a dragon!

Do you write in more than one genre? Which ones and which do you like the best?

I’ve only written for young people, although my most zealous fan is a 90 year old lady. I think a good fantasy story an appeal to all ages if its written well. That’s what I try to do. I have in mind to write a dystopia series when the Realm comes to a conclusion.

Do you read other author’s books when you’re writing? If so, do you read the same genre or something different?

I’ve read a few books while writing. Now that I’m an author and have met so many other authors it’s almost impossible not to be reading four or five books at once plus writing my own. The books I read are almost all fantasy although I’m the only fantasy writer in my critique group. And I have a pull towards books such as Gary Schmidt’s Wednesday Wars, or Matt de la Pena We Were Here. I love the books that make me both cry and laugh.

What is the most difficult part of the entire writing process for you? Queries, pitches, editing..etc.

I have to admit, pitches and queries were. I’m so fortunate to be with a publisher that wants everything I write, for the most part, that I don’t have to worry about those anymore. So for me, the most difficult part of writing is those few days just before publication when I just can’t stand to wait for the world to read my book!

Dianne Gardner is both an author and illustrator living the Pacific Northwest, Olalla Washington. She’s an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the National League of American Pen Women. She has written Young Adult Fantasy novels as well as articles for national maga­zines and newspapers and she is an award-winning artist.

Publisher’s website: http://www.hydrapublications.com/shop/deception-peak/

Official book blog: http://dragontargeseries.blogspot.com/

Dragon Shield Trailer http://youtu.be/ukSqegM63m4Author’s

website http://gardnersart.com

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/TheIansRealmSaga?ref=ts&fref=ts

Twitter @DianneGardner

Author Central on Amazon

 http://www.amazon.com/Dianne-Lynn-Gardner/e/B0090LIYEO

The Dragon Shield on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Shield-Dianne-Lynn-Gardner/dp/0615760457

Teaser Tuesday with Diane Gardner

Today's Teaser Tuesday is from The Dragon Shield by Diane Gardner.

Enjoy & Comment! 

“What do you know about your sister’s shield?” Ian shut down the computer.

“What do you mean?”

“She says it’s magic. What do you know about that?”

“You mean the shield she just made, her dragon shield? I don’t know. She says she got the idea from her friends.” Brad shrugged.

“School friends?” Ian spoke softly, hoping to sound casual, but his inquiry was anything but random.

“Nah,” Brad laughed. “I don’t think so. I think they’re imaginary. She’s kind of mental.”

“Imaginary?” Ian asked. “How’s that?”

“Well, I don’t know. Maybe they’re really there. Sometimes I hear voices outside, like a bunch of girls out in her fort, but I never see anyone except Elisa. I can never figure it out,” he shook his head. “Unless she’s a ventriloquist of some sort. You know kids these days. I know she talks to herself.”

Ian didn’t say anything but it struck a harmonious chord in the symphony of his thoughts. Elisa does know the Kaempern children. They taught her how to make a magical shield just like theirs.  Perhaps they wanted a spare shield here for safekeeping because of the war.

With a shove of his knees, the desk chair rolled back slightly as Ian rose and walked to the kitchen to refill his coffee cup.

“Why?” Brad asked.

Ian cringed; he probably shouldn’t have said anything.  The boy was too inquisitive.

“Why do you want to know about her shield? Do you think it’s magic?”

Ian laughed quietly, “I have no way of knowing something like that.”

Brad’s eyes lit up. “You believe in magic though, don’t you? You just admitted it. Heck, I bet you more than believe in magic. You practice it, don’t you? Going into another world, and all.” He jumped up. “Wow. Do you think her magic shield has something to do with the Realm?”

How could Ian deny what was playing over again and again in his mind? He shrugged his shoulders.

“If I get it for you, will you take me in?” Brad asked. He jumped up and raced to Ian’s side.

Ian scowled. The boy’s face glowed.

I shouldn’t have said anything.

 “Absolutely not, and don’t even think about taking your sister’s shield. No,” he replied quickly. “And I wouldn’t take you in regardless. It’s a wicked world in there. It’s no place for a boy your age.” Ian warned.

“Abbi said you went in at my age.”

Abbi told him that? What’s she trying to do, anyway?  I’m going to talk to her about divulging so much information about the Realm to these kids. This is not good!

 “Maybe I did--but it was the wrong thing to do, and I’ve regretted it ever since. I should never have gone in. Never. I’m not going to let you make the same mistakes I made.”

“Well, I’m probably more mature than you were, no offense. Mom says I’m grown up for my age.”

Ian raised an eyebrow. Maybe a little more arrogant than most kids your age. Mature? Not so much. Excitable? Absolutely. Can you control your temper? Highly doubt it. What would you do if you came face to face with that kid’s dagger? Disastrous.

 “I can fight, I’m good. I would be your right hand man.”

“No.” Ian gently touched the kid’s chest with his finger, “Get any such notion out of your mind. I’m not taking you into the Realm.”

Dianne Lynn Gardner

Author-Illustrator

Young Adult Fantasy-Adventure Fiction

Dianne Gardner is both an author and illustrator living the Pacific Northwest, Olalla Washington. She’s an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the National League of American Pen Women. She has written Young Adult Fantasy novels as well as articles for national magazines and newspapers and she is an award-winning artist.

Dianne spent many years living out in the desert wilderness of the American Southwest, lived in a hogan made from adobe and cedar for thirteen years, co-owned 25 horses both pure bred and Native American ponies, traveled horseback and by wagon throughout the Navajo reservation, herded sheep and goat, worked in the forest planting trees and piling, farmed on barren soil and even lived in a teepee for a short while. She spent many long years using survival skills as a way of life.

Later she studied pastoral counseling and was a Pastor’s apprentice at a mainline church. She and her husband have been feeding the homeless for over twelve years. Today she shares both her survival experiences and her love for people, especially young people, into her writing as a way to not only to give her readers a firm understanding of her stories’ characters, but a rich appreciation of nature.

Publisher’s website: http://www.hydrapublications.com/shop/deception-peak/

Official book blog: http://dragontargeseries.blogspot.com/

Dragon Shield Trailer http://youtu.be/ukSqegM63m4Author’s

website http://gardnersart.com

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/TheIansRealmSaga?ref=ts&fref=ts

Twitter @DianneGardner

Author Central on Amazon

 http://www.amazon.com/Dianne-Lynn-Gardner/e/B0090LIYEO

The Dragon Shield on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Shield-Dianne-Lynn-Gardner/dp/0615760457

Facebook, Twitter, & Pinterest-Oh My! Social Networking for Beginners.

Many authors have websites these days, but social networks are tools to help you make friends, follow other authors, agents, editors, as well as help you to build a reader base regardless if you are pre-published or a best seller.

While we can’t be all things to all people, there are many great places on the internet where you can connect with the right people. The most important thing is to do something that you enjoy. You don’t need to be on 15 different social networking sites to find people, use the ones you are comfortable with and can update on a regular basis.

I am no expert, but I’ve complied a short list of the main social networking sites people are using these days and hope you find the information helpful!

Facebook – www.facebook.com – Facebook is the new Myspace, for the older kids, some say. Facebook  is an update status generated service. When you post information on your “Timeline” all the people you are connected with, in theory, will see your post.

On Facebook, you can add applications, poke people with cute avatars, add your interests in little display boxes, and find out who shares your likes and dislikes. While Facebook doesn’t have its own blog section, you can feed any blog into your notes section so your blog can be visible to any friends you have here.

Facebook also has groups and communities as well as “Fan” pages. The Pages also let you schedule your posts, just be sure that you are checking back during the day to respond to comments! The more you post here, the better your chances of growing a large audience in the future.

*Jenn Tip* Start creating lists. I have several: Family, Publishing Industry, Work Friends…etc. Having these lists can be a time saver and a life saver. In your status update section you have the ability to determine who can see your status updates. This is also helpful when you want to send messages to specific groups.

Twitter – www.twitter.com – Facebook has a status update section on your main page. This allows you to tell friends what you’re doing, ask a quick question, or inform readers of release dates, contests, etc. Twitter is a constant stream of status updates. 140 characters are all you get per post, but the instant interaction and feedback can be lots of fun!

On Twitter, you can follow people, follow trends using hastags (#), and communicate in a split second with anyone currently online in Twitter. Twitter also allows you to customize your page slightly, and gives you a 140 character private Direct Message to your friends.

*Jenn Tip* You can create lists on Twitter too. They are wonderful. Another tip, try not to re-tweet a dozen things at once. Use TweetDeck or Hootsuite to schedule a nice steady stream of data for your followers. Nothing is worse than seeing 20 RT’s from one person clogging up the time stream.

Goodreads – www.goodreads.com – “Goodreads is the largest site for readers and book recommendations in the world.” Yep, that’s a true statement. This site connects readers with authors. Here, as an author, you can host giveaways & contests, upload excerpts, whole ebooks, videos, and even participate and create your own groups. Take your time learning about Goodreads if you are an author. An author has a special account and can also place ads on the site linking to your books.

Paper.Li – www.paper.li – Paper.Li is an online newspaper which collects data from your other social media outlets and puts it together on a cute webpage-in a news format style. It’s free and rather simple to set up. You can specify which type of data you want to include, who you want to include, and how often it is published online. Others can follow your online paper, and it can also be delivered newsletter style to anyone who follows you.

Pinterest – www.pinterest.com – One of the newer kids on the block, Pinterest, is quickly becoming the new online addiction. “Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing things you love.” Basically, Pinterest is an online bulletin/corkboard. Here you can create categories for your interests such as recipes, books, pictures, places, and more. When you connect to other users, you can view, “like”, and share images from one board to another.

*Jenn Tip* Pinterest can automatically update your Facebook/Twitter timelines. Be sure to turn it off if you are on here all the time otherwise every time you do something on Pinterest it will show up and clog your timeline.

Triberr – www.triberr.com – Triberr is a blog audience amplifier. This one is a little bit tricky, so it’s best to read the tutorials to get a full grasp on what it can do for you. However, here are a few things to know. 1. You must blog. 2. You must belong to a tribe. 3. You need to have Twitter.  Triberr, via the members of the tribe you belong to, will send out Tweets alerting others to your newest blog post. Many writers groups & publishers are already taking advantage of this, but you can always join other tribes. Plenty of people are looking for “tribemates”.

*Jenn Tip* If you have a large tribe, you’ll have a lot of posts to approve. Make sure your settings are correct and you are sending the posts on a time delay. There is nothing worse than seeing 20+ Triberr posts in a row from a friend’s Twitter account!

Klout – www.klout.com –  “Klout's mission is to empower every person by unlocking their influence.” I’m still learning about this one, but from what I’ve gathered, the more friends you have on Twitter and Facebook, and the more they interact with you, the better your “influence” Klout number is.

There are a bunch more out there like Tumblr, Google+, Get Glue, Scribd, some of which are strictly interactive sites, but others can be great tools for marketing.

The majority of the social media outlets above allow you to share data from one program to another. For example, on my Facebook Author Page, if I post there, it automatically goes to my Twitter, which in turns posts on my Amazon Author Page, Goodreads, LinkedIn (The business Facebook), My Blog & Website, as well as good old Myspace just to keep a presence there.

So one post from you can end up on a few different site, finding more people to connect with and helping you make new friends and readers.

Remember, when getting involved in any online endeavor it’s best to read all of the regulations, terms, and conditions associated with the site. Many of these networks also have FAQ sections so you can learn about all of their applications and services.

Feel free to add me as your “friend” I’m always happy to meet new people!

Happy Networking!
~Jenn

https://www.facebook.com/JennNixonAuthor
http://twitter.com/jennnixon
http://pinterest.com/jennnixon/

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/712429.Jenn_Nixon

http://paper.li/jennnixon/1305755520

http://triberr.com/profile/?pid=15873

http://klout.com/#/jennnixon

http://www.amazon.com/Jenn-Nixon/e/B002BLNBBQ/