I'm going to be 40 years old this year. I seriously have no idea how that happened. When I was a teenager, I never thought I'd make it to the year 2000 let alone turn 40. Is that normal? Probably not, but I've never been normal.
There are some serious issues being publicized these days, mostly revolving around Racism, Religion, Homophobia, and Guns...so I decided to try to figure out how I view these issues and how I got there...
I grew up surrounded by very loving and affectionate people. My parents always hugged and kissed me and said "I love you", same with my aunts and uncles and grandparents. So I, too, have become very affectionate. I'm sure it helped when I started Kindergarten in 1979. I'm not sure what your world looked like in 1979, but my world in New Jersey was full of people from all over the planet. I knew white kids and black kids. I knew kids from Egypt, Poland, Venezuela, and Albania. I knew kids that didn't speak a lick of English. No one was treated differently. All of us got along. I never saw anyone as different from me other than the shade of their skin, which, at 5 years old, doesn't really mean anything. The diversity of my hometown continued to grow all throughout my school years and you know what it did? It made me appreciate other cultures and people. I still love learning about other cultures and ethnic groups.
Going to church as a kid was always fun for me. Yes, seriously. I used to sing in the choir and loved getting a buttered roll afterward before going to Sunday School. I learned many valuable lessons in church, the type that all people should learn anyway... Don't kill, don't steal, don't piss off your parents... and while I have issues with some religious groups and people, I can appreciate the good religion can do and still enjoy learning about it regardless of my personal feelings about it. The current Pope is a great example of what religion can and should do. It should be an uplifting and moral avenue of education for the masses, not something used to manipulate or discriminate.
When I was 11-13 years old, my stepmom and dad went bowling every Monday. I'd babysit, but once or twice I went to the bowling alley with them. There, I would watch my dad flirt with all these women. Now, I'm not sure if I knew they were gay at the time or if he told me, but he never treated them differently than any other woman...he was a non-discriminatory flirt. Guess what? I'm a HUGE flirt, and yes I have flirted with both genders, but more importantly, being exposed to the gay community at a young age taught me that they are the same as everyone else, they just love "differently" than my parents did. It basically became a non issue. As an older teenager, my goal was to find a gay male friend. I really wanted one. Silly teenagers. Well, I did finally meet one in my early 20's, and we're still best friends. :-)
Between the ages of 7-14 I wanted to be a hunter like my father. I went on hunting trips. Helped my dad gut some rabbits and deer. I took the firearm safety courses. I was a pretty decent shot with a rifle and shotgun, too, but ultimately when it came down to it, I just couldn't bring myself to kill another animal on purpose, even knowing we'd eat the damn thing. However, I still have a fascination with guns and want to eventually own a handgun, yet at the same time I believe that (aside from law enforcement and military) the average person doesn't need a freaking assault rifle to go "hunting" or an extended magazine of bullets to protect themselves. Does this mean we should take away guns from people, nope, they just don't need all the bells and whistles they're always saying they have a right to have.
Now, I'm sure if you are very religious and hate gay people for whatever reasons you believe are right, I'm probably not going to change your mind. If you feel that your second amendment rights should allow you to buy a weapon with the capacity to kill 30+ people with one clip, my views are not going to alter yours, I'm sure....
However, being exposed to the "different" in this world, I think, has made me a very open minded person, who, on a day to day basis, does her best to see each person as human first and nothing more, because in the end, we all bleed the same color, we all poop, and we're all going to die when it's our time.
We should all make a point to expose the children of this world to as much diversity in every area you possibly can, education, religion, and especially social settings, because technology is making the world a much, much smaller place despite its vastness.
February 28, 2014
February 20, 2014
Q&A Thursday with Paul Flewitt
Today's Interview is with Author Paul Flewitt!
What is the worst thing you’ve written, how did you learn or
know it was bad, and what did you learn from it?
Oooh, getting right into the bone of the matter…I like it!
I’ve written some pretty bad poetry in my time. I started
out writing poetry as a youngster, so all that stuff would be utter rubbish.
More recently, I seem to feel if a piece I’m writing is good or not, and I have
a great group of beta readers who help me get things right. I read a lot in my
spare time, so pretty much I’m self-taught as far as good or bad and my idea of
what is which.
Why did you start writing and when did you decide to go
professional?
I’ve been imaginative for about as long as I can remember
and my parents taught me to read and write as soon as I was able to speak, so
in that respect I guess I’ve always written. My first memory of writing with
purpose was a poem I wrote as a youngster called “The Dead School”. I decided
to go professional, if that’s what I am, around late 2012/early 2013.
Do you write in more than one genre? Which ones and which do
you like the best?
I have only released in the horror genre, but I don’t rule
out writing in the fantasy or sci-fi areas. I’m not a guy who ever says never;
but I think it’s safe to say I’m never going to do a Jilly Cooper or Barbara
Cartland style story. I do think that anything I write will probably be
prefixed with the word “dark”.
I have to admit to
enjoying the horror genre. It’s the genre I enjoyed reading best throughout my
life, so it’s no surprise that I would enjoy writing in that style. What I also
find, though, is a really diverse and supportive community which exists out in
the world. Fans of horror tend to be rabid in their following, and they’re such
a fun group of people…weird to say, I know…but horror people are some of the
funniest people around!
Do you read other author’s books when you’re writing? If so,
do you read the same genre or something different?
I don’t not read, or I’d never read a book again. I read
whatever I feel like at the time and go through various moods as far as books I
read is concerned.
What is the most difficult part of the entire writing
process for you? Queries, pitches, editing..etc.
Synopsis and blurb writing; no doubt about it. It’s the
devil’s own work.
If you could have the same type of career as any author
currently publishing who would it be and why?
That’s a great question… it’d have to be a combination of
three different authors if we’re talking real dream sequence stuff. I’d love to
have the profundity and the lifestyle of Clive Barker, he seems to have a lot
of fun, makes some great movies, writes and paints. He is a complete artist.
The other is Stephen King, simply because of his commercial success. Anyone who
says they don’t want to make a good living from their writing is a liar. Yes,
the art is important to me; but I also have a mortgage to pay and mouths to
feed.
Paul is the author of "Smoke" a flash fiction which appeared in OzHorrorCon's Book of Tribes anthology, "Paradise Park" from JEA's All That Remains anthology and the stand alone novella "Poor Jeffrey" through CHBB'Vamptasy press. He continues to work on further pieces...
Smart url for Amazon book page; http://smarturl.it/PoorJeffrey
Facebook Author Page; https://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Storytrees-Leaves/352745188170046
Amazon Author Page; http://www.amazon.com/Paul-Flewitt/e/B00FG34L7O/
February 12, 2014
Special Guest Elodie Parkes!
Today's Special Guest is Author Elodie Parkes! Stop by and say Hi!
Thank you for inviting me to
the blog today with my new release romance book.
The Flower Box
February 7 release by Hot Ink Press.
Alice longs for love. Oliver
wants to give her flowers and candy until he thinks she has another lover. Will
his jealousy drive him away from Alice or straight into her arms?
Buy
the book: http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=B00IA7OUWO
Teaser from The Flower Box 18+
“Three
years. How can that have happened? You’re smoking hot. I can’t understand why
you don’t have a man right now waiting anxiously for you to come home.”
Oliver’s tone was sincere and Alice felt sad. She couldn’t understand it
either. She looked at him aware tears welled in her eyes, even more
embarrassed.
“There’s no
one.”
Oliver
kissed her again. This time he held her face. His lips were gentle on hers, and
full of tenderness. When he stopped kissing her, he leaned back and smiled.
“That has
to change.”
It made
Alice smile and the tears receded. Their coffee arrived. Oliver asked her again
about her work and she told him. He made a sound of admiration when he
discovered the shop was hers and a sound of sympathy when he heard how long she
worked each day. They sipped at their coffee and gazed into each other’s eyes.
When Oliver took her hand and began to stroke her wrist as they talked, she
went weak. Her breasts heavy with desire, she felt her nipples grazed by the
lace of her bra. Her pussy throbbed. He surrounded her with his masculinity,
the air charged with sexual longing. She looked into his eyes and took the
chance.
“Oliver,
come home with me.”
Copyright Elodie Parkes 2014
About the author:
Elodie
Parkes
is a British author writing romance, erotic, contemporary, and often with a
twist of mystery, paranormal or suspense. Her books are always steamy, cool
stories and hot love scenes.
Elodie lives in Canterbury with her two
dogs. She works in an antique shop by day and writes at night, loving the cloak
of silent darkness that descends on the rural countryside around her home.
Elodie writes for, Hot Ink Press, Moon Rose
Publishing, Eternal
Press, and Evernight
She has also released titles as an
individual indie author.
Find
Elodie online: Blog Tumblr Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest YouTube Amazon USA Amazon UK Smashwords Barnes and Noble ARe Bookstrand Evernight Manic Readers The Romance Reviews
February 11, 2014
Teaser Tuesday with Paul Flewitt
Today's Teaser Tuesday is with author Paul Flewitt!
Enjoy & Comment!
Sometimes
magic works...
Grief
drives people to extreme behaviour, and when Poor Jeffrey Kinsey is killed, his
friends go to some extreme lengths to bring him back… But Jeffrey’s death isn’t
the only thing going on in town...
Several girls have disappeared, only to be
found half eaten by an unidentifiable creature later... it’s enough to drive a
town insane. For Tommy, Jade and Chloe the next few weeks will make them or
break them… and a story begins…
Poor
Jeffrey; he never wanted death to be this way…
EXCERPT:
Poor Jeffrey couldn’t get anything quite
right. His father called him stupid, not unkindly but it was an unfair label;
Jeffrey was never stupid. Clumsy, yes, stupid, never. He had clumsy hands, and
was tall and gangly with overlong arms and feet that were somehow always too
big in his sneakers. These peculiarities of anatomy meant he would trip over
pretty much anything from the telephone stand in the hall to a pesky rock jutting
out of the ground. Pretty much anything that a normal foot would merely guide
its owner over without harm or incident, Jeffrey’s clown-like feet would lead
him to some minor catastrophe or other. He had often thought his entire body
was ungainly. Never had he considered his foot might be homicidal.
He daydreamed a lot, which didn't help his
cause. He could often walk right past his destination because some mathematical
problem or fruity teen fantasy had taken hold of his mind and blinded him to
the road. It’s what killed him in the end. Walking home one night and not
looking where he was going, head lost in the memory of the Ouija he and his
friends had played with that night, he slipped in the remains of a raccoon or
some such road kill, his feet unerringly leading him to the one obstacle in his
path that might bring him to ruin.
He couldn’t blame the weather for what was
about to befall him; it was a cloudless summer evening, the sweet smell of pine
mingling with freshly turned earth filling his nostrils. He drifted off to one
of those other places he often found himself going to in his mind, heedless of
the road by his side. He never noticed the two pinprick lights growing in the
distance, just walked with his head down, looking but sightless as he made his
mechanical way home. First he felt
something slimy underfoot, like rain slicked mud all smooth and without
purchase. Then time seemed to slow for him as he saw headlights rushing toward
him. Jeffrey saw his arms pin wheeling to stop a fall that was by now
inevitable. In his mind he saw many possible outcomes from his predicament, but
it was all happening much too quickly to act any more decisively than to swing
his arms and hope. Then he was falling too sharply to recover his balance. He
fell hard.
It wouldn't have been fatal, but a truck
was passing by at that same instant. The vehicle only struck a passing blow,
but it was enough to kill him. But poor Jeffrey, clumsy Jeffrey. He couldn’t
even get dying quite right
Paul Flewitt lives in Sheffield, UK with his
partner and their two children. He is a writer of horror and dark fiction with
JEA press.
Paul is the author of "Smoke" a flash fiction which appeared in OzHorrorCon's Book of Tribes anthology, "Paradise Park" from JEA's All That Remains anthology and the stand alone novella "Poor Jeffrey" through CHBB'Vamptasy press. He continues to work on further pieces...
Smart url for Amazon book page; http://smarturl.it/PoorJeffrey
Facebook Author Page; https://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Storytrees-Leaves/352745188170046
Amazon Author Page; http://www.amazon.com/Paul-Flewitt/e/B00FG34L7O/
February 6, 2014
Q&A with Kristin Day
Today's Q&A is with author Kristin Day! ENJOY!
Why did you start writing and when did you decide to go
professional?
I’ve always written – whether it be journaling, writing
poems, or just throwing up on a piece of paper and trashing it; however the
decision to write a novel was surprising…even to me. I thought I was only good
at writing in spurts. I had no idea I’d be able to pull off a 90K word novel!!
In 2012 I was devouring any and every book I could find in the YA paranormal
romance genre only to be left feeling unfulfilled. The books and series were
good and I enjoyed all of them I found, but something was still missing. When I
realized the story that I was searching for was in my head – I had one of those
‘ah-ha’ moments that smacks you in the face so hard you’re left drowning in
your own disbelief. I opened up my laptop and started writing. I did research,
I created characters, and built an entire world that I wanted to live in
myself. 90K words later, I had finished an entire book with a plot complex
enough to create an entire series! When I began doing research on how to query
publishers and agents, I found the self-pub option and almost fell out of my
chair. So I taught myself how to make covers, hired my best friend and grammar
genius to do the editing/supporting/counseling/talking-me-down-from-a-ledge
duties and neither of our lives were the same. I jumped into it feet first and
churned out another 3 books in a year and a half. I still felt like I needed
that extra support system and boost, so after meeting Cameo Renae at UtopYAcon
last summer, I queried her publisher, Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly
Publishing and they signed me in December 2013!
Do you write in more than one genre? Which ones and which do
you like the best? My favorite genre is anything magical – paranormal, fantasy,
dark fantasy, paranormal romance – whatever you may want to call it which is
also what I enjoy writing. I’d like to dabble in the dystopian genre at some
point, but the next series forming in my head also fits into the paranormal
genre, so I might be here a while! Although I admire authors who write romance,
new adult, and even erotica, I’m not sure how well I’d be able to pull it off
without that little extra paranormal aspect.
When it comes to reading I’ll read anything and everything
as long as it has a meaningful plot and well-developed characters.
What is the most difficult part of the entire writing
process for you? Queries, pitches, editing..etc. The most difficult part of the writing
process for me is to STOP WRITING. Thankfully there is such a thing as ‘series’
in our bookish universe because if there weren’t, my book would be
approximately 800K words long. Me and Homer could be besties. The Daughters of
the Sea series will include 5 five books and 1 novella when finished. Because
each book starts off where the last one ends, I have to consciously say to
myself “wrap this thing up and save all the ideas for the next book!” When I
start writing, it can be compared to jumping off a cliff. Once I begin, there’s
no going back. The characters will render me unable to function unless I get
their story out. It can be quite the inner-battle.
Once you’ve been touched by darkness, it never leaves you…
Seventeen year old Hannah spent her childhood wading through countless foster families until finally being adopted by a wealthy family from Georgia. Unfortunately, Atlanta’s high society wasn’t quite ready for Hannah… or the strange events that plague her. After being sent to a boarding school off the coast of North Carolina for kids ‘like’ her, she finds that things are never what they seem. Chilling visions of murder, unexplained hallucinations, and a dark, mysterious guy who haunts her nightmares all culminate to set in motion a journey of self-discovery that will challenge everything she’s ever believed; not to mention her sanity.
When the ghost from her dreams appears in the flesh; her nightmares become reality and her dark visions begin coming true. Inexplicably drawn to him, she can’t deny the dangerous hold he has on her heart. The deadly secrets he harbors will ultimately test her courage and push the boundaries of her love. She must decide if she is ready to embrace the ancient legend she is prophesized to be a part of. The fate of all the daughters of the sea will forever depend upon it.
Seventeen year old Hannah spent her childhood wading through countless foster families until finally being adopted by a wealthy family from Georgia. Unfortunately, Atlanta’s high society wasn’t quite ready for Hannah… or the strange events that plague her. After being sent to a boarding school off the coast of North Carolina for kids ‘like’ her, she finds that things are never what they seem. Chilling visions of murder, unexplained hallucinations, and a dark, mysterious guy who haunts her nightmares all culminate to set in motion a journey of self-discovery that will challenge everything she’s ever believed; not to mention her sanity.
When the ghost from her dreams appears in the flesh; her nightmares become reality and her dark visions begin coming true. Inexplicably drawn to him, she can’t deny the dangerous hold he has on her heart. The deadly secrets he harbors will ultimately test her courage and push the boundaries of her love. She must decide if she is ready to embrace the ancient legend she is prophesized to be a part of. The fate of all the daughters of the sea will forever depend upon it.
Author Bio: I am a southern belle at
heart with a crazy streak that desperately tries to escape at every
opportunity. I love all things nostalgic, rustic, and quirky. I've been told I
see the world through rose-colored glasses, but I prefer to think of them as
kaleidoscope glasses - swirling and morphing reality into something I can
digest (who hasn't pretended those pasty lima beans were really kiwi strawberry
jelly beans?).
I am the author of the
DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA series, which includes FORSAKEN, AWAKEN, CHOSEN, and
HEARKEN, EVENTIDE (a Novella) 2014, and PROVEN 2014. I love all books, but
really enjoy writing young adult, paranormal romances. I've loved to write for
as long as I can remember. My first published work was my poem RED in second
grade (you guessed it - it was a poem about the color red - life altering, I
know) that won me 5 gold stars and a spot in my elementary school's poetry
book. That's when my addiction to the written word officially began. I was the
only kid in fifth grade that actually enjoyed diagramming sentences. Go ahead
and laugh – it’s okay.
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