Monday, July 28, 2014

My Turn---Above My Pay GradeX2



Some of you will have seen this announcement already, but I add something here and some readers will not have seen it.

First:  The tale is Urban Fantasy and deals with someone who has some skill in manipulating matter and energy.

Second: My E-novel--the one I have talked about for over two years--is now listed on smashwords.com and Barnes and Noble web site.  Plus a few other places. It is a pre-order and will be listed on other sites as it becomes live  Aug 18.   On the B&N site however no cover pic of yet even though you can pre-order it.

 The novel has had two other titles during the time I have talked about it. First was "New Mage On The Block". I started with that one thinking my MC would be a new member of a group of Mages, but it didn't quite work out that way as I wrote it.  Next title "Two Struggles" dealt with the fact that my MC-  NA by name-has two different battles to fight throughout the novel. One is the bad guy and his traps and the other was inside her--in her heart dealing with much of her emotional baggage.



Third:   So here is the shorter blurb from Smashwords to explain more about the story.


My name is NA. I can change matter and energy; so far I've used it to help fight mythical creatures and help women escape from their abusers. Now I find myself in a situation totally above my pay grade. Someone had the bright idea I could stop a very bad event from happening--after I survive a mother grizzly, a griffin, a nest of ghosts, deadly plants, a man wanting revenge, and inner conflicts.

Here is the its page on Smashwords.com 


Here is the page on BN.


At the same time I redid the covers for my two story sets and cleaned the stories some. 

Fantasy set

SF set  



Here is a pic of "Above My Pay GradeX2"








Saturday, July 12, 2014

An interview with Meredith Mansfield E-author of five books.


A while back I decided to do some interviews with published writers. Meredith Mansfield is the first one. She has out five books which she listed below in response to the first question. THE SHAMAN’S CURSE is the latest. 



Her web site is here and you can find the various locations to get her books there  Info about her on her About Page

I sent her ten questions and this is how she answered them.



How many book do you have? 
Published? Five 
BLOOD WILL TELL
& BLOOD IS THICKER 
(Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy)
FIRE AND EARTH
(YA Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery)
THE BARD'S GIFT
(YA Historical Fantasy)
THE SHAMAN'S CURSE 
(Epic Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery)
That doesn't count CHIMERIA OMNIBUS (which is both BLOOD WILL TELL and BLOOD IS THICKER) or several short stories ("Heart of Oak", "Becoming Lioness", "The Music Box", and "Wyreth's Flame")
Where did the idea for this tale come from? I believe it’s on your blog, but could you repeat it?
Actually, THE SHAMAN'S CURSE goes back so far that I can't really remember the original inspiration. I've been toying with this world and parts of this story since college. (And that's longer ago than I'm going to admit to here.)
Who is your favorite character in this book?
Unfair. That's like asking which is your favorite child. 
How long did it take you to write? You mentioned deleted scene on your blog. How many and how large where these scenes?
That depends how you count. I think the first draft took about six months, but that doesn't count revisions, coming back to it several times over the last six years, or the abortive attempt to recast it as either middle grade or young adult. Let's just say this one has been cooking longer than most.
Well, the "cuts" file for this book, where I keep deleted bits or scenes, is over 16,000 words long, but that may not be the best indication. I'm quite sure there were other things deleted that aren't in there. (They are preserved in other places, though. It would just take longer to actually find them.) Looking through it, I think I cut six whole chapters. (Some of which will reappear later in the series or as stand-alone short stories.)
Any embrasasssing scenes in this book or a previous one? 
Not any more if I've done my job in the editing. J 
Actually, depending on what you mean by "embarrassing", I just don't write those scenes. I get things rolling and then draw the curtain and come back in the morning.
Which scene--without too many spoilers--gave you the most fits? 
Hmm. I don't really remember any of them giving me fits. Some came easier than others, of course. I think Veleus was the hardest character for me to get a handle on, so possibly his early scenes. 
What outfit would you wear, if you were the Main Female Character? 
Well, that would depend on where she was, to some extent. Day-to-day, Thekila wears either a tunic (with laces going well down the front) and trousers or a dress that's very like an extra-long tunic. In either case, there'd likely be a band of embroidery around the hem of the tunic. Being Valson, she prefers bright colors. 

Is this book in any way modeled after another published book? 
No.
What other book world would you take your Main Character to for a day on the town?
Well, Vatar is already the most well-traveled person probably in this whole world. But he's really most comfortable with wide open spaces around him. Even when he's in the city, he tends to prefer to be on the outskirts rather than within the city walls. Oh, and he hates large bodies of water or really anything with waves. 
Who is your favorite writing teacher? A pro writer who also shares how to writer workshops, or a collage teacher Or?
I just completed one of David Farland's online writing classes that was very interesting. 

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Flying Eagle: Seven Fantasy Stories E-File


Okay, here is the same book on Smashwords. Of course it’s a E-file there. I just redid the cover, and even though I hadn’t planned it, the cover pic does apply to one story in the seven stories--plus one bonus. 

I decided it could be better to use a different cover than the one at CreateSpace. 

I had to upload the story file again and it hasn’t been vetted by a real person yet, so I don’t know if you were to buy it if you would get the new file or the one before it. The new one is in better shape and some of the stories a little bit better than the previous files. I’m not sure how long it will take to vet it. Three days or a week, but in any case it should still be okay for Smashwords. 

I really do believe there are some good stories in it, a couple are just for fun, but over all nice tales. 



Thursday, July 3, 2014

Flying Eagle: Seven Fantasy Stories

Okay, my fantasy story set is up at Amazon, in case anyone wants to read some fantasy tales in the flesh one might say.  The cover is so-so but my novel cover will be pro.


Stories

Update on my E-Novel---Above My Pay GradeX2


Good News: the artist is working on my cover-I might make a change or two, but the test cover looked good.

So I predict that my E-novel Above My Pay GradeX2 will be out in eight to eighteen days. If there is no problems with the smashword and/or CreateSpace file. Yeah, they each have to have different formats. (Rolls eyes upward)

Speaking of that; my test books--actually story sets--are half and half trouble.  My fantasy set is a go CreateSpace--for a paper novel, yay-, and a new improved upload is being double checked on smashwords.  But my SF story set is having problems on CreateSpace. I thought I did exactly the same thing on that as I did on the fantasy set, but obviously not. I thought about leaving it, since the writing isn't as good as the fantasy set, but I need to get it right for my Novel. I have a new, improved upload of the SF set on smashwords too, that is also being checked. 

I am almost done with the Smashwords file for my novel, and then start to work on the CreateSpace file while I redo the SF file. 

Now to decide on what book to do next. I have four--actually more but the writing was done years ago, before I knew what I didn’t know. I thought about doing my space opera, but I remembered that I have two other novels that have been partially revised. Both are UFa--even though one is a bit different. Hmmm, I guess I will take a week or so to think about it. 

And I need to start Book Two to Above My Pay GradeX2. I much I work on it may depend on how I feel about which book to work on and, as I have said before, how many of this one sells.