Reading For Pleasure

One of the questions a reader asked in an e-mail this week was do I read for pleasure? That’s a good question. It’s understandable that since so much of a writer's time is spent reading for work, could we want to spend free time doing what amounts to more reading?

For me (and likely most writers) the answer to that is yes. There’s a difference between what I read for my work, and what I read for pleasure. In my work, I spend a lot of time reading as part of my research. For my book BETRAYAL, a historical romantic suspense to be released this November, I read a lot of history about the twelfth century since that was when the book was set. I read a great deal on the customs and culture of that time period and delved into medical practices and treatments since my main character, among other things, is a medical practitioner. I wanted to true to that time and make my characters people of that period of history with twelfth century interests and concerns.

Though reading for work is essential reading, I enjoy it. Often when I’m reading, I find something intriguing that will spark an idea for a scene, or that I can use to enrich a character. Usually, I get so caught up in the reading that I have to stop myself and get back to the actual writing.

When I read for pleasure, however, I read fiction. I’m drawn to the types of novels I write - suspense. I buy a lot of books, far more than I have time to read, lately. My "to be read" list is very l-o-n-g and keeps getting longer, since I can't resist bringing so many of the wonderful books I come across home with me.

What do you read, either for pleasure or for your job? I’d love to know. Post a response or send me an e-mail at: karen@karenfenech.com

We just may discover that we're reading the same book!

Regards,
Karen
www.karenfenech.com

When did you start writing?

"I saw an angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free."
-Michelangelo

Nearly any artist will tell you that what was once a blank canvas, a block of clay, or a silence that needed to be filled with weeping melody came to be a completed work by hours of labor, bouts of unparalleled joy, and, in many cases, a shedding of tears. They will also tell you that much like Michelangelo's winged companion; the final product is something that was envisioned long before the finishing touches. The same is true of writing. The marble, of course, is the paper (or in many cases, a computer monitor with a blinking cursor), and the words are the angels we unleash. In poetry, in fiction, and even in the carefully arranged words that make up a formal essay, a writer starts with an image in mind; the task, the challenge, the beauty of the thing is in communicating that image.

Here, at the Five Star Author blog, I’m often reminded that before I ever thought of writing I was a reader. And I read all those “adult¨ books long before I was given parental permission! The most frequently asked question I hear is, “When did you start writing?” And, “What is it that drives you to write?” This is my in depth reply and I’d love to hear what the rest of reply or reflect upon when asked the same questions.

I began writing when I was nine years old. I woke up early on a Saturday morning in the bedroom that I slept in alone. My four brothers were still sleeping, and the pale glow of the eastern sky was not enough to chase away the desolate feel of the quiet house. It crossed my mind that perhaps my parents were gone--that they had abandoned us, or that something terrible had happened to them. Slightly frightened by the thought, but more intrigued than anything, I found some notebook paper and a pencil and started a story about the lives that my brothers and I would lead if our parents had vanished. Can you imagine the things a nine year old girl and her four older brothers could do, without parents, making their own rules, basing their lives around their priorities of fun and curiosity? Soon one of my brothers joined me in writing, and we exchanged pages of freshly scripted adventures. We scribbled furiously, racing at times, and traded ideas and settings. The stories themselves were unrealistic, choppy, and immature in many ways. Even so, it became the basis of a passion that would stick with me for many years

Even before that summer morning that inspired me to visit lands of my own design, I loved to read. I was always amazed by the idea that a few hundred pages bound by glue could provide a person with a whole separate existence, how one individual's concept of a character or a place could transfer in such a way. Because of the writer's details, all those adjectives and adverbs, I could envision what began in the mind of another, fact or fantasy, with little inaccuracy. Those inaccuracies were what really fascinated me, though, those variances: Is this exactly what the author saw? Is it what other readers see? So many times while reading a description of a room, or running with a fictional character through a non-existent house, I would picture furniture arranged a certain way and imagine the carpet a particular color. The beauty was the idea that these were my places. Where they had come from I would never really know; sometimes they were rooms I'd seen before, but mostly they were made up of things that were entirely new to me: a pale yellow couch, a deep red tapestry with blue and silver inlays, a statue of a very tall cat. No one else could see them or feel quite the same way about them as I did.

My need to write is very similar to those things that inspired me to read. There are places that are too beautiful to be real, people that I so desperately need to exist, sarcasm and ironies and realizations that simply have to be expressed. These things are just concepts, just thoughts, and they demand to be let out. And so I write them; I let them out. The beauty of it is that as I unleash these metaphorical angels, I am swept away, taken to a place created entirely by me. It is a freedom that I could otherwise never experience. In reality, I may go to France, but I might not drink wine near the edge of a small cliff overlooking Paris, watching the colors of the sunset merge together, melting into sleep. One day, in my real life, I may even know what it is to be homeless, but I will never experience the desperation of hunger so intense that the word "shame" loses all meaning.

These are the places I go to, places that unfold before me as I capture their essence in description and dialogue, and the stay is wonderful. There is life experience in these imaginary escapes, new sensations and insights to be gained. I can live any life I choose, and I can move from one form of existence to another with each character into which I breathe that literary life. I will almost certainly never be rich or famous from my writing, and it will probably never be an activity to which I can dedicate a large measure of my time. Still, it will always be there. That's good enough for me.

www.authoraprilstar.com

Interview about my first Feature Film GODHEAD

There's an interview with me over at Love To Know Movies about my first Independent feature film, GODHEAD. Thought I'd pass on the link... The direct link to the interview IS RIGHT HERE

Where do the Five Star Authors create their awesome books?

Aris's hole in the wall...and this is clean. I took out three coffee cups, two bowls, a paper plate, and several forks and spoons before I took this picture. I need a home office makeover… quick someone call HGTV!

What I'm Working On

After five books in the Emerson Ward mystery series, I took time out a couple of years ago and wrote a one-off called Island Life. The story of a suburban everyman whose wife disappears, I wanted to explore the notion of how you live without someone who's been part of your life for twenty years. Ultimately, the book turned into a suspenseful mystery, and I hope one day it will find a home with a good publisher.

When I finished Island Life, I turned with renewed vigor to the sixth Emerson Ward mystery, Death On A Budget. I realized that even after five books I didn't know that much about Emerson himself. Determined to write a break-out book and do something unusual with the character, I took Emerson back to his home town after an absence of 25 years to look into the suicide of a childhood friend.

The journey has given me an opportunity to explore a number of themes -- small town values vs. big city, urban/suburban sprawl, progress, recreating the past -- as well as the family, friends and environment that shaped Emerson's personality and value system. It's been a wonderful process, but long. I'm now into my sixteenth month of writing, and still have a little way to go.

The question is, will the opening hook you long enough to want to go on the journey with Emerson? Here are the first few paragraphs. I'll post the first chapter on my web site soon. Let me know what you think.

If George Saunders had been lucky as well as cautious that Tuesday, he might not have ended up lying on the pavement, an ever-widening pool of his own blood oozing beneath him like primordial pitch, reflecting black under the leaden sky of early morning. Then again, maybe no amount of luck could have saved him. Whoever had gotten to him had wanted him badly.
His body – most of it – had been found in Montrose Park, near the lake. A shotgun blast had turned his knee to hamburger. SecondA second shotgun blast had torn off his right arm at the shoulder. Probably ended up as fish food – it wasn’t found anywhere near the body. The third load of shot had blown away most of his face. It was several days before the body was positively identified.

That particular day had been dreary and rainy. Maybe the result of warmer than normal Pacific currents and a low pressure system over the Azores. Or global warming, which has become a catch-all for blame of every sort. On such days, the wind blows in off the lake, whipping its surface to an angry froth on careening swells of menacing green water. It forces the waves crashing ashore, blows geysers of spray across Lake Shore Drive, drenching passing cars. It hurtles down city streets, gaining speed as it squeezes between the tall buildings. The keening as it careers past the big bay windows of my house rises and falls with each furious gust. The sheets of glass heave in and out as if breathing, tattooed by rain that sounds as loud as a handful of pebbles thrown against the panes. It finds its way into every crack and crevice, little rivulets of cold that stream indoors like the rain coursing down the window. It is the frosty breath of a callous beast, a moisture-laden cold that seeps deep into my bones, leaving me chilled and shivering.

Spring. In Chicago. An oxymoron to anyone who’s spent any time here. There are usually a couple of weeks in May that are representative of spring, a week or two in October that could be construed as fall. Hard to call them seasons, exactly. Those who live here know Chicago has only two seasons – winter and construction. Metaphors for life.

Mike Sherer
www.emersonwardmysteries.com

Five Star Author Introduction

(This author introduction is excerpted from my upcoming interview with MagesPages.com.)

Hello. My name is Jon Baxley. I’m originally from Irving, Texas--now living in Hondo, Texas, which is about 55 miles west of San Antonio. I graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington and went straight into the Army during the height of the Vietnam War. After that, I served as a “consultant” with the USIA in the former Soviet Union and eventually came back to the states to enter the golf profession.

I went on to start my own business in the hobby and game industry, where I published one of the very first Apple Computer strategy games. It was at this point in 1985 that I began writing on a daily basis—first for my own business needs, then ultimately with the intent to become published.

I wrote and submitted my first fiction work in 1986. Several publishers read the story, entitled Through the Tiger’s Eye, which was about the Hmong freedom fighters in Laos during the Vietnam War. Unfortunately that work never got off the ground—there were simply too many war stories at the time. It’s been in a box ever since.

My next effort was a terrific little fantasy story called The Scythian Stone, which was written for a burgeoning fantasy market. I shopped that story around for several years while working on paying gigs as an editor and ghostwriter. During that time, I produced several books for a nationally recognized speaker, one of which hit the NYT bestseller list.

Unfortunately, it was a work for hire—ergo—no name recognition. But, that success told me I was on the right track and that my writing was readable. Fast forward a couple of years and I entered Scythian in a web-wide eBook contest with Preditors & Editors where it won an award for Best Novel on the Web. Again, that success (be it ever so small) provided great reinforcement that my writing actually appealed to people other than close friends.

That, in turn, gave me the exposure to pursue bigger fish here in the US, which ultimately led to a series of ‘no thanks’ rejection letters because Scythian was simply too short for print publishers. I had already written most of The Blackgloom Bounty, intended to be the second episode in a series of five books, and when I submitted both to Five Star, they suggested that I combine the two into one epic tome. That’s when all the lights went on.

The prospect of a book tour is on the table, as well as a book-to-movie package that is being considered by several major Hollywood players. That part excites me. I would love to see this story play out on the big screen.

People ask me about inspiration and the process of writing. When I sit down to create a new chapter, I have only a limited idea where the story is going. My writing is 80% character driven. In other words, I don’t plot, plan or diagram. I allow the people/beings in the book to do all the work. They act, then react and then create reaction from other characters as the story unfolds. Sometimes an entire section of the book, including new faces I had never thought of, simply jumps off the keyboard and onto the computer screen. That’s the part of the process that I cannot control, nor do I want to. In fact, I love it when that happens. It’s like reading someone else’s book for the first time.

I also use a catalyst in the form of music while I write. I have hundreds of movie soundtracks and if I know the scene I’m creating next will have lots of blood and guts, I put on a heavy soundtrack like Gladiator or Troy. If it’s a romantic scene, I choose something more in that vein. It really helps me ‘see’ the scenes in my head while I blaze over the keyboard creating them. For those unfamiliar with this process, you should try it—the right background music can help you break out of that dreaded writer’s block.

My old classmate, General Tommy Franks, told his troops in Iraq, “Hope is NOT a method.” That’s the best advice I can offer writers. Don’t write something hoping you can get it published. Write something good, edit it until your fingers bleed, let others read and critique it and THEN look for someone to submit it to. Your odds of success go way up when you stop hoping and start working to be a writer. That also means spending a few bucks on a professional editor to polish your manuscript, both for content and presentation. A retired school teacher down the block may be fine as a sounding board or first reader, but when you’re submitting to the big houses, you better have your ducks in a row.

The Blackgloom Bounty is fantasy reading for all ages. Harry Potter is okay for younger kids, but when they grow out of it, I want my books to be where they gravitate. I want them to be able to read a chapter, then get online and Google a term or a phrase to learn more about the time period. Yes, Blackgloom is fantasy. However, it’s also a medieval epic with lots of historical imagery, phrases and geographic locations to make the storyline credible. I was told by experts you could not mix history and fantasy and expect to sell such a book. So much for the experts.

Every reviewer thus far has lauded the book for the fast, unrelenting action, interesting characters and multiple plot lines that all lead to a dramatic (and apparently very satisfying) ending. That’s important to me—to know that people ‘get’ the book—that they understand what motivates the characters. Those two things mean I’ve succeeded with Blackgloom, regardless of how many books I sell. And I plan to continue on that track with The Regents of Rhum, book two in the series, due out in early 2007, assuming the movie business doesn’t sidetrack me.

Readers are encouraged to email me at FiveStarAuthor@aol.com with questions and comments. I’ll do my best to respond in a timely fashion. Visitors to this blog, I thank you for your interest in my work.

Jon F. Baxley

Posted May 26, 2006

*****

Welcome

Hi, everyone !
For those of you who don't know me let me intorduce myself. My name is Aris. Aris is pronounced (heiress) and I'm not sure what the meaning is. Several years ago, when I was asked what my name meant, I replied that Aris was a Greek Sex Goddess (what can I say I'm a romance writer). Unfortunately, my husband happened to be near, he looked over at me, rolled his eyes, and said very loudly "I wish". I've moved on to another story, which happens to be true. I was born in the seventies to a pair of hippies, real hippies. Having said that, I think I got off lucky with the name Aris. It could have been much worse, Fruit Stand or something like that.
So, Aris it is. I'm a romance writer. My first book with Five Star, Fatal Embrace, is Cosmo's "Red-Hot Read". My second book, Foolish Notions will be out at the end of the year. I'm currently working on a follow-up to Fatal Embrace entitled Soul Stirring.
Well that's all for now...Grab a cup of coffee and browse around—Five Star had some amazing authors with fantastic stories.
~Aris~

www.ariswhittier.com

Spring Cleaning

Every year at this time, like so many others, I start thinking of doing my spring cleaning. For me though, spring cleaning always involves more than my house, the biggest job for me is cleaning - or cleaning out - my computer harddrive.

I'm a messy writer. Now I'm not talking about leaving scraps of paper and pens and pencils around my home office. I write almost exclusively on computer so the mess I'm referring to literally occurs on the harddrive. That's probably why it gets so out of hand, the mess isn't readily visible - no piles of papers littering the floor of my office for me to trip over.

When I'm writing, or thinking about what to write, I journal and brainstorm ideas on characters, plot, setting etc. If a line of dialogue or a scene comes to me, I make a note of it. Recording my thoughts this way is a process that helps me develop my fiction and non-fiction and lets me see what an idea looks like on screen, rather than just inside my head. It's a process that works well for me.

What results from this process, however, are hundreds of notes that are not in any order. To organize them, I read each one and either discard it for not being the gem I thought it was when I wrote it, or decide it still has potential and file it for easy reference at a later date.

Spring cleaning my harddrive takes a l-o-n-g time and I usually end up discarding more notes than I keep, but doing it takes me back to ideas I'd had and then forgotten about, bringing them once again to the forefront of my mind. When I find a note that sparks an adrenaline rush, and gets my heart pounding, I know I've just found the next book or short story that I'm going to write.

And of course, I now have a clear harddrive that I can spend the next year filling with ideas again!

How is your spring cleaning going this year?

Regards,
Karen
www.karenfenech.com

What I'm Working On: The Orffyreus Wheel

I'm working on a very cool project currently. It's a serialized novel, offered by www.amazon.com in segments - each downloadable for .49 -- each between 7500 and 10,000 words long. I anticipate it will be about ten sections when complete, and currently the first four are available on Amazon and getting great reviews.

The short version of this book's synopsis is: "In 1712, Johan Bessler invented a wheel that, under rigorous testing, and in full view of credible eye witnesses, appeared to be in perpetual motion. He revealed his secret to only one man, and the invention died with Bessler. Or did it? Now, almost three hundred years later, Elly Kassel has inherited a fortune, and a mystery. Can she protect it against the machinations of Maxwell Black until it can be revealed to the world, or will the secret of free energy be lost forever?"

Think about what a free source of energy would mean in these days of $3.00 a gallon gasoline, and you'll see what my heroine is up against in this one. This takes place half in the past, and half in the present, as it follows the invention of Bessler's wheel, and the re-discovery of it in modern times. If you're interested, click the "cover art" and give it a try ... at half a buck you won't find a better bargain!

DNW

What's Everyone Working On?

I'm eager to hear all about everyone's work-in-progress. There's an extreme amount of talent here amongst the Five Star authors. I've spent a lot of time visiting sites, reading excerpts, and the journey and discoveries were sheer delight. Made me run over to Amazon.com and place my order:)

Now that my final edits have been turned in on TROPICAL WARNINGS, I'm hard at work on revising and revamping my second title in the Wanderlust Mystery series. Tentatively titled, THE LAST RESORT. For me, the most difficult writing came with the prologue (which I'm considering dropping as a prologue and changing to "Chapter One). With it I discovered the true experience of research in getting facts correct with ocean navigation. Along the way I received such comments as. "Why waste time with so much factual research? The book is fiction. Who cares?" I CARE! Fiction or not, I certainly don't want some reader down the road saying, "you better check your facts, ma'am!"

So here it is--you be the judge! A sneak peek into my WIP. Oh, and speaking of "peaks" here's the link to my very first press release! http://www.rvnewsdaily.com/article.php/april_star

The cloaking fog appeared strangely protective. There were areas along Anastasia Island’s coastline where no one could hear you scream. And it was in such an area that the bottle was launched, spinning through the air and landing with a splash. It bobbed and weaved quietly eight feet above the sandy bottom before deciding on a direction. Seemingly, it appeared to be floating a quarter mile off the northerly point of St. Augustine Harbor.

As the day progressed, feeling the pull of the tide, the bottle moved imperceptibly westward before making a gradual circuit around the jetty outward along Salt Run inlet. Starting its journey into the path of the sunlight. Glinting through the sparkling Atlantic, the bottle reflected blue, gold and pink.

Three days later it had cleared the inlet area and was moving north by northwest, about two hundred feet offshore, in fifteen feet of water along the Ancient Sand Dunes.

The rolling waves of the Atlantic and gentle westerly breeze blew across the tropics. Despite the westerly wind, the bottle continued to float west. St. Augustine, Florida has over four and a half miles of beach that stretch along the northeastern tip of Anastasia Island. It is situated right in the middle of modern Florida -- a mere 40 miles from the glassy skyscrapers of downtown Jacksonville, 100 miles from the rocket ships of Kennedy Space Center and 100 miles from the fantasy theme parks of Orlando -- but its nearly four and a half centuries of history make it seem worlds away. The bottle had floated aimlessly for over 200 miles and seven days before drifting into an offshore basin where the water circulated in a counterclockwise motion. The bottle was in the extreme south of this basin. The circulation moved the bottle westward, back toward home.

For two days, the bottle washed back and forth against the rock and wooden structure of the south end of the jetty; as if it were uncertain whether to go inside, toward St. Augustine, or outside, back into the Atlantic.

The romantic symbolism of bottles containing proclamations of love and being tossed out to sea have intrigued people for as long as there have been bottles. Oceanographers have charted these romantic journeys; Hollywood has made blockbuster movies out of the tenderness from the notion.

The bottle that had been hurled out in the Atlantic on a balmy spring day from St. Augustine Harbor contained no messages of undying love and passion. Nor did it contain charts or maps of shipwrecks. What it did contain was secrets, lies, betrayals and the most unspeakable of crimes—murder. And just as the journey of the bottle itself, it would alter the course and direction of many lives beginning with the life of whoever discovered this message in a bottle.

Ideas

Yesterday it happened again. A woman told me she had a great idea for a book. She would share, I would write it and we would "split the money."

Several writers I know have had the same experience.

I'm never at a loss for ideas. They bombard me from news stories, a child's observation, an incident.

And dialogue, too. A man opened a door for me yesterday. When I thanked him, he said, "You're all right." To me it was charming and typical of the way we talk in Oklahoma. In the bank, one man asked another how he was. The response, "I'm good." For me, ordinary, everyday conversations make great material and produce compelling characters. Most writers I know are (1) terribly nosy and (2) eavesdrop. That's where I get some of my best ideas.

I try to be gentle with those non writing idea-people, invite them to attend our writers group. Generally, they're too busy. Oh really?

April's a genius

April, your instructions were perfect. I registered, but didn't realize it, tried to register again only to find the name not available. It was already taken...by me.

Thanks for your patience.

Sharon Ervin

Where do I get my ideas?

One of the questions I'm asked most often as a writer is, where do I get my ideas? Sometimes they spring from the humor of my life!

Anyone who knows me, or has visited my website, knows that I have curly hair. Well, after living with it for so many years, I've learned to work with it, and enjoy the versatility of it. It's not a problem for me anymore. On most days, that is.

There was this one day, though, a weekday several years ago, and both myself and my daughter had slept in. Since I was going to be driving her and a few of her friends to school that morning, I not only had to get her ready to leave the house, but I had to get myself ready as well. While getting her breakfast, I caught my reflection in the toaster and saw that my hair was as wide and thick as a mop.

I left her to finish eating and went off to fix the problem. Several brush strokes later, my arm was aching and my hair still looked like I should be cleaning my floor with it.

Clearly, there wasn't a quick fix, and I was out of time. I needed to get the kids to school. I was thinking that I'd just have to leave it, and go out into the world with it as it was, when inspiration struck. I grabbed the toque my husband wore during the winter months when he was out shoveling snow from our driveway, and put that on. Now, that should have been the end of it. Problem solved, right?

The thing was, it wasn't January, it was June.

Maybe I just should have gone out with my mop-hair?

One good thing did come out of that - the idea for my humorous short story - Bad Hair Day!

I'm not having a bad hair day today. Honest. See for yourself, if you like. I'm at http://www.karenfenech.com/

Regards,
Karen

More on Inspiration: When Lightning Strikes

Inspiration is a funny thing: you can be 'blocked' for days and then some dumb episode from your past pops into your head, and there you have it: what I call the 'Million Dollar Idea.'

After reading about Sharon Garner's great LASER 'Cat-toy' idea in a previous post, I'd love to hear other epsiodes of inspiration from the Five Star crew. Which were your personal favorites when writing your book(s)? Which, perhaps, didn't work out as you thought they might?

Here's one of mine from my upcoming July release, Under Cloak of Darkness (minor spoilers ahead, in case anyone wants to read it):

There's a scene where my protagonist, a spy, is in a race against the clock: he must get back to his safe-house before 7 pm--the time of his rendezvous with a colleague--or that colleague will be intercepted and tortured.

My inspiration came from the great Cinema verite film Rendezvous, by French director Claude Le Louche. Here's the tale. In the mid-seventies, Le Louche bought a Ferrari at about the same time he was testing a new car-mounted 'steadi-cam'-like camera. He decided--and this is true, cuz' I've got the DVD to prove it--to mount it on his Ferrari and hire a Formula 1 driver to test-drive it.

The driver's task was to drive from one end of Paris (starting near the Louvre) across to the other side (the Cathedral Sacre Coeur) while the bumper-mounted camera filmed the whole thing.

The catch? He was to drive AS FAST AS HE POSSIBLY COULD! No blocked-off streets. No police notification. Just some nut (I've always suspected the driver was French racer Didier Pironi) screaming across Paris at 6 am in a Ferrari, exceeding speeds of 120 mph!

And he did it, in under ten minutes. But what a ride! People diving off sidewalks, cars honking, lights flashing, near-misses, ventures into on-coming traffic. When I show people this DVD on my big-screen, I swear some of them are about to s--t their pants! You simply can't believe it until you've seen it.

So I thought, What a great idea for the climax of a book! Have my protagonist hijack one of the classic London taxis in Soho and charge him with driving to South Kensington as fast as he can. I won't tell you if he gets there in time, but this ride was a blast to write: dodging pedestrians just done shopping at Selfridges and Marks & Spencer, getting stuck behind plodding two-story red London buses, running vintage automobiles (the story takes place in 1955) off the road, flying past landmarks like the Dorchester Hotel and Marble Arch.

It's said that at the first screening of his film Claude Le Louche was arrested by Paris Gendarmes for his little stunt. My character, I will tell you, didn't get off quite so easily as paying a fine and having a brief stay at a station-house. But if people accuse me of writing something too fantastic to be true, I can say this in my defense:

Stop by my house--I've got a little movie to show you.

If you ever have a chance to see it--please do. I swear, you won't believe they actually did it.

Is Anybody Out There?

If You Build It ... will they come? That's the real question behind Web sites. The Internet has proved to be an invaluable resource, a terrific means of communication and tool for learning.

Like all communications vehicles, however, it's only as good as its content, and the big problem is weeding out good content from bad. For Five Star authors, the big problem is finding (inexpensive)ways to reach potential readers.

"Create a web page," some will tell you. Great idea. But how do you drive readers to your site? Spread your name around on sites like this? It helps, I suppose. Better still is getting that one review or having that one hook that generates buzz. If anyone knows how to do that, let me know.

Michael W. Sherer
Death Is No Bargain
www.emersonwardmysteries.com

Deep Blue - My first Five Star Novel

My first novel with Five Star, Deep Blue, is still available in both HC and trade paperback. Here is a little background on that novel, for those who may be interested:

The novel Deep Blue finds its origin in the novelette by the same name published in an anthology titled Strange Attraction. In Strange Attraction, all the stories were inspired by the “Kinetic” Art of Lisa Snelling, each author choosing one of the characters on an intricately detailed Ferris wheel sculpture. I was honored to be among authors such as Neil Gaiman and Gene Wolfe in presenting our separate visions of what lay buried behind her art. From the images presented, I chose a harlequin, hanging by a noose from the bottom of one of the Ferris wheels seats. I took the image, made it the wallpaper on my computer, printed it out and carried it around with me, and let it sink in. I could have written any number of stories that would have sufficed, but somehow I knew there would be more to this work, and so I waited.

The publishers of the anthology, Vince and Leslie Harper, invited me to have dinner with them one night when my mundane job took me to Washington DC. We met for Mexican food and went together to see the movie PI which, at the time, was newly released. On the way to meet the Harpers, I walked down into a shadowed subway, and I was assaulted by some of the most haunting saxophone music I’ve ever heard. It bordered the blues, walked down old jazz roads, and I never saw the musician. That set the mood for what was to come.

I reached the restaurant without further incident, and we spent a pleasant hour scalding mouths and stomachs with jalapenos and washing them down with beer. Then came the movie. I won’t go into detail about PI, but I’ll say it’s a black and white film, very surreal, filled with symbolism, and it left me visually and emotionally stunned. I parted company with Vince and his wife, found my way back to the subway and my hotel, and called it a night.

The next day, a friend of mine and I set out to visit The Holocaust Museum. I have always wanted to see it, but I was not prepared for the intensity of the images, the displays, and the words I would find in that short hour visit. I purchased a book of poetry written by the victims, and left with so much bottled up inside from those two days that I thought it would be the end of my sanity.

That night, I started to write. I started to write about The Blues, and how deep they might really get. I wrote about pain, not my pain, but the pain bottled up inside the world, as the pain had been bottled up inside me, and I wrote a way out. That was Brandt, his guitar, and his blues. The story, like the pain, refused to be bottled up in just the few lines of that novelette, and so I released it into the novel Five Star eventually published.

Everyone comes to their crossroads eventually – the defining moment of life. As Old Wally, one of the novel’s main characters tells us – “Crossroads, or the crosshairs.” Forward or back, but you can’t stay stagnant – that way lies madness. I give you . . . Deep Blue.

Publisher's Weekly said: ON DEEP BLUE: "Wilson's prose is smooth and powerful, carrying its allegorical weight with grace." ---Publisher's Weekly

You can read a short excerpt of this novel at http://www.macabreink.com/dbex.htm
You can order signed copies at www.shocklines.com

David Niall Wilson

Engineering a Romance

I'm an engineer (civil, most of the time) who writes Romance, most recently for Five Star, so I thought I'd jump on the blog page. Thank you, April, for the invitation. And, yes, I have written a book entitled "Engineering a Romance," but I haven't sold it yet. Gee, I thought the title was catchy!

What makes a good Romance? The same thing that makes a good book of any genre: characters we sympathize with and/or care about, strong conflict, and character growth. Easier said than done. I find it difficult to torture my characters, but I'm learning. In my next Five Star romance, STRENGTH OF A PROMISE (coming out in October), the hero is tortured almost to the point of death. I just love it when the heroine has to save the hero (evil grin here).

While making appearances at libraries and writers' conferences, I've realized how much I enjoy sharing information with aspiring authors. I think it's because I come from a family of teachers and social workers. So I'll try to share insight into the writing process while discussing my books on my own blog. Feel free to visit!

Enough said. I'm thrilled to be part of the group. Go Five Star!

Sarah
*************
Sarah Storme
THE LONG WAY HOME, Five Star Expressions 2005

How a Cat Toy Inspired Both a Scene and My Characters' Personalities

It was a Christmas present for our cats one year, a laser pointer on a keyring, a cat toy. The cats just didn't get the red mouse outline that appeared when I pushed the button, so I unscrewed the tip for them. They loved chasing the plain red dot.

As I played with them, I studied that dot. It looked like a locked-in laser sight--and I knew I had to use it in a book.

What kind of woman would use a cat toy against a bad guy? A gutsy, clever, independent, quirky, talkative heroine from a military family. And the much-tried, quiet, ex-military hero would have to find ways to cope with her and their situation, ways that didn't include strangling her.

The scene using the cat toy would be a fakeout situation, so she'd have to use it from cover. Why was she hiding? What if she were being hunted and ran into a cornfield like those in the last scene of the movie Casino? I'd already set the book in the tropical highlands of Brazil, the cerrados, which is a vast agricultural area. So who was hunting her and why? How did she end up in this mess anyway?

Therein lies the tale--and I called it Sanctuary.

P.S. My remaining cat still enjoys chasing that red dot.

Tropical Warnings

Thank you for stopping in here at the Five Star Blog spot!

I have been writing ever since I picked up a pencil, put it to paper, and discovered the magic of stringing letters and words together to form whatever world I dreamed about.

My audience and readers for over forty years has been made up of teachers, my parents, friends, and later--critique partners and writing groups. Many of you have followed me every step of the way, and for that I can never thank you enough--except through my books and my promise to make each and everyone the absolute best. My apprenticeship in the writing profession has had its share of many bumps and detours in the road to publication. The journey was well worth the effort (and pain) as I stand at the crossroad of my first release. I hope you're not disappointed with my debut novel, Tropical Warnings, A Wanderlust Mystery (Coming December 2006). I gave it my all--as you, the reader, deserve no less. For now (until my site is launched, you can read an excerpt and reviews on my page at The Mystery Club - http://fictionweb.com/authors/aprilstar/tropicalpreview.htm.

Some of you have inquired as to how soon is soon with the "Coming Soon" clip on my website! It should be within the next few days, and thank you for your patience.

I have a contest going on now in which I will have a drawing of the first 30 names who have signed up for my newsletter (http://members.authorsguild.net/aprilsblog/newsletter.htm). On Memorial day, May 29, I will draw from my subscriber list one person who will recerive a $30.00 Barnes and Noble gift certificate. To be used for a Five Star author book only (just kidding--but why would want to read anything else):)

Have a great weekend!

The Mote In Andrea's Eye

I thought I'd drop by and mention my upcoming Five Star title, "The Mote in Andrea's Eye," which is due out in June. If you click the title of the story above, it's linked to the first chapter of the novel - an excerpt to catch your attention.

This novel is pretty personal on some levels. My family lived through hurricane Isabel a few years back - it roared right over the top of our house. Among other things it ripped the handrail from our widow's walk and dropped it into our pool about twenty feet in front of my face -- and when I went up to secure the access door to the roof, I nearly did a Wizard of Oz flight through the storm, attached to that door. It was a frightening time.

After that, we watched the tracking radar on storms more closely, and one night the love of my life asked a fateful question. "I wonder why no hurricane has ever disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle?"

A novel was born.

Andrea Jamieson is my protagonist. She was a little girl living in the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the 1940s when a huge storm swept the coast. In an attempt to rescue her neighbor, her father dies, and this leaves a mark on Andrea that never heals. She grows up to study storms - becomes a consultant for the government's program "Operation Stormfury," where they tried to control storms by dropping silver iodide into the clouds, and when that program is shut down, she opens her own hurricane center. When they think they are ready, Andrea, her husband, ex-Navy pilot Phil Wicks, and their team go out to try and stop a hurricane. What happens is far from what they expect. They send the hurricane careening out of control, straight for the coast....but then, right off the coast of Bermuda, the storm just disappears. So does Phil, who is flying high above it.

Now, thirty years later in 2006, Andrea is just ready to unveil a new method of stopping storms. Before she can fully test it -- her storm comes back, right off Bermuda where she lost it. It's huge, it's headed for the coast, and they have barely enough time for a last-chance gamble to stop it. One other thing -- high above the storm, a very old plane is still flying.

This is an odd story - part Science Fiction, part science fact - part romance, part thriller. There's a little bit of "Twister" in it for those folks who, like me, loved that movie.

The last thing is the writing. I wrote this during the 2004 Nanowrimo challenge - I wrote the entire novel in 30 days. (Actually, I finished it on the 1st of December, but Nanowrimo only requires 50,000 words in November -- I wrote 86,000) I wrote it very "clean" so my 14 year old daughter could read along - so what I ended up with is far from the dark fantasy, horror novels of my past.

Publisher's Weekly said: “Those who think of Wilson (The Temptation of Blood) as a horror writer may be surprised by the tender tone of this unabashed descendant of 1940s pulp tales. Tugging heartstrings with the expertise of a master puppeteer, Wilson, a former naval technician, adds plenty of authentic touches but never overwhelms the reader with details. The clean prose, romance and fantasy elements, heart-pounding scenes of man against nature, and topical currency (thankfully not overplayed) will appeal to a wide variety of readers . . .”

Library Journal said: "Wilson (The Temptation of Blood) crafts a paranormal thriller that develops with cinematic intensity to its gripping conclusion.
A good selection for sf thriller and Bermuda Triangle fans."

You can preorder signed copies of this novel at www.shocklines.com -- or it's available more cheaply at www.bn.com (Barnes & Noble offers a discount, currently) I'll be signing copies of this book in Elizabeth City, NC and in Hertford, NC in June.

You can find me spouting off more regularly in my own journal: http://deep-bluze.livejournal.com and once monthly at www.storytellersunplugged.com


Thanks for your time...

David Niall Wilson

A Warm Welcome From I. Michael Koontz and John Apparite!

Welcome to the Five Star author's blog, a place for those who enjoy good books--either reading or, perhaps, writing them.

What's my gig? Well, I'm a medical professional with years of useless-knowledge accumulation who put it all together to write a Cold War spy novel set in 1955. Yep--you read that right.

The book's called, Under Cloak of Darkness: The Story of John Apparite, and it comes out in July.

Surely you've heard of Bond...James Bond. Maybe you've heard of Jason Bourne. How about George Smiley? Yeah--I figured.

But I doubt any of you had ever heard of "Superagent" John Apparite before--and there's a reason. He doesn't exist. Not here, not in any government data bank, and not even if you "Google" the name. Sure, there's that little book coming out in July from Five Star with that name attached, but even then, one never knows if what one reads is true.

I mean--c'mon! A super-secret spy that is only five feet six and 141 pounds? That knows Isshin-Ryu karate, the Israeli Army-derived defense method Krav Maga, and the secrets of Soviet death-SAMBO? And, to top it all off, he's from a place called Eckhart Springs, Maryland, which is over near Cumberland. I've looked at a map and let me assure you there's no such place (sure, there's an Eckhart Mines, but the Springs seemed to have dried up!) And don't even get me going on his obsession with the old Washington Senators baseball club.

Nevertheless, this little book coming out in July about that mysterious man just goes to show what can happen when a name pops into a tired medical professional's head while trying to get some shut-eye at 11 pm on a cool April eve. You see, three days later he starts writing, the first sentence into the computer being:

"Your new name is John Apparite."

Six months later, the last sentence is entered:

"And as soon as he was able, he would see that it was done."

Next month, people will learn about John Apparite, whom I call "The smallest, deadliest, and probably the nicest spy in the world."

Unlike many in the Five Star fold, I had never before written fiction. Non-fiction, yes--I had a work on the experiences of seventeen WWII veterans published in 2001 (it did fairly well in its genre, selling 5,000 copies). But writing fiction was more than simply a different kind of animal--it was a different life-form altogether.

There were battles everywhere: How long should a chapter be? I consulted some novels I had in the house. How does one structure dialogue? Again, to my library. How to avoid repitition? Take notes of phrases you might use more than once. Research? Hours on the internet; dozens of sites to add to my "favorites" list (some almost certainly suspicious to FBI investiagtors: The effects of Ricin poison? Weapons pages? The CIA home-page? The origins of the KGB and SMERSH? The derivation of rocket fuels?); paper to buy; printers to curse at; those nasty and expensive Dell ink cartridges to order (why can't they let someone else make them so I can get them at Staples?).

I won't kid you--parts of it were difficult. Every writer has his or her strengths and weaknesses, and I know I found mine (of course, I won't point them out here!) And now the sequel is done, and the sequel to the sequel is basically done, and I'm plotting out the fourth (what happens to John Apparite? If I told you, I'd have to k--well, you know the rest).

Naw, you've never heard of John Apparite, and you've never heard of I. Michael Koontz, either. But do me a favor: go to www.imkoontz.com and check it out. There's 35,000 words of material on the world of John Apparite and Cold War espionage, and from what you'll read there, there's one thing I'm sure you'll figure out:

That I had one helluva' good time doing all of this. More than money and fame, that's the best reason of all to write a book; give birth to a character; create a new world.

And maybe even you'll want to check out the book. If you do--thanks.

This blog will self-destruct in ten seconds.

After that happens, check out my other blog on blogger.com, called "John Apparite, the Movies, and Other Things."

Happy reading--I'll see you again sometime soon.

Hello from Karen Fenech

I've been hearing a lot about blogging lately. I visited a few blogs and have to say I can see why people are so captivated by them. It's a nice way to communicate, very personal, like having a conversation.

So, here I am now, having a conversation with all of you. I hope someone out there will reply, so I don't end up talking to myself! (grin)

I suppose I should tell you a little about myself. I write books, which you've figured out by now, since you're visiting this particular blog. Specifically, I write contemporary and historical romantic suspense. While my characters are falling in love, they're also facing some sort of life-threatening danger. I'm glad to write that I lead a quiet life with my husband and daughter, and the only danger I experience is through my characters!

I'd love to get to know all of you. Post a reply and tell me about yourselves.

I'm hosting a contest on my website to win a copy of my current release "Unholy Angels" and an "Unholy Angels" mug. I hope you'll visit my site and take a moment or two to enter the contest. The site is in the process of being updated with the new contest information, so ignore the April 30th deadline and send in your entries.

Link to my site: www.karenfenech.com

I look forward to hearing from you!

Regards,
Karen

Fellow Five Star Bloggers!

If anyone out there is reading this who has received an invite but can't post, please let me know! I don't know if there's a little technicality I haven't completed. I don't see any posts!!!

Words

In words I find a friend. One who can be rich, colorful, exuberant or dramatic and suspenseful. A friend I can shape into almost any form I chose to tell my tale. I ponder over plots and write, reassess and write again all in an effort to channel my release. Yet when the tale is told and my work done I cannot let it be, the words become my true friends; friends I cannot live without.

Who or what inspires YOU to write? Many times I've been asked that Universal and mysterious question. My replies are as various as the seasons of my life. But I think one reply is, in fact, the most honest and direct–I'm inspired by the realities of life–sometimes good; sometimes horrific.

I'm one of those individuals who become deeply affected by the world in which I live and write. And that impact is ALWAYS there. I remember years ago when I foolishly used the excuse "Sorry, can't write today–have to wait for Inspiration to arrive!" It was thoughts like that which resulted in a zero prose production!

Words have a huge influence on us all. They can lift your spirits, make a bad situation better, motivate you to keep going. Written or spoken, words trigger our emotions and are the defining factor in most of our decisions. Be wary of those who abuse words–who use them for means of deception and manipulation. Respect yourself; respect others–and words will become your TRUE inspiration; your BEST and most trusted friends.

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant."

- Robert Louis Stevenson