VISIT MUSEITUP, THE PUBLISHER, AT http://museituppublishing.com/musepub/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80&Itemid=82

Please watch this site.  Three other SF adventures are due out from MuseItUp Publishing in 2011.

1. Dark Wizard – a SF/Paranormal Romance novel is coming May 2011.

2. The Blue of Her Hair, the Gold of Her Eyes (sci-fi/dark fiction) is coming July 2011.

3.  Dax Rigby, War Correspondent – A SF Romantic Adventure novel will appear in Sept. 2011.

SFR stands for Science Fiction Romance.  I just joined up, and it seems like a friendly, dynamic site with nice folks.  (http://www.sfrcontests.blogspot.com/)

PLEASE CHECK OUT THESE BLOGS.  Heather Massey’s Reflections on BEYOND THOSE DISTANT STARS at the Galaxy Express on July 6 (http://www.thegalaxyexpress.net/) and Amy J. Ramsey’s rave review of my African SF novel, A SENSELESS ACT OF BEAUTY at Reviews, (http://www.trinagon6.blogspot.com/)

More information coming soon on recent contracted books with MuseItUp Publishing.

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UNSEELIE, Meredith Holmes http://seasonalreading.com/?p=37

My name is Meredith Holmes and I am the author of Unseelie and several short stories for Drollerie Press and a few WIPs as well.  I fell in love with urban fantasy by accident–one day I saw a card in a local metaphysical shop, one of those blank jobs that you fill out for random occasions, when you forgot a birthday or need to send a thank you note and don’t like what the mainstream card shops have to offer (you can only deal with so many dancing bunnies and softly flourished flowers, after all).  The card had a picture of a autumn-colored man clad in green velvet and wearing a crown of dark leaves.  A story sprang into my head about him and I called him Cadfael.  By that night, I had the first six chapters of Unseelie written (in their earliest, raw form); Alfhild, Cadfael and Du had taken off and were running away with my plot and the twists and turns of the Unseelie and Seelie Courts were just pouring out into the digital pages.  I blithely called it a romance but within a few more chapters, I realized no, it was urban fantasy, a genre I’d shunned as a fantasy purist… Well, fool me!  Now that is my genre of choice when I write and I’ve expanded from faeries to include demons, witches, and creatures of all sorts.  You can find more information on my projects at www.meredithholmes.com !
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IVAN AND MARYA, Anna Kashina  http://seasonalreading.com/?p=5

Blurb:
 
Every Solstice, every year, a young girl dies to prolong the life of a madman.
Every Solstice a hero tries to stop them…and dies.
But this is Ivan’s year. Though his brothers plot his death, and the villagers whose daughters are dying warn him not to interfere, Ivan the Fool is determined to stop the sacrifice.
With the help of the immortals, gotten by sympathy, force, or guile, Ivan believes his love will save the beautiful Marya from herself.

Interview question:  Where did the idea for IVAN AND MARYA come from?

I felt that Russian fairy tales have not been explored enough in fiction, and they have so much to offer to a writer and a reader.  I built on a most classical one, but also did something different with it.  My story is told from two points of view — Marya, who is on the side of ‘evil’, and Ivan, who is on the side of ‘good’, and the contrast between the two creates shades of depth that amazed me when I was working on the story.  It was a pleasure to write, and I constantly had this feeling of revelation, as if I am not making this up but uncovering yet another layer of a fascinating world.  I also did my best to make it as authentic as possible, down to the details of the Russian Solstice celebration, an ancient tradition that is very much practiced today. 
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CHOCOLATIER’S WIFE, Cindy Lynn Speer http://seasonalreading.com/?p=51

Book Blurb:  Tasmin, William’s wife to be, was chosen by a spell, as all wives and husbands are chosen. It’s a nice, tidy way to find a reasonable mate for almost everyone. Unfortunately, Tasmin is from the North, a place of magic and strange ritual, and William is from the South, where people pride themselves on being above that kind of insanity.

William doesn’t seem in a hurry to send for Tasmin, for which none of his family blame him. After all, she’s a barbarian. She, on the other hand, would like to know what’s keeping him. When he’s framed for murdering his patron, Tasmin takes matters into her own hands. She’s gotten to know Wiliam from his letters. He’s not a murderer and she’s going to help him prove it.

Someone out there doesn’t like him and is beginning to dislike Tasmin almost as much, and that someone isn’t at all averse to making sure William and Tasmin aren’t around long enough to celebrate their wedding.

Tasmin, of course, has other plans.

Read more at http://www.apenandfire.com

Question:  Are you a full-time or part-time writer?  How does that affect your writing?

I am a part time writer…like everyone, I’m juggling a lot of delicate porcelain plates…one for writing, one for work, one for family, one for fencing.  It splits your focus…but it also gives you a lot of great ideas and experiences to pull from.  Would I like to be a full time writer?  For certain.  But I think that being forced to go out and talk to people every day, being exposed to life, enriches me and therefore will, hopefully, be reflected in my work.  So, in that way, it affects things positively…in the whole productivity issue, well…sometimes things are not so positive.

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COLLECTING DREAMS, Heather Ingemar http://seasonalreading.com/?p=29

There are eyes in the darkness.

Late one night, Isabele’s reality takes a wild and supernatural turn into the shadows and shimmering light of stolen dreams.

Once lost, they aren’t easily reclaimed. And she’s been touched by the monster….

From the beginning with ‘Dream-Drinker’ (appeared in “StereoOpticon” from Drollerie Press), Isabele finds her way through two other tales.  But what’s learned cannot be unlearned.  What’s done cannot be undone.  At the end of it all, Isabele may or may not be the same.

What did you like most about writing this work, Heather?

I loved how grim “Collecting Dreams” became, how it made me think of the old Grimm-style fairytales, where the monsters are very real and very vicious and the heroes and heroines don’t exactly get off scott-free, as it were. Prices need to be paid and sacrifices need to be made, and I think it makes a richer story all around. Life isn’t watered down like the Disney-esque versions of fairytales I grew up with – life takes real strength of character, and I think that’s what drew me into Isabele’s story. She’s a strong girl, and good at heart. She’s fierce. She’s not going to let the Dream-Drinker get the better of her, no matter what. I love that.

Learn more about Heather S. Ingemar at her website: http://ingemarwrites.wordpress.com/

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COMPOSING MAGIC, Elizabeth Barrette http://seasonalreading.com/?p=22

BOOK BLURB (83 words)           Composing Magic: How to Create Spells, Rituals, Blessings, Chants, and Prayers guides you through the exciting realm of magical and spiritual writing.  Explore the process of writing, its tools and techniques, individual types of composition, and ways of sharing your work with other people. Each type of writing includes its history and uses, covering diverse traditions; plus step-by-step instructions, finished compositions, and exercises.  Intended for alternative religions, but it can be generalized to others or used by fiction writers to create background tidbits.

INTERVIEW QUESTION (133 words)            Q: Why did you write this book? 

           A: I spotted a gap in previous material — I have a knack for doing that.  Pagan/magical books tell people to write their own rituals, spells, etc. but rarely give any guidance on doing it.  Writing books tell people how to write in general, but there were no specific guides for magical writing and not many for spiritual writing.  I’m good at figuring out how I do what I do and then explaining it to other folks so they can work through the steps.  It wasn’t until the reviews came in for _Composing Magic_ that I realized this is a rather rare skill — most of them mention how clear and doable the instructions are.  So now I’m trying to make more use of this skill. 

LINKS: “The Wordsmith’s Forge” blog by Elizabeth Barrette / Ysabetwordsmith http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com Special post “So Your Story Needs a Prophecy” on adapting _Composing Magic_ to write cultural bits to put into fiction: http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/1212401.html
Elizabeth Barrette’s personal Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000506157220 FB Fan page for Elizabeth Barrette’s business, PenUltimate Productions Writing & Editing: http://www.facebook.com/pages/PenUltimate-Productions-Writing-Editing/118404341520029?v=app_2347471856&ref=ts#!/pages/PenUltimate-Productions-Writing-Editing/118404341520029?v=wall&ref=ts

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ALIEN DREAMS, John Rosenman http://seasonalreading.com/?p=61

Link to purchase: http://drolleriepress.com/books/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=11

Personal Website: www.johnrosenman.com

My name is John B. Rosenman and I am the author of Alien Dreams for Drollerie Press and other SF adventure-romance novels for different publishers.  I think Alien Dreams stands out from other space operas because I tried to open myself to and expand the vast conceptual possibilities of the genre.  Captain Latimore faces a unique threat to his crew on the planet Lagos: beautiful but deadly angel-like aliens who invade their dreams.  To save his crew, he must not only change into a gigantic angel himself, but mate with their ravishing queen for thousands of subjective years.  I believe this erotic scene breaks new ground, as does the hero himself, who is not one but two: a silent  brother exists within his mind and ultimately tries to take over.  Finally, Latimore must travel across the universe and do battle with a cosmic Gatekeeper for control of the universe.  In such areas, I try not only to explore new dimensions but to illuminate what it truly means to be human.

BLURB:

Captain Eric Latimore leads a four-person crew to Lagos to investigate a previous team’s mysterious disappearance. Once there, he discovers that an ominous alien presence is invading their dreams. Each member of his crew has the same dream–huge, seductively beautiful “angels” speak to them telepathically.

The creatures strand his crew on the planet and only Latimore can free them–if he survives.

REVIEWS:

John B. Rosenman weaves an intricate plot and a most exciting tale with mind-stretching concepts that make us look at the universe in a new way. This book is classified as science fiction, but there is a lot more romance and intrigue than in your ordinary SF materials.  Berry’s Reviews and The New Book Review           

 With a strong science fiction setting, John B. Rosenman explores the importance of culture, compassion and love by pitting a race that has none of these qualities against a number of species.

Alien Dreams is, in my opinion, John Rosenman’s most substantial offering to date. One could say that he shows us what it is to be human by slowly tearing everything that means away from Captain Eric Latimore, all the while holding up the angels as examples of the horror of what he is to become.  Clayton Bye, Book Reviews

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THE KULT by Shaun Jeffrey

People are predictable. That’s what makes them easy to kill.

Acting out of misguided loyalty to his friends, police officer Prosper Snow is goaded into helping them perform a copycat killing, but when the real killer comes after him, it’s not only his life on the line, but his family’s too. Now if he goes to his colleagues for help, he risks being arrested for murder. If he doesn’t, he risks being killed.

                                          ***

“With Kult, Shaun Jeffrey hits one out of the park with this creepy, character-driven thriller that starts with a jolt, stays in the fast lane, and plunges into the darkest territory of the human mind. It’s a bumpy ride through nightmare country.”

–Jonathan Maberry, multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of PATIENT ZERO and PUNISHER: NAKED KILL

“Jeffrey, one of horror’s rising young stars, has really hit his stride with THE KULT. Part mystery, part police procedural, part horror story, it’s one thrilling ride. Jeffrey had me guessing at the killer’s identity half a dozen times, and the reveal, when it finally came, knocked me over. You don’t want to miss this one!” –Nate Kenyon, author of THE REACH and THE BONE FACTORY

“The Kult is a creeping stalk through a shadowy labyrinth of thrills and terror. Shaun Jeffrey delivers a pulse-pounding novel of superb skill and unequivocal horror. Fans of many genres should be ready to embrace one of the brightest new talents on the scene today.” — Jon F. Merz author of PARALLAX and the Lawson Vampire novels.

Details of these and any other projects can be found on Shaun’s website: www.shaunjeffrey.com  and sample chapters and his previously published short story collection ‘Voyeurs of Death’ can be read for free at http://www.scribd.com/document_collections/2519626

Beyond Those Distant Stars, published by Mundania Press, has received two more great reviews lately.  Here’s the latest, which I just received from Target Audience Magazine.  Beyond Those Distant Stars is this year’s winner of Allbooks Review Editors Choice Award.  If you like action-adventure space opera with mind-stretching concepts and a wild romance, then this book may be for you.

http://bit.ly/dbP8A9 

I've been informed that a review of the novel has also been
posted at Amazon, B&N.com, Goodreads, LibraryThing, Examiner.com,
Midwest Book Review and New York Journal of Books. 

Among other things, the reviewer, Nicole Langan, wrote: 

Rosenman fills each page with a source of tension that unfurls
the plot at a rapid pace.  The reader feels at one with Stella
as she single-handedly turns the tide of an entire war.  Her
feeling of otherness, brought about by her new body, allows her
to establish a unique connection with the All-Mother.  Her
passion for Jason is put to the test and she must choose
between her personal longings and the good of humanity. 

Overall, Stella McMasters makes geek chic for a feminine

audience. 

[End of Shameless Plug].

My best experience with a work in progress isn’t a particular event, but a kind of experience. It happens at some point with every book, but I first became aware of it when writing my second novel, The Willies. [http://www.hamishmacdonald.com/novels/novels/TheWillies.html]

 I’m a huge fan of outlining. Before I start a novel, I plot out the whole arc of the story. It’s like taking a map on vacation: You can still wander all you like, but you won’t get lost or fall off a cliff. Some people start at Page One and that works for them — most notably Stephen King, as he claimed in his book, On Writing — but I find I can let go more when I can trust that I know where I’m going. Having a map of Paris is completely different to walking through its streets, so I don’t think it spoils the fun at all; in fact, it makes sure you don’t miss the best sights.

 Isn’t outlining everything in advance like opening your Christmas presents early? No, because unlike a Christmas present, the stakes with a story are different: There might be a dead chicken in the box, and it’s best to know that before you’ve committed a year or two to the project.

 That said, there’s always a point with every book when I discover some piece of the map is blank: I thought I’d filled that in, but something here doesn’t connect. With The Willies, that happened at the end, and the whole story fell into a pothole in the road. How does it end?

 The Willies is a science fiction/thriller/comedy story about two friends who discover they’re clones. The lead character, Hugh, has a perfect memory: everything he’s ever seen and heard is stored up in his head. He and his childhood best friend, Simon, were products of an experiment and were never meant to be born, and now someone wants them dead. So by the end, they’ve been on the run for about 250 pages, wrestling as they go with the difficult friendship they’ve had. But how would it resolve?

 (Spoiler warning: I’m going to talk about the ending here, in case you might consider reading the book.)

 I figured something would turn up for the ending, so I did as Rilke says and “lived the question”:  I met up with my folks and we went on a trip to Europe. Spending time with my parents as friends is important to me, but I had an ulterior motive for one particular leg of this trip: I’d been thinking for a while of moving to Scotland, but I wanted to see it again for myself, see what it was really like as opposed to the idea I had of it, so I could put it out of my head and settle down in Toronto.

 Waking up one morning at a relative’s farm near Aberdeen, I was hit by a double thunderbolt: I knew I had to move to Scotland (I mean, come on, just look at my name!), and I knew how The Willies ended: Hugh had to forget Simon. Something had to change in Hugh to make him lose his memories — and, with them, his fixation on his old friend — so he could start again.

 It unfolded so simply and made so much sense, resolving both the external conflict of the story and Hugh’s internal one — that it was like that had been there in the story’s DNA all along but I’d missed it.

 This has happened at some point with all four of my novels. I don’t know where these things come from, and I feel like I’m not clever enough to come up with the patterns that weave so deeply into these stories then tie them all together on a ‘meta’ level. Wherever they’re from, at this point I just count on the mechanics of it, so when I find myself standing in a Parisian street that’s just pencil-marks and blank space, I throw the story out to the universe and wait for it to come back completed.

by Heather S. Ingemar

Writing is dangerous.

You may wonder how; after all, the act of writing is comprised of a person, usually sitting at a table or a computer, typing or scribing out the things in their head. What’s dangerous about that? It’s pretty hard to cause bodily harm from writing unless you stab your pencil into your eyeball or bang your head through your computer monitor, right?

Writing can be very dangerous.

By writing, you throw open the door into yourself, throw it wide, so everyone else can see in. You may not intend to – you’re writing fiction, after all – but parts of you creep into the things on your paper. It can’t be helped, and nor should it: those parts of you give your writing authenticity and life.

But it becomes a dangerous occupation when people don’t like what they read.

I’ve heard countless stories of backlash. Top romance and erotica authors losing their jobs because co-workers didn’t like what the writer pursued in her own personal time; horror and suspense authors watching their kids be isolated by their peers or expelled because school officials didn’t approve of daddy’s job. As an author looking on, it’s saddening, and especially frustrating when private deeds in private lives should be private.

Writing is risky. Writing is dangerous.

My creative writing professor gave a long lecture during a similar incident in class, about separating the writer from the work. And I agree – while we put pieces of ourselves into our work, we are not embodied in our work. There’s a big, big difference; but it’s hard to maintain when your name is plastered on the front cover.

Looking back on some of the things I’ve written, I squirm to think I might someday face repercussions for my words. My work is often bloody, violent, and sensual by turns. I don’t write watered-down fairytales – I go for the Grimm. I love the spooky.

But life is full of risks, and the paybacks – creative satisfaction – far outweigh the dangers.

PLEASE CHECK THE NEXT BLOG ON DROLLERIE PRESS’S WRITER TOUR WITH DAVID SKLAR AT . . .  

http://davidwriting.com/

Green In Our Souls
John B. Rosenman
Damnation Books
P.O. Box 3931, Santa Rosa, CA 95402-9998
9781615720026 $2.50 Ebook www.damnationbooks.com

There is a new trend in ebook publishing, not only to make full-length novels available, but all manner of fiction in a variety of lengths. Damnation Books, one of the newest on the market, has debuted with longer fiction books as well as some tasty short stories and novelettes. This has been a boon for new writers who want to dip a toe in the publishing pool and who don’t want to get lost amid the other offerings in an anthology. But printing short fiction is a plus for readers, too, who may wish to sample an author’s style and ability to tell a story or his or her subject matter, without forking over the sum for a complete anthology. With the demise of a lot of genre-specific magazines, it gets to be harder and harder for readers to find new authors. Plus, quite frankly, writing a solidly constructed short story is no easy feat.

One of Damnation Books’ latest ebooks is a story by John B. Rosenman called “Green In Our Souls.” It is a strange tale of a successful lawyer Derrick Thomas who has suddenly developed the ability to share the mind of his beloved, but deceased, grandfather. Derrick finds that he has gained this ability because of a drug his mother took while she was pregnant with him. Soon Derrick discovers that he can do more than just think his grandfather’s thoughts. He becomes his grandfather, fully experiencing the feelings and sensations his grandfather felt in a moment in time both Derrick and he shared long ago. Though these experiences are unsettling enough, Derrick’s situation soon becomes worse when he’s kidnapped by his own doctor and taken to a strange facility where Derrick’s gift will be used for sinister purposes.

“Green In Our Souls” is an interesting tale about death and psychic ability, and John B. Rosenman offers a unique twist on those themes. The characters are as developed as Rosenman can make them in a few pages, with Derrick, obviously, being the most fleshed out. I really enjoyed this ebook and would gladly read more of Rosenman’s work.

I think, also, that “Green In Our Souls” is a timely read, especially since there have been news programs about Long-Viewers, people recruited by the government to use their psychic abilities to see into enemy territory, looking at facilities or into minds. The film, Men Who Stare at Goats, being released in the fall of 2009 also deals with this subject. “Green In Our Souls,” however, presents quite a different view of phenomenon like this. Well done.

 Sweetest Day falls in October and it’s a good time to remember those folks who have been supportive of us or shown us kindness and, well, sweetness.  It’s like a mini-Valentine’s day without the commercialism, fluoride-flavored message hearts and fat, naked, heavily armed infants. 

             I know that I’ve talked about my mom and my late grandma in the past, how they supported me and encouraged my writing.  Some folks I haven’t mentioned are my friends, whom I affectionately call the Unseelie Court (mainly due to all their wonderful support when I was writing Unseelie).  My partner, Alec, is also a font of wonderfulness but in all of this, I feel like I’ve been letting them down.

             I have two novels, both done, waiting to be submitted.  I’m working on getting the beta-reads done but I feel so behind and slow!  I’m pregnant with my first kid, due in early December, and I’ve seen my planned deadlines get scooted further and further back as I deal with first one thing then another (health issues, moving to a new house, etc).  I look at all the wonderful support I’m getting and feel like I’m letting folks down both at Drollerie and at home, so to speak.  So as I think about Sweetest Day, it occurs to me that the one person I’m not being “sweet” to is myself.  I’m really cutting myself up about not being superwoman and having everything done at once, which is manifesting in painful Braxton-Hicks contractions and constant migraines.  I think about the novel open on my desktop right now, one that’s less scary and more bittersweet and romantic.  It’s soothing to write something like that when under stress, I think.  Lets me vent out my own frustrations!  I think about the kitties yowling at me for treats (they never do this to Alec—they know I’m a soft touch) and how they snuggle up to me when I’m laying down to rest the baby.  

 Sweetest Day isn’t supposed to be bittersweet but that’s how it’s come to me this year, and it’s like an early Thanksgiving—I’m reminded, despite all of the brouhaha about life events, there’s so many people who make it possible for me to write.  The novel I’m submitting in two weeks (seriously—gotta get this out before the baby comes!) is waiting for me, thanks to the Unseelie Court, and Alec, and my mom and my late grandmother, and of course the kitties.  And despite all the roadblocks that have come up, it really is a sweet thankfulness I feel when I look at the beta-reading notes and the self-edits, thankful that so many wonderful, sweet people are in my life and make it possible for me to sit here and type my heart out each day.