Drama, drama, drama!
There is so much drama in our real lives, in books, on television, in movies. It's everywhere! It seems like the more we say, "I'm done with drama!" we get sucked back into it.
But what, exactly, am I talking about?
Let's take an example of something that is pure drama.
Soap Operas. And right up there are Reality T.V. Shows. THAT is the kind of drama I'm talking about.
In Soap Operas, you get a lot of the bad over-acting, back-of-the-hand-to-the-forehead "woe is me!" kind of stuff. (At least that is how it was when I used to watch them waaaaay back when.) The dun-dun-DUN! sort of mystery.
In Reality T.V., you get a lot of people trying to look cool in front of the cameras, putting on a false face and they usually end up falling on that face because they get stressed out, over-whelmed and break. And it's always "all about them" scenarios. More often than not, you hear that wail of "Why me?" thrown in there somewhere.
Okay, so where am I going with this? Well, there is this sort of drama in just about everything we read or watch, even on social media. We go to work and listen to that one person talk about everything happening to them, wanting someone to listen, but when you want to talk, it reverts back to them. You know what I'm talking about.
It's. Every. Where. You feel like you can't escape it. So why do we keep coming back to it?
Well, first of all, we like to know we're not the only ones going through a mountain of crap.
Second, we feel like it is blown out of proportion a bit, that maybe no one has ever really gone through anything like this, right? And it is totally worse than what we're going through. So it makes us feel better.
Third, it's that feeling of I'm-not-in-this-alone-someone-else-has-gone-through-this! sort of relief.
And finally, as we watch or read as the story unfolds, there is always a solution. Perhaps it is the solution you were looking for, but didn't realize it at the time.
There is a little bit of drama in just about every genre. It's what sucks the reader in. That problem the character has that just won't go away, no matter what, then suddenly, like a beacon, there is a solution. It's that arc that writers are talking about all the time. Like in Harry Potter. Harry just hates being with his relatives and can't wait to get back to Hogwart's. Everything is so much better there, until (drama!) Voldemort rears his very ugly head. But there is always a solution to the problem. Either one Harry figures out on his own, or through advice and brainstorming with his friends.
It's the pivotal moment. The one where we just KNOW the outcome is going to change and everything will be okay. Maybe. It's the "A-ha!" moment. And it is something we are drawn to, like a moth to flame, hoping that maybe somewhere in all of this, is a solution for our own problems. As writers, we write from experience. We write what we know. In all of our story-telling, not only are we sharing the story we have inside us, but we're also trying to get across that, hey, we've been there. And there is a light at the end of your tunnel.
What are your thoughts about this post? Leave some comments!
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Monday, December 28, 2015
GTKM: 2...
It's Monday! That means it's another Get To Know Me post. Are you ready?
What is the one thing I will never do again?
Wow. That is a tough one. There are a LOT of things I never want to do again. But as the saying goes, never say never, you know?
Okay, I think I got it. After much deliberation, it would have to be:
I'll never live in Alaska again. Sorry to all my Homer homies! I'll visit, but I won't ever live there again. That was an experience and a half.
I love Alaska, but I don't love the winters. It was much too much for me to handle with my depression. The darkness really does affect you whether or not you buy into that. I know a lot of people utilized the tanning beds to get their daily dose of good sunlight, but if you don't have the money or a gym membership, you're kind of S. O. L.
I'm sort of finding that a lot of the rainy days here in Washington affect me, but no where near what winter in Alaska did to me. And the cost of living... well... that is not a state where you can survive living paycheck to paycheck. A lot of people do it. But it is no fun to run out of wood or fuel oil in the middle of winter. I think we were out of something for just a couple days, but we had electric heaters as back up. Even then, you're gobbling up electricity with those things and if you've got small heaters in a large place, you're still cold!
Okay, enough griping about it. It's in the past and done. So there, that is the one thing I will never do again.
How about you? What is the one thing you will never do again?
What is the one thing I will never do again?
Wow. That is a tough one. There are a LOT of things I never want to do again. But as the saying goes, never say never, you know?
Okay, I think I got it. After much deliberation, it would have to be:
I'll never live in Alaska again. Sorry to all my Homer homies! I'll visit, but I won't ever live there again. That was an experience and a half.
I love Alaska, but I don't love the winters. It was much too much for me to handle with my depression. The darkness really does affect you whether or not you buy into that. I know a lot of people utilized the tanning beds to get their daily dose of good sunlight, but if you don't have the money or a gym membership, you're kind of S. O. L.
I'm sort of finding that a lot of the rainy days here in Washington affect me, but no where near what winter in Alaska did to me. And the cost of living... well... that is not a state where you can survive living paycheck to paycheck. A lot of people do it. But it is no fun to run out of wood or fuel oil in the middle of winter. I think we were out of something for just a couple days, but we had electric heaters as back up. Even then, you're gobbling up electricity with those things and if you've got small heaters in a large place, you're still cold!
Okay, enough griping about it. It's in the past and done. So there, that is the one thing I will never do again.
How about you? What is the one thing you will never do again?
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
The Day Before The Night Before Christmas...
I know, I'm so wordy.
However, do not be offended by my next choice of words:
Happy Holidays!
It's simple. It's generic, but it is getting my point across to all of my many friends, no matter their culture.
And for those who don't celebrate, Happy December 23rd! It's Wednesday!!!
I hope this week finds you all well. I hope you all have a safe holiday, even if you aren't celebrating. Be careful of those who celebrate just a little too much because they have no boundaries. Ha!
Anyway.
I'm hopefully ending this year on a high note and beginning next with an even higher one. I'm ready for this year to be over, but it doesn't mean my typical, average every day issues will just magically disappear. I just hope to be dealing with them better as we get over the very large bump in the road called Christmas.
Things are looking better for us, here. Hubs has a new job starting soon. I'll be getting back to my schooling and hopefully finishing up my trilogy. I'll have book one out in audio shortly, as well. I also have my hands deep into other writing projects, as well as craft ones. We may have a move in our future, but not too far from where we are currently, just closer to my husband's work.
My kids are doing well, as is my grand-kidlet. One is in the medical field as a CNA, getting ready to move up the ladder. The other is currently working on a mechanic's license and already has an electrical one.
Hubs got laid off a few months back, but we've kept afloat, thankfully, due to him working a temp job. Which actually ended up being a dream job of his, but the pay just isn't enough. Things were tight around here, but with the help of one kid, we ended up being okay.
I'm still working my part-time job and doing online schooling. Other than writing and craft stuff, not so much going on.
I wish you all well and safe for the holiday season, as well as all year long. Many blessings!
However, do not be offended by my next choice of words:
Happy Holidays!
It's simple. It's generic, but it is getting my point across to all of my many friends, no matter their culture.
And for those who don't celebrate, Happy December 23rd! It's Wednesday!!!
I hope this week finds you all well. I hope you all have a safe holiday, even if you aren't celebrating. Be careful of those who celebrate just a little too much because they have no boundaries. Ha!
Anyway.
I'm hopefully ending this year on a high note and beginning next with an even higher one. I'm ready for this year to be over, but it doesn't mean my typical, average every day issues will just magically disappear. I just hope to be dealing with them better as we get over the very large bump in the road called Christmas.
Things are looking better for us, here. Hubs has a new job starting soon. I'll be getting back to my schooling and hopefully finishing up my trilogy. I'll have book one out in audio shortly, as well. I also have my hands deep into other writing projects, as well as craft ones. We may have a move in our future, but not too far from where we are currently, just closer to my husband's work.
My kids are doing well, as is my grand-kidlet. One is in the medical field as a CNA, getting ready to move up the ladder. The other is currently working on a mechanic's license and already has an electrical one.
Hubs got laid off a few months back, but we've kept afloat, thankfully, due to him working a temp job. Which actually ended up being a dream job of his, but the pay just isn't enough. Things were tight around here, but with the help of one kid, we ended up being okay.
I'm still working my part-time job and doing online schooling. Other than writing and craft stuff, not so much going on.
I wish you all well and safe for the holiday season, as well as all year long. Many blessings!
Monday, December 21, 2015
Getting To Know Me, Week One...
For the sake of making things simple, I will start referring to these posts as GTKM: 1 or 2, etc.
All right, here we go...
Who Knows Me Best?
Hmm... aside from myself. Duh. I would have to say my husband. He's the one who knows me the best out of everyone in my life.
I have best friends I've known since high school. Some I've kept in contact with continuously, others, just reconnecting. The friendships are still solid after all this time and it's fun getting to know them all over again.
Time has changed us all. We're not the same people anymore. They know a good portion about me. They know stuff from my past that my husband wouldn't know. But when it comes down to brass tacks, Hubs wins.
Sure, there are the usual little things that he'll forget, but he's the one who knows exactly what kind of nuts I'm allergic to. He knows that my mood affects my sleep habits really bad.
He also is the only one who knows that either a certain look on my face or tone of my voice means everyone should be ducking for cover, because I'm about to blow up.
He also is the only one who knows how to calm me down. He knows how to make me voice my thoughts and feelings. Something I struggle with, constantly.
I'm a writer. Ask me to write my thoughts and feelings down, don't ask me to speak them.
But he gets me to talk. I can honestly sit there and tell him everything that just pops into my head and know he'll understand and get it. No matter how bad it sounds.
He also knows when I'm having a writing "AHA!!!" moment.
So, yeah. Of all the people in my life, he knows me best. That's how it should be, right?
Who knows you best?
All right, here we go...
Who Knows Me Best?
Hmm... aside from myself. Duh. I would have to say my husband. He's the one who knows me the best out of everyone in my life.
I have best friends I've known since high school. Some I've kept in contact with continuously, others, just reconnecting. The friendships are still solid after all this time and it's fun getting to know them all over again.
Time has changed us all. We're not the same people anymore. They know a good portion about me. They know stuff from my past that my husband wouldn't know. But when it comes down to brass tacks, Hubs wins.
Sure, there are the usual little things that he'll forget, but he's the one who knows exactly what kind of nuts I'm allergic to. He knows that my mood affects my sleep habits really bad.
He also is the only one who knows that either a certain look on my face or tone of my voice means everyone should be ducking for cover, because I'm about to blow up.
He also is the only one who knows how to calm me down. He knows how to make me voice my thoughts and feelings. Something I struggle with, constantly.
I'm a writer. Ask me to write my thoughts and feelings down, don't ask me to speak them.
But he gets me to talk. I can honestly sit there and tell him everything that just pops into my head and know he'll understand and get it. No matter how bad it sounds.
He also knows when I'm having a writing "AHA!!!" moment.
So, yeah. Of all the people in my life, he knows me best. That's how it should be, right?
Who knows you best?
Monday, December 14, 2015
Getting To Know Me...
All right. I'm trying to make an effort here, to get back into blogging.
From this point on, I'll be posting every week a "Getting To Know Me" post.
It'll be fun! I'll even make it interactive. If people comment on the post with questions, I'll include those in my future posts.
I'm working on things. I'm trying to find some writing related stuff as well. I've pulled out posts from my archives before, from waaaaay back when I started this. So maybe I'll re-visit those as well.
This first post will be a general "Get To Know Me".
First and foremost, I'm a geek. I'm a gamer. A lot of you already know that. I'm a nerd to the core and I am proud of it.
I'm that person that has the collection of nerd gear t-shirts. The ones people love to look at, but don't buy because they won't wear it. Including one that says this:
From this point on, I'll be posting every week a "Getting To Know Me" post.
It'll be fun! I'll even make it interactive. If people comment on the post with questions, I'll include those in my future posts.
I'm working on things. I'm trying to find some writing related stuff as well. I've pulled out posts from my archives before, from waaaaay back when I started this. So maybe I'll re-visit those as well.
This first post will be a general "Get To Know Me".
First and foremost, I'm a geek. I'm a gamer. A lot of you already know that. I'm a nerd to the core and I am proud of it.
I'm that person that has the collection of nerd gear t-shirts. The ones people love to look at, but don't buy because they won't wear it. Including one that says this:
Most people get the reference. Some don't. Some think it's the band.
I also like to live my life by using random, obscure movie quotes and song lyrics. I have a ton of useless trivia in my brain. If I could ever get on a useless trivia game show, I think I'd walk away with a good amount of cash. Psh!
I'm crafty. I can make all kinds of things. If I ever had the cash flow to do everything I know how to do, I bet I could fill an aircraft carrier.
Okay. So there is a little bit. Tune in every week to read more! I look forward to this!
Monday, December 7, 2015
#FREE For Two Days...
Hey everyone!
Just a quick note to let you know that starting today (the 7th) until the 9th, "Veritas, Shadow of the Rose: Book Two" will be free to purchase on Amazon.
This is the book:
This is the link.
Please share with your friends! Let's get the word out!
Now, if you don't have a Kindle, I do have "Veritas" on Smashwords as well. I'll be setting the price to free today (the 7th) until the 9th there, as well.
Here is that link.
I hope you all have a great rest of your week and I'll see you all soon!
Just a quick note to let you know that starting today (the 7th) until the 9th, "Veritas, Shadow of the Rose: Book Two" will be free to purchase on Amazon.
This is the book:
This is the link.
Please share with your friends! Let's get the word out!
Now, if you don't have a Kindle, I do have "Veritas" on Smashwords as well. I'll be setting the price to free today (the 7th) until the 9th there, as well.
Here is that link.
I hope you all have a great rest of your week and I'll see you all soon!
Labels:
ebook,
epic fantasy,
fantasy,
free,
high fantasy,
M. L. Chesley,
rpg fantasy,
series,
shadow of the rose,
trilogy
Friday, December 4, 2015
There Isn't Much To Say...
I find myself sitting in front of my computer, more often than not, goofing off.
I know, I know, I could be writing a blog post for all you lovely people who haven't given up hope on my getting back into the swing of things.
I just find I don't have much to say. I'm disconnected a bit.
There is so much going on in my life, that I have fallen back into a very old, very bad habit of playing mindless games. It's sort of what keeps me sane.
However, with that being said, it also affects my writing, my crafting and everything else in between.
Writing is the first thing to take a serious hit. So I try very hard to make sure I sit down and write out something on a daily basis. Even if it is complete nonsense. Or even just a sentence or two. At least that way I feel like I'm moving a little closer to a finish line.
School is now taking a serious hit as well, but it has for a while now. Trying to juggle too much, something is bound to suffer. But that is the one thing that I need to buckle down on and get moving. So I have found myself reading back chapters to catch myself up again.
Since the passing of my sweet kitty, I've been a little more down in the dumps than usual. Poor Gir is right there with me. She doesn't know what to do. She keeps calling for him. She sleeps on me most nights. And I mean ON me. She's grieving. She's not eating like she used to and is sleeping a lot more.
Hubs is finally working a full time job again, with another opportunity on the horizon. One we were hesitant to take, yet both of us know if he doesn't, we're sunk. We're stuck in a Catch-22.
I guess I don't blog as much, because I'm afraid of coming on here and whining about problems all the time. I know everyone else out there has their own issues. Everyone has something to worry about. How you handle it tells a lot about you. But if I am building up a reader base for my books, how many of you want to read about how horrible my life is right now?
Okay. Not horrible. Stressful. That is more like it.
So on the other side of that coin, writing is the only real outlet I have. Blogging about stuff going on is therapeutic for me. I may end up doing a private journal so I can be free to blog about book stuff.
I'm trying. I really am. But it's so easy to get caught up in old habits. All I can say, is thank you, to those of you who keep reading this blog and hoping for more.
How do you break out of the doldrums? What bad habits are you constantly trying to break?
I know, I know, I could be writing a blog post for all you lovely people who haven't given up hope on my getting back into the swing of things.
I just find I don't have much to say. I'm disconnected a bit.
There is so much going on in my life, that I have fallen back into a very old, very bad habit of playing mindless games. It's sort of what keeps me sane.
However, with that being said, it also affects my writing, my crafting and everything else in between.
Writing is the first thing to take a serious hit. So I try very hard to make sure I sit down and write out something on a daily basis. Even if it is complete nonsense. Or even just a sentence or two. At least that way I feel like I'm moving a little closer to a finish line.
School is now taking a serious hit as well, but it has for a while now. Trying to juggle too much, something is bound to suffer. But that is the one thing that I need to buckle down on and get moving. So I have found myself reading back chapters to catch myself up again.
Since the passing of my sweet kitty, I've been a little more down in the dumps than usual. Poor Gir is right there with me. She doesn't know what to do. She keeps calling for him. She sleeps on me most nights. And I mean ON me. She's grieving. She's not eating like she used to and is sleeping a lot more.
Hubs is finally working a full time job again, with another opportunity on the horizon. One we were hesitant to take, yet both of us know if he doesn't, we're sunk. We're stuck in a Catch-22.
I guess I don't blog as much, because I'm afraid of coming on here and whining about problems all the time. I know everyone else out there has their own issues. Everyone has something to worry about. How you handle it tells a lot about you. But if I am building up a reader base for my books, how many of you want to read about how horrible my life is right now?
Okay. Not horrible. Stressful. That is more like it.
So on the other side of that coin, writing is the only real outlet I have. Blogging about stuff going on is therapeutic for me. I may end up doing a private journal so I can be free to blog about book stuff.
I'm trying. I really am. But it's so easy to get caught up in old habits. All I can say, is thank you, to those of you who keep reading this blog and hoping for more.
How do you break out of the doldrums? What bad habits are you constantly trying to break?
Monday, November 23, 2015
Thank You, Osiris...
I'm very sad to say that I've had to put down my best furry friend.
This is about the only place I know of, where I can talk about it like I need to. Want to. Have to. He was so much more than just "my pet cat". Some will understand, others won't, but that's okay.
My husband found him when he was a baby. Still had blue eyes. They had a rat eating insulation at his work, so he was instructed to put up a live trap. The first night, he set it up and the next morning came in to find a orange, spitting ball of fur. That was Osiris. The next day, hubs caught his sister. We didn't keep her for very long. That's another story entirely.
But my husband found him shortly before we started dating. So I knew him when he was a little fluff ball, too.
He was 15 years old when we put him down.
He moved everywhere with us. We moved from Arizona to Alaska, we brought him on the plane and the car trip from Anchorage airport to our new home. Then, when we left Alaska, he went with us, too. He and Gir were in the truck with us. Hubs had built them a special box that was behind the cab, extended out to give them a place to sleep as well as kitty box accessible. When we stopped to eat, drink or rest, they ate and drank, too. Osiris didn't like it much, he stayed in back, complaining the whole way, but he was with us. No matter what. Gir loved the trip, though and because she was there, I think it made him more adventurous at times. He didn't want to be shown up by a girl.
Fifteen years. That is a very, very long time. We loved him, we spoiled him. Just like we spoil Gir.
There were so many times I've been sad, depressed, not wanting to get out of bed and face the world, and he was there with me. Curled up against me, letting me cry into his fur and purring the whole time. He never judged. He knew when I was sad, and would just be near me. When I knew he wasn't doing well, when he was sick, I babied him like he was a kid. He couldn't drink water from the tap, it made him sick. So we bought a filter right away. Near the end, he didn't have the energy to eat the dry food, so we fed him canned. He would just meow when he was hungry, follow us to the kitchen and eat.
He was my best, furry friend. I miss him horribly. Our hearts are broken. Our house is too quiet. Gir keeps calling for him and won't leave my side and curls up next to hubs when he's home. We definitely have a hole in our lives that will take a lot of time to heal. Everyone who met him, liked him right away, even fell in love with him right away. So many people. All it took was one pet of that super soft fur.
All you had to do was look at him and he'd purr, even when he was curled up, asleep on the bed. He gave the best hugs and loved to give you his belly to rub.
I'm going to miss him very, very much.
This is about the only place I know of, where I can talk about it like I need to. Want to. Have to. He was so much more than just "my pet cat". Some will understand, others won't, but that's okay.
My husband found him when he was a baby. Still had blue eyes. They had a rat eating insulation at his work, so he was instructed to put up a live trap. The first night, he set it up and the next morning came in to find a orange, spitting ball of fur. That was Osiris. The next day, hubs caught his sister. We didn't keep her for very long. That's another story entirely.
But my husband found him shortly before we started dating. So I knew him when he was a little fluff ball, too.
He was 15 years old when we put him down.
He moved everywhere with us. We moved from Arizona to Alaska, we brought him on the plane and the car trip from Anchorage airport to our new home. Then, when we left Alaska, he went with us, too. He and Gir were in the truck with us. Hubs had built them a special box that was behind the cab, extended out to give them a place to sleep as well as kitty box accessible. When we stopped to eat, drink or rest, they ate and drank, too. Osiris didn't like it much, he stayed in back, complaining the whole way, but he was with us. No matter what. Gir loved the trip, though and because she was there, I think it made him more adventurous at times. He didn't want to be shown up by a girl.
Fifteen years. That is a very, very long time. We loved him, we spoiled him. Just like we spoil Gir.
There were so many times I've been sad, depressed, not wanting to get out of bed and face the world, and he was there with me. Curled up against me, letting me cry into his fur and purring the whole time. He never judged. He knew when I was sad, and would just be near me. When I knew he wasn't doing well, when he was sick, I babied him like he was a kid. He couldn't drink water from the tap, it made him sick. So we bought a filter right away. Near the end, he didn't have the energy to eat the dry food, so we fed him canned. He would just meow when he was hungry, follow us to the kitchen and eat.
He was my best, furry friend. I miss him horribly. Our hearts are broken. Our house is too quiet. Gir keeps calling for him and won't leave my side and curls up next to hubs when he's home. We definitely have a hole in our lives that will take a lot of time to heal. Everyone who met him, liked him right away, even fell in love with him right away. So many people. All it took was one pet of that super soft fur.
All you had to do was look at him and he'd purr, even when he was curled up, asleep on the bed. He gave the best hugs and loved to give you his belly to rub.
I'm going to miss him very, very much.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Fantasy Book Reviewers...
Of course, with Book Two being out now, I find I have more time. That and grandkidlet is in daycare. Hooray!
More time = more posts. I hope!
So back to the topic.
I'm looking for reviewers for book two, Veritas. It is preferable if you have read book one, Adversarius. It's sort of a pre-requisite.
With that being said, if you would like to review book two, but have not read book one, I'll happily supply it.
In the past, I have asked for reviews and have offered up the book for free. I'm still willing to do that. I don't mind. But if you're just looking for a free e-book, hey, I don't mind that either. If you are truly interested in my books and don't have pocket change to buy a ton of e-books, please contact me. I am not looking to get rich, here. I've had this story in my head for well over 20 years now. (20 years!!!) I want to share it with everyone.
You're talking to a person who subscribes to BookBub to find the free deals. I have a whole series of books waiting to be read because I'm only missing one or two. If I find a series I REALLY like, I try to reach out and find out if someone can lend it to me.
I'm not a penny-pincher. Okay, well, I am. I honestly just don't have cash to throw out to get books I want to read. People don't understand that my family lives paycheck to paycheck. One bad week of sickness, we're pretty much S. o. L.
I truly understand those who can't afford books. Again, drop me a private message, we'll work something out.
Again. Back to the topic.
In the meantime, if you are honestly willing to do a review, please leave me a comment and I'll get you a copy of either book two or both of the books to get you up to speed. But PLEASE leave a REVIEW! Okay. Thanks. You can go about your business now.
Have an awesome rest of your week, everyone!
*****
Contact me: Paridzule (dot) keep (at) gmail (dot) com.
More time = more posts. I hope!
So back to the topic.
I'm looking for reviewers for book two, Veritas. It is preferable if you have read book one, Adversarius. It's sort of a pre-requisite.
With that being said, if you would like to review book two, but have not read book one, I'll happily supply it.
In the past, I have asked for reviews and have offered up the book for free. I'm still willing to do that. I don't mind. But if you're just looking for a free e-book, hey, I don't mind that either. If you are truly interested in my books and don't have pocket change to buy a ton of e-books, please contact me. I am not looking to get rich, here. I've had this story in my head for well over 20 years now. (20 years!!!) I want to share it with everyone.
You're talking to a person who subscribes to BookBub to find the free deals. I have a whole series of books waiting to be read because I'm only missing one or two. If I find a series I REALLY like, I try to reach out and find out if someone can lend it to me.
I'm not a penny-pincher. Okay, well, I am. I honestly just don't have cash to throw out to get books I want to read. People don't understand that my family lives paycheck to paycheck. One bad week of sickness, we're pretty much S. o. L.
I truly understand those who can't afford books. Again, drop me a private message, we'll work something out.
Again. Back to the topic.
In the meantime, if you are honestly willing to do a review, please leave me a comment and I'll get you a copy of either book two or both of the books to get you up to speed. But PLEASE leave a REVIEW! Okay. Thanks. You can go about your business now.
Have an awesome rest of your week, everyone!
*****
Contact me: Paridzule (dot) keep (at) gmail (dot) com.
Friday, October 23, 2015
This Is It...
Hooray!
::Throws confetti::
I know my "slap-you-upside-the-head-with-a-brand-new-book" marketing strategy needs some work, but I am an instant gratification girl. It took every ounce of patience I had to work on polishing up book two for release!! I deserve a freaking medal.
But that is not what this post is about. Today, I am pleased to announce that Book Two, Veritas, is LIVE!
The post you saw earlier today was written late last night as I worked hard to get it up and out there.
So far, the book is available at the links below:
It will be coming soon to Barnes and Noble for the Nook. I went with a different site, other than Smashwords, this time around. Draft2Digital sends it off to many other places. Of course, I posted it on Amazon as well for the Kindle.
Please, share the links. Many people have been anxiously awaiting book two and I'm happy to finally have it out!
Plus, you get two posts from me in one day.
Huzzah!
::Throws confetti::
I know my "slap-you-upside-the-head-with-a-brand-new-book" marketing strategy needs some work, but I am an instant gratification girl. It took every ounce of patience I had to work on polishing up book two for release!! I deserve a freaking medal.
But that is not what this post is about. Today, I am pleased to announce that Book Two, Veritas, is LIVE!
The post you saw earlier today was written late last night as I worked hard to get it up and out there.
So far, the book is available at the links below:
It will be coming soon to Barnes and Noble for the Nook. I went with a different site, other than Smashwords, this time around. Draft2Digital sends it off to many other places. Of course, I posted it on Amazon as well for the Kindle.
Please, share the links. Many people have been anxiously awaiting book two and I'm happy to finally have it out!
Plus, you get two posts from me in one day.
Huzzah!
The Sword of Damocles...
I know you have all heard the mythological story of the Sword of Damocles.
If not, here it is in a nutshell:
Sword hanging over a man's head by a very thin strand. One tiny jolt and POW! Dead.
Yep, you know it.
I had my very own SoD hanging over my head this past month.
I missed my own, personal deadline for Book Two of my trilogy, Veritas.
However...
I just hit the button. I just submitted it online and should all go well, it will be available within 72 hours. Give or take a few as I am writing this late at night.
I have so much going on right now. Online classes, part-time retail work, babysitting a two year old, editing for one project and helping another writing project get off the ground... I know, I'm a glutton for punishment.
OH! And I've been listening to the audio files for the audiobook of Adversarius! It is amazing! And I cannot wait to share it all with you when it is done.
All right. I will be back soon with links to Book Two. And after I've had plenty of coffee. Mmmm...coffee....
If not, here it is in a nutshell:
Sword hanging over a man's head by a very thin strand. One tiny jolt and POW! Dead.
Yep, you know it.
I had my very own SoD hanging over my head this past month.
I missed my own, personal deadline for Book Two of my trilogy, Veritas.
However...
I just hit the button. I just submitted it online and should all go well, it will be available within 72 hours. Give or take a few as I am writing this late at night.
I have so much going on right now. Online classes, part-time retail work, babysitting a two year old, editing for one project and helping another writing project get off the ground... I know, I'm a glutton for punishment.
OH! And I've been listening to the audio files for the audiobook of Adversarius! It is amazing! And I cannot wait to share it all with you when it is done.
All right. I will be back soon with links to Book Two. And after I've had plenty of coffee. Mmmm...coffee....
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Author Interview: Jill Nojack...
Hey everyone. First of all, my DEEPEST, most SINCERE APOLOGIES!!!! I was supposed to have this interview up yesterday and completely dropped the ball.
Had it been posted yesterday, it would have been the day before the release of Jill's book on Kindle Scout, "The Familiar", which I gave a raving review for. I mean, I seriously laughed out loud at the descriptives of Cat. How can I not give that a five star rating?
Anyway, again. I'm sorry. But here is the interview. At the end, one lucky commenter will win a digital copy of her book. So please, don't forget to comment! At least say hello.
And now, here's Jill!
1. What was your favorite genre to read growing up? Is this the genre you currently write in?
Jill: When I was a kid, I had no idea there were "genres". I just thought there were "books", and I tended to read whatever anyone put down in my vicinity. I read Lit Fic, SciFi, Fantasy, Westerns, Horror, Historical Romance, Classics—If it got near me, it got read.
As I got into my teens, I tended toward things that made me think about
the world. Some favorites from my early teens were Bless the Beasts and the
Children, The Cowboys, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Those clearly
aren't related to what I write. I wish I could write books like those, but my
brain doesn't work that way. The older I get, the more it just wants to have
fun. Nothing beats writing Fantasy/Paranormal for that.
I can, however, keep the list short. Brienne of Tarth and Tyrion Lannister
are my most recent favorites; I think most people would recognize them. Granny
Weatherwax (Discworld Series) is a long term contender, as are Charlie
Nightlinger (The Cowboys) and Jellybean Bonanza (Even Cowgirls Get The Blues).
I think the thread of consistency there is that each of these characters is
heroic despite being an outsider. I think most of them would also be considered
eccentric in some way. I love me some eccentric.
She's a small character in the first book in the Bad Tom series, but she
becomes more important in the second book. In fact, I find myself having to
pull her back because she has a tendency to want to take the stage away from the
main characters.
I don't enjoy the initial writing process, but I love to edit it all
into the finished product. Once I'm into the editing, I stop avoiding it and
start enjoying it. That's when the magic happens.
Yep. Now I'm thinking about it. It's a goal. Please buy my book because
I need a motorcycle on an SUV on a boat.
Tom has been mostly cat for a long time, but when the witch who enslaved him dies, he has one last chance to become a man again and maybe to find love, too. He just needs to tell Cassie, a sensible girl who knows nothing about the witchy business all around her, that he's trapped in the body of the kitten she cuddles at night. But cats aren't known for their conversational skills, and a powerful warlock is determined to take Cassie for himself. To make things worse, Tom is rapidly running out of lives.
When they recover their wits, the man flaps his palms at spots where the
arcs of power ignited his robe. Eunice sits up, raises her head, and screams
her rage at the retreating brightness. The year, the chant, the participants,
each of them changes, but it doesn't matter. Someone powerful doesn't want her
spell to be cast.
https://www.facebook.com/jillnojack
https://twitter.com/indieheart - @indieheart
Had it been posted yesterday, it would have been the day before the release of Jill's book on Kindle Scout, "The Familiar", which I gave a raving review for. I mean, I seriously laughed out loud at the descriptives of Cat. How can I not give that a five star rating?
Anyway, again. I'm sorry. But here is the interview. At the end, one lucky commenter will win a digital copy of her book. So please, don't forget to comment! At least say hello.
And now, here's Jill!
1. What was your favorite genre to read growing up? Is this the genre you currently write in?
Jill: When I was a kid, I had no idea there were "genres". I just thought there were "books", and I tended to read whatever anyone put down in my vicinity. I read Lit Fic, SciFi, Fantasy, Westerns, Horror, Historical Romance, Classics—If it got near me, it got read.
2. What sort of atmosphere do you need to write?
Jill: I run a bubble bath, strap my Toughbook (a water-resistant
laptop) to my book holder, and soak while I write. De-stressing in a hot bath
with the wifi turned off is just about heaven for my creativity.
When I'm being good
about writing, I usually end up in the tub in the morning before work and again
in the evening to relax after work. I can get in a couple of good hours of
writing or editing that way.
Obviously, I don't only write in the bath. That would make
me a freak. A really pruney freak.
But I do need absolute quiet and long periods of time with no interruptions
to get into the flow.
3. What is your all time favorite book?
Jill: It depends on the day. I can stick to one option
of you let me choose my favorite series. Because that would be Discworld.
4. Who is your all time favorite character that is
not your own?
Jill: I have to pick one? Just one? That's not even possible.
5. Who is your favorite character of your own
creation?
Jill: My current favorite character is Natalie in the Bad Tom
series. She can be a royal pain, and she really doesn't care. She's bawdy,
confident, eccentric, and a powerful witch who both the good guys and the bad
guys grudgingly admire. Plus, she has this really cool red vintage purse that I
suspect may be bigger on the inside.
6. When did you decide to become a writer?
Jill: In second grade. I wrote a poem, and my teacher said it was
"precocious". Not only did I learn a new, fancy, exciting word, but I
got to have my piece of writing stuck to the wall in a place of honor during
Open House with a big gold star on it. I remember looking at it and thinking
that I must be good at this writing thing. I haven't stopped imposing that view
on others since.
7. Why do you write?
Jill: I'm not really engaged in life unless I'm doing
something creative. Of course, the problem with creating things is that it
doesn't feel finished until you share it with someone. It doesn't matter if
it's music or painting or writing, I'm just following that urge inside me
that's been there as far back as I can remember to make things that didn't
exist until I thought of them.
8. What’s the worst thing someone has ever said
about your work?
Jill: There's a review of one of my books out there
that basically says it's the most boring book the reviewer has ever read. And I
am quite sure it is legitimate. I continue to improve as a writer with every
book and every review because I learn from all of them.
9. What inspires you to write when you hit a block?
Jill: I don't have writer's blocks. I just have laziness. When I put
my butt in my chair, I can write. Every time. However, I often avoid it because
it's hard work.
10. What advice would you pass on to new
authors/young authors?
Jill: Find people who are mean and nasty and way
better at this than you are. Those people—not your friends and family—should be
your beta readers. That is how your writing will improve. I am lucky in that I
know people who absolutely delight in saying vicious things to me, but I am
always on the lookout for more.
11. What is the best thing someone has said about
your work?
Jill: I was over the moon when one of my beta readers gave
me a fantastic compliment after completing tearing apart the first draft of the
Familiar. She said that she hates books written in First Person Present Point
of View (POV), but that I did it so well she didn't notice the much-despised
POV until she was already about a third of the way through it. I think that is
the very definition of good writing—that you shouldn't notice the writing, only
the story.
12. And last, but not least, something really
random: Motorcycle or SUV?
Jill: Why am I always expected to choose? I want it all!
I rode a motorcycle in my younger days as my primary
transport for about a year, but they just aren't a good option in Ohio. Plus, a
cross country trip might be a bit more than I'd want to do with the wind
bashing at me for hours on end. The best of all possible worlds would be a motorcycle
mounted on the back of an SUV. On a boat. A really big boat so I could take my
motorcycle and SUV around the world.
Jill, I have to say, I think we could be great friends! Discworld? Tyrion Lannister? Uh, heck yeah!
Okay everyone, here is the link to buy her book, an excerpt from her book and where to find Jill Nojack:
Book blurb:
Sometimes a cat has to man up.Tom has been mostly cat for a long time, but when the witch who enslaved him dies, he has one last chance to become a man again and maybe to find love, too. He just needs to tell Cassie, a sensible girl who knows nothing about the witchy business all around her, that he's trapped in the body of the kitten she cuddles at night. But cats aren't known for their conversational skills, and a powerful warlock is determined to take Cassie for himself. To make things worse, Tom is rapidly running out of lives.
Book Excerpt:
BACK WHEN HER SKIN was smooth and her lips were juicy as
ripe berries, Eunice did the nasty with the devil. And she loved it. If she
hadn't, I wouldn't be lurking in the dark, twitching the tip of my tail, trying
to keep an eye on what the old witch is up to. Everyone knows spells cast
during the Black Moon aren't illuminated by the Goddess's light.
The candle flames bob toward the ritual grounds. I track
their yellow-orange trails through Corey Woods into the clearing where the
scuffling of witches' feet has worn a ring of bare earth in the new spring
grass. Tonight, the coven within a coven that is loyal to Eunice gathers. Four
witches. One perversely devoted warlock. And me; a small, black, feline
familiar. I know better than to get too close. I know what will happen, what
always happens, the same way it's happened across all the years. Why singe my
whiskers?
The witches extinguish their candles when the circle is
complete. Their black-robed figures are an inkier spot in the midnight. From
where Eunice stands in her position of power, an even blacker tendril snakes
toward the others, making the gloom appear gray in comparison. It weaves a net
around the chanting witches, bending as it goes, to trace the outline of their
bodies until the threads pull tight. I hear the dull thuds as all but the warlock
lose consciousness and hit the ground. Protected by her favor, he moves closer
to his priestess until they are cocooned together by the magic. The ebony
tornado enfolds them as it swirls into the sky. The wind howls.
And then, exactly as it always happens, it happens. A bright
purple orb of light streaks from the heavens and explodes inside the funnel,
dispersing the darkness and tossing Eunice and the warlock backward as easily
as a twister tosses a scarecrow. For a moment, they loll like turtles on their
backs, their limbs waving in the air that still sizzles with violet static as
the lightning dissipates.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Author bio:
Kindle Scout winning author Jill Nojack is a writer, musician and artist. She has rarely managed to make a living from the pursuit of her creative endeavors. Instead, she's a corporate drone who stays up late to indulge her passion for writing, making music, and drawing/painting.
Way back in the long ago, Jill romped through a degree in English. She followed it up with a Master's degree in Sociology. During her time at University, she served on the staff of the school's literary magazine. She eventually stepped in to the editor's role, where she made every effort to look like she knew what she was doing.
When she isn't exploring her creative side, Jill enjoys laughing too loud and long in public and talking about herself in third person. She resides in the great American Midwest with a long-suffering cat.
Kindle Scout winning author Jill Nojack is a writer, musician and artist. She has rarely managed to make a living from the pursuit of her creative endeavors. Instead, she's a corporate drone who stays up late to indulge her passion for writing, making music, and drawing/painting.
Way back in the long ago, Jill romped through a degree in English. She followed it up with a Master's degree in Sociology. During her time at University, she served on the staff of the school's literary magazine. She eventually stepped in to the editor's role, where she made every effort to look like she knew what she was doing.
When she isn't exploring her creative side, Jill enjoys laughing too loud and long in public and talking about herself in third person. She resides in the great American Midwest with a long-suffering cat.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Readers can become my friend on my personal page on
Facebook. I don't have a separate author page. For people who prefer I don't
see their Facebook posts (because I might be a weird stalker—I mean, I'm not
saying I am, but you never know), I allow followers on my personal page.
I almost never tweet because I just can't talk that short,
but I can be found here:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Okay, don't forget to leave a comment for you chance to win a digital copy of Jill's book! Have a great week, everyone!
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Friday, September 4, 2015
Friday Funnies and Fantasy Art...
!!!!
It's Friday!
I'm probably at work when this posts.
And I have to work on Saturday.
::sighs::
Oh well, doesn't mean we can't have a laugh and an 'oooh!', right? Right!
So here, with the disclaimer that I don't know who the artist is on some of these because honestly Pinterest is evil with all of it's Fantasy art goodness.... Art!
And now the funnies. And because people tell me I am uh... a cat person, I suppose, that I don't post dogs and it's unfair. I love dogs, too! I just don't own one, but here's some dogs thrown in for good measure.
Hope you all have a great weekend, even if you work like me!
It's Friday!
I'm probably at work when this posts.
And I have to work on Saturday.
::sighs::
Oh well, doesn't mean we can't have a laugh and an 'oooh!', right? Right!
So here, with the disclaimer that I don't know who the artist is on some of these because honestly Pinterest is evil with all of it's Fantasy art goodness.... Art!
Oh! This one is done by Pat Presley under concept art. |
Sadly, no idea... |
Again, no idea, but I love this steam punk dragon. |
And now the funnies. And because people tell me I am uh... a cat person, I suppose, that I don't post dogs and it's unfair. I love dogs, too! I just don't own one, but here's some dogs thrown in for good measure.
Hope you all have a great weekend, even if you work like me!
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Just Chillin'...
Hey my internet peeps!
Hope you all had a good week. I'm taking some time to just kick back, relax and well, who am I kidding. I'm getting in some stuff while the baby takes a nap.
Yesh!
Silence.
I have another purpose today. I wanted to let you all know that September 14th, I will be doing an author interview with Jill Nojack, author of the Kindle Scout selected book, "The Familiar", the first in the Bad Tom Series. She's also the author of the Fae Unbound series and has a story in "The Riot Girls"collection.
She has a website here.
Anyway, I am super excited to have her on my blog! There is always a possibility of a giveaway, so be prepared to leave a comment. It isn't that hard, these days, just have to click on the I'm not a Robot thingy, right?
Right!
See you all soon and have a wonderful rest of your week. Hopefully I won't forget the Friday Funnies and Fantasy Art tomorrow. Hmm... better do that now.
Hope you all had a good week. I'm taking some time to just kick back, relax and well, who am I kidding. I'm getting in some stuff while the baby takes a nap.
Yesh!
Silence.
I have another purpose today. I wanted to let you all know that September 14th, I will be doing an author interview with Jill Nojack, author of the Kindle Scout selected book, "The Familiar", the first in the Bad Tom Series. She's also the author of the Fae Unbound series and has a story in "The Riot Girls"collection.
She has a website here.
Anyway, I am super excited to have her on my blog! There is always a possibility of a giveaway, so be prepared to leave a comment. It isn't that hard, these days, just have to click on the I'm not a Robot thingy, right?
Right!
See you all soon and have a wonderful rest of your week. Hopefully I won't forget the Friday Funnies and Fantasy Art tomorrow. Hmm... better do that now.
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Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Book Review: The Familiar by Jill Nojack...
Title: The Familiar
Author: Jill Nojack
Publisher: Kindle Press
File Size/Book Length: 1100 kb/186 pages
ASIN: B013VAU5KU
Purchase: Amazon
(This book was a Kindle Scout selection. Due to my nomination for the book, I received a free digital copy when it was accepted for publication. This did not influence my review in any way. Trust me. that's another post for another time.)
About:
Author: Jill Nojack
Publisher: Kindle Press
File Size/Book Length: 1100 kb/186 pages
ASIN: B013VAU5KU
Purchase: Amazon
(This book was a Kindle Scout selection. Due to my nomination for the book, I received a free digital copy when it was accepted for publication. This did not influence my review in any way. Trust me. that's another post for another time.)
About:
Sometimes a cat has to man up.
Tom has been mostly cat for a long time, but when the witch who enslaved him dies, he has one last chance to become a man again and maybe to find love, too. He just needs to tell Cassie, a sensible girl who knows nothing about the witchy business all around her, that he's trapped in the body of the kitten she cuddles at night. But cats aren't known for their conversational skills, and a powerful warlock is determined to take Cassie for himself. To make things worse, Tom is rapidly running out of lives.
My thoughts:
Oh. My. God. First of all, I was hooked from the moment I read the excerpt on Kindle Scout. I had my doubts, but this is a review of the book, not Kindle Scout.
Anyway. Be aware, I may give away spoilers without meaning to, so continue on at your own risk.
This book was light, it was funny, it was just the right amount of humor and a little dark, too. Cassie's grandmother is a wicked witch in every sense of the word. Tom is a warlock who is also a cat. With exactly nine lives. Cassie is a sweet girl, naive as she may be about the witch world, she catches on quickly. And then there is creepazoid man, who keeps trying to get to Cassie, her grandmother's shop and other things.
Jill Nojack wrote a very good book. There were times when I tried not to snort with laughter and wake up hubs. She's got Cat down pat with his cute little quirks and furry feline-ness. The characters are well developed, there is a good story in all of this and because it is the first in a series, it certainly leads up to the next very well. I feel bad for Cassie and Tom, and the things they're about to go through, but if this book was any indicator, they're going to be a good team.
My rating:
Five out of Five Skull and Crossbones.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Author Interview: Steve Bargdill
Hey everyone! As promised, here is my author interview with Steve Bargdill, author of 'Wasteland' series and 'Banana Sandwich'. After the interview, (yes, you have to scroll down!) are excerpts and links to his work. Images are throughout!
Without further ado, Steve Bargdill!
Without further ado, Steve Bargdill!
- Please tell us a little known fact about you.
When I was thirteen, I was really upset that Santa Claus was
not real. I mean, I had known for a long time he wasn’t real, but at thirteen I
thought the world was at a loss because he wasn’t real. That Christmas Eve, I
snuck out of the house at around midnight and left candy canes and tree
ornaments on people’s doorsteps and doorknobs. And I got caught. On my way
home, I heard my parents calling out my name, searching for me. I tried to
sneak back into the house without getting caught, but of course that didn’t
happen.
- What was your favorite genre to read growing up? Is this the genre you currently write in?
Oh most definitely fantasy. The Shannara series. Terry Brooks’ Magic
Kingdom: Sold. And okay, I hate to admit it, but I picked up my mom’s
romance books by Roseanne Bittner. I still remember the novel Wyoming Woman, which is ironic because I
grew up in Ohio, and then moved to Wyoming. And I even wrote to Roseanne
Bittner—my one and only fan letter. She wrote back and really encouraged me to
keep writing. My dad collected antique books, so I also read things like The Hardy Boys Mysteries and The Pickwick Papers and all the Tarzan novels by Burroughs when I was
like ten. Then there was some Louis Lamoure thrown in for good measure.
I read the poems of Langston Hughes in high school too, and
had no idea what he was writing about, except I knew his writing was gorgeous.
My high school English teacher introduced me to James Thurber, Nathaniel
Hawthorne, Jack London.
I remember reading One
Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovichby by Aleskandr Solzhenitsyn when I was
sixteen, seventeen years old just cause. About a guy in a Russian prison camp,
and the book was like thick. I mean in pages, but I just Googled it, and it’s
only like 182 pages in the hardback, but in my mind I remember it as being a
thousand pages all about a single day.
As a teenager though, I always came back to the fantasy
genre. The Dragonlance Chronicles Trilogy,
Ender’s Game, and I remember some
weird little novella thing about a guy being sucked into another dimension
because dragons liked stories from our world and he had to go on a quest and
there was a foul-talking dwarf and a damsel in distress…I don’t know. That
could be just something I made up in my head still floating around all these
years later.
As for the genre I currently write in: I don’t know. I don’t
think I can be pigeon-holed like that. Wasteland
certainly has fantasy and dystopian elements. Banana Sandwich is about a
bi-polar pizza delivery driver. Breath:
An American Story, a piece I’m working on right now, I’d consider—if I had to
label it—American Gothic. The Yellow Mountains
of God, another in-process piece, is about a Lutheran pastor who kills a
man in Appalachia. I Want an Indian
is a collection of poetry, short stories, and personal essays in relation to
Native Americans. The I Want an Indian
writing is slow slow going though. It’s difficult to wrap my head around a
culture of people I only am aware of from an academic point of view. With the
anthology, I’m really trying to personalize my experience as an outsider
looking in
In the past, I’ve written fantasy, but nothing I would feel
comfortable putting out into the world to share. My first novel—which I will
show no one because it is that awful—was/is a fantasy novel about a world stuck
in an eternal winter, which, you know, how much more Narnia can I rip off, right?
- What inspires you to write?
First and foremost, I want to entertain. I want to write a
damn good story and have people walk away
going, “Wow, that was an awesome story!” That’s probably egotistical.
Beyond that, writing really helps me make sense of my
personal life. Wasteland, I’d say is
ninety percent fiction. The story takes place in the Nineties, in Columbus,
Ohio, in a boarding house on Twelfth Avenue across from Ohio State University,
down the street from a bar called Street Scene, and a coffee shop called
Insomnia’s, and yeah I was in my twenties living in Columbus, Ohio in a
boarding house on Twelfth Avenue…
It was a dark, confusing time in my life. Writing Wasteland was cathartic. And fifteen
years later, I was still processing this information, this life experience that
didn’t make any sense to me, but yet there it was smack in the middle of my
life.
I mean, I never drove a cab, I never had stigmata, I never
worked on a nuclear reactor, I never had a woman I loved die on me, I was never
on mind-altering drugs, and all of that’s in Wasteland. I was just really lonely and really lost, and I think
that is the ten percent of the book that is true, that inspired me to write the
thing.
Banana Sandwich
came out of a fifteen year off and on career delivering pizzas. In addition,
I’ve known people that have really struggled with bipolarism, and I wanted to
know more about how they dealt living with that particular disorder. The
purpose of the book is mainly to bring awareness to that disorder.
Breath: An American
Story comes out of dealing with my grandmother’s death and a conversation I
had with a young college senior, and how she was considering a graduate degree,
but her parents weren’t going to support her, and lots of personal questions
with my wife about today’s economy, the demise of the American small town—how the so-called
American Dream is playing out in today’s world. Stuff that just doesn’t make sense for me, stuff that I think
doesn’t make sense for a lot of people. And I really want to speak to that. I
don’t think I answered any profound questions, but the people who have read
early drafts, they’ve asked me, “How did you get my town so right?” Well, I
didn’t get their town right, I got my hometown right, but what’s going on
there, the lack of jobs, the take over of Main Street by large corporations, the minimum wage paying part-time employment
opportunities, the dearth of higher education, the idea that we can still pull
ourselves up by our bootstraps and everything will be okay—that stuff is going
on everywhere. I wanted to address it.
- What sort of atmosphere do you need to write?
Authors all the time talk about their writing caves. What
the hell is that? Seriously, I have two kids, a wife, a small three bedroom
where you can hear everything, two part-time jobs, my home office is in a dank
basement shared with the cat litter box.
The ideal atmosphere to write is when I have a pen and a
piece of paper and five minutes. And my
six-year-old can be screaming, “Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad!” and my fourteen-year-old
can be telling some crazy story that happened at school, and “Dad! Can I stay
over at so-and-so’s house?” And trips to dance rehearsal and orchestra recitals
and let’s go to Wal-Mart one more time,
please because we need toilet paper—AGAIN.
When everyone is out of the house and it’s quiet, you bet
your little butt I’m taking a nap.
My wife is incredibly supportive. Never mind she’s in school
full-time as well, and oh yeah, did I mention she writes too?
When I was in graduate school, the University of Wyoming
gave me a really nice office on the fourth floor of Hoyt Hall. It had a window
that overlooked Prexy’s Pasture, and I could look out and watch the students
rush from class to class. And I could go down the hall a ways and talk to Brad
Watson who has written some awesome stories himself, or my next door office
neighbor was poet and essayist David Romtvedt, and I was just surrounded by
these amazing people.
I often imagine myself in that office writing. It’d be the
perfect absolute perfect writing cave. I’d have some coffee going, a bit of
music, I’d chat a bit with the other writers’ that reside in the building, and I’d compose the
all-time great American novel, bigger and better than The Great Gatsby.
This, of course, never happened. I did a lot of homework. Finished off reading an entire book on spatial theory, and read The Rape of the Lock, and lots of pedagogy stuff too. And this kind of work, it’s enjoyable and good for me. But perfect writing environment? Doesn’t exist. It’s work, and it’s passion, and if you don’t have either, you’re not going to write.
This, of course, never happened. I did a lot of homework. Finished off reading an entire book on spatial theory, and read The Rape of the Lock, and lots of pedagogy stuff too. And this kind of work, it’s enjoyable and good for me. But perfect writing environment? Doesn’t exist. It’s work, and it’s passion, and if you don’t have either, you’re not going to write.
- What is your all time favorite book?
This is an unfair question and I refuse to answer directly.
It’s like asking a coffee addict what their favorite coffee is. Sure as hell
isn’t Sanka Instant—but, you know, some days…Sanka Instant, I have that memory
of dating my wife and meeting her parents, and that’s what they had in the
house, and that instant coffee taste brings back that exact memory. How can I
give up Sanka?
Can’t. Won’t do it.
I’ve read those crappy ten cent paperback books you get at
library book sales because not a single patron is reading them, and you wonder
how in the hell they even got published, yet here I am reading them. So obviously I’m not the only one enjoying
them.
So my favorite book? Right now? This instant? Moby Dick, because that’s what I’m
reading right now.
- Who is your all time favorite character that is not your own.
This is just as an unfair question as the one that preceded
it. Who is my all-time favorite character?
Geesh.
I’ll be honest, I don’t have one.
Archie in Zadie Smith’s White
Teeth—I like him because he just bumbles along. Things happen to him; he does not happen to things. The
unnamed narrator in Amitav Ghosh’s Shadow
Lines because though I’ve never been to India or London, the character
thinks like me. Or, I think like him? Oscar Wao in The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao because he is pathetic and
the antithesis to The Heart of Darkness—“beautiful”
is the last word of the novel instead of “the horror.”
You know, seriously, I could keep going. How about Rose of
Sharon in The Grapes of Wrath? That
last scene, her husband left her, her baby died, and she finds a homeless man
near death of starvation, and she literally nurses him back to life.
Or you know, Frodo who is confronted with an adventure so
much bigger than himself, yet he goes forward. Dresden, because he’s fun. Harry
Potter. Miss Havisham, Anne of Green Gables, Antonia, The Cat in the Hat,
Leopold Bloom, Paddington Bear, Hamlet.
- Who is your favorite character of your own creation?
This question is by far easier! Sometime ago, I wrote a
short story by the name of, “Neighborhood Mums,” and it was the first story I
ever published. And the narrator, nameless, steps outside to walk his dog, and
he notices the mums from his front flowerbed have been stolen. So, he goes through the neighborhood searching
for these stolen flowers. And he’s this incredibly racist person. Hates
everyone. Yet, and I can’t tell you anymore because then I give away the entire
story.
But I like him because readers have either one of two
reactions toward him. Either visceral hatred or complete utter love. But then
too, the ones who hate him admit, reluctantly, that you have to like the guy.
And the ones who love him admit, reluctantly, that he’s kind of an ass.
As a writer, if you can illicit that kind of reaction from
your readers, one of hate and love at the same
time, that’s an incredible feeling. I’ve had moments when I’ve made people literally
cry after they’ve read something
I’ve written, I’ve had people laugh out loud, and I’ve had people walk away shaking their heads. And those are
all very good indicators that I’ve done my job as entertainer. But to illicit
two opposite emotions in the same person at the same time about the same piece
of writing—that’s pro-writer stuff.
But, if you asked me
how I managed that, how I created that on the page, I couldn’t tell you. Luck?
Probably luck. I’d like to be able to do it again, for sure though.
- When did you decide to become a writer?
I have no idea. I have always written stories. I can’t
remember a time I didn’t write. My wife tells this story about me, about us in
Nebraska. We were living in a really crappy apartment. It was always cold, we
were so incredibly poor, had a baby that was just a few months old, and we had
the computer in the basement, and my wife tells me she remembers me down there
typing away wearing a coat and fingerless gloves. I don’t remember that.
I mean, I remember splitting a McDonald’s Big Breakfast
between the three of us, my wife selling blood for money, pawning our wedding
rings almost on a weekly basis, freelancing for three newspapers, working all
the time. There was a meat packing place I worked at; I’d push the cow carcasses off the trucks and
into a refrigerated warehouse for processing. I mean, that stuff I remember,
like dragging my daughter to an interview for a piece I was doing for one of
the newspapers, and I had to take her ‘cause my wife was at work and I couldn’t
afford a babysitter.
But writing in the basement with fingerless gloves? Yeah, no
recollection, but that’s because writing is just something I’ve always done. No
matter what.
- Where are you from?
Originally, this little town: New Knoxville, Ohio. No one
knows where it is at. Because, you
know, I mean small. My graduating class was eighteen people, and one was an
exchange student. The next
biggest town was St. Marys, and that town you may have actually heard of
because it made NPR news a few summers back. Pollution problem with the lake.
The lake has killed dogs and sent people, who thought it was okay to go
swimming, to the hospital. I mean, back in the day, I’d start a fire in one of
the shelter houses out by the lake, and sit there through the night listening
to the water against the rocks, the crackle of the driftwood I had gathered for
the fire—I mean, we’d all do that.
We moved back to St. Marys for a while about five years ago.
My daughter had this white bathing suit and we took her to the lake beach. It
was the last time we went. She came out of the water, and her bathing suit had
turned brown, and we could never get it cleaned. It was shortly after that that
they put up no swimming notices, then no fishing notices. I worked at this small gas station
convenient store third trick, and fishermen would come in and tell stories of
catching fish with their organs on the outside of their bodies, or fish with a
random third eyeball. I don’t know if those tales are true or not; they never
made the news.
Now, when we go home to visit family, we drive past the lake
to look at it, and those drives feel like funeral dirges.
- Why do you write?
I don’t know.
I mean, this is fundamentally a very different question than
“What inspires me to write?” Lot’s of stuff inspires me. But I’m not sure why I
write.
I know that when I don’t write, I get cranky. Like a smoker
who doesn’t have his cigarette. The coffee
addict who decides one day just to quit caffeine.
If I had to give up writing, what would I do? Devote myself
to Facebook, TV? I already do enough of that. Writing is what I do. Who I am.
- What’s the best piece of writing advice you have ever been given?
Go back to school; go to the
University of Iowa. Got that advice from Patricia Wrede.
- What’s the worst thing someone has ever said about your work?
I got a two star review for one of
the short stories included in Wasteland.
The short story in question is Pills and Cigarettes, and it’s about a guy who
is coming to terms with his sexuality, and if you read T.S. Eliot’s poem Wasteland, well a lot of that poem is
about sex too. The headline on the comment is “when vanity publishing goes
wrong.”
And the Amazon reviewer also
wrote, “Bargdill did a serious disservice to Eliot with this title.”
I’m not sure why the person wrote
what they did. It felt like they had an ulterior motive because in the review,
the person says they read through the available free pages and didn’t like what
they read, but bought it anyway, and the story only got worse from there. When
I read that, I thought, well, if you didn’t like the first few pages, why did
you even bother to buy the rest of it?
I was really angry after initially
reading the review. I can take criticism, but I really wondered why they wrote
what they wrote; it felt like a personal attack.
I had another Wasteland reader email me and tell me I needed Jesus in my life,
and that if I wanted, they could help me with that. And I thought, did you read
the book, because the whole thing is about redemption in a hopeless world.
- Has your writing ever been compared to another, famous author? If so, who?
Cormac McCarthy. I’ve read The Road and No Country for Old Men, and I don’t really see the comparison. Banana Sandwich, I was told, reads like
the book Go Ask Alice, and I didn’t
even know what that book was, but was written in the 1970s by Beatrice Sparks
in the form of a diary of an anonymous teenage girl who gets caught up in
drugs.
I find the comparisons ultimately
humbling.
- What inspires you to write when you hit a block?
I don’t hit blocks. Authors all
the time talk about writer’s block, and how it’s messing with their lives. The
thing is, I teach writing and writer’s block doesn’t exist. It’s an excuse. I
don’t remember who said it, but when you can’t create, you should simply then
work.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. There
are times when I stare at the blank page for hours, but I also know that is my
subconscious working out problems. There are also periods of time, long
stretches of not writing, but then that’s when I’m thinking about my next
project, mulling it over. And I have my problem children. Yellow Mountains of God keeps stalling out, but only because the
story keeps getting more complicated, and I keep struggling with it, keep
working at it. The plot is there, and I could write it straight through, but if
I didn’t allow myself to struggle with the writing, the story wouldn’t be any
good. It’d be just okay. And I’m not about being just okay.
- What advice would you pass on to new authors/young authors?
The industry has really changed. I
sent out my first pieces of writing when I was sixteen. At that time, you sent
stuff out directly to publishers and or agents and hoped. There were official
gate keepers back then. Now, publishing is in free-fall. Independent authors
all over were making lots of money with Amazon, until recently when Amazon
decided to change how it paid out royalties, and now these people have to find
real 9 to 5 jobs. Writing is a penniless, thankless job. It’s difficult to get noticed,
to gain an audience for your work. Don’t let Amazon or any publisher be your
single point end game. Figure out who you are as a person. Don’t give up your
day job. Don’t stop writing. Love what you do. Struggle willingly; it’s where
inspiration comes from. Be thankful for every opportunity. Live passionately.
- What is the best thing someone has said about your work?
- And last, but not least, something really random:
~ What is your dream vacation?
To have one.
~ What’s your favorite alcoholic drink?
Martini.
~ What is your favorite meal?
Pizza.
~ Motorcycle or SUV?
My wife won’t let me have a motorcycle.
~ Real books or eReader?
Yes.
Steve, you're awesome! Thanks for such an engaging interview! As promised, links and excerpts below:
About Steve Bargdill
Steve Bargdill received his bachelor's
in English with an emphasis in creative writing from the University
of Iowa December 2012. Originally from Ohio, he has lived in Dayton,
Columbus, Troy, St. Marys, and New Knoxville as well as West Branch
Iowa, Lincoln Nebraska, Muncie Indiana, and currently lives in
Laramie Wyoming with his wife and two children.
Since 1998, Steve has mainly worked in
the pizza industry. However, he has also worked as a day laborer, a
truck driver, and a beat reporter for a couple of newspapers. He has
worked at grocery stores, gas stations, and convenient stores. As a
teenager, his dad forced him to stack lumber, which built character.
He recently earned his Master of Arts in English from the University
of Wyoming in May 2015. Currently he teaches developmental writing at
Great Bay Community College in New Hampshire.
He believes literature weaves through
our everyday lives and that stories explain who we are as a society.
Links for Steve Bargdill:
Twitter: @stevebargdill
WASTELAND SUMMARY:
Jack had the
perfect life until his wife died of brain cancer. Confused and lost,
alone, Jack found himself living in a boarding house in Columbus,
Ohio not knowing why or how he got there.
Told through six inter-related short
stories, the reader is confronted with plagues, aliens, serial
killers, and ageless fortune tellers. Cab drives through the middle
of the night, burying the dead on Highway Eighty, hearing the voice
of God in a foxhole, demons emerging from mirrors, and mysterious
angels strung out on heroin.
Filled with
drugs, sex, and cigarettes, Wasteland is loosely based off T.S.
Eliot’s poem of the same name and takes you through the night
streets of 1990s Columbus.
BLURB:
They whispered to each other,
“Beautiful.”
Buy on Amazon
ABOUT BANANA SANDWICH
Christmas Carol Madison lives in a van
and is bipolar schizophrenic. She’s in love with her coworker and
decides maybe he’s worth getting her life together. She takes her
medication. She visits regularly with her probation officer and
therapist alike. Carol’s new path suggests normality and hope, a
college degree, a career, a family. But when she decides to be
better, it is the city that goes insane: her ex-boyfriend murders her
roommate. To fight back, she must decide how she to live her life.
---
“These nights are very dark. I hear
all the sounds. My heart beat, the blood pulsing through my wrists,
it is like the hollow echo broadcast from the rings of Saturn, empty
and surging and crying out for someone to listen.”
Buy on Amazon
Excerpt:
CHAPTER
ONE
You
can't order a pizza by banana phone. It can't be done. Pick up any
banana and put it to your ear and you get dial tone. Simple as that.
Just doesn't work. Now if you want to call Jupiter, a banana phone is
your ticket. I knew a guy once who lined his hat with aluminum foil
to stop the outer space transmissions from reaching his brain. Which
is just crap. Everyone knows aluminum foil isn't going to do the
trick. You got to use something like Adamantium, which you can't use
anyway because it's a made-up comic book metal bonded to Wolverine's
skeleton. Which brings me back to the banana phone, because Wolverine
kind of looks like a banana if you think about it. I mean, his
costume is yellow, right? And bananas are yellow, except for when
they over-ripen. Then, they are black. And the only thing aluminum
foil is going to block are the government transmissions—and those
are boring anyway. They tell you to do stuff like mow the lawn, wash
dishes, buy more stuff, rinse your mouth with fluoride fortified
mouthwash. It's the outer space transmissions that are interesting.
Once, I received instructions on how to build a warp drive for my
van. And the line of work I'm in, that comes in real handy.
I used to work for
this upscale pizza shop. They tried to be all fancy with artichoke
and broccoli toppings. Those whole wheat and gluten free crusts. I
quit because they always gave me crap about my piercings. Or maybe I
was fired. Yeah, that's how it really went down. I was fired. So I
went to work for this other pizza shop, but we don't do much except
sit on the store steps smoking blunts and ordering delivery from
Domino's. Jordan brought in a bunch of bananas one night too. He
picked one up and put it to his ear and tried to order Domino's. But
like I said, it can't be done because all you get is dial tone. What
is truly annoying is when you go to the Wal-Mart in the middle of the
night, and you're going through the produce section. Inevitably,
there is that person wearing a bath towel as a dress and still in
hair curlers, his butt crack hanging out like clothes on a line. They
have that whole display stand of bananas. Normally, the bananas are
still green. Those don't work. The yellow ones work fine, and when
five or six bunches of yellow bananas all start ringing at the same
time, you don't know which one to answer first. Sometimes, I put a
banana to each ear and carry on a couple of conversations at one
time, which is easier to do than you might think.
This is how it all
started too. I was in the Wal-Mart examining cumquats because who the
heck buys cumquats? Why does the Wal-Mart even have cumquats? It's
the Nineties, and I don't know anyone who eats cumquats except total
health nut freaks. I'm certainly not a health nut freak. Give me a
good juicy medium rare steak any day. Baked potato with cheddar
cheese, chives, and tons of sour cream: that is a meal. Not some
deformed looking orange. I'm standing in the middle of the Wal-Mart
produce section examining the cumquats, but in actual reality, I
avoid as much eye contact with the guy wearing the towel. Then the
bananas started ringing. I looked around searching for a hidden
camera. I remember that show by Peter Funt in the Eighties, Candid
Camera. I asked the towel-dress guy if he heard the bananas ringing.
He didn't say anything to me. I asked again and he said ‘No.’
I heard them. All
of them. I didn't know which one to pick up. I answered one, because
what are you going to do, right? ‘Hello,’ I said, and they all
stopped ringing.
‘Carol? This is
Jupiter.’
I think maybe
Jordan was teasing me when he tried to order Domino's from a banana
phone. I like Jordan like chocolate syrup on vanilla ice cream, but
sometimes, he can be an ass.
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