Ramblings of an unkempt mind...

L.J. Smith fired from writing The Vampire Diaries!

2012-02-15T14:10:00.000+01:00

I read the original article for this over at Parafantasy and at first I was shocked. I love The Vampire Diaries and couldn't believe that Harper Collins has fired L.J. Smith from writing the books she's become famous for.

However, when I looked into it, it seems L.J. Smith was employed to write the books by Harper Collins, she didn't actually come up with the idea herself (I may be wrong about this, so please, if I am, feel free to correct me.) She was employed to write the books 'for hire' which means she doesn't own a single word of the series. Same thing applies to her 'Secret Circle' series.

Basically L.J. Smith was no more than a contracted writer. Even though fans have come to love her work, Harper Collins has simply fired her and got in a new ghost writer.

It must be heartbreaking to know someone else is going to write the characters I'm sure she thinks of as her own. Creating a character is such a personal thing and I'd be amazed if a ghost writer can create the same books with the same voice.

This horrible situation has only done more to cement by belief that independent publishing is the way to go. Perhaps, if a big company offered me a disgusting amount of money, I'd happily hand over my books, but the whole thing just feels so cold, so cut-throat. Yes, it's business, but creating a book is a bit like childbirth; it's long and arduous, and often exhausting. To snatch the 'baby' away from it's 'mother' is simply wrong.

So what do you think? Are you a fan of the series? Will you still be watching the show or reading the books? Or are you an author; would you sell your series knowing that the publisher could fire you from writing it and get in someone new?

Finding a Balance

2012-01-26T19:00:00.000+01:00

I'm on the verge of getting very frustrated with social networking. Every day it feels as though something new is popping up, some must-do, fantastic site which will help us sell loads of books and reach a new audience: Klout, Google+, Triberr... just to name a few.

Sure, I'm a fan of facebook and twitter, and obviously I use Blogger, but really I'm not sure if I can handle much more. I'm a writer because I want to write fiction, not because I want to be soliciting myself on numerous sites, trying to build up a name so people will recognise me and hopefully go on to buy my books.

Okay, I know I have to do some of that, but really, does it have to be quite so much? I know I need to build up my readership and to some extent I'm happy to do that. I just wonder if I'll be happier being a writer who is spending most of their time actually writing and is only earning a moderate wage, compared to a writer who doesn't do as much writing, but is selling loads because they're always playing the social networking card.

I guess it's like most things; a balance needs to be found. Yes, I'm living my dream, being able to write full time. But my dream never involved placing all my self-worth as a writer on what score I've got on Klout (I mean, someone actually messaged me on twitter to tell me what I had and then what they had. Why the hell would they think I'd care???).

Maybe if I get more involved in all these different sites, I'll propel my career into the stratosphere. But then maybe if I just keep writing and getting books out, I'll just naturally build up a following because people, instead of following me because they want to find out via twitter what I had for lunch, have just read and enjoyed my books over a number of years.

Sure, it's slow and steady, but it never did authors in the past any harm!

KDP Select: Thoughts and Experiences So Far...

2012-01-12T11:46:00.002+01:00

Last month, when KDP Select popped up, I jumped at the chance of trying it (click here for my initial thoughts). While I never thought I would get big rental numbers, it was the option of having my book offered for free for 5 days that initially got me excited. I've managed to get a couple of shorter titles (which I've written to use as promo for my full length novels) up for free via Amazon price matching and both times the sales of my novels have sky-rocketed, both hitting the best seller list for their genres.

So, my initial plan was to get promotional titles into KDP Select and then offer them for free with a big chunk of my novel attached, together with a whole heap of buy links. So, that's what I did. But something surprised me. What I wasn't expecting was for sales to continue after the free promotion started! When my zombie novelette, 'The Body Farm' went up for free for two days, the highest it reached was #5 on the free horror charts. When it went back to 'paid' it dropped right back and then started climbing again. The highest it ended was #13 on horror and I sold more books in a day then I did in a month.

After a week or so, it did start to drop again. But the thing is, I only ever intended on using 'The Body Farm' to promote my new novel, 'The Dark Road'. When I did the initial freebie, the book wasn't out yet, but I wanted to give people a taster and didn't want to miss out on the busy holiday season. This weekend, 'The Body Farm' is going up for free once again, and this time it will contain the buy links for 'The Dark Road'. I'm hoping this will generate some sales for my novel, but we will see.

So, you may be wondering, why did sales continue? It was because of the little 'people who bought this, also bought this' box on the Amazon page. If your book has been downloaded several thousand times, your book suddenly gets exposure like it never did before. This little box is key!

In the end, I only had 9 rentals last month, but I had about four thousand downloads and sold a couple of hundred books. Not a bad result considering I hadn't even uploaded the book anywhere else and only intended on using it to market my novel.

Here are some points:

If you're going to put your full length novel up for free, make sure the book is in a good position for people to want to download it. Make sure it's got some great reviews!
Don't be tempted just to put your book up for free for one day. As soon as it's gaining some momentum and you're getting excited, it'll go back to paid again and won't have created the impact you need.
If you want rentals, you're more likely to get these if your book is at a higher price. People only get one rental a month, why would they bother with a title that's only 0.99?

So what are my plans about the rest of my book and KDP Select? Well, today I enrolled one of my M.K. romance novels, 'Escape'. Sales have always been slow on this one and I figure I've got nothing to lose. I'm hoping to generate a few more reviews before I put it up for free, but then I'll just have to sit back and watch.

I am sorely tempted to put the first novel in my 'Serenity' series into the program, but if I do, it will be in March, when the third book is out.

As for my new novel, 'The Dark Road', I'm going to see what happens this weekend with the freebie and then I'll make the decision about entering it into KDP. At the moment, I think I probably will, but not right yet. I want the book to gain some reviews first in order to encourage downloads.

I still don't like the idea of Amazon having so much power, but until the other eBook sites come up with something innovative to help indie authors sell books, I think it's a chance worth taking. After all, it's only for 90 days (if you so choose) and in the life time of book, that is nothing.

If you'd like to read my new novel, 'The Dark Road' is now available from Amazon. And if you'd like to get a freebie, together with the first twelve chapters of 'The Dark Road', 'The Body Farm' will be FREE to download this Thursday, Friday and Saturday!

Winners of My Blog Hop Contest... Was it You???

2012-01-05T14:16:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone! Sorry I'm so late announcing my winners. These few days after New Year seem to have flown by and I've been procrastinating, so apologies!

My winners have been chosen via the very technological method of popping names in a hat and getting my two year old to pick out three. Those who facebooked and tweeted were added in three times. So, here are the winners...

First prize of the $10 Amazon gift card and one of my books of their choice is... Malvina Bellatrix!

Second Prize of two of my books of their choice is... Ash Krafton!

Third Prize of one of my books of their choice is... Ryanac32!

I'll be contacting each of the winners via email, facebook or twitter. Congrats everyone and thanks to everyone else for entering.

The Day the Sun Stopped Shining! Win $10 Amazon Gift Voucher and More!!!

2011-12-26T15:23:00.002+01:00

Today is the start of the second blog hop I'm participating in over the holidays! I love post-apocalyptic books and movies. I have a novella length story published in '2012: The Aftermath' from Pill Hill Press. I've got my rights back to that story now and have considered releasing it as a single, but I really love the premise and characters behind the story and think it would make a great full length novel, so for the moment I am sitting on it!

I was asked by one of the other authors in the tour to describe what the world looked like on the day the sun stopped shining. Here was my answer:

THE DAY THE SUN STOPPED SHINING AND THE HORROR BEGAN: ALL THE RIGHTEOUS DROPPED DEAD, TAKEN WITH A BLINDING WHITE LIGHT THAT SIGNALLED THE REVELATION. THOSE LEFT--THE ONES WHO DID NOT MAKE GOD'S CUT--REMAINED ON A SMOULDERING EARTH, SURROUNDED BY THE DEAD, WITH THE DEVIL REIGNING OVER THEM. (TAKEN FROM MY STORY, 'AFTER THE REVELATION.')

For my giveaway on the tour, I'm going to give away a whole heap of eBooks and a $10 Amazon gift voucher! I'm going to choose three winners--the first will win a $10 gift voucher and one of my books (your choice!). The second winner will win two of my books (your choice!) and the third will win one of my books (again - in case you didn't get the idea, which book will be of your choice).

So how do you enter?

One entry will be to leave me a comment, you can buy yourself a further entry by liking my facebook page, and another entry by tweeting about the contest. Please include @MarissaFarrar so I know that you've tweeted!

So, you can earn yourself three entries in total. Please let me know below how many and which ones you have done (and yes that does count as a comment!). I'll be randomly drawing the winners the day after the final day of the blog hop, which will be New Years Day!

Happy hopping everyone and good luck!

Winners will be drawn and posted after December 31, 2011

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND SPREAD THE WORD! MEET AND MINGLE WITH THE AUTHORS! EXPERIENCE A NEW DESTINATION AT EVERY STOP! PARTICIPATE IN EVERY SITE'S CONTEST AND BE ENTERED FOR CHANCES TO WIN MULTIPLE PRIZES! EVERY BLOG VISITED IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO WIN!

***Authors have full discretion to choose an alternate winner in the event any winner fails to claim their prize(s) within 72 hours of their name being posted or after notification of win, whichever comes first. Anyone who participates in this tour is subject to these rules***

To stop by the other author blogs taking part, please stop by the homepage for a list of links!

T'was the Fright Before Christmas... A round up of Creepfest.

2011-12-24T19:49:00.000+01:00

It's the last day and I hope everyone has enjoyed the hop! I've met some great people, given away a whole heap of books and picked up some readers, so I'm really happy. I've not quite reached my blog hop target of giving away 100 eBooks so I plan to continue the give away until I hit 100! If you've not yet entered to get a free copy of Alone, please stop by my facebook page and follow the instructions.

I wrote this poem for a guest blog but I thought I'd share it here as it's appropriate to the season!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Creepfest

Christmas Eve, I’m woken by the sound of moans,

And in the distance comes the rattle of bones.

Outside I come to stand and stare,

For what monstrosity should I find there?

Not bells but strung skulls are what I hear,

The elves who didn’t work so hard this year.

The reindeer snort, huffing hot air in plumes,

Eyes glow red as they paw with cloven hooves.

Santa’s not fat or jolly – those were lies,

He’s a skeleton with black holes as eyes.

Nightmares in his sack contain little cheer,

He’s here to deliver Creepfest this year.

Day Eleven of Creepfest! Beautiful Freaks with Katie John

2011-12-23T13:54:00.000+01:00

We're up to day eleven of Creepfest, so there is only one more day to go! I hope everyone has enjoyed the hop! Today I'd like to welcome Katie. M John, UK bestselling YA author.

Katie's Contemporary Arthurian legend series, 'The Knight Trilogy' was launched in December 2010 with the release of 'The Forest of Adventures' and the subsequent release of 'Immortal Beloved' in 2011. Both books have been in the UK top 10 Amazon charts for Contemporary Fantasy and Fairytales. The final book 'Starfire' is due for release in April 2012.

She is currently working on a stand alone YA novel called 'Beautiful Freaks', a steampunk, Victorian - detective fairytale, which is due for release in January 2012. She's kindly sharing the first chapter with us today!

Chapter One: London 1899

BOTH the century and its Queen were dying. The winds of change rattled through the streets of the metropolis, leaving its citizens fearful of the coming times. Uncertainty bred suspicion, causing the people to turn to the old ways. Mystics and fortune tellers swarmed out of the city mists, filling the billboard at the now sober dancehalls: Nobody felt like dancing anymore. Gypsies hawked silver charms and lucky heather, and iron-faced preacher-men stood at every corner shouting warnings of damnation. It was a grey world, full of shadows.

The city was a landscape of monsters, both of flesh and brick. Chimneys from a thousand slave factories belched out black smoke; stealing the breath from the lungs and the light from the sky. Workhouses swallowed the poor, asylums the insane. It was amongst this labyrinth of sorrow that Kaspian Blackthorne walked.

He was approaching his eighteenth birthday, although he felt he had been an adult for most of his life. His patron, Doctor Heartlock, was making arrangements for a small private engagement in celebration of the boy’s coming of age. It would be an interesting evening, although not a very exciting one.

Heartlock was a paranormal investigator – had been a paranormal investigator –he was now mostly housebound. For the past three years, the doctor had been confined to a wheelchair, following a serious accident whilst in pursuit of a notorious serial-killer. That was the official story: In truth the doctor had broken his back falling from the roof of a church in pursuit of a werewolf.

Doctor Heartlock had once been a fascinating man to a younger Kaspian, but now his fantastical tales had faded into the sad ramblings of the regretful. The lines between reality and fantasy increasingly blurred to the point Kaspian worried the old man was losing his genius mind.

Heartlock had been a good patron, although perhaps a little lacking in an understanding of childhood. As such Kaspian’s nursery had been a study, his playthings, strange scientific apparatus, and his childhood stories great leather-bound texts on religion and the supernatural. It sometimes seemed Heartlock was set on raising a protégé to carry on his life’s work rather than a young man. As a result, although Kaspian’s upbringing hadn’t been cruel, it had been serious; and although showered in fondness and attention, it had lacked love.

Kaspian pondered his eighteen years as he walked through the evening gloom of the London streets. The rain had forced most people inside, creating the impression that the great metropolis had turned into a ghost town. Kaspian liked walking at times like this. It made him feel as if he were walking through his own silent empire.

Then he saw her.

She was standing under the streetlight, a newspaper held out in front of her as if she were reading it. Kaspian thought it obvious that she wasn’t; she was watching the church on the other side of the cobbled street. He stopped midstride and pulled himself behind a tree; spied on her as she took a pocket-watch from her pocket and flip open the lid. He thought it strange she should read it by placing flat in front of her eyes rather than looking down on it – it was as if she were taking a reading from a compass. Kaspian looked over to where she was watching. The church was empty and he couldn’t fathom what could possibly be of interest. The lights were out, the door locked, and the whole place had the impression of sleeping.

The woman was tall and slender; striking in a slightly over-powerful way. Despite wearing a full, black silk skirt, the fitted waistcoat and black necktie were more manish in dress than ladylike. Kaspian had never seen a woman like her, although he had heard of ‘her sort’ as Heartlock’s companions would say.

When he looked closer, he could see she wore a monocle in her left eye and was at least ten years younger than he’d guessed from the first impression: twenty one was the age he now settled on in his mind.

She must have sensed him looking at her because she turned towards him and, seeing him poking out from behind a tree, smiled. It was a strange reaction to the discovery that someone was spying on you. The boldness of her action unsettled Kaspian in a way he couldn’t quite understand. He bent down, pretending that he had been about to tie his shoelaces. When he was sure she had returned to her own secret observations, he scuttled past her and almost ran all the way to the safety of home.

By the time he pushed open the imposing, black front door, Kaspian carried the strangest sense that something deep within him had changed, and things would never be quite as before.

“Good evening, Kaspian,” Heartlock said, greeting the boy in the hallway. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, Sir,” he answered, dropping the small pile of string-tied books onto the hall table.

“Did you manage to get all I requested?”

“Yes, all of them apart from the Valentine book. Mr. Foxglove said he was sure he would have it by the end of the month.”

Mr. Foxglove was one of Heartlock’s oldest acquaintances. He ran a bookshop situated in one of Soho’s shadier alleyways. The sign above the door read,‘Rare and Precious Books’ which made it sound almost respectable. In truth, the great leather bound books of poetry and Shakespeare folios were a front for the back room; the place that held real interest for its rather darker clientele.

Although a small narrow front, the shop had a seemingly endless body, giving you the unnerving impression that you were being swallowed by a giant snake. Right at its tail was the occult section. Not only did Mr. Foxglove vendor occult books, but there were also shelves of other strange and curious objects that might appeal to the amateur alchemist or necromancer; glass jars of preserved reptiles, grinning skulls and black candles were amongst some of the more identifiable items.

Kaspian had visited Foxglove’s shop since being a small boy, and he was no longer quite so impressed by its spooky appearance or its owner. Before Doctor Heartlock had had his accident, they had always visited together. When he was little, Kaspian would search out his guardian’s hand and grip it tightly; afraid that the strange Mr. Foxglove might kidnap him and cook him for supper.

Mr. Foxglove had always been ancient; and so paradoxically didn’t seem to age anymore. He wore a glass-eye in his left socket, but as he’d shrunk with age, it had become too big for the socket and now bulged, giving the impression that the eye belonged more to an insect than a man. Even now Kaspian constantly had to remind himself not to be rude and stare at it because he found it totally captivating. Mr. Foxglove had long lost the ability to stride and now shuffled along the stone floor in a pair of velvet slippers. In all of his years visiting, Kaspian had never seen the man wear outdoor shoes.

The occult section of the shop had no windows: As if special precautions had been undertaken to prevent the books disintegrating in sunlight. Before the client entered, Foxglove would shuffle in to the darkness and light the dusty oil-lamps which filled the room with paraffin smoke and cast dancing shadows over the books. As a child, Doctor Heartlock had taken delight in teasing Kaspian about his fears surrounding the shop, telling him that the shadows belonged to the book goblins. Both men would laugh, and although he knew he was being mocked, Kaspian’s imagination refused to give up the idea – and even now, Kaspian found himself looking for the goblins out of the corner of his eye.

Today, Foxglove had already bundled and tied the books and they were sitting on the counter ready for collection. Kaspian was grateful for this; not only did it save him time but it meant not having to visit backroom. The books had been a heavy load to carry and twice he had used them as an excuse to stop and rest; once in a coffee shop and once to spy on the strange woman who now haunted the edges of his thoughts.

“Ah, well – patience is a virtue,” said Heartlock, snapping Kaspian out of his drifting daydream. Doctor Heartlock’s face flickered with disappointment.

Heartlock started to cough, a reaction to the cool early winter air which Kaspian had brought in with him. Heartlock’s aging lungs squeezed and wheezed out breath. It was a sound as familiar now as the sound of his voice.

Heartlock recovered the pile of books from the side table and placed them into his lap before turning his wheelchair deftly one hundred and eighty degrees and wheeling himself back towards the study.

Kaspian let out a deep sigh. The sight of his patron becoming so immobile and decrepit added to the sense of heaviness Kaspian increasingly believed to be attached to the adult world. Even the house, his home since childhood, seemed to fade and peel on a daily basis, as if the whole place was a projection of its master’s state. The dust layer deepened, the gloom spread and Kaspian felt increasingly like he was suffocating.

When Heartlock had been a fit man, the house had been full of fascinating visitors; the sound of hearty laughter and tinkling whisky glasses filled the study, which was a hub of academic and scientific progress. It was amazing how quickly a life could decay.

With each passing month, fewer visitors came. With their absence, there came an absence of cases for investigation and Heartlock faded into anonymity. No longer being an ‘expert in his field’ saddened the old man terribly, but his pride was too strong to admit it. Along with all of this, Kaspian couldn’t help but think he added to the old man’s disappointment.

~*~

So you thought King Arthur's Knights
were just a legend?
A myth from the misty veils of time.
But what if time doesn't work the way
you think it does?
What if the magic never died?

For seventeen year old Mina Singer, life is
pretty average; college, friends, a slightly
eccentric mother, and a long term relationship
with the boy next door.
But with the arrival of the mysterious Blake Beldevier, Mina learns that not not everything is as it seems and fairytale endings can be fatal.

Book one, The Forest of Adventures can be bought from Amazon.

Fearsom Fun Fiction from Patti Larsen

2011-12-21T12:48:00.000+01:00

Red

by Patti Larsen

Little Red Riding Hood cocked the hammer on her .38 special and took aim at the pretty splotch of crimson painted on Wolf’s chest.

Granny left her the perfect target.

“I didn’t do it.” Like Red believed him. Still, her ingrained sense of fair play insisted she at least listen.

“My,” she rolled her eyes at him over the polished silver sight, “what huge lies you tell.”

Wolf let out a breath in a huff of steaming air. “All the better to… damn it. Stop that!”

“What do you expect me to think?” She gestured with the snubbed nose of her revolver. His paws traced through the handprint of blood on his chest, smearing it, adding to it. The thick stuff dripped from the tips of his claws as his heavy pink tongue swiped over his quivering snout.

“I found her like this.” Gutted. Leather jeans torn open at the waist, her favorite death metal t-shirt a gory mess. Red felt a tear well at the sight of Granny’s favorite pink bra.

“So you thought you’d just have a snack, is that it?” The trigger quivered under her eager finger. Better to kill him now then let him see her cry.

“No, I…” He looked back and forth between her and Granny. “I was trying to save her.”

No blood on his muzzle. Just his paws and chest. “Say I believe you. Who did?”

His furred shoulders slumped forward and for a moment she thought he would drop to all fours. Wolf held his posture, yellow eyes locked on Granny.

“You know who.”

It couldn’t be. Not after all these years. But the closer she looked, the more obvious it was. Not claw marks. Not fangs, either. The cuts were too clean, the slices made by human hands. Red felt her grip on the revolver slip as her heart skipped.

“You saw him?” She pinned Wolf with her stare as he finally looked up and met her eyes.

“Heard him.” He shuddered, like a dog shedding water. “Whack. Whack.” Tongue met snout again. “He was laughing.”

Red lowered the gun. She wanted to run away, terror making her knees weak, her stomach clench. She wasn’t ready to face him. Granny raised her on nightmare stories of her oldest foe.

Whack. That sound. Back in the alley. Red’s hand tightened on her gun. Wolf whimpered and huddled lower, fur vibrating as he shivered.

Whack. Something flashed in the dark and the lone street light went out.

Whack. Closer. And then it came, low and deep, humming to the core of her bones.

The laughter of The Huntsman.

Red drew a breath, caught a whiff of wood smoke and pine needles. Something heavy came down on her wrist. The bones powdered, gun falling to her feet. She ducked, the pain making her stagger. The air above her whooshed, her long blonde ponytail falling victim to the flash of his axe.

He laughed again. Red dropped and rolled, finally crying out as the bones in her wrist ground together. She felt the hot, wet pool beneath her soak through her jeans. Red dove over her grandmother’s body as the air rippled again, jumping away from the flutter of fabric as the keen blade removed the hood of her cloak.

Wolf whined like a puppy when his body stopped her from going further. His paws pushed against her, shoving her aside, as though her very touch would call up the wrath of The Huntsman.

Red fell on something hard as Wolf howled in agony, the hum of air cut short with a deep whack. Her unbroken left hand found what gouged her stomach. She pulled it free and rolled over onto her back, lifting Granny’s pink handled .357 Magnum as she did, putting three bullets into the darkness above her.

The silence was the worst sound she ever heard. Then, a groan. A clatter. Red shoved herself to the right, almost on top of Granny as he fell beside her, crashing to the pavement. Red choked on the dust and dirty air, hunting through Granny’s pockets in the dark, finding at last the smooth square she was looking for.

Red thumbed the top from the lighter and spun the ignitor. A thick flame leapt to life, casting wide shadows that danced against the darkness. Red squinted in the bright, her shaking hand moving away from her face, eyes blinking spots from her vision.

She flinched from the motionless pile of fur to her right and looked down. The Huntsman was dead. Had to be. On his face in the filth, Granny’s blood pool oozing between his parted lips. One eye stared at the ground with glassy intensity. Red found herself panting, hunched over her shattered wrist. She lashed out with one foot, a solid kick to the body. The Huntsman rocked from the blow, but didn’t respond.

Red fished a cigar from her dented silver case and lit one on the open flame. She leaned back, using Granny as her support, no change there, and took a deep drag.

“Burn in Hell, Grandpa.”

~*~

About the Author: Patti Larsen is a middle grade, young adult and adult author with a passion for the paranormal. Her YA thriller series, The Hunted, is available now. Books one and two of The Hayle Coven series, Family Magic and Witch Hunt are also out now, with the sequels, Demon Child and The Wild, due in December of this year. She is a full time writer and a part time teacher of her Get Your Book Done program. Patti lives on the East Coast of Canada with her very patient husband and four massive cats.

You can find her:

On her website .

On Facebook.

Her writing blog.

Her book blog

On Twitter www.twitter.com/#!/PattiLarsen

On Amazon.com and Goodreads

On the Eighth Day of Creepfest... I met Author, Kim Koning

2011-12-20T12:02:00.000+01:00

Today I'd like to welcome dark paranormal fiction author Kim Koning! Welcome Kim! I see on your blog you mention that you ‘wrestle your muse’. What are your biggest challenges when it comes to writing?

K.K. One of my biggest challenges is to quieten the Muse...My Muse is constantly coming up with inspiration for new stories and usually just as I am working on one story. That is why I wrestle my muse...sometimes he wins and I start with a new story and then write 2 stories consecutively but other times I make a small note of the idea and then shelve in until I have more time to focus. My Muse never quietens down or leaves me searching for story lines...but sometimes a girl can only work on one story at a time.

M.F. I hear you on that! I'm forever feeling like there are so many stories I want to write! I can't ever imagine being in a situation where I was stuck for a story! What are your views on the indie revolution? Why did you choose to go that way yourself?

K.K. Well I have always been super independent and like taking control of my own life and whatever path I choose to take. When I looked at the publishing industry and asked more experienced people some pointed questions I realised that the Indie route was definitely more my cuppa tea. I am not against the Big 6 in New York but I do resent that they seem so closed off to writers or stories that don't quite fit what they believe is marketable. I also think that readers don't care who published your book and guarantee you that if you had to ask them who published their favourite books, they would have to look it up. INdie - whether it be self-publishing or SmallPress puts the writer and the story at the foreground. The Indie route celebrates the creative side of the writer and helps them wade through the business side of getting their stories out there. For me, after looking at both options, there was no choice except Indie. One of my favourite sayings is: When writing the story of your life, don't let anyone else hold the pen...So I choose the Indie route; holding my own pen and writing my own story, not allowing some antiquated gatekeeper to control my career or my creativity.

M.F. Great answer! I think the readers are appreciating being able to read different books as well. Just because a story isn't commercial, dosen't mean it's not good! What draws you to the genre of paranormal fiction?

K.K. I Love paranormal because you get to delve in the world beyond our world or one that is veiled within our world. I also see ghosts and have had quite a few encounters with them. My friends believe ghosts follow me around. But I think what we don't see in life with our physical eyes is so much more real than what we can see. Paranormal celebrates this. I also love Mythology and Paranormal fiction is the modern take on Mythology often creating or recycling ancient myths and legends and tales. How can you not be drawn to paranormal fiction would be my question.

M.F. Wow, that's an interesting story in itself! My Nan used to see ghosts all the time as well! Are you working on any projects at the moment?

K.K. Yes - I am working on two trilogies.The Chaos Chasms: This is set in Victorian London and Modern London...it deals with the veils between this world and the next, past revenges and regrets that haunt the present and Romany (Gypsy) spiritualism. The first book is complete and is out on submission. The other trilogy is a modern paranormal thriller about the hunt for a serial killer and how a young tattooist may hold all the secrets to both unveiling him and capturing him or succumbing to the darkness and empowering him. The choice lies with the tattooist. It is very dark trilogy but explores how even the most harmless has both light and dark within them, it is a choice that we choose - either darkness or light.

M.F. Has anything scary every happened to you at Christmas?

K.K I can disappointingly say no...I would love a visit from Ghosts of Christmas Past and maybe even Ghosts of Christmas Future...I have read A Christmas Carol way too many times and I always thought it would be an interesting Christmas if something like that happened in reality one year. So joining up to Creepfest I get to fulfill a little of that wish...

M.F. Well if you see ghosts, that may well happen to you one day! How do you plan to spend Christmas day?

K.K. My mother is German so we open Christmas gifts on Christmas eve (the German way), so on Christmas Day I will be spending the day with family and friends at a friends' home for a delicious roast. Hoping the day is hot (I am in the Southern Hemisphere) and then we can take a stroll down to the beach and perhaps have a bonfire on the beach for that night. Either way it will be a good day. For the first time in 10 years I am also not working any of the festive season as this year I went full time writing...so for the first time I get to truly celebrate Christmas. I have been humming Christmas jingles all month long already.

Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog for #Creepfest Marissa.
I enjoyed your interview.
Happy Creepfest and Merry Christmas!

You too, Kim! Thanks for stopping by! Kim is also giving away an ebook copy of this anthology on her blog "Wrestling the Muse" for Creepfest in a Creepmas Contest - so make sure you stop by!
Open the gateway of darkness at: http://kimkoning.com/wp
I can be found Wrestling the Muse : http://kimkoning.wordpress.com
I can also be found on twitter @AuthorKimKoning
Like my facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Kim.M.Koning?sk=app_106171216118819
My first short story is available in this anthology along with 33 other great authors including The Neil Gaiman:
http://randomstatic.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=51

Sneaking into Day Seven of Creepfest with 'Monsters Unmasked' - a Zombie Novella with Heart.

2011-12-19T12:47:00.000+01:00

For a while now I've described my genre as 'romantic horror'. When I read 'Monsters Unmasked' by Lori Whitwam, I thought, 'Yay! Another romantic horror author!'

'Monsters Unmasked' in set in the time of a zombie apocalypse, but the zombies aren't the only monsters in the book. The real monsters are the ones who are left behind--the men who take advantage of anything and anyone who might help them survive and prosper in this new world.

Right from the start of the novella, the author plunges the reader into a world of real life horror. Ellen Hale (the main character) first witnesses the brutal murder of her brother and is then kidnapped. She lives as a slave; sexually abused day after day. But finally she is rescued and taken to The Compound. Here she tries to rebuild her shattered self, though she fears she might become a monster herself. While during a battle to keep zombies out of The Compound, she meets the fearsome Quinn. He is a big, heavily tattooed brute, but he saves her life, and from here starts a touching relationship.

Unlike most zombie stories, 'Monsters Unmasked' is less about the zombies and more about the survivors. The zombies are described almost as an after thought. There are some parts during the attacks which are scary, but for the most part it's the other survivors who dish out the horror. The theme of no one being what they seem is continued throughout the book as social stereotypes are broken down in this new, terrifying world.

I really loved Quinn's character--I mean really loved his character! Who doesn't love a bad boy turned good? There were some parts where I didn't totally buy into Ellen. She made some snarly remarks at a time when I thought most people would be on the verge of killing themselves. Maybe this just showed her strength of character, but I think she might have been a bit too resilient considering what she goes through.

I read 'Monster Unmasked' in one sitting. I wish it was longer but this isn't a criticism of the book, but a compliment! I'd just gotten into Ellen's world and her relationship with Quinn when it all ended! The story is emotional, redemptive and sad. Anyone who has enjoyed 'The Walking Dead' will also enjoy 'Monsters Unmasked'.

Monsters Unmasked can be bought from Amazon for $2.99!

Lori spent her early years reading books in a tree in northern West Virginia. She currently lives in a northwestern suburb of the Twin Cities for reasons that escape her, but were probably good ones at the time.

Since arriving in Minnesota in 1996, she has worked in public libraries, written advertising copy for wastewater treatment equipment, and managed a holistic veterinary clinic.

Parents of a grown son, Lori and her husband were high school sweethearts, and he manages to love her in spite of herself. Some of his duties include making sure she always has fresh coffee and safe tires, trying to teach her to use coupons, and convincing the state police to spring her from house arrest in her hotel room in time for a very important concert. That last one only happened once – so far – but she still really, really appreciates it.

Her full length romance novel, 'Make or Break' is also available to buy. You can find out more about Lori and where to buy her books at her website.

Day Six of Creepfest! It's 6-6-6 for the Creeptacular Red Tash!

2011-12-18T06:00:00.001+01:00

Today I'd like to welcome Red Tash! She's the author of the highly rated fantasy/mystery novel, 'This Brilliant Darkness' (and no, the title isn't just her bigging contents of the book!). She's answered a couple of Christmassy questions for me!

M.F. What's the worst present you've ever received?

R.T. The worst present I ever received was a Thighmaster-sorta gadget, from my first husband. Yep, he didn't stay my husband for long after that.

M.F. Lol. I can understand why! What is your least favourite Christmas food?

R.T. Eggnog is the worst! Who invented that?

M.F. I can honestly say I've never tasted Eggnog. I guess I'm not missing out on much. Final question; what would you do if you woke up and actually found a fat man dressed in red at the end of your bed?

R.T. If I woke up to find a fat man dressed in red at the bottom of my bed, I would ask my husband to please stop sleeping at the bottom of the bed! ;) Seriously, though, I am pretty sure Santa Claus does exist, so I think once I got over the initial shock, I'd probably grill him with questions and then beg him to let me fly away with him and his reindeer.

M.F. Of course Santa exists! Who else would I have been talking about? What are you trying to tell me... ;-)

If that's got you interested in the very lovely Red, you can find her at her blog, facebook page, or twitter.

This Brilliant Darkness is available to buy from Amazon .

When an ancient, troubled entity identifies quirky Christine Grace as his latest threat, all hell breaks loose in the urban forest of Indiana University's Dunn Woods. Will Christine piece together his destructive plan in time to save herself? And what exactly is going on with this peculiar star, Stella Mirabilis?

This fast-paced story moves quickly from character to character, through the headspace of not just Christine and the monster Greachin, but also to Tom, her devoted boyfriend, and Richard, an aging physicist interested in the time-traveling star overhead, and others. Along the way, singing street people, cosplaying environmental activists, and heaven-sent beings come to populate the unique cityscape of Bloomington, IN, where encountering the bizarre is an everyday experience.

Day Five of Creepfest! I'm giving away 100 copies of Alone!

2011-12-17T06:00:00.001+01:00

Yes, you did read right! I'm giving away 100 copies of Alone over on my facebook page!

Here are the rules:

‎>>100 eBook Christmas Giveaway<<

To receive a FREE ecopy of my debut novel, ALONE, all you need to do is:

1) “Like” the Marissa Farrar Author's FB page
2) Enter your email addy *and* type of ereader in a comment on this status update
3) Click the “Share” option on this update and post it on your profile or FB business page ("share" is located next to the "like" and "comment" links under every FB update)
4) If you are worried about spam, please enter your address like this: marissafarrar at hotmail dot com.

To read a product description of the novel, please go to Amazon and search for the title, Alone by Marissa Farrar.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

For the Fourth Day of Creepfest... Welcome Annetta Ribken!

2011-12-16T06:00:00.000+01:00

Hi Everyone! I hope you're all enjoying Creepfest and meeting lots of new authors. For today I have author Annetta Ribken.

M.F. don’t describe yourself as a horror writer though your novel, Athena’s Promise, contains monsters and your short story collection is described as being escorted ‘deep into twisted, cobwebby parts of the characters minds’. So how would you describe your writing?

A.R. Not Nice and Other Understatements does contain stories which could be considered horror, but there are also literary stories, fantasy stories, even a romance of sorts. Athena's Promise is urban fantasy (or paranormal fantasy), but my opinion is a good writer transcends genre. I think labels are more for marketing purposes than anything else. For some reason I have an aversion to being pigeonholed into a certain genre, because I don't want to be limited. I guess if I had to choose a specific label, it would be "speculative fiction" just to keep my options open.

M.F. I see you offer editing services as well as your books. What do you think makes a good editor?

A.R. I'm a content editor, which means I evaluate a piece for story arc, characterization, plot, and narrative flow. A good editor understands the structure of a story; is able to put ego aside completely; exhibits an extraordinary attention to detail and is able to suggest changes or improvements which enhance and strengthen the story the writer wants to tell without changing the "voice". You have to be able to see the big picture as well as the component parts which makes it work. A good editor also has to understand her client and how they work, which means you have to be empathetic and flexible. I absolutely love my job.

M.F. What do you make of the whole ‘indie’ revolution?

A.R. I think it's an exciting time for both readers and writers. As a writer, we now have more options than ever, but that doesn't mean the road to success is any easier. It still takes persistence, marketing savvy, a whole lot of work, and did I say persistence? In my opinion, it's not an either/or proposition as far as legacy publishing vs. indie and every writer has their own path – you have to choose the one which works best for you, and only the writer can determine that. You need to be open-minded and you also need to educate yourself on the changes which seem to happen at a light-speed pace.

M.F. And now for some more Christmassy questions... What’s the worst present you’ve ever received?

A.R. Is there such a thing as a "bad" present? Heh. Wrap it up and put a bow on it and it's all good – it's the thought behind the gift that matters, not so much what's in it.

M.F. Are there any Christmas movies that freak you out?

A.R. Not really. I try to stay away from tear-jerkers. My favourite Christmas movies are the Blade Trilogy, A Nightmare Before Christmas and Rocky Horror Picture Show. Not traditional Christmas movies, but I'm not a big fan of the holiday anyway.

M.F. How do you normally spend Christmas day? Does your family have any weird traditions?

A.R. Since my kids are grown and gone and my mom has passed, Christmas is very quiet. I usually treat it like just another day, but my BFF doesn't let me get away with that. She drags me out in my Grinch t-shirt for dinner, and I have a good time in spite of myself. I'm on the phone with my kids, but the day is typically very low-key.

The only weird tradition I can think of that we still practice today is everybody has to have new pajamas for Christmas Eve and a new toothbrush for Christmas Day. Because, you know, dental health is always important. Heh.

To find out more, you can find "Athena's Promise" at Amazon and Smashwords. You can also visit Annetta's blog through the 12 Days of Creepfest to win an e-copy, or visit her giveaway on GoodReads for an autographed print copy.

Synopsis:

"No matter what it takes."

As the front desk manager of a hotel on the edge of Zombietown, Pallas is used to dealing with angry centaurs, surly trolls, and zombie housekeepers. The trouble really starts when one of her guests ends up dead. But that's not her only problem.

A cop with an attitude – can he be trusted to be more than just a pain in her ass or does he have a more sinister agenda?

A new Guest Services Manager, out for her job and ready to sacrifice anyone in his way – what does he really want?

The attractive maintenance guy, endangering the promise she made out of necessity to the Goddess Athena – does he know more than he's telling?

A mermaid diva, whose show at the Sparkling Butterfly must go on – or else.

Pallas needs to find the killer, and fast, or she'll lose her job, her home, and the ragtag family she's adopted out of her crew of "critters".

In the course of the investigation Pallas uncovers connections to a nasty Oddities dealer deep in the heart of Zombietown, forcing her to expose a trauma from her past which could threaten her future. With everyone and everything she loves in danger, the promise made to the Goddess Athena may well damn her if she breaks it, but she is bound and determined to save her friends, her home, and everything she's built.

No matter what it takes.

Author bio: Annetta has been writing since words were carved on stone tablets with chisels. Not only does she write her own words, Annetta is also an accomplished editor. She lives just outside of St. Louis with her evil feline overlord, a rescued shelter cat named Athena.

Stalk Annetta here:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/netta50

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/Annetta.Ribken

Blog: http://wordwebbing.com/

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3414795.Annetta_Ribken

And for the 3rd day of Creepfest meet Zombie-fanatic, Stant Litore!

2011-12-15T06:00:00.001+01:00

Zombies are hot stuff at the moment. Where for the last couple of years, vampires have been all the rage, zombies are definitely taking over! One person who has loved zombies for years before they became fashionable (if such a thing is possible!) is the author Stant Litore! He's here today for the 3rd day of Creepfest to share some of the love!!!

M.F. Hi Stant! Clearly, you have a love for Zombies. Where did this love start?

S.L. It started when I first saw Night of the Living Dead as a teenager. The dead closing in on the house, pulling one woman out through the window and feeding on her in an unholy communion … it was, well not love, but something at first sight, that’s certain! I actually have a terrible fear of zombies. My wife and I watched the Dawn of the Dead remake while we were dating, and I fetched a stout wood-ax and placed it by my armchair. Much to my good fortune, my future wife was more amused than alarmed by that.

M.F. What are your favourite zombie books or movies?

S.L. Night of the Living Dead, definitely. Books: World War Z by Max Brooks and Valley of the Dead by Kim Paffenroth are the best of the best. Paffenroth actually has the gall … and the panache … to rewrite Dante’s Inferno, in a novel in which Dante as an exile is inspired for his future poem by his travels through an infested land in Eastern Europe. The story is poignant, poetic, brutal, and stays with you – demandingly – after you close the book or power down your Kindle.

M.F. If a zombie apocalypse were to happen this Xmas, how would you survive?

S.L. Probably not. I have a wife and two daughters, and it is very likely that I would perish defending them. In any case, I think my survival likelihood is a bit low. That said, I don’t give up. I don’t think I’ve ever given up on anything that mattered to me. And I know a few things about taking out zombies. I’ve done my research. Just think the likelihood is low.

If the apocalypse happened fast, I suppose I’d relocate my family to whatever nearby facility I could fight or persuade my way into, and hunker down a bit. If slow, well, it’s a long road to Canada, but I always did appreciate a pretty drive.

M.F. Tell me a bit about your novels and where we can buy them!

S.L. Oh, you will love The Zombie Bible. Think zombies. In the Old Testament. Or in second-century Rome. Think of ancient cultures struggling not only to survive but redefine what life means, what justice means, what it means to have hope in a world defined by its hunger. That’s a kind of story that can speak really powerfully to the world we find ourselves striving in and surviving in.

You can get the first two for your Kindle or your Nook. As I write this, the first volume, Death Has Come Up into Our Windows, is the #11 bestselling horror story on the Kindle, and it is worth a read. It will mark you.

ZOMBIE BIBLE: DEATH HAS COME UP INTO OUR WINDOWS

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005SNK13K
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/zombie-bible-stant-litore/1107395760

ZOMBIE BIBLE: WHAT OUR EYES HAVE WITNESSED

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006JW2VXW
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1107395760

I hope you take a moment to check them out, and if you like them, I hope you’ll drop me a line over at http://zombiebible.blogspot.com orzombiebible@gmail.com

Day 2 of Creepfest! Meet author, Ruth Barrett!

2011-12-14T06:00:00.001+01:00

Today I would like to welcome the very lovely Ruth Barrett! Ruth is the author of the novel 'Base Spirits', a traditional ghost story set in an old Yorkshire house. I was most impressed to learn that Ruth studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Drama (LAMDA). She's now turned her hand to writing, though her book contains influences from her love of the theatre.

M.F. Hi Ruth, can you tell us all what inspired 'Base Spirits'?

R.B. I was in a Jacobean play-- 'A Yorkshire Tragedy'-- based on the true story of a nobleman murdering his family. I had a chance to visit Yorkshire during the rehearsal period, discovered Calverley Old Hall where the tragedy took place, and was given a tour and a book by a local historian. I found it creepy/cool that you can actually rent the Hall for vacations... and there are a few ghost stories about the place. I just thought it would make a great novel.

M.F. I love novels that are based on fact! Have you been writing for long and do you have any current WIPs?

R.B. I've always written stories ever since I was a child. I've published a number of short stories over the years, and am working on and off on a few projects including a novel about a Victorian revenant and a character-driven mystery series with a dark comic twist.

M.F. What are your thoughts about the recent trend for authors to 'go indie'.

R.B. It's the Wild West at this stage. A lot of people are jumping in and tossing undercooked work up onto the websites before honing their manuscripts or having them properly edited. Your name is on that book-- surely you owe it to yourself and your readers to present it in its best form! A lot of others are seeing this as a way to get their writing out and find an audience instead of waiting for a publisher's gatekeeper to decide what is read. In the end, the serious folks with good books will find a good readership base with a slow steady effort, and the ones who are hoping to cash in and become overnight millionaires will give up. Overall, it's very positive for serious writers who are frustrated with the traditional process. I also find that indie authors are a friendly, supportive bunch and that is always encouraging!

M.F. I totally agree. Too many people are commiting career suicide by putting out work that hasn't been through an editor. Unfortuntely, it's authors doing that that gives the rest of us a bad name! Your novel is a traditional ghost story - have you ever experienced a Christmas Spirit (or ghost of any kind!)

R.B Not a Christmas ghost, but yes... there have been a few incidents over the years ranging from an 'icky' feeling that something is in the room with me to actual sightings of full figures.

M.F. Ooh.. that sounds like a story I'd like to hear more of! What are you plans for this Christmas?

R.B. A few local parties with friends, and a quiet Christmas Eve in with my dashing and delightful male companion...!

M.F. Merry Christmas Ruth, and thanks for stopping by!

Head over to her blog Spirited Words to find out a bit more about Ruth and her work. Her novel, 'Base Spirits' is also available to buy from Amazon for $2.99.

In 1605, Sir Walter Calverley’s murderous rampage leaves a family shattered. The killer suffers a torturous execution… but is it truly the end? A noble Yorkshire house stands forever tarnished by blood and possessed by anguished spirits.

Some crimes are so horrific, they reverberate through the centuries.

As an unhappy modern couple vacation in the guesthouse at Calverley Old Hall, playwright Clara, and her scholar husband, Scott, unwittingly awaken a dark history. Clara is trapped and forced back in time to bear witness to a family’s bloody saga. Overtaken by the malevolent echoes, Scott is pushed over the edge from possessive husband to wholly possessed…

Inspired by a true-life drama in Shakespeare’s day, this is itself a play within a play: a supernatural thriller with a historical core.

Only one player can survive.

12 Days of Creepfest! Come join the fun!

2011-12-13T06:00:00.001+01:00

Today is the start of Creepfest; a special blog tour for Christmas from a whole heap of authors who like things a little more on the creepy side!

Each of the 12 days, I'll be hosting other authors on the hop and giving away copies of my books!

Here are just a few of the other blogs taking part. I hope you'll stop by and hopefully pick yourself up some goodies just in time for Christmas... or is it Creepmas???

R.L. Treadway's Ink
Julie Jansen: Science Fiction and Horror Writer
Jason Darrick's Fear in Words
Wrestling the Muse
No Vacation from Speculation
Thea Gregory's Zombie Bedtime Stories
The Zombie Bible
The Manicheans
Welcome to the Darkness
A Diamond in the Dark
Kraftmatic Adjustable Blog
Word Webbing
Patti Larsen: My Writing Life
Writecrastination

And to get the blog hop going, today I'm going to give away an e-copy of my novel, Alone! Just leave me a comment, or tweet or facebook about the hop to be in to win! And don't forget to leave your email address so I can get hold of you if you win!

Happy Hopping everyone!

The Arrival of KDP Select: What Does it Mean for Authors?

2011-12-08T10:51:00.003+01:00

I woke up this morning to do my usual routine of sales checking, but when I logged onto Amazon KDP (the digital publishing platform that allows authors to publish eBooks direct to Amazon) I found a big sign with gold letters announcing '$500,000 available for December' staring back at me.

My first thought was that I'd won some kind of Amazon lottery (honestly, that's what the sign looks like - and I suspect that is not accidental!) but then realized that probably wasn't the case, so I looked into things further.

Basically, Amazon Select is a lending library set up through Amazon. To enrol books, the titles must be exclusive to Amazon for at least 90 days. They're allowed to be published in paperback and sold elsewhere, but not in digital format. The publisher of this book will then receive a percentage of the amount of money in the pot (for December it's $500,000, but next year they say it will be $6 million) according to the number of times a customer has borrowed the book.

So, the good points:

Hopefully more money. It's another avenue in which to make royalties. Here is how Amazon explains it (though I think they've aimed high).

For example, if the monthly fund amount is $500,000 and the total qualified borrows of all participating KDP titles is 100,000 in December and if your book was borrowed 1,500 times, you will earn 1.5% (1,500/100,000 = 1.5%), or $7,500 in December.

You'll also be allowed to make your book free for 5 days, so introducing your work to a whole heap of new readers (that is, if you don't already have free books on Amazon).
The exclusivity is only for 90 days, after which time your book will be able to be sold on other site.

And here are the bad bits.

First of all, there's the exclusivity thing. I've often worried about the amount of control Amazon already has on an author's income. As it gets bigger and bigger, Amazon is effectively becoming a super-publisher, just without the quality control of acquisitions or editors. If something happened to Amazon (or it suddenly decided to pull all of my titles) I'll have lost about 75% of my income. Creating exclusivity only gives Amazon even more power.
A member of Kindle Owners Lenders Library will only be able to check out ONE book a month. This tells me the customer is going to be pretty picky about which title they choose. Are they really likely to chance that one title on a newbie, indie author?
Will it affect sales in the regular kindle store? If people can borrow the book for free, are they less likely to fork out the money to buy it?
Once you sign up, you've got 3 days to change your mind, but then you're tied in for 90 days. Amazon then automatically re-signs you up for another 90 days once the first period has finish, UNLESS you go in a check a box on your bookshelf to say you don't want this to happen. Amazon does say they will send you an email 15 days before renewal, but we all know how easy it is to miss these things.

So what have I decided to do? Well, I'm in the lucky position of having numerous titles, two of which are new this month and as of yet (other than Amazon) are only available to buy on Smashwords. So this morning I've unpublished them from Smashwords and enrolled them in Amazon Select. This isn't too big a deal for me because sales on Smashwords are always small. The titles I've enrolled are two short story collections--one in my Marissa Farrar name, and one in M.K. Elliott. Choosing short story books could work against me. People are probably less likely to borrow the short story titles than if I'd enrolled my novels, but I didn't want to take that kind of risk just yet.

For now it's just a case of 'wait and see'. To be honest, I'll be surprised if I get many people borrowing my books at all, but I guess it depends on what my competition is. Either way, I'll be sure to report back and let you all know how it's going and whether it's worth enrolling in KDP Select.

~*~

Marissa Farrar's dark vampire 'Serenity' series, is available to buy from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Just click on the links to purchase the first in the series, 'Alone', for only $0.99.

NaNoWriMo done and dusted!

2011-12-01T13:35:00.000+01:00

Well this years NaNo ended with the third book in my Serenity series at 50,046 words! Hurrah! I didn't write quite as much as I'd hoped (I was aiming for 60K) but as a lovely person I've recently met on twitter says, 'Aim for the stars and you'll land in the tree tops'! I guess that's what I did--I aimed big but got what I needed, so I'm happy with that.

For now, I'm taking a break from writing and I'm back to editing. Weirdly enough, after a month of pretty much no editing, I'm actually looking forward to getting back into it. My editor for The Dark Road, Shontrell Wade, sent me her edits back at the end of November and I feel bad that I've only gone through a few chapters of them. However, now NaNo is over, all my attention will be going on Dark Road edits and I'm still hoping to have the book out for the Xmas rush. Apparently there are going to be six million Kindle Fires sold this Xmas. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited about what that means for eBook sales!

Feeling Like a Fake...

2011-11-26T20:57:00.000+01:00

I love my social networking sites. I love all the new writers and readers I've been introduced to through twitter and facebook, and all the new authors I've met and great reads I've discovered. Blogging has been a great way to meet other writers and I think all of the advice and tips I pick up on various sites or through other authors have helped my writing and promotional skills no end.

However, there are times when reading about how other authors work really makes me doubt myself. I read about authors who start with twenty-page outlines before they even write the first line. There are others who divide their stories into sub-plots and themes, and edit accordingly. There are more who understand every single grammar faux pas there is to know!

For me, I simply write the story as I go. Sometimes I don't even write the story in the right order; I just write the scenes that are shouting loudest to me at that time and re-jig it all around later! I started this month's NaNoWriMo with a single page of roughly scribbled notes and I haven't even stuck to that!

I know every writer writes in a different way, but there are definitely times when I wonder if I really have any clue if I know what I'm doing. I read all about how organised other authors seem to be, plotting every step of the way, when I've really no idea what my characters are going to do from one chapter to another, and I do get intimidated. The problem is, I honestly wouldn't know where to start when it came to plotting a novel. How are you supposed to write down what's going to happen, when it hasn't actually happened yet!

So what about you? Are you a writer? Can you not live without everything going exactly the way you planned it, or do even the super-organised find that their characters lead them astray sometimes? Is there anything out in the social networking world that leaves you doubting your own ability?

A New Release - 'The Company of the Dead'!

2011-11-22T12:39:00.001+01:00

Hi lovely people! Today is release day for my latest collection of short stories, 'The Company of the Dead'! It's currently only available through Amazon, but will shortly be on Smashwords and then the other eBook stores in a couple of weeks.

This collection is most definitely of the horror variety. Here's the blurb...

A teenage girl living with a horrific birthmark down one side of her face discovers the cure may be worse than the affliction in ‘Stained’.

A team of men digging the channel tunnel hit a coffin-like box buried deep under the ocean. Will opening it unleash the end of mankind? ‘The Tunnel’.

A drug addict wakes to find herself trapped in a room of her worst nightmare, in ‘The Tortured Room’.

A young girl suffering abuse at the hands of her father find solace in a porcelain doll, but the doll is out for revenge, in ‘Adeline’.

A woman suffering the loss of her husband in a car accident discovers her reality isn’t all it seems in ‘The Sickness of Grief’.

A hitchhiker gets the lift from hell in ‘Thumbing it.’

Six short stories of horror; ghosts, vampires and demonic dolls. This collection total 25K in length or approximately 65 pages. Several of these stories have been previously published in the anthologies, ‘Masters of Horror: Damned if you Don’t’; ‘Their Dark Masters: Extreme Vampire Horror’; ‘Demonic Dolls: Satan’s Toybox’.

It's now available to buy from Amazon for only $2.99, so just click on the link here for your copy!

NaNoWriMo - Almost at the Halfway Mark!

2011-11-14T12:07:00.001+01:00

Hi fellow NaNoWriMo peeps. How is November treating you? Are you racing on ahead with an amazing word count that makes your counterparts turn green with envy, or are you, like me, playing catch up?

So far, this month's been a difficult one for me. I've had the whole family down with a sickness bug, I've had our second car written off which means I've had to cut back on childcare for my youngest, and I've had no internet for a few days (although that last one probably helped my word count!). But hey, we've all got lives going on outside of the madness that is NaNo and the glorious idea of holing ourselves up inside our offices, bashing away at our computers with no interruptions from the outside world simply doesn't happen.

This morning I'm at 21K and I'm aiming to hit 23K (or just short of) by the end of the day. For those who don't know, my NaNo project is the third book in my 'Serenity Series', 'Captured'. Because I plan to have this book out in the first quarter of next year, it's been important for me to make sure the book is in good shape the first time round. I haven't turned off my 'inner editor' as much as I did last year, but I think this is a good thing. I want to have 50K at the end of the month that I'm not going to need to edit 25K out of! For me, writing 25K of fluff simply isn't good time management!

'Captured' will be the last in the 'Serenity Series' but I am planning a YA spin-off series, using one of the characters from the 'Serenity' books. The first book has the working title 'Enchanted' and will be all things witchy! I've not written YA before so I'm hoping to hook up with some fellow YA writers as crit partners. I'll need to find my YA voice and release my inner angsty teen (believe me, she was never far beneath the surface, and I was the epitome of the angsty teen when I was younger). It's going to take some hard work on my part but I'm looking forward to trying something new. Who knows where a new direction will take me and stretching my skills will only help make me a better writer.

Head on Over to Something Wicked!

2011-10-27T12:45:00.000+02:00

Hi guys, just a quickie today to let you know that to celebrate both Halloween and the release of 'Buried', I'm giving away copies of 'Alone' over at Something Wicked.

I hope you'll stop by and tell me all the fun stuff you love to do at Halloween!

'Buried' is now Available to Buy!

2011-10-21T11:00:00.002+02:00

I'm thrilled to announce that the sequel to 'Alone' (or the second book in the 'Serenity' series), 'Buried', is now available to buy from Amazon!

I'm offering the book at an introductory friendship price of $0.99 for the first two weeks so everyone out there who has already read 'Alone' and has helped me by blogging, reviewing, or simply mentioning the book to their friends, can pick up a copy ultra-cheap. Of course, if you haven't read Alone and would like to, that book is also priced at $0.99 to introduce new readers to the series. Just click here for the link!

I'm also really pleased to say that Alone has now sold about 340 copies so far this month which means I will be proud of my donation to the charity, 'Refuge'! (I'm donating 25% of the revenue from sales). The novel has been in the top 100 best seller list for contemporary fantasy on Amazon and I'm hoping it will stay there!

Here's the blurb to Buried.

***Warning contains spoilers if you haven't already read 'Alone'.***

Four years after the horrific murder of her husband, Serenity is living a new life and finally putting the terrifying events behind her. Though now a stronger person, her heart craves the vampire who gave her the strength to change her life.

Desperate to forget Serenity, Sebastian hides away in the underground tunnels of Goreme, Turkey, and has thrown himself into an existence of darkness and blood.

But rumours are abound of something unnatural existing, something with the strength of a vampire but can walk in the light.

And a murderer is on the loose in Angeles Forest, someone who is killing with the ferocity of a beast. The killer is moving closer and closer to the city, searching for something...

I hope you'll get reading! For those who are interested, I'm working on the third in the series, 'Captured', which I hope to have out early 2012!

Giving Something Back: Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

2011-10-01T15:27:00.000+02:00

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month in the States.

Domestic abuse can happen to anyone; whether the abuse is physical violence, controlling behavouir, or threats. In the UK, two women a week are killed by abusive partners and in the US, three women a day are killed by their spouse.

Even celebrities can be affected by domestic violence. In 2009, the world was shocked when pictures of the young pop-star, Rihanna, were leaked to the public. She’d been beaten up by boyfriend, Chris Brown after a Pre-Grammy party. Her injuries were bad enough to make her cancel her own performance at the event.

Rihanna’s experience got the world talking, but the truth is that thousands of women live with domestic violence every day, and for the most part the public turn their heads. One in four women in the States report being involved in some kind of abusive relationship at some point in their lives, and those are just the women who will talk about it! Many women refuse to admit or speak about what they are experiencing at home.

When I was younger, I was in a controlling relationship. The guy in question cheated on me and I found out. After I forgave him, (more fool me) he completely changed, turning the tables on me. All of a sudden, I was the one who he was suspicious of. He berated me with constant accusations and threats. I ended up never wearing make-up and always wearing baggy clothes to avoid the endless questioning about who I was dressing up for. I stopped going out or seeing my friends.

I’m not a weak person by any means. I’m outgoing and confident, yet this person managed to get around all my defences and I didn’t even realize what was happening. It wasn’t until he threatened, ‘If I ever see you with someone else, I’ll kill him and then I’ll come after you’ that something clicked. It was like someone took blinkers off my eyes and I remember thinking, ‘hang on, this isn’t normal. This isn’t right!’

I was lucky. We weren’t living together and I had a great support network around me so it was easy for me to give him the boot. But I can totally understand how another woman who might be married to this type of person, who has children and their lives tied to them, would struggle to make the break.

A while ago, I ran into my ex standing in front of a local supermarket. My reaction... I hid. I ducked down behind the nearest car and then crawled between the vehicles to get into my car and drove away. Even after several years, the person created an instant reaction in me. I’m normally someone who doesn’t take any shit, but from this man, I fled.

The main character in my novel, Alone, is a woman trapped in an abusive relationship. She was a challenge to write because most female characters in urban fantasy novels are strong, snarky, kick-ass heroines. My character, Serenity, was none of those things. She’s tortured, both physically and mentally, by her abusive husband, Jackson and can’t see an escape.

Serenity was difficult to write because I wanted the reader to be on her side without thinking she was a weak person. Her inability to leave comes from years of abuse and it’s all she’s ever known. She doesn’t know how to exist in a life without a controlling man. I wanted to make the reader understand how it feels to be in her shoes and empathise with her as opposed to dislike her for not having the strength to tell her ass-hole husband where to go.

I’ve had some complaints from readers about the violence in the book and how it made them ‘uncomfortable’. Good. Domestic abuse should make people feel uncomfortable. For me, these comments simply mean I did my job right and portrayed domestic violence as it should be – cruel, unnecessary and horrific.

The character in my novel does change and she also finds someone who will help her (in this case, a vampire!) but many women remain trapped in these relationships.

To give a little back, for the month of October I’ve decided to donate 25% of all revenue earned from the sales of Alone to the charity, ‘Refuge’. It might not add up to much, but at least it’s something and I hope everyone else out there will take this month to think about all the women (and some men) trapped in violent and abusive relationships and maybe even give a little something to help.

'Alone' is available to buy from Amazon and Barnes & Noble for $0.99.

Guest Author, Gregory Marshall Smith: To Series or not to Series

2011-09-30T10:41:00.000+02:00

Today I'm very happy to welcome fellow Digital Digest author, Gregory Marshall Smith. I've had the pleasure of knowing Gregory for a few months now and he's been very good to read and edit some of my zombie novella, The Body Farm. Gregory's novel, Hunters, is all about old school vamps - where they're the bad guys! He's also got a couple of free reads on Amazon now so you'd be mad not to go and sample some of his writing! Keep reading to the end of the post where Gregory will be giving away an ecopy of his novel!

Take it away, Gregory....

To Series or Not Series

Series are the “in” thing and have been for a long time.

A quick peek at some of the series out there includes:

Honor Harrington (David Weber), Dragonriders of Pern (Anne McCaffrey), Morgaine (C.J. Cherryh), Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan), Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley), Anita Blake/Merry (Laurell K. Hamilton), John Carter (Edgar Rice Burroughs) and VV Inn (C.J. Ellisson).

Astute readers will note that Marion Zimmer Bradley is dead and is still producing books in her series.

As for Robert Jordan, we might as well nickname him Tupac. There are 14(!) books in his series and new ones are being written every day it seems (though they’re now in the hands of Brandon Sanderson.

By the way, I have left out Ian Fleming’s James Bond for reasons I’ll explain in a moment.

My question for the readers of Marissa Farrar (and I would like to thank her profusely for allowing me time in her space for my book tour) is: “Which is better? Series or stand-alone novels?”

I have been told repeatedly over the past few years that I need to concentrate of creating series to keep readers’ attentions and keep them coming back to the book selling sites for more. The vast majority of the comments I’ve gotten for my short stories and novellas like They Call the Wind Muryah and “Onward” always ask me to write more stories about the characters in those works.

It’s a natural reaction, one wholly missing from movies and television today. How often have we wondered about the survivors of, say, Criminal Minds, about how they get over the trauma and go on with life? Instead, we see the FBI agents arrest or kill the bad guy and then they’re back home to prepare for hot dates or relaxing evenings.

Book series give us the chance to follow characters long past the original adventure or tale. Readers like myself were enamored of Weber’s Honor Harrington after the debut novel On Basilisk Station. She was a very interesting person, standing well over six feet tall, with her ever-present six-limbed treecat named Nimitz.

On the other hand, there is still something to be said for stand-alones. They’re one-and-done. They don’t require extensive background or character development and you don’t have to worry about always coming up with fresh storylines. The universe is filled with classic stand-alones like Dracula, Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, A Canticle For Leibowitz, The Man in the High Tower, Nightfall and I Am Legend (although Hollywood is trying to get Richard Matheson to pen a prequel).

Besides, sometimes we can know too much. Do I really need to read that Honor Harrington is involved in a three-way with her commanding officer and his invalid wife?

Plus, what happens when you hit a brick wall in character development?

I don’t think we’ll ever see the back story of James Bond. So, we’re left with the same old Bond in another familiar plot. One wonders if Fleming’s estate has milked this cash cow into insanity since Ian’s death in 1964. The series has used several guest authors like John Gardner and Kingsley Amis since then, much like the film company keeps changing actors, all in an effort to keep the series fresh (the latest book is Carte Blanche by Jeffrey Deaver in 2011).

That said, maybe we can reach a compromise. What if we limit the number of books in the series?

Good examples: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings or Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy.

Or maybe we have more than a few books but have a solid conclusion like C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia? Then, maybe it won’t seem as if the series is just going on and on and on...

Of course, one must not bow down to pressure for this option. Case in point, Arthur C. Clarke. Did the Space Oddysey trilogy of 2001, 2010 and 2061, the last being done in 1987. But, in 1997, Clarke revisited that universe with 3001: The Final Odyssey, like he couldn’t quite put resist the temptation to tweak the story one more time.

A final choice might be to keep the series but switch up the characters like David Drake does in Hammer’s Slammers or Fred Saberhagen with his Berserker short stories. Each concerns different characters relating to different situations, such as various military units of Hammer’s Slammers or what different worlds do to stop the seemingly unstoppable Berserker planet destroyers.

As we can see, clearly it’s up to writers and readers to decide series or stand-alones. Each one has its merits and its detractions. I guess it largely depends on what’s in a writer’s heart (or a publisher’s purse).

Right now, my new novel Hunters (about vampire hunters) is a stand-alone. Might it become a series, limited or otherwise? Let me know.

Gregory Marshall Smith, born in Somerville, Massachusetts and raised in historic Medford, is a decorated Navy veteran. Though sports writing is his profession, in his career, he has been, among other things, a national columnist, playwright, engineer, asset protection agent, editor, safety auditor, fingerprinter, training instructor and sometime actor (Heiju trilogy, Life As We Know It, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Hail Mary, Walker, Texas Ranger). He is the author of the novellas Crawl and They Call the Wind Muryah, along with two anthologies (Dark Tidings Vol. I & II). He has had numerous award-winning short stories appear in Farspace 2, Writer’s Bump, Far Side of Midnight, Spectacular Speculations and SFH Dominion, among others. Hunters is his first full-length novel.

Ever restless, he currently resides somewhere in America.

Hunters is available to buy from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

For centuries, vampires have owned the night. And in Fort Worth, Texas, master vampire, Louis Riordan, aims to keep it that way. With the help of Lin Tang, his lethal enforcer, he will unite sixteen of the continent’s top master vampires into the most powerful undead alliance the world has ever seen.

Rumors abound that Lin Tang’s most hated enemy, Cantrell Ryker, has returned from the grave and there are hunters in town, ready to take back the twilight. Vastly outnumbered and outgunned, with dissension in the ranks and a traitor in their midst, these hunters fight for humanity side by side. They now have a weapon that could turn the tide of the age-old war between man and vampire once and for all…

***Giveaway***

So what do you think everyone? Do you love a series or do you prefer stand alone novels? Got any favorites when its comes to a series? Leave a comment, together with your email addy or website so you can be contacted, and you'll automatically be entered to win. Tweet or f/b the competition (and let me know in your comment) and you'll be given an extra entry!

Good luck everyone!

Why Stephen King has been getting bad reviews for his eBooks...

2011-09-18T17:21:00.001+02:00

Stephen King has always been known for writing big bricks of novels. Some people complain about King being too wordy. They don't like the long build ups in his stories. But for many of his fans (myself included) its King's wordiness and his ability to produce five hundred page books that we can get utterly and completely lost in, that make us his fans.

Lately King has been getting in on the eBook market. His recent books UR and Mile 81 are both short stories for the 'cheap buys' Kindle market. Both books are priced at $2.99, relatively cheap for a big author. However, people expect King to produce (and by that I'm talking about volume!) and both of these books are single short stories.

When many Kindle buyers are used to getting short story collections or full novels between $2.99 and $0.99, they simply feel ripped off at paying the top of those prices for a single short story.

Mile 81 currently has 131 reviews averaging 3 stars but the reason for most of the bad reviews isn't because the story is bad, it's simply that people are expecting MORE! They're used to paying $2.99 for a full novel and just getting one short story makes them feel like they've been short changed.

I've been recently asked by another author about the process of e-publishing. She had a short story she wanted to put out. What advice did I give her? I told her to hang onto that story and write some more. No different from the problem Stephen King is having at the moment, she is better off producing something of substance so the readers who try her book out will feel they've got enough for their money.

A good friend of mine recently said to me, 'You only get one chance with readers.' That phrase stuck with me and it's true. A reader who takes a chance on a new author may not always like what they read, but if they do don't let them not want to buy another book simply because they felt they didn't get their money's worth.

My own collection of short stories, Where the Dead Live (please click the link to take you through to the Amazon page), contains six stories and is priced at $0.99. My novel, Alone, is also priced at $0.99. Will everyone like my work? No, of course not, but then I've always believed if everyone likes your work, you're doing something wrong! What I do hope is that they feel they're getting enough content for their cash.

I understand King's eagerness to cash in on the Kindle market, but for someone who has so much money anyway, is there really any need?

Work Hard and be Patient!

2011-09-15T13:45:00.000+02:00

This is the motto I've been telling myself this week.

I'm now about two and a half weeks into the relaunch of 'Alone' and sales have been steady. I've worked out that I've sold about 140 copies since the launch, which is pretty good, but could be better. This time last year I would have been thrilled at that number but things have changed.

Last week I received a royalties statement for my M.K. Elliott name (a pen name I write romance and erotica in) and learnt that I'd sold over 10,000 books within the first five months of releasing my first title. That first title hit the #1 spot for Erotica on Barnes & Noble within a week of being launched and no one was more surprised than me! Since then I've had a number of titles hit the bestseller list on Amazon (two of which are still there and have been for several months now).

Because I've seen this success in my other name, it makes things so much more frustrating in my 'real' writing. I so desperately want my novels to see the sorts of sales my other work has but I know its going to be a much slower process. I've still got four titles which will be released between now and next Easter, all of which are written, they just need a final edit on my side and to be professionally edited. I've also got a short story collection, 'Apocalypse Ever After,' which I hope to have out in the new year.

So my marketing strategy is going along the 'flood the market' tactics. Sure, I'm also guest blogging and sending my books out for review, plus running f/b ads. I'm also hoping some clever pricing and free reads will boost sales.

Anyway, here is the cover for 'Buried'. What do you think guys? The image has once again come from the very talented Rebecca Treadway and I'm thrilled with how it turned out. It totally captures the whole feel of the book.

Right! Back to work!

Welcome author, Vincent Hobbes, and win a copy of his book!

2011-09-12T13:33:00.000+02:00

Hi Vincent ! Thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing a little about yourself and your work. Let’s start with the most important thing: your books. Give us a brief description of the novel you want to talk about today.

V.H. The book is called The Endlands. It is a short story collection written by twelve different authors (including myself). There are seventeen total stories. Each story is strange—with a twist. A carnival of the bizarre, if you will. So far, it has been well received by fans and critics.

M.F. So what are you working on at the moment? Have you got any new projects in the pipeline?

V.H. With the success of volume one of The Endlands, I’m currently working on volume two. We have a whole new batch of stories and the second volume promises to be even better than the first. I’m also currently writing a dystopian novel, and pecking away on a horror story, as well.

M.F. Is writing something you’ve recently got into, or have you been writing for ages?

V.H. I’ve been writing most my life. In my teenage years, I knew i wanted to be a writer. Over the years I learned the craft, though I’ve only been writing professionally for about six years.

M.F. What do you make of the changes in the industry, with so many more people going ‘indie’?

V.H. I think the changes are great for authors and readers. Authors are getting to share their work much more easily through eBooks and Indie publishing. This is perfect for the reader, as well. We are seeing so many books on the market that never would have seen the light of day. I have discovered some high-quality authors who are putting their work out there, and receiving great reviews, too.

M.F. Who is your greatest influence when it comes to your writing?

V.H. Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, John Steinbeck . . . the list goes on and on. I like the diversity of these authors. King writes horror, science fiction, a little fantasy. Bradbury is also unique, and Fahrenheit 451 has always been a favorite of mine.

M.F. Stephen King says when he writes, it is for his wife Tabitha. When you write, is there anyone you are writing for?

V.H. I’d say I write for my own sanity. It’s my therapy. When a story enters my mind, I must put it on paper or face sheer insanity. I write because I’m supposed to write. If I wrote for someone else, I don’t think it would be all that good.

M.F. What sort of books do you read yourself?

V.H. Pretty much anything. I love dystopian and horror, and read bits of science fiction. I’ve been on a zombie kick recently.

M.F. Now for some more abstract questions: If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?

V.H. Bob Lee Swagger, a character in Stephen Hunter’s novels. He’s a man’s man; he goes out there and he gets the job done. Hunter has created an interesting character with Bob Lee Swagger—a hero with flaws, which makes him so appealing.

M.F. If aliens landed in front of you and offered you anything you wanted, what would it be?

V.H. Ten thousand acres in Montana, my idea of freedom.

M.F. Tell us something quirky/interesting that people probably don’t know about you.

V.H. If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret any longer.

M.F. Haha, very well. Your secrets will remain safe!

***GIVE AWAY TIME***

Vincent has very kindly offered to give away a copy of his book, 'The Endlands' to one lucky commenter. All you need to do is leave Vincent a comment telling him what your favourite horror/supernatural novel is. A random winner will be drawn and announced right here so remember to leave your web or email address so we can get hold of you!

Good luck everyone, and Vincent, thanks for being here! If you'd like to know more about Vincent, you can visit his website www.VincentHobbes.com.

Free Read Published and an Anthology Acceptance!

2011-09-06T00:43:00.000+02:00

I just found out my short story, Adeline, has been accepted by Angelic Knight Press for their latest anthology, Satan's Toybox: Demonic Dolls.

I've always found those old porcelain dolls to be super freaky. As a child, I crept downstairs and read one of my mother's horror books by the light of the fish tank (this was a regular occurrence for me and I wondered why I suffered from night terrors) and one of the books I found had a story about a whole heap of puppets who stuck needles into people until they became a puppet as well. I've no idea what this story was called or who wrote it, but it left a lasting impression. When I had the opportunity to write a doll story myself, I couldn't resist. I'll keep you up-to-date about the publication.

My other piece of news is that my prequel to Alone, The Vengeful Vampire, is now free to download from Smashwords. If you'd like to know how Sebastian was turned, this is the read for you!

Giveaway Winners!

2011-09-03T18:42:00.000+02:00

Well, I had four entries to win three copies of my ebook and I couldn't stand the thought of leaving one person out. So the winners are;

Chris
Jen
Sarah
and a special, much deserved copy goes to Shontrell!

Congrats all! I'll try to contact you each individually or you can email me at marissafarrar@hotmail.co.uk.

Hope you all enjoy the book!

Something for the Weekend - Win a copy of my vampire novel, 'Alone'!

2011-09-02T18:07:00.000+02:00

After a long week, I'm feeling thankful that the weekend is here so I have decided to celebrate by giving away three e-copies of my novel, 'Alone'. Yep, that's right, THREE!

So, how do you win? Just leave me a comment below telling me who your favourite vamp is (from the movies or books) and I'll randomly choose three winners!

I'm looking forward to reading your comments and maybe even discovering a couple of vamps I haven't heard of! Remember to leave me your blog link or email address so I can contact you to let you know if you won and how to collect your prize!

Good luck everyone!

A Change in Look...

2011-09-02T12:13:00.000+02:00

As all you ladies know, there's nothing quite like a make-over to make you feel better, so I figured it was time to do the same thing for my blog!

I used the paperback cover image for Alone to create the banner and had a change of fonts and colours. For some reason I can't get the twitter updates to be visible, but I'm working on it!

What do you think of the new look?!!!

Have you read 'Alone'? I need your help!!!

2011-08-26T18:15:00.000+02:00

As I'm sure you're all aware by now, I've re-released my vampire novel Alone. While I'm thrilled with the book's facelift, unfortunately one of the things that happened during the change over is that I lost all my reviews and ratings :-(

So, I'm in need of your help. If you were one of the wonderful people who originally wrote me a review for Alone, I'd be forever in your debt if you rewrote the review either on Amazon or on Barnes & Noble (or both would be even better!).

I did go to the trouble of copying and pasting all of my reviews, so if you can't remember what you wrote, just email me at marissafarrar@hotmail.co.uk and I'll be happy to sort through the reviews and email your one for you to copy and paste.

I really hope some of you will get in touch. It was a huge disappointment to lose all of my wonderful reviews but it felt like a price worth paying. Reviews are so important to both readers and authors!

Thanks everyone!

I'm Back!

2011-08-24T10:23:00.000+02:00

After a lovely week with my parents in Spain, I've returned home feeling both relaxed and eager to get on with my work.

I've had the final edits back for Alone now and they're pretty much done! Whoo-hoo! All that's left is some final proofing and formatting, and then I hope to have the book back up for sale this weekend (double Whoo-hoo!).

While I was away, I wrote a number of short stories (all longhand, despite taking my computer, I never actually turned it on!). One is for the 'Demonic Dolls' anthology which I blogged about earlier this month, another is the free short for Alone, 'The Vengeful Vampire', and the third short story is one called 'Thumbing it', about a female hitch-hiker, which I wrote just for the fun of it!

So I now have page after page of almost illegible notes to write up. On top of that, I also have the new deadline for the sequel to Alone, which is entitled, Buried. As soon as Alone is up, I'll be turning my editing eye to Buried and hope to have the book up for sale by the end of October.

The Results of my Foray into Facebook Ads...

2011-08-12T10:01:00.002+02:00

This time last week I set up a facebook ad for my short story collection 'Where the Dead Live'. I wanted to test out how well the ad worked before bothering to consider using ads as part of my promotion for 'Alone' when it is relaunched (and I'll be done with edits today, hurrah!).

So, I only wanted to spend a small amount of money as this was more of a tester than anything else. The way facebook ads work, you're basically paying for each time a person clicks through to your facebook page via the ad. You can choose the limit on how much you want to spend each day and once the money has been used up, the ad is withdrawn until the next day. You also decide how long you want the campaign to run for. I went for eight days at £3 a day, which totalled in a £24 spend.

The Results!!!!

Initially, I saw a definite jump in sales. I went from selling one or two books on Amazon a week to selling seven in the first four days. However, after that sales dropped off again. The main thing I noticed was a definite increase in the number of 'likes' I had on my page. I went from 221 likes to 256 in a week, an increase of 35 likes which I was really pleased with. Normally, I'll add a couple of 'likes' to the page in a week so this was a huge jump.

My Conclusion...

Because of the initial jump in sales, followed by the tail off, I've decided for my 'Alone' facebook ad campaign, I'm going to spend more money over a shorter period of time. I've decided to spend £10 a day over three days to try to give the book a good boost as a 'new' release. Getting a book up those sales charts early on really helps because it makes the book more visible to those who otherwise might not have stumbled across it. I'm also going to focus the ad on people with precise interests in vampires/vampire romances/etc. Dare I say it, I'm even going to aim the book at Twilight fans and also fans of The Vampire Diaries.

So I'll definitely use facebook ads again. They turned out to be a relatively cheap and VERY easy way of advertising. I will be using it in the future as well as for my 'Alone' campaign. I don't think its the be-all and end-all but I think used in combination with blog tours etc. it certainly doesn't do any harm!

Oh, and here is a link to my facebook page should any of you want to check it out. I hope my results prove useful to all you other authors trying to find ways to promote. I know its a long, hard slog!

Working to a deadline...

2011-08-02T17:46:00.000+02:00

Two weeks today I'm off to Spain and I'm certainly feeling the pressure as far as hitting targets and deadlines I have. It's funny, because even though I'm technically working for myself, I have so many commitments as far as hitting deadlines for short stories which are due in and scheduling blogging posts, that often the main goal of actually writing, editing and publishing a novel takes second place.

I came across a phrase the other day...

'Every single thing in life depends on the amount of commitment you put into it. If you commit, you'll succeed.'

Of course, this phrase can be applied to a number of different things in life, but for me it rang most true in my writing. I first decided to write seriously just as I was completing my Zoology degree. I'd already decided I didn't want to follow the Zoology route and thought the fact that the hours I was supposed to have spent doing animal behaviour observation, I actually spent with my notebook conjuring up some fantasy world or another, was enough of a hint to tell me where my heart lay.

That was over ten years ago now and I'm finally able to write as a living. I'm probably not quite pulling in a full time wage yet but I'm hoping that the success I've seen in my other writing, I'll also get in my paranormal fiction.

So when people ask me why I'm putting so much pressure on myself when I technically work for myself, I'll refer them to the above phrase. Only by committing fully to something will you ever be able to know if you can make it a success.

Progress Report...

2011-07-28T18:32:00.000+02:00

I'm now well over halfway through the edits for Alone and my editor is way faster than I am, so she is patiently waiting for me to get some more chapters to her. It feels great to finally be on, not quite the home straight, but certainly close to it.

For the most part, I've enjoyed this re-edit. Because this book has already been out there and has received some fantastic reviews, I'm not filled with all the usual paranoia that accompany a new release (will people like it, will people buy it?!!!). Okay, maybe the 'will people buy it' part still applies but I think I'm learning more and more about what parts of promotion work and which don't. I plan to release Alone at the $0.99 price mark for at least two weeks (possibly a month) to try to get it up the sales charts. Alongside that, I'm working on a short story which will be about Sebastian (the main vamp in Alone) being turned by his maker, Madeline (the vamp-bitch in the novel). The short story is set during and just after the Spanish American war, two hundred years ago. I've never written anything historic and I have to be honest, I'm a little nervous about how I'll do. I have a couple of friends who have written historic pieces so I intend to let them have a good critique before I release it to the public. However critical other writers are, having critical readers is definitely worse! Anyway, the short story will be freebie, along with a nice chunk of Alone to get people interested.

Another thing that is coming together is the cover. I can't wait to show it off! The designer Rebecca Treadway, has so far done a fantastic job to putting together exactly what I had in my head. I'll be previewing it here very soon!

As always, I'm also looking forward to what I'm going to do next. I've got The Dark Road to re-edit and re-release, but depending on how well Alone does, I'm also tempted to get the sequel, Buried Alone finished. The book is basically done, minus the last chapter so all I need to do is give it the usual ten edits (and write the final chapter of course).

As my husband always says when I complain about being busy...there's always another book, Marissa. I guess he's right. As long as I stay as motivated and determined as I am, I'm always going to be busy!

An unexpected break!

2011-07-24T16:29:00.000+02:00

Our local beach in Spain!

This weekend my lovely parents have very kindly offered to fly both myself and my two girls out to Spain to visit them. Unfortunately, my poor husband will have to work, but he's planning on spending the week eating what he wants, watching whatever he wants on tv, and not having to get up at the weekend, so I don't think he's too upset.

So three weeks from now, I'll be jetting off to sunny Spain and escaping the crappy British weather, hurrah!

Of course now I know I'm going to be away for a week, I have to get organised, work-wise. Alone is now being filtered over to the editor and I'm hoping to have the rest of the book with her before I leave, which I think is do-able. On top of that, I have three short stories I need to finish; one for the Digital Digest blog and publication, one for an anthology, and another for the 'Just One Bite' competition over at AllRomanceeBooks (check out here for info).

So I'm going to be a busy bunny and I need to get focused. Alone is my top priority, but I have committed to the others as well and I hate to let people down. My short for 'Just One Bite' is pretty much done but does need to have a visit to an editor before submission. The continuation of 'The Body Farm' for Digital Digest is probably going to give me the most problems. I still need to schedule all my blog posts plus have the next installment due in by the 15thof next month, just before I leave.

On top of all this, the kids finish school next week so I'll be juggling work with looking after two under fives as well. Phew! So what's everyone else up to? Busy with work, chilling out with the kids, or (like most of us I expect) trying to juggle both!

Interview with vampire author Lorelei Bell!

2011-07-22T10:57:00.002+02:00

M.F Today I have author of Vampire Ascending, Lorelei Bell with me to tell us a little about herself and her books. I met Lorelei when I first started blogging and she's always been a great support in the blogging world and a lovely lady to get to know.

Hi Lorelei, thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing a little about yourself and your work.

L.B. I'm excited to be here, and thanks for having me!

M.F. Let’s start with the most important thing: your books. Give us a brief description of the novel you want to talk about today.

L.B. Vampire Ascending is about a Touch Clairvoyant who needs a job, and is offered one as a clairvoyant for a vampire magnate in Chicago. On her way to the interview, she's attacked and bitten by a werewolf. Nicolas, who was to interview her, comes to her rescue. After she is hired, she's entangled in a mix of mystery, suspense and adventure that include romantic trysts, and dangerous situations involving vampires, werewolves, and shape shifters, and demons. Sabring isn't exactly thrilled about working for vampires, but she needs the money, and also, she wants to find the gorgeous and mysterious vampires who has been lurking around her house, and who bit her when she was ten, marking her for his own, and also turned her mother into a vampire at the time.

M.F. What got you into vampires and when did you first notice the attraction?

L.B. My attraction came when I was a teenager. I simply began watching all the vampire movies that were on TV, other shows such as Dark Shadows, Bewitched, Adams Family, The Munsters were my favorite shows. Halloween is my favorite holiday. I don't know what actually triggered it, but I definitely was walking to a different beat.

M.F. So what are you working on at the moment? Have you got any new projects in the pipeline?

L.B. Very definitely! My second book of the series, Vampire's Trill, is with my publisher, and I'm hoping for a late summer release. I've got the third book in first draft done, and begun writing notes and even a couple of chapters of the 4th one. I simply can't shut my characters up. (chuckles)

M.F. Is writing something you’ve recently got into, or have you been writing for ages?

L.B. I've been writing for ages. Okay, let's see, since 1971, in high school. It took me a long time to learn how to write. The old adage goes "No one can teach you how to write." But you can eventually learn by reading and really studying your favorite authors.

M.F. I don't think someone can teach talent, but you can definitely learn all the technicalities of writing! I know you’re dyslexic. I’ve heard that people with dyslexia can make their minds work in different ways. How do you find that’s helped or hindered your writing?

L.B. Oh, wow. My dyslexia was never diagnosed. I self-diagnosed. I just figured it out and I was in my 40's when I did. I couldn't spell worth a darn. I'm sure it's one big reason I was always rejected. Until the modern computer came along with the spell check, I was spinning my wheels. Even then you have to know grammar basics and all sorts of things that I just never knew or learned. I'm sometimes amazed when I actually know how to spell some odd word now now and then.

I also, have attention deficit, and my mind wanders. Which leads me to make up stories on just about anything. Which is why my brain is able to work on things--sort of split between the things I'm doing and what I'm able to think about. It took my husband a long time to figure out that I wasn't ignoring him. I had to explain it to him that I'm probably working something out in my head.

M.F. What do you make of the changes in the industry, with so many more people going ‘indie’?

L.B. What I'm seeing is people are now in control, where as 15 years ago, the industry was in control, saying whose books they wanted, rejecting others that were just as good--or better. After all, a lot of publishers did turn down many authors who went on and had best sellers--among them J.K. Rowling. I think we are seeing a turning point here. We'll just have to wait until the dust settles, see what takes shape. It's like a new piece of art being chiseled, and we just have to wait and see what happens. But, I think a lot of voices have been heard that have been ignored in the past. And if those who have gone "indi" are truly passionate about their work, and learn from their mistakes (or other's), I dont' see why they shouldn't be successful at it.

M.F. Who is your greatest influence when it comes to your writing?

L.B. I'll have to say a lot of different authors influenced me. The main ones, are J.K. Rowling, Dean Koontz, and a few others, mainly for certain works. Rowling's books where what made me realize I love fantasy, and should begin writing it. Koontz for sheer ability with the English language and being that he writes thrillers, I use his books for studying how he milks suspense. Janet Evanovich for humor and mystery. I just love her Stephanie Plum mysteries. Charlaine Harris, and Kim Harrison in the genre I write are my favorites there.

M.F. Now for some more abstract questions: If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?

L.B. Probably my heroine, Sabrina Strong, because she's basically more like me--a big chicken. But I'd like to have abilities like she does. Oh, and all the hot men (vampire, etc) around her.

M.F. Sounds good to me! If aliens landed in front of you and offered you anything you wanted, what would it be?

L.B. Make a movie of my book so I can retire from driving a bus. Do aliens make movies, you think??

M.F. Lol! You never know! Tell us something quirky/interesting that people probably don’t know about you.

L.B. I'm probably about 90% quirky. I have a bachelor's degree in art. I did crafts for a while, but had to come back to writing--even though I made more $ at crafts--because I know of nothing else that satisfies me when I get a scene done, or a chapter, or figure out some problem for the plot. I drive a transit bus for a living, I love living in the country away from people.

M.F. Thanks for taking part Lorelei!

~*~

***Author Bio***

Lorelei Bell has always liked vampires and wanted Dracula to be the romantic hero! She lives with her husband of 24 years, and is the manager of a park, and drive transit during the off season. When not at work, She writes, reads and loves to watch Buffy.

You can find out more about Lorelei at her blog, Lorelei's Muse. More information about her novel, Vampire Ascending, can be found at Copper Hill Media and can be bought from http://amazon.com/ and Barnes & Noble.

Anthologies Looking for Submissions..

2011-07-18T10:25:00.001+02:00

I love writing short stories. I'd even go as far as saying I prefer writing them to novels. With short stories, there is none of the angst that goes with writing a novel, figuring out plot lines, worrying about not hitting the needed word count, the endless editing that happens once the novel is completed.

Short stories are the times to take chances with your writing, try something different, or controversial, and you know what, if it doesn't work, then who cares. You've only wasted a couple of weeks of your working life instead of a whole year!

I've not been going the normal route with submitting my short stories to anthologies lately, mainly because I'd rather keep hold of my rights than sell them to a publication. However, a couple of anthologies have come up lately that I'm planning to submit to and I thought I would share them with you.

The first is Mark Crittenden's new anthology from Static Movement, called 'Frozen Fear Deluxe'. He's looking for your best tales, taking place in frozen/arctic climate. The stories must be between 2 -5K in length and can be in any style you like (supernatural/monsters/psychological) as long as they're horror! You can find out more about the submission guidelines here!

I've had a short story published by Mark before, in the vampire horror anthology, Their Dark Masters. Their Dark Masters has been shipped to Ellen Datlow, to be considered for Best Horror of The Year Vol. 4 ( which covers all horror published in 2011 ) so wish us luck!

The second anthology is from fellow author Blaze McRob's new publishing house, Angelic Knight Press. They're looking for submissions for the anthology 'Satan's Toybox: Demonic Dolls. I've always hated dolls, the damn things are always guaranteed to scare the shit out of me, so I knew I had to write something for this one! You can find out more right here!

Happy writing everyone!

Having to reply to comments through new posts!

2011-07-13T18:08:00.001+02:00

Not being able to comment on blogger anymore in really annoying (I've tried everything, even switched my email accounts, but no success) so I've decided to reply via new blog posts. Okay, it might end up reading slightly strange to new readers, but I hate not being able to respond and makes it look like I don't either read or appreciate your comments, which I do!

So, in response to yesterday's post; the changes I'm making to Alone don't involve any of the storyline or changes to character. The book will essentially be the same but I'm hoping by tightening up the writing, it will push the book from being good, to great. Readers probably won't even consciously notice the difference but the scenes should be more vivid, the action more immediate, the emotion in the book more powerful. They're small changes I hope will make the book even more readable.

I know you can't please everyone in this business and for the most part Alone has had great reviews, but I just feel my writing has come a long way in the last two years and I want my older work to live up to that standard. There are people in this industry who I've had the good fortune of meeting who have given me loads of advice and help. I trust their opinions and I know if I'm being told something (even if its a bit hard to take sometimes) for the most part its to help me grow as a writer.

Thanks for all your encouragement guys. I'm so glad so many people are enjoying my work!

Oh, and I meant to say thanks so much to Denise for becoming my 100th follower!

Who'll Be My 100th Follower???

2011-07-12T23:47:00.000+02:00

My writing life has been under going a lot of changes this past month. My novel, The Followers, has now been put aside (only for the moment) while I make some changes. Honestly, I've never worked as hard on a book as I have on this one, and I'll always listen to constructive criticism when it comes back from Beta Readers. Of course, you can never change everything people throw at you, but if it makes sense and more than one person had brought it up, then I think it's always best to listen. I'd hate to put a book out simply to hit a deadline and for that book to be less than perfect.

In other news, my other two novels, Alone and The Dark Road are also having a revamp. I've learnt a huge amount in the past two years and my writing has come along way (though I still have loads to learn!). Because of this, I couldn't help but feel that both books needed to be worked over again and they'll also both be launched with brand new covers.

While these changes are happening they'll be unavailable to buy. As I mentioned before, I want everything I have out to be nothing short of perfect. But watch this space, guys! They'll be better than ever and I'm super excited about seeing them all in paperback.

So... I'm up to 99 followers on my little old blog. Who will be number 100, I wonder??? Whoever you are, it's lovely to meet you!

Launch Day for Digital Digest...and anyone out there got a Kindle???

2011-07-01T15:52:00.000+02:00

Whoo-hoo! Today is the official launch day for the brand new Kindle blog and eBooks, Digital Digest!

What's Digital Digest? I hear you ask..

Well, in this era of technological reading, a group of us authors from all different genres decided to put together a blog which consists purely of fiction--that means short stories, monthly serials, flash fiction and reviews. We're having daily posts, which if you're a kindle user, you can subscribe to in order to have all this fiction sent directly to your Kindle every day.

At the moment, the subscription is $1.99 but you will get two weeks free, obligation free, to try it out. If everyone who reads this who has a kindle could subscribe to the two week free trial that would be amazing. It would really help to push us up the rankings and get us noticed, even if you decide not to carry on with your subscription.

So, daily doses of original fiction, from horror, to paranormal romance, to urban fantasy and more, from fifteen talented authors. What are you waiting for? And if you really can't wait, we've put all of our stories together in an eBook for you to read ahead of time!

I hope you'll all help to spread the word about our new venture and if anyone has any questions or queries, please ask!

Happy reading everyone!

A Sweet Tale of Motherhood...

2011-06-28T14:16:00.000+02:00

I just wanted to share this lovely tale by P.K. Hrezo over at her blog.

Being a parent and trying to write always throws up it's problems. For me personally, my brain often feels as if it's full of Swiss cheese holes (my own four-year old is often found saying 'you always forget things, don't you Mummy?'). I think when half your head is always living in an imaginary world, it's hard to live fully in one or the other!

Anyway, pop over and have a read of P.K.'s great story about how she almost fluffed her son's tooth fairy visit. It's great proof of how having an overactive imagination doesn't always have to be a bad thing!

SFTW! Interview with Erotic Fantasy Author, Danielle Gavan and Win ALL of Her Books!

2011-06-24T12:17:00.000+02:00

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all had a good week and I'm sure, like me, you're all pleased the weekend is here. Before I introduce my next guest, I just wanted to apologise for my lack of commenting on either this blog or anyone elses. For some reason Blogger is no longer recognising my login details and won't let me leave comments. So, I'm not ignoring you, promise! I'm also aware of a few other people who've been unable to leave comments. If you've had this problem while trying to enter one of the giveaways, please email me your entry at marissafarrar@hotmail.co.uk and I'll be sure to include you!

Now, for my guest for this week, Danielle Gavan. I met Danielle over at the Write in the Shadows blog, where we co-blogged, (and which is now being relaunched as Digital Digest, but I will share more on this venture another time). Not only is she a gifted author, she is also a talented cover designer and a total expert on all things formatting. Seriously, this lady knows it all and she is a great person to get to know!

So, Danielle, thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing a little about yourself and your work.

Let’s start with the most important thing: your books. Give us a brief description of the novel you want to talk about today.

D.G. The novel I’d like to tell you about today is UnWrapped. It’s a novella about four supernatural siblings who discover just how fun getting older can be for a Satyr, Incubus, Dhampire and Fae. Readers who follow Everything Erotic will have seen some of the chapters on the blog.

M.F. So what are you working on at the moment? Have you got any new projects in the pipeline?

D.G. I’m currently working on a few projects. The Lists is a novella about the Elves who supervise the Naughty and Nice lists. Some of the things they get up to in the office, and out, are downright naughty and a whole lot of nice. Untouchable is another novella I’m working on about the children of angels and demons and their fight to save themselves from extermination. Lastly, I have a series in the works called Finders Keepers with fellow author Jennifer Feuerstein. The five books we have planned focus on a group of supersoldiers who must find the one woman meant for them in order to free themselves from the clutches of The Council.

M.F. Lol. So not much then.. ;-) Is writing something you’ve recently got into, or have you been writing for ages?

D.G.   I’ve been writing for ages. I can remember sitting in grade school with a friend while we passed notes back and forth. We’d end up with page after page of stories about the rock/pop stars we fantasized about. My pages are no longer filled with rock stars. Instead, they contain werewolves, demons, angels and other supernatural beings.

M.F. What do you make of the changes in the industry, with so many more people going ‘indie’?

D.G.   Honestly? I think it’s about time people took back control of what they’ve worked so hard for. We, the authors, spend weeks/months/years creating and yet those who go the traditional publishing route end up with the smallest share of the profit from their blood, sweat and tears. That doesn’t make sense to me. Sure, I understand the publishing houses need to recoup their costs for editing, cover design and all the other minutiae that goes along with putting out a book but when you see an author making $0.48 off a $6.99 book…that’s just wrong, in my opinion.

M.F. I hear you sista! Who is your greatest influence when it comes to your writing?

D.G. Hmm.. I can’t say there’s just one person that has influenced me more than the other. I’ve read so many great authors, it’s hard to pin point just one. I’d have to say it’s a tie between Laurell K. Hamilton, Diana Gabaldon and Gena Showalter. All three are wonderful writers whom I greatly admire.

M.F. Stephen King says when he writes, it is for his wife Tabitha. When you write, is there anyone you are writing for?

D.G. My family. My husband and our two boys. I think, in some way, I’m also writing for my mom. She’s always been an avid reader and if it weren’t for her love of books, I’d never have become the book worm I am. I don’t think she’s read any of my work yet but, I hope when she does it’ll make her proud.

M.F. What sort of books do you read yourself?

D.G. I like paranormal romance/urban fantasy mostly. I do read some YA, but again, it’s mostly the paranormal stuff. The last two books I read were Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton and City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare. Both were fabulous reads.

.M.F. Now for some more abstract questions: If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?

D.G. Ooh, good one. Hmm… I think it’s a toss-up between Anita Blake and Meredith Gentry from Laurell’s two series.

M.F. If aliens landed in front of you and offered you anything you wanted, what would it be?

D.G.   LOL I’d have to unfurl the extremely long scroll of things I want and play eenie-meenie to answer that one.

M.F.  Tell us something quirky/interesting that people probably don’t know about you.

D.G.   I can wiggle my nose like a bunny, and I’ve got an extreme paranoia when it comes to bugs.

Thanks so much for taking part Danielle!

***COMPETITION TIME***

Danielle would like to give away a copy of each of her titles to ONE lucky winner. So that's FOUR books in total! Just leave her a comment below or email me at the address above if you're unable to comment!

Author Bio:

Danielle Gavan lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband of eight years, and their two sons. Danielle has been writing in her spare time since she was in middle school. She is currently writing, editing and doing cover design full time.
You can find out more about Danielle at her Facebook Page, by following her on Twitter!

Her erotic short stories also appear on the blogs site and ebooks, Everything Erotic

Something for the Weekend! Paranormal Romance author Shannan Albright and a Giveaway!

2011-06-17T11:21:00.000+02:00

M.F. Welcome Shannan Albright! Thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing a little about yourself and your work. Let’s start with the most important thing: your books. Give us a brief description of the novel you want to talk about today.

S.A   Dark Passion Rising is a paranormal romance/ urban fantasy set in Las Vegas. Here is a quick blurb:

Tambra Ellis has just had her world turned upside down! Surviving a bite from a Lycan, attracted to one hot vampire guy and now she has to look forward to turning into something from some bad werewolf movie.

Marcus Valerian has enough on his plate without the added complication of Tambra Ellis. Fiery and independent? Sure. Beautiful with a body made for sin? Oh Yeh. And a human cop. Tambra is everything he needs to stay away from.

As leader of the Tribunal’s enforcers it’s up to him to find out why the Dark Breeds are going feral and killing humans in ever increasing numbers. Tambra’s life is in the balance as the secrets of her past place her in the middle of old deceits and a betrayal that will change the world forever.

Will Marcus and Tambra’s love survive or will it be too late.

M.F. Sounds great! So what are you working on at the moment? Have you got any new projects in the pipeline?

S.A.   I am putting on the finishing touches to a novella called Beloved Wizard and will soon be submitting it. It’s about King Arthur’s return with all of his round table. The first book is about Merlin reincarnated as Drake and sets the stage for future books.

I also am working on the second Dark Breed novel and hope to have it to my publisher in about a month. It’s called Passions Flight.

M.F.   Is writing something you’ve recently got into, or have you been writing for ages?

S.A   I have been writing for many years, but thanks to eBooks and epublishers I have finally gotten my foot in the door and can say I’m published.

M.F.  What do you make of the changes in the industry, with so many more people going ‘indie’?

S.A.   I love the changes it opens up so much for a new author and I love that there is now the opportunity available to publish your own work. This is an exciting time in the publishing industry and I can’t wait to see how this all shakes out in the end.

M.F.   Who is your greatest influence when it comes to your writing?

S.A.   Wow I want to say I’ve been influenced by everyone I read, but if I had to narrow it down it would be Sherrilyn Kenyon, J. R. Ward , Erin Quinn (whom I had the pleasure of meeting and found her to be an absolute delight.)All three struck a chord with me because of their unique blend of characterization, layering of the plot and description.

M.F. Stephen King says when he writes, it is for his wife Tabitha. When you write, is there anyone you are writing for?

S.A. I write for the readers out there who love good stories as much as I do.

M.F. Good answer! What sort of books do you read yourself?

S.A. I love Paranormal Romance, Paranormal Historical Romance, Urban Fantasy and Steampunk.

M.F. I'm still at a bit of a loss about what Steampunk actually is! If anyone can give me a brief run down, it would be appreciated! Lol. Now for some more abstract questions: If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?

S.A. Maggie the cat from Tennessee Williams Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. I find her a compelling blend of strength and desperation.

M.F. If aliens landed in front of you and offered you anything you wanted, what would it be?

S.A. More time to write. Perhaps they could give me a clone? Humm...scary thought having more than one of me in the world.

M.F. I hear you there! I think all writers want more time to write. Tell us something quirky/interesting that people probably don’t know about you.

S.A. I read Tarot cards and give regular readings to friends. I learned them as a small child from my great grandmother.
M.F. Oooh! I love stuff like that. Maybe virtual readings are possible??? Thanks so much for stopping by Shannan. It's beeen great learning a bit more about you and your books.

S.A. Thanks for this opportunity!

***COMPETITION TIME***

Shannan would love to giveaway one e-copy of her book Dark Passion Rising to one of our readers. All you need to do is leave her a comment together with your own email address or blog address so we can contact you if you win!

Author Bio

Lynnet Shannan using the pen name Shannan Albright writes Paranormal Romance primarily. She got serious about writing as a business in 2008 when she became a member of Romance Writers of America. She uses oil painting as a way to work through her books and relaxes with a good book. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband, step-daughter, two cats and two dogs.

You can find out more about Shannan on facebook, twitter, her blog, or at her website!

Her novel, Dark Passion Rising is available to buy from Amazon.

Writers write for a different reason than publishers publish...

2011-06-05T10:38:00.000+02:00

I read this on the Smashwords blog page today and it kind of rang a bell with me.

The problem is that now the boundaries between writers and publishers are blurring. With so many authors turning Indie, we now have to accept that if we want our work to sell, we need to have some of the business nuance of a publisher. We need to be able to produce great covers, with catchy blurbs. We need to be clever with pricing and promotion.

But what about the books themselves? Should we also be writing books we think will sell or simply writing to 'express' ourselves?

A good friend of mine recently told me she modeled her own (now successful) series on that of a number of other already successful author's series'. I have to be honest, when I was told that, I was surprised. It has never occurred to me to produce a book modeled on something I knew would sell. For me, I've just written the story because the idea popped in my head and wouldn't go away until I'd written it all down.

But let's be honest, while I'm sure there are plenty of writers out there who do it purely for the love of writing, this is a business and needs to be treated as such. Writing to a particular 'formula' which I know would sell, makes sense, doesn't it?

I'm struggling a little with a number of things as far as my writing goes at the moment. I have one book currently due out, but I'm getting so many different pieces of advice about the book, my head is spinning. The second problem I have is with an ending of a novel that is basically done--all except the final scene, which I can't bring myself to write. I know how the book is supposed to end, but I know that ending won't please the readers and it will hinder the sales of the third in the series.

So, what do I do? Go with my guts, or be savvy and write what sells?

Something for the Weekend! Author of the smash hit, Vampire Vacation, C.J. Ellisson!

2011-06-03T12:45:00.002+02:00

This week I’d like to welcome the author of the super sexy, Vampire Vacation, C.J. Ellisson, to Something for the Weekend! Vampire Vacation has been sky-rocketing on both the Amazon and Barnes & Noble sales charts and is now up there with Amanda Hocking, among others.

This woman has single-handedly changed how I approach both my writing and the publishing industry. She gave me the confidence to make some changes, which ultimately led to me to being able to write full-time. I’m honoured to have her here and feel blessed that our paths crossed. I only wish I’d met her sooner.

So, C.J., welcome.

C.J. Thanks for having me, Marissa! And you’re too kind to even mention me in the same sentence with the wunderkid, Amanda Hocking.
I’m glad we met as well, but you had everything you needed. Let’s just say I gave you a helpful push in the right direction.

M.F. First, tell us a bit about Vampire Vacation.

C.J.   The book blurb says it best, but I’ll spare your readers from copying and pasting it. They can always click a link at the end if they’d like to read it.

For me, Vampire Vacation is simply what I saw missing in the urban fantasy genre. I wanted a monogamous married couple who worked side by side to solve a problem, rather than another strong female character with a wreck of a personal life. I wanted the couple to bicker, have pasts they’d rather forget, respect one another through the occasional snarky barb, and have smoking hot sex when the mood strikes them—you know, just like real life ;-)
In this case, the wife happens to be an ancient vampire and the husband is human. She’s the volatile, sexy creature he tries his best to manage.

M.F. I know the sequel to Vampire Vacation, The Hunt, is on its way. How did you find writing a sequel?

C.J    It was much harder than I thought. Not because the story itself was problematic, but because of personal and professional hurdles. This past year had ups and downs galore, I dealt with things the best I could. Made some mistakes, made some good choices. Live and learn.

M.F. You’re not many years into your writing career, yet you’re seeing great success. What do you think your key to success has been and what advice would you give any aspiring authors.

C.J.   LOL! I wish it were that simple: “Here, take this advice and you’ll sell lots of books.” There really is no quick fix, as you can well attest to.

Like any venture in life you need faith—not in God, not in “the powers that be”, not in your moral beliefs of right and wrong—but first and foremost, in your self.
If you say, “I can’t do this”. You’re dead RIGHT, you sure as hell can’t. If you worry your work is not good enough, then it most certainly isn’t.

Realize one thing: you can’t make everyone happy. All you can do is your best and work your ass off on every piece you put out for readers to enjoy.
If you allow your fears to rule how you perceive your own work, then it will also color how other people see it as well.

M.F. So what do you make about the recent changes in the publishing industry? Do you have any cheeky predictions about how things will continue to change?

C.J.   I think it’s a fascinating time to be a writer. It also makes me feel like the one time in my life I have an edge. A business background in a time where some of the writers I’ve met can’t grasp advertising cost and rate of return?

M.F. What does the future hold for publishing? I have no idea. More of the same? Drastic changes regarding print and ebook pricing?

C.J. It sounds like the industry is on a good path for most savvy writers, that’s for darn sure.

M.F. How long have you been writing for and what prompted you to pick up a pen?

C.J. Ah... the moment where we get to shock everyone. I can hear them now: “Is she a hack? Why in the hell were we impressed with her?”

This past February marked two years from when I wrote “Chapter One”. It marked the first bit of fiction writing I’d attempted since college back in 1989. Yes, twenty years later I thought I’d give writing a try.

I started writing as an escape. I had some health issues overwhelming me and had to end my previous career. It was humbling to be stuck at home with hours and hours staring back at me… and with not even the strength to walk around the block. Writing became the one thing I could still do, so I threw myself in with gusto.

M.F. Whom do you read yourself? What authors have inspired you to write?

C.J. Although I’m not thrilled with her current stuff as much as her older titles, Laurell K. Hamilton remains one of the best storytellers I’ve had the pleasure to read.
Way before True Blood, I’d read about Ms. Teagarden, Lily Bard and the chick who finds dead people—Charlaine Harris remains a master of combining a British cozy feel with compelling characters and storylines. Love her work.

Of course, some others I auto-buy are just as darn good: Jim Butcher, P.N. Elrod, Kim Harrison, Kelley Armstrong, Keri Arthur, Carrie Vaughn, and Jenna Black. I could name quite a few more in other genres… but we’d be here all day.

None of them inspired me to write, my own professional isolation and desire to shut out medical worries I could do nothing to change did that. But, the above authors all inspired me to write better.

M.F. Other than publishing The Hunt, what’s next on the agenda?

C.J. I promised my kids I’d do their middle grade book next. This is especially dear to me since they can’t read even one of the three titles I’ve currently got out. We plotted out ideas for a book last summer and after I penned chapter one, I allowed myself to get pulled in many directions. Once the editing is done on The Hunt I plan to start their story, Black is for Lies. It will be under a new pen name, C.J. Stern.
After that will be another erotica novella and working on book three in The V V Inn series.

M.F. Thanks so much for stopping by C.J. and huge congrats on all your success. It couldn’t happen to a nicer person!

C.J. Thanks for having me, Marissa. I’m grateful we met and thrilled to have you as a partner in crime.

~~*~~

**CONTEST TIME**

 C.J. is running a unique pre-launch promo contest. She plans to give away ten signed and numbered copies of The Hunt. They will be mailed to winners when the print book goes up for sale, which is slotted right now for June 30th, 2011.  
Here’s how you enter: You comment on any blog C.J. does for the next three weeks. She will notify readers when a new post is live via her Facebook business page, and she’ll Tweet about it. Each comment counts as one entry (only one entry per post, but you can comment more if you'd like). The comments must be made within the first 48 hours of the post going live, and she’ll post a "closing" comment when the entries for that day are closed.  

All entries will be tossed into a drawing, and the participants with more entries have a higher chance of winning. BONUS!! Every entrant who comments on at least six blog posts and does not win a signed print copy will receive a free ecopy when the book goes up for sale.   

Delays and Contest Winners!

2011-06-01T19:29:00.001+02:00

Well, today was supposed to be my publication date for The Followers, but something has come up and so it will be postponed for a couple of weeks. Ah, well...best laid plans and all of that. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Naturally, I'm disappointed, but I'd rather my book went out as good as it can possibly be, then rush things.

In the meantime, I have some competition winners to announce! The winner of the anthology 2013: The Aftermath was Denise Zaky (Goodreads entry) and the winners of Armand Rosamilia's extreme zombie novella, Dying Days, are Blaze McRob and Kalex.

This Friday I've got author, C.J. Ellisson stopping by the blog to tell us all about her novel, Vampire Vacation, (which is currently clambering for best-selling status on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble) and the forth coming sequel, The Hunt!

Hope to see you all then!

BTW. I'm having some problems commenting on my own posts at the moment, so if I've not answered any of your comments, please don't think I haven't read them...

SFTW! Hurricane Katrina, Wizards and Pirates..Oh my!

2011-05-27T09:40:00.001+02:00

I had the pleasure of meeting Suzanne Johnson through a joint blog I was invited to contribute to. An editor by day, she has the first in a fantasy series, Royal Street, scheduled for an April 2012 release through Tor Books. She also runs the fabulous Preternatura blog! If you’ve not already discovered it, you really should stop by.

M.F.   Welcome Suzanne, lovely to have you here.

Tell me a little about Royal Street.

S.J.   Well, Royal Street is the first in a new urban fantasy series that will come out next April. It’s set in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina. The storm’s fluctuating barometric pressure has caused breaches in the border between our modern world and the Beyond, where the beings of myth and legend live. The heroine of the story is DJ Jaco, a young wizard who evacuates New Orleans for the hurricane and comes back to find her mentor missing and the city flooded with preternatural creatures and the historical undead—famous former citizens kept alive by the magic of memory. She has to fight off an attempt by the ‘pretes’ to overthrow the borders permanently while trying to find her missing mentor and stave off the revenge-seeking pirate Jean Lafitte. Okay, and there are a couple of hot guys in the picture, too.

M.F.  How did your own personal experience of Hurricane Katrina affect your life and your writing?

S.J.   Honestly, I would never have written a word of fiction had Katrina not happened. At the time of the storm, I was well established in my career in higher education and had been working at Tulane University for twelve years as a magazine editor and speechwriter. Katrina turned everything upside-down.

I had moderate damage to my property from the high winds and levee breach-induced flooding, but much worse was the psychological damage. I came out much better than a lot of others, but the experience really made me step back and reassess what’s important in life. I found myself after two years still trying to deal with the aftermath. Finally, I had to turn all that anger and grief into something positive. I started writing a story, not really expecting to do anything with it. LOL. Then the fiction bug grabbed me and I found a new, very unexpected career.

M.F. It's an incredible turnaround and it's wonderful to hear something positive come out of such a devastating time. What about your day job; does being an editor by trade govern how you write?

S.J.   In some ways, although it’s a different process and uses a different set of skills. I don’t think it has much influence on how I write, but it does influence how I look at revisions. As a nonfiction editor, what I do is rewrite and revise. So revisions, even extensive revisions, don’t freak me out—I enjoy the process. I always know a piece of writing can be improved, and I’m lucky to have an editor at Tor who can look at my work and hone in on exactly what needs to be done to make it better. Then the editor side of my brain can go to work and revise.

M.F.  What do you like to read and which writers have most influenced you?

S.J.   I’m a voracious reader—always have been. I guess if I had to pull one writer out as being influential to me it would be Stephen King. His character development is amazing, and now that I’m writing myself I go back to read his older work and realize what a master he has always been at subtly weaving backstory into his narrative and keeping his language descriptive without losing its clarity and deceptive simplicity. Current favorites to read? I’m a huge urban fantasy fan: Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, and Patricia Briggs are favorites. In paranormal romance, I adore J.R. Ward.

M.F.   Stephen King is mentioned so many times on this blog alone. I'm guessing he has inspired a ridiculous number of authors. So what are you working on at the moment?

S.J.    I’m in the middle of revisions for River Road, the second in my series for Tor, and hope to start a third in the series by late summer—unless that YA rattling around in my brain wants to come out first. I’m also a blog-slut! In addition to my own blog, I do a monthly series of blogs called “Fiction Affliction” at Tor.com, and just started a Tor.com read of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. I read a few chapters a week and post a weekly blog on my reactions as I go. This is a seven book series, so I figure it will take me about three years! My Tor blogs can be found at http://www.tor.com/Suzanne-Johnson. Finally, I have dipped my toe into paranormal romance, and have a series proposal ready to make the rounds.

M.F.   Is there anywhere readers can get a taste of your work?

S.J.   I have begun a series of short stories based on my urban fantasy series and am posting them on my Preternatura blog, http://www.suzanne-johnson.com. “Chenoire” is a novelette involving a family of Cajun mermen in Southeast Louisiana—one of the mer characters is in River Road. And “Intervention” introduces two major series characters, Jacob and Alexander Warin, a couple of sexy cousins with a fierce, near-sibling rivalry and a little demon problem. Both of them, as well as upcoming stories, can be found under the “Free Read” tabs on my blog.

M.F.   Now for some slightly more abstract questions... If you could have one physical possession that you don’t currently own, what would it be?

S.J.   LOL. My needs are simple An iPad and a vehicle that gets better mileage than my 2002 Nissan Xterra, much as I love it. Oh, wait! Make that a ten-book publishing contract!

M.F. Well that's just greedy! You gotta leave some contracts out there for the rest of us! ;-)

If you could trade places with any person, living or dead or even fictional, who would it be?

S.J.   Hmm. I’d be happy to be a “shellan” of one of JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood dudes--I’m not even that picky about which one  (well, okay, Rhage). I don’t think I’d want to be any of the heroes or heroines in the books I read because they’re always in serious trouble!

M.F.   If you could be a super hero, what super power would you have?

S.J.   I’d like to be able to disapparate and apparate. I don’t like to fly—not because I have a fear of crashing but because I’m claustrophobic. So if I could close my eyes and zap myself to NYC or LA (or London), that would be awesome.

M.F.   Thanks so much for being here, Suzanne. I’m eagerly awaiting Royal Street to be released!

Thanks, Marissa!

Any movie makers out there???

2011-05-25T23:40:00.000+02:00

My good twitter friend Daniel (Di) Davidson-Amadi (@TheSplinterCell) has started up a new competition site for film-makers. He's a great guy to get involved with (whether you're a film-maker or not) and he'd love for all you aspiring movie makers out there to get involved!

Here's a bit more info:

Hi and welcome to Sixty Second Stories.

In case you're not familiar with it, Sixty Second Stories is a global survey of cinematic storytelling from a new generation of filmmakers.

It's about inspiring new filmmakers all over the world to make short one minute films. Then we'll be pulling the best ones together into a feature which we'll present at the Berlin film festival this year.

You can learn more about it at the facebook page! Or follow the twitter account: @SfSixty

SFTW! Win a signed paperback of one of my anthologies!

2011-05-20T10:54:00.000+02:00

A slight change to schedule this week guys, so I've decided to give away a paperback of one of the anthologies I'm featured in, 2013: The Aftermath, from Pill Hill Press.

My story is called After the Revelation and takes place several months after the Revelation has actually happened. All of the innocent have been taken to heaven, leaving a body strewn, scorched earth for the Devil. Those people unworthy of experiencing the Revelation have been left alive.

This is a short story, but ended up being about 15K in length, so wasn't far off a novella. Next year I'd like to develop the idea into a full length novel. My characters had flesh and I think they deserved a proper run.

So if you'd like the chance to win the copy (and hell, I might even signed my story for you!) then just leave me a comment below!

Here's the start for you to enjoy:

After the Revelation

By Marissa Farrar

Revelation 20:7

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison…

A hot wind blew, carrying with it the stench of burning. The ground was blackened and scorched beneath foot. Jez Stephens stood on London’s Primrose Hill, looking down across the city below. The huge curve of the London Eye rose from the skyline, though it would never again turn with tourists, and the huge antennae of the BT tower protruded into the sky like an alien spaceship.

Even the aviary of London Zoo could be seen, though no sound of birdsong rose from beneath its netting, the birds long since dead. Those left had bigger problems than feeding them.

On first glace, most things appeared normal. Only on closer inspection did the silence of the city become deafening, the fires—both those raging below ground, and those above—became painfully obvious.

Death surrounded him. The trees and grass were little more than charcoal. Ash thickened the air, falling like snow on much of the city.

Nature could no longer provide them with what they needed. The soil was charred, the water polluted. Most livestock had been killed. Jez survived by looting and stealing from shops and restaurants. Anything pre-packaged and tinned was still edible. Everything else was ruined.

Jez narrowed his eyes, his body tensed for fight or flight. He watched for movement, for any sign of life. So far, in his experience, finding others alive was not such a good thing.

Unconsciously, he rubbed at the huge twisted scar running from the top of his right shoulder down to his elbow. The scar was the width of his hand and had formed badly, being that there were no surgeons, plastic or otherwise, to put together the arm that had basically been flayed.

Those had been bad times, worse even, than now. He had not believed he would get out of it alive, especially when so many others hadn’t.

With the memory came a pang of guilt and he pushed the memory aside, concentrating on the job at hand.

He hoisted his bag onto his shoulder and started the walk down the hill. The soles of his feet warmed from the heat of the hill, from the fires that raged beneath it. Fire burnt throughout the country now, and, he guessed, the rest of the world. He had heard no stories of anywhere that had escaped. No cool oasis in this scorched earth.

Jez needed supplies. Only a small bottle of water weighted his bag and he needed to restock. If nothing else, he was thankful for the twenty-first century’s obsession with bottled water. Without it he would have been dead a long time ago. Sulphur had poisoned all of the water sources—leaving rivers with dead fish, floating like fallen autumn leaves, clogging the waterways.

He walked down the hill, approaching the road ringing its base. Traffic was at a standstill—permanently so. Cars were smashed into the backs of others, causing mini pile-ups everywhere he looked. As he grew closer he could smell the unmistakable stench of death beneath the acrid reek of burning. It was a smell he could never get used to

In front of him, a blue Ford skewed in the middle of the road. The body of a man slumped over the steering wheel, a woman slouched in the passenger seat beside him. Behind them, a small child was still strapped into its car seat. Each of their faces, black and puffy with decomposition.

Jez couldn’t tell if the child was a boy or a girl, but he wasn’t planning to look hard enough to find out. How strange to think that these were the lucky ones? The ones who experienced the Revelation. The ones who escaped.

It never failed to amaze him how people had just dropped dead where they were. The world had turned into the Mary Celeste, only the people hadn’t disappeared in the middle of what they were doing, they had died. The Revelation had been so instantaneous, people had not even had a chance to run. They were all just living their lives one minute, and gone the next.

Jez had asked himself the same question a hundred times: if he had known the truth, would he have done things differently? If he had known there truly was a God, and what He was capable of, would he have thought before he acted?

Jez doubted it.

Even before God had allowed that perverted psychopath, Mitchell Werner, to rape and murder Jez’s nine-year old daughter, he and God hadn’t been on such good terms. That there had been a God who could have prevented such things from happening just made him all the more furious.

Murdering Mitchell Werner wasn’t something Jez would ever regret. The bastard deserved everything he got.

It had been a big deal at the time. People had known the name ‘Jeremy Stephens.’ He had been all over the news. Many protested on his behalf, saying he shouldn’t be locked up for what he did, but the court had wanted to make sure the rest of the population knew it was not okay to take the law into your own hands and had given him three years. Three years that had almost turned into a life’s sentence.

Now nobody had the use for surnames, and his nickname of Jez almost made him forget the man he used to be. All Jez took comfort in was knowing that Lily was safe, where ever she was now. Judgment day had been real and even a heathen like him knew that the dead were raised before the living. Where ever Lily was now, she was at least in the arms of God.

Jez didn’t like to go into the cities. It had been over nine months now since the Revelation had happened, but London had succumbed to a long and hot summer and the bodies had not fared well in the extended heat. With the now polluted atmosphere acting as cloud cover, the city remained warm and muggy.

Jez negotiated the pile up of cars, trying not to look into the blank, cloudy eyes of the corpses they contained. He was heading towards Camden, knowing there were some small supermarkets there that would have water and other supplies. He wasn’t relishing the idea of going into the store. There would be bodies littering the aisles. Any one who was out shopping when it happened would have simply dropped dead in the aisles. There was no one left who cared enough to attempt to clear them away or bury them. Even if the size of the job had been comprehensible, the people left weren’t the type to care.

He walked along the canal, the red stone wall dividing the pathway from the main road. The route was preferable to the road, but was still not empty. Either side of him, through cracks in the earth, small fires raged. Beside him the canal had long since dried up, leaving the bottom fractured and broken. Jez stepped over an old man, crumpled in the middle of the path, and a young mother toppled, a baby dead in its pram.

Jez clenched his jaw, his lips tight. He would never get used to seeing the children. It was the thing that hurt most of all, despite knowing their souls had gone to a better place.

He kept walking, averting his gaze the best he could. Instead of the bodies, he stared at the tired red brick of the wall running along beside him. Graffiti marked the wall, ‘Denny woz ‘ere’ and ‘FJ LUVS RS’. They were markings of a time before, of a time when people had lived in ignorance of religion, believing it to be no more real than the latest sci-fi flick at the local cinema. Of course, ignorance hadn’t bought them eternal damnation, far from it. Even those who had never so much as uttered the word ‘God’ had still made the cut, as long as they hadn’t committed whatever sins God decided were too great to forgive.

Lost in thought, one marking in particular caught his breath. His heart raced, his muscles tensed. About a foot long and high, the shape of the dragon had been sprayed in white paint. The marking was new, its whiteness not yet sullied by the grey soot of the environment.

Despite the warmth of the day and the heat of the fires burning around him, the sight of it ran a chill through him. He had seen the same graffiti all over, or at least versions of it, but it wasn’t just that. His dreams had been plagued by visions of the dragon, though sometimes it came in the shape of a serpent. Whatever shape it took, Jez knew it pointed towards the same thing.

The Devil walked among them.

Judgment day had happened. Taking the innocent into heaven, God had left only the unworthy to fight it out amongst themselves. Now the devil was among them, calling to the ones who had been left, calling to them to fight. Jez tried to remain strong, tried to keep its power and passion out of his head, but, when times were as hard as this, it was difficult not to turn to something of strength and authority, to give his future into the hands of someone else.

Of something else.

Editing, editing, editing...

2011-05-15T21:27:00.000+02:00

At the start of this year, I made a promise to myself. I wasn't going to start a new novel until I'd put out all the works languishing on my laptop. So far, I'm doing okay. I've been working my ass off on The Followers and it's now with the editor. I should hit my June 1st release date as long as I keep my nose to the keyboard and my ass on the chair.

I am, however, really looking forward to moving on to something else. As much as I love my novel, I'm just plain sick of the sight of it. I've lost track of the number of edits I've done on the book now and considering I wrote the novel in 2007 (I think) I would say it's definitely ready to be read.

Yesterday, I read a good post over at Julie Musil's blog about the dangers of over-editing. I totally agree with what she says about being careful about over-editing our writing. As much as we want to make our work perfect, we have to make sure we don't end up taking all the personality out of it. I've read some pieces before where a writer has tried to take every 'was' 'that' and 'it' out of every line they'd written. The result was a static, jerky piece of writing and simply didn't flow.

I'm a big fan of the site www.autocrit.com to help with my writing, but I am careful not to go completely overboard with it. There are times when certain words simply need to be overused, like for example, when someone is having a conversation. People talk how people talk, and cutting out words people would normally use will end up making their speech sound stilted.

So, now I'm working on the edits that are coming back to me. I'm being thorough, but not too thorough, and I'm looking forward to June 1st when I can finally wave my novel goodbye.

Something for the Weekend! Horror author Armand Rosamilia and Giveaway!

2011-05-13T23:39:00.000+02:00

M.F. Hi Armand Rosamilia, thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing a little bit about yourself and your work.
Let’s start with the most important thing: your books. Tell me a bit about the novel you want to talk about today.

A.R. My latest release is “Dying Days”, an extreme zombie novella featuring Darlene Bobich, who first appeared in the short story “Rear Guard”, the bonus story in my first extreme zombie release, “Highway To Hell”… it’s about a woman, not too strong and not too weak, who has to deal with surviving in a world overrun with zombies who don’t just want to bite you, they want to rip you apart… sexually… yeah, extreme…

M.F. Wow, that does sound extreme! So what are you working on at the moment? Have you got any new projects in the pipeline?

A.R. Always! I’m in the midst of writing half a dozen zombie stories for various anthologies, editing anthologies for Rymfire eBooks like the “State of Horror” series, and working on something completely different for me… erotic paranormal stories! I also write a non-fiction series about women into Heavy metal music called “Metal Queens”… always busy…

M.F. Cool. I love anything 'Zombie'. Is writing something you’ve recently got into, or have you been writing for ages?

A.R.   I’ve been writing since high school, with sporadic stories published over the last 20+ years since I graduated in ’88… but in the last four or five years I’ve had several sales… the biggest to date was probably my “Death Metal” urban horror novella released by Sam’s Dot Publishing in 2009 and recently re-released by Rymfire eBooks…

M.F.   What do you make of the changes in the industry, with so many people going ‘indie’?

A.R.   I love it! There’s no longer that stigma of writers releasing their own works… one of my favorite writers, Scott Nicholson, does an amazing job putting out new work and re-releasing his older material…
M.F.   I'll have to check him out. Who is your greatest influence when it comes to your writing?

A.R.   My mother, because she allowed me at an early age to read her Stephen King, Dean Koontz and other horror writers… but the one author that I loved as a child was Robert E. Howard…

M.F. I had to laugh at that! I did exactly the same thing and grew up reading my mother's Stephen King and Dean Koontz. So while we're on the topic...Stephen King says when he writes, it is for his wife Tabitha. When you write, is there anyone you’re writing for?

A.R.   I write for myself… I find that when I target a certain audience or worry about what my mother or my fiancé Kim will think, I get lost… when I write the story naturally, they end up liking it anyway… although my mother won’t read my extreme zombie stories…

M.F. What sort of books do you read yourself?

A.R.   I am a huge fan of horror (obviously), fantasy and non-fiction entertainment books about music (Heavy Metal fan), pro wrestling, biographies, writing books… Kim bought me a Kindle for Valentine’s Day and I can’t stay away from it…

M.F.   What a lovely fiance you have! Now for some more abstract questions: if you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?

A.R. Conan the barbarian, but not the Arnold version, I’d be the Robert E. Howard version, battling, whoring and drinking as I conquer the land before me… or an orc from Lord of The Rings… either way…

M.F.    If aliens landed in front of you and offered you anything you wanted, what would it be?

A.R.   Since this isn’t an erotic blog… the power to have a secret room, where time stops for five extra hours per day, that allows me to write in silence… I’d get more done that way… or comfortable shoes…

M.F. That sounds like my idea of heaven. Tell us something quirky/interesting that people probably don’t know about you.

A.R. Most people know too much about me already, since I tend to talk too much when I meet you… hmm… I was a Dungeons & Dragons geek in junior high and high school that dressed and loved Heavy Metal… I had a mullet like everyone else growing up in the ‘80’s in New Jersey… I have a very dry sense of humor… I love to say mean or inappropriate things for a laugh, if that makes sense… I’m a horrible flirt but love my Kim… I’m a chubby chaser… yeah, I said it… I’ve only ridden a bike twice in my life, I have horrible balance… I’m afraid of stray dogs… I hate pets, but have three in the house… and I eat too much chocolate…

M.F. Thanks so much for stopping by Armand. I know I certainly know more about you now! If anyone would like to find out a bit more about Armand and his work then please stop by his blog! His books are available direct from RymFire eBooks or you can also find him at Amazon, Lulu, or Smashwords.

Now for the giveaway!!! Armand would like to give away three ebook copies of his new novella, Dying Days. So just leave him a comment, together with an email addy or blog link so we can contact you if you win. Good luck everyone!

Help Needed! Win $25 Amazon Voucher.

2011-05-08T15:23:00.000+02:00

On June 1st, my next novel, The Followers, will be released. I'm looking to create as much noise as possible about the release of my new book, and I'm looking for help from each and everyone of you guys.

Here is my proposal. Each person who is willing to blog/facebook/or tweet about The Followers on June 1st will be given two copies of the ebook: one for themselves, and another to giveaway as they see fit. Each person who blogs/facebooks/or tweets about the book (including people who RT on twitter) will then be in to win a $25 Amazon gift voucher. Let me know what you've done by commenting on my post on June 1st or emailing me marissafarrar@yahoo.co.uk. Each blog/fb/tweet will count as an extra entry to win the $25 voucher!

Now, I know June 1st is still quite a long way off, but if you're interested in getting involved, make sure you contact me, but either emailing me or leaving me a comment. I'm happy to email out a synopsis/cover/etc to be included in blog posts.

Hoping to hear from you all! Marissa.

Something for the Weekend: Love Horror? Free eBook for every reader! Meet author Alan Spencer...

2011-05-06T11:00:00.001+02:00

M.F. Today I would love to welcome Alan Spencer, author of the brilliantly named, 'Zombies and Power Tools! Lets talk about the most important thing: your books. Give us a brief description of the novel you want to talk about today.

A.S. My latest book is called "Zombies and Power Tools" from Living Dead Press. I'd like to separate it from the rest of the zombie books out there, simply because there's elements of mystery and suspense as much as there is horror. This isn't a post-apocalyptic book either. What really distinguishes this book is why the dead are able to come back to life. There isn't a chemical spill or virus. What impels the dead to live is as horrible as what the walking corpses are doing to their victims with power tools. And the reason the dead are using power tools on people also ties in with their ability to be alive. I don't want to give too much away on the matter, but rest assured, I think red-blooded horror fans would very much enjoy this book, whether they're fans of zombies or not.

M.F. Sounds great. I love anything Zombie-fied! So what are you working on at the moment? Have you got any new projects in the pipeline?

A.S. As of now, I'm working on putting out a book on my own. It'll be called "Cider Mill Vampires." Just imagine a friendly cider mill in Kansas hijacked by vampires who use the apple presses to press people of blood. This one's very brutal, sexual, and there's humor in it as well. There's something for everyone!

M.F. Is writing something you've recently got into, or have you been writing for ages?

A.S I've been writing since I was a freshman in high school, but it seems ever since my first novel, "The Body Cartel" (Damnation Books), was published, things have picked up a bit. I'm still not a "name" per se or a force on the market, but I've met a lot of cool people who've given me great tips on how to better my writing.

I do remember dabbling with writing as a kid, writing in Steno notebooks. I remember one story involving a fast food joint and a manager who was a serial killer. I think I wrote it in the fourth grade. It's probably a good thing it didn't see the light of day, or else I would've been sent to the principal's office. It was harmless fun for me, though others may not see it that way.

M.F. What do you make of the changes in the industry, with so many people going "indie"?

A.S.   I can't blame a writer for seriously considering putting their own work out there. I've had a few close calls with bigger publishers, and I end up feeling jerked around. I'd wait 6-8 months to hear back from sending only three chapters, then be asked to send the entire manuscript, and wait about a year, and finally hear back, and they say no. That's a year and a half of my life gone. Sure, it's the business when you're a small fry. I understand that. But lately, it feels the industry is at a halt. Books aren't selling the way they used to sell, so publishers aren't taking on as many newer writers as they might've in the past. Kindle is becoming a competitor for readers' attention, though results vary from author to author what kind of turnaround they get.

My opinion is if you put out something independent, it's up to the author to create the best product they can. Don't use self-publishing as an excuse for half-assed editing and covers that look like a child created them. Self-publishing could use a dose of quality control, so it's up to the author to set themselves a part from the crop of other independents. As I'm working on "Cider Mill Vampires," I have to put myself in the readers' shoes and ask myself "Would I buy that?"

M.F. Great answer, Alan. I totally agree with you. So who is your greatest influence when it comes to writing?

A.S.   From a genre standpoint, I really enjoy Joe R. Lansdale, Edward Lee, Tom Piccirilli, Jack Ketchum, T.M. Wright, and Gord Rollo. They're all great suspense and horror writers. But I also really enjoy Joyce Carol Oates. She's a mix of dark fiction and literary. I feel her writing bleeds into mine, and I'm bettered for it.

M.F.   When you write, is there anyone you're writing for?

A.S.   I started writing books because of my love for everything horror, especially books and movies. I emulate what I enjoy, so I write for the people who'll read it.

M.F.    Lol. That makes sense! What sort of books do you read yourself?

A.S.   I mentioned the authors I really enjoy above, but I don't limit myself to horror fiction. You'd be surprised how much darkness there is in literary fiction. I enjoy anything that's psychological, that pits their characters in situations they don't normally confront in life. I think the perfect book is a mix of literary fiction and horror.

M.F.    Brilliant. Now for some more abstract questions! If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?

A.S.     I've really enjoyed the Hap and Leonard books by Joe R. Lansdale, so I'd be Hap. I could be solving a mystery or getting caught in a gunfight or picking up women. Hap's a fun bad ass. I guess I'd like to be a fun bad ass too.

M.F.   If aliens landed in front of you and offered you anything you wanted, what would it be?

A.S.    I'd want them to create some device that allows people to get over themselves. What I mean is for people to be polite, patient, and consider each other as important as the next person. Perhaps that's the lame answer. Here's a different answer. I'd ask the aliens to give me every horror movie ever made in the history of horror movies. And a cool place to watch them all in, like a little home movie theatre that would put Charlie Sheen's to shame. I'd add a great concession stand with popcorn and a soda fountain, and I've invite all kind of people to see movies like "Pieces" and "Killer Clowns from Outer Space." That'd be great fun.

M.F. That sounds like fun! Tell us something quirky/interesting that people probably don't know about you.

A.S.   I'm an operations manager at a doggy day care. I was a zombie extra in "Zombie Bloodbath 3." I really enjoy reading in the bath tub. Every Wednesday night is horror movie night. Have I said enough weird things yet? That's probably enough for now.

Before I sign off, thanks so much for the interview. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask them.

And for those reading this, please visit http://horroralan.blogspot.com/ and check out the latest updates on my writing. If you want to drop a line, email me at alanspencer26@hotmail.com. Who knows, if you ask me nice enough, I like to give things away. I've got free e-copies of "Ashes in Her Eyes" and "The Body Cartel" that are itching to be read.

Thanks so much for stopping by Alan. And you heard him right, everyone. If you just email Alan and let him know which ebook you would like, he will email you a FREE copy of one of his books. This offer is only open for the next week, so get emailing! Thanks Alan and have a great weekend everyone!

And the winners are...

2011-05-02T13:38:00.000+02:00

The winners of the free copies of Carole Gill's novel, The House on Blackstone Moor, are Lorelei, Kalex, and Rob Miller.

Congrats guys. Email me at marissafarrar@yahoo.co.uk so I can give you instructions about how to claim your free ebook!

Thanks to everyone for taking part. This Friday we have another horror author, Alan Spencer, stopping by and he is going to be giving out a free ebook of your choice to every reader. So don't miss it!

Something for the Weekend! Gothic eBook Giveaway with author Carole Gill.

2011-04-29T07:00:00.000+02:00

Welcome to my second, 'Something for the Weekend'! This week I have fellow Vamplit and horror author, Carole Gill here to talk a little about herself and her work. She is also giving away THREE copies of her Gothic novel, The House on Blackstone Moor.

M.F.    Hi Carole, thanks for stopping by my blog and sharing a little about yourself and your work. Let’s start with the most important thing: your books. Give us a brief description of the novel you want to talk about today.

C.G.   I write horror and sci fi and am widely published in horror and sci fi anthologies. My first love is horror though, reading it and writing it. My first novel, The House on Blackstone Moor, is a very dark novel indeed. It's been called intense and has been compared to Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. The reviews are so terrific. I remember how the idea for it came about. I happened to read the gothic romance novel was dead. I didn't like that one bit. I started to think about it. I think actually if Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre or Rebecca were written today, for today's reader, they'd be far darker. I also think they'd have storylines that would have ensured that they never would have been published.

The world has changed a lot and fiction must change with it, at least this sort of fiction. I have had men telling me they enjoyed the book, adding how they wouldn't have ever thought they'd enjoy a book like that.

The novel's themes are vampirism, madness, obsession and devil worship. Both human and supernatural evil are closely examined. I always thought human evil could easily give supernatural evil a run for its money.

Rose Baines comes home to find her mad, incestuous father has killed himself and her family. She survives a madhouse to become governess at a remote home. The house and the family that dwell within are not what they seem. There is unimaginable horror and suffering but there is love too, not merely the promise of it. Sadly, it comes at a great price.

The idea for the story came to me in this way: i envisioned a grand looking house on barren moorland. Then I began to picture the people who dwelt in that house. In truth, the characters wrote the story for me! I am a seat of the pantser (I don't write with an outline) I've tried and can't do it!

I re-read all of my favourite novels: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel (to name a few) and the narrative came to me quickly. I think I became Rose Baines as in I AM Heathcliffe!

M.F.   So what are you working on at the moment? Have you got any new projects in the pipeline?

C.G. The sequel, Unholy Testament will not disappoint the fans of the book! There is plenty of darkness and romance too, but the much hated and adored (he's so campy and outrageous), Eco the demon spawn is featured in the sequel. The story involves a journal covering many epochs as well as an odd bunch of passengers travelling on a transatlantic steamer. There are a lot of surprises and shocking horror along the way!

M.F. When did you first start writing?

C.G. I wrote my very first story at age 8. It was science fiction--something about Martians coming to earth to take the children back. My parents were both sci fi fanatics and I suppose it was natural for me to write this! I followed it with a second sci fi story and then some years went by and by the age of 11, I was completely besotted with Poe. My father used to call me Edgarina Allan Poe.

My writing by that time was starting to worry my parents as everything was so heavy and bleak. They asked my teacher if she thought I was 'okay.' She told them she did and she said in her opinion it had to come out. She told them to just let me write and things would get less scary!

That was true but up to a point because I do write pretty dark stuff.

M.F. I take it things didn't get less scary then? Your childhood sounds a lot like mine -- I was forever writing scary stuff. So what type of writing style do you adopt? Are you a pantser or a plotter?

C.G. I didn't realize I was a pantser until finally after countless attempts at plotting failed, I admitted the truth to myself. We are what we are. I wish I could plot it out, but I can't. But I'll tell you something, I love the excitement of not knowing where exactly it's going or how it's going to get there! I love that actually! I mean these passengers on the ship in the sequel, they are so different, they just interact and I get my story!

M.F. Who is your greatest influence?

C.G. The Brontes are without a doubt as well as Daphne DuMaurier. Their novels are unforgettable. They wrote strong stories with hugely interesting characters. The narrative in those books is like a great dark, sea that sweeps the reader along. We stay afloat, but it is a perilous voyage, which adds to our excitement.

There is darkness in their novels, horrid secrets yet love too. What else does a book need?!

M.F.   Stephen King says when he writes, it is for his wife Tabitha. When you write, is there anyone you are writing for?

C.G.   I write for those readers who wish to read strong stories with larger than life characters. I want to appeal to those lovers of gothic romance but at the same time to entice new readers into the genre!

M.F. What is the last book you read?

C.G.   Great Lion of God by Taylor Caldwell. It is a novel about Saul of Tarsus who would go on to become St. Paul. It is a brilliant book.

M.F. Wow, sounds good. I love recommendations. Now for some more abstract questions: If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?

C.G.   Jane Eyre. I think I always felt like her anyway! I could feel all that she felt. I certainly can picture her world. I have the greatest sense of her too. I always did for some reason.

M.F.   If aliens landed in front of you and offered you anything you wanted, what would it be?

C.G.   Hmm. This is almost biblical! The devil and Christ? But it's aliens! I better be careful here? No! Heck, I'll just be honest. I would love for my books to be read by lots of readers, I want to bring scores of readers into the gothic romance fold! That's what I'd want.

M.F. Tell us something quirky/interesting that people probably don’t know about you.

C.G. I went to acting school many years ago. Actually I use the skills I learned there. I method write! We were taught 'The Method,' which is to become the part. You are told to pull something out of yourself, your past and use that to feel or become this other person. I do that with my writing.

I WAS Rose Baines! I saw my family all dead in front of me, with their throats slashed! It was easy then knowing what would happen next. The story just evolved.

I don't start writing until I have a thorough sense of my characters. As soon as I do, I begin!

So acting school is something few know about! And Al Pacino went there, but I went much later, darn!

M.F.   You went to the same acting school as al Pacino. Now that is impressive! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by. The House on Blackstone Moor sounds like a great read and I know it's been getting brilliant reviews.

So, would you like to read Carole Gill's novel? She has kindly offered up three eBook copies of her book, so just leave her a comment below, together with you blog/web address or email addy so we can contact you if you win! I'll announce the winners on Monday. Good luck everyone, and have a great weekend.

In 2000 Carole was selected by North West Playwrights of England for further development. It was an invaluable experience but Carole found she prefers to write fiction.
She loves to scare herself and others with her horror fiction and is widely published in horror anthologies.
Her gothic horror novel, THE HOUSE ON BLACKSTONE MOOR, is on sale at Smashwords.
The paperback version will be out in May. Pre-orders are being taken at eBookundead. The sequel, Unholy Testament will be published by Vamplit later this year.

She would love for you to stop by her Website, Blog, or Facebook Page. You can also follow her on Twitter!

Smile!

2011-04-26T23:23:00.000+02:00

And The Winner Is...

2011-04-25T20:09:00.002+02:00

The first winner of my new feature, Something for the Weekend, and so the winner of Peter Labrow's novel, The Well is... Vaughan! Many thanks to everyone who has taken part and, of course, Mr Labrow for so generously offering one of his novels as a prize.

Congrats Vaughan! Make sure you email me at marissafarrar@yahoo.co.uk and I will be able to pass all your details on to the author.

This Friday I have horror author, Carole Gill taking the stand and she is going to be doing a giveaway of her Gothic novel, The House on Blackstone Moor, so make sure you come back to say 'hi'. We always love hearing from you all.

Something for the Weekend! Win a personalised signed copy of Peter Labrow's, The Well!

2011-04-22T03:00:00.002+02:00

From now on, every Friday I am going to be running, 'Something for the Weekend' right here on my blog! What's it going to involve? Author interviews, guest posts, and lots and lots of giveaways! The competitions will be open all weekend, so get entering!

So my first author interview please welcome fellow horror writer and Brit, Peter Labrow, author of the psychological horror novel, The Well.

M.F.    Let’s start with the most important thing: your books. Give us a brief description of the novel you want to talk about today.

P.L.    The Well is my first novel. On the face of it, it’s a simple ‘bottle’ story: two teens fall into an ancient well. One is badly hurt. There’s no way they can climb out. They have very little food or drink. Worse, their parents are away for the weekend, so the fact that they’re missing won’t be known for two or three days. But the story soon expands beyond that.

Every missing person leaves some kind of gap – in the case of Becca, the girl in the well, there are two key people: a predatory man who has been stalking her and her estranged best friend, Hannah. As Becca goes missing, the man turns his attentions to Hannah, who in turn is increasingly worried about her friend. But there’s worse to come – two women know exactly where Becca and her step-brother are and are desperate that they should remain trapped, else a curse hundreds of years old will be fulfilled.

I really want to say more, but part of the horror of The Well is the surprises that it throws at you – characters, situations, challenges and terrible choices. It’s very fast-paced, the most common comment I’ve had from readers is that once they start, they can’t put it down. That’s so satisfying for me – it’s what I was aiming for. Not ‘worthy’ fiction, but a darned good yarn. Several people have told me that they’ve stayed up to the early hours to read it, one girl had nightmares and a few confessed to breaking down in tears. That’s me, bringing misery to the world, one paragraph at a time.

M.F. So what are you working on at the moment? Have you got any new projects in the pipeline?

P.L.   I’m currently writing my second novel, which is as yet untitled. Well, it did have a title, but I’ve started to dislike it so I’m considering other names. It’s set in the same location as The Well but with different characters, although there are some crossovers, name checks and nods.

On top of that, I’m plotting the next four or five books. My novels and stories are going to be interrelated – they’re not a series as such, but there will be connecting threads and some overreaching story arcs. The connection between the first two is loose, but I’m going to pull things together as I move forward: I’m not plotting the rest out in detail but I am working out what the connections will be. I’ve had a lot of positive response to the characters in The Well and I’m going to develop some of those already created and add to the community. Sometimes in very surprising ways: just because someone’s a protagonist in one book doesn’t mean they’ll remain safely in that pigeonhole. Anyone who’s read The Well will know that my characters are often conflicted, flawed people. Someone said to me on Twitter yesterday that he was around halfway through the book and he didn’t know which characters to trust. Let’s keep it that way.

I’m also working on a collection of short stories, which is likely to be published first. The latter I’m doing as a writing exercise, really – I grew up as a fan of short stories, in the days when new writers cut their teeth in fiction magazines. They also allow me to explore some of the characters from The Well and upcoming novels in different situations. One of the stories is a ‘challenge accepted’ from a follower on Twitter, it sounds like a daft idea for a story but I’m going to make it work – and make it horrific. I’m not sure I’m on board with the trend of selling one story for 70 cents – it’s cheap but it’s not good value for the reader. My current notion is that the collection will be around a fifth or a quarter of the size of a novel and be priced accordingly, still cheap but better value.

M.F. That sounds like an excellent idea, Peter, something I may have done myself *winks*. When did you first start writing?

P.L   I’ve written all my life – though non-fiction. In my day job, I develop websites and write copy for them. I’ve written marketing copy for twenty-five years and also written for magazines. I’ve always wanted to write fiction, though, ever since I was a child. I started to write my first novel in my forties, but didn’t stick at it – mainly because my marketing/website design business was so busy and demanding. When I hit 49, I decided I really had to get on with it. I wrote The Well during that year and published it two months before I was 50.

M.F.   What type of writing style do you adopt? Are you a pantser or a plotter?

P.L.   A bit of both. I plot meticulously but I leave myself a lot of wriggle-room too. Tightly plotted stories can be predictable – so I tack into the wind every so often. I remember the writer of The Wire, David Simon, saying that he would throw thunderbolts from the gods at his characters, just as they did in Greek tragedies. I do the same – because that’s what life is like. It’s what creates those ‘oh my God did that just really happen?’ moments and keeps readers guessing. So, although I plot in detail, I often leave situations unresolved until I’m writing them – although I may have plotted several routes from the situation I don’t always know which one I’m going to take until I have to.

My stories are very character driven, I think a lot about the characters and especially how they interact with other characters. In life, you may have one friend who another doesn’t get along with – you don’t see that as much in fiction. Also, my characters are like real people: they’re flawed, conflicted and sometimes don’t get to choose between good and bad, but between bad and terrible. Good people making bad choices because they’re the only ones available, for example.

Despite plotting in detail, I have no issue with a radical change if a good one occurs to me. The difference between the first and final drafts of The Well, and my pre-writing notes, is astonishing. One thing you often find in books is that once ‘the world of the book’ takes over, reality steps aside. People don’t need a coffee or to go to the toilet. In my writing, the real world is always there – I think it makes the supernatural more horrific, actually.

M.F   Who is your greatest influence?

P.L.   I assume you mean as a writer? I’d probably say Stephen King, though I know it’s become unfashionable to like him. I like King because reading one of his books is like watching a movie: the language becomes transparent. That’s how I want to write. Indeed, many of my revisions were to make the writing less showy. Having said that, I love authors whose prose is a joy to read again and again, people like John Irving or John Steinbeck. I adore Poe. I don’t just read horror and I’m not especially worried about genres either. I’ll read chick lit if the book’s good. Yes, I’d say King as a writer, though I’d say Alan Moore is overlooked or underrated, simply because he writes graphic novels: but Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell are superb. The films are great, but the graphic novels are outstanding and so much richer.

M.F. Well, I guess I’m equally unfashionable! Which brings me strangely enough to my next question. Stephen King says when he writes, it is for his wife Tabitha. When you write, is there anyone you are writing for?

P.L.   Now that is a good question. I don’t write for my wife, Ruth, or my sons Dave and Mike – though they are all very supportive. I don’t think they’re ‘my readership’. Now, having said that, my second novel my wife refers to as ‘her book’ because she likes the story and characters so much. I don’t think I write for a specific person, but for the reader I want to reach, the person who likes the things I like – horror, but in situations that are grounded and real, with characters that have depth. I’m writing for the reader. I want to take people on a ride: they get on the rollercoaster and don’t know what happens next.

M.F. Great answer! What is the last book you read?

P.L.    I’ve recently finished Dating my Vibrator by Suzanne Tyrpak, because I wanted to read something light and short. It was fun and honest. The last novel I read was The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham. I really like Wyndham – The Chrysalids is one of my favourite books ever – but I’d never finished Kraken. I think it’s a bit slow in the early stages. I stuck with it this time and really liked it. I’m currently reading Dead Spell by Belinda Frisch and Somme Mud by EPF Lynch. I frequently read more than one book at once.

M.F.   Now for some more abstract questions: If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?

P.L.   The Doctor, from Doctor Who. Anywhere, any time – what a great format for a series, no wonder it’s been running for so long. I’d possibly like to be less asexual though. I’d like a time machine. Can I have one?

M.F.   If I figure out how to build one, I’ll be sure to let you know! If aliens landed in front of you and offered you anything you wanted, what would it be?

P.L.   Please put away the probe. A ride in their spaceship – my wife was fairly disturbed when I said that if I were Richard Dreyfuss at the end of Close Encounters I would get on the ship, family or not. I would love to go into space. There’s a great book called simply Moon which has massive pictures from the Apollo missions – the moon is, as Buzz Aldrin said, “Beautiful, beautiful. Magnificent desolation.” I’d like to hitch a ride there.

M.F. Tell us something quirky or interesting that people probably don’t know about you.

P.L.   I used to help run a rock music venue in Bury, back in the late 70s and early 80s. I did lights for Joy Division. Anyone who’s seen the film Control (which I really do recommend) will remember the fight scene just a couple of weeks prior to Ian Curtis committing suicide. That was at The Derby Hall, the venue I used to run, and I was doing lights that night. When it all kicked off, I hid under the table. To be honest, at the time I thought Joy Division were rubbish but my taste is often slow to catch up – I really like them now, I think they were on the brink of genius. I met my real music hero, Peter Gabriel – he had a competition for a private gig at his recoding studies and I won. It was a great gig and wonderful to meet him. I love curry. I hate sprouts and custard.

M.F.   Yeah, sprouts and custard wouldn’t work so well for me either! Thanks so much for stopping by, Peter, and for sharing a bit about yourself.

Now giveaway time! Peter has most generously offered to giveaway a personalised, signed copy of his novel, The Well (something to keep for when he is rich and famous!). So just leave him a comment below and you will be entered into the draw on Monday. The competition will be open all weekend and I will put the winners name up here Monday morning! Remember to leave you email addy or blog address so we can contact you if you win.

Good luck!

Peter Labrow is a writer of psychological horror, based in Cheshire in the UK. His goal is to write 'dark, gripping stories' that people find hard to put down. Populated by flawed characters with ambiguous motives, his writing deftly mixes the supernatural with frighteningly normal terrors. Having written marketing copy for over twenty years, Peter published his first novel, The Well, in 2010 - fulfilling a lifelong ambition to author fiction.

The Well is available in both paperback and ebook format from Amazon, Amazon.UK, Amazon.Germany, Lulu and iBookstore. If you would like to know more about Peter, he would love it if you stopped by his blog or followed him on twitter!

A Balancing Act...

2011-04-21T09:43:00.000+02:00

*WARNING* The following is basically me having a bitch!

I know I'm not the only writer out there who is trying to juggle a young family with career aspirations, but boy, sometimes it is hard. With the Easter holidays comes no pre-school and so I currently have my four- and one-year old at home with me all day. We also now live out in a village and do not have a car, so daytime activities are pretty much limited to going for a walk.

The problem is that I still need to work. There are deadlines that need to be met and I have to bring in a certain amount of money each month to keep the day job from the door.

Yes, of course I would much rather be at home writing than out doing some job I hate, but it would be nice if some provisions were made to be able to do the work that needs to be done. Currently, I'm up at six a.m., entertain kids until six that evening, get housework done/cook meals/wipe bums, finally get kids down for eight-ish, manage to do a couple of hours of editing, and then I go back to bed.

All I can say is, thank God for cakes/crisps and Nick Jnr! (Bad Mommy!).

Anyone else out there struggling with kids over the holidays? And please, no earth mother/home schoolers may respond (only kidding, I seriously don't know how you guys do it!).

My Quandry: English vs American English?

2011-04-19T11:30:00.001+02:00

This is a problem that has been stumping me for sometime: whether I should be writing in English (as, being a Brit, I've learnt) or should I write in American English?

I know most people are going to say write in English, but here's my problem:

1.) Most of my readers are American. I know this because my sales are the highest on Barnes & Noble, a site only inhabitants of the US can purchase from.

2.) Many of my novels are set in the US, therefore my characters should technically be speaking in American.

Okay, the novels which are based in the UK is a no-brainer for me. They will be written in English. But should I write the US novels with American grammar?

This problem has been bugging me for quite some time. One reader even asked me if my main character in Alone had been born in England as her thoughts were very 'English'. Now, that one is a struggle. As much as I try to hear my character's voices with an American accent, not being American myself, there are bound to be things I don't quite get.

My editor now is American, so she goes a long way to picking up my mistakes: all of the 'towards', instead of 'toward'; 'earnt' instead of 'earned'; 'garbage' instead of 'rubbish'; 'sidewalk' instead of 'pavement'; and don't even get me started on the whole usage of 'pants' and 'fanny'! When someone is taking off their pants in the UK, or patting someone on the fanny, its a whole other thing!

So what are your thoughts, guys? Stick with English grammar, but American words when I'm writing novels set in American? Or should I go the whole way and turn everything to American?

The Liebster Awards!

2011-04-18T09:45:00.002+02:00

I'm sharing some blogging love this morning, after having had it dished out to me this weekend by two of my fellow Masters of Horror and (soon to be, in the case of Blaze) Vamplit authors, Carole Gill and Blaze McRob. The Liebster award is given to those who have contributed to blogging and have less than 300 followers, and I'm very proud that not only one person thought to give it to me, but two!

Carole Gill in a fellow Vamplit author and her novel, The House on Blackstone Moor has recieved some amazing reviews. It's a classic Gothic tale of vampires, madness and love. I have yet to read it, but as soon as the paperback is available, I will be first in line to buy my copy! She also works tirelessly to support other authors and keeps us all thoroughly entertained on our MOH facebook page. So thank you, Carole.

Go check out her blog, Bloody Good Vampires!

I've only recently had the pleasure of meeting Blaze through our Masters of Horror connection, but I've quickly come to learn what a kind and generous person he is. He shares his time and offers so much support and praise to fellow authors on his blog Blaze McRob's Tales of Horror. Out of all the people he could have chosen, I'm honoured that he included me.

Aren't horror writers lovely people! Have a great week everyone...

Competiton time ~ Win some books!

2011-03-24T10:50:00.000+01:00

I came across this competition on the great horror site, Indie Horror. Over on the site they have seven paperback copies of The Well by Peter Labrow to people who submit a review of an indie horror book they have read.

Pretty good deal, huh?

So here's my part of the competition. If you've read or plan to read one of my novels, and have either left or plan to leave me a review, then email me at marissafarrar@yahoo.co.uk or leave me a comment together with your email addy (so I can get in touch with you if you win). Tell where the review was left (or again, where you plan to leave your review) and in two weeks time I will do a draw for a paperback copy of 2013: The Aftermath, the anthology which includes my short story After The Revelation.

Then all you need to do is email the same review to Indie Horror in order to win The Well!

So you, could win 2013: The Anthology AND get the chance of winning The Well by Peter Labrow if you submit your review of one of my novels to the site!

Good luck everyone!

20 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Me...

2011-03-23T10:23:00.001+01:00

I saw someone on twitter doing this and it looked like fun, so here goes!

1.) I have four tattoos and plan to have more (sorry mum!).

2.) I’m an advanced Padi scuba diver.

3.) I’ve hiked a glacier in New Zealand.

4.) I have a phobia of Daddy-long-legs (Crane-flies).

5.) I could eat Asian food every day of the week.

6.) I once ran a small catering company.

7.) I make pretty damn good cakes.

8.) Though I act hard, at heart I’m a total romantic.

9.) I would love to have another child one day (shhh, don’t tell my husband!).

10.) I miss my cats

11.) I love the gym but hate regular exercise.

12.) I love going to concerts, but haven't been able to go since having the kids. Boo.

13.) Bugs love me. If something in my vicinity bites, it will get me!

14.) I have a degree in Zoology and a diploma in Pharmaceuticals.

15.) I once wanted to be a forensic pathologist (until I realised I had to become a doctor first! Dealing with live patients...gross!)

16.) I love crappy drama television; Greys Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, House. Brilliant!

17.) I probably drink waaaaay too much, but put it under the ‘artistic type’ file.

18.) My husband is also my best friend.

19.) I dream of having houses all over the world, but not big expensive ones. Just shacks by the beach in places like Bali, Thailand, and India.

20.) I used to have five piercings (not including my ears!).

So there you have it. Got anything interesting people probably wouldn't know about you? Please share!

Letting Go

2011-03-10T15:21:00.002+01:00

Letting Go

I’m standing on the bridge, certain he won’t come.

How many years has it been now? Ten, at least. The tenth time I’ve come here, hoping he will show, yet knowing he won’t.

It’s July twelfth, the anniversary of the day he asked me to marry him. My heart is sick with grief and I wonder how it is that I cannot move on. Every day I wander without direction, searching for him, yet he is always just out of reach. It is as if when I enter one door, he slips out of another.

The night is warm and I can smell honeysuckle on the air. Below me, the stream trickles, singing a gentle song to the stones and gravel it passes over. Trees line both sides of the stream, their branches reaching out to each other, like lovers hands grasping, creating a canopy over the water.

I sigh and lean against the small wooden bridge. My fingers twist the platinum band of my engagement ring, the moonlight catching the small cluster of diamonds. I no longer wear it on my left hand, switching it to the right as a sign of our separation, but I cannot bring myself to take it off completely.

Why do I keep torturing myself like this? Too many years have passed for him to still care. He probably has a different life now, one filled with a new family of his own. I cannot believe he still thinks of me, even though thoughts of him seem to be the only thing I know.

Movement catches my eye and I turn to see a figure approaching out of the darkness. My heart picks up a beat, my breath catching in my throat.

Mark?

He walks toward me, but I don’t know how to react. It’s such a long time since I’ve seen him and I can see the years on his face; in the lines upon his skin and the grey in his hair.

I cannot speak as he stands beside me and leans his forearms on the bridge. He looks down at the flowing water, as if he cannot bear to look at me.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” I say.

“I don’t know why I’m here, Lisa. It’s been such a long time.”

“I’m glad you did.”

“I think I just needed to say goodbye properly. You’ve been playing on my mind and it’s simply not right. I need to get on with my own life.”

“Please, Mark,” I beg. “Let’s just spend some time together, talk things over. If you came, then you must still...”

But his actions still my words. He opens his hand and nestled in his palm is the platinum band and cluster of diamonds of my engagement ring.

My heart stops and I look down at my own ring. How is that possible? Did he have another, identical one made? Why would he do that?

“I need to say goodbye now, Lisa. I’m moving on, just like you have.”

He tilts his hand to drop the ring into the water. I reach out to catch it as it falls, but to my horror, the small circle of metal passes right through my hand, as if I were not even there.

My eyes fill with tears of terror. What the hell was happening?

“I know it wasn’t your fault,” he says, addressing the air. “It wasn’t your fault you left me. The accident was nothing more than that, just a horrible accident. But I need to get on with my life now. It’s been too long and I’m letting you go.”

At his words, I feel something pull against me, as if invisible hands have hold of my shoulders and legs and are tugging me from behind. I look down to see my limbs suddenly seem insubstantial, as if I cannot quite see them or am looking through a mist.

“Help me, Mark,” I call out, terror firing adrenaline through my veins. But now I know he cannot hear me and my voice sounds faint, even to my own ears.

It suddenly dawns on me that I do not know where I’ve been all these years, only that I’ve been searching for Mark, his own grief and longing holding me near. Now he has finally let me go and I am moving on, going to whatever life—or death—holds for me next.

My body is little more than smoke now and still something pulls on me, taking me away from him. The distance between us is growing and now he is simply the figure of a man standing on a bridge.

A man saying goodbye.

An Epiphany!

2011-03-03T12:41:00.000+01:00

I logged onto Goodreads today to discover someone had left Alone a two star rating. Now this is the first two star and so far lowest rating Alone has received and my initial reaction was to get annoyed. But then I realised that you can't please everyone.

Books, like anything else in life, are all down to personal taste. Maybe this person loves soppy romances, in which case there is no way Alone was ever going to be for her. Just the same as if someone doesn't like spicy food, I'm sure the chef in a curry house wouldn't take it personally.

When your work is out there, and people are reading it, reviews are just part of the course. There is no way I can control what people are saying about my book, but at least people are reading it! So far the reviews for Alone have been great. It's got a steady 4 stars out of 36 reviews on Barnes and Noble, with some of the review headings being 'Wonderful Book' and 'Great Read', with people saying they couldn't put it down and can't wait for the sequel.

I know I can't please everyone, but as long as I am pleasing the majority, and above all, that people are actually taking the time to read my books, then I am happy. And look out for the paperback guys! The proof as been ordered, so it won't be long now!

Their Dark Masters is now available in the UK! Extreme vampire horror...

2011-02-25T12:49:00.001+01:00

If the Twilight vamps left you wanting to puke and even True Blood is a little too sexy to fit in with your vampire image, then Their Dark Masters is the anthology for you.

These are vampire stories as they should be: dark, terrifying and monstrous.

Their Dark Masters features my short story, The Tunnel, which was inspired when I actually took the Channel Tunnel from France back to the UK. It was so claustrophobic, I couldn't help but think of it as a great setting for a seriously dark horror story and even sat in the car, making notes. When I heard of this anthology, I just knew the two would be the perfect match.

Here's the blurb: When vampires have outlasted eternity, their dark masters will rise from their ancient slumber. What evil games will they play? Find out in these fourteen tales of dread by Lee Hughes, Brian K. Ladd, Lily Childs, Erik Boman, Paul Anderson, Erin Cole, Gregory Miller, Marissa Farrar, Henry Brasater, Tyree Campbell, Rebecca L. Brown, Barry J. Northern, and Mark Anthony Crittenden, and featuring the art of Marie-Claire Graham. Warning: horror content is extreme

It has been out for a little while in the States, but is also now available from Amazon.co.uk so all of you Brit based readers can buy it as well!

On the move again…

2011-02-21T10:53:00.002+01:00

Hey folks, sorry I’ve not been around much recently. As normal in my life, things are always changing and an opportunity has come up which enables us to move back to my home county of Devon.

This will be our fourth move in three years and hopefully it will be our last for a while. Luckily, we never sold our old family home when we moved to Spain and we can’t wait to get back into it. The house is on the outskirts of a little village and it means we will once again be surrounded by fields and proper country pubs we can walk to! There’s also a decent chunk of land with the property so we’ll be able to get the chickens we’ve missed while living in a city.

I’ll be sad to say goodbye to the friends we’ve made here and I feel bad moving the eldest again. However, it’s best to do it now, just before she starts school. She already has friends down there, so I don’t think it will be too much of a wrench. Besides, if all else fails, I find bribery with more pets always works!

In the words of Stephen King…

2011-02-07T14:46:00.003+01:00

To write is human, to edit is divine.

Since making the decision to put some of my work out alone, I’ve discovered something about myself. As much as I can spot problems in other people’s work, I am hopeless at doing the same thing for my own writing. It’s as if I’m just too close to the piece and I’m only seeing what I think should be there, instead of what it actually says.

Because of this I’ve decided to hire an editor to do my final edits for me. I was lucky enough to meet Janelle, from Dawson Editing Services, through a mutual friend. She kindly offered to edit some of my work and I was amazed at what she found. Honestly, I thought I’d edited the arse out of these pieces, and I’d even had other writers go over them, but Janelle still found so much that needed changing.

She described herself to me as a punctuation and grammar freak, and that is exactly what I needed. While my writing might be strong, I’ll agonise for hours over where to put a comma!

Anyway, Janelle is fantastic and I can’t wait to see her transform my stories into tight, professional novels. The editing process is so important, and I know readers will come back for more if the books are professionally edited. Besides, any time I’m not editing can be spent doing what I’m supposed to be doing—actually writing. As I’m working on a ‘flood the market to the point where people HAVE to start noticing me’ promotion plan, the more writing I can get done and actually get out to the readers, the better.

If you would like to contact Janelle to find out how good she is for yourself, you can email her at jdawsonedit@gmail.com. She is currently offering the first 500 words of your m/s for FREE, and the rest of her prices are extremely affordable.

The reviews for my novels have been coming in thick and fast, and have been fantastic. You can check out the reviews for Alone over at Barnes & Noble, and at Smashwords. Also, Alone is still free to download!

I honestly think reading great reviews by is one of the best things about being a writer (next to seeing actual sales of course!). While I love my friends and family giving me positive feedback about my work, I am always a little sceptical. I mean, they’re hardly going to tell me it sucks (actually, scratch that. My mother would—and has—told me when something blew). But there is still nothing better than discovering, through the wonder that is Google-alerts, someone is raving about your book.

For years I wondered if I was like one of those poor saps on X-Factor (UK equivalent of American Idol) where they are totally convinced they have talent, but actually they can’t hold a tune to save their lives. I’m slowing starting to believe this isn’t the case, and I have really high hopes for this year.