Friday, June 26, 2015

Author Interview: Josh Anderson

Tell us a bit of our journey to becoming an author.
 
I’ve always loved writing and dreaming up stories. I’ve been lucky to have worked in various capacities within the publishing industry throughout my career, so I’ve never felt like taking the leap to becoming an author was unattainable. But, I also know first-hand how many people out there are producing great work, and how difficult it is to have your work noticed. From there, it’s been a matter of working hard at it, and dedicating myself to getting better all the time. The Time of Death series is the first YA I’ve written, but I’ve published six children’s books as well.

How did you get the inspiration for your novel?

Great question! I remember sitting in between my parents, sometime in the mid-1980s, watching Back to the Future on their ancient VCR and just being spellbound. Then, reading novels like Time and Again and Replay, I’ve just always been so fascinated by the idea of a person moving through time.

I’d been kicking around an idea in my head, which I called my “time-travel, prison story,” for a long time. That’s usually how my writing projects start – a little kernel, with a few specific images. The piece of the original concept that really pulled me in was the idea of a time traveler having to ultimately choose when to live and being pulled in two different directions. A big chunk of that made it into Time of Death, and I’m so happy with where the books wound up. I think I’ve set readers up for a wild, exciting ride.

Tell us something surprising about yourself.

Even though I’ve been writing for publication for many years, in one form or another, I still send nearly anything I write to my dad for a read before it goes anywhere else.

When writing a novel, do you outline extensively or just sit down and write and see what happens?

I’m a pretty thorough outliner, but I don’t get so attached that I won’t leave the door open for a better idea that comes to me while writing. But, honestly, when my process works best, I really get down the main beats with lots of little notes (a line of dialogue, a sequence of action, etc.) and more or less follow through on the original plan.

Before almost every project, time permitting, I try to read a new book about writing, just to get myself excited about the process, and see if I can’t glean another way of thinking about the craft of it all.

How does it feel to be a part of the newly launching EPIC Press?

I’m honored. I know quite a bit now about some of the other launch titles, and I’m honestly really excited to read them! I was fortunate to be able to write what I wanted to, without much direction from the publisher, but the one mandate was to not hold back. Part of the idea of putting out these six-book series all at once was, I think, to help these books compete with the kinds of TV shows that young adults ‘binge watch.’ So, you’ll see some pretty edgy stuff in Time of Death, as well as some of the other series in the launch. That kind of direction from the publisher made the books very fun to write!

What other projects are you working on?

I’ve got a really fun contemporary young adult book I’m just starting to put some notes down about. It’s very different from anything I’ve worked on before, but I’m excited. And, I’m actually co-writing an adult thriller with my dad, which we’ll hopefully have ready for submission to publishers later this year.

What is the best piece of writing advice you have ever gotten?

Tough question, and I’m honestly not sure. I’ve tried to swallow up so much advice over the years that it’s all melded together in my head. The piece of advice I tend to repeat the most, though, is pretty crass. It’s just this: Ass in the seat.

It just means that you don’t get anything done, and you don’t get better as a writer, without actually writing (putting your ass in the seat). There’s so many other things to fill your time. And, I think a lot of writers would agree that the actual time you’re physically writing is the least fun part of being a writer. Personally, it’s that afterglow of having written that I find most satisfying. But, without the hours and hours (and hours and hours and hours) just sitting at my computer, I’d never get there.


Thank you so so much for having me here, Larissa! What a fun interview!

About Time of Death:
What if you could go back and change the past? Kyle Cash made the biggest mistake of his life on March 13, 2014, when he crashed his friend's Audi into a school bus full of children. The accident haunts him every day, until the sister of one of the kids killed in the crash comes to visit Kyle at Stevenson Youth Correctional Facility and offers him the opportunity to travel back in time. Kyle learns, though, that time weaving is more complicated-- and more dangerous - than he ever could have imagined. 

Time of Death is a six-book series from EPIC Press.
Amazon
My Twitter: @WritingCraftJRA


Thursday, June 25, 2015

Release Announcement: Demons, Imps, and Incubi

“DEMONS, IMPS, AND INCUBI”
ANTHOLOGY NOW AVAILABLE
FROM RED MOON ROMANCE

Alpena, MI (June 23, 2015) – Red Moon Romance (Eileen Wiedbrauk, Editor-in-Chief) has announced Demons, Imps, and Incubi, a romance anthology edited by Laura Harvey, is available in trade paperback and ebook today, Tuesday, June 23, 2015.

Demons, Imps, Incubi: dark, powerful, and forbidden. Only the foolish would seek one out for seduction, and yet . . . deals are struck. Souls are ensnared.  But must a demon's agenda always be demonic? Can he be redeemed? Or does being bad feel too good to bother with redemption? Long ago, imps were more mischievous and playful--naughty, perhaps?—and perceptions of them have only grown more sinister over the centuries. The incubus craves sex, but what makes us crave him? Explore dark and sensual worlds with eight brand new stories of magic and seduction that will set you aflame by Cori Vidae, Alexa Piper, Erzabet Bishop, Mark Greenmill, Nicole Blackwood, J. C. G. Goelz, Jeffery Armadillo, and M. Arbroath.

Demons, Imps, and Incubi is available in trade paperback and ebook via Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Kobo.com, and other online retailers, and for wholesale through Ingram. You can also find Demons, Imps, and Incubi  on Goodreads.

Laura Harvey is an editor, writer, bibliophile, horsewoman, historian, teacher, debate coach, nerd, DIY junkie, and occasional rescuer of kittens. She holds a BA, MA, and is ABD, making her an exceptional asset in Trivial Pursuit. She loves reading so much that all of her handbags share one crucial ability: fitting a standard paperback or Kindle. She lives in northern California with a menagerie of beasts (dogs, cats, horses, and family members).   

Red Moon believes in romance. We believe reading should be fun. We believe that at their core, romances are courtship stories, focused tightly on the emotions of the relationship. We don’t raise an eyebrow at any woman’s reading choices because we believe a woman deserves whatever fiction incites her passions. Whether a sweet fairy-tale ending or a scorching hot love affair, we believe in giving a woman what she wants. Hot romance, it's what we do.

World Weaver Press is a publisher of fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction, dedicated to producing quality works. We believe in great storytelling.


Publication Date: June 23, 2015 • Paranormal/Erotic Romance

$13.95 trade paperback, 240 pages  • $5.99 ebook
ISBN: 978-0692468715
Publicity/Reviews: publicity@worldweaverpress.com

Information:


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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Spotlight: The Demon Inside

Description:
Darcy was a perfectly normal eighteen year old girl, enjoying the summer after completing her A Levels with her boyfriend Alec, until the night strange creatures start falling from the sky, infecting people and turning them into crazed, animalistic cannibals.
Having lost everything in one night - her parents, her home and all future prospects - all Darcy can do is try to protect the people she does have left. Together, she and Alec, along with her younger sister, sarcastic best-friend and Alec's alcoholic father, set off on a journey to find somewhere safe in a world where everything is different.
However, when they do finally discover a safe haven, along with a community of fellow survivors, can they remain? And who will survive?

Twitter - @MLSparrow1

Bio:
I'm not really sure what to say about myself - my real life is defiantly not as exciting as my imaginary one! I'm currently working in childcare and writing in my spare time. All my life I've dreamed of becoming an author, except when I was little and wanted to be a farmer!
Besides writing, and obviously reading anything I can get my hands on, my other passion is travel. After finishing college I to

ok a break from education to travel, visiting Mexico, Sri Lanka and, my personal favourite, Japan. One day I hope to be able to combine the two and travel while writing professionally, but for now I'm actually focusing on getting a scholarship to study in America. Surely you can guess what I'm planning to study!


The Demon Inside is Half Price until July!



Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases. 

Excerpt: Demons, Imps, and Incubi

Excerpt from CIRCLES WITHIN CIRCLE:
1. As the candle’s light moved up over his body, she saw him in flashes. Toned calves, well-muscled thighs, rippled abs, a well-developed chest . . . His hair was wavy, black as a raven’s wing, and his eyes the palest shade of green she’d ever seen.
There was a man in the circle.
A naked man.
“My God,” she gasped, and he grinned.

“If you insist.”
About the Book:
Demons, Imps, Incubi: dark, powerful, and forbidden. Only the foolish would seek one out for seduction, and yet . . . deals are struck. Souls are ensnared. 

But must a demon's agenda always be demonic? Can he be redeemed? Or does being bad feel too good to bother with redemption? Long ago, imps were more mischievous and playful—naughty, perhaps?—and perceptions of them have only grown more sinister over the centuries. The incubus craves sex, but what makes us crave him? 

Explore dark and sensual worlds with eight brand new stories of magic and seduction that will set you aflame by Cori Vidae, Alexa Piper, Erzabet Bishop, Mark Greenmill, Nicole Blackwood, J. C. G. Goelz, Jeffery Armadillo, and M. Arbroath.

Demons Imps and Incubi on Amazon


is an imprint of
World Weaver Press




Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases. 

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Spotlight: Time of Death Series



Time of Death series description:

When Kyle Cash accidentally kills a bus full of school children in a traffic accident, he is unable to forgive himself. An opportunity to travel back in time to fix the horrific events is too much to pass up. Time travel, though, turns out to be more complicated than Kyle imagined. The past resists change, and going back makes things much worse. Kyle eventually finds himself in the middle of a complex triangle with the love of his life and a time traveling madman. Does Kyle have the gift that can save the future, and his soul?

Time of Death is a six-book series from EPIC Press.

Time of Death – Book #1 – The Tunnel description:

What if you could go back and change the past? Kyle Cash made the biggest mistake of his life on March 13, 2014, when he crashed his friend's Audi into a school bus full of children. The accident haunts him every day, until the sister of one of the kids killed in the crash comes to visit Kyle at Stevenson Youth Correctional Facility and offers him the opportunity to travel back in time. Kyle learns, though, that time weaving is more complicated-- and more dangerous - than he ever could have imagined.

Author bio:

Josh Anderson lives and works in Los Angeles, and fits in his writing time when he’s not occupied with his two rambunctious preschoolers. He and his wife love traveling, sports, reading and guiltily watching shows like The Bachelor. He’s currently working on a contemporary young adult novel, and an adult thriller set in the seamy underbelly of the motion picture industry.

Links:
My Twitter: @WritingCraftJRA

Epic Press seriespage



Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases.