The Qwillery

Please welcome Andrew P. Mayer to The Qwillery as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge interviews. Hearts of Smoke and Steam (The Society of Steam 2) is out today! Andrew's debut, The Falling Machine (The Society of Steam 1), was published in May.

TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Andrew:  People tell me that I have a tendency to kill off their favorite characters too quickly, but I see it slightly differently: the characters that get the most love in my stories are the dead ones. They certainly have to suffer less, and the living characters remember the departed in a way that lets me look back and deconstruct their lives.

That said, I do plan to go back and write some prequel stories so that I can return the deceased to life and make them suffer a bit more…

TQ:  Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Andrew:  I've wanted to be a writer since I was 11 years old, so it's really the old school folks that inspired me to begin with: Asimov, Bradbury, Pohl, Moorecock, Gibson, Sterling, and all those 70s and 80s writers.

When it comes to modern genre writers there's a few that come to mind as strong inspirations: I really love China Mieville's worldbuilding. He's just fearless in the world he creates, and he's able to tackle big ideas. I loved Scott Westerfeld's pre-YA stuff. I think all his young adult is great, including his Steampunk. And he broke open that whole area. But the irony is that I think his adult work has a genuine maturity to it that's desperately missing right now.

Let's see… I also really like Richard K. Morgan's prose. I'm excited to see where his fantasy series is heading. And Dan Abnett's work in his Warhammer books is insanely awesome. The guy can write the hell out of an action sequence, and he's really set the bar for what's possible in licensed fiction. Even though he's playing in a pre-defined sandbox he finds a way add weight to things and make them incredibly compelling.

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a panster?

Andrew:  Plotter to the core: I actually tried to write novels back in the 90s, but I was completely unable to finish one. When I started again back in 2007 I began by plotting them first, and that pulled me through the book. To me a big part of the motivation for being a writer is getting to tell stories that I want to read, so if I'm not excited to see how they're going to turn out I won't be motivated to do the work.

That's not to say I don't rewrite or change things as I go along, but I need to make sure the foundation and the structure is strong.

TQ:  What inspired you to write The Society of Steam novels? Why steampunk?

Andrew:  When I went out to Burning Man in 2006 I saw the Neverwas Haul (http://www.neverwashaul.com/) and the amazing devices that Kinetic Steamworks (http://kineticsteamworks.org/) folks had built. I’d also been hanging around the San Francisco metal-art scene a few years earlier, and it seemed to me like there was a genuine moment of zeitgeist happening around the idea of Steampunk

I realized we’d reached a point in our culture where small groups of people were now capable of producing what it had taken an entire factory to build in the 1800s, and that it was allowing us to reach backwards and forwards at the same time.

The Victorian Era really was the last age of genuine craftsmanship before we were overwhelmed by mass production. A lot of their legacy is still with us today, both in terms of the structure of our society. In many ways we’ve inherited their world, and when we reach back for some truth in our culture I think that it’s easy to discover a kind of kinship with the people from 100 years ago, and we can resonate with their successes, their excesses, and their failures.

That seemed like a fun place to play in… and the idea of adding superheroes to that only made it more enticing to me.

TQ:  Tell us about The Falling Machine (The Society of Steam 1) and Hearts of Smoke and Steam (The Society of Steam 2).

Andrew:  The lead character is a young woman named Sarah Stanton. Her father is a powerful hero named the Industrialist (who has a smoking top hat!). He’s a member of the Society of Paragons; New York’s greatest team of gentlemen adventurers.

Sarah has wanted to be a superhero ever since she was a child, although obviously that’s an impossibility for a woman of society in 1880. Tragic circumstances conspire to make her dreams come true, and she finds herself forced into a terrifying adventure when her mentor (Sir Dennis Darby, the leader of the Paragons), is killed in front of her on the top of the (unfinished) Brooklyn Bridge.

She soon finds herself at the center of conspiracy that most of the Paragons either refuse to acknowledge, or may actually be a part of. Helping her to uncover the mystery is a mechanical man created by Sir Dennis called the Automaton.

The first book is a bit of a mystery story, with characters crawling around secret passages and the like, but there are also some major battles, burning mansions, and some good old fashioned Father/Daughter drama.

The second book is more of a romance for the heroine, but at the same time she's discovering her limitations and how those shape her as a hero. Meanwhile it still has a lot of action, and the main villain's plan really starts coming together. I also get to create a Victorian Era steampunk puppet show, which was lots of fun for me.

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in the novels?

Andrew:  I think the entire theater sequence and battle at the end of book 2 was a lot of fun to create. It's the kind of big storytelling that I've always wanted to do, but it's grounded in a character driven core.

I also love the sequence in book 1 where Nathaniel wakes up with a hangover. Getting through that scene took the most research, since I was unfamiliar with a lot of the details. But by the time I was done I really felt like I understood the world a lot better. That sequence also starts pit small and just gets bigger and bigger, and I love stuff like that.

TQ:  What sort of research did you do to create the world of The Society of Smoke and Steam?

Andrew:  I've been in New York City a lot over the last year, and that's really given me a chance to walk around and visit the parts of Manhattan that still have a lot of Victorian Era buildings. Downtown below 14th street has a lot of cast-iron buildings, and as you head down to wall-street you can really feel like you're travelling back in time…

I've also done a ton of research from online and books, and I've travelled to a number of historical locations including Australia and New Zealand. There's a lot of surviving Victorian era buildings in down there, including the amazing Queen Victoria building in Sydney, and I got to visit them last year. One thing that's great about that era of construction is that they really wanted to show off the marvelous discoveries in engineering during the period, and the structures tend to really expose the ideas behind them.

All my research is in the service of reaching a point where I feel comfortable visualizing the world that I'm writing about without having to run to do research book every five seconds.

TQ:  In the series, who was the most difficult character to write and why? The easiest and why?

Andrew:  I'd say the most difficult has been Jordan Clements, The White Knight. The character is a bully and a racist, and yet I'm trying to keep him from being too broadly drawn, so I need to sympathize with him a bit.

He gets a POV chapter in book 3, and that's been the toughest so far because he's reprehensible, but he also has motivations for what he's done.

I'd say the easiest is probably Sarah. She still has her challenges, and one of the hardest parts of book 2 was making sure that she didn't become just another "gutsy heroine". But what I like best about Sarah is that she isn't trying to be a 21st century girl… She 's often conflicted because given a choice she'd rather be a girl of her era, but she's forced to take stronger measures to do what's right, and that puts her in conflict with her society. But it's often a sacrifice for her, especially because she has to do things that she sees as irreversible.

TQ:  Why did you set the series in Victoran New York?

Andrew:  I'm a native New Yorker, and New York in that period was undergoing the growth that turned it into the modern metropolis we think of today. London, on the other hand, was really just firming up, rather than being redefined.

My mother is a Londoner, so I did think about using England as a backdrop, but I was worried it was going to be overdone by the time I got finished, and it's easier for me to go visit New York. Plus I truly do have love for my birthplace, and by the end I really felt like I could make the city a character.

Also, superheroes and NY just seem to go together.

TQ:  How many books are planned for the The Society of Steam series?

Andrew:  The first series is a trilogy, but I'm going to be doing a short prequel that should be out before book 3 next year. That'll probably be an ebook with a small run print edition.

I also have some more books planned for the Society, but I'm not sure yet when I'll get to them.

TQ:  What's next?

Andrew:  I'm currently working on Book 3 of Society of Steam, and it's going to be the grand finale to this first series, so I'm working to get that finished by March so it can come out next fall.

After that I've got a head full of ideas that I'd like to explore. I also have a lot of talented artist friends, and I really want to do something that has a strong graphic component, but without going into traditional comics. I've been talking to people about that, and at the very least I'd like to try and do a heavily illustrated novel and see how the audience responds.

I can promise you that whatever I do next, it won't be a traditional genre piece. I loved bringing superheroes to steampunk, and a number of my other concepts have a similar "mash-up" feel to them.

One of my favorite things about being an author is that I can try big crazy ideas, and now that I've got a series of books out there I'm only going to go bigger.

Whatever I do next will probably (hopefully) be a standalone book, at least to start.

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Andrew:  Thanks for having me!


About The Society of Steam

The Society of Steam 2
Pyr, November 22, 2011
Trade Paperback, 305 pages

Sir Dennis Darby has been murdered, the Automaton has been destroyed, and Sarah Stanton has turned her back on a life of privilege and comfort to try and find her way in the unforgiving streets of New York. But Lord Eschaton, the villain behind all these events, isn’t finished with her yet. His plans to bring his apocalyptic vision of the future to the world are moving forward, but to complete his scheme he needs the clockwork heart that Sarah still holds.

But she has her own plans for the Automaton’s clockwork heart—Sarah is trying to rebuild her mechanical friend, and when she is attacked by the Children of Eschaton, the man who comes to her rescue may be the one to make her dreams come true. Emelio Armando is a genius inventor who had hoped to leave his troubles behind when he and his sister left Italy for a life of anonymity in the New World. Now he finds himself falling in love with the fallen society girl, but he is rapidly discovering just how powerful the forces of villainy aligned against her are, and that fulfilling her desires means opening the door to a world of danger that could destroy everything he has built.

The Society of Steam takes place in a Victorian New York powered by the discovery of Fortified Steam, a substance that allows ordinary men to wield extraordinary abilities and grants powers that can corrupt gentlemen of great moral strength. The secret behind this amazing substance is something that wicked brutes will gladly kill for, and one that Sarah must try and protect, no matter what the cost.

Cover Illustration ©Justin Gerard



The Society of Steam 1
Pyr, May 2011
Trade Paperback, 285 pages

In 1880 women aren’t allowed to vote, much less dress up in a costume and fight crime...

But twenty-year-old socialite Sarah Stanton still dreams of becoming a hero. Her opportunity arrives in tragedy when the leader of the Society of Paragons, New York’s greatest team of gentlemen adventurers, is murdered right before her eyes. To uncover the truth behind the assassination, Sarah joins forces with the amazing mechanical man known as The Automaton. Together they unmask a conspiracy at the heart of the Paragons that reveals the world of heroes and high-society is built on a crumbling foundation of greed and lies. When Sarah comes face to face with the megalomaniacal villain behind the murder, she must discover if she has the courage to sacrifice her life of privilege and save her clockwork friend.

The Falling Machine (The Society of Steam, Book One) takes place in a Victorian New York powered by the discovery of Fortified Steam, a substance that allows ordinary men to wield extraordinary abilities and grants powers that can corrupt gentlemen of great moral strength. The secret behind this amazing substance is something that wicked brutes will gladly kill for and one that Sarah must try and protect, no matter what the cost.

Cover Illustration ©Justin Gerard




About Andrew

Andrew Mayer was born on the tiny island of Manhattan, and is still fascinated by their strange customs and simple ways.

When he’s not writing new stories he works as a videogame designer and digital entertainment consultant. Over the years he has has created numerous concepts, characters, and worlds including the original Dogz and Catz digital pets.

These days he resides in Oakland, CA where he spends too much time on the internet, and not enough time playing his ukulele.




Andrew's Links

Website
Blog
The Society of Steam Facebook Page
Twitter


The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a Trade Paperback copy of Hearts of Smoke and Steam (The Society of Steam 2) from The Qwillery.

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:


Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)   Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)   Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3)   Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Tuesday, November 29, 2011. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Please welcome Rob Ziegler to The Qwillery as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge Interviews. Rob's debut novel, Seed, was published this month by Night Shade Books.


TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Rob:  This might not be a quirk so much as an affliction, but I call it the 100-word rule. If I can get 100 words down before I’m fully awake, before I do anything else, then I can keep coming back and writing all day. But if I miss that window, sometimes I can’t write at all.

TQ:  Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Rob:  Some writers I love, and from whom I hope I’ve been able to take some cues...Cormac McCarthy. His novels feel like narrative poems, and I wish I could steal that lyricism for my own. His feel for the west, and for landscapes, amazes me. Dennis Johnson, also a very lyrical writer, and he writes with a lot of heart. He has this talent for imbuing even his vilest characters with enough humanity that you empathize with them. William Gibson...his precision and ability to nail a big idea with a single detail. Also his affinity for using subaltern characters as windows into big social constructs. Kerouac, Ginsberg, Bukowski, too. And Borges and Marquez. And Fitzgerald. I don’t know if I claim all these as influences exactly, but I remember specific moments with all of them when I thought, I want to do THAT. I want to write.

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Rob:  Well, both. I spend a lot of time plotting and taking notes when I’m not sitting at my desk writing. And then when I do sit down and start writing, I veer off the rails and head off in directions I hadn’t planned. Which is really inefficient, because a lot of those directions don’t work out. It means a lot of rewriting, but I don’t really know how else to do it. Whatever I plot, though, is basically guaranteed not to wind up in the book.

TQ:  Describe Seed in 140 characters or less.

Rob:  Ah, the twitter pitch. Okay, I’ll give it a try: Badass commando and young immigrant outlaw join forces to try and rescue America’s future from hegemonic, living corporation. Nope, that didn’t work. Totally lame description.

TQ:  What inspired you to write Seed?

Rob:  I grew up loving sci fi, so that’s what I wanted to write. But I wanted to build a world framed by real and pressing issues. I also had Brood and Hondo in mind from a short story I’d written. I love those two. I wanted to write about them, and they inhabit a very specific kind of world. They were my point of departure.

TQ:  What sort of research did you do for the novel?

Rob:  Most of the research centered on climate change and biotech. I wasn’t particularly concerned with putting technical details in the story (in fact I found that the places where I did delve too much into the technical it broke the rhythm of the story telling, so I took a lot out), but I wanted the look and feel of the world, no matter how weird or extreme, to fall within the range of what’s possible. There was also a lot of random research, like platoon-level combat tactics, military terminology, Chicano slang, MexiAmerican history. Things like that.

TQ:  Why did you set Satori in Denver, Colorado?

Rob:  I grew up in Colorado, and my feelings about Denver are deeply ambivalent. I’ve lived there several times. Sometimes I love the place, sometimes I hate it. But I know it well, and it definitely gave me a perverse thrill to envision downtown subsumed by this giant, living, sweating amoeba-like thing. It also makes sense in terms of the story. Satori needs lots of water, and Denver has good access to water, even in drought conditions, from snow runoff. Satori also gets a lot of her energy from photosynthesis, and Denver is nothing if not sunny. It’s also central, on the edge of the planes, so it made sense to think of Denver as an efficient place from which to distribute seed.

TQ:  Who was the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

Rob:  Brood and Hondo Loco were a blast to write. They’re really funny when they banter, which was fun to hang out with. Doss was fun, too, because she basically kicks ass every time she’s on the page. When I came to her chapters, the question was always, “who’s she going to fuck up this time?” Sumedha was difficult, because he’s not exactly human, so I had to really work to sink into his mind. His thinking is perfectly linear, which limited the prose in his POV. I couldn’t use analogies, or if I did I had to be sneaky about it.

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in the novel?

Rob:  Maybe the scene when Doss is in the Corn Mother’s oasis. Or when she goes to battle at the end. Any time she and her troops jump from the Flylights, fun stuff goes down. Also any scene where Brood and Hondo are together. Also the scene where Brood does ceremony with Anna’s crew. That’s probably the moment closest to the emotional heart of the book. Or his scene at the end. I guess I like a lot of the scenes. I can’t pick just one.

TQ:  What's next?

Rob:  I’m working on a book tentatively title Angel City. It’s about a kid, Louis, growing up in a weird future LA where media is beamed straight into peoples’ minds through neural implants called Angels. Louis is a drug dealer of sorts, but instead of a drug he sells a technique he’s discovered for tapping the Angel straight into our pleasure center. He runs afoul of a corrupt cop, and hijinx ensue

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Rob:  My pleasure. Thanks for having me.


About Seed

Seed
Author:  Rob Ziegler
Format: Trade Hardcover, 350 pages
Publisher:  Night Shade Books (November 2011)
Price:  $24.99
Language:  English
Genre: Science Fiction
ISBN:  978-1-59780-323-6

It's the dawn of the 22nd century, and the world has fallen apart. Decades of war and resource depletion have toppled governments. The ecosystem has collapsed. A new dust bowl sweeps the American West. The United States has become a nation of migrants--starving masses of nomads roaming across wastelands and encamped outside government seed distribution warehouses.

In this new world, there is a new power: Satori. More than just a corporation, Satori is an intelligent, living city risen from the ruins of the heartland. She manufactures climate-resistant seed to feed humanity, and bio-engineers her own perfected castes of post-humans Designers, Advocates and Laborers. What remains of the United States government now exists solely to distribute Satori product; a defeated American military doles out bar-coded, single-use seed to the nation's hungry citizens.

Secret Service Agent Sienna Doss has watched her world collapse. Once an Army Ranger fighting wars across the globe, she now spends her days protecting glorified warlords and gangsters. As her country slides further into chaos, Doss feels her own life slipping into ruin.

When a Satori Designer goes rogue, Doss is tasked with hunting down the scientist-savant--a chance to break Satori's stranglehold on seed production and undo its dominance. In a race against Satori's genetically honed assassins, Doss's best chance at success lies in an unlikely alliance with Brood--orphan, scavenger and small-time thief--scraping by on the fringes of the wasteland, whose young brother may possess the key to unlocking Satori's power.

As events spin out of control, Sienna Doss and Brood find themselves at the heart of Satori, where an explosive finale promises to reshape the future of the world.

About Rob

Rob lives with his wife in western Colorado. He writes speculative fiction. Seed is his debut novel.

Rob's Links

Website
Facebook
Twitter








The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a copy of Seed generously provided by Night Shade Books.

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:


Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)   Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)   Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3)   Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who and When:  The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Thursday, November 24, 2011. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Please welcome T.C. McCarthy to The Qwillery as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge interviews. Germline, his debut novel, was published in August 2011 by Orbit.

TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

T.C.:  The fact that I believe promise and hope press 44-magnums to their own heads, every day.

TQ:  Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

T.C.:  Michael Herr told it like it was; he trotted through the world with the likes of Tim Page and Sean Flynn, and when you read his work he brings you into an alternate reality of 1960s dope and war, protest and shit-storms. There's no point in reading the lies. I want truth -- from people who know when and where to use "fuck," how to use it as a verb, noun, AND an adjective, the same kind of people who scream "PEACE!" into cameras while swinging clubs and whose veins run with cranberry sauce. Herr influenced me to write Germline. Now I don't know who influences me.

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

T.C.:  A trainwreck.

TQ:  Describe Germline (Subterrene War 1).

T.C.:  Germline is the understandable reaction to a decade of war. It's the future foretold by T.C. McCarthy, who can't tell the difference between a terorrist state and having to worry about who's reading his facebook page -- and who thinks that anyone who can tell the difference is the enemy.

TQ:  What inspired you to write Germline?

T.C.:  My head was rotting. Rot wouldn't have mattered except that it put me in a place where all I saw were the mold and infections in the heads of my counterparts, their words falling apart at the edges -- right at that spot where the ink meets the page. Nothing matters to most people except war, money, and politics, a fact that forced me to read the ass-end of what people call genre (if I wanted to read science fiction) where it became impossible to stomach another still-born Heinlein; happy, happy...happy, happy... and then the hero manages to kill everthing in some sterile conflict that ensures the dominance of white or blue civilization, 71A-Epsilon, just a few wormholes away from Tao-Tao-Magnificus. I wanted to eat the yellow snow; then I wanted to show everyone my grin when I swallowed.

TQ:  What sort of research did you do to create the Subterrene War world?

T.C.:  I had to ask myself if I wanted to expose a mental battleground -- one that would make some people sick, some people happy, and make some people feel like I'd been digging through their brain with a penlight and a broken shovel. I read and read, and drew from my experiences with studying foreign militaries, before finally deciding that only one thing mattered: depth. And that required stripping naked (metaphorically) to expose what it meant to be paranoid, terrified, and tired.

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in Germline?

T.C.:  I love the opening scene, in which Oscar describes the antibacterial lube; you can't read something like that without thinking that you're in for some kind of ride. That's the moment where the safety bar slams down and there's no turning back unless you want to really embarrass yourself by screaming for the rollercoaster attendant and begging him to let you out. He won't. That's why it's so embarassing.

TQ:  Who was the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

T.C.:  There's really only one character in Germline, and he was the easiest and hardest to write, both: Oscar Wendell. Oscar was easy to write because it's the one character I've created that came directly from my own experiences; he was difficult to write because he wouldn't let me tell lies, and forced me at gunpoint to tell it like it is, even when I wanted to flinch and gloss over.

TQ:  How many books are planned for the series?

T.C.:  Three books. Germline is obviously out there and for sale worldwide at all the major retailers. The other two are in the pipeline and coming soon to an outlet near you.

TQ:  What's next?

T.C.:  Book II will come out in March 2012, and is called Exogene; look out for it! I also have a short story going into the hardcopy edition of Story Quarterly (volume 45): "A.I.P." And I think Orbit will be digitally publishing one of my short stories, "A People's Army," in the near future. I keep updates at my website: www.tcmccarthy.com.

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

T.C.:  Stop staring.


About Germline

The Subterrene War 1
Orbit, August 1, 2011
Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages

Germline (n.) the genetic material contained in a cellular lineage which can be passed to the next generation. Also: secret military program to develop genetically engineered super-soldiers (slang).

War is Oscar Wendell's ticket to greatness. A reporter for The Stars and Stripes, he has the only one way pass to the front lines of a brutal war over natural resources buried underneath the icy, mineral rich mountains of Kazakhstan.

But war is nothing like he expected. Heavily armored soldiers battle genetically engineered troops hundreds of meters below the surface. The genetics-the germline soldiers-are the key to winning this war, but some inventions can't be un-done. Some technologies can't be put back in the box.

Kaz will change everything, not least Oscar himself. Hooked on a dangerous cocktail of adrenaline and drugs, Oscar doesn't find the war, the war finds him.

About T.C. McCarthy

T.C. McCarthy has two dogs, a family, and a job.  His house smells funny - old. Sometimes the antenna on that Toyota works, sometimes it doesn't, and there's a problem with his hair (it keeps falling out).

T.C. has lived in lots of places (the SF Bay Area, Australia, and places he'd rather not mention) but he always seem to wind up back in the south because it's just like the third-world - except with good barbecue. And, he's a writer; his first novel is scheduled for publication in 2011.


T.C.'s Links

Website
Twitter
Facebook
Pharmacon (a blog)



The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a Mass Market Paperback copy of Germline (The Subterrene War 1) from The Qwillery.

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:


Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)  Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)  Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3)  Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who and When:  The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Wednesday, November 16, 2011. Void where prohibited by law. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Please welcome Rochelle Staab to The Qwillery as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge interviews. Rochelle's debut, Who Do, Voodoo? is published today!

TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Rochelle:  Patchouli incense and a lost sense of time. I have to have my patchouli incense or candle burning in the background, no music. And I can go through an entire week thinking every day is the day in the scene I’m writing. An overriding Sunday afternoon or Friday night frame of mind can mess with my actual Monday through Friday appointments. I use calendar alerts to shake me out of the world of the story and into the real world to keep my life in order.

TQ:  Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Rochelle:  I’m an avid reader and discover new favorites all the time. Lesley Kagen has a brilliant, descriptive voice that pulls me into whatever time and place she chooses in her novels. My longtime favorite authors are Elizabeth Peters, Michael Connelly, Cleo Coyle, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and the classics by Hammett, Chandler, Poe, Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse (as you can see, I’m all over the genre and time map.) And I have to mention Carolyn Keene and Arthur Conan Doyle because my love for mystery originated with Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes. The writers who influence my writing are those who dare to show themselves. I applaud rule breakers. Cormac McCarthy may not be my genre cup of tea but he writes to please himself. I admire that.

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Rochelle:  I create a plot with Post-its on a white board, write Character Profiles for the cast, and then I let the characters take me wherever they want to go. I’ll refer to my outline board if I slow down or get stuck, but the characters always come up with a better plan than mine. You could say I’m a plotter outvoted by pantser characters.

TQ:  Describe Who Do, Voodoo? in 140 characters or less.

Rochelle:  Mysterious tarot cards, a voodoo spell book, and a best friend falsely accused team psychologist Liz Cooper with professor Nick Garfield to hunt for a killer.

TQ:  What inspired you to write Who Do, Voodoo?

Rochelle:  The inspiration came after dinner with a friend in Hollywood. We stood talking outside the restaurant next door to an open but empty Psychic Reading shop, one of hundreds of psychic shops in the city. I wondered how ten-dollar psychic readings paid the rent on one of the busiest and most expensive streets in Los Angeles. Could be the owner had a real gift and loyal customers, but my imagination created charlatans and back room conspiracy theories. My curiosity that night grew into an idea for amateur sleuths investigating supernatural or occult based crimes in Los Angeles.

TQ:  What sort of research did you do for Who Do, Voodoo?

Rochelle:  A few of my excursions were bizarre and really fun. I signed up for tarot classes to write their definitions and symbolism accurately, took a voodoo tour of the New Orleans French Quarter for background and insight, spent hours with a LAPD homicide detective, and read a stack of books on the history of Vodoun. Chilling in parts, but so interesting. But there were so many times I wished I had married a detective or my brother had gone to law school. Murder and voodoo are a complicated subjects. I had so many questions!

TQ:  Why did you set the novel in Los Angeles?

Rochelle:  Los Angeles has a rich and fascinating culture, including a wide variety of alternative belief systems. The large geographical area and dense population makes it easy for subcultures to sprout and thrive unnoticed. One of my interviews for the novel included a Hollywood occult shop owner who happened to mention that she was invited to a local crucifixion. I was shocked but not surprised. I won’t ever forget that conversation. The downside of the L.A. setting is the amount of time my characters must spend in their cars. We count distance here in freeway time—rush hour versus non-rush hour.

TQ:  Who was the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

Rochelle:  The easiest character was Liz’s mother, Vivian Gordon, who is outspoken and self-obsessed. Viv always steps to the forefront of my imagination when I need her. The hardest character was LAPD Detective Carla Pratt whose professional ambitions tended to mask her human qualities. It was tough finding a softer side to her.

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in the novel?

Rochelle:  Not fair, they’re all my favorites! The most colorful and fun scenes to write were the séance and the voodoo ceremony. I’ve been to a few séances led by mystics with a sixth sense for hustle. The experience was good theater. The voodoo ceremony wrote itself, based on some New Orleans research and a lot of imagination. As I wrote the voodoo scenes, I kept looking up saying, “Fiction. Remember, this is just fiction.”

TQ:  Who should play Liz Cooper (psychologist) and Nick Garfield (occult expert) if Who Do, Voodoo? is made into a movie?

Rochelle:  So tough to choose because in my mind Liz is very much her own person. Nick always reminds me of young Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. I’ll answer two ways:
Classic: Myrna Loy as Liz, and young Harrison Ford as Nick.
Contemporary: A brunette Gwyneth Paltrow or Reese Witherspoon as Liz, and Simon Baker as Nick.

TQ:  How many books are planned for the Mind for Murder mystery series?

Rochelle:  Right now three, including Who Do, Voodoo? But the more I write this cast of characters, the more fun I have with them.

TQ:  What's next?

Rochelle:  Bruja Brouhaha, the second novel coming next summer, is set near L.A.’s legendary MacArthur Park in a neighborhood swirling with Santeria superstitions and beliefs. But right now, today, I’m living the dream of having my first novel in bookstores. It’s an unbelievable rush, and I’m thrilled to share the day with your readers.

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Rochelle:  Thank you, so very much, for inviting me—I had a lot of fun!


About the Mind for Murder Mysteries

Mind for Murder Mysteries 1
Berkley, November 1, 2011
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Clinical psychologist Liz Cooper doesn't believe in the supernatural. But when her best friend finds a tarot card tacked to her front door-and is then accused of murder-Liz will have to find a way to embrace the occult if she wants to outwit the real killer...

About Rochelle

Rochelle Staab is an award-winning, former radio and music industry executive. Who Do, Voodoo? is the first novel in her Mind for Murder mystery series featuring Los Angeles psychologist Liz Cooper and religious philosophy professor Nick Garfield.


Rochelle's Links:

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads







The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a copy of Who Do, Voodoo? (A Mind for Murder Mystery 1) from The Qwillery.

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:


Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)  Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)  Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3)  Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a US mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Tuesday, November 8, 2011. Void where prohibited by law. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Please welcome Corwin Ericson to The Qwillery as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge interviews.

TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Corwin:  The simple fact that I write is quirk enough. Sitting tight and concentrating is difficult, but probably quite boring to observe. Lots of staring spells and bad posture. I’m not sure I understand the “joy of writing.” A good day of writing often leaves me feeling muddle-headed and intolerant.

TQ:  Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Corwin:  If Swell were a stew, some of the significant ingredients might be Homer, Melville, Chandler, and Voltaire. I recently finished reading The Long Ships by Frans Bengsstom and loved it. I’m looking forward eagerly to reading A Cruel Bird Came to the Nest and Looked In, the new novel by Magnus Mills. The same goes for Nicholson Baker’s House of Holes. This summer I read and truly enjoyed a pair of short books about cranky elders on little Scandinavian islands: The Old Man and His Sons by Heðin Brú and The Summer Book by Tove Jansson.

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Corwin:  I almost always wear pants as I plot.

TQ:  Describe Swell in 140 characters or less.

Corwin:  This is like a Tweet, right? I used to think “blog” was the stupidest new word. Tweet is stupider. Swell is about a man, an island and a whale. It’s shorter than Moby-Dick.

TQ: What inspired you to write Swell?

Corwin:  I wanted to find out what lay beyond what I usually thought and wrote about. I was astonished to discover there was an end to my procrastination. I wish I had a handy answer--another writer or a book--but really it’s the sum of what was on my mind. Sometimes that seemed like quite a bit; other times, fog and darkness.

TQ: What sort of research did you do for Swell?

Corwin:  I read about Norse and American Indian mythology. Northeast island life. The Kalevala. The Arctic. Bears, lampreys, whales. I live in a small town on a small mountain in inland western Massachusetts, just like Herman Melville did while he was writing Moby-Dick. I figured if he could do that, I could too. Of course I conveniently did not remind myself that I had not ever been a whaler, nor had I jumped ship and lived on a South Pacific island. I did not research fishing or island life first-hand. I’d like to spend some more time on islands. I hope I never have to be a professional fisherman.

TQ: Who was the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

Corwin:  I had some fun writing Mr. Lucy, a crotchety geezer, though I don’t know if it was necessarily easy. Writing the protagonist, Orange Whippey, was easily the hardest, since the novel is in first-person, and he did the most of the storytelling work.

TQ: Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in Swell?

Corwin:  I suppose I have a fondness for scenes where men struggle to behave themselves in small spaces--like Ishmael and Queequeg, Daffy and Porky, Laurel and Hardy. I wrote a few scenes like those: in beds, saunas, and boats.

TQ: What's next?

Corwin:  I’ll be reading from Swell all over the place, where, during Q&As, I’ll be dodging this very question. I’d like to become healthy and wealthy and happy, but instead I’ll probably keep working on my next book. Swellthenovel.com should be the source for updates and readings.

I’m also a contributing editor of Bateau Press: http://bateaupress.com/. We’re reading submissions for the journal and for the next poetry chapbook now.

TQ: Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Corwin:  You’re welcome.


About Swell

Dark Coast Press, October 25, 2011
Trade Paperback, 390 pages

Stranded on Wreck Rock, a bad day only gets worse when Orange is conscripted into service on board the Wendy's Mom.

After a drunken fall from the ruins of a navy ship and the ill-advised ingestion of a stimulating new drug, Orange is rescued by Angie Bombadier, a fetching and forthright fellow Islander.

But with the arrival of Snoori – a Finlindian whale herder on a quest to find the fabled hyperborea – and Waldena – a harpoon wielding Thor-cult prestess – the waters surrounding Bismuth get rough and Orange finds himself at the center of a search for a missing package.

Rumors swirl and dangers escalate, turning the serene isle upside-down. For things to be set right again, the package must be found and given to its rightful recipient.

Snorri is well-heeled and fiercely indomitable, yet drawn to Orange's own personal brand of complacency and coerces him into joining ranks. Korean smugglers also enlist Orange's help with their search (among other things). At the same time Waldena pursues the package for her own reasons. Perilous yet lithe, her frequent interrogations leave Orange terrified but oddly excited... that is until he learns that his life might actually be in danger.

A vast North Atlantic is teeming with mythical whales and epic tales. Cruising the open water, Orange drinks gallons of coffee and beer, barbeques squid, and even stumbles into a sweltering sauna with the alluring Bombardier sisters. Aboard the Honeypaws, he is set on course to encounter an ancient council that is helping secretly create the WhaleNet, a cell phone network made of migrating whales. The council's possible ulterior motvies could hold the surprising and bizarre resolution to Orange's journey.

Drawing from the various satiric traditions of Neil Gaiman, Thomas Pynchon, and Christopher Moore, Swell is full of legend and lore, big fish stories, and unforgettable humor.

About Corwin

Corwin Ericson's novel Swell is published by Dark Coast Press (Seattle, WA). He lives in western Massachusetts and works as a professor, writer, and editor.

Corwin's Links

Swell the Novel (website)

Swell by Corwin Ericson (Facebook)




The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a copy of Swell from Dark Coast Press (US Mailing Addresses Only).

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:


Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)  Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)  Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3)  Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a US mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Monday, November 7, 2011. Void where prohibited by law. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Please welcome Michaela Jordon to The Qwillery as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge interviews. Mirror Maze, Michaela's debut, was published on October 25, 2011 by Pyr.

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a panster?

Michaela:  I am definitely a panster! I feel strongly that the action MUST evolve from the characters and their interactions. Sometimes in my reading, I feel that the ‘characters’ are simply doing what the plot outline tells them to do, without clear and convincing motivation; I often don’t bother to finish such stories.

But, of course, one must have some story. So I usually start with at least two, preferably three, very vivid scenes in mind. Long ago, I used to jump in with one scene, but I slowly realized I was writing a lot of interesting openings that had no place to go. So now I insist to myself on at least two, so that the second will provide a direction for the first.

TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Michaela:  I never feel like I’m writing—it seems more like taking dictation—so I am often totally oblivious to where I am going or how long it will take me to get there. Sometimes I even scare myself. When I first sat down to write Mirror Maze, I was not planning a novel. Just the opposite—I was working on something else, and only meant to jot down a quick short story while I still remembered the idea, and then get right back to the piece I was working on. A short story is 5,000 words, right? When I reached 20,000 words, I typed “The End”. But I was lying, and I knew it. It was only the end of Part 1. In fact, Mirror Maze turned out to be 135,000 words, which is no short story.

TQ:  What inspired you to write Mirror Maze?

Michaela:  I blush to admit it, but I was watching a silly TV show (very silly, but one of my favorites) and I had just that afternoon been reading a story that featured a succubus. It quite suddenly flashed across my mind that it would be very easy to slip that succubus into that TV show, if I only changed one little thing…. Of course, I changed a great deal more than one little thing in both the story and TV show before I was done; I hope with all my heart they are both now unrecognizable.

TQ:  Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Michaela:  Strangely, I do not view this as one question, but two. I should admit first, that I have never been conscious of an influence on my writing since I was seventeen and wrote an “Edgar Allan Poe” story for a class assignment. But of course there are influences, just not conscious ones. They would be the books I read when I was young. I spent most afternoons after school with my dear grandmother—who was certainly an Edwardian, if not a belated Victorian—in her house full of darling, breakable ornaments and bric-a-brac, many of them so valuable that it was worth my life to touch them. (She had never heard of child-proofing!) So the safest place in her house was the library, which was full of beautiful, hard bound classics—often in matched sets. All of it very old-fashioned stuff. I grew up on Dickens, Dostoevsky, Scott, Bronte, Verne, Kipling, Stevenson and James (Henry, not William—I got William much later in life). I don’t actually read those much any more, but I absorbed them, and they shaped the way I put words together.

These days, I am still something of a literary snob (but not too good to indulge in an occasional manga!). I love Michael Chabon and Thomas Pynchon (whether they are writing SF or not) but within the field my favorite authors are probably Neil Stephenson and Iain M. Banks (not to neglect Banks in his mainstream incarnation—I adored Whit!) which leaves out all the stuff between my early years and now. Philip K. Dick and Rudy Rucker, Octavia Butler and Kaje Baker. There are so many books! How can we play favorites?

TQ:  Describe Mirror Maze in 140 characters or less.

Michaela:  You want short answers? Now you tell me! Mirror Maze is about karma, and the price of the past. It’s also a warning that demons are not glamorous and magic is dangerous.

TQ:  What sort of research did you do for Mirror Maze.

Michaela:  Lots! Every other page, some silly detail would come up—things like: when did the bell go into Big Ben? Or how much would you pay for a pocket knife? A woman’s hair?

TQ:  Who was the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

Michaela:  The easiest was Cecily who was not even part of my original idea. She volunteered when I needed a viewpoint character and Jacob turned out to be incapacitated. But she was perfect for the job—so observant and articulate. Jacob was the hardest—and he was the one the original story was supposed to be about. He’s such a private person. I spent most of the book trying to get to Jacob’s story.

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in the book?

Michaela:  A very hard question to answer! Maybe the opening, when Jacob comes home to find his dead fiancée waiting for him? Or Dr. Chang facing the astral mirror? Or Col. Beckford magically escorting Cecily down the stairs? Or Livia, either searching the attic or dressing up as a boy? Or….? I admit it. I love every one of my own words. I have no favorites.

TQ:  How many books are planned for the series?

Michaela:  This was never conceived as a series, and I thought I had genuinely concluded the story, tied off every loose end and closed every question. But… My husband keeps asking me if I couldn’t perhaps follow up with the next generation. There were children, probably not unscarred. So maybe I’ll talk to my editor about that.

TQ:  What's next?

Michaela:  Right now I’m working on two books. I never work on just one piece at a time. Unlike some writers more experienced—or more fortunate—than I, I occasionally experience blocks. When I just can’t think what to say next on one manuscript, I pop over to another one, so I need never be without invisible friends whispering in my ears. I generally have a primary and a secondary, although they have once or twice changed places.

My first next book (how’s that for a tangled phrase) is Jocasta and the Indians. It is also set in the Victorian era, but instead of a dark fantasy, it is a rollicking steampunk adventure. My second next novel is Invasion, an SF novel (because one can’t live forever in Victorian times) about the arrival of an alien spaceship. I’m very excited about both.

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Michaela:  And thank you for hearing me out!


About Mirror Maze

Pyr, October 25,  2011
Trade Paperback, 368 pages

Cover Illustration: © Cynthia Sheppard

Jacob Aldridge is still utterly devastated by the death of his fiancée when he suddenly encounters her doppelganger. Livia Aram’s uncanny resemblance to the late Rhoda Carothers so transcends coincidence that Jacob becomes obsessed with her. The intensity of his passion terrifies her until her compassion is roused by his desperate plight. A demon is stalking him, a succubus-like entity that feeds on human pain and desire. With the help of Jacob’s sister, Cecily, and Livia’s guardian, the mysterious Dr. Chang, they overcome the demon. Or so it appears. . . .

Jacob, Liva, and Cecily are all victims of a single curse, a curse which entrapped and destroyed their parents before them. Now fate has drawn their descendants together again, and the curse is playing out. Nothing can help them, until Cecily’s husband returns from abroad. Colonel Beckford has been missing for years; he has seen strange things and acquired strange powers in his absence. Now he will do whatever it takes to free his wife and eliminate the demon and its curse once and for all.

About Michaela

     Ms. Jordan was born—but not raised—in California, of which she remembers nothing but the sea. Her mother always thought she was destined to write, from the day she won her first poetry award at the age of five.
     But, armed with a Bachelor’s degree in Drama from Bard College, she chose instead to launch a theatrical career that spanned nanoseconds. Sobered by that experience, she embarked on the Serious Business of Earning a Living. She studied programming and entered the workforce as a computer-literate administrator. In the meanwhile, she continued to scribble stories and chat with invisible playmates.
     Eventually, she was forced to admit that her mother had been right. Mirror Maze is her first novel to appear in book form, although the discerning reader may also have seen Blade Light, which was serialized in Jim Baen’s Universe.
     She lives in Cincinnati with a grumpy cat, a long-suffering husband, and a variety of invisible playmates.


Michaela's Links

Website
Facebook


The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a trade paperback copy of Mirror Maze from The Qwillery.

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:


Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1) Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2) Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3) Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Wednesday, November 2, 2011. Void where prohibited by law. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Please welcome Sandy Williams to The Qwillery as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge interviews. The Shadow Reader, Sandy's debut novel, will be published on October 25, 2011 by Ace.

TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Sandy:  My most interesting writing quirk? I think it might be that I don’t have a writing quirk. Well, unless you count my Diet Coke addiction. I can function without coffee. I can function without chocolate. But I absolutely cannot function without a Diet Coke (or two!) a day.

TQ:  Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Sandy:  I’m pretty sure I’ve been influenced by every author I’ve read, but the ones who have made the biggest impact on my writing are the ones that I worship. Ann Aguirre and Linnea Sinclair top my list of favorites. They both have books that are the perfect blend of science fiction and romance (I’m a huge fan of genre blending!). I’m also deeply in love with the works of Meredith Duran and Joanna Bourne. They both write historical romance, and they’re both absolutely brilliant. As for urban fantasy writers, I have Patricia Briggs, Kim Harrison, and Richelle Mead on auto-buy.

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Sandy:  I’d like to call myself a pantser. That’s how I’ve written all my books so far. I didn’t outline The Shadow Reader or any of my previous projects. I started off with a few scenes in mind and had absolutely no idea how I was going to get my characters from here to there. That’s starting to change, though. Once you get a book contract, editors and agents kind of want to know what’s going to happen next, so I had to come up with a vague outline for book two. I have to say, I don’t hate knowing what’s going to happen as much as I thought I would. Really, the biggest difference is that I now write down all those random scenes I have in my head before I start a project.

TQ:  Describe The Shadow Reader in 140 characters or less.

Sandy:  A human with the ability to see and track the fae becomes a pawn in a fae civil war.

TQ:  What inspired you to write The Shadow Reader?

Sandy:  I had a scene in my head. Somebody attacked a space station, and a girl was hanging onto the edge of a metal platform. It was all fire and death and bad stuff beneath her, and the only way she could save her life was to accept help from her enemy. I had this one very vivid image of a man offering the girl his hand to pull her up, and the girl telling him to go to hell. Yep, that’s right. I thought that scene was going to be in a sci-fi book, but when I sat down to write it, it turned into an urban fantasy. I’m so glad it did! It’s one of my favorite scenes in the book, and you’ll recognize it toward the end of the first chapter, which you can read here.

TQ:  What sort of research did you do for The Shadow Reader?

Sandy:  Do you count tying sheets together to see how far they stretch research? If so, that’s just about all I did. I had to know if it was feasible to climb down from a third story window with a few ripped sheets.

TQ:  Who was the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

Sandy:  McKenzie was an easy character to write. Her voice came naturally to me. She was also the hardest, though, especially toward the end. I was extremely paranoid she was going to come off as wishy-washy. I hope I wrote her well enough that she doesn’t!

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in The Shadow Reader?

Sandy:  The first chapter scene I mentioned above. I love the interaction there between McKenzie and Aren. Plus, it’s the scene that gave birth to the entire story. It’s definitely a favorite. Also a favorite? The wedding scene. Page 168 to be exact.

TQ:  How many books are planned for the McKenzie Lewis series?

Sandy:  Right now, I’ve only sold the second book. I’m hoping to make her current story arc a trilogy, though, and depending on how things go, I can see me writing other stories set in this world.

TQ:  What's next?

Sandy:  I’m really looking forward to next year! I’ll have the sequel finished and (hopefully) a third book completed soon as well. I’d like to write about more characters in McKenzie’s world, maybe tell the story of how she first became involved with the fae. I’d also love to tell Naito and Kelia’s story. I do want to work on other, unrelated projects, though. I have this sci-fi romance I’m just dying to finish!

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Sandy:  Thank you so much for having me!


About The Shadow Reader

McKenzie Lewis 1
Ace, October 25, 2011

A Houston college student, McKenzie Lewis can track fae by reading the shadows they leave behind. For years she has been working for the fae King, tracking rebels who would claim the Realm. Her job isn't her only secret. She's in love with Kyol, the King's sword-master-but human and fae relationships are forbidden. When McKenzie is captured by Aren, the fierce rebel leader, she learns that not everything is as she thought. And McKenzie must decide who to trust and where she stands in the face of a cataclysmic civil war.

About Sandy

Sandy graduated from Texas A&M University with a double major in political science and history. She thought about attending law school. Fortunately, before handing over her life’s savings, she realized case studies weren’t nearly as interesting as novels and decided to get an MA in Library Science instead. She worked as a librarian until her husband whisked her off to London on an extended business trip. She’s now back home in Texas, writing full-time, raising newborn twin boys, and squeezing in time to play geeky board and card games like Settlers of Catan, Dominion, and Runebound.



Sandy's Links

Website: www.sandy-williams.com
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/authorsandywilliams
Twitter: www.twitter.com/williams_sandy
Magic & Mayhem Writers Blog (group blog): www.magicandmayhemwriters.com


The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a copy of The Shadow Reader from Sandy. (US/Canada only.)

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:


Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)  Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)  Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3)  Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who and When:  The contest is open to all humans with a Canadian or United States mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Thursday, October 27 2011. Void where prohibited by law. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Please welcome Sara Humphreys to The Qwillery as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge interviews.

TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Sara:  I like to create a soundtrack for each book I’m writing and play it when I’m plotting out ideas. I can’t really play the music when I write because I find it too difficult to concentrate but before I get started it gives me great inspiration. For example, I’ve got Amy Petty’s music on every single Amoveo Legend soundtrack and I ended up using one of her songs for each of the book trailers. I adore her music and you should check it out on her website www.amypetty.com or you can find her stuff on itunes.

TQ:  Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Sara:  I am a huge fan of Christine Feehan, Terry Spear, Carolyn Brown, Judi Fennel, Lori Handeland, and Olivia Cunning…just to name a few. The truth is that there are many, many other authors I love to read and my tbr pile is growing by the second. My biggest influences have been Christine Feehan and Lori Handeland because their novels were the first paranormal romance novels I read—and I was hooked instantly.

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Sara:  I start every book as a pantser and just kind of let things go where the characters take me but by the time I hit the halfway mark I evolve into a plotter. Now that I have deadlines to meet, I don’t have time to diddle around and I have to get things done. I find that too much pantsing slows down my process.

TQ:  Describe Unleashed (The The Amoveo Legend 1) in 140 characters or less.

Sara:  Malcolm a dream walking telepathic shape-shifter has finally found his mate Samantha and she's a hybrid. Just 1 problem. She doesn't know it.

TQ:  What inspired you to write Unleashed?

Sara:  I’ve always loved shape-shifters and the idea of having one true life mate is especially romantic. As an avid reader of paranormal romance, I wanted to create a world that other paranormal romance junkies could fall in love with. My goal was to create an entirely new race of shape-shifters and build a world that readers could get lost in.

TQ:  What sort of research did you do for Unleashed?

Sara:  I researched wolves and golden eagles so that I could bring some of their real-life traits into the world of the Amoveo. I watched several you tube videos of golden eagles in flight so that I could capture that realistically for the reader and hopefully it worked. I’ve been researching the location for over twenty years. Unleashed is set in Westerly, RI and my family has a beach house there. Several of the locations mentioned are real places within Westerly. I love that town.

TQ:  Who was the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

Sara:  Samantha was most definitely the easiest probably because her character is the most like me and Nonie was easy too because she’s based on both of my grandmothers. I think that the villain was the most challenging because it’s not easy to get into the head of someone hateful and violent. It can be a little scary to let that darkness into your own mind and allow it to flourish so that the character can come to life.

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in Unleashed?

Sara:  My favorite scene is the diner scene. Malcolm senses Samantha is in trouble and he drops everything to go to her and be of assistance if she needs it. It makes me smile every time I think about it…but probably not for the reason you may be thinking. I don’t want to say anymore…I’ll just say it’s my personal fave.

TQ:  How many books are planned for The Amoveo Legend series?

Sara:  There are currently five books planned for the series. Untouched will be out in April 2012 and Untamed is slated for November 2012. The fourth and fifth books in the series will be released in 2013 and I’m having a blast putting it all together.

TQ:  What's next?

Sara:  I’ve got a blog tour running through October and we’ve got lots of books we’re giving away, thanks to Sourcebooks. You can find the full list on my blog.

http://amoveoromanceseries.blogspot.com/p/october-blog-tour-for-unleashed.html

Additionally, I’m in the middle of my brick & mortar book tour—10 cities in 8 weeks. You can find the full list of cities and dates on my blog or website.

http://amoveoromanceseries.blogspot.com/p/fall-2011-book-tour-dates.html

http://www.sarahumphreys.com/events.php

Dream on….

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.


About  Unleashed

Amoveo Legend 1
Sourcebooks Casanblanca,October 1, 2011

What if you suddenly discovered your own powers were beyond anything you’d ever imagined…

Samantha Logan’s childhood home had always been a haven, but everything changed while she was away. She has a gorgeous new neighbor, Malcolm, who introduces her to the amazing world of the dream-walking, shapeshifting Amoveo clans…but what leaves her reeling with disbelief is when he tells her she’s one of them…

And shock turns to terror as Samantha falls prey to the deadly enemy determined to destroy the Amoveo, and the only chance she has to come into her true powers is to trust in Malcolm to show her the way…

Get swept away into Sara Humphreys’s glorious world and breathtaking love story…

About Sara

Sara Humphreys has been attracted to the fantasies of science fiction, paranormal, and romance since her adolescence when she had a mad crush on Captain Kirk. An actress and teacher, Sara lives in New York with her husband, who is very considerate of her double life, and four amazing boys. For more information, please visit www.sarahumphreys.com.

Sara's Links

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter


The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a Mass Market Paperback copy of Unleashed from The Qwillery.

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:


Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)  Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)  Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3)  Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Friday October 21, 2011. Void where prohibited by law. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Please welcome Linda Poitevin to The Qwillery as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge interviews and Linda's Angels Gather Here Blog Tour. Sins of the Angels, Linda's debut, was published on September 27, 2011.

TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Linda:  I cannot write at home. Seriously. Over the last couple of years, between hiding from home renovations and kids, I’ve become so accustomed to writing in my local coffee shop that I just can’t get into the creative mindset at home. I have no problem doing my freelance/corporate stuff there, but when it comes to getting into the story and doing the whole world-building thing, I need my ‘usual’ little corner table. It’s so bad that if I don’t turn up for a few days, the staff wonders what’s wrong with me. I’m trying to change (paying for coffee out every day is expensive!) but it’s tough!

TQ:  Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Linda:  I have somewhat eclectic tastes and read widely outside my own genre. While I love Jim Butcher, Kevin Hearne, Patricia Briggs, and Charlaine Harris, I’m also a huge fan of J.R. Tolkien, Alexandre Dumas, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Kathy Reichs, Bill Bryson, and many others. I’m a fickle reader, though (should I be admitting that?) – I won’t necessarily buy a book just because I like the author…the story needs to appeal, too.

As for who has influenced my writing, I would have to say I’ve been influenced by just about everything I’ve ever read. I’m not a literary take-it-apart-and-examine-it-to-death kind of girl, so I haven’t purposefully studied any particular writer. It’s been more a matter of just enjoying (or not) a novel and letting my subconscious take notes. :-)

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Linda:  A bit of both, so I guess that makes me a proud plantser. :-) I plot out a lot of scenes inside my head in advance, but I won’t necessarily know how they fit together until I start writing them. II’m always happy to have a story take an unexpected twist—that’s what makes it exciting for me.

TQ:  Describe Sins of the Angels in 140 characters or less.

Linda:  Fallen Angel turns serial killer. Twin brother sent to hunt him. Cop comes between them. Blood spills. Chaos ensues. Apocalypse threatens. (138 characters)

TQ:  What inspired you to write Sins of the Angels?

Linda:  Short answer: A song sparked the idea, and a friend made it grow into a series. Long answer: when the song Angel came out from Sarah McLachlan, a line in it, “You’re in the arms of the angel, may you find some comfort here,” got the whole “what if?” questions flowing. Specifically, what if you didn’t find comfort in the arms of an angel, but something else entirely? I originally intended the story to be a paranormal romance, but then a friend of mine started telling me about Lucifer and the fallen angels and the ideas really started. Next thing I knew, I had ideas for an entire series and, while a love element still existed, the story was definitely no romance.

TQ:  What sort of research did you do to create the mythology in Sins of the Angels?

Linda:  I did a tremendous amount of research into angel mythology, both through books and on the Internet. Interestingly, however, I don’t think I found any two sources that agreed with one another. I had expected differences between the mythologies of various religions, of course—between Christian and Jewish, for example—but what surprised me were the discrepancies I found within the traditions of single religions. In the end, the variations actually made my job easier because I just borrowed bits and pieces of whatever worked best in order to construct my own world. Then, of course, I added my own twist on things. :-)

TQ:  Why did you set the novel in Toronto?

Linda:  Naiveté to begin with, lol, and also because it just made sense. When I started writing Sins of the Angels, I didn’t realized that Canadian settings could be an issue for American publishers. I wanted a big-city setting and it made sense for me to set it in Canada because my husband, a cop, is my built-in reference for Canadian police procedures. As Toronto is the largest city here, it kind of won by default. I was thrilled when my editor decided to leave the story there.

TQ:  Who was the easiest character to write and why? Hardest and why?

Linda:  Easiest was Alex. I’ve known so many cops over the years that writing a police character just felt really natural to me. Hardest was Aramael. He was so reactive…controlling him was kind of like juggling nitroglycerine at times, I swear.

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in the novel?

Linda:  One of my favorite scenes is when Alex is facing down Aramael, whom she still knows only as her annoying new partner, Jacob Trent. Because she’s the senior detective, she gets to give the orders, and we can really see Aramael struggling with the idea that a mere human—and a Nephilim descendent, at that—dares tell him what to do. In that one standoff, we so much of both of them: his resentment, her determination and bravado, all edged with an awareness of one another that neither wants. I just love how they react to one another.

TQ:  How many books are planned for the Grigori Legacy series?

Linda:  The series story arc stretches over four books, but at the moment I’m contracted for just the two, Sins of the Angels and Sins of the Son. Whether or not my publisher will pick up the option for the remaining books will depend on sales (hint, hint, lol!).

TQ:  What's next?

Linda:  At the moment I’m in the copyedit/proofreading stage of Sins of the Son, which comes out March 27th, and doing my very best to share my excitement with readers about the release of Sins of the Angels on this blog tour. Also, because I’m an optimist, I’ve started working on book 3, Sins of the Righteous, and I’m doing some early research for a new series idea that’s brewing. :-)

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Linda:  Thank you for having me, Sally! I can’t tell you how honored I was to be here today. And if any of your readers have questions they’d like to ask, I would be thrilled to answer.


About Sins of the Angels

The Grigori Legacy 1
(Ace, September 27, 2011)

When homicide detective Alexandra Jarvis is assigned a new partner in Aramael, a Guardian Angel who doubles as a hit man, they have only one thing in common: a fallen angel hell-bent on triggering the apocalypse. Now they have no choice but to work together-relentlessly, fearlessly, intimately. Because only they can stop the rogue angel from ushering in the end of days.

Read an excerpt of Sins of the Angels:  http://www.lindapoitevin.com/excerpt.html
Read The Qwillery's Review of Sins of the Angels here.

About Linda

Linda Poitevin was born and raised in B.C., Canada’s westernmost province. Growing up in an era when writing was “a nice hobby, dear, but what are you going to do for a living?”, Linda worked at a variety of secretarial jobs before applying to be a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Due to an error in measurement, however, she was turned down when she didn’t meet the height requirement of that time. Undeterred, Linda became a civilian member in the force and was a dispatcher for two and a half years, during which time she met her husband, a police officer.

Following their transfer to Ottawa, Linda went on to become a real estate agent and then a human resources consultant before starting a family. She has been a stay-at-home mom ever since and has homeschooled her youngest daughter for the last nine years. Now that she has realized writing can be more than a nice hobby, she continues to live her dream of being a cop vicariously through her characters.

Linda currently lives near Ottawa with her husband, three daughters, one very large husky/shepherd/Great Dane-cross dog, two cats, three rabbits, and a bearded dragon lizard. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found in her garden or walking her dog along the river or through the woods.
Linda is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Quebec Writers' Federation, Romance Writers of America, RWA Futuristic Fantasy Paranormal Chapter, and Ottawa Romance Writers' Association.

Linda's Links

Website
Facebook
Twitter

Linda's Blog Tour Schedule


The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  Two commenters will each win a Mass Market Paperback copy of Sins of the Angels generously provided by Ace Books.

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:  Angels or Fallen Angels? 

          or  You may ask Linda a question.

Please remember - if you don't answer the question or ask Linda a question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)  Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)  Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3)  Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Friday, October 14, 2011. Void where prohibited by law. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

Please welcome Jo Anderton to The Qwillery as part of the 2011 Debut Author Challenge interviews.

TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Jo:  I listen to music while I write and I have a tendency to dance along, still sitting in my chair, while I type. It's extremely embarrassing when someone walks in on me...

TQ:  Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

Jo:  My list of favourite writers tends to change. Whatever I'm enjoying right at the moment becomes a new favourite! But I'd have to say that authors like Sara Douglass and Elizabeth Bear have influenced me, particularly with the way they blend science fiction with the fantastical. And Robin Hobb because she's just amazing.

TQ:  Are you a plotter or a panster?

Jo:  A little of both. I do some vague plotting using timelines and different coloured pens. I always know the beginning, the end, and a few major events along the way. I enjoy discovering the rest of the story as it happens.

TQ:  Describe Debris (The Veiled Worlds 1) in 140 characters or less.

Jo:  It’s about Tanyana, how she copes when her life and career are devastated by a terrible accident, and her fight to find the truth behind it.

TQ:  What inspired you to write Debris?

Jo:  There were three main inspirations for Debris. One was a anime called 'Planets' -- set in the future, it followed crews collecting space debris. My brain asked "what if the debris was magical instead?" and the magic system in Debris became the answer. The second was a fascination with the interplay of technology and magic. Basically, I wanted to know what an industrial revolution would look like in a world where magic was commonplace? The world in Debris grew from that. The third, and perhaps strangest, was when my husband lost his job. What we went through -- emotionally and financially -- fed into the book, and inspired a lot of what Tanyana has to deal with.

TQ:  What sort of research did you do to create the world of Debris?

Jo:  Ah, the research I did was many and varied. The magic system is loosely inspired by particle and quantum physics, so I did a lot of reading into that and found it really exciting! I also played with things like architecture theory and Russian cooking (I love researching food, it makes me so hungry).

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in the novel?

Jo:  Without giving anything away? Oh that's hard. Well, I do enjoy the opening scenes. Stripping my main character of her power and leaving her penniless and scarred was a fun way to start.

TQ:  In Debris, who was the most difficult character to write and why? The easiest and why?

Jo:  One of the members of Tanyana's debris collecting team is a strange, childlike man named Lad. He was both the easiest, and the hardest to write, and I love him dearly. On the surface Lad is slow but loving, and quite innocent to the world. Actually, Lad hides some of the biggest secrets of the book, and he suffers a lot because he doesn't really understand them, and can't communicate them. I loved writing his innocent, genuinely lovely voice, but I found his undercurrent darkness and the injustice of his situation difficult.

TQ:  How many books are planned for The Veiled Worlds series?

Jo:  Definitely three. Plus a few short stories. And I've got this really cool idea for a graphic novel, involving one of the secondary characters...

TQ:  What's next?

Jo:  I'm currently working on something I call a "post-apocalyptic romantic comedy, set in Sydney in the not-too-distant-future, with ghosts". It's great fun!

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Jo:  Thanks for having me!


Read Jo's guest post about Genre here.


About Debris

The Veiled Worlds 1
(Angry Robot Books, October 2011)

In a far future where technology is all but indistinguishable from magic, Tanyana is one of the elite.

She can control pions, the building blocks of matter, shaping them into new forms using ritual gestures and techniques. The rewards are great, and she is one of most highly regarded people in the city. But that was before the “accident”.

Stripped of her powers, bound inside a bizarre powersuit, she finds herself cast down to the very lowest level of society. Powerless, penniless and scarred, Tanyana must adjust to a new life collecting “debris”, the stuff left behind by pions. But as she tries to find who has done all of this to her, she also starts to realize that debris is more important than anyone could guess.

Debris is a stunning new piece of Science Fantasy, which draws in themes from Japanese manga, and classic Western SF and Fantasy to create this unique, engrossing debut from the very exciting young author Jo Anderton.

FILE UNDER: Science Fiction [ Sentient Matter | Cast Down | Cruel Betrayals | All Is Lies ]

About Jo


Jo's Links

Website
Facebook
Twitter



The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a copy of Debris (The Veiled Worlds 1) generously provided by Angry Robot Books.

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:


Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)  Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)  Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3)  Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Wednesday, October 12, 2011. Void where prohibited by law. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.