Blakely’s Friday Interview with Chris Hilton

Please give a warm welcome to Chris Hilton, author of Caliente.

IMG_2140Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
My name is Chris Hilton. I have always written stuff but been too busy working to ever think of being published. My experiences in Cuba started as a diary, and then people suggested that I should publish it. I spent one year turning the diary into a book, Caliente.

What genre is your book? Do you write in other genres as well?
Caliente, my Cuban adventure, was published in 2012. I am currently working on a novel about two runaway girls. The working title is Leaving. I will pre-publish the first chapter and intend to finish it by January. I am comfortable writing anything: non-fiction, fiction or essays.

Who or what inspires you?
Many, many things. Writers: all of them, even the bad ones. I can get ideas from anywhere or anything. I’m never bored and find all of life interesting. Cuba, Shakespeare, Steinbeck, Mailer, Tolstoy…the list is endless and changing.

Do you have an agent and/or publisher or are you self-published? If self-published, do you use a professional editor? If traditionally published, who is your publisher?
I do have an agent, Annette Green. She picked up Caliente and tried to sell it in 2010. Many publishers liked the book, but were not sure how to sell it. I didn’t get a deal, although Annette is still my agent. Eventually I self-published Caliente. I will submit my novel, Leaving, to Annette in January. I edit my own work.

What advice do you have for writer’s just starting out?
Read. Read a lot. Never stop reading. Have a writing schedule that you stick to faithfully.

Do you set writing goals and if so, what are they?
I am very lazy, but when I have a task or novel to complete I set myself a target of 1000 words (minimum) a day. Even if I write nonsense, I stick to it. It can be edited or deleted later.

What does your writing space look like?
A room with a desk, laptop, printer and loads of books. Natural light, as quiet as possible, quite plain but pleasant (to me).

What are your three favorite books including the authors?
East of Eden: John Steinbeck; The Executioners Song: Norman Mailer; Son: Philipp Meyer.

Who is your favorite author and why?
John Steinbeck: because of his innate humanity. He understood people, liked people and wrote about them as well as anybody.

What has been your best moment as a writer?
Getting an agent straight away; it was disappointing not to get a deal, but I still have an agent.

How much time a day do you spend on social media?
As little as possible; if I wasn’t a writer I would have very little to do with it. I’m a real Luddite – I don’t like technology at all.

What do you do to stay sane as a writer?
Choose my friends carefully; spend much of my time alone (the only time I can really think); spend as much time as possible in Cuba and watch very little TV (only pre-recorded programmes).

You can find Chris on his blog, Twitter& Facebook.

To buy Chris’s book, click on the links or cover:

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The Dream and the Reality

sunset clouds kids dreams reality digital art artwork balloons sign board 3000x1653 wallpaper_www.wallmay.net_13I’m sure it’s like this with most dreams. There is the fantasy of how it will be and then the stark realism of the truth.

DREAM: Picture me with tons of book sales, huge advances, bookstores clamoring to have me do book signings at their establishments, talk show hosts banging down my door, and two hot men in tight white shorts, waving big feathered fans on either side of me to keep me cool. Okay, I got a little carried away, but I think you get the point.

REALITY: Your publisher will take most of your royalties and you will have to promote yourself non-stop, getting your books into the physical stores takes emotional mountain climbing skills and you will need to put out at least six novels until you are really noticed. OUCH! Continue reading

Blakely’s Friday Interview with Peter B Forster

Please give a warm welcome to Peter B Forster, author of Mr Charalambus and The One SoulWhen A Tear Falls, Volume 2: The One Soul.

PeterBForsterTell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
For close to Eighteen years I have practiced as a consulting Counselling Psychologist in a busy East London community health setting. Although I have previously been published in academic works and provided chapters in books for counsellors, psychologists, and psychotherapists, I have always nurtured a love of and talent (hopefully) for creative writing.

Over many years I attended writer’s workshops, wrote and performed poetry as well as provided lyrics for jobbing musicians. However the simple truth is I always harboured the ambition to write full length fiction.

I enjoy writing. I always have. Sometimes it feels like the flow of hungry words is never ending and I will be swept away, whipped right off my feet, carried along on an imaginative stream of unconscious process. But just like everybody else I have a life. To some it may seem narrowly defined. Focused as it is on work, family, writing and music but to others without the opportunity to learn, make relationships build a future and have the freedom to choose it may seem like it is a world of riches.

The second book in the One Soul series has just been released in paperback through Amazon and on kindle. The One Soul: When A Tear Falls.

Do you have an agent and/or publisher or are you self-published? If self-published, do you use a professional editor? If traditionally published, who is your publisher?
I finally completed my first novel in late 2011 and as many writers do I wondered what would happen next. I thought I would try to land an agent and sent out a letter along with the first three chapters as requested. I only approached half a dozen but was rejected by each and every one. Sometimes the letters were personalized but most of the time they were just standard templates and I was immediately discouraged.

That was it for a while and the manuscript sat around for much of the rest of 2012 until an inspirational, spur of the moment decision by my daughter. She decided to publish independently through Amazon and my first book was released in the November of that year. This first book is called Mister Charalambus and the One Soul

What genre is your book? Do you write in other genres as well?
As I said the first book was called Mister Charalambus and the One Soul
The idea of the book came from the name. It was inspired by the name of a friend. She married a Mr Charalambous. I thought this name was fantastic. It rolled around my tongue with the taste of smoke and bone. It was a name to excite the imagination and frighten the children. For a while I had been carrying an idea of a story about the nature of enduring love and once I decided on the name the narrative formed around him.

To be truthful I still see what has now developed into a series of three books as stories about enduring love. But included in the story arc is an on-going spiritual quest and redemptive journey. For ease of classification I guess the books fit into the fantasy stable by way of romance and adventure.

What project are you currently working on?
At the moment I am still working on the final story in the series, although it may not be the last time we will hear about some of the characters. It is complete all but a final edit and will be published next year. This book is tentatively called: ‘The One Soul: Into the Grey.’

I also write poetry and the good news is for those who follow my daily poetry postings on facebook and twitter under the general heading of ‘Daily missives’ I have been persuaded to put an anthology together. A writing friend Debbie McEwan volunteered to proof read. She has done this and now all we need to do is finalize the cover which is likely to be one of my wife’s paintings ‘The 2nd Wave’ and I will have a book of poetry released hopefully before Christmas but more likely in January. The title of this work is penciled in to be
‘The First Wave: A collection of Missives.’

Who or what inspires you?
I think I am inspired by many things. My poetry is inspired by my love for my wife and family and continually also rather sadly fueled by the on-going grief over the loss of my son in 2009.

I believe everybody has the capacity to tell a story. We all have a head full of fantastical ideas- internal dialogue and otherworldly invention is at the heart of all day dreaming. However not everybody wants to capture them and write them down. But I do.
I have always lived a rich fantasy of a life, or so my wife tells me, so quite naturally the ideas I carry with me about the nature of storytelling seemed to carry me in a fantastical direction. Like most I enjoyed Tolkien, CS Lewis and the like but I was especially impressed by a book I read years ago. Mikhail Bulgakov’s ‘Master and Margarita.’
It was the idea of a supernatural presence in the real world that stuck and I guess he was an underlying inspiration. Especially for the idea of the character Mr Charalambus.

Do you use test readers and if so how many?
I have in fact used only two readers for all three books. And strangely I am still good friends with both of them. Lol. However one of them is my wife. The other is a work colleague. Both have been invaluable. I did have a lot of help from my secretary with formatting the first book and my daughter has been an absolute diamond.

Sadly although I have had a little bit of support with proof reading I have only ever edited myself. It is not what I would have chosen to do and I would not recommend it.

What advice do you have for writer’s just starting out?
I think it is best to answer that question by referring back to my publishing story and my advice would be to be better at it than me. I didn’t try to use a publisher at all. I sent a couple of chapters to a few agents over a six month period with no luck. I became disheartened even though everybody who read the whole manuscript liked it, the fact a professional wouldn’t back it was tough to take. I could have given up on trying, although I was still writing and that was the easy enjoyable part. I could have tried publishers direct but I didn’t instead my wonderful daughter just went ahead and did it for me as a Xmas present. What a thing to do. Things have taken off a bit in the past few months. With thanks to her, not me. So my advice is to have a good daughter, no seriously, don’t be put off by a few rejections keep going believe in your writing take criticism, publish and be damned.

What are your three favorite books including the authors?
As I said earlier the answer to the favourite book question at this moment might be Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita but in truth it is hard to name one book as a favourite.

It might even be Tolstoy’s War and Peace as I did read it twice. But more recently I have been impressed by Jonathon Franzen especially his recent novel ‘Corrections’. He is a wonderfully literate and humorously crazy writer of dark Americana. I guess people may argue with that description but it seems to fit. He writes about real people in real situations and pulls it into a richly dark and fantastic place. I would like to think I can do a little bit of that.

However, my first book was likened to an intellectual version of Scrooge and whilst I don’t necessarily agree with that comparison, to be mentioned in the same breath as Dickens was wonderful. I have tried to capture some of the feel of Dickens industrial poverty especially Nicholas Nickelby, in my writing and characters. ‘Do the Boys Hall’ even gets a mention in the third book. For somebody to pick that up was unbelievably flattering.

Question: Is there a message in your book(s) that you want readers to grasp?
My books follow the lives of a number of inter-connected characters. The stories trace the belief in true love and how- in very different ways- we all strive to find it. Sometimes we seem to gravitate toward it almost by accident. Or do we? This is complimented by the enduring notion of a soul.

The one-soul of the series title refers to two children born of earthly manifestations of God: Referred to as The Father in the stories. One child is born out of love and the other hate. These souls are carried throughout history and across worlds and trace an eternal struggle between the powers of light and dark, good and evil. The souls endure as does their love. It is cataclysmic and inspiring, capturing the twin notions of reincarnation and spiritual growth.

The narrative is founded in the capacity for ordinary people to prevail when all seems lost. I was inspired by all the instances, documented throughout history, when people going about their everyday business are suddenly thrust into mighty confrontations, without preparation or expertise. Amazing things happen. Somehow people find the capacity not only to survive terrible misfortune but they often find a way to become something more than they thought they were. I hope this leads to a powerful narrative and gives the characters a depth, balance and humanity. Hopefully it is something most readers will recognize and identify with.

Do you see yourself in any of your characters?
It would be foolish to pretend we are not influenced by our own experience and the lives of those we know. One of the writing maxims is to write what you know and it is good advice. Nobody in my stories is based on any one person but on aspects of the many people I have met. Sometimes this has been a conscious decision other times I figure it out later.

In the first book particularly I draw on many of my experiences for the two main characters: Karina/Kiera (the main female character) and also Josep/Joseph the One-soul of the title.

If truth be told Karina, like my wife is a red head and when we kissed for the first time a spark of static electricity ran right through us both. I used this as a central plank of the two main characters first meeting and on-going attraction. But the characters are aspects of many people, for good or ill and if I could give any advice it would be to observe other people, but to do it with affection.

You can find Peter on his website, Facebook & Twitter.

To buy Peter’s books, click on the links or covers:

MrCharalambusAndTheOneSoulCoverBookCoverImage

Blakely’s Friday Interview with Barry Finlay

Please give a warm welcome to Barry Finlay, author of I Guess We Missed the Boat and Kilimanjaro and Beyond: A Life-Changing Journey.

IMG_4994Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
I spent most of my career working for the Canadian federal government. I have been “retired” for a number of years and living the good life. In 2009 I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro at age 60 with my son and we wrote an award winning book, Kilimanjaro and Beyond, as a result. We had decided to use the climb as a platform to raise money to help some kids in Africa and after meeting them at their crowded classroom, I couldn’t stop. With the help of a lot of donors whom I can’t thank enough, we have since raised enough to drill a well, build a classroom and help some young women start small businesses in Tanzania. Our fundraising continues.

I still have time to write and just released a travel memoir called I Guess We Missed The Boat. As one reviewer pointed out, it isn’t your usual travel memoir as I focus on the amusing things that have happened in our travels. We usually travel with my in-laws so they play a starring role. And yes, fortunately, they are still speaking to me.

What genre is your book? Do you write in other genres as well?
My two published books are both non-fiction. My first book falls into the Inspirational category as it describes the satisfaction of helping oneself and others but there is a travel component to it as well. The second is a humorous travel memoir. Now I’m working on a non-fiction mystery thriller so I guess I don’t really have a specific genre.

Who or what inspires you?
I’m inspired by people who have done amazing things under difficult circumstances. There are many people who have tremendous stories to tell. Some don’t even realize they are inspiring. We are surrounded by people who have done great things and I draw inspiration from that.

Do you have an agent and/or publisher or are you self-published? If self-published, do you use a professional editor? If traditionally published, who is your publisher?
My first book was self published with Dog Ear Publishing. I’m following the more traditional route with the second as it has been published by General Store Publishing in Renfrew, Ontario, Canada. It’s early yet but I can see there is a loss of control with the traditional route that may be offset by the advantage of distribution.

I had a professional editor for both books and I highly recommend it. In both cases, the editors pointed out areas of redundancy or parts that required more or less emphasis. I’m convinced the books are better as a result. In my opinion, it doesn’t make sense to pour your heart and soul into your writing without ensuring that the finished product is the best it can be. It’s worth the money to have a qualified editor.

Do you use test readers? If so, how many?
My wife has been my test reader on my first two books. I have a friend who is a former deputy police chief and he is going to read the mystery thriller manuscript to make sure I’m not out in left field somewhere.

What advice do you have for writer’s just starting out?
I have learned that writing is the easy part. After it is published, getting your book noticed, ahead of the million or so other authors trying to do the same thing, is the tricky and time consuming part. A writer just starting out will have to be prepared to spend hours with social media and spreading the word by every available means. I’m not saying it isn’t fun promoting your work but it is something that a new writer needs to be prepared for. My second piece of advice is that if you feel like you have a book in you, write it! It’s very satisfying to see your work in print or ebook form.

I guess I have a third suggestion as mentioned previously. Hire an editor!

What does your writing space look like?
I have an office in one of the bedrooms in my home and I use a laptop most of the time. I have a desktop computer as a backup. Both sit on a nice desk. At least, I think my desk is nice. I haven’t seen much of the top of it lately…too many pieces of paper scattered about.

What project are you currently working on?
As mentioned above, I’m working on a mystery thriller. This is my first non-fiction book and I’m finding it more difficult than the books where I wrote what I lived. I’ve written about 185 pages and a number of things are starting to happen at once. I have laid them out in summary form so I don’t get confused or write something totally inconsistent. I’m also finding that the basic concept I had in my head is evolving as I write as things are going in different directions than I originally expected them to.

What book are you currently reading?
I’m currently reading Keith Richards’ Life. He is probably one of the most unapologetic people you will ever read, by the way. I like a variety of genres. I will read a non-fiction book, followed by 3 or 4 books by James Patterson, Lee Childs, Kathy Reichs, etc. Lately, I have been reading and enjoying books by some of my fellow lesser known local authors as well.

Is there a message in your book(s) that you want readers to grasp?
There is a common theme running through my first two books and that is how fortunate we are to be living where we do. When we are traveling, we need to take note of our surroundings and give back when we can. It could be something as simple as taking extra little toothpaste tubes with us when we go to a resort somewhere or a soccer ball to Africa. Even the smallest gesture by our standards is greatly appreciated by the recipients. In my first book, I also try to get across the point that it is never too late to pursue a dream. Most of us get caught up with careers and kids for a few years but there is still time to do other things later in life.

What do you do when you’re not writing?
During the summer I play a lot of golf and I curl during the winter. I learned the value of being in shape when I climbed the mountain. I felt much better and more energetic after training for the climb so I still try to maintain my fitness level. My philanthropic work takes a lot of time and my wife and I travel as much as we can. We also have three grandchildren from ages 18 months to 6 years old that we like to spend time with.

Do you read your reviews and if so, how do you cope with a bad one?
I do read reviews because I’m always surprised at what different people pick up from my books. Sometimes reviewers comment on some aspect of the story that I thought was insignificant. It’s interesting to see how different people will find different parts of a book important to them. As for negative reviews, my first book had won three awards and received 10 5-star and 2 4-star reviews when along came a comment that the book was a “disjointed jumble of words.” It was just the comment with no supporting justification for why the reader thought that. My first reaction was to fire back by pointing out the book’s success. After thinking about it for awhile, I realized that we are all entitled to our opinions. I guess if a book got bad review after bad review, it would be cause for concern and the author should reevaluate their writing. However, if there is one bad review mixed in with a number of good ones, I don’t think the author should pay that much attention.

However, it’s human nature to remember the bad review forever. We just have to remember that we are putting ourselves out there and social media gives people the opportunity to be critical without supporting their comments. I’m pretty sure most readers will glance at all the reviews but form their own conclusions based on the description of the book and the type of book they are looking for.

I, Blakely, have found the writer’s community to be very supportive and welcoming.  Barry, please share three writers that you recommend. 

  1. Len Westwood – Where Were You When I Was a Kid 
  2. Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt – Approaching Felonias Park 
  3. Claudine Gueh Yanting – My Clearest Me 

You can find Barry on his website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

                To buy Barry’s books, click on the links or covers:

Guess_OFC_v2_CoverProposal (2)Final cover

Impatient Much?

Isabella_ImpatientThat would be me. Patience has never been my strong suit. I remember being a kid and how waiting in line was pure torture for me—really—waiting for anything. That is, until I realized I could create a story in my head while I waited. Walking home from school, I would sing a song I made up on the fly or fantasized about my latest fictional adventure.

I guess you could say my impatience lead me to be an author. That and my love of reading. Continue reading

Blakely’s Friday Interview with Jeanne D’eau

Please give a warm welcome to Jeanne D’eau, author of The Loves of Natalie Greenbaum, Book 1.

Jeanne02Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
I’m a buxom (okay, chunky, even) redhead just past the half-century mark and still sexy as hell (at least my sweet spouse and domestic partner of over 20 years still thinks so, LOL). In the past, I was a social studies teacher who wound up working with very diverse populations. Today, I’m a bit of a recluse 😉

My current novel, now available on Amazon.com and from Club Lighthouse Publishing, is The Loves of Natalie Greenbaum, Book 1. The title character is a big band and saloon singer during the late 1920s up through the 1970s who is also a lesbian. Book 1 covers her life from the end of the Jazz Age and her first love at nineteen, through the 1930s and various love affairs that follow, up to the eve of World War II. Continue reading

What’s Trending Now

Edge-of-Love-1As an author who writes erotica, it is incumbent on me to stay abreast (no pun intended) of the latest trends in sexual behavior. While doing research, I have recently discovered a study about the rise in reporting of women on women sex both here in the US and in the UK. It is believed that the change is due to the shift in society in regards to same sex relationships, allowing women to more comfortably explore different sides of their sexuality. In addition, the advent of the internet has made finding potential partners easier. Continue reading

Blakely’s Friday Interview with MJ Nightingale

Please give a warm welcome to MJ Nightingale, author of Fire in His Eyes.

3D_promoTell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
I’ve just finished writing my debut novel, Fire in His Eyes, and I am working on promoting it and marketing it. I am learning all the technical aspects of the new digital publishing world, and want to get the word out about my book via facebook, Goodreads, and twitter. I am also writing a second novel inspired by one of the characters in my first book, Ana.

I have two other novels on the horizon, one with author Chelle Bliss. We are planning on writing alternating chapters in a different POV. Continue reading