My Daughter is a Senior

get-attachmentThis past Monday was my daughter’s first day of her senior year in high school. Through the Running Start program she is taking all college classes this year, which apply toward her high school diploma and achieving her AA in college. I wish they had something like that when I was in high school.

Where I couldn’t get older fast enough, she is not too thrilled that this is her senior year and that in a few months from now she will be turning eighteen. Truthfully, I was more oblivious to the world around me and the current state of politics where she is not. She is very concerned over what might be around the corner for our country and for the planet. Continue reading

Blakely’s Friday Interview with Matthew Peters

Please give a warm welcome to Matthew Peters, author of The Brothers’ Keepers and Conversations Among Ruins.

Matthew PetersTell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
I’m a recovering academic who now writes fiction. I’m promoting a religious mystery/thriller called The Brothers’ Keepers and a literary novel called Conversations Among Ruins.

Who or what inspires you?
Music inspires me, especially classical music, Leonard Cohen, and my favorite country singer Jeanne Jolly.

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?
Both my books have been picked up by small presses. All Things That Matter Press is publishing Conversations Among Ruins and MuseItUp is publishing The Brothers’ Keepers. Continue reading

Blakely’s Friday Interview with Clara Grace Walker

Please give a warm welcome to Clara Grace Walker, author of Gratification, Gossip, and Redemption.

AuthorPhotoOption2Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
At 9 years old I realized I loved books so much I wanted to write them. While I have worked “day jobs” at times, nothing has ever felt like my true calling, save being an author. I’m a creative soul, and I like to express that in a number of different ways, including photography, scrapbooking and various crafting projects.

Currently, I’m promoting the three books that make up my Desire Never Dies trilogy: Gratification, Gossip, and Redemption, while working on my fourth novel. Exploits will be the first of a 4-book series titled Sex and Secrets. This writing gig keeps me pretty busy, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 🙂  Continue reading

Why Women Love Their Alpha Book Boyfriends…

by Frank Carroll http://goo.gl/idRdqV

by Frank Carroll http://goo.gl/idRdqV

If you’re a fan of romance or erotica, you might think women love their “alpha males” because they are perfect. However, I’m here to tell you, that isn’t so. I personally love my strong book-boyfriends flawed with room to grow. I like when there is personal conflict that needs to be resolved.

My favorite romance author, Lisa Kleypas, especially in the Hathaway Series, knows how to craft complex characters with yummy flaws to reconcile.

Some say that romance stories create an unreasonable standard for men to meet. I strongly disagree. I have found my alpha male (19+ years together) who is my utter complement. Continue reading

Blakely’s Friday Interview with Jim Melvin

Please give a warm welcome to Jim Melvin, author of The Death Wizard Chronicles, a six-book epic fantasy.

jimnoglasses (1)Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
First, thanks so much for providing this service to writers. I know it’s a lot of work, but it means so much to anyone not named J.K. Rowling or Stephen King. 🙂

I am a long-time journalist who has worked in a variety of capacities at several large newspapers, including the St. Petersburg Times (now called the Tampa Bay Times), the Greenville News and the Charlotte Observer. But though I have supported myself and my family as a journalist, I consider myself to be a novelist trapped in a journalist’s body.

I am currently working on finishing the editing and production aspects of my six-book epic fantasy titled The Death Wizard Chronicles — via my publisher, Bell Bridge Books. Five books have been released, with Book 1 (Forged in Death) having become an Amazon No. 1 best-seller free on Kindle. Continue reading

The Power of Choice

8650924544_cf6d44a327_oMy husband and I were at a small art fair this weekend selling our books. A woman stopped at our table and mentioned—rather passionately—that she abhorred 50 Shades of Grey (she had read the first two books). She was concerned about the lack of consensual sex in 50 Shades and at least to me, in the first book it was clearly 100% Anastasia’s decision (I haven’t read the other two). Grey placed all his cards on the table in FSOG and Ana knew what she was getting into. Continue reading

Blakely’s Friday Interview with Stuart Land

Please give a warm welcome to Stuart Land, author of Endless Sky.

Stuart-CambodiaTell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
Hi! My pen name is Stuart Land…wait, that’s also my real name. Today, I’m a full-time novelist and screenwriter. Well, today and for the next few months, I’m a novelist. I might be a screenwriter for the next few months after that, though. Sometimes I’m also a sculptor and occasionally work on movies. I worked in Hollywood for 15 years doing sculpture for special effects, and twice within the last year and a half I went to Beijing to work on Chinese films. This turned out to be a double treat as they also bought one of my scripts. It also played havoc with my novel writing since I was in the middle of two novels at the time.  Continue reading