It all started last Christmas. I gave my wife, Sue, a Sony E-reader. I know what you are thinking, an e-reader? Aren’t you writer types against that? Well, yes and no, but that is an argument for another time. Suffice it to say, Sue is an electronic gizmo nut.

Well, long story short, after a year of puttering around with the downloadable books, Sue accumulated a fair-sized “library” (And no, I won’t ever call it that. On an e-reader, it’s just a list). Part of that library was a new author, at least new to Sue and I.

Being a member of a large writing community, I have the opportunity to rub elbows with writers ranging from beginners to published veterans. As a result I get to see the writing process from its roots all the way to its leaves. It’s a place I never imagined myself to be and yet here I am.

So, after hearing my wife giggle her way through 18 books, on a whim I contacted the source of my wife’s reading amusement, Janet Evanovich. My idea was to see if Janet had bookmarks I could have her autograph as a Christmas present for Sue. Afterall, the only thing writers like more than writing is talking about writing to other writers.

To my surprise, I got an answer back almost right away. Ok, it wasn’t Janet herself replying, but her assistant Ken. Ken was more than helpful, he was personable and polite. In the end, I had a nice surprise for Sue to go with the actual hard copies of One For the Money and Two for the Show that I ordered from Blue Heron Books.

Wait, it gets better. Ken agreed to pass on a few questions to Janet. After much consideration and some valuable input from Sue and Vicky Graham, I managed to come up with six questions. Janet was kind enough to reply and I got the e-mail yesterday. So after much jumping around and Sue grinning like a maniac, here it is in true The Author`s Voice style.

First off, I can’t thank you enough for taking time out of your busy schedule to do this, Janet. Mind the coffee. The Author’s Voice is currently not a high budget production. Well actually, more of a no budget production, but hopefully that will change the longer we stick around.

Anyways, enough of me, we’re here to talk about you.

Janet, were you the class clown?

No. I was much too shy.  That’s one of the reasons I like Stephanie Plum.  She says all the stuff I wanted to say.

(From my wife Sue and her friend Vicky) Both Joe and Ranger are super sexy males (their words, not mine), are they representative of men that have been in your life?

I wish.  All kidding aside, my husband Pete’s pretty great.

Having your book made into a movie had to have been super exciting, but was it hard when they left parts of the book out of the movie and did you have much input in that process?

It was very exciting to see it on the big screen.  As you may know, I sold the movie rights nearly 20 years ago and had no input at all. Books and movies are totally different animals.  A theatrical movie script is about a hundred pages long and the average novel goes over 300.  If you included every scene from a book, that movie would be over 5 hours long.  They have to cut somewhere. Best you can hope for is that a movie captures the plot and the spirit of the book.  In this case, they did a good job of both.

Ken says you write eight hours a day. Is this something you’ve always done or have you honed your discipline over time and piles of novels?

In the early days, when my kids were young, I had to get the housework done, the meals prepared and the kids schlepped around.  I wrote mostly while the kids were at school.  As soon as they were older, I sort of settled into my seven-day-a-week schedule.  When I’m on deadline, I work a lot longer than eight hours.

As I mentioned earlier, I am part of a large writer’s community in Ontario, the WCDR. Some of the members are published, most not. Do you have any words of encouragement or of caution to help us through the minefield that is modern-day publishing?

Get an agent. Most publishers these days won’t even look at an unsolicited manuscript.  The agent search can be a long, tough haul, but it’s well worth the effort.  Write clear, concise query letters. I have some guidelines for writers on my website.

And finally, is there an actual recipe for the pineapple upside down cake?

Yes:

3 eggs
1 cup of flour
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons unsweetened pineapple juice
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup brown sugar
Unsweetened pineapple slices

Melt the butter in a nine-inch pie plate. Dump brown sugar into the plate and mash with a fork until it’s all mixed with the melted butter and covers the bottom of the plate. Arrange pineapple slices on bottom of plate in single layer. Mix eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder and pineapple juice by hand in a small bowl until smooth. Pour mixture over pineapple slices. Bake in a 350 degree oven until a pick comes out clean (maybe 30-45 min.) Remove cake from oven and set on rack for a couple of minutes. Put cake plate over the hot cake in the pie plate and CAREFULLY but quickly turn the pie plate upside down. Remove pie plate and let cake cool to room temperature. Pineapple slices should be on top! (If you let the cake cool in the pie plate you’ll NEVER get it out). When cool, spread lots of globs of whipped cream on it…the real stuff, none of that fake stuff in a can!

Eat too much.

Well, you heard it here first, the infamous Pineapple Upside Down cake. Now if you`ll excuse me, I`m hungry, thanks Janet…

Seriously, what an absolute pleasure it was dealing with Janet. If you are reading this Janet, which I hope you will, I wish you continued success. I know for a fact that as long as Stephanie Plum has adventures, we`ll be there to enjoy them. Although, Sue and Vicky wonder how Stephanie would react to being pregnant…

To find out more about Janet, visit her site www.evanovich.com.

And, of course, buy her books. Explosive Eighteen, being the latest in the Stephanie Plum series.

If you want to catch up, or become a new fan, slip on down to your local bookstore (Blue Heron Books, if you are in Durham region, Ontario) and order them.

This is The Author’s Voice saying good-day, and in the spirit of Grandma Mazur, keep your pen on the page because “the Weather Channel doesn’t have enough action”.

Noises with fancy names made necessary by the alliance between the tongue and the ear.

Wikipedia gives us definitions for some of these unique noises.

• A colloquialism is a word or phrase that is common in everyday, unconstrained conversation rather than in formal speech, academic writing, or paralinguistics. They are often used primarily within a limited geographical area, known by linguists to spread through normal conversational interaction of a language, although more often now through informal online interaction. Colloquialisms are sometimes referred to collectively as “youknowhatitis language.
• The term dialect (from the Greek Language word dialektos, Διάλεκτος) refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language’s speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class. A dialect is distinguished by its vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.
• In linguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular individual, location, or nation. An accent may identify the locality in which its speakers reside (a geographical or regional accent), the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity, their caste or social class, their first language (when the language in which the accent is heard is not their native language), and so on. Accents typically differ in quality of voice, pronunciation of vowels and consonants, stress, and prosody. Although grammar, semantics, vocabulary, and other language characteristics often vary concurrently with accent, the word ‘accent’ refers specifically to the differences in pronunciation, whereas the word ‘dialect’ encompasses the broader set of linguistic differences. Often ‘accent’ is a subset of ‘dialect’.

Did you notice a commonality? All of these three terms refer to how a “language” is heard and varies from region to region as well as through class.

Ok, English class is over. Now before you all raise your hands and ask why I have bored you with definitions, I’d like to ask you a question first. Describe the noise a duck makes without using the word ‘quack’.

Not easy is it?

Describing what you see is a bit easier as you can draw comparisons to mutually familiar objects, but I can  make even that hard for you. Describe ‘blue’ to someone who has been blind since birth.

Wow, kinda bends the brain doesn’t it. Oh, and did you see the colloquialism there?

Ok, now you are comfortably in my shoes. Don’t get too close to them though, the smell makes the experience decidedly less comfortable.

My point? In writing Echoes and Appetites, I have a character in each that has an accent, dialect AND colloquialism and I have to try to put that on paper in such way that you as a reader can ‘hear’ it. It’s not easy. Too often, we as writers, tend to succumb to cliché, or caricature. We try to write phonetically rather than capture to flavour or true character of the speech.

Why? Because it is easy. It is the same as describing the sky as blue. Or worse yet, sky blue.

I am going to enter a writing contest. Five Rivers is putting together an anthology called A Method To the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil. They are looking for “articles and essays written from the perspective of mad scientists, evil doctors, crazed super-villains and the like that provide advice for the up-and-coming super villain. Think Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies or Megamind, Gru from Despicable Me or even Agatha Heterodyne from Girl Genius” . I’m grinning maniacally in anticipation. Time to stretch my humour chops while still frolicking in the thriller/horror genre.

What got me thinking about the whole Accents, Dialects and Colloquialisms (oh, my), was that my main bad guy in Echoes is English. I got to thinking, why is it that the English make such great villains? Come to think of it, they make great super spies, are insanely funny and… dammit, I want to be English too. I’ll have to ask My fellow writers, Phil Dwyer and Pete Woolman why that is. I suspect it’s the accent. If you listen, England has so many different accents, dialects and colloquialisms so it can sound debonaire and cultured or it can sound crass and downright menacing.

While I was vacationing south of the border with my family, we were in Applebee’s and the server complimented us on our accent. I found that funny, coming from someone with such a pronounced southern accent. I think Canada’s accent is the total lack of an accent. Well, except for Quebec and our Eastern provinces.

But then that is our ear and tongue collaborating again. I would imagine that server doesn’t think she has an accent either.

Now if I can just connect my pen to my ear and tongue without the profuse bleeding…

 Finishing a novel is a real confidence boost for any writer. But as soon as we sit in front of that blank screen again insecurity creeps in. Fortunately, I’m a plotter through and through. The system I use works well for me, and I never have to doubt in my ability to find another worthy idea. For The Missing Time, I used what time I could find (an hour a day during my lunch breaks for three months) and wrote.  Over time, however, I lost faith in the strength of the story. When it began to feel stale I put it away. By this time I’d sold Mind Over Matter and my first exposure to edits served as a good distraction. After several months, during a Writescape course, I pulled the manuscript out, searching for a scene to use for one of the lessons. To my surprise, distance provided the fresh perspective I needed. Today, I’m shopping that novel around to agents, and it’s garnering some interest.  I figured if I could finish two stories I could finish more. So I went back to the beginning and started the next one. I’m about a quarter of the way through the sequel to Mind Over Matter. This one is progressing much slower. I’ve got more time but I’ve also got more responsibilities with promotion and marketing. Finding balance is tricky. I can’t worry if each book will surpass the last. To maintain my momentum, I need to focus my energy on what comes next.

Writescape is a great place to mine for new Ideas. For those that haven’t heard about it, please follow the link. I highly recommend it.

When you write, what is the most exciting part of your writing process. Is it coming up with the initial idea? Or a character stepping out of their assigned roles and running away with the book? Or maybe just writing those two words… The End? Or something else entirely?

 Will you hate me if I say plotting is my favorite part? My detailed outlines are almost a draft in themselves. Contrary to the opinion of any Pantster out there, creativity is not stifled during the process. At least not for me. I’m constantly going back and making changes to scene cards as I work through the plot. Or I add revision notes of things that have to happen in that scene to make something I’ve added to a later scene make sense, and then I address it during revisions. Often in relation to foreshadow or red herrings. Writing the story is the drone part, and I enjoy it if I work on it every day. When I take a break, like a weekend off, I find it takes a full day to get back up to speed again, and that can be frustrating. Once I’ve let the first draft sit for a few months, I start my one-pass revision process and deal with those changes I made note of while writing down the bones.

While I don’t hate you, would you consider doing plot cards for me?

What made you pick your Genre; what is it that appeals to you about Mystery and Suspense?

 In a way, mystery is a part of every story. The protagonist has a need, and there’s something preventing him from obtaining it. What? Why? What’s holding him back? Who’s getting in his way? Unanswered questions. Without them, you’ve got no conflict. Murder, or risk to life, raises the stakes to the ultimate level. Every reader can relate to it, if only to how they’d react if someone they loved, or someone they despised, were murdered or threatened. Relatablility gives it punch. The paranormal aspect is something I’ve always been drawn to. I wrote my first story when I was eight years old, and it was a paranormal. It’s a part of who I am.

Love this, “Relatablility gives it punch”! Words I live by. If you can’t make it real, make it plausible.

Have you ever considered writing in a different genre?

 Absolutely. I’d love to try my hand at Urban Fantasy, but that’s just another class of paranormal. I love humorous fiction as well.  Janet Evanovich has a great series about a female bounty hunter. Fabulous voice. Still mystery after a fashion, though. I have that in me, and one day, when I’ve studied and read enough books in the genre to believe I can duplicate it, I’ll write it. But for now I’m sticking to my first love. My best chance of connecting with readers is to follow my passion. If I’m lucky enough to develop a following who are willing to read other genres by me, then I’ll consider it.

Janet Evanovich, you say? Hmmm… Have you been peeking at my guest list?

As a fellow member of the WCDR, could you explain to the readers what it means to you to be part of a writing community and how it has helped you along?

 Wow. There’s so much an organization like The Writers’ Community of Durham Region offers a writer. Support, encouragement, education, networking, job opportunities and an ever-growing array of friends. Mingling with others with shared experiences keeps the need to write top of mind. Watching others succeed reminds you it’s possible. You’re placing yourself in front of industry professionals with expert advice that could take you to the next level if you apply it in a way that works for you. Add on continuous exposure to the craft and you have a recipe for success.

Before we get to your clip, any words of advice for new writers?

Writing is personal. We weave pieces of ourselves into our work. Not moments in our lives, but strands of our souls. It’s hard to bare our souls. Find a place to connect with other writers and develop a relationship of trust. Then put your work out there and ask for feedback. Writers are often too close to their own work to understand how much of the book is still in their head. Only by showing it to other writers will you get the relevant criticism you need to make your story shine.

Great advice and something I learned only by doing. Thanks again for “sitting down” with me Sandra.

And without further ado, here is a ”creepy” clip from Mind Over Matter.

            He dipped his finger in again, this time tracing it over his face. War paint. Panic, all too real and expected under the circumstances, coursed through her, carrying sensation to dormant limbs. Her upper body inched away in revulsion. Parks, too far gone to notice or care, continued with the ritual. His face bore a natural flush, heightened by the heat of the fire and smears of blood. Spittle flew from his mouth when he coughed, scattering red dots over her white gown. Dear god, did he drink the stuff? Rebecca closed her eyes on a shiver, opening them again when his red tipped fingers trailed across her cheeks.

             The chanting resumed. Flames shot up, carrying large shadows to the ceiling. Rebecca blinked and watched an Indian headdress outline crawl up the wall to the ceiling. Everyone in this room, except her, wore hoods. None wore an Apache ceremonial headdress. Time to ponder this new mystery ran out when Parks reached over and picked up the knife. Tears carved tracks through the blood and dust on her face, mapping her end. The hiss of flames intensified as Parks raised the dagger over his head.

I don’t know about you guys, but I read that without blinking once.

You can find more of Sandra at her website, SJ Clarke|Paranormal Romantic Suspence.

Her book, Mind Over M is available at Muse it up Publishing.

Coming up next is Deepam Wadds. I’ve included a link to her site. Here’s where I’ll try something new, I want to include you, the reader, in my interviews so, if you have any questions you’d like asked, please use the Contact Me button and send them along. Depending on how many questions I get, I may only be able to use a few of them so make yours unique.

And as always, please comment. Author’s love to hear from readers.

This is the Author’s Voice signing off for now. Thanks for reading.

As most of you know, I’ve been having computer problems, but that’s no excuse for what I’m about to do. The truth is, I entered late and at the time my creative juices were percolating elsewhere. So instead of backing out, I thought I’d resurrect an old piece, blow the dust of it, so to speak.

The piece is Snow Blind. Some of you may remember it from the Uxbridge Celebration of the Arts Festival. I stood in front of a sparse crowd and read it aloud. That was September 2010. Since then I have increased my readership here. So if you’ve read it before, please excuse me.

If it helps, next month’s potential prompt is second chances. I have written a short story for it called Second Chances Don’t Come Cheap. Sadly it is too long for February’s blog chain. The bright side is, I plan to submit it to a writing contest.. as soon as I find one, that is.

So without further ado, here is Snow Blind. As always, please check out the other participants entries. There is something for everyone including non-fiction. Enjoy

***

Snow robs the dark of its sight stealing powers and yet, during the day, this very illuminator has the same properties as the darkest night.

Black and white, white and black, opposites and yet they share the same qualities, the same abilities. Both in essence are colours and yet they are, by definition, the absence of colour.

Isn’t it funny how the mind works when faced with adversity? A vast ice plain stretches out before me, behind me, to all sides and yet here I am debating where black and white stand in a colour wheel.

I repeat a litany: “legs keep moving”, “don’t stop”, “legs keep moving”, each phrase torn from my frozen lips by the howling wind and shredded by the driving snow.

All this whiteness robs ones rationality, takes away sense of direction, I don’t know where I am, where I’m going or where I’ve been but what I do know for sure is that if I stop, I’m dead. Maybe I’m dead already. Maybe this is my hell for stealing my uncle’s Playboys; a total absence of all senses. I can’t feel my hands, my feet, I can’t see anything but white and I can’t hear anything except the howl of the wind. Even that is white.

“Don’t stop, keep walking.”

Strawberries.

All this white reminds of strawberries, more specifically, the creamy vanilla ice-cream over which my mom would ladle spoonfuls of home-made strawberries jam, still warm from the canning process. I can almost smell the pot bubbling on the stove.

The jam would melt the ice-cream, if I didn’t eat it fast enough, which I wouldn’t, making delicious, sweet pink slurry.

Man, my imagination is so strong I can actually see it…

No, that’s not strawberries. It can’t be. Strawberries are spooned on carefully, never sprayed on like this, plus, it’s the wrong colour. This red is a deep red, almost black, like… blood. It has to be blood! Someone has been here before me, but why can’t I still see them? It’s snowing so hard but the blood looks so fresh.

“Hello?!” My call sounds muffled. I try to call again and the red splatters grow. It’s blood, my blood.

Why am I not moving? Why is my face pressed into the strawberries and ice-cream? No more, please mom, I’m so sleepy. Even the snow is tired of being so white all the time, it’s fading to grey, to bla…

Participants and posts:
orion_mk3 – http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to this month’s post)
MamaStrong – http://writingofme.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
pyrosama – http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Turndog-Millionaire – http://turndog-millionaire.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Alpha Echo – http://aprilplummer81.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
LilGreenBookworm – http://themayhemofwritingsahm-style.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Domoviye – http://lets-get-happy.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
writingismypassion – http://charityfaye.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
kimberlycreates – http://www.kimberlycreates.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Suzanne Seese – http://viewofsue.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Diana Rajchel – http://blog.dianarajchel.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Ralph Pines – http://ralfast.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Alynza – http://www.alynzasmith.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Literateparakeet – http://lesliesillusions.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
in_one – http://quirkythomas.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Tomspy77 – http://thomaswillamspychalski.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Inkstrokes – http://drlong67.wordpress.com/ (You are here!)
kiwiviktor81 – http://storygenerator.net/ (link to this month’s post)
These Mean Streets – http://ohno-anotherwritingblog.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
areteus – http://lurkingmusings.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Abielle Rose – http://stainedglassinthenight.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)

Archive of Past Blog Chains

My computer, sadly, succumbed to a nasty virus. At first I was sympathetic, but as its illness worn on, so my patience wore out. In the end, I subjected it to the most comprehensive test known to computer-kind, the bounce test. It failed. It didn’t bounce once. Maybe I need a higher window to throw it out of…

So long disease ridden PC’s, hello Apple.

Until such time as I can save up my pennies for an I-Mac, my computer access is limited. Yes I still have my laptop but using it for internet is like looking through a knot hole. That and with Norton Super slo-mo Anti-virus, using my laptop on the internet sorely tests my patience. And I don’t have much of that to begin with.

The Author’s voice will be back with interviews from Deepam Wadds, Sandra Clarke and Ruth Walker.

Also, I will be posting another Blog Chain from Absolute Write. Until then, please feel free to browse old topics and surf the other author links. They have some great blogs. Oh and while you’re at it, check out Tobin Elliot. Finally a fellow horror writer and an insanely humourous blogster.

That said, inspiration has struck with the force of a thunder-clap, splitting the skies open and raining down ideas with a ferocity that threatens to drown me. I am literally running around in circles with my hands outstretched trying to catch every drop and worried I might miss one.

It is my belief that writing is at least 75% daydreaming. That includes those moments where you don’t realize you are doing it. The ideas are steeping, believe me. I’ve said before that I roll my ideas around in my head like making snowmen. Sometimes there just isn’t much snow and the snowballs are made mostly of grass and dirt. That can be discouraging. But what I’ve come to realize is that under all that grass and grey, dirty snow,  the idea remains pure. I just have to strip off the grass and dirt and start again.

Well, I’m  here to tell you that the snow is pure, white and deep.

Now that’s not to say that I had hit a writer’s block, per se. Quite the opposite, in fact. The ideas have been trickling in. The seeds for a second Christmas story have been planted; a gothic Christmas tale tentatively called Archibald and the Gentlemen Three. As well, my fifth novel, a departure from the grim, a baseball book has been taking shape with a working tile of The Utility men.

What makes this particular inspiration deluge notable? On Monday I start A Novel Approach with James Dewar. I’ve worked with James and Sue before in 2009. Those two teachers along with an amazingly talented group of classmates, allowed me to finish the first draft of Echoes and I’m hoping for lightning to strike twice with the end results being a first draft of Appetites (novel#2 in a series of four books). So I’m gearing up for that with the intentions of working on Appetites. Funny thing is, this inspiration is on Echoes.

The feedback I received at Algonkian Writer’s Conference, from Sam Hiyate, was that I needed to get to the horror and the 1800′s sooner. I’ve not only found a way to do that but it meshes seamlessly with my original vision for the book. It is two stories in one and the 1800′s in my binding agent. Also, it lets me immerse myself once again in the history of Mary Shelley. I’m finding a curious Echo with what I’ve already written and what I’ve recently dug up. Intuitive writing rears up again and I’m beginning to accept the notion. How else could I possibly know that Percy Shelley had a thing for music and gifted a guitar to a friend. My Percy is a musician and his guitar features prominately.

Weird, hunh?

Well, I’m off to dump some of these ideas onto the page.

So thank-you all. I hope to keep you entertained for years to come.

This time of year can be stressful. The cleaning, entertaining, gift shopping and perceived expectations can take the shine off the season. My Christmas wish to you is that you somehow find the time or strength of will to slow down and just be. Let the moment sink in. Ditch the imposed preconceptions and give just for the joy of giving. Price matters not. What truly matters is that the gift given from the heart and not the wallet. For a gift given from the wallet is forgotten by this time next year, a gift given from the heart is cherished always.

Take a moment to sit and watch the Christmas tree. Turn out the rest of the house lights, put on your favorite carols, be it Bing Crosby, Michael Buble, Sarah Mclachlan, Nat King Cole, and remember. Most of all, remember. Remember the small things that give us joy, friends, family that is still with us and family that no longer is.  Let the Christmas spirits not burden your heart, make them part of the celebration instead.

Share some laughter with kith and kin. Say hello to friends and strangers. Make someone smile, because, ultimately, isn’t that what it’s all about? No matter what you celebrate, do it with grace and acceptance. Forget the marketing that screams at us to buy, buy, buy.

Just sit, take a deep breath, have a moment.

One final thing to keep in mind; it’s not the presents that you give, that make people your friends, it’s just your presence.

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite songs, a holiday tradition from my house to yours; It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams. I found it on YouTube posted by mcdermid12.

I’ve been interviewing some “on the brink” writers lately, but alas, their books aren’t out yet. Trust me, I will promote them when they do. Until that time I also know a few authors that have taken that momentous step into published author territory. What follows is a few of their books and where to find them.

It is so easy to walk into your local ice-cream parlour and order the standards, like Vanilla and Chocolate, but the counter is chock full of other interesting flavours. Time to give them a try. You never know what new treasure you’ll discover. To paraphrase a quote, “the best book you’ll read is the one you didn’t know you wanted to read.”

Paranormal Romance:

Find it online: Amazon | Barnes & Noble |

Author’s website: Aimee Laine

Sci-Fi Romance

Find it online: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Author’s website: Diane Dooley

Mystery Romance

Find it online: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Chapters.ca

Author’s website: S. J. Clarke

Contemporary Young Adult

Find it online: Chapters.ca | Barnes & Noble | Amazon.ca | Amazon.com

Author’s website: Kevin Craig or Kevin Craig

Anthologies

Find it online: Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Chapter.ca

Author’s website: Adele Simmons, etc

Find it online: Amazon.com |

Author’s website: Aimee Laine, etc

Find it online: Piquant Press

Author’s website:

Find it online: Piquant Press

Author’s website:

Find it online: WCDR

Author’s website: Noelle Bickle

And I would be remiss if I didn’t include myself. There are several horror shorts in this including an except from my novel Echoes.

Find it online: Lulu

Author’s website: Dale Long (you’re already here), Lisa Llamrei, Kevin Craig, etc.

Yes, there are a lot of Romance themed novels here, and while I haven’t read them all yet, I will. Not because I am a Romance novel fan, but because I am a fan of the authors and I am always willing learn a thing or two that I can apply to my horror writing.

Also, you’ll see that two of the anthologies are poetry (very hard to get published). I recommend to all writers out there to try your hand at poetry. I didn’t like poetry but as I’ve said before, it has enriched my descriptions in my prose writing.

And of course, if you want hard copies, please check with your local book store. Quite often they can order books the big chains can’t. If you are in the Durham Region, Ontario, several of the anthologies are available at Blue Heron Books.

Merry Christmas and happy reading!

P.S If I have missed your favorite “new” author, or your own, book or anthology, I am truthfully sorry. Please contact me or, better yet, add them via the comments sections. The more lip service we give these struggling writers, the better. Let’s make it impossible for the publishers and agents to ignore these voices.

Here is where the cold splash of reality snapped me back to the present. That was MY daughter in there and some punk-assed, pimple faced boy with disproportionately large hands… Here I have to take a deep breath and remember that 20 plus years ago, that punk-ass was me and that girl whose mother waited outside, is now my wife, Sue.

I have to accept that Bug is growing up. I have to accept that Bean is heading to that same high school in little over a year. In doing so I have to also accept that I am getting older as well. I am now in the same position my parents and, more notably, Sue’s parents were. It’s something I never gave much thought to. They seemed so old from my teenaged perspective, but I don’t feel that old. Ok, some days after softball tournaments I do feel that old but I certainly doing think like I’m old.

I suppose they didn’t either.

I watch her walk out the doors of the tech wing (changed now from my time there) and walk towards the truck and at first I feel relieved that no boy follows her out. She seems so confident and I’m glad. She looks beat, a good showing at the swim meet earlier in the day coupled with an evening of dancing, and so she should. But above all she’s happy. She’s had boyfriends and I’m happy she’s taking her time and has a level head about the whole thing. I don’t remember being that confident and mature at her age.

But there was a time overlapping and I couldn’t help but actually miss high school and envy her the mystery and sparkle that comes with finding first loves, and second loves and just being a teenager. Going to a dance now, just doesn’t have that same magic.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t actually like high school. I wouldn’t give that time up, mind you, but I have my regrets. I made some mistakes that I’d like to undo. There were opportunities I should have taken, but I came away with something invaluable, I married my high school sweetheart. There walking across the parking lot was the results.

Age be damned, I’m where I’m supposed to be and so is Bug. I have to realize that time has rose-coloured my memories of those dances and I can’t stop my two girls from growing up. I can, however, do my damnedest to prevent myself from getting any older. Mind over matter, right? RIGHT??

Author’s note: 20 plus years means that I don’t want to admit to any more than that amount of time. It’s my age prevention technique. (20plus=closer to 30yrs). Sue says I don’t act a day over 12 and I thank her every time. Not sure why that makes her roll her eyes and stomp out of the room.

I’ve always said that writers come to the craft from many a varied path and Tiffany is no different. Just like us, she hid her talent and only wrote on the side. When life threw her a particularly nasty curve, she did what she knew best. She wrote about it.

The written word has a magical quality to it. It has the ability to illuminate and through that illumination, it can be a crutch, a balm maybe, to take the sting out of a situation.

Tiffany’s piece, I feel, does that and can do that for others. It’s an inspirational message sprinkled with a smart humour that caught my wife’s eye, a fellow Weight Watchers member, and she was so impressed with it she showed it to me.

So in parting from my regular format, I’d like to present to you, You, Me and Infertility Makes Three, by Tiffany Clarke. After which, you can read as Tiffany tells us her writing journey.

“You, Me & Infertility Makes Three”

Tiffany L. Clarke

Several months after our wedding, my husband and I discovered that an unwelcome house guest had arrived and had become part of our family. We had never encountered this individual before in our past, and we’re still not sure how they managed to sneak into our lives. Maybe it’s because we didn’t eat exclusively organic food as children, or maybe because our lives weren’t guided by a Divine source (we’d rather eat pancakes in our pajamas on Sunday morning than attend a church). Maybe it was fate, or maybe that first pregnancy test had been hexed by goblins. Regardless of how it came to be, we have an individual by the name of Infertility living in our home, and this stubborn creature refuses to leave.

At first, we tried to ignore Infertility’s presence, which is a lot easier than it sounds. For starters, Infertility is a horrible houseguest. When Infertility first arrives, the amounts of supplements and medications that are consumed by the average husband and wife seem to skyrocket, as immune systems need to be increased and stress levels decreased. Every pregnancy test you have purchased (and we did purchase, in massive Costco quantities) will destroy your hopes and always show a negative result while Infertility is crashing on your couch. Sometimes, Infertility will bring over weird sounding friends without your permission, such as Clomid or Hysteroplasingram. This will result in heated arguments, tears, and a general feeling of frustration throughout the entire household, not to mention a dive into the pantry to consume copious amounts of sympathetic Kit Kat bars.

Infertility also creates massive amounts of tension between you and your loving family and caring friends. For every Baby Shower you attend and tiny pair of booties you gift wrap, Infertility is there to remind you that you haven’t quite accomplished all your life’s goals yet. To combat this, you become an expert on everything from breast-feeding to toilet training, but never actually get to put any of your book learning to the test. You spend hours online picking out the perfect names for any future houseguests, and cry hot, angry tears of despair when someone you know “steals” that same name from you. You avoid birthdays, bridal showers, even funerals—-you become exasperated at always explaining why Infertility lives with you, and jealous of those whom don’t have a houseguest like Infertility in their homes.

Infertility will make you doubt everything you have ever done before its unwelcome arrival. Did you invite them when you had that bike accident at age 8 or when you had the measles at age 4? Maybe there is some flaw in your genetics, and Infertility knew you’d be an easy target? Or, could it be that every time your teenaged-self said “I don’t want children,” Infertility read your message as being “Party at My House”?

Holidays and get-togethers are particularly stressful when Infertility is a houseguest. If you go for Christmas photos, Infertility is obnoxiously sticking their tongue out in the background. Family reunions result in questions from curious relatives, wondering who is responsible for inviting Infertility, and whether you are really doing anything about the situation. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are particularly hard, with Infertility following you around to the card stores and flower shops, taunting you and screaming for attention the entire time.

The worst consequence about having an uninvited houseguest like Infertility is the constant strain that is created between yourself and your husband. The never-ending stress can ruin even the simplest activity, and when making breakfast one day you’ll wonder why you’re screaming at him while waving a bagel over your head (I bet it’s that darn Clomid’s fault!) Of course, as when all houseguests arrive, any sort of intimacy in the bedroom has to be carefully planned, but you never imagined consulting calendars, taking temperatures, and analyzing every bodily function. When staring at all the numbers, you’ll find yourself wishing you had paid better attention in Algebra class during high school. Oh, and trust me, while Infertility is crashing on your couch, lovemaking is going to seem like a chore, it doesn’t matter how many darn candles you light.

 The best way to get Infertility out of your home is to call in the experts, your own superhero team of dreams. Your group will change radically over the years you spend trying to become rid of Infertility, and may include an acupuncturist, naturopath, yoga instructor, gym coach, dietician, endocrinologist, surgeon, and ultrasound technician. You will visit the pharmacist enough that she knows you by name, and you’ll be able to give directions to and from the hospital as if it were your home. Your friends and family will offer their support; well wishes, hugs, prayers, and advice to help get rid of Infertility. Yet, at the end of the day, the best two members on your Dream Team are you and your husband. No matter how many times it seems Infertility has you beaten, the two of you will wipe each other’s tears, hug, and try again. Oh, and just wait until that Infertility sees the next big round of super doctors coming its way!

***

 Next, Tiffany tells us a bit about herself. As this blog is all about the writing journey I’ve highlighted a couple of phrases I found particularly significant to the writing process;

For as long as I can remember, I have always been in love with reading, writing, and just words in general. As a child, one of my teachers introduced me to the work of Roald Dahl, and I finished the books as fast as she could find them, particularly relating to the main character in the book “Matilda.”

I started writing my own work in high school, when I found myself bored and unchallenged in a few of my classes. High school is a confusing time for most people, and writing became an outlet for my emotions. Yet, I never considered my writing to be anything special until my proud Dad tried to send all my poems to the local newspaper. I was embarrassed, hid the envelope, and the poems were never sent.  After all, he’s my Dad, it’s part of his job description to think everything I do is amazing, right?

Over the years, I found myself writing any time I was bored, stressed, or feeling overwhelmed. Once I managed to get all my thoughts and feelings written down, I could breathe again and look at the situation more realistically. There is something so therapeutic about writing your true emotions down in words—-I think that it is an acceptance of how you actually feel regarding a situation, versus how others think you should feel about a situation. Too often, we deny our feelings and keep silent about painful experiences—all because we are afraid of what others will think of us if we share our stories.

When I start writing something new, I don’t have a plan or an outline. I just start writing my thoughts or ideas as they are, without organizing or editing.  I’ve written on napkins from coffee shops, on the back pages of school projects, cereal boxes, store flyers, even the palms of my hands. I regret all the times I have written the beginning of a good piece, and then accidentally thrown it out. I have considered picking up a tape recorder so that my raw thoughts are all out before I am tempted to start rearranging or changing wording.

My fear of being rejected has prevented me from sharing any of my writing previously, even from my close family and friends. Most of what I write is about very personal experiences, which has also made sharing a bit difficult, since I refuse to sugarcoat how things happened.

 This is not my first completed piece, but the only one that I have felt compelled to share with others.  When I wrote it, I cried the entire time and felt so alone. When it was finished, I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. By sharing this piece, I wanted someone going through the same experiences to know that they are not alone, and that everything they are feeling is okay. Many women with PCOS related infertility, also struggle with their weight. Although I no longer follow Weight Watchers, I find the message boards such a wonderful community, that I continue to post there, and hoped that if any of my online friends were experiencing the same hurt, this piece would comfort them and help them to know that they are not alone in their struggles.

Currently, I am writing two short stories, and keep bouncing back and forth from each depending on my mood. One is a serious piece I started in university about both of my grandmothers and their life experiences, tentatively titled “Barbie Dolls & Butcher Knives.” The other piece is about working retail environments, and is more humorous in nature.

Thank-you Tiffany, for sharing this with us!

Tiffany Clarke is a Halifax based writer just starting out and using life to fuel her muse. As more information becomes available, i.e. blog or website, I will post it here.

Please comment. Beginning writers need all the support they can get.