For all those who sign up to participate in this writing challenge Wild Orchid Press has offered a free book cover design for one lucky writer to be drawn from the pool of participants. So sign up today for a fun month of writing.
It is easy to sign up. Just comment letting us know what your writing goal for the month is and post your totals by March 31st to be entered in the drawing.
Have a good day,
Lexi
Filed under e-books, fiction, Lexi Flint, March Writing Madness 30K, writing, writing challenge
Image via Wikipedia
I am challenging myself and anyone who would like to join me to a 30,000 word writing challenge. I will be posting my total here on my blog daily and you can too in the comments. I will be using the hastag #March30k on twitter. I hope you will join me in my writing quest.
I’m also interested in you writing goals for the month. I am trying to complete the novel I started during Nanowrimo 2010. (I’m so ashamed). You can also post your writing goals in the comments as well.
Have a wonderful writing day!
Filed under Lexi Flint, Uncategorized, writing
Today I am reviewing The Apocalypse Gene by Suki Michelle and Carlyle Clark for The Book Babes blog. I found this book to be a highly entertaining. It is an action packed, fast paced YA novel. The story centers around a girl who reads auras, Olivya, and an empath Mikah in the post apocalyptic Chicago.
The once vibrant city of Chicago has become a deserted waste land as almost everyone has ben stricken with a malignant cancer. Olivya lives with her mother on Hospice row taking care of the Gad’s, (Good As Dead )patients that her mother has opened their home to. The only normal interaction she has is through V-school and Cy-Chi the virtual world where she meads Mikah’s handsome halo-sim.
As an orphan Mikah lives a lonely life in an apartment complex with the telepathic and powerful kindred who seem to feed off of the negative emotions in the world such as hatred, pain and war. Mikah is dreading the day when he will be initiated into the world of the kindred fold fearing that he will turns into a monster like the ever metamorphosing Prime whose dark soul lurks around the complex and fills Mikah’s heart with fear.
When Olivya and Mikah dare to meet their lives are forever changed as they embark on a journey to save the people they love from the cancerous pandemic and an unknown enemy. These two young people don’t know if they have what it takes to win this battle but they possess the most powerful weapon of all. LOVE!
Clark and Michelle weaves science fiction and fantasy with historical and mythological characters creating a non-stop action packed novel. I give this book a 4/5 on the Book Babes rating scale.
Book Blurb
Global pandemic is raging.
Olivya Wright-Ono’s once loving home has been converted to a hospice for the dying. Her ability to see auras forces her to witness, with agonizing detail, the vibrant colors of life consumed by malignancy.
The beautiful and troubled, Mikah, is an elite Empath in the ancient Kindred clan, led by the brooding, ever-morphing, monster named Prime. Mikah has learned a terrible truth . . . the plague is linked to Kindred origins. When Olivya sees evidence of disease creeping into her mother’s aura, she has no one to turn to but Mikah. Can he unearth the Kindred secrets and find a cure?
Can she trust this boy whose power allows him to manipulate her very emotions? With her mother’s life, and that of the world, in the balance, Olivya and Mikah embark on a quest to stop the Pandemic, only to discover it is far, far more than a mere disease .
5/5 We will nag, harass, and generally stand over your shoulder until you read this book, just so we can dish with you about it.
4/5 This book was really good. We would insist you buy a copy, or at least borrow ours.
3/5 A good book. Mixed reviews. We suggest you put it on your library list, just to see for yourself.
2/5 Seriously lacking. Mostly didn’t get into it.
1/5 No good. We all agreed, this book just sucked.
0/5 Really terrible. Not only should you not read this book, you shouldn’t pick it up off the shelf without wearing a full hazmat suit.
AWAKEN is the first book in the Children of Divinity Series and debut novel of author Garth Reasby. This book has many pros and cons. I will start with the pros.
The Pros:
Jordan Law is the main character of this spy/suspense/superhero novel. She is intelligent, sexy and very well written. The author has written and weaved her backstory seamlessly throughout the story. Her love interest is a high ranking official in the British government. The story for the most part follows Jordan and her special forces team through some daring and death defying missions in Great Britain, Afghanistan and Russia; the success or failure of these missions have not only a global implication but a galactic one as well. While the plot calls for the suspension of disbelief for some of the fantastical plot twists, once you do they make for an interesting and fast paced page turner.
Reasby is masterfully skilled at writing his fight scenes and by the end of the book the author seems to have hit his stride. And while it took me a few chapters to get into the story by the end I was eager to read what happens next. Book two of the series is due out this year and I am eager to see how the story and the author’s story telling skills grow and mature.
The Cons:
There are a multitude of characters introduced in this story. I suppose they were put in this book as an introduction for book two but I would have preferred that several characters be combined to make a stronger impression on the reader. For example several times in the story the author mentions Jordan’s five sisters but we meet only one.
It took me a while to get into the novel for several reasons, one was the use of military jargon. For example , in one passage of the book the author writes “Jordan carefully adjusted the aim of her Accuracy International L116a3 Warfare Super magnum Sniper rifle and centered the cross hairs of its Schmidt &Bender 3-12x variable scope on the center of the lead walker’s face.” I tended to skip over any passage that contained such detail in search of more action. I found so much detailed description of weapons a distraction which slowed the story down.
Next it seemed that for a while the story didn’t know what genre it wanted to be, suspense, thriller, science fiction, romance or all of the above. I found the mixture of genres overwhelming at times and felt the writing would have been stronger had the author focused on only one or two, suspense/romance or scifi/thriller ect…
Overall I found AWAKEN to be entertaining and the authors writing became stronger as the story went along. The characters were well written and I found myself invested in them. I look forward to learning more about them in book two due out later this year.
Book Blurb:
Achilles. Perseus. Cu Chulainn. Joan of Arc. Their names ring through the millennia. They were called gods, heroes, the sons and daughters of divinity. Today we know their kind by another word: Superhero.
Jordan Law is the best sniper that the British Secret Intelligence Service has ever seen. Possessing a singular talent for slipping in and out of places that no human should be able to. She is a woman with a secret. Possessing superhuman strength, speed, and reflexes, and the ability to make herself seemingly disappear into thin air, she is the perfect operative, an unstoppable assassin.
After a successful mission to eliminate a terrorist leader, Jordan’s secret is discovered by a shadowy organization within British Intelligence. She is drawn into a secret war where superhuman soldiers struggle to keep their own kind from preying on normal humans. Faced with the greatest challenge of her life, Jordan must push herself beyond the limits of what she though she could do to protect her family, her teammates, and the world from a threat that has worked behind the scenes since the earliest days of humanity.
AWAKEN is the debut novel of author, illustrator and musician Garth Reasby. Mr. Reasby resides in the pacific Northwest with his author wife H.L. Reasby. 
For more information about the author please visit his website or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
Filed under action adventure, fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Suspense, thriller, writing
Ah, 2012 has begun and with a new year comes promises to try new things and get rid of the old. One of the new things I am trying this year is a music review. This is a new area for me so please dont’ criticize me too badly, however when I discovered this artist his music moved me so much I had to let others know about this very talented young man.
I’d like to introduce you to a young man I discovered via Music Choice on Xfinity television, Mayer Hawthorne. formerly Andrew Mayer Cohen. This former DJ/ producer has become a retro-soul sensation . Mayer Hawthorne is an Ann Arbor Michigan native that has been heavily influenced by Motown Legends of the past. According to his bio “Most of the best music ever made came out of Detroit.”
Ah so true!
Multitalented Mayer Hawthorne is a singer, songwriter and instrumentalist who has been influenced by soul legends Isaac Hayes, Mike Terry, Barry White, Smokey Robinson and Curtis Mayfield to name a few.
Their soulful influence is apparent in every tract of his latest album How Do You Do (2011 Universal Republic Records). Track two on the album entitled A Long Time reminds me of the late Curtis Mayfield. I don’t listen to the radio much anymore because most stations play the same songs over and over again until you can’t get it out of your head, however I’m surprised that this talented young man is not in high rotation. Another favorite of mine is track three, Can’t Stop featuring Snoop Dogg. Can’t Stop has a strong beat and heavy brass section which allows the listener to imagine Mayer crooning on stage holding an old fashioned microphones with a big band behind him. And who knew that Snoop could sing?
Each track on the album is a little different in its styling but all are equally pleasurable to listen to. Hawthorn was signed to Stone Throw Records after label head Peanut Butter Wolf heard just two tracks from this talented artist. He recently signed his first major record deal with Universal Republic Records. Hawthorne’s sophomore album How Do You Do, has also been ranked number four on Filter Magazines top 10 albums of 2011. After hearing just one of his songs this album jumped to the top of my very short list of must have musical releases.
If you are tired of all the sound alike artist being played on the radio these days please check out Mayer Hawthorne. Each song tells a story and the vocal and musical styling take me back to my childhood when I would sneak out of my bed at night while my parents had card parties and listened to the Motown records on the record player. Mayer Hawthorne is a rising star. Best of all his album is available in mp3, cd, and get this VINYL. You’ve got to love that. Hawthorne is a self proclaimed vinyl junkie. If I even owned a record player anymore I would definitely run out and buy it. Mayer Hawthorne and The Country will be embarking on a world tour beginning Feb. 2012. This will be one concert I don’t plan to miss. Please check out his website for more information.
Filed under Jazz, Music Review, R & B Soul
When I was asked to write this post I was thrilled. Then I thought, what the hell am I going to write about? I was given the choice to write about anything I wanted which made it even more challenging to pick a topic. What I finally settled on was one of the challenges I faced while writing my first novel. Word count.
I’m sure some of you more experienced types are chuckling about this rookie problem. Maybe not. To better help everyone understand where I’m coming from let me give you a little bit of background so that you understand why word count was such a hurdle for me.
In my day job I work for a corporation, I mainly manage projects of various types and sizes. For those of you who don’t know, in the corporate world nobody likes a long read. Anyone that is in upper management wants it short and sweet. I called it Bullets and BS. They want all points succinctly fashioned to give them only what they need and then a little to make them feel warm and fuzzy about the state of things. If you’re successful you learn to do a lot of self editing, and always have someone read any major presentation to make certain it isn’t too unfocused or longwinded. You set goals to this end. It becomes part of who you are and you start doing it out of habit. What does this have to do with writing you ask? Let me tell you.
When I sat down to write my book, as I had never written anything more than short stories before, I researched formatting and word count and chapter size. I found a few different sources that gave estimates of how long books should be based on genre. So Garth The Project Manager said, GOAAAAAAAL! I set a word count of 80,000 and by all that is holy I was going to stick to it.
By then I had already found a quote attributed to Edgar Allen Poe that said, “A chapter should be as long as it needs to be.” I used this as my guiding principal for how long my chapters were. My gut, which I ignored, said that I should also apply this to some degree to the rest of the manuscript. So by the time I got about three quarters of the way through I wasn’t really pleased with how constricted the book was feeling. I wanted it to be more complex and wanted to explore a few more concepts. Still, I had a goal. I pushed to get to it. Sure enough, when I was done with the first draft it was 82,398 words. Not exactly on target but it was an acceptable deviation from the expected result. I was good to deploy. <— Oops Project Manager Speak.
After my editor, who is amazing and brutally honest, got a look at the manuscript she let fly. She liked the work in general and thought it was a good start, but then she mentioned everything I had worried about. Why are you constricting this? I want more of this subplot; I want to see more of this character. Garth The Project Manager was still in the driver’s seat at this point and he pushed back using the various posts, documents, and other professional writing sources that said 80,000 was good for a first time sci-fi author. My editor counter pushed, so did my wife (also an author), and so did one of my best friends (also an author). My gut was there too, just as it had been at the start, and without warning Garth The Project Manager was sent to timeout.
While he was busy standing in the corner thinking about what he had done wrong Garth The Writer climbed out of the trunk that Garth The Project Manager had stuffed him in. With support on his side Garth The Writer took over and hasn’t relinquished it yet. I stopped worrying about word count entirely and went back into the manuscript from page one and added to it, re-forging it using the materials from the first. I fleshed out things I had wanted to before, I added a subplot here, I went into more detail there. It felt like I was breathing fresh outdoor air instead of the stale gusts pushed into a hermetically sealed corporate building by a whirring AC unit.
When I was done with the second draft I was at 96,000+ words. It felt good. The book read well and my editor was pleased. When I read through it after letting it sit for a few days I saw a voice that hadn’t been there before. I could see Garth The Writer, not Garth The Project Manager with his Bullets and BS.
For anyone who is thinking of writing a novel, take it from this rookie. Write what comes out. Don’t edit yourself to a specific word count because it strangles you and doesn’t encourage you to run with ideas. Garth The Project Manager has some wisdom to drop as well. Don’t forget the end goal. Presumably you’re trying to write something entertaining, you’re trying to write something marketable. Yeah don’t go crazy and write a 200,000 word first book but know the boundaries and use them as a guideline vs. the letter of the law. Listen to your instincts.
Back to the quill,
Garth
Garth Reasby’s debut novel AWAKEN THE CHILDREN OF DIVINITY BOOK ONE. Is available in paperback and e-book formats.
http://thermalscorpion.com/Writing
http://twitter.com/#!/GarthReasby
Author Yvette Monae is a Georgia native who has written her first romance novel Love’s Fire Burns Deep. It was released in February 2011 by Publish America. The book is available in e-book and paperback formats. Her blog is insightful and often gives us a glimpse of her own personal life and struggles, such as her fear of blogging, as well as her writing… “It is important for me to create characters that women can relate, and believe me these women have some very interesting lives to share with you.” Yvette is currently working on her second novel which will be released later this year.
I am pleased to introduce you to author Yvette Monae.
1.W hat inspires you to write?
I’m inspired to write by the pictures that I see in my mind. An idea came to me to start writing down what I saw. Funny thing was, the pictures started to come to life, and characters were born, then stories were created.
2. What are your writing habits? Do you write a certain amount of pages per day? Do you write at a certain time of day?
I first determine how long I want the book to be, then I determine how many pages/word count I will do per day. Sometime that works, sometimes it doesn’t. But, I always try to write something everyday. I do prefer to write late evening, to early morning when my home is quiet.
3. How do you combat writers block?
I keep writing, even if it makes no sense. I’ve tweeted about that on Twitter and a few of my followers have given me some helpful advice, to stop writing for a day or so and turn my attention to something else, then go back to writing with a fresh set of eyes. If that doesn’t work, then I will sit quietly in the dark with my eyes closed and replay different scenes in my mind. Doing that normally triggers something inside of me and helps me to see things more clearly.
4. Congratulation on the publication of your new book Love’s Fire Burns Deep. Can you tell us a little about it?
Thank you, Lexi! I’m thrilled to share a little bit about, Love’s Fire Burns Deep. It’s a sweet and simple love story based out of Atlanta. It’s about a girl, Jade, who sees a guy, Sy, for the very first time, and she can’t believe that she fell in love with him at first sight. At the present time, she’s in a relationship with Mike, who she loves very much and has dated since high school. Lately, she feels neglected because he constantly puts his career before her, and she complains that their love life is becoming nonexistent. Several years later she has a steamy encounter with Sy, that in one night lit her body afire. It was like nothing she had ever felt with Mike. She ultimately has to make the most important decision of her life, which is to stay with Mike, who can provide her with a secure future, or to leave him, for a man she hardly knows, for a future that is not known with Sy. Jade is not alone in her quest to find love; she has three best friends, Jennifer, Sierra, and Alicia. Together these girls deal with love and relationships in their own ways, while constantly trying to be there for each other through their close and very special friendships.
5. I have to say that from what I have read of your debut novel Love’s Fire Burns Deep is hot, hot, hot! Were the love scenes difficult to write?
Yes! I didn’t intend to write Erotic Romance, it just happened. When I came to my first love scene in the novel, I wrote it leaving out a lot of the details. After I read it back to myself, it sounded dull. So, I rewrote the scene and put in the descriptive language. It was exciting! Before the book was published, I started to panic. I was way out of my comfort zone. Then I realized that being out of my comfort zone was a good thing, if I wanted to continue to grow as a person.
6. The relationship between Sy and Jade is intriguing. Both are in relationships but you can’t help but want them to get together. Will this couple have a happily ever after?
Yes! I don’t want to spoil the ending for those of you who have not had a chance to read the book. But, Jade and Sy, will have a happily ever after.
7. Your novel introduces to a group of female friends each with a different view of love and relationships. Do you plan on writing a series of novels featuring each of these women and their quest for romance?
At this point, I haven’t considered branching off each character into their own series, but I believe that each of these ladies have such strong personalities that I could easily do that. But, I do intend to do a sequel to Love’s Fire Burns Deep.
8. What lessons have you learned on your journey to publication that you can pass on to other aspiring authors?
It’s not easy to get published. Have faith in yourself, believe in your ideas, and try to create the best work that you can possibly create. Seek out the best people to help you in your quest. Most importantly, NEVER GIVE UP!
9. Who are your favorite authors and what are you reading now?
My favorite authors are, Maya Angelou, Marianne Williamson, Robert Kiyosaki, Kevin Trudeau, Zane, and Nicholas Sparks. I’m reading The Notebook, right now.
10. You published your novel with Publish America, a company that has received mixed reviews. People either love them or hate them. Can you tell us about your experience?
I know that Publish America is a very controversial publisher. I’ve only had one concern with them, I didn’t like the first selection for my cover art. I addressed the issue with them, and they took care of it to my satisfaction. I now love the cover of Love’s Fire Burns Deep. My experience has been pleasant and I would publish another book with them.
11. Which is harder for you, writing or promoting your work?
Promoting my book is the hardest thing that I have ever had to do. I thought that I would write a book, sign a contract, and my publisher would do the promoting. What I found out is that the publisher is limited in their promotional efforts; they mainly want to focus their attention on selling your book. So to become successful as an author, you either have to become a great salesperson, or seek out someone to help you, such as agents, or publicists. To my surprise, writing the book was the easiest part of this whole process.
12. What are you working on now?
I’m working on my second Erotic Romance novel, which I haven’t given a title. This book is about a love/hate relationship between my heroine and my hero. Also, I will venture off into a world of sex games in this book. I can’t wait to get it finished.
Author Yvette Monae
You can learn more about Yvette at the following web addresses:
Website http://www.yvettemonae.com
Blog http://yvettemonae.wordpress.com
Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/yvettemonae
Myspace http://www.myspace.com/yvettemonae
Freado http://www.freado.com/users/28680/yvette-monae
Filed under African American Authors, Author Interviews, Black Authors, e-books, fiction, Lexi Flint, Romance
Breaking all the rules
If there is one hard and fast rule in publishing it’s don’t abandon your genre. There are a handful of super amazing authors who can get away with it, but for the most part, if you’ve made a successful career of writing children’s books you don’t jump ship and start writing racy romance novels. At least not under your real name.
I recently spoke to a successful YA author who has a dozen books under her belt. She just wrote her first YA sci-fi novel and decided to use a pen name to appeal to a more diverse audience. (The thinking is that boys won’t read books written by women. So even though she’s still in YA, she had to use a new name to try to draw in the boys) Her worry was that she wouldn’t be able to bring her teen girl fans over so she’s done a lot of promotion to let her fans know that this book, while under a pen name to draw unfamiliar male readers, is still hers. And it’s very lucky for her that she can do that.
I understand this rule, I really do. As a writer whose first love and success spawned from YA novels, what was I thinking writing Born of Blood under my real name and what are the potential pitfalls? Well, let me explain.
Firstly, when some wonderful teen fan Google’s me or does an Amazon search they will find my YA books and Born of Blood on the same page. While I cringe at the potential of an unknowing 13 year old girl picking up a copy of Born of Blood, it is a possibility. My publisher and I worked very hard to design a cover that would clearly convey that this is an adult novel. And as for the book itself, I worked very hard to keep the content mostly PG13 rated, just in case. So while there are no racy sex scenes or anything, it is a mature book for older readers. Even so, I have had reviewers accidentally list it as YA just because they know my other books so well. So just to set the record straight, this is a book for adults. Not the kind you have to buy behind a beaded curtain or anything, but something not fit for the kiddies to be sure.
Secondly, I now have to find and impress a whole new audience. When you write in a specific genre people come to associate you with it. For example I was a huge fan of Anne Rice’s vampire novels. One day I saw a new book with her name on it in the store. I already knew I loved her books so without a second glance I picked it up and took it home. Three pages in I realized it was historical fiction. Not something I expected and not a genre I enjoyed. I never did read that book, and I was disappointed that she’d tricked me like that. Now here I am, doing the same sort of thing to you guys.
Sorry.
It’s never easy to launch a book, but it gets better as your name and books become better known. But the same thing that makes that part easier, makes doing this harder. It’s like launching my first book all over again, only with more expectations and preconceived notions to overcome.
But I wrote this book because I had to. From the day Sophie started talking in my head, I was in love with her, the story, and as I wrote more and more, with the world she lived in and the people around her. As any writer will tell you, when you feel that way about a story, it’s your job to tell it, no matter what.
So why didn’t I just create a pen name? A whole new writing persona whose brand I could build and market? I considered it. A lot. I even came up with a few great urban fantasy writer names like Constance St. Claire and Lydia Glass. But at the end of the day, I LOVE this book. I want to write a hundred Palmetto Moon books. And it would kill me not to have my name on them. So I made a difficult decision.
For the privilege of having my name on this book, I will do it the hard way. I will break all the rules and bulldoze any obstacle that gets in my way. As with everything else in my life, I will earn it with blood, sweat, and tears if I have to.
And for those of you who are old fans willing to take a chance on something new or new friends looking for a really excellent read, thank you from the bottom of my heart and happy reading!
Sherry D. Ficklin, Author
Book Review by Lexi Flint
Born of Blood is the first book in Sherry Ficklin’s Palmetto Moon Paranormal Fantasy Series. Mrs. Ficklin is a prolific writer whose writing career began, as noted above in YA Genre. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first two books in the God’s of Fate Trilogy. The fluidity of the writing showed the painstaking research into Greek mythology the writer had to do. She seamlessly wove the present day with the Greek gods of the past. However, the Palmetto Moon Series is getting off to a rough start.
The Characters : Each of the main characters in Born of Blood were well drawn and thought out. It was easy to picture them in my minds eye as I read. I could imaging them as characters on a weekly television series. They all had a purpose and helped drive the plot forward.
The Premise: What do you get when you put a private detective, her vampire ex-fiancée, and his new vamp girlfriend in a house together? Jealousy, hilarity and danger. Will Sophie and Caleb be able to resolve the issues of their prior relationship and solve the case without one of them dying in the process.
The story starts with a bang, there is no slow build up or unnecessary backstory. Ficklin puts her main characters and the readers in peril right from the start. This is a fast paced novel that you won’t want to put down until the very end. Ficklin has created a “realistic” world in which vampires have come out of the closet and are demanding their undead rights.
The vampires are lead by Rayne Blackwood a sexy, powerful and complicated vamp who has his eyes on our main character Sophie. But could the pretty detective fall for Rayne when she wouldn’t give Caleb a second chance after he had been turned on their wedding day? And is Rayne trying to win her over by placing gift wrapped bloodless bodies on Sophie’s doorstep or is someone else trying to scare her off the case?
While some parts of the story seemed rushed, the author put enough thought into the various plot lines, characters and setting to keep me interested in the story. I am looking forward to the second installment of the Palmetto Moon Series. Born of Blood is definitely not another sparkly vampire story, it’s a story you can really sink your teeth into. Lol
Enjoy,
Lexi
Palmetto Moon, Book 1, Born of Blood is due for release on October 9th 2011 from Tell-Tale Publishing
Book Blurb : “A young mother has vanished without a trace and Sophie D’Angelo has been hired to solve the cold case that left police stumped. Tensions are high between the local cops and the newly ‘out of the coffin’ vampire community, landing Sophie smack in the middle of the toughest mystery she’s ever faced and in the middle of a possible civil war. Her only allies are her loud, overbearing Italian family and her ex-fiancée turned-vampire, Caleb, who shares her house, her business, and generally gets on her nerves. If he wasn’t already dead, she’d probably kill him.
As if that wasn’t enough, Sophie has become the fixation of a twisted killer who is leaving a trail of bodies straight to her door. Can Sophie uncover the truth behind the strange disappearance and unmask her stalker before she, or someone she loves, becomes his next victim?”
Filed under e-books, fiction, Lexi Flint, Mystery, Paranormal, Sherrry D. Ficklin, Author, Suspense, Vampire
Image via Wikipedia
Today I cry tears for the people that I never knew
As I did ten years ago in the horror of 9/11.
I am conflicted about all that has come to pass
in the devastating wake of 9/11.
As a Christian I love all my brothers around the world
As an American I am glad Bin Laden is gone.
His death does not change the pain that the
thousands of families in New York, Washington,
and Pennsylvania felt; their lives forever
changed in a blink of an eye
because of ignorance and hate.
Who is to blame for the pain?
I have ideas I shall not voice here
We all have ideas some different, right and wrong
and we all have a constitutuinal right to that opinion.
I shall not say God bless America because I believe God blesses the whole world, but I am proud to live in the land of the free and home of the brave. I am proud to be an American. I thank the soldiers, like my father, who have paid for that freedom, many with own lives.
This poem is in honor of all the firefighters, police officers, paramedics, soldiers and civilians that lost their lives on 9/11 and in the decade since in Iraq, Afganistan and all the other senseless wars around the world.
Let us go forth not in fear or hate or regret for what has passed, but let us honor the memories of those who lost their lives with love. Let’s us make them proud.
God loves you all and so do I.
Filed under African American Authors, Lexi Flint, poetry
![Road%20to%20Recovery300dpi[1]](http://lexiflint.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/road20to20recovery300dpi1.jpg "Road%20to%20Recovery300dpi[1]")
Author Alyssa Fox juggles being a full time wife and mother of four with being a full time author. She creates tantalizing romances from her home in the mountains of West Virginia. Her debut novel ROAD TO RECOVERY was published May 5, 2011 and is available in e-book format from Pink Petal Books. Ms. Fox has also recently sold her second book Bound to Protect to her publisher. This is an exciting time for Ms. Fox and I am pleased to introduce you to this inspiring new author who promises "sizzling romance to leave you breathless."
1.First I would like to congratulate you on the publication of your first book Road to Recovery. How has your life changed since becoming a published author?
It really hasn’t changed too much. Unless you count that it’s gotten busier with deadlines in between taking care of the family and writing.
2.You describe your writing as “sizzling romance that leaves you breathless” and “on the edge of erotic.” What is the difference between traditional romance novels and erotica? Where do your novels fit between the two?
The biggest difference between what I’d call regular romance and erotic is there’s more sex in erotic novels. There is no such thing as a closed door when it comes to sex and explicit love scenes with graphic or strong language. It’s not just writing sex into the book that makes it erotic, as there is still a hero and heroine developing a relationship, but, the sex is part of the plot. You could remove the sex, and the story could still stand on its own. I never thought I’d be writing erotic, but it just flows as I write. I’ve tried to tame down my love scenes, but it just doesn’t happen.
3.In the past romance novel seemed to follow a simple formula, boy meets girl, they fall in love have a disagreement, make up and live happily ever after. They were feel good books. Now the stories are a little more complicated containing more mystery, murder, fantasy ect… Have our taste changed as readers or is it a reflection of the world around us?
I think it’s a little bit of both; of course things happening in the world change us. I know for me even my taste in books has changed over the years.
4.Who are your favorite authors and what are you reading now?
My favorite authors right now would be Shayla Black, Maya Banks, Leah Braemel, Chloe Cole, Delaney Diamond, just to name a few. I have tons; my Kindle is loaded with books from authors I love. What I’m reading now is Leah Braemel’s book Deliberate Deceptions.
5.What are your goals as a writer?
To write stories that my readers will love as much I did writing them.
6.What was the best writing or publishing advice you have received?
The best I got was never give up because once you do then you’ll never find a home for your book. I’ve not received any bad advice yet.
7.You didn’t initially plan on having a writing career. How did you become a romance writer?
That’s right; it wasn’t even something I thought of. It happened a year and half ago when I was stuck home with all four kids during a snow storm. They were driving me nuts as we were snowed in. I also was home schooling them at the time, so I needed an outlet before I went crazy. I tried my hand at a YA book first, but that took a bad turn, so I started writing a romance novel next. I always had stories running through my head, but never thought to write them down. Now I can’t imagine doing anything else.
8.How did you feel when your novel Road to Recovery was picked up by Pink Petal Press?
Totally freaking excited, and wasn’t sure I had read the email correctly or not. It was after midnight when I checked my mail once more, and there it sat. I screamed, and nearly scared the crap out of my husband. I asked him if it said what I thought it said and I was shaking so freaking bad. It’s safe to say I didn’t sleep at all that night.
9.Please tell us about your book Road To Recovery.
Dr. Erin Miller and Dr. Kyle Reynolds are competing for a coveted mentoring position at Maple Forge Memorial Hospital. They plan on pulling out all the stops. But their careers and their desires collide, tangling their past with their future and giving them a chance for love.
10.What are you working on now?
Well, I just turned in another book to my editor with characters from Road to Recovery. Now I’m working on a single title erotic suspense.
11. Will your book be available in paperback in the future? Yes.
12. Do you plot or pants?
I plot out everything before writing. Now sometimes my first chapter isn’t plotted because the characters are being a pain, but everything else after that is. I used to go by the seat of my pants, and would get stuck a lot and plotting has helped that.
13. How long does it take you to write and edit your books?
It depends on the book how long it takes me. I can get a first draft done in 6 weeks, then I take sometimes a month to do my editing. So from the start to finish 2-3 months before a book is finished and polished.
Lexi’s note : You need to teach me how to do that. It takes me forever to write my first draft. I’m easily distracted by shiny things like the internet. lol
14. Do you write to a specific word count or write until the story is complete?
I write to a specific word count that I want for that book. I even have a certain word count I want per chapter depending on what my total word count needs to be.
Alyssa can be found around the web at. www.alyssa-fox.com. She can also be found at her blog http://alyssafoxauthor.blogspot.com/, Facebook and Twitter.
Thank you Alyssa for being my guest today. I wish you much success in your writing career and cannot wait to read ROAD TO RECOVERY available now from Pink Petal Books .
Filed under Author Interviews, e-books, Lexi Flint, Romance, writing
