Feature Friday: Seth Fishman

Seth Fishman was born and raised in Midland, Texas (think Friday Night Lights) and received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England (think cold and rainy and millions of castles). His YA thriller, The Well's End, is the first in a series and the protagonist, Mia Kish, is roughly inspired by a hometown drama that (when he was young) really blew him away: (http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/...).

When not writing, Seth is a literary agent at The Gernert Company (www.thegernertco.com), and thinks writing and agenting are the two very best jobs in the world.

Interview:

A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Seth:
Read. And write of course. Everyone always tells you to write every day and I don't necessarily buy that as a necessity, but I would say that writing is like any physical talent - you have to practice and work hard to get good at it. But that aside, if you don't read what's great now, if you don't read the classics, then it's hard to have a good context for the book you're writing.  Inspiration, techniques, and originality come from that.

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Seth: 
As a kid the Lord of the Rings series really got me going, but now I sort of have too many favorites.  Ender's Game is a great intro to scifi, while Wind Up Girl is an amazing finale. The Sound and the Fury is the most challenging and rewarding book I've ever read, and With Fire & Sword is the most obscure favorite book I've read. The best book I read this year was Pierce Brown's Red Rising. It all and always changes, which is a great thing.

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for The Well's End?

Seth: 
I got the idea with real purpose, I wanted to write something set in a prep school, something with poison, and with a character inspired by Baby Jessica, a real person who fell down a well when I was a kid. Poison turned to virus, and the book went in an entirely surprising direction as I wrote it, but the idea came from taking these three things and literally sitting down for one afternoon session of brainstorming. Kinda boring sounding but it was fun; I could feel my excitement build as I hit the right idea.

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing The Well's End?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Seth: 
Oh gosh yes.  I got rid of a full major character, there was just too many people talking, and that was rough.  And writing from a young woman's perspective was particularly challenging, but I'm not sure that was a 'snag'.  Writing a plot, the story, was the easy part for me. The snag was trying to make the characters real, to make them seem human. A plot isn't worth anything if you don't have real characters moving through it, so I worked hard to embody them, with long discussions with my editor and, of course, by banging my head against the wall a few times.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in The Well's End is your favorite and why?

Seth: 
Agh, tough one. I think I'm most proud of Mia, having poured myself into trying to write from her angle, and to make her authentic, and she's certainly my favorite, but I did have lots of fun with Rob. I think I came up with fifteen t-shirts for him to wear.

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Seth: 
I've wanted to be a writer since middleschool. I guess, when I think about it, my path is one of try try again. I've written some three books before The Well's End, and went to college very specifically hoping to write (both an undergraduate and postgraduate program).  I'm not sure I'm really the biggest advocate of an MFA program, but I am an advocate of writing, putting a book in a drawer, and then persevering.  As I'm a literary agent, some might think that's really helped me out but in truth, the writing has to hold up.  Aside from the books in a drawer I've also been through a couple agents and agencies - I suppose that means that there's always hope, as long as the focus is on writing as well as you can.

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Seth: 
I've just finished the second draft of the second book in this series, actually.  A book that takes the ending and goes into a place you just might not be able to imagine. That's my goal, to create characters that are strong enough that you'll be happy to come with me wherever I go.

A.L.:
What's your biggest fear and why?

Seth: 
My biggest fear is that I'll be a bad father. No real evidence points to that happening, but I can't help it.  I want to run out and learn how to fly fish.  I want to write board books and picture books and chapter and middle grade and every age FOR my theoretical kids so that I can connect more with my them.

A.L.:
Do you find it hard to balance your life between being an agent and being an author?

Seth: 
This is a great question, and I'm surprised no one has asked it yet.  The answer is absolutely. I don't think that the work I do for my clients is hindered in any way, but it's really hard to spend all day reading rough manuscripts and then come home and sit right back at the computer and do the same thing with my own.  It's hard to know what to share about my book with my clients, hard to figure out the best way to make those things mesh.  But the truth is, my clients are so wonderful and supportive and, frankly, helpful - I may know tons about their contracts, but they are the ones I get to learn from when it comes to tough edits and book readings. I think I have the best jobs in the world and I work very hard to make sure they are compatible.

A.L.:
What's your favorite place in all of England and why?  How about Texas?

Seth: 
Ha, love this question too.  I LOVE England and adore so many places.  York, for instance, is so amazing because you can really see how an old major city looks, and as a Roman history major (read: nerd), you can also see where Constantine was crowned emperor. London is a place I'd move to in a second; I love the history, the nooks, the streets, I love it all.  But my favorite place is definitely Hay-on-Wye, a small town in Wales with this HUGE bookfair every year.  The biggest writers come, and the entire village is set up for it; there are like 30 bookstores in this tiny village; it's a book readers' paradise!

As to Texas, Austin is the best place to live there by far; really cool town.  But the Big Bend National Park is really a great place to camp and I'd love to get back there. And my home town has all this food I miss; it's not a foodie kinda place, but it's home and I'm the nostalgic type.

The Giveaway:
Seth is giving away a signed copy of THE WELL'S END.

The Well's End: A deadly virus and an impossible discovery unite in one enthralling can’t-miss read...

Sixteen-year-old Mia Kish has always been afraid of the dark. After all, she’s baby Mia, the one who fell down a well. That was years ago, though the darkness still haunts her. But when her classmates and teachers at ritzy Westbrook Academy start dying of old age from a bizarre and frightening virus that ages its victims years in a matter of hours, Mia becomes haunted by a lot more than the dark. Their deaths are gruesome and Mia worries she and her friends may be next. In order to survive, Mia and her small crew must break quarantine and outrun armed soldiers in hazmat suits who shoot first and ask questions later.

And there’s only one place to go—the Cave, aka Fenton Electronics. Mia knows it’s somehow connected and hopes her dad, Director of Fenton Electronics, who has always been strangely secretive about his work, has the answers she needs, and more importantly a cure to save everyone before the whole town succumbs to the mysterious virus. Unfortunately, it’s not answers Mia discovers, but something far more treacherous and impossible than even the virus itself.

A high-stakes, fast-paced adventure with imagination and heart.

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How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). US/CANADA.  I will contact the winner via email.

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Double Feature: James McGovern

James McGovern studied at Landau Forte College in the UK, and he is going to study English Language and Literature at Oxford University starting in October 2014.

Martin King and the Space Angels is his debut novel, the first part in an exciting new teen fiction series.

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Guest Post:

There’s a great trend for modern writers to follow trends. This tendency seems to be especially common in teen fiction. Of course, there’s a good reason for this—such books are generally easier to sell.

Take vampires as one example. Even now, when the Twilight-initiated vampire trend is definitely no longer at its height, the Kindle store is still full of Paranormal Romance books, a large proportion of which are vampire-boy-falls-in-love-with-human-girl stories. And they are still selling very well.

So is writing for trends a good idea for a writer? In some ways, the definite answer is yes, especially for independently-published authors. Just take a look at the enormous success Amanda Hocking has become, a success which can at least partly be put down to her vampire books.

However, there is also a danger to trendy writing: the danger of cynicism. If you’re writing solely for the money, it’s going to be a lot harder for you to produce a saleable book. If readers can sense that you aren’t passionate about your subject, they will quickly switch off. By all means, write to a trend, but only if you really want to tell that particular story.

If you genuinely love angels, or vampires, or dystopias, then write it. If you don’t, don’t.

My debut novel, Martin King and the Space Angels, has not been written with any popular trends in mind. I focussed more on creating a timeless sense of excitement. To my knowledge, there haven’t been a great amount of good teen superhero books in recent years. I aim to fix that!

Martin King and the Space Angels:  

Martin King is just an ordinary teenage boy in love with a girl… until he gets a superpower.

An evil force called XO5 is looking for something on Earth – something dangerous. Martin King and his friends must find it first.

Martin, Darcy and Tommy soon find themselves caught up in a massive, universal conspiracy.

But who really is the mysterious XO5 – and what does he want with Martin.

Read Goodreads reviews.
Buy it on Amazon.

Excerpt: 

It is said that at least once in every person’s life, they will dream of angels…

The sky flared white. Rain slammed down on the bus shelter and Martin’s shoulders tensed. The rainstorm had washed away the glue and colour of an old poster and it hung, blank, from the plexiglass.

Darcy pointed into the distance.  

‘Did you see that?’

‘See what?’

‘Look! No, not there. Over there.’

Darcy pointed towards the trees near the side of the school. Martin squinted. It was hard to see through the wall of rain. All over the world, it had been raining continuously for three weeks.

The planet had been taken, quite literally, by storm. Even expert meteorologists were unsure of what to make of the freak weather. Martin King had heard several proposed explanations.

‘…the Royal Meteorological Society has suggested that these prolonged storms may be due to a shifting of the Moon’s gravitational pull…’

‘…the worldwide storms could be natural phenomena that occur once every ten thousand years…’

But Martin wasn’t convinced. There was something else—a dark feeling in the air, a sense of evil on the wind.

Monday Muse: The Piano Guys -- The Cello Song

O.O Like, you just don't even understand how much joy this gives me. The cello is my favorite instument EVER!!!! And this is my favorite cello song EVER!!!! And I'm so EXCITED!!!! (Also, had too much tea today).

Feature Friday: Jessica Khoury

Jessica Khoury is of Syrian and Scottish descent and was born in Toccoa, Georgia. She wrote her first book at age 4, a fan fic sequel to Syd Hoff'sDanny and the Dinosaur, which she scribbled on notebook paper, stapled together, and placed on the bookshelf of her preschool classroom. Since that day, she's dreamed of being an author. Besides writing, Jess enjoys playing, coaching, and watching soccer and is an avid FC Barcelona fan. She also spends time directing theater for college and student groups and traveling the world in search of inspiration and stories. Jess currently lives in Columbia, South Carolina, with her husband, two terrible dogs, and an abundance of books, shoes, and sweet tea.

Interview:
A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Jessica: 
One of the best things you can bring to your writing is your own life experience. Go to new places, meet new people, be intensely curious about everything you see and everyone you meet, and take risks. You must live big to write deep!

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Jessica: 
It's really impossible to pick just one favorite, but I'll say that a book which I really admire, and which inspired me greatly, was Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. It's a book for people who love books--can you ask for anything better than that?

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for Vitro?

Jessica: 
The idea for Vitro began with a collection of fragmented ideas: an island in the Pacific, a pilot named Jim, a case of mistaken identity. I knew I wanted to write all of these things, so it was just a matter of finding the right way to fit them together. After writing Origin, I was very curious about the other Corpus projects that potentially existed, and wanted to explore more of that world.

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing Vitro?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Jessica: 
One of the hardest parts of writing Vitro was keeping all of the characters' locations and knowledge separated. There are three POVs in the book, and they are all in such close proximity to each other that I was constantly having to go back and figure out who was where and when and what they knew or didn't know. It got pretty confusing! I had to draw out a lot of complicated maps and charts to keep everyone straight.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in Vitro is your favorite and why?

Jessica: 
Jim was the most fun to write, but I think my favorite is Nicholas. He was a surprising character for me--always popping up unexpectedly and making himself more important than I'd intended him to be. I ended up rewriting the entire book to give him a bigger role, because he simply insisted on it!

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Jessica: 
I am constantly enchanted by what I get to do every day--wake up, write stories, and connect with readers. It's a tremendous privilege and a dream come true, and I could never ask for anything more! It's something I never take for granted.

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Jessica: 
Unfortunately, I can't tell you that quite yet! We are gearing up for a big announcement in early March--so follow me on Facebook or Twitter to be first to hear the news!

A.L.:
What's harder, directing a play or writing a book?  Would you say they draw from a similar creative well within you?

Jessica:
Both come from the same place, I'd say, though each has its specific challenges. Plays are highly collaborative and take a lot more energy, but they have the particular reward of camaraderie and you make great relationships in theater. I love that about directing. Writing is a good deal more solitary and cerebral. It's probably easier for me, because I'm working alone for much of the process and don't have to manage thirty other people's schedules.

A.L.:
So far you've written two novels, Origin and Vitro, which are edgy sci-fi novels for teens.  Do you want to write outside of that genre or do you like where you are?

Jessica: 
I am happy where I am, though down the road I'd love to show a different side to my writing. I'm a great fan of fantasy and have written a lot in that genre; perhaps one day I'll get to move in that direction.

A.L.:
Would you say that Pia or Sophie is more like you personally?  Why?

Jessica:
I can relate more to Sophie than Pia, because she's a lot more "normal," but both of them are a great deal more stubborn than I am. I admire stubbornness, I think it's a kind of strength, and I tend to write characters I admire more than ones I am like. Isn't that why we read--to become someone else? It's the same when you're writing.

The Giveaway:  
Jessica is giving away a signed copy of VITRO to one lucky winner (INT.).

Vitro:  On Skin Island, even the laws of creation can be broken.

On a remote island in the Pacific, Corpus scientists have taken test tube embryos and given them life. These beings—the Vitros—have knowledge and abilities most humans can only dream of. But they also have one enormous flaw.

Sophie Crue is determined to get to Skin Island and find her mother, a scientist who left Sophie behind years ago. With the help of Jim Julien, a young charter pilot, she arrives--and discovers a terrifying secret she never imagined: she has a Vitro twin, Lux, who is the culmination of Corpus's dangerous research.

Now Sophie is torn between reuniting with the mother who betrayed her and protecting the genetically enhanced twin she never knew existed. But untangling the twisted strands of these relationships will have to wait, for Sophie and Jim are about to find out what happens when science stretches too far beyond its reach.

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How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). INT.  I will contact the winner via email.

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Monday Muse: Zedd -- Clarity (feat. Foxes)

I just...I just can't get it out of my head!!!!

Feature Friday: Mindee Arnett

Mindee Arnett is the author of two young adult series. The Arkwell Academy Series, a contemporary fantasy from Tor Teen (Macmillan), and Avalon, a sci-fi thriller from Balzer+Bray (HarperCollins). She lives on a horse farm in Ohio with her husband, two kids, a couple of dogs, and an inappropriate number of cats.  She’s addicted to jumping horses and telling tales of magic, the macabre, and outer space.  Find her online at www.mindeearrnet.com.

Interview:

A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Mindee:
My biggest piece of advice would be patience and practice. In my experience, the biggest problem aspiring writers face is getting too impatient. I was guilty of it for sure. The desire and pressure to find an agent and to start publishing is so great that you hurry through the first draft, do a hasty revision, and then send it out. This is a guarantee set up for failure. It’s absolutely critical to be patient. Once you’ve written the first draft, set it aside for a period of time—a couple of weeks at least—before starting the revision. You need the time to distance yourself from the writing process so that you can view the story with a critical eye. The “practice” part of my advice is to keep at it and try new things. If what you’ve been doing on prior stories isn’t getting you that agent or that sale, then you need to take a different approach. Remember that writing is as much a mechanical craft akin to building houses and as it is an art. Study the craft and refine your process. You can always get better. Always.

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Mindee:
My all-time favorite book is Harry Potter, and yes I’m talking about the series as a whole. I just love the characters and the world. I never get tired of spending time there.

A.L.:Where did you get the idea for Avalon?

Mindee:
Avalon came out of a combination of my love and heartbreak over Firefly, as well as my first experience with the ideas about dimensions as presented in the book Flatland.

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing Avalon?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Mindee:
The only real snag I hit was that the first draft of the book had two points of view. This just didn’t work, mostly because the second POV came into the story so late. The fix, of course, was to put everything in Jeth’s point of view. It posed some challenges at first, but in the end was pretty easy.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in Avalon is your favorite and why?

Mindee:
Jeth is definitely my favorite. The main character usually is. It’s a perquisite of being the main character. They need to have the most interesting story for me to want to tell it.

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Mindee:
My journey was fairly straightforward. I started writing short stories in the sixth grade and took creative writing in high school. In college, I studied English with an emphasis in creative writing. During graduate school I started publishing my short stories in various semi-pro magazines. Not long after, I turned to writing novels. The Nightmare Affair, was my fifth novel and first YA. I queried my agent, Suzie Townsend, who signed me a few weeks later. To make a long story short, I spent a lot of time practicing the craft, I refused to give up despite rejections, and I eventually broke-through.

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Mindee:
I’m currently revising the sequel to Avalon.

A.L.:
What made you decide to write a space novel?  Did you want to tap into your Whedonite roots?

Mindee:
Well, my sci-fi roots run a lot deeper than Joss, actually. I grew up loving Star Wars and Star Trek. I’ve always been a sci-fi fan. I think writing sci-fi was a bit inevitable given my enthusiasm for it. Also, I’ve never been one to draw much distinction between sci-fi and fantasy. My love for speculative fiction is very encompassing.

A.L.:
You've now written from both the male and the female perspectives in your YA novels.  Which do you think is easier to write?  Or is there no difference?

Mindee:
The answer is yes and yes. There are things that are easy and hard to write about both of them. I can’t genuinely pick which is easier because of the difference in point-of-view. The Nightmare Affair is written in first person and Avalon in third. Although I will speculate and say that writing a male voice in the first person would be a lot more challenging than is was writing it in third. Third person just allows for a little more distance, I think.

A.L.:
Which do you prefer to write, sci-fi or fantasy?

Mindee:
Definitely fantasy. Most of my ideas tend toward magic and the supernatural. But I’m also extremely found of science and technology. So with any luck, I’ll continue to write in both genres.

Giveaway:
Mindee is giving away two swag packs (INT).

Avalon:  A ragtag group of teenage mercenaries who crew the spaceship Avalon stumble upon a conspiracy that could threaten the entire galaxy in this fascinating and fast-paced sci-fi adventure from author Mindee Arnett.

Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light-years from First Earth-and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn't care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.

Avalon is the perfect fit for teens new to sci-fi as well as seasoned sci-fi readers looking for more books in the YA space-and a great match for fans of Joss Whedon's cult hit show Firefly.

Read Goodreads reviews.
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How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). INT.  I will contact the winner via email.

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Featurette: Fairy, Texas

Margo Bond Collins is the author of a number of novels, including Waking Up Dead, Fairy, Texas, and Legally Undead (forthcoming in 2014). She lives in Texas with her husband, their daughter, and several spoiled pets. She teaches college-level English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and other monsters.





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Manic Readers

Fairy, Texas:  Fairy, Texas. A small town like any other.

Laney Harris didn't want to live there. When her mother remarried and moved them to a town where a date meant hanging out at the Sonic, Laney figured that "boring" would have a whole new meaning. A new stepsister who despised her and a high school where she was the only topic of gossip were bad enough. But when she met the school counselor (and his terminal bad breath), she grew suspicious. Especially since he had wings that only she could see. And then there were Josh and Mason, two gorgeous glimmering-eyed classmates whose interest in her might not be for the reasons she hoped. Not to mention that dead guy she nearly tripped over in gym class.

She was right. Boring took on an entirely new dimension in Fairy, Texas.

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Excerpt:
Fairy High could have fit into one wing of my old school. The three-story, red brick building looked like it had been around for at least a century—it actually had carvings over two of the doorways that read “Men’s Entrance” and “Women’s Entrance.” I was glad to see that none of the kids paid any attention to those instructions.
    “Counselor’s office,” I muttered to myself. At least I wasn’t starting in the middle of a term—though given the fact that there were fewer than 500 students in the entire high school, I didn’t think I was going to be able to go unnoticed, even in the general bustle of the first day back from summer vacation.
    I walked through the door marked “Men’s Entrance,” just be contrary, and faced a long hallway lined with heavy wooden doors. The spaces in between the doors were filled with lockers and marble staircases with ornate hand-rails flanked each end of the long hallway. Students poured in behind me, calling out greetings to each other and jostling me off to the side while I tried to get my bearings. None of the doors obviously led to a main office; I was going to have to walk the entire length of the hallway. And people were already starting to stare and whisper.
    God. I hated being the new kid.
    I took a deep breath and stepped forward. I made it halfway down the hall without seeing anything informative—all the doors had numbers over them and many of them had name plaques, but neither of those things did me any good since I didn’t know the name or office number for the counselor. I was almost getting desperate enough to ask Kayla, but of course she was nowhere to be seen.
    I turned back from scanning the halls for her and caught sight of the first adult I’d seen—and almost screamed. As it was, I gasped loudly enough for a guy walking past me to do a double take. The man standing in the open doorway was tall, over six feet, and way skinny—so emaciated that it looked like you ought to be able to see his ribs through his shirt, if his shirt didn’t hang so loosely on him. He had white hair that stuck out in tufts, thin lips, a sharp nose, and pale blue eyes that narrowed as he watched the kids walk past—and all the kids gave him a wide berth without even seeming to notice that they did so. He stood in an empty circle while students streamed around him in the crowded hallway.
    But none of that was what made me almost scream.
    For a moment, just as I’d turned toward him, I could have sworn that I’d seen the shadow of two huge, black, leathery wings stretched out behind him.

Monday Muse: Cecile Corbel -- Dellum Down

Cecile Corbel is one of my favorite international artists. This is an old song of hers, can't even buy it on iTunes. It's so pretty to listen to, but then you pay attention to the words and it gets kind of dark and gritty. Looks like February is creepy song month. :P

Feature Friday: Sharon Biggs Waller

Sharon Biggs Waller is the author of A MAD, WICKED FOLLY (Viking/Penguin winter 2014.  Sharon lived in England for six years, after falling in love with a British mounted police constable and marrying him.  She did extensive research on the British suffragettes for her novel, with the help of the curators of the Museum of London—when she wasn’t working as a riding instructor at the Royal Mews in Buckingham Palace and as a freelance magazine writer.  Today, she is a full-time novelist, and she has three non-fiction books published under her maiden name, Sharon Biggs: The Original Horse Bible (co-author Moira Harris, Bow Tie Press, 2011); Advanced English Riding (Bow Tie Press, 2007); In One Arena (Half Halt Press, 2001).  She’s also a classical dressage rider and trainer, and she lives on a 10-acre sustainable farm in Northwest Indiana, just outside of Chicago, with her husband, Mark, two horses, five dairy goats, four cats, two dogs, 35 laying hens, and a hive of bees.

Interview:
A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Sharon:
Writing is a skill like anything else and it takes practice and knowledge, and it’s not something you can learn quickly. Whenever you get stuck don’t get frustrated, instead, try to figure out what is causing the problem. For instance, is it dialogue, description, plot, character? I had problems with plot several years ago and I started working with Martha Alderson, the Plot Whisperer.  So I always advise writers to take a long look at your skills and find someone to help you hone them.  I firmly believe in using coaches.  Top athletes, dancers, musicians and actors use coaches, so why not writers? You can find some great writing classes online through Writers Digest, or hire freelance editors.  And read lots of writing books. Three of my favorites are Blockbuster Plots by Martha Alderson, Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass, and Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell. These books should be on every writer’s shelf.

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Sharon: 
OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon. It’s a time-travel historical about a nurse from the 1940s who falls through standing stones in Scotland and ends up in 18th century Scotland.  It’s such a great book, rich in detail and as sexy as can be! The characters are wonderfully drawn and the male lead, Jamie Fraser, is swoon-worthy and the gold standard of male leads, in my humble opinion. You just get lost in this book and I love that.  I’m a real fangirl with this OUTLANDER, I must admit, I have a much-thumbed paperback that Diana signed for me, which I will never part with.  And it’s going to be a series on Starz this summer.  I can’t wait!

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for A Mad, Wicked Folly?

Sharon: 
When I lived in England I’d often walk by Emmeline Pankhurst’s statue in London and I’d think about what life was like for women before they had the right to vote, and what did it take to fight for the vote? And then I started thinking about teens. What if you wanted to be something that was forbidden, what would you do? My character started to speak to me and the story began to emerge.  It took me three years to write and revise FOLLY. 

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing A Mad, Wicked Folly?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Sharon: 
FOLLY was a lot of work to write because everything was new to me.  I didn’t know very much about the Edwardian era, women’s suffrage history, or art. I was most concerned about getting the art details right. I’m a horse trainer and I can always tell when a writer hasn’t done her research (lots of kicking in the flanks, which is impossible) and I didn’t want to get things wrong. My dad is an artist and I have a lot of artist friends, so I talked to them a lot. I bought books on drawing, and bought some art implements, including the Conté crayons that Vicky loves. I wanted to know what the crayons felt like to hold and use and what they smelled like. I needed to know what kinds of things would be available in the Edwardian era so I found a place that sold vintage art supplies. I was relieved when an art professor friend of mine read the ARC and told me I had gotten it right.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in A Mad, Wicked Folly is your favorite and why?

Sharon: 
Outside of Vicky, I’d say Will.  He’s such a good guy and he has this sense of fairness that colors his whole world, from the way he treats the suffragettes, to the way he handles Vicky.  I also like how he calls her out on things.  She really needs to hear it because she’s been so sheltered and knows little about the world outside of her class.  He’s very good for her. And she’s good for him too because she encourages him and believes in his talents.

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Sharon: 
I’ve loved writing stories every since I was a little girl.  I remember my mom coming home from a parent/teacher conference when I was in second grade and asking me about this story I wrote, which was about a little witch and her cat. She was smiling and telling me how proud she was.  I loved that I could make her smile like that.  But I didn’t get serious about writing until after I had shoulder surgery in the mid 90s. I was training lots of horses and my surgeon told me to think about another career because I might have to have my shoulder done again. It was a long and painful recovery and I didn’t want to go through that again, so I started writing novels and magazine articles.  I wrote several novels before FOLLY.  Many rejections, many, many rejections!  But it was good experience for me. I’m glad those early novels weren’t published, although I didn’t feel that way then.  I really wasn’t ready.

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Sharon:
I do have an idea for a companion novel or two for A MAD, WICKED FOLLY, but right now I’m revising a story set in Scotland in the 18th century and I’m researching another set in the early part of the Victorian era. That’s all I can say otherwise my agent will kill me!

A.L.:
Was it hard to write a historic YA novel?

Sharon: 
Writing is hard work, no matter the genre, but historical fiction does have the added element of history, which involves a lot of research.  I love research.  As a non-fiction writer research doesn’t scare me and in fact I look forward to it.  To me it’s all about excavating the story; uncover details that help create the character and her world.  Of course all of this has to serve the story.  Packing a book with details just because I think it’s interesting can really weigh a story down.

A.L.:
Is it exciting being a riding instructor at the Royal Mews?  What's it like?  Any fun stories to share?

Sharon:
I loved being a riding instructor at Buckingham Palace! It was so much fun to go the security gate, show my ID card, and I’d go in, leaving the bustling streets of London behind.  The indoor arena at the Mews is older than our country, and that was an endless source of fascination to me.  Also I could look at all the carriages whenever I wanted and visit the horses in the stables. As far as fun stories go, I used to visit Prince Phillip’s horse and feed her wine gums when I wasn’t teaching.  She’s a really pretty black Cleveland Bay mare that the queen bred.  She was born on Prince Phillip’s birthday so the queen named her Phillipa.  I also went to a childrens’ Christmas party at the Mews when my niece was visiting one year.  The queen suddenly appeared (there are lots of odd passageways in the palace she walks through) but the children were more interested in Father Christmas than in her.  She said to my niece: “The children rather enjoy this don’t they.” It was amazing. She’s so tiny, too.  You could pick her up and put her in your pocket.

A.L.:
Do you feel as though Victoria Darling is a character after your own heart?  Why, why not?

Sharon: 
I love Vicky, I really do. I love how she never gives up, and she has so much courage.  I’ve heard some readers have wondered where her ambition comes from, which kind of surprises me. Edwardian women had ambition, too, and they had to fight hard to achieve their dreams. Besides, Vicky saw her brother take the reins of his own life, and she knew her father did the same, climbing his way up the business ladder, so she had some wonderful role models, even though neither of those men would like to admit that they inspired her!  Well, maybe her brother, Freddy, would. 

The Giveaway:
A MAD WICKED FOLLY swag pack -- US entrants only

A Mad, Wicked Folly:  Welcome to the world of the fabulously wealthy in London, 1909, where dresses and houses are overwhelmingly opulent, social class means everything, and women are taught to be nothing more than wives and mothers. Into this world comes seventeen-year-old Victoria Darling, who wants only to be an artist—a nearly impossible dream for a girl.
           
After Vicky poses nude for her illicit art class, she is expelled from her French finishing school. Shamed and scandalized, her parents try to marry her off to the wealthy Edmund Carrick-Humphrey. But Vicky has other things on her mind: her clandestine application to the Royal College of Art; her participation in the suffragette movement; and her growing attraction to a working-class boy who may be her muse—or may be the love of her life. As the world of debutante balls, corsets, and high society obligations closes in around her, Vicky must figure out: just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dreams?
  

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Monday Muse: Sepiamusic -- Crazy Burn

Compliments of miss A.G. Howard.

Monday Muse: Pre-Med -- Wallpaper Warriors

I sensed you were all falling asleep from all the cool, sleepy music I've been posting so I decided to make your skin all crawly with something new today. I can totally see a creep-tastic action scene happening during this song.