Freya's Bower Author Interviews - I'm Up!

Marci Baun of Freya's Bower is interviewing a bunch of FB authors and I'm up for this week! Check out my books and some insight into my characters over at the blog. ;-)

Click the banner to hop on over!

SORMAG Online Writer's Conference this week!

Just a gentle nudge to all registrants!

The SORMAG Online Writer's Conference began Sunday August 23rd and will continue throughout the week with a variety of wonderful writing, publishing and editing related panels until Saturday August 29th.

I'll be on the Meet the Romance Author and Panel Discussion: How to go from Idea to Manuscript posts so if you have a romance or writing related question, feel free to pop on and post your question and we'll answer it.

Hope to see you there!

Wow! Congrats to Tamara Angela Grant!

I want to take this moment to say congrats and woo hoo! to one of my clients Tamara Angela Grant, author of The Cooling Board out now from Peace in the Storm publishing. I got a forward from Tamara and the PiTS newsletter and haven't had a chance until now to let it sink in and celebrate because Tamara's book is now on display and available to buy at Borders! I created the book cover layout for Tamara so I'm extra proud and happy for her.

Best wishes and many readers, Tamara!

Here's the display:

Click to enlarge

Blurb for The Cooling Board:

Is it really a thin line between love and hate? When is it okay to return home after so many years astray? Tamara Angela Grant pens an intriguing and heartwarming tale of a family who loves each other despite the fact that they may not always like each other. Enchanting and enlightening, The Cooling Board is an entertaining and strikingly clever, witty, and honest look at the way a family copes with the devastating loss of a loved one. Witness Jhonnie Bell Devereaux, who thought only one thing could drag her back to her birthplace of Regal City, Louisiana. When she hears news of the impending death of her mother, Jhonnie Bell rushes to her mother's side and in the process, gets reacquainted with the small rural bayou life she anxiously left behind years ago.

Jhonnie Bell quickly learns that death does nothing to silence the dregs of disharmony among family members. Albeit, LuluBell Darling Devereaux's passing leaves her family without the Matriarch they all look to for advice and guidance; but her lifelong testimony and legacy was to hold her family together. How could she do this knowing that strife and misgivings would be hard to relinquish from those she knew best? She left each a letter that details her words of wisdom, but with one catch -- no one was to read her Last Will and Testament until they heeded the admonishments from her last words to each of them. Shock, joy and panic encompass the family's emotions. Will the late LuluBell bring the family together as she intends, or will it push them all further apart? That thin line becomes broader with each page you turn in this realistic view of family life.

Available now:


and at your local Borders. :-)

Stones of Time (Damewood Trilogy Book 2) by Erin Durante

This was an awesome read that I daresay enjoyed even better than the first book.

Stones of Time starts off right where Demons of the Past ended as Nadia is imprisoned by the scientists and her betrayer Maurdruik. She gets to know one of her guards, Shaden, probably my favorite character in the book, a soldier who is well read and unlike his brethren. Soon Nadia gains his trust and somewhat manipulates him in helping her escape, after revealing his dismay toward the way the other soldiers think. The opening scenes are interspersed between flashbacks of horrific experiments to create super soldiers and one genetically enhanced "demon" child (whom it is hinted as being Shaden) is subjected to countless painful experiments.

As Nadia and Shaden escape, she stops at a door where her old friend/love interest/former mentor Vestro is being held and still kept alive. Insistent on taking him, Nadia and Shaden then make their escape toward the city of Colorado Springs (with a stop here and there) and run into some old friends, the demon hunter Damien and the former would be king of the Pearl Isles Andrew who has changed a bit in appearance and moved on with a new love interest Anna. From there, they devise a plan to stop the Ordi and the vicious experiments while attempting to gather the last remnants of the Pearl Isles together to rise up and retake the kingdom from the growing Ordi empire.

There are some nice moments between Shaden and Nadia earlier on that I believed would turn into an interesting triangle but instead gave way to another connection that would band Shaden, Nadia and Vestro together. I was taken aback with the revelation and also how Shaden changed from a hardcore warrior to somewhat child-like in mentality and curiosity but it was understandable after getting a bit used to it.

The beauty in this story not only lies within the depth and complexities of the characters but in the detail of this future world. From steam energy powered lights in the future city of Colorado Springs to the fact that California had broken off the rest of the continent, the technological future that was hinted at in book 1 is fully shown as Nadia makes her way out of the city. Genetically enhanced beings are treated with contempt and subhumans and we see in the low paying jobs they are given, the way they are treated as property and the disapproving glances they are thrown on the streets.

This was a great addition to the Damewood trilogy and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how the series is tied up as the final confrontation looms and the characters begin to settle with each other and in their home to prepare for war once again.

Her Wolf (Book 1 in the Westervelt Wolves Series) by Rebecca Royce

I've always been a fan of stories that dealt with the "other" paranormals that featured supernatural communities that existed outside of our human world. Her Wolf the first in the Westervelt Wolves series by Rebecca Royce handled both accounts with the otherworldly love story of a paranormal romance and the edgy yet crafty world building of a contempotary urban fantasy.

Her Wolf features Ashlee Morrison, a young woman who has just gotten over her fiance's betrayal over cheating on her and getting another woman pregnant. After recovering from a breakdown, she takes a job at the nearby zoo and soon starts hearing voices in from one of the wolves there. Is she going crazy? Giving into this feeling she ends up saving the wolf who calls out to her and soon finds out he is indeed a shifter wolf, a prince who was doomed to stay in wolf form because of a witch's curse. With the help of his pack brothers, he can be successfully turned back. But that is not all. Ashlee is his true mate and, unbeknownst to her, also comes from a line of wolves. She may be the only one who can help him, doom him to fall to another curse that caused his father to kill his own mate or perhaps both at the same time. A battle begins between the former Alpha and the Westervelt wolves that starts a new feud and the beginnings of a new future for the family.

I have to say this was a rockin' story. I'm a world building junkie and I love to see the rules of the author's world created as the characters within the story adhere to them and explore it through their actions. There's a bit of family history here as the wolf dynasty is established through Tristan's brothers and his farther and also through Ashlee's mother as well.

There's a sweet yet very sensual love story that builds throughout and the chemistry between Tristan and Ashlee is smoking. The action scenes kept me turning the pages to see how things will be resolved between the hero and heroine.

The next book in the series deals with Ashlee's younger sister Summer and I'm definitely eager to see how things continue in the family line as well as seeing how the community continues to survive within the pack. Although this is a story within itself, there's a hint toward an ongoing battle between the antagonist of the story and our heroes that leaves it open for a series. I would have liked to have known a bit more about the witch's history and her story. A minor wish and one that doesn't deter at all from my enjoyment of the story. Maybe there will be hints of more in the coming books as we get to know the different members of the Westervelt community. I'd definitely be interested in learning and getting to know more. If you're looking for a great paranormal romance with a side of suspense and action, definitely pick up Her Wolf and check out this series!

Silent Blade by Ilona Andrews

I really liked this future world and the techie gadgets and politics that surrounded the character's environment but I just couldn't get into the characters or their motivations. The story meandered a bit as it went on and it felt like it sort of took a while to find it's grounding and then it was finished. It was also became too 'Harlequin Presents' for what the setting and atmosphere had already established. A bummer cause I heard great things about this author (these authors?) and I'm always on the lookout to try new SFRs. I'll still be checking out the Kate Daniels series though and look forward to their urban fantasy offering.

Sci-Fi + Romance = Still A Possibility? I hope so

I have to say I'm pretty new to SF Romance in books today. I didn't know that a few romance authors had dipped into it in the past decade or and I didn't know there was a small following looking to try out books with this theme. Sure I've been an advocate for a lot of couples in the SF genre but I liked them for the delicate mix of how they handled both elements admits some great characters. Since then I've garnered up some interest in a few titles and styles that I'm on the lookout for now.

What makes a book a great Sci-Fi romance for me? I think it has to have the elements of a book that's already a great story amped up with a believable romance. To narrow it down in layman's terms, it has to have a good plot with some obstacles and conflict to make the story move, some good characters to keep me invested in their lives, topped with a believable romance that will better each person to be with the one they love. Plus, for sci-fi, I need that awesome techie goodness that defines the technology of the world and how advanced we've become as a society, even though there are still internal conflicts. I guess that's why I'm more inclined to read soft sci-fi (dealing more on sociological terms) than hard sci-fi (more on technical terms and conflicts).

In the previous post I mentioned both the new ABC show Defying Gravity and the movies adapted from manga, Appleseed. This, to me, is a great comparison of what sci-fi romance should be and what it shouldn't be. Appleseed features a strong heroine with a definable personality working against a greater goal in a future where humans, cyborgs and bioroids live together in Olympus after a world war that nearly decimated everyone. Deunan nearly loses her love, Briareos after he throws his body on hers to stop a scaffolding from falling on her. Once Deunan is found after the war, she is taken to the new utopia to live and finds Briareos, now a cyborg in a way, and begins working alongside him again. Even though Deunan is the main character, each person she comes in contact with from bioroid Hitomi, her love interest Yoshi, Prime Minister of the city Athena and her aid Nike plus a bunch of other characters both good and evil.

As you can tell from the names there's a good amount of allusion to mythology and some awesome world building that goes into defining the atmosphere. Defying Gravity doesn't even take time to establish it's surroundings despite taking place in 2052 and the characters are more like archetypes with issues rather than living and breathing people.

A really sci-fi romance I read was Clare Dargin's Cold Warriors which I dubbed to be like new BSG in space only with a better more coherent story and with better characters. I liked the miltiary sci-fi aspect with the growing romance and how each of the characters related to one another. Being a SF/thriller fan before I came into romance, I would love to see more like this type which meshes in the action thriller aspect with a romance in the backdrop. I think that's why I've been growing more toward romantic suspenses lately. I like having that thrill that makes me turn the page and continue to see how things will unfold. I'm not much one for angsty melodrama unless it's done with a dash of something else.

What I'm looking for in a SFR may differ from what the next person is looking for in the subgenre which may be what's holding it back from catching on as a trend. There's a balance between having too much sci-fi for the romance fans and too much romance for the sci-fi fans that may be putting off both sides. The erotica genre has some sci-fi listed in their books but erotica isn't really my thing as I don't like to read strictly about the many sex lives of characters who happen to live in outer space or be alien because it feels tacked on and, well, tacky. I need my world building, juicy characterization, great action scenes and a nice tidy ending.

The Shomi line at Dorchester seemed to hold much promise based on what I've heard about the books that came out of the line, but sadly it has been discontinued. What has this said about the future of SFR if this line hasn't taken off? Harlequin's Luna which is geared more toward Fantasy with a romantic backdrop is even having trouble and I've heard that science fiction is a dying genre, which is scary. Perhaps SFR will continue to be a niche. Heather Massey of The Galaxy Express has been following the trend and opening up great dialogues about the subgenre which hopefully spark some future interest in it.

In 2008, publishers and agents thought it was going to the big thing of this year but still, as we come toward the end, not a peep has been made save for interest in Steampunk Romance. I'm not much of a steampunk fan although I really enjoyed HG Wells' Time Machine. Historical romance fans may get into the Victorian era but I'm not sure how they'll take the extra sci-fi addition. The upcoming SteamCon get together doesn't even have book vendors to sell steampunk themed books because they didn't receive applications to showcase them.

Whatever may happen, I will keep adding SFRs to my list to check out plus I even have some in the works. My follow up to Cimmerian City entitled A Feast of Shadows is coming out from Eirelander Publishing March 2010 and although there's an ongoing arch of man vs society, there's also a romance that is central to the story (and even an HEA for all those wondering out there). I also have a futuristic space romance I want to adapt for book format soon.

I'm also adding some more to my shelf including works by Joann Ross, Susan Kearney, Susan Grant and Linnea Sinclair. If anyone else knows any other good works that are pretty heavy on the world building, please let me know and I'll add them to my list of works to check out.

Defying Gravity: New Show on ABC

There's a new show on ABC called Defying Gravity, a Canadian production dubbed Grey's Anatomy in space. Eek. It was also inspired by the fictional BBC docudrama "Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets. To me it looked a lot more like Virtuality which aired a month or so ago on Fox (which was canned before it even got out the gate) and Danny Boyle's Sunshine before that. It looked pretty good from the little bit I saw and I ended up catching up on the first two episodes. It wasn't quite as interesting as I thought it would be although the elements are there. I saw a lot of people from earlier shows I really miss so that was a bit of a bummer also.

As the storyline goes, there's a team of eight astronauts (four men and four women) from five different countries, who set out on a mysterious six-year mission that covers 13 billion kilometers. Their entire journey is monitored, every emotion captured on camera, and they soon realize there may be more to the mission than what they were told.

Every character seems to have a secret. Antares flight engineer Maddux Donner (played by Ron Livingston) had to leave two members of his crew on a previous mission to Mars which still has secrets that only the heads know about. Before the mission, he gets involved with the ship's future geologist Zoe Barnes (played by Laura Harris) who gets pregnant despite him telling her he's had a vasectomy. She then aids in the help of her friend, biologist Jen Crane (Blood Ties' Christina Cox, good to see ya!) who helps her "get rid of the problem" in a procedure that is legal now but illegal in this future (year 2052). Zoe complies as she's just been accepted for the Antares mission and ends up hearing random baby cries throughout the area. Jen is one half of a married couple and was formerly involved in a tryst with Antares future commander Ted Shaw (Malik Yoba, good to see ya too!) who is now married to scientist Eve Shaw who is in on the secret of why the astronauts are really on the mission. Whew. There's more of the crew, of course, but these are the main ones and it's already getting a bit confusing.

There's a delicate mix of drama, romance and sci-fi that I like in my speculative fiction and unfortunately there's a little too much drama in Defying Gravity. Some loose issues include random work scenes revolving around relationship talk and some flashbacks that lead up to where our characters are today. The flashbacks and the long talky scenes get to be a bit too much because it feels like a soap opera in space. There's an ongoing mystery as to "what's in Pod 4" and why the astronauts are really there which can be really interesting. I wish there was more clues and scenes dedicated to giving the viewers an idea about what's behind the curtain.

I think the idea of mixing a romance in could be interesting because I like some romance with my sci-fi. I was rooting for Callie and Travis to get together in Starhunter 2300. I was on the edge of my seat when Deunan and Briareos were reunited in Appleseed. I even swooned when Leia and Han had their banter and finally admitted their love for each other (I have to admit I bought The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton cause I loved the cover and the idea of another guy coming in between their eventual union). The difference between these folks and the folks on Defying Gravity is that we had time to get to know them and to care about them. We weren't just thrown in and shown their problems. Right now it feels like working with people who feel they have a burning desire to share their life story with you out of the blue. Characters have to have a starting point and continue to develop throughout the series but sadly there's no development anywhere here. Just a few flashbacks to reveal a little bit more about the people they were before the mission. The characters just seem to be going through the motions unlike some of my favorite standout shows like NCIS, Firefly, True Blood and Leverage (to name a few), which all have characters each with their own personalities and charm.

Another thing is the mystery which can be potentially interesting. Already we're at the third episode but with no particular idea what's going on behind the scenes with "Beta" the mysterious force that knows all or with what exactly Eve and the head Commander of the mission knows and why they aren't telling. To keep us tuning in, the show has to give clues and tidbits of information that lead us through the season so we can piece it together. Compare this to Showtime's Odyssey 5 and the 4400 which had minor episodic issues to tie into the greater formula driving the main story. Also to have that great "oh that's what happened all those times" moments that'll make us want to rewind and watch from the beginning to see how it all unfolded in the first place. Right now, it doesn't have that. Defying Gravity seems to be in an identity crisis. It doesn't know if it's a relationship drama, a mystery or a space thriller as it's being billed and it's having a hard time trying to balance all at once without being confusing or tedious.

I'll probably continue to watch to see if the mystery will be revealed and to get a small dose of what little new sci-fi is on television today. But as the ratings are pretty much less than lackluster and Wiki only shows a synopsis up until episode 5 (out of the season's 13) I'm not sure it'll be able to hold it's own. Sci-Fi on network TV hasn't done well overall (even the critically good ones with higher ratings) so this particular one may be on the way outs sooner than we think. Hopefully it picks up some speed in the coming episodes.

August Spotlight on Author R.D. Peveto

This month, A Writer's Dream welcomes a special author with a current release to add to your bookshelf!

R. D. Peveto, Jr. brings is life experience of being a Registered Nurse, truck driver, a Bachelor of Science degree in Science and Technology and his work in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps as a 1st Lieutenant all to his writing.

He graduated in 1971 from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana with a Bachelor of Science degree in Science and Technology. He received his certification as a Registered Nurse, and practiced his profession in Emergency Room and Operating room nursing, Surgical post operative nursing, and Medical-Surgical Nursing not to leave out an intensive training course in Psychiatric Nursing at the most prestigious U.S. Army Hospital at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C..

He has held various level positions in the Nursing units of Private Hospitals and the Veteran Administration Hospital system, where he has seen and dealt with some of the most unusual of cases. With an enormous repertoire of experiences in the medical field plus being an avid crime - mysteries and horror buff, he feels right at home writing his own stories of such things. He lives in Hudson Oaks, Texas, with his wife, Linda, of thirty years, and a menagerie of pets consisting of dogs, cats and birds. His current release Keeper is his first novel.

R.D. Peveto also gave us some insight into his writing.



1. When did you decide to be a writer?

As strange as it may sound to many of your readers, I was 58 years old when I first wrote seriously. I had a desire to say things about different subjects all throughout my life but I never thought about writing them down to share with anyone. As I got older and experienced life in ways many people hadn’t, I finally decided to put my thoughts and feelings down on paper. Many of my characters that I develop have a part of me in them. Some of my family and friends say that is a real scary thought. I tend to agree with them but it does make for very colorful characters.

2. How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?

I have found that my personal experiences are what have driven me to my point of wanting to say something through my writings. A lot of people look at me very strangely when I tell them about what I used to do for a living and what I do for a living now. I trained and graduated in a university school of nursing. I obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Science and Technology and I was certified as a Registered Nurse in the State of Louisiana. I went into the U. S. Army as an Army Nurse during the Vietnam era. Although I was lucky enough not to go into the war, I still saw a lot of things resulting from it. After discharge from the Army I moved to Texas and continued to practice this profession for a total of 16 years and saw more disheartening things than one could imagine. Finally one day, I basically threw up my hands and got out of it for good. I then became a truck driver. This profession allowed me to see a whole different side of people that I really didn’t know existed. It also gave me many hours to let my imagination run rampant giving me hundreds of ideas for writing.

3. What influenced you to start writing in this genre?

As I said before, I have a very active imagination. I have loved horror, mystery and fantasy tales through reading and movies all of my life, so it was natural to me to write about such things.

4. Who influenced you the most to start writing?

I am not sure if anyone in particular really influenced me to start writing. For many years I have experienced bouts with depression. My doctor tried all types of medications on me but very few helped. He finally told me that if I would release my feelings it might help me reduce my depression. Well, I tried this through verbal release. That seemed to work for a while but it also tended to get me into trouble as you can imagine. I needed to find another way to release my feelings. One day I was talking to someone about my feelings of depression and they suggested that I try writing down my feelings. Well, that gave me an idea to make up tales and put my thoughts through them. Just the fact that I spend a lot of time thinking about a story to write and the time it takes to write it out has helped me overcome my depressions. Of course, there are those individuals that have guided me to write better and express myself so that the public might be interested in my subject matter. I belong to a small writing group called the eagle mountain writer’s workshop and an author you have recently interviewed heads it. C. A. Dawson is a good friend and mentor to me. I have learned a lot from her as I have from the other members of our small group.

5. How many books have you written so far?

It would be nice to be able to say to you that I have written a number of books but the truth is I have only written one novel. Author House published it in April 2008. The name of my book is Keeper. It is my first attempt at trying to write a mystery novel. It is a detective type murder mystery. This is a prime example of my feelings through my writing. The main premise of the novel is about an individual whom has become disillusioned by the activities of a secret society. He is rejected from this organization and due to his mental status is unable to handle the rejection. He takes on the role of one of the officiating officers of the organization and begins killing members in the ritualistic method that the society use to use over a thousand years ago. A detective and two members of the unit assigned to find this killer track him down and end his killing spree. Much to their surprise they find out that he was not acting alone the whole time. The ending is the best part of the book in my opinion and I have had many compliments on the book and each time the reader has told me that they never saw that ending coming. That is what made it all worthwhile to me.

I am currently working on two other books. One has the same detective characters in it as the Keeper did but it is not really a sequel to the first book. It is called ‘Taste of Evil.’ The second one is about a young man who becomes a killer for hire. It will be a while before this one is completed.

The one that I am really into at the moment is called ‘Dark Honor’. It's my first attempt at dark fiction. I am having fun with this one and so far it seems to be accepted by the people I use to give me feedback on my writing.

6. Do you write everyday? How much time do you spend on your writing?

I would like to say that I spend hours and hours working on my projects but in reality I tend to write at least an hour a day or so. Sometimes I can’t get to it because of my work as a driver but the ideas are flowing constantly and I try to record those ideas and then write them down and organize them when I get home. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. It has definitely been a challenge for me.

R.D. Peveto's novel Keeper is available now in print format.

Check other Online Vendors

Detective Sergeant Eddie Hammond was unaware he was about to begin a hunt for one of the most demented killers he would ever encounter in his career. Along with his partners Peter Granger and Rachel Duncan, he is thrown into a fast moving tirade of murders which involve innocent members of a well known secret society known as the Knights of the Trinity. Little did Detective Hammond realize that the answers were within his reach all along and once he listened to his own instincts, he would be able to end the ruthless killing spree of the Keeper.

Plotters, Pantsers and Screenplay Techniques

I recently caught this great show on story structure, writing a novel using screenplay techniques, and Plotters and Pantsers and I wanted to pass it on to you guys out there. When I first started learning to write, it was through plays and screenplays while studying the three act structure. Novels aren't too different as they use the same aspects of plot points, rising actions, climaxes and resolutions only with more obstacles. One of the authors in the show gave some good titles where you can employ the same writing techniques and I'll be adding those to my Resources page on my website for writers. Here are the titles below just in case you want to check them out.

Enjoy the listen!

Screenwriting Books That Aspiring Novelists Can Use

Story by Robert McKee



How To Write a Movie In 21 Days by Viki King



Screenplay by Syd Field

Website Updates a-coming

My website has been screaming for an update for the past few weeks an once I get out of the writing hole I'll surely be diving into it. Some things I'm going to work on (this post is kind of a note to self: get a move on):

- A spiffy new Ashen T series section with timelines, character info and background series info

- Updated resource page with a list of great Book Lover/Reviewer blogger links (if you have one, drop me a line so you can be added)

- An outline of my Second Life Beginning Novel Writing class syllabus for attendants (If you're in SL and want to attend, drop me a message. Classes begin Aug 8th at 6pm SLT/PST) I'll also give more info on the writing group as well.

And any other updates I can think of. Adding this to the To-Do List.