Guest post: "A Day in The Life of One-Thousand Voices" by Fantasy Author J.J. Sherwood

Me: My day begins as any writer’s day begins: I wake up.

Ishmael: Drop everything you are doing, people. This is going to be good. …And for those of your who didn’t catch on: that was sarcasm.

Me: …And then I immediately have to deal with delightful characters like Ishmael.

Ishmael: That was also sarcasm.

Me: Aside from voices like his, I fortunately have four cats who are the cutest little buttons in the whole wide world!

Ishmael: Metaphor.

Me: …Are you going to do this the entire time?

Ishmael: If the mood strikes.

Me: …Anyways. Four adorable cats. I have to feed them when I get up or they’ll follow me around as a little clowder and beat each other up. They’ll also pull my hair.

Ishmael: Literally.

Me: But as soon as their little bellies are full—despite their insistence that they are not—I can get to work. Well, after I make certain that a chair with a box is ready beside my own chair so that the youngest of the four can sit beside me and sleep.

Jikun: Or so the rest of us don’t have to sit on the floor.

Sairel: I don’t think you’ve ever been in the room when she’s working… Zauviir always gets the chair.

Zauviir: Obviously. I’m the best.

Me: On any given day, I have to crank up the white noise video on youtube to drown out external… and internal—

Darcarus: …she’s talking about us now, isn’t she…?

Me: —distractions. I sometimes enjoy listening to soundtracks like Batman or Baldur’s Gate, or works by Thomas Bergersen, but generally, it’s the white noise of an 11-hour looped fan bit.

Ishmael: Incredibly stimulating. …That was—

Me: Sarcasm again. Yeah yeah, I get it. Then I dive into writing. Or editing. Lately, it’s been editing for the Steps of Power second novel, Heroes or Thieves. I currently strive to edit about 25,000 words a day. Which may seem like a lot, but in the scope of a 180k+ novel that I need to edit at least 12 more times before its release on February 1st, 2016, it never seems like enough. (That’s 60 pages in 6”x9” book form, btw). I try to finish up in the late evening so that I can spend some time with my husband—

Darcarus: We all know what that means.

Me: …And then I jump back to work for a little while more before I play an hour or so of League of Legends with friends and family. Writer first. Gamer second.

Evrae: Bad gamer, as it is.

Me: No one asked you. And THEN, I finish off the day as any good fantasy writer should do: I enjoy third dinner at 2am. Third dinner… You don’t do that? Imagine buttered, crispy grilled cheese on sourdough bread with a side of almond, salted, and peppered asparagus and a sweet apple with fresh, natural peanut butter… How much do I weigh, you ask?

Gidius: Don’t worry, one day it’ll all catch up with her and the world will have justice.

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Title: Kings or Pawns (Steps of Power, The Kings: Book I)

Genre: Fantasy

Author: J.J. Sherwood

Website: www.StepsofPower.com

Publisher: Silver Helm

Purchase at Amazon

About the Book:

Kings or Pawns is the first novel in the Steps of Power series. It takes place after two very significant events in the world—the continental division between the human and elven races after the betrayal and death of Aersadore’s hero, Eraydon, and the recent Royal Schism that has left the elven nation’s politics even more corrupted than was prior. The new elven king, Hairem, is determined to overcome the council’s corruption and restore the elven lands, but he has far more to contend with than just the politics within the capital: an assassin has begun killing those loyal to him, a rebelling warlord threatens the city from without, and an unknown beast devastates the king’s forces at every turn. There are multiple points of view—the youthful and naïve king Hairem; the mute and spunky servant girl, Alvena; the mysterious and arrogant foreigner, Sellemar; and the cynical, dry-humored General Jikun.

About the Author:

JJ. Sherwood was born in Tucson, Arizona on New Year’s Eve—and has always had a flair for the dramatics. JJ began writing in kindergarten and her first work was completed by the age of 5: a riveting tale of a duck attempting to climb into an apartment during the pouring rain.

Unfortunately this book is not in print, but it served as the first spark that spurred on a lifetime of creativity. JJ continued writing throughout her school years and escaped the horrors of short-story writing in college, ready and eager to write meaty, character-driven novels. With over 250 well-rounded characters developed from her nearly 20 years of roleplaying, JJ dove straight into the rich history of Aersadore, ready to let her puppeteers pull her creative strings.

JJ lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her spouse, parrot, bearded dragon, and four cats who look far too similar.

Links:

Site: http://www.stepsofpower.com

Blog: http://www.stepsofpower.com/news.php#toolbar

FB: https://www.facebook.com/stepsofpower

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jj_sherwood

Fantasy Author Jane Tesh Lists her Five Favorite Books

Only five?  I have lots of favorites! A tough assignment, but here goes.

            Terry Prachett is my favorite author, and Going Postal is my favorite of his many novels set in his imaginary Discworld, an alternate universe created by Sir Terry to spoof human foolishness.  In Going Postal, a con man, given a second chance, must save the derelict postal service of Ank-Morpork.  There is romance, true danger, and an amazing satire on computers.  I am in awe of the way that Pratchett can mix comedy, drama, humor, and pathos all in one book.  That’s what I strive for in my own novels.

            Georgette Heyer is known as the creator of the Regency romance genre.  Her witty dialog and intricate plots take comedy of errors to the next level.  In my favorite book, The Foundling, the young Duke of Sale escapes his overprotective household, has adventures, and proves himself.  Heyer handles her many characters very skillfully, and I appreciate her dry and subtle comments on their foibles.

            I discovered Dorothy Sayers in my college library and became very fond of her hero detective, Lord Peter Wimsey, especially in Murder Must Advertize.  In this adventure, Lord Peter goes undercover in an advertizing agency to solve the murder of one of the employees.  I was immediately drawn into the world of upper class bon vivant Wimsey.  Again, I love dialogue, and Lord Peter never stops talking.

 Jasper Fforde is an author whose work defies description.  Mystery, fantasy, time travel, and delightful humor and invention are only a few of the things you can find in his many novels.  My favorite is The Big Over Easy.  Jack Spratt and Mary Mary of the Nursery Crime Division investigate the death of Humpty Dumpty.  Did he fall or was he pushed?  Add the evil Goliath Corporation, friendly aliens, and the All of Fforde’s books, including the Thursday Next series, and the amazing Shades of Grey (not to be confused with Fifty Shades of Gray!), in which the characters’ social status depends on what color they can see, are filled with enough literary references, wordplay, and dazzling imagination to please any English major, including myself. 

            And finally, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, by William Joyce, illustrated by William Joyce and Joe Bluhm.  As a former elementary school librarian, I love picture books, and even though I’m retired, I still like to read them.  It’s been a long time since a book affected me so.  Morris Lessmore’s house and all his books are blown away in a storm, and a cheerful book invites him to come live with him and hundreds of other little living books.  The pictures are evocative and amusing, and the story made me cry.  So that’s a good book!

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Jane Tesh is a retired media specialist and pianist for the Andy Griffith Playhouse in Mt. Airy, NC, the real Mayberry. She is the author of the Madeline Maclin Series, A Case of Imagination, A Hard Bargain, A Little Learning, and A Bad Reputation, featuring former beauty queen, Madeline “Mac” Maclin and her con man husband, Jerry Fairweather.  Stolen Hearts is the first in the Grace Street Mystery Series, featuring PI David Randall, his psychic friend, Camden, Randall’s love interest, Kary Ingram, and Cam’s career-driven girlfriend, Ellin Belton, as well as an ever-changing assortment of Cam’s tenants.  Mixed Signals is the second in the series, followed by Now You See It and Just You Wait. Jane’s mysteries are all published by Poisoned Pen Press, located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Butterfly Waltz is her first published fantasy novel from Silver Leaf Books. All of Jane’s books are on the light side with humor and romance. 

Visit Jane’s website at www.janetesh.com and her Facebook page, www.facebook.com/GraceStreetMysterySeries.  You can also find her on Goodreads, Amazon’s Author Central www.amazon.com/author/janetesh, and www.twitter.com/janetesh.

Her blog is www.janetesh.wordpress.com

Guest post: "How to Do Everything Wrong, and Somehow Still Get Published," by Terry Jackman

Apparently I won a Cadbury’s essay competition in primary school. I don’t remember but I do recall an exciting day the teacher shared out chocolate. With hindsight I have to wonder if that was my prize. Maybe that was my first intimation that one shouldn’t expect to get fat, or rich, from writing. J

Secondary school produced my first ‘published’ work, in an end of year magazine. I was about sixteen. Unfortunately it didn’t actually have my name on it; it was a piece I’d dashed off for a friend when she’d begged for help. If you haven’t guessed, the entries weren’t voluntary. She did offer to own up, but I told her I wasn’t bothered. The truth was I didn’t want my name in print; by that time I was abnormally shy, something I still struggle with despite numerous public appearances.

I got a job as a teacher. I wrote exam papers. Once I wrote a playscript for a music teacher who fancied being another Andrew Lloyd Weber. I recall a scene where the young hero climbed the church tower to talk to the weathercock, a chance to write choral music without words to represent  the wind as the boy climbed higher. But the musician vanished to another school with it. I have no idea if he ever completed the libretto. It would be nice to know, but it was fun anyway.

Maybe by now you’re seeing a pattern? I liked writing, the challenge, the excitement, a lot more than I did people knowing about it? In fact, I kind of preferred them not knowing. I went through my teens frankly too self-conscious to live; the kind of ‘shyness’ that means taking a deep breath before walking into a room with actual people in it. I did manage to partly handle the problem during my college years. That’s when I studied Drama- and did rather well at it. Because I discovered I could perform pretty well in public - if I let ‘Terry’ replace‘Teresa’. It wasn’t the real me, it was this much braver alternate persona. (No wonder I like fantasy.)

But neither Terry nor Teresa was brave enough for a long time, they let ‘life’ get in the way. Till one day I thought, ‘All right. Why not. But how? How do I know I can write anything worth reading?’ And that’s how I enrolled in a writing course. Hey, it was long distance, and it promised if I completed the course and hadn’t earned back my fees they would refund them! Couldn’t lose.

Lesson one: plan three articles for three magazines. Bother, I’d wanted fiction. Never mind, it would still be good for me. I planned them. Lesson two: write them. Done. Lesson three: send them off. 

Huh?

Long story short, they all sold and one turned into a series. I’d earned my fees in three lessons. And editors asked for more. A great compliment, how could I refuse. For ten years my spare time – I often worked six day weeks in my ‘day job’ - had a waiting list of articles. I’d become a ‘writer’. I was fairly sure I was a good one, at least in fifteen hundred word bites. I finally had my name on my work. I got paid. The problem I wasn’t trying the fiction I’d intended.

And of course I had no idea how to sell my writing. I’d never had to.

So picture the shock when I finally switched tracks into fiction. I was supposed to submit stuff? You’ve guessed it; the old me came rushing back; the me who had trouble facing people. I sold a couple short stories, but I didn’t send out anything once it failed a couple of times; obviously that meant it wasn’t good enough.

In fact I did exactly the same thing with Ashamet, Desert-Born. Getting the world the story is set in just right took a while but eventually I took a breath and sent it out; twice. First time: a senior editor held it for a year, then said no. The second: they said it was “too difficult to market”. I knew it didn’t fit an established niche, but stupidly I’d thought that might be a good thing. Obviously not. I was disappointed, but prepared to shelve it when, amazingly, Dragonwell Publishing heard about it from another writer and asked me if I’d “like to send them something”! When I recovered from the shock Ashamet was sold, in ten short days.

Truth really can be stranger than fiction. But trust me, it’s not the way you should intend to get published. Even if it makes such a great story in itself.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Ashamet, Desert-Born

Genre: Fantasy/adventure/romance/paranormal

Author: Terry Jackman

Website: www.terryjackman.co.uk

Publisher: www.dragonwellpublishing.com

Find out more on Amazon

A desert world. A warrior nation that worships its emperor as a god. But for Ashamet, its prince, a future filled with danger…

Ashamet is confident his swordsmanship, and his arranged marriage, will be enough to maintain the empire’s peace. But when a divine symbol magically appears on his arm, closely followed by an attempt on his life, he no longer knows who to trust. Worse, the strange attraction he feels toward a foreign slave could be another trap. As events unravel, too fast,Ashamet must find out if this innocent young male is a tool for his enemies–or the magic key to his survival.

“Ashamet, Desert-Born” is a debut adventure fantasy with an exotic Arabian-style setting and elements of same-sex romance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Terry Jackman was christened Teresa, and is married with kids. She’s not pretending to be a guy just for the book. It’s just that nobody, but nobody, calls her anything but Terry, so Terry is actually the most honest name to put on the cover.

To go with her two names she inhabits two worlds. In one she’s a mild-mannered lady who tutors children and lives in a pretty English village, called Lymm. [It’s not far from the Manchester United football ground. You can take a peek at it onwww.lymmvillage.co.uk/gallery If you look carefully at the picture of the old stone cross in the village centre you might see the ancient stocks below, where villagers would have thrown rotten eggs etc at local miscreants – but we don’t do that now, honest.]

In the other, she’s written articles and study guides, is secretly on the committee of the British Science Fiction Association, coordinates all their online writers’ groups, writes a regular page for Focus magazine and reads submissions for Albedo One magazine in Ireland. Oh, and has been known to do convention panels and some freelance editing.

When Ashamet goes public the two worlds will finally collide. She suspects there’ll be some raised eyebrows so she’s stocking up on fortifying tea and biscuits – and lots of chocolate!