Michael Almich Interview

Welcome Michael thanks for talking to us today and letting us have a little insight into you and your books.

Q: Tell us about The Fossegrimen Folly.

It centres on eleven year old Shylock. He is an introverted boy that is sent to summer camp in Northern Minnesota. Beyond the cabins in the trees and new friendships, he discovers that Camp Lac Igam is different. Adventures and mythical creatures abound. This first instalment is an adventure that forces young Shy to learn to deal with bullies, believe in himself, and be courageous for his friends. When he discovers his special ability to see through fairy deceptions, he finds himself face to face with the mythical fossegrimen. The treasure hunt begins, but can they survive the consequences of what they find?

Q: What’s your genre and why did you choose it?

I would qualify this book as both YA and Fantasy/Adventure. I have always liked the Fantasy genre, and this book contains many creatures and aspects of stories I used to tell my children.

Q: What’s the biggest obstacle you faced with your writing journey?

This one is an easy question. My biggest obstacle is time… by far. I have a full-time job and three active kids. Need I say more?

Q: Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?

I draw on many stories that I have read. In general the ideas come mostly from my imagination, and from the stories that I would make up for my kids when they were younger. My wife inspires me to keep writing and fight through the difficult times.

Q: Who or what are your influences?

In terms of authors, I enjoy and am inspired by Tolkien (of course), Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, Madeline L'Engle, J.K. Rowling, and many, many more. This series in particular was influenced by a book called War for the Oaks, and a series of children's books called The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Q: Are you self-published, legacy or a combination?

I am self-published.

Q: What was the hardest part of your self-pub journey?

Finding the time to write was the most difficult part of this experience. I also struggled with the editing process… specifically; I hurried the book out too quickly.

Q: What format are your books available in?

All e-book formats.

Q: How many books have you published so far?

This is my first.

Q: What things did you outsource, if any at all?

I only outsourced the cover. It was not too expensive…. I had a very clear vision of what I wanted and DigitalDonna.com did a great job.

Q: What’s the best bit of advice you received when starting out?

Edit, edit, edit… and then edit again. I wish I would have followed it.

Q: What advice would you offer to the future Debut Authors out there?

I would advise them to allow more time than what they think they will need to get that first book out. Ensuring you are maximizing all of your self marketing tools prior to releasing the book is crucial. I feel like I am still catching up. Do the research ahead of time, and have a plan.

Q: What’s next for you? Any projects in the pipeline for us to look forward to?  

I am in the process of writing book 2 of the Camp Lac Igam series and hope to have it out by early fall. Shy is heading back to camp for a second summer, but many things have changed and he and his friends will have increasingly more serious issues to deal with.

Q: Give us one of your favourite quotes……………….

"'tis the world's plague, when madmen lead the blind" -King Lear- William Shakespeare

Q: And finally tell us something random about yourself to make us chuckle………………………….

I can recite the opening monologue of The A-Team, or Casey at the Bat, but I cannot remember a joke if my life depended on it!

Thanks so much for joining us here Michael, it was great chatting to you!!

You can find Michael Almich and his book The Fossegrimen Folly by following these links:-

Blog Twitter Facebook Smashwords Profile Amazon US Amazon UK Barnes & Noble 

Debbie Hope Interview

The comedian, Michael McIntyre, did (in my humble opinion a very funny) sketch on his June 2009 Comedy Road Show which I recently caught repeated on Sky taking the mickey out of the names of one of our local hospitals: ‘Hope Hospital’ in Salford, United Kingdom. There is a strong rivalry between the North and South of England and Southerners love to poke fun at the North, even the names of our hospitals. The name ‘Hope’ originally came from a medieval hall, Hope Hall. They have tried to rebrand it as Salford Royal and I guess that’s thanks to clever Southern wits like Michael McIntyre because I shook my fist at the TV screen, "No, no, Michael, you are so wrong. Hope is a great name for a hospital!" A lot of times in the tough North all you have is hope and you especially need hope if you are in hospital. But I thank Michael both for making me laugh and for helping me choose my pen name – it had to be Debbie Hope!

Hope hospital quite simply saved my life; 2005 a horse riding accident resulted in a, level 4 head injury, emergency surgery and coma, unable even to breathe for myself. The injury was so bad they automatically whipped my driving license away from me! I’m told that statistically I should have died but instead I recovered because of the wonderful care I received from the fantastic facilities and superior staff at Hope.

As an avid reader one of the hardest things for me in the months immediately after the accident was being unable to focus due to double vision. Reading gave me an instant migraine, but I could touch-type and I’ve always wanted to write a novel so I sat down and got busy writing. I wrote Lunar Regeneration, my Young Adult, Fantasy Novel, in the six months it took me to recover and get back to work. I was soon so busy working took all my time and energy. In May 2009 I was made redundant, so I picked the book up again and tried unsuccessfully to sell it to agents and publishers. Then I got myself back in work and left Lunar Regeneration gathering dust.

February 2012 and I was redundant again – oh the joys of the recession. But all change: the era of self-publishing was upon us. I no longer had to wait for someone else to decide to publish my work. I had also begun a part-time English degree with Liverpool Hope University. (Yes, Michael, Hope again, we love our Hope in the North - you Southerners have the mild weather and the booming economy, leave us Northerners; our Corrie, (Coronation Street Northern Soap opera) our meat pies, our Geordie Shore (Adult Northern Reality TV series) and our Hope). I’ve published my book and it’s available on Amazon.

Welcome Debbie Hope thanks for talking to us today and letting us have a little insight into you and your books.

Q: Tell us about Lunar Regeneration first book in the Immortal MacAbre Series.

It took me a long time to come up with the right title. I was going to call my novel “Boy 2 Bone and Back Again” as he regenerates from a skeleton until someone pointed out the other meaning of Bone when referring to boys!

Q: What’s your genre and why did you choose it?

YA Fantasy : love reading that genre.  I know some people say fantasy is rubbish. I cross the street to avoid them. You can pick holes in any book, if you want to, work of complete literary genius or not. If you read some of the original reviews on my all time favourite book; Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte the critics of the time hated it – they said it was disjointed and confused! I’m doing an English degree so I read a lot of classics for that. But in my free time I read what I love, Fantasy/Romance and also Crime/Thrillers. But I feel only people with real technical experience of Crime should write that genre and that is so not me – so I will always read crime and write fantasy.

Q: What’s the biggest obstacle you faced with your writing journey?

I am trying get my books into book stores and can’t find a cost effective way to deal through their distributers and pay print/production costs and break even, never mind make a living! Which is why print on demand solutions like Amazon’s Createspace are fantastic.

Q: Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?

I was watching the Old Classic Movie, American Werewolf in London for the thousandth time and I suddenly thought what if I teenage boy could transform into something else. The idea was born and I had to sit down and write. I wanted to make the transitions, gritty and real and worked really hard on that. The idea was so good I had to do it justice with excellent writing.

Q: Who or what are your influences?

As a child, I read everything I could get my hands on and we had a lot of books! So quite early on; Lewis Carroll, CS Lewis, Anna Sewell, Robert Louis Stevenson and of course Tolkien. Modern writers I like so many; Lee Childs, Eoin Colfer, Phillip Pullman, Stephanie Meyer, Kathy Reichs, J K Rowling, etc. I used to queue outside bookshops at midnight when a new Harry Potter was released. I have a first edition of the Philosopher’s Stone. All these books are popular for a good reason. They take the reader into another world and that’s what I love about books.

Q: Are you self-published, legacy or a combination?

Self- published with Amazon Createspace

Q: What was the hardest part of your self-pub journey?

Getting the stupid file to upload onto Createspace to go for a final check and printing. A combination of free help from Createspace and help from my website designer Dave at Motion Web Design solved that problem but not without tears and much swearing from me. Createspace do provide a detailed help service for £70 which I couldn’t afford but is probably well worth it.

Q: What format are your books available in?

Paperback and ebook – from Amazon

Q: How many books have you published so far?

This is my first book - I intend to write a complete series.

Q: What things did you outsource, if any at all?

I had zero money to spend but I did pay for a Free Lance Editor, Anne Greenberg which was the best money, I couldn’t afford, I’ve ever spent. She did see plot flaws I was totally blind too – thanks Anne.

Q: What’s the best bit of advice you received when starting out?

Get a website. Because money was tight. I went to a fixed price company Motion Web Design and the results are brilliant. www.immortalmacabre.co.uk

Q: What advice would you offer to the future Debut Authors out there?

Finish the work, put it away for a few months, get it back out and ruthlessly edit it.  Then get an editor and if you can afford it a copy editor (An English teacher friend or fellow writer is fine just avoid those howlers) – agree the price in advance, state what you can afford and find someone who likes your work to work with you. Same for the website which if you want to write YA you do need a website.

Q: What’s next for you? Any projects in the pipeline for us to look forward to?

I am already into the second book of the series so watch this space.

Q: Any favourite Author that you are a fan of and would recommend?

Stephanie Meyer’s other books are great reading too – don’t just stick with the vampires. If you want to self-publish John Locke’s ‘How I sold…’ book is a must.

Q: Give us one of your favourite quotes…………

Robert Louis Stevenson  “Don’t write merely to be understood. Write so that you cannot possibly be misunderstood.”

So much harder than it sounds remember the character lives in your head and so you think everything is crystal clear on paper. Solution – always use an editor.

Q: And finally tell us something random about yourself to make us chuckle………………………….

I’m on Twitter and when I first joined I couldn’t understand why I was getting lots of random teenage girl foreign followers. Light dawned, they don’t know ‘Debbie’ is a female name and they think I am the teenage boy on the cover of my book!

Haha, hey whatever gets the following!!!

Thanks so much for joining us here Debbie, it was lovely chatting to you.

You can find Debbie Hope and her book Lunar Regenaration with the links below.....

Goodreads Goodreads Profile Amazon UK Amazon US

Brunswick joins Smashwords!

Today is the day when Brunswick joins the Smashwords platform. Now released from KDP Select, it is free to explore the book distribution world and grab some more readers!!

It has been given a nice new cover to celebrate and is also available at a lower price. These newbies will also be available on Amazon.

Hope you like the new cover............

My Smashwords Author Profile

Book page to sample or purchase Brunswick

Review of The Weeping Empress by Sadie S Forsythe

I have been fortunate to have been introduced to some strikingly good books recently. The Weeping Empress being the first of which I read. I have not looked at reading a book such as this since I was a lot younger and was reading a lot of graphic novels. I fear that, because of this, if I had been in a book shop I may have passed it by. A word of warning readers ………….. DO NOT PASS THIS BOOK BY!! It’s an astonishingly bitter and self-sacrificing read that has been written by Sadie S Forsythe with the most beautiful carnage you can describe.

Our heroine Chiyo is the main protagonist throughout and we stay with her on her journey of pure anger, destruction and self-discovery as she tries to fight her way through a new and harrowing life that she has been dragged kicking and screaming in to. Throughout the book you see a little more of the old her being repressed and the new warrior inside being released. She is haunted by her old life, but what really unleashes her rage when the book reaches its end is the sheer betrayal and usage on her. It begs the question that do we really know what is in our destiny and do we have a hand in it at all. On reflection, throughout the book, Chiyo's character kind of reminded me a little of Frankenstein’s monster, in the way that it became what it had been made to be.

It’s strange, but when I read a book the images that it conjures up in my mind are always live action, but when reading this I could only see it in anime. It was almost like watching Kill Bill in my head, where it switches from live action to anime and back again.

In all I would highly recommend this book, it’s a truly beautiful read.

Grab your copy with these links

Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com Goodreads Smashwords

Free at last!!

So to celebrate the fact that I only have a few days left until my novel Brunswick comes out of the KDP Select programme (you will understand my celebration more after my next post), I am utilising my last day of FREEBIE giving!!!
Yes I am celebrating the fact that my book will no longer be available ONLY on Amazon and will soon have its lovely self uploaded on to Smashwords as well.
So on Friday 25th May you will have 24hrs to download your free copy to read and enjoy!!

Yet another massive thanks for your support of me and my work!!

Happy Reading
Ann
xx

Scott Clements Interview

Welcome Scott Clements thanks for talking to us today and letting us have a little insight into you and your books.

Q: Tell us about Gasparilla’s Treasure………………

CLEMENTS: Gasparilla’s Treasure is an adventurous treasure hunt through historic St Augustine Florida .  Our thirteen-year-old hero, Trip Montgomery, has to solve clues and sets out on the quest to find the treasure of famed pirate, Gasparilla.  Trip has no idea what’s in store for him!

Q: What’s your genre and why did you choose it?

CLEMENTS: I wrote Gasparilla’s Treasure as a middle grade novel.  I wanted to write something my ten year old son could really sink his teeth into; something that any kid from age eight to fourteen would not want to put down.  And truth be told, I think my brain is stuck at age thirteen anyway, just ask my wife.  I’ve been pleasantly surprised that many of my most satisfied readers are adults that just love the feeling of a “The Goonies” style book.  I think they enjoy the fact that it’s transporting them back to their youth.

Q: What’s the biggest obstacle you faced with your writing journey?

CLEMENTS: I think the biggest obstacles are the ones we put in front of ourselves.  It’s way easier to say, “I don’t have time right now” than it is to sit down and write.  It’s also easy to tell yourself that you’re not good enough, or that it’s too hard.  You just have to put those thoughts out of your head and make it happen.

Q: Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?

CLEMENTS: With Gasparilla’s Treasure, I started with the single sentence, “A Thirteen-year-old boy wants to find the treasure his family has been searching for for three generations.”  I went with the idea that everything in my book must serve that sentence.  Then the book just started pouring out.  Now that I’ve finished, I see stories in everything around me.  Now I just have to sort out which ones will actually be interesting.

Q: Who or what are your influences?

CLEMENTS:  As a writer, I hate to admit it, but I think I am most influenced by movies.  I work as a sound mixer in the movie and TV business, and my mind always plays out a book as a movie.  When you read Gasparilla’s Treasure, you will quickly see some influences from “The Goonies”, “National Treasure”, “Indiana Jones”, etc... A great story is a great story, and I just want to tell great stories with great characters.

Q: Are you self-published, legacy or a combination?

CLEMENTS:  I am self published, and knew I would be from the beginning.  When I first started looking at writing a book, the prospect of finding an agent and then a publisher was so daunting.  And if I did find one, I realized they would likely make me do most of the work anyway.  Then I discovered self-publishing, and knew it was a fit for me.

Q: What was the hardest part of your self-pub / publishing journey?

CLEMENTS:  I think most indie authors would answer this question with publicity and getting the book into the hands of readers.  I did the free Kindle promotion and got 3200 downloads, which resulted in zero reviews so far.  I know when people read Gasparilla’s Treasure, they will love it, but it’s getting them to read it.  Publishers have huge advertising budgets and built in readers.  Us indie authors rely on readers, reviews, and word of mouth to get our books out there.

Q: What format are your books available in?

CLEMENTS:  As I mentioned, I did the Kindle free promo which requires an author to be ebook exclusive to Kindle for three months, so Gasparilla’s Treasure is currently available for Kindle and in paperback.  It was briefly available for the Nook and through Smashwords, and will relaunch on those sites in June.

Q: How many books have you published so far?

CLEMENTS:  Gasparilla’s Treasure was my first book... hopefully of many.      I hope to find readers that are hungry for my books, so I want to have more out there for them to read, and I’m working on it.  Many of the people who have read Gasparilla’s Treasure are screaming for a sequel.  When you read it, you’ll know why.

Q: What things did you outsource, if any at all?

CLEMENTS:  I have no artistic talent, so I found an amazing artist to do my cover.  I think everyone will agree that she does amazing work.  Other than that, I have done everything myself, and it’s all gone pretty smoothly.  Sure there have been a few bumps in the road, but that is the journey of self-publishing.

Q: What’s the best bit of advice you received when starting out?

CLEMENTS:  The best advice I got was when I was writing scripts.  I handed a script to a screen-writer friend of mine, and after reading it, he advised me to throw it away and read the books “Screenplay”, and “Writing Screenplays That Sell”.  I took his advice and started with a new understanding of structure, story, and characters.  I think that advice has helped me write fast moving, fun, character driven stories.

Q: What advice would you offer to the future Debut Authors out there?

CLEMENTS:  Get ready for the bad with the good.  Not everyone is going to like your work, and when someone has something bad to say about your work, it feels like they are stomping on your soul.   But then a reader tells you that they couldn’t sleep until they finished the book, or that your book really connected with them and you forget all about the bad things.

Q: What’s next for you? Any projects in the pipeline for us to look forward to?

CLEMENTS:  I’m just finishing the final chapters of my next book.  It’s about Chet Parker, a shy, animal loving kid without many friends.  His dog leads him to the house of the most popular girl in school, and her cat, Mr. Fluffy Pants has gone missing.  Mr. Fluffy Pants was wearing the mom’s diamond tennis bracelet and Chet decides to help her find Mr. Fluffy Pants, Ace Ventura style.  It’s a fun detective story.

Q: Any favourite Author that you are a fan of and would recommend?

CLEMENTS:  If you haven’t had a chance to read Orson Scott Card, I think you’re missing out.  A friend of mine turned me on to “Enders Game” a few years back, and I have since read almost all of Card’s work.  His latest, “Pathfinder” is a great read.

Q: Give us one of your favourite quotes……………….

CLEMENTS:  When my son tells me he can’t do something, I always tell him, “Can’t is just can with a t at the end.” Mostly, he just thinks his dad is crazy, but I think it will sink in some day.  I’ve also noticed he avoids saying “can’t” now, and finds a different way to tell me he can’t do something.

Q: And finally tell us something random about yourself to make us chuckle………………………….

CLEMENTS:  I have consistently been able to beat my friends on the golf course.  Not with my score, but in the “number of balls lost” contest.  In that contest, there is no one better.


Thanks so much for joining us on the blog Scott, it's been a real pleasure having you!!

You can find Gasparilla's Treasure by following these links

Goodreads Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk 

Major Faux Pas!!!!

OK, I am aware that mistakes happen and that we learn from them and that I'm only human. Some mistakes are little and some are big. So here is my big one.............. ARCS, Networking and publicising!!!
Dear oh dear, I know that being new to it all I am pretty much flying by the seat of my pants and learning as I go, but I so wish I had known and researched all that before releasing Brunswick. I mean I am a totally unknown writer and I release my first book with absolutely NO platform what-so-ever!!! That was just silly, I think my common sense was having a break that day!!
Brunswick sat there with no momentum at all. No one was looking out for it and no one had heard of it (save for a few friends and family members). Even now as I am getting ready to release my second novel, Brunswick is only just starting to get the coverage and reviews that should of been there backing it up from the start. What a terrible Mummy I have been to my baby!!! The reviews and blog tours etc that Brunswick is receiving and getting involved in now is because of the networking and publicising that I have done. But it was AFTER THE FACT!!!!! When Brunswick was finally released it sat on the shelf alone. It had no reviews, no mentions, no cover reveals or even discussions about the fact that it was a debut novel from a debut writer. NOTHING. Nobody had read it and so nobody was able to say "check out this book" and nobody knew who I was so nobody said "hey check out this debut writer".
Even now that I have put myself in the thick of it with other authors, readers, bloggers, reviewers, publishers and agents, Ann Haines and her book Brunswick are only just starting to poodle along the literary road. It is yet to gain any real momentum and (fingers crossed) take off on its own. I know that this is a long journey and if you are lucky enough to be a successful writer that it can take a huge amount of time. Still I can't help but think that it would have had more chance and gained more momentum if I had actually put it out there and asked for exposure first.


Well, lesson learned. My second book 'Mary' was going to get released at around the end of May but I have now pushed the release date back to Friday 6th July. I will be offering ARCs to bloggers and other authors that would like to read and review it for me so that, this time, the book will not be up there alone. It will have the back up from the reviews and hopefully it will have its name out there in a few discussions. I am hoping that by doing this I am giving it a better chance than I did before. Of course I can't guarantee that this is right, but from what I have learned from my previous mistake and from others advice as well, I am willing to give it a try. It seems that patience and perseverance is the key to most of what I'd like to achieve, so lets give that a go aye? This time though I intend to be a little more savvy!!


Happy Blogging
Ann
xx