Trees? Yes, trees!

October 28, 2015October 27, 2015Leave a comment

With me today is another new author, Sam Smith. His debut novel, Trees, releases on October 31 from Safkhet Publishing. Take it away, Sam!

My thanks to Kay Kauffman for asking me to guest on her blog.

Although I’ve done many things sub-literary in my writing life – organised poetry festivals and book fairs, run a small press, Original Plus, and for nearly 20 years now the poetry magazine The Journal (once ‘of Contemporary Anglo-Scandinavian Poetry’); and although I’ve had many publishers of my work, 2 of which went disastrously bust while I was working as editor for them, Safkhet Publishing is the first that has suggested that I be a guest blogger.

trees The novel by the way is Trees and Safkhet are based in Germany.

I’m based in the UK on the Cumbrian coast. Maryport describes itself as ‘By the sea near the Lakes.’ Not wholly sure
Continue reading →

Interview time!

October 27, 2015June 5, 20176 Comments

Today I have with me Robert Eggleton, author of Rarity from the Hollow, here to tell us about himself and his work.

KK: So, Robert, tell us about yourself.

roberteggleton RE: I would love to tell your readers rags to riches story, Kay, but the best I can do is a rags to almost middle income story. In 1951, I was born into an impoverished family in West Virginia. I started paying into the U. S. Social Security fund at age twelve and dreamed of a brighter future for my family.

In the 8th grade, I won the school’s short story contest. “God Sent” was about a semi truck driver so consumed with theological debate that he caused a terrible accident. As it often does, life got in the way of my dream of becoming a writer. Except for a poem published in the state’s student anthology and another poem published in a local alternative newspaper, my creative juices were spent writing handouts for civil rights and anti-war activities.

After earning an MSW in 1977, children’s rights and protection became my cause. I focused on children’s advocacy for the next forty years. In 2002, I started a job as a psychotherapist at the local mental health center, and five months ago, I retired from my job so that I could write and promote fiction. It wasn’t a clean escape though. I had to make a deal with my conscience. Author proceeds have been donated to a child abuse prevention program.

KK: And Rarity from the Hollow? What’s it all about?

I feel lucky

October 22, 2015October 22, 20156 Comments

dandy All kids drive their parents crazy, some more than others. Take Thumper, for instance. He’s my baby, the youngest of my four children, and the reason I can’t have nice things. He’s the reason I started sprouting gray hair before I hit thirty, the reason I’m sick of my own name, and the probable cause for any alcoholism his daycare teachers may suffer from.

But you know what? He’s perfect. He may be stubborn to a fault and have more energy than any one person should ever have, but he’s also the happiest four-year-old I’ve ever met. He has such a good heart, even when he’s feeling ornery, and he’s so stinkin’ adorable that I can never stay mad at him for long. I am lucky to be his mother.

For the record, I am lucky to be mother (and stepmother) to three other pretty fantastic kids, too. But I feel especially lucky to be Thumper’s mother, because I almost wasn’t, a fact I was reminded of last night.

We’ve been having…

Grudging: Birth of Saints

October 18, 201510 Comments

On Thursday, a brand new novel had a fantastic cover reveal, and I signed up with Rockstar Book Tours to help spread the word. But Thursday was a rough day, and Friday was no better, and yesterday was just wild. So today, I’m stealing five minutes to tell you about a new book from Michelle Hauck called Grudging:

A world of chivalry and witchcraft…and the invaders who would destroy everything.

The North has invaded, bringing a cruel religion and no mercy. The ciudades-estados who have stood in their way have been razed to nothing, and now the horde is before the gates of Colina Hermosa…demanding blood.

On a mission of desperation, a small group escapes the besieged city in search of the one thing that might stem the tide of Northerners: the witches of the southern swamps.

The Women of the Song.

But when tragedy strikes their negotiations, all that is left is a…

Sublime Rhyme

October 8, 20154 Comments

To read more about Fezzik’s great gift, check outThe Princess Bride!

Unlike Fezzik, I do not possess a great gift for rhyme. That, however, doesn’t stop me from trying, especially when it’s with a super fun form like the limerick:

It takes a really long time to think
Of rhymes that don’t epically stink.
One rhyme is fine,
And two are sublime,
But from more than that, I do shrink.

Today’s poems are supposed to embrace the imperfect, and be personal, and I think I’ve done that here. I love poems that rhyme, but rhyming is hard, yo! What about you – do you like poems that rhyme? Or do you prefer unrhymed verse?

Baby, when the lights go out…

October 5, 20154 Comments

The Ink Slingers League is proud to present another anthology for your reading pleasure, and it’s just in time for Halloween! A collection of twenty-five short stories from authors such as Tricia Drammeh, Joleene Naylor, Roger Lawrence, and DM Yates, When the Lights Go Out is chock full of thrills, chills, and mysteries. And best of all, it’s free!

You can get your copy today at Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, and Amazon.

Naked

October 3, 2015October 1, 2015Leave a comment

To begin with, go read this post by rarasaur. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Finished? Okay, then.

I loved the first line. After all, how can you not love a reference to Pride and Prejudice? It’s only one of the best books ever written. But if you read the rest of the post (and the rest of her blog), it’s amazing. It’s simultaneously powerful and empowering, and I want so badly to be able to write like that.

To make people feel things. In their gut.

To feel things myself. And not in the way that I normally feel things, which is superficial, like someone doing a white-glove check to see how dusty my mantle is. I want to feel things with every ounce of my soul, every fiber of my being.

I’m tired of being enveloped in bubble wrap.

But I don’t know how to get rid of it.

Fear is powerful. And I think it guides too much of my behavior.

Time to do something about that.

Time to get naked.

What about you? Do you feel things in your gut, or do things wash over you like waves upon sand? Do you blog naked?

Time to party like it’s 1999!

October 2, 2015October 1, 20154 Comments

Reunited and it feels so good…

I can’t remember the last time I’ve gone this long without blogging. I’ve thought about it often over the last *checks notes* several weeks, but I’ve been busy. Between football games and family time and working and cleaning and moving my in-laws and all the other stuff I tend to put off till the last possible minute, I’ve been doing something wonderful.

I’ve been writing.

And it has been glorious.

Sure, it’s first-draft type stuff. Sure, it’s going to need a lot of work. But I’ve been writing. And it makes me happy.

Almost as happy as that can of pop over there on the right.

Who besides me remembers Surge? Anyone?