Authors

November 7, 2013 | by | Comments Off on Authors
Categories: Uncategorized.

 

Today I’m going to discuss authors and the hard, laborious work we do.

Writing a book is a labor of love. The love of writing. For some, it can take years to finish a book. No matter what kind of story you want to tell, every authors deserves to be heard, even if its from friends or family only.

The one thing I find very frustrating and I’m sure I’m not alone, is finding someone to publish my book. Don’t get me wrong, I have a wonderful agent/publisher, for getting it out online and she does a fantastic job, couldn’t ask for better. However, when we try to look for publishers for the possibility of taking on a new author, we hit the proverbial brick wall.

The major publishers want known authors only, or you must be represented by a well known agent who believes in your work. This makes it very hard for us newcomers to ‘break in’ to the business. We would all love to be the next James Patterson, JK Rowling, Cassandra Clare, or Stephen King, but how to get over the hurdles. I have come to the conclusion that I do have to pay my dues and it will be the ‘luck of the draw’ if global success ever comes my way.

In the meantime, I will continue to write whatever my little heart desires because of my love for it and if a select few, family, friends and a few others out there read my stories and enjoy them, then I am a success in my own small way.

There are so many independent authors out there and so many books I would love to read but will never have the time to read them all. Will give it a good go though, Lol. Still I will encourage all authors to keep writing their books, be it fact or fiction, someone will read your words and love them.

Vampires

October 10, 2013 | by | Comments Off on Vampires
Categories: Uncategorized.

Recently I was asked, ‘of all the paranormal stories there are, which one is your favorite?’ Well, to answer plainly, vampires. Call me old fashioned. Of course there are so many to choose from paranormal, fantasy genres, and I love them all, but I will always be drawn to the vampire stories first.

From the first time I discovered them, I had a fascination with them. The ability to survive for hundreds or even thousands of years, imagine the history you have witnessed, never aging again, who of us would love to turn back the clock to look like we’re 25 again. Come on, don’t lie, you know you’d love it! And who of us wouldn’t want to have to ability to control another through hypnosis (or glamour), if you will. The list of powers one would have as a vampire are vast and throughout the years of the many vampire stories written, authors have even taken the liberty of changing some of those powers. That’s the beauty of being a fantasy writer, you make up your own story from your own imagination.

When I got up the nerve to write my first book, I really, REALLY, wanted to write about vampires but changed my mind, for the time being because the Twilight series was so strong. I wanted to give that some time to die down before I put one of my vampire stories out there, and switched to ancient gods, another one of my favs. Make no mistake, after I finish my Trinity series, which will hopefully be by this fall, I will be writing about my favorite character, the vampire. To be honest, I’ve already written a little bit of the book. Couldn’t help myself, I just had to write some things down along with a few notes on my future book. My plan is to take this character to a whole new level. Again, I can use my imagination to create the vampire of my dreams and hopefully he/she will be in your dreams in the future also.

So, now that you know my favorite paranormal/fantasy character, how about you tell me some of your favorites and why you love them? I would enjoy hearing from you and getting your thoughts on the subject. Give me some feedback! LOL! Let’s have some fun!

 

Cradle and All – James Patterson

June 17, 2013 | by | Comments Off on Cradle and All – James Patterson
Categories: Reviews.

Cradle and All, by James PattersonToday I wanted to talk about James Patterson, one of my favourite authors. When I was younger, I got a hold of a book called Cradle and All by James Patterson. It was the first paranormal, fantasy book I had read and I loved it!

In the first place, it was a genre I enjoyed reading, and secondly, I found it very easy to read. You must understand that I am not a fast reader and I do envy those who are. It’s not like I can’t read fast but I find that if I do read too fast, I don’t grasp everything I read. When I’m reading, I picture the story as a movie in my mind, scene-by-scene, and Patterson’s writing brought out my imagination, (i.e. the movie in my mind), in great detail.

Cradle and All had such a spin to it, it kept me guessing right to the very end of the story. Kinda freaked me out a little too. LOL. I recommended the book to my sister, she read it, and she then became a fan of James Patterson too. Throughout the years we’ve exchanged Patterson’s books several times.

After that first paranormal book, I found I wasn’t shy about reading the books I enjoyed instead of following the mainstream trend of what others were into. I can’t stand sappy romance and most biographies bore me. I’m not into ‘do it yourself’ or self-help books.

Thanks to the book I really loved, I don’t have enough room on my shelf for all my books. I really envied Patterson’s ability to let his imagination run wild and put it on paper. I always wanted to do that but found I didn’t have the confidence to do it and ‘who would read what I write?’ is what I always thought.

In 2008 I decided ‘what do I have to lose?’ and started writing Trinity. As Patterson and so many authors out there, I let my imagination run wild and didn’t hold back. My first thought was to write about vampires but then changed my mind because the Twilight series was the hottest thing out there and I didn’t think I could compete with that. So I switched my focus to ancient history (one of my passions), and found the Gods of Gwynneth. From there, the words just flowed. I imagined it was how James and so many other authors felt as they were writing their books and it was an inspiration. I know, sounds corny, but it’s true. However, I do have a book in my head itching to get out that is vampire themed and it will be the focus of my next project.

My hope is to be as inspiring and successful as James Patterson and so many authors out there. I could give you a long list of them but that would take up too much room! Ha!

The paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy world opened my mind and is responsible for encouraging me to read more and more. I urge anyone who says they hate reading to find the genre you like and believe me, you will find your love of reading as I did.

Review – “The Host” by Stephenie Meyer

April 6, 2013 | by | Comments Off on Review – “The Host” by Stephenie Meyer
Categories: Reviews.
Tags: Movie & Book Review, Stephenie Meyer, and The Host.

The Host, by Stephenie MeyerThe blogging starts today. Bear with me as I have never blogged before and this is all very new to me. I’ve read other’s blogs though and I think I have the jist of it. LOL!

For my first entry, I decided to do a review on one of my favourite authors, (one of many). She has several books out and all have been made into movies to date. I must admit, I always prefer the books to the movies as they have much more detail.

I went to see “The Host” (Stephenie Meyer) in the theater, March 29, 2013. It was the opening day of the movie and it was the first time I’ve ever seen a movie on opening day. In addition, it was a gift from a couple of my best friends, who took me to see it for my birthday.

It’s been a few years since I read the book and I must admit, I wondered if I’d remember what I read as opposed to what I’d see on the big screen. It turns out, I did.

I must say that I did enjoy the movie very much and am happy to report that it was very close to the book I read. Stephenie Meyer continues her stance on having a movie made that is as close to her book as possible without changing scenes, dialog, etc. I admire her about that. So many movies are made that are based on a published book and many are very good movies, however, more often than not, they deviate from the book. That is always disappointing to me. If you’re going to make a movie based on the writings of an author, I prefer you try your best to keep it as close to the book as possible. I realize that most books are too long for a movie maker to include everything, but I applaud those who try their best to do so.

In the movie The Host, the only scene I recall that was missing (spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the movie), was where the doctor was trying to remove the alien invaders (called “Souls”) from the humans they had ‘kidnapped’. There were at least two Souls who realized what the humans were trying to do, and in the alien’s own defense, destroyed themselves and the hosts they occupied. This was how they dealt with threats to their existence.

I recently discovered that Stephenie Meyer is in the process of writing the second book to The Host; part of a trilogy, so I’ve learned. I really thought that The Host stood alone, but I’m glad to find out there’s more to come! I will be waiting patiently (not!) for book 2 to come out and will rush out to buy it when it does.

If you are a Stephenie Meyer fan and enjoy her books (i.e. the Twilight series), I encourage you to go out and see The Host in the theater.