Wednesday's Author Interview

We are excited to have Author Anna Walls join us today on The Creative Muses...

Author Bio:
My name is Anna Walls, I live in bush Alaska approximately 60 river miles from the end of the nearest road and I work as a housekeeper/gardener at a fishing lodge approximately seven river miles from where I live. I drive to work every day in a small 16' boat and in the winter, I drive a snow machine to work when I work for the lodge during the Iditarod sled dog race that passes by on the Yetna river. For many years, I have occasionally opened a notebook and written down a story. Nothing ever came of that work until, a few years ago, my son gave me an old laptop computer. Of course, the first thing I did was begin to type my current creation from my notebook into the computer. I quickly learned to use the tools a computer offers. Such things as the spelling and grammar checking capability helped me to learn a lot about the mechanics of writing. The ease of making changes in the text made my hobby pure pleasure. Since I started to use that first little computer, my hobby has occupied almost all of my 'free' time. I love to read and lose myself in some far away world created from some one's imagination and I have found that creating and peopling such worlds is every bit as fun if not more so, so it has become my dream to share my creations with others.

TCM: What inspired you to become a writer? Why do you write your particular genre?
 AW: My drive to write is probably different from anything else you’ve ever heard of. I started

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writing because I wanted something new to read. I live a long way from any book store and funds for buying even used books was just too tight. One day, my son gave me a little laptop so I decided to see if I remembered how to type. Of course that left the question of what to type, so I just started writing a story. Thus began my first book, now titled King by Right of Blood and Might

TCM: What’s your strongest point as a writer?
 AW: For me, logic is very important during the course of a book. It is very important that events and character actions follow a logical and therefore believable direction.

TCM: What part of the book is the hardest for you? Why?

 AW: Probably the hardest part is the beginning. I generally base my stories on a scene or event type of idea but that doesn’t always include a beginning so I need to figure out who the book is about and how to get them from point A to point Z. Since I am not an out liner, this path may take many surprising turns along the way.                                                                                                                         

TCM: As Author, what do you consider your most difficult obstacle?
 AW: At this point, my most difficult obstacle would be the Internet. When the Internet calls, very little writing gets done. I’m learning how to manage my time though. Making some progress.

TCM: What advice would you give new authors that have been newly published?
AW: For new authors, meaning those who have taken the plunge, they then need to plunge into advertising, because sales will not happen it no one sees your book. Relying on someone else to spread will play out very fast, if it takes off at all.

TCM: What new projects can we look forward to from you and where, when will they be
available?
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AW: Book 3 of my Making of a Mage King trilogy will be coming out this summer. It is currently at the editor’s and my publisher is working on the cover now. 

TCM: Where has writing lead you in your career as an Author?

AW: Ever since that first computer, my life took a turn into left field. Now there are six books on Amazon with my name on the by

-line and another six books waiting for their chance. In the mean time, I spend all my free time creating something new. And newest of all is a budding ghost writing career. I just finished my first project and my boss was delighted. Now coincidentally, I will be taking up another project soon. Will this go beyond that? Only time will tell. In between, there’s still my work in progress. Druid Derrick was becoming quite cumbersome, so I have decided to divide it into several short eBooks. I’m currently on book 10, and there will be another 6 books to go before that story is done. Sounds huge, but really, each one is very short, less than a hundred page. I plan to sell them for a dollar apiece. 

TCM: Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?
AW: Writing can be very therapeutic. It is a way of getting that story off your chest. Many people can’t seem to find a way to tell their story, whatever it is. Getting in black and white, in front of your eyes, helps to make it clear. After that, all that’s left is sorting out an ending.

Buy Link 

Book 1, Prince in Hiding
Book 2, White Star
Book 3, Mage King– will be out through Bucks Country Publishing -

To learn more about Anna Walls please visit her at:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Anna Wall's Passion Website
Anna's Obsession Blog

AW: From my writing blog, a visitor can find my blog novel, my personal blog, and widgets where samples of my books can be read.
And Thank you so much!

TCM: Thank you Anna for joining us!









 

Story Time Thursday

Welcome to Story Time Thursday.  TCM is proud to share a new short story by,

Author Paula Shene  Inspirational Author of Ficion, Sci-Fi/fantasy, and Children's Literature.

"Yesterday is already a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision"

A Fistful of Bullies part one can be read at:

http://thepeacockwriters.weebly.com/1/post/2014/03/fistful-of-bullies-part-one.html#.UynGOPldXVR

 

The K-9 boys and girls were invited to witness a reenactment of a bullying episode that lead to the Naga dragon family move to Nixietown, a haven for the Faeries and their Friends.

 

A Fistful of Bullies part two
 

~~~~~~~

As the pack settled down to watch, the leading majorette turned the corner, holding her baton high, and the signal for the parade to begin.
 
The float adorned with pixies, dressed as flowers, each flying around the float showed a young dragon playing tag with another, their laughter ringing out in a song of joy.

The following floats showed a mom or a dad each working at their tasks, music of happiness from the dragons and the singing of the pixies in flight.
 
A band of Elves and Pixies rounded the corner fighting, their music angry clashes, bangs, and booms and in the midst a float showing the parent dragons weeping out a song of despair. More bands dressed in raggedy clothes, they sang of losing work and home, moving into the poor part of Dragontown, without welcome. 

We have no work and cannot pay our bills,

All our garments are tattered,

The house we call our home is gone,

No welcome for us,

Far too many roam in the caves,

The ground is bare, no food to be found,

All is stripped from the hills,

All around us is poverty and despair

 

 

An Ogre dressed in fine clothes, laughing, demanding the little they still had, while waving his gold cane. He, the ugly visitor knocking at the door of each home.

“Intermission time,” sang two colorfully clothed faeries. They flew over the audience from back to front, finally hovering in front with a sign saying, Ten minutes to Pageant Part Two

“I am glad they stopped,” Sophitia said, still with tears in her eyes, as they again sat to watch.

“This is a true story, Sophitia. The family has moved here. It must be a happy ending if they moved to Nixietown,” soothed Shadow, “Listen… do you hear that? The music is happy.”

Playful music sounded as fairies and pixies flew around a float showing the young dragon building a castle in the sand. 

Suddenly, the music changed, the float stopped and in the sky appeared three larger, but young dragons. The music clanged as they dove at the young dragon, flattening the castle. Young Biscuit Naga fell to the ground and the other bigger dragons nipping at him.

____________________

Thank you Paula! Your stories are always welcomed here at The Creative Muses.



TCM's Recomended Reads...

Last Thursday we spotlighted Author Gail Briggs.

G L Briggs was born in England UK in 1969, and currently resides in Manchester.

She is an avid reader of forensic crime novels, horrors and thrillers. She studied parapsychology as a fun subject in the summer 2002. Her interests lie in paranormal investigations, psychic experiences, and supernatural activity of all kinds. She has been on over forty investigations around the country.


To learn more about the author, visit her website at
http://www.mywritingdiary.co.uk/
http://gailbriggs.blogspot.co.uk/

We love bringing our readers news of great books that can really challenge their imaginations. That's why our recommended readers for this week is G L Briggs's Stealth Series, books one, two, and three.
Our pick for recommended reads is

Book One:
Fabled Enigma: Stealth series part one

Available at Amazon

After a mighty battle, a non-human entity seizes his opportunity to enter an open portal into the physical realm, choosing Gareth as the perfect human to help him accomplish his goal.
As a skeptic, Gareth has to come to terms with the fact that 'something' is after him. Trying to understand the bizarre turn his life is taking, he is forced to allow psychic, Elena, to help him.

Book Two:
Exorcism of the Species: Stealth series part two

Available at Amazon

 

Humanity is in danger of extinction from an otherworldly race of savage creatures hell bent on revenge for their banishment from the physical realm eons ago.

 

They aim to take back what was once theirs, the physical realm, by culling the human race. They are coming through an open portal into this realm in their thousands and spreading across the whole country, waiting for the signal to begin their invasion.

 

It's a race against time as Elena has no choice but to join forces with her enemy and enter the forsaken realm to search for the lost items needed to re-enact the banishment of so long ago.

 

Join them on their journey through the forsaken realm. Travel with them as they battle creatures, tackle obstacles, and seek to avoid letting the savageness of the realm change their very souls. 

Each group seeks the means to exorcise the other species from existence. 

 

Only one race can survive.

Book Three:
Forsaken: Stealth series part three

Available at Amazon

They’re back.

The reluctant allies, Elena and Thanatos, are back in this final instalment of the Stealth trilogy. Stuck in the Forsaken Realm and separated, they encounter many foes in their search for each other and the way back home.

Having solved the problem of the Xarthian army’s attempt to take control of the Physical Realm, Elena and Thanatos now face their greatest danger yet, the very gateway to damnation itself.

Follow their adventures as they are abandoned by the church, encounter devastation, and are forced to face their worst fears.

Special Excerpt: From Book Two: Exorcism of the Species

Father Jacob Arindosa had just left the shop, Crystal Clear, with a perfect crystal sphere and began walking back to his little church, which wasn’t far away. The sphere was still very hot to the touch and he could sense the creature trapped inside. It made him edgy, and he didn’t want to hold this thing any longer than necessary.

He had to get it back to the church and inform his superiors that the creature had been captured and was ready to be picked up. He quickened his pace in anticipation of disposing of this thing and finally being done with it all.

Taking the sphere out of his pocket, he brought it up to his face to see if he could see inside. Peering intently at the perfectly round, clear quartz crystal sphere, he could see smoky colours swirling around inside, but nothing discernible was apparent. Glad of this, he replaced it back into his pocket and quickly continued walking to St Mary’s Church in Hulme, Manchester, speeding up the closer he got.

Nearing the church, he felt the sphere in his pocket begin to vibrate. He paused, wondering what was happening, and took it out of his pocket again. It was almost too hot to touch now, and he had to hold it in the cuff of his coat sleeve. He looked down at it and saw that it was now glowing; first a strange orange colour, then changing to green and then back to orange again. Each colour change was accompanied by a pulse, or throb from the sphere.

This change in the behaviour of the sphere caused Father Jacob to take in a sharp, frightened, breath. His forehead now had a slight sheen to it, and his fear of the thing he held was clear in the shake of his fingers and the staccato beating of his heart.

He had witnessed tonight just how vicious and deadly this trapped being can be. He had lost an old friend, Father Thomas, in the fight to dispose of the creature. But a mistaken calculation on their part ensured that all they could do was contain it, and then only temporarily. He was sure that the creature would find a way out this sphere. After all, it managed to find a way out of its own realm, and wreak havoc in this one.

Father Thomas wasn’t its only victim either. A secretary who worked for Gareth in the building where they had captured the creature, was brutally murdered by it for no reason only days ago. And Stella, Gareth’s wife, is in the hospital with broken bones and a concussion. “What a complete mess this all is,” He thought to himself, worriedly, increasing his speed so much he was practically running.

Hurriedly replacing the sphere back into his coat pocket, Father Jacob took a deep breath, and wondered if the decision to capture this creature was a sane one. The whole brotherhood and the hierarchy of the church know of the dangers should one of these creatures ever be captured, but they blindly ignored everything they knew in their quest to learn more about them.

“Asking me to capture it if I could was a folly that we’ll all have to pay for.” Father Jacob muttered to himself as he quickened his pace to the safety and sanctity of his church.

He was looking forward to handing this thing over and then taking a nice, long, hot bath to rid himself of the blood and the stench of death that he knew covered him from head to toe; remnants from the battle earlier that night to capture the creature. His grief for the victims would have to wait until at least then, as thinking about what had happened was too difficult right now, and would sway his resolve and ability to deal with the handover of this creature.

He was getting worried about the intensity of the sphere’s throbbing and the heat it was generating, as he wasn’t sure what it meant. In any case, it couldn’t be good, so getting rid of it can’t come soon enough.

Finally reaching the doors of the church, he pushed his way inside and was, for once, grateful that he was the only occupant. Turning around, he closed and locked the door, then leaned against it with relief, his chest heaving with the exertion to get here. This relief was short lived, because the sphere in his pocket was vibrating at such an intense frequency that it was almost jumping out of his pocket. Taking it out, Father Jacob peered closely at it again, and reeled back in shock.

He could see the creature inside, and it seemed to be concentrating intensely, whilst staring straight at him. The sphere pulsed once more and then became so hot that Father Jacob was forced to release it from his hand and it fell to the floor and rolled away, coming to a stop only a few feet away.

Backing up as far away as he was able, Father Jacob could only stare in terror at what was happening. The sphere had unsteadily risen from the floor to some three feet in the air, and was growing at a rapid pace, throbbing and changing colour faster and faster. He only had time to notice that the colours and the light from them never extended beyond the sphere, and that the rest of the church was still in darkness, when a breeze started in the room and was quickly getting stronger and louder, whipping Father Jacob’s coat up and over his head.

He managed to remove the coat from over his head just as a flash of bright white light filled the area accompanied by a boom of noise, like a bomb going off, throwing him in the air, where he landed ten feet away from where he started, in a tangled heap on the floor.

Happy Reading!

.

 



Thursday's Author Spotlight, Gail Briggs

How awesome is this!  Not only did we get Gail Briggs to do a spotlight on The Creative Muses, We also get to present her new release,  Part Three in The Stealth Series, Forsaken!

First meet Gail,

G L Briggs was born in England UK in 1969, and currently resides in Manchester.

She is an avid reader of forensic crime novels, horrors and thrillers. She studied parapsychology as a fun subject in the summer 2002. Her interests lie in paranormal investigations, psychic experiences, and supernatural activity of all kinds. She has been on over forty investigations around the country.

To learn more about the author, visit her website at www.mywritingdiary.co.uk  or her blog at gailbriggs.blogspot.co.uk

 

From the Author,

My name is Gail Briggs. I am 44 years old and a mother of three. I live in Manchester, in the North West of England.

I love to write, but bringing up children, studying at university, and running a business have always gotten in the way, until now. I found that, once my children were old enough that they did not need me anymore, I had a lot of spare time on my hands. So, in 2011 I decided to enrol on a creative writing course with The Writers Bureau.

 

Joining a creative writing group on Facebook, with other students from the Writers Bureau, was a very good decision for me. We all support and help each other in ways that I have not encountered anywhere else.

 They have been invaluable to me, and I thank each and every one of them for the encouragement and support they have shown me. However, I have now left that group, and I hope they go from strength to strength.

 

The type of stories I love to read, and write, are supernatural stories. I write from both imagination and personal experience. I have advanced qualifications in parapsychology and have been on over 30 paranormal investigations where, yes, we encountered many spirits. It is an extremely interesting field of both study and experience, but is very difficult to write about. I will not shy away from the difficulties though, I am more determined than ever to do something when difficulties arise.

 

They’re back.

 

The reluctant allies, Elena and Thanatos, are back in this final instalment of the Stealth trilogy. Stuck in the Forsaken Realm and separated, they encounter many foes in their search for each other and the way back home.

Having solved the problem of the Xarthian army’s attempt to take control of the Physical Realm, Elena and Thanatos now face their greatest danger yet, the very gateway to damnation itself.

Follow their adventures as they are abandoned by the church, encounter devastation, and are forced to face their worst fears.

Buy Links:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Smashwords

Check out what readers are saying about Forsaken,

Latest Reviews (Amazon) From the Pit of Hell, March 2, 2014    Paula Shene "library dweller" Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Forsaken: Stealth series part three (Kindle Edition) I bought two copies of this book, one to keep, one to share. I am mid story and losing sleep because I do not want to shut my Kindle down until the eyes can no longer stay open. The first two books in the series were the ones I also needed to sprint through, not wanting to stop until Briggs ran out of words. I found that the use of witchcraft, the rifts in dimensions, the humanity and foibles of even the most blessed are believable and accepted. I will be back to add to this review when I finished the story, but she gets my five star approval as I only review what I finish and I only finish five star books.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good 2 Mar 2014

By Mrs. R. S. Wilkinson

Format:Kindle Edition

Having not read the others in the serious I started this book with slight trepidation! Thoroughly enjoyed it, read it in 2 days and enjoyed the storyline immensely, so much so that I will read the first 2 books now. If you havn't read any of her books before then I happily say order it now - you wont be disappointed. If you enjoy fantasy books then this is for you.

Thank you Gail for giving us the opportunity to share your incredible imagination with our readers!

Please don't forget to pick up a copy of Forsaken, which can be read as a stand alone. However, once you read one of these books, you'll hunger for more!