Burning Rome twice in one Emperor....

February is Snowdown celebration in Durango. For some reason, always the most bone-chilling weekend of the winter. Locals line Main Street downtown, stomping, waiting for the single firework above the train station, which marks the beginning of the parade when the first evening stars peep over Smelter Mountain. Crowding close, straining the man-barriers, people eagerly look south to see what they really came to see...the balloon gondolas. Resting on flatbed trailers, they come up the street with burners alight, trying with all their might to send their tongues of flame over the three and four story buildings on either side of the street.

The crowd Oohs and Aahs, and raise their hands to the warmth.
Suzanne Tyrpak plays a fiddle on a crowded corner.....

Only the fiddle is fiction in that paragraph. Suzanne might not have been there this year, the whole town has been sick, for nearly a month. I'd heard she'd been traveling and might have been tired. She travels a lot, which I envy. Her job for an airline at the county airport gives her that wonderful freedom. I don't blame her for hopping over the mountains at every chance. Once, she hopped over the pond, to the Med.    Italy.      Rome.

There was a flame-lit night in that city's past. Remember that?

How cool is that tie-in? Yeah, I'm feeling pretty smart.

Suzanne met me for coffee a few weeks back, to swap books, say hello finally, talk about what we love. Her book is new enough, I couldn't beg a copy. 'Vestal Virgin'. She posted me so I could get the file, and I jumped right in. Something had been admitted in that meeting, and I wanted the truth of it, to see what result had come of it.

Vestal Virgin was edited to the bone after she completed her first draft. It's her method; authors have those, you know. I was aghast. Cutting one of my MS would draw blood from me.

What happened to those words? Were there holes in the text? The book is about Rome, at the time of the burning. Would this novel have scorch marks, and voids in it from her handiwork, like the burned corners of the Turin Shroud? Could I read this and see the perforations?

No. Suzanne is an accomplished author, and I'm a dork. An editor once told me; anything can be edited. Done by an expert, it works. Ms. Tyrpak knew which threads to pull out, where to reshape. Here is my review of the result.

To the bone.... (her words)
What a bone! There is a feast of Ancient Rome within those pages; a banquet awaits anyone who loves the harshness of the stunning place. But, I would love to read the original draft. Send that Suzanne, instead of a print. :)  I'm that kind of reader. You can't give me too much of a beloved subject.

Now, let's talk about her other book; Dating My Vibrator: and other true fiction.
(I blush fire-engine red. So glad you can't see me right now. I bet you could sell that for $42.95, and it would still fly.)

So, what do I mean by burning Rome twice?
Hehe.  There were two fires smoldering there. Suzanne brings sparks from both into her text. Nero ruled, tyrannated, corruptivated... abused the citizens, at the time that Christianity was taking hold. It was creeping into place, doing what it does, replacing the voids within the downtrodden souls it touched. Rome, her citizens, was seething with a passion for something different. Rome had endured too much, from without and within, and was a tinderbox in too many hidden places. When those sparks ignited... Rome disappeared into smoke, and The Way began to bloom.

I keep seeing Donna Reed in that book cover.....

'Vestal Virgin' is Suzanne's debut book. She's approached self-publishing the way lions approached the early Christians - she's devouring it. She has some impressive admirers. Check out her thoughts on the e-book revolution in this publication: ArtsPerspective.com   Here is a link to her website.  As a gift to her readers, and any new ones meeting her for the first time here, Suzanne has agreed to give an e-book copy of 'Vestal Virgin' to anyone who comments below, and also goes to her blog to sign up and follow! The winner(s) will be selected at the end of the feature this week, and will be given a Smashwords code by email.

Ready Suzanne?

I’ve been shy about reading ‘Dating my…’  Am I a prude?
The stories are basically PG. Most of the stories are set in Durango—so you might enjoy it just for the setting. I’ve read a couple of the stories at the library, and no one called the police or threw me out so I think you’re safe reading the collection.

How many times a year do you hop a plane out of Durango?
I work for an airline so I travel a lot. Sometimes more than I want, because I often go to training up in Denver. Mostly, I travel in the slow seasons—never on holidays. I just got back from New York, where my family lives. While I was there I did research for my next novel; I visited the Roman and Greek wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At the end of this month I’ll be going to the Seattle area, meeting up with another writer friend who recently moved there, Shannon Richardson. I try to get away about every other month.

Have you ever worked in the café at the airport? The local joke, you know, everyone out there works at least once in the café…
There’s a cafe at the airport? No Joel, I don’t work at the cafe, but I often play piano out in the parking lot.

A three foot snowstorm doesn’t close that airport, does it. Have you ever been trapped out there?
Sometimes I work extremely long hours due to snow and rebooking. 4:30am till 9pm and later. It’s a tough job, but I enjoy it. And the airport is a great place to study people. I see people at their best, and sometimes at their worst. I check you in, and check you out.

You discovered your desire to write Vestal Virgin while on a trip to Rome. How long were you there?
My first visit to Rome was a dream-come-true—I traveled with a group of writers including Terry Brooks, Elizabeth Engstrom, John Saul, and Dorothy Allison for about a week. We hung out at cafes, wrote, wandered around the city and beyond. It was incredible. I got the idea for Vestal Virgin when I read a short blurb in a travel guide. There were only six vestals at any given time, and they were the most powerful women in the empire—sworn to thirty years of chastity at age seven, if they broke that vow they could be entombed alive. I thought: there’s a story!

The book took you back again, to complete research didn’t it?
Yes, I went to Rome a second time with a friend from Durango. We spent about ten days traveling through Rome, Florence and Venice. While we were in Rome, I hired a private tour-guide, a scholar who focused on A.D. 63-64, the time of the great fire—the year I write about. He showed us around the Forum Romanum, and gave me all kinds of interesting details I hadn’t found in books.

Some of the locations you visited that second time – those were not normal stops for tourists were they?
Most people don’t get the kind of details I got from the scholar tour-guide. For example, we walked around the site of the Domus Transitoria (Nero’s palace that burnt to the ground), and he knew the entire layout. I walked from one area of Rome to another, so I could get an idea of how long it would take to get around by foot. For example, I walked the route Elissa, my main character, walks from the Forum to what once was The Circus Maximus.

You’ve traveled to writer’s conferences, too? Where?
I attended the Maui Writers’ Conference and Retreat where I studied with New York Times bestselling writers including Elizabeth George, Terry Brooks, John Saul, Karen Fowler and Dorothy Allison. I’ve also attended Thrillerfest in Phoenix and New York City, World Fantasy Convention (don’t remember where), the Historical Writers’ Conference in Salt Lake, and one year Blake Crouch (Desert Places, Locked Doors), Shannon Richardson (Deadly Deceptions) and I attended Left Coast Crime together. We flew standby on my flight benefits to San Antonio. That’s where I first met Joe Konrath—the King of Kindle.

Are they ever going to finish that damned construction on Florida Road?
I believe construction is scheduled to be finished early in the next millennium. They’re currently building an overpass leading directly to the Rec Center, which will allow travelers to bypass Florida Road  - the toll will be $5.00, but I think locals get a discount.


Dating my Vibrator (and other true fiction) is an honest discussion about your life after divorce? Was that a difficult step to take, to write your own self onto those pages?
It’s not a discussion—honest or dishonest. It’s fiction, a collection of nine short stories. Yes, I used my experience as a jumping off point, but I do that with everything I write. Because some of the stories closely reflect my own experience, writing the stories saved me hundreds of dollars that I might have spent on therapy.

How many times have you ridden the train up to Silverton?
Why?
*snerk*

Do you bike?  Know 60 people who do?
Yes. Know in the biblical sense? That question is waaaay too personal!

How many bears have you seen near your place?
Last summer I had a group of friends over for dinner, and a bear cub showed up at the dumpster. We all ran out to see it—even the kids—before we figured out that might not be a great idea.

They say you are a local in Durango if you’ve ever spent a dime on Main Street. How long have you been here?
Where do you get these sayings Joel? I moved here from New York, Christmas of 1982. Threw my belongings into a VW hatchback and drove across country by myself. It was an adventure. I’m generally up for an adventure.

Is a new book in the works yet?
Several novels and another collection of short stories. I plan to bring out another historical suspense novel this coming December, Agathon’s Daughter. It’s set in Classic Greece. Here’s a description:

Agathon’s Daughter:
Born a bastard and a slave, Hestia has a gift—the power to read people’s hearts. This gift brings her notoriety and takes her on journey through the upper echelons of Athens. Sold to Lycurgus, a prominent statesman with sadistic tendencies, she becomes his consort. As Hestia’s wealth and fame increase, so does her despair. Determined to escape her cruel master, she faces enemies at every turn, but the fiercest enemy she faces is herself. To gain freedom, she must unravel the mystery of her past and confront the demons in her own heart. 

Online marketing is a struggle, at best, and we all have our favorite outlets, but you are partial to Kindle Boards aren’t you?
I think marketing online is fun—even addictive. I enjoy connecting with readers and writers via my blog, Facebook and Twitter. My fave hangout is Kindle Boards. It’s a friendly forum where readers and writers connect. I learn a lot there, exchange information and keep up on the latest epublishing news. I also hang out at a few Amazon forums in the US and UK.

Tell me what your typical writing day entails. Do they happen often enough?
At one point, before my divorce, I had time to write for hours every day. Now I write when I can. I like to have a chunk of time, so I can get lost in the story—but it doesn’t always work out that way. I write when I’m not working at the airport.

Highest peak you’ve visited?
The twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Explain what you meant by ‘cutting to the bone’ on Vestal Virgin. Why did you feel that was necessary?
I write, and then cut. I prefer economy in sentences. My first draft or two is usually over-written. I like to leave room in my writing for the reader’s imagination. For example, I stay away from detailed descriptions of a character’s appearance and allow my readers to create the images. Less is more.

Is traditional publishing your ultimate goal, or have you reached your desire already?
My ultimate goal is to support myself writing fiction. Thanks to epublishing, I think I can reach that goal in about three years. Traditional publishing was my dream for a long time—I’d love to work with a great editor and see my books in libraries and stores—but traditional publishing no longer guarantees those things. These days, with all the changes in the industry, I’m not sure if traditional publishing would be beneficial or a hindrance. 

How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing seriously for about thirteen years, but I’ve always been a writer. In school, I used to entertain my friends with short stories, and I’ve always written (mostly bad) poetry. I’ve also written a few plays.

What is the perfect product, in your mind; an outstanding story, or something so unique that it simply stands out on its own?
A great story well told.

Have you ever boated/rafted down the Animas?
I did one of those tourist raft trips once. And I’ve cruised up the Nile. Researching a story—natch. Does that count as rafting?
Yes, it counts. Thank you bunches, Suzanne. Coffee is on me next time...

***

Durango is a river town. Our lovely little Animas. The Spanish named the river "Rio de las Animas Perdidas", "River of the Lost Souls". Named, truthfully, for the Native Americans who resisted Catholicism, the Animas is a river that kills; if you attempt it during the runoff, too high up from town. There are places where the current is so strong, lost kayakers are not found for days. There were currents in Rome, during the rein of Nero, and he was their cold source, emotionless as snowcapped peaks in May sunshine. Caught in his icy grip, even loving friends might die, friends who loved, but were not.
You thought you had heard that about him? Suzanne rafts you through those waters, but you will be chilled through. And, it's not even Nero's story...

Remember to stop by her blog, http://ghostplanestory.blogspot.com/ after leaving a comment below. We will notify the winners a day or two after her feature post.
.
.

When a simple happiness is a blessing...

Imagine having no safe home.

That isn't a question about just having a roof over your head. Imagine having no safe home...no place where you can feel safe at all. Every small happiness, becomes a gift of tremendous value. Endure a lifetime of need, and surprise at even simple things.... Valerie Maarten asks you to feel that, as you read 'The Gift of Joy'. Such is the reality for many women; women and their children, who look to others for the barest of comforts. Women who need shelter from harm.

I'm so pleased to feature Valerie this week, in her first author's interview. I got a picture of Valerie! Yay!

She has not written a depressing novella for you to slog through. Contrary to that, Joy's experience is uplifting when you become friends with her. Understanding is a wonderful thing to come to. Especially with this subject. You only need to care, to let yourself care. It's how Joy deals with the pains in her past; she runs a shelter for women in need.

Writing a reality based fiction, with this sadness and want at its core, must be done by someone who exudes generosity. I believe that describes Valerie. I've seen her promote other authors with vigor on her website. She seems a giving person, if a bit shy. She certainly gave herself to this text, 'The Gift of Joy' is a labor of love for Val, and I've been curious exactly what sparked it. Perhaps it doesn't need to be told. Nothing would change about this story, knowing where it began to shine within the author. Let's say that I will be satisfied that she wrote it, so it could touch other people. Some people need even a small encouragement. It could make tomorrow somewhat easier to bear.

Here is the link to my review of her book. I've not read 'Second Chances' but the reviews are similar, people love what they are reading.

No, there aren't any St. Bernards. But Valerie rescues sea turtles...Orlando is her home. Every few weekends she can be found walking the marshy beaches near Edgewater - a turtle under each arm. Unless a Shuttle launch has been scheduled on the Cape. She will drop whatever task is at hand, to brave the endless traffic to be close as possible. I bet she's taken a few turtles along from time to time.

Where do those turtles go? She won't say, but I've heard NASA has a turtle removal task force at the Cape, and she might be keeping them busy. I think her backyard might be a bit of turtle heaven too.

*** If this is your first visit to Thing, always - always check the comments, stuff crops up. And say hello. :)
 

What prompted you to write this story, 'The Gift of Joy' ?

A little girl named Joy that always seemed to haunt my thoughts and live in my heart.  Although she was make believe, her story was real.

Was this your first novel?

This was the first novel that I published.  I have many WIP that are clamoring for my attention.

You read a variety of subjects; what are your favorite books?

In non-fiction I like history, particularly the medieval period.  As for fiction, I’m very eclectic.  I’ll read anything that grabs my attention.

Give us some insight to your writing process; how do you approach your page?

This is an interesting question because I’m always wondering about other Author’s methods for writing.  I’m a little old fashioned in my writing style, I guess you can say.  I have to write every word out in long hand then I do my re-write, edits as I’m typing.  Some Authors seem to be comfortable sitting in front of the computer screen as the words flow from their fingers.  It has the opposite effect for me.  My thoughts flow easiest when I’m writing.
You've brought my eyes wide open at that! I know very few people who can do that, it is a remarkable thing to know. 

Have you exposed your work to agencies? Do you send out queries?

I have to admit that I haven’t done that.  To be quite frank, I never thought that I’d become published because I didn’t like the idea of having to go through the formality of query letters, finding and agent, etc.  So, I resigned myself to the fact that my work would be mostly enjoyed by me and a few friends before it was relegated to a Rubbermaid bin in the garage.  It wasn’t until this new-fangled idea called ePublishing came about that I ever considered publishing seriously.

How long have you been writing? What other things have you done?

For fear of sounding too cliché, I’ve been writing ALL of my life.  Poems, short stories, plays…anything.  I love to read and I love to write.  It’s a passion that’s been inside me since I can remember.  I can recall my first book I ever read, but if I tell you the title I’d be dating myself so I’ll refrain. 

Okay, okay.  Stop twisting my arm.  It was “Fun with Dick and Jane” and “See Spot Run.”  I told you.  Now I can hear the computer in everyone’s head calculating when those books were published and tacking on another 5 years for good measure.  For the record, I’m 25 years old *sneaky grin*

Did this story spring entirely from your heart, or did you research any parts of it?

“The Gift of Joy” was entirely from the heart.  I grew up in a time when Domestic Violence was a personal affair where no one got involved or intervened and it was rarely treated as a criminal offense.  So, I always wondered what if…?  What if you’re the product of a home where this was commonplace?  What type of person would you become…how would it affect your relationships with other people, etc.?

I’ve always carried this little girl in my heart and in my mind.  Finally, I decided that her story was too compelling to remain untold.  I wanted people to know Joy, feel her pain and loss.  I needed to make her human so people would know how their inclination not to get involved could affect another person’s life, especially the life of a child that has no one else to protect them.

Have you worked or volunteered in a Women’s shelter before?

I’ve never volunteered in a Women’s shelter, but I have done volunteer for church where we serve hungry families and give away gently used clothes to the needy.  To be quite honest, I don’t think my heart would allow me to work under those conditions.  I’m too empathetic towards those types of situations and I don’t know how I would react under those circumstances.  Maybe that’s just my selfish way of protecting my own heart from the pain.  I don’t know how else to explain it.

Why would a contract writer desire more time at the keyboard, to write a novel? What is a contract writer?

If I had to guess at what a “Contract Writer” is, I’d say it’s more like a freelance writer.  If this is true, then I would think that writing a novel would be less lucrative for them since they would have to make great sales in order to acquire the fee they’re probably accustomed to by writing bits, blogs, etc.  Though I could be wrong…I’m just guessing.

You are very careful with Gabe in ‘The Gift of Joy’. Were you doing that on purpose, or did Joy cause that?

It was a little of both, I’d say.  As an adult, Gabe had a better understanding of what Joy must have gone through in her childhood and to couple that with his own guilt for not doing anything about it, though he was too young, was another reason he had the temperament he had with Joy.  But overall, I didn’t want an overpowering, “Alpha” male to overshadow the message I was trying to convey through Joy.  Believe me, it was a delicate balance of which I hope I’ve succeeded.

I’ve noticed that you are shy about self promotion; you even admit you were brought up to believe it could be a negative trait. Is that changing for you, as you connect with more people? Are you learning to open up a bit, for the sake of your books?

Some things are just inherent in you.  Bragging or boasting or calling attention to oneself was just a “no-no” when I was growing up.  However, I did have to learn how to promote in order to sell books.  Though there doesn’t seem to be a method to the madness, I’ve experimented with various ways to do it.  Some ways were quite successful and others, not so much.  I still have a learning curve in this arena, but I am comfortable enough now to at least try.

Tell us a little about ‘Second Chances’.

“Second Chances” is another one of those, what would happen if…?  I wondered, what would happen if a person spent their entire life believing something to be true, to the point of it festering into a poisonous, debilitating hatred, only to find out later on in life that it was a lie?  Would that person continue to use that hatred as a shield?  Or would they be strong enough to let it go and begin their life anew?  It was experimental, but I hope I was able to convey the antagonism it could cause in a person’s life if they chose to hold on to it…and all that they stood to lose if they didn’t let it go.

Here is a link to a Smashwords reader review of 'Second Chances'.

Have you had days when it just seemed impossible to write?

All the time.  Not that I don’t have a cache of stories in my head, but because I’m not disciplined enough to write when the spirit hits me sometimes.  Unfortunately, I’m one of those Authors that let life get in the way and I rarely do anything until I feel I’m “under the gun.”  I guess I work best when I feel I’m under pressure, even if I’m the one giving the deadline.

Do you snorkel, or are you a beach-babe-with-a-book?

Easy question to answer.  I’m a beach-babe-with-a-book.

Have you been deep sea fishing?

Never.  Motion sickness would not allow that to be a fun outing for me…or the other person.

How many Shuttle launches have you seen?

In person…none.  Standing in my driveway…all of them.  Fortunately I live fairly close to NASA, so I can see it from my house.  I know most people think it’s cool to see it in person, but they’ve never seen the traffic it causes when it’s over and I absolutely HATE being stuck in traffic.

Name your favorite amusement park ride.

Oh, I’m a wimp.  This is a hard one.  It’ll have to be the Tea Cup Ride or the ride in The Cat in the Hat.  I know, I’m a big baby.

Have you ever ridden an air-boat in the Everglades?

Did no one ever tell you they have alligators in the Everglades?  Heck no!  I’m scared.  You know I always wonder, what if?  What if something happened to the man steering the boat?  What if we get stuck in the marshes and it’s getting late?  What if…?

Does the Fountain of Youth exist?

Yes.  Ask my two grandmothers.  They are both ninety and beautiful, with very few wrinkles.  I’m still waiting for them to tell me where it is.

So, I teased about St. Bernards, you seem more the type to rescue Greyhounds. What’s the real story?

You’re a very intuitive man.  I would be that type.  Though I’ll admit that I love St. Bernards for their bravery and intelligence, I love Greyhounds for their agility and regal stature.  They’re both beautiful animals in their own way.

Which must-see tourist spot in Florida will you admit you have never, never seen?

I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve never been to St. Augustine.  Each of my boys has been, but I’ve never made the trip.  That is definitely on my list of places to see.

Describe Val Maarten’s perfect day…..

Now you’re going to expose my simple life.  But here goes…  My perfect day is when I’m home alone, I have creamer for my coffee *always seem to run out* and I can read or write or chat with friends all day.  See, I told you it was simple.

I’m giving you one million play-dollars, to travel the world. Where are you going?

Yippee!  The first place I’m going is Scotland.  Then I’ll shoot over to Ireland, England…make a beeline to Italy and Greece.  Take a break for a few weeks then go to Australia.  Probably not in that order, but heck I have a million play-dollars.  I can do whatever I want, right?

Name the one person you could approach tomorrow, to hand them a copy of your books.

I would say Oprah so I could sell an instant million copies, since she seems to have the Midas Touch.  But I’d probably rather hand it over to Maya Angelou.  She was one of my favorite Authors growing up and she always seemed to evoke emotions from me and I’d like to know if I could do the same to her.

Will you send a picture, so we can post it with your feature next week?☺

Joel, I’m sorry that I don’t have any professional pictures of myself.  I promise it’s on my to-do list and you’ll be the first one to see me after my 'unveiling'.

What? My goofy shots are professional? I'm a master at obscure images...

Next day... 

I hope you're feeling better today.  I couldn't find a professional photo of myself, but I managed to crop one from my nephew's graduation.  It's not perfect, but it'll do for now.  If you can't stand to see my "mug", feel free not to use it and use a book cover LOL  I won't be offended.  I'm not really a picture person.

Beautiful! You are smiling out from so many places now....
Joel, I'm slowly coming out of my "comfort zone." One day I'll do a better picture, but this one will do for now. Thanks ♥

***

Valerie, you are very welcome. It is such a pleasure to have you here, to reach one more person with the uplifting messages in your books. And, folks, get over to her website again, right now, for the LinZ Muddy Buddy Treat recipe on her home page. Those might break my addiction to Gummy Bears....

Jurisprudence - The Philosophy of Law in the UK, with a darling wig.

Our Maria has a Gold Star on her
health report. :)

Dame Maria Savva Elena Clarissa Bucket: she's my representation in the UK, so back off! At 6' 2" (1.8795 meters) Maria may be one of the tallest Indie authors I've read. She's difficult sometimes, to interact with, because England was parked on the other side of the Atlantic millions of years ago. She's usually in bed when I'm awake. Our messages have a fair lag time between them. I call her Maria, to save time.
I swear, the first week we became acquainted, I though that was a W in her last name. My poor eyes could not help my brain realize those are Vs. Two of them. Is that a British thing? Isn't one enough?  Then there is that language thing. Their book page numbers are in stones, or something. She calls herself a solicitor. Over here, we hang up on those people. I had to look it up to find out she's a lawyer. Maria explained, thinking it helped, that she could be called a barrister. Over here, we visit those for coffee, right? Jeez.

She may be the only woman I know, who wishes for more pounds. I know she simply craves them.

We cross paths, or byte trails, usually on Bestsellerbound, which is getting entirely too much attention these days. Maria is somewhat to blame for that. (don't go there. it will suck you in.) When she's active in her daytime (Brits are not nocturnal - like Aussies), she is making the rounds of her web-connections. They are vast. She's trying to fill the Atlantic with posts. Why would a solicitor, with plenty of credentials for the difficult job in British Law need any web connections at all? It was her poor choice to become an Indie author, I'm afraid, that's made her life so hard.

British authors, who self-publish, get no better treatment than any of us. No one cares they invented the language. Reading Maria, you are being blessed by better speech that you ever try to use in daily life, but when her wig comes off, she has to hit the web like we do. Since nothing is printed in Britain anymore, except the books by "she-who-must-not-be-promoted", Maria is building a world-wide following, one reader at a time. She has a lovely advantage over most though. She is promoting some excellent books, and readers are noticing.

Maria admits to being inspired by people - and their lives - from her experiences in her career, sometimes in Family Law. Her heart is in it, and that makes her an astute observer, she catches tiny details, and those appear in the novels and short stories she writes. She's been called on to help people, some in the worst situations of their lives, and Maria has the compassion to remain by their side, perhaps as the only help they can find. She has a wealth of observation to draw from when writing, and she paints characters into her books with very subtle strokes of emotion.

What do I mean by subtle? Read 'Second Chances'. I believe that is a beautiful, loving story. It is filled with terrible pain, and emotional distress, both MC's are lost and brokenhearted. With little more than the barest of tender moments between these two people, I read every page knowing they love one another. You feel love in that book, and Maria did not put that color into her text as she painted the story. She seemed to write something entirely opposite, and yet it is still there to be felt. Subtlety become mastery.

Maria's searched for connections across the vast world-wide seas, from the itty speck of land that once had a famous king...that search somehow connected her to Stacy Juba and Darcia Helle. I haven't the foggiest how it all came about, but they created Bestsellerbound. The process is too tedious to get into, but the results are remarkable. Maria Elena did not just post a few times, then claim jet-lag. She competes with a vengeance for post numbers, and topic starts. We play along, cause she sounds funny.

One person she's latched onto, is Jason McIntyre. Together, they penned a tale - online - about a book reviewer with a sour disposition. Maria began to go all British on that character, causing him to die slightly. (We've not stopped playing with the corpse.) We were shocked, naturally. The sweet, tall, quiet lady with the powdered wig, just tore the guy to shreds. He may be very famous someday, an Internet meme if we can help it; with a Union Jack sticking out from between his eyes.

Maria gets to be famous first, however. Here is a link to my review of  'Second Chances'.

Here is the link - which I am required to state, by British law, is not related to the designer of really snappy women's clothing - link to Maria's own website.

Update:  Maria has been so busy she's only a blur. Shortly after this feature posted, she and Jason released 'Cutting the Fat', the entire tale about the reviled Nestor Maronski. That can be seen in the previous posting. But, Maria Elena has knocked us down tossing out books and short story collections - she's a darling pest and we just can't say no when she asks for a read.

'Fusion' snuck up on me though. I was just distracted by so many other Maria things to read. What I found inside was just wonderful. Stories that are vignettes, and not just tales. Rich with imagination, Maria seems to have just glimpsed something that caught her interest, and these delightfult stories were the result, and they are fully formed. Maria does not write story ideas and call them shorts. They are perfectly formed, and perfectly concluded. Always with an unexpected twist. Maria has a subtle wit, and powerful skills to observe the human condition.

Two other colletions are mentioned further below in this feature.

I have the pleasure of calling 'The Dream' a great book, and as of today it's not actually released. It will appear in all the usual places shortly. In this novel Maria asks what we might do differently if we felt we were about to make a terrible mistake. Her character, Lynne, begins to feel crushing doubts about her upcoming wedding, and she's having some haunting dreams that warn her someone will die if she marries Adam. She cannot rid herself of the fear that causes, and she wonders, seriously, if she should call the whole thing off.

This book doesn't seems subtle, but it is. We are privy to every worry that enters Lynne's thoughts, and she does begin to obsess about those warnings in the dream. Wouldn't we all? Wouldn't we all lose our composure? At the point we become overwhelmed as Lynne has...Maria moves us all into the mysterious posibilities of change. What will happen if Lynne changes her mind?  Watch for this book, and snatch it.

Maria is pounding her shoe on her keyboard, to get into this discussion with objections:

You do realize, I keep my laptop on overnight, so I will have more hours logged into BestsellerBound than you?
Ha, ha! No actually, I don’t spend that much time on BestsellerBound, I can most frequently be found on Twitter and Facebook.  But I do check in on BestsellerBound at least once a day to make sure I keep up with what’s going on.  Of course, I spent much more time on there recently writing the Nestor Maronski story.

Explain to those who don’t know: who is Nestor Maronski, and how did he come to be?
Nestor Maronski (such a great name - wish I’d made it up, but that award goes to Jason McIntyre, my co-writer).  He’s an evil reviewer (Nestor Maronski that is, not my co-writer LOL).  Nestor is a fictional character, an evil book reviewer who hates self-published authors and always writes bad reviews for Indie authors.
He is the main character in BestsellerBound’s online novella, written by me and Jason McIntyre. The idea for the story came up in a discussion about reviews.  Darcia Helle had the original idea that all of us should jointly write an online novel about an evil reviewer who gets murdered.  Jason loved the idea and wrote the first chapter, and the rest is history.

How many behind-the-scenes emails did you and Jason pass?
Hardly any.  I didn’t really know Jason well.  I’d met him on Goodreads or Twitter (can’t remember which) and then invited him to BestsellerBound a few days after I’d met him online.  We’d chatted a bit on the discussion boards, but didn’t really know anything about each other or our writing styles when we started writing the online novel.  After we’d been writing it for about a week, Jason sent me an email to say that he wasn’t sure we could really continue it for much longer, but I think he was trying to get an idea as to how committed I was to it, because I’d just left Nestor hanging from the ceiling in his bedroom at the end of the previous scene, but Jason had gone on to save him and he’d ended up alive and well in hospital.  Jason thought I wanted to end the story by killing Nestor, but I’d been trying to create a murder mystery , so the novel would continue with investigations as to who’d killed Nestor.

(I have to interrupt, to let people know, Maria and Jason killed an ass, not the Christmas donkey.)

When Jason realised that I hadn’t wanted to end the story there, we carried on writing for another week or so, again without exchanging emails.  Finally, it came to the point that the online novel was taking up so much time, and Jason had a lot of commitments at home and work, so he sent me an email suggesting that if I wanted to continue the story on my own, he was happy to let me do that, or we could jointly kill off Nestor in the next couple of chapters.  By that stage I thought of the story as a joint effort and didn’t want to carry it on without Jason’s input, so we wrote the last two chapters.  At that stage we did discuss in an email how it should end.

Jason wrote the penultimate * chapter and sent me an email with his suggestions for an ending, but left it up to me.  I ended up writing the ending using a couple of his ideas to tie up some loose ends, but ultimately I wrote it as I’d been writing the other chapters; without a plan.  It seemed to work because we had some good feedback from the readers and over 1000 hits on the discussion thread for the story.
*penultimate: British word for set-up to the finale.

You called out to the readers, to join in if we felt the urge. We just sat by, amazed at what you two were doing. How does that feel now, being exactly one half of that story?
It’s a great feeling of accomplishment, more than anything else.  If I’m truthful, I was so blown away by Jason’s first chapter I didn’t think I’d be able to continue the story and nearly chickened out.  But then once I started writing it, it was so much fun, I couldn’t wait from day to day to read Jason’s chapter so I could write my own.

You and Jason were quite destructive with Nestor; was that a new twist for you, writing something fairly violent?
Yes, definitely, and to be honest I think I was a bit of a wimp.  Darcia made a comment at the end that she wished Nestor had suffered more, and I think that some readers would have been thinking something similar.  I was even thinking it when I was writing that I should write something more violent, but to be honest I find it hard to write anything too gruesome, it’s definitely not my forte.  I don’t think you’ll find me writing any violent crime fiction any time soon. I was glad that Jason’s penultimate chapter contained so much violence against Maronski, all I had to do was finish him off.

It’s not well known, you were an intern psychologist at the Clerkwood Women’s Correctional Facility in Leicester, for two years. Is that what drove you to complete your solicitor exams and become a barrister?
LOL. How did you find that out?  I thought I’d managed to keep it a secret.  I should have known that when Darcia Helle was released from that facility she’d blab... she always was a bit unstable.

Do you wear the wig?
Yes, I wear it all the time, especially when I’m out shopping.

Can I get one?
Yes, you can even get them on Amazon these days. That’s true, by the way, I’ve just looked it up.

It is certainly true that you circled up all the toddlers in your infants school first year class and read Keats to them, isn’t it.
Of course that’s true, and Shakespeare as well.  (she was one of those students! we call that cheeky.)

I discovered your involvement with a great outreach charity. What would you like to tell me about Shadow Forest Authors?
Shadow Forest Authors (SFA) was created by Christine Jones, a fellow author I met through Goodreads.com.  It's a charitable organisation set up with the aim  of stopping illiteracy worldwide.  Authors from every genre are encouraged to donate just one copy of their print book to one of the beneficiaries listed on the website, which include Book Aid, Education Aid and various prison and school charities which collect donated books.  The idea is that these books will be sent where they are urgently needed.
There is a list of authors on the site who have donated books.  Anyone can support SFA's work by buying one of the listed books and donating it to one of the charities listed.

How did you become involved with them?
I was invited to donate my books by Christine Jones, the founder of SFA. I have donated a copy of 'A Time to Tell' and 'Pieces of a Rainbow'.  Anyone can go onto the website and buy those books, or any of the others listed in order to donate them to a cause.  I would encourage other authors to get in touch with SFA and donate a copy of their books.  The listed beneficiaries are working hard to make sure donated books are given to people who really need them.  Illiteracy is a major issue worldwide, and we as authors are in a prime position to help out.

Do you have trouble driving on the left, or is it really easy? It doesn’t look it.
I’ve often wondered that about driving on the right.
(I've been informed that Maria is famous for getting lost in London.)

David Tennant or Paul McGann?
David Tennant

What exactly is a Toss-Pot?
It means an idiot; it does have a rather ruder meaning, but as this is a family website I won’t tell you.  You’ll have to look it up on Wikipedia. (if this is a family site, I going to have less fun than I expected.)

James, in ‘Second Chances’, is so accurately drawn, I really felt some of his frustration. Was it troublesome; writing a man’s perspective on a life-completely-under-the-bosses-thumb?
I wrote it from the perspective of a female author writing about a man’s perspective on life-completely-under-the-bosses-thumb, so no it was quite easy really. But seriously, I didn’t think too deeply about whether I was getting it right or whether a man would read the book and say ‘this is what a woman would say or do’.  I just wrote it from the perspective of how a woman thinks a man would behave in a given situation, and as you must know by now, women are always right about these things.

Between James and Pamela, you walked a narrow line of objectivity. I know that you have a preference for one opinion over the other. Did you work to keep it hidden? (I won’t ask with whom you sided most often.)
I didn’t see it like that when I was writing.  When I was writing Pamela’s feelings I was seeing this from her viewpoint and so I agreed with her then, and when I was writing James’s feelings I wrote from his point of view and would also agree with that.  I think the essence of this story is that there is really no one to blame when relationships break down, both parties will feel hard done by and both will have valid reasons to hate the other along the way.  It’s how people deal with their emotions and feelings that really matters.

It's only hours before this posts, no time for interaction; let's see if Maria will answer this in the comments.
I honestly feel that Kate played a villain's role in that book. Not to give away plot, but she was hardly helpful. Does it surprise you I would feel that way?
*

Do you keep your work, as a solicitor, out of your books, or does it actually enhance how you write?
I think it enhances my writing to an extent because in my job I meet a lot of people and  hear a lot of stories.  That way I get a lot of inspiration for characters and stories.  And of course, James, the main character in ‘Second Chances’ is a solicitor.

Have you considered writing a courtroom drama?
No.  But it might happen one day.

Have you created a character that you truly disliked? Who was it?
Nestor Maronski

What inspired ‘Coincidences’, your book about a woman’s search for her father?
That’s going back about 13 years, so I can’t be sure what inspired it exactly.  I do remember that the idea to write a novel came after I read Paulo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist’.  It’s such a simple book, but it says so much and is one of my all time favourites.  I think I wanted to write a book with that much power, to change the way people think about things.  I don’t think I’ve succeeded yet, but that’s the fun of writing, we’re always learning, always improving.  Every critical review of a book will give an author the spur they need to challenge themselves to be better.  When I look back at ‘Coincidences’, I know that I have come very far as a writer since I wrote that.  But even though I am afraid to read it because I know I’ll be hypercritical of it, I’m still proud of it as it was the start of something.

Few authors can generate enough energy for a narrative that spans half a lifetime. But you did it with ‘A Time to Tell’. What did you have to do, to keep track of your characters’ stories over such a length of time?
It isn’t easy.  At one stage I had to do a sort of family-tree plan because I was losing track of everyone.  You also have to keep cross checking everything to make sure everything makes sense.  It’s a lot of hard work.  It took me about 7 years to finish, but was well worth the effort.  I am fond of that book.


We had just about got you Brits somewhat straight; what with ‘Are You Being Served?’, ‘Doctor Who’, ‘Mr. Bean’ and such. Then along comes Jo Rowling, and she paints you lot out to be all quirky again. Haven’t you just wanted to cross her chin with a fiver?

‘Cross her chin with a fiver’ isn’t a phrase I have come across before.  What does it mean?
(nicely avoided!)



Quickly, without naming them, think of your favorite three books, written by men. Now, think only of the author’s first names.  Then, write them, first names only, on a sheet of paper. (doesn’t matter, side-by-side, or over one another) Look at the name in the middle. Yes, or no; you would totally date that man if you had the chance?
Yes, totally.

If you were called by an agent: they had seen you all over the web, and quietly read one of your novels. All you had to do, to be published world-wide, was surrender all your self-publishing and drop those ISBN numbers. What would your next thought be?
How much will they pay me?
I love self-publishing and the freedom that goes with it.  It would have to be a very large sum of money to entice me away from it...  And the only reason money would entice me now is because I am out of work and penniless.  If I could earn a decent wage from my self-published books, not even that much, maybe the equivalent of the average wage, I would prefer to be self-published, because when you go with a mainstream publisher you have to give up some of your rights in the books.

The other thing that would attract me to a mainstream publisher would be if they could guarantee that one of my books would be made into a movie.  I love films and have always dreamed of seeing a film made from one of my books.
(she painted that rainbow)






Which of the two has self-publishing been for you: a struggle, or a joy?
Both.  The struggle comes with the editing, which is a never-ending cycle of stress and anguish.  The joy is just about everything else.

You admit to a phase in your youth, when you read horror and thriller stories. Have you thought about writing something spooky?
I have written a couple of spooky short stories, which are featured in my upcoming collection ‘Fusion’.  But I haven’t written horror.  I don’t know if I ever will.  When I was a child my dad used to love horror films and we’d all sit in front of the TV as a family and watch them even though they were really scary.  So if anyone was wondering why I’m so deranged that’s the reason.

I used to be obsessed with ghost stories at one stage.  Me and my sister watched a horror movie about a doll who came alive and killed people, when we were really young, definitely under 10 years old.  This stayed with me for ages.  I remember being scared of one of my sister’s dolls for a long time.  Why am I telling you this?  I have no idea.  I think what I’m trying to say is that I probably would be able to write a decent horror book because of my background, but as yet I haven’t felt the urge. (Nestor agrees)

Back to ‘Second Chances’ (a twisted pun, that.) It stands out from your other works, as a Romance without any romance at all. I admired that, and believe I complimented you for it. How did that amazing bit of control happen?
I am quite a romantic person, but not overtly, so I suppose that it’s part of my character that has come out in the novel, without me even realising it.  I don’t read romance books nowadays, although I read the entire Mills & Boons collection when I was in my teens, so maybe some of my romantic ideals come from that.  These days, I prefer books with a bit more substance, that are not formulaic, so when I’m writing my own books this preference comes out.

Is there one person, who has not written their review, in spite of the pleading you have stooped to doing? May we call them out here, and tell them to get cracking?
Well, okay, I’ll make a public plea to everyone and anyone who has read and enjoyed my books to please go onto Amazon and write a review.  It will only take a couple of minutes and it helps greatly.  I am making that plea on behalf of all self-published authors.  We need your help, as readers, to let the world know about our books.  You don’t have to write a long-winded review, just a couple of lines about why you liked it.  You can be sure that whenever a self-published author gets a good review on Amazon, they are smiling, and it means more to us than you’ll ever know.  End of plea.
Which means her sister is off the hook again.... :)
Thanks, Love!

***

I'm hearing that Maria is a stunning cook, and that an invitation to dine in her home is considered a tremendous honor. I've promised my informant I would not reveal their name, but there is a favorite tale circulating about an incident with pheasant and the wrong wine. She has been pestered by friends who want her to write a cookbook. With her stature, figuratively and literarily, she could be another Julia! Praps I should add that to her name?

She loves me now, BTW.

Here are the links to her song dedications from the teaser page.
Carlos Santana - Maria Maria
Blondie - Maria
Scooter - Maria (I like it loud)
Ricky Martin - Maria
All Time Low - Dear Maria, count me in
Bobby McFerrin - Ave Maria
Café Tacuba - Maria   my fav.
Susan Baca - Maria Lando
Maria! Maria! Maria!
.
.
.