Hand me my sword! A female writer’s thoughts on writing fantasy

Guest post by author M.A. Chiappetta

If you look at the list of fantasy and science fiction authors from the past 50 to 75 years, a majority of those names belong to men. Take, for example, NPR’s list of Top 100 SFF books—85 of those books were written by men. 85 percent!

As you can guess, being a female writer in a world once dominated by men is sometimes a strange place to be. But I wouldn’t change it for anything. I love being a woman who writes fantasy. And that will never change. It doesn’t matter if it’s hard.

You see, the realm of speculative fiction—science fiction, fantasy, horror, magical realism—is filled with possibilities. It’s a place where magic is real…where you can fly to the moon or Mars. Real-life boundaries like the law of gravity can be bent, changed, or defied. Anything is possible.

I love that!

As a child, I fell in love with fantasy (and to a lesser degree, science fiction)—not only because it introduced me to a view of the world as more wondrous than everyday reality, but also because it reminded me that despite appearances, anyone could end up a hero. You could start out as a poor assistant pig-keeper, yet you could grow up to be High King of Prydain. You could begin as an orphaned girl struggling just to stay alive and end up a dragonrider and Weyrwoman.

Who wouldn’t want that?

And so, I write fantasy now because I remember the enchantment of believing that I could not only achieve great things, but that I could be heroic doing it. I could do something good in a world that is often filled with bad things. That’s a message I believe in sharing.

I do this knowing that there are a lot of people in the world who have problems with women. There is still a significant portion of the reading audience that says: “A woman wrote that? Well, I won’t buy it then. I won’t like it.” It’s a prejudice that doesn’t make a lot of sense. But it exists.

What, some women disagree with the
functionality of a chainmail bikini?

On top of that, there are some ugly stereotypes in the fantasy genre. There’s the “helpless pretty face”—the woman who can’t rescue herself because rescuing is a man’s work. There’s the Disney princess—whose life doesn’t have meaning unless there’s a Prince Charming (a man) around. There’s the chick in chainmail—the woman who wields a sword but does so in a metal bikini because she’s nothing more than eye candy. And there’s the “Strong Female Protagonist”—the girl who is so strong that she never needs anyone’s help.

The truth is that people­ are much more complicated than any of those stereotypes.

One of my goals as a writer is to make sure that all the characters in my stories—male, female, alien, dragon, other—all reflect the complicated traits that make people both maddening and lovable. It’s not easy to create characters who defy stereotypes. But I’m committed to making my character complex, because I think my readers deserve it. And frankly, so do my characters!

So, every day, I approach my writing boldly. I wield my pen as if it were a sword, determined to cut through the stereotypes and prejudices…as well as the self-doubts that plague all artists…and I go forth to write.

It’s a hero’s job, in its own way. And I’m glad to do it.

M.A. Chiappetta is a fantasy writer, copywriter, educator, and blogger with past publications in Blue Shift, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Chat, and Mensa Bulletin. Her most recent short stories are found in the anthology, Dark and Dangerous Things II, available on Amazon. She shares thoughts on writing at Purple Ink Writers and muses on creativity, SFF, laughter, God, and geekdom at The Chipper Muse. You can also find her on Twitter as @chippermuse.

Literary genre: haven or prison?

Creative Commons licence.
http://moon.com/2014/03/hiking-and-recreation-in-parque-nacional-torres-del-paine/

A little over a year ago, I wrote a post for the Guild of Dreams blog where I wondered about how important it is for a writer to remain within a genre. Now that I have just sent my third manuscript to an editor, I find myself wondering about that again. Without asking anyone’s permission, I am re-examine that issue.

When you start out writing fantasy — or romance, or science fiction, or mystery, or any other category — do you have to stay within it? Is writing something in another genre akin to crossing a border into a foreign territory?

For a novelist, is the genre a prison or a haven?

It looks like my career as a novelist is turning into an experiment to measure that.

My experience in the fantasy genre

My first published full-length novel qualifies as epic fantasy. I prefer the term “historical magic realism,” because  The Bones of the Earth has realistic, fictional characters alongside real, historical characters. It’s set in a real time and place, and then adds fantastic or magical elements. But for most people, “fantasy” is the shorthand term.

My next novel, One Shade of Red, stepped way out of epic fantasy and history. It’s a comic, erotic parody of Fifty Shades of Gray, and qualifies as romantic erotica. Or erotic romance. NOT porn.

My third novel (to be published) is one I started over 10 years ago, a memoir of my father-in-law’s experience as a draftee into the Soviet Red Army during World War II. So far, I’m calling it Between the Vise Jaws. But that may change.

Return to fantasy

With that done, I am now turning to a contemporary urban paranormal type fantasy, Dark Clouds. I posted the first chapter on this blog a couple of years ago.

Dark Clouds grew out of a pre-Hallowe’en writing challenge, the source of which I cannot remember. But the challenge was to write the scariest opening line I could, and in a humourous mood, I thought of “Matt always knew when his mother was coming over.”

Photo by Garry Knight via Flickr Creative Commons

And I took it from there, making Matt’s mother a witch, then the Queen of all witches. Then I thought “what if Matt, the Witch Queen’s son, was immune to all her spells?”

Once I finished writing the story, I thought it could be the beginning of a novel, or at least a series of stories. So I thought I would call the novel The Mandrake Ruse, in the style of 60s-era spy stories like Man from U.N.C.L.E. And I could write a bunch of novels about The Witch’s Son.

Now that I’ve been toying with the idea for a couple of years, I realize that I have those titles mixed up, so when I do publish the book, it will be called Dark Clouds, and the first chapter will be “The Mandrake Ruse.” It just makes so much more sense.

Does genre-hopping hurt my credibility as an author?

A number of readers, and my family, too, have asked for a sequel to The Bones of the Earth. And as you can see from the cover, it’s “Book One of the Dark Age Trilogy.” I do have rough plot outlines for two more books about Javor and his adventures in the seventh century, but I also have this burning desire to write some other stories, first.

Had I a contract with a publishing company, my publisher, editor and/or agent would gripe about this. “Readers who liked your first book want more of the same!” I can hear one of them saying. “You’ve proven there’s an audience for that story, and they’ll be disappointed if your next book is totally different.”

I think every artist or creative person faces that dilemma: those who liked your first work will come back expecting more in the same vein. Delighting them with something new and completely different is a steeper hill to climb — you’re working against the very expectations that you created.

On the other hand, I am a writer because there are stories that I want to write, and my imagination doesn’t necessarily fit into categories defined by someone else.

I don’t read in just one genre — why should write in just one genre?

The most commercially successful authors stay within the categories they’re known for: John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, Tom Clancy, Dan Brown, Stephenie Meyer … it’s a long, depressing list.

On the other hand, some of the best writers have written in more than one genre, or have succeeded both artistically and commercially when they’ve gone beyond the slot assigned to them at some point in their careers:

Ray Bradbury — known for science fiction, especially Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury’s also celebrated for Dandelion Wine, the story of a young boy’s “magical summer.”

Stephen King started with horror and is still best known for It, The Shining and Carrie, but he has successfully transitioned into science fiction, non-fiction and, it could be argued, literary fiction.

Guy Gavriel Kay began writing fantasy fiction with The Fionavar Tapestry series, continued with his almost-historical magic realism, and moved to historical fiction with Ysabel in 2007.

Margaret Atwood went the other way. Established since the 60s as a main force in current literature, she surprised the book world with the dystopian science-fiction The Handmaid’s Tale, more recently Oryx and Crake — although she denies they’re science fiction.

The big question

What will this do to future sales prospects? Will readers of The Bones of the Earth who check my new publication be disappointed or delighted by Between the Vise Jaws?

Will fans of One Shade of Red be totally turned off by a war memoir?

Or will my hopes be realized: that writing in different genres will spread my appeal to new audiences?

What do you think? Leave a comment!

What do best-selling authors like to read? Two different views

This week, Written Words once again pairs two very different authors to discuss what they think makes a good book.

Raine Thomas is the bestselling author of an award-winning series of YA fantasy/romance novels about the Estilorian plane, including her latest, Return of the Ascendant.

Doug Dorow is best known for his innovative thriller The Ninth District.

Name three characteristics of books that you like. 

Raine Thomas: Strong characters, witty dialogue and compelling story lines.

Doug Dorow: I've found I prefer to read third person versus first person, though I'll read both. Character and action keep me engaged along with a unique setting. 

What makes you keep reading a book? 

Doug Dorow: Cliff hangers make me turn the page. I keep reading because I care about what is going to happen next to the main character. 

Raine Thomas: The desire to find out what happens to the characters. If I connect with the main characters, I want to know what happens to them. That’s the sign of a great book.

What are some books that you weren't able to put down until you finished them?

Raine Thomas: My favourite genre is romance, so just about anything by Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb and similar authors will keep me up reading past my bedtime. I’m also fond of stories driven by mystery and intrigue, like those by Kathy Reichs and Tess Gerritsen.

Doug Dorow: I got totally engaged in Stephen King's Dark Tower series back when it first came out. Today, I'm a big fan of Lee Child's and Michael Connelley's books. One that met my 3 characteristics above (character, action, unique setting) was Trevanian's Shibumi. One of the few books I've read twice. 

Do you consciously try to emulate these books? If so, what form does that take: plot, structure, characters, settings, author's voice and word choice?

Doug Dorow: I don't think I consciously try to emulate a book, but by reading so many of them, I believe that their pace, structure and beats become internalized. If something really jumps out at me after I've read a section I will stop and think about what it was that captured my attention and keep it in mind for my future writing. 

In my thriller, The Ninth District, I did try to create a character that the reader would care about and put him in a unique setting and location (underground in the tunnels and sewers that run under Minneapolis) where the setting almost became a character itself. 

Raine Thomas: I don’t consciously try and emulate another author’s style; rather, I write stories that I want to read. That said, I’ve found that my dialogue sometimes mimics the style of Ms. Roberts’, as does my depiction of male characters. I suppose it follows that my writing would incorporate elements that I most like to read in other books.

Do you try to avoid any of the techniques or conventions followed by your favourite writers? 

Raine Thomas: I’ve never consciously avoided any writing techniques by other authors. It’s important to me that I maintain my own voice, so the styles of other authors don’t enter my mind when I’m writing. 

Doug Dorow: I don't think I consciously try to avoid any techniques or conventions, but I do tend to write in third person, though I've dabbled some in first person. 

What rules of writing do you intentionally break?

Doug Dorow: I'm kind of a rule follower. I look at them more as conventions and norms and try to give the reader what he or she will expect in the thriller genre, but in a new story with new characters. 

I am attempting some novella writing, trying to provide a thrill in shorter snippets that may not allow the same in depth character insight a reader will get with a regular novel. 

Raine Thomas: One rule I break relates to paragraph length. If I want to emphasize a single word or sentence, I’ll make it stand alone as its own paragraph. I’m also not afraid to switch points of view within a story (though I’m careful to keep to one POV per scene). I prefer to write in the third person and allow the reader to experience the story from several different perspectives. But, hey…aren’t they more guidelines than rules, anyway? ;)

Thank you very much for the different perspectives, Raine and Doug!

Minnesota thriller author Douglas Dorow’s FBI thriller, The Ninth District is available in ebook, paper and audio formats through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Visit his website and blog, and Amazon Author page. Follow him on Twitter @DougDorow.

Raine Thomas is the award-winning author of bestselling young adult and new adult romantic fiction. Known for character-driven stories that inspire the imagination, Raine recently signed with multiple award-winning producer Chase Chenowith of Back Fence Productions to bring her popular Daughters of Saraqael trilogy to the big screen. A member of Best-Selling Reads, Raine is a proud indie author who is living the dream. When she isn't writing or glued to e-mail or social networking sites, Raine can usually be found vacationing with her husband and daughter on one of Florida's beautiful beaches or crossing the border to visit with her Canadian friends and relatives.

Visit her webite, blog, and Amazon Author page, and follow her on Twitter @Raine_Thomas.

Book launch: The Darkness Comes by Bruce Blake

Am I ready to kill?

A cloud of swirling mist sighed out between Kuneprius’ lips, rising into the night to smear the glow of the winter moon. He watched it dissipate, then exhaled another long plume, blowing it out the way he’d seen the Brothers do when they smoked their pipes filled with sweetweed. Instead of swirling the wreaths he’d watched them create, his breath came out a ragged column. 

“Shh.” 

Kuneprius cocked his head toward the urgent sound, an apology teetering on the tip of his tongue. At the last instant, he remembered himself and said nothing, pressing himself flatter against the side of the hill. Fildrian lay less than ten man-lengths away, but the Brother’s black hood and robe hid him in the darkness; despite his proximity, empty loneliness ached in Kuneprius’ chest. 

The lad grasped the short sword’s hilt tighter, testing its uncomfortable weight. Though he’d seen the seasons turn but twelve times, he’d trained with this very sword for six of them. The temple blacksmith formed it with him in mind, the grip molded to the shape of his fingers. Its length and weight had proved too much for him when he first held it, but he’d grown into it, its size ideal for a boy of his age. He shifted minutely, searching for comfort and understanding that the prospect of swinging the weapon to wound rather than in practice caused his unease, not the sword itself. 

Will I be able to wield it when the time comes? Can I kill if I need to? 

He’d never been sent on a hunt, so the sword’s edge hadn’t tasted blood other than his own when he got clumsy or distracted while sharpening the blade. He shifted his grip on the leather-wrapped hilt, hand slipping with the slickness of the sweat on his palm. For so many seasons, he’d trained for this moment; he knew he’d kill if the need arose. 

I hope it doesn’t. 

The rattle-clunk of wooden wheels on dirt track rolled along the shallow valley and up the hill to Kuneprius’ ears. Soon, he’d need wonder no more. 

The apprentice angled his head to peer down the weed-clogged road, squinting as he attempted to pick out the wagons in the darkness. The lanterns hanging at the front of each, bobbing and swinging with the horses’ gaits, made it easy. He counted them silently. 

One, two, three…four? 

His heart lurched. Brother Fildrian had said to expect three—two carts and a covered wagon. Kuneprius’ gaze flickered to the spot where he expected to find the expedition leader’s dark shape, but he saw nothing. He glanced back to the track, the horse-drawn vehicles drawing closer and, in the glow of their lanterns, he counted two covered wagons. 

Which one?

The second volume in Bruce Blake's Small Gods series is now out. The Darkness Comes picks up where When Shadows Fall leaves off. 

What's it about?

When shadows fall, the darkness comes...

 A disgraced Goddess Mother wanders blind and alone, praying for her agony to end. When a helpful apostle finds her, could it truly by salvation, or does worse torment lie ahead? A sister struggles to understand a prophecy that may not be meant for her while her brother fights for his life. If the firstborn child of the rightful king dies, will it spell the end for everyone? Darkness and shadow creep across the land in the form of a fierce clay golem animated by its sculptor's blood. It seeks a mythical creature who's sacrifice portends the return of ancient evil banished from the world long ago. With its return will come the fall of man. As the game unfolds, the Small Gods watch from the sky, waiting for their time to come and their chance to rise again. They wait for the fall of shadows, the coming of the darkness. They wait for night to descend.

Bruce Blake continues his incredible productivity, releasing the second volume in this brilliantly executed only a couple of months after the first volume, and he promises the third book soon. I don't doubt it for a second.

Now that you've read the sample, get the book from your choice of vendors.

The Darkness Comes: 

Kindle: http://viewBook.at/darknesscomes 

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/391730

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-darkness-comes-bruce-blake/1117886146

But before you read the second book in the Small Gods series, you have to read the first. When Shadows Fall is on sale for 99 cents for the rest of the week. 

Kindle: http://viewBook.at/shadows 

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/362347

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-shadows-fall-bruce-blake/1117001229

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/when-shadows-fall-2

Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/story/8483067-when-shadows-fall-the-first-book-of-the-small-gods

"... this is some great storytelling. .. It’s positively addicting!" — Ms. Nose in a Book, reviewer

The amazing Bruce Blake does it again: a new independent book launches!

Bruce Blake continues to amaze me with his productivity. He's launching a whole new epic fantasy series, the Small Gods.

On October 1, the author of the Khirro's Journey trilogy launches the first book in the series, When Shadows Fall.

What's it about?

A hundred hundred seasons have turned since the Goddess banished the Small Gods to the sky, leaving the land to mankind alone. 

For Prince Teryk, life behind the castle walls is boring and uneventful until he stumbles upon an arcane scroll in a long-forgotten chamber. 

The parchment speaks of Small Gods, the fall of man, and the kingdom's savior—the firstborn child of the rightful king. It's his opportunity to prove himself to his father, the king, and assure his place in history. All he needs to do is find the man from across the sea—a man who can't possibly exist—and save mankind. 

But ancient magic has been put in motion by a mysterious cult determined to see the Small Gods reborn. Powerful forces clash, uncaring for the lives of mortals in their struggle to prevent the return of the banished ones, or aid in their rebirth. 

Named in a prophecy or not, what chance does a cocky prince who barely understands the task laid before him stand in a battle with the gods?

When Shadows Fall is the newest Independent Authors Association title. iAi is an authors cooperative where members, all professional authors not associated with a commercial publishing company, provide all the functions of a publishing company, leaving control of the work in the hands of the author.

Bruce Blake is holding a Goodreads Book Giveaway contest, too. If you'd like a chance at one of five paperback copies of When Shadows Fall, just follow the instructions:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

When Shadows Fall

by Bruce Blake

Giveaway ends October 04, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Bruce Blake is founder of the Guild of Dreams fantasy writers group, and author of

• On Unfaithful Wings
• All Who Wander Are Lost
• Blood of the King (Khirro's Journey Book 1)
• Spirit of the King (Khirro's Journey Book 2)
• Heart of the King (Khirro's Journey Book 3)

As Mr. Bitts, he is co-author of:

• The Invitation (The Lady Corsairs Part 1) (erotica)
• The Handmaid (The Lady Corsairs Part 2)

Find out more about Bruce at his website.

Subscribe to his newsletter, Bruce Blake Writes!

Khirro’s journey: An outstanding novel by a novelist with chops

An independent novel review

Bruce A. Blake is a professional fantasy writer after my own heart. I have already reviewed his first novel, On Unfaithful Wings, giving it a full five stars.

Khirro’s Journey, Book One: Blood of the King is the first book in the traditional fantasy trilogy, and this one is not only an outstanding novel in its own right, it does a great job of creating an audience for the following books.

By doing things right , Blake proves he’s earned his chops as a writer.

First, there’s the hero, Khirro. He’s not a prince, not a warrior, has no magical powers or special training, other than in agriculture. A lifelong, hands-on training program in agriculture. He’s a farmer, and at the book’s action-packed opening, he’s far worse than uncomfortable in armour and a sword is heavy and useless in his hands.

That’s one point for Blake: the flawed, weak and identifiable hero.

Next, he wastes no time in back-story or world-building. He gets right into the action — following Elmore Leonard’s rule, presumably, about “leaving out the parts readers tend to skip.” The book opens with Khirro, in uncomfortable armour, being knocked from a castle wall by undead warriors. Another body crashes onto a stone stairway landing on top of him. It turns out to be King Braymon. In his dying breaths, he begs Khirro to take him to the Shaman. To do this, Khirro has to carry the mortally wounded king on his back and run from a zombie warrior.

A skilled writer, Blake exposes the characters gradually, through their actions. He keeps the pace moving quickly forward, compelling the reader to keep turning pages (or swiping the e-reader screen, more likely).  

Blake does not glamourize the medieval fantasy world, either. It’s hard, it’s awful. Kings are cruel, lives are short and brutal.

And everything is believable, even the magic spells, the zombie warriors and the monsters.

Characters

Khirro is a true everyman, and someone we can all relate to. He is the most common kind of man in medieval times (while the setting is an imaginary world where magic works and the undead walk and fight, like most epic fantasy, it’s parallel to our own world’s European middle ages in economics and technology): a farmer. Blake gradually exposes details about Khirro’s back-story only as the plot demands it. While at the outset, it’s clear that Khirro is an unwilling soldier and would much prefer being a farmer than a soldier, as the story progresses we learn that Khirro’s life on the farm was not idyllic, either. Khirro remains fully believable through all his back-story and his own redefinition as he is forced to face challenge after challenge.

Other characters are well-drawn, if a little stock: the royal guard, the terrifying, unstoppable one-eyed assassin, the Shaman. But others really leap off the page as three-dimensional: Maes and Athryn, the magician brothers; and Elyea, the harlot, especially. (How Blake is able to create such believable, sympathetic whores is something his wife may wonder about.)

Even the dead king gets a thorough character development, and turns out to be a mostly likable, if flawed man. There are very good reasons he should be restored to the throne.

Plot

The story is a good, old-fashioned quest. One of the oldest stories, yes, but it has lasted for good reason. Khirro is the only man left with the knowledge of the way to the Necromancer, a fearsome wizard who lives in a haunted land, so he can bring a vial of the dead king’s blood in order to resurrect the monarch. Again, Blake brings out the importance of this gradually, as the story demands the details. Along the way, the good guys face greater and greater challenges, and the bad guys show their resourcefulness and intelligence, too.

Blake doesn’t shy away from the queasy plot point on the morality and sheer advisability of restoring a dead man to life. What would it mean for everyone if the king were brought back from the dead? And what would the king and the kingdom owe the Necromancer for doing that?

But it’s not all dark. Humour is an important part of Blake’s writing, and there are passages that made me smile in this book.

Overall, Blake delivers a polished novel here. It stands on its own and tells a great adventure story filled with horror, suspense, mystery, romance and humour. It also leads well into the second and third books of the series. You’ll be hard put not to buy them as soon as you finish Blood of the King.

5 *****

Cover reveal: Rule of Fire by Autumn Birt

Rule of Fire launches on the solstice: June 21, and you can see the fantastic cover here, right now!

 Six friends stand alone against the combined Orders of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth, protecting a girl whose forbidden abilities have condemn her to death. Now they are joined by a man who was once the Curse, the Church's most powerful weapon and Ria's greatest threat. Left with no name and no memory, the decision to aid this stranger will cost friendships and more as the group of friends journey north to seek a tribe of people lost to time amid an ancient war. The path home is riddled with dangers as the Church of Four Orders still seeks Ria and the former Water Priestess Nirine. For one High Priest, the desire for vengeance is personal.

Ria must unravel the mysteries of her power to find acceptance in a world where her abilities are considered a taint. Is the strange gift of magic an aberration that should be destroyed or something far more, related to the skills held by the Elementals who rule Myrrah?

The sequel to Born of Water, Rule of Fire is book 2 in the epic fantasy trilogy, the Rise of the Fifth Order. Return to the world of Myrrah ruled by the Church of Four Orders. Release is scheduled for June 21st!

Learn more about the world of Myrrah and book 1, Born of Water, on Autumn’s blog, Weifarer’s Wandering. 

About the author

Autumn Birt is an indie author with two other books currently available: the adventure fantasy novel Born of Water and Born of Water’s Novel Companion. The sequel is scheduled for release in June of 2013. She has plans for many more novels. Check out Weifarer’s Wandering and her Facebook page for updates.

She is also a travel and fiction writer currently based in Maine, where she lives in a yurt with her husband and lovable Cairn Terriers. Her work is featured on the adventure travel website, No Map Nomads, where she is the co-editor and writer (and also known as Weifarer). On her writing blog,  Weifarer’s Wandering, she opines about the fun and trials of being a writer as well as upcoming releases.

Autumn is also a member of Guild of Dreams, which features her blog posts as well as those of eleven other fantasy writers.

With a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bucknell University in Studio Arts and English, Autumn once considered a career in illustration. After a few years of selling paintings while working as the manager of a gallery and custom framing store, a party and fine gifts store in Virginia, working retail at a gourmet kitchen store, being the head embroiderer at a college clothing store, and finally waitressing for a year, she decided to head back to University. After two years of intense science courses, this career path change led to a Master of Science degree in Ecology and Environmental Sciences from the University of Maine in Orono. Since graduating with her M.S., Autumn has worked for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

A wanderer at heart, Autumn’s desire to travel has led her to France while still in high school, a year abroad in Manchester, UK which led to excursions in Wales, Scotland, Ireland and around many parts of England, and more recent trips with family to Mexico (both the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico sides), US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Costa Rica, Saba, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, and four Canadian provinces. She has plans for many further adventures both real and fictional.

Connect with Autumn online:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/weifarer
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Autumn-M-Birt/
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/weifarer
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6426917.Autumn_M_Birt
Blogs: http://nomapnomad.com/ww
http://NoMapNomads.com
http://fantasycollective.wordpress.com

LIFT OFF! One Shade of Red available TODAY

It's out! My second novel, One Shade of Red, is now available on Amazon and Smashwords!

And to celebrate, I've put it on sale: just 99 cents TODAY ONLY!

One Shade of Red is my parody of the biggest bestseller ever, Fifty Shades of Grey. Whether you liked or hated that book, you'll get a kick out of my spoof. And if you get it today, it'll only cost you a buck!

Need more info to make up your mind? This is what it's about:

Women want the perfect man, so they can change him. But when university student Damian Serr discovers a rich, beautiful woman who’s voracious about sex, he doesn’t try to improve on perfection. It’s all that he can do to hold on for the ride.


Damian has always followed the rules, always tried to please others. At 20, he still dates the girl next door because his parents like her parents. When Nick, his university roommate, asks Damian to take over his pool-cleaning business so he can take an internship in London, Damian can’t say no — especially to Nick’s first and only client, a rich widow.

But widow Alexis Rosse is far from helpless or lonely. This beautiful financial genius is busy turning the markets upside-down, and she revels in sex wherever, whenever and with whomever she wants.

Over the summer, Alexis gives Damian an intense education. Day after day, she pushes him to his sexual limits. The only question he has is: will she break them?

“So well-written that it flows easily, hooking the reader right from the beginning. I had real problems to stop reading it.” — Cinta Garcia de la Rosa, author of A Foreigner in London and reviewer of Indie Authors You Want to Read.

“How nice it is to see a dude lit-style book! And well-written at that!” Lisa Jey Davis, “Ms. Cheevious”

“So hot, you’ll want your own pool boy.” — Charity Parkerson, author of The Society of Sinners
 

What's more, I've also set my first novel, The Bones of the Earth, on sale for just 99 cents today on Amazon and Smashwords.

Get One Shade of Red for just 99 cents NOW on Amazon or Smashwords.

Fantasy preview: Charity Parkerson's Sinners of Water & Fire

If there ever was a writer who knew how to cross genres, it has to be Charity Parkerson.

She has won awards for her paranormal fantasy Sinners series, especially The Danger with Sinners and hit the Amazon bestseller list with her military romances, sports romances and erotic stories.

Her latest book, Sinners of Water & Fire, launches May 2, and I'm happy to post an excerpt on Written Words.

What's it about?

Their love was legendary, cursed, and forbidden. 
The fates conspired to keep them apart, but destiny will bring them together again…
When one of their own becomes the target of a demon bent on revenge, the Society will do anything to keep her safe, including stealing a God from the Heavens.
Heru, son of Geb, once sold his soul to forget her, and now he’ll give anything to keep her safe. 
Gods and Demons collide in the final installment of Charity Parkerson’s award-winning “Sinners” series.

Excerpt:

“I dreamed about you last night.” Heat flooded her face at the confession. She knew it must be the shade of a strawberry, but she lifted her eyes to his, holding his stare steadily, as if daring him to mock her words. For a moment, she could have sworn a look of triumph passed over his face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

“What was the dream about?”

Marissa had thought that it was impossible to be any more embarrassed than she already was, but at his question, she discovered a whole new level of humiliation.

“Um,” she stuttered before admitting, “I don’t want to tell you.”

“Oh,” he crowed. “It was that kind of dream, was it?” While his eyes were shining with mirth, her face was on fire, and she really wanted kick him.

“Shut up,” she hissed.

“Ever as you command,” he said, but she could still hear the laughter in his voice.

Fanning her face, Marissa practically danced in place in her discomfort.
“Are you having some sort of fit?” Adriana, Marissa’s mom, asked, slicing through her mortification.

Marissa had not heard her approach and she shot a nervous glimpse at the tree line to find Harold gone.

“I was attempting a spell.” Marissa answered Adriana’s question absently while searching for any sign that Harold was still hanging around. When her mom remained silent, Marissa glanced over to find her watching her closely, and she pasted a fake smile on her face in order to ease her mother’s obvious concern.

“Okay,” Adriana said, drawing out the word and sounding as if she didn’t believe her, which was a spot-on observation, since Marissa was lying.

Starting May 2, you can buy Sinners of Water & Fire on:

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Smashwords
All Romance Ebooks

About the Author:

Charity Parkerson was born in Tennessee, where she still lives with her husband and two sons.  She is the author of several books including thirteen Amazon bestsellers. 

You can like her at http://www.facebook.com/authorCharityParkerson. 

Be sure to visit her website and her blog.

Her “Sinners series” was voted one of the top ten best books by an Indie author in 2011 in Paranormal Romance Reads.

The Danger with Sinners was named “Best Book of 2012” by Paranormal Reads Reviews and is a finalist for Favorite Paranormal Romance in the 2012 Australian Romance Readers Association Awards.

She was named as one of the top three Indie authors of 2012 by EbookBuilders.
She is a member of The Paranormal Romance Guild, is a Goodreads moderator, a member of Coffee Time Romance, and co-host of The Melissa Craig and Charity Parkerson show.

She won author of the week in August of 2011, and is a four-time winner of The Mistress of the Darkpath.

You can follow her on Twitter @http://twitter.com/CharityParkerso

Additional links:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
Punk & Sissy Publications

Finding her unique voice: Best-selling Martha Bourke on the writer's style

What is writing style? How important is it to the reader, to the writer and to the writer’s success in reaching an audience?


This week, I asked Martha Bourke, author of the Jaguar Sun series of “young adult” novels and fellow member of BestSelling Reads about the importance and impact of her writing style.

How would you describe your own writing style?

A lot of my work is centered on dialogue, so the narrative really moves along. A lot of readers have described my writing as having a kind of breathless feel. It’s not done on purpose, but that description makes a lot of sense. Along with that, I add in quite a few cliffhangers throughout.

Are there any authors whose style you admire? Do you try to emulate them?

I’m obsessed with books, both Indie and traditional, so there are scads of authors I admire. I don’t try to emulate anyone. For one thing, their styles are very different from my own. Also, every writer brings something very special and unique to a story. Writing, like any other art form, is a kind of self-expression. I think that would be lost if everyone tried to write like everyone else. Having said that, most writers I know are avid readers, and I’m sure we’re being influenced along the way somewhere.

Are there authors whose writing style you dislike?

You know, Scott, sometimes it’s just a case of an author and me not hitting it off. But there are certain cases I can predict. For example, I love the story of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien is fabulous, don’t get me wrong. And like me, he was a linguist. But those books are just so incredibly dense. I read them all as a kid, but I know for sure if I tried to get threw them now, I’d have a major case of pick it up, put it down syndrome.

How important is your writing style to you? Are you happy with your style, or are there aspects of it you try to change during rewriting or editing?

My writing style very closely matches the way I think when I’m writing and the way I see different parts of the plot in my head. So I feel comfortable with it. Being naturally dialogue-oriented means that as I do my rewrites, I am bound to find areas that lack enough description. There’s always a fine balance between giving the reader just enough and being unclear. I’m also always trying to tighten up my writing, making sure to show and not tell.

How can readers identify your writing style? Are there particular words or kinds of words that you tend to favour? Sentence structures? Or is it more in the story, the pacing or the characters?

I think that in my Young Adult series, the kinds of words or expressions I use lend a kind of credibility to the age group I’m writing. Voice is so important in YA (young adult). Trying to keep it sounding authentic is a challenge, and word choice and sentence structure are key. Right now I’m writing an adult spin-off series from my YA books. I definitely found that my structure changed. It’s still dialogue-based and fast-paced, but it’s written in shorter sentences that often are just one lines. I use conjunctions to add punch, which I suppose I could have done in my YA series, but just never did. So some of the hallmarks of my writing are the same for the two series and some are different.

Do you think writing with a female protagonist and POV, as opposed to a male POV, changes the style, in terms of word choice, sentence structure or other language elements?

I tend to think of my characters as individuals. They all have their own culture, background, race, gender, sexual orientation, and place within in the story. I think all of these things influence the way a writer creates a protagonist, as well as any other character. Gender is a part of the mix, but without the other pieces of the puzzle, the character is very one-dimensional. Having said that, the concerns of a male or female protagonist could be different based on gender. Men and women can think very differently within those other confines, so it depends a lot on the story I’m telling.

How important do you think writing style is to an author's commercial success?

I think it can be a very important part of the package. I say package because it seems to me that some readers are most drawn to a compelling story, while others find the manner in which that story is told to be key.
Cover art that represents the story well is definitely also on the list.
I don’t think that a great writing style guarantees a book will be successful, though. There are lots of books out there from some fabulous authors that just won’t sell. I do believe that while writing style doesn’t guarantee a reader will pick up a book, it’s probably a big factor as to whether or not the book gets put down finished or unfinished.

Thanks so much for having me, Scott!

Thank you, Martha!

Martha Bourke grew up in Burlington, Vermont, often considered a hub of “free thinking.” She was encouraged to write and be creative at a very young age. She spent fifteen years creating and teaching in foreign language programs for young children. She continued to write on the side, trying out a variety of fiction genres. Then she discovered the Young Adult genres — specifically, paranormal romance. She was hooked!

Martha and her husband of thirteen years have carved out their own little piece of Vermont in the Massachusetts countryside. When not writing, she loves spending time with her animals, listening to good music, and reading.
You can find her books, Jaguar Sun and Jaguar Moon, and her novella, Revelations (part of the Jaguar Sun series) on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, the Kobo e-bookstore and the iBookstore. You can find all her writing on her blog and website, www.marthabourke.com.

Book 3 of the series, Jaguar Hunter, and the spin-off New Breed novels, are coming this year!