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A to Z Challenge – F is for Favorite!

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Today was a little tougher to decide because, you see, there are all these fabulous words. I decided on “favorite” so I can share some of my own personal faves.

Favorite colors – Shades of purples and blue. Especially when the two are together. But you probably guessed that form my website, right?

Favorite music – Soundtracks, but I like almost every type. Of course, there are songs within those kinds that I can live without.

Favorite flowers – Gardenias and honeysuckle.

Favorite food – Ice cream, particularly chocolate, caramel and coffee. I also just love food in general, but I’ve been on an evil diet for a long time and most of my faves got cut. Oh, how I miss potatoes! I get a low carb ice cream, though so I still have that.

Favorite movies – Fantasy, sci fi, action, adventure…okay, so I really like a lot of different ones. What can I say? My tastes are very eclectic.

Favorite books – Way, way, too many on my list, but some of my top pics are A Song of Ice and Fire and the Harry Potter series.

Favorite authors – George R.R. Martin, JK Rowling and a zillion others.

Favorite animal – Dogs! Hey I don’t want to get bit, and I’m not entirely sure Chloe doesn’t get on the computer at night while I’m asleep. And who knows what she’d post.

 

What will tomorrow’s word be? Come back for the letter “G” in the challenge.

Be sure to check out the rest of the cool blogs in the challenge!  A to Z Challenge.

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A to Z Challenge – E is for Ellysian Press

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Welcome back to Day 5 of the A to Z Blog Challenge. So far, I’m having a blast doing this challenge because the letters have been super easy.

Ellysian Press is a new venture that my editor, Jen Ryan, and I have undertaken. Taking our inspiration form the ancient Greek Elysian Fields, we wanted to create a small publishing house to nurture talented authors. We’ve learned so much about what to do, and more importantly what NOT to do, in publishing as a small press over the last few years. Now we’re ready to share that knowledge with others and help them realize their dreams.

We’re accepting submissions for the following genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance and Horror. You can find out more about Ellysian Press here.

 

What will tomorrow’s word be? Come back for the letter “F” in the challenge.

Be sure to check out the rest of the cool blogs in the challenge!  A to Z Challenge.

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A to Z Challenge – D is for Dead

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This was another easy (and obvious) choice for me. Each of the novels and stories in my series The Thulukan Chronicles contains the word “dead” in the first sentence. In Relics, it was as simple as wanting that first sentence to be intriguing. I like juxtaposition and thought the idea of a frightened dead person was interesting. After all, what would the dead fear?

When I started writing Portals I continued the trend. By the time I wrote the rest of the series, it was something of a signature for me to use the word “dead” in that first sentence. So, here are all the first sentences from the series…including the one from my newest novel Magics, which will be released this summer. I hope you enjoy them.

Relics, Book 1 of The Thulukan Chronicles: When the dead are afraid, you know there’s a big problem.

Portals, Book 2 of The Thulukan Chronicles: Being dead has its disadvantages.

“Ghost Memory,” A Thulukan Chronicles Story, #1:  My misery wasn’t in the mood for company, especially the company of some old, dead guy.

“Unwanted Ghost,” A Thulukan Chronicles Story, #2:  The dead woman bounced off the walls like a demented dervish, shrieking and moaning.

“Ghost Dancer,” A Thulukan Chronicles Story, #3:  “I need you to save my dog,” said the young dead girl who had materialized in front of our desks.

And from the not yet released Magics, Book 3 of The Thulukan Chronicles:  The dead girl jumped as the series of explosions rocked our office.

 

What will tomorrow’s word be? Come back tomorrow for the letter “E” in the challenge.

Be sure to check out the rest of the cool blogs in the challenge!  A to Z Challenge.

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A to Z Challenge – C is for Cacophony

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“Why cacophony?” you may ask. Because it describes several aspects of my writing process, and does it on so many levels.

That’s how it feels sometimes when I’m really on a roll writing a book. The ideas can come so fast that feels as if the characters are trying to outshout each other to get their stories told.

And that’s pretty much what I end up with on the screen until I sort through all the typos made by fingers never properly trained to type. A cornucopia of errors. The typo queen hard at work. I do go back and fix them, but sometimes I’ll read a sentence and have no idea what I meant. Consulting with the characters helps with that.

I also like cacophony because I have all these books I need to write. The ideas fighting with each other to be next. “Oh, pick me, pick me!” Right now I have five other projects in various stages of completion because I had to placate each of them a little bit.

And finally cacophony because it pretty much describes my entire writing and publishing career thus far. But  mostly in a good way. Yes, I think there is such a thing as a good cacophony. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

What will tomorrow’s word be? Come back tomorrow for the letter “D” in the challenge.

Be sure to check out the rest of the cool blogs in the challenge!  A to Z Challenge.

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A to Z Challenge – B is for Books

Were you expecting anything else? 🙂

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Well, of course “B is for Books!” And also of course, there needs to be more than one. I first began  to read when I was about four. One of my first books was Sleeping Beauty, put out by Disney in conjunction with the film. It had beautiful scenes from the animated movie. I probably had other books, but all these decades later, this is the one I remember. Probably because of the fairies. Small wonder I would return to Fantasy at nineteen.

I went through many phases though. I had a Nancy Drew phase that lasted for some years and I read a lot of mysteries after that. Agatha Christie was a fave. I discovered Shakespeare and still have my leather bound volume of The Complete Works, which I received for my sixteenth birthday.

When I was in my twenties, I read four to five books a week. I usually went to the library once a week to stock up and devoured thrillers and mysteries, sci fi and fantasy. That continued until I discovered gaming and I cut back to two to three books a week.

I still read as much as I can, although not nearly as much as years past. But books are an important part of my life. A constant that I simply cannot imagine being without, even if I am slower at finishing my current reads these days.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for the letter “C” in this series.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the cool blogs in the challenge!  A to Z Challenge.

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In the Spotlight – Stefania Mattana

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Stefania Mattana

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Today it’s a pleasure to welcome the charming and fun Stefania Mattana.

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Stefania Mattana

Italian born and raised, when she was a child she used to dream of winning a gold medal at the Olympics. Then she grew up.

She felt in love with Agatha Christie’s crime stories when she was 8, and decided to become a writer like her. One of her very first books was The Young Creative Writer’s Manual by Bianca Pitzorno, which she usually took with her wherever she went – and Stefania has been in a lot of places.

When she’s not writing crime novels Stefania makes her contribution to support people in sports by looking for a blind runner to guide. She also have a blog where she talks about sports, advertising, pets, writing and anything else worthwhile.

Read on for more about Stefania.

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A to Z Blog Challenge – A is for Author

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During the month of April you will see a post every day except Sundays as part of the A to Z Blog Challenge. Each day I’ll post a topic with that day’s letter. Today being April 1st, the letter is “A.” The obvious choice for that is “A is for Author.”

While I’ve only been an author myself for the last couple years, I’ve know many authors in my life. Probably the one who had the most profound effect on me was Philip K. Dick. He is the one who introduced me to sci fi and eventually fantasy. Through him I found a love for the genres that would last my entire life.

There have been many authors in many genres over the years who caught my attention. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on their books. From Isaac Asimov to George RR Martin, sci fi and fantasy have been my go-to genres. I appreciate Phil’s introduction into those worlds as they have truly shaped my own writing. So here’s to the authors who have enlightened, entertained and electrified me!

And be sure to check out the other blogs in this fun challenge! There’s something for everyone. A to Z Challenge.

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