Indie Author Week - Bruce Arrington

Today's Spotlight moves on over to another awesome, Indie Sci-fi Author, Bruce Arrington! Last year I reviewed the first book in his MG/YA series, Josh Anvil and loved it! Now he has released Book Two, Josh Anvil and the Pivotal Weapon. You can read my review of Book One, HERE.

I love a great story, especially in the realms of fantasy and/or science fiction. There is nothing quite like immersing myself into another wonderful world of imagination.

It is tremendously motivating to me when a young reader, excited about the stories I write, asks me when the "next one" will be out. This is one of the most fulfilling things I have experienced as an author, and I consider myself fortunate. 

I live in a small town with my loving wife, three adventurous teenagers, an overly fed beagle, and three feisty cats. 

Bruce can be found on:

GOODREADS / WEBSITE / FACEBOOK / TWITTER

Hello Bruce, it's great to have you in Spotlight Sci-fi Saturday! I enjoyed the first book in the Josh Anvil series and can't wait to learn a bit about the sequel! Tell us your main inspiration behind this novel? 

Preface: First of all, I want to thank Jill Marie for providing my first official review, last year, for the Josh Anvil Series! Yeah, go Jill! She has consistently demonstrated her love and support for indie authors and I really appreciate her work!

Josh Anvil and the Pivotal Weapon is the second in the middle grades/YA series that follows Josh Anvil in his adventures with aliens and powers. The original ideas came from wanting to write stories that I would like to watch on the big screen—action, science fiction, and comedy, to list a few. So far, I am pleased with how the series is progressing. 

Was self-publishing your first choice? What was the most nerve wracking part of the process? 

For the second book, self-publishing was my first choice. Originally I had wanted to publish this through conventional means (i.e., publishing houses), but it looked like that was not going anywhere. At the same time, the self-publishing formats became readily available and more popular, so I joined with the self-published authors. 

The most nerve-wracking part? Wow, there few a few. Again, going back to the first book, I was afraid that it wasn’t quite done. I wanted to stay with it and keep working at it until I had it perfect. Fortunately, I let it go and went on to this second book. The other stressful part was getting the formats ready, for either paper publishing or e-book publishing, and for e-books, that still remains a challenge. To be fair, some platforms have become easy to use and look great, but others are still lagging a bit. 

As a self-published author, did you choose to edit your novel yourself? What was the biggest change you made to the story and/or characters? 

Editing a novel by myself is like pretending I am a doctor and sitting there operating on my own body. Wow, that just... doesn’t... work! I have read advice to the contrary, but I don’t buy it. Spending the money for a good editor (proofreader, whatever you are looking for) really pays off and gives the story a professional edge. Finding a good editor can be challenging, but they are out there. 

Do you have any unusual writing habits that aide your process and/or character development? 

Yep, there sure is. I sit and wait before I move on to the next scene. It has to come to me and I have to see it in my mind before I will allow myself to write it. I could never sit down and crank out a novel in 3 months, simply because the story does not come to me that way. The majority of the reviews I have had so far highlight my creativity and/or imagination, and I think that’s where the secret lies. Don’t write it down if you don’t see it and it’s not awesome. Allow yourself to picture it and make it great. 

Is there one passage or scene from Josh Anvil and the Pivotal Weapon that you are most fond of?

I really don’t want to give anything away. I know that might sound backward, but I let the reviews do the talking and hope they don’t give everything away either! I really want my readers to be surprised and enjoy the story first hand.

Thanks so much Bruce for all your kind words! I really believe in supporting out indie author community. I look forward to continuing Josh's adventures in Book Two!

A broken world.

A dominant alien race.

A pivotal weapon that can turn the tide of an eternal, interstellar war.

Josh and Troy are caught between helping their friends in peril, and finding their way back home to Earth. But the longer they stay, the deeper they plunge into a war with impossible odds, fighting an alien race that has brought thousands of civilizations to ruin.

Josh finds someone who has the power to end everything he cares about on Earth, and it's a good bet that Raga will use her to do just that. Josh's mission is to make sure that doesn't happen.

The Josh Anvil series is available in paperback 

from CREATESPACE

And in digital form from 

AMAZON / B&N

Indie Author Week - Scott Spotson

Can you say Spotlight Sci-fi Saturday three times fast?!

Today's featured author, Scott Spotson has written a science fiction novel titled, Life II. This is an Adult/YA crossover, time travel novel.

Scott Spotson is a novelist who excels in imagining scenes of intrigue and adventure within ordinary lives while daydreaming, then pulls together various plots to create a compelling story. He likes to invent "what if?" scenarios, for example, what if I could go back to my university days, and what would I do differently? What if I could switch bodies with friends I am jealous of, like the guy who sold his software for millions of dollars and does whatever he pleases? What if I had the power to create clones of myself to do my bidding? Scott then likes to mentally insert himself into these situations, then plot a way to "get out" back to reality. This is how "Life II" and "Seeking Dr. Magic" were born, within weeks of each other.

Scott can be found on:

WEBSITE / GOODREADS / FACEBOOK / TWITTER

Indie Author Week- Kaitlin Bevis

I hope everyone had a great holiday yesterday! 

The Spotlight is back, and today I would like to welcome Kaitlin Bevis!

Author of the Daughters of Zeus Trilogy, a YA mythology series 

published through Musa Publishing.

Kaitlin Bevis spent her childhood curled up with a book, and a pen. If the ending didn't agree with her, she rewrote it. She's always wanted to be a writer, and spent high school and college learning everything she could so that one day she could achieve that goal. She graduated college with my BFA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing, and is pursuing her masters at the University of Georgia. Her young adult series "Daughters of Zeus" is available wherever ebooks are sold. She also writes for truuconfessions.com and Athens Parent Magazine.

Hello Kaitlin! It's great to have you in the Spotlight today! Lets talk a bit about the characters in your series. Is there one character in your novel that you feel the most passionate about? 

For book one, it’s Persephone. Persephone is a short, sixteen year old, blonde girl with bright green eyes. She doesn’t realize she’s a goddess, because her mother never told her. She’s shy. She can’t lie, is non-confrontational to the extreme and consequently is a bit of a doormat, but when backed into a corner she can be pretty resourceful. When the book begins she’s having a rough time. Recently she’s gotten very pretty, and people have started acting different around her. Her old friends from school are being snarky, and guys are just being weird.

What aspect of Persephone was the most difficult to envision? The easiest?

Most difficult: The pretty factor. I had a friend who looked like a super model. She was also shy. I know, from a plain-Jane perspective that whining about being pretty is sort of like whining about being rich. No one cares or feels sorry for you, but here’s the thing. Girls are mean. My friend had to deal with so much crap from the other girls in our class just because they were jealous. Those girls picked on me to, but with her it was different, they were just vicious. Plus, even her best friends were jealous of her, every guy I ever liked was into her. She hated their attention because it drove a wedge between her friends and her. It kind of sucked. And it was like she couldn’t even vent about it without making her friends even more mad. I tried to capture this experience in Persephone, because the whole thing was just so strange to me growing up. But I also tried to balance it against my plain-Jane perspective that was grumbling snarkiness at her. I wanted Persephone to come off as a normal person, struggling with a normal thing, not someone unlikable.

By comparison, everything else about Persephone was easy to write. Particularly her reaction to finding out she was a goddess. I spent an unhealthy portion of my childhood analyzing exactly how I would respond if I ever found out that any supernatural stuff was real. I’m by nature a pretty honest person, so once I got my happy, glowing, “Finally! I’ve known it all a long, lets go fight crime now,” reactions out of the way, my brain went to the less-flattering place. The place where I would have freaked out and called the police on my well-meaning wise, mentor-like person and had them thrown in the insane asylum, thus dooming me to obscurity forever. I considered the ramifications of learning that I was really a princess from the moon Kingdom sent to earth by my well-meaning but now deceased mother. My whole life would have been a lie. My mom wouldn’t really be my mom. My real mom, Kingdom, and everyone in it are dead. These aren’t happy thoughts. They’re heavy, and sad. Persephone loses something when she learns what she is. She can’t trust her mom anymore, she doesn’t know who to believe, everything that she thought was up is down. Understandably she freaks out.

During the birth of your novel, was there any point where Persephone's character took an unexpected turn?

Hah, yeah. My meek little non-confrontational character stabbed a guy with a pen in the first few chapters. I knew from the get go that Persephone would discover her inner strength and all that stuff throughout the course of the series. I just didn’t know how hard core that inner strength was going to be.

If Persephone suddenly sprang from the pages, what questions would you have for her?
After everything I put her through, I wouldn’t waste time asking her questions. I’d run.

Before we get to my last question, I want to give readers a bit more info on you and you book.

There are worse things than death, worse people too. 

The "talk" was bad enough, but how many teens get told that they're a goddess? When her mom tells her, Persephone is sure her mother has lost her mind. It isn't until Boreas, the god of winter, tries to abduct her that she realizes her mother was telling the truth. Hades rescues her, and in order to safely bring Persephone to the Underworld he marks her as his bride. But Boreas will stop at nothing to get Persephone. Despite her growing feelings for Hades, Persephone wants to return to the living realm. Persephone must find a way to defeat Boreas and reclaim her life.

You can find Kaitlin on: 

WEBSITE / GOODREADS / FACEBOOK

TUMBLER / TWITTER / GOOGLE+

Indie Author Week - Raye Wagner

Our Spotlight on YA Mythology passes to Raye Wagner, author of  

Origin of the Sphinx. This is a novella detailing the story leading up to the creation of the mythological creature, the Sphinx. It is the beginning of the Sphinx series.

Raye has spent half her life immersed in books (reading not swimming), but stopped believing she could write fiction after the sixth grade. Her teacher thought her writing was “disturbed”, and at a parent-teacher conference, asked her mother to seek counseling for her. 

Years later, with both Bachelors and Masters degrees in nursing, Raye reduced her practice to be at home with her family. Her children would say she read more, which is probably be true. One afternoon, as she sat out on the patio watching her boys play in the kiddie pool, inspiration struck, and she began recording the legend behind the Greek myth of the Sphinx. Raye lives in Middle Tennessee with her husband, a pair of kids she claims as her own, and a dog named George. Origin of the Sphinx is her first publication, and the beginning of the Sphinx series. Incidentally, she didn’t get counseling all those years ago. She might still need it.

"The gods are powerful, and their knowledge is vast. 

But the gods… 

The gods are far from perfect."

In Ancient Greece, the invocation "May the Gods watch over you" was more than a spoken blessing. It was an entreaty for divine benevolence. When Damon sees a beautiful woman alone, far from civilization, he can’t help but be drawn to her. But his life–as it should have been– is altered and twisted by the immortal touch of deity. Damon’s daughter, Phoibe, is raised to be wary and distrustful of the gods. And so she must choose– If Phoibe marries a mortal, she risks eternal solitude for a moment of love. 

"If she follows her heart, she risks spurning a god." 

Cat Thursday #7

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and sometime hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite LOL cat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats!

Hosted by THE TRUE BOOK ADDICT

Happy Cat Thursday everyone! Oh! And it also happens to be 4th of July too ^^

The other day we caught Miss Kitty dangling a pair of sandals! 

She sat there, one in each paw, for at least ten minutes before she dropped one!

We happened to get a video, so I am going to try something new and post it below.


Tehe. I could watch her all day! Hope you guys enjoyed it!

Indie Author Week - Max Shenk

The Spotlight moves over to independent author, Max Shenk!

Max has written a serial novella titled, Meeting Dennis Wilson.

Max is publishing the series via Amazon Createspace and Kindle, in six or seven installments to be issued throughout the summer. A limited hardcover edition gathering all of the smaller books will be published in December.

Max Harrick Shenk is a fiction writer currently living in Vermont, 500-some miles from his home turf of central Pennsylvania. He will add more to this biography when he can think a little more clearly, but for now, the cogent facts include...

* Born 1964, Carlisle, PA.
* Novel MEETING DENNIS WILSON is being published as a series of seven serialized books through the spring and summer of 2013.

* Short story collection WHAT'S WITH HER? available as a Kindle edition and soon to undergo a second printing from New Plains Press.

* MFA in creative writing from Goddard College (2007).

* MA in education from Goddard College (2010).

* Single; divorced twice; hoping the third time will be a charm.

* Author of not only these stories, but of a continuing Facebook fiction project featuring the characters from these stories.

Max can be found on:

WEBSITE / GOODREADS / AMAZON AUTHOR / FACEBOOK

Hello Max! Welcome to the Author Spotlight! Tell us your main inspiration behind Meeting Dennis Wilson.

The characters in this book are a group of characters that I've been working with and writing around for a while. I'd been writing and writing and writing but really didn't feel like I had a compelling STORY. I think that what triggered the story was that, a couple years ago, I had all of my Beach Boys and Beatles 45s stolen from a storage space. This was about 250 records, every Beach Boys and Beatles record I'd bought since I started buying records in 1975. It really got me thinking not just about how the music is important to me (I already knew that) but how the records themselves were relics. I could have told you where and when I bought most of those records, what I was doing in my life, where I was living, other things that were happening. Example: I had four different copies of "I Want To Hold Your Hand." The one that looked "least valuable" to collectors was a copy of the 45 that my first ex- gave me when we were dating. (We met at a bar, believe it or not, and she was sitting by the jukebox and I had extra credits and asked her if there was any song she wanted to hear, and she picked that one.) So that got me thinking about how I could weave music and records through a story as a device: how the records themselves would be prompts for things that happen in the book. It was a great idea for a device, but it wasn't a STORY. The story came from remembering how my sister used to really like Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, which was something I'd mentioned with Margo (the main character), and then I remembered on the back of a Beach Boys album called SUMMER DAYS that Dennis mentioned he loved touring in summer because he "got to meet all the girls." And I thought: "OK... Margo is going to try to meet Dennis Wilson." And that's when the story crystalized.

Was self-publishing your first choice? What was the most nerve wracking part of the process? 

Yes and no about "first choice." I've discussed starting a peer-reviewed press with some friends of mine from the MFA program at Goddard, and my FIRST choice would have been to have done the book that way... but it seemed to be moving very slowly, and I wanted to get the work out there, and someone mentioned Createspace, and I'd already done Kindle, so I went that direction. I don't know if I ever considered doing this work the traditional "send to an author and agent" way. I'm really not sure why. This always felt and still feels like the right way to go. As for "nerve-wracking," nothing, really. I find some things about the process a little unfamiliar (promoting it, etc), but really, the toughest part of writing a novel is finishing the work, and that's already done, so everything else is a breeze. 

As a self-published author, did you choose to edit Dennis Wilson yourself? What was the biggest change you made to the story and/or characters? 

I've worked as an editor and writing coach, so I felt pretty confident about my ability to edit it myself. I just knew that the main thing was being CAREFUL in editing and proofing: read it aloud so that I slow down and spot errors. No matter how careful you think you're being, there still are continuity errors, typos, all that. But since I'm self-publishing, I figure all of that is my responsibility, and I gladly accept it! As for changes, I really didn't make any major changes when I edited. Just corrected minor gaffes. 

Do you have any unusual writing habits that aide your process and/or character development? 

Boy, THERE'S a loaded question! :) 

I've created Facebook pages for all of my characters and I have them interact on Facebook, both with each other and with other people (a lot of whom aren't aware that they're interacting with fictional characters!). It's really deepened my feeling of who the characters are, what their history is, and how they relate to each other. It's also given me a stronger sense of their voices. Finally, it's given me ideas for the NEXT novel. 

Is there one passage or scene from your novel that you are most fond of? 

For some reason, this is one of my favorites. It's from chapter 16 (which is in BOOK TWO), and it's Brian (the narrator) and Kathy (Brian's girlfriend's big sister) at a campaign picnic for Kathy's dad, who's a US senator running for re-election...

"So, Chris says Margo's gonna meet Dennis Wilson, Bri. How's that gonna happen?" "She's sending him a letter," I said, and then I pointed to my lower lip. "Mustard." Kathy Kelly put her napkin to her lips. "Did I get it?" she asked. Unfortunately.... "No," I said. "On your chest, too... right above the Y--" "--The shirt! Shhiiiiiiooooooot!" Kathy plunged her napkin into her cup of water and dabbed at the fleck of mustard that had landed on the black fabric right between the bottom edge of the collar and the top of the bright yellow BESERKLEY: HOME OF THE HITS logo on her chest. "I mean, it's yellow, it goes, but still...” She sighed hard. “And this is the first time I've worn it." As she dabbed and rubbed, the fabric got wet and darkened, but the stain was coming out. "I should've left this on as ammo," Kathy said. "Like: 'see, Mom... if I'd worn Aunt Mary's dress, it'd be ruined.'" She looked up at me; I had no idea what she was talking about. "That's right... you weren't at that one." She dipped another napkin into her cup. "Lasttime Dad had one of these things, I wanted to dress like a normal human being, right? Well...unfortunately... Aunt Mary had gone shopping, and she got Chris and me these... godawful dresses that Mom wanted us to wear. And we were both begging... 'Please, Mom, don't do this to us.'” Kathy switched to her mom’s voice: dismissive, and with just a hint of Irish brogue. “'Oh, just wear them when you come in. Mary never stays for the whole thing anyway. When she leaves, you two can put your jeans on.'” Kathy was still dabbing as she spoke. “So we wear the dresses... Aunt Mary is running late, so we can’tchange... Mary never shows, we’re stuck in the dresses, getting all these... cheesy compliments from these old men... and then, the capper? In the paper the next morning, Sunday Patriot, page one, above the fold: 'Senator Thomas J. Kelly's oldest daughter Kathleen wears hideous 1959 Pat Nixon couture at her father's campaign function yesterday in Gettysburg. "What can I say? It's a year younger than me," the usually-stylish 17-year-old said.'" Kathy tossed the damp ball of napkin onto the table. “Thanks for the dresses, Aunt Mary.” I laughed. “I remember that picture,” I said. Kathy looked up from her spot. “No, you don’t, Brian. O.K.? No one remembers that picture!" Kathy and I were sitting across from each other at a red-white-and-blue-bunting-bedecked picnic table in shady Quaker Valley Park in the middle of town, listening (or trying not to listen) to the Sinatra playing tinny through the park P.A. system. I was not only Christy's invited guest and boyfriend; I was her and Kathy's Out. As in: Katie Kelly wanted her two oldest girls up front and center with the rest of the family, but Christy said, "Brian's here and Margo's coming, and I don't want them to sit alone," and Kathy said, "Brian's here and Margo's not coming, so I need to make sure those two don't grope each other in front of everyone." So there I was, sitting with Kathy, waiting for Margo, possibly waiting for Marty, and, yeah, even waiting for Christy, who'd gone up front to reload on potato salad and chicken for us."

Thanks so much Max! I look forward to reading this series and congrats on your release of installment three!  

Meeting Dennis Wilson follows the exploits of sixteen-year-old Margo LeDoux, who has a crush on the Beach Boys’ drummer and decides she’s going to meet him... if only ~ sigh!!~ it was that easy! Her best friend Brian and best girlfriend Christy both support her, but they’ve got problems and wishes of their own... meanwhile, her boyfriend Scott is against it (“I’m not having you running off and being some groupie!”). What’s a girl with a crush (or obsession) to do? Find out in Meeting Dennis Wilson!

In book one of Meeting Dennis Wilson, we met the three main characters: 16-year-old Margo LeDoux, who has a crush on Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson, and who decides that she’s going to try to meet him... the narrator, Brian Pressley, Margo’s best friend, and his girlfriend, Christy Kelly, who decide they don’t want to go ALL the way, but just “some of the way”... and Margo’s boyfriend Scott, who declares that Margo “better not send” a letter to Dennis Wilson “or else.” (“Or else what, Scott? What?”)

In book two, the plot thickens as we meet Margo’s softball catcher Tara Longbaugh, whose nickname around school is “Tara Fawcett-Majors,” and who hangs around Margo like a puppy dog... Brian’s best friend Marty Morone, a shy kid who’s obsessed with the Beatles and has a crush on Margo... and Kathy Kelly, Christy’s 18-year-old sister, who’s got a bad case of senioritis and a boyfriend whom she can’t decide whether to take to the prom or never ever see again. As Margo asked in book one, “Brian, how do we put UP with all these people?” Find out in Book Two of Meeting Dennis Wilson.

Indie Author Week - Gelo Fleisher

Today's first Spotlight Author is Gelo Fleisher!

Shadowcursed is his debut fantasy novella.

Bolen is a thief, plying his trade under the spires of an ancient and sprawling city. Worried that he's growing too old, Bolen has lined up a risky job, just to prove that he can still pull one off.

Tonight, he's going to break into a nobleman's vault and help himself to its contents. What he doesn't know is that inside is the key to a secret as old as the city itself.

Kings have killed for it, demons have coveted it, priests have prayed for it, and in a few moments it will be in his hands. And when it is, the adventure of his life will begin.

Shadowcursed is available for purchase on AMAZON!

Welcome Gelo! Gelo is an author and game developer. He lives in the East Coast, with his wife and daughter. Can you tell us your main inspiration behind this novel?

The main inspiration behind ‘Shadowcursed’ came when I replayed a series of computer games that were first released back in the 1990’s called “Thief”. Those games included a series of hand-painted cut scenes to book-end each game level and I was really struck by their somber beauty. I got inspired to try and recreate the tone and feel of those images in a story. ‘Shadowcursed’ was the result.

Was self-publishing your first choice? What was the most nerve wracking part of the process?

Yes, because ‘Shadowcursed’ is a novella self-publishing was my first choice. At the moment there isn’t a “traditional” market for novellas, since publishers don’t really buy them and fiction magazines don’t often accept larger pieces from beginning authors. One of the nice things about the e-book revolution is that it allows smaller forms (like novellas and short story collections) to have a much wider audience.

Weirdly enough, the most nerve wracking part of the publishing process was making sure that everything uploaded properly to Amazon. I thought I’d give it a test run and tried uploading a draft version to Amazon, when to my horror I accidentally published the draft! It took Amazon two days to finally take the wrong version offline and I was sweating bullets the whole time.

As a self-published author, did you choose to edit your novel yourself? What was the biggest change you made to the story and/or characters?

While I handled the e-book formatting process myself (with help from Guido Henkel’s excellent formatting guide), I hired a professional editor to go over the manuscript first. I was actually pleasantly surprised though: while I had to make a whole ton of smaller changes and fixes, the editor didn’t find any significant story or character adjustments that needed to be made, so the book got through the editing process pretty much intact.

Do you have any unusual writing habits that aide your process and/or character development?

I think for any author the most daunting thing is the blank page, so what I tend to do when I’m stuck about what to do next in a scene is to just write something, anything down, even if it’s terrible. Once I have something down on the page, I can usually turn it into a base for writing something better. Editing is always easier than creating from scratch.

Is there one passage or scene from your novel that you are most fond of?

Because I had a specific goal for the mood I wanted to create in the reader’s head, I was pretty happy with this bit of description. It was one of the first things I wrote where I felt I nailed the feel I was going for:

"He lay motionless, enjoying the quiet peacefulness of the newborn night. The heat of the day was gone, replaced by a coolness that played against his skin, whisking away the sweat that had accumulated during his sleep. He’d been dreaming, but couldn’t remember what about. Bolen had been hungry in the dream, he remembered that. Maybe it had been a memory from his childhood, running around the wharfs with the other street rats. He’d been hungry enough then."

Definitely a great piece of description! Thank you for sharing this excerpt with us. I am looking forward to reading Shadowcursed!

Indie Author Week - Desni Dantone

From debut author, Desni Dantone, Ignited is a tale of first love, mystery and adventure that will introduce you to an exciting new world.

Ignited is the first book in Desni's Ignited Series!

Desni Dantone first put pen to paper in the creative sense when she was eleven years old. Her mother was her first fan, and critiqued her not-so-good stories with a smile. She likes to think that her writing has gotten much better since those first few rough drafts.

She resides in Greensburg, Pennsylvania with her husband, Stephen; son, Nicholas; dog, Bo; and their three cats, Jackson, Itty, and Yoshi. Her only claim to fame is that she hails from the same hometown as Dean Koontz, and she does try to find a way to bring it up every chance she gets. Her dream is for Everett, PA to be put on the map because it boasts not one, but two, best-selling authors.

She has a weakness for young adult paranormal romance books, but loves to write them even more. Her first novel, Ignited, is the first book in a series that she has enjoyed every minute of writing. Completing this series and pursuing a writing career is her goal in life--right after potty training her son and puppy!

Welcome Desni, it is a pleasure to have you here! Can you tell us your main inspiration behind this novel, be it person, book(s), random occurrence, ect?

I read a Dean Koontz book, called Lightning, when I was a kid. In it, there was a time traveler that returned to spare the life of the main character on several occasions. I loved that novel, and ever since, I had a fascination with the idea of a guardian-like character that falls in love with the girl he is protecting. I didn’t necessarily want to go with time travel, so I agonized over how to convert this obsession in my head into a story with a plot that made sense, and that others would want to read. One day, I had an epiphany. Greek Mythology, special powers, magic... and all things paranormal! That was the day Ignited was born as a young adult paranormal romance novel.

Was self-publishing your first choice? What was the most nerve wracking part of the process? 

After reading of the successes of other self-published authors like Amanda Hocking and Colleen Hoover (I know, I aim high!), I must admit that self-publishing certainly wasn’t my last choice. I did submit to several agents, with the thought that if I got picked up with a huge deal, I would go that route, simply for the benefit of someone else doing the publishing and promoting part for me. I also knew the chances were slim to none. So, as I awaited responses from agents, I researched my self-publishing options. The most nerve wracking part is happening currently: the promoting, the feedback, the waiting to see how it is being received...the hoping. Ignited is doing well on the Amazon new releases list, so that helps ease my nerves somewhat.

As a self-published author, did you choose to edit your novel yourself? What was the biggest change you made to the story and/or characters? 

I did the bulk of the editing myself. It took about six months to get down the rough draft of Ignited, and another year to edit it. I wanted it to be as perfect as I could, but I also didn’t have a lot of cash to spend on a professional editor. I joined several writing communities where other writers read and critiqued my work, helped me with grammar, punctuation, etc in exchange for me to do the same for them...For Free! They were amazing, and they helped me in ways that I cannot even express. The biggest change?...Oh, boy, that happened so long ago, I can’t remember exactly. I think I had been going with some secret government agency with time travel capabilities kind of idea for a while, before I opted to go with a Greek Mythology angle. I know, right? Thank God!

Do you have any unusual writing habits that aide your process and/or character development?

I’m a very visual writer. I write things like I see them happening, almost like a movie playing out in my head. I will get these ideas for scenes one at a time, and sort of play them out in my head. Then I have to hurry up and write it down before I forget how it played out. And sometimes it happens in the most unexpected and inconvenient places. Usually the shower. I can’t tell you how many scenes I created when in the shower. My husband will tell you how many times I’ve come running downstairs soaking wet for a pen to jot down the scene before I forgot it. 

Is there one passage or scene from your novel that you are most fond of?

While the situation my main character, Kris, finds herself in is very serious, she maintains her witty personality, supplying moments of comedic relief—even in the midst of life and death moments. This scene takes place during a “down time” in the action, and I particularly enjoy getting into her head at times like this. I hope you enjoy.

After lunch, he suggested a lesson in hand-to-hand combat and that was when things got interesting. I shouldn’t have been excited about it, considering he was about to hand my ass to me without breaking a sweat. I had a moment of trepidation when we reached a flat area in the field Nathan declared a suitable location. That anxiety vanished when he removed his sweatshirt and tossed it to the ground. Luckily, his back was to me, and he didn’t catch my eyes bugging out of my head. The black torn sleeveless t-shirt he had on underneath revealed the sculpted biceps he’d been hiding all along, and the sides of the shirt scooped low enough that I glimpsed a smooth ripped chest when he turned. I was acutely aware that this was the first time I was seeing so much of him. It was nice, really nice. His upper left arm was marked with a tattoo I couldn’t make out from the distance. Other than that, his skin was unmarked and flawless. Lean and smooth muscles blended and moved together like a marvelous piece of well-oiled machinery. I’d bet he had one hell of a six pack. “You change your mind?” “Huh?” It took me a moment to realize he had been talking to me as I was ogling him. That was what, the third time he’s busted me now? “I asked if you were ready,” he said slowly, like I was an idiot, which he probably thought I was by now. “Yeah,” I said quickly. “Let’s go.” I swung my arms and clasped them in front of me with a sharp nod of my head. “Alright, then.” He took a wide stance, crossing his arms in front of him and, God help me, all I could think about was how sexy he looked. “What do you do if someone attacks you?” It didn’t help my case that I hadn’t been prepared for a quiz first, and stared at him dumbly. He tilted is head. “Take your time, Kris.” “Shut up.” I could do this. I jutted my chin out at him. “Man or woman?” He hesitated, clearly wondering where I was going with this. “Man.” That was easy. “Kick him in his happy place.” His lips twitched and I caught a brief twinkle in his eyes. It took visible effort, but he managed to keep a straight face—something he seemed to have a hard time doing around me lately. He considered my answer and nodded objectively. “Good tactic, and probably effective, but I think we’ll skip over practicing that one, if it’s okay with you.” “Sure thing, coach,” I snickered.

Thanks so much Desni. Ignited sounds like a great read and I look forward to reviewing it in the near future! I hope you enjoyed your time in the Spotlight!

Seventeen year old Kris Young is on the run from a throng of superhuman golden-eyed freaks hell-bent on seeing her dead, and she doesn't know why. Good thing she has her guardian angel to protect her...sort of.Kris is aided by Nathan, the mysterious man that ends up being anything but angelic when he rescues her for the fourth time in fourteen years. Even if the handsome hero illusion is shattered by his harsh treatment of her, he knows how to fight this strange enemy and is determined to keep her safe at all costs. 
As the body count rises in their wake, Nathan introduces Kris to a world in which not everyone is human and the battle lines between good and evil are clearly drawn. Kris's piece in the puzzle is something neither is aware of and, as they uncover the truth, neither is prepared for what they find. Overcoming twists and revelations that shatter both of their lives, they discover that nothing is as it seems and nothing, least of all their hearts, are safe.

Make sure you visit the author on:

GOODREADS / WEBSITE / FACEBOOK / TWITTER

Ignited is available for purchase on AMAZON!

Indie Author Week - Laura Masciarelli

Indie Author Week continues with Laura Masciarelli, author

of the YA paranormal mystery Quest. 
This is Laura's debut novel and today is her release day! 

Laura Masciarelli grew up on Long Island, the second of five sisters.  She graduated from Colgate University and became an analytical chemist.  After thirteen years working in various pharmaceutical companies, she attended Touro College and became a physical therapist, working with children.  At the present time she treasures living close to the ocean on Long Island with her husband, son and two dogs.  Laura teaches violin and writes.  She is interested in all things spiritual, whatever brings on that sacred sense of wonder and awe—a modern day mystic living in an every day world.

Welcome to the Spotlight Laura! Lets talk about your novel Quest! Is there one character in your novel that you feel the most passionate about?

My very favorite character would have to be Ashi, a sixteen-year-old enlightened master. Ty, a seventeen-year-old boy from New Jersey,  discovers her in a monastery on top of a mountain in Asia, during an archeological trip with his father. She is a conundrum to Ty—did she really bring his father back from the dead?  Is she real or did she appear from the ethers, from the mythical Himalayan paradise, Shambhala?

What aspect of Ashi was the most difficult to envision? The easiest?

I found that the most difficult thing was to reconcile two incongruent aspects of her character, the masterful with the innocent. It was quite easy to envision Ashi as a mystic with otherworldly powers and all the serene aspects that accompany one with such lofty spiritual status.  But, when she travels with Ty and the archeological team to New York, she knows nothing of western civilization. She's never seen a flush toilet or TV and doesn’t know how to zip up a zipper.  She appears almost childlike.

During the birth of your novel, was there any point whereAshi took an unexpected turn? (Ex. In personality, actions, heroism, characteristics) 

Ty discovers that his love for his girlfriend, Jenna, is pleasant enough, but shallow.  As his feelings for Ashi develop, he finds that she is his beloved and he deeply cherishes her.  He is filled with angst and deep longing for her, convinced that a mystic like Ashi would never return his romantic love.  But surprisingly, Ashi informs him she has loved him since their eyes first met.

If Ashi suddenly sprang from the pages, what questions would you have for her? 

Being a spiritual person, I would ask about Ashi's supernatural abilities, her ability to bilocate, heal, her precognitive capability--how did she know when the chasseur tracked her and Ty to their hideaway on the Jersey shore and was at their doorstep, ready to harm them to prevent the ancient secret from being revealed.

Is there a particular passage or scene from your novel that you feel embodies this character the best? 

In this scene, Ty is in the ER of the hospital with a gunshot wound:

            “So much excitement,” Ashi said with shining eyes. “We do not have so much excitement in Bhutan.”

            “Yeah, a little too much excitement,” Eduardo said, rubbing his elbow. His tee shirt was torn and one side of his jeans was covered in dirt. His face was dirty too, as were his hands. He had little cuts all over the skin that was exposed. “I’m more beat up than if I had played in the game today.”

            “You did a really, really good job, Ed,” Ashi said, smiling. “Do you not give nicknames to people who are your true friends?”

            “Yeah, that’s right, Ash. That man. What do you think he wanted?” Eduardo asked. “I couldn’t tell if he wanted something from us or wanted to kill us.”

            Ashi tilted her head, puzzled. “If he wanted what we found at the tower, he could have tried to take it while we were still at the tower.”

            “Too many houses around.” Eduardo shook his head. “Maybe he wanted to wait until it was an empty stretch of road to try to take it.”

            “I’m a little more cynical…probably because I’ve been around a few people who were murdered. He was trying to kill us,” Ty said with finality.

            There was silence.

            “And, he’s still out there,” Ty added. “Did either of you get a good look at his face?”

            Ashi and Eduardo shook their heads.

            Eduardo poked his head out the curtain to look around. “Where is that doc anyway?”

            “Let me look at your arm,” Ashi said.

            She stood and faced Ty, looking into his eyes. He dropped the gauze pad he was holding to the injury, revealing a red, open wound that had stopped bleeding. She raised her hand and just barely touched her fingertips to it. She smiled.

            “Same as before. Good as news.” She barely spoke above a whisper.

            He felt tingling in his upper arm.

            She removed her fingertips and continued to look into Ty’s eyes smiling. He could hardly stand the intensity of her stare. He tore his eyes away from hers and looked at his arm. There was nothing but intact, tan skin. His eyes shot to Eduardo’s to see if he witnessed the same thing. Eduardo was staring agape.

            “Awesome trick, Ash,” Eduardo said in a hushed voice.

            “Thanks, Ed.”

            Ashi’s hand moved to Ty’s face and she cupped his cheek. Ty put his hand over hers. “I’m safe with you, right?” he asked quietly.

            Ashi nodded.

What a great excerpt! Thanks for sharing it with us Laura. And it was fun learning about Ashi as well. Congratulations on your release!

Seventeen-year-old Ty Scalisi falls hard for Ashi, the enigmatic, brown-eyed beauty he meets in Bhutan, where he has joined his father's archaeology team, skipping across the globe in search of the treasure of the Knights Templar. 

With their team of academics, Ty and his father manage to gain access to the descendants of a select group of priestly families, closely guarding a 2000-year-old secret, not only to wealth, but to bliss, enlightenment, and the keys to unfathomable power.  As Ty and the team follow the trail they are hunted down and attacked by mysterious rogues who will shed blood to keep the secret hidden.

Ty's father is convinced that Ashi can help find the treasure, so she joins them in the U.S., where Ty discovers she is really an enlightened master, with mystical abilities.  As their team members get picked off one by one, Ty begins to wonder if Ashi herself holds all the secrets to finding the treasure.  Together they avenge the deaths of their team members and uncover harrowing secrets that will change the course of humanity forever.

Readers! You can find Laura on:

FACEBOOK / WEBSITE / TWITTER

Quest is now available on AMAZON !