Dan Levinson and A Taste of Armageddon

Dan Levinson
Casualty of War

Dan Levinson, New York screenwriter, playwright, actor and now novelist arrived at The Blog Mansion at a very tense time. He caught me in my battle room, but over a glass of Tranya I got to know him.

Dan: The Tranya’s delicious, Johnny. Where’d you come by it?

Johnny: I hope you relish it as much as I. I have some contacts within the First Federation. Of course, any more detail than that and I’ll have to annihilate you at a cellular level. Can’t take any chances, you know.

D: I understand completely. *he looks around* This control room is impressive.

Johnny: It’s futuristic, and mostly automatic. Cuts down on labor costs. Hard to keep good people, especially in the middle of a war.

D: You're at war?

J: Yes there we're in the middle of an attack now. I’m feuding with a nearby blog called The Blog Bungalow. They had a Code 7-10 in effect, but those never work, so I made contact and boom. We’re at war.

D: Code 7-10?

Command Room and Battle Map

J: You don’t know? It means “Don’t Approach—Danger!”

D: Right. It’s like one of those “Do Not Touch” signs over a big red button. You can’t not touch that thing.

J: I’m glad you get me, Dan. Now, just hold on while I activate the interceptors. Okay. Returning fire…. And done. So, you’ve got a book. Fires of Man. It’s got a war in it too, right? 

D: Yes, it’s between two neighboring nations, Orion and Calchis. They’re secretly recruiting psions—people with the ability to manipulate energy, and reality itself, at a level of thought. These are two countries that have been at odds for a long time, but now they’re at a stalemate. Most of the world thinks they’ve reached some kind of understanding, and their continued conflict is kept under wraps, as is the existence of these soldiers. The psions are human weapons of mass destruction, with the ability to avoid collateral damage, and no risk of lasting consequences like nuclear fallout.

J: So super mental powers. Cool. What level of technology is it? Space flight or spears? Have they evolved war into the art as I have?

D: Johnny, I don’t think anyone has your flair for warfare. But I think they do a pretty good job. It’s a level of technology equivalent to our own; everything from electric cars to satellite surveillance.

J: What does the title mean, Fires of Man?

D: It works on multiple levels, I think. Most overtly, it refers to the explosive powers the characters can use. But it also evokes the familiar phrase “the fires of war.” And, to me, it represents the ever-advancing juggernaut of human industry, and the effects, both good and bad, thereof.

J: That's cool. So it’s science fiction, but I’ve also seen it called general fiction. Why do you suppose that is?

D: It blurs the line. I’ve even heard some call it fantasy; if it was in a medieval-type setting, I have no doubt the characters would consider their powers magic, as opposed to grounded in science. Additionally, there’s no presence of the advanced tech you usually find in sci-fi. Instead, the “science fiction” aspect is personalized; it’s about these powers. It’s sci-fi in the same sense that the mutant abilities of the X-Men are, essentially, sci-fi.

J: Oh, here’s the Blog Bungalow council telling me to surrender again.

Blog Bungalow Counsel
What a bunch of schmucks.

D: They never learn, do they?

J: You’re telling me. We’ve been at this for years. So, is there a lot of intrigue in Fires of Man?

D: Absolutely. The politics of this world are integral to the story. And the fact that these nations are keeping both psionic powers, and the conflict itself, a secret creates plenty of tension. There’s shady stuff going on, especially in Calchis. One of the main characters is a Calchan covert operative who goes by the moniker “Agent.” He’s up to no good, and is a rather sinister individual, I might add.

J: So it’s the first book of a series, Psionic Earth. Like me, you’re looking at a long war. How’re the other books coming?

D: The manuscript of the second book, Shadows Collide, is with our wonderful mutual publisher, being edited, and I’m writing the first draft of the third book, Prophet Rising.

J: Damn, that was good hit. Look at that devastation. Interceptors couldn’t reload fast enough.

D: I didn’t feel a thing. The shock absorption on your shielding is impressive.

J: I’ll say. Just look at the map.

D: It appears you’re taking heavy fire.

J: Not to worry. I’m going to send in a gas attack. One second.

D: What about the Geneva Convention?

J: Does this look like Geneva? Or a convention? We’re at war man! Those lowliife Blog Bungalow baboons will get what’s coming to them! No offense to baboons, of course. I’ll poison their pool, peel their wallpaper, soil their carpets! Or as near as I can. They’d do the same to me.

D: Oh? The place looks immaculate.

J: Well, yeah, that was all hyperbole. I’m not actually interested in hurting the Blog Bungalow’s bungalow. There’s some great art and decorating in there. It’s the body count that matters.

D: You’re as ruthless as you are eloquent, Johnny.

J: I have a way with words. And warfare. Now tell me about being a screenwriter. Does that pay? Have you done anything I might have seen? That I could mention at your eulogy?

D: My eulogy? Is there something you’re not telling me?

J: It’s just in case.

D: Alas, most screenwriters are paid very little. The “million dollar screenplay” is a rare thing indeed, akin to the northern white rhinoceros, or the Corvan gilvos. I haven’t yet had any of my work produced. But I have some things I’m working on that you may see, sooner or later. Building a career in screenwriting is much like building a career as an author: It requires a dedication to your craft, a willingness to take risks, and strong support from mentors, friends, readers, people who can help you become a better and better writer.

J: I have to admit I’m envious of you living in New York, right in the heart of the industry. Do you have an agent? Can you hook me up?

D: I don’t, but I’m about to shop around another property to agencies, once I finish some rewrites. And yes, New York is an extraordinary place to live. I love it.

*the intercom crackles*

J: Hold on. They want to negotiate. I’ll send my diplomat. Assuming he’s not dead. Ambassador Fox, are you dead?

Ambassador Fox

Fox: Let me see. Hm. I appear to have all my parts intact. The cook’s dead, though.

J: Tell him I’m sorry about that.

Cook: It happens.

J: Fox, hook up with Vendicar, the Blog Bungalow ambassador, and see what they want.

Fox. Yes, sir.

J: Sorry Dan, where were we? Oh yes, tell me how you came to get your book into print.

D: When I was in drama school, one of my acting teachers told me we had to “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.” And I did just that. Once I was confident the manuscript was in good enough shape, I submitted absolutely everywhere I could. I was thrilled when Jolly Fish Press offered me a contract, and after some consideration, I decided to sign.

A direct hit!

J: Look out! Lalalalalalala!

D: What happened?

J: They hit the command room. Lucky for me I had I personal shield.

D: What? You mean how you trilled your tongue?

J: Yeah. That counts as a shield. I’m okay.

D: Good for you.

J: It’s been nice talking to you Dan, but I’m afraid under the rules of engagement, you now have to report to the disintegration chamber to be executed as a casualty of war.

D: Which rules of engagement would those be?

Sonic Disruptors

J: Don’t make me use this. *brandishes a sonic disrupter* The clean-up’s a mess.

D: Whatever happened to good, old-fashioned hospitality?

*Johnny shocks Dan* Ouch!

J: That was the lowest setting. Now get moving. Blame the Blog Bungalow. Those guys are savages!

D: Hey, you’re the one herding me into the disintegration chamber. At the very least you could jettison me into space so I can pretend I’m Sandra Bullock in Gravity. Maybe catch a ride on a passing asteroid.

Death Chamber 12

J: That’s an idea for next time.

D: I’m not sure after disintegration there’ll be a next time.

J: Yeah, I’m still working on that one. Now, I really must ask you to get moving. You understand. This way the war rages on, but the Blog Mansion endures, its culture and furniture. Cocktail weenies and cornflakes. I go on, but the casualties pile up. It’s a war of attrition and I’m going to win it.

D: Well, at least you have your priorities straight.

J: Oh, before you get disintegrated, where can people find out more about you? If they want to send flowers and such?

D: At my site, danlevinsonwriting.com. I’m also on Facebook at facebook.com/ReadDanLevinson, and on Twitter, @ReadDanLevinson. People can also check out Fires of Man at:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads

J: Okay, now let’s go. There’s a death chamber right there. Good luck with your book.

D: Psionic powers, hoooooo!

*Dan vanishes with a crackle of energy*

J: Note to self: Recruit psionic soldiers for next engagement. Fox, how’s it going with Vendicar?

Fox: He’s ready to list their demands.

J: Good. As soon as he’s done, shoot him.

Fox: Why? Because the Blog Mansion does not negotiate with rival blogs?

J: Because I owe him ten bucks from poker night.

In the mind of Kate Jonez

Kate Jonez
Lets get into her mind

It’s not every day an author gets to literally put the screws to his publisher, let alone drive spikes into her skull. What’s a little re-programming and brain-damage among friends?

Kate Jonez is not only a prolific dark fiction writer she’s also my publisher. I brought her into the Blog Mansion to search her mind for tips and tricks of the trade and plumb her dark fiction secrets.

Johnny: The helmet really is comfortable after you wear it a little while.

Kate: Are those nails?

J: Spikes really. Think of them as long needles.

K: What do they do?

J:  They’re to hold the helmet in place and connect the sensors to your inner brain.

K: How deep do they go?

J: No more than eight inches. I’ll use the little mallet.

K: Okay. I’m beginning to feel a little weird.

J: Probably the sedative I snuck into your coffee. Or the massive electric shocks through your frontal lobes. Who can tell? As the soothing stabbing slows, tell me about dark fiction. Why do you like it?

K: Dark fiction is a way to explore fear. I think fear is a contender for the strongest human emotion. It’s definitely an interesting emotion. Fear drives people to do all sorts of things from washing their hands to building spaceships.

J: I like the term dark fantasy better than horror. What would you say is the difference between dark fantasy and horror?

K: For many readers, horror fiction, to be good, has to generate a feeling of fear. The only other genre with similar requirements is erotica. No one ever puts down a book and says I didn’t get that science fiction feeling. Even though horror is actually diverse and ever-expanding, the requirement of the spine-tingle and the fallout from the torture porn in film has tarnished horror as a genre. Hopefully, all the exciting new books coming out will improve horror’s image.

The distinction between horror and dark fantasy has more to do with point of view. Horror stories, traditionally, begin with normal people leading normal lives in familiar cities or towns. When the supernatural element is introduced into the story, the normal people fight the evil because they love their normal lives and don’t want them to be destroyed. They might win or lose, but they, and by proxy the reader, are always on the side of good. In dark fantasy the morals are usually more ambiguous. The point of view character could be a supernatural being with an agenda of his or her own, or it could be an evil or immoral character or it could be a recognizable character that transforms into something else. Both types of stories can be interesting. I think dark fantasy offers more opportunities to explore non-traditional ideas.

J: What drew you to the dark side? Terrible childhood trauma perhaps? The helmet knows all!

K: I had a very happy childhood. My sister and I each had our own cage in the basement. We used to decorate them by making daisy chains from cockroaches. Just like other kids, we looked forward to seeing our parents once a week on feeding/hosing day. Oh to return to the salad days of childhood. Good times.

J: Don’t touch the slugs. I know they tickle, but they’re an integral part of the helmet.

K: Ummm

J: Congratulations on your Bram Stoker® award nomination for Candy House. How has that affected your life?

K: Being nominated for the Bram Stoker® Award was a great honor. I’m not sure it has changed my life much, but it is a nice accomplishment to list in cover letters. It helps get my foot in the door.

J: I want you to know I’m not even remotely envious of you any more. Do you believe me?

Psychic Slug

K: No.

J: Oh? Well let me tighten this clamp a bit. How about now.

K: Still think you’re envious.

J: Okay, and now?

K: What were we talking about?

J: Good. Good. Let’s talk about Omnium Gatherum Media now. How did you get into publishing? Give me the whole sordid history.

K: Several years ago, I was hearing about all the changes in publishing and after doing quite a bit of research, I could not find any evidence that starting a small press was a bad idea. I looked for reasons not to do it. Every business takes investment of money, time and ability. I was lucky to have a workable combination of those three elements.

J: I have to say that OG has excellent taste! Besides publishing BEATRYSEL what other huge honors has the press received?

K: Omnium Gatherum, which means “this and that” in Latin, has had three titles nominated for Shirley Jackson Awards. (28 Teeth of Rage by Ennis Drake and Knock Knock and Delphine Dodd by S.P. Miskowski) All OG authors deserve prizes. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.

J: Do you like editing or writing better?

Keep or chuck?

K: Writing and editing seem similar on the surface, but  are actually two completely different jobs. They are both really hard. Each causes its own variety of stress and anxiety. Writing requires tapping into emotions that are often best left buried

J: What’s the worst part of being an editor/publisher?

K: Saying no to a manuscript is the most painful part of the job. Second is working with an author who takes each and every comment I make as a personal insult.

J: What is the best part?

K: Nothing is more rewarding than when a book I’ve helped bring into the world gets the recognition it deserves. Whether it’s an award nomination or a reader review or piece of fan art, there’s no better feeling.

J: What will publishing look like in ten years?

K:  Ten years from now, once society as we know it has collapsed, stories will be written in excrement on salvaged Big Mac wrappers. We will still be arguing about whether using  our own or someone else’s excrement produces a superior product.

J: Ceremony of Flies. I haven’t seen a final copy yet. Did I get an editing credit

K: Thank you for beta reading Ceremony of Flies. Your insights were invaluable. You’ll find yourself listed in the Acknowledgments. Thank you, Johnny. You’re an excellent beta reader.

J: Well we’ll make up for that in your next book. Wait... what? Acknowledgments... really? Cool. I'll reward with a happy interlude of colorful lights and licorice scent. I’ll just tighten a couple more screws, swish on some more slug slime and hammer another spike in. There. All done. Good?

K: Blublablaugah.

J: Oh, sorry. Too tight.

Eel kind of looks like a slug

K: Goarwe uff.

J: Oh… I had an eel there instead of a slug. How’s that. better?

K: Yes.

J: So for my readers, tell us about Ceremony of Flies.

K: In Ceremony of Flies, two petty criminals find themselves inextricably linked when a stop at a roadside bar leads to murder. On the run and out of options, they reluctantly rescue a stranded boy and his dog from a lonely crossroads in the Mojave Desert and decide for the first time in their lives to do the right thing. This one selfless act unleashes a terrifying onslaught of demonic trouble as they struggle to save the boy—and themselves—from an evil far greater than they ever imagined.

Release day for the hard cover and ebook version of Ceremony of Flies is July 8th. The ebook is available for pre-order here.

DarkFuse, my publisher is doing wonderful things. You should check out all their authors.

J: Where on the internet can people find out more about you?

WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
Orkut 

J: Now let me just tweek this so you’ll like long dialog passages.

K: That’ll never happen. No one speechifies like that in real…

J: How about now.

K: Gugbagaos.

J: I think we’re there.

Aurelio Rico Lopez III - Thirdy at the Blog Mansion

Aurelio Rico Lopez III
"Thirdy"

Aurelio Rico Lopez III had a reservation for the Blog Mansion months ago but got bumped by the Shriners, then the Shower Curtain People, Cinco de Mayo and that unfortunate addiction addicts intervention. (You’ll be happy to know that Marge is recovering well and is still working her steps.)

Aurelio Rico Lopez III’s friends call him Thirdy, by the way. I’m going to try it.

Johnny: Sorry it took you so long to get in, Thirdy. You know how it is.

Thirdy: How is it?

J: I’m lazy.

T: That would explain why you’re talking to me in your underwear.

J: And I had to dig these out of the hamper before I opened the door.

T: You mean while you opened the door.

J: Yeah. More eye bleach?

T: Nah, I‘m good.

J: You write scary stories. I’m sure you’ve seen worse than me in my underwear.

T: Not much worse.

J: What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever written?

T: That’s a tough one. Probably my short story Black Coffee. I don’t know what it was about that tale, but writing it gave me goosebumps.

J: For me it was the confession that I answer the door in my underwear.

T: I can see that.

J: Sorry. I’ll adjust. More bleach?

T: Maybe just a touch.

J: So you’re doing werewolves. Tell me about Cry Wolf.

T: Cry Wolf was a novella I wrote for Crowded Quarantine Press. It’s a werewolf apocalypse tale set in Iloilo City, Philippines. In my novella, the world is overrun with werewolves. Only a few men who call themselves hunters, stalk and kill the beasts, but it’s a battle that mankind is losing.

J: It’s a short book. Do you always write short books?

T: I have found that my comfort zone falls between ten thousand to fifteen thousand words. Perhaps someday, I will write a piece that’s longer.

J: Madness Inherent is a little longer. What’s it about?

T: Madness Inherent was published by JWK Publishing early this year.  The book is actually two novelettes: Wretched, which is about a demon slayer, and Easier Dead Than Done, a story about a vampire.  Don’t you worry.  My vampires don’t sparkle.

J: Food for the Crows. Zombies. Zombies are cool. Tell me about your zombies. Are they fast or slow, brains or muscle diet?

T: My zombies move depending on the amount of decay and damage their bodies have sustained.  Personally, I prefer fast zombies to the ones that are reduced to shuffling around.  As far as diet goes, the zombies in Food for the Crows will eat just about anything with a pulse.

J: How long do you think underwear should last? I think you wear them until they disintegrate on their own, others say longer. What’s your opinion?

T: I think once the flies start buzzin’, it’s time for a changin’.

J: Well who asked you?

T: You did.

J: Touché. Tell me, do you set your books in the Philippines?

T: So far, all of my novellas and novelettes have been set in the Philippines, but most of my short stories haven’t. Once, I had to set a story in the Wild West for an anthology.  I’ve never met a real cowboy, never worn a pair of boots, and never fired a gun before. I spent an entire week watching cowboy films for research. Thankfully, I pulled it off, and my story was included in the anthology.

J: Boxers or briefs?

T: Boxers.

J: Interesting.

T: Really? Umm... Do you have a robe or something?

J: Are you cold?

T: I was thinking of one for you.

J: Oh. Nope. Speaking of horror. What attracts you to write it?

T: The first novel I remember reading was The Vision by Dean Koontz. After that, I was hooked. Horror is like a trip to a funhouse. You scare yourself senseless, but you keep coming back.

J: Have you tried any other genres? Middle grade picture books perhaps when not fighting zombies and werewolves and such?

T: Back in college, I wrote a couple of children’s stories for local magazine. It didn’t last though.

J: I always ask. Tell me about your journey from writer to author.

T: My mother was an English teacher, so growing up with her was like being in a classroom 24/7.  All the mid-sentence corrections were a pain, but my mom is the reason I got into reading and writing. I joined the school paper (in high school and again in college). Many of my friends enjoyed hanging out and doing the silly things kids do. I did a lot of that too, but a large portion of my time was spent reading and writing.

When I finally had access to the Internet, I sent some of my stories to online zines and print publications.

The rest, I guess, is history.

J: How’d you hook up with Crowded Quarantine Publications? How are they to work with?

T: I think I first discovered them on Ralan.com.  I sent Adam Millard a query, telling him I’d recently finished writing a zombie novella (Food for the Crows).  He emailed me a few days later, saying he’d love to see it, so I sent it along.  A month or so later, I got another email from Mr. Millard.  He said he’d love to publish my novella. I was ecstatic! This was the first time I’d ever sold a book. I was smiling for days.

J: What are you working on now? What’s your next book?

T: My latest book is a collection of short stories called Nothing’s Fine (JWK Publishing).  Currently, I’m working on a new novella entitled Crawlers.  I can’t tell you what that’s about yet.  Hehehe.

J: Where on the vast and powerful, soon to be extinct because of greedy corporate monsters and the NSA, internet can peeps find out more about you?

T: I’m on Facebook, so if anyone wants to talk about horror movies, books, music, coffee, tarantulas, anime, etc., just send me an invite.  I also have an author’s page on Amazon.com.

J: Hey I just noticed, there’s a hole in my underwear.

T:  Yeah, about that... I’m gonna need more eye bleach.

ELEANOR, THE UNSEEN Autographed Book Giveaway!

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L. K. Hill - Citadels of Fire & Rocket Cats

L. K. Hill
16th Century

Today The Blog Mansion welcomes L.K Hill, who I will call Liesel, because that’s her freakin’ name - what’s with all the initials lately? Anyway, her new book is CITADELS OF FIRE an historical fiction set in medieval Russia at the time of Ivan the Terrible. It was the perfect chance to walk her through the hall of portraits. I don’t get there nearly enough. It’s hard to find.

Liesel: Are all these your relatives?

Johnny: Mine or somebody else’s.

L: These look are very old.

J: This is the 16th Century corridor. I thought it the most fitting since that’s the setting for your book. The 16th Century, not my corridor of pictures.

L: I knew what you meant.

Ivan the Terrible

J: Why was Ivan called Ivan the Terrible?

L: Terrible actually didn't have quite the same connotation in the 16th century as it does now. Back then, it meant awe-inspiring or amazing. It's like in old English when they talk about great and terrible deeds. His name came from all the great things he accomplished for his country. His subjects were in amazement of him.

J: Is he a character in your book?

L: Yes. He's a secondary character, but the story is set against the backdrop of his reign, which was often quite bloody.

J: That one is Jason the Miserable. He was miserable. And that over there, that’s Susan the Big Boned. But I don’t know. Could have been carbs.

L: Agreed. They weren't big on nutrition when these people were alive. Hopefully she had a big husband, unlike Agatha the Bigfoot who married Pipin the Short.

J: What’s the attraction of 16th Century Russia for a fiction?

Barbara the Loose-Bladdered

L: It's such a different time and culture. There are things that will be quite alien to readers, but also the same human problems that many face today, which they will be able to identify with.

J: Yeah, okay. So tell me about it.

L: This is a world where there are profound extremes. The nobles lived in gluttonous excess while the poor were ground into the mud. Saying one wrong thing could get you killed, and nowhere and nothing is safe. Just surviving was a grueling feat, and nothing was fair. Yet, people still lived, loved, raised their children, and tried to make lives for themselves. They still battled themselves, their enemies, and other people around them, trying to make their lives better. Meanwhile, battles were fought around them, and the great Kremlin wall overshadowed them all.

J: Cool. Do you like that one there? That’s a portrait of Larry the Liver-Spotted. And that one next to it is of Barbara the Loose-Bladdered. He never married. That’s Neal the Plague Breath. Hey is there plague in CITADELS OF FIRE?

L: No. It's mentioned because it was a part of life back then, but it's not a huge part of the plot. There are other things, though. Namely fires, wars, illness, and other deadly situations.

J: Tell me about the characters in your book. Do they have cool titles too? Inga the Protagonist maybe? Or Taras the English Dude in the Russian Court?

L: Those sound like awesome titles to me. Because Inga is a maid, she isn't in a lofty-enough position to hold a title. In fact, at one point she has a conversation with Taras about how she doesn't even really have a surname. She refers to herself as Inga Russovna, which simply means 'daughter of Russia.' It's a fitting title for her. Taras doesn't have a formal title because he's seen as a foreigner, but he's ambitious and quickly moves up in the Russian court.

J: How did you mix your fictional characters into actual historical events without altering the current time-line and throwing us all into a trans-dimensional paradox?

L: Very carefully, Johnny. Actually, I do mess with the timeline a bit. I collapse it. Many of the events I cover in the trilogy take place over 20+ years of Ivan's life. I wanted my characters to go through them as well, but I didn't necessarily want them to age that much. So, I collapsed the timeline, making it so that instead of five years passing here and twelve years passing there, it was only one or two in each case. Because of that, dates and important events won't necessarily match up with history, but that's okay with me. I tried to keep all the actual events as accurate as possible. I didn't give much thought to the trans-dimensional paradox, though. *shudders* Hopefully the universe doesn't implode when my book hits shelves. How will I ever make the NYT Bestseller list if it does?

Tad the Compensating for Something

J: CITADELS OF FIRE is the first book of the KREMLINS Trilogy. I didn’t know you could plural Kremlin. That’s how much I know. Anyway, how’re the other books coming along?

L: Other than the famous place, a 'kremlin' in Russian is simply a wall. This is a story about people who cripple themselves by putting up walls that keeps them from being happy. That's why I pluralized it. Not sure if it's grammatically kosher, but that's why the term "dramatic license" was invented, right?

Book 2 is written and in the capable hands of my publisher. It's coming along great. Book 3 still needs some work, but I've got plenty of time. No worries. I'll have it out exactly when people need it.

J: That’s Pat the Dubiously Gendered. She, er uh, he that one there was an inspiration for an old Saturday Night Live Skit. What inspired you to write Kremlins now? Did Vladimir Putin put you up to it?

Pat the Dubiously Gendered

L: Er, No. In college, I was a history minor. To accomplish my degree, I simply had to take so many credit hours of upper level history classes. I stumbled upon Russian history and thought to myself that I knew very little about it. I sort of fell in love with it, taking three full semesters. It was those classes that inspired the story. The depravity of the country's history simply fired up my imagination, and my story was born. Putin may be a big part of Russia's present, but I give him no credit for her past, or my imagination.

J: Tell me your tale of publishing success. How did you go from writer to author?

L: Perseverance. Plain and simple. I took me several years to write my first novel. Incidentally, it was this one. Of course, being my first full length book, it was terrible. But I continued to learn and grow as an author. Every time I learned something new, I would go back through the manuscript and revise. You hear a lot of authors say that their first books fell by the wayside because they were crap and when they realized it and moved onto something better, it's the best thing they could have done for themselves. Not so with me. I loved this story. I fully recognized that my writing needed honing, but it's a story I desperately wanted to tell. So, after several years and many, many revisions, Jolly Fish Press picked up the book, split it into three volumes, and put me on the road to publication.

In the meantime, I've also published a dystopian book, Persistence of Vision, and put out a crime fiction novel, Street Games. Becoming an author has less to do with talent and more to do with hard work and perseverance. You just have to keep working hard and moving forward.

J: Here’s Riley the Slightly Annoying, Eric the Butler, Susan the Threatener,

L: Riley the Slightly Annoying?

J: We can’t all be terrible. How terrible is Dr. LaRae Larkin? I’m calling her LaRae the Forward because he wrote your forward. Think she’ll like that?

L: She's amazing. Incidentally, she's the one who taught me Russian history, so I'll always be in her debt. This book wouldn't exist without her. Which is one of the reasons I asked her to write the forward.

J: We’re about done here. Where can people find out more about you?

WEBPAGE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
BLOG
AMAZON
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J: And lastly here’s Tyrone the Sedentary, Mas the Dyslexic and Fluffy the Adorable and Flammable Military Device.

L: You have cat pictures? From the 16th Century?

J: I have a whole wing dedicated to 16th Century Rocket Cats.

L: That was a thing?

J: Yes. The Rocket Cat was a real thing.

Fluffy the Adorable and Flammable Military Device

CITADELS OF FIRE: Book Description:

In a world where danger hides in plain sight and no one aspires to more than what they were born to, Inga must find the courage to break the oppressive chains she’s been bound with since birth.

As a maid in the infamous Kremlin, life in 16th-century Russia is bleak and treacherous. That is, until Taras arrives. Convinced that his mother’s death when he was a boy was no mere accident, he returned from England to discover what really happened. While there, he gains favor from the Tsar later known as Ivan the Terrible, the most brutal and notorious ruler ever to sit upon the throne of Russia. Ivan allows him to take a servant, and to save Inga from a brutal boyar intent on raping her, Taras requests Inga to stay in his chambers.

Up against the social confines of the time, the shadowy conspiracies that cloak their history, and the sexual politics of the Russian Imperial court, Inga and Taras must discover their past, plan for their future, and survive the brutality that permeates life within the four walls that tower over them all, or they may end up like so many citizens of ancient Russia: nothing but flesh and bone mortar for the stones of the Kremlin wall.

Jane Isaac – At the Crime-Scene (in progress)

Jane Isaac
English Crime Writer

I invited English Crime Writer Jane Isaac over to the Blog Mansion for an authentic English spring cocktail party to help celebrate her new book The Truth Will Out. To make her feel at home, I arranged the guest list and props accordingly.

Jane: Is that a flapper costume?

Johnny: Yeah. There’s going to be a Charleston competition later if there’s anyone still standing.

Jane: The drinks are strong.

Johnny: That too.

Jane: I feel under-dressed.

Johnny: You are, but no matter. Drink up. Those olives aren’t going to pickle themselves. Let’s go to the parlor. Tell us first about an Unfamiliar Murder.

Jane: When I started writing psychological thrillers I quickly decided that I wanted to weave the machinations of a police procedural in with the viewpoint of a victim in the case to create suspenseful, page turning storylines with an original twist – something I’d like to read myself.

Although An Unfamiliar Murder is essentially a murder mystery, it’s also the story of two women, one fighting to prove her innocence, the other trying to prove herself in the senior echelons of a competitive profession, whilst juggling the demands of parenting teenage sons. Let me share my blurb with you:

“Is this what it feels like to be buried alive?”
Arriving home from a routine day at work, Anna Cottrell has no idea that her life is about to change forever. But discovering the stabbed body of a stranger in her flat, then becoming prime suspect in a murder enquiry is only the beginning. Her persistent claims of innocence start to crumble when new evidence links her irrevocably with the victim…

Leading her first murder enquiry, DCI Helen Lavery unravels a trail of deception, family secrets and betrayal. When Anna’s boyfriend is kidnapped and Anna herself disappears, Lavery is forced into a race against time. Can she catch the killer before he executes his ultimate victim?

Johnny: And now DCI Helen Lavery lives and is now in The Truth Will Out (SPOILERS - she survives An Unfamiliar Murder!) Tell us about The Truth Will Out.

Jane: The Truth Will Out sees DCI Helen Lavery face her toughest case yet. Here’s the blurb:

“Everything’s going to be okay.”

“What if it’s not?”

Suddenly, she turned. For a split second she halted, her head inclined.

“Naomi, what is it?”

She whisked back to face Eva. “There’s somebody in the house... ”
Eva is horrified when she witnesses an attack on her best friend. She calls an ambulance and forces herself to flee Hampton, fearing for her own safety. DCI Helen Lavery leads the investigation into the murder. With no leads, no further witnesses and no sign of forced entry, the murder enquiry begins.
Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle start to come together. But as Helen inches towards solving the case, her past becomes caught up in her present.

Someone is after them both. Someone who will stop at nothing to get what they want. And as the net starts to close around them, can Helen escape her own demons as well as helping Eva to escape hers?

Johnny: Watch your step.

Jane: There’s a knife in that man’s back!

Johnny: Yeah, that’s probably why he’s on the floor.

Jane: Is he dead?

Johnny: Hope so - I’m going to bury him tomorrow.

Jane: Who killed him?

Johnny: I don’t know. Just like home though right?

Jane: What are you talking about?

Johnny: You’re from England. You write crime thrillers. I’ve seen enough of them to know that if you’re a crime writer in England people are dropping like flies around you. I’ve read my Agatha Christie. I’ve seen Morse and Lewis. It is my objective opinion that England, is the murder capital of the world. No cocktail party is complete without at least one body.

Jane: There’s another.

Johnny: Yep. Looks like someone hit her with a candlestick. If you’ll notice there’re several in every room, all conveniently located for quick bludgeoning access.

Jane: Quick move!

Johnny: A spear. Nice. Old school. So what was the inspiration for DCI Helen Lavery? An actual detective perhaps? One you met in you daily life in body-strewn England?

Jane: I interviewed police officers at many different levels of the UK police force to establish a believable DCI that we can all relate to and to make her feel real, so I guess she is made up of fragments of lots of different people. I wanted to avoid the tired, divorced, alcoholic detective. This role had been delivered many times and very brilliantly by numerous authors. Helen is ambitious, but not in the sense of chasing recognition that comes with rank. Her motivation is to make a difference to society, to follow in her father’s footsteps by managing the homicide and major crime team and putting the really bad guys away. For this reason, occasionally she adopts unorthodox methods in order to achieve her aim.

Johnny: How is she fixed romantically?

Jane: Ha! Now you’ll have to read the books to find that one out.

Johnny: What terrible demons haunt Helen from her past?

Jane: Helen was widowed ten years ago and left to raise two boys whilst carrying out the demands of a responsible job. What makes her unique is the fact that she feels real; most of us know somebody in similar circumstances.

Johnny: You’ve had formal training in writing I see. Being English, you obviously didn’t need any for murder. How was the Writers Bureau and the London School of Journalism? How many students died by foul play every year? On average.

Jane: Was that a gunshot?

Johnny: Sounded more like a grenade. That, that was a gunshot.

Jane: It barely missed us.

Johnny: You, I think. I hope. Anyway don’t change the subject: Writing school.

Jane:  I’ve always been a perennial student. Over the years I’ve taken many courses from law to pottery, but when I started the fiction side of my creative writing course I fell in love. Writing school gave me structure, a chance to try out different styles and encouraged me to write my first novel. And if I didn’t like my tutors, I could always kill them off in my work.

Johnny: I always have to ask how it went for you, how you went from writer to author; how you broke through. Tell me about your journey and don’t drink that. Martini’s shouldn’t have bubbles.

Jane: The road has been a little rocky. I used to write freelance articles for newspapers and magazines and gave that up to write my first novel. When I finished An Unfamiliar Murder I was still studying creative writing and it was my tutor who encouraged me to submit it to agents. I didn’t expect a positive response (you get so used to receiving rejections in this industry) so you can imagine my surprise when two literary agents expressed an interest.

I signed with a London agent and we worked on the novel to edit it before he submitted it to the major publishing houses. It was an exciting time but, although the feedback was very positive, nobody signed the book. The rights reverted to me and I decided to try my luck with the independent publishers and very quickly signed with US based Rainstorm Press who published it in February 2012.

For my second book I decided to pursue a UK publisher which meant I had to plunge myself back into the submissions process once again. It’s a strange time when you are waiting to hear, especially as many of them quote reading times of 4-6 months. Luckily it was picked up by the lovely Legend Press team in London.

Johnny: Rainstorm Press brought out your first DCI Helen Lavery book, An Unfamiliar Murder, but Legend Press is handling The Truth Will Out. How and why the change?

Jane: My first book was only made available in my local stores and online, so the main motivation for the change was to help with distribution in the UK. Since I joined Legend Press I have been supported by a lovely publicity team who are so helpful and work tirelessly for their authors which certainly helps on the promotional side.

Johnny: What are you working on now?

Jane: My latest work in progress is a thriller based in nearby Stratford upon Avon. I’m presently undertaking lots of research field visits which I am enjoying immensely.

Johnny: Promotion is the real trick. What are you and Legend Press doing to push your book?

Jane: We are working together on a combination of online interviews and guest blogs, and real events like author signings and panels to get the word out there.

Johnny: And the band falls silent.

Jane: Only after that terrible gurgling chorus of choking sounds.

Johnny: Yeah, that was pretty good. Poison or garrote you think?

Jane: What was that?

Johnny: Oh come on. You know the sound of a body falling to the floor. You’re from England. There what about that one.

Jane: It was softer.

Johnny: Duh. It was a woman. You must have jet lag.

Jane: Yawns.

Johnny: I need your digits. Give me your links before that lion sees us.

Jane: A lion?! Really?

Johnny: Right there.

Jane: It’s covered in blood.

Johnny: Not it's own I’ll wager.

Jane: Why?

Johnny: To make you feel at home. Stay with me Jane. Don’t show fear. Links.

Jane:

WEBSITE
BLOG
TWITTER @janeisaacauthor
FACEBOOK
Legend Press
AMAZON US 
AMAZON UK

Johnny: It’s gotten eerily quiet hasn’t it?  Are all English cocktail parties always over this quickly? We didn’t even get to sample the hors d'oeuvres.

Jane: You mean the ones over there by the dead cat?

Johnny: Yeah.

Jane: No thanks.

Johnny: Do you smell gas?

Jane: That’s it. I’m outta here.