“Twisted”: An Unusual Body Switching Tale
Posted: September 21, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Dark Fantasy, Paranormal, romance, Romantic Comedy, Speculative Fiction | Tags: Book Review, Dark Fantasty, Humor, Paranormal Romance, RA Winter, Speculative Fiction, Twisted, vampires, werewolves 3 Comments
We’ve all heard tales which involved body switching, but what does one do when they are switched into the body of, not only the opposite sex, but that of a different species, one that is your sworn enemy? Twisted is a Vampire Werewolf Freaky Friday novelette, by R.A. Winter which deals with just such a delimma. And the worst part is, they are going to have to work together if they want to save their world.
This funny, quirky novelette explores the unthinkable and makes it believable and entertaining. The humor is on the adult side and may be a little over the top for the YA crowd, but it will keep the pages turning. It’s a fun read andI give Twisted five quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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Writing for a YA Audience: Boo! There’s a ghost behind you.
Posted: September 19, 2018 Filed under: Fiction, Paranormal, Speculative Fiction, Writing, Writing for a YA Audience, Young Adult | Tags: Ghost Stories, Ghosts, Jordan Elizabeth, Paranormal, YA, Young Adult, Young Adult Fiction Leave a comment
Ghost stories have always fascinated me. I’m obsessed with history, so I see ghosts as a link to the past. They’re our chance to communicate with those who came before. Plus, the mystery surrounding ghosts is fascinating.
Ghost stories are prevalent in young adult fiction, as well as non-fiction. Whenever I visit a new locale, I always check out books on local ghosts. You can see I love ghosts, right? They tend to drift into my writing more often than not. My young adult novel, VICTORIAN, centers around ghosts in an abandoned village where visitors come to relive the past. ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW features a ghost child trapped by a witch’s curse. TREASURE DARKLY tells the story of Clark Treasure, a young man who receives the gift of communicating – and raising – the dead.
Oftentimes, I’m asked if I believe in ghosts. That’s a big yes. I’ve even experienced a few ghostly happenings.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Ever since I was a small child, I’ve had people say my name, voices no one else hears. It doesn’t happen all the time and the voices never answer if I reply. I always turn to find no one behind me. The earliest time I can remember was when I was driving by Lake Delta. A voice came from beside me on the back seat. “Jordan!” No one was there and my parents hadn’t heard it. More recently (a few years ago), I was working in a renovated woolen mill. This building of weathered brick was infamous in the neighborhood for its hauntings. I never saw or felt a presence, but twice a female called my name from directly behind me when I was alone in an office with a closed door – and the only other person in the building was a male custodian.
I was a recent high school graduate when one of my grandmother’s close friends passed away. She and I were in her bedroom when the phone rang, My dog – the only one else in the house – was also in the bedroom. While my grandmother was learning about the passing from her friend’s daughter, a box of candy flew off the kitchen table and slid across the floor. It had been on the center of the table and we hadn’t experienced an earthquake. Nothing else in the house moved. I like to think it was the friend’s way of saying goodbye.
The other ghostly goodbye came while I was at my then-boyfriend’s house. I suddenly had an eerie feeling. The world wasn’t quite right. After a few minutes, I went to get a drink. As soon as I walked into the other room, a female voice said my name directly behind me. Almost instantly, the eerie feeling passed. I learned the next day that my father’s aunt had died. I’d only met her a few times, but perhaps she had done her rounds through the family to say farewell.
I’ve been on plenty of ghost tours, but only once did I catch an orb on film. A local church is connected to a mansion with giant pillars, beautiful windows, and embellished rooms. The mansion is breathtaking. A friend hooked my parents and I up with an exclusive tour. Many people have claimed to have experienced ghostly happenings, but we didn’t see or feel anything. I did, however, catch a clear orb in a picture of the upstairs sitting room. Ghost or dust? I like to think it’s a ghost saying hello.
Photo by OVAN on Pexels.com
Have you had any ghostly experiences? If you have, share them with us below!
Jordan Elizabeth is a young adult fantasy author. She may or may not be staring at a supposedly haunted house trying to see faces in the windows. You can connect with Jordan – and point her in the direction of some paranormal activity – via her website, JordanElizabethBooks.com.
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Interview with Multi-Genre Author R.A. Winter
Posted: September 17, 2018 Filed under: Author Profile, Book Covers, Books, Contemporary Romance, Fantasy, Fiction, Interview, Paranormal, romance, Speculative Fiction, Western, Writing | Tags: Author Interview, Contemporary Romance, Mystic, Native American, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, R.A. Winter, Spirit Keys series, Twisted, Western 2 Comments
I recently made the acquaintance of the energetic, sassy author, R.A. Winter. She writes in several genres, including fantasy, magical realism, dark fantasy, , time travel romance, contemporary Native American romance, and paranormal Native American western. And it seems she never rests when it comes to writing. Please help me to welcome R.A. Winter to Writing to be Read.
Kaye: Hello and welcome. Would you start by sharing the story of your own publishing journey?
R.A.: I started out writing genealogy nonfiction books under my married name. I love research and old libraries! I also love reading romances. With so many ideas flirting around my head, I thought I’d give creative writing a go.
Kaye: Is there anything unique or unusual about your writing process?
R.A.: I write the raunchiest first draft, the humor is way over the top. Then I cut it down, and my crit circle cuts it down further. My editor slices more. They say that a bit of humor goes a long way.
Kaye: You have sites on both WordPress and Wix. Can you give us the advantages and disadvantages of each? Which site do you prefer? Why?
R.A.: Wix is easier to deal with, super simple to navigate and change. WordPress is a bit of a pickle to deal with, and every time I change something, I mess up the page. I do prefer WordPress because I can easily share review and pages on a whim. Wix doesn’t give you that option.
Kaye: You’re on the review team at The Naked Reviewers, where authors can submit a book and request an honest review. Would you like to tell us a little about that site and what the review process is?
R.A.: We have a group of published author on Scribophile.com who formed the group. Right now, I think there is twelve of us. When someone submits a book, we all read the first chapter, the ‘look inside’ feature on Amazon. Then we rate the writing, the blurb, and the cover. If two of us agree, we review the book. Each Wednesday, two of us leave our review as a feature, if anyone else read it, they leave their thoughts in the ‘comment’ section. It does mean that most books that we review get a 4.0 or higher rating, usually. We wanted to show off the best books.
Kaye: You had bad experience with Amazon regarding reviews. This is something we’re hearing from many authors, although complaints vary. Many reviewers, including myself, have had book reviews pulled by Amazon, with the claim that their terms of use were violated because of an existing relationship which would bias our opinions. I even heard of an reviewer whose reviews were pulled because Amazon saw that they were Facebook friends, which they claimed indicated a prior relationship. (This doesn’t make sense to me. Many authors who I have done reviews for have become virtual online friends because of the review, not the other way around.) Your experience was a bit different because it wasn’t books that you were reviewing. Would you like to tell us a little about your experience?
R.A.: I ordered products from Amazon.com. A coffee grinder, a milk frother, and a small coffee taper, they just happened to be from the same company in China. Now, I review every product I receive, but when I went to upload my reviews, Amazon wouldn’t allow it. After contacting them, they said that I had a ‘relationship’ with the company in China and that I’d violated their terms. Apparently, I ordered too many things from them. I just don’t understand. They ask you to review, you review… then they’re like… you review too much! They banned me for LIFE for writing any reviews.
My point to them was- IF I was screwing reviews, wouldn’t my books have like 300 hundred reviews instead of each of them having less then 10? I mean seriously. THAT’S what would have benefited me!
Kaye: What is one thing that your readers would never guess about you?
R.A.: I have five children… all boys. I’ve lived in 5 different countries too. I don’t know which one was harder to live through. And all my boys look like my husband.
Kaye: What are your secrets for juggling writing with family?
R.A.: My kids are older, so they don’t need me. I like to write at night, when the house is quiet and no one interrupts. My earbuds are essential, and a song list that corresponds to my writing mood.
Kaye: You have some really great covers, some of which you’ve shared here. What do you do for cover art? DIY, or hired out, or cookie cutter prefab? Do you have a great cover designer you’d like to recommend?
R.A.: Some are creations of Kayci Morgan, from KreativeCovers.com. A few I did myself, which you can probably tell. Kayci is wonderful to work with and very reasonable. I am learning Photoshop and I’m doing my own teasers. I’m getting better but I just don’t have the finesse to do covers well.
Kaye: You have a paranormal romance fantasy novella, Twisted, which I’m excited to be reviewing here on Writing to be Read. (So watch for that review on Friday.) What can you tell us about that story?
R.A.: Twisted is a novella, and one of the hardest things I’ve
written.
It’s a Freaky-Friday, body switching piece… full of adult humor. A witch’s land is cursed. Males are no longer born to the vampires, nor are females born to the wolves. To end the curse, the witch must solve a riddle, and she has to have the cooperation of the vampires and the werewolves.
Kaye: What is the strangest inspiration for a story you’ve ever had?
R.A.: My Spirit Key series was a way to keep my cat alive in my memories. He’d just past away, and Dingle had the oddest personality for a cat. He always reminded me of an old man, you know the one. The spunky old guy in the nursing home who’s constantly bugging the pretty nurses and running behind them with his walker, never able to catch them. Occasionally, he’d pinch their behinds, but act like he didn’t do it. I taught Dingle how to wink, but usually he had this grumpy look on his face. He used to love to jump out and scare me, then give me that ugh, you’re-stupid-to-fall-for-that-again look. He’s now a ten-thousand year old spirit who has a bit of trickster in him.
Kaye: Your Spirit Key series are westerns with a bit of a different twist to them. Would you like to tell us about them?
R.A.: Contemporary Native American’s in a western setting with magical realism is the gist of the Spirit Key Series. In book 1, we follow young Sara, as the ghosts of ancestors haunt her days and try to keep her away from young RedHorse. There’s a new spirit in town, a nefarious one who has his own agenda. The Old One wants the land for the dead and he’ll do anything to have it, including taking away what Sara loves most.
Kaye: There are two books in The Spirit Key series: Painted Girl and Redhorse. What type of research did you do for these books?
R.A.: The first two book are contemporary, set in modern day Kansas on a farm. Books 3 and 4 (which are almost finished) go back to 1950, and we delve into Grandfather’s life, and that of the ten-thousand year old spirit who watches over them. My research centered on the old Indian Schools, and the horrors that the children underwent. It’s all to stop the spirits from invading this world, and to give grandfather his happy ending. The Native American research is from my family.
Kaye: You also write contemporary romance with a Native American twist. What about Little Sparrow, A Kiowa in Love or Red Dress, Two Wives?
R.A.: Those were my early books. I’ve taken the ebooks down, and now I’m writing those into the Spirit Key Series. Everyone is related, so it made sense to do that. I kept the hard copies up because a few people really liked them the way they were. My writing evolved, and I thought those two would be great as part of the Spirit Key Series with some rework.
Kaye: What is the attraction for adding a Native American element to your writing?
R.A.: Two fold. My grandmother was ‘found’. It was assumed that she was Native American. This was in the 1880’s, a time when the tribes had to travel west and were forced onto reservations. Our family farm was near one of the routes and my grandfather brought home a baby girl one day, saying that he’d found her. My cousins are Sioux. I barely remember the eldest two girls but I do remember their beauty. One day, when I was only six years old, they disappeared. Just up and gone. Our family went nuts, as you can imagine. It wasn’t until twelve years later that we learned that they had been taken west to different orphanages and divided up. (This was the early ’70’s when the government still took NA children on a whim.) Anyway, my stories revolve around finding your identity when you don’t know who you are, when you have no memories of your family. My Native American family is rooted by my life stories. You know that you’re different, but you feel the same as everyone else. You just have to find your own special, because it’s there, you don’t have to go looking for it. It just may be hiding in plain sight.
Kaye: I’m also very interested in your time travel romances, As Long As I Have You and Always With You. What can you share with us about them?
R.A.: These were part of an anthology, and part of a series inside the anthology. The rules are simple, Cupid owns a bar, and his mate has a special tattoo that glows when soul mates are touched. In book 1, Ann Paolo comes to the bar with her dog. Unbeknownst to her, the dog, Han, is the spirit of a long dead Native American, who has been cursed to follow Ann through time, always to love her, and be loved, but never to be with her. Cupid sends them back in time, so Han can erase his curse. In book 2, Ann’s back, because so many lifetimes couldn’t be rewritten. This time, Cupid calls on the fates to bring Han to life in this day and time. The fates have a bit of trouble writing him into time-line, so they turn to Netflix for ideas. Han is now, Dan Winchesty, from the TV show Super-Unnatural Killers and Revealers Suckers for short. You know, Dan Winchesty- the one with the perky nipples? It’s a spoof on Supernatural, and I think it’s hilarious, but that’s just my opinion.
Kaye: What is your favorite genre to write in so far? Why?
R.A.: I love magical realism and fantasy. Creating my own world, and rules, takes a lot of thought and design. You just can’t pop something on paper, it has to make sense, have rules, have life, and you have to bring a reader into your world and make them happy.
Kaye: How much non-writing work, (marketing & promotion, illustrations & book covers, etc…), do you do yourself for your books?
R.A.: I do all my own marketing, which isn’t much. Word of mouth is my best friend, because lets face it, my works are different. I just had a review from a guy, who said that someone at work bullied him into reading it and he loved it, even with the romance in the book. I think that was a compliment.
Kaye: If one of your books was made into a film, which book would you want it to be? And who would you like to play the lead?
R.A.: Hmm, I’d love the Spirit Key to be a series on Netflix, but for a movie, I’d chose Twisted. Sam Witwer and Meaghan Rath. They had great chemistry in Being Human. Now, however, Meaghan would be a vampire, and Sam would be a wolf.
Kaye: What’s next? What does the future look like for R.A, Winter?
R.A.: Oh, I have at least six books in various stages of completion. Twisted will be turned
into a series, readers have asked for that. I’m also writing a series about Death Takers
coming alive and finding love. It’s a dark romance series that takes the reader on a
journey to Tartarus and the bowels of hell. Book 1 is finished, book 2 is halfway. Once
book 2 is ready I’ll publish.
Kaye: If writing suddenly made you rich and famous, what would you do?
R.A.: I’ve done a lot of things on my bucket list. I’ve traveled the world, lived in five different countries and enjoyed most of my life. If I had a lot of money, I’d pay off my family’s student loans. Right now, it’s around 200k, and I’m serious. It would be life changing for them to pay off their debts. BTW, I have one family member, with 100k debt who graduated from Pitt with a bachelor’s in psychology. Anyone have any job prospects for him? E-mail me.
I want to thank R.A. Winter for joining us today and putting up with my interrogation. Seriously though, she was really a good sport about answering all of my questions with open, honest answers. You can find out more about her and her writing on her website, her Spirit Keys site, or her Amazon Author Page.
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“Kissed by Literature”: A YA collection of short fiction
Posted: August 31, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fiction, Paranormal, Speculative Fiction, Stories, Young Adult Leave a comment
Like many authors, Jordan Elizabeth started out writing short fiction, and in Kissed by Literature, she offers us a generous sample of paranormal and speculative shorts. The trouble in writing short fiction comes in making the story feel complete, with a beginning, middle and end, using a minimal number of words. It’s not an easy thing to do, and while there are stories included that feel a little rushed in the pacing or end abruptly, as can only be expected in a collection of shorts of this size, those that do feel complete hit the mark and give readers goosebumps. Among them, my favorites include House of Sixty Bells, a ghostly mystery solved; Satin, a tale of paranormal friendship with ulterior motives; and Lock the Door, the story of a husband’s guilt following his wife’s murder.
A delightfully eerie collection of paranormal and speculative stories, I give Kissed by Literature four quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“The Affected”: A Tale of Horror
Posted: August 17, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Dark Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Speculative Fiction, Suspense | Tags: Book Review, Demons, horror, James McNally, The Affected Leave a comment
There’s nothing like a good horror story. The Affected, by James McNally is a tale of horror straight from the pits of hell. This story is not for the feint of heart due to the heineous acts contained within.
Random town’s people are vanishing, or being murdered, but whatever is going on, there won’t be any town left if someone doesn’t figure it out and put a stop to it, and soon. And then there is the strange man in white who has been appearing to some residents and seems to be stalking them, there one moment and gone the next. The mystery unravel, but can this demonical surge be stopped before there is no one left?
Although I found a few logic flaws throughout, the story is so well plotted, overlooking them came easy. A plot worthy of the classic horror tales. I give The Affected four quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“Zomnibus: Two Zombie Detective Novels in One Book
Posted: July 27, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Crime, Dark Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Post-Apocalyptic, Speculative Fiction | Tags: Book Review, Comedy, Crime novel, Detective stories, Humor, Kevin J. Anderson, Speculative Fiction, Zomnibus 2 Comments
In Zomnibus, by New York Times best selling author, Kevin J. Anderson each case is a short tale in the unlife of a zombie detective. In the world following the Big Uneasy and the return from death en mas, vampires may be victims, ghosts can be discriminated against, zombie’s might be graffitti artists and ogres serve as security guards. Together with his human business partner and his ghost of a girlfriend, Dan Shamble detective agency solves cases for both living and unnatural clients.
These zombie detective tales are carefully crafted to keep your attention and tickle your funny bone. Anderson’s light tone and corny humor guarantee the Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. tales will evoke at least a few chuckles. I give Zomnibus five quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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Interview with author Ashley Scott
Posted: July 23, 2018 Filed under: Action/Adventure, Author Profile, Books, Dark Fantasy, Fiction, Interview, Speculative Fiction, Thriller | Tags: Action, Ashley Scott, Author Interview, Dark Fantasy, Demon Anarchy, Speculative Fiction, Thriller Leave a comment
I always love to do interviews with new authors, because they get so excited. The first interview I ever did, with Dan Alatore, I was riding on the top of the world. For me, it signified that this was it and I was really a published author. Today we have an up and coming author with us, Ashley Scott, whose debute novel is a dark fantasy action thriller, Demon Anarchy. She’s here today to tell us about her book and a little about herself, as well.
Kaye: Would you share the story of your own publishing journey?
Ashley: My publishing story began with a manuscript of course. Once completed, my beta readers tore it apart piece by piece. I had to make changes before daring to pass it along to my editor, who also helped strengthen my story, Demon Anarchy, before deciding where to publish. Should I publish through a house or self publish through a website? After doing some research I decided to self publish through Amazon with assistance of a few friends who have done this process before. I love how simple it was however my next goal is to publish a book through a publishing house.
Kaye: Are you a plotter or a pantser? Why?
Ashley: I guess you could say a little bit of both. If I plot out my story chapter by chapter (I’ve tried this method before and it took me weeks, I finally accomplished beginning to end and threw all my notes out because I grew bored of the story). This proved to me I required some mystery involved in plotting my stories. So now I write very minimal notes and type what comes to mind. I believe some plotting is good to keep the flow of your story and to keep your readers interested.
Kaye: What is the one thing in your writing career that is the most unusual or unique thing you’ve done so far?
Ashley: Um….how about try ‘too hard’? If that’s a thing? I used to get up in the early hours of dawn to type a page or two before going to college or going to work. I also used to trial so many different methods of plotting and note taking it drove me insane! So I settled for what currently works and blocked out a reasonable amount of time during the day to type.
Kaye: Would you like to talk a little about your blog or website?
Ashley: Currently, I don’t have a blog. I only have a website where you can find a buy link to my book Demon Anarchy along with my contact information and monthly author interviews I post to help authors succeed at reaching out to their audiences.
Kaye: What was the most fun interview you’ve ever done? Why?
Ashley: I’ve only completed a few author interviews so far, I think all of them are fun to do in a way.
Kaye: Would you like to tell us a little about Demon Anarchy?
Ashley: Would I ever! It’s not only a page flipper flooded with action including explosive weaponry, but also combined with entrancing romantic encounters and a twisted plot line. It opens to New York City, the big apple, where the reader discovers demons lurching in the shadows of the city living off the blood of humans. Only agents know of their existence, the rest are left blind to the war about to appear within the allies and streets.
Time isn’t on their side when the agents discover the leader of the demons appear and wreak havoc among the city by rallying the numbers, creating Demon Anarchy.
Kaye: If Demon Anarchy was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?
Ashley: I keep jumping between two main characters. Alice, an agent trained to kill demons, and Damien a half demon who feels trapped between the human the demon world. Damien would be my first choice, Mr. Bad Apple and won’t take a no for an answer, however Alice whose stubborn and strong willed personality takes a close second. I would cast Milla Jovovich as Alice, and Christian Bale as Damien.
Kaye: It seems that you travel quite a bit. Have any of the places you’ve traveled ended up in your books? Which ones?
Ashley: I love to travel, which is why I’ve traveled different parts of the world with my husband. Yes, I’ve traveled to New York City which is the setting for my story Demon Anarchy as portrayed with descriptions of alleyways during rainy nights and the busy crowded streets filled with people during the day. I always thought the big apple would be the perfect location for demons lurking in the shadows.
Kaye: What is the strangest inspiration for a story you’ve ever had?
Ashley: Not sure….there has been so many random moments where all I have to do is listen to the right music or see something that sparks my imagination and my thoughts go wild.
Kaye: What can you tell us about what’s in store for your readers? Any WIPs you’d like talk about?
Ashley: I’m currently 22 weeks pregnant and am due in November, so my writing has slowed down a bit. But I’m still hammering away at the first book of a trilogy consisting of young women who revolutionize their kingdom in the early 1800’s. The book I’m currently typing is about a young woman who fights against the world of men to become the first female professor in her kingdom by entering the king’s challenge, a challenge of the mind proven to pluck out the smartest individual in Cirus whose worthy enough to tutor the future heir to the throne. However within time the plot could change a little depending on my mood/interest, but this is the strongest plot I’m currently focusing a lot of my time and effort on.
Kaye: Describe yourself in three words.
Ashley: Friendly. Gregarious. Social.
Kaye: Your introduction on your Facebook page says, “Multi-tasking is my talent”. Besides writing, what are your other talents?
Ashley: Playing tennis, editing manuscripts, and developing exercise programs for the elderly.
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If you’re an author and you’d like to be interviewed on Writing to be Read, email Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com and put Interview Request in the subject line.
