Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Author Interview - Cobie LaJeanne


Cobie LaJeanne has been creating characters since she could read. At the age of six, she had already collected an assortment of Baby Name books, started crafting characters, and brought them to life with imaginative play. Writing came soon after.

Cobie writes palpable psychological fiction with in-depth characters and storylines that will haunt you for years to come. She is passionate about bringing awareness to the severity of child abuse, abduction, and has a heart for the victims over the killers. She is currently in the final revisions of her first novel, Do Not Spare the Angels, which is the first of an eight book series. This novel will be queried to agents and publishers starting mid-2022.

Cobie will make her Kindle Vella Debut with a novel called Strings, a paranormal thriller with characters you will fall in love with, which is slated to be released February 14, 2022.

 Genre: Psychological Crime Thrillers and Paranormal Thrillers/Horror

 Q&A:

 Q1: What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

 My newest novel is entitled Strings and will be released on Kindle Vella in episodes. It was inspired by a nightmare I had years ago where I was trapped in a little house with ghosts and dolls and other interesting characters that took me a while to embrace.


Q2: What advice would you give to help others create plotlines?

My biggest advice is to never stop asking “What if…” and to free-write those “what if’s”. There are so many ways you can twist a story to make it unique. Exploring the options before you start writing is a great way to ensure your book has that different feel to it. And when you pick a twist, push just a little further. Nothing is out of reach. Take some chances.

 Q3: What authors, or books have influenced you?

Lousia May Alcott is the first author who ever influenced me. I fell in love with Little Women, but I fell even harder for Little Men. I owe every ounce of passion for writing to this woman.

 For thrillers, I have been positively influenced by Loreth Anne White and Karin Slaughter. What I admire about them is that they don’t cower back from the tough topics in our society. They face them head-on. It’s refreshing, engaging, and thought-provoking.

 Q4: What is your schedule like when you’re writing a book?

I work all hours that I can. I have been fortunate to have my in-laws close to watch my young children while I work. Some days I work up to sixteen hours and other days I work whenever I can pull my cell phone out. It really depends, but I make it a priority no matter what is happening during the week.

 Q5: Does writing energize or exhaust you? Or both?

It does both. I would say the times it exhausts me are when I am working on a scene where I must pull from my own trauma. But I wouldn’t change it because digging into those scenes has been so healing for me. Everything about writing beyond that energizes me. I love the worlds and the characters I have created, and I enjoy spending time with them.

 Q6: What is the best writing advice you have ever heard?

The best writing advice I have heard is that every story has been told, but it hasn’t been told by you. Your experience belongs to you and your voice and imagination are what make your work special. 

 Q7: How do you come up with character names for your stories?

Naming my characters is one of my favorite parts of writing. Sometimes the names are easy to find, but I like to try and break stereotypes. I am constantly going through lists and finding names that feel like a certain trope but might not be a James or a Michael. I struggle the most with surnames. I use BehindtheName.com a lot to find new and exciting names. There are also some great name accounts on Instagram (@charmingbabynames is my favorite).

 Q8: What do you think is the best way to improve writing skills?

Practice. Practice discipline. Practice freewriting outside of your book. Practice creating character profiles and worlds. Practice your learning skills. Learn to be open-minded to all possibilities of your story.

 Q9: What are you working on now?

Right now I am working on my debut Psychological Crime Thriller tentatively titled Do Not Spare the Angels. I have been working on this novel for over two years now and am in the final revision stages before I begin the querying process. I am also working on Strings. Since it is a serialized story, it keeps me on my toes and helps me focus on what needs to be done to have a strong story.

 Q10: What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading Fractured by Karin Slaughter which is the second book in her Will Trent series. 

Strings will be available on Kindle Vella from February 14th, 2022

After the unexpected death of his wife, Kenny Webb left his successful career as a crime journalist to stay home with his daughter. He no longer chases the high that danger brings.

When a strange doll is delivered to his house with a harrowing message, Kenny tries to resist the urge to dig deeper, but the more the possessed toy taunts him, the urgency to get it out of his life and away from his daughter grows stronger.

Radley Eastabrook owns her own sanctuary for the haunted, working as a caretaker for restless souls attached to their earthly belongings. But when Kenny appears at her doorstep, she knows she can’t turn him down. The haunted doll seizes her intrigue and Radley won’t rest until she knows what it needs.

They find themselves deep in the Hush Forest where the worlds of the living and the dead blur together, forcing Kenny and Radley to learn to trust each other in the midst of terror. They must find who or what is holding these spirits captive before their own fate is sealed and they are trapped in torment forever.

Find out more about Cobie LaJeanne by following the social media links below:

Facebook

Instagram

Goodreads

Website

TikTok

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Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Author Interview - Alexander Michael

 

Alexander Michael is a writer of speculative fiction. He currently calls Brisbane home. Everything is Summer is his second published work.

Genre: speculative, dark fantasy, horror

 Q&A:

 Q1: What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

Everything is Summer is a dark fantasy novella, inspired by my solo trip to Melbourne back in early 2020, one month before COVID strangled the world. I stayed in bnbs and took myself through the suburbs, parks and bars. And the bookshops! Melbourne is fantastic for bookshops. The suburbs of Carlton, Fitzroy and Brunswick ensnared me with their graffiti, winding lanes, and the quiet and secretive courtyards of Victorian houses. Simply, it was fun to just explore. I conjured a story of an abandoned Victorian mansion and off I went. 

Q2: What is a significant way your book has changed since the first draft? 

I wouldn’t say this book has changed much, but months after the book’s completion, I realised there was so much more to tell. I have begun working on a prequel novella set in the 1940s. I just love this setting: this mansion, this suburb.

Q3: What authors, or books have influenced you?

First and foremost, the work of Clive Barker, particularly his dark/urban fantasies, ala Weaveworld. The magic realism of David Mitchell, particularly his novels Slade House and The Bone Clocks. Lastly, the surrealism of Haruki Murakami and the filmmaker David Lynch.

Q4: What is your schedule like when you’re writing a book?

In the planning stages, I take myself on adventures, doing things I love: going for walks in the sun, listening to music, exercising, climbing mountains, going to the beach. Once I begin to write the first draft, it’s just work work work, writing chapter by chapter or scene by scene. Sometimes, if it’s going well, I’ll enter a fugue state and the work will write itself. If I’m tired from my day job, however, the writing comes much slower, and I can get easily frustrated when things get in the way of my writing. But once the first draft is done, I take a week off before diving into the editing and rewriting. The first initial readthrough after the first or second draft is completed is just pure joy. “I created this world? I barely remember doing it.” If I get stuck on a story problem, I’ll employ my Walking In Nature mode again until the solution arrives. 

Q5: What advice would you give to a writer working on their first book?

Be very patient. Also, don’t be hard on yourself if the words aren’t flowing. I find you need to be happy and content to sit there for hours on end to produce the words. It will happen when it is meant to happen. Final advice, edit the hell out of your drafts, and make sure to hire a professional editor. There is nothing more important than their notes. 

Q6: What is the best writing advice you have ever heard?

I think Stephen King said it best: we can’t write unless we love reading. Read a massive number of books. Without even knowing it, you will suck up into your mind methods and tips and knowledge on how to write. It’s incredible. Be well read, and your own words will always come.

Q7: How do you celebrate when you finish your book? 

Take myself out and have a great lunch, a beer, and let the thoughts of the book disappear for a while. Writing a book is like a year-long obsession. Once it’s done, let it go, and have a nice Sunday.

Q8: What do you think is the best way to improve writing skills?

I think a good way to improve, or to just see how other people do things, is to search out authors and books that fall within your genre of story. Your favourite writers. The big names in the field right now. Read their books. One: that is obviously what sells; two: reading those books and getting an understanding of style can help you cultivate your own voice.

Q9: What are you working on now?

I am in the rewriting stage of my third release. After that will come editing. It is my third release, but will be my first novel (the first being a large collection, the second, a novella). It will be around the 300-page mark, historical fantasy. I am very excited to jump into it. It is far less horror, far less sensual and dark. On the whole, more approachable and ‘mainstream’. I will hopefully have it released in the last quarter of 2022.

Q10: What are you currently reading?

I am working my way through the novels of Haruki Murakami, and loving every second of it. Stand outs so far have been A Wild Sheep Chase, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I am just beginning the noir/surreal/dreamlike Dance Dance Dance.

Find out more about Alexander Michael by following the links below:

Instagram

Goodreads

AmazonAuthor Page

Website

More about Everything Is Summer

'Summer...'

This splash of graffiti is young Mike's only mantra, as he wanders far from home, far from who he is and ever was.

Onwards, to the coffee vans, to the bookshops. To lose himself in this labyrinth. To forget. 

But when he witnesses a young woman named Naila stealing a book from a dusty basement, Mike is catapulted into a strange underbelly, in which Explorers indulge in wonder, lunatics are wise men, and the mundane holds miracles. 

Welcome. 

To this distant city. 

This abandoned mansion. 

Welcome to the Undercurrent.

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Thursday, February 10, 2022

Book Review - The 716, by SJ Pratt

The 716 is a stunning debut by author SJ Pratt
Set in the distant future, the world was destroyed by the Wars of Men and a new world has been rebuilt on the ashes of the old, only this time women have taken control. Women can go to university, they can be leaders, and kindness and empathy are valued, along with feminity, history, teaching and engineering. Men, on the other hand, are not deemed capable of going to university and must give up what work they do have upon marriage. Against this backdrop we meet Andy, a man who does not fit into the common mold and who dreams of one day becoming an engineer, a path that is denied to him because of his sex. Through a chance encounter he meets Olivia, the young woman who has it all; intelligence, beauty, wealth and power. They bond over a mutual love of engineering, but it is Olivia's grudging acceptance that Andy might be her intellectual equal thay sparks a fire within him for change, and the second half of The 716 sees those flames fanned brighter.
The 716 is YA Sci Fi, but at its heart it is a feminist novel begging for gender equality and an acceptance to see gender as a spectrum. The main character, Andy, is endearing and relatable, and his best friend RAY is so brilliant I wish I could meet him. Olivia straddles the line between arrogant and charming, and author SJ Pratt masterfully created a complex character here that will win you over. The writing is fluent and smooth and the pacing is perfect. The 716 is very accessable as far as Sci Fi goes and I highly recommend it for both teenagers and adults, and I think it would make a good book to have a class discussion about in schools. 

I received an advanced copy of this book and am leaving an honest review. 

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Author Interview - Elora Canne

 

Elora Canne has written two children’s books but more recently, she has written her memoir under the pen name of Elora Canne. As a retired Childcare Educator of 20+ years, having so much free time was just what she needed to put pen to paper. Her memoir spans a period of roughly 10 years, including her inward and outward travels as a midlife gap year helped her handle her internal struggles and re-ignite her decades-long marriage.

 

Genre: Memoir, Travel, Self-Help

 

Q&A:

 

Q1: What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

EN ROUTE: The Best is Yet To Be

It was inspired by the sudden realization that I no longer needed to live a life that pleased others. I have a voice, an opinion and am not afraid to use it.

 

Q2: What is a significant way your book has changed since the first draft? 

It started out as a travel memoir and evolved into a self-help, inner-strength, unravelling of people-pleasing, and finding voice.

 

Q3: What authors, or books have influenced you?

Martha Beck: Expecting Adam, The Way of Integrity

Michelle Obama: Becoming

Gretchen Rubin: The Happiness Project


Q4: What is your schedule like when you’re writing a book?

I’m an early bird, it’s when I do my best work. But I’m also a spontaneous note scribbler when inspiration hits.

 

Q5: What advice would you give to a writer working on their first book?

Just write everything down. Don’t stop.

 

Q6: What is the best writing advice you have ever heard?

Write for yourself. I know they say write to your audience, but I feel memoir falls into a different set of writing rules.

 

Q7: How do you celebrate when you finish your book? 

I take a long walk in nature to clear my head of self-doubt.

 

Q8: What do you think is the best way to improve writing skills?

Courses and tons of research plus reading books from the experts.

 

Q9: What are you working on now?

A based-on-truth children’s book about the perils and joys of becoming a Nana.

 

Q10: What are you currently reading?

A Promised Land, by Barack Obama. Lots of politics but I just love his perspective on life, his gentle humour and his relationship with Michelle and his daughters. I read Michelle’s Becoming and wanted to read his telling of the same period in their lives.


Find out more about Elora Canne by following the links below:


Facebook
Instagram
Goodreads
Amazon Author Page
Website


More about EN ROUTE: The Best is Yet to Be

“Putting voice to your thoughts and opinions takes a lot of courage.

For me at least.

When I caught a glimpse of my path unraveling before me into a life I did not want to lead, I knew I had to do something about it.

I had to kill the inherent people-pleaser inside of me.”

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Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Rachaya Series Giveaway!

To celebrate the release of the second edition of The Rachaya Series on February 14th I'm having a giveaway over on my Instagram page. Simply like and comment on the post and give my page a follow if you're not already.
The competition closes on Monday the 7th of February, so get in quick!


Author Interview - Maddie Caser

 

Maddie Caser is the author of the newly released book, Ordinem Legacy: Part 1 - Becoming. Born and raised in France, Maddie has travelled to and lived in England and Cambodia, and has now settled back in Paris with her partner. She started working full-time on Ordinem Legacy 2020 and loved the experience of writing it. Visit www.ordinemlegacy.com to discover more about Maddie Caser and Ordinem Legacy

Genre: Low Fantasy/Adventure

Q&A:

Q1: What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?

I have been working intensively on Ordinem Legacy, Part 1: Becoming for the past year. I drafted the first couple of chapters years ago and left them aside. At the time, it was simply for my personal enjoyment and I certainly didn’t think it would turn out to be the premise of my writing journey. Back in 2017, I decided to review those chapters and rewrote them, which inspired me to write more. One of my friends read my chapters and loved the story, so I decided to finish it. In 2020, when Covid hit, it jeopardised my professional plans and I decided I could use this time to finish my story (at this point, I did not use the word ‘book’). I worked on it every day, all day and absolutely loved it. I was so into it – it was a revelation! The more I wrote, the more inspired I was. Even if the plotline was more or less clear in my head, some of the subplots came to me as I was writing. Some days, I felt almost possessed by the need to get the story ‘out of me’. I remember one specific scene of the book that got my heart beating so fast, as if I was living the scene myself. I actually had to walk away from my computer for ten minutes to get my head straight again.

Ordinem Legacy blends many genres such as low-fantasy, adventure but also a bit of romance. I would say my inspiration comes from my own observations of the world, my past experiences, my surroundings, my people and also my hopes.

Cover design by Hélène Rozenberg: @helenerozenberg

Q2: What advice would you give to help others create plotlines?

I guess everyone has their own way of creating plotlines. Personally, being organised helps me – big time! I have a ‘master file’ on excel that is basically the bible of the WIP. I keep track of everything such as plots and subplots, how they developed throughout the whole story. For example, the first sheet details every chapter with the characters present, location, summary, timeline and the number of words. The other sheets follow up on the clues, locations, timeline, references, events calendar and general notes. I also keep track of the elements that start or are mentioned in the first part of the book series and how they will develop in the second or third part of the trilogy.

I would also recommend a white board to organise your ideas, when they turn up / force their way in unexpectedly. ;)

Q3: What authors, or books have influenced you?

At the risk of disappointing some people, I am not such a big book reader. I watch many shows and truly enjoy quality screen-writing. I read every day, mostly articles, but I don’t read many books. Recently, I have started Sapiens, but I have been so busy working on self-publishing Ordinem Legacy that I haven’t finished it yet.

I do love reading though and I really enjoyed being hooked on a good book!

Q4: What is your schedule like when you’re writing a book?

I usually write all day. I wake up, get ready as if I would go to work and then settle in front of my laptop. I usually write from 10ish – sometimes earlier – until the end of the day around 7. Some days can be a bit less productive than others, but when I don’t feel inspired to write, I do research instead and it usually triggers my imagination.

Q5: Does writing energize or exhaust you? Or both?

I would say both. At the end of a satisfying day, I am beat. However, writing makes me so happy that it does energise me and motivates me every day.

 

Q6: What is the best writing advice you have ever heard?

I don’t recall any advice about writing, as at first I didn’t want to tell anyone before it was finished. Consequently, I found everything ‘the hard way’. For example, I had no idea how time consuming some tasks could be. For example, it surprised me that the editing process was longer than the actual writing of the story.

Getting on Twitter was interesting though, as I read loads of advice that I thought were precious and smart. Plus, I was relieved to see that most authors seem to go through the same lengthy editing process.

Q7: How do you come up with character names for your stories?

Well, some of them come to me naturally when there are no ‘specifics’. Then, if a character comes from another time or place, I search names accordingly and pick the one I like the most.

Q8: What do you think is the best way to improve writing skills?

Keep writing and editing. Of course, reading also helps. When I edit, I like to work with English grammar specialists such as English teachers to discuss the semantics.

Cover design by Hélène Rozenberg: @helenerozenberg

Q9: What are you working on now?

I am currently not an author but a publisher. I have just released Ordinem Legacy, Part 1: Becoming, on the 28th January 2022, after working on my marketing plan for a few months. I am designing and managing my campaigns and ideally will soon go back to writing the second part of the book series.

Q10: What are you currently reading?

I have to finish Sapiens before I write the second part of Ordinem Legacy. There is a book I would really love to read in the upcoming months: The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris. I have had my eyes on it for a while, but there are so many others that look great too – I would love to start a new epic fantasy book or book series.

The first Chapter of The Ordinem Legacy: Part 1 - Becoming is available to read at www.ordinemlegacy.com .


To find out more about Maddie Caser check out her social media links below:

Facebook: @ordinemlegacybooks

Instagram: @ordinemlegacybooks // @maddie_caser_

Twitter: @MaddieCaser


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