Guest Post: From Psychology to Writing by Cynthia Klein
Guest Posts , Latest Posts / March 12, 2012

Psychiatric nursing, to some extent, is a calling. It’s not easy to delve into someone’s psyche and pull out the demons that are haunting him or her. The specificity of the intricacies of the mind and how it works is astonishing and a mystery at the same time. I was fortunate to be enrolled in psychology classes that correlated with elements in the diagnoses of my psychiatric patients; allowing me to utilize these newly-acquired skills on the unit. During this time I worked with people with diagnoses of gender dysphoria (confusion), dissociative disorders, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, and the disease of addictions. Moreover, I was also fortunate to work with specialists in these fields. The massive amount of knowledge I acquired because of these circumstances was magical. After retiring from nursing, I felt I needed to find a way to share my knowledge regarding the brain’s involvement in this disease. Beyond the world of the psychiatric unit and of mental health professionals, there is an impenetrable stigma revolving around these issues. I wondered how I could continue to inform the misinformed about the physiological causes of these “brain” diseases of mental health. Most people I spoke with clung…

Guest Post: You Can’t Tell a Book by Its Cover, But You Can Tell a Thriller by Its Villain
Guest Posts , Latest Posts / February 6, 2012

Giveaway: One signed paperback of Death Wish Three pdf ebook versions of Covert Dreams – enter at the end of the post No one likes villains — or, at least, no one admits to it. But if an author crafts villains carefully, imbuing them with disturbing ambitions, giving them access to the tools and resources they need to wreak their own, personal havoc, and notches their peculiar, twisted natures in just the right way, then we have no choice but to love to hate them. And a great thriller is born. James N. Frey, novelist and writing instructor, explains the villainous nature and the essential role villains play in story structure, in his book, How to Write a Damn Good Thriller.“The villain in a thriller is not just evil,” Frey writes. “The villain is evil right down to the soles of his or her feet.” But he adds, “the villain creates the plot behind the plot — the plot that has to be foiled by the hero — and that… is what thriller writing is all about.” Danielle Blanchard Benson Mike Markel Michael Meyer Today, three indie authors: Danielle Blanchard Benson, author of the paranormal thriller, Death Wish; Mike Markel,…

Guest Post: Enhanced eBooks are Here: Out Love by Jessica Park
Guest Posts , Latest Posts / February 4, 2012

Indie publishing and storytelling just got a whole lot better. Jessica Park, self-published author of the best-selling Flat-Out Love, is about to bring her story to life as an interactive book designed for the iPad and iPhone. Flat-Out Love is a warm and witty novel of family love and dysfunction, deep heartache and raw vulnerability, with a bit of mystery and one whopping, knock-you-to-your-knees romance. This is a true all-ages novel – very suitable for older teens, and equally engaging for adults. With over 65,000 e-books sold in just six months, great reviews, and many, many readers returning for a second and third time, this is a story we believe readers would love to see rendered in a beautiful, media-rich app for their iPad, iPhone, and iPod. ‘Flat-Out Love: Enhanced Edition’ augments the reading experience with: Author commentary Photo illustration Short video scenes and music Bonus chapters Musical accompaniment by indie rock band In Like Lions Interactive sequences And more! We can’t give away all of our secrets 🙂 Additionally, the much-loved Facebook status updates, messages, and chats between the characters will be brought to life, allowing the reader to experience the suspense of the conversations as if they were happening in real time….

Why Book Blogs Matter:An Interview with Marketing Agency Lucinda Literary
Guest Posts , Latest Posts / January 23, 2012

Q. Tell us about Lucinda Literary? What qualifies you to give such services? Why should authors pick you over the other players in the field? A. I’m a hybrid: I represent authors, but also consult on marketing and publicity for authors represented by other agents. I don’t believe in being territorial, so my company’s philosophy is strongly based on partnerships. As the publishing process becomes more intricate, where all of us are in the position are learning, and no one’s particular expertise is more meritorious than anyone else’s. We all bring different pieces to the table—and publishing’s new playing field, the internet, has become the ultimate leveler. My piece: I bring experience as an agent to marketing clients, which means: sales-mindedness, inside knowledge of the publishing industry, attentiveness and responsiveness to my clients while bearing the needs of all parties in mind because I’ve lived in all shoes—corporate marketing, publicity, and later on as a literary agent. I’m “insatiably” curious, as my profile states, in ePublishing and the digital opportunities for exposure available to writers, but my company brings authors both social media consulting alongside traditional publicity, which is still important to authors. (For all company services, see: http://www.lucindaliterary.com/marketing-publicity-4-0/) Another…

Guest Post: Where fiction and history overlap… by Douglas R. Skopp
Guest Posts , Latest Posts / January 18, 2012

I recently spoke with a woman who, just minutes before, finished reading Stieg Larssen’s The Lady with the Dragon Tattoo: “What a wonderful, gripping book,” she said. “Yes,” I said, “so I’ve heard. I’ve not read it.” “Oh, but you must. It’s wonderful.” Her enthusiasm was all over her face. “Why is it so wonderful?” I asked. “It’s so real. So gripping.” “Really. I’ve just written a book based on my research,” I said, hoping to persuade her to read my novel, Shadows Walking. “Everything in it either happened, or could have happened. Some of the characters and the dialogue, of course, are fictional. But the historical setting in which they make their choices and the consequences of those choices—I didn’t invent any of that. It’s as ‘real’ as I could write it.” “What’s it about?” she asked. “Nazi Germany. How a well-meaning, intelligent doctor decides to join the Nazi Party, then does what Nazi doctors did, and finally tries to understand why he made those awful choices.” “Oh, no. I won’t read anything like that,” she said with a shudder. “Why not?” I could not resist asking. “Because it’s true. It’s too real. It really happened.” “But you just…

Giveaway & Guest Post by author Jon Reisfeld: Three Days of Terror in November
Guest Posts , Latest Posts / January 14, 2012

Three Days of Terror in November How Kristallnacht Continues to Haunt, and Instruct, Us Today ===================================================== Mr. Reisfeld has kindly made available the following books for giveaway (enter at the end of the post): Two (2) Signed paperback copies of The Last Way Station Two (2) eBook copies of The Last Way Station One (1) eCopy of Jerusalem Imperilled by Harry Freedman ===================================================== As night fell over the Third Reich on Wednesday, November 9th, 1938, Nazis at all levels of government launched a vicious, organized, national pogrom against the Jews. The attacks, unprecedented in their scope, brutality and brazenness, lasted for three days, during which time squads of sledge-hammer-wielding ‘brown shirts’ took the lead, savaging, looting and, in some cases, leveling Jewish businesses, homes and houses of worship. By the time the rioting stopped, organized mobs had ransacked and destroyed 267 Jewish synagogues, setting most of them afire. They had wrecked and plundered an estimated 7,500 Jewish storefronts and shops, desecrated Jewish cemeteries, and vandalized and looted countless Jewish homes. Many Germans welcomed the violence. Eyewitnesses described mothers lifting their children up over bystanders’ heads so that they, too, could see the destruction of Jewish property, while their parents cheered on the…

Guest Review: Florence and Giles’ By John Harding
Guest Posts , Latest Posts / January 11, 2012

Turning the Screw…. Florence & Giles is an intriguing Gothic tale, well thought-out and deftly plotted. It owes much of its inspiration to Henry James’s ‘The Turn of the Screw’ and is a tribute to that classic story of misguided and obsessive madness. Set in remote and crumbling New England mansion, twelve-year-old orphan Florence is neglected by her guardian uncle and banned from any formal education as her absent uncle has strong opinions on the dangers of a clever woman. Ignored by the minimal staff of the house and left to her own devices, she finds the abandoned library, teaches herself to read and devours books in secret – she appears a resourceful and intelligent young heroine. Keeping her self-taught accomplishments a secret from all, she considers them her own personal triumph, seeing herself as literary and articulate against all the odds. She insists on narrating her own story in a language of her own invention. This contrived language is a little awkward to get used to. Her insistence on turning nouns and adjectives to verbs and verbs to nouns “no budgery was to be had. I was in a weepery of frustration” – can rather grate and irritate at first, but…

Guest Post: 10 Ways to Make Friends in a Writing Workshop by Michael Schiavone
Guest Posts , Latest Posts / November 5, 2011

1 ) Arrive half-cocked with a thermos full of Southern Comfort 2 ) Bring a pet, ideally a possum. 3 ) Preface all your critiques with “Although I haven’t read your story…” 4 ) Speak with an Australian accent. 5) If stuck for story, pass off “To Build a Fire” as your own. 6 ) Remove your shoes and socks. 7 ) Refuse to run spell-check. 8 ) Insist on unreliable narrators, preferably unicorns. 9 ) Include gratuitous sex whenever possible. 10) At the end of workshop, light up a cigar. Michael Schiavone Author Biography Michael Schiavone has been writing professionally since 2000. An accomplished short story writer, his work has appeared in numerous literary magazines and been recognized by dozens of award programs, including multiple wins in the Glimmer Train award series for short fiction. After graduating from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, Michael worked as a stockbroker in San Francisco and Boston during the late ‘90’s dot-com boom. Following that bubble’s burst, he tended bar in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Currently Michael works as a day trader and emergency medical technician on Massachusetts’ North Shore. He plans to earn his paramedic license by 2013. When not writing, Michael practices mixed martial arts…

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