The Withering World of Amelia Gray. Guest post by author Amanda Stevens.

Today I'm thrilled to be able to give this blog over in the capable hands of Amanda Stevens, author of the spine chilling paranormal romance series called the Graveyard Queen. If you haven't read the first books yet you're in for a real treat!

The Withering World of Amelia Gray

When I was little, cemetery exploration was a favorite pastime. My house was situated between two graveyards and I spent many a Sunday afternoon wandering through the maze of headstones and statuary. One of the cemeteries was abandoned and I wasn’t allowed to visit there alone. Naturally, it became a favorite escape. Nestled in a deep forest and shrouded by shade, the forgotten graveyard was a place of enchantment, a mysterious necropolis of sunken graves, crumbling headstones and fallen angels. The burials were old—pre-Civil war—and the symbols carved into the headstones intrigued me. I could daydream there for hours.

There’s a term for graveyard fascination—taphophilia.  From the Greek words taphos, meaning tomb and philia, meaning love or obsession.  A love of tombstones and cemeteries.

When I decided to write a paranormal series, I knew I wanted the protagonist to have an unusual skill or occupation. So I did an Internet search for strange jobs and up popped cemetery restorer—the perfect vocation for a character that would share my passion for graveyards. She would be Southern (also like me) and a loner because her ability to see ghosts had isolated her from human companionship. Her first name would be Amelia because it’s Southern and old-fashioned, and her surname would be Gray to symbolize the twilight world of ghosts.

Amelia became so real to me that I knew I had to create a worthy love interest, someone dark and mysterious and charismatic to lure her from the safety of her graveyard kingdom and tempt her into breaking one of her father’s cardinal rules: never associate with those who are haunted.

Papa’s rules are broken in The Restorer; the past is revealed in The Kingdom; and the future is foreshadowed in The Prophet. Set against the withering backdrop of abandoned and forgotten cemeteries, The Graveyard Queen series offers peeks into the lush dreamscape of restless souls, deranged killers and doomed lovers.

I’ve just been given the go-ahead for three more books in the series and I would like to invite you along on Amelia’s journey as her graveyard kingdom becomes ever darker and more mysterious.

…………..

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Check out the first three novels in Amanda's Graveyard Queen series!

The third novel, The Prophet, releases this April!

Guest post: Jerri Hines, author of the Whispers of a Legend serie.

 Inspiration to me as a writer comes from my surroundings and experiences. I've had a vivid imagination since childhood coming from growing up on a small rural farm. I remember lying on my back in the grass and finding figures in the floating clouds above me. Quickly, a story would emerge within me about those figures...all sorts of figures: horses, castles, dragons, even damsels in distress. Stories have always lived inside of me. 

From the inception of Whispers of a Legend, I realized that the premise of the story came from my youth searching the skies. I always wondered what it would feel like to fly the skies, free and unrestricted. To rule the skies! That's the wonder of writing a fantasy. There are no restrictions on you. The worlds are yours to create. Freedom! 

I visualized a world of myth and legend, ascetically real and full of magic and wonder. Mysteries unearthed; dangers untold. Creating worlds without limits where Sordarins, a valiant warrior race of hawkmen rule the sky and face an evil like no other, Asmeodai. Moreover I had a vision of Kela, a strong heroine, a real heroine. I saw clearly the lands of Scarladin and Witheleghe. 

Influences in my writings, come from many areas of my life. I'm an avid reader. I love literature. One of my favorite books is Lord of the Rings. As an author I'm envious of J.R. Tolkien's ability to create such a realistic fantasy realm. A classic without question. But if I have one complaint with the series it would be that the characters are too perfect. In my writings, I never strive for perfection in my characters. Contrary, I want them to be imperfect. Flaws define us. Perfection in itself is a fantasy.  

Whispers of a Legend is under the new genre, New Adult, for a reason; best explained in Whispers of a Legend overview... Whispers of a Legend follows Kela along this conflicting path, where as a young woman unsure of her ability and her confidence in facing the challenges before her to where she emerges as a strong leader who learns to lean upon her own strength, to stand not behind, but side by side with her warrior.

It's during this time in our life we make decisions that will define our course...our path. Decisions will be made- some good...others not so much. Some circumstances we won't have control over...others we created ourselves. I believe Gunilda says it best to Kela, "The road you walk is not straight, my child. Remember that. All roads wind."

If there is a message within Whispers of a Legend, I believe it would be perseverance.

Whispers of a Legend holds all that I love when I read- Adventure, Romance, and Suspense. I'm excited with the series both Shadows of the Past and The Path Now Turned. Vision of Destiny, the third part in the series, is set to be released at the end of January. Afterwards, I will be putting together an anthology of the first three into one book, Whispers of a Legend, Volume I.

One other inspiration I haven't mentioned is quotes. I will leave you with one.

"There's no comparison between what's lost by not trying and what's lost by not succeeding." - Francis Bacon

Links to my books:
Whispers of a Legend, Part One- Shadows of the Past is free everywhere except Amazon.

Smashwords
Barnes & Noble
Amazon 

Whispers of a Legend, Part Two- The Path Now Turned
Smashwords
Barnes & Noble
Amazon

Want to know more about Jerri and her books? Check out these links below:
Castles in the Air 
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Fanpage, Novel Works

Thank you so much for sharing your sources for inspiration with us, Jerri. I loved what you sad about the heroine standing beside the hero, not behind!

I'm not sure if I dare to admit to this but I haven't read much of Tolkien, just a short story :/ Shame on me.

Guest post + giveaway : Underdog by Lori Culwell, author.

We're so pleased to have author of the young adult novel The Dirt, Lori Culwell over today. Lori is stopping by today to tell us about her inspiration for the lead character's personality. Lori and her publisher have most kindly offered to giveaway an e-book copy of The Dirt. The book is also available in paperback but not in this giveaway, why you might ask. There is a very logic reason for that; to make the prize available to all of our readers, not only the ones living in the US :) Without further ado here is Lori's post:

I must admit, I am a sucker for the underdog, and most of my protagonists fall under this category. By “underdog,” of course, I mean anyone who feels less-than, or awkward, or somehow “other” from their circumstances, like they just don’t fit in. Writing teachers sometimes use the term “stranger in a strange land” to describe a scenario where the hero of the story, for instance, time-travels to a place where the rules aren’t the same and where he or she finds him or herself quite out of place.

I feel like the underdog is that stranger, only the “strange land” circumstance is just their regular life. This brings me to the lead character in my latest novel—Lucy, from “The Dirt.” Having myself grown up in a fancy-pants town near Palm Springs, California, and not being particularly fancy myself, I did feel that sense of “other” ness in middle school and high school, like when my 16 year old friends started coming to school in BMWs (my first car was a Volkswagon Rabbit, in case you’re wondering). I also was a late bloomer, so to speak, so as a teenager I always kind of felt like everyone was more sophisticated and better looking than me.

In “The Dirt,” I put the awkward lead character inside a wealthy, mysterious family, mostly because I thought it would be funny to see something like that from the underdog’s perspective. Lucky (our hero) is the younger sister of Sloane Whitley—beautiful, perfect, and the evil mean-girl leader of a super-secret mean girl society known as PG. Since we’ve all known a Sloane at some point in our lives (probably high school), I put that character in to contrast Lucy, who is so self-conscious it’s almost painful at time. Everything Sloane is and does is mysterious to Lucy, from the effortless way she always looks good, even when she is sick or tired, the way she wields power over everyone in town—even the fact that Sloane is so totally comfortable with being ruthless and ice-cold, even to her own family members. Lucy and Sloane are polar opposites, and them being sisters and in such close proximity just raises the stakes of the story.

I can’t go too far into the plot of this book without uncovering some pretty major plot points, but I definitely do feel like you go on the roller coaster ride with Lucy of what it’s like to be a normal, awkward person in the middle of a rich, glamorous family (and town). I like to think that even rich and glamorous people feel this way sometimes, though I have my doubts.

As anyone who read my first novel, “Hollywood Car Wash,” can attest, I really like to explore situations from the inside, sometimes to the point of absurdity. In “Hollywood Car Wash,” that world was the Hollywood machine. In “The Dirt,” it’s Mean Girls and high society in Palm Desert, California. I like to look at situations like that from an “other’s” perspective, for comical effect. My readers seem to like it (or at least that’s what they tell me).

Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Lori. It was very interesting to read why you love an underdog protagonist and why you have chosen that kind of lead character for The Dirt.

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Guest post(+ giveaway) by Ciye Cho, author.

I'm so exited to be welcoming Ciye here on Escape In A Book today, Ciye is the author of Shiewo, a young-adult fantasy. He currently lives in Australia, and works as a freelance graphic designer. After you've read this guest post I suggest that you take a look at Shiewo's homepage for more about the novel, beautiful illustrations and music. 

 

What if we were all adventurers?

Ever since I was a child, I’ve always loved fantasy books. The stories I read taught me to expect the unexpected and to believe in the impossible. Books like the Wizard of Oz showed me that going on a quest wasn’t really about finding a way home or uncovering an enchanted item: it was about daring to search for something more. And, above of all else, fantasy books taught me that the most important question one could ask wasn’t Who, What, When, or Why... but “What if.”

One of my favorite hobbies is coming up with my own What If’s. What if clouds could eat smells? What if clocks stopped telling time... and started fighting it? What if the sky was full of hidden worlds? A few years ago, Shiewo: A Fantasy Flight to Adventure came to life when I came up with one particular question: What if music could power a flying ship?

“Fantasy Flight” is the story of Shiewo Morose, the captain of a flying ship called the Odyssey. With the help of Erduu the bamboo, Theo the cloud, Livingston the goldfish, and Felix the painter, Shiewo is on a mission to find a creature known as the Wishing Fish. Yet, what she will find above the clouds is an adventure beyond her imagination--a journey full of scent banquets, cloud monsters, and clockwork worlds.

Each character in “Shiewo” represents a different energy that I hope people can relate to, from the shyness of Theo to the optimism of Felix. However, in a world where the unexpected is the only thing you can truly expect, I also wanted each crewmember to be unique amid their own kind (for example, Theo is the only cloud with a phobia of falling; Erduu is the only bamboo to “uproot” from his homeworld.) I think we’ve all felt like outsiders at some stage or another, and I wanted to create characters that would speak to the inner oddball within everyone.

One of the things I enjoyed most about writing Shiewo was the manner in which characters and events occasionally surprised me. Even though I had a clear image of the worlds and events I wanted to create, there were times when it felt as if I was right there with the crew--exploring the world of Orberana with new eyes. What would this lever do if we pushed it? How would we overcome the meteoric rage of King Favalore? What could we do to escape an ice prison?

In many ways, writing Shiewo has been an adventure of its own. And, now that the first book in this series has been released, I hope you’ll visit Orberana for a cup of tea with Erduu... or a tour of the ship with Theo. Beyond this, I hope this little book reminds you to never stop believing in two magical words: “What If...”

What if we were all adventurers? Where would you go?

Giveaway:

Guest post(+giveaway) on SF short story writing by author Chris Turner

Today we have a special guest here at Escape In A Book and that is Sci-Fi author Chris Turner, he is here to give some advice on short story writing. Enjoy the post and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post.

I have always been fascinated with science fiction, particularly stories set in far future worlds. Recently with the publishing of Future Destinies, my anthology of 10 short stories dealing with speculative themes of the far and near future, I have somewhat realized my dream of creating my own ‘worlds’.

Many authors whom I have held in high esteem, have been more than guides for me. The eerie worlds of A.E. Van Vogt (Slan, Destination Universe, The World of Null-A), and the prolific Robert Silverberg Across A Billion Years, etc, Brian Aldiss (Hothouse and A.I. Artificial Intelligence aka Super Toys-Last All Summer Long), and Arthur C. Clarke, (2001: A Space Odyssey and Reach for Tomorrow) have made an impact; Jack Vance, too, for his very many colourful and ingenious characters, settings and original concepts too numerous to name. These authors, though of an earlier generation, set a standard for me on how to weave a tale and I continue to admire them for the vivid description of their worlds within which the characters act and react to crises and stimuli to advance the plots and teach valuable lessons.

Short story writing is a difficult art. The format and limited length really teach a writer to apply word-economy and adhere to good story-structure. To give the reader that sense of far-world mystery, a gripping plot, powerful characters and vibrant setting in less than 5000 worlds, is certainly a challenge! I think even the seasoned wordsmith experiences difficulties.

Adding SF concepts to the equation, makes the task even more complex. Hard SF, Soft SF, Apocalyptic, Cyberpunk, Space opera—all these variations within the genre and beyond force the writer to make important choices. There are many cross-genres like SF/humour, SF/horror, SF/fantasy, which add to the complexity. Also, writers have to decide how much science to inject in their stories, how to introduce the science without concepts appearing staged or info-dumpish. This is harder than it sounds. A too techno-rich tale has the power to kill a story’s spirit—while not enough science will have readers wondering how it fits into the SF category.

Robert Silverberg, in his brilliant, “Exploring the craft of science fiction”, defines SF loosely as:

“having an underlying speculative concept, systematically developed … [allowing] an exploration of the concept’s impingement on the universe as we know it.”

I feel the best approach for an editor of a SF anthology is to put as much variety in the collection as possible, to satisfy the range of readers from hard SF fans to space opera.

I have written a series of articles presenting tips on writing speculative fiction. Visit my blog for more details:

http://innerskybooks.blogspot.com/

I hope you take the opportunity to read Future Destinies.

  

A DIFFERENT KIND OF MAGIC - guest post by author Eden Unger Bowditch

Eden is the author behind the recently published novel The Atomic Weight of Secrets or The Arrival of the Men in Black(check out my review here). She is here today to tell us about how her book came to be and also a to tell us a bit about Egypt where Eden currently lives with her family.

I can say with all honesty, there were people who thought the Young Inventors Guild was just too weird to get published. There are no magic wands or flying broomsticks- not that I don’t love a well-placed wand and a good spell. But everyone warned that magic wands were in and everything else wasn’t. Well, The Young Inventors Guild forced my hand, so to speak. It was a story that grew and grew in my head and out came The Atomic Weight of Secrets… before I could stop it. I didn’t believe that a story could really grow to such proportions inside my brain. I remember hearing J K Rowling say that Harry Potter came out fully formed and the whole story was right there. It seemed unreal. Impossible. Until it happened to me, ladies and gentlemen.

It was like dropping colour into water- the idea, like the colour, soon permeated everything and the whole picture became clear. Each character bloomed into someone I have come to know and love (or fear, or both!) and the history behind it stretched far into the past… As I began to write, everything and everyone sort of took their places naturally. And once characters are formed, they will not allow themselves to be bullied into doing things that are not in their nature. Their voices come out and writing their story is almost like reporting on something observed. Filling in the details- no small task- is where the final picture takes form. I spent hours in the library and hours looking up everything to be clear on times and places of things. Historic work requires lots of research to be sure that the facts within the fiction are accurate. The Young Inventors Guild has so many parts that I have, with my editor’s help, laid out a timeline and (gulp) I put down the map of the whole story within the trilogy. This was hard to actually put to paper because then it was vulnerable and out there in the world. But it was really good to do and helped with connecting everything together.

And, to me, the story is full of magic. A different kind of magic. The magic we can do and feel and see all around us in this amazing world. It broke my heart that people thought kids wouldn’t be interested in invention. Really! So far, we are proving them wrong. Underestimating the power of creativity and the inspiration of inventiveness is just plain foolish. Kids are brilliant. And if we can all harness the spark of ingenuity that we all had as kids, we’d never be too tired to do something amazing.

I have always been fascinated with creating something from bits of other things. I love figuring out how things work and making them work differently. We are big on science projects and experiments in our house. It’s like finding pieces to a puzzle that you invent along the way.

Eden riding on a camel.

Living in Egypt has been such an incredible experience for all of us. Let’s be honest- we live in one of the most ancient places in the world, a place that is at the heart of invention and history. Did you know that toothpaste was invented here? And let’s not forget the pyramids. Egyptians still have that spark of invention or, more often, reinvention. In the US, something like 30% of what is recycled into bins is actually recycled. In Cairo, for example, 85-95% of everything that gets thrown away is recycled. We can separate glass and paper, but it all goes to Garbage City. There are people who live in Garbage City that have, for generations, recycled different things. There are families who recycle glass. Families who recycle plastic or paper. They often use these materials to make things they sell. But in everyday life you can see how ingenious people are as a culture. They say need is the mother of invention. Well, it is also the mother of recycling. The two go hand in hand here. People don’t buy a new broom handle, they will make one, hand cut threads in a stick, and make a new broom. Or they’ll invent some contraption or find some bits and pieces to use as a watering system or a bicycle or a wall. Things do not go to waste when there isn’t decadence to allow newly purchased replacement for anything used.

Thank you so much for this wonderful post, Eden! It was so nice of you to stop by here at Escape In A Book.