Interview with Jamie Salisbury, author of the Tudor Dynasty Series

I have with me today, author Jamie Salisbury, who writes romance novels. I know, not my usual genre, but I really like talking to authors outside the genres I read to understand the differences in genres, the differences in writing styles, and reasons why I should be interested in the books. So, without taking to much of your time, here it is!

Describe your books? What genre would you classify it into?

Romance, historical and contemporary. Women’s fiction, chick-lit.

How do you come up with the idea for the books?

Usually, the idea just drops out of no-where.

When and why did you begin writing? What do you enjoy most about writing?

I’ve been writing since I was a child. I started getting serious in high school when I took a creative writing class. What I enjoy the most about my writing is taking something from a simple idea I had in my head and turning it an actual story.

Where do your stories come from, a dream, imagination, or something completely else?

There is no one place where they come from. One could be loosely based on true life, another may be totally fabricated.

How has your journey from writing to getting published been?

Satisfying. I had tried going the traditional route and got shot down. So I started researching doing the indie publishing/ebook route and that’s where I am. It’s a great fit.

Interview with Dr. George H. Elder, author of the Genesis Continuum Series

You may know by now that I really like SF books. So, when I got an opportunity to interview author Dr. George H. Elder, I jumped at it, as I wanted to know how SF authors go about creating their worlds, the science and all the things that make SF books wonderful. So, lets get to it, I can’t wait!

Describe your book? What genre would you classify it into?

Amazon classified the Genesis series as Sci-Fi Adventure. The book is basically a quest story, with the key twist being that it is set at the end of time. The universe is dissolving in an entropic whimper, although many of the extant species of the time are desperate to kick-start another cycle. The question is, how? Ancient legends speak of a being of unimaginable power who once united the entire universe for an unforgettable moment. However, this “Seeker” was a very flawed being, one who exterminated over ninety-nine percent of his own kind. He locked himself in perpetual dormancy to contain his savagery, and his location was lost over the passing eons.

Missions are sent to find the missing Seeker, but some are diverted by unknown forces. One such mission ends up on a seemingly primitive planet, the home of a stone-age culture called the Labateen. Here we meet Kara, the outcast daughter of a Labateen noble. She encounters the misdirected mission, and soon finds herself as part of its crew. Thus begins Kara’s journey to find the missing Seeker. She will go through deadly battles, be aboard titanic ships, and learn that nearly everything she believed was a lie. In the end, she wants to have never been born. Then she shall arise from the ashes… but how and why would be telling.

Crafting A Trailer by Sinead MacDughlas

Crafting A Trailer by Sinead MacDughlas

I have a love/hate relationship with book trailers. I love to watch them. I love their marketing value. I love to hate the cheesy ones — and I hate that I don’t have the budget to make an awesome one.

Independent authors have two options when it comes to trailers: hire someone to put one together, or do it themselves.

Making a book trailer can be a creative experience that motivates an author to keep going. After months of writing, re-writing, and editing the same story, the urge to just trash the whole thing, and start something new, can be overwhelming. Constructing a book trailer can also be a creative experience that drives an author completely into the realm of insanity.

I’m no expert on the book trailer, but I have made a few now, and I’ve learned a lot along the way. Some of it I learned by research, some by trial and error. Hopefully, sharing that knowledge will help other writers produce beautiful trailers for their books.

The process for creating a book trailer can also be applied to home movies, wedding videos, music videos, (for Independent musicians), and keepsake videos.

The very first step is finding a video editing program to use. I made my first trailers with the Windows Live Movie Maker program that came with Windows 7. It’s a fairly user-friendly program, and since I’m no computer genius, it was just what I needed to get started.

The trailer for my anthology, made with Windows Live Moviemaker and watermarked clips.

Theft of Swords (Riyria Revelations 01-02) by Michael J. Sullivan Review

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon Paperback     |     Kindle ebook

The Riyria Revelations follows the exploits of a unique couple of friends. They are unique in the sense, that one of them is a talented thief while the other is a former mercenary adept at warfare. They are famous (or notorious, as the case may be) for taking on the toughest jobs, which no one else will touch, and succeeding at them. Both the books in the Theft of Swords omnibus have such jobs as the starting point. Their reputation of being invincible has been carefully developed by the author. It really seems that this reputation is well-deserved as we see them getting out of impossibly difficult situations with skill and a lot of luck.