Writers and Authors

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Interview with Marlene M. Bell, author of Stolen Obsession

What advice do you have for other writers?

The process is arduous. Long hours filled with frustration. Stick with it and get good help along the way for the best book possible. Your editors are a lifeline to writing that best book. Whatever you do, don’t ignore your editor’s suggestions. Beta readers and friends who read your manuscript can be helpful but ignore your editor’s comments at your own risk. Friends know you and may not give you the critical advice that you need for fear of hurting your feelings. Your editor wants your work as good as it can be and they have seen lots of nasty manuscripts. Good editors know how to fix what ails yours, but do your homework when choosing an editor. There are a few who don’t write novels themselves. A novelist needs an editor who also writes, with success. Developmental editors look at the big picture like plot, plot holes and pacing. Line and copy editors do the finer work on your prose.

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What formats is the book available in?

Stolen Obsession is available in paperback as well as eBook. In October, 2018 Stolen Obsession will be available in audio book! I’m happy to have one of the most talented voice over artists in New York narrate Stolen Obsession. Her name is Katina Kalin. She is an actress and teaches others the craft of voice. Katina also narrates for commercials, A&E, and The Discovery Channel among others.

Where can people find out more about you and your writing?

I started my own business in 1985 as an artist selling products with my artwork and photography that featured our sheep flock. My husband had sheep when I met him in the late 1970’s and they quickly became the focal point for my work. My original website is located at www.texassheep.com. To find out more about my books, go to www.marlenembell.com. Facebook: fb.me/marlenembell and follow me on Twitter at @ewephoric. Ewephoric is my company name and I publish through Ewephoric Publishing.

Who is you favorite character in your book and why?

My favorite would have to be Generosa Zavos, Alec’s mother. She is of Italian descent, like myself. I had fun dropping character traits into her from my own family. We all use our hands when we speak and Generosa does the same. I pictured cousins speaking to each other in groups, hands flying in and out while I wrote. I know a bit about the Italian customs due to my own grandfather. He was born in Bari, Italy in the late 1800’s. Back then, Bari was more of a poor fishing village. I recall some of what he told me as a young girl—his home before he left to come to America and fight in WWI. Using his words and what I researched in Italy online made Stolen Obsession come to life on the page for me. Hopefully I’ve done the same for the reader.

Who designed the cover?

The cover of Stolen Obsession was designed by a husband and wife team from Australia. Steam Power Studios designed an award winning cover back in 2015 when I was researching cover artists. I fell in love with their work because it was so original and I believe in marketing myself with a fresh, exciting cover. Covers do sell books. Great covers sell more books. Stock covers give the appearance that the writer doesn’t care about his or her work. I recommend finding the best cover artist you can afford. A cheap, fifty dollar stock cover should be avoided at all costs. Vlad and Erica Zivanovic of Steam Power Studios make an interesting, creative duo. Vlad works in the entertainment industry and composes music, while his wife does most of the graphic design. In addition to the cover of Stolen Obsession, they are working on the cover of my next book, Spent Identity. I love the next cover for the series! To be revealed at a later date. Stolen Obsession has won 2 prestigious cover awards in 2018.

Where can a reader purchase your book?

Stolen Obsession is available through most retailers, including some bookstores and on Amazon.

Other sellers include, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords and Draft 2 Digital in eBook.

What are you doing to market the book?

Months ahead of the release, I contacted a book marketing agency and signed up with them. Looking back, I wouldn’t advise their services to anyone (since most of what they did, I ended up doing again for myself.) I received no feedback from their contacts and no contact names for future use. For me, I won’t go down that road again. The process is very expensive so expect to drop $7,000.00 to $10,000.00 if you go this route. Just because an agency didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean you will have the same result. Not everyone has the luxury for an expenditure like this, but when an author is an indie-publisher and debut author, it’s an option. PR companies work best for known celebrities.

Next on my agenda was the press release. This was done originally by the agency to announce the release, but I followed up with different press releases once the book officially went up on Amazon. I took advantage of their Kindle Countdown deals in the first 90 days of Stolen Obsession’s release. Goodreads also has an option for a Giveaway, which I also took advantage of prior to the book’s release. Book/Blog Tours are the best for getting reviews. I highly recommend tours! Expect to hand out plenty of paperback copies in the form of Advance Reader Copies. Some recipients will read and leave a review, but you will find that most who are not affiliated with a blog tour will not leave a review.

One method I added once the book hit the market was entering book contests. Cover contests as well as content. Stolen Obsession has won 2 prestigious cover awards and more recently, the FAPA chose Stolen Obsession as the President’s Award Gold Medal winner for Best Mystery. Expect to pay $85.00 to $150.00 per contest, but the effort is well worth it if you have worked hard and have a good, clean, commercially viable book.

What is your work in progress? Tell us about it.

My second book in the Annalisse Series is called, Spent Identity. The story takes place in upstate New York in a country setting. Annalisse and Alec are having difficulties in their relationship which worsens when a dead man with a questionable identity is found in Annalisse’s aunt’s barn. Soon after, the aunt vanishes. Are the two events related—or unrelated as the authorities believe? Annalisse and Alec are drawn again to each other as they work out the mysteries that continue to pile up surrounding Aunt Kate’s disappearance. Annalisse has to deal with childhood fears and a villain who knows how to take advantage of her fears. A big twist and a cataclysmic secret reveal that will have Annalisse reeling in the end!

What are your thoughts on Self-Publishing verses traditional publishing?

When Stolen Obsession was final-edited and proofed, I set out to go the traditional route and look for agent representation. The process stretched 9 long months. Rejection letters came one after the other. Short, sweet and sometimes in form letter. Frustrated, I found a copy editor to check my work again. She made the prose shine and recommended Self-Publishing because she had more authors going that route than those who weren’t, due to bad contacts and little in payouts from publishers. Stolen Obsession took years to write. I didn’t have it in me to wait any longer, so I took the editor’s advice and went indie. If you are a self-starter like I am, and can market yourself well, this is the route for you. Best thing I ever did!

What are you currently reading?

One of my favorite authors is Karen Rose. She writes complicated romantic suspense. Many characters with diverse backgrounds. I’m halfway finished with her novel, Edge of Darkness, having read most of her books. I’ve also gone back and reread the old series, Outlander when I need a plug of romance to help spice up my own writing. This author helps to trigger my own work. Diana Gabaldon writes extremely detailed, refreshing first-person narrative. A nice break from writing and reading in the third. Stolen Obsession is written in third person. Lately, I’ve picked up books from local authors in East Texas. There is a stack waiting to be read once I finish Karen Rose.

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Finding Your Writing Schedule

Guest post by Jenny Q

I would have never considered myself a writer.

I have a bookcase stuffed full of my old journals- filled with my thoughts, my travels, my weeping and my joy- but somehow I never put myself in that category.

Thankfully, all that journal writing gave me the courage and discipline to sit down and write a book.

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I find that a time every day, a rhythm, gives me the headspace to write. Even before opening my book to write, my thoughts begin pouring out, my brain anticipating the daily appointed time.

And perhaps because my personality is such that I love a good ritual, I always have a steaming cup of espresso in hand, and sit in the same chair. If I am lucky enough to have a chill in the air, I reach for the same cozy sweater. This all happens at 4:30 am. This may seem extreme, but I encourage everyone to try, at least for a good month, getting up at least an hour before the sun comes up, to make a good cuppa, and sit facing east to write and watch for the rising sun. There is something about that tender light that ignites the imagination and gets the creative juices flowing. And the dark morning generally carries the kind of quiet that conjures hope and productivity.

All that being said, working at night also has its magic. Many nights, one could find me sprawled out on the bed, bits of manuscript spread out all around me, as I edited and pieced together the final stages of my book.

As a working mother, I need to find the quiet times to work, because I am someone who goes a bit crazy with interruptions, as I lose my train of thought or a desired thread. So I find the times that have those open spaces.

In the morning, before my household stirs and before I gear up my rational brain to run my company, I can be open and dreamy. It is when my creative ideas are the most accessible. At night, after running a business and a household, my brain tends to be better at the left-brained work, editing and piecing together.

I think each person has a natural rhythm to their day, their life. Fitting in writing and editing has to be part of that rhythm, as important as fitting in dinner or housekeeping. Once that flow is in place, the journal just needs to be open to capture all the words waiting to fall onto the page.

Jenny Q was born in Southern California to Palestinian immigrants. Her love of herbs began in her teens while on the road following the Grateful Dead. After exploring many heart homes, she set her roots in Joshua Tree, California, where she opened Grateful Desert, the local apothecary. Joyously sharing her life with her tight-knit desert community, Jenny lives with her beloveds~ Yazzy, her daughter and Myshkin, her wife.

Connect with Jenny: Website

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Writing Series, Guest post by Gabriel Valjan @GValjan @iReadBookTours

The key to writing a series is accepting the inherent contradiction between Flexibility and Structure. A writer must make critical decisions. Is each novel episodic, a stand-alone experience, or a narrative train that ends at some point? The late Sue Grafton, who had planned her series according to the letters of the alphabet, passed away before she could complete Z is for Zero. Each novel has rising and falling action, but does the series? What about time? Do the characters age? What about long-term character development?

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Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone is eccentric and likes peanut-butter and pickle sandwiches. The series is set in the 80s. Sara Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski’s caseload starts in 1988 and moves forward in real-time, and yet her two Golden retrievers, Peppy and Mitch, never age. “Vic” divorces, likes her hometown Chicago teams, Da Cubs and Da Bears. Both authors created compelling characters with distinctive quirks and whose lives readers can jump into without too much fuss. Backstory is inferred or incidental in the reader’s relationship with the author. Structure is leisurely, predictable, and familiar, like time with an old friend.

Breaking Bad, from cancer diagnosis to finale, spans exactly two years. Compression here lends itself to a different type of drama. While the medium of television is different from a novel, writing a series is still writing. Vince Gilligan had chosen to serialize each episode with a hyperawareness of the timeline. The comfort level of plugging into a character’s life has evaporated. The viewer must know exactly where Walter White and Jesse are on their journey. There is a premium placed on creating a worthwhile character, otherwise it’s Jack Bauer from the series 24 having yet another awful day. Therein lies the paradox.

When you write a series, conflict and pacing come to you, in an almost mystical way. Character and Conflict are the engine to the narrative train. You get to know the characters, how they tick, hear what they’ll say, and see how they’ll react. Structure builds itself through pacing, the knowing when to shine the spotlight of Conflict and when to pull back on the information you give to the reader. Control the reader’s attention (and interest) by distributing short-term and long-term conflicts. Anticipate and subvert their expectations. Short-term conflicts relate to the plot of the current novel, the long-term arc is a function of a character’s strengths or flaws over the course of several books. Do they become a better person or, like Walter White, a monster? The overall character arc must have an organic logic of its own for the installment, and in the greater arc of the series. The gamble in writing a series is not knowing whether the reader wants comfort food, or change. Or whether they will like what you decide for an ending.

The artistry of the writing in the Breaking Bad series that I admire is that you can watch and revisit the series from a different character’s point of view each time, and understand their motivations and behavior. I hated Skyler White, Walter’s wife, the first time around, but I empathized with her on my second viewing of the series. Like Walt, she wants to protect her family. In the online interviews I’ve read with Gilligan, he said that he remained flexible to logistics and open to input from his team. You as the writer should be flexible and receptive to where your characters take you. Most writers, however, don’t have the luxury of input from other creatives, so a good structural editor is a boon.

Gabriel Valjan is the author of The Roma Series from Winter Goose Publishing. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where he enjoys the local restaurants, and his two cats, Squeak and Squawk, keep him honest to the story on the screen.

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Book Showcase: Seeking a Familiar Face by May Patterson

Title: Seeking a Familiar Face: The Transformational Journey of Connecting with God

Author: May Patterson

Category: Adult nonfiction, 175 pages

Genre: Christian Living

Publisher: Exploration Press

About the Book:

http://amzn.to/2zoJfFr

The greatest adventure of your life awaits. And it will change everything.

Ever feel disappointed? Like your life isn't as fulfilling as you had always dreamed it would be? Are you laden down with responsibilities, feeling overwhelmed and empty, or maybe even a bit caged?

You're not alone.

Many people in the Bible felt the same way. Most had difficulties. Some felt stuck. Others were depressed, afraid and uncertain. And some just wanted to get closer to God. So they set out on life's adventure —seeking God—and encountered the One who fulfilled their longings and changed their lives forever.

The same can happen for you.

Seeking a Familiar Face guides you on the transforming journey of connecting with God, through simple, yet extraordinary ways. It doesn't matter if you are already seeking Him or just getting started, this book will encourage you to go a little farther toward locking hearts with God.

In this book, you will discover engaging narratives from ten biblical characters, along with stories, humor, and practical ideas for seeking God. There are thought-provoking questions at the end of each chapter to discuss with a friend or a group. Most of all, "Seeking a Familiar Face" will offer you fresh hope for deepening your intimacy with God.

About the Author

May Patterson has been writing and teaching bible study classes for several years. Her new book, “Seeking a Familiar Face,” was birthed from a Bible study she wrote in 2014 called “A Time to Seek.” She was trained in small group dynamics for over ten years at Bible Study Fellowship, serving as a leader for four years. She has written for several magazines including Focus on the Family, Upper Room Magazine and Shattered Magazine, among others. She is married to her dear friend, Mike, and they have three grown children. She loves to tell stories, laugh, and talk about the adventure of seeking God.

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Stress Management for Authors, guest post by Ingrid Kelada @ikelada @iReadBookTours #21DaysToHappiness #IngridKelada

Did you know?

According to the Statistic Brain website, 76% of people cite money and work as the main causes of their stress.

As a psychologist and a happiness expert, I can tell you that people think it's normal to be stressed, overwhelmed and tired, but it's not! Certainly, when experiencing it, stress gives energy, but in the long run, it hurts our performance.

Stress is the answer to a perception of danger. In difficult situations, the adrenaline released allows us to be fast, strong and agile. It's very practical in the moment, but in the long term it harms our physical and psychological health.

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Here are the 2 most effective tips for authors that I recommend you practice.

Breathe Slowly and Deeply

By slowing down our breathing, we send a signal to our brain that we are in control. This allows us to react better because we are more focused, creative and effective when we are calm than when anxious or exhausted.

A practical tool to control our breathing is cardiac coherence. This method of monitoring heart rhythms was discovered by American researchers and then widely publicized by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber.

It is believed that the average number of complete breaths that is related to positive emotions and well-being is between 5 and 7 per minute, depending on the person. By "complete breathing" we mean long, deep inhalations and total exhalation: the cycle is about 10 seconds in total (5 seconds of inhalation, 5 seconds of exhalation).

Quick tip: try this…Before you sit down to write, here is a video with English instructions or my favorite video on YouTube, you get a bonus free mini vacation with the second one!

In addition, I suggest you download the APP RespiRelax-iOs or RespiRelax-Android on your smartphone, so you can easily "de-stress" between crises in about five minutes!

Learn to De-dramatize

When you need to focus on your writing but something goes wrong you can feel unable to function. Stress, as previously mentioned, is caused first and foremost by our perceptions or interpretation or events. If you think a situation is serious or negative, your stress automatically increases. Conversely, if you think there is a solution to everything and that things could be worse, your stress decreases. One thing I love to do to help de de-dramatize comes from the book Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. The book poses the question “will it matter a year from now?”. Usually, the answer is NO! Most of the time, we are stressed with things that are usually quickly resolved. We tend to manage multiple emergencies and crises per week to which we most often find solutions. I always say: “if there is not a solution, there is a lesson!”

Quick tip: try this…Since I am not a physician, when dealing with problematic situations at work, I often say to myself: "There are no lives in danger" and this allows me to regain my composure in order to find the best way to deal with the issue.

Ms. Ingrid Kelada is an experienced psychologist and happiness expert. She is a speaker and has facilitated over 1000 workshops all over the world. People find her to be pragmatic, inspiring and funny! She has an online personality questionnaire store to help people identify their talents and interests. With over 25 years experience, she offers her expertise to a wide range of clients. She is bilingual and a member of the professional association of Psychologists of Quebec. Visit her online at www.keladacc.ca

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