Interview with Henry Lyons

Today we're chatting with Henry Lyons, author of poetry book DEEP THOUGHTS. Henry's new work is a book called SUPERNATURE. Let's get to know him.

Welcome, Henry. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Well I’m a New York City Special Education Teacher. I also design websites and graphics for advertisements as well as edit short films and music videos. Of course I also write first poetry and now novels.

How long have you been writing?

Most of my poetry was written over a fifteen year period. During that time I did have some ideas for stories but I never wrote any of them down until last year when I started work on Supernature.

Tell us about SUPERNATURE. What’s the story about?

The story starts off as a simple police investigation which uncovers mass mutations that are caused by an unknown substance. As the mutations spread they begin to threaten the entire planet. A team of scientists and investigators work together to halt the spread of the mutated creatures.

Sounds intriguing. I bet it would make a cool movie too. How did the idea of the story come to you?

To be honest with you I got the idea for the story way back in the nineteen seventy’s. A disco song was popular at that time called believe it or not, “Supernature” by a French artist by the name of Cerrone. As I listened to the lyrics of the song I noticed that it talked about Man’s manipulation of nature and finally natures revolt against man. Here’s a few lines from the song:


Once upon a time
Science opened up the doors
We would feed the hungry fields
'till they couldn't eat no more

But the potions that we made
Touched the creatures down below
And they grew up in a way
That we've never seen before

supernature supernature
supernature supernature

They were angry with the man
cause he changed their way of life
And they take their sweet revenge
As they trample through the night


I started to think about how genetic engineering has become common place within our society and how if abused what impact the technology could have on our environment. I played with the idea for years and then in 2009 I finally decided to put pen to paper.

Do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers, or do you self-edit?

I had a number of friends that helped me edit the book and give me some critical feedback.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

I think one of the hardest things to do is to create believable characters that people can identify with.

Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

A photo of my beloved deceased daughter. Her memory gives me my drive.

Sorry for your loss. That's got to be the worst pain someone can endure. I'm glad she's giving you inspiration.


Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you.

I would like to thank my wife Shanell who has supported me patiently while I write. I would also like to thank my father who has always been my ROCK and role model. He is also one of my most enthusiastic fans. I would also like to thank my buddy and business partner Alvin Grant.
Also LULU.com, and all of my family and friends

And finally, where can people find you online?
http://www.HVLYONS.com
http://stores.lulu.com/hvlyons
http://hvlyons.blogspot.com
twitter.com/Hvlyons

Henry, thank you so much for chatting with us. I wish you success with all your publication endeavors.

Thank you!

Catching up: Blog Awards

I'm so honored to have received some lovely blog awards from really awesome people. I'm tickled to be included in the blogging community, and it's a pleasure to pay it forward.

Let's get right to it, then.

The wonderful Erica Chapman, whom I interviewed back in July, presented me with the Strange award. Very original, and quite fitting. I shall go forth and celebrate my strangeness every day, as a matter of fact.

Kelsey Sutton has awarded me a beautiful Life is Good award. This one comes with questions I'm supposed to answer, so I'll try to make them short and sweet:

Questions:

1. If you blog anonymously are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now?
I'm perfectly happy not being anonymous. :)

2. Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side:
Hehehe, just ask my kids. I'm sure there's more than one incident there.

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?
A woman trying desperately to hold on to her youth.

4. What is your favourite summer cold drink?
Sparkling water.

5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?
Read a book.

6. Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?
Getting published is pretty much still at the top of my to-do list.

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever , the shy person, or always ditching?
I was a gleek, actually. But I won 1st place in a talent show singing with my classmate who is now one of the members of All 4 One.

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment of your life what would you see?
Poignant as in touching, not poignant as in sad: the births of my children.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?
I'm a Leo, so I'm all for sharing. ;)

10. If you had the choice to sit down and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?
Sit down and read. Enjoy the silence!

Okay, now that that's taken care of, I have two more super awards to share. The One Lovely Blog award and The Versatile Blogger award come to me by way of Marieke at Marieke's Musings. I'm supposed to add seven things about myself, but I figure I've probably covered that in the questionnaire above. ;)

A big hug and thank you to these magnificent writers/bloggers. You all rock.


These awards of course come with some rules, so here they are:

1. Add the logo of the award to your blog post. 
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3. Nominate seven other blogs telling us why you think the recipient is strange enough to deserve the award. 
4. Leave a message for those nominated on their blogs.


And here are my pay-it-forward recipients for all four awards:


Shelli at Market My Words: Shelli is so generous and helpful. Her blog is full of awesome and I love the contests she holds.
Eleni at La Femme Readers: Such a pretty blog (from a pretty lady) and her give-aways are fab!
JA Souders at Angels and Demons and Portals. Oh my! Talk about fantastic, this blog is a must-follow.
Anne Riley: She's a writer, she's having a baby, and she still finds time to share the joy. Oh, and I interviewed her back in March.
Tawna Fenski at Don't Pet Me, I'm Writing: Love Tawna. Plain and simple.
Jenn Johansson, whom I interviewed back in April. Definitely check her out.
Nikki Katz, whom I interviewed back in June. Nikki's great, so please visit her blog.


And there you have it. Whew!
.

Idle Engines

Hello, my dear friends.

I'm back from my vacation, but still trying to get back into the swing of things. I didn't want to leave you hanging though, so I thought I'd post an "I'm back" announcement and let you know I'll have some interviews for you again soon.

Thanks for sticking with me. :)

Aaaaaand BREAK!

Okay, my friends. Here's the deal. My family and I are going on vacation starting tomorrow. We will be in Singapore for two days, then flying to the Philippines where my mother's side of the family has put together a huge reunion. I mean HUGE. She has ten siblings, and they all have kids, and their kids all have kids. So, um, yeah. HUGE. But I'm very excited. My hubby and kids haven't been to the PI yet (that's short for Philippine Islands, in case you couldn't connect the dots) so it should be very interesting.

So all that to say, I won't be updating the blog while I'm gone. However, I will be back in two weeks with more awesome interviews for your reading pleasure. And if you're a writer who might want to be interviewed, leave me a comment with contact info and I'll get back to you when I return.

Until then, I wish you all a great mid-October!

Interview with Rebecca J Clark

Hello again, blogosprites. Are you ready for another interview? I can't hear you. Oh wait, I don't have my speakers turned on. In any case, I've got a great interview for you with an awesome author. Please welcome Rebecca J. Clark, author of BORROWED STILETTOS.

Welcome, Rebecca. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I live in the Pacific NW with my husband of 23 years and two teenagers. My day job is personal fitness trainer and group exercise instructor. I teach Zumba, Turbokick, Pilates and yoga. Thank goodness for a job where I get paid to work out -- supports my Cheetos and chocolate habit. :) My job now is a far cry from my bachelor's degree in graphic design, eh?

I'd say you're rather diverse. You had me at chocolate, lol. How long have you been writing?

I've wanted to be a novelist since I was 11 years old and read my first Harlequin romance. But I didn't start writing for publication until after my daughter was born. She's 18 now. When you realize I just got my first sale in 2008, you'll know it took me a LONG TIME to sell. Okay, so I wasn't writing full-time and raised two kids and moved several times over those years, but still. It took me a long time. I made so many mistakes along the way, I really should write a book called, "Everything You Need to Know to Sabotage Your Writing Career and Take Forever to Sell."

You really should! I'd buy it. Tell us about BORROWED STILETTOS.

Just thinking about this book makes me grin. This was one of those stories I just had to write and had a blast doing it. It's about identical twins who switch places in order for one to break up with the other's fiance. One twin is flamboyant and outgoing and very popular. The other twin has always been quieter and shy and more conservative. I got the idea from my own childhood. I'm not a twin, but I always lived in the shadow of my more beautiful, more popular sister. On more than one occasion, boys would use me to get to her. When I told a writer friend that, she said, "You have to put that in a book." So I did. I'm still living in my sister's shadow, by the way. Her name's Laurie London and her first book comes out next year with HQN. :)

I'll keep an eye out. What was the most challenging aspect of your publishing journey?

Everything's been a challenge, to be honest. But the hardest thing, at least for me, was to get "so close" (in my case, making it all the way through the senior editor with one big publisher) only to be rejected at aquisitions. You're so close you can almost taste it, then BOOM. The rug is pulled out from under you. It takes a while to recover from that, let me tell you. You start to question if you'll ever sell, if you're good enough, is all the hard work worth it, etc. This industry will kill you if you let it. I've almost let it a few times.

Any tips you've learned about writing you want to share?

I heard this once somewhere: "If you want to sell quicker, write to the market. If you want to enjoy what you're doing, write what you love." Right now, dark paranormals are hot, as are urban fantasy and steampunk. For writers who love those genres, their chances of selling soon are probably a bit better than someone like me who writes straight contemporary and romantic suspense. Unfortunately for me, the markets I love to read and write aren't hot right now. I've toyed with the idea of trying my hand at one of those genres, but if I don't enjoy reading them, that would probably come across in my writing.

Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

I must have my notebook nearby, for any ideas or notes I might want to jot down. I must have coffee, unfortunately, or at the very least a hot cup of tea. I would have Cheetos if they weren't so messy. What I can't have around is my husband--he's worse than the kids at interrupting me. :) Oh, and my thesaurus--the real thing, not the online version.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

Wow, I've honestly never thought about this before LOL. Let's see, in my best dreams at night (at least the ones that aren't TMI), I can run like the wind, and it's an amazing feeling. So, I'll go with that. Boring, I know, but imagine how cool that would be.

Not boring at all. In fact, if I could run like the wind and not get sweaty - even better!

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: gown, race, and quarantine.

Oh, great. You're making me think. I'm really not a writer but a REwriter. Sigh. Okay, here goes:

Struggling not to trip over the long train of her gown, Matilda raced out of the church before the cops could quarantine the wedding party.

Awesome. Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

Obviously, I thank my family for putting up with a messy house and the only occasional sit-down dinner. It must be incredibly difficult living with a writer. If the writing is going well, I'm in a great mood but all I want to do is write. If it's not going well, I'm in a pissie mood and all I want to do is write. :) There are really too many other individual people to thank, so I'll do a quick shout out to my Golden Heart sisters, the Pixie Chicks; my local chapter, GSRWA; and my plotting group, the Cherry Plotters (as in Cherry Adair).

And finally, where can people find you online?

My website: www.rebeccajclark.com
My blog: www.shywriters.blogspot.com
My group blog: www.blameitonthemuse.com
Facebook: Rebecca J. Clark
Twitter: @rebeccajclark

Rebecca, thank you so much for letting me interview you. It was a lot of fun. I wish you continued success!

Thanks so much for having me here, Dorothy. You're the best!

The Call: Guest Post by Mindi Scott

We have a fabulous guest post today from author Mindi Scott. Mindi's YA debut novel, FREEFALL, about what comes next for a teen who was the last person to see his best friend alive and the first to find him dead, will be released by Pulse (Simon & Schuster) October 5th, 2010.

From the time I started writing with the intent of getting published, I knew that I wanted an agent. Once I felt that my work was ready, I set about trying to get one. Three years, two manuscripts, and 170 agent rejections later, I was way beyond prepared. I knew the questions I needed to ask. I knew all the steps that needed to be taken. I just needed an agent to call me up to give me the chance.

On January 6, 2009, I was gearing up for a new revision when my phone rang. I stared at the number on the screen, but I didn't recognize it. The caller definitely wasn't local. Whenever this had happened during all those months of querying, I'd hoped that it would be an agent calling to discuss my book. It always ended up being some kind of telemarketer or telephone-survey taker, though.

This time, I answered, expecting a telemarketer's spiel. Instead, the person on the other end said, "Hi, Mindi. This is Jim McCarthy of Dystel and Goderich Literary Management. I finished reading your manuscript. I loved it, and I'm calling to offer representation."

I would be lying if I told you that I remembered much about what I said or how the rest of that conversation went. I just stared out the window in a state of shock, running through my mind that he'd just said that he loved my manuscript.

He kept talking to me, saying a lot of enthusiastic-sounding words.

HE LOVED MY MANUSCRIPT! HE SAID, "LOVED." LOVED!

Then he paused in whatever he was saying, clearly waiting for some kind of response from me. I said, "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

He laughed and said it all again.

When we got off the phone a few minutes later, I wasn't quite able to process what had just happened. Something great and wonderful and unbelievable! After all this time, I had an agent call to talk about my book! And I truly comprehend only about a quarter of what he said!

Wait. Did he say that he wanted to represent me? He did. HE DID!

I freaked out, ran around the house (literally), called my husband, my mom, my sister, my best friends. I left insane messages on people's voicemails. When my hands stopped shaking enough so that I could use my keyboard and mouse, I checked my email and spotted the agency agreement that I vaguely remembered Jim saying that he was going to send for me to check out.

And we all lived happily ever after.

Okay, so as you might guess, The Call didn't go exactly as I'd imagined. I'd wanted to be cool, calm, and super-professional and it didn't happen. To aspiring authors out there, I have to say that being prepared and researching the right questions to ask an agent is a very good thing to do. But if The Call comes unexpectedly like it did for me, try not to worry too much. You can and will get a chance to get into the nitty-gritty agent/client details in emails and later phone conversations. I promise!

Even though I don't officially remember much about what was said during that initial call, I do know that it is by far, one of the best that I've ever received!

**************************

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Freefall-Mindi-Scott/dp/1442402784/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283449255&sr=8-1


Links about Mindi:

http://mindiscott.com/
http://twitter.com/mindi_scott
http://www.youtube.com/user/authormindiscott
http://www.thecontemps.com/

FREEFALL Book Trailer

Interview with Laura Schultz

What? The weekend is over already? I think I can ease your Monday morning blues with my next interviewee. Laura Schultz is a fantastic writer whom I've connected with through Twitter and Facebook. She's always supportive and has a terrific attitude. Let's get to know her a little more.

Welcome, Laura. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I grew up in a small border town in California into a political family. My father was a farmer turned politician and mother was a painter/sculptor. As a child I was greatly influenced by what I saw there in the 1950’s during an idyllic time much like old American television shows. Meeting notable political figures was quite interesting. They came to our cozy little town to campaign for my dad who was running for a Senatorial seat from our district in 1964. We had horses and lots of great animals on the ranch we had. As with many of us my childhood influenced my adult life, including what I have chosen to write about now.

How long have you been writing?

I have been writing poetry almost all of my life to get me through the good times and mostly the many tough years. However, I began writing professionally about 4 years ago and began by writing for national magazines. I write a myriad of genres including true crime, poetry, articles related to relationships, sexuality and book reviews for the New York Journal of Books in genres that I am credentialed to review. I have also been a licensed Psychotherapist for over 20 years which also influences my writing style.

Wow, sounds like you've got your hands in every jar. That's awesome. Tell us about the book of poetry you have out with a publisher.

My book involves poetry of love, loss and personal struggles of having an incurable but manageable physical illness for many years. The collection of poems is reflective of my philosophy about life and writing from the soul. There will be more details forthcoming when it gets closer to publication.

Where do you get your inspiration?

I gather my inspiration from many sources including other poets and writers--mainly those who struggled throughout history. But also those I have had the privilege to come to know presently. My mom’s fabulous artwork and gourmet cooking talents have also influenced my desire to create something artistic. I have no artistic talent per se like she had but I know that she would be proud of me now. She was way ahead of her time and was also a somewhat renowned artist for her generation of women. Unfortunately she is in the last stages of Alzheimers and cannot witness what I have accomplished.

Sounds like she's an amazing woman.

Tell us, do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers?

I don’t necessarily enjoy writing critique groups but my best friend is a prolific writer, scholar and film teacher. He has also been my writing mentor and best teacher for over 6 years now. I also recently created a writer’s group called Writer’s etc. along with my Co-Director Italia Trent. The group has over 600 members from many genres as well as members of the Hollywood Community. I have received and hopefully give support to all the writers in the group as much as I am able to do along with my many writing deadlines.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

The hardest part for me, Dorothy, is maintaining a balance in my life between writing, friends taking care of myself and having some semblance of a healthy relationship. That will take more time for me to learn to do well. Many of my non-writer friends are disappointed that I don’t have much time to spend with them anymore and don’t understand why I work such odd hours, in their opinion.

I understand. I've often wished for a way to freeze time so I can do all the things I need to do and stay connected to everyone I'd like to.

Do you have any tips you’ve learned about writing you’d like to share?

For me writing at night when it’s quiet is the best time for me to focus. I realize every writer has their own personal preference when it comes to this issue. I also feel that my outlook on life in general helps me get through the waiting or dry periods (so to speak) that can cause great angst for many writers including myself. I’ve been very lucky to have such great support for the writing life the past few years. Though I dreaded the thought of social media at first, I have learned to enjoy networking with other writers and sharing our mutual concerns.

Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

Must haves for me are inspirational pix or quotes from people I admire, an old-fashioned writing pad that I carry everywhere I go and in my office I am surrounded by award-winning paintings that my mother created years ago.

Cool! Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

I am very grateful to the many people who have supported me in the last few years from all over the world especially Stuart McCallum, Italia Trent, Roz Morris, Anton Mueller, Don Odom, Nancy Denofio, Russ Bryant, Amanda Haines, Deborah Riley, Derek Haines and Dan Hays. All of them can be found on twitter or facebook or both. And all have special writing talents of their own. My stepfather Joel Rudof, cousin Mark Goldenson and brother Mike Schultz have been very supportive family members. And Dorothy you have also been very supportive. Thanks for interviewing me. This almost sounds like an Academy Award acceptance speech doesn’t it?

LOL, yeah, but it's fitting. And finally, where can people find you online?

The best place for people to read samples of my work is www.lauraschultznow.com. I am just getting my blog up and running but am enjoying people stopping by to leave comments, etc.


Laura, thank you so much for chatting with us today. I look forward to more information about your book, and I wish you lots of success with all your writing endeavors.