Chapter One

I watched as he crept toward the cellar door, quiet as a mouse, his Glock at the ready.  He stood to one side of the doorway and pushed, easing the door open.  Nothing happened.  He slipped one hand through the opening and felt for a light switch.  After scrabbling for what seemed like forever, he found it and snapped the cellar light on.  A snarling, slavering mass of fur exploded from the darkness…

… just as Seth’s doorbell rang, pulling me out of my book and scaring the hell out of me.  I jumped and looked around, almost surprised to find myself snuggled into the corner of one of the couches in Seth’s –our– living room. 

Seth peered at me over the top of his own book.  “Were you expecting someone?” he asked with a little frown.

I shook my head.

Sighing, Seth levered himself up from the sofa and padded toward the front door.  The doorbell rang a second time just before he peeked through the peephole and then jerked the door open.

“What the hell?”

“Hello to you, too,” I heard a familiar voice say.

I knelt on the sofa so that I could lean over the back to look out the doorway and across the foyer to the front door.  I couldn’t see much except Seth’s back and the pair of arms wound around his neck.  Then he stepped aside to let our visitor in and shut the door, and I knew why the voice had sounded familiar.

I turned around and sat down again as Jenny Marshall walked into the living room.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey?  That’s all you got?  Hey?”

I shrugged.

“What are you doing here?” Seth asked as he curled up on the other sofa again.

Jenny leaned against the back of the sofa and looked at me.  “Since Elizabeth hasn’t returned any of my calls, or emails, or texts, I figured I better come make sure she was still breathing.”

I rolled my eyes and picked up my e-reader, determined to go back to my book.

“Chris thinks you dumped him but didn’t have the balls to say so.”

I looked back up at Jenny, ready to argue, but I didn’t get the chance.  Seth beat me to it.

“Chris is giving her space, Jenny.  He knows she’s dealing with a lot of shit right now.”

“Like he isn’t?”

“I didn’t say that.”  Seth leaned his head back against the arm of the couch so that he was looking up at the ceiling.  “I talk to him almost every day, Jen.  We know what’s going on with him, and he knows what’s going on with us.”  He turned his eyes on her.  “But I’d be willing to bet he has no idea what you’re up to right now.”

Jenny frowned but didn’t argue.  Instead she turned to me and said, “He talked to the school and made sure you’re going to get your internship credit so you can graduate.  Did you know that?”

“He did?” I asked.

Seth rubbed his face with one hand.  “He told me last night, but asked me not to say anything.  He wanted to tell you himself.  He was planning on calling you today.”

I glanced at my cell phone, lying on the end table between the two sofas, and thought about calling Chris.  I knew that was probably exactly what Jenny wanted me to do, though, so I decided to at least wait until she was gone before I called him.

“Yeah, he did,” Jenny said, ignoring Seth.  “And just so you know, he’s not the only one who’s feeling abandoned.  Mom and Hannah miss you, too.”

There was no way in hell I was going to let her make me feel guilty about protecting myself, so instead of admitting that I missed them, too, I glared at Jenny and said, “Well.  You’ve seen that I’m alive.  You’ve interrupted a perfectly good afternoon, annoyed the hell out of both me and Seth, and spoiled Chris’s surprise.  What else ya got planned for your impromptu trip to Lalaland?”

The air seemed to go out of Jenny’s sails then.  Her shoulders sagged and she sighed.  “I didn’t come here to fight,” she said.  “I really did want to see for myself how you’re doing.  I guess not being greeted with open arms set me on edge.  That or not sleeping for the last day and a half.”  She rubbed her eyes, and Seth reached up to lay a hand on her arm.

“Guest room’s all yours, if you want it,” he told her.

Jenny half turned and eyed the staircase.  “It up there?”

“Yep.”

“Then one of you needs to scoot your ass over and share a couch.  I’m lucky I made it this far.  Those stairs would be the death of me.”

Her eyes widened as she realized what she had said and she covered her mouth with one hand.

“It’s just an expression,” I said, laying my e-reader aside. 

I knew she was thinking about Robbie Quinn, who’d been a friend of mine and Jenny’s as well as one of Jenny’s exes.  He’d taken a fatal header down a staircase a few weeks before during a magic-induced hallucination.  My irritation with Jenny gone, I pushed myself to my feet and skirted the sofa to hug her.

“I’m okay,” she lied, her voice thick with unshed tears.  But she hugged me back for a long time.

Seth closed the blinds and pulled a blanket and throw pillow out of the storage compartment in his coffee table.  He tossed the pillow and blanket on one of the sofas and said, “You can nap here, if you want, or we can make sure you get upstairs okay.”  He wrapped his arms around both of us.  “It’d be kind of awesome to have two women in my bed.  Again.”

Jenny giggled, and I grinned.  I took a step back and let Seth hug her properly.

“Come on,” he said.  “Nap time.”

I haven’t posted a blog update in forever.  There are a lot of reasons for this that I won’t go into.  However, I’m back!  At least for the moment. :)

Advice for Aspiring/New Writers

It seems like every time a writer is interviewed, he or she is asked, “What advice would you give to new or aspiring writers?”

There are as many different answers to this as there are writers, of course.  One very popular one is “read.”  Some say you need to read critically, that reading for pleasure isn’t enough.  I’m not sure I agree with that.  You can learn a lot just by reading voraciously without over-analyzing  the books.  You learn what works and what doesn’t, what believable dialogue looks like, and a host of other things without even realizing it, and you can put what you’ve learned to work for you.

My answer to the question about advice for new writers, since reading has been covered by so many others, is this: study poetry.  Now, I don’t mean you should go and bury yourself in Shakespearean sonnets (though reading some of them isn’t a bad plan).  There are a lot of different types of poetry, including the kind set to music that we call songs.  

You can learn a lot from poetry and music just by listening to it.  You don’t have to study it any more critically than you do the books you read.  However, when you sit down to write, that’s when you need to do the critical analysis (of the books AND the poems or songs).  Pay special attention to the rhythm and flow.  These things that are so much a part of poetry and music are also essential to prose.  Without them, your writing can be clunky and unpleasant to read.  With them, your writing becomes more compelling and easier to read.  

In the words of Terry Brooks, “If you do not hear music in your words, you have put too much thought into your writing and not enough heart.”

I made some awesome soup tonight that I’m going to share with anyone who’s interested. :)  It’s my own version of a copycat version of Outback’s creamy onion “Walkabout Soup.”

Here’s the original copycat version:

Outback Steakhouse Walkabout Onion Soup

Ingredients

2 cups yellow sweet onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons butter

1 (15 ounce) cans chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh pepper, ground

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1/4 cup Velveeta cheese, cubes, diced ( compressed in measuring cup)

1 1/2-1 3/4 cups white sauce ( below)

cheddar cheese, shredded ( for garnish)

White Sauce

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups whole milk

Directions

Thick White Sauce:.

In a 1 quart sauce pan melt butter and add flour, cook on medium heat until the flour turns thick and comes away from the sides of the sauce pan.

Pour milk in flour a little at a time and stir constantly, add salt. Mixture should thicken and become like thick pudding.

Remember to stir constantly taking care not to let mixture lump, set aside off from heat until ready to use for the soup.

Soup:

In 2 quart sauce pan place 3 tablespoons butter and sliced onions.

Cook at low to medium heat stirring frequently until soft and clear but not brown.

Add chicken broth from can, chicken bouillon cubes, salt, pepper, and stir until completely heated through.

Add white sauce and Velveeta cheese. White sauce will be thick because it has been removed from the heat. Simmer on medium low heat until the cheese is melted and all ingredients are blended, stirring constantly.

Turn temperature to warm and let cook for additional 30 to 45 minutes.

Serve with a garnish of shredded cheddar cheese, and a couple of slices of warm dark Russian Bread.


Now, here’s what I did.

I sliced and sauted the onions.  I made the white sauce more or less according to the above directions.  I added the broth to the onions, and then realized that I didn’t have any bouillon cubes.  So I grabbed the seasoning packet out of a package of roast chicken ramen and dumped half of it into the soup.  I added the white sauce and some pepper, omitting the salt since I’d used ramen seasoning.  Then I tossed in somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese in place of the Velveeta.  I melted the cheese, turned down the heat, and let it cook for about 40 minutes.  I didn’t garnish it.  I really, really wish I’d had some of Outback’s brown bread to go with it, but it was pretty good with lightly toasted, white sandwich bread.

Things have been crazy for me lately.  In addition to getting book four in my Jukebox Heroes series (Storm) ready for publication (and published - yay!) and working on a Christmas-related project for a friend, I also landed an awesome job with a great company - in a new city.  Very excited about all of the above.  Probably won’t have a lot of blogging time for a while, though.

Here it is, folks - the first chapter of book four of the Jukebox Heroes series.  

I have it safely tucked away behind a ‘cut’ so anyone who hasn’t caught up with the series can stay spoiler-free.  Enjoy! :)

Read More

Borrowing a theme from my friend and fellow author Ed McNally, I’ve decided to compile a list of one-star reviews of really awesome books.  He recently compiled reviews for the books listed on Daniel S. Burt’s “The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time.”  Ed’s list can be found here  (and while you’re over at Indies Unlimited, you should look around a bit.  Lots of good content over there). 

The point of these posts about one-star reviews is simply to illustrate the fact that people have vastly different tastes and opinions and that one person’s opinion should not break or make a writer’s opinion of him or herself (or a reader’s opinion of a writer or book).  That said, here are some real one-star reviews of books that I loved, drawn from internet resources.  The reviews remain the property of the reviewer, blahblahblah. 

Note: I did not set out to find reviews with poor grammar, spelling, or punctuation; there’s just a plethora of one-star reviews with such issues.

1.      The Stand – Stephen King

I heartily agree with the reviewers who find this book, too long, too dull and too boring. Luckily the bookshops on Khao San Road do trade-ins. Am I the only person in the world to think that Randall Flagg is the most tiresome bad guy ever to appear in print. What is King’s obsession with this guy ? Let’s have more psycho nurses with blow-torches Mr King and less adding another 500 pages of drivel to an already drivel filled book. Riveting, is something I’d rather do than read this again.”

2.     Sandman Slim – Richard Kadrey

“Gritty doesn’t mean good.  And in this case it might be translated as terrible. I have a few issues with the book, and the first is the characters. Whatshisface (I forget his name and am too lazy to hit a button on my browser) is an entirely forgettable bad-ass who loves cars, violence and drinking. That’s about it. A quest for revenge doesn’t make a person compelling on it’s own, and the added qualities of being allegedly gritty as hell don’t make him any less one dimensional.

Next is the dialogue. It is written like a eight grade play buy the kid in the back of the class wearing a Slipknot shirt. Pretty bad. the guy does not talk like real people talk, and it only adds to his blandness.

Lastly, the setting wasn’t anything fun, original, or new. I know it’s splitting hairs, especially when it comes to urban fantasy, but usually you can shove something original in.”

3.     Changes (Book 12 of the Dresden Files) – Jim Butcher

“This is the book that killed my enjoyment of the Dresden Files.

It continues the darkening trend seen throughout the series, but accelerates it to maddening, breakneck speeds; in the process, destroying pretty much every one of the touchstones that make up the quirky, pulpy Dresden that I cared about.

In addition, the book just doesn’t feel well written. Despite the number of “How could he DO that?!” moments, nothing in here is actually new; it’s either cliche, or worse, a specifically Dresden cliche. He’s amped up Dresden’s catchphrases “Stars and Stones!” and “Hells bells!” get quite a workout), and brings in every backup character he can think of, if only to kill them off or to ignore them. The few places where the book surprises, it doesn’t do so with cleverness, but with blunt brutality; it’s not that you never could have guessed it, it’s that you wouldn’t have assumed Jim Butcher would do something so pointlessly cruel, yet boring.

This is a horrible book in the most pure sense of the world; it evokes a feeling of horror and despair, that something that once was fun and positive to you has been turned into something almost viscerally disgusting.”

4.     Soul Music – Terry Pratchett

“I was told that this was his best. Perhaps this is true, but I will not be wasting my time reading any of the others. “Cult” writers are often over-rated, yet I cannot understand why apparently intelligent people want to read this trash. Most science fantasy is terrible. Even Tolkien was much more enjoyable when I was 9. “The Silmarillion” is shockingly bad at any age. The only joke I laughed at (and not out loud) was the one about Thelonius Monk. Also, I think that Susan’s character has definite paedophile connotations, and is generally implausible. Watch some bad TV instead and save your money.”

5.     Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl

“I read this book when I was young and was disturbed by it. It is not a kid’s book. It is a book by an adult ABOUT children, not FOR children.

This book paints a very negative picture of children. With the exception of the main character, all of the children are bad and are punished in cruel ways for their faults. Are most children fundementally bad and deserving terrible punishment, at the moment they least expect it? This book suggests it (especially to a child who might be reading it and cannot understand what “social commentary” is yet). This book fits right in with the Omen and Rosemary’s Baby. It is a child-exploitation story.

I recommend this book to adults who do not like children.”

6.     The Prestige – Christopher Priest

“Woe betide the person who reads this book looking for a coherent narative. I slogged through this, hoping beyone hope that the ending would make up for endless pretentious pages of diaries & nonsensical plotting and was rewarded with … nothing. A guy runs off into the night & the story ends. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

7.     The Time Traveller’s Wife –A udrey Niffenegger

“I let myself down, and I didn’t have to travel through time to do it. If I could go back in time, I would tap myself on the shoulder and say, “Find another book.” That’s not entirely true. I did take some things from the tale.

I was so excited to dig into the concept. I couldn’t wait to find out about this love affair which wouldn’t be tamed by time. I was even interested in the concept of being a “close” friend with one’s self. Most of the hiccups readers complain about in this book didn’t faze me.

I believe I set myself up with such a high expectation for Ms. Niffenegger’s execution, perhaps something no one could fulfill. I’ll take the blame for that one.

However, I put all of the blame on the author for delivering a betraying conclusion. I have no problem with real life over fluffy love, but don’t sell me fluffy for 97% of the book and then bait and switch me.

I was so betrayed and hurt by the ending, I carried the bitterness with me for weeks. You can ask my wife.

If you are still intrigued to read this story, let me warn you of Ms. Niffenegger’s abuse of one-liners, a cheap reference to 9/11 which had nothing to do with the plot, and ethic characters who portrayed racial stereotypes - such a weak effort.

It’s a shame a different author couldn’t have gotten a shot at this plot.”

 8.     The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett

“This is without a doubt the worst book that has ever been written. I cannot even begin to describe the sappy, stupid, pointless characters and plot. Please do not ever read this book, it is absolutely awful.”

 9.     Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery

“In a word: Trite. I know that sounds snobby, but come on. Anne is the epitome of a Mary Sue character. Awh, poor thing, she’s too skinny, and her red hair is too unique, and she’s just so quirky! Isn’t she just the perfect little flawed heroine!? Actually, no. She’s obnoxious. Even as a child I couldn’t buy in to this garbage.”

 10.  A Game of Thrones – George R.R. Martin

 “I read all kinds of books, and I’m in no way an expert on the fantasy genre. However, I found this book depressing on many levels. All the characters are unlikeable, except for a couple of the children. I guess I really like a good protagonist because I found myself wanting to ROOT for someone, but I just couldn’t. As the author kills of character after character, I discovered that I just didn’t care anymore.

Also, I have NEVER read a book with so much rape in it, and I really just don’t need those images in my head. At one point, a raiding tribe pillages a community and a group of soldiers are raping a woman from behind while she is bent over a pile of corpses. I should have just put the damn book down at that point, but I was determined to finish it. I wish I hadn’t. Never again George R.R. Martin. People ought to be ashamed to compare this writer to J.R.R. Tolkien. About the only thing they have in common is the R.R.”

The members of Elvis Monroe – singer Bryan Hopkins, guitarist Ben Carey, drummer Ryan MacMillan, and bassist Matt Nelson – are no strangers to writing or recording great music.  Individually, they have contributed to more albums than I care to count, many of which met with great commercial success.  As a group though, the band has spent the last year pooling their talent.  The initial result is a six-song EP called Comin’ Around.

I’m not a big fan of genres – I don’t like to pigeon-hole creative works – and Comin’ Around doesn’t fit neatly into any one category, anyway.  Call it pop, rock, singer-songwriter, alternative, or melodic rock – whatever you call it, it’s good music.

All six of the songs on the EP are true gems, not only when compared to the noise that comprises most of radio these days but in their own right as well.  It’s hard to choose a stand out, because they are all stand outs.

The opening track, Black Clouds, is a post-relationship song that manages not to wallow in despair.  It’s a catchy, up-tempo song with a beat you can’t help moving to and guitar riffs that echo in your head long after the song is over.  The lyrics also offer a bit of hope and perspective right from the get-go: “Somewhere there’s a light on.  Somewhere there’s a meaning for all this – pain and bliss.”

The second track, Green Light, is another up-tempo tune.  This one captures the thrill of that first moment when you meet someone and sparks fly but also the point where a relationship hits a roadblock and you fight to get it back on track.  All this with a danceable beat.

The EP slows down a bit on the third track, Comin’ Around.  This is one of the two most emotional songs on the EP.  The pain of loss and the hope for better days are almost palpable.  The lyrics, vocals, and music all carry the emotion, compounding the effect until it seeps into every pore of your being. 

Track four, Rewind, picks up the pace again.  It’s another catchy song, but it’s also much more than that.  The lyrics are meaningful as well as memorable, and it’s those and the guitar that really stand out on this song.  I’m not a musician, so I don’t have the proper terms for what’s going on with the guitar in this song, but I can say it’s one of my favorite bits of guitar work.  Period.

Track five, Leave Me, is easily the most emotional track on the EP.  The song opens with acoustic guitar, and within the five seconds, it’s set the tone for the story the lyrics tell.  Add the drums and bass, and it’s enough to give you chills.  Add Bryan Hopkins’s powerful, emotional vocals, and you’ll find a lump in your throat.  With the lyrics thrown in, you just might find yourself with tears in your eyes or an ache in your chest.  If not, you may need to get yourself to a doctor to see if you have a heart – or to a priest to see if you have a soul.  The song ends without a flourish or much warning, and I find this to be a stroke of genius, an echo of the lack of closure that comes with the sudden end of a relationship.

The closing track, Beautiful End, is aptly named.  It’s a beautiful song, sad but hopeful.  The song’s strength is in its simplicity, its raw, stripped-down presentation.  It’s the perfect song to round out a great collection of music.

Elvis Monroe, with the help of producer Jay Ruston (and, if I’m not mistaken, various co-writers), has put together an amazing debut EP that showcases both the writing and musical talents of the group’s members.  It’s an excellent first offering and I can only imagine great things ahead for both the band and its fans.

What:   Comin’ Around EP

Who:    Elvis Monroe

When:   released 9/8/2012

Where: Amazon and iTunes

http://www.amazon.com/Comin-Around/dp/B0098WYYDU/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347436937&sr=301-1

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/comin-around-ep/id561063783?uo=4” target=”itunes_store”>Comin’ Around - EP - Elvis Monroe

Video - Black Clouds by Elvis Monroe

For more than a year, I’ve been waiting for one of my favorite bands, Elvis Monroe, to get some songs recorded and out into the universe.  Today, their EP, “Comin’ Around,” hit Amazon and Spotify, and I can’t stop listening to it.  Some of the songs I’ve heard before, either live or on YouTube, but hearing them mastered and blasting from my car speakers is a whole new experience.  And then there is the last song on the EP, “Leave Me.”  I’d never heard it before today.  It’s an amazing, beautiful song - and it should come with a warning label - Caution: will rip your heart out and make you cry.  And oh yeah - listening to the EP makes me want to write.  It reminded me of why certain events in my series have taken place and helped me reconnect to my characters.  Strange?  Maybe.  But I’m not going to complain about inspiration.

PS - You can check these guys out on Facebook, YouTube, or Spotify, or you can just go to Amazon and drop five and a half bucks on their EP.

Elvis Monroe on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ElvisMonroe01 

Comin’ Around on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Comin-Around/dp/B0098WYYDU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347413754&sr=8-2&keywords=%22elvis+monroe%22 
 

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop is the bloggers’ version of the chain letter. Or maybe a slam book. Gail Baugniet tagged Coral at Alchemy of Scrawl, who tagged Donna of Girl Who Reads, who tagged Vickie, who tagged Jacqueline, who tagged Laurie, who tagged me (whew!). Along the way, each participant answered ten questions about the book she’s currently working on. She also posted the rules for the Blog Hop and linked to a few new volunteers who would be answering the questions the following week.

Rules:

***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress) on your blog

***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:

1.  What is the working title of your book?

Not Always Black and Blue

2.  Where did the idea come from for the book?

Rather than just writing an entertaining bit of drivel (which is what I’d been doing, and will continue to do most of the time), I wanted to write something serious, something that could make a difference in someone’s life. I decided to draw from my own experiences with emotional abuse.

3.  What genre does your book fall under?

General Fiction or Women’s Fiction.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

The main character, Savannah: Claire Danes, as I believe she could bring the right emotion/pathos to the role.

Her abusive boyfriend, Jed: Ryan Kwanten. He plays hillbilly jerk very well.

Thomas, the friend who helps her find her way back: Chris Hemsworth. He looks good unkempt, he can act, and he has kind eyes.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Not Always Black and Blue is the story of a young woman coming to terms with an emotional abusive relationship and her struggle to build herself up in the aftermath.

6.  Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Self-published.

7.  How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I’m still working on the first draft. This story is very difficult to write, so I’m having to break it up with other projects. I’d say it will take me a year to get the first draft done.

8.  What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I don’t really know what books might be comparable. That’s why I chose to tell this story, after all.

9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?

As I said before, I wanted to write something that could help people. My friend Ryan inspired me to move my writing in that direction.

10.  What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Reader’s might like to know that this WIP inspired a short story that was written from the point of view of Thomas - and then published under his pen name.

Tagged for next week - you’re it!

Linda Swain

Alisha M Constanzo

Aaron Speca