Monday, December 31, 2018

Interview with @CDGallantKing #amreading @amjoy

Joining me today is author, C.D. Gallant-King. C.D. was born and raised in Newfoundland and currently resides in Ottawa, Ontario.

C.D. has written eight novels you haven't read, because they're still locked in The Closet. The Closet is both a figurative and literal location - it is the space in his head where the stories are kept, but it's also an actual closet under the stairs in his basement where the stories are also kept. It's very meta.











Friday, December 28, 2018

Tam visits Trin Carl's blog

Today I'm interviewing Tammy May.She writes dark psychological fiction about characters from the inside out. You can contact Tammy on facebook, twitter, pinterest.

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Randall visits Trin Carl's Blog

Bloggers, do you have a desire to read new material?
Displaying Randallkrzak-photo2.jpg
Above is Randall Krzak

I'm excited to inform readers that I will be posting interviews with authors on my blog. This is a chance for readers to get to know up and coming writers.



Today's interview is with Randall Krzak.


Randall is a U.S. Army veteran and retired senior civil servant, spending almost thirty years in Europe, Africa, Central America, and the Middle East.  His residency abroad qualifies him to build rich worlds in his action-adventure novels and short stories. Familiar with customs, laws, and social norms, he promotes these to create authentic characters and scenery.

What are your ambitions for your writing career? I suppose like many authors, to try and be successful. Whether that will happen or not is outside of my control, so the best thing I can do is create realistic stories to share with others.

Which writers inspire you? Tom Clancy, Dan Brown, Clive Cussler, Brad Thor, David L.

Golemon, Robert Crais, Jack Du Brul, and Mark Greany, to name the major ones.

So, what have you written? The Kurdish Connection is my

debut novel and is the first in a four-book series. I took the first chapter of another book I

was working on, cut it to 399 words, and submitted it to a monthly competition held by

Wildsound Writing and Film Festival Review. My entry, called A Dangerous Occupation,

was one of the winning entries in August 2016. It’s read by a profession actor at this Youtube link. Another short

story, Postal Man, was recently chosen for the January members’ writing and art section


Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special? I

really have two main characters in The Kurdish Connection, Craig Cameron (referred to

as CC) and Dersim Razyana. CC was born in Scotland but eventually raised in America

and leads the Bedlam Alpha team after a long stint in the military. Dersim is an Iraqi

Kurd, a family man and scavenges to earn a living. His dream of an united Kurdistan

leads to various perils but a change of heart returns him to a level-headed individual

concerned about taking care of his family.

What are you currently working on and what is it about? I have three other novels

underway. The first is Dangerous Alliance, the sequel to The Kurdish Connection. This

one involves the North Koreans and Al-Shahbab, a Somali terrorist group. To counter the

alliance is Bedlam Bravo who will try to stop the transfer of oil and weapons, as well as

rescue a well-known hostage. The second ongoing book is called A Cartel’s Revenge,

and involves a cartel headed by a woman. She makes an unusual alliance with FARC,

not realizing ISIS will soon be involved. Working against her are a CIA agent and an

Army colonel. The third book, which will take some time to finish, is historical fiction. It

begins in 1770 with a tenant farmer and his family. After crop failures, they receive a

lifeline and head to America, arriving in time to be caught up with the Boston Tea Party

and the beginnings of the Revolutionary War.

What drew you to write in this genre? Probably the authors that I like to read. One thing

of interest is many readers of The Kurdish Connection like mysteries, crime, and even

romance, so there’s obvious appeal across genres.

How much research do you do? It really depends on what I need. Whenever possible, I

include personal travels and experiences. When this is insufficient I spend the time to

research either through the internet or purchasing books to gather the necessary

background to continue creating my stories.


When did you decide to become a writer? It wasn’t something I ever thought of doing.

Just before I retired, a long-time colleague suggested I try writing a novel. The Kurdish

Connection is the result.

Do you write full-time or part-time? I write part-time.

How often do you write, and do you have a special time during the day to write? Since

I’m an early riser and my wife isn’t, I spend an hour or so in the morning and then

perhaps two hours in the evening. This time isn’t just for writing, but covers research,

too.

Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages per day? No. I know a lot of writers who do

this. Perhaps they’re better at writing than I am but I’d rather put time in to create what’s

needed for my stories rather than try to rush against a word count.

Do you write on a typewriter, computer, dictate or longhand? I use a computer but once

in a while I’ll jot things into my phone or even on a piece of paper if my computer isn’t

Available.

Where do the your ideas come from? They come from a variety of places, paying

attention to the news and even other writers. A Cartel’s Revenge, mentioned above, is

based on three sentences someone sent me to see what I could do with them. I have

two other novels planned that are based on suggestions sent to me but I need to

complete the others before working on these.

Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you? I

prefer to use an outline. I begin with a draft synopsis so I have an idea where I’m starting

and where I want to go. The initial chapters are identified but things changes as the

stories unfold, which can change the number and order of my chapters.

What do you do for fun? In addition to writing, he enjoys hiking, reading, candle making, pyrography, and sightseeing.

Bloggers, that is all the time we have for today.  Find more about Randall and his upcoming stories on his blog randallkrzak.com.



Tuesday, December 18, 2018

@ChastittyBarre #experteasers #nutcrackernoir

Chastitty Barre is here with me to talk about Burlesque and Minnsky theater.



Photo by JR of Upper Boundary Photography 


Saturday, December 15, 2018

Sunday Post @kimbacaffeinate





The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

LOOKING FORWARD TO JULY



I had a great week. I got to sit in for an open play through the Twin Cities, Playwright center.  I was the one on the big screen, Google Hangouts, reading the script, while everyone else was sitting at a table in a meeting room.  I'll be adapting my novel to a script so that I'll have my own play read by actors. It's a lot easier to format aplay when you've already got it written down. 
On another note, a lot of people seemed really interested in my work at Grubhub so I thought I'd expand on that.  Like most jobs it's a lot easier after you get through the anxiety of applying and following through with the training.  

My job training specialist was open to all questions I had about the job.  Some of the things he talked about included the driving boundaries.  There are four central cities in Minnesota that Grubhub caters to. There are a lot of restaurants and fast food joints that Grub hub are connected with, hence the reason why there are four cities.  Not a lot of cities are yet connected with the app. (That will change) One of them is in St. Paul.  Since I live near St. Paul, my blocks are assigned strictly to that area. 

 I was given two fancy delivery bags and a hat and a couple of shirts.  Luckily these were free.  The GPS app is connected with the Grubhub app so that makes it easy for driving to customers' homes.  One of the pitfalls is that a few customers' addresses can not be located on the map.  For example one time I got sent to a home- only to find out it was on the other side of the highway. And so a quick call to the customer is all it took to help me locate them.  


Because I absolutely love  discussion, I included a Reddit discussion page of Grubhub.  It includes a lot of unpopular opinion ,and the 'insides' of the job.  Here's the link: https://www.reddit.com/r/couriersofreddit/comments/7ska2o/grubhub_things_you_should_know_that_they_dont/

Overall, I've been having a great experience and hope that continues.




CURRENTLY

Reading:  Before I Find You by Ali Knight, 





The Likeness by Tana French, The Moonlit Garden b Corina Bomann, Attraction by Penny Reid, Dead Certain by Adam Mitzner


Listening:Foul Play by Janet Evanovich

Watching: My Brilliant Friend


ON THE BLOG

What Happened:

Interview with Minnsky Performer

Sunday: The Sunday Post

Up Coming:
 Sunday Post 

Readers if you want to comment, please do so below.




Saturday, December 1, 2018

The Sunday Post @kimbacaffeinate @MNChildMuseum #amreading




The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

LOOKING FORWARD TO JULY

This week has been a slow one because of the snow we got in Minnesota. I took my little one to the Children's Museum.  And that was a lot of fun.  They have a car wash and several exhibits that have to do with My World.  My lil' one is two and so I've got several people that come to our house and work with him on his development, including one nurse, a therapist and a head start teacher.  It's quite fun to work with so many people.  I like to envision myself like the mom in the Nanny Diaries.  Which if you haven't read the novel, you might like film starring Scarlett Johansson  It's basically about a nanny who comes to work for a very affluent family and their spoiled offspring.  She has to bring the kids to places like Central Park, and Museum of Natural History. 
Although, I'm not nearly as affluent or rude as Mrs. X, I like the concept of organizing your kid's life and exposing them to as much as possible.

CURRENTLY

Reading:  Tell me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum


Listening: The Paris Review Podcast,(has tons of great short stories and poetry and readings by Levar Burton and David Sedaris)Legends by Marie Lu,Clockwork Century (Sci-fi) by Cherie Priest 

Watching: The Fall (a British Thriller) 


ON THE BLOG

What Happened:

(Not a whole lot so I'll talk about last week)

Saturday: Weekend Warriors


Sunday: The Sunday Post

Up Coming:
Sunday:Weekend Warriors and Sunday Post 

Readers if you want to comment, please do so below.

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