Free Giveaway

Readers, the fifth person to google plus this post will get a free downloadable audio book titled Five Weeks in the Amazon.

Readers, I'm excited to inform you 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 I'm interviewing Sean Michael Hayes.

Sean Michael Hayes Documenting his life in the Amazon (above)

Sean Michael Hayes is pictured (above)

Sean Michael Haye's Novel Pictured (above)

Sean was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. In his younger years he was a professional skateboarder, which gave him the opportunity to see the world. He has continued writing and skateboarding, and also coaches professional skateboarders.

His first book, Five Weeks in the Amazon is on Amazon, and became a #1 bestseller online.

If you want to connect with Sean, send him a message; he uses the name @canadianhayes on Twitter/Instagram and Facebook, and posts updates of his adventures on CanadianHayes.com

And onto the interview...
Sean, what are you currently working on and what is it about?

I am currently in the final stages of editing my next book, I Killed A Black Dog. It is a collection of short stories and poems I wrote at different times in my life, in different locations around the world. Check out my website canadianhayes.com for more info.
Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy reading a new book, I do. The book, “The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared” was great, but my real reading pleasure comes from Steinbeck, Plato, Montaigne, Carver, Salinger, Hemingway…
Sean, do you ever get Writer’s Block, and do you have any tips for getting through it?

I don’t believe in writer’s block. Writing, for me, is a skill and process that takes practice. There is a Hemingway quote that reminds me of this, “I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, "Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know." So finally I would write one true sentence, and then go on from there.

For your own reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books?

Paperback books are better for me because I can fit more in my bag when I travel.

Do you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you?

The way I like to write is this: I start by writing by hand, with a black pen, on paper. Next I rewrite what I wrote when I transfer it to a digital state on my computer. Then I edit it myself, sometimes spending days on a single sentence. Finally, when I can’t do any more to it, I enlist the services of professional editing help.

Do you let the book stew – leave it for a month and then come back to it to edit?

Sean Michael Hayes jumping in the water in the water in the Amazon(above)

Yes, I have found the longest I can stay 100% engaged in a story before I need to let myself rest, creatively, is 90 days. I can go about 90 days straight on a story before it becomes beneficial for me to take a month or two turning my attention elsewhere.

Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process?

Yes, of course, isn’t there an old saying, “always judge a book by its cover?”

How are you publishing this book and why? (*e.g. Indie, traditional or both)

I self-published Five Weeks in the Amazon. The ebook is Amazon, the paper book is on Createspace, and the audio book is on Audible.

What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing against being published or the other way around?

I own all the rights to my story, and I had full creative control. However, I would have benefited from having the support of a publisher, or agent…If I had connected with the right one.

Would you or do you use a PR agency?

I would if I had the money…

Do you have any advice for other authors on how to market their books?

Yup… Google it! There are so many ways to get a message out to the public, about any product or service. Be authentic, tell the truth, don’t hold anything back.

Bloggers, that is all the time we have for today.  Find out more about Sean Michael Hayes's and his book by visiting Amazon. Also Sean will be giving out a free audio version of his book Five Weeks in the Amazon. The fifth person who Google plus, I will personally send you a code that links to Amazon and you can download the book.

I Don't Care

"I don’t care if a reader hates one of my stories, just as long as he finishes the book.”
—Roald Dahl, WD

"A writer is congenitally unable to tell the truth and that is why we call what he writes fiction."William Faulkner

I get a lot of letters from people. They say: "I want to be a writer. What should I do?" I tell them to stop writing to me and get on with it. - Ruth Rendell

I wrote a few children's books. Not on purpose. 
- Steven Wright

Are you a writer?

"A writer never has a vacation.  For a writer life consists of writing or thinking about writing."-Eugene Ionesco

"You fail only if you stop writing."-Ray Bradbury

Writers Write

If writers write, why don't fingers fing?

Who me?

When I was a kid my English teacher looked my way and said, "Name two pronouns," I said "Who me?"

Writers don't get mad, they just write you into their next novel (as the victim.)

Suzanne Van Rooyen comes to Trin Carl's Blog

I'm excited to inform that I will be posting interviews throughout the month. This is a chance for readers to get to know up and coming writers.

This month I'm interviewing Suzanne Van Rooyen.

Suzanne is the author of YA novels THE OTHER ME and I HEART ROBOT, and the Rainbow Award winning SCARDUST. Her work can be found Amazon or her blog suzannevanrooyen.com .

A tattooed storyteller from South Africa, Suzanne currently lives in Finland where she finds the cold, dark forests nothing if not inspiring. Although she has a Master’s degree in music, Suzanne prefers conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. When she grows up, she wants to be an elf – until then, she spends her time (when not writing) rock climbing, buying far too many books, and entertaining her shiba inu, Lego.

Which writers inspire you?

So many! I think Neil Gaiman has been one of my biggest inspirations not least for how he manages to weave humor into his stories no matter how dark they are. Maggie Stiefvater is another inspiration. Her prose is always so poetic yet accessible without becoming overly purple, and she has this ability to make the magical seem so real.
Author Suzanne Van Rooyen (above) Interesting, I've heard recommendations of Neil Gaiman's work by many readers and I am hoping to pick up one of his novels soon. I myself love humor writing and enjoy works by Janet Evanovich, Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling.

How much research do you do?

It depends on the book and what the story requires. I usually end up doing a lot more research than might be evident on the final page, but I think it’s a good thing for the author to know a lot about their subject material even if they only include a small portion of it in the story.

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

I try to write every day but life doesn’t always let me. I aim to write at least 3-4 days a week in 2-3 hour chunks. Mornings work best for me, but I also enjoy writing at night – just depends on what I’m working on. Some stories need sunshine, others need shadows ;)

Where do the your ideas come from?

A variety of places: from song lyrics, artworks, movies or TV series, other books, real life, a snippet of overheard conversation. Anything can trigger a story seed.
I love the fact that real life inspires your writing as well. Most of my own writing comes from my real life adventures, some of which are so off the wall I wonder how I even made it out of bed the next day.

What is your favourite motivational phrase?

Writing is rewriting!

Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?

Neil Gaiman. His words have had such an indelible effect on my own, I would love to meet the man behind my favorite books.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing as far as content?

Getting started. There is nothing more intimidating than a blank page. I don’t enjoy drafting – I find it rather stressful actually. I much prefer the revision and editing process when I already have something to work with and can shape the story into the form I really want

What do you do for fun?

I enjoy reading, gaming, taking long walks with my dog, Lego, and rock climbing. I find physical exercise to be a great cure for writer’s block or writer’s angst in general, so whenever I start feeling stressed out I always try to get my heart rate up.

Bloggers, this is all the time we have today. You can get in touch with Suzanne on twitter or facebook.  Suzanne is also doing a raffle give away for a $50 Amazon Gift card and a paperback copy of A Hold on Me, Of Scions and Men, Gyre and Scardust, enter the link for your chance to win. I’m wondering what other people think about whether I should do a giveaway and what that giveaway should be. Tell me what you think in the comments below.

Joy Held

"Women with clean houses do not have finished books."-Joy Held

Stealth car,

He had one.  He had the entire nation mad at him. But with the car, he escaped.  One single bullet shot in his direction alerted the sensors of his car, and he would be whisked away and sheltered like a genie in a bottle.

And boy did he disappear, quite a few times daily.

With his mass communication in the form of a tweet, he had a mob of people outside his home at any given moment.

And his decrees were outrageous.

Examples were as such:

The christians will have first access to the new healthcare initiative.

The foreigners will live on their own island starting January 10th,2016.

The naysayers will be banned.

Whoever dares to wear green on Thursdays will pay a tax.

He sent ludicrous and ambiguous decrees that haunted the people.

"It's a poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word."-Andrew Jackson

When you forget

The Biggest lie I tell myself "I don't need to write that down, I'll remember it."

"The funny thing about writing is whether you're doing it well or whether you're doing it poorly, it looks exactly the same.That is actually one of the main ways that writing is different than ballet dancing." John Green (author of Paper Towns)

Are you wishing to write something?

I hope to someday write something worth plagiarizing.  -Unknown Author

From the Minnesota women's rally I attended.Great excitement.excellent messages.

---

Fyodor Dostoevsky spent four years in a Siberian penal camp for publishing anti-government pamphlets.

I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.” — James A. Michener

"The road to hell is paved with adverbs."-Stephen King

JRR Tolkien went to parties dressed up as a polar bear.

Stephen King got the inspiration for his novel Pet Sematary when his daughter’s pet cat was hit by a truck.

Interview with me Trin Carl

Author Shannon Leigh posted an author interview with me on her blog, find it at shannonleighrivera.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tennessee Williams died by choking on a medicine bottle cap.

    “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” — Richard Bach  

The Library of Congress holds some 147 million items on 838 miles of bookshelves.

Amazon prime

I had to post this site.  It filters Amazon products more thoroughly. Find it at http://www.sortbyprime.com

"What makes the first sentence interesting?  

“What makes the first sentence interesting? Its exact shape and what it says and the possibility it creates for another sentence.” — Verlyn Klinkenborg, Several Short Sentences About Writing

What makes the first sentence interestin

Easy reading is damned hard writing.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne

Happy New Years Bloggers

May your new year be merry and bright. May you go into the next year with a lot of hope and ambition.  Ready to take life by it's reigns and ring it's neck until you squeeze every last drop of fun and progress out of it.  May you jump from roof tops and explore new worlds great and small, whether that's by plane or by imagination.  Smiling at little babies and kiddies alike.  Grinning until your half mad and kicking up the seasons, so they don't beat your behind.  That's all for now, till next year.

“Since I picked up your book, I couldn’t stop laughing. Some day I intend to read it.” — Groucho Marx

Turkey visits the Global Dig Blog

Here is another review of an expat blog, mytravelingjoys.com. A blog about Turkish food, traveling in Turkey, living as an expat in Istanbul, favorite restaurants, Turkish recipes and visiting the local markets.

The author of this blog Joy is an American expat currently living in London.  She has been to 30+ countries and is an avid photographer.  My favorite post from her blog had to be her hiking on phillip island .  Such beautiful pictures.  It sort of reminds me of my trip to San Diego and La Jolla two weeks ago.   During her travels in Istanbul, she mentions going through the Belgrade forest and hiking on a 6-1/2 kilometer trail which she says the trail is updated, meaning their are no potholes.  I can totally relate to potholes, Minnesota roads are filled with them thanks to the abundant snow and rain.  

Joy talks about her stay at Alaçatı Zeytin Konak Otel. The hotel looks like such a beautiful place to visit as a tourist.  The outdoor pool is one I could see myself jumping into.

Here is another Blog from Turkey called Turkish Life Cafe.  The Arslan family has been living in Turkey for ten years.  The mother is interested in teaching her son Turkish and currently uses Dinolingo.com.  Learning languages at a young age is so important.  I plan on teaching my own son, Zulfiqar: Arabic, Urdu, Amharic, and of course English.  Yum, there is even Turkish recipes including pogaca. and Chicken – Tavuk Yemekleri

"What makes a first sentence so interesting?  It's exact shape and what it says and the possibility to make another sentence."-Verlyn Klinkenborg

“There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are.” — W. Somerset Maugham

“Too many people want to have written.” — Sir Terry Pratchett

“Any healthy man can go without food for two days—but not without poetry.” — Charles Baudelaire

After 20 years of correspondence, the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary learned that his major contributor, W.C. Minor, was an inmate at a lunatic asylum.

Interview with Fanni Sütő

I'm excited to inform readers that I will be posting an author's interview once a month. This is a chance for readers to get to know up and coming writers in the world of Young Adult books.


Fanni Sütő is a writer, poet, dreamer who believes in fairy tales even if they are dark,disenchanted and deconstructed. She writes about everything which comes in her way or goes bump in the night. She has been published in Hungary, the US, the UK and Australia.

She is very happy to do collaborations, art exchanges, cross-art projects, so if you’re interested in such things, please get in touch.

Website:www.inkmapsandmacarons.com

And onto the interview

What tense do you prefer to write in? Is there a reason behind your choice?

I prefer the past tense. I think it’s pretty difficult to write well in the present and I sometimes find it annoying.

Are there themes you’re trying to bring out in your YA/NA that you feel are

underrepresented?

I like to work with characters coming from different cultural backgrounds. I feel it essential

to write about the difficulties of finding your place in a new environment, the obstacles you

might have to face and the importance of having an open mind. Being of Hungarian origin, I

like to bring in the folk tales and the legends of my country because I know they are not very

well known.

What do you think makes a good story?

Characters and if it has a momentum, a force that doesn’t let you stop. I also like humour and

beautiful language.

How do you feel about endings? Is there a type of ending you strive for?

I like bittersweet endings because I think happy ends are very often dishonest.

Do you have a favourite word? Why do you like it?

I used to be a great fan of “swirl” and I put it in almost every one of my stories. I think I have

got cured out of it since then. Nowadays my favourite word seems to be ‘pumpkin pie’ for no

apparent reason.

This concludes the Interview with Fanni Sütő, make sure to check out her blog at :www.inkmapsandmacarons.com and her Twitter feed and Pinterest.  Please stay posted for next month's interview questions with another fabulous author.

Isaac Asimov has published books in nine of the ten categories in the Dewey Decimal System.

Shakespeare invented over 1,000 words, many of which we use today.

Everyday may not be good but there is something good in everyday.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was once arrested as a spy while on a walking tour of Scotland.

“Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.” — Robert Heinlein

"It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was famous." Robert Benchley

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. William Shakespeare

Ken Kelsey was a state champion wrestler in High school.

“Writing is something that you can never do as well as it can be done. It is a perpetual challenge and it is more difficult than anything else that I have ever done—so I do it.” — Ernest Hemingway

Dante's love for Beatrice was one of the first examples of courtly love.

    “You expect far too much of the first sentence. Think of it as analogous to a good country breakfast: what you want is something simple, but nourishing to the imagination.” — Larry McMurtry