Divisible by Six Gets a Release Date!

Very excited to announce that I have set a date to release my sequel, Divisible by Six. The ebook version will be released on December 1, 2013 to the Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes platforms! If you haven't already, be sure to read the sample chapter and sign up to "attend" the release over on Facebook (don't worry, no purchase necessary ;). It's been a long time coming. I hope there's still some fans out there interested in the story. The paperback version will probably release later in the month or, more likely given the holidays, early in 2014. Stay tuned!

~Andy

The Same Six Questions - Aliya Anjum

Hi there and welcome to this special birthday edition of The Same Six Questions. Whose birthday, do you ask? Why, mine! :D Give a warm welcome to today's guest, Aliya Anjum.

Thank you, Andy! Thank you for this opportunity to engage readers on your blog. As for me, I am from the coastal city of Karachi, Pakistan, which happens to be quite like NYC as it's the commercial capital of Pakistan, oozing with diversity. As of now, I am a full-time author, but I have briefly owned the avatars of an international banker, university lecturer, and government employee. Wanderlust runs in my blood and I simply love to travel. I love cats, shopping, chocolate, and reading. I am an avid swimmer and I enjoy the outdoors a great bit. One day I hope to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, explore the Amazonian rain forests, and see Yeti on Tibetan mountains!

The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?

I have published more than one book, but since I am to discuss one of them I'd talk about my short story An Arranged Marriage. It is based on true events in the lives of four Pakistani women Physicians in the US. The story is close to my heart because it was the first adult fiction I wrote. It touches upon many themes, including immigration, diversity, assimilation, diaspora socio-economics, and, last but not the least, relationships.

Its available through Amazon, Smashwords, Apple iTunes, Barnes&Noble, Sony Books, and Kobo books.


2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I was always the writer. I used to write short snippets and poems when I was barely seven years old. They did'nt make it to print, but my family did appreciate my efforts. I wish I still had those small notebooks but, unfortunately, I don't. Till recently, when I was pursuing a regular career, I did write for newspapers as a freelancer and I had plans to one day write books, after retirement maybe. Then, one day, after a tiff with my boss in 2008, I got motivated to write fiction and I wrote 8 horror short stories for YA. I sent them off to the National Book Foundation's Competition and ended up receiving a Commendation Certificate. I was then encouraged to write more and ever since then I have penned down adult fiction and non-fiction. I am now a full time author.


3. What was your first lengthy piece of fiction (say, >1000 words)? What was it about? When did you write it? Do you still have it?

As I already mentioned, my first piece was a horror short story for YA. Titled The Farmhouse, I plan to publish it on Amazon soon and it may be available in print by the time this interview is published. I find that when I write about a character, I find myself playing that character in my head. In this story, the protagonist is a 14-year-old boy and I could feel his adventurous spirit enter me as I wrote about his tryst with the supernatural. I may add, that I borrowed a part of the story from two real unexplained encounters I had heard from a friend and an acquaintance, respectively. Quite likely they were making up the stories, but even then it's good matter for my story.


4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

I never had a Eureka! moment, as far as writing fiction is concerned. However, I have been a creative person all my life. I could improvise stories that I would tell my younger cousins when I was 14. During my undergrad, my advertising project was top rated, so much so that years later my professor remembered me and my project, when I ran into him. Even my graduate thesis in the US was linked to animated characters, and the thesis committee was impressed with my creativity. As I stated that I had a tiff with my boss, and it stoked the flames of creative expression in me, as I felt I was not being appreciated. In hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise, since now I do what I enjoy doing!


5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

I am writing my first novel these days. If there was one character I could meet in real life, it would be the hero of my novel. I am in love with him! He's just so likable! :)


6. It's a dark and stormy night...you're alone in the house...there's a knock at the door...you open it, look out, and proceed to scream like a little girl. What's on the doorstep?

A mouse or, even worse, a wet rat! I can see myself not just screaming, but also quickly shifting on my feet, lest it touches me. Its a black rat, I see its eyes, they seem to be looking at me. Eeek! its moving towards me at lightening speed. Good God! how can such a small thing move so fast. Better close the door before he comes in. Hurry! hurry hurry! Still shifting on my feet *phew* door closed. Safe at last!

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Thanks so much for sharing with us, Aliya! For more of Aliya and her writing, be sure to check out her blog!

Stop back in on Monday, when my guest will be C.W. LaSart! See you!

The Same Six Questions - Scott S. Phillips

Hey, Happy April! Can you believe it's here already? Me neither. Give a warm Spring welcome to today's guest, Scott S. Phillips!

Thanks for letting me step up to the plate, Andy! I've been a professional screenwriter for the last 17 years, and before that I wrote some comics and short stories. I wrote the cult action movie DRIVE (the one with Mark Dacascos, not the one with Ryan Gosling), a bunch of episodes of the CW Network series KAMEN RIDER DRAGON KNIGHT, and a few cheesy low-budget movies. My first published novel was FRIDAY THE 13TH: CHURCH OF THE DIVINE PSYCHOPATH. I love me some Star Trek (Original Series, natch), classic rock, and playing my KISS and Evel Knievel pinball machines. I spend my days dividing my time between writing and serving the whims of my Chihuahua. Greatest achievement: being Lemmy's stand-in for a Motorhead video.

The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?

Several, the most recent being Pete, Drinker of Blood - Part 1, a serial novel in 8 parts. Pete is an idea I’ve been kicking around since 1999 when I was living in Hollywood and feeling sort of adrift and a bit vampiric myself. It’s an oddball take on the genre, about a reluctant blue-collar vampire with insomnia who was “turned” in the early 1970s and has never moved past that. He works nights for the Department of Water and Power, and hates the typical Goth-type vampires, especially the music they listen to. He winds up getting all crushed-out on the cute bartender at the Sunset Strip dive bar he hangs out in, and everything goes haywire when the sinister vampire who turned the L.A. vamps returns to reclaim his children. I’m a big vampire fan and wanted to play with the cliches — there’s a lot of humor but it’s not parody by a long shot.

I decided to experiment with the serial novel format while writing a comic book mini-series recently. I had written Pete as a screenplay, but a year or so ago I started adapting it as a novel, then got sidetracked by other writing projects. When I came back to it I realized it was perfect for the serial approach. Parts 1 and 2 are available now for Kindle, Nook and at Smashwords, with new installments released monthly (part 3 will be out in April).


2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

It sort of happened by accident when I was a kid. I used to make cheesy Super-8 movies, and I discovered that it made for better flicks if I wrote something beforehand, rather than making ‘em up as I went along (imagine that!). These were silent films, so the scripts were little 4 or 5 page things with no dialogue, just bare-bones outlines of the action. It just developed from there, but my original scheme was to be a stop-motion animator like Ray Harryhausen before the writing kind of took over my brain.


3. What was your first lengthy piece of fiction (say, >1000 words)? What was it about? When did you write it? Do you still have it?

When I was 18 I wrote my first feature-length screenplay. It was this terrible wish-fulfillment thing wherein me and my friends hung out with the Go-Go’s and the Ramones, and all those who opposed us were destroyed. Or something. There was some over-arcing storyline about unrequited love and mean jocks getting their comeuppance, but mostly it was an episodic mess. If I remember right, it was called BRIEF OBSESSIONS. And yup, I still have it but I fear that my friends will find it and do a dramatic reading over my grave during the funeral, so I should probably burn it.


4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

I’d say that happened at the exact moment I made my first short story sale. It was a saucy little number called “Truckstop Novel” that was purchased by Chic Magazine when I was in my mid-twenties. I had written at least one other feature-length script by that time, but it was receiving that check in the mail that made me think I ought to keep putting words on paper, especially if there was a chance I’d be able to wangle more people into paying me to do it.


5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

That’s kind of a toughie. I wouldn’t mind sitting around with Pete, talking classic rock over a couple beers (well, a beer for me, anyway) whilst cranking Tommy or Led Zeppelin IV, but I think Boone Butters — a character from my novel Squirrel Eyes, now starring in his own series of stories (the first of which is Roomies) — might be a decent guy to hang out with, too. He smells a little funny, though.


6. It's a dark and stormy night...you're alone in the house...there's a knock at the door...you open it, look out, and proceed to scream like a little girl. What's on the doorstep?

The Woodbooger. Of course. (Editor's note: Bigfoot...Viginia style. ;)

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Thanks for stopping by and sharing with us, Scott! For more of Mr. Phillips and his writing, check out his Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads pages.

Stop back on Thursday when my guest will be Axel Howerton. See you then!

The Same Six Questions - Kathy Lynn Harris

Hello and welcome to this first Spring edition of The Same Six Questions. I hope the weather wherever you may be is particularly Spring-like. My guest today is Kathy Lynn Harris. In her own words:

Kathy Lynn Harris, a native Texan, has written children's books, poetry, short stories, newspaper and magazine articles, and personal essays. Blue Straggler is her debut novel. Kathy likes to play in the snow year-round, which is easy since she lives in a log cabin in the high mountains of Colorado at 10,500 feet above sea level. Stellar mountain playmates include her husband, her son, and two fairly untrainable Golden Retrievers who own both couches.

The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?

Yes! My novel, Blue Straggler, is available as an ebook (also at B&N) and a paperback from 30 Day Books of Seattle. Here’s what the book is about in brief: Being a 30-something, fairly directionless single female in South Texas is a world all its own. Blue Straggler is a laugh-out-loud, yet poignant, exploration of that experience — from the quirky, memorable characters who make up Bailey Miller’s circle of family and friends to that feeling of your makeup sliding right off in the humidity. Readers will easily identify with Bailey’s sometimes humorous, often semi-tragic, choices that eventually lead her out of Texas, to a small mountain town in Colorado, and back. Along the way, she searches for not only herself but also answers to long-held secrets from her “legitimately unbalanced” great-grandmother's past. Bonus: She may even find love with a moody mountain man along the way.

2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I was around age 9. I had already been writing in a “diary” complete with the lock and key for a year or more. I got bored one summer and asked my dad if I could use his old manual typewriter. I proceeded to write my first book, which was then stapled together and had a great cover made of pink craft paper accented with red yarn. I think that’s when the writing bug bit. I loved that sense of accomplishment and seeing MY words on paper. Even if it was that really thin, awful typewriter paper from the 1970s.

3. What was your first lengthy piece of fiction (say, >1000 words)? What was it about? When did you write it? Do you still have it?

When I first began trying my hand at real fiction writing after college, I wrote a short story about a young woman who had just lost her husband in a climbing accident, and her mother-in-law was staying with her after the funeral. Each blamed the other for the death in some way, and neither knew how to grieve. I loved the tension in that story so much that I eventually came back to it and shortened it into a flash fiction piece. It was actually published online back then in PIF magazine and is still out there.

4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

Ha! Some days I still don’t know if I can do this. But I have to say that it was the encouragement of friends that made me think that maybe I wasn’t just barking up a fruitless tree. I would share things that I wrote with a few close friends, some of whom were writers themselves, and they made me believe in myself … that I had a little bit of talent that might be worth honing. And then, when I enrolled in the creative writing master’s program at Texas A&M University, and began to get positive feedback from professors and fellow workshoppers, I began to really dream about life as a writer.

5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

Oh! That’s a hard one. I think it would likely be Idamarie from Blue Straggler. She’s this feisty old Texas gal who owns a comfort-food café in San Antonio. She says what she thinks. She’s funny and grounded and would be someone I’d love to talk to every day, just to remind myself of the good people out there in the world. Plus, she sings Loretta Lynn songs and watches old Dallas reruns.

6. It's a dark and stormy night...you're alone in the house...there's a knock at the door...you open it, look out, and proceed to scream like a little girl. What's on the doorstep?

A lost, disoriented hiker, dripping in blood, who has stumbled to our log cabin in the backcountry mountains after being attacked by a mountain lion.

______________________________

Yikes! Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us, Kathy Lynn! For more of Kathy Lynn's writing, be sure to check out her Web site, blog, and Facebook and Twitter pages.

I'll see you all back here on Monday, when my guest will be Cora Buhlert. See you then!

The Same Six Questions - Sadie Forsythe

Welcome back to The Same Six Questions! I hope you didn't drink too much green beer or eat too much corned beef and cabbage this past weekend. Say hello to today's guest, Sadie Forsythe!

Thanks Andy! I’m the classic American abroad, totally enamored with life on ‘the continent.’ My family and I currently live on the cusp of the Pennines in NW England (think Wuthering Heights), but Tennessee will always call to me. When it comes right own to it I’m a Southern gal at heart. I spent more years than I care to count in university, and seven tough, but enlightening, years working with abused children. I think I learned more from them than any of my lauded professors.

The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?


I have, and I’m pretty excited about it. The Weeping Empress is my first novel. It’s about the difficult personal sacrifices people have to make to ensure the continued growth of the humanity as a whole. But not everyone is so thrilled about the idea, not least of which the main character, Chiyo, who is asked to give up more than most. I have a real appreciation for the Japanese idea of Bushido, the idea of tempering violence with wisdom and civility, and this comes through in my writing. The world my characters inhabit is not a peaceful one, but Chiyo’s two companions negotiate it with a certain enviable grace born of a lifetime of disciplined familiarity. Together the three of them test the bounds of friendship, and the resolute nature of fate. It’s available at Amazon and such.


2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Since I was a tween, twelve maybe. I can almost remember the exact moment. My best friend had just introduced me to Anne McCaffrey’s books, and I was burning through the Pern series at light speed. We all know the feeling; bated breath, racing heart, trembling fingers fidgeting with the edge of the page impatient to turn it and see what happens next. I fell in love with that experience, and thought ‘I want to make others feel like this.’ There would be no better praise I could receive as a writer than to know that one of my stories prompted such a physiological response in a reader.

3. What was your first lengthy piece of fiction (say, >1000 words)? What was it about? When did you write it? Do you still have it?

I’ve spent a lot of time in university, which meant no time to write fiction. I told a lot of stories that never made it to paper. A notable exception was in my youth. While stuck in the backseat on a cross-country road-trip I wrote 90 or so pages of a story about a concubine who became a warrior. I don’t remember much about it. I think the only reason I remember it at all is because of the embarrassment I endured reading a story about a concubine aloud to my parents in the front seat. The birds and the bees had yet to be broached, and the last thing I wanted was to be asked to further discuss the nocturnal responsibilities of my character. I don’t have it anymore, which is a shame. It’s the kind of character I adore, and I’d like to try and make something of it.

4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

It was with The Weeping Empress, but my order was a little bit off. I never sat down and thought ‘I am going to write a book and this is my plot.’ I like to tell myself stories, especially during rote, boring moments like exercise or the shower. This one just kept coming back up. I kept expanding on it and developing characters until I couldn’t keep track of the names and locations in my head anymore, so I started jotting them down (hard to do in the shower). Eventually I looked at my poor bedraggled moleskine, and realized this wasn’t a story anymore, it was a book. It was then that I thought ‘I can do this. I can keep this up and finish it.’ But that decision came with a responsibility too. At that moment I gave The Weeping Empress life, and became accountable to her. After that it became work, a labor of love to be sure, but a task that had to be finished.

5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

I think it would be Valdis from The Weeping Empress. This might seem like an odd choice since she isn’t a main character, but she’s made a painful decision that the whole story hinges on. She knows it won’t be understood even though it affects everyone dear to her, and she makes it based on nothing more than her unshakable faith. She’s strong in a quite, overlookable fashion. I’d like to know how it feels to believe in something like that; to have a faith that you don’t question—not because you fear the answers or are too naïve to seek validation, but because you don’t need them. There must be a real comfort in that, and I’d love to delve into it. I’d also like to opportunity to congratulate her on the courage it takes to make such tough decisions. Sometimes even if you make the wrong choice, just choosing makes you the bravest person in the room.

6. It's a dark and stormy night...you're alone in the house...there's a knock at the door...you open it, look out, and proceed to scream like a little girl. What's on the doorstep?

A real-life, full-fledged, diamond encrusted, pink to the max Disney princess. When that fairy godmother gives Ella back her cinders I may invite her into my home. Until then I think the princessification of a generation of little girls is the most frightening thing I have ever seen.

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Thanks for stopping by and sharing with us, Sadie! Find Sadie on the web at Facebook, her
Web site, and Twitter.

The Same Six Questions - Sean Van Damme

Welcome back to The Same Six Questions! Please welcome today's guest, Sean Van Damme!

Hi there, Andy! I'm a 27 year old TV news video editor who has always loved writing and movies. I grew up moving all over the country in a military family before finally settling down in Richmond, VA. I met my lovely wife while in school, and have now been drawn into her dog sports world. When not writing I'm playing too many video games or watching TV mostly sci-fi, we named our dog Gaius Baltar. I had wanted to do movies for a long time, but couldn't get into film school which is what led me to working in TV and lucky I love it so things do work out. Now, I'm hoping things will work out again.

The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?

Yes. The Long Night came out in October 2011 and is my first novel. I have it up right now on Amazon and B&N. Darkness has fallen over the land, unleashing maddened monsters from the depths of the earth and raising the dead. A group of heroes must come tighter to fight the evil, while at the same time trying to put their past prejudices behind them and work together.

2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I knew I wanted to become a writer in Middle School, even though I had been writing shorts since I was a child, little books with horrible illustrations about pirates and space men. I have always had stories bouncing around in my head, and would just zone out while riding in the car as they played in my head like little movies. Once I started sitting down and writing the stories I became hooked on writing and knew that was what I wanted to do. That and a big handful of loose leaf paper or a screenplay tucked under your arm is a great conversation starter. It wasn’t until early in 2010 that I knew for sure that I wanted to do novels, even though that is what I started with back in the mid 90’s, scripts are a very addictive thing; easy to write hard to prefect.


3. What was your first lengthy piece of fiction (say, >1000 words)? What was it about? When did you write it? Do you still have it?

My first long piece of fiction was a story that I still haven’t finished, that haunts me to this day. In school I used to draw space ships all over my school work. One day, during a practically dull lecture in health class, I started writing a story to go with those ships. I kept working on it for the rest of the school year, tucking the sheets of loose leaf in my binders, and pulling them out every time I was bored in class which, sadly, was often. I left the story alone during the summer and started working on a sequel during 8th grade, and I kept working on it for the rest of the year, amassing quite a collection of paper covered in my chicken scratch. That story still, to this day, hasn’t been finished, even though I have started and stopped work on it three or four times with a few rewrites. In High School, I outlined it breaking the story into a massive four-book cycle. The last time I worked on it was early 2011 starting from scratch again and blitzing through 40,000 words before being scared again, but I will finish that book, mark my words.


4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

For years, I was afraid I couldn’t write a complete novel. I had failed with my sci-fi and gotten into screenplays where I struggled to reach the 90 page minimum to be a real script. After a long drought of not writing, partially because of depression, but mostly because I was completely addicted to World of Warcraft. When I decided I was going to write a novel again, in the fall of 2009, I set an end date for myself and just started working, writing and writing. I didn’t look back. I didn’t stop when I crossed the one hundred page mark in word. That is when I realized that I could do this. I attribute my inability to finish a novel in high school to a lack of maturity, which I have built up over time now so that I can see the end of the road and know roughly how long it will take to get there.

5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

I don’t know if I really would want to meet any of my characters. The people from The Long Night are grumpy and broken from the get go, and Hobbs is a complete cynical basket case. I have learned that I can only stand one grumpy person at a time, and that person is usually me. This question just illustrates the fact that I need to write a cheerful witty person that I would want to get a drink with.


6. It's a dark and stormy night...you're alone in the house...there's a knock at the door...you open it, look out, and proceed to scream like a little girl. What's on the doorstep?

A zombie scratching at the door, moaning for brains, out of everything in this world, real or imaginary, zombies are the one thing that scares me more than anything else, because they are plausible, and they trigger an utterly unwinnable situation.

____________________________________

Mmmmm...brains. ;-D Thanks for sharing with us, Sean! For more of Mr. Van Damme and his writing, be sure to check out his Facebook page, Twitter account, and blog.

Thursday, my guest will be Jim Bruno! See you then!

The Same Six Questions - Kate Ellison

Where is the time going? Another month is coming to a close and guess what? I've almost run out of interviewees! Yep, it's time to open the submissions back up! If you're an author and interested in taking part, please head over to the main Same Six Questions page. In the meantime, welcome this week's guest, Kate Ellison!

Thanks, Andy! I live in Atlanta, Georgia with my husband and our two bad cats. When I'm not writing, I enjoy playing strategy board games like Settlers of Catan, watching NBC comedies like Parks and Rec *fist pump* and gardening. I am a fan of the serial comma, but I couldn't figure out how to gracefully insert it into that sentence. Oh well. I'm not a perfectionist, you see.


The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?

I have! Several, in fact. The first book I published was The Curse Girl, a YA paranormal fantasy. It's a modern, loose adaptation of Beauty and the Beast with a twist. In this version, Beauty and the Beast are trying to break the curse by figuring out a mysterious riddle and outsmarting the witch who cursed him, not by falling in love (although they MIGHT do that anyway). The book is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.




2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Since I was six years old. I've always been scribbling stories down on paper, and I started saying I wanted to be an author when I grew up as soon as I knew what that was.


3. What was your first lengthy piece of fiction (say, >1000 words)?

My first lengthy piece of fiction was the mystery series I started writing at age eight. It probably sounds extremely precocious, but it wasn't really. Each "book" had three chapters and was three pages long. I styled them like Nancy Drew, and the adventures were set all over the world. I believe I wrote ten or twelve of them. I've still got them in a box somewhere.

The first one was called The Secret Room.


4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

When I was around ten or so, I wrote something for a class and my teacher went nuts over it. She even called another teacher over to read it too, and they got all wide-eyed and told me I was a good writer. Seeing an adult get that excited about my writing gave me a lot of confidence in myself.


5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

Probably Bee, my main character in The Curse Girl. She's not a very girly girl, and she likes to be logical and smart about stuff. We could have some good conversations, I think.


6. It's a dark and stormy night...you're alone in the house...there's a knock at the door...you open it, look out, and proceed to scream like a little girl. What's on the doorstep?

A box from CreateSpace with the proof copy of my latest book!

____________________________

Thanks so much, Kate! For more of Kate's work and writing, be sure to check out her blog and find her over on Twitter.

See you back here on Thursday, when my guest will be Ami Blackwelder!

The Same Six Questions - S.M. Boyce

Welcome to another round of The Same Six Questions! Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Did you remember to get your significant other something special (if not, here's an idea ;)? For today, let's meet our guest author. Welcome, S.M. Boyce!

Thanks, Andy! I’m sarcastic and strange, and I love to hike, rock climb, exercise, and listen to good music. I’ve
lived all over the east coast and have a dual degree in Marketing and Creative Writing from Florida State University, which was a lot more fun than it sounds. Lying out in a hammock with a book, my husband, and a glass of pinot grigio is my idea of heaven.

The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?


I have! The Grimoire: Lichgates (The Grimoire Trilogy) is the culmination of six years of writing, plotting, and development, so I hope you like it.

It’s about a hidden pocket of the Earth and the magic a human girl named Kara discovers when she finds an old book called The Grimoire. It turns its own pages and can answer any question asked of it, so she has no idea what she’s getting herself into when she actually opens it. Because of the Grimoire’s magic, most of the creatures in this terrifying new world want to control her – but everyone is trying to find her. She learns pretty quickly that there is no going back once you open the Grimoire.

It’s a fresh, fun and exciting story about magic and monsters and crazy new things, but if you look a little deeper than just the plotline, I think you’ll like what you see.

It’s available now virtually everywhere, though of course I have a soft spot for Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Click! Click now!

2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Writing was never really a choice. I know that one of the main lessons in The Grimoire trilogy is how life is full of choices , but if I’m not writing, I feel kind of empty. It’s something I have always been driven to do and I’m just not complete unless I’ve written something today.

3. What was your first lengthy piece of fiction (say, >1000 words)? What was it about? When did you write it? Do you still have it?

Oh man, memory lane. My first story was about a pickle who was the last one in the jar, and the poor little thing just wanted to be eaten. It was weird, I know. I was six. It’s in a box somewhere, and I think we bound it with cardboard and glue. (chuckles)

I should hope that my stories have improved somewhat since then; my illustrations, however, have not. That’s why I have Rob Meridy to do my cover artwork and the assorted character sketches available on the Grimoire Books website.

4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

I think feeling as though we’re “good enough” will always be a painful concern for writers, but my first unwavering confirmation that I was at least a decent writer was in one of my writing classes at FSU. A classmate wrote on the bottom of one of my stories:

“You’re my favorite writer in this class. Whatever you do, don’t ever stop writing.”

I kept that piece of paper because it was validation that someone outside of my family (who are a little biased) liked my work, which is always a stellar sensation.

5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

I would want to meet Deirdre, who is a vicious, sexy, evil demon woman and my all-time favorite. There are so many levels to her insanity that I would love to sit down with her and analyze her warped perceptions of reality, right, and wrong, but I know that I probably wouldn’t survive the meeting. It’s probably safer that she’s fictional.

6. It's a dark and stormy night...you're alone in the house...there's a knock at the door...you open it, look out, and proceed to scream like a little girl. What's on the doorstep?

The 50k word story that I wrote for my first Nanowrimo. Holy hot wings, Batman, it was just bad.

Well Andy, thanks so much for your time! And guys, if you want to learn any more about my work or just want a good laugh, I like to throw all sorts of strange (but fun!) things on the internet:
Main website & Blog, Grimoire Trilogy website, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Goodreads.

________________________________

Well, my work here is done! Thanks so much for stopping by Sarah!

Thursday, stop back and meet Paul Price!

The Same Six Questions - Caddy Rowland

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2012 and all that it has to offer! Today's guest on The Same Six Questions is Caddy Rowland. Welcome!

Thanks, Andy! I am a writer from Minnesota who is married to her high school sweetheart. I would love to live somewhere much warmer, but my husband is Minnesotan through and through. I kinda like him, so here we are. We are owned by two parrots, who do talk.

For fun, I love to read, write, paint, hike, walk, enjoy nature (but NOT camping), play Texas Hold 'Em, movies, and just kick back with friends.

When I lost my job in February of 2011 it gave me the opportunity to try to make a go at truly becoming an "indie". I have to tell you, the book formatting was a challenge for me. I don't think with that side of my brain at all.

I have always been a nonconformist and into art. Many times I feel that I have landed on the wrong planet, but I do have a lot of great friends who put up with me, even though I can be quite bizarre. Even a few family members put up with me!


The Same Six Questions

1. Have you published a book yet?

Yes, I published my first novel on August 1, 2011. Gastien Part 1; The Cost of the Dream (Kindle, Nook, and paperback) is a drama/romance that takes place in France during the late nineteenth century. It will be a series of at least four novels. This series is not a “typical” romance and is enjoyed by men as well as women.

Gastien Part 1: The Cost of the Dream is about Gastien's coming of age, his horrible struggles to become an artist after leaving an abusive home, and learning to become the greatest lover in France. That was not hard to do. For the most part, men did not care if women enjoyed sex during that time period. Gastien wanted to make sure they did.

I released the second book in the series, Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny on December 13th 2011 (Kindle, Nook, and paperback).

Gastien Part 2: From Dream to Destiny takes off where Part 1 left off. It has the “big” romance in it. However, be forewarned that Gastien was a true nonconformist. He stayed true to that and this romance reflects that. It is not at all a typical romance, but Gastien finds himself loved in spite of his terms.

Part 3 of the Gastien series will come out in the spring of 2012.


2. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I had always wanted to write fiction, ever since I was in grade school. I had a stack of books that reached almost to the ceiling before I started kindergarten! Books have always been my best friends.

Through the years, I started and quit several stories. Life just seemed too busy! Then, I got breast cancer about 1 1/2 years ago. I am now fine, they caught it very early...but it really brought home the fact that if something is important to you then don't wait until "later" to do it.

So, in November of 2010 I promised I would write for at least an hour a day, five days a week, no matter what. That opened the whole world of writing for me, one that I always wanted to be a part of, but had never been disciplined enough to join.

3. What was your first lengthy piece of fiction? What was it about? When did you write it? Do you still have it?

It was a book for children, titled One Little Snowflake. I am a painter, so I also did all of the illustrations for it. Although it is not a lengthy book, the time put into it was lengthy because of all of the paintings.

It is about the circle of life, and it is meant for children with terminal illness, although adults with terminal illness would benefit from it, too. Spring is coming, and the little snowflake is melting. He is scared and does not understand why winter has to end. An icicle helps him understand how we pass on the gift of life over and over through dying.

I wrote it about twelve years ago. I just gave up on it, and I don't know why! I am waiting to hear from a publishing company about it right now. Someday, I may self publish it, if it does not get picked up somewhere else.

Right now, though, I have all of the Gastien Series in my head, and a couple other adult fiction novels that I started and stopped, waiting to be finished.

4. When was your first indication, "I can do this (write)"?

In junior high, I wrote a lot of poetry. I always felt I could write, but...you know...fear...self doubt...

I did some past life regressions in August 2010 and that opened up creative doors for me. I was filled with an urgent need to tell this story. When I sat down in November of 2010 and the words just came faster than my hands could type, I knew I was supposed to write.

5. If you could meet one of your characters in real life, which would it be?

Gastien. I would love his talent for painting! I can paint, but that man COULD PAINT! He was one in a million, one of those who could see things in a way others had never thought of yet.

Life was cruel to him in many ways. I would love to let him know how valuable, how wonderful he was. Not just for his looks and painting. He was worthwhile just as a human being. Not many communicated that to him.

Still, he was very good looking. He would be lovely to look at daily. My husband would possibly feel different about having young Gastien around, though.

6. It's a dark and stormy night...you're alone in the house...there's a knock at the door...you open it, look out, and proceed to scream like a little girl. What's on the doorstep?

Dead parrots. Since we have two parrots, I used to have a fear that someone would break in and do something violent to them. About that time, I quit reading horror novels, at least for the most part.

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Yikes! Thanks for sharing with us today, Caddy! You can keep up with Caddy on Facebook, Twitter, and her blog.

Remember, new indie authors every Monday and Thursday! See you next week!