#WriterWednesday Interview with Alex Shvartsman

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I’d like to welcome author Alex Shvartsman to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Favorite summer treat: Vanilla ice cream in a waffle cone.

A summer treat that makes you gag: Aspic. It's literally meat jelly. It tastes how it sounds.

Something crazy you did on vacation: I once got kicked out of Malaysia and sent back across the border to Singapore, because my passport was full, and they wouldn't stamp over another stamp on a page.

Something you’d never do again on vacation: Probably go to Malaysia.

Favorite summer beverage: Vanilla-flavored iced coffee.

A drink that gives you a pickle face: Kombucha. It tastes like it was made with pickle juice, and you can't convince me otherwise.

Best thing you ever grilled: Marinated lamb kebobs.

Your worst kitchen or grilling disaster: Virtually any situation where I try to use the stove. When attempting to cook, I can burn water!

Best summer vacation ever: Exploring the historical sites and hanging out in the ruins of a 3000-year-old Philistine fortress in Israel.

Somewhere where you don’t ever want to return: Malaysia! (see my answer above.)

Most favorite place to write/edit in the summer: By the pool in a Costa Rica resort.

The worst place to try to write in the summer because of all the distractions: At a coffee shop. I have a feeling most people don't go there to write; they go to be seen typing, so their fellow patrons would think they're writers. There are, of course, exceptions.

Favorite thing to do on a summer evening: Take my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to the dog park, to play with other dogs while I hang out with like-minded dog-persons.

Least favorite thing about summer: The heat.

Favorite place to visit in Virginia: I've never spent much time in Virginia, but if I were to hang out there, I'd do what I do everywhere: ask local friends for the best sights to see and the best places to eat.

Somewhere you’ve visited way too much. Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt: Edison, NJ. I've gone a few too many times for work.

The thing you like most about being a writer: Setting the crazy characters I've made up in my head free onto the page.

The thing you like least about being a writer: Waiting months and months for publishers to evaluate and respond to my work.

Things you will run to the store for in the middle of the night: Coffee and chocolate.

Things you never put on your shopping list: Beer and pretzels.

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life: Seeing my fiction appear in print for the first time.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over: I wish I started writing a lot sooner, instead of waiting until I was 35.

About Alex:

Alex Shvartsman is the author of The Middling Affliction (2022) and Eridani’s Crown (2019) fantasy novels. Over 120 of his stories have appeared in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, etc. He won the WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction (2014) and was a two-time finalist (2015 & 2017) for the Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Fiction.

His translations from Russian have appeared in F&SF, Clarkesworld, Tor.com, Asimov’s, etc. Alex has edited over a dozen anthologies, including the long-running Unidentified Funny Objects series. He’s the editor-in-chief of Future Science Fiction Digest.

Alex resides in Brooklyn, NY. His website is http://www.alexshvartsman.com.


What I've Been Reading Recently

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My TBR piles grow every week. Every time I think I’ve made a dent, there are so many new things to add. Here’s what I’ve been reading so far this summer. It’s an eclectic mix of mysteries, suspense, thrillers, police procedurals, and classics.

I have finally caught up with all of Louise Penny’s novels. I love all of my visits to Three Pines. The stories are well done, and the characters are old friends by now.

After watching the new Lincoln Lawyer and the Bosch reboot, I realized that I haven’t read all of the Michael Connelly books. I love the Lincoln Lawyer and Harry Bosch. Renee Ballard is growing on me. Connelly is a master with characters and action, and I’m working my way through his collection.

Elle Cosimono’s Finlay Donovan is a very funny character. Her adventures are fun reads. Nancy Cole Silveman’s The Navigator’s Daughter, is a page-turning historical mystery.

My favorite cozies this spring/summer are from Ellen Byron’s new Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, Julie Anne Lindsey/Bree Baker, Sherry Harris’s Chloe Jackson Mysteries, Libby Klein’s Poppy McAllister Mysteries, anything by Diane Kelly, and Jackie Layton.

I track my recent reads on Goodreads and BookBub. Hop over for the reviews and favs. Follow me there. I’d love to keep up with what you’re reading.

Goodreads

BookBub

What are your recent recommendations?

#ThisorThat Author Interview with Matthew Hughes

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I’d like to welcome author Matthew Hughes to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite summer traditions: swimming in the municipal pool in Kitchener, Ontario, in the dog days of the 1950s, even though the pool was too full of screaming, splashing kids to actually swim

Something summer-related that you’ll never do again: going to the be-ins in Vancouver’s Stanley Park in 1967. Those days are gone.

Favorite summer beverage: ice-cold Guinness

A drink that gives you a pickle face: weissbier. It always gives he heartburn

Best summer memory: 1968, when my wife and I first got together. There’s nothing like young love in the summer.

Something you’d rather forget: 1958. My father took us on our first ever camping vacation, so we could be away while his brother burned down our house to get us out of a mortgage dad couldn’t pay. I had to be dressed by the Red Cross relief people.

Your favorite thing to get from the ice cream truck: Creamsicles, 1950s vintage.

Some dessert that you wish you’d never bought: Sorry, I’ve never met a dessert I didn’t like.

Most favorite place to write/edit in the summer: House-sitting in Tea Gardens, NSW, Australia. I shared a back porch with a Sylvester-type cat, overlooking a tropical garden.

The worst place to try to write in the summer because of all the distractions: house-sitting an apartment overlooking the Anarchist’s Quarter in Athens: searing heat, machine-gun- toting “special” police, nightlife that went on until 3 a.m.

The thing you like most about being a writer: I have a fragmented psyche, but it mostly all comes together when I write.

The thing you like least about being a writer: I spent most of my career as a freelance speechwriter, and sometimes I had to write speeches I very much disagreed with. Encompassing the world view of the speaker left a bad taste in my mind.

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life: winning the Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada. Total surprise. I had no idea I was even on the shortlist.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over: George R.R. Martin asked me if I wanted to be one of his Wild Cards co-authors. I didn’t have the confidence to say yes.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Northern Alberta, 1968. I was an eighteen-year-old kid running a rec center on a remote Metis colony. I’d got a guy to put in a juke box so we could have dances on Saturday night. But one of the dances turned into a brawl. I shoved my way through a dozen fist-swinging and boot-flying brawlers to shield the juke box from damage

Something you chickened out from doing: waiting for a midnight train in Foggia, Italy, I saw what looked like Mafiosi punching and slapping some frightened guy. Nothing I could do.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: [Your] books make me feel like a mouse whose pleasure centres are being deliberately tripped in a scientific experiment upon its brain.

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “It’s a privilege to meet you.” I replied, “Not a privilege, but I’m shooting for ‘It’s a pleasure.’”

The best summer job you ever had: working with my dad and uncle framing up for pouring concrete foundations.

The worst summer job you ever had: ten- and twelve-hour days in a factory that made school desks. I stood in the box car at the end of the production line, stacking boxes of desks – two to a box – that weighed 96 pounds each. I weighed 135.

About Matthew:

Matthew Hughes writes fantasy, space opera, and crime fiction. He has sold 24 novels to publishers large and small in the UK, US, and Canada, as well as nearly 100 works of short fiction to professional markets.

His latest novels are:  Barbarians of the Beyond, an authorized companion novel to Jack Vance’s Demon Princes series, and Baldemar, a fix-up of a series of stories that originally ran in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and two anthologies.

He has won the Endeavour and Arthur Ellis Awards, and has been shortlisted for the Aurora, Nebula, Philip K. Dick, Endeavour, A.E. Van Vogt, Neffy, and Derringer Awards.  He has been inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association’s Hall of Fame.

In order to live on the earnings of a modern midlist author, he has given up having a permanent address to become a full-time housesitter.  In the past fifteen years, he has lived in twelve countries and passed through several more.  He has no fixed address.

Find Your Writing Space - Tips for Authors

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Everyone needs space to write. Personal preferences and styles are important in your decision of where you choose to write. Here are some things that have worked for me. If something sounds interesting, give it a try. If it doesn’t work with your style, try something else. The right answer is what works for you and makes you more creative and productive.

Your Writing Space

I write best in my office in front of my big window that looks out on the woods. I know that’s my work spot. Sometimes, I take edits outside on the deck for a change of scenery, but serious work gets done in the office. I think authors need to find a space of their own where they can keep their notes, rough drafts, and know that is the writing area.

Background Noise

I’ve had a day-gig for many years, and it is NEVER quiet. I’m used to background noise and interruptions. I can’t work in complete silence. I have to have music on. I usually listen to classical or jazz for writing. Pop and rock are reserved for research and editing. I’m an #80sGirl, so I always go back to retro classics, and the dogs and I often have dance-offs when I find I’ve been sitting too long.

Writers’ Retreats

I am not able to do writers’ retreats. They look like so much fun, but I need to be by myself to plot, write, and revise. I did go to a plotting party once, and it was helpful. Everyone brought something they were working on or wanted some ideas for. We had lots of food and shared ideas on everyone’s WIPS (work in progress).

Critique Groups

I also have a critique group that meets once a month and some amazing beta readers who provide feedback and ideas. Writing is a solitary effort, but you do need your crew from time to time. These folks help with me with overused words, plotholes (where the story just doesn’t work), and pesky typos.

Distractions

I am easily distracted. I will go search for something on the internet, and the next thing I know, I’m checking out Facebook or watching crazy dog videos. I have to make sure I stay focused when I’m trying to finish a draft. I mark where I need to look something up in my manuscript and go back to do the look ups later. If I find my mind wandering or I’m losing focus, I do try to take a quick break. A quick bit of exercise or stretching often helps.

Have a Routine

I try to write or edit daily, especially when I’m working on a book. I’m able to make progress, and the plot/characters are front and center. The longer I’m away from something, the more I have to play catch up before I can be productive again.

This is what works for me. If you see something you like, give it a try. Find the place and the schedule that works for you. Happy Writing!

#ThisorThatThursday Interview with Julie Bates

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I’d like to welcome author Julie Bates to the blog for this edition of #ThisorThatThursday!

A few of your favorite summer traditions: freezing and canning. I like making strawberry and blackberry jam. I also make pretty good apple butter. Summer is also my time for getting large stacks of books from the library and working on crafts like knitting and quilting. I love being home and having time to do the things I love.

Something summer-related that you’ll never do again: Anything that involves long periods of time outdoors. I am not a good DIYer.

Favorite summer beverage: A large Chick fil A lemonade

A drink that gives you a pickle face: Dr. Pepper

Best summer memory: Among my favorite memories stems from my early childhood in Michigan. My dad worked for GM and left for work before we went to school. Afternoons he’d come home tired, so weekends were a treasure. In the summer we would pack up and go to Point Huron and play on the beach all day. Then we would go to a nearby restaurant where they served shrimp and fries in a basket lined with a red checked napkin. I still love almost anything to do with water.

Something you’d rather forget: Summers are HOT here in NC. One time I tried a huge garden and completely overwhelmed myself. I fought bugs, ground hogs and clay soil all summer, not to mention weeds from hell. I keep my gardening small and contained these days.

Best thing you ever grilled in spring: Chicken breast or burgers.

Your worst kitchen or grilling disaster: Do not ever use sesame oil in a wok! I very nearly set my kitchen on fire. My exhaust fan was charcoal and smelled awful.

Most favorite place to write/edit in the summer: I have a chair near a window where I can watch the birds. In my dreams I will renovate our back porch into a sun room and hang out in there.

The worst place to try to write in the summer because of all the distractions: The living room. My husband keeps the TV going constantly and it drives me cuckoo.

Favorite thing to do on a summer evening: Go star gazing

Least favorite thing about summer: The HEAT!

Favorite place to visit in Virginia: Colonial Williamsburg

Somewhere you’ve visited way too much. Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt: Amusement Parks. I outgrew those when my son reached adulthood.

The thing you like most about being a writer: The freedom to create my own world, painting an imaginary canvas in all the colors of the rainbow with words and thoughts and feelings.

The thing you like least about being a writer: deadlines. I always feel there is more I should have accomplished, done better, researched more. I can drive myself batty with details.

Things you will run to the store for in the middle of the night: Coke zero, chocolate, missing ingredients for what I plan to cook for dinner.

Things you never put on your shopping list: collard greens, liver, sardines

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Riding a roller coaster

Something you chickened out from doing: Mountain climbing. I’m fine with hiking but I’m not crawling up a bare rock face.

About Julie:

Julie Bates grew up reading little bit of everything, but when she discovered Agatha Christie, she knew she what she wanted to write.  Along the way, she has written a weekly column for her local newspaper and published a few articles in magazines such as Spin Off and Carolina Country.  She has blogged for Killer Nashville and the educational website Read.Learn.Write.  She currently works as a teacher for special needs students.  She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Southeastern Writers of America (SEMWA) and The Historical Novel Society.  When not busy plotting her next story,  she enjoy doing crafts and spending time with her husband and son, as well as a number of dogs and cats who have shown up on her doorstep and never left.

#WriterWednesday Interview with Nancy Cole Silverman

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I’d like to welcome the fabulous Nancy Cole Silverman to the blog for #WriterWednesday. You need to check out her latest mystery. I loved it!

A few of your favorite things: The change of seasons. Particularly the first days of fall. I love the crisp air and, living in sunny southern California, the rain!

Things you need to throw out: Clothes! I confess to being a clothes horse, and I’ve a closet full of old clothes I promise myself to get rid of...once I finish my next WIP...which appears to be never. I’ve always got something going.

Things you love about writing: The empty page. No, really. I love it when I start a new project. It’s like starting a new job or moving to a new neighborhood. Everything is new and even though have a good idea of what the story is about when I start, I’m always amazed at how things come together. In the end, I somehow feel like I’ve known these characters and the places they live forever.

Things you hate about writing: Okay, hate is a strong word, but the thing I find most difficult about writing is rewriting. It’s like working a Rubiks Cube.

Things you never want to run out of: Wine!

Things you wish you’d never bought: Bad wine!

Words that describe you: Tenacious.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Lustprinzip...it’s a new word for me, I’m trying to use it at least three times. Isn’t that the rule? It means, according to Websters, instant gratification. I want it ... and I want it now.

Favorite foods: Chocolate...chocolate and wine are even better.

Things that make you want to gag: Liver! Growing up I was anemic, and my great aunt used to make me peanut butter and liver sandwiches. To this day, I can’t stand the smell of liver.

Favorite beverage: WINE!

Something that gives you a sour face: Lemons. I have a love/hate relationship with them. We have a small lemon tree in our backyard, and it gives the best lemons, but they are sour.

Favorite smell: Orange blossoms in the spring. I grew up in an orange grove in Phoenix in the 50s and the smell still brings back memories of my childhood.

Something that makes you hold your nose: The smell of rotten fish!

Something you’re really good at: Making up an outlandish story and getting people to believe it.

Something you’re really bad at: Sitting through a boring lecture on a hot afternoon.

Something you wish you could do: Crossword puzzles. I’m lousy at it.

Something you wish you’d never learned to do: Clean fish! I learned as a kid. My grandfather used to love to fish, and he’d make the best fish over a campfire...but, if you want to eat...you gotta clean it. Not my favorite thing. I’d much catch and set free today.

Things you’d walk a mile for: My dog! I love her, she’s my best friend and we walk together every day. Even on those days, when I’d rather not, she makes me get up and go out.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: The sound of a jackhammer. My neighbor’s been jackhammering an old concrete patio around their house and it’s maddening. Even earphones don’t help.

Things you always put in your books: Usually, it’s a chatty sidekick.

Things you never put in your books: Gratuitous sex or violence.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: On a dare, when I was a kid, I jumped in a bull pen, with a real Brahman bull, and got chased out!

Something you chickened out from doing: Jumping in any more bull pens. I’m not stupid!

About Nancy:

Nancy Cole Silverman enjoyed a long and very successful career in radio before turning to print journalism and later, to fiction.

As a graduate of Arizona State University with a degree in Mass Communications, Nancy was one of the first female on-air television reporters in her hometown of Phoenix. After moving to Los Angeles in the late 1970’s she turned to the business side of broadcasting, becoming one of the top advertising sales executives in the market. After stints at KNX, KFWB, KABC and KXTA radio, she was appointed General Manager at KMPC, making her one of only two female managers in America’s second-largest radio market.

But in her heart of hearts, Nancy thought first of herself as a writer. In 2001 she left the radio business to found and edit The Equestrian News, a monthly publication for equine enthusiasts. “That’s when I really began to write,” said Silverman, “toggling between writing articles for the News and fiction I’d been thinking about for years.”

Today, Nancy is a full-time author. She writes both the Carol Childs and Misty Dawn Mysteries (Henery Press), numerous short stories, and is currently at work on a piece of historical fiction.

Let’s Be Social:

Website: https://nancycolesilverman.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nancycolesilver

What Are Your Writing Hang Ups? Tips for Authors

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What causes you to get stuck in your writing process? Here are some of my foibles or quirks and the things I do to prevent or overcome them. Your writing style and process are personal. Try the tips that work for you. If something doesn’t work, then try something else. You need to figure out what is best for you and what makes you more productive.

I ALWAYS come in under my word count (sometimes by as much as 20K words). I type, “The End,” and I am nowhere near close to being done. I write cozy mysteries, so I’m usually aiming for the low 70,000-word range. I’m one of the few people that I know who actually gains words during the editing process. I do an outline for each book. I look at the word count of the other books in the series and the number of chapters to give myself an idea of how much I’ll need for the first draft. I use my first few rounds of self-edits to make sure there are enough clues and red herrings in the story.

I love the researching, planning, and writing parts of the process. The editing and revising parts seem more like work. I have to break the tasks up into smaller pieces. I get tired and bored, and distractions don’t help when you’re trying to concentrate on making updates. I listen to fun playlists of upbeat music to keep me going. I also reward myself with things I like to do if I hit my editing/revising goal. Sometimes, it’s 5-10 minutes on the internet. This helps me to stay focused, and I get a treat for doing my work.

My outline serves several purposes. One of my critique groups meets every month. We read 50 pages at a time from each author, and it’s easy to forget what happened in earlier chapter. The group has asked for a chapter summary of past reads, so I use my outline, and I don’t have to create anything new. I also use it to help me with the dreaded synopsis.

No matter how much I self-edit or read my manuscript, I don’t see some mistakes like overused words. I keep a list of my pet words and do a search and replace. Some of my key offenders are “just,” “that,” and “so.”

When I decided that I wanted to write mystery novels, I bought every writing book I could get my hands on. Then I found that I was doing a lot of reading about writing and not much writing. I cleaned off my shelf. I kept the books that were most helpful and donated the rest to the library. You just need to write and to hone your craft. Join a critique group, find a writing partner, or find a good editor. Writers need feedback along the way to improve their writing.

#ThisorThatThursday Author Interview with Katherine Lawrence

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I would like to welcome Katherine Lawrence to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday!

Things you need for your writing sessions: Paper, pencil, laptop.

Things that hamper your writing: Noise, negative self-talk.

Things you love about writing: I love my ideas, my images, my inventive language, my honesty on the page, and the way writing puts me in touch with my true self.

Things you hate about writing: Discovering a typo AFTER the book has been printed.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Promoting my books.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Giving a reading.

Things you always put in your books: Details, specific moments, all six senses.

Things you never put in your books: animal cruelty.

Things to say to an author: “Love your book! I’m giving a copy to everyone I know.”

Things to say to an author if you want to be fictionally killed off in their next book: “I could’ve written that.”

Favorite places you’ve been: Canoe trips in northern Saskatchewan, specifically the Churchill River.

Places you never want to go to again: Las Vegas, bingo halls, casinos, shopping malls.

Favorite things to do: Writing, sharing food with the people I love, hiking, canoeing, reading a good book at night in my terrycloth housecoat.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: My taxes.

Things that make you happy: Writing.

Things that drive you crazy: Not writing.

Most embarrassing moment: Discovering a piece of spinach had been stuck to my front tooth while I was talking to a CEO about business.

Proudest moment: The launch of my five books: Black Umbrella; Stay; Never Mind; Lying to Our Mothers; and Ring Finger, Left Hand.

Best thing you’ve ever done: Marry my husband.

Biggest mistake: Working in jobs that bored me silly.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done: Write my young adult novel in verse, Stay.

Something you chickened out from doing: Sitting bedside with my dying father. I waited until his final hours.

The nicest thing a reader said to you: “I’m your biggest fan!”

The craziest thing a reader said to you: “I don’t read poetry.”

About Katherine:

Katherine Lawrence is a writer who loves troubled characters, poached eggs for supper, a messy desk, and green wool socks. Read her young adult verse novel, Stay, or any of her award-winning books of poetry: Black Umbrella; Never Mind; Lying to Our Mothers; Ring Finger, Left Hand. Katherine lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the trapezoid-shaped province above North Dakota. She has an MFA in Writing, is a former writer in residence at Saskatoon Public Library, and coaches emerging and established writers.  www.katherinelawrence.net

Let’s Be Social:

Website: www.katherinelawrence.net