Indie Friday: Maddox Files: Back to Business

Guest post by R. J. Davies Mornix

Maddox Files: Back to Business is about a 26-year-old woman who has had enough, she was working a dead-end job and living with her fiancé who cheated on her but it all changes when she catches him in the act the second time. Dice quits her job, kicks her fiancé out and opens up her own business, Maddox Investigations. Her first client is Ryan Winters never been married before but after a weird car accident finds himself married to the very beautiful Lily Winters. As Dice digs into this case to figure out what is going on, she soon discovers that Lily is not who she says she is but it’s worst. Who is Lily Winters? A demon? An alien?

This book was for me to test out the self-publishing market, I didn’t want the normal things that I saw out there.  I checked online and noticed there weren't many female private investigators who were in their 20s, I knew it had to have a strong female character and I grew up watching detective shows. I wanted her to be dealing with strange cases with a slice of science fiction flavor to them.

It’s based in Toronto a place where I use to live. I started off with her parents. Her mother was a nurse and her father a professional gambler. Her mother lost the bet for naming their daughter and this is how she got the first name, Dice. Dice Maddox was born, she has a few characters she has to deal with and a couple exes. A new guy who she likes more than she is willing to admit.

Dice discovers she that her uncle has a secret he was keeping from her.  Finding out about it makes her feel a little closer to him and it opens her mind to the world around her.

This book is about Dice Maddox opening with her in an unsatisfying situation and it progresses with her discovering new things about herself and the people she thought she knew. Her ex Chris who she was engaged to just doesn’t disappear out of Dice’s life; he sticks around and wants another chance with her. Getting back into the business she meets up with another ex who is on the police force. There are some other characters that she meets along the way that shows up in future books.

I didn’t find any struggles writing this book, in fact, it practically wrote itself. It was like I had Dice Maddox pacing behind me saying yes to this and no to that. I had completed the first draft in 22 days at Nano Camp. It’s been through a series of rewrites and edits but it’s stuck very close to the original manuscript.

The most satisfying moment was when I got my author copy in the mail and saw my book in print.  I had always considered myself an Author but now I was a Published Author. Thanks to my husband he kept pushing me forward with this or I would still be editing this book to death. This book is the first in a series, so far I have seven books lined up, the first four are already written. I would love for everyone to know Dice Maddox. 

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Maddox Files: Back to Business by R. J. Davies Mornix

 
Available on: Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble

Official website: http://www.rjdaviesmornix.ca 

Like the Author on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/R-J-Davies-Mornix-Author-253530731521799/ 

Follow the Author on Twitter: @rmornix

Indie Friday: Ours is the Storm

Guest post by D. Thourson Palmer

Ours Is the Storm is about Revik Lasivar, a very powerful young man trying to save his kingdom, and Ahi’rea of the plainsfolk, trying to destroy it. It’s about Ahi’rea’s quest to preserve her way of life and Revik’s task to end it. It’s about both of them facing their pasts, their parents, and their own people, as well as the enemies hounding them, and seeing all those things for what they are. It’s about deceit and redemption and identity. It’s about confronting the question who am I? and reaching beyond our names and cultures, our pasts and our dreams, for the answer.

I began writing Ours Is the Storm while I was teaching English in Japan. I was outside myself in many ways during that time, just as I was outside of the culture. Even though I was welcomed, I often felt alone, isolated by distance, language, even my name. Both Revik and Ahi’rea came from that experience. Moreover, due to the modality of the school year and vacations there, I had quite a lot of time during which I was required to be at the four high schools that I served, but had little to do. I started writing, not entirely certain where I would end up.

The journey to the end of a novel was a lot longer than I was prepared for. I wrote throughout my time in Japan and continued when I returned to the USA for graduate school. I started a PhD program and then quit, finding that I was as suited to the pursuit as a ferret is to neurosurgery. Around that time my wife and I got an awesome old dog and made the best of things while I was between jobs. We returned to the state of Ohio, where I grew up. The dog, Mephit, was big and protective and terrified of storms. When she heard thunder, she’d wake me up and I’d work on writing and editing. I finished Ours Is the Storm at last, and Mephit died soon after, between writing and publishing. As a much finer author than I wrote many times: so it goes. She was a friend, and the book’s dedication is to her.

I’ve always been a fantasy reader--Lord of the Rings, Discworld, American Gods, The Name of the Wind--and I also have a big love for many of the classics, like Crime and Punishment and 1984 and Frankenstein. If I want anything from my work, it’s that it could exist at the intersection of those genres and influences--classic feeling with a modern style. Ours Is the Storm is about identity but it’s also an adventure, an action story, and a mystery. There are plenty of plot twists and subverted tropes, some obvious and some less so, and they’re enough to throw even experienced fantasy readers off the trail and keep them interested. At the end, that’s what I want and what I hope for most from Ours Is the Storm--that it’s new and exciting to readers, and, maybe, that it might make them think about their own identity as well.

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Ours is the Storm by D. Thourson Palmer

 
Available on: Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, iTunes 

Official website: www.dthoursonpalmer.com

Follow the Author on Twitter: @DThoursonPalmer

Indie Friday: Time Has Past - In pursuit of the Ripper

Guest post by Graeme Taylor

I think, like a lot of people, I always thought that I would love to write a novel. It eventually happened, although I did wait until I was in my fifties to make it happen. I don't know where I got the idea from to write a Fictional Story based on Historic events, it just seemed to pop into my head. It took a little bit of research but that wasn't a problem as you might expect the World Wide Web is full of information about the Ripper.

I suppose the inspiration to write my novel came from the publication of my poetry book, after years of writing the odd poem here and there and losing some in the process, I decided to self-publish. It was a great feeling seeing my poetry book on the Amazon Website. The feeling grew when the novel appeared about 20 months later  

My book is a fascinating premise: what if you could go back in time and discover just who Jack the Ripper really was? And what if you got embroiled in this spate of gruesome murders and got a whole lot more than you’d bargained for. Time has Past (good pun I think ) cleverly combines the known facts and timelines about the Ripper with an evocative and atmospheric tale that explores the darker side of human nature.

There have been many books written about Jack the Ripper both Fictional and ones based on Fact. This book takes on the story with an unusual twist. It involves a man who stumbles onto a Portal, a gateway to the past, how does he react to such a situation, and how involved will he let himself get. Would that involvement change History and distort the timeline?            

Peter Haines had such a dilemma, he was a retired Army Sergeant; his life was uneventful until the day he fell into a world he could never have imagined. A world that became an obsession. He found himself in a grim Era of English History, a sordid past shrouded in murder and terrible atrocities, it was a world he could not dismiss. The year was 1888 in London’s Victorian Past. It was the time and place where the Ripper carried out his horrendous deeds. It led Peter into a series of circumstances beyond his control, circumstances impossible to imagine, it turned into a Nightmare. 

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Time Has Past - In pursuit of the Ripper by Graeme Taylor

 
Available on: Amazon

Official website: http://www.graytoon.co.uk/

Indie Friday: Strength to Let Go

Guest post by Alina Popescu

Hello everyone!  A pleasure to be here on Indie Friday and have a little chat with you all about my latest release, Strength to Let Go, the first book in the Tales of the Werewolf Tribes series. Yes, I know, another Romanian author writing vampires, werewolves, and other paranormal stuff! It’s weird, I am close to two Romanian authors (Ioana and Aimee) and they both love the paranormal realm as much as I do. If you see a pattern there, relax, it’s pure coincidence!

As a lot of authors will tell you, things rarely go according to plan. Strength to Let Go, for example, wasn’t even supposed to be the first book in the series! And that’s the least of my problems. It was supposed to have a completely different plot, but things got twisted and the main character, Shiki, was too chatty. So after a lot of plotting and planning, the book was written (mostly during last year’s NaNoWriMo) and here it is today – rewrites and a few rounds of editing later. 

The werewolf series was not actually inspired by a wolf, not a real one anyway! The idea sparked because of my White Swiss Shepherd. I was watching all the Cesar Millan series I could find (along with a similar British show), trying to get a better understanding of my dog and how to get him to obey me more. I then thought it would all be so much easier if I turned into a werewolf. I’d be his alpha of sorts and he’d follow my lead :D Another white wolf took the idea further – the Great White Wolf of local Dacian myths spawned the first tribe I envisioned, the Dacian Wolves, then several more followed. 

Research-wise, writing a werewolf book was a lot different compared to writing a vampire one. Why? Because I did a lot of research on vampires over the years due to a long time interest in how these creatures are portrayed. I wasn’t as familiar with weres, and I wanted to look into wolves in religion and mythology, not just the lycan stories. I combined a bit of mythology with a lot of cultural and historical references in how tribes are created (and how they fight each other).  For example, the Chinese and Mongols aren’t very friendly, there are a lot of tribes covering a relatively small territory in Europe—but they fight each other all the time, and the American tribe is deeply rooted in Native culture. 

The best part about writing this was Shiki. I’ve spent a lot of time with this character in role-play writing, so I knew him better than almost all my other characters when I started writing. It’s fascinating to have a complete story on your lead, to know exactly what makes him tick or how he’d react to certain situations. That does not mean I wasn’t in for a few surprises! Oh, he made sure I wasn’t just relaxing through it, so he’d challenge me once in a while. 

 

In the end, turns out what happened was so much better than the plan, and Strength to Let Go became the kind of story I always wanted to tell. 

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Strength to Let Go by Alina Popescu

 
Available on: Amazon

Official website: http://alina-popescu.com

Follow the author on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoralinapopescu

and Twitter: @alina_popescu

Indie Friday: Matchbook

Guest post by Desireé Prosapio

One day I was sitting at my desk, glancing through writing contests and I came across one that sounded intriguing.  The prompt was to write a short story based on one key action: someone discovers a phone number written in a matchbook.

The story ended up being a finalist in the contest, and while it didn’t win, I found the story was one I couldn’t let go. Carol, the protagonist just grabbed me and she came alive in my mind.  I felt like she deserved to have her story told.

Matchbook is set in Downtown San Antonio and is the story of Carol. Told in first person, Carol has that sharp wit and snarky come backs that draw you in – even though she’s homeless. In the course of the first few chapters, you learn that her daughter’s death unraveled her life. Carol is convinced her daughter didn’t die of an accidental overdose; she believes her daughter was murdered.

Matchbook is filled with a few other characters that also stood up in my imagination and demanded their share of the spotlight.  The favorite of many of my readers is Maurice, her fellow homeless person, who helps Carol uncover clues and make connections. But Maurice, with his cross-dressing fashion sense and over the top sense of the dramatic, manages to give Carol something she hasn’t had in so many years: someone to care about.

Matchbook isn’t just a story of solving a crime; it’s a story of a mother’s journey out of grief and into healing.

Writing Matchbook – at least the first draft – was pretty easy. It was one of the stories that pours right of you. What was tough was what came afterward. Once it was done, I was fortunate enough to land an agent, and she made great suggestions about the story. While it never found a traditional publisher, I learned the value of having a complete stranger give me feedback. From that point on I went through the book with writing groups and beta readers, learning and honing along the way.

The most satisfying moment was sending out a notice to my fans letting them know the book was finally done and available for download.  Seeing so many people who had said they were interested then actually download a novel gave me a thrill like no other. I was hooked!

Matchbook definitely shakes up the gender on a number of levels. The character is vulnerable in a way most of us can’t imagine. She is not a woman with training and expertise that helps her rise to the challenge before her. And yet she is heroic in a way that satisfies and delivers that emotional, immersive read we all love.

What has been the biggest challenge with this book? Frankly, I think some people wonder if Matchbook is the right fit for them because it does involve the issue of homelessness and alcohol addiction. But at its heart Matchbook is the story of one person’s journey, a story that starts and ends in the heart, with plenty of laugh-out-loud and action scenes in between.

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Matchbook by Desireé Prosapio

 
Available on: Amazon

Official website: http://www.wdprosapio.com

Follow the author on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DesireeProsapio

and Twitter: @desireeprosapio

Indie Friday: Xalien the Purple Alien

Guest post by Michelle Path

Hello. My name is Michelle Path and I am a children’s book author. My first book Suki and the Seedling was released in Australia in August 2014, the same time as my first book published in the UK, called Xalien the Purple Alien, was released.

How I came to be discovered by Rowanvale Books is a serendipitous event. They found me on Twitter. What are the chances? I was impressed by their dedication to helping their authors to succeed in the cutthroat world of publishing. Since Xalien was released, I have had another four books published with them and have another 5 to be released this year.

Xalien the Purple Alien is about a small purple alien who crashes to Earth. She finds herself in a garden, where she is discovered by three children, Jessica, Adam and Sarah. The children take her to the fair where they learn about each other and get into strange and amusing situations as Xalien tries to fit in with humans.

Xalien was created as I walked my dogs one afternoon. This is how I find inspiration and get in the zone. I was thinking of something to write about when the idea of an alien came to mind. My favourite colour is purple and then I began trying to come up with a title. I tried to find a name that rhymed with alien, and Xalien popped into my head. So there it was, the title of my next story. When I got home I began writing the story. It was quite easy to write and came together very quickly. When Rowanvale Books asked me to send them a manuscript, this was the one I chose. They loved it and the first book in my Xalien the Purple series was born. I have since published Xalien the Purple Alien: Xalien Goes to School and have two more Xalien books due for release this year, one about going to the Zoo as well an Xmas special including a limited edition with foils to add an extra bit of sparkle to the festive season.

Xalien almost wrote herself and she brings a cute, adorable character into the lives of children who find her amusing and subsequently fall in love with her. She teaches children messages about tolerance and acceptance as well as telling an enjoyable story that encourages them to read. One little girl would not let her mother give the book as a birthday gift because she adored the alien so much. That alone was great feedback and confirmed to me that Xalien could easily be a character children could fall in love with and enjoy reading about.

I have to admit that Xalien came together quickly. I wrote the story in a few short hours and edited it after letting it sit for a short while, so that I could reread it with an objective mind. This is not always the case and does not reflect the ease of how some of my other books have been written, sometimes slowly and painstakingly with me adding a mere paragraph at a time until the story is finished.

The most satisfying moment for me while writing the book was when I realised I had created something unique and special, an adorable alien that children could not only relate to but learn lessons from. I am very proud of Xalien the Purple Alien and am delighted to be able to present it to readers to enjoy and at times laugh along with.

My hope for this book is that children are entertained and are encouraged to read and learn to have an appreciation and a love for books. Books played a big role in my childhood and it led to me becoming an author. There is something magical about turning the page and identifying with the characters you get to know, as well as being transported to places that are only limited by your imagination.

I hope I have achieved this goal, for it is not only my satisfaction of writing something I am proud of, but that people will enjoy the journey as they turn the pages and discover what adventures lie ahead. Nothing could make me happier than to have engaged my readers and given them something to take with them throughout their lives; a childhood memory of a story that will be etched in their memory and kept somewhere within their hearts and memories.

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Xalien the Purple Alien by Michelle Path

 
Available on: Rowanvale Books, Amazon

Official website: http://michellepath.com.au

Follow the author on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michelle-Path-Childrens-book-writer/551595064936515

and Twitter: @mimilovesu

Indie Friday: Chasing Down the Night

Guest post by Francis Guenette

Chasing Down the Night is the third book in the Crater Lake Series. All the novels transport readers to a rural setting on the shores of a lake where they encounter characters who quickly become friends and family. Youth issues, family dynamics and relationships are explored while challenging stereotypes of right and wrong.

The latest book in the series opens with a scene that sets the tone for everything that is to come. A cougar stalks the dreams of a young boy. Trauma counsellor and contender for main character, Izzy Montgomery has taken on the role of director at nearby Micah Camp (a home for young people coming out of the foster care system and trying to make decisions about the next stage of their lives.) Liam Collins, a man who has fought a hard struggle to find peace of mind, is busy caring for chickens and children while preparing for an upcoming wedding. Beulah runs the organic bakery and organizes a memorial ball tournament. Her same-sex partner, Bethany, takes on a research job at the Camp and begins to discover her own strengths. Bethany’s niece, Lisa-Marie (who is, for many, the main character) arrived as a troubled sixteen-year-old on the first pages of the first book and from that time she has been head-over-heels in love with Justin. Now eighteen, with exciting opportunities for her future spread at her feet, the sparks fly between the two of them as they continue to feel the impact of the past and must relearn valuable lessons in order to move on.

All of the novels dig deeply into the emotional landscapes of the various characters. And yet, life is so much more than problems to be faced. The everyday rural realities encountered often leave readers chuckling.

The setting, characters and real-life dilemmas described in my novels come out of a blend of my own work and life experiences. I throw them all into the melting pot of imagination and out pops fiction. What an amazing process!

Reviewers have commented that what is unique about my writing style is the ability to tell stories from multiple points-of-view within the same novel. This style creates intimacy and evokes emotion. I was surprised when reviewers found my writing unique because I couldn’t conceive of any other way to tell these stories. Life is not black and white. The best path to empathy is found when we can envision the situations people end up in from as many viewpoints as possible. 

Writing subsequent books in an ongoing series has unique challenges. For example, how much do I tell of the previous books? I work hard to ensure that each novel is stand-alone and that involves a delicate balance between providing enough information so the story makes sense without bogging it down.

By far, the most satisfying part of my writing process is seeing the characters I have created evolve and grow from what they were in the first book to the people they are now.

What do I hope to accomplish by launching these books into the world? The answer is simple. I want readers to feel as though they have been changed. A new way of looking at some part of life has caused an ah-ha moment and thus, what they know about themselves and the world around them has shifted. That epiphany is what I am chasing down the night to capture.

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Chasing Down the Night by Francis Guenette

Available on: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Kobo

Official website: http://disappearinginplainsight.com

Follow the author on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/francisguenetteauthor/377139735716267

and Twitter: @FrancisGuenette