MONDAY'S MUSINGS—TOOK A TRIP AND NEVER LEFT THE RANCH

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. Mine was great and I got to spend some time with my mother on Saturday and got to see her mama cat's new litter of babies. She has them in one of her extra bedrooms—now a nursery, lol! That's my mom J.

We have a winner for M.L. Buchman's Pure Heat: Farawayeyes. If you'll contact me I'll arrange for you to pick up your copy. Congratulations!

While I was recuperating and restless I had the chance to read some books that I enjoyed. Somewhere along the way my sense of restlessness was assuaged by my 'travels'. I've been to Texas, Colorado, Montana and slipped up into northwest Canadian wilderness, traveled all the way over to Pennsylvania and up to Maine.  Pretty nifty. Take a trip and never leave the farm, J  I’d thought I share a few with you (All were at least 4 1/2 stars in rating). 

Being restless I wanted something different. Something to pique my interest and divert me from hurting. I do have eclectic taste in reading. And it is very much mood driven. About the only thing I don’t read is horror (sorry horror fans), I don’t care for heavy-duty erotic romance (I like a bit left to my imagination), and kid’s books (my kid’s all grown up). I've read and enjoyed a few YA—but I really have to be in the mood to read YA (preferably when I don’t have a house load of young adults running in and out or playing Dear Abby with me). 

I have a towering stack of TBR books I can read but nothing appealed. Have you had those times? 

A friend of mine who writes sexy and fun cowboys also writes women’s fiction (which I hadn't read yet). She has a great sense of humor and I've laughed a lot reading her books, her turn of phrase, her realistic settings, sense of family and community. I needed some laughter and so I thought, why not?

TheBlue-Ribbon Jalapeño Society Jubilee and the second, The Red Hot Chilli Cookoff, by Carolyn Brown. 

“Welcome to Cadillac, Texas, where the jalapeños are hot, the gossip is hotter, and at the end of the day, it's the priceless friendships that are left standing...”

Oh, I am so glad I passed that welcome sign! That was five days of fun and laughter spent in Cadillac, Texas. Just what the doctor ordered.  What drew me to her stories?  Well, I loved watching movies like Steel Magnolias and Fried Green Tomatoes, and absolutely loved Designing Woman series on TV. These books encapsulate the best of those shows. The southern humor, laughter and tears, diverse multi-generational women and how they deal with life, and strong friendships that see you through everything life throws you. Scratch the surface of the southern charm and you’ll find some very strong women who can take you to the cleaners without breaking a sweat and smile graciously while doing it, bless their hearts. I have to tell you, I fell in love with the feisty Agnes! The woman is diabolical and Lord love her, she can have my back anytime. She is a character in both books. All I can say is I’m glad I’m not the pretentious Violet (I loved how that played out!).

If you like a face paced page-turner and laugh out loud situations these two stories are a must read this summer.

I tried a new, to me, author, Mark Nykanen. I haven’t read any of his books but that will change henceforth. I read his thriller, Primitive Excellent story. Definitely intense. I like stories that grab from current issues facing us and in this case it was climate control and what dangers could be facing our world if steps aren't  taken to correct consumption. I've read a lot about the issue. But Primitive doesn't preach and it is an involving, multi-layered thriller about climate change theories. It starts with a kidnapping of a well-known model, Sonya Adams, to act as a spokesperson for their group’s agenda and subsequent media frenzy and some darker governmental agencies involved. It kept me turning pages and I liked the growth of Sonya and how she found her own tough core to survive. There is a well-developed layer in the story that says the surface may not show the whole and that’s especially true in the relationship between Sonya and her estranged daughter, Darcy. They seem at first glance to be polar opposites and yet at the core of both are more similar they either believes. Tightly constructed and entertaining story. Makes you think. If you like a good suspense/thriller it’s worth the read!

Another new to me author, but not for long, is Melinda Leigh. I read her romantic suspense, Midnight Exposure. Another multi-layered page-turner. I really liked the reasons for the creepy villains actions. She developed that well without tipping her hand by prematurely revealing him (I knew one character had to be involved but minute clues said he wasn't the main bad guy and that kept me guessing for awhile). You really got to see the bad guy’s arc and goals and motivations. Still a very creepy guy but very well done. This one starts with the disappearance of two hikers, which is blamed on the snowstorms in the Maine wilderness, but it’s oh so much more. Add in the attempted kidnapping of visitor, Jayne Sullivan, a tall red-headed beauty who is a part time tabloid photographer, a reclusive sculptor with past, and sparks fly. There is a well done happy ever after but not before some serious danger to traverse and problems, one of which is to keep Jayne out of the hands of a creepy Druid with an agenda. I really enjoyed the story—clever in execution and fast paced with a good romance attached. Hope you will, too.

So, how was your Mother's Day? Do anything fun? Read any good books you'd like to share?

 

FINDING THE FIRE

My guest is romantic suspense writer, M.L. (Matt) Buchman. I love his books. The romance is great but what I love is the action, danger, kick-ass solutions, and of course a happy ever after. What's not to like? 

Today Matt talks about the challenges of writing romantic suspense based on real life heroes. 

Hi and thanks for coming aboard for a short flight.

I have this friend who says he likes writing romance because it gives so much structure which he can than hang his story on. And I see his point: her, him, love interest, love challenge, love resolution, HEA! Voila!

After 15 published romance novels, I've concluded that my friend is a lunatic. Totally! Why? (So glad you asked!)

Most of my novels aren't just romance, they’re romantic suspense, including my latest release Pure

LA County Fire Department's S-70 Firehawk

Heat which launches my new Firehawks series. Rom Sus means I've set myself a tough challenge, winding together a love story and a suspense story in such a way that one drives the other and neither can be removed without the whole thing falling apart.

But was that enough for me?

Nooo! Fool M.L. Writer had to set a higher challenge of writing about real world heroes and heroines. I struggle to be as accurate as possible, though not as realistic as possible. (Military battle and fighting forest fires are much too ugly and scary to include all of the details and at the core I want to tell a love story; so I clean it up a little.)

That means that one of the major tasks I set for myself is research. Oh, I’m fine with reading books, blogs, and following the news. I did two years of that before I even tried to start my Night Stalkers or my Firehawks series. My trouble is that I’m pretty shy in new situations with people.

Drop me into a corporate environment, and I can rock-and-roll; I spent over 25 years there. However, on my very first day in corporate, I was assigned to copy a large box of court documents. As I squatted down, I blew the seam out of my pants from the bottom of the zipper all the way up to my back belt loop. I was too terrified to do anything, so I didn't take lunch, I didn't take breaks, I spent the whole day with my butt facing a wall and then snuck out with my suit coat held just so.

Every interview I do for my writing is like that. Over the years I've conducted hundreds of job interviews as well. But when it comes down to my writing, not so much. For example, I had a change to talk with a Coast Guard heli-rescue pilot, who was at an airshow with his chopper specifically to answer questions. I fell mute. It can take me weeks or even months to gear up for an interview.

And oddly, instead of getting easier with time as it did in corporate, I find personal interviews for my stories keeps getting harder. The more book-based knowledge I acquire, the more I am daunted by the men and women who fly to the rescue—military or fire. I once had the opportunity to interview a woman who flew two tours in Iraq as a Black Hawk crew chief. She was an incredibly shy and soft-spoken woman half my age, and I was so daunted by her that, if my friends had not dragged me in, I would never have managed to do it. (She was awesome and immensely helpful, by the way.)

Oddly, my reaction has become one of the key features of my books in both of these series. I am in true awe of the real life versions of these people and I attempt to capture that, yet show the real people that I came to know and several of whom I now count as friends. These are the men and women of Pure Heat!

Let's chat 
I’d love to hear who are the people you go gob-smacked mute in front of? 

One commenter will win a copy of Pure Heat, and I'll announce the winner Friday's blog. 

                                                                                                                                                              

These daredevil smokejumpers fight more than fires.

The elite fire experts of Mount Hood Aviation fly into places even the CIA can’t penetrate.

She lives to fight fires

Carly Thomas could read burn patterns before she knew the alphabet. A third-generation forest fire specialist who lost both her father and her fiancé to the flames, she’s learned to live life like she fights fires: with emotions shut down.

But he’s lit an inferno she can’t quench

Former smokejumper Steve "Merks" Mercer can no longer fight fires up close and personal, but he can still use his intimate knowledge of wildland burns as a spotter and drone specialist. Assigned to copilot a Firehawk with Carly, they take to the skies to battle the worst wildfire in decades and discover a terrorist threat hidden deep in the Oregon wilderness—but it’s the heat between them that really sizzles. Download chapter excerpt

To not miss a thing, sign up for my newsletter at http://www.mlbuchman.com.

THANKS
                                                                      

M. L. Buchman has over a dozen romances and more than 20 books in print (he also writes science fiction and fantasy). His full name, Matthew Lieber Buchman, translates as Matthew Beloved Book Man, no wonder he’s a writer.
He is now making his living full-time as a writer, scribbling away with his wife on the Oregon Coast.

MONDAY'S MUSINGS: AMAZING PEOPLE

Did you have a restful weekend?

I imagine many of you are just about blogged out after April’s A-Z. It takes a lot out of you, doesn't it? I've also found it to be fun and many of the topics fascinating. Don’t you love seeing the creativity our blogging community? It reminds you how disparate our community is in interests. Even though I didn't comment much due to my shoulder and typing difficulties, I did read some great posts.

I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to Kat Sheridan for expert handling the blog in April during my absence. If not for her, my blog would have been on hiatus for the month. I had actually cancelled several guests due to the upcoming surgery and recuperation time. She offered to host Over Coffee for me—that blew me away for a number of reasons. For one, I know she’s in the middle of researching and writing her latest book and I know the work involved with the blog posting 3 times a week and herding cats, erm, guests. And it was April A-Z challenge and no way would I ask someone to take that on, friend or no.

Kat has been an occasional contributor and host Over Coffee for a couple of years. I've been around and participating in the A-Z for the last three or four years and am familiar with it. Kat, on the other hand, wasn't. I mentioned that she could handle the blog however she wanted during my absence. Kat has a wide range of interests, is well read, and has a wicked sense of humor. I love that about her—never dull and boring. You can imagine my surprise when she wanted to do A-Z, in our quasi way of three times a week. I sent her all the information on A-Z and the links. She was a real trooper and dove right into A-Z. I was impressed with the interesting subjects chosen and participating guests willing to contribute.

None of this would have been possible without some amazing people. I want to thank my writing group, The Writing Wombats for their support and help as well as Central Ohio Fiction Writers members who helped and their historical romance group that stepped up as guests and articles. My thanks to Mark Koopmans for the offer to help with articles if needed. I also want to thank all of you for the support you gave Kat in my absence.

I’m 5 weeks post op. The shoulder is healing at what feels like a snail’s pace. I still tire easily. My range of motion and manipulation is still limited. I can type with two hands, but only in short duration. So even taking up the reins of Over Coffee again, I’m still wobbly. And now, new pain from intensive physical therapy—I call it the Midwest chapter of the Spanish Inquisition, J Hate those pretzel maneuvers. Commenting will still be tough for me. Just be patient with me. I will get around to y’all as I can. It's not a lack of interest or caring just pesky limitations. J

Any favorite posts in A-Z you like to share with me? Did you have a favorite post from Kat’s hosting the Over Coffee? Did you do anything fun this weekend you’d like to share?    

INTERVIEW WITH SUSAN MALLERY

My guest is New York Times Best selling author, Susan Mallery. She's written over a 100 books and each is sexy, full of fun, humor, unforgettable characters and a great story. Susan is preparing to go to Romance Times Booklovers Convention in New Orleans (if you go be sure to stop and say hi), but she took the time to answer some questions about writing as well as the latest in her series, Fools Gold. 

Susan, how did you get started writing romance novels?

From the time I was about thirteen, I loved reading romance novels.

I had never thought about actually becoming a romance writer because I thought writers were exotic people who lived in France, wore black all the time and talked about things like dead philosophers. While I was in college, I saw that a local adult education center was offering a class on How to Write a Romance Novel. I signed up for that class, the very same day, began writing my first romance novel.

The book was awful, but the class changed my life. It was 8 weeks long and I knew by week 6 that I wanted to make a career as a romance author. I stayed in school to complete my degree (in accounting of all things) then walked away from a job offer to try my hand at romance writing. My first romance novel sold in August 1990 and was published in January 1992. From that point on, I have been a romance author, and I've never wanted to be anything else.

What’s the hardest thing you've had to face or as a writer? How did you overcome it?

The hardest part of what I do is making sure each book is better than the one before. In the beginning, when I was still learning, it was pretty easy to improve. But now, after over 100 books, it's challenging. But that's always the goal. There's not a single day that I sit down to write without thinking about how to do it better than I did yesterday.

You wrote in a recent Facebook post that you started writing a new Fool’s Gold book for 2015 and rewrote the beginning a few times because you didn't know the heroine well enough yet?

When I’m ready to really get started, I write until the characters click for me, usually about a chapter. I have to know who they are so that I can know how they will react to whatever might happen in the book. Once I know them, I stop writing and thoroughly plot the story.

Because of all the prep work, once I get to the actual writing of the book, I can write pretty fast.

WHEN WE MET’s hero, Angel Whittaker, appeared in your 2005 book Living on the Edge. What made you decide to bring him back?

I never forgot about Angel, and I always knew I’d write a book for him when I found the perfect woman for him. When I started brainstorming this year’s Fool’s Gold romances, Taryn Crawford came to me. She’s a very powerful, confident, self-made woman. She needed a man who was equally strong, someone who would stand up to her when need be, and someone who would cherish and protect her when she wasn't feeling all that strong. Angel, who’d been hovering in my subconscious for years, stepped forward and claimed her.

Angel, this very serious, hard-core sniper type was going to have to move to a quirky small town in California. I paired him up with buddies from the military who opened a bodyguard academy in Fool’s Gold last year.

What makes Taryn stand out from the other heroines you’ve written?

Contradiction is what makes any character come alive, and Taryn is full of them. On the surface, she has it all together. She runs a very successful PR firm. She has a wardrobe that couture fashion models would envy. Your first impression of Taryn is that she wants for nothing… but she went through a lot of pain to get where she is today. She’s a survivor. She has pulled herself up from very tough circumstances, and to do that, she has had to guard her heart. But there’s a softness, a vulnerability inside her that no one but Angel can see. He will treasure her forever.

What was the biggest surprise that occurred while you were writing their story?

I was a little surprised by how hot things got between Angel and Taryn. I tend to write sexy, but Angel and Taryn are a little older than my typical hero and heroine—40 and 34, respectively—and significantly more experienced. They know what they want, and they’re not afraid to ask for it. There were times when these two were so in-your-face with their sexy repartee that I was sort of gasping and laughing as I wrote.

Oh, I can’t wait to read this one! 

BUY: AMAZON, B&N, B-A-M

Angel Whittaker earned his scars the hard way, but the scars that can't be seen are the ones that haunt him the most. Since he moved to Fool's Gold, California, he's cobbled together a life for himself as a bodyguard trainer. If he's not exactly happy, at least his heart is safe.

Working with pro-football superstars taught tough-talking PR woman Taryn Crawford one thing—she can go toe-to-toe with any man. But then dark, dangerous former Special Ops Angel targets her for seduction…and challenges her to resist his tempting kisses.

Even in four-inch heels, Taryn never backs down. Unless, somehow, Angel can convince her that surrender might feel even better than victory. Excerpt

What’s next for the town of Fools Gold?

Up next are BEFORE WE KISS and UNTIL WE TOUCH, featuring two of Taryn’s partners at Score PR. Sam Ridge, a former NFL kicker, has to hire Dellina to help him plan a major company bash. He’s very reluctant to work with her because a few months ago, they had a little fling that went terribly (and comically) wrong. Dellina’s going to make him pay a little bit before she forgives him. So much fun to watch a strong man grovel!

At the start of UNTIL WE TOUCH, former quarterback Jack McGarry is shocked when the mother of his personal assistant and best friend Larissa Owens tells him to fire Larissa because the big-hearted beauty is in love with him. That’s news to Jack… and when he tells Larissa what her mom said, it’s news to Larissa, too! She’s not in love with Jack. Except, just by saying the words, her mom has opened both their eyes, and things between them suddenly get very hot.

Susan, thank you for taking time out of  your busy schedule to answer some questions and visit with us today! 

Z is for Zombies! Or Why I Love the Walking Dead

Here it is, the last day of the fun, fantastic A-ZChallenge! We’re wrapping it up in grand style with guest author Dana Fredsti, discussing her love of zombies. This also marks my last day for awhile as your guest hostess, as Sia McKye takes back over the helm on Friday and serves up fresh, interesting new discussions Over Coffee while I, like Puff the Magic Dragon, slip into my (writing) cave. But I’ll be stopping by now and then and hopping through all the great new blogs I’ve found as a result of this wonderful challenge! Thank you all for being such wonderful, supportive commenters this month! And now, take it away, Dana!  ~ Kat Sheridan

 

Why Zombies?

I get asked that question a lot. I get asked "why write about zombies" so often that lately my first impulse is to answer something along the lines of, "Damned zeds killed my family. Writing about them is the only way to deal with the pain." This response would be as accurate as "yes, I write about zombies only because I want to cash in on their current popularity," which is to say neither response is correct.

The assumption that the only reason I write about zombies is because they're popular and I'm some sort of literary whore with nothing but dollar signs in my eyes when I write about the walking dead is, quite frankly, insulting.  

I've been into zombies (in a platonic, non-necrophilia kind of way, thank you!) for years. My very first date movie was Dawn of the Dead. The original, not the remake. Slow, blue-faced zombies, shopping mall, four protagonists with actual character arcs. One of the first movies that really explored the visceral horror of  mindless walking corpses that ate living flesh. Sure, the makeup is dated, but the film is a classic for a reason. And I totally blame it for starting my fascination with zombies as flesh-eating ghouls.

Is there a glut of zombie related movies, books and TV shows out there?  

Sure.

Is this a bad thing? 

Not to me or to people like me, who barely had anything as far zombie-themed entertainment for years.

Even after the original Dawn of the Dead was released to some critical acclaim, other than a few foreign horror films and a smattering of books and short stories (thank you, Skipp and Spector, for the Book of the Dead anthologies), and some fan fiction (I personally found it scary how many teenaged boys were out there with fantasies of having big guns, rescuing the only surviving hot chick around, getting laid, and then having the hot chick die after taking said boy's virginity), there was very little out there for zombie enthusiasts.

Luckily Shaun of the Dead and the remake of Dawn of the Dead, along with 28 Days Later ushered in a new era for the zombie. Even after those movies it took a few years before they reached their current level of popularity, but thanks in part to the likes of World War Z and The Walking Dead, if you're craving a new zombie book or movie, you're pretty much in luck. I used to pride myself on having read or watched pretty much everything out there, but I can't keep up any more.

Not all of them are created equal. Some of the books and movies aren't very good. But at least we have a variety to choose from instead of being forced to read about angsty vampires or hunky werewolves (not that there's anything wrong with vampires or lycanthropes) when we're in the mood for a good, old-fashioned zombocalypse!

 

Let's chat: Are YOU prepared for the zombocalypse? Have a hiding place selected? Ever read a zombie novel?

 

 

 

Plague World: The thrilling conclusion of the zombie apocalypse begun in Plague Town and continued in Plague Nation! The zombie plague has gone airborne, and the conspiracy that began it all reaches the boiling point. Having been ambushed in San Francisco, which is now full engulfed in the zombie plague, Ashley and the wild cards must pursue the enemy to San Diego. There they will discover a splinter of their own organization which seeks to weaponize the plague. But that isn't the worst news. The plague has gone airborne, makign it transferable without physical contact. It cannot be controlled by anyone, so reports of the zombie swarm are coming in from across the United States - and across the world.

 

Amazon  Dana's Website

 

 

 

Dana Fredsti is an ex B-movie actress with a background in theatrical sword-fighting (a skill she utilized in Army of Darkness as a Deadite and fight captain). She’s addicted to bad movies and any book or film, good or bad, which includes zombies. She’s the author of the Ashley Parker series, touted as Buffy meets the Walking Dead, as well as the cozy noir mystery Murder for Hire: the Peruvian Pigeon, and several spicy genre romances under the name Inara LaVey. She lives in San Francisco with her boyfriend David Fitzgerald (who writes erotica under the pen name Kilt Kilpatrick), their dog Pogeen, and a small horde of felines.

 

 

 

 

 

Kat's "Z" Book List

 

Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope: Classic swashbuckling adventure and romance. I loved this book!

 

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler. Biographical fiction of a legendary woman at the dawn of the Jazz Age.

 

Zebra book cover: I Married Adventure by Osa Johnson. 1940s autobiography of an adventuress and her wildlife photographer husband. Anyone who knows me knows I love zebra print and don’t hesitate to use it in my decorating. Seriously, this would look sooo good on my bookshelves. Or coffee table. Or nightstand. Only the first and second editions have this iconic cover, later transformed into a purse by Kate Spade, another item I can’t afford. These editions are now collectibles, meaning WAY out of my price range. If you happen to trip over one in a yard sale or thrift shop, please grab it up and remember it would make a lovely Christmas present for your zany, zebra-loving blogger friend!

 

 

 

 

Will You Be Ready Image by By Kenny Louie via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

 

 

The Xs of Fiction - Guest Editor Beth Hill

We’re getting close to the end of our A-Z Challenge! Unless we want to discuss xylophones or x-rays or x-rated books, we needed to cheat a bit on the letter and make an eXception. Our guest today is one of our blog favorites, editor eXtraordinaire, Beth Hill, to talk about the “Xs” of writing fiction. ~Kat

Fiction writers face many rules, some detailing what to do, others detailing prohibitions, maybe even exclusions.

Some rules come from the wider world of writing, proven rules that make all communication easier. Some rules come specifically from the world of fiction. And many rules come from the experience gained by the long chain of writers who wrote before us, shared so we can call on the know-how of those who’ve already made the mistakes and learned how to correct them.

I don’t want to lay out rigid rules today, certainly not all the do’s and don’ts of fiction. Let’s instead look at options to strengthen both story and story-writing skills. Consider these the Xs of fiction.

Gain experience

Write often. Write more than you’ve written in the past. Read in the genre you want to write. Read in genres you have no familiarity with. Study successful fiction.

Become an expert

Master an area or a topic that you like and then master an area or topic that gives you fits. And then master a topic you know nothing about. These areas can be writing related—dialogue, pacing, subtext—or simply topics that appeal—landscaping, the Boer Wars, space travel. Expand your knowledge.

Explore
Follow links from one topic you study to the next. Don’t always be content with surface knowledge, though that may be all you need for a writing project. Give yourself the opportunity to delve deep into topics and follow even the most tenuous of links between topics.

Don’t explain

When you write, don’t insist that characters explain why they do a particular action. Simply show them in action and allow the reader to draw her own conclusions. Keep readers actively involved by giving them just enough so they don’t get lost and enough that they’re tempted to figure out what’s going on before revelations are uncovered.

Go easy on the expletives

No, not the cussing kind, the grammatical kind. There or it followed by forms of the verb to be can leach power from a sentence, especially when used again and again or to open new scenes or chapters. They can also add unnecessary words. Example: There was a boy racing down the lane vs. A boy raced down the lane.

Expose character weaknesses

Show characters’ limitations in action. Make fictional people real by giving them weaknesses that work for the story, that add to the story.

Express emotion

Show characters as emotional people touched by what happens around them. Show that actions have impact, that they change characters. Show that actions and the words of others touch characters’ hearts and drive them to respond and maybe even retaliate.

Extend invitations to the reader

Hook the reader on page one, giving her a reason to read the opening pages, and then keep her hooked. Make your story opening an invitation to your fictional world. Entice and intrigue.

Create extraordinary characters

Make your main characters memorable. They don’t have to be a Superman, but they should have quirks or behaviors or emotions or desires that make them stand out from every other fictional character.

Write extraordinarily well

Learn the basics, learn more than the basics, and don’t be satisfied with being mediocre at any of the writing elements. Expand your skills.

Take some scenes to the extreme

Push events, reactions, and emotions. Surprise characters as well as readers. Be bold and not timid.

Exaggerate

Exaggerate character problems and solutions, but without falling into obvious caricature.

Exceptions

Keep in mind that there are always exceptions to every rule. Figure out how and when to break rules in ways that create memorable fiction.

 

Beth Hill is a freelance fiction editor who loves the creative power of words. You can find her online at A Novel Edit and read other writing and editing tips at The Editor’s Blog.

 

Kat's "X" Book List

 

 

 

Strapless by Deborah Davis: Biography. The story behind the famous Madame X painting by John Singer Sargent, a tale of art and celebrity, obsession and betrayal.

Three Weeks with Lady X: Eloisa James. A duke, a lady, a romance

 

Author X: The Inner Secret. Click the "author X" link to learn more about the mystery of who this author was.

 

 

Cartoon Pencil With Cross Mark Image courtesy of chanpipat / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Abstract Colour Pencil Image courtesy of tigger11th / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Man Writing With His Pencil Image courtesy of Boians Cho Joo Young / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

V is for Vines: Dystopian Alternate History

Working our way through the A-Z Challenge, today's letter is "V". In this case, it stands for the vines that are a feature of the dystopian alternate history created by our guest Dale Cozort in his Exchange series of books. Take it away Dale!    ~Kat Sheridan

Black vines cling to sterile, concrete-like ground, black leaves chittering in the wind that whips across a treeless landscape, a sea of black with nothing poking through it, nothing flying above it. Barbs along the vines are useless, vestigial. No animals big enough for them to grab survive in this shattered piece of world. Thumb-sized multi-legged forms, as black as the leaves, scuttle among the vines, the largest surviving animals.

That’s the environment where much of my novel Devouring Winds takes place. The rest of it, ironically, happens in a bountiful world, overflowing with animals, unspoiled.

Devouring Winds is the second novel in a series. The premise: near future Earth encounters a series of Exchanges, temporary swaps of town-sized pieces of our reality with an alternate reality where humans never developed, and the world is still dominated by animals.

In the first book, a cult with mysterious ties to the US government colonizes the alternate reality during an Exchange, cutting themselves off from the rest of humanity. Computer guru Sharon Mack and her autistic daughter are also cut off and take refuge with the cult.

The second book brings another Exchange, this one with the black vines reality. The new Exchange takes us from a fresh, exuberant world to a tired, depleted one. The black vine reality developed industrial civilization while our ancestors were still spearing mammoths. That civilization then spent nearly fifty thousand years in a cycle of destroying itself, pulling the remnants back together and repeating the process.

As one of the characters comments, nuclear wars should be one to the customer at most, but the black vine reality kept fighting, going beyond nuclear weapons to even more destructive devices. Now, a few thousand refugees from our reality face the power of this ancient and powerful reality.

I enjoyed writing Devouring Wind. I like asking big questions. What would an industrial civilization look like after fifty thousand years, with technology giving ever-increasing power to countries and individuals? How much of our civilization could a few thousand isolated humans maintain? What would their lives be like? How would they react to enforced isolation from so much of our culture? No new television, books, videogames or music unless they produced it themselves. Cut off from new styles, new slang, new celebrities, never knowing if Lindsay Lohan is in or out of rehab, even if they wanted to know.

How would they react to enforced closeness, never being able to get away from relationships that went bad? How would they settle quarrels with no courts and no lawyers?

I try to address all those questions, and have a lot of fun doing it.

Let’s chat: If you were cut off like the characters in Devouring Wind, what would you miss the most? The least?

 

"They're coming for us, from the sky and emptiness." This is the unnerving prediction of Bethany Mack, the autistic and strangely prescient daughter of technology guru Sharon Mack. After the last Exchange—a literal swapping of sections between two different realities—Sharon and her daughter are trapped in the wild alternate version of Earth called Bear Country. They’ve taken refuge at Fort Eegan, an outpost built by a peculiar cult with mysterious ties to the US government. But a new Exchange brings terrifying new consequences.

Fort Eegan now faces beings with technology superior to theirs and a millennium-old history of mass violence. The Exchange also blocks Fort Eegan's precious water supply, threatening deprivation now and catastrophic floods in the future. The older and far more threatening civilization also brings a weapon capable of devouring everything in its path, including Fort Eegan.

Even more dangerous than the threat from the new Exchange are the humans of Bear Country. Roaming the countryside, ruthless escaped convicts hold hundreds of women hostage. With supplies dwindling, they eye Fort Eegan's dwindling resources. Inside and outside the fort, restlessness grows among the isolated humans and conflicts fester, including a deadly love triangle. Fort Eegan's only hope is that Bear County's humans unite before they are all blown away by the devouring winds.

 

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Dale Cozort lives in a college town near Chicago with his wife, daughter, three cats and a lot of books. Dale is a computer programmer and teacher as well as a long-time science fiction fan.

 


Kat's "V" Book List

Victoria Holt – author of many classic gothic mystery romances

The Secret Life of Violet Grant: Beatriz Williams. Manhattan 1964 and Berlin 1914. A great beach read.

Night Vision:  A Jake Lassiter novel by Paul Levine. A fast talking lawyer and hilarity.

Image courtesy of TeddyBear[Picnic] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net