Nancy Kilpatrick Writer: Get to Know Blog Tour Guide and
Specialist ...MAIA...: Get to Know Blog Tour Guide and Specialist ... MAIA GOMEZ Maia Gomez NK - You're a self-described 'country girl',...
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Get to Know Blog Tour Guide and
Specialist ...MAIA GOMEZ
Specialist ...MAIA GOMEZ
Maia Gomez
NK - You're a self-described 'country girl', with
deep generational roots in your hometown, Fredericksburg, Texas. How did it come about that you started a
highly successful Internet business in book promotion?
MG – Well,
quite frankly, I had two babies within a year's time and decided to be a full-time
stay-at-home mom with quite a bit of spare time on my hands! Between juggling
the kids and many sleepless nights, I was able to commit a lot of hours into
creating my dream job and thoroughly enjoy every minute of it. Plus, being
stuck out in the boondocks with Internet and not much else to do seems to help
a bit. lol
NK - What do you like most about promoting books
for authors?
MG – Finding new and exciting books and
connecting with new authors! There's quite a few authors out there that have
some 5 star AMAZING books that just need the extra boost to get discovered.
I've also made quite a few good friends and still stay in touch on a regular
basis with many of the authors I've toured with in the past.
NK - Your business offer to writers is, pay-what-you-want, an almost unheard of
business practice today. Does it work out for you?
MG – While it seems quite unorthodox, yes it
really does work! I believe that some of these other companies charge way too
much for the “average” author to be able to pay to get sufficient promo.
Authors are very grateful that I'm actually affordable to any and all budgets
and still provide quality tours with everybody getting the same level of
attention no matter what they end up paying me. While some are only able to pay
a little, most authors pay me very well and let's just say I make more now than
I ever did at a “regular” job.
NK - What is the first book you read and loved?
MG – Wow, I've been reading my entire life and
can't really remember my first book—I was reading at a 6th grade
level in 1st grade and they had to put me in an advanced reading
class. I was the kid in class that teachers yelled at to STOP reading instead
of the other way around. Back then I really loved the Goosebumps and Fear Street
books though. And later when Harry Potter
came out of course I was head over heels for those too! I remember when the
third HP book came out I got it as a birthday present and stayed up the entire
night and finished the book. I had a major book hangover after that one.
NK - There is a rumor that you have a 'book cave' filled with thousands
of books. Have you read them all?
MG – I have read almost all of them! I'm a
fanatic about series and prowl the local thrift stores for castoffs—I frequently buy later books in series and then slowly find the others and
eventually when I have a full set I binge-read them. So there's some works in
progress, but they all get read eventually. As for time—my only peace and quiet
is late at night after the kids go to sleep—I stay up until past midnight
escaping to new worlds and enjoying the peace.
NK - Many people peripherally involved in the
larger world of writing hold a secret desire to write fiction. Is that you?
MG – Oh absolutely! It's a longtime dream of mine
to be an author myself one day—I know I have the talent in me, and have even
started a few books in the past. My only roadblock is time, I just don't have
the time (or peace) to commit to serious writing. I'm thinking once the little
ones go off to school that might change though...
Silver Dagger Book Tours Coordinates
If
you are an AUTHOR interested in booking a tour with
Silver Dagger Book Tours,
you can see a general FAQ page and booking here:
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you can see the current sign-ups here:
you can see the current sign-ups here:
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Thursday, September 26, 2019
Nancy Kilpatrick Writer: Get to Know Writer...JN MOONJN MoonNK - You se...
Nancy Kilpatrick Writer: Get to Know Writer...JN MOON
JN Moon
NK - You se...: Get to Know Writer... JN MOON JN Moon NK - You set your vampire series in Bath, England, which is your home base. Bath seems li...
JN Moon
NK - You se...: Get to Know Writer... JN MOON JN Moon NK - You set your vampire series in Bath, England, which is your home base. Bath seems li...
Get to Know Writer...JN MOON
JN Moon
NK - You set your vampire series in Bath,
England, which is your home base. Bath seems like a nice, quiet, historic city,
the kind of place not prone to drawing vampires. Besides knowing your city well, what other
reasons do you have for setting novels there?
JNM – Yes, as a teenager visiting night clubs,
in the early hours of the morning the city held the most magic, like a backdrop
from Sherlock Holmes. The Georgian houses, cobbled streets and antiquated
street lamps fueled my imagination.
In the Royal Victoria Park, massive stone
lions guard the entrance. So this was the perfect backdrop to a vampire story,
and along with it, a wealth of history predating Roman times, all with its own
folklore and legends, which I researched and used in my books, especially for
magical scenes.
NK - Lots of people watched the Hammer films
but not everybody rooted for the monsters. Why did/do vampires, Frankenstein's
monster and his spouse, and all the other supernaturals appeal to you more than
the 'heroes', aka 'humans'.
JNM – I asked myself this recently, why do I
love vampires, werewolves so much? Aside from their power, strength,
immortality and unyielding beauty, and usually wealth, I think the core attraction
is strength. If I were a vampire, or dating a vampire, then nobody could hurt
me, the apex alpha male! I would be safe forever from harm. I guess as well,
they have all this but are outsiders. I’ve never been one to run with the pack.
It’s not something I tried to do, I just never fit the box.
NK - You have a 'real' job and you are a
writer. Do both parts of your life impinge on one another?
JNM - Yes, it’s frustrating having to do the
day job but I work around it. I commute for an hour three times a week, so I
write on my phone, (probably about 600K words so far) using Google docs and I
write on my lunch breaks.
I don’t get ideas for characters in my day to
day life, my characters are too big for that. But that said I do work with really
lovely supportive people, and as such have recently started teaching creative
writing as a volunteer which my Department Head is fully supporting. (I get
special paid leave for this) but the opportunity came by chance, through work
helping homeless and vulnerable people.
I absolutely love it! And I get other
personal development opportunities to help with confidence/communication and
business skills that transition into my business. This goes both ways. Cheesy
as it is, I invest my time as much as possible. Time, after all, is all we got.
NK - You've described your novels as
containing 'a
smattering of the philosophical'. Having read your vampire series, I'd say
that's an understatement. Your main
characters, especially Anthony, seem to think about how everything does and
doesn't fit together and how it all came to be.
This is reminiscent of Anne Rice's vampires, but with a big difference:
most of your undead are working-class or middle class, not the highbrow elite
of Rice world, which is refreshing. Can you say how these type of characters
fit into your world view?
JNM –
With my first book, I thought if the main character was the guy next door, it
would be scarier and readers could relate easier. Most of us don’t know Princes
or Lords, (and in the UK, in real life they’re usually seen as pompous, to be honest!).
My
vampires try to justify their existence and as a writer, I’m looking for the
balance between fantasy and reality, so if you were a vampire, chances are at
first you’d battle with your humanity. But over time, after losing all your
friends and family this humanity would become eroded, leaving you emotionally
cold and perhaps searching for some semblance of it. Existence alone would be chilling
indeed.
I
grew up on Aesop’s fables, so often I’ll add messages in dialogue that I’ve
learned, and aim every day to live by, for example not living from hate, and a
biggie, even when you’ve done everything wrong, failed, how you live after that!
You can use that to turn life around, to make an impact.
So,
it was natural that my vampires, to justify themselves, to be righteous and feed
only on the evil...well that could change in my current work in progress!!
NK -
Besides vampires, tell us about your newest series that includes: Wolf Born; Dragon Born; Shadow Born.
JNM –
I have two new series being released this year, both trilogies, both with
female protagonists.
Again,
my main characters are ordinary women thrown into extraordinary circumstances. The Blood Moon Series starts off loosely based on Red Riding Hood, and features
lots of British and Scottish Folklore, most of which readers won’t be familiar
with, (I always add additional information in the Author Notes).
Book 2, Dragon Born features Luke Philips, (he’s in most
of my books—I forget he’s not real!) He’s a dragon shifter, but this story has
Greek, Scottish and British mythology woven together, again with some mythology
not often written about. A lot of the story was set under the sea! Fascinating
research for this, and my main character, Emma, really is pushed beyond her
limits.
Shadow Born is darker, taking historical religious
sects and knights from history, along with theology—Grigori angels, or The
Watchers, and pushes my main character to her limits. I took ideas from kung
fu, where when a person fights and is completely at one with everything, Mushin. A person’s mind is free from
anger, hate and the complexities or the nonsense of life. The kung fu theme
runs through my books because I used to do it. It also represents living
outside constraints pushed on us or, living outside ‘the matrix,’ though we all
get pulled in from time to time.
The
other series, The Blood Oath trilogy
is based in Bristol. I got the idea a few years ago on my commute, passing a small
patch of woodland that was set in front of a rough-housing estate...I could almost see the monsters! This main
character is a paramedic and does martial arts, also fast-paced, with a side
helping of romance.
I
should state that though the latter series have romance in them, there’s no
time for much and heads roll, and hearts are ripped out. Literally! It’s still
dark fiction.
JN Moon contact
Books
Universal Book Links
The book
links are from Genius Links, so where-ever in the world you click on the link
it opens at the appropriate Amazon store.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Nancy Kilpatrick Writer: Get to Know Fiction Writer. . . TOSCA LEETosca L...
Nancy Kilpatrick Writer: Get to Know Fiction Writer. . .
TOSCA LEE
Tosca L...: Get to Know Fiction Writer. . . TOSCA LEE Tosca Lee NK - Tosca is an opera by Puccini, a place in Italy, a type of calcium, ...
TOSCA LEE
Tosca L...: Get to Know Fiction Writer. . . TOSCA LEE Tosca Lee NK - Tosca is an opera by Puccini, a place in Italy, a type of calcium, ...
Get to Know Fiction Writer. . .
TOSCA LEE
Tosca Lee
NK - Tosca is an opera by Puccini, a place in Italy, a type of calcium, and a soft coral. And your name. What does
your name mean to you?
TL – It’s a type of calcium and coral?? I had no idea! To me, as a biracial kid growing up in the mostly white
Midwest in the 70s and 80s, it was another way that I was a little different—something I struggled with at that age,
but am so grateful for and celebrate today at almost 50.
NK - You were a ballet dancer and a model and now you are a best-selling author. What are the difficulties of moving
between diverse careers?
TL – Strangely, they’ve all been things that kind of help one another. The ballet helped with my stint as a
pageant queen (which happened when an acquaintance suggested I try
it out and I said, “Okay!”), which led to modeling. My time as
Mrs. Nebraska is also when I learned to interview on TV
and radio and started public speaking—experiences that have been
greatly helpful as an author.
NK - With 11 published novels,
all big stories, they seem to fall into two categories. The vast majority feature
either a fictionalized character from history and/or
mythology and are set in a historical time period, or the stories are
set in a post-apocalyptic/dystopian world which is not this
minute but lean towards the very near future. One could say you
focus on the past and the future in your work. What draws you
to both?
TL – I hadn’t thought of it
that way but you are very right! I think what intrigues me about the past is that we
tend to think of historical figures in glamorized or
larger-than-life terms sometimes, and we forget that they were people just
like you and me with similar hopes and dreams. And I just like
drilling down into the lives of people and times in history that
interest me. Likewise, I’ve always loved speculative fiction, supernatural stories, and dystopian ones in particular. It’s very intriguing to me, in this crazy-busy world, to imagine what
life might be like without all the things that vie for our
attention. When there is only one simple goal: survive!
NK - Wynter Roth is the protagonist of your current series. She is struggling to overcome a peculiar past plus cope
with existence during a pandemic while desperately trying
to save individuals and humanity. It's a compelling tale.
What's the connection to your daughter, who is also named
Wynter?
TL – Thank you for being an
early endorser for Wynter’s story! My daughter was the same age as the Wynter in the
story when I wrote it, and I’ve always loved her name. And Wynter
really enjoys reading. So I wanted to write a story with a
character she could identify with in some ways, if only for
the difficulties that come with being 22 and trying to
figure out what your life as an adult is going to be about.
It’s been fun for both of us to read reader comments about how
much they enjoy Wynter as a character.
NK - Your newest novel, A Single Light, is a continuation of The Line Between, both featuring Wynter Roth.
Tell us about the new story.
TL – The sequel starts up
directly where the first leaves off, at a time and place where Wynter and those with her
believe they are safe. Until they realize that nothing has gone
as planned. It’s the continuation of the story with twice as
much action and a brand new character I just love.
With the duology in development for TV, I’m open to
writing a third should there be demand for it. For now,
though, I’m very happy with where the story leaves off, and think
readers will be, too.
Fun
Tosca says: "I did something fun in The Line Between.
I hid a code in it. Those readers who find the code and figure out what it
stands for and enter the answer at toscalee.com/code/ unlock
the first chapters of A Single Light and can begin reading it
right away."
Books
Contact
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Nancy Kilpatrick Writer: Get to Know Fiction and Non-Fiction Writer...ELAI...
Nancy Kilpatrick Writer: Get to Know Fiction and Non-Fiction Writer...
ELAI...: Get to Know Fiction and Non-Fiction Writer... ELAINE PASCALE Elaine Pascale NK - When did you write your first fictional story, wh...
ELAI...: Get to Know Fiction and Non-Fiction Writer... ELAINE PASCALE Elaine Pascale NK - When did you write your first fictional story, wh...
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