Cindy Young-Turner

The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing is an author interview series currently generating lots of buzz for its inside look into how writers, working in a variety of genres, create their best work. Special thanks to Alan Zendell who invited me to participate and provided the questions. Take a look at Alan’s interview about his book, The Portal.

And now, it’s my turn to be The Next Big Thing!

1. What is the working title of your book?

I was initially going to write about Thief of Hope, but I also want to mention Thief of Destiny, which is the sequel and currently in progress. It’s a two for one interview deal!

2. What genre does your book fall under?

This is a fantasy series.

3. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A pickpocket becomes entangled with the commoners’ fight against an oppressive society, a would-be king’s bid for the throne, and the strange and dangerous magic of the faery folk.

4. Where did the idea come from for the book?

Well, Sydney, the heroine, was inspired by a D&D character. Yes, I played D&D in college. I’m a geek and proud of it. But as I wrote the story, the characters evolved and took on a life of their own. The more I rewrote the book, the more it evolved.

I knew there’d be a sequel because even though Thief of Hope is somewhat self-contained and that particular arc of the story has an ending, there was still more to tell. Thief of Destiny expands the scope of the story quite a bit. Sydney leaves her comfort zone and learns things that shake the foundation of what she believes. Plus there’s an additional plotline of Willem’s fight to win the throne and his challenges. There are some interesting new characters plus some old favorites return as well.

5. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I have no idea. I don’t know any actors who are the right ages. When Peter Jackson finishes with The Hobbit and is looking for his next project, he’s welcome to cast a bunch of unknowns. I have a friend who has offered to play a barmaid, though. I’m sure I can find a role for her.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Thief of Hope was published by Crescent Moon Press. I’m hoping they will also publish the sequel once it’s finished.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I’m embarrassed to say. Years and years. I’m crossing my fingers that Thief of Destiny moves along quicker. My goal is to have it finished by fall of this year. I’m about halfway through now.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I’ve had a couple people tell me it reminded them of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn because there are some similarities between Vin in Mistborn and Sydney (they share a thief/street urchin background), but otherwise the stories are completely different. I recently read Mistborn and loved it, and am very flattered by any comparison with it. When I tell people I write fantasy I usually say, you know, like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, but my book isn’t like either of those at all.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

If anything, I’ve been inspired by people who are willing to fight for justice and freedom and follow their beliefs, no matter what the cost.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Even though my books are fantasy and set in a made-up world with some magic, my characters are real and flawed and sometimes make bad choices. I think that makes them believable and I hope the reader will want to follow their stories.

Coming Up On Next Big Thing! Nancy Griffis is a dear friend and fellow author who has published a number of novels and short stories. Check out her blog to find out what she has to say about her books: http://www.nancygriffis.wordpress.com.

Cover reveal: The Grave Winner by Lindsey R. Loucks

Title – The Grave Winner
Author – Lindsey R. Loucks
Genre – YA Paranormal/Fantasy Romance
Publisher – Crescent Moon Press
Release Date – May 15, 2013

Blurb:

Leigh Baxton is terrified her mom will come back from the dead — just like the prom queen did.

While the town goes beehive over the news, Leigh bikes to the local cemetery and buries some of her mom’s things in her grave to keep her there. When the hot and mysterious caretaker warns her not to give gifts to the dead, Leigh cranks up her punk music and keeps digging.

She should have listened.

Two dead sorceresses evicted the prom queen from her grave to bury someone who offered certain gifts. Bury them alive, that is, then resurrect them to create a trio of undead powerful enough to free the darkest sorceress ever from her prison inside the earth.

With help from the caretaker and the dead prom queen, Leigh must find out what’s so special about the gifts she gave, and why the sorceresses are stalking her and her little sister. If she doesn’t, she’ll either lose another loved one or have to give the ultimate gift to the dead – herself.

Bio:

Lindsey R. Loucks works as a school librarian in rural Kansas. When she’s not discussing books with anyone who will listen, she’s dreaming up her own stories. Eventually her brain gives out, and she’ll play hide and seek with her cat, put herself in a chocolate induced coma, or watch scary movies alone in the dark to reenergize.

She’s been with her significant other for almost two decades.

Links:

Add The Grave Winner to Goodreads.

Check out Lindsey’s website.

Follow Lindsey on Facebook.

Follow Lindsey on Twitter.

Blog tour: Speak of the Devil

Today I’m pleased to be a part of Shawna Romkey’s blog tour for her new YA paranormal romance release, Speak of the Devil! I’m looking forward to reading this one.

Shawna has hidden some Easter eggs in her blog tour. If you find them and decipher the pass code, you can win a signed copy of Speak of the Devil, a swag pack and a $25 Amazon gift card!

To enter, read through her post today. In it, you will find an Easter egg (a letter that stands out.) Find her other blog entries for the tour. (HINT: the list is posted on her website at http://www.shawnaromkey.com/?p=706.) You will find Easter eggs in the starred blog posts, too. Once you’ve found the eggs in each post, put them together to find the secret code and tweet the code including @sromkey #speakofthedevil (ANOTHER HINT: the letters are in order.) (AND ANOTHER HINT! The secret code will look like this: — — – —- — — —–)

One winner will be chosen from the entries on Easter, March 31! Good luck!

Blurb:

What happens when falling in love and falling from grace collide?

After dying in a car accident with her two best friends, Lily miraculously awakens to grief and guilt. She escapes to her dad’s to come to terms with the event and meets some people at her new school who seem all too eager to help her heal. Sliding deeper into sorrow and trying to fight her feelings for two of them, she finds out who…what they really are and that they are falling too.

Can she find the strength to move on from the past, reconcile her feelings for Luc, find a way to stop a divine war with fallen angels, and still pass the eleventh grade?

Order your copy: Amazon | B&N

Excerpt:

Rain fell, not uncommon for late spring in Missouri. “If you don’t like the weather here,” my grandfather would say, “wait five minutes.” Of course, I’d visited distant relatives in Maine once before, and they said the same thing.

Julie fumbled with the wipers while I pulled the sun visor down to check my face in its little rectangular mirror, even though I’d only left my vanity like five minutes ago. The lights on either side lit up the interior of the car. I reached into my tiny party purse to find my lip gloss, which was easy to locate since I’d only packed the essentials in my bag: phone, some cash, and make-up. As I glanced at myself, I saw Mike in the reflection, smiling at me from the back seat. I stuck my tongue out at him, making him laugh, and put on the lip-gloss, fully aware of how flirty I acted.

The windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the sudden downpour. The pitter-patter turned to thumping. Hail came down in gumball-sized pellets. “Damn.” Julie jerked the steering wheel to keep The Whale off the curb.

“Slow down, Jules.” Mike gripped Julie’s headrest. “We can pull over until it passes.”

“Yeah.” She squinted to see the road before her.

I pressed my lips together to smooth out the gloss. “Damn is right. I didn’t bring a jacket.”

The Whale swerved to the right crunching along the gravel on the side of the road. I braced myself in my seat. Julie leaned up to the steering wheel and peered over it as my grandmother sometimes did when she drove. I squinted because of the stupid light up visor mirror. I slammed it shut, but Julie panicked and over corrected, pulling The Whale to the left and careening over the yellow dotted line in the middle of the street.

“Julie!” Mike shouted.

Time slowed and ticked out in heartbeats.

Ba bum.

Julie cringed, her hands moving up to shield her face. Her head turned away from the highway.

Ba bum.

Mike reached protectively from the back seat.

Ba bum.

The headlights illuminated the rail of the overpass.

Ba bum.

The car hit the rail on the opposite side of the road with a hard thud.

Ba bum.

Crap. We’re going over the bridge.

Ba bum.

The Whale’s nose pointed down toward the water.

Ba bum.

A jolt forward and my forehead slammed into the dashboard.

Ba bum.

The Whale flipped in the air. I’m upside down.

Ba bum.

Pain.

Ba bum.

Did my mom say good-bye when I left?

Ba bum.

Cold water rushed into the car.

Ba bum.

Is this it?

Ba bum.

I can’t breathe. Oh my God, I can’t breathe. I can’t see or breathe!

My heart quickened. It pounded. The Whale leaned on its side under the surface of the water which rushed in fast, and I couldn’t see a damn thing.

Calm, stay calm. Don’t panic. They say when you’re drowning not to panic because you use up your air faster.

Dammit, am I drowning?

I tried to get myself upright and jerked out of my seatbelt. Luckily, it gave way. I fought the latch to open the door facing up, but the pressure of the water from Black Water River held it closed, trapping me inside.

Jesus. I know this river. It’s more of a creek. It can’t be more than fifteen feet across and ten feet deep.

I pushed at the door. Opening my mouth to scream, I swallowed water.

I couldn’t see or hear Julie or Mike. My watch ticked. Or was it my heart beating?

Ba bum. Ba bum. Ba bum.

Darkness.

Silence.

Cold.

Wet.

Defying gravity.

Nothing.

The dreams came. Like a good sleep you don’t want to wake up from. I felt heavy and floaty. I wore this long white gauzy gown and the wind blew my dress and my hair like in some feminine hygiene commercial. I could breathe slowly and deeply. Completely relaxed and at peace, but I was alone.

I floated along in a white space for a while. Drifting. Breathing. Relaxing. Had I gone to a spa? After an immeasurable amount of time, others appeared. They wore white clothing, too, and they floated like me, reaching out. They opened their arms as if to welcome me to them.

I stopped and frowned. I heard no sound, and I didn’t know who these white floaty people were or why they welcomed me. They smiled, genuinely happy, and held their arms out to me. I panicked.

Where’s my mom? My family? Wait, Mike and Julie were just with me, where are they? Are those wings?

I noticed the others floating with me had white feathery wings.

“Lily,” one of them called out.

Holy hell. I’m dead.

Author bio:

Shawna grew up in around farms in the heart of Missouri but went to the University of Kansas, was raised in the US but now lives on the ocean in Nova Scotia with her husband, two sons, two rescue dogs and one overgrown puppy from hell. She’s a non-conformist who follows her heart.

She has her BA in creative writing from the University of Kansas where one of her plays was chosen by her creative writing professor to be produced locally, and two of her short stories were published in a university creative arts handbook. She earned her MA in English from Central Missouri State University where she wrote a novel as her thesis.

She’s taught English at the university and secondary levels for close to twenty years and can’t quite fathom how all of her students have grown up, yet she’s managed to stay the same. She’s a huge geek and fan of Xena, Buffy and all kick ass women, and loves to write stories that have strong female characters.

Links:

www.shawnaromkey.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shawna-Romkey-Author/137998326331706?ref=hl

https://twitter.com/sromkey

http://pinterest.com/shawnarp/

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6869437.Shawna_Romkey

Versatile blog award

I’m so excited to be nominated for the Versatile Blog Award by the talented Inion N. Mathair! I’m not very good at social media, but I think I met this lovely mother-daughter writing duo on twitter, of all things. They’ve been nice enough to check out my blog and you should take a look at theirs. They have some very insightful posts.

VBA~RULES~

1.) FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT. THANK THE PERSON WHO GAVE YOU THIS AWARD. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE NAME THIS AWARD CARRIES, IT GIVES YOU AN IDEA, JUST HOW INCREDIBLE THIS NOMINATION REALLY IS.

2.) INCLUDE A LINK TO THEIR BLOG.

3.) SELECT FIFTEEN (15) BLOGGERS THAT YOU FOLLOW AND FEEL QUALIFY FOR THIS AWARD. YOU CAN ALSO LOOK FOR NEW BLOGS THAT INSPIRE YOU. OR MIX IT UP.

4.) NOW THAT YOU’VE SELECTED THE FIFTEEN BLOGS. GO TO THEIR SITE AND NOMINATE THEM.

5.) (VBA WINNERS) ALTHOUGH IT’S NOT MANDITORY, A LIST OF THE WINNERS NAMES & THEIR BLOG ADDRESSES CAN BE POSTED ON YOUR BLOG. THIS IS MERELY OUT OF COURTESY TO THE SEVEN (7) WINNERS. THIS WAY, THEY KNOW WHO YOU SELECTED AND WON’T DOUBLE PICK. {THX JENNIFER ZEIGER FOR THE GREAT IDEA}

6.) FINALLY, TELL THE PERSON WHO NOMINATED YOU, SEVEN (7) THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF.

Okay, here are my seven things:

1. I was a VISTA Volunteer after college and worked at an adult literacy program in Baltimore, MD for a year. I had never even driven in a city before, and there I was, smack in the middle of inner-city Baltimore. Of all the jobs I’ve had, this one was the most rewarding. We really made a difference in people’s lives. And I’m proud to say the South Baltimore Learning Center is still around and thriving more than ever.

2. I. Hate. Spiders. Charlotte’s Web was one of my most favorite children’s stories. But I just can’t stand spiders now. If it’s in the house, it’s toast. Don’t ask me how I got through the Shelob scene in Return of the King. Ugh!

3. I drive a stick shift. People are surprised by this. I guess it’s not very common these days. I had to learn to drive on a stick, hated it, and then my first car was stick. I’ve been driving them ever since.

4. I am a Star Wars fanatic. Original trilogy. (Thank you, George Lucas, for ruining my childhood memories with the prequels.) I’m awesome at Star Wars trivial pursuit. If only my parents had bought two of all the toys so I could have saved one in the original packaging!

5. I used to play clarinet. I was in band from fifth grade through high school and played in a trio freshman year of college (then I switched to recorder so I could join the early music group). I thought about pursuing music as a career briefly, but as much as I loved playing, I didn’t like to practice. I didn’t have the drive, and writing was much more of a passion.

6. I was an honors speaker at my high school graduation. I was painfully shy and terrified of speaking in class, let alone speaking in front of however many hundreds of people were in attendance at graduation. But I wrote a kick-ass speech that told off my class in a somewhat diplomatic way and talked about the issue of conformity. People were shocked, probably first that I could speak out loud and second that I dared voice my opinion of them. My friends cheered and some of the other nonconformists gave me a standing ovation.

7. I love bagpipe music. Must be the Scottish heritage from way back.

I’ve already tagged a bunch of people on various other posts, so I’ll just say that if you’re kind enough to read this, consider yourself a versatile blog award nominee and feel free to post this on your own blog! Just let me know in the comments and I’ll give you credit and share your lovely blog with others.

Calling up the muse

You know how when you get lost in a book and it starts to take over your world? I’ve been working my way through Stephen King’s Dark Tower series (now on book 4) and I’m definitely having that feeling. I admit, I have a bit of a fantasy crush on Roland Deschain. Maybe it’s because my introduction to the series was through the graphic novel The Gunslinger Born with its gorgeous artwork and a young, attractive Roland. In the series he’s older, a bit more grizzled, a survivor who is single minded in his goal of finding the Dark Tower. He’s a badass with an old world, courtly charm.

Of course, instead of spending my precious free time reading the Dark Tower series, I really should be writing. But I seem to have lost my muse. Maybe I need some of Roland’s single mindedness so I can finish writing book 2? I really don’t want to view GRR Martin as a role model in how long it takes to put out another book.

So I’m trying to picture Roland as a muse.

“You there. You have forgotten the face of your father.”

“Um, no. I just want to kickstart my writing. Can you help with that?”

He stares at me with those weathered blue eyes. “How do you write, with your hand or your heart?”

Ah yes. “See, that’s the problem. I know it’s in my heart, but how do I find it again?”

“You don’t find it. You do it.” He shakes his head in disgust. “It’s in your heart or it’s not. If you don’t know that, you don’t deserve the title gunslinger.”

“But I’m not a gunslinger. I’m trying to be an author.”

“Trying? Do or do not. There is no try.”

Wait a minute. “That sounds an awful lot like Yoda.”

“If I’m your muse would you not expect Star Wars to slip in somewhere?”

“Yes, I guess you’re right. But how–”

“There is no how. Write from your mind and your heart. That is how you will remember the face of your father. Go. Do it. Now.”

“Thankee sai. I’m off to write.”

He stares at me again. “And this facebook? And twitter? What of those distractions?”

“Yes yes, signing off.”

“And email. And the book. Put it down. For a time. We will wait. The Tower will wait. Your characters are more impatient. They need you.”

He’s right about that. And so I am off to write and lead my characters on their way to their own version of the Dark Tower.