KINDLE BOOK REVIEWS SEMI-FINALIST AND TALENTED AUTHOR R.S. GUTHRIE ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF HIS NEWEST BOOK!

R.S. Guthrie lives in Colorado with his beautiful wife, three Australian Shepherds, and a Chihuahua who believes she’s a 40-lb Aussie. The Guthrie dogs are their children and there is no disputing the fact that the canines rule the household.

The author’s next planned book is the third in the Detective Bobby Mac series, but somewhere in the near future, there is a dog book digging to get out, and it will pay homage to the kindest, most loyal animals on the planet.author’s next planned book is the third in the Detective Bobby Mac series, but somewhere in the near future, there is a dog book digging to get out, and it will pay homage to the kindest, most loyal animals on the planet.

 

Today I have the privilege to be interviewing R.S. Guthrie, Author of ‘Black Beast’ and ‘Lost’; about his newest book ‘Dark Prairies’. “Black Beast’ has recently been named a semi-finalist in The Kindle Book Reviews Best Indie Books of 2012 Contest.
       

        Please tell us how you felt when you found out that Black Beast had been selected as a semi-finalist? 

        Gotta say, I felt really honored. I mean, to have a respectable site like The Kindle Book Review give your first book a nod like that? WOOT. I'll take it. :)

And rightfully so.  I wasn’t surprised to see it listed there.  Please tell us about your newest novel Dark Prairies and when it will be available.

        Dark Prairies is the book I have been working on for years. It is really a book that has lived inside of me ever since I moved to Wyoming. The people there, the things that happen, the way of life--you'd have to live there to understand but it's a special place. Dark Prairies is a book about murder and loss and imperfect people and redemption, and I promise you if you read it you'll pull Wyoming into your heart as I did so many years ago. Oh, and I am pulling a Joe Namath on this book and guaranteeing a win. For the price, you will NOT believe this is an indie book and will LOVE IT. I'm putting myself on the limb.
       

       

When a terrible murder rocks a small town—when Sheriff James Pruett himself loses his beloved---the prairies, they bleed. Dark Prairies carves into the raw, twenty-first century West at both its worst and its finest hours and does so in the depths of an ocean of both loyalty and greed.

 
So when did you decide you wanted to publish your writing?

        Just after I read my first Stephen King novel. Truthfully it was more like my twentieth SK novel, I was in college, and they invented the Personal Computer (I had been typing manuscripts on an actual typewriter with correct-ribbon and white-out and when I started writing on that orange-text Zenith where I could save my work on a giant floppy disk I thought I might just truly want to be published one day. I'd have quit on the typewriter.

       
        Yes.  Those floppy discs were so huge back in the day, right along with the word processors.  I remember that feeling myself.  What other creative outlets do you have?

        I write songs. My dad was a musician and played the guitar. I was too much of a wuss to learn (the pain on the ends of you finger is really intense until you earn your calluses and I was like 10, so I just quit---so as punishment he made me join the band and play the trombone. I love jazz, but you need to be a guitar and/or piano player to truly write music. So I write lyrics only. It's fun, but I know nothing about it. One day maybe I will pick up the guitar again.
       
        Who is your greatest fan?

        I refuse to answer on the grounds it might incriminate me. Honestly, my wife. She's been there for ten years of me moaning about needing to write but having the life sucked out of me hourly by my day job. Anyone who listens to that for ten years but sees you produce bupkus and still cheers for you has got to get the credit due. But I have some very, very devoted fans who really keep me going when it feels like it ain't going to happen.
       
        It seems things can sometimes change quickly for Indie Authors, because the industry is constantly growing and changing as well. What’s been your biggest surprise in the past six months?

       The first KDP free promotion I ran on LOST (my second book): the first day of a three-day promotion, about five or six hours into the promotion, sales on Black Beast started really going crazy. I mean it was selling like hot cakes. I rose to #24 on Amazon's Horror Bestseller list -- Stephen King was two places behind me for a few glorious hours. And then I dropped into oblivion again. If there's a better example of what you're referring to in this wacky market, I've not heard it. But I have to tell you, for those few hours, I was LIVING THE DREAM. It was glorious.
       
        Can you share with us a rewarding experience you’ve had that occurred because of your writing?

        Every time a reader appreciates my writing---I mean really appreciates me as a writer---it affects me to my bones. Every single time. I could die happy.
       
        As a kid attending school, what things stand out in your mind about your classes, teachers that have influenced you in following your dream of writing?

        Barb Wise, my high school English teacher. She was the first one to look at my writing and say "you've got a God-given talent here, Rob. We're still friends on Facebook and she's read all my stuff and beams with pride. She's also the only teacher to ever give me a grade lower than an A (and at first it was an F, until we worked out a special deal and I earned a B with some extra credit and an A on the Final Exam---it wasn't English, it was some elective class I didn't take seriously. Barb, if you are reading this, you better be laughing because you almost gave ME a heart attack.
       
        Ah, the great impact teachers can have on our lives.  I have to add a thanks to Barb Wise myself.  If she hadn’t encouraged you, perhaps none of us would be reading your books right now. 

On the average how many hours in a day do you write?

        I write it seems almost constantly, but that's because I am finally writing full-time. It's not always adding to a piece of work. I blog, I tweet, I text, I email, I edit---my Aussies think I throw the ball for them full-time and write during breaks.

        What’s your favorite vacation spot?

        Anyplace warm. I'm looking forward to going to Hawaii someday for the first time. I want to visit Scotland.

        What’s your favorite color?

        Used to be blue. Now it's more of an earthy tan color. I looked up paint swatches at Behr and the first one I was drawn to was "Pinedale Shores". The town I grew up in was Pinedale, Wyoming. How crazy is that? It's a kind of earthy green tone. I also like the earthy brown near it called "Belgian Sweet". Wow, I am still freaking about that color name. There were like a million little dots to click on to bring up a swatch and I bring up Pinedale Shores? I used to LIVE at the lake...start the Twilight Zone music.

        Which do you prefer:
        Woods, or Beach? Beach
        Jet ski, Snow mobile, or Motorcycle? Jet Ski
        Piloting a plane, or Skydiving? Piloting
        Mountain Climbing or Deep Sea Diving? Deep Sea Diving
        Coffee or Tea? Coffee. Darker the better. With cream. I know, I can be contrarian.
        Cool truck or Compact car? Cool truck
        Beer, Liquor, Wine? None any longer. I am a Mountain Dew FREAK. The old-time kind made with real sugar.
        Cats or Dogs? Dogs
           
        What other projects do you have in the works? I'm a chapter or two into my third Detective Bobby Mac Novel, as yet officially unnamed.
       
        Where can readers stalk you?
        Parker, Colorado. Way south. But just remember this: I'm a better stalker than most. Just sayin'.

On Amazon:

DARK PRAIRIES:

BLACK BEAST:
LOST: 

Website: http://robonwriting.com
Black Beast Trailer: http://youtu.be/PXphutALhys
LOST Trailer: http://youtu.be/iHnoZO62utM
Facebook: http://bit.ly/RSGUTHRIE-FB
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/RSGUTHRIE-GR

Author Interview with Ella Medler (Martin Little, Resurrected) 2012

Guest interview with Author Ella Medler.

A hearty welcome to all readers.
Today we welcome the exciting new author of the light-Fantasy novel: Martin Little, Resurrected; Ella Medler.

Thank you for joining Ella.

So, I understand you hail from the land of vampires and Dracula? Tell us about your memories of growing up in Transylvania?

I grew up on the gentle slopes of the West Carpathian Mountains, in a small town at the foothills of a medieval castle. I used to climb the hill to the very top and play amongst the ruined walls – that is one of the best, most treasured memories of my childhood. There was a play area at the bottom of the hill – swings and slides and other play equipment – but I never wanted to spend time there. I remember one day I ran ahead of my granddad and took a longer route up, one that wound in and out of dark caves with water seeping down the mossy walls. I loved these mystery-filled caves; a child’s imagination doesn’t need much more than that to come up with fantastic adventures. Well, that day was a little more exciting than usual. That day a viper crossed the path not fifteen inches in front of me. It slid quickly into a bunch of dead leaves, more scared of me than I was of it, but it did make my heart pump faster as I backed down the path, my eyes locked onto the leaves the snake disappeared into for as long as I could keep them in sight, and then flew back down to my granddad’s side where I stayed for, oh, probably a good ten minutes. My childhood was a fun time, a free time and I absolutely loved it.

Where do you live now, and is this your last stop?

I live in Cornwall, England, surrounded by much more nature than should be logically possible in such a ‘busy’ country. I have to say, it took a while to find somewhere that felt so good, so right, somewhere where I could pretend to be the only person left on Earth, or at least one of the few, if I so wished. I can walk along craggy cliffs overlooking the Atlantic any day I choose or stand on the top of a hill from where I can see both the South and North coasts of Cornwall in about ten minutes. That’s got to be pretty close to heaven. There’s only one other place like this in the UK, and it keeps calling to me – the top West coast of Scotland, almost off the map.

When the kids fly the nest, I dream of downsizing to a small cottage on top of a cliff overlooking the sea, with very little scope for visitors. I’ll have a guest room, of course. Just not a very comfortable bed in it!

You are a mother, a wife, a novelist and playwright. Tell us your favorite parts of each.

Wow. That’s a question and a half! The best part of being a mother is seeing your children grow and blossom and find their own way. The best balm for a mother’s heart is to see that those small persons who needed the bike held steady as they learned to ride are not afraid to grab their own lives by the scruff of the neck and make their own decisions. The best part of being a wife, I think, is the knowledge that with your husband by your side you can weather any storm.

As a novelist, I get to live as many lives as stories in my head. I am blessed with a vivid imagination – when I write, I literally see what’s about to happen in my story next; it’s as if I’m watching a movie. I have to hurry to catch it all and commit it to paper. Well, word document, really.

Writing plays is what I do to relax. The clue is in the name; it’s called ‘play’ for a reason. For me, it’s just a game, a way for my mind to download conversations, jokes and situation comedy. I am lucky to work with a hugely talented bunch of amateur dramatic actors in my spare time. They make my job so much easier – I can just picture one of them on stage and I instantly know what they would say and how they would react. Watching people speak the words I write is tremendously satisfying.
What inspired you to begin writing?

If you mean way back, right at the beginning, it was watching comedy sketches on TV. I was just a kid, but I started work right away and wrote a sequence of comedy sketches to be played out by me and my friends to an audience of parents and other willing adults out in the playground. I used the playground as the backdrop, the trees and shrubs, everything was my stage. I remember being a little disappointed when the flowers that were all out one month disappeared by the next. That’s when I first started taking notice of the passage of time and the changing seasons. I’ve never stopped writing, though life did push it way down the priority list. It took a serious accident and three weeks stuck in hospital staring at the ceiling in the trauma ward to really make me think. I spent a lot of time writing to pass the time and also, I guess, to subconsciously take myself away from the hospital setting. Nothing major changed in the general set-up of my life – I learned to walk again and went back to work, but this time I started carrying my laptop around everywhere I went and just wrote and wrote every spare minute of the day. Writing clawed its way up that priority list higher and higher every week, every day, until it reached the top spot.

Tell us about your premiere novel: Martin Little, Resurrected.

Premiere is such a grand word – you’d probably floor poor Martin Little if you so much as whispered it in his ear! He’s not a very strong man.
Martin Little is a series of full-length novels, and Martin Little, Resurrected is the very first bead on the string. The best way to describe it is to use the words of one of my readers: pure escapism. It’s an adventure story written in first person from a male perspective, but not just that – it’s a journey of discovery in more ways than one. Imagine your life changed direction, 180 degrees, all at once, imagine your emotions assaulted by feelings never experienced before, and add to that a fantastical element that just about wipes off all that you knew and took for granted in your life – all knowledge, all logic, all expectations. I won’t say much more than this: the whole plot is one cliff-hanger after another, it is relentless, quirky, it’s original, and probably not everybody’s cup of tea. Oh, and I make fun of the British lifestyle and societal rules in the background, in particular bureaucracy, the modern CCTV obsession, health and safety rules and the legal system.

What has been the most exciting part of being a published author?

It all happened so fast, I barely had time to take it all in. I remember the day I was sent the cover – oh, that cover says it all! If I had to paint the whole book on one sheet of paper, that would be it. It just couldn’t be improved upon. Yeah, seeing that – the cover, the pdf, market-ready copy was just amazing.
What has been the worst part of being a published author?

Ha, ha. I don’t think you’ll be too surprised to hear this. Marketing and promotion. I had absolutely NO idea what that entailed, not the foggiest clue. I’m only just starting to comprehend the sheer scale of things I must get involved with in order to do this book justice.

What books have influenced your writing?

Way back in my childhood, I read a lot of cowboy stories – the whole ‘hero wins, evil guy loses’ idea appealed to my immature sense of justice. Going through school, we were given lists of books we should read, mostly classics, at the beginning of each school year. We had to read and summarize at least ten novels per school year, and there was no internet to help with research, so I did a lot of reading. My parents made sure my own bookcase was well-stocked. The more I read, the more I wanted to read some more. I loved Isaac Asimov. I used to have to read by the flashlight under the blankets because my mum would spy me through the keyhole and get angry if I didn’t get a good sleep. Unwittingly, she turned my attention to detective stories. I had to become sneaky and ingenious in order to make more time for reading. Even now, mystery seems to seep into each one of my stories. And love – pure, unconditional love, in any guise I may be able to weave it in.

Is there an Author that you would really like to meet?

Loads, actually. There are quite a few on twitter, I noticed, so maybe I should start with them. But if I were to meet just one, I’d like to shake Roddy Doyle’s hand. ‘The Giggler Treatment’ brought a lot of laughter into my household just about the time the kids started reading. You should try it. It’s a kids’ book, but you will laugh out loud, guaranteed.
If you could talk to your former self, what advice would you give her?

“Don’t take quite so long getting to where you knew you were heading all along, Ella!”

I hear that you used to train and spar in martial arts. Tell us about your matches, your training and whether any of that training comes into play during your daily life now?

Talk about ferreting out all my secrets! That time of my life is a closed chapter. I embraced it, I lived it, I loved it. But all that’s left of it now is the discipline, self-confidence, knowledge and a good grasp of a culture that I wouldn’t have been able to gain by just reading about it in books. And yes, in my upcoming thriller, Blood is Heavier, and possibly in future novels too, I will be drawing on that experience.

You speak over 7 languages, what is your favorite language to speak or hear? What language do you dream in?

I’m essentially a lazy person, so English suits me just fine. I dream in English. I can’t give you precise figures, but I guess I’ve spoken more English in my life than any other language. That said, I have traveled a lot and in most cases I didn’t have the luxury of an interpreter (in fact I can recall a few occasions when I was glad I didn’t need an interpreter’s interpretation). I had to get by on what I knew, and that helped me absorb more of these countries’ cultures as well.

As you would expect, this cultural knowledge reflects in the characters I create. There’s an additional layer I can give them simply by looking back at family relationships, the way they live and work, even the way people perceive themselves when in a foreign country – I’ve seen it first-hand, so it’s effortless.

There’s another aspect to being able to speak several languages, and it’s something I always wanted to ask others about. I love pretending I’m one of the crowd when I’m visiting a country whose language I speak. I can pass for a local in many cases, and that almost feels like I’m a different person. It’s a different identity, one with limited lifespan, but different all the same. I feel different and I don’t shy away from doing or saying things my English self would never do or say. Hmm, there’s an idea for a book, right there…

What are your pet peeves?

Oh, there are a lot of things that grate on me, but most of them I’ve learned to tolerate. I have always had high standards for myself and therefore I expected the same of everyone else around me. Experience has given me a different perspective, though. Now, I find it easier to glide over small irritations – my best strategy is to make fun of them.

Still, there is one clear, definite thing that I cannot forgive, and that is emotional dishonesty. People lie for different reasons and most of them are easy to work out and even understand, like for example when you tell a child Santa won’t bring them presents if they don’t tidy their room at once. But when you lie for the sheer sake of it, or worse, out of malice, when you play with a person’s feelings, that to me is the highest crime.

Are you currently working on any other projects?

I’m currently busy producing a POD version of Martin Little, Resurrected. Createspace is an experience I haven’t had before. Luckily, my publisher has agreed to let me use the same cover as the e-book version of the book, so I’m really happy about that.

At the same time, I am going through the final edit on my thriller, Blood is Heavier. I’m looking for a cover artist, so do tell me if you know a talented one.

I’m about ten percent of the way through a Martin Little sequel and as soon as I finish that I’ll be jumping straight into a conspiracy-theory-type espionage thriller set in the seventies, which led to the crumbling of the Eastern Block.

The most recent idea I’ve had, though, seems to have a really loud voice in my mind right now – it’s a sci-fi thriller with a touch of theory of evolution in it. A perfectly ordinary mutation in the human species becomes undesirable as it threatens to become the longest lived, Arian race of the future. If this idea wins the top spot, the conspiracy theory may have to wait till later in the year.

Oh, and I spend evenings producing a play I wrote for the junior members of a local theatre. The entire cast and most of the production team are under eighteen, so it would be fair to say there are a quite a few challenges here and there.

What is the last thing you read? Did you like it, hate it?

I’ve just finished reading ‘Triple’ by Ken Follett. I realized half way through the book that I’d actually read it before, but I just couldn’t put it down. I had to take it all the way. It’s not a modern book, and some of the details don’t fit anymore, but it is one of those perfect novels that you just can’t fault. It has the perfect voice, the perfect story, perfectly-formed characters… it’s a perfect five star.

Read it if you get the chance, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

What was the last movie you watched? Did you like it, hate it?

Ocean’s Eleven, and I thought it was a cleverly set plot, but nothing was going to come anywhere near the Bourne series, which I’ve watched right before that. Oh, I absolutely love the action. Another movie I love, well, two actually, are the new Sherlock Holmes ones directed by Guy Ritchie. I think Guy Ritchie is a very talented man.

Where can readers find your works and follow you?

The easiest way to find my books would be by using the links on my website http://www.ellamedler.com/. My publisher has done a brilliant job with distributing Martin Little, Resurrected electronically – it is available on pretty much every platform you can think of.

If you are interested in my book reviews (I review indie authors for free) and my inane ramblings on publishing and writing in general, you can subscribe to my new blog http://www.ellamedler.wordpress.com/ (which you can also access via my website).

I also spend quite a bit of my time on twitter: @EllaMedler and facebook author page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ella-Medler/204929819588619 and personal page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000042416666

Or you could look for me on Goodreads and the World Literary Café. I’m a friendly person, come and say hello.

We’d like to thank you for sharing a bit of your time and life with us here Ella.
We wish you all the best on your current and future projects and we hope you will stop by again at some point and update on your many successes.

CHECK IT!

A New World Order is now in place…ruling the planet…one that the populace allowed to get out of control…

The elite government officials, the most wealthy persons, those deemed ‘important’ now live in Utopias…waiting for the other 99 percent to die…

Originally the Order planned your demise via disease…yet, with the aid of a blessed ‘mistake’ they now have an army to do that for them…a vicious, desperate, hungry, army of zombies – or scrats - needing to eat human flesh in order to survive or die themselves…

The Dead Nations’ Army, or DNA, exists worldwide to aid those trapped in ‘Survivor Communities’ by fighting the Order and the scrats en route to providing medicine, sustenance, munitions, and whatever else they can find.
Two siblings torn apart by the rise of the NWO find themselves on both sides of the war and realize after all these years they will need each other once again to survive.

However, the Order have other plans and the scrats appear to have plans of their own. Both have one thing in common: the destruction of the people left behind to fend for themselves…

Alan Dale’s “DEAD NATIONS’ ARMY” trilogy kicks off with a bang as “CODE FLESH” introduces you to a world that is as dark as it is real. Look around, the Order is coming, your flesh is needed…

SPREAD OUR DNA!

Author: Alan Dale

Where can readers purchase this novella?

Amazon

Thank you for your time in doing this very interesting interview, Alan.  I'll continuing to read those articles on your 'SUMMER 150 TOUR'.  Quite interesting stuff you have on those pages. 

Readers-here's the page link for SUMMER 150 TOUR.

http://werzombiespress.com/

~ENROUTE TO YOUR DREAMS~

 

To me, there are two distinct ways to live life.  A person can choose to follow their dreams, or not.  

Simply put, I’m a dreamer.  There’s no doubt.  I have been my entire life.  Equally as important to me, I follow mine.  Seeing myself at the age of ninety with very few regrets is important to me.  I want to be the person who doesn’t have to review the list of things I put off each day of my life, because I accepted too many roadblocks and obstacles in my path that kept me from what I value.

If dreams include self accomplishments, then it’s not as difficult to reach them as one might initially suppose.  If dreams revolve around what control one person can exercise over another person, well that’s a different beast entirely.  

In my youth, I found that depending on another person to get my own dreams met, was a dangerous venture, and a ridiculous waste of time.  Unless that other person’s dream and end goal was parallel to mine, it was never going to happen because people are focused on their own dreams.  Unless you’re clearly in it together, you’d spend your time more wisely in pursuing your dream on your own.  But know this... you will not be able to attain your dream without help from others.

Still, there is nothing… I repeat, nothing that you can’t accomplish if you set it in your mind to do it.  

From what I’ve observed, the key to meeting goals is patience.  This is something many of us lack.  We just can’t help it.  We have a dream and goal.  We’re excited.  We’d like it now, please.  

What’s different about those who’ve met their goals, is that they waited it out until it happened.  They did not give up because it was difficult to attain, or they were tired of waiting.  There’s a word for 'giving up'… it’s called 'failure'.  

Success generally doesn’t come instantly.  But it will come.  The key is to keep motivated while working toward it and waiting patiently.  That’s the most difficult step for me; the waiting patiently part, and I venture it’s the same for many.

Personally, I’ve never heard of a success story that didn’t involve the person sitting through a number of failures or waiting through a length of time before they finally accomplished their dreams.

It’s important that while waiting, you surround yourself with other like-minded dreamers and stay supportive of one another.  I also think that steering clear of negative minded folks is imperative.  Doing this will keep your head clear so you can easily continue to focus on what it is you’re seeking.  You want only positivity to affect your belief in attaining your goals.  Negativity will suck away your energy, taking your motivation along with it.

So fellow dreamers, do yourself a favor.  Each day, add a new ‘positive-minded’ person into your arena and shed a negative-minded one.  Eventually you’ll find that you are surrounded by those who will not only accept you and believe in you, they will accept and believe that your dreams will come to you just as much as you believe it yourself.  You may even find yourself surprised in that some may even believe that you're more capable than you think you are.  That's called a great support system.  We all need that in many ways, and throughout life.  Having that support will help you to achieve your goals. 

I love people.  People rock.  People help one another, and people need your positive outlook just as much as you need theirs.  No one has ever accomplished their dreams alone- No one. 

Every recording artist works with many people on the production of their music, and most have band members who help write and perform.  Then there’s their agent, array of listeners, customers, fans, etc.   A rocket scientist does not build his own rocket ship.  An Astronaut doesn’t train himself to handle zero-gravity.  Authors do not edit and market books by themselves; they spread their network over the internet.   They have readers, reviewers, followers.

While you're working and waiting (impatiently) to meet your dream, stop and help others.  Trust me, it will come back to you ten-fold and you will meet people you wouldn't have otherwise.  Those people just might become some of the nicest, you've ever met and friendships will develop that you will value to the point of wondering what you ever did without them.

You have the ability, today, to make a huge impact on another person’s life.  You can do this every day, and it doesn't take much effort.  You truly never know when someone may be struggling.  A fellow dreamer may be having difficulty 'keeping the faith'.  What they just might need from someone today, from anyone, is that one single word of encouragement to keep them from giving up.  You can be that word of encouragement.  I guarantee there will be a day when you’ll need it too. 

The bottom line-

The path to succeed in reaching your goals and meeting your dreams is right in front of you.  Don't veer from it.  Just keep going and don’t let another person drag you backwards by your ankles.  Continue to look forward and you’ll get there.  

On those days that you don’t think you can take another step… lean on the guy next to you until you find your footing again, because he’s heading for the pot at the end of the rainbow too, and I’m sure he’s had his share of help on his travels.  Who knows, if you ask, he might even offer you the use of his walking stick.  

Fellow dreamers... keep the faith.  I'm always grateful for your support.

Hope everyone enjoys their minutes today!