Guest Post ~ Idealism is an Attractive Flower, by Oneida Morningstar Cramer

Idealism is an attractive flower, the first published collection of poetry/photography by Oneida Morningstar Cramer, contains 87 individual “photopoems,” which is a term introduced by Cramer to describe the form of her works combining original poetry and photography. 

Available on Amazon

I first had the idea for this project when I was working as a journalist in the ‘90’s, writing articles for People Newspapers in Dallas. I wrote the text of the articles and also took photographs to accompany them. Over time, I became distinctly aware of how the presence of a picture next to an article subtly affected the text, how the nature of the picture changed ever so slightly your perception of the words and of the article as a whole.

I had been writing poetry, and I began to be intrigued by the idea of putting poetry together with pictures, in order to explore this interesting dynamic between word and image. I’ve always loved playing with words, and I’ve written a lot of poetry in a variety of styles. When I first began experimenting with the photopoem technique, I had a hard time finding the right approach. The balance of forces that exists in the photopoem format is fundamentally different than that of conventional poetry

The ideal flower is not here just any flower, is not the perfect flower; it is a flower that is strangely present and actual, and that affects the way you can write about it. My approach to photography has changed as well. I have found a new freedom to take lots of different kinds of pictures, to exercise the versatile power of the photograph to create not just views but spaces, however small, for the voice to reverberate; spaces as varied as the experience of life itself.

Oneida Morningstar Cramer

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About the Author

Oneida Morningstar Cramer was born in Virginia, raised in Maryland, and educated at the University of Maryland, where she earned a doctorate in physiology. A longtime Dallas resident, Cramer has worked as a scientist, homemaker, teacher, journalist, and has held professional and volunteer positions in the field of non-profit arts business. She has been active as a poet and a photographer for many years. This volume is her first published collection of works.

Book Launch ~ The Simulations, by John Forelli

When Ray Ality arrives for a job interview at Simulations Inc. he's immediately drawn to Delilah, the cute receptionist. Only one problem: she's engaged. Ray soon concocts a plan to win Delilah over, as he and his new, eccentric coworker Bob use the company's software in an attempt to simulate the process of courting her. 

Ray soon discovers that the simulations aren't exactly what he expected, and as he sinks deeper into virtual reality it becomes harder to distinguish real life from the imaginary.

This novel is Office Space meets The Matrix--an existential discourse told among keyboards and cubicles.

New on Amazon US and Amazon UK

Excerpt:

  Something Bob said echoes in my mind. In my head I repeat it. 'Reality is what you make it.' If my reality is to be an endless line of reformatting requests, then perhaps I should make some good of it. And so I proceed quickly through the maze of cubicles as the corners of corporate tedium trace my path on either side. I walk past the company’s receptionist in the foyer. She’s not the one I want, and she’s probably too occupied with an episode of The Office anyway.

  Through the door and into the elevator I go, nervously tapping my foot as the floors tick past. 9...8...7...

  What should I say? It’s not like me to be so spontaneous, but Bob’s speech was strangely inspirational. I can feel butterflies beating against the walls of my stomach in time with my heart against my chest. They’re playing a symphony of apprehension in time with the elevator’s metronome. 6...5...4...

  In my mind I go over what I’ll say. ‘Delilah, if we’re both going to be working here, maybe we should get to know each other better. I was wondering if you’d like to get a coffee one day after work?’ In my heart it’s the apex of romance. In my head it’s the apex of anti-climax. 3...2...1.

  The doors open and the lobby is bathed in the natural light utterly lacking upstairs. The rays shine through the windows opposite Delilah’s reception desk. The revolving door refracts the light into a twirling, glowing symphony that lights the desk as though it’s heaven.

  Delilah stands there, and my heart jumps for a split second when I think about how perfectly romantic the moment is.

  Then I see the man standing there facing her, his facial hair coarse and obscene next to her smooth, dimpled cheeks. He stands there like an oaf, hands in his pockets as Delilah reaches over the reception desk to kiss him. She reaches up with her left hand to touch the scruff and that’s when I see it: a diamond ring, glinting in the sunlight and blinding me with jealousy and disappointment.

  The elevator doors close, confining me in blank sterility under sickening artificial light. I was right. The moment was perfectly romantic. It just wasn’t mine.

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About the Author

John Forelli is 24 years old and lives in Philadelphia. He worked a stuffy corporate job out of college before quitting to write this novel. He enjoys drinking with friends at Fado and Tavern on Broad in Philly and boring them with existential ramblings. John's ideal day would be spent eating pizza and watching Game of Thrones down the Jersey Shore. Find out more at his website www.johnforelli.com/ and find him on Twitter @JOHNFORELLI 

#Writing Contest: Win a Full Manuscript Evaluation by Bestselling Author Barbara Kyle

Bestselling author Barbara Kyle is offering a contest for writers in which the Grand Prize is a full manuscript evaluation: a value of $1200. The contest is open to anyone with a work of fiction or narrative nonfiction. It's free to enter by sending a writing sample of up to 1500 words.

* * * (Entry deadline 30 April 2015 * * *

"And here’s the great thing," says Kyle. "Winners will have up to a year to send me their manuscript. If the work is ready now, that’s fine, they can send it as soon as they get word they’ve won. But if they need more time to complete it, that’s fine too. They have up to a year."

The Grand Prize is Kyle's evaluation of a full manuscript. Second prize is her evaluation of a manuscript’s first 50 pages. Third prize is her evaluation of the first 25 pages.

For further details about the contest and how to enter, see www.BarbaraKyle.com

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Barbara Kyle is the author of the acclaimed Thornleigh Saga series of historical novels ("Riveting Tudor drama" - USA Today) and contemporary thrillers including Beyond Recall (under pen name Stephen Kyle), a Literary Guild Selection. Over 450,000 copies of her books have been sold around the world. Her new novel, The Traitor's Daughter, will be published in June 2015. Through her mentoring, Kyle has launched many writers to published success, including bestselling mystery author Robert Rotenberg, historical novelists Ann Birch, Tom Taylor, and Barbara Wade Rose, award-winner Steven T. Wax, and debut novelist Marissa Campbell.

"Now it's your turn," Kyle tells aspiring writers. "Enter the contest for a chance to win an in-depth analysis of your work - your first step toward success."

For full details about the contest visit www.BarbaraKyle.com and find her on Facebook and Twitter @BKyleAuthor

Guest Post ~ How I came to write a medieval mystery, by Cassandra Clark

The Dragon of Handale is the fifth novel in Cassandra Clark's acclaimed mystery series set in the 14th century.

Available 17 March 2015 at Amazon UK and Amazon US

How I came to write a medieval mystery series is something of a mystery to me.  Until the idea for Hangman Blind came to me I was a playwright and author of contemporary fiction.  It had never occurred to me to write crime and certainly not to write an historical novel of any kind.  Yet, after a very dark period of my life when both my parents died, things changed.  It was a time when I was beginning to feel I would never smile again, let alone write, but one night I woke myself up, laughing aloud. Lol?

The cause was a dream where a tough and ribald knight called Roger de Hutton, a tall, blond, rangy Saxon called Ulf, and a feisty young woman with no name but clearly a nun, were sitting in Roger’s solar, drinking wine and having a party.  I fumbled for a pen and notebook as writers do in the middle of the night and wrote down the dialogue that had made me chuckle into wakefulness.  Then I went back to sleep.

Next morning I rolled over onto my notebook and discovered a little scene that still made me smile. I could feel my face crack.  The whole story soon followed and Hildegard of Meaux, as I discovered the nun was named, set off on her sleuthing adventures, putting wrongs to right and always getting her man.

 

Very quickly, and to my astonishment, it turned into a series set in the reign of Richard II.  I started from the year after the Great Revolt of 1381 (misnamed by the Victorians as The Peasants’ Revolt) because I was curious to know what happened to all those thousands of people from all levels of society and every corner of the kingdom who survived the brutal repression set in motion by Richard’s uncles, John of Gaunt and the Duke of Gloucester in particular. Where did they go?  How did they survive outside the law?  They are a constant theme throughout the series because even after Richard’s eventual murder the rebellion continued until it merged into the Wars of the Roses.

I’ve just started book 7, The Scandal of the Skulls, set during the Merciless Parliament of 1388 – which was as merciless as they come, with 21-year old Richard being the victim of his brutish uncle, the duke of Gloucester, who beheaded or otherwise did to death every one of Richard’s allies within the three terrifying months of that dark spring.

I should say I’m now totally fascinated by Richard II’s reign as even a cursory glance at the records - the chronicles with their authors’ time-serving prejudices, uncensored Parliamentary Rolls, city records and so on - show a very different young man to the one Shakespeare portrays.  That period of English history, too, deserves to be better known. It wasn’t the barbaric witch-burning epoch we might imagine. Not until Richard’s regicidal cousin Henry Bolingbroke authorized the first judicial burnings in England were you likely to finish up at the stake.  And then of course, later, the psycho Tudors really got out their tinder boxes.

As a one-time history tutor for the Open University I discovered the importance of first-hand accounts and how to sift them to link up the facts.  Secret histories lie in the archives to be revealed when historians have time to sleuth through the scrolls.  I’m passionate about discovering how people with no real power managed to survive in such extraordinary times.  The pressures they were under and the decisions that meant life or death make a never-ending saga about our ancestors.

But my main characters are fictional.  Although you might be reminded of the story of Abelard and Heloise when you meet the sexy Abbot of Meaux, Hubert de Courcy, being monastics doesn’t stop Hildegard and Hubert from having a red hot passion for each another.  Of course, as good Cistercians, they are bound by their vows…aren’t they?

What I love about writing this series is that I have an excuse to rootle through dusty archives, haunt ancient ruined abbeys and listen to early music -  and call it research.  I’m just so glad I had that dream.

Cassandra Clark

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About the Author

Cassandra Clark has an M.A. from the University of East Anglia and taught for the Open University on the Humanities Foundation course in subjects as diverse as history, philosophy, music and religion. Since then she has written many plays and contemporary romances as well as the libretti for several chamber operas. The Dragon of Handale is published on 17^th March 2015. Find out about Cassandra's other books on her website at www.cassandraclark.co.uk and follow her on Twitter @nunsleuth

Blog Tour ~ How to Bake a Chocolate Soufflé, by Carly Ellen Kramer

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Madeleine LaBlange, Annie Anderson, and Audrey Navarro shared formative years as roommates at Chicago’s Catholic haven for women, the historic Abbott College. If only they could have predicted the collisions between their carefully crafted life plans and the realities they discover beyond campus…

Madeleine harbors dreams of becoming a concert pianist while Dr. Reynold Fenwick, her mercurial graduate school mentor, harbors fantasies of Madeleine. Will pursuing her dreams be worth the cost? Will an evening in Budapest change her life forever?

Annie plans to build a perfect family with her perfect husband in the cutthroat news media industry, until an abrupt tragedy shakes the foundations of her marriage. What happens when she feels pulled between the two men she loves most, her husband and her father?

Audrey leaves her religious, restrictive parents behind and aims for Chicago’s downtown skyline, dating recklessly and staring down each grueling workday one Chicago Dog at a time. Will an island respite lure her away from her corporate future? When she finds herself in the arms of an unexpected lover, will she have the courage to stand up for her own evolving sense of self?

Follow the journeys of these remarkable women, and cheer them on as they navigate life, love, and chocolate soufflé.

Includes over a dozen decadent new recipes from Crowded Earth Kitchen!

Carly Ellen Kramer

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About the Author

Carly Ellen is a food traveler and writer who loves incorporating delicious recipes into her stories.  She has a minor obsession with French boulangeries, and is sublimely happy with a fresh baguette and cup of espresso in any European cobblestoned square. Because she can't resist weaving food into her fiction, Carly Ellen has included over a dozen new recipes in her book, How to Bake a Chocolate Soufflé.   For hundreds of fabulous recipes, free book giveaways, author signed books and more, visit Carly Ellen’s food blog at www.crowdedearthkitchen.com!  Additional free book giveaways and author discussions are available at Carly Ellen's Goodreads page and author website.  Don't miss out on author updates and fun freebies - follow Carly Ellen on Facebook and Twitter!

Wolf Hall: The Inside Story ~ so unlike a historical novel?

I always recommend reading the book before seeing the TV adaptation, as it can be almost impossible to not recall the imagery once the BBC have put their stamp on it.  A possible exception to this is Hilary Mantel’s celebrated novel Wolf Hall. I must admit to struggling a little with the book, although all became clear when I watched the slow-paced but otherwise excellent TV series.

Last night the BBC rounded off the final episode with a fascinating interview with actor Mark Rylance about his performance as Thomas Cromwell.   Asked about historical accuracy, he said, ‘She [Mantel] made it seem so unlike a historical novel. That is maybe why people assume her work is so reckless or careless but she researched this for over five years, so you need to remember she did a lot of work, She didn’t just write a popular version of this story.’

This made me sit up and think. As a historical fiction novelist, I wonder if the best compliment I can look forward to is that my work is unlike a historical fiction novel?  What does that mean, I wonder? Perhaps it is really what writing mentor Emma Darwin describes in her thought provoking post: Psychic Distance: What It Is And How To Use It. Mark Rylance also said when he read Wolf Hall ‘it was almost as if you were in the room with them.’ 

As for the debate about Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell, I applaud any re-telling that challenges the ‘popular view’ of history.  What we ‘know’ is so often derived on accounts written decades after the events and often rely on portraits of uncertain provenance.

Psychic or narrative distance is about where the reader is, relative to the character, so perhaps the challenge is to find ways to new and original ways to not only take readers back in time—but also take them inside the character's heads.

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” ~ Anais Nin

So You Don't Have Enough Time To Write? Guest Post by Nava Atlas

Woman at her Writing Desk, by Johann Ender

A 1921 interview described author Willa Cather’s work schedule as follows: “Miss Cather works but three hours a day—hours of perfect joy and happiness, she describes them. She finds that at the end of two or three hours she has exhausted her best efforts. 

She spends the remainder of the day with her friends, or taking a walk in Central Park, or listening to good music… She believes that a writer should keep in as good physical condition as a singer, and so she regulates her life on a simple, normal schedule. She writes easily and seldom tears a paragraph or a page to pieces.” 

Would that we could all enjoy such a schedule—and free of angst! However, most of us are lucky if, after two or three hours, we’ve written more than a few paragraphs that upon subsequent inspection don’t read like sheer drivel. Let’s not forget that prior to this interview Cather had already published four of her major novels, and those, after her long apprenticeship as a journalist. When she sat down to write for those two to three hours, she was a seasoned writer. Despite this leisurely schedule, Cather wrote ten more novels, plus many essays and short stories, in the years that followed this interview.

Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888)

Louisa May Alcott, on the other hand, was less than happy with her curtailed work days. Though she complained of being “chained to my galley,” that’s what she preferred. L.M. Montgomery may have spent few hours at her desk, but worked all the time in her mind, unlike Cather, who left her work at her desk. Maybe there will be times in your life when, as Alcott described it, “the steam is up.” 

That usually means it’s time to take a breather and let the well fill up again. But whether  your writing schedule is constrained voluntarily or by circumstances, much can be accomplished, so long as whatever time you have is spent  diligently and, if at all possible, joyfully.

Brilliance in no time flat

Willa Cather (1873-1947) 

For me, the morning is the best time to write. During the other hours of the day I attend to my housekeeping, take walks in Central Park, go to concerts, and see something of my friends. I try to keep myself fit, fresh: one has to be in as good form to write as to sing. When not working, I shut work from my mind.

—Willa Cather, from an interview in The Bookman, 1921

Twenty pages in two hours

I used to write from morning till night without fatigue when “the steam was up.” Now, however, I am paying the penalty of twenty years of over work, & can write but two hours a day, doing about twenty pages, sometimes more, though my right thumb is useless from writer’s cramp.

—Louisa May Alcott, from a letter, 1887

L.M. Montgomery (1874-1942) 

Women have always multitasked …

I write fast, having “thought out” plot and dialogue while I go about my household work. I only do three hours’ literary work a day—two hours’ writing and one typewriting.

—L.M. Montgomery, from a letter, 1909

• Excerpted and adapted from The Literary Ladies’ Guide to the Writing Life  with consent from Nava Atlas

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About the Author

Nava Atlas is the author and illustrator of many books on vegan and vegetarian cooking, most recently Wild About Greens and Vegan Holiday Kitchen. Her backlist includes Vegan Express, Vegan Soups and Hearty Stews for All Seasons, The Vegetarian Family Cookbook, and The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet. Her first book, Vegetariana, published in 1984, is considered a classic in its field. Nava also has written scores of articles on healthful cooking with natural foods, which have appeared in Vegetarian Times, VegNews, Cooking Light, and numerous other publications. In addition to her food writing, Nava also produces visual books on family themes, humor, and women’s issues, including Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife (2009)— a satiric look at contemporary marriage and motherhood through the lens of a faux 1950s cookbook. The Literary Ladies’ Guide to the Writing Life, (2011) explores first-person narratives on the writing lives of twelve classic women authors, and comments on the universal relevance of their experiences to all women who love to write. Nava is also an active fine artist. Her work is shown and collected by museums and universities across the U.S. You can see her work at navaatlasart.com. Her home is in the Hudson Valley region of New York State, where she lives with her husband; they have two grown children. Find Nava on Twitter @navaatlas2.