Radio Interview Tonight & New Book Review

Tonight, I'll be doing an interview for a small station in North Carolina at 8:50 EST (5:50 PST) you can listen via Blog Talk Radio. If you miss it, I think you can listen later using the same link.

I only slept 3 hours last night, so hopefully I won't sound like a zombie =-)

Last week, Squiggles Reviews checked out Super Zombie Juice - "This was a really fun book to read. It was amusing, entertaining and silly but still had a great story line that kept me hooked." Read the full review on their website:

Sheila Deeth's Flower Child Blog Tour

I’m thrilled to be hosting author Sheila Deeth. Sheila is an author, blogger, and book reviewer, who graciously takes her time to review tons of book (including several of mine). I can only imagine how much time she devotes to helping other authors get the word about their books out. So, I’m honored to be part of the blog tour for her new book Flower Child. I’ve asked her a few questions about herself and her writing; after reading the interview, I hope you take a few minutes to read a sample of her book (links below).

What Inspired you to write Flower Child?
That’s a question with lots of different answers. Our local writers’ group held a contest to write something inspired by music. John Denver’s Rhymes and Reasons, in particular the line “the children and the flowers are my sisters and my brothers,” reminded me of a childhood memory, which inspired a first paragraph, which inspired a character. Then other memories and questions took over, but by then the story’s protagonists were in charge.

How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing stories ever since I could hold a pencil. I used to tell stories before I could write, and I remember sitting in front of strange classes in elementary school, keeping the older kids quiet while the teacher stepped out.

What (one) genre do you write in?

Hmm. Choose one genre? I’ll go for spiritual speculative fiction (a fairly expandable genre). I’m not sure it covers my children’s Bible stories, but I think it works for my ebooks. I have a “real” book—paperback, the sort of thing you can thump on a desk and hear the noise—coming out next summer. I suspect that one’s more in a contemporary literary genre.

For you, what's the hardest part of writing a book?
The writing’s not hard—I can’t help writing; it’s getting the finished piece to a place where I still like it that I find difficult. Sometimes I edit too much and all the characters start to sound like me. Then I throw away page after page and try again.

What's the best piece of advice you have for other writers?
Keep writing, keep editing, and don’t be afraid to throw stuff away.

About Flower Child: When Megan miscarries her first pregnancy it feels like the end of everything; instead it’s the start of a curious relationship between the grieving mother and an unborn child who hovers somewhere between ghost and angel. Angela, Megan’s “little angel,” has character and dreams all her own, friends who may or may not be real angels, and a little brother who brings hope to her mother’s world. But Angela’s dream-world has a secret and one day Angela might learn how to be real.

Where to find Flower Child:
Her website
Amazon
Smashwords

About the author: Sheila Deeth grew up in the UK and has a Bachelors and Masters in mathematics from Cambridge University, England. Now living in the States with her husband and son, she enjoys reading, writing, drawing, telling stories, running a local writers' group, and meeting her neighbors’ dogs on the green.

Sheila describes herself as a Mongrel Christian Mathematician. Her short stories, book reviews and articles can be found in

VoiceCatcher 4, Murder on the Wind, Poetic Monthly, Nights and Weekends, the Shine Journal and Joyful Online. Besides her Gypsy Shadow ebooks, Sheila has several self-published works available from Amazon and Lulu, and a full-length novel under contract to come out next year.

Find her on her website: http://www.sheiladeeth.com

or find her books at: http://sheiladeeth.weebly.com

UPDATE: Sheila graciously offered to host the SZJMB blog tour today.

Huffington Post Interview with Amanda Hocking

Amanda's a class act. I've interacted with her a little when I participated in her Zombiepalooza and on message boards. Speaking of zombies, if you are into them you should read her book Hollowland. She's not just a successful Indie author, she sold 100,000 books last month--in one month. Okay, I'm exaggerating a little, she only sold 99,000.

But, before you quit your day job to start self-publishing kidlit, there's a couple things you should know. First, most of her readers aren't kids, they are adults who read YA, paranormal romance specifically. Second, she's very talented. And third, she's gotten a little lucky, she would have found success no matter what, but she's had great fan support and even greater timing.

This level of sales can't be ignored and the Huffington Post ran an interview with her today. Even, if you aren't considering going Indie, it's worth checking out. And if you are considering it then consider this, she still has an agent.