Happy Easter Everyone! From My Family to Yours, Have a Blessed and Safe Easter! #barrioblues12/4/2020
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I couldn't be more pleased with the final collaborative effort! A huge hug of gratitude to Andjela Vujić (who designed the original cover) and Norbert Somosi for the magical artwork and final cover design. Beautiful. Just beautiful!
If you are interested in submitting fiction, poetry, or art, see the Call for Submissions. Members of Penned in the City will get priority, so I invite you to join the group! JUDIE, THANK YOU FOR DOING AN INTERVIEW FOR MY READERS. Thank you for inviting me. TELL MY READERS MORE ABOUT YOU. WHERE ARE YOU FROM? I have won several writing awards. I was selected to be in Who's Who of Emerging Writers 2020, which will be out in May on Amazon. My writing is crisp and fresh, which makes the books fast reads. WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE A WRITER? WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST STORY OR CREATIVE WRITING WORK ABOUT? I am not sure I am a writer. Ha-ha, I am a good storyteller. I first started writing newsletters then procedure manuals for work. My first creative writing was a children story called “Natalie’s Adventure,” which is a short story of a precocious young girl. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GENRE TO WRITE IN? A little bit of Nevada history with a mystery. IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO BETTER, AS A WRITER? Always. I try to read several books each week by new authors and old to see what the readers would like. My weakness in past-tense, and have been working on that like mad. Here are some of the action-packed stories I have been involved with: The novel, Laura, is about a murder that takes place in the Elko area. Laura, also My Selection of Short Stories, the best from different anthologies. "Not Worthy-Story of Revenge," a Novella about Indian Schools. Maggie is about horse poaching, airmail arrows, and a quilting club that helps to solve the mystery. My new book, Drum of Hope, about the Sutro Tunnel in NV and sex trafficking, will be out the first of April. Many of my short stories were written for an online magazine Five59.com. However, I also published in the following anthologies: Other Realms-A Collections of Fantasy I & II, 13 Bites, Vol III and IV, Heard it on the Radio, and Plan 559 From Outer Space, MK II & III, Free for All, Collapsar Directive, Christmas Lites VII and VIII, and Christmas Lites IX. Also, in Tales of the Southwest. All are on Amazon in paperback and kindle plus Barnes and Noble online. Many stories have received five-star reviews. NOW, YOU PUT OUT A BOOK RECENTLY. TELL US ABOUT THAT WRITING JOURNEY. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN THIS BOOK? Maggie came out in September 2019. It is about two old broads and their dogs. I had to learn how to fly a drone for the story. The story deals with airmail arrows from the 20’s (a little history) and wild horse poaching of today (a little mystery). Best friends search for airmail arrows in Nevada, but they run into horse poaching and much more. To help with the mystery, they bring in the “Wild Stitchers,” a quilting group to help them solve it. This adventure is full of facts, fun, and excitement. This book was fun to write, and so far, people have enjoyed reading. DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE NOW YOU WISHED YOU COULD GIVE YOUR YOUNGER-WRITING SELF? Don’t give up. One of the hardest things for a writer is to have confidence in their writing. It is scary to put your work out there and have it rejected. But you put on your big-girl panties and suck it up. There are millions of authors so that the reader has a choice on what they want to read. One author can’t please everyone, so you find your niche. I try to help several young people and most like to write fantasy, which is great, not my genre, but the same rules apply . . . Never give up. PLEASE, TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING WRITING PROJECTS AND CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS. My upcoming book, which will out the first of April, is called Drum of Hope. I educate people about a historical tunnel (the little history) and sex trafficking (a little mystery). ONE LAST FANTASY QUESTION: DO YOU THINK WRITING CAN TRANSFORM THE WORLD? IF SO HOW? That depends on the person. For me, it is an escape, and I learn about other people and cultures. But I try to get my glass half full. I think it is essential that we teach people to read, starting with children. Turn off the TV and let them read for a bit. Read to them when they are young. Go to the nursing home and read to the elderly. I guess we can live in a fantasy world if we all try. WHERE CAN READERS FIND YOU ONLINE AND/OR ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Visit my website www.sweetdreamsbooks.com or email: jaycrowleybooks@gmail.com I am also on Amazon. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING TIME OUT OF YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE. I KNOW BEING A WRITER IS BUSY ENOUGH. I HOPE YOU HEAR FROM YOU AGAIN WHEN YOU LAUNCH YOUR NEXT BOOK. I hope you ask me back. About the Author: Jay Crowley is the pen my name for Judie Crowley. I live in Jack's Valley near the base of beautiful Lake Tahoe, Nevada. All of my stories originate in Nevada, which offers an exciting background, providing lots of story opportunities. "A little history with a mystery." There are two dogs and a cat in the family, and quite often, a dog is in the stories. Unity Call for Submissions: The administrators of Penned in the City are thrilled to announce a new charity anthology, titled: Unity. Recently, there has been an increase in racial hate crimes and divide amongst working-class people. We in Penned in the City believe people should come together to uplift each other towards a better world. Thus, we are calling artists, poets, and writers of both poetry and fiction to contribute to this critical work! The first anthology will have a magical realism focus. What is magical realism? Magical realism is the fusion of the magical like folklore, magical creatures, religions, into the reality of the characters. In essence, the magical is commonplace and normal. Consider works by Gabriel Garcia Márquez or Isabelle Allende. Consider current anime that fuses legends into contemporary society. You do not have to write or produce art about COVID-19. However, we prefer works that speak towards the transformation of our world to a better one, whether the writing and artwork are uplifting, dark, or somewhere in-between. Of course, Penned members will get priority. We will pay writers and artists in hard copy, and those contributors will vote to select the charity for the next anthology. For now, we are thinking of giving the profits to Doctors without Borders. Fiction: These can be original or reproduced works, so long as the author owns the copyright. We are accepting works in any genre. Submissions must be 500 to 3,000 words in length. Fiction must be Shunn formatted and sent as a Microsoft Word attachment. Poetry: These can be original or reproduced works, so long as the author owns the copyright. We are accepting works in any genre. Submissions must be 2 to 30 lines in length. Poems must be Shunn formatted and sent as a Microsoft Word attachment. Artists: We are accepting photography and original artwork, original or reprinted, so long as the author owns the copyright. One submission per artist. Submit a minimum 300 dpi image. Images must be sent as an attachment. ------------ You can submit one work per category, but with a maximum of two categories. The deadline for all writers and artists is May 1, 11:59 p.m. Central U.S. time. Email attachments to pennedinthecity@gmail.com. Submit any questions to the editorial board of Penned in the City at pennedinthecity@gmail.com. What readers are saying about this amazing short book!
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/PritiJreads https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/PCDarkcliff https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/danbrook23 Subscribe to my channel, Radical Books and Politics, and get your free copy today! You can also email me if you want a different file type, but platform supports *.epub and *.pdfs. Fans and Followers, Here's a short Valentine's Day poem for you. Happy Valentine's Day! "Rest" by María J. Estrada Hearts interconnected through eons of suffering
--Hearts Though battered and beaten Yet, filled with non-corporate Love for Humanity Moving beyond class interests to A Better World Let's travel this path of Love to Justice and Peace. And at our transformation's end, Rest in each other. Okay, YouTube subscribers! First, thank you for subscribing to my channel Radical Books and Politics. The moment is here!
Your first free book will be called A Not So Magical Day! The book is half-way done. I also have a wonderful proofreader who is doing a great job of giving me tips! Thank you, Priti! So, stay tuned! The Kindle book should be out in a few days. For this hosting service, I am using Smashwords because I can set a free price. Or you can email me for a copy of the *.pdf file at drmariajestrada@gmail.com! (Don’t spam me.) I hope you enjoy this next installment in La Bruja series! If you download a copy, please consider giving it a short, favorable review on Smaswords. DAVID, THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS INTERVIEW! I AM SO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU. And I am happy to answer your questions. NOW, I KNOW YOU’RE FROM ENGLAND. TELL MY READERS MORE ABOUT YOURSELF. I was born nearly 48 years ago on a dark and stormy night in a gypsy caravan. As a child, we spent many years moving around. We even lived in Australia for a few years before moving back to the U.K. My education was fragmented, and I went into a trade that takes most people who don’t know what to do with themselves – catering. Ten years of kitchen-sweltering later, I became a teacher. WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE A WRITER? WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST STORY OR CREATIVE WORK ABOUT? Like most aspiring writers I decided to write a novel. So, I read Stephen King’s On Writing and tried to get into a routine. The novel was not good - well, some of the ideas were, but most of the writing was terrible. Then I nailed NanoWrimo with another rough draft of a novel, but I didn’t know where to go next. So, I joined a few Facebook groups. In February, I submitted a short story to one of Grant Hudson’s anthologies. He accepted, and it won best in book – that’s when I won the chance to publish a collection of short stories with Clarendon House and when I realised, I might be a writer. I LOVED YOUR DEBUT COLLECTION, THE MAGIC OF DEBEN MARKET. IT IS UNIQUE IN ITS STRUCTURE, LIKE A PASTICHE OF WONDERFUL STORIES. HOW WOULD YOU CATEGORIZE IT? I don’t know how to categorize Deben Market. I just wrote a bunch of stories all set in the same town – a bit like a soap opera, I suppose. I figured that people in a small town would know each other, but they might not know all there is to know about each other. I wanted the reader to know everything. For instance, a character who might play a small but annoying part in someone else’s story would get their own chapter, and then you (the reader) would find out why they behaved the way they did. The main character, Moony Moore has been a resident of Deben Market his whole life. He would know most people; most people would know him. His story could link through to everybody else’s. At least that was the plan. I LOVED THE CHARACTERS IN THE COLLECTION. THEY WERE ALL BEAUTIFULLY DEVELOPED. WHEN YOU WRITE A STORY, DO YOU BEGIN WITH STRONG CHARACTERS? Thank you, the characters are key to Deben Market. Characters are probably the most important aspect for me. I usually start by imagining a person, giving them a vague outline, and then, putting them in a strange situation and then see how the story evolves and where they take me. THERE WERE A LOT OF WONDERFUL ASPECTS TO THIS COLLECTION LIKE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND GORGEOUS DESCRIPTIONS. IS THERE A WRITER OR WRITERS THAT HAVE INFLUENCED YOUR WRITING STYLE? I’m not sure if I try to emulate or am influenced by other authors. But there are many that I admire. For my money, PG Wodehouse is possibly the best writer to have walked the face of the planet. There’s not one page where one doesn’t shake one’s head in wonderment at his linguistic skills. When I was younger, I mostly read Stephen King, and he still impresses me now. Agatha Christie is as readable today as she was when she started writing one hundred years ago. In fact, I’m quite the fan of mystery and crime writers – I’ve read most of them from Mickey Spillane to Dorothy L. Sayers, and my stories usually have a touch of mystery in them. WHAT OTHER KINDS OF WRITING DO YOU DO? Someone described Deben Market as literary, and I suppose that is because I wanted every story to touch the reader emotionally. I’m trying my hand at comedy and noir too. I’ve written two westerns, which were great fun, but really, my lack of knowledge of the genre will hinder me. I hope to tackle an apocalyptic story one day. Something reminiscent of Day of the Triffids (one of my favourite books) without killer plants, or zombies for that matter. WHAT GENRE HAS BEEN THE MOST CHALLENGING OR SATISFYING FOR YOU TO WRITE IN? Challenging – last year I had to write in the regency style for a competition. My mind doesn’t think that way, so I had to read lots of Jane Austin in the name of research. Satisfying – everything else. I love losing myself in a world of my own creation. PLEASE, TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING WRITING PROJECTS. I’ve a few projects simmering at the minute, but the big news is that The Magic of Deben Market is in a competition to have a promo/pilot made that will then be used to pitch to producers for a TV series or movie. More information can be found on my blog or at booksoffice.com. Simply register as a reader/viewer go to projects/project Alpha 1 to place your votes, which they call tickets. ONE LAST FANTASY QUESTION: DO YOU THINK WRITING CAN TRANSFORM THE WORLD? IF SO HOW? Reading is the key. More people need to know how to read. Then they can start to think things through properly. They can form opinions of their own and debate views in a rational manner, drawing on the knowledge of others. Obviously, we need writers if we’re going to have readers who can think for themselves. So, I suppose the answer is yes writing can help improve the world. WHERE CAN READERS FIND YOU ONLINE OR ON SOCIAL MEDIA? My blog and newsletter: davidbowmore.co.uk Facebook: @davidbowmoreauthor Twitter: @dbowmore THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING TIME OUT OF YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE. I LOOK FORWARD TO MORE OF YOUR WORK AND HOPE YOU HAVE YOU AGAIN SOON. ANN AND RUTH, WHAT A PLEASURE TO HAVE YOU! NOW, I KNOW YOU ARE BOTH WRITERS AND CO-OWNERS OF A PRESS. TELL MY READERS MORE ABOUT YOURSELVES. Ann: Ruth and I met at a Writers Coffeehouse meeting. We looked at each other and knew we had to become partners. It was like looking in a mirror. If the mirror showed two redheads who are a foot different in height. Now for the real story: We were both between editing jobs in 2011 and looking for an editing opportunity. I stood up at a meeting and mentioned that I was looking for editing jobs. Ruth stood up and said she was, too. Then we met afterward, and voila! A star was born. Actually, the entire constellation of Gemini! Ruth: Ann was across the table in B&N, staring into her latte. I instantly knew she was just the person to help me form an editing company. And I didn’t even realize that Ann was standing up. WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE A WRITER? WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST STORY OR CREATIVE WRITING WORK ABOUT? Ann: I’ve been writing since I can remember. I think my first story was about a woman who manages a swimming pool. I am a writer because I have to be; I have no choice. It’s a compulsion. Ruth: I have enjoyed writing ever since I wrote my first “real” piece in fifth grade. It’s a story about a doe in the woods. It’s almost poetic. I actually still have it. The handwriting is beautiful. I don’t want to boast or anything, but I was “Miss Penmanship” that year. I’VE NEVER ASKED THIS QUESTION. WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE AN EDITOR? Ann: I’ve always loved language. I can remember correcting friends and family when I was a teenager. Here’s a funny story. When my older daughter graduated from junior high, the ceremony ended with a slide show. The last slide said “Congradulations!” My daughter was mortified when I, outraged, strode up to the gentleman running the projector and informed him “Congratulations” was misspelled. About a dozen years ago, I frequented LinkedIn. A man posted that he was forming a new ezine, Schrodinger’s Mouse. I asked if he needed an editor. It was an unpaid position, and I loved it. I really honed my skills and learned that I wanted to be an editor when I grew up. I’m still not grown up, but I am an editor. Ruth: When I went to a restaurant when I was about 21 years old (during the Jurassic Period) and without searching for anything, found four typos. I told the manager but didn’t even get any free pie. TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR PUBLISHING HOUSE, CELESTIAL ECHO PRESS. WHERE DOES THE NAME COME FROM? Ann: Ruth and I have been partners in Gemini Wordsmiths since June 1, 2011. We’re both born under the astrological sign of Gemini, and our business is also. Actually, so is Celestial Echo Press, but I digress. We work wherever we can. We were in a local Barnes and Noble café, brainstorming for names for our new publishing imprint. We wanted to keep with the astrological/star theme, so we decided the first word would be Celestial. We asked a bunch of millennials in the café what they thought of our potential names, and Echo won. We love the new imprint name; it fits the theme of Gemini and twins. Ruth: Our micro-press name is borne of hours and hours of research looking into what words slip off the tongue best. ON YOUR SITE, IT SAYS YOU EXPAND ON THE GEMINI CONCEPT AND THE GOAL IS TO STAY DYNAMIC. HOW DOES THE GEMINI CONCEPT PLAY INTO HOW YOU RUN THE PRESS? HOW ARE THE PROJECTS DYNAMIC? I LOVE THAT WORD, BY THE WAY. Ann: The word dynamic means a force that is ever-changing, not standing still. We expanded our editing business several years ago to include an ebook formatting department. Last year we expanded into publishing. Who knows what the future holds for us? We incorporated the twin theme into our press via the name and also our first anthology, based on the theme of twins. We’re kicking around ideas for the next one, and it’s a good possibility either Gemini, or twins, or the number two will feature prominently in our theme. Ruth: Our book is titled The Twofer Compendium. It features 36 stories about twins, all fiction. We stay dynamic by constantly considering new ideas and incorporating them into our list of services. We hope to rule the world by 2026. I THINK MOST WRITERS ARE CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT GOES THROUGH AN EDITOR’S HEAD. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE WRITERS YOU WORK WITH? WHEN YOU RECEIVE A STORY, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? Ruth: We try to measure up the story with some solid and some vague guidelines. The most obvious is that the story fits the theme; if not, we cannot accept it. Our hope is that the story gets us to step out of our comfort zone, by approaching the theme in a way that we hadn’t considered. We also look for good writing—meaning a story that has a strong start, a middle, and a great ending, all within the word limit of a short story. Finally, we hope that a story shifts our outlook. Makes us laugh. Makes us well up. Makes us remember something different or strange about it … or the author. Ann: Ditto what she said. TELL US ABOUT THE TYPES OF WORK YOUR PRESS HAS PUBLISHED? Ann: The Twofer Compendium is our first publication. We plan in 2020 to publish novels and another anthology. Ruth: Dat’s it so far. But since we’re dynamic, we’ll be working it in 2020. CLEARLY, YOU BOTH HAVE AMAZING SKILLS. IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO BETTER, AS WRITERS AND/OR PRESS OWNERS? Ann: Find more time in the day. Ruth: Ditto, of course. PLEASE, TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING WRITING PROJECTS AND CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS. Ann: We have no open calls right now. Individually, we have writing projects upcoming, but not as a partnership. Ruth: Ditto ditto. Of course. ONE LAST FANTASY QUESTION: DO YOU THINK WRITING CAN TRANSFORM THE WORLD? IF SO HOW? Ann: Writing has already transformed the world. I love sci-fi and fantasy. So many inventions we currently use had their roots in a sci-fi author’s imagination. Ruth: That question is so broad that it’s almost impossible to answer. Writing can be the answer to many quandaries through escape, through enlightenment, through joy. Writing can enhance a good situation for a reader. Writing can teach—tolerance, history, science, (ew, not math), geography and a thousand other topics—in fun ways and through the imagination. But mostly, writing can bring people together. Not by insisting that others see the writer’s point of view necessarily; rather, by showing the reader that different people see the world, or the universe, from different viewpoints and all of them can be right. WHERE CAN READERS FIND YOU ONLINE AND/OR ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Ann: We have a Gemini Wordsmiths Facebook page, and run the Celestial Echo Press Facebook group. I love this group. Our website is www.geminiwordsmiths.com. Celestial Echo Press information can be found at www.geminiwordsmiths.com/publishing. We send out a newsletter once every other month, which you can sign up for on our website. We also are on LinkedIn, but not very active there. I am the owner of a board and card game business, Gontza Games, and have a website for that, too. (www.gontzagames.com) Ruth: What she said. And then you can find me blathering at ruthlittner.com, and @ruthlittner on Twitter. One day I hope my VCR will stop blinking 12:00. (Is your millennial asking, “What’s a VCR, Mommy?”) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING TIME OUT OF YOUR BUSY SCHEDULES. I KNOW BEING A WRITER IS BUSY ENOUGH. I HOPE TO HAVE YOU BOTH AS INTERVIEWEES AGAIN SOON. Ann: Thank you so much for having us! Ruth: Thank you so much for having us! Well, Book Lovers and Writers who persist despite the torture that comes with writing, These last few weeks, I have been in another pathetic writing valley. Not quite a writer’s block, but a pit of despair. Partly because December was totally shot since my family and I, all, got sick, then I started my regular work. Forget it. Just making it to work with half a smile on my face was a victory. Now, things are settling, although it seems I am busier with teaching and union work (I teach full-time at an urban community college and run my union). And, my writing energy is coming back. Mostly, I was dealing with negative crap, what I like to call “A Writing Long Night of the Soul.” That night lasted over six weeks. Well, in my creative writing classes, I tell my students to flip the script. I know that sounds like contemporary self-help babble, but it works for me. Plus, there’s nothing wrong with a little self-help. The point is that I finally stopped bitching and decided to see this revision process as an opportunity to write something awesome. Thus, I am postponing the second edition of Wolf Trek, obvi, as I have published nothing. The book is also supposed to be a fundraiser for Poet Jay Mehta who suffered a third stroke last week. (He is recovering and wish Jay and his family good health and better times ahead) Well, I already sent his family money and will continue to do so for the year based on this book's profits. However, they could use the support: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme2/authorjaym Add that self-imposed layer of pressure and the negative reel and forget it. Look if I don’t give the process my 110%, I’ll be complaining about it later. In fact, that is why I am producing the second edition, since back when I started publishing, I didn’t have this amazing editor, Aditya Deshmukh, and I should have spent more time with the novelette. It is now over 100 pages, but who cares? I’m on my deadline; I just don’t want to be such a negative jerk and stop producing because I love to write--despite all the torture that comes with it. Writing is wonderful, wonderful, but can be a major pain. Enough rant. I also want to #writerlift Author David Bowmore. But pay heed. If you sign up for this site, use the Reader option. His book The Magic of Deben Market is up for a contest. I would appreciate if you voted for his book @ booksoffice.com. It is an amazing pastiche of short stories that take place in Deben Market. I am loving the book and can’t wait to review it. Well, that is all I have because the novelette is calling—the bastard. Hope you are having a less contentions time with your writing. Also, if you haven’t done so, subscribe to my new YouTube channel Radical Books and Politics. Right now, it’s on hiatus because I’ve postponed the novelette, but I will most likely review a book mid-week of Red Bird by Author Steve Carr or The Magic of Deben Market. Keep on, and drag yourselves out of your pits of despair. Putting your work out there is worth the climb. I'm rooting for you! |
Jesú Estrada
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