10 Questions for Ronovan Hester

With only being able to reblog once, and having done that with this interview to my author site, I’ve copied and pasted the article here. It isn’t as nicely formatted as author Vashti Quiroz-Vega has it on her site, and I suggest everyone visit the original for the full experience by clicking HERE.

Hello everyone! I have a treat for you today. I’m an avid reader and self proclaimed bookworm and to me as well as others like me it is always fun when a new, intriguing book is released. Do you enjoy fascinating stories about pirates? Well then you’ll love The Razor’s Adventures Pirate Tales by P.S. Bartlett. I have featured P.S. Bartlett and her books on this blog and you can check out that post here.

Today’s focus will be on the wonderful and talented Ronovan Hester since P.S. Bartlett’s recent installment in The Razor’s Adventure series, Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling is co-authored by him. This is not your typical pirate story since Ronovan puts his love of History and his 20+ years of writing experience to use in his debut Historical Adventure set in 1705 England, American Colonies, and Caribbean.

Amber Wake-Ronovan Hester-pirates

Ronovan’s Bio:

Ronovan Hester is a writer living near Athens, Ga, home of his alma mater, The University of Georgia, where he received a B.S.Ed. in History Education. Ronovan puts his love of history and his over 20 years of writing experience to use in his debut Historical Adventure set in 1705 England, American Colonies, and Caribbean co-authored with P.S. Bartlett.

Ronovan’s devotion to history and writing sometimes competes with his love of tacos and fresh fruit. At times, all his favorite things work hand in hand in mouth during long binge writing sessions that have been known to last nonstop for over 24 hours. Rather than see a sleep disorder as a hindrance, he uses the time for creative purposes or watching old TV shows on online.

Ronovan enjoys putting elements of history, if only as nods to the past, in all of his book projects. He currently instills that love of history and learning in his son daily as he helps him through his college prep courses, meaning hours of homework every night, even while not yet a teenager–his son, not Ronovan. Now if he could find a very good mute for that trumpet his son just began learning.

10 Fun Facts About Ronovan

One of your 10 fun facts is that you love to cook. If P.S. Bartlett arrived at your house for dinner what would you make for her?

I would go Southern. I make very good Southern Fried Chicken, biscuits, and I these potato wedges that I batter then fry, then oven bake. It’s something I created, and everyone loves them. I fry them enough to get them brown and slightly crisp, then into the oven to finish cooking over a rack to let the excess oil come out. I cover them with foil so as not to let the brown much more or burn. You end up with a crispy on the outside, completely done on the inside oven fry. You spice the batter how you like it and either make or use your favorite condiment if you want to dip them in something. There would of course be sweet iced tea. For dessert a peach cobbler, since I live in the Peach State.

Another fun fact about you is that you love the sound and feel of the ocean at night. Have you seen the movie ‘JAWS’?

I did. I also saw the Jaws 3D in the movie theaters when it first came out with some older cousins.

One more fun fact about you is that you enjoy eating lunch sitting under a tree while watching and listening to birds. If you could be any bird which would you be?

I think I’m pretty much a Robin if you look at me. I can’t escape that.

Ronovanwrites-The Writer Next Door

10 Questions for Ronovan Hester

1/ Tell me about your book

Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling is a historical adventure beginning in a sailor’s pub in 1705 London and then taking to the seas. Court-martialed due to the events in the pub, Captain Gabriel Wallace of the Royal Navy finds aide with his former crew who mutiny against the Royal Navy, just in time to avoid capture by his enemies. Wallace has more than one mission/objective during his war against the men behind his disgrace but only he is aware of it. This secret causes some problems as the story unfolds and Wallace and his men go after the biggest haul a pirate has ever attempted in the waters of the Caribbean, all in the name of revenge and loyalty.

Reads like a riveting story! And not your typical pirate story.

2/ What inspired you to write this book?

After many conversations with PS Bartlett, the creator of the Ivory Shepard world of pirates, the discussion came around to her thoughts of a sequel to her very first pirate novel, The Blue Diamond: The Razor’s Edge. A book I enjoyed a great deal. I had the idea of her writing a prequel series of books of how her main character became a lady pirate captain, while I wrote the book that would currently be the beginning of the entire series and become known as Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling. By the way, not only does Microsoft Word object to the use of lady in this paragraph, but Ivory Shepard would as well.

Ah, ha, ha. I guess ‘female’ is the word that comes to mind then. The idea of a ‘prequel series’ telling how the main character comes to be, who she is in the original series is quite brilliant.

*Clarification from Ronovan: I should have worded the part about the prequel ideas coming up between PS Bartlett and I about the same time. It was an idea to expand the world she created and bring in more attention to the character of Ivory Shepard. The Blue Diamond was a great book.

3/ Why team up with another writer, instead of writing this book on your own?

I looked at it as a two-fold thing. One, I would be helping PS Bartlett get one more book out in her series. In this book, I could give a different perspective, a different voice than that of Ivory Shepard. There needed to be that different voice. Second, I’m a historian and love research. Thus, I saw this as a challenge of sorts. Just as I challenged myself to write a Southern Romance, completely out of my comfort zone, I did this, which was a new genre for me. I do historical fiction more around WWI and WWII.

Although not a historian I share your love of research. I’m happy you took this on and wish you continued success.

4/ Which is your favorite character in the book? Why?

I would have to say Gabriel Wallace is my favorite because I put so much of me into him. Some of that’s been taken out because of the collaboration, but I know where I show up. People that know me will know what I wrote and not. The styles mesh but my personal character is different from some of what Wallace ends up as. Gimby, the helmsman is a good one too.

5/ Which character in the book would you not get along with? Why?

That’s a tough one. There are times, due to circumstances a couple of people are difficult to deal with. One is somewhat obvious when you begin reading the book, and the other grows into someone less than a joy to know.

Very diplomatic answer.

6/ Finish these statements:

-If I wasn’t afraid I would move to a better climate part of the world with a beach and a nice ocean view, although I’m not really afraid of much.

Florida awaits!

-Someday, I want to be successful enough at writing to pay the bills and maybe help form some sort of foundation to fight some children’s problem.

7/ You have multiple personalities, describe some of them.

First, I’m not sure how you knew that. Second, I’m a workaholic one minute and a total veg the next. That might be part of some health issues though. I have the funny guy side, then the serious the next. Yes, I’m a Gemini.

I pay attention, Ron.

ronovan-hester-and-the-fish

8/ List 5 adjectives to describe yourself?

  • Hopeful
  • Romantical (My creation of a word.)
  • Caring
  • Idealistic
  • Inquisitive

Yes! I agree with all five. I’ve come to see all of these in you and your writing.

9/ How have your physical problems affected your writing?

That’s a big one. I could make a long list of negative things, but I look to the end result being I use the time I have to write as much as I can, which at times is a lot. If I had normal health I wouldn’t have a book out right now. I see this as one of those things where God took an extreme bad thing and used it for an extreme good in my achieving getting a book published which can show others anything can happen if you work at it.

That’s a very positive and inspiring way to look at a traumatic experience in your life. I love your outlook. 

10/ How is Captain Gabriel Wallace like or unlike Captain Jack Sparrow?

The two are about as opposite as you can get. Wallace is a trained captain in the Royal Navy, member of the upper class of society, actually a member of the House of Lords, well educated, and has a certain level of morality that dictates a lot of his actions. He doesn’t mind fun and jokes but his focus is his mission and the well-being of his crew. Wallace is not really a pirate, but more a soldier at war with a given enemy.

RonovanWrites-Hester-author-interview

Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling on Amazon.com

Amber Wake; Gabriel Falling on Amazon.UK

Amber Wake; Gabriel Falling on Amazon.CA

Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling on Amazon.IN

You may connect with Ronovan through:

Amazon Author Page: Ronovan Hester

Amazon UK Author Page: Ronovan Hester

Personal Blog: RonovanWrites.WordPress.com

Author Site: RonovanHester.com

Book Review Site: LitWorldInterviews.com

Twitter: @RonovanWrites

Goodreads Author: Ronovan Hester

Facebook: Ronovan Writes

Google+: Ronovan Writes

LinkedIn: Ronovan Hester

About.me: Ronovan

Pinterest: RonovanWrites

 

Synopsis

The autumn of 1705 brings Royal Navy Captain Gabriel Wallace to face off against an enemy within the ranks of the Admiralty itself that threatens his career, his reputation, his family, and something even more far-reaching in its plot.

Court-martialed and with Admiral Chambers, the mastermind fearfully known as the Chambers of Hell, out for his destruction, Wallace finds he has allies willing to face the might of the mightiest power on earth, with some allies in the most unlikely of places. The crew of his former command, the Majesty’s Venture, mutinies from the Royal Navy. With capture by his enemies close behind, Wallace agrees to become captain once again.

With a ship at his command, Captain Gabriel Wallace sets out to fulfill his mission, the completeness of which only he knows.

Now a pirate by situation, Wallace sets out for the Colonies and the Caribbean. Will his crew remain loyal as they leave the rule of the Royal Navy behind? Will his lifelong friend, Miles Jacobs, follow Wallace blindly without knowing the whole story? Finally, will the young Lieutenant Maddox Carbonale stay under the command of Wallace or have plans to lead instead?

With these questions in his thoughts, Gabriel Wallace wages war on Chambers and goes after the largest haul in the history of the Spanish Main. Whom does Wallace meet along the way? To whom are his loyalties to: vengeance or something more powerful?

If you love tales of adventure, of the sea, of the struggles of men, and nods to history, this is your book. Read Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling and you’ll have a new appreciation for all of The Razor’s Adventures Pirate Tales.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this author Spotlight/Interview. Be sure to check out some of the links.

Enjoy the weekend!

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Fellow Bloggers Publish Book

Our friend Nato asked me a few questions for my book blog tour. Check her out. I mean the interview people! Geesh.

Chasing Life and Finding Dreams

What do you get when you mix a handsome virile sailor with the seductively beautiful wife of an admiral? You get an intense barroom brawl that ends in murder, and that’s only the first chapter! What happens in the second chapter? I can’t say. Well, not yet.

That’s because the book, Amber Wake-Gabriel Falling, just came out yesterday. The interesting thing about the book, well outside of the sex, lies and murder, is that it was written by fellow bloggers, P.S. Bartlett and Ronovan Hester.

One of my blog ideas for this year was to expand into doing interviews. And with the publishing of a new book, I knew I needed to start with Ronovan. As a fairly new blogger, I stumbled upon Ronovan’s blog in late 2014. For over 82 weeks now, he has been hosting a weekly Haiku Challenge. I can’t say I had really written many…

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Stevie Turner interviews @RonovanWrites

My first time as an Author being interviewed on a blog. 2o Questions ranging from my novel to my teaching experiences and favorite music. Click through and read all of the answers to all of the questions!

Lit World Interviews

I am pleased to feature an interview with Ronovan Writes, who has kindly invited me here to submit articles for LitWorldInterviews.  I am a self-published author, who enjoys interviewing other authors and people connected with writing.

Ronovan

As well as being an author with a debut novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling, coming out in February 2016, Ronovan also provides invaluable resources for Indie authors here on  LitWorldInterviews.com

I also admire Ronovan because, like me,  he is trying to turn a health issue into something positive.

1.  You tell me that you were born of migrant fruit pickers.  How old were you before your parents settled in one place?  Where do you call home now?

As best as I can tell, it was about the time of Kindergarten. I recall taking naps on those floor nap mats each day and swinging in swings to dangerous heights, at least they were high in my mind. Today people would see that…

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Q&A w/Cyril Bussiere of The WorldMight @cyrilbussiere

THIS IS NOT A NORMAL REBLOG!!!!!

Go visit my new site . . .

Lit World Interviews

and read . . .

 

New Questions for Cyril Bussiere of The WorldMight! New Format! None of my Rambling! You’ll enjoy!

 

Go check it out on my new litworldinterviews site and makes sure to follow Cyril on his site and Twitter.
Much Respect
Ronovan

Lit World Interviews

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“The writing is utterly descriptive and sensory oriented and it really gets you to experience what the characters are going through.”-Dan

“This book is set in a fantasy land, and Bussiere does a fantastic job at painting a scene. You instantly fall in love with the characters, and the character development is phenomenal. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy fiction.”-Alyssa from Lubbock, TX

“Spell binding. I didn’t want the book to end. In The WorldMight Cyril Bussiere weaves together a world of fantasy and the deep, complex questions of life. The characters are wonderfully and fully drawn.”-V.C.

 ~~~

I’ve known Cyril Bussiere for some time now. He’s a guy with a great sense of humor but who is way to smart at times. Sometimes you just wish he could stop thinking, but you know it’s not going to happen. Cyril did an interview with…

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Meet Amira Makansi Author of THE SOWING.

I had no idea I was making a friend that knew the writing and publishing world so well. She was and is just a friend to me. Even knowing she was the first line of contact for when an author’s submission made it to a publisher, to her eyes, and her fully equipped literary mind didn’t hit home. She’s just a friend to me, but for everyone else, I wanted to share what else she is. So without my rambling any further, meet . . .

 

Amira Makansi

Co-Author of The Sowing

A Writing InterviewAuthors Photo

 She’s the one in the middle.

(Be still my heart if I were ever in the same room with all three for an interview.)

THE SOWING - Book One of the SEEDS TRILOGYTheSeedsTrilogy.com

RW: Amira, you have a book out now, with another one closing in on completion of the process, tell us about your book, The Sowing.

 

AMIRA: The Sowing is, at its most basic, a story about two people coming to terms with each other and the world around them. In the future society of the Okarian Sector, Okariascience rules all, and the food you eat has the power to change who you are. Sector ‘Dieticians’ program certain individuals for specific roles using genetically modified seeds and chemically-altered food; some are programmed for success, others for servitude. The majority of the Sector is kept in the dark about the true extent of the manipulation taking place, but some have learned the truth and are fighting back. The Resistance, a small, underground group of guerrilla fighters, has sworn to stop the Sector’s oppression of its citizens. Remy Alexander is one such fighter; when her sister was killed in a classroom massacre, her parents fled, taking their surviving daughter underground to join the fight against the Sector. But now, Valerian Orlean, who once loved Remy and has never forgotten her, is put in charge of a military operation to hunt and destroy the Resistance. The two are set on a collision course that could bring everyone together – or tear everything apart. 

 

RW: I think I may have a few friends who would like you to write their book jackets for them. You are a co-author, who are the other authors of THE SOWING?

 

AMIRA: Two of my favorite people in the world: My mom, Kristina, and my sister, Elena. 

Authors Photo

 

 RW: I can’t imagine working on such a creative project with family and not wanting to perhaps do some type of bodily harm one another but we can get to that later. Real quick, where can my Friends purchase your book, THE SOWING?

 

AMIRA: You can get it in print or get an e-book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. (Thanks in advance!) 

 

RW: I want to focus on your writing process during our time today because we’ve discussed you coming back for an interview for when your next book is set for publication. With that being said let’s get into your writing process, and please use THE SOWING, which I have a copy of, (And no, it was not a gift.) as an example so we can see the process in real action.

First, what is your background as far as education, degrees? What brings you to the writing arena?

 

AMIRA: I have a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Chicago. UChicago is a grueling place with a strong emphasis on academia. I wrote countless papers in college, which, I think, honed my ability to write from a structural and grammatical perspective. Studying history is also where I really found my love of storytelling, and therefore, writing. History is just the assembled story of hundreds of thousands of lives, and studying history, at its most basic, is nothing more than discovering, analyzing, and retelling those stories. 

 

RW: As a Historian myself, degree thereof, bravo. (I have never actually written the word bravo before. You must try it. Fascinating.) Now we know about your background to be a writer, let’s take this step by step: how did you come up with your book idea?

 

AMIRA: It was definitely not my idea. I wish I could take credit for it, but it’s actually Kristina’s, my mom. She had a dream almost four years ago that sparked the original concept of THE SOWING. In her dream, two young adults are fighting in an abandoned city at night, on opposite sides of the battle. The girl skids to the ground and falls. The boy reaches his hand out to her. When their fingers meet, a flash of electricity pulses through the two of them – and then the dream ended. Kristy woke up and knew she had to tell the story of these two young lovers. Although the electric jolt has since been removed from the novel, this fundamental scene became the crux on which the entire first book rests: when Remy and Vale meet again for the first time in three years, on opposite sides of a battle with enormous ideological consequences. 

 

RW: So your Kristina has the idea, she brings it to you and your sister, what did you do next?

 

AMIRA: After Kristy decided she really, really wanted to write this story, she and my sister Elena sat down and drafted what ended up being that scene. Then they went back and wrote what eventually became Chapter One of THE SOWING. They showed both chapters to me, and I was really impressed. So impressed that I sat down and wrote Chapter Two, but this time, I wrote it from Vale‘s perspective, instead of Remy‘s. The dueling protagonist narrative was something we’d never seen before in a novel, but we wanted to tell both sides of the story, so we took it and ran with it. My sister and I went back and forth like that for a while – she would write several chapters from Remy’s perspective, and I’d write a few from Vale’s. We kept going that way, plotting out the next few chapters, but without a fully-conceived idea of where the book was going and how it would end. In a way, it was a stroke of good luck that the first draft came out as well – and as coherently – as it did. I think we were all a little surprised when we finished writing. We kind of looked at each other and said, “Well, now we have a book. What do we do with it?” 

 

RW: So it sounds like there really wasn’t any outlining really or even really the seat of pants writing, but as technical as THE SOWING is how did you make the book flow considering there were two writers?

 

AMIRA: We didn’t really outline in THE SOWING, although we always tried to make sure we knew what the next few chapters would be. It was kind of like driving at night – we could only see as far as our headlights, but we always knew there was more road ahead.

 

RW: And the research?

 

AMIRA: Most of the actual research we did came in draft two, when we focused on perfecting the science and making the world believable. When you’re dropping words like ‘hovercar,’ ‘airship,’ ‘DNA encryption,’ and ‘genetically modified’ on almost every page, we knew we’d have to do a fair bit of research to make the science at least feasible. I like to think we succeeded.

 

RW: How did the writing go for THE SOWING, was it smooth and just come easily for the first draft?

 

AMIRA: It was very smooth. The first draft was, in many ways, radically different from the book that we eventually published. For example, Remy had superpowers – we called it “bird vision”, and she could see in frequencies that no one else could. But we threw that baby out with the bathwater – we didn’t want to write another superhero novel, and we wanted our protagonists to be powerful because they are good, strong people, not because they have superpowers. But the first draft came very smoothly. We just went back and forth, chapter by chapter, until we came to a good stopping point and we said “I guess that’s that!” 

 

RW: You mentioned writing the book with your mother and  sister, how easy or difficult did that make the initial creation of the book?

 

AMIRA: The initial creation was so much fun! Working with Elena and Kristy was a thrill, as both of them bring unique abilities to the table. We all complement each other. For example, Kristy is very imaginative, and is really good at filling in plot holes. A lot of the times, when Elena or I were stumped about how to move forward or to make a chapter work, Kristy would come up with a really good idea and Elena and I would just be like, “Why didn’t we think of that?” Elena, by contrast, is a very emotional writer. She spins these gorgeous phrases that just knock you off your socks and make you totally empathize with the protagonist. Also, both Elena and Kristy tend to be much better at writing humor. My own writing is starker, and more serious. I’m also the one who brings the “science” to the “science fiction”. I’m not a scientist (though I do work in a laboratory!), but I do tend to be the one who makes sure everything’s correct, consistent, and yet readable for a layperson. 

 

RW: Let’s say you have your first draft done, did all of you walk away and leave on the shelf for a time like so many say to do?

 

AMIRA: Yes. We did, and I think that was enormously helpful. I recommend it to everyone who’s editing a novel. We finished writing the first draft of THE SOWING in November of 2012, and we handed it to some trusted friends and writers for a beta-read. The feedback we got was not only really encouraging, but also critical to shaping what the book eventually became. This interim period was when we came up with one of the most critical elements of THE SOWING, which was the mystery of the DNA encryption. Without giving too much away, the DNA mystery became a driving force in the first novel. We dove back into editing two months later, in January of 2013, and that was when we shaped the book into, essentially, what it is today.

 

RW: How many drafts did you do for THE SOWING?

 

AMIRA: It’s hard to say, because we did so many different stages of revisions. I would approximate that we did five major drafts. Three of those were re-writes for structural changes, and the last two were line-by-line edits for language and style. 

 

RW: Who did the editing for your book?

 

AMIRA: All three of us! And boy, was that a challenge. If writing the first draft with three people was smooth sailing, by draft three, we’d hit stormy seas. We all had very strong opinions about the book and believed passionately in the story, which meant that we were willing to fight tooth and nail to get rid of parts we thought weren’t good enough and to keep our favorite parts in. Editing with two other writers is a humbling experience. You realize that not every word you’ve written is gold, and that your opinion is by no means the right one. It was both an honor and a challenge to write with two other equally talented authors at my side. 

 

RW: Is there a favorite “darling” you had to “kill”, and can you explain to some of my Friends what it means to “kill your darlings”?

 

AMIRA: For me, killing your darlings means sacrificing parts of the story or phrases you love for the improvement of the novel as a whole. It means prioritizing the big picture over that scene you wrote one night that you absolutely love. One of my darlings was a scene I wrote early on in the story where Vale accompanies a squadron of soldiers on a ‘training’ mission to show him how to be a commander. In this chapter, Vale watched a fellow soldier die, killed by poisonous flowers planted by the Resistance, and his reaction was one of righteous anger and a desire to take revenge. At the time, I loved that scene, because I thought it helped justify Vale’s passion at the beginning of the novel, and it upped the ante on both sides of the war. But in the end, it didn’t fit in the overall narrative. We neither had space for it in the beginning, when we really needed to get to the heart of the action, nor did it make sense for Vale’s character arc. We cut it, and it was definitely the right choice. 

 

RW: How long did it take from the idea to the final in the hands of the publisher of THE SOWING take?

 

AMIRA: We really started writing in January of 2012, and we had a published book by August of 2013. So, almost exactly a year and a half. 

 

RW: Once the publisher had your book, how long did it take to make it out to the masses?

 

AMIRA: Well, our publisher was us! We self-published the novel, a choice I’m still proud of. It gave us more control over the art and the story, and it allowed us to get the story to the public much more quickly. We had a finished book in mid-July, and we published the whole thing in early August. So our turn-around time was about three weeks. For most books, the time between when your agent sells your book and the finished product actually hits bookshelves is around eighteen months to two years. So the fact that we put the book out a mere three weeks after finishing it is frankly pretty amazing. 

 

RW: What has been the most difficult part of the whole novel process from idea to actually selling your book to the masses?

 

AMIRA: People aren’t joking when they say that writing the book is the easy part. Marketing, and learning how to sell in this new, strange world of digital books and independent publishing, is one thousand times more difficult than writing. I love writing – it’s something that comes naturally to me, no matter how tired I am or how burnt out I am on a story. But marketing, selling, advertising, spreading the word – that’s the hard part. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about marketing a book on social media, it’s simple: Just be yourself. There’s a writer on Twitter I very much admire named Ksenia Anske, and for a little while, when I was new to Twitter, I tried to emulate her. I was at my most boring, then, when I was trying to be her instead of myself. My follower count started jumping (not that it’s anywhere near hers) and people started really listening to me when I decided to stop being her and to start being me instead. (It was a lot easier, too!) 

 

RW: When you had those moments of frustration, exhaustion, almost burnout, what did you do as an escape?

 

AMIRA: Whiskey. And beer. And wine. No, I’m not joking, and I’m not trying to play the ‘tortured artist’ card, either. Food, drink, and good conversation with good friends, has always been my escape during times of stress. And since my co-writers are also two of my best friends, it’s easy to find an escape in a bottle of wine and a heated debate over environmentalism or economics or whether an IPA is a better beer choice than a porter. 

 

RW: What gets you pumped to write?

 

AMIRA: Music! When I’m lacking in focus, I’ll close out all my social media tabs and turn up the music. I’ll listen to everything from classical piano to jazz to indie folk to classic rock. 

 

RW: Who is your favorite author right now?

 

AMIRA: That’s a hard question to answer. I don’t know that I’ve had a ‘favorite author’ since I was much younger. I’ve been trying to read books by a lot of different authors, instead of delving deeply into the works of only one. But I will say that the book that most recently blew my head off was INFINITE JEST by David Foster Wallace. The book is enormous, and it took me almost six months to finish, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so overwhelmed by how thoroughly a writer inhabited so many different writing styles. DFW is like a shapeshifter for writers – he transitions effortlessly between countless voices. I was astounded. 

 

RW: What book are you reading now, or the latest book you read that you really enjoyed and recommend?

 

AMIRA: Right now, I’m reading IRONWEED by William Kennedy. So far, so good. The most recent book I would recommend is THE VAMPIRE LESTAT by Anne Rice. Technically, it’s a prequel to INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, but you don’t need to have read Interview in order to understand Lestat. I didn’t expect a book that was so enormously popular and ‘hip’ to be so philosophical, or so emotional. But it was both. It really resonated with me as a story about trying desperately to make connections in a world where loneliness is so prevalent, and about trying to understand the world from an outsider’s perspective. 

 

RW: What writing resources would you recommend to my Friends, including sites, anything?

 

AMIRA: Joanna Penn’s website on publishing and writing is fantastic: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/, although to be honest, I haven’t read very many books about writing. Personally, I’ve found that the best way to learn how to write is simply to read a lot and write a lot, and that if you don’t do those two things, no amount of writing ‘advice’ is going to help. 

 

RW: What is your favorite beverage?

 

AMIRA: I’ll take a really nice Riesling or a whiskey sour, depending on my mood. Also, dry rose wine, which is chronically under-appreciated in the United States, is the perfect drink for sitting on the patio with friends and family. 

 

RW: What is your favorite munchy food while writing, and if you don’t while writing what is it anyway?

 

AMIRA: Cheese and olives. 100%. Cheese is manna from heaven, and olives are the perfect complement. 

 

RW: Would anyone be surprised if I told you she had some Greek in her? What is your favorite word and why?

 

AMIRA: Oh, but I have so many! Recently I’ve been really digging the word ‘loquacious’. It’s just so weird, and I love weird words. Look at it, how weird it is. ‘Loquacious.’ It means ‘talkative’, but I can’t help but think of lollipops and Dr. Seuss whenever I think about it. I don’t know why.

 

THE REAPING COVER 8.13

RW: And a Bonus Question: When can we expect THE REAPING, the next of the THE SEEDS TRILOGY to be out?

 

AMIRA: We are shooting for October 15.

 

I hope everyone likes the cover of THE REAPING. It was revealed Friday, and I had to sit on my hands not to let everyone see it early as I was able to get a peek at it early. I thank Amira for the trust.

 

I want to thank Amira for doing this interview. Hearing her experience from beginning to end was a learning time for me. I learned that my thoughts and ways of doing things aren’t completely off the mark, and I see how you have to keep working. Even if you had a publicity machine behind you, you still have to keep working. Even walking away from your draft doesn’t mean you aren’t working on another project, you best be.

 

Amira has agreed to come back for an Author Interview when The Reaping is released. Who knew a simple follow on Twitter would turn into a great friendship. I just wish the time zones were the same.



 

Amira didn’t ask for all the links and the like in the interview and she definitely didn’t ask for the below but I wanted you to have everything in one place. By clicking on each book cover below you can go to the Amazon.com site for each book showing. THE SOWING is in both kindel and paperback.

COVERTHE SOWING - Book One of the SEEDS TRILOGY

The Seeds Trilogy Facebook Page

TheSeedsTrilogy.com

Follow on Twitter

 

Much Respect to Y’all

Ronovan

 

2014 © Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com

Interview with-Vashti Quiroz-Vega Author of The Basement

THE BASEMENT

by Vashti Quiroz-Vega

The Basement Cover (05-14-13) 9781625105554large

 Robbie is a meek boy in New York City who struggles with the desire to prove himself to his friends, his enemies, and himself. Robbie’s father is a stubborn man determined to teach his son through tough love. When he witnesses Robbie being bullied, he forces his son to face his fears. Robbie is sentenced to a frightening challenge––staying in the basement alone for a night. But what lies in the dark recesses of the basement? Will Robbie make it out alive and well? Will the urban legend about the terrifying creatures that hide in the dark basement prove to be true? And most importantly, will Robbie prove to his friends and his father that he is brave enough to take on the challenge? The Basement is a tale of angst, teamwork and solutions, treasure hunts and adventure, and facing fears. It focuses on the small world of one group of preteens and the very real and wondrous challenges they face.

When I first approached Vashti, who I met through her blog, about an interview I wanted to learn more about the author behind The Basement. There is a contrast between the woman of who I know a little about and this amazing book’s story. I still want to learn more so we can all know her better, but in truth, I want to know about this book and how it came to be and what else this author has planned for us. I’m going to get out of the way of this interview, simply ask the questions and let you meet . . .

 

 

VASHTI QUIROZ-VEGA

207024_10150498424325724_3682847_nTwitter

Ron Cover ShotRW: Vashti Quiroz-Vega. Love the name. Tell us a little about your ancestry. I am very into history. And your name spins all sorts of imagery through the echoes of my mind.  And is there a meaning behind your name?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: My first name, Vashti, is Persian in origin and has very little to do with my ancestry, I’m afraid. Vashti is the name of a queen in the old testament of the bible in the book of Esther.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: Your book, The Basement available on Amazon,where did the idea come from?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: The Basement began as a short story I wrote in high school. I won an award for it and put it away in a box, along with a bunch of other stories. Years later, I came across it. After reading it again and with the encouragement of others, I decided to expand the short story into a novel.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: The book is about an 11-year-old boy and his troubles, how did you connect with the character?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: I have a brother and two sisters. I’m close to all my siblings, but I grew up especially close to my brother (maybe determined by the fact that I was a tomboy). The Basement is loosely based on memories I have from childhood. The main character, Robbie, was inspired by my brother and my nephew, Joshua.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: And the abuse parts?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: There has been no abuse in my household, but I did know a child growing up who was verbally and physically abused by a parent. The parent did not try to hide this from anyone. I saw and heard this child being abused on many occasions. This experience and the memory of this child have stayed with me till this day, which is why I tolerate no kind of bullying or abuse of any kind.

An ex-boyfriend once told me that I was a perfect mix of femininity and masculinity because I am feminine and very much a woman, but I am also assertive, straightforward and I love basketball, action movies, UFC and camping.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: What did it feel like writing the character of Robbie, the 11 year old boy in the book, as you had to basically become him for periods of time?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: When I wrote The Basement, I essentially became an 11-year-old boy. I felt vulnerable––like my life was not in my control. I guess I felt like a child in a scary world.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: For those reading who may not be familiar with you can you give an example of an author and perhaps a book that would give them an idea of what this book is like as far as feel and style?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: That’s a tough one. Some people have compared my storytelling to that of several other writers, including Stephen King and Anne Rice, who are two of my favorite writers and whose books I have been reading for years. So I don’t doubt that there is some of their influence in my writing, but I believe that I’m developing my own style. Not that I wouldn’t love to write as well as Stephen King and Anne Rice, but I don’t think I’m quite there yet.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: Are you a character in The Basement?MC_99732309_4

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: Let’s just say that several of the characters in The Basement have some of my personality traits.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: Tell us about your writing process. You took a short story and turned it into a full-length novel. How did you go about that?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: As I re-read the story, I added, changed and rearranged sentences, and I replaced and deleted words. I had read so many books and learned so much since writing that story in high school that expanding it was not that difficult. Even now, I feel that I have learned so much since publishing The Basement. I guess that’s how it is with writers. We are constantly reading, learning and improving. I feel that my second book, Lilith, will be much better written than my first, and my third book, Dracul, will probably be better written than my second, and so on. That doesn’t mean any of my books are badly written. It just means that as I learn and gain experience, my work will reflect that. I have noticed this when I compare Stephen King’s earlier books with the books he’s written in the last couple of years. But I have always enjoyed all of his books.

 

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: Can you walk us through how you went from complete and satisfied manuscript to now available for purchase? Many will be reading this who haven’t gone through it yet, and since you have on a number of occasions, I know I would personally like to hear it from a pro like you.

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASTHI: Wow! You flatter me, Ron. 😉 I’ve actually gone through the entire process only once with my book The Basement. The best advice I can offer anyone who has finished writing a story is to give the finished manuscript to several trusted people and ask for their honest opinions. Then after revisions (if any), hire a professional editor.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: Ah, I get the impression you have published several because of how professional everything seems. What other works do you have available and what are you working on presently?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: I have written a variety of short stories, from horror and dark fantasy to sci-fi and romance. You can check them out on my blog.

I’m in the final stages of editing my book Lilith. This is a dark fantasy about angels aimed at a young adult/ adult audience. I’m hoping to have it available in early 2015.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: Is there a lot of romance in your work or sensuality?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: There’s always a little romance because I believe that’s part of life and reality. There’s also some sensuality in my work-in-progress because that’s part of who I am, and that part of my personality comes through in the story.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: How understanding are your friends and family when the writing mania takes hold of you?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: Some are very understanding, especially other writers because they’ve been there. Others––not so much.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: What would be your ideal agent be like to sign with?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: I would love an agent who truly enjoys my story. The editor that’s working with me on my second book ‘Lilith’ truly loves the book. It is obvious by her enthusiasm, the comments she’s made and the questions that she’s asked me. It makes a difference when the agent loves the genre and story. Also, an agent that is hardworking and self motivated is great. One that will stop at nothing to get you the best deal possible for your book. I would love to get into one of the big publishing houses.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: Now for a few fun and trivial questions. What’s your go to beverage while writing?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: Water. I know you’re thinking, “boring,” but I prefer to be sharp and focused when I write. Being well-hydrated does that for me. I don’t drink much coffee, beer makes me bloat like a blowfish, wine puts me to sleep, margaritas and rum are fun, but put me in the wrong frame of mind, and I get distracted easily. So while I’m writing, it’s water for me.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: What is your escape from writing when you need that break before burnout happens?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: Reading, cooking, baking, hiking, kayaking, getting together with family and friends, watching one of my favorite shows on TV (Criminal Minds, Law and Order, Castle, Modern Family . . .) or going to the cinema, playing with my dog, and other things I shouldn’t mention––not necessarily in that order.

 

Ron Cover ShotRW: And finally, as a writer, what is your favorite word and why?

 

Vashti's Web PhotoVASHTI: Wow! There are several words I love, but the first word that comes to mind is “Dulcet.” Why? Because it’s a beautiful word, I enjoy pronouncing it and writing it down. Meaning: 1: sweet to the taste 2: pleasing to the ear 3: generally pleasing or agreeable.

Thank you, Ronovan, for inviting me as a guest author to your awesome blog. I appreciate you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want to thank Vashti for taking the time to answer a few questions for us. And I hope she comes back when her next book is due out.

Her various contact information appeared in some links throughout the interview but I am putting them all here together so you can follow her everywhere. Also here are some some fan art of her and one of her characters from The Basement, Natasha. Don’t worry, she won’t mind, I already do and if she will let me follower her she’ll let you too. And we are all about supporting each other here, right?

 

ScaredGirlFinal FanArt
Fan Art of ‘Natasha’ from The Basement.
Vashti5
Fan Art of Vashti

Website

Author Site

The Basement Fan Site

Goodreads

Twitter

Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2014 © Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com

Interview with Cyril Bussiere Author of The WorldMight

Book Description

“It is the end of fall in the kingdom of Alymphia. Princess Aria and Prince Hob are readying themselves for yet another Fall Passing Festival. But unbeknownst to them, change is coming to the kingdom. Change brought on by dark forces and events that occurred generations prior. And those changes will unfold over their lives like a flood that nothing can stop.

In another place and another time, a mysterious prince walks the world, trusted steel at his belt and a mystical stone imbued with magic at his neck. He is looking for a word that has never been said; a word that would save his love from the grip of an ancient beast.

The WorldMight is a fantasy imbued with romance and mysticism. It is a classic tale of love truer than time, a spiritual journey in a world heavy with secrets and magic. Despite spanning generations and more, it is also a very personal story of devotion, jealousy, and redemption.”

Interview with Cyril Bussiere Author of The WorldMight

 

One of the very talented people I have come to know since starting up this site is Cyril Bussiere a Poet, Musician, Intellectual, and Author of The WorldMight, all of which I am jealous of. Renaissance man perhaps? We’ll go with that. Oh, and did I happen to mention Photographer as one of his gifts as well?

 

Yes, I hate on him sometimes, because he’s just so good at everything. It doesn’t help that he is also French and so does that cool French accent thing. If I didn’t like the guy so much I might just throw myself under a bus, but then I would miss out on what next creation he came up with.

 

I asked Cyril if he would be willing to do an interview and he kindly and generously said yes. I won’t waste much more of your time now. I’m just glad this isn’t in sound so I don’t have to hear the cool accent compared with my slow Southern accent, y’all.

 

Meet Cyril Bussiere

cyril.bussiere
© Copyright-All rights reserved-Cyril Bussiere

 

RW: Okay, Cyril, first thing first, where do we get a copy of your book, The WorldMight?

 

CYRIL: At this moment it’s available at Amazon for Kindle.

 

RW: Now that everyone has left the interview to buy your book I will ask a few questions. You were born and raised in France (yes he speaks French-for real, I was not just saying that earlier) and then came to the United States to continue your University studies, why? Why Utah and then Texas?  Those are three very different environments I would think.

 

 

CYRIL: This is a good question and worthy of a long answer. Right after high school I joined the University of Medicine in my home town.

The WorldMight Cover
© Copyright-All rights reserved-Cyril Bussiere

During Christmas that year I read On the Heights of Despair by Emile Cioran and it sent me into a rather deep spiritual and existential crisis in the light of which life, let alone school, became irrelevant.

 

RW: I think we all get like that sometimes. But you came out of it, obviously.

 

 

CYRIL: After a few difficult months, I gathered the tools to fend off the dark doubts and uncertainties that plagued me. My mother nonetheless decided a change of scenery was in order for me. One of my best friends from high school was already studying in upstate NY and so at the end of that year I joined him and enrolled in the small community college there.

 

RW: That is seriously a loving Mom there. But that is New York, where does the Utah stop come in?

 

CYRIL: What was supposed to be a one year stay turned into more. I transferred to Alabama where I attended the University of South Alabama in Mobile, a proper university but still not too expensive -my family was already making great financial sacrifices for me to be in the US, (it’s crazy expensive here compared to France where it’s almost free -Med school was $300 a year.)

A year later, it was decided that if I was to graduate, it might as well be from as good a school as possible. That’s when I moved to Salk Lake City, Utah, where I finished my B.S. in Biology at the University of Utah. After that I worked for a year at UC Davis as a lab tech (my old lab from U of U had moved there right before I graduated).

In the meantime, I applied to grad school, mostly randomly, to places that had good funding for research. At the end of my year in California, I took a 4 months break and traveled South East Asia solo. I was in Bangkok when I got the news that I was accepted at UT Austin. I spent the next seven years there, getting my Ph.D. in microbiology.

So to sum it up, it was mostly through chance that got me where I am. I knew almost nothing about all the places I moved to throughout the years and it’s all been great.

 

RW: I’ll have to talk to you about South East Asia another time. That must have been amazing. But for not in regards to your writing, coming from more of a biological/medical background to now writing novels, are there medical aspects in your work, your literary creations?

 

CYRIL: Not at all. My research was not medical, it was more basic science, how-does-this-work type of stuff. Although I’ve done a lot of scientific writing in my time, science has not influenced my creative writing. I do have a few ideas for potential novels that involve scientific aspects, but that’s in the ‘if and maybe’ realm.

 

RW: Your parents were obviously great encouragers and supporters in your education, did they encourage your writing as well or perhaps a teacher saw something? Where does the writing influence come from?

 

CYRIL: I’m not sure where it comes from. As far as I can remember I always wrote, though mostly short form and poetry. My parents always read a lot and I guess they passed it on to me, and that in turn inspired me to write. I think it comes down to a need for creative expression.

 

Cyril Bussiere

RW: How would you describe your style of writing? You write poetry and have most of your writing life, now you write a novel, how different and challenging did you find it?

 

CYRIL: My writing can change drastically from day to day, and that makes it difficult to assign it a style. For example my first novel, The WorldMight is a very poetic work, while the book I’m currently working on has a very crude and raw style.

Going from poetry to novel was a daunting prospect I had shied away from all my life. The WorldMight was not planned as a novel. Initially, it just wrote the prologue one morning, it came to be on its own, and could have been just a longish fiction blog post. It came from a ‘free his love’ idea that I had almost two years prior and mostly everything else in these paragraphs was improvised. Somehow I kept on writing after it, and everything I created past that point, the world, its magical rules and the overarching plot flowed from these first words and ideas.

RW: With the ‘daunting prospect’ and the ‘plot flowed’ comments being a bit at odds, how long did it take you to finish The WorldMight? I know the idea was probably daunting but apparently you flowed well once starting.

 

CYRIL: It took about 14 months to write the first draft. A couple of months after I finished it, my wife and I took a nine months break to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail and do volunteer work in Nepal, so I didn’t touch it during that time. When we got back home at the end of last year, I got started on the editing process and that took another four months.

 

blur-logo
© Copyright-All rights reserved-Cyril Bussiere

RW: That is great to know. A lot of the ‘experts’ say you need to walk away from your manuscript for a period of time to then come back to it fresh.

You mentioned a new project that is very different form The WorldMight. What is it that you are working on now and when can we expect it in our hands?

 

CYRIL: Right now, I am working on a novel, BLUR. The story takes place in Austin, TX, and follows Barrett, a scientist and wannabe writer, and, Pete, the protagonist of Barrett’s first novel. In it I explore love, lust, and the effect childhood experiences have on intimate relationships. It’s a raw, sometimes graphic work, that’s very different from my first novel. I’m six chapters short of being done, so I hope to have it out by beginning 2015.

 

RW: Very different idea from The WorldMight. But I’ve read some on your site, especially the short story series you have going called Vamp, which I have to say is very unique take on the Vampire idea, so I know there is a different side of your writing and that you like to break out and expose your different ideas.

Now, Cyril, You wrote a novel for 14 months, what did you learn about yourself while writing The WorldMight?

 

CYRIL: First thing would be that I can write a novel. That was not something I was sure of until the epilogue was finished.

Second, that I don’t have much control over the writing process. It happens more than I make it happen. It’s both engrossing when it flows and utterly frustrating when it doesn’t.

Third, that I pour a lot of who I am in my characters. They might be very different from me, but there’s always a crucial aspect about them that is a reflection of an aspect of my own persona. Sometimes, I don’t see it right away and it’s only on the umpteenth reread that it jumps at me, but it’s always there.

 

 

RW: I share the same opinion. No matter how much you want to go in one direction it just goes where it wants to. Now, what did you learn about the writing  while working on The WorldMight?

 

CYRIL: That it’s hard. It’s like the blank page is my foe and we’re doing some kind of dance of seduction of the to-the-death kind and half the time I win and she bends to my will, and the rest of the time, I try and try but end up deleting hours of bad writing.

But in the end, you just have to keep on going at it, keep the floodgates open, until something decent comes out. I find that often the good stuff is inspired by the crap that came before it.

 

 

Cyril Bussiere playing guitar
© Copyright-All rights reserved-Cyril Bussiere

RW: Ah, when the floodgates don’t open what is your escape from writing when you are waiting for them to open again?

 

CYRIL: Something mindless. Right now I’m getting back into classical guitar after a five year hiatus, so I do a lot of that. I’m also involved with Big Brother Big Sister and my little lent me Grand Theft Auto V so I’m playing that too.

 

RW: Obviously the floodgates opened, you revised,  what was the most challenging part of getting your book to the public?

 

CYRIL: The editing process was tough, especially cutting down 10% of it. It took me a while to come to term with the fact that I just had to, that great phrases that bog down the flow of a paragraph have to be axed without remorse, however beautiful they might be.

 

RW: What advice would you give a first time novelist venturing into publishing a book?

 

CYRIL: If in the writing stages, just do it. The confidence you’ll get from having written a book, whatever the quality, is utterly satisfying.

If you have written the book, do your research and figure out who your public is, how to reach it and what your options are.

 

RW: For me when I write I find lighting in my room influences how I write. You write songs, do you listen to certain kinds of music to help you write various scenes?

 

CYRIL: I don’t usually listen to music while I write. I find it distracts more than anything else. However, I do listen in my head to the sounds and music, if there is some playing, of the scene. It helps me soak up the atmosphere of the moment and write the character’s reactions more naturally in the given context.

Cyril Review

RW: Writing does take time away from other aspects of life. What did your wife think of the time you had to spend writing The WorldMight?

 

CYRIL: I’m a morning person and my wife is not. I wrote in the mornings, 5-7am, while she was still asleep, so it didn’t really impact her.

 

RW: That works out great. Finally, what is your go to beverage while writing?

 

CYRIL: A light beer like a Shiner or a Blue Moon. But they don’t last long.

 

RW: I know you are currently unsigned by a literary agency, if you could hand pick one what qualities in an agent would you want?

 

CYRIL: Since I enjoy writing in various styles and in different genres, flexibility would be important in an agent.  Also, given my attachment to well written sentences, one who is ruthless when it comes to editing would be a definite plus. And of course someone who would know how to get my work in the right hands both publisher-wise and to reader-wise.

 

I thank Cyril for agreeing to this interview. I must say he really agreed to help me out by doing so. My Friends here at RonovanWrites deserve to see the inside workings of getting to a goal and that real people write their dreams into reality.

 

If you are a fan of Cyril’s poetry then you MUST get this book. Just read the reviews at Amazon and the excerpts as well and you will see mention of his poetic style.

 

I ask everyone to make sure to visit Cyril at his site, cyrilbussiere.wordpress.com . You can also reach him by email at cyril.buissiere@gmail.com and of course as the whole of the world has a Twitter account, you can find Cyril there as well at @cyrilbussiere. Of course he and I are Twitter friends, and I also Follow his blog, so I’m not asking you to do anything that I don’t.

 

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com

Alysha Kaye Author of The Waiting Room Interview.

Alysha Kaye Blog Tour

Book Description

“Jude and Nina are the epitome of that whole raw, unflinching love thing that most people are jealous of. That is, until Jude dies and wakes up in The Waiting Room, surrounded by other souls who are all waiting to pass over into their next life. But unlike those souls, Jude’s name is never called by the mysterious “receptionist”. He waits, watching Nina out of giant windows. He’s waiting for her. What is this place? How long will he wait? And what will happen when and if Nina does join him? The Waiting Room is a story of not just love, but of faith, predestination, and philosophy, friendship and self-actualization, of waiting.”

 

Alysha Kaye Author of The Waiting Room Interview

 

Today I’m spotlighting newly published author Alysha Kaye. Her debut novel The Waiting Room was just released at the end of June and we are fortunate to be a part of her tour.

Alysha Kaye Author The Waiting Room

I immediately wanted to be involved with this tour when I saw not only the premise of Alysha’s novel but also the fact that she’s a teacher. This old man holds a fondness for the noble profession.

Alysha received her BA in Creative Writing from Texas State University and was accepted into Teach America ending up in of all places, Oahu, HI. I am still recovering from that piece of information.

But even Hawaii, where she received her Masters in Education from the University of Hawaii couldn’t keep her from the her home state where she now teaches 7th Grade in Austin.

 

 

Now for the interview!

Having read the summary of The Waiting Room, I just had to start off by asking;

RW: Where did the idea for the book come from? Was it some event or what that sparked the idea?

 

ALYSHA: I had a dream about waiting for my boyfriend after death. I was in a strange room that looked a lot like an airport terminal. I wound up writing him a (very cheesy) poem about it and somehow, that became an entire Cover of THE WAITING ROOM by Alysha Kayenovel! I just couldn’t get it out of my head.

 

RW: Alysha, I know from having been in the classroom that free time is rare, even at home. Many people don’t realize the time you have to put into teaching, unless you have a very good system in place. How do you balance teaching and writing, managing the other aspects of your life?

 

ALYSHA: It’s extremely hard! Teaching is exhausting, especially my lovely middle schoolers haha but I adore them. I try to get all of my lesson planning and grading done at school so that when I come home, my night is free for writing/blogging, and everything else in between.

 

RW:  I know from reading what I’ve written things surprise me in what I learn. What did you learn about yourself while writing this book?

Continue reading

Interview with Cyril Bussiere Author of The WorldMight

Book Description

“It is the end of fall in the kingdom of Alymphia. Princess Aria and Prince Hob are readying themselves for yet another Fall Passing Festival. But unbeknownst to them, change is coming to the kingdom. Change brought on by dark forces and events that occurred generations prior. And those changes will unfold over their lives like a flood that nothing can stop.

In another place and another time, a mysterious prince walks the world, trusted steel at his belt and a mystical stone imbued with magic at his neck. He is looking for a word that has never been said; a word that would save his love from the grip of an ancient beast.

The WorldMight is a fantasy imbued with romance and mysticism. It is a classic tale of love truer than time, a spiritual journey in a world heavy with secrets and magic. Despite spanning generations and more, it is also a very personal story of devotion, jealousy, and redemption.”

Interview with Cyril Bussiere Author of The WorldMight

 

One of the very talented people I have come to know since starting up this site is Cyril Bussiere a Poet, Musician, Intellectual, and Author of The WorldMight, all of which I am jealous of. Renaissance man perhaps? We’ll go with that. Oh, and did I happen to mention Photographer as one of his gifts as well?

 

Yes, I hate on him sometimes, because he’s just so good at everything. It doesn’t help that he is also French and so does that cool French accent thing. If I didn’t like the guy so much I might just throw myself under a bus, but then I would miss out on what next creation he came up with.

 

I asked Cyril if he would be willing to do an interview and he kindly and generously said yes. I won’t waste much more of your time now. I’m just glad this isn’t in sound so I don’t have to hear the cool accent compared with my slow Southern accent, y’all.

 

Meet Cyril Bussiere

cyril.bussiere
© Copyright-All rights reserved-Cyril Bussiere

 

RW: Okay, Cyril, first thing first, where do we get a copy of your book, The WorldMight?

 

CYRIL: At this moment it’s available at Amazon for Kindle.

 

RW: Now that everyone has left the interview to buy your book I will ask a few questions. You were born and raised in France (yes he speaks French-for real, I was not just saying that earlier) and then came to the United States to continue your University studies, why? Why Utah and then Texas?  Those are three very different environments I would think.

 

 

CYRIL: This is a good question and worthy of a long answer. Right after high school I joined the University of Medicine in my home town.

The WorldMight Cover
© Copyright-All rights reserved-Cyril Bussiere

During Christmas that year I read On the Heights of Despair by Emile Cioran and it sent me into a rather deep spiritual and existential crisis in the light of which life, let alone school, became irrelevant.

 

RW: I think we all get like that sometimes. But you came out of it, obviously.

 

 

CYRIL: After a few difficult months, I gathered the tools to fend off the dark doubts and uncertainties that plagued me. My mother nonetheless decided a change of scenery was in order for me. One of my best friends from high school was already studying in upstate NY and so at the end of that year I joined him and enrolled in the small community college there.

 

RW: That is seriously a loving Mom there. But that is New York, where does the Utah stop come in?

 

CYRIL: What was supposed to be a one year stay turned into more. I transferred to Alabama where I attended the University of South Alabama in Mobile, a proper university but still not too expensive -my family was already making great financial sacrifices for me to be in the US, (it’s crazy expensive here compared to France where it’s almost free -Med school was $300 a year.)

A year later, it was decided that if I was to graduate, it might as well be from as good a school as possible. That’s when I moved to Salk Lake City, Utah, where I finished my B.S. in Biology at the University of Utah. After that I worked for a year at UC Davis as a lab tech (my old lab from U of U had moved there right before I graduated).

In the meantime, I applied to grad school, mostly randomly, to places that had good funding for research. At the end of my year in California, I took a 4 months break and traveled South East Asia solo. I was in Bangkok when I got the news that I was accepted at UT Austin. I spent the next seven years there, getting my Ph.D. in microbiology.

So to sum it up, it was mostly through chance that got me where I am. I knew almost nothing about all the places I moved to throughout the years and it’s all been great.

 

RW: I’ll have to talk to you about South East Asia another time. That must have been amazing. But for not in regards to your writing, coming from more of a biological/medical background to now writing novels, are there medical aspects in your work, your literary creations?

 

CYRIL: Not at all. My research was not medical, it was more basic science, how-does-this-work type of stuff. Although I’ve done a lot of scientific writing in my time, science has not influenced my creative writing. I do have a few ideas for potential novels that involve scientific aspects, but that’s in the ‘if and maybe’ realm.

 

RW: Your parents were obviously great encouragers and supporters in your education, did they encourage your writing as well or perhaps a teacher saw something? Where does the writing influence come from?

 

CYRIL: I’m not sure where it comes from. As far as I can remember I always wrote, though mostly short form and poetry. My parents always read a lot and I guess they passed it on to me, and that in turn inspired me to write. I think it comes down to a need for creative expression.

 

Cyril Bussiere

RW: How would you describe your style of writing? You write poetry and have most of your writing life, now you write a novel, how different and challenging did you find it?

 

CYRIL: My writing can change drastically from day to day, and that makes it difficult to assign it a style. For example my first novel, The WorldMight is a very poetic work, while the book I’m currently working on has a very crude and raw style.

Going from poetry to novel was a daunting prospect I had shied away from all my life. The WorldMight was not planned as a novel. Initially, it just wrote the prologue one morning, it came to be on its own, and could have been just a longish fiction blog post. It came from a ‘free his love’ idea that I had almost two years prior and mostly everything else in these paragraphs was improvised. Somehow I kept on writing after it, and everything I created past that point, the world, its magical rules and the overarching plot flowed from these first words and ideas.

RW: With the ‘daunting prospect’ and the ‘plot flowed’ comments being a bit at odds, how long did it take you to finish The WorldMight? I know the idea was probably daunting but apparently you flowed well once starting.

 

CYRIL: It took about 14 months to write the first draft. A couple of months after I finished it, my wife and I took a nine months break to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail and do volunteer work in Nepal, so I didn’t touch it during that time. When we got back home at the end of last year, I got started on the editing process and that took another four months.

 

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© Copyright-All rights reserved-Cyril Bussiere

RW: That is great to know. A lot of the ‘experts’ say you need to walk away from your manuscript for a period of time to then come back to it fresh.

You mentioned a new project that is very different form The WorldMight. What is it that you are working on now and when can we expect it in our hands?

 

CYRIL: Right now, I am working on a novel, BLUR. The story takes place in Austin, TX, and follows Barrett, a scientist and wannabe writer, and, Pete, the protagonist of Barrett’s first novel. In it I explore love, lust, and the effect childhood experiences have on intimate relationships. It’s a raw, sometimes graphic work, that’s very different from my first novel. I’m six chapters short of being done, so I hope to have it out by beginning 2015.

 

RW: Very different idea from The WorldMight. But I’ve read some on your site, especially the short story series you have going called Vamp, which I have to say is very unique take on the Vampire idea, so I know there is a different side of your writing and that you like to break out and expose your different ideas.

Now, Cyril, You wrote a novel for 14 months, what did you learn about yourself while writing The WorldMight?

 

CYRIL: First thing would be that I can write a novel. That was not something I was sure of until the epilogue was finished.

Second, that I don’t have much control over the writing process. It happens more than I make it happen. It’s both engrossing when it flows and utterly frustrating when it doesn’t.

Third, that I pour a lot of who I am in my characters. They might be very different from me, but there’s always a crucial aspect about them that is a reflection of an aspect of my own persona. Sometimes, I don’t see it right away and it’s only on the umpteenth reread that it jumps at me, but it’s always there.

 

 

RW: I share the same opinion. No matter how much you want to go in one direction it just goes where it wants to. Now, what did you learn about the writing  while working on The WorldMight?

 

CYRIL: That it’s hard. It’s like the blank page is my foe and we’re doing some kind of dance of seduction of the to-the-death kind and half the time I win and she bends to my will, and the rest of the time, I try and try but end up deleting hours of bad writing.

But in the end, you just have to keep on going at it, keep the floodgates open, until something decent comes out. I find that often the good stuff is inspired by the crap that came before it.

 

 

Cyril Bussiere playing guitar
© Copyright-All rights reserved-Cyril Bussiere

RW: Ah, when the floodgates don’t open what is your escape from writing when you are waiting for them to open again?

 

CYRIL: Something mindless. Right now I’m getting back into classical guitar after a five year hiatus, so I do a lot of that. I’m also involved with Big Brother Big Sister and my little lent me Grand Theft Auto V so I’m playing that too.

 

RW: Obviously the floodgates opened, you revised,  what was the most challenging part of getting your book to the public?

 

CYRIL: The editing process was tough, especially cutting down 10% of it. It took me a while to come to term with the fact that I just had to, that great phrases that bog down the flow of a paragraph have to be axed without remorse, however beautiful they might be.

 

RW: What advice would you give a first time novelist venturing into publishing a book?

 

CYRIL: If in the writing stages, just do it. The confidence you’ll get from having written a book, whatever the quality, is utterly satisfying.

If you have written the book, do your research and figure out who your public is, how to reach it and what your options are.

 

RW: For me when I write I find lighting in my room influences how I write. You write songs, do you listen to certain kinds of music to help you write various scenes?

 

CYRIL: I don’t usually listen to music while I write. I find it distracts more than anything else. However, I do listen in my head to the sounds and music, if there is some playing, of the scene. It helps me soak up the atmosphere of the moment and write the character’s reactions more naturally in the given context.

Cyril Review

RW: Writing does take time away from other aspects of life. What did your wife think of the time you had to spend writing The WorldMight?

 

CYRIL: I’m a morning person and my wife is not. I wrote in the mornings, 5-7am, while she was still asleep, so it didn’t really impact her.

 

RW: That works out great. Finally, what is your go to beverage while writing?

 

CYRIL: A light beer like a Shiner or a Blue Moon. But they don’t last long.

 

RW: I know you are currently unsigned by a literary agency, if you could hand pick one what qualities in an agent would you want?

 

CYRIL: Since I enjoy writing in various styles and in different genres, flexibility would be important in an agent.  Also, given my attachment to well written sentences, one who is ruthless when it comes to editing would be a definite plus. And of course someone who would know how to get my work in the right hands both publisher-wise and to reader-wise.

 

I thank Cyril for agreeing to this interview. I must say he really agreed to help me out by doing so. My Friends here at RonovanWrites deserve to see the inside workings of getting to a goal and that real people write their dreams into reality.

 

If you are a fan of Cyril’s poetry then you MUST get this book. Just read the reviews at Amazon and the excerpts as well and you will see mention of his poetic style.

 

I ask everyone to make sure to visit Cyril at his site, cyrilbussiere.wordpress.com . You can also reach him by email at cyril.buissiere@gmail.com and of course as the whole of the world has a Twitter account, you can find Cyril there as well at @cyrilbussiere. Of course he and I are Twitter friends, and I also Follow his blog, so I’m not asking you to do anything that I don’t.

 

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com

Monday! Interview with Cyril Bussiere Author of The WorldMight

“A real adventure, epic and fantasy melt with some romance …
you wish Alymphia and all its characters to exist, the prince and his quest of love and truth
the writer does play with philosophical themes beautifully
I really recommend the book !”-Review at Amazon

When: Monday July 14, 2014

 

Where: RonovanWrites

 

What: Interview with Cyril Bussiere Author of The WorldMight

 

cyril.bussiere
© Copyright-All rights reserved-Cyril Bussiere

Why: Not because it’s Bastille Day although he’s French

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com.

 

Alysha Kaye author of The Waiting Room interview is tomorrow. Don’t miss it!

Alysha Kaye author of The Waiting Room interview is tomorrow.

Don’t miss it!

That’s right, we’re part of her Blog Book Tour!

 

Alysha Kaye Author The Waiting Room

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com.

Hunger No More! Author Amira Makansi-The Seeds Trilogy-A New Kind of Hero

Mira Makansi Author

Katniss Who? That’s what every new somewhat dystopian YA book with a heroine likes to say, “We’re going to make you forget Katniss.” The main character of Remy Alexander in The Sowing is not your typical stereotype. She is much different, and that’s only part of what is intriguing about the story. There are other concepts you can read on The Professional Project Site. They do a better job of explaining it than I could. I write about writing. You know, those who can do, those who can’t teach or write about it. Well I’m a former teacher who writes about writing.

A blurb? Comparing Hunger Games and The Seeds Trilogy is like comparing a Jackson Pollock painting and a Van Gogh. Both are visually appealing and entertaining but one gives you something not quite as real as the other.

 

The Who: Amira Makansi

The Personal Blog: The Z-Axis

The Professional Project Site: The Seeds Trilogy with the publication of the first book The Sowing: The Resistance Has Begun.

 

I recently spoke with Amira Makanski, the middle 1/3 of the Mother and Daughters creative team behind The Sowing: The Resistance Has Begun, Book One of the The Seeds Trilogy, and was much impressed with her passion for what she does and her being real. I could tell right away that her book is as half as full of spirit as she is then it will become a standard of measurement. She’s a very open and engaging person and the experience was entertaining, a pleasure and informative. I learned about her book The Sowing available to purchase in print and e-book.

 

Her story has personal characteristics and concerns that a true writer cannot but help but put into their creation. This isn’t just a fantasy for her, it is a heart felt, and well thought out world she has created. And she didn’t do it alone. Her co-authors and creators are:

 

Elena Makansi at her personal blog Citizen Fiddlehead

 

Kristina Makansi of Blank Slate Press and Tree House Author Services

 

I won’t go into details about the book, I leave that to you to visit their the official site which does a great job of explaining the YA and NA mix of adventure/science fiction/romance and overall inner/outer life struggles/turmoil of its main characters. The site gives a great overview of the story, the background, and even has character profiles and discussions about the world’s technology and shows some of the artwork with the characters.

I will say the world in some ways is almost a possibility which makes it even more of a must read.

There are twists on characters that will appeal to you, I even identify heavily with one of them. No character is one dimensional it seems. In a way it keeps you wondering what the person might do next in a given situation.

 

The heroine is not the typical cookie cutter versions of recent years and after reading the biographies of the authors you will understand why.

 

The only thing I would change about this project would be to have my name on it instead of theirs.

 

This was not an interview or review but simply someone impressed by a creator and creation and wishing to share it with other creators and potential readers. It’s out right now and the sequel is out this fall. Read it now so you aren’t behind.

Visit the site. You’ll enjoy the tour and enjoy the author bios.