Book Title:"Hushed"
Author:Kelley York
Published By:Entangled Publishing
Age Recommended:17 +
Reviewed By:Kitty Bullard
Raven Rating:5

Review:EXPLOSIVE! From beginning to end is likely the only way to describe this book. When Archer decides to always protect his best friend Vivian while harboring a crush on her, how far is he willing to go? What happens when another is introduced into this toxic relationship and begins to change the other's mind? What happens when love becomes real and infatuation is realized? What happens when there's murder involved?

Archer and Vivian have been best friends since grade school, he's always been there for her through everything, all the ups and downs of bad relationships and even when she needed him most... when her life depended on it. He's done things... bad things, things he can't take back, all for her. When Evan comes into the picture, Archer finds himself questioning his toxic relationship with Vivian and begins to realize that things are not what they seem.

This story is amazingly written and superb in the dramatic sense! Kelley York is definitely a writer to watch out for she so vividly portrays the emotions of young college students and knows how to dig in deep and wrench every breath from you. I was on edge the entire time reading this book never knowing what path I was destined to travel down next. It was as if I became the innocent bystander the one watching in the shadows as it all unfolded and I was TERRIFIED! You have to read this book, it has all elements of everything you'd want in a good drama and thriller with a little romance thrown in for good measure. I love the fact that Kelley didn't carry the romance overboard and allowed her base story to shine through without this book becoming just another love story. BRILLIANT! I will be watching for more to come from this phenomenal author!

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ONE DAY THROW DOWN!

SALE WITHIN A SALE-PAUL D. BRAZILL’S “BRIT GRIT TOO -MONDAY- AND MONDAY ONLY -$.99, PLUS THE BUY ONE GET ONE FREE IS STILL IN FORCE!!

Amazon Kindle Best-Selling and trailblazing author Paul D. Brazill has decided to drop the price of his legendary “Brit Grit Too” to $.99 for one day, Monday, January 16, 2012. If you purchase “Brit Grit Too” Trestle Press will match that with any title up to the full purchase price of $4.99 as part of the BOGO sale.

Just email Paul D. Brazill or find him at his legendary blog-http://pdbrazill.blogspot.com/

Or email Trestle Press directly with your proof of [email protected]

This is what you will find contained within “Brit Grit Too”:

Edited by Paul D Brazill, Brit Grit Too collects 32 of Britain's best up and coming crime fiction writers to aid the charity Children 1sthttp://www.children1st.org.uk/

The BRIT GRIT mob is coming to kick down your door with hobnailed boots. Kitchen-sink noir; petty-thief-louts; lives of quiet desperation; sharp, blood-stained slices of life; booze-sodden brawls from the bottom of the barrel and comedy that’s as black as it’s bitter—this isBRIT GRIT

Table of Contents.

1. Two Fingers Of Noir by Alan Griffiths
2. Looking For Jamie by Iain Rowan
3. Stones In Me Pocket by Nigel Bird
4. The Catch And The Fall by Luke Block
5. A Long Time Coming by Paul Grzegorzek
6. Loose Ends by Gary Dobb
7. Graduation Day by Malcolm Holt
8. Cry Baby by Victoria Watson
9. The Savage World Of Men by Richard Godwin
10. Hard Boiled Poem (a mystery) by Alan Savage
11. A Dirty Job by Sue Harding
12. Squaring The Circle by Nick Quantrill
13. The Best Days Of My Life by Steven Porter
14. Hanging Stan by Jason Michel
15. The Wrong Place To Die by Nick Triplow
16. Coffin Boy by Nick Mott
17. Meat Is Murder by Colin Graham
18. Adult Education by Graham Smith
19. A Public Service by Col Bury
20. Hero by Pete Sortwell
21. Snapshots by Paul D Brazill
22. Smoked by Luca Veste
23. Geraldine by Andy Rivers
24. A Minimum Of Reason by Nick Boldock
25. Dope On A Rope by Darren Sant
26. A Speck Of Dust by David Barber
27. Hard Times by Ian Ayris
28. Never Ending by Fiona Johnson
29. Faces by Frank Duffy
30. The Plebitarian by Danny Hogan
31. King Edward by Gerard Brennan
32. Brit Grit by Charlie Wade

Spinetingler Award nominee Paul D Brazill has had stories in loads of classy print and electronic magazines and anthologies, such as A Twist Of Noir, Beat To A Pulp, Crime Factory, Dark Valentine, Deadly Treats, Dirty Noir, Needle, Powder Burn Flash, Thrillers, Killers n Chillers, Noir Nation, Pulp Ink, Pulp Pusher, Radgepacket Volumes Four and Five, Shotgun Honey& The Mammoth Book Of Best British Crime Volume 8.

He writes for Pulp Metal Magazine and Mean Streets.His blog, You Would Say That, Wouldn't You?
is here:http://pdbrazill.blogspot.com/

He is the creator of the horror/noir series, Drunk on the Moon, published by Trestle Press.

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INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR OF "NO RULES OF ENGAGEMENT"
THOMAS WILSON

Thank you so much Thomas for the opportunity to interview you.

My first question has to do with what I read on Goodreads about you. You made a comment that you should have been an engineer instead of a writer but you will still be able to bring your futuristic inventions to life in your stories. What if you were to write a story with one of those inventions in it and then were approached by someone to actually design it. Would you do it?

Before becoming an author I would have said "Hell Yes!", but now I know I have truly found my calling and God's special Gift for my life, I would say no. I might help advise the design team on the side through e-mails or phone conversations but not for pay. I don't want to work that hard. I am in the corporate world now in my day job. I am Operations Manager of a large company and only two people down from the owner of the company.

As a writer I work for myself. Because it is a true passion of love, my imagination unleashed on the world, and my stories I have found it has transformed my life. Spiritually, Health of my body and mind have improved, I am Happy almost all of the time, because I am doing what I enjoy. The shame is somebody will read my books and years from now actually develop one of my ideas and it will be years after the fact that the profits and benefits are realized. In my first two books I don't actually have any of my invention ideas! So please don't read my first two books and think, OMG this guy knows how to build a time machine! I do not have a clue how to actually travel through time.

Much later in other books I will write, some of my better ideas will be revealed that are actually feasible, do able and potentials for huge profits, by somebody else someday in the future. I did meet with a University about one of my ideas years ago and they got really excited about it and volunteered to help develop the idea up to their entire budget, they only needed me to secure money for the rest of the development. They asked me if I had anything smaller I was working on, unfortunately that was the smallest cheapest project in my crazy arsenal of ideas.

My Future will consist of writing books until I die. It is something I can do well past retirement age so baring getting Alzheimer's and losing my mind I will keep writing.

Tell us about your stories, especially "No Rules of Engagement" how did you come up with the idea for this novel?

No Rules Of Engagement, grew as a story over ten years of thinking about a couple of premises.

a.) One of my favorite books is "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. As a person who is obsessed with history, especially military history, two things about Ender's Game have always bothered me. One is that Mr. Card was never in the service and just doesn't have the feeling of the military in his stories. I am a veteran of the U.S. Army, ex-Tank crewman. Secondly, a true military genius would not be able to be fooled, tricked or misguided. Cards reasoning is that was the reason they used children to fight, because they would do what adults wouldn't. I look to Alexander the Great as the prime example of a young military genius and what they would be capable of. In No Rules Of Engagement (NROE) the young military genius is named Alexander Hawk.

b.) Because of my passion for military history, I have spent a lot of time thinking about how the world would be different if man-kind never developed the fight or flight response. If they were always the dominate species, with no predators, and they always worked together for the benefit of their species as a whole, communication, compromise, and cooperation, to develop win/win relationships with fellow tribes instead of war. What would the world be like? What technologies would not have been developed? What would have been developed? What problems would they have on the planet? What would happen when that species meets a society like ours? Or Worse!

From ten years of thinking about different aspects of these issues the story line developed for NROE! It is a series of at least three books. Each can be stand alone novels, each with the high intensity non-stop action and twisting plots or taken together as an epic story.

If you were given a choice now between being a novelist and an engineer, which would you choose and why?

I think I probably answered that in question one. I would be a novelist!

Did I always dream of being a novelist? Hell no! I suck at English, it's my worst subject in the entire universe of subjects. I wanted to be a fighter pilot, but got glasses in fifth grade and that shot that all to hell. In the Army I almost made it to West Point twice, if I had I would surely be a General by now. I didn't, so I opted out of the Army. The Army and I didn't get along well, but I loved and miss the Tanks and my fellow tank crewman daily. Life has a way of getting in the way of the best laid plans. I didn't start reading voraciously until my mid-thirties. I didn't start thinking about writing a book until I was 36 and didn't start really writing until I was 44, last year.

The ladies of my book club had me bring in a chapter of something I was writing and they helped me edit it as a group. Each month we did a different chapter. I shelved that nugget of gold until I hit 1 million words, publish ten books or get picked up by an agent and traditional publisher which ever happens first. So I picked Whisper to be my first and off I went. Whisper starts out slowly because Chapters 1 through 5 were written in pieces from 2002 to 2010. Knowing that ahead of time you can actually see where I started earnestly writing on the book in 2010 by where you are at when it grabs you and takes off running.

I believe I was destined to write now. I also believe it took 44 years of seasoning, reading others books, and accumulating experience to be the writer I am becoming. I just need the best editor in the world to polish the English and mechanics of my words.

Tell us about your family, do they help with critiquing your novels?

My family is incredible. I have a daughter who is turning twenty-one in 2012 from my first marriage. Two boys, Hayden who will be four in 2012, and Garth who will turn two! I got remarried to Wonder Woman in 2004 and started having children again at forty something. I never believed in soul mates until I met my wife, she is sixteen years younger than I am but we were so made for each other. The family dynamics are crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way, we are happy and making it in a hard and mean world. My wife doesn't read my books but she is a huge supporter of my efforts in writing and working on them and I am happy about that. The boys don't read yet. My father says I have made his list of favorite authors, which coming from him is high praise. My daughter is reading NROE now, but she also works and is going to school full time.

I have three people who read and critique and am actually looking for about seven more to read and critique, not edit, but tell me what they like, don't like, discuss the book with me so I can find out what parts might be unclear, hard to follow, etc. Then I can re-work those spots on the re-write before editing. My only requirements is that they are avid readers, not authors or aspiring authors as that might be a conflict of interest. People can check out blog and E-mail me if they are interested. They have to promise to keep things a secret until the book gets published!

You've also written "Whisper" which is part of a series called the "Wiley Randolph Series" tell us about that series.

My first novel is actually a surprise for me as much as the reader. I knew it would always be my worst story, so when I committed to actually writing a novel I picked the weakest piece I had to work with, which is why of the further adventures of Captain Wiley Randolph his last mission is the first one that I wrote and published. Captain Wiley Randolph tests ships and technolgy for the a secret division of the Navy. In the sequel it will come out what he was originally trained for and why he didn’t end up in that position.

The surprise is that while I thought I was writing a Science Fiction Action Adventure novel inadvertently I wrote a Love Story. ALL the feedback I have gotten about the book revolves around the guy and the girl! Why did I introduce her? Will she be in the sequel? Do they get married? Nobody asks about the action sequences, or other characters, or the fictional time traveling equipment, because it's a love story!

There is quite an age difference between the guy and the girl, very similar to this author’s own true to life home experience.
I originally planned to have the sequel to Whisper be about Wiley's training and his first mission, to explain how and why he is so extraordinary. Because of the feedback from my fans I will be writing the sequel picking up where Whisper leaves off and through the guy and girl telling the tale of his training and first mission while they are traveling around the world on their honeymoon. Plus some usual unexpected plot twists which my readers should be used to by now. The next one will be two stories intertwined for the price of one, and it will be a love story continued.

When did you first realize your passion and ability as a writer?

With writing Whisper and NROE, both in 2010. I finished Whisper and sent it off to a retired English teacher to edit it, and wrote NROE (the rough draft) while the first book was being edited. I finished NROE and sent it off, and started correcting and editing Whisper. I was able to figure out and bring all the pieces together to self publish Whisper in January 2011. Then I started making corrections to NROE.

I didn’t know if I had any talent or was even going to be any good with any of this, but it was changing my life for the better because I really enjoyed what I was doing in spite of working full time Monday through Friday and spending almost every single evening from 8PM until Midnight or later writing or editing. The passion for it showed up first, but like every writer, we all think are stories are the best, but I didn’t know how good they really were. Could they sell? Will people like them.

The feedback on Whisper was good to great! Nobody trashed talked it. I hurried to get NROE ready for publication, but did find a new editor. Along with the new editor came the realization that NROE needed an overhual from start to finish, plus massive editing. I became a disciple of editing inspite of hating to do it. The thing I wanted to do was start rewriting the entire 120,000 some word book. But I am glad I did it now. It isn’t perfect, but I finished it between February and August of 2011.

The first four reviews of NROE where perfect five out of five stars. I got one three star rating, and another perfect five star rating. The reviews are fabulas! I discovered I am not a hack, but I have some talent in writing. Then the most amazing thing started happening. Slowly my books began to sell, with no promotion, no advertising, they began to sell on their own and from good old fashioned word of mouth.

I believe success is the journey to a predetermined goal, and not the destination. The Predetermined Goal is to one day keep or improve my current standard of living and stay home and write full time. The journey is underway so I am successful in my book. I will keep writing, self publishing, and wearing all the other hats involved with self-publishing, because that is the journey.

By the time I reach my goal I will have newer higher goals set by then, again it is being happy, doing what you are passionate about, developing your skills and craft, along the journey that is being successful, not reaching a set point somewhere in the future.

Passion realized in early 2011, that I have the abilty to be a great writer was realized since August 2011. I have realized how writing everyday, writing two novels in 2010, publishing them both in 2011, and well underway to deliver two more finished books sometime in 2012 has transformed and changed my life. I am working harder than ever before in my life, longer hours, much happier all of the time, being a better manager at my day job, a better father, and building a second career which can take me way past the normal retirement age, I couldn’t be more thrilled.

What genres do you read when you have time to read?

I read just about any and everything. If there is a genre that is most prevalent it would be Fiction Action Adventure. I believe the best writers are your most prolific readers. I believe a large part of my inspiration comes from continually feeding my brian stuff from different fields, genres, fiction, non-fiction, history, blogs, and watching real people in real life situations. I read history books, science books and reports, numerious blogs, crime stories, mysteries, action adventure. I have read numerous series including the Patrick O’Brian - Jack Aubrey series, House of night series, Twilight, Harry Potter, The Temeraire Series by Naomi Novik. I have read most of James Pattersons, Alex Cross novels.

I my younger years I read the Myth adventures series by Robert Asprin, the Incarnations of the Immortals by Peirs Anthony, all of the Sherlock Holmes Mysteries and Novels. The Stainless Steel Rat Series, the Chronicles of Thomas Covenent and countless other books. There are several series I want to start as I finish some others.

The ladies of my book club force me to read Nicholas Sparks books under protest in spite of my hatred of Nicholas Sparks stories. I have a post on my blog earlier this year devoted to Why I hate Nicholas Sparks. I do read romance novels from time to time though generally not my first choice of reading material. I am continually fascinated and enthalled with history books!

Who are some of your inspirations in writing?

James Rollins, definitely, he is the first author I started following right from his start and I have seen his transition from a really good author to a great author. He is an inspiration because I love the action sequences, plot twists, and speed at which his novels fly. In his words he likes to drag his reader to a cliff and then throw them off!

James Patterson’s, Alex Cross series has such scary bad guys, I aspire to be able to get that sick and not get thrown into an insane asylum.

Jack Higgins, has awesome plots and spy novels they are inspirational.

Ken Follett, has great Spy novels along with other deep thoughtful surprises in other works.

Naomi Novik’s Temeraire Novels are inspirational and entertaining to me.

Kate Morton’s, The Forgotten Garden was inspirational in how you could cover four generations of plot twists into one fluid epic story of such beauty, mystery, and how to tell just enough at just the right time to lead the reader step by step and never loosening your hold of them.

What can we expect from you next?

Directly NEXT will be SEQUELS. I am on Chapter Five of the sequel to Whisper, and Chapter Fourteen of the sequel to NROE. I am excited about both.

The sequel of Whisper because it is a challenge to tell the two stories at once. Continuing on with the love story I inadvertently started with but also communicating and sharing the story of Wiley’s training, what he was supposed to be doing, and why he didn’t end up continuing on with that chosen Naval career.
NROE, the sequel has surpassed the first book and I am only coming up on half way through the book.

I know both books will have at least a third book, and I may try to end each series with the third book in each series. I have a completely new series I am biting at the bit to start which will be raw, unpredictable, and cutting edge in a dark way. I know that one will be a multi book series.

Eventually, after book nine to ten, or after I have passed that million word mark and I have definitely developed a style of my own and hopefully have built a following of readers who really enjoy the stuff I write, I will start my greatest story idea I have come up with to date. It is a multiple genre epic series. The church ladies of my book club got a preview of the first few chapters of the first book of this series. They are still hounding me for that book. I wait only to refine and polish my skills as a writer to this story the justice it deserves. In my humble opinion, if anyone has read any of my stuff and been impressed in the slightest, this series will put all of my previous work to shame.

Do you have any advice you'd like to share with other aspiring authors?

I have lots of advice for aspiring authors and I genually put it in a blog post on my blog as I come up with some new thought, nugget, or idea.

Off the top of my head I have a couple . . .

a) Write something every day, it all adds up and before you know it you will have a finished novel.

b) Write your book, what you know, what you are passionate about.

c) That feeling you get when your reading a great and awesome book, if your not getting that same feeling writing and reading the stuff you are writing, you are not there yet. Rewrite it! I write my novels and I get that feeling you get with reading a great book, I get it again when re reading it, and again when editing it. It dawned on me that this is what transfers through the writing to the reader. This also is part of what makes writing as addictive as the enjoyment of reading.

d) Edit your work, get people to review it, re-write it, and edit it again! The more polished you make it the more professional you will come off and the better your work will be.

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INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR OF "NEXT TIME LUCKY", SIGGY BUCKLEY



Hi Siggy! It's a pleasure having you as a guest with Great Minds. My first question is about your matchmaking skills. Just a rough estimate, have you had any of your couples move on to marriage?

We had dozens of happy couples that were co-habitating happily. These were mostly divorcess and had no intention of getting married again. Not to forget that Divorce was only made legal in Ireland in 1996! Until then couple had to go to England for a legal separation or if they wanted to marry again.Once burnt...they said, they would rather live together for a while. Among the younger couples, I was responsible for about 5 children...

Now you were born in Germany, lived in Ireland on a farm and now live in Florida, does it ever seem strange, and how big of a change was it for you?

Life is stranger than Fiction! My life plan was more sedate: Become a High School teacher in German, start a family and live and work there until my pensionable age. Life happens when you're busy making other plans...wasn't it one of the Beatles who said that? In that case it was my then husband who imposed the cultural and country change. I dind't have much say in it, believe it or not.Our kids grew up in Ireland, however, happy. I also changed professions while there: from College teacher to matchmaker to wine importer and seller.Ireland was a culture shock.I had been a city girl, but to become a farmers's wife is a different ball game even if you speak the language.

Ireland grew on me with all the changes that the European Union imposed on the country; it became a little more westernized and civilized like what I was used to.Definitely in the later years in Dublin.I left Ireland at the first opportunity that presented itself: when both kids had graduated from highschool, I sold house and businesses.My aim was to teach in a warmer climate, maybe France or Spain. But by happenstance,I landed in Orlando and in a new marriage.

Tell us a little more about the National League of American Pen Women.

Through a good lady friend of mine, I became acquainted with the Pen Women.Their members are writers and artists who have been published or earned money for their writings. I didn't join until I published my novel: Next Time Lucky. They were on a major recuitment drive as most of their members were in their 70s and older here in Jax. I had expected writing support like in a critique group but, instead, found the most caring and nurturing network of women friends. I have now recruited a few ladies around my own age. At the moment, I am only an International member because I 'm not a naturalized American but retain my German nationality. I serve as their sunshine lady this year, i.e. correspodence secretary that sounded too high falluting for me. It means I inform the members who is sick and in need of a little moral support (cards, calls etc.).

What other projects do you have upcoming and when can we expect your next book out?

I just started a new writers blog that is taking up my time.The idea behind it is to create a network of writers that use the new social media for extra exposure for their work and get involved by writing for this blog and then multiplying the exposure of everybody thru individual tweets, FB and Linked-In connections. My second book came out shortly after our summer vacation adventure: Intrepid Home Swapping- Insider Secrets for Successful Homeswapping, available as an eBook on Kindle.

PR, networking, and my involvmenet in a blog radio show Monday Lunch Hour (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Monday-Lunch-Hour/219825478089233) put my next project a bit on the backburner: I once had Farm in Ireland. The story of our organic life in Ireland.But it should see the light of day in 2012!

What is one of your greatest accomplishments in life as you see it?

I hate to beat my own drums.Being German, we don't do that.But friends point out to me that I reinvented myself according to my life situation, raised and fed my children after my divorce and made my small businessses flourish. The little figurine on the cover of my novel tells it all: an old=fashioned tumbler doll: "Stehaufmaennchen": You can't keep me down!

What do you like to read when or if you have time to read?

Thrillers; Elizabeth Goerge;Irish authors: Nuala O'Failoin (God bless her soul).Cook books with photos!Travel books with Photos.

Do you have any authors that have inspired you over the years?

I can tell you the books I adored. Writing styles change however like fashion.And life stories differ.So the big philosophical authors I admired over the years aren't in vogue anymore.

Being a matchmaker, are you a hopeless romantic?

Not in the slightest.I was called top-heavy (and they didn't mean my boobs). Matchmaking is a numbers game.Opportunity and right location mixed with preparedness. Was it Oprah Winfrey who said that? You can only deal the cards you have been handed....

Do you ever think about moving back to Ireland or do you miss it at all?

I never wanted to move there, couldn't wait to leave and now I miss it. I have visited several times and our next Home Sawp adventure will surely take us back to the old sod. I also have an ulterior motif: Besides extra info on my farm book, I have another one in the back of my head in the style/topic of the Magdalen Sisters. A first hand account of my former housekeeper who is now 71!

Do you have any advice you'd like to share with other aspiring authors?

Write what you know about! Lots of people say that they could write a book about their life. Let them...and they will see how difficult it is. And that's only when the really difficult part starts: to promote it and make it a seller!Don't get discouraged, make a lot of friends on the way, don't expect big money but enjoyment!

Thank you so much for your time with this interview Siggy, I hope to do it again soon!

I have to thank you for the opportunity, Kitty! This was fun!

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INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR OF "DOLPHIN GIRL" SHEL DELISLE

I want to thank you again Shel, for doing this interview with Great Minds. The first thing I'd like to talk about are the books you've written so far. Can you give us a brief rundown of your works?

Thank you for having me, Kitty! The only book available so far is DOLPHIN GIRL, which is a story about a quirky, artistic sixteen-year-old named Jane. She feels walled in by her mother's rules and the social rules of her high school and wants to break those walls down.

In your bio I read that you have swam with the dolpins. I'm sure all our readers would love to know what that was like. Can you tell us about that experience?

This was -- without a doubt -- one of the most incredible experiences in my life and it's really difficult to put into words. In fact, the dolphin swim scene in the book was the hardest one to write! I suppose, the best way I can explain it would be to relate it to your interactions with pets (not that dolphins are in any way pets). But, anyone who has a dog or cat knows how their moods can be read. For me, dolphins put out a free spirited, happy, loving vibe. Swimming and playing with them is like a perfect moment of rolling around on the floor with your dog or batting a toy around with your cat. Animal lovers and pet owners can probably relate to how great those moments can be.

It seems that you have a very supportive family as far as your writing goes. Since you have children, do you often get their take on your writing before publishing?

I'm so lucky -- they are extremely supportive! While I don't ask them to read my books as I'm writing them, I do ask for their input on scenes or situations. It's been a long time since I've been in high school and I don't want my characters to be inauthentic. Also, my oldest son designed the cover for DOLPHIN GIRL, so that was a huge effort to support the book, and I'm thrilled with the job he did!

Tell us more about your Kid-lit community and what it is that you do there?

Whatcha' Reading Now? just turned two and it's been a blast. On our site we'll pick a theme -- our current theme is One World -- and then we'll select books that fit the theme. In each issue, we chat a book, have an author interview, and book reviews for different age readers. One of the things that I'm most proud of is how we've had contributors from a very broad pool: teen members of our community write articles and educators write the Teacher Feature. My favorite feature is Off the Shelf. You never know who will be contributing. It could be a published author or editor or agent or libriarian or bookseller. The only requirement is that the contributor must love children's books so much that they've made a career out of it. And we have fun pulling togetehr our Whatcha' gotta' Read list, which includes a bunch of reads that we couldn't pull into the issue. So many books, so little time!In addition to the site we have a blog, twitter handle, and an active Facebook fan page, contests and of course we're always talking about ways to enhance the community!

What's next on your list? What do you have coming out in the near future and when can we expect it?

. Oh, I am so tight lipped about this kind of thing, but, I'll say this much: I will have additional books in 2012

(6) What's it like living in Florida where it seems to always be sunny? Give us an idea of a typical day in the life of Shel.

It's wonderful to live in Florida this time of year. All of us natives can be heard saying during the Winter and Spring, "This is why we live here!" The Summer and Fall, however, are a different matter altogether--hot and sticky. Uck! That said, other than the weather, life in Florida is pretty much like anywhere else. We have the same good and bad issues, and really my life is probably a lot like most moms of three boys -- sports, a lot of laundry, school, busy, busy, busy. The only difference is that I spend a lot of time writing or in imaginary worlds.

And, I speak from experience on this. I've lived in the Finger Lakes area of NY, and Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Missouri , and Illinois. People are just people. Everywhere.

How old were you when you first started writing, was it something you always did?

Almost always. It was either first or second grade when Mrs. Parker began placing my "books" on the reading table with all the other real books and our primer, which featured Dick and Jane. If someone hasn't read these stories, let me tell you: they were boring. Really, really boring. Spot ran. Jane's shoes got muddy. That was the extent of the tension. So my books definitely had more of a crisis--like losing homework or something. So, I guess Mrs. Parker was my first fan and I was lucky to have her as a teacher for several years because she encouraged me for a long enought time that I began to think of myslef as a writer.

What is the one genre you have not endeavored into yet that you would like to write in someday?

I really, really want to write a dystopian novel and not just because they are popular right now! When I was a teenager, I read a lot of sci-fi and horror. One novel that really captured my imagination was Ira Levin's THIS PERFECT DAY. In fact, that novel was out of print for a while and has recently been re-released as an e-book, which is good news for the folks who have never read it! Anyway...ever since that time, I've been drawn to those kinds of stories so I've been having a hey dey reading all the great stuff that's been coming out. The dystopian novel I want to write has been plotted for almost three years and it has a male protagonist, which is probably what has been holding me back from writing it. Maybe I'll do it and release it under another name. I don't know for sure, but I definitely want to write it.

What do you like to read when you have the time, what's your favorite genre?

I read mostly YA. And the thing is even when I read adult novels, they often have young or immature characters. For a long time, I thought this meant there was something wrong with me, like I hadn't matured yet (which i haven't), but finally I realized it's much more than the maturity issue. It's that the stakes are higher and the emotions are more intense at that time in our lives. Based on all the cross-over reading that's going on it's good to know I'm not the only one.

Do you have any advice you'd like to share with other aspiring authors?

Three things have been (and continue to be) invaluable to me. First, learn everything you can about the craft of writing whether it's through books, or classes, or conferences or critique groups. During and after that: read. write. repeat. Most of my biggest revelations about the craft of writing have come when I've been reading someone else's work. Second, give yourself permission to make this fun. Play with your writing, characters, plots, dialogues, ideas. And finally, don't rest on any laurels. There is always something else to learn, do, accomplish. Make sure, regardless of the publishing path you choose that you continue to grow as a writer.

Thank you so much for your time Shel, and I hope we can do this again in the near future!

Thanks for having me, Kitty! And I hope I can have you on my blog someday soon!

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_"GABRIEL'S GATE" BY TOM GALVIN (REVIEWED BY SUE MAHONEY)



As a volunteer reviewer for Great Minds I chose this book because it was set in Ireland, being Irish American I was curious to read about Irish culture and history. As first glance I was lost between the flashbacks of the characters as children in elementary school to talk about their lives as college students looking for a dream to escape poverty. Before continuing I Google the book and read the reviews on Amazon. Thus received insight in the plot of the story and went back looking at it with a different perspective. As I continued reading I realized that they were friends who decided to do something productive in hard times; since employment was spare and the economic climate was frightening. I found this paragraph which sums up part of the story.

Ours is a simple experiment. We're going to restore a farm, from scratch, from the roots up and we're going to live on it. We're going to live on it and we're going to live from it. That's the challenge. One year from our lives. It's a social experiment and it's an economic experiment. We're going to be an independent, functioning eco-community with everything we need provided for right there on the land. This is not about protest, and it's not about dropping out. And it's not about leaving the country. It's about finding a new way of life for the times we are in.


As the story unravels then the mystery and suspense comes alive. It is a historical story about friends surviving as farmers on a plot of land that was in the midst of a past feud; a broken promise and it is plague with mysterious acts of violence when they thought the former tenants left their pasture due to bankruptcy and the higher pasture was abandoned; yet in the darkness of the night the ghosts came and the friends who manned the co-op farm had to deal with harsh economic and threats of sabotage and as loyal friends will they survive the threats and possible financial collapse of their farm.

It has intense actions that will draw in the reader and compelled one to continue reading to see what the outcome is. A suggestion the final conclusion of this story should be the beginning introduction. Then the story would be definitely more entertaining; I enjoyed the insight to the lifestyle and symbolism of the young adults attitudes and how they were creative by taking chaos and arranging their lives to a new lifestyle to survive the harsh times in their environment Anything is possible with determination. ... 4 Ravens.
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_Book Title: "Shit That Pisses Me Off"
Author: Peg Tittle
Published By: Magenta
Age Recommended: 18 +
Reviewed By: Kitty Bullard
Raven Rating: 5

Review: This book had me laughing and had me nodding my head in complete and total agreement with a lot of things Peg Tittle wrote about. When you sit down and think about all the things in life that stumps you or really gets to you, you realize just how insane the world can be! There are so many things out there that often have us scratching our heads as to why people do the things they do and only a few of them are touched on in this delightful, and candidly honest book.

I enjoyed it completely and I can't wait to read her next installment which I have the good fortune of knowing it's on its way! So I say to Peg, thank you for the chance to read this informative and honest view of life and what is so wrong with it! I urge others to read this book, there may be some things you don't agree with, but I bet you'll find a lot that you do! If you like blatant honesty with some humor tossed in for fun then you'll love "Shit That Pisses Me Off" by Peg Tittle.
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_Book Title: "The Bridge of Deaths"
Author: M.C.V. Egan
Published By: Author House
Age Recommended: 17 +
Reviewed By: Kitty Bullard
Raven Rating: 5



Review: Another phenomenal historically charged novel that I enjoyed from cover to cover. One of the main things about this book that really caught me was the truth of the story. Catalina has been searching for so long to find out the mystery behind her grandfather's death when over on the other side of the pond you have a young man named Bill and a young woman, Maggie that are having quite an exciting journey with past life regression therapy. For years Bill has been haunted by these dreams of being in a plane crash in the middle of an ocean close to a bridge and they won't go away. Sometimes they wake him up at night and he swears he can still feel the salt water seeping into his lungs. When he meets Maggie there's an instant draw that neither of them fully understand until they form a relationship and begin to attend past life regression therapy together.

Suddenly these two young people are thrown into a world so far in the past they have no idea how to cope. Thus the story begins, when they decide to do some research and are led on a path that leads them straight to Catalina that has been trying to find information about the same instance in which both Bill and Maggie lived through an entire lifetime ago.

This is a story that will stay with you, once you read it you won't soon forget it. A true masterpiece filled with a part of the history of a World War most of us in this generation could never begin to understand or know. Are answers found in the end? Does Maggie and Bill begin to accept their part in history and put their lives together for the second time? Does Catalina find out strange circumstances behind her grandfather's death after all these years? Well... you'll just have to read to find out. The best part of all is, the majority of this book is a true story but for a few name changes and I bet it will have even a few skeptics believing in reincarnation before they're done.

I definitely recommend it! Also be sure to look for our giveaway later next month starting on the 1st of February (5) Print copies and (5) PDF copies of this wonderful book will be up for grabs as well as an author spotlight from M.C.V. Egan herself!

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_INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR & PUBLISHER, PETER GIGLIO OF EVIL JESTER PRESS

First I want to thank you for allowing Great Minds to interview you and for allowing us the chance to review your books, Peter. My first question is how did you come up with the idea to found Evil Jester Press?

Evil Jester Press was actually founded by Charles Day. He’s the owner and CEO, and he reached out to me to launch the press and work as the Jester’s Executive Editor. We’d worked together on a short story and had started talking on the phone. For a long time, Charlie has used an evil jester has his avatar on various forums and social networks. He’d already launched a non-fiction imprint, Hidden Thoughts Press, and he knew he wanted to do something in fiction. So, given his online personality, I suggested Evil Jester Press as a name. It stuck.

Tell us about your novel Anon and the inspiration behind it.

Anon (Hydra Publications) is a tale of corporate and familial terror. It’s about a man who has made many mistakes in his life and—thanks to a strange, mysterious boss—is forced to look back upon his greatest regret. He is given a dark path—under the guise of a company assignment—to undo this past mistake. Horror ensues. The novel is a supernatural tale of possession, but not demonic possession, at least not in the traditional sense. I wanted to make a strong statement about groupthink and the true evil of indifference. I think I did that. And I’m very proud of the novel.

Now you have done a few collaborative works, one is Help! Wanted: Tales of On-the-Job Terror. How did you meet these other fabulous writers and how did the whole collaboration process begin?

I put out a submission call in May of 2011 with a six week window. This was the first EJP publication, and I didn’t know what to expect. I received 147 submissions in those 6 weeks and was blown away by the response. Stories came in from Joe McKinney, Jeff Strand, Stephen Volk, David Dunwoody, Lisa Morton, Vince Liaguno, Gary Brandner, Gregory L. Norris and several other established authors. I also received stories from rising stars in the horror genre, including Craig Saunders, Marianne Halbert, Patrick Flanagan, Henry Snider, and many more.

I met a lot of great authors through the process and enjoyed working through edits with them. Charles Day, the owner of EJP, did some good networking at last year’s Bram Stoker Awards, which got the attention of a few of our contributors, but the majority of the writers responded to adds at Duotrope.com and our website. Many of them said that the book’s theme—workplace horror—is what attracted them. They found the idea fresh. Which is good. That’s what I was going for.

The book came out in September—we wanted it in time for AnthoCon—and I spent more than 500 hours on the editorial process, getting it ready. The results have been terrific. Help! Wanted received a great review at Horror World, sold out at AnthoCon in New Hampshire and at a Dark Delicacies book signing in Los Angeles, and is currently carried in a few independent bookstores in New York and L.A. Not bad for a small press publication, particularly the first book in said publisher’s canon.

There is a picture of you on your site with this beautiful kitten, who is this fuzzy friend of yours?

That’s Molly. Sadly, she’s not one of mine. My brother-in-law and his wonderful wife are owned by that precious feline. The picture was taken right after they brought her home. I was visiting my in-laws in Minnesota at the time, and the cat really like climbing all over me. Someone grabbed a camera, and—voila!—the website kitty-pic was born. My wife and I do have three terrific cats of our own—Cup, Baby, and Bert. They’re very spoiled and sweet; they sometimes even let us believe the house is ours.

Now I simply must know how you juggle clowns, and how long have you and 'the benevolent ghost of Patrick Swayze' been friends... and do we need to call in the white coats (:D)?

I don’t do any of those things. I just write and edit. Someone suggested that I needed to lighten up my promotion, so I threw those things into the mix. I think I’d just watched the Squidbillies episode called “Swayze Crazy.” If you haven’t watched that show, it’s a bizarre animated series on Adult Swim, and I think it’s great. But I have a very twisted sense of humor.

I see you are working on a zombie novella Balance. Tell us more about that, as well as your work with Scott Bradley.

Balance has been done now for more than a year. I sold the book to MuseItUp Publishing, a Canadian ePublisher. They’re releasing the eBook in March. EJP is releasing a print version of the book in January. Eric Shapiro and his wife, Rhoda Jordan, were my first readers on this work. And they really helped me make it better. Balance, oddly enough, was completed before Anon or A Spark in the Darkness. Publishing schedules are strange.

I’m wrapping up a novel with Scott Bradley right now called The Dark.

Scott and I work together a lot. Our short story—the first fiction sale for either of us—was (and still is) called “The Better Half: A Love Story,” and it appears in the anthology Werewolves and Shapeshifters: Encounters with the Beast Within, edited by John Skipp. The book also features Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, Charlaine Harris, Chuck Palahniuk, Joe R. Lansdale, Bentley Little, and many other greats. Needless to say, we’re humbled and honored to be in it. Then, last year, Scott and I got the opportunity to write the screen adaptation of Joe R. Lansdale’s “The Night They Missed the Horror Show.” The script has been approved by Joe, and we’re currently trying to find a suitable production deal for it. After finishing the screenplay, we wrote a proposal for The Dark and it was picked up by Ravenous Shadows Press. The book is done, but we’re still putting the finishing touches on it. It’s due to the publisher on Monday. Chop-chop!

Are you a big zombie fan?

Yes and no. I love good zombie films and fiction. Problem is that most of what’s out there is bad. I love The Walking Dead (Graphic novels and TV series), Dawn of the Dead (original and remake), and I love the zombie fiction of Jonathan Maberry, Joe McKinney, David Dunwoody, John Skipp, Amelia Beamer, Brain Keene, and a few others. But for every good zombie story or movie I see, I read or watch six bad ones. It’s the flavor of the moment. And the flavor of the moment gets copied. And copied. And…

I’ve written two zombie pieces, trying very hard to be original. One is “The Power of Words,” which was just released in Hollie Snider’s terrific anthology Live and Let Undead. It’s a satire and, unlike my website bio, it’s really funny. I laughed myself silly writing it. But it’s also dark and disturbing. The other is the novella Balance. And Balance is a very different than anything I’ve ever seen or read in the genre. I think people are going to like it a lot. Eric Shapiro wrote the introduction for the print version, and the book received two blurbs that I’m very proud of.

“Balance is a grim and melancholy zombie story. Peter Giglio brings his A-game to this disturbing tale.”
–Jonathan Maberry, New York Times Bestselling author of Dead of Night and Dust & Decay

“A harrowing new perspective on the apocalypse. Giglio goes for the heart as well as the jugular.”
–David Dunwoody, author of Empire’s End and Unbound & Other Tales

It seems you write mostly in the horror genre, have you ever thought about writing in any other genre, and if so what would it be?

Sure. Everything that is ready for public consumption has just come out horror. I read widely, and I write science fiction and literary fiction, but I haven’t unleashed any of that on the world yet. Some of my horror is humorous, and one of my published short stories is a horror-western. But I have to save something for later. I want to do it all, but I’m realistic.

BALANCE is an interesting title for a zombie story. Can you tell us all a little about that title?

Balance is a reoccurring theme in the novella.

1. The two main characters are seeking balance in their lives. Geoff is torn between what he thinks others want him to be and the pursuit of his true identity. Amanda suffers from clinical depression and, as the apocalypse goes full scale, runs out of medication.

2. The balance of nature is shifting.

3. A big chunk of the story is told from the perspective of zombies. So the book is, in essence, balanced in a way that most zombie fiction isn't.

Are there any other upcoming releases we should know about?

There’s one more. My novella, A Spark in the Darkness, which was released by Etopia Press in September as an eBook, is coming out in print in February, also from Etopia Press. It will be paired with another Etopia Press novella, Cold Revenge by Catherine Cavendish. I love Cat’s novella, and she loves mine. So we joined forces, put our two books into one volume, and Etopia gave us the green light. So that’s going to be a lot of fun.

Cheers!

Peter Giglio
Author of A Spark in the Darkness and editor of Help! Wanted: Tales of On-the-Job Terror
Click on the titles above for more information.

"A Spark in the Darkness has put the bite back in the vampire tale." - Joe McKinney
"Peter Giglio is a downright scary new voice in horror." -Amy Wallace, #1 NY Times Bestselling author
"Help! Wanted is a rollicking, creepy, crazy, and thoroughly unnerving collection of work-related horror stories by the cream of today's horror crop. Each story is as stingingly fresh as a razor cut!" - Jonathan Maberry

www.petergiglio.com
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_INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR OF "ENDLESSLY" & "LEGACY" , C.V. HUNT

Hi C.V., I have to admit, your site scares me. I'm still shaking a little, though I cannot help but be intrigued and want to read your novels! Tell us about your writing process and where you get your ideas?

Most of my writing is a huge collage of ideas. The roots of the stories usually come from conversations about the horror genre with friends. We have lighthearted debates about monsters and the standard rules that always seem to be associated with each one. I have a tendency to go against the flow, so when I come up with ideas for writing, I generally start by breaking all the traditional rules. I like to keep the basic concept of the monster, but take away the things that weaken or limit them.

Tell us about your most current novels.

My first book, Endlessly, and its sequel, Legacy, are available. It’s based on a paranormal world that is hidden from humans. There are witches, werewolves, vampires, angles, and demons that roam the earth undetected. There basic goal is to keep the world ignorant of their existence and to help a group of humans known as incarnates. An incarnate is a human born with an inhuman soul. Their soul could come from a different planet or a parallel universe. If these humans with displaced souls become self-aware that they are different, they are able to shape shift into that identity and harness any powers that are attached to their soul.

When did you decide to start writing and what was the inspiration behind it?

It was just a few years ago. I had a family member pass away unexpectedly, and it made me take an inventory of my life. I started looking at all the things on my bucket list, and writing a book was one of them.

There are so many out there that write paranormal today, do you ever find the competition daunting?

Oh, yes. Readers have an expectation when it comes to paranormal reads. Paranormal books seem to be more romance driven lately, and although my books do have that element, there is also the cruelty of horror in the story. Most readers are looking for just romance, or horror, and are conflicted in seeing both in one book. A reader might be compelled to pass over my books, and look for something that feels safe for them – and there is an abundance.

The ease of self-publishing has made it a fulfilling world for readers, and a struggle for authors to be heard. There are a lot of great authors finally getting a chance to tell their story now, and it’s turned into a sensory overload for readers and authors alike.

If you had to choose just one, what would be the one book that you’ve written that’s your all-time favorite?

I think my next release, Phantom, would have to be my favorite so far. Every one of my characters holds a small place in my heart, but Jason’s character holds just a fraction of an inch more than the rest. I really enjoyed telling the story from his point of view.

Did you read a lot of paranormal and horror when you were younger?

Yes. I fell in love with Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and The Mayfair Witches series when I was in high school. I can still remember counting down the days until the next book was released.

What would be your all-time favorite horror character, movie or book?

Hannibal Lecter, because I think the scariest monsters are the ones that could be real. He is equally terrifying in the books and movies.

Who are some of your inspirations as far as authors?

I think Chuck Palahniuk opened my eyes to what first person narrative can be, and David Wellington’s books pushed me to research thoroughly before I write.

What is next in line for you, and when can we expect it out?

The third book of the Endlessly series, Phantom, is in editing right now. I don’t have an exact date of its release yet, but I am pushing for the end of February 2012. I originally only planned for it to be a trilogy, but I have started writing a fourth book. (The date for "Phantom" has been updated to this month and should be out around the time this interview is posted, per email from C.V. Hunt.)

I’m working on a zombie story titled Danse Macabre now, and I’m hoping to have it available by Spring 2012. It won’t be the regular virus induced apocalypse that has become the norm for most zombie books. Danse Macabre will take the reader back to the origins of zombies – the magic of voodoo.

Do you have any advice you'd like to share with other aspiring authors?

The number one thing that I find myself repeating is, write what you know. If you have a passion for any certain subject, then this is where your story should stem from. I know horror and paranormal because I have submerged myself in it for a long time. If I tried to write a western I’m sure that I would fail. It’s not an area that I’m familiar with or have a real passion for. When you write about the things that you know and love, it shows.


C.V. Hunt
www.authorcvhunt.com
www.facebook.com/authorcvhunt
www.twitter.com/CVHunt

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