8.31.2012

Summer Of Indie Explores The Dark Side Of "A Good Man" With Vanessa Morgan


Summer of Indie's next guest author is sometimes called "the female version of Stephen King". Today, we welcomed supernatural suspense author Vanessa Morgan to talk with us about her black comedy and thriller screenplay, A Good Man, which fans of Dexter or American Psycho may to love.  



A Good Man

Cover for 'A Good Man'Louis Caron is a good man - vegetarian, he feeds the homeless, takes care of animals and is concerned with the ecological future of the planet. But his altruism has a sinister edge - he's a vampire - and local inspector Taglioni is becoming increasingly suspicious. Louis' attempt to escape the police takes him on a journey into his own private hell where he is not only forced to confront his worst fears, but also to destroy the lives of those he cares about most.

(also available in French as Un homme bien)
Smashwords (English edition): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/151923 
Amazon US (English edition):  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U253J4 

My PhotoAuthor and screenwriter Vanessa Morgan has published two books of supernatural suspense, Drowned Sorrow and The Strangers Outside, and one screenplay, A Good Man. All of her work has either been turned into a film or is in preproduction. Vanessa is also the creator of the web comic Avalon, a cute cartoon series about her cat. She lives in Belgium where she is at work on seven new book and movie projects.

You can find author Vanessa Morgan online at:
Avalon Cat Cartoons: http://avalon-lion.blogspot.com 

8.30.2012

Summer of Indie Visits The House On Blackstone Moor With Carole Gill


Fans of dark gothic romance novels, or stories about vampires, will love The House on Blackstone Moor, a recently published book by author Carole Gill. Her novel features protagonist Louis Darton, a strong vampire with a dark, tortured past. The House on Blackstone Moor is the first in a series of four books, and author Carole Gill told Summer of Indie that her goal is to "take gothic romance where it's never been! I believe that even in the darkest of moments, a rose can bloom, and its beauty can make us hope again. I want to take you on a wild, dark journey of fear, despair, and pain, on to ultimate redemption and love. These tales will shock you. Between these pages, your heart will not be safe."


The House on Blackstone Moor

"They say my father was mad, so corrupted by evil and tainted by sin that he did what he did. I came home to find them all dead; their throats savagely cut. My sisters only five and eight were gone as well as my brother who was twelve. My mother too lay butchered in her marriage bed. The bed her children were born in..."
Young Rose Baines discovers the savage murders of her family by her mad, incestuous father.

She is plunged into a nightmare of hell and is incarcerated in two madhouses after which she is helped to obtain a position as governess at Blackstone House.

The house is located on haunted moorland. Nothing is as it seems for Blackstone House and its inhabitants have hideous secrets. There is unimaginable horror there but there is love too--love that comes at a terrible price.

The story is as haunting as it is terrifying and will remain with the reader long after its disturbing tale has been told.


Summer of Indie asked Carole Gill to briefly tell us about herself as an author. She told us that:


Image of Carole Gill
"I've always written but life, as it often does, got in the way and I turned back to writing some years ago.

In 2000 I was selected by North West Playwrights of England for further development but found I preferred writing fiction (novels and short stories).

I write stories of the paranormal, horror, and love.

I have a load of short story collections for sale on Amazon!

My short fiction is very dark, vampires a specialty. The prequel to the House on Blackstone Moor, entitled Dreams of a Vampire, is free on Smashwords! It also contains the first fourteen chapters of the novel!"


You can find author Carole Gill online at:

Facebook:


Blog:


Amazon Author Page:










8.29.2012

Summer of Indie Meets Steven Greenberg


Summer of Indie's latest guest author is Steven Greenberg, here with us to talk about his dystopian novel, Enfold Me. The topic of this book may be seen as controversial by some, as it " poses a question from which Israeli authors have typically shied away: what happens when modern Israel ceases to exist? Enfold Me takes this formerly-taboo scenario as a starting point, and builds an accessible and compelling story within it." Written by an Israeli, Enfold Me is a provocative and dark journey into a chillingly-realistic post-Israel Middle East.

Enfold Me


Precipitated by a massive earthquake and an Iranian-led attack, the fall of Israel rips Daniel Blum from his suburban life and scientific career. Alone and scarred, he endures subjugatioand terror in Hamas-controlled Northern Liberated Palestine.
Now, Daniel must follow George Farrah, a figure from his past, deep under the Carmel mountain and through Egyptian-controlled, quake-ravaged Tel Aviv. Haunted by tragedy, Daniel strains the bonds of duty and family as he and George uncover a secret that could alter the region’s balance of power.

 
Readers can also find an excerpt from Enfold Me here: http://enfold.me/enfoldme/excerp/
Summer of Indie asked author Steven Greenberg to briefly tell us more about him:

Image of Steven Greenberg"I am a professional writer and an Israeli. I am also a full-time cook, cleaner, chauffeur, and work-at-home Dad for three amazing young children, and the lucky husband of a loving and very supportive wife.

Born in Texas in 1967 and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, I emigrated to Israel only months before the first Gulf War, following my graduation from Indiana University in 1990. In 1996, I was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces, where I served for 12 years as a Reserves Combat Medic. Since 2002, I’ve worked as an independent marketing writer, copywriter and consultant."

You can find author Steven Greenberg online at:


8.28.2012

Summer of Indie Enters Mahinder's Grand Tournament With Tom Black


Fans of high fantasy, or action and adventure novels will want to check out Mahinder's Grand Tournament, book one of The Jade Blade Legacy.  Summer of Indie talked with author Tom Black, who gave us a tour of the land of Prejdu'ha.






Mahinder's Grand Tournament

Mahinder's Grand Tournament: The Jade Blade Legacy
Mahinder's Grand Tournament is a fantasy novel that introduces us to the land of Prejdu'ha. It is a tale of rebelion, competition, treachery, and overcoming a cultural stigmatism based entirely on
predeterminism. It focuses primarily on two sides of the conflict for the land simply known as The Kingdom of Jade.


 One side of the conflict is Prince Mahinder: son of Ashok. While making an alliance with a representative of the ruling clan of a highlordship up north, he gets the idea to resolve this conflict once and for all with a tournament. The winner of this grand tournament shall inherit the throne, and become the new ruler of The Kingdom of Jade. The other side of the conflict is off in the mountains where the rebellion against Mahinder is headquartered.

Specifically, it centers around Prince Huang: son of Liu, the true ruler of The Kingdom of Jade, and a masked individual simply known as Jadeite. They, along with people from neighboring lands enter the tournament in hopes of winning the land back, and putting an end to Mahinder's reign once and for all.

The book is available at Amazon in both paperback and as an E-book.

http://www.amazon.com/Mahinders-Grand-Tournament-Blade-Legacy/dp/1432789554/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340217906&sr=1-1&keywords=Mahinder%27s+Grand+Tournament

It can also be found at Barnes & Noble.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mahinders-grand-tournament-thomas-j-black/1110202466

And of course, it's available at Outskirts Press' bookstore.

http://www.outskirtspress.com/bookstore/9781432789558.html


We asked author Tom Black to briefly tell us about himself, and where we can get more information about his upcoming books in The Jade Blade Legacy:

"I'm an author straight out of Overland Park, Kansas. I have found the fantasy genre, and concepts like sourcery, battle, and creating things to be very fascinating. I'm blind in my right eye, but I have never let it stop me before. Fed up with two or three years worth of rejections from the literary agents and the mainstream publishers (the "for-real publishers" my friends always call them), I turned to the likes of Outskirts Press: an indi-publisher that puts out some very high quality paper backs as well as E-books.

News regarding Book 1, as well as news regarding the other books currently in progress can be found at my facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Jade-Blade-Legacy-series/204419249647325"


8.27.2012

Summer of Indie Hangs With Cynthia Tottleben


Summer of Indie spoke with Cynthia Mercer Tottleben, who has been a passionate writer since she was a child. We interviewed Cynthia to learn more about her as an author, and to find out more about her novella The Final Chamber.

 
 
 
The Final Chamber

Cover for 'The Final Chamber'Although she didn’t know how her story would end, she knew it wouldn’t end well. For anyone.

She has vowed to be a good mother. To honor, love, and raise her adopted daughter in a home that promises to be a sanctuary and offer her safety after years of abuse and horrendous neglect. But to her daughter, Jessie, the love is unfamiliar and frightening.

Home becomes a combat zone, the walls painted with the white rage and constant barrage of hatred Jessie unleashes. Her psychological problems fester for years, growing more violent, causing the family to slowly unravel. When Jessie kills the beloved family cat, she triggers such terror that no one in her wake will ever be the same.

Especially Mom, who is determined to do the right thing and protect everyone involved. From Jessie. From herself. From the people who caused them both so much pain.

Even if she has to do it one bullet at a time.


 

After finding out about The Final Chamber,  we held a short interview with author Cynthia Mercer Tottleben:

Q: Can you tell us how you got started writing?
A: I began my writing career as a child, when I vetted my self-illustrated stories of Homer the Grasshopper to various publishing houses and immediately started racking up my rejections. No matter where my life has taken me or the stumbling blocks I've met along the way, my primary goal has always been to be an author.

Q: Where do you currently live?

A: My roots are in Indiana. I grew up in Greencastle and attended Indiana University in Bloomington. Presently my husband and I live in rural Illinois, where we enjoy the endless oceans of corn and the small town hospitality that keeps us slightly sane.



Q: Do you have any other works currently available:
A: I also have a novel, THE NEVERLIGHT, available on the KDP Select program

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005G5YN34


Q: Can you tell us some interesting tidbits about yourself?

A: I abhor all condiments. Mayo is the worst. I can barely stand to be in the same room with someone who is eating it. I'd rather eat a plate of live roaches than a tuna salad sandwich.

People call me The Crazy Recycler. I recycle everything, and haul carloads of waste home from my job as a retail manager, which my husband dutifully hauls to the curb on pick up day. One week we had 72 bags of plastic that we collected, mostly hangers and shrink wrap, but also quite a few bottles.


Q: Who is your favorite author?
A: My favorite author is Karin Slaughter. I love that her characters are at once strong yet completely fragile. She is able to show people as we truly are, with flaws, scars, horror hanging over our shoulders, but with a thick layer of goodness underneath that just can't be contained.


Q: Can you tell us how you create your characters?
A: In my books, I take characters perched on the precipice of sanity and give them a nice shove. I like to know what it takes for a basically good person to snap and do horrible things. One of the news stories that really struck me was about Torry Hansen, who adopted a child and then later put him on a plane back to Russia, with a note saying she didn't want him anymore. http://abcnews.go.com/WN/anger-mom-adopted-boy-back-russia/story?id=10331728 My husband and I had also adopted a child, although American, and while our relationship has had its good moments, it has also been a nightmare. Our daughter, who was 11 when we adopted her, came wrapped in psychological issues and trauma so deep that she could not escape them. Our household was unimaginable, and we had the support of many agencies and therapists intent on helping our family survive. When this story hit the news, I totally understood the mother. I can't imagine going through what we were barely able to handle, without the magnificent assistance we were given. As hers was a private adoption, she did not have the resources given us, unless she could afford them on her own, which would be hard to do. The mother snapped. But she didn't have a lot of options, no way to escape her situation. She did not kill the boy. Yet she was vilified internationally for her actions.
When I heard about Torry, I might have been the only person in the world who completely related to her. She is exactly the type of character I love, a good person gone bad. A woman trying to do something wonderful, who gets hammered into a corner and escapes only into madness. What does it take to push any of us over that edge? What is the story behind the little blurb we hear on the news?
 
Q: Where can readers find you online?

A: My links: www.cynthiatottleben.com,
https://www.facebook.com/ctottleben I maintain a blog on the Mother Nature Network, under local correspondents for the State of Illinois http://www.mnn.com/local-reports/illinoisand I HATE twitter, so I don't participate.

8.26.2012

Summer of Indie Meets The Unwilling Bride With Candy Ann Little


Today Summer of Indie talked with Candy Ann Little. Candy grew up in a small town in Ohio, and she now resides in Michigan with her husband and two kids. She enjoys working with kids, reading, cooking and baking. We talked with Candy Ann Little about two of her books:The Unwilling Bride, and Death By Broken Heart. The Unwilling Bride is a romance novel set in 1789, while Death By Broken Heart mixes elements of romance and mystery.  

 
The Unwilling Bride

 

The Unwilling BrideBeautiful and high-spirited Caitlin Gallagher has no desire to be married. When she’s forced into an arranged marriage, she vows to loathe the man. Her anger is kindled even more when she finds out he was born in England. Her family was forced to flee Ireland and move to America because of the war with England. Now this Englishman is stripping her freedom away. Dillon Cade is her enemy twice!

Gentle Dillon Cade has lived a quiet life for thirteen years in Norfolk, Virginia. When he agrees to marry a young maiden so she can stay in America while her parents are deported back to Ireland, he gets more than he bargains for. As he uses his newspaper to fight President Adams’ sedition acts and help Thomas Jefferson get elected, he must also deal with an unwilling bride, who now disturbs his peaceful life.

Can Caitlin work through her anger, finding faith in God and love in Dillon’s arms? Can Dillon tolerate her behavior long enough to win her trust?

 

 

 
Death by Broken Heart

 


Death by Broken HeartBailey Rhodes is used to running away from problems. When she visits to her hometown and runs into her old boyfriend, Randy, she struggles to keep her emotions and past hurts hid deep in her heart.
When a local landlord is found at the bottom of the ledges she goes in her pursuit of the killer. Can she solve the murder before her heart is broken again?





 

Image of Candy-Ann LittleCandy Ann Little began writing in the aftermath of tragedy - her third child was stillborn. The nurse suggested keeping a journal to cope with the grief. Although she thought it a dumb idea at the time, she soon found a freedom and healing that writing brought.

 
Eventually that pain and sorrow turned into her first Inspirational romance. Candy Ann finds it therapeutic putting her thoughts into the words and action of her characters. She also finds that discipline is the biggest lesson learned in her writing life. Since then she has finished 3 novels and one novella.
When she isn't busy with her husband of twenty-one years and her two teenage kids, you can find her subbing in the public school system, or helping with church activities.

 

You can find author Candy Ann Little online at:




8.25.2012

Summer of Indie Meets "The Chosen" With Andrea Buginsky


Today Summer of Indie met with Andrea Buginsky, a freelance author with a degree in journalism. Andrea is passionate about writing and reading YA fantasy, and talked with us about two of her books. The first is a YA fantasy novel, The Chosen. Her second book, My Open Heart, is more serious in tone; it is a book written for young adults growing up with heart disease.
 
 
The Chosen

The ChosenHalli is a shy, young dwarf who has no idea of her true calling. When the evil Prince Gastle sets out to detroy the world of Phantasma, Queen Laurali of the Elves comes to tell Halli she's a Holy Paladin with the power to heal, and will join The Chosen, a group of brave warriors being sent to defeat the evil beast and save Phantasma. Will Halli be accepted by her group, and be able to keep them alive through their adventures? Will the evil Prince Gastle be defeated, freeing Phantasma from his destruction? Only time will tell.
 

My Open Heart

My Open Heart
Growing up with heart disease can be difficult, but it does not always have to alter your life course. Written for young adults growing up with heart disease, this book is meant to inspire them to chase their dreams, to show that they are not alone, and, perhaps, to help guide them through the maze of life with heart disease. It’s for their parents, too. We are not alone.
http://www.amazon.com/My-Open-Heart-Andrea-Buginsky/dp/1477654690
 
 
 
For those already familiar with author Andrea Buginsky, book two of The Chosen series, Nature's Unbalance, was recently released this summer:

 

You can find author Andrea Buginsky online at: Image of Andrea Buginsky 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/Andrea.Buginsky.Author, https://www.facebook.com/#!/andrea.buginsky

Blog:
http://andisrealm.blogspot.com/

Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Andrea-Buginsky/e/B005C4NJJS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1340141119&sr=8-1-spell

 


 

8.24.2012

Summer of Indie Hangs With Bella Street


Zombie lovers will be interested in Summer of Indie's latest guest author, Bella Street. Bella's novel The Z Word, Book One of Apocalypse Babes, blends fantasy, science-fiction and romance, and is set in the 1980's.

 

 
 
The Z Word

Cover for 'The Z Word (Apocalypse Babes Book One)'Book One of Apocalypse Babes, The Z Word, follows Seffy Carter and her longtime friends Gareth, Addison and Lani. The four besties share a past dysfunctional and dark enough to keep them bound together under do-over identities. But like off-brand velour, rends develop in their relationships from the flesh-eating pressures of ending up in 1980, in a Montana desert, surrounded by zombies wearing dated disco duds.
 
 
 

 

 Summer of Indie asked Bella Street what got her started writing. She responded that "living so close to Nashville provoked her to take up fiddle lessons. However, until her tunes no longer sound like amorous alley cats, she writes romance with a touch of weird.

Some interesting facts about Bella Street are:

She likes weird romance, mythology and she plays the fiddle.

Her favorite directors are Wes Anderson, Joss Whedon, and M Night Shyalaman.

And her favorite TV shows are: Buffy, Firely, Justified, and 24.

 

You can find author Bella Street online at:

Twitter: @BellaStreet,