Summer of Indie Hangs Out With Sheila Deeth

Summer of Indie's next guest is author Sheila Deeth, who began writing after receiving a Masters in mathematics from Cambridge University. Sheila Deeth is here with Summer of Indie to talk about Flower Child, which she describes as a "spiritual speculative fiction" novel.

After hearing about it's interesting genre, we asked author Sheila Deeth to tell us what exactly spiritual speculative fiction is:

"What is spiritual speculative fiction? It's fiction first--the telling of stories. It's speculative because it's written about things where we don't know all the right answers (science fiction, fantasy, etc). And it's spiritual because it includes spiritual elements (about which, much though we'd love to, none of us know everything)."

Author Sheila Deeth then gave us a closer look at her novel:

Flower Child

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

http://gypsyshadow.com/SheilaDeeth.html#Flower

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/91467

http://www.amazon.com/Flower-Child-ebook/dp/B005PGMT4O

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/flower-child-sheila-deeth/1105893891

Summer of Indie talked with Sheila Deeth to learn more about her, as well as her work.

Q: Can you tell us how you got started writing?

A: How did an English mathematician end up writing fiction in America? I actually started out writing in England, but it was easier to get the right (as opposed to write) answers in math, and I love patterns and symbols and manipulating ideas. I ended up studying mathematics at Cambridge. Then I worked for a computer firm. Then my husband worked for a computer firm. Then our jobs moved to the States. Then our jobs moved from the States and, jobless, I returned to getting things written instead of getting them right. It's much more fun.

I've written a lot of books that are still looking for publishers, several ebooks with Gypsy Shadow, and a contemporary literary novel coming out soon with Stonegarden. And I've self-published some children's Bible stories. I'm not sure if they're spiritual speculative fiction, but they're about what real people might have seen and felt in the days of Genesis, Exodus, Joshua etc. (I'm still working on Judges). Oh, and I draw pictures too, so I have some self-published Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and Thanksgiving gift books on Lulu.

Q: What inspired you to write Flower Child?

A: Flower Child grew from a writing prompt in our local writers' group. We were asked to write something based on a piece of music and the first song that came to mind was John Denver's Rhymes and Reasons, in particular the line "The children and the flowers." I wrote the first paragraph using a childhood memory where I imagined children grow from seeds planted in a farmer's field somewhere. Of course, not all seeds grow, and I found myself remembering the loss of my first pregnancy to miscarriage. Megan and Angela took over the tale at that point and turned it into their story of a mother and her child who might be a ghost or an angel or both.

Q: Can you tell us about some of the characters in your book?

A: The main characters in Flower Child are Megan and Angela. Megan's first pregnancy ended in miscarriage. Now she's wondering how to love her newborn son without being somehow unfaithful to the memory of the child she lost. I guess that makes her my favorite character because I felt the same way after losing my first pregnancy, though Megan's unborn daughter Angela becomes very real as the story progresses, so I'm pretty fond of her too.

Q: What is your favorite indie book?

A: I read and review a lot of indie books. My favorite recently is Kathleen Flanagan Rollins' Misfits and Heroes: West from Africa. It felt like a cross between Jean Auel's books and Life of Pi, and I love it!

Q: What is your favorite book of all time?

A: I don't have a favorite all-time book. I just love books. Likewise I don't have favorite authors. But Jane Kirkpatrick has certainly influenced me a lot, simply because she's a wonderful lady as well as a wonderful writer. I "won" an hour of her time shortly after moving to Oregon and she has been amazingly encouraging and kind ever since. Minnette Meador is another Oregon author who's been incredibly kind and encouraging to me.

Q: Do you have any advice for new writers?

A: The only advice I could give new writers would be keep writing and keep trying. It's what Jane Kirkpatrick and Minnette Meador both told me. And give yourself permission to say you're a writer.

Q: What's next for you?

A: What's next for me is my first full-length novel which comes out with Stonegarden in summer 2012.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us?
A: I'm a mongrel Christian mathematician (Catholic, Methodist, Church of England, free evangelical, Presbyterian, Christian Reformed... and I studied mathematics, undergraduate and postgraduate, at Cambridge University, England).

I now live in the States with my husband and sons, and enjoy reading, writing, drawing, telling stories, running a local writers' group, and meeting my neighbors’ dogs on the green.

I have three spiritual speculative ebooks out with Gypsy Shadow, and a contemporary literary novel due to be released in summer 2012 from Stonegarden. I've also self-published some children's Bible stories, bringing faith, science and history to bear on imagining what real people might have seen and felt in the days of Genesis, Exodus, Joshua etc. (I'm still working on Judges). I draw pictures too, so I have some self-published Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and Thanksgiving gift books on Lulu.And I have whole folders full of other stories in search of publishers.

I don't make any money writing, but I wish I did. I'm still dreaming (spiritually and speculatively I suppose).

You can find author Sheila Deeth online at:

https://twitter.com/#!/sheiladeeth

http://www.facebook.com/sheila.deeth

http://sheiladeeth.blogspot.com/

http://about.me/sheiladeeth

Summer of Indie Meets With Leigh M. Lane

Our next author in the Summer of Indie lineup is Leigh M. Lane, who enjoys writing "dark speculative fiction that often contains strong social and political commentary."

We interviewed author Leigh M. Lane, author of novels Myths of Gods and World-Mart and a short collection Of Mind and Matter, to find out more about her and the inspirations for her writing.

The first book she shared with us was her dystopian novel, World-Mart.

George Irwin remembers a time before the Big Climate Change, back when the airlines were still in business and people still drove their own cars. The world has changed much over his lifetime, but he still believes in the American Dream. When an alleged terrorist act lands his wife in the hospital, however, George stumbles upon a Corporate secret that could mean the end of all civilization.

Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/World-Mart-Leigh-M-Lane/dp/0615555748/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/World-Mart-ebook/dp/B005VTN1OC/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Author Leigh M. Lane also spoke about her inspiration for writing World-Mart:

"I began writing World-Mart when, as a manager at a large-chain corporation, I became disillusioned by the disparity I saw between the high-end corporate overseers and the low-end workers. I remember the sense of epiphany that hit me when one day at a manager’s meeting, we learned the company had decided to spend ten million dollars on nationwide logo changes, while capping lower management pay at a mere ten dollars an hour. It just didn’t make sense to me. Moreover, I found the bureaucracy and ever-changing policies to be mind-blowing and hypocritical, and I knew there was a dystopia to be written somewhere amidst it all."

Next, we asked about her novel Myths of Gods, a dark fantasy satire that offers a critical look at religion.

"I wrote Myths of Gods as a personal exploration of existential angst, coupled with long-standing issues of being an estranged minister’s daughter. Religion can be a touchy subject to write about, but it was something I needed to do. The question of what God might think collectively about religion ate away at me for many years, so I finally broke down and wrote a book to explore that question. The result was haphazard at first, and it took several years for me to transform the book into a cohesive work that suited my original expectations."

http://www.amazon.com/Myths-Gods-Leigh-M-Lane/dp/0615491898

The last novel that Leigh M. Lane shared with us was entitled Finding Poe. She described it as very different from her previous novels, but noted that "It too came as a pang of inspiration that gnawed at me until I finally wrote the novel. I believe it is my best work to date—and definitely the scariest."

Follow the final days before Poe's death, journeying through his musings, both brilliant and mad, in search of the truth behind his unfinished work, "The Lighthouse," while unraveling the mystery behind the elusive woman desperately seeking the author for answers behind her husband's haunted death.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007M7JWTY

After finding out about her work, we asked Leigh M. Lane more about her as an author:

Q: When did you start writing?

A: I began writing when I was seven or eight. I was a voracious reader, but felt unsatisfied with simply reading—I wanted to be like my favorite authors at the time, creating stories for others to enjoy. I found myself taken by writing even more than reading, and it became my primary hobby. I started writing short stories, but by the time I was a teenager, I had graduated to screenplays and novels. When I discovered speculative fiction through authors such as Stephen King, Isaac Asimov, and Kurt Vonnegut, I knew I had found my calling.

Q: What motivated you to publish now?

A: I took a serious look at the current state of the world and the trends, and I knew the timing was finally right. When, not even a year after publishing World-Mart, Occupy Wall Street occurred, I knew I had made the right decision.

Q: Where can people get your book?

A: All of my full-length novels are available in both Kindle and paperback and are listed on my Amazon Author Page.

Q: In your book, who is your favorite character?

A: In World-Mart, my favorite character is Kurt. Even though he is a fearful and whiny seven-year-old boy, he stands for something very important (which I’m not going to spoon-feed readers). I would love feedback from those who think they’ve figured it out.

Q: What's your favorite indie book that you've read recently?

A: I've been doing a lot of Indy reading these days, and I have to say the overall quality I’ve encountered is very high. I don’t think I can narrow down my favorite to just one book, but instead would like to recommend a few great Indy authors I’ve recently discovered: Robert S. Wilson, Bryan Hall, Armand Rosamilia, Trent Zelazny, and Jeffery Anderson.

Q: What's your favorite book of all time?

A: This is another tough one, but if I had to choose just one book, I think it would be Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Cat’s Cradle. No other book has haunted me the way that one has. There are so many other books I’d love to mention (all by the authors listed below), but I’ll refrain for the sake of time and space. 

Q: Who are some of your favorite authors?

A: I’ll try to keep this short: Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., George Orwell, H.G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, Olaf Stapledon, Joseph Conrad, Clive Barker, and Anne Rice.

Q: Do you have any advice for new writers?

A: I think the greatest piece of advice I can offer (hoping I don’t sound too cliché here) is write, write, write. You’ll think the first draft of your first novel is the greatest work of literature to grace mankind, but chances are it’s crap. Do yourself a favor and refrain from shopping it (you’ll thank me later). Put it aside for a year or two. If you haven’t already, get an English degree. Learn, through critical analysis, what makes great books great. Learn proper grammar and punctuation. Write another book, then another one, and then go back to the piece of crap you first wrote and make it better. Write another book, then another one, and then go back to the redraft of book number one and make it great.

Q: What's next for you (in your writing)?

A: I’m between projects right now, but I am entertaining some vague ideas I hope to develop into something more concrete. The muses work in strange ways, and sometimes it takes a while to make sense of what they want of me.

Q: Name 3 things readers probably couldn't guess about you (but you'd like them to know)?

A:

1. I’m an avid comic book fan, with a collection of several hundred works under a number of imprints.

2. I’m a singer and musician, and have not only sang for three bands (one blues, one alternative, and one rock and roll), but have also sang the "Star Spangled Banner" for the opening of a Dodgers game.

3. I write erotic horror and science fiction romance under a different name.

You can find novels by Leigh M. Lane at her Amazon Author Page:

http://www.amazon.com/Leigh-M.-Lane/e/B0055DSE6Y/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

You can also find her online on Facebook and her website, where she also hosts a blog.

http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLeighMLane

http://www.cerebralwriter.com/