Saturday, November 30, 2013

ENTWINE by Rebecca Berto

Book & Author Details:

Entwine by Rebecca Berto
Publication date: November 25th 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult

Synopsis:
Sarah Langham’s life was the epitome of normal until her dad slept with another woman when she was sixteen. It ripped her family apart.

Twenty-two-year-old Sarah has it together, though.

Waiting at the train station to go home from her first day of her first proper job out of university, she spots a man.

He is an enigma to her. She’s drawn to him, with his square jaw; buzz of hair; and his tall, solid frame, seen under the contours of his business suit. And he’s been looking at her, too. Fate pulls them together that night on a whirlwind date, exceeding anything Sarah’s experienced before. He’s even more into her than she’s into him. Finally, she wants to trust a guy for the first time since she was sixteen.

But then they discover something.

Something that meant they were never two strangers at a train station.

And it threatens to tear their future apart before it, really, ever begins.



Purchase:

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AUTHOR BIO:
Rebecca Berto writes stories about love and relationships. She gets a thrill when her readers are emotional reading her books, and gets even more of a kick when they tell her so. She's strangely imaginative, spends too much time on her computer, and is certifiably crazy when she works on her fiction.

Rebecca Berto lives in Melbourne, Australia with her boyfriend and their doggy.

Author Links:


GIVEAWAY Blitz-wide giveaway Prizes (open internationally): 
3 eBooks
2 bookmarks
a $15 Amazon giftcard

a Rafflecopter giveaway



 

Friday, November 29, 2013

We’re More Alike Than You Think by Raphyel M. Jordan


Do you remember what your childhood was like? Can you recall that sense of wonder you had around every turn of the corner? Or how about when everything could be made okay at the end of the day if Mom and Dad took you out for ice-cream? Wouldn’t it be cool if other sentient beings from a different planet had fund memories like that as well? 

When I wrote my very first novel, “Prossia”, I introduced readers to a seventeen-year-old alien girl getting drafted into a galactic war. Beyond having to cope with leaving her home, meeting different races and species, and trying to stay alive on the battlefield, she seemed ready to take the call to arms, no matter what the cost would be. So, here was the question many probably asked after reading the novel: Just what sort of upbringing shapes a person, like this alien, to face such situations?

“Evaluations of the Tribe” was written to answer that. Throughout the original “Prossia” novel, Aly and her best friend, Catty, made numerous references about their childhood, from that one time Aly struck Catty in the face with a Goolian dankerball, to the moment when Catty was finally told about Aly’s special “condition.” Readers of “Evaluations” will be able to go into further detail about such events and more as we unravel the world that shaped these two dynamic characters into the teenage soldiers that can handle themselves during wartimes.

And here’s the great thing about the prequel; you can pick it up at whatever stage you’re at with the Prossia series. Have you not read “Prossia” yet? Then, here’s a book you can check out that will lead you right into the original! Did you read “Prossia” first? Why not dwell a little into some exciting backstory that will make the original book even more rewarding to read? I mean, what’ll it cost you? The prequel IS free, after all. :)

“Evaluations of the Tribe” is a celebration of that stubborn unwillingness youth seem to have when it comes to giving up, much the way its predecessor, “Prossia,” is. Let’s travel to a place untouched by human beings, where the people of the planet are green, agile, and capable of firing plasma from their hands. Does it sound out of this world? You bet! Still, the creatures on this planet aren’t much different from us. They want to be held in the arms of the ones they love. They want their children to return home, safe and sound, as they watch them head off to school. They hope they’ll be accepted by those in their inner circle. Oh yeah, and of course, they love desert.




Author Bio
Like drawing, Jordan has written stories as far back as possible. In this case, it was once he was able to form basic sentences, around the age of 6 or 7. Back then, his stories were very short “graphic novels,” composed of roughly ten to twenty panels of illustrations with dialog.

However, his stories became more elaborate with age. Once he reached middle school, most of Jordan's stories were fan fiction and were still in a comic or graphic novel format. However, the conflicts in his adventures were becoming more complex, as was his character development. It was only when he reached high school that he made his first attempts at writing adventures without the aid of pictures. Unfortunately, such ambitions were still a little too far-fetched for him at the time, having never finished anything beyond the first chapter.

Then came college, what he refers to being his "personal my age of Renaissance." Jordan learned the basic foundations to creating a story during his first year, and once he had to take a break from classes -- due to financial reasons -- he had tons of time to work on a craft he still considered to be unfamiliar with. So, when he was 19, Jordan started to write a story about a young alien girl who was drafted into a galactic war. However, unlike previous attempts at writing a novel, Jordan kept coming back to the keyboard, longing to get to the next scene, and the next, and before he knew it, two years had passed, and he had completed the first draft to a manuscript. Fast forward three years later, that manuscript became "Prossia," his first published novel.

Now Jordan browses through a list of outlines and drafts to numerous adventures just waiting to be published.







Goodreads Book Giveaway

Prossia by Raphyel M. Jordan

Prossia

by Raphyel M. Jordan

Giveaway ends December 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win

DYSTOPIAN WORLD BUILDING by Rhiannon Frater


After I finished writing my zombie trilogy AS THE WORLD DIES (THE FIRST DAYS, FIGHTING TO SURVIVE, and SIEGE) in 2009, I was done with zombies for a bit.  I turned to other types of monsters (vampires, necromancers, mummies, werewolves,) writing both short stories and a few novels.
Yet, I was faced with a fandom that really doesn’t like me to stay away from the zombies for too long. 
I’d been toying with a dystopian short story on and off for a year.  It was one of those ideas born of a dream that felt like the great beginning to a story.  This particular idea started with two characters, Dwayne and Maria, and I was instantly in love with them.  I wanted to know more about them and their world.  As I began to pull the internal camera back a bit to get a good view of their surroundings, I realized the story and the world was much bigger than I had anticipated.  It was definitely not a short story. It was something much bigger and more challenging.
And the best part, it had a different kind of zombie called the Inferi Scourge.
I recognized I would have to immediately set this world apart from the AS THE WORLD DIES universe.  It was most definitely going to be a dystopian world, but how was I going to construct it?
The title was the first thing that helped me.  THE LAST BASTION OF THE LIVING immediately established a setting.  A bastion is a fortress.  I already knew the story was going to partially take place within a dying city…the last living city of humanity, in fact. 
The concept is pretty simple.  The last-known city of humanity is tucked into an isolated valley with a massive gate as its only entry.  I knew that at some point the gate had failed and allowed the zombie-like creatures in the story called the Inferi Scourge to invade the valley, forcing the humans to withdraw into the city.  But the city itself was a challenge. 
Obviously, the city in the valley started out as a utopian ideal.  Cut off from the world ravaged by a virus that creates dangerous undead who want nothing more than to bite and spread the virus, the valley, its resources, and the city were a shiny new beginning.  So in my mind, I had to create utopia first.
So what would a city be like that was built to be the last bastion of humanity?
The walls that surround the city that houses well over a million people are high and made of steel. On the walls are massive guns called Maelstrom Platforms. The military buildings are located near the wall, while the government facilities rest near the center of the city. 
 Housing so many people means that they would live in flats in multi-level buildings. Because of the threat of the Inferi Scourge infiltrating the city, each building has a collapsible stairway that leads to a second floor entry.  People aren’t able to have vehicles like cars, so there is an extensive subway and monorail system to ferry people across the vast city.
The valley outside the city provides all the resources the city needs to survive. Farms, ranches, a hydroelectric station next to a lake, and mining facilities are vital to the long-term survival of the city.  A massive gate protects the only pass into the valley, keeping the Inferi Scourge out.
All these elements made up the New Eden, the home of The Bastion.
Once I had utopia established, I destroyed it.
The gate fails. The Inferi Scourge swarm into the valley, killing the hundreds of thousands of people living and working outside the city, and force the leaders of The Bastion to close the city gates, trapping the remaining millions inside the walls.
With the city cut off from the valley, it’s fully dependent on the resources already stored inside its walls.  Soon, the subway and monorail systems shut down. Rolling blackouts become a way of life. The population grows and more prefab buildings are constructed, making the city even more cramped. City parks are destroyed to create more living space while buildings along the wall are razed to the ground to create fields.  Because the city is cut off, clothes, shoes, furniture, electronics, etc. are remade, refurbished, and salvaged to make new things.
Utopia becomes dystopia.
Add in the undead Inferi Scourge howling outside the walls and the world of The Bastion came into being.
The world that surrounds my main characters is close to collapse and utter destruction. Life is fragile and they know it. The world itself creates tension in the lives of Maria and Dwayne and inspires them to great feats of bravery.
In many ways, The Bastion itself is another character in the book, rich with personality and history. World building is not always easy, but it can add so much to a tale. Especially one like THE LAST BASTION OF THE LIVING.

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Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. Be safe if you're traveling this holiday. Bad storms are predicted all along the East Coast. Enjoy the time with your family and friends!


Wednesday, November 27, 2013

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A SOULKEEPER by G.C. Chang


As I release the fifth book in my Soulkeeper series, I’m reminded of what it means to be a Soulkeeper. In my novels, the Soulkeepers embody a few important characteristics the world needs most.

Soulkeepers…

1. Do the right thing, even when it’s hard.
2. Feel a responsibility for others
3. Accept others for who they are
4. Accept themselves for who they are
5. Take action for the greater good.

With that in mind, and since we are closing in on the holidays, I thought I’d take a moment to be thankful for three real-life Soulkeepers.

Malala: She took a bullet to the head to stand up for what she believed in. I find this modern day Rosa Parks inspiring and know that her work to give girls in Pakistan the right to an education has made a world of difference. Every time I see her picture, I am thankful for being born in a country where it is legal for girls to go to school. Learn more about Malala at http://youtu.be/gjGL6YY6oMs.

Jack Andraka: At the age of fifteen, after the death of a family friend, Jack researched and developed a rapid test to detect pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer in its early stages. Just to find a lab to test his protocol, he wrote to 200 professors at John Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health with a plan, a budget, and a timeline. He received 199 rejections before the one acceptance that made all of the difference. Jack won the 2012 Gorden E Moore award, the grand prize of the Intel International Science and Engineering fair. You can watch Jack’s story at http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50157066n

Ian Somerhalder: While Miley Cyrus was twerking, Lindsey Lohan was making another visit to rehab, and Robert Pattinson was brooding over…Does he ever stop brooding?...Ian was running the Ian Somerhalder foundation. Yes, at the peak of his popularity, this celebrity isn’t self-destructing but making an effort to improve the world. The Ian Somerhalder foundation focuses on mobilizing youth toward animal rights and environmental causes. Looks like he’s more than just a pretty face. Learn more about the Ian Somerhalder foundation here http://www.isfoundation.com/welcome

So, readers, do you know any Soulkeepers? Who else do you think belongs on this list? 

Lost Eden
(The Soulkeepers #5)
Publication date: November 18th 2013
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

Synopsis:
Rules. Balance. Consequences. War.

When Fate gave Dane the water from Eden to drink, she did more than save his life. She changed his destiny.

Since the beginning, a compact between God and Lucifer has maintained a tenuous peace, balancing Soulkeepers and Watchers and the natural order of things. Dane upset that balance the day he became a Soulkeeper. Fate broke the rules.

Now, Lucifer is demanding a consequence, requiring Fate to pay the ultimate price for her involvement. God intervenes on the immortal’s behalf but in order to save her soul must dissolve the compact and with it the rules, order, and balance that have kept the peace. A challenge is issued. A contest for human souls begins. And the stakes? Earth. Winner take all.

The Soulkeepers are at the center of a war between Heaven and Hell, and this time, nobody, anywhere, is safe from Lucifer’s reach.


 Purchase:


AUTHOR BIO:
G.P. Ching is the author of The Soulkeepers Series, Grounded, and a variety of short fiction. She specializes in cross-genre paranormal stories, loves old cemeteries, and enjoys a good ghost tour. She lives in central Illinois with her husband, two children, and one very demanding Brittany Spaniel. Visit her at www.gpching.com and www.thesoulkeepersseries.com.

Author Links:
Website: http://www.gpching.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/GP-Ching/254188694618137
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gpching
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4666971.G_P_Ching






Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Blog Tour Blast: THE BLOOD THAT CRIES IN THE GROUND by Gregory Bellarmine



by Gregory Bellarmine

"The Greatest Myth Ever Dispelled" Italy. A tough master of novices, Father Dante encounters the bold young priest Antonio who challenges his identity and accuses him of being the Saint Nicholas. But despite the Father faking his death, a determined Antonio discovers a rather alive Dante arrayed in kilt and armor. In return for Antonio’s silence—and to protect the town from attracting all manner of darkness—Dante agrees to tell his life story. Without explanation, Dante orders Antonio to meet him at night in the abandoned Cathedral, the site of a former battle that the Church has kept secret for a generation. Until today. The Criskindl. Ice Steeds. The Unborn. Saint. From the Dark Ages’ when Poet-Sorcerers ruled kings, to the Holy Land when a new civilization was rising, to Revolutionary France where love is lost and gained, Father Dante pursues the one responsible for both his master and his mother’s deaths: Black Peter, his brother.

“The Blood That Cries in the Ground will grab the reader by the throat with a death grip from which it is impossible to break free.” -Reviewed by Bil Howard for Readers' Favorite
Add to your TBR pile on Goodreads | Check out the book trailer!
 

Buy on Kindle | Paperback

 
About the Author
Gregory Bellarmine is the author of the bestselling "Monthly Roman Breviary" and "the Father Dante Journals." He considers himself a non-denominational, Didache Christian and lives a happy though sometimes sleepless life in the UK with his wife, two children and rather cheeky Parson Russell Terrier.

Follow Gregory:

Blog | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads

 

Publishers Website: Christian Books Today


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Monday, November 25, 2013

Interview with Alison Neuman


Can you give us a brief overview of your latest book? Is it part of a series?
Detailing my personal experience from the onset of a rare and painful illness at the age of three, I recount my personal journey coming to terms with an ever-shifting conception of 'normality'. The disease having shaped my life in ways most could never imagine, my carefree childhood quickly morphed into a blur of ongoing hospitalizations, increasingly reduced mobility, and overwhelming fatigue and pain. It is not part of a series.

Did you try the traditional route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers?
Yes, I sent my first novel Ice Rose – A Young Adult Spy Novel out to agents and publishers.

How long before you got your offer of representation/your first contract? Was it for your first novel?
It took me two years and over 100 rejections for my first novel.

What factors influenced your decision to go with a particular agent or publisher?
Fireside Publications believed in Ice Rose, had enthusiasm, and permitted me to be a part of the process. I was consulted on the cover and shape that the final printed book took.

If you used a graphic designer/publisher’s designer, how involved were you during the creative process for your cover?
I made a suggestion of my vision for the cover. My publisher had a graphic designer make two prototype covers. My publisher and I both agreed on which to use.

Do you outline your story or just go where your muse takes you?
First, I like to let my stories work themselves out in my mind. I need to have an idea of where the story is going before I start. Second, I take the story events and lay them out in the three act structure. This keeps me focused and serves as my roadmap for my characters’ and story’s journey.

Did you hire an editor to review your manuscript before publishing?
I always have an editor review my manuscripts before publishing. There are always errors that a writer misses. After reading, editing, proofing and staring at the same work, sometimes better words or phrases and errors are overlooked. An editor is an invaluable set of eyes and can help the writer in polishing the work to be the best it can be.

Do you find it difficult to juggle your time between marketing your current book and writing your next book?
It is a challenge to juggle my time between marketing Searching for Normal - A Memoir and writing Hindsight. Without an audience to read a book, my success of having subsequent books published would be in jeopardy. It takes time management to ensure that there is time set aside for both activities. That said, the actual writing process is rewarding and rejuvenates my energy.


Besides writing, do you have any other passions?
Dance is one of my other passions. I use a wheelchair to navigate the world. I’m proud to be a performer with CRIPSiE (The Radically Integrated Performers Society in Edmonton). http://www.cripsie.ca/

What’s next for you?
I’m working on my next YA novel Hindsight.

Blurb:
Olivia falls for David who has a secret that cannot be exposed to the world. A secret that when revealed will threaten not only her life but also her family. Will she be able to accept his secret and evade the danger that is trying to extinguish everything David cares about?


#Excerpt: DRAWN by Cecilia Gray


FBI Field Office, Atlanta, Georgia

I've studied Chelsea since the FBI teamed us up when I was twelve. She has a move…classic Chelsea. She turns the doorknob and her body stiffens, a metal rod shoved down her spine. As she sets a high heel inside the interrogation room, her southern accent and soft manners are buried beneath a terrifyingly sleek, blond exterior in a perfectly pressed pinstriped suit.
Four years of practice, two custom-cut suits of my own, and I still look epileptic when I try to project that sense of total control. Of I've got this. Even though I don't have her drawl and my posture's not bad.
I follow Chelsea, stiff as can be, into the room with the bright white walls. Our sicko suspect glances up from the steel table in its center. I flinch at his chilling stare. Flinching already, see. A slow smile bulges his cheeks as he studies me. Attention from a guy in an orange jumpsuit sitting at a steel table—to which he is handcuffed—is what Chelsea would officially term an undesirable outcome. More undesirable—me showing I care. Like she always says, "Don't let 'em see you sweat, hon."
No way am I giving this psycho the satisfaction. I suppress a shiver as the air conditioning kicks on with a groan. Tiny goosebumps break out on my forearms, raising the fine hairs to attention. Can't rub myself warm—that's a tell. Instead, when Chelsea slides into one of the fold-out metal chairs across from him, I follow her lead and take comfort in her giraffe-like posture in the chair next to mine.
Chelsea tosses a manila folder so that its contents spill across the table. The file details his alleged heinous crimes, the FBI's efforts to track him, and the blood evidence in his garage that matches that of the latest missing girl—Georgia State art major, vegetarian, and more important to the suits, daughter of a local bigwig. Funny, the things you remember from a file when they have nothing to do with the case, like how she specialized in collages. They'd found cut-up pieces of magazines littered across the desk and floor of her dorm room. The pieces trailed into the hall like flower petals down a church aisle.
The strewn high-gloss photos of his suspected victims—his own personal collage of the young, female, and carved—don't solicit a cringe from him when I can barely hold down my water and I've been staring at them for weeks. My gaze flickers to the one-way mirror—a silent promise: We're gonna nail this freak.
"I'm FBI Agent Chelsea Tanner. This is my partner. How are you this evening?"
This is normally when a suspect will ask, with understandable outrage, why I'm party to the interrogation because aren't I, at almost sixteen, too young to be in the FBI? Pinstriped suit or not, I look my age, maybe even a year or two younger because I've always been small—childhood malnutrition will do that to a girl.
It's the suspects who don't care that I'm in the room who worry me. Like this guy, whose pale eyes flicker to my throat.
I fight the urge to shift, even to clench my fingers tight into a fist. I don't blink.
"Fine weather we're having this winter." Chelsea manages not to smirk at our sitting in a windowless room. Her face is unbreakable. "These are perfect skies for a getaway. Do you have plans for the weekend?"
When he doesn't answer, she shares our itinerary—a leisurely drive to Savannah to visit her mother at their family wintering home. Yes, that's a thing. The trip always involves mint juleps and wide-brimmed hats, not that Chelsea shares the finer details. A genteel background rarely earns cred with criminals.
She chit-chats as if he's not imagining the slice of his boning knife into my neck. The careful incision he would carve against the clavicle, removing the flat bone from the ligaments attached to the shoulder. I don't need my unique magic to know what's on his mind. Some things in the case file stick for a reason.
My bone structure fascinates him. His gaze caresses my cheekbones, roams over the bridge of my nose, dips into the hollow of my neck, and brushes the stray dark corkscrew curls that drape over my sternum.
Don't move. Don't blink. Don't even breathe.


Book & Author Details:

Drawn by Cecilia Gray
Publication date: November 13th 2013
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

Synopsis:
Take a journey into the gritty world of political espionage through the eyes – and lies – of one extraordinary girl. A wholly original tale of friendship and betrayal from the author of The Jane Austen Academy series….

Sasha has a secret – that she can make you spill your secret with nothing more than a question. Her strange gift makes her a burden to her foster family and a total freak of nature. Not that Sasha cares. Why should she when no one cares about her?

Then the CIA knocks on her door. They want to give Sasha a new identity and drop her into a foreign country to infiltrate a ring of zealous graffiti terrorists. They want to give Sasha something to care about.

To survive a world where no one is who they seem, Sasha needs to make people trust her. But when that trust blossoms into love, Sasha is forced to decide between duty and friendship, between her mind and her heart, and whether to tell the truth or keep her secrets.

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AUTHOR BIO:
Cecilia Gray lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where she reads, writes and breaks for food. She also pens her biographies in the third person. Like this. As if to trick you into thinking someone else wrote it because she is important. Alas, this is not the case.

Cecilia has been praised for “instilling a warmth and weight into her characters” (Romancing The Book Reviews) and her books have been praised for being “well-written, original, realistic and witty” (Quills & Zebras Reviews).

Her latest series of young-adult contemporary Jane Austen retellings was named a What’s Hot pick (RT Book Reviews magazine) and is a Best of 2012 pick (Kirkus Reviews) where it was praised for being a “unique twist on a classic” and offering “a compelling mix of action, drama and love.”

She’s rather enamored of being contacted by readers and hopes you’ll oblige.



Grand prize giveaway


Prize (open internationally):
--50 $ Gift Card to book retailer of their choice

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 


 

Friday, November 22, 2013

Interview with Jessica Bell


What have you’ve learned during your self-publishing journey?
The beauty of self-publishing is the very thing that critics say is its downfall: there is room for everyone. Have a unique voice that doesn’t fit the mass market? Want to write another angel book, even though publishing experts say angel books are “dead”? Self-publishing allows the readers who love exactly the kind of books you write to find you, even if that number is too small to interest a mainstream press. And if you have written a book that has mainstream appeal? There are even more readers who will scoop up your value-priced indie book.

What advice would you give a new author just entering into the self-publishing arena?
Don’t doubt your decision. Self-publishing allows all writers of all stripes access to the world’s readers. The industry has changed, forced into embracing the digital revolution, just like the music industry. Independent artists are everywhere now. Authors don’t self-publish because they’re too lazy to go through the slog of submitting queries to agents, or editing their manuscripts properly, or simply out of impatience to see their work in print, just like independent musicians aren’t too lazy to find a record deal. They simply have a different sound. Or they don’t want to be told by the record label what they should and shouldn’t record. In a saturated market, where publishers/music producers have millions and millions of queries and proposals, independent artists are driven by self-belief and a passion that their work deserves a place. So believe in yourself. You word does deserve a place.

What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?
The fact that, despite the full-time job, I can still find time to write books. So many people get stuck in a rut, thinking they can't manage it, that there's no time. But it's not true. If you really want something, you find the time.

What are your goals as a writer?
To have my books linger in the minds of readers long after they've turned the last page. With regards to my non-fiction, to help aspiring writers realize that writing doesn't have to be as overwhelming as it seems. Learn the craft in bite-sized pieces, and eventually everything will come together.

Besides writing, do you have any other passions?
I’m also a singer/songwriter/guitarist. And you can access my albums here.

When and why did you begin writing?
I started writing poetry first. I must have been about eleven, sitting on a rock by the sea in a little place in Greece called Monemvasia. I was so inspired by my surroundings that I needed a way to express it. Not long after, I started writing songs. My mother had decided to sell her twelve-string acoustic guitar to get a bit of extra cash. I saw it sitting by the front door. I think someone was coming over to take a look at it. I remember opening the case and thinking that it just looked so beautiful, and why would Mum want to get rid of it? I think she was in the music room at the time and I interrupted one of her recording sessions to ask about the guitar. When she told me she was selling it, I asked her whether I could have it. She said that I could if I learnt to play. From that day I had that guitar in my hands every single day until I moved to Greece in 2002. I taught myself how to play. The first song I ever wrote was played on one string and sung in a very high-pitched awful voice. I hope that cassette never gets dug up!

How does Greece affect and influence your work?
There is a lot about Greece in my debut novel, String Bridge, but I have to say that Greece had already started to influence me when I was a kid. I must have been about eleven. I remember sitting on a rock by the sea in a little place called Monemvasia. I was so inspired by my surroundings that I needed a way to express it. This is when I started writing poetry. In the end (well, beginning), Greece is what sparked my passion for words.

Also, I would never have got my first job as an editor if I hadn’t moved here. As I said above, I make a living as an editor/writer of English Language Teaching materials. There is no need for this sort of thing in an English speaking country. So I guess, I have Greece to thank for giving me the opportunity to pursue this career path. If I had have remained in Australia, I probably would have focused more on my music.

You’re also a poet. Do you consider yourself above all a singer/songwriter or a writer/poet?
A writer for sure. I was born into music, so it came naturally, but writing is something I learned I truly wanted for myself and had a stronger passion to pursue.

How are you able to be so productive as a writer, a musician, editor, and conference organizer, as well as having a good social media platform, while working full-time?
I'm not usually a person who utilizes lists and schedules. But I certainly have been forced to create them due to all of the projects I juggle. It's difficult. There's no denying that fact. But it's also fun! I enjoy every minute of it.

Basically I do everything in scheduled, short bursts. I get up early to make sure I have one hour to write and one hour to do something else from my list (such as Vine Leaves or retreat organization). I pick and choose depending on priority. During my lunch break, I blog, and spend about half an hour to an hour (depends on how long I can take from work) on social media. After work, I walk the dog, make dinner, maybe go to yoga (I do neglect my laundry, though. Too often). Once that's done, I'll spend another hour or so doing something else from my list (if I'm up-to-date on all my tasks, I'll try and do something creative like writing, or music again). Then I'll relax in front of the TV, or do something else away from the computer before I go to bed. Then in bed, I'll read a chapter or two of whatever book I'm reading. Sometimes that may even include critiquing a friend's manuscript. Reading to me is relaxing and not a chore, so I really don't feel like that is tackling any sort of task.

The most important thing? Recognizing when I'm too tired and need to take a few days off. If I don't give myself decent breaks where I don't do anything, then I very quickly burn out and fall behind.

What’s next for you?
Right now I'm working on my 4th novel, White Lady. Here’s the current blurb:

Mia used to be a skinny bitch. Now she’s an overweight outcast. Mia used to idolize her mother, until she eloped to LA to marry a cosmetic surgeon. Mia used to enjoy drinking beer, pigging out on burgers, and watching the AFL with her dad, Nash, until he started dating her Maths teacher.

Mia’s fix?
Take drugs. Bathe in self-pity.
Lip sync, strung out, to Courtney Love in the mirror mirror on the wall.

Yep. That should turn her ‘fat cow’ status on its head. At least until it leads to inadvertently infiltrating Melbourne’s prime criminal network ... and falling for the drug lord’s son.

This will end in bloodshed.
But maybe—just maybe—she’ll feel beautiful again.


Author Bio:
Jessica Bell is an Australian contemporary fiction author, poet, singer/songwriter who lives in Athens, Greece. She may not write fairy tales, but she can certainly exorcise the beauty within a beast. Bell also makes a living as an editor and writer for global ELT publishers (English Language Teaching), such as Pearson Education, HarperCollins, Macmillan Education, Education First and Cengage Learning.

She is the co-publishing editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal, and the director of the Homeric Writers’ Retreat & Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca.

CLICK HERE to subscribe to Jessica’s newsletter. Every subscriber will receive The Hum of Sin Against Skin for free, and be the first to know about new releases and special subscriber giveaways.

Connect with Jessica online:
website | retreat & workshop | blog | Vine Leaves Journal | Facebook | Twitter

Giveaway:
Grand prize giveaway
Prize (open internationally): 
--The winner has a choice of 3 prizes:

Choice 1: Paperback copies of my novels: String Bridge (+ MP3 downloads of original soundtrack), The Book, and Bitter Like Orange Peel
Choice 2: Paperback copies of my Writing in a Nutshell Series (three pocket-sized writing craft books)
Choice 3: Paperback copies of my poetry books: Muted, Fabric and Twisted Velvet Chains.


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