Category: Author Spotlight

Posted on by

Where I Get My Ideas!

A woman in a blue shirt witha blonde ponytail smiles at the camera.

Hi, I’m J.B. Moonstar!  

I have loved the natural world from an early age and enjoy going to zoos and aquariums and watching animal shows on TV.  One of my favorite animals is the meerkat!  My stories are eco-fantasy adventures for juvenile readers (7 years and up).  In my stories, the dragons and mermaids are the “good guys”, and with help from my young heroes, they rescue endangered animals.  I want my readers to learn that animals have lives just like humans do – families and homes – and just want to survive among the growing threats posed by today’s world.  My books also give children a glimpse of the world from the animal’s point of view.  I hope that I can encourage children to learn about, and love, nature as much as I do!

Where do I get my ideas?

The main plot in my books are many times based on nature/conservation magazines that discuss the plight of animals who are being pushed to the brink of extinction because of human greed or ignorance of what their actions do to wildlife. Since the purpose of Ituria’s Islands on the moon is to rescue endangered animals, I get ideas from these types of magazines for the plot or theme.   

You may wonder about Ituria’s Island and if living in the caverns of the moon is pure fantasy.  However, I did a lot of research for the first book in The Ituria Chronicles – several months of reading about the moon, and how I could create islands under its surface. I learned about the volcano flows, cavern structures, water/ice believed to exist on the moon, as well as the moon’s relationship with the earth.  All these facts were considered to create a world that could exist.  In my research, I learned people are now talking about making human habitats in the moon’s caverns. It would keep humans safe from the 500-degree shifts in temperatures and meteor impacts on the surface. However, should they attempt this, I do need to tell them that Ituria got there first!  

What do I write?  

My books are written for elementary school readers, basically seven years and older and are safe for young readers.  My stories are “fantasy” adventures because they have dragons and mermaids, unicorns, magic potions, and magical items.  However, my dragons are vegetarian and don’t need to be defeated by the end of the story.  My stories are “eco-fantasy” because the dragons and other fantasy creatures are working with my main characters to rescue endangered animals, and in the process showing the reader that the natural world from the eyes of the animals, and that they need our help and protection.  

So far, my young heroes in The Ituria Chronicles series have helped rescue Red Wolves, Chinese Crested Terns, sick deer, a stranded manatee, and even tiger cubs – these creatures were being threatened by humans and needed someone with the courage to help them. I have also started a new series, The Mermaids of Crystal Cay, where the mermaids are helping sea creatures survive the threats created by humans in their underwater homes.  In the first book, Kimmi and the Sea Dragon, they deal with a ghost net and its devastating effects as it sweeps through a kelp garden.  In the second book, Roselia and the Ancient Warriors, they must rescue horseshoe crabs illegally poached from a wildlife refuge.

Who are my characters?  

My two series, The Ituria Chronicles and The Mermaids of Crystal Cay, are both composed of numerous stand-alone stories with a main theme of rescuing endangered animals.  In The Ituria Chronicles, my dragons Knocker and Megan have a potion that allows them to assume human shape for short periods of time so they can blend in with humans to accomplish their mission, and they enlist young heroes and heroines on Earth to assist in the rescues.

I love working with Knocker, he has such a confident air about him, and being a very large fire-breathing dragon allows him to control any situation, even when he is in human form. He has had many years of experience dealing with humans and doesn’t get upset when confronting them anymore, he knows he has the upper hand even though the humans may think they are in control.  Megan is a dragon who was trapped in a cave by humans for 350 years until freed by Jan, and she has an attitude, don’t try to hold her back!

My heroines, Jenna, Jan, and Michelle are ready and willing to stand up for themselves and not take orders from anyone; they are the ones in charge – even if they are only 11 to 12 years old. I guess it is how I wish I would have been at 12 – when I was 12, I was told that I could either be a nurse or a secretary – that was the only thing girls could do. 

My heroes, Russ and Taylor, also have their own backgrounds, and I have enjoyed seeing Taylor grow in confidence as he realizes that while he may have what some consider a handicap, he also has many strengths that outweigh this perceived weakness.  All my characters are compassionate and really care for their families and the animals that live around them. 

Ituria’s Alliance continues!

Come join Knocker, Megan, Michelle and the other members of Ituria’s Alliance as they rescue animals and protect nature from illegal poaching and other dangers posed by humans!   We are always looking for new recruits for Ituria’s Alliance! 

Website:   www.jbmoonstar.com
Instagram:   @j.b.moonstar 
Email:  jbmoonstar.author@gmail.com

Posted on by

The Weirdo’s Guide to Finding Purpose

As part of my ongoing attempt to be a revolutionary, I often preach that writing is for everyone. I attend poetry nights and read poorly-written rhyming couples about something amusing enough to inspire a few chuckles, or relevant enough to provoke a few finger clicks. Inbetween these poems, I sermonise like a self-important Jim Jones character over the tiny crowd:

‘We all need creative outlets,’ I proclaim to the roomful of ambiguously-gendered poets with multi-coloured hair, ‘so everyone, everywhere should speak their truth, regardless of quality or marketability, because it’s bound to resonate with someone, somewhere. My hideous progenies, go forth and prosper! Prose belongs to the world!’ The poets usually scoff at being called hideous and the presumption that I progenated them, and go on to perform much better poetry.

And I do believe that writing is for everyone. I wouldn’t get so excited at the prospect of teaching fourteen-year-olds and baby undergrads creative writing modules if I didn’t believe this. I wouldn’t recommend Kathy Acker books in earnestness, or smile so much at the rhyming graffiti in toilet cubicles. Writing is for everyone. This, I truly believe. But there’s also a horribly narcissistic part of me that whispers: yes, absolutely, writing is for everyone… but it’s especially for me. 

I hold onto this platitude not from a place of pride, but from a place of self-protection. As a lonely, youngest child, growing up in the idyllic Yorkshire countryside, I was bored brainless for the entirety of my childhood. My siblings were too old to play with me; my parents were perpetually overwhelmed. I was this ugly, queer kid who acted weird (I pray I have some kind of neurodivergence, because otherwise I have no bloody excuse). I couldn’t get on with the farmer’s kids whose heads were screwed on right while mine was forever in the clouds. So, I did what any burgeoning delusionist would do and made up imaginary friends. Their backgrounds were convoluted and ridiculous and they all knew each other well. Most importantly, they protected me, and loved me above all others. 

As I grew older, the nature of the imaginary friends changed. Mostly, I stopped speaking about them aloud and instead kept them firmly in my own head so that I wasn’t rendered insane. Alongside this, my imaginary friends grew better-looking, more sexually provocative, less like protective parental figures, and instead a quirky group of misfits with various romantic sparks blossoming between them. These imaginings gave me moments of bliss in a life that was otherwise bleak and miserable. Pathetic fallacy is not so much a literary device but a fact of life for Northern-English adolescents in the late-2000s.

At sixteen, I put pen to paper officially for the first time. Or at least, that’s what I claim in podcasts. Before that, I uploaded fan-fiction about my favourite bands, and wrote poems about drinking black coffee and being depressed (when I actually hated coffee and wasn’t depressed enough by half, considering), and I’d been keeping diaries since I could write. Still, it works better as an origin story if I suggest that there was a moment of serendipity where the universe bent down to me and said ‘enough already, you’re destined to be a writer!’ My sixth-form college held a creative writing competition where the winner got £300, and I wrote a story about a teenage girl desperate to be a writer (go figure) and came second and won £50. This was a lucrative start to a frustratingly unlucrative career, and for that I am inordinately grateful.

The rest was surprisingly linear. A teacher suggested I apply for the creative writing course at UEA (a university in the UK famed for its Creative Writing programme), which I did. I got in, I moved to Norwich, I came out of the closet (though the door was always ajar for me), and I published stories in their undergrad anthologies. When I graduated, I spent a year working in China, which was an interesting year full of amazing experiences, but really it taught me that I would always be happier in universities surrounded by other creative, little weirdos, and I ran off to Birmingham to do a Masters. Much the of the same continued throughout my 20s. Year abroad, creative writing degree, year abroad, creative writing degree… Throughout all this, I got better at sending out stories to journals, emailing publishers, and pasting my scraps of paper into passable collections. At some point I stopped and looked around and thought: ‘Oh shit, I’m actually a writer, aren’t I? I can’t believe it, I’m actually doing it.’ 

 Now I’m completing my Creative Writing PhD, and things are fine. I’ve handed in a novel for an exam board of terrifying academics. I’ve published three books, and have another on the way. I’ve done podcasts where interviewers have referred to me as a writer, and I didn’t flinch. 

There are still moments where I remember who I was (that weird, queer little freak) and where I’ve come from (the backside of arse-end nowhere), and I freeze. But when my head’s in my hands and I’m swearing that I don’t deserve this self-important platitude, the pen sneaks itself back into my hand and before you know it I’m scribbling down bullshit again. During a bout of imposter syndrome, my academic supervisor listened to my self-flagellating woes with the patience of a saint before saying: 

‘You say you’re not sure you can do this, but it sounds like you’re compelled to. I think if you weren’t here at the uni, you would be writing this book anyway.’ 

And it’s true. I would have been. 

There are others who doubt me too. If I was a different, less-millennial creator I’d call them ‘haters’, but I think they’re more like ‘baffled-ers’ in reality. They see me stumbling over my words with my stupid green hair and my silly facial expressions, making self-deprecating comments and jokes that don’t land and they think her?! Really, her?! She’s not introverted or cool enough. Her accent is too northern and her voice is too loud. She’s not pretty, or interesting, or even really talented, and frankly, if she’s not neurodivergent then she’s just plain fucking weird. How in god’s name is she a published writer and I’m not? 

When this happens, I think of the old adage about modern art. The red-faced critic stares at the Rothko canvas screaming, ‘that’s nothing! I could do that!’. To which the artist responses: ‘Well sure you could, but you didn’t.’ 

They scowl at me across a pub table, sucking on their cigarettes. Too much of our socialising is unsaid, which I find painful because words are the tool I’m most familiar with. When I hear them silently ask that how in god’s name question I can’t say anything out loud for fear of getting it all wrong. But Christ, when I see their faces twisted saying how in God’s name did she do it? I wish to tell them: ‘I just did. Writing is for everyone. So, the question is, why don’t you?’ 

You can find out more about Cathleen, including where to find her online, here: https://linktr.ee/cathleendavieswriter

Posted on by

A Writer’s Journey (Or The Art of Going Nowhere Fast!)

I guess it’s one of the standard questions every author gets asked sooner or later: “What was your journey as a writer like?”

I’ve written all my life, starting way back in my primary school days, when I used to write lurid stories about being stranded on desert islands, unicorns and monsters. My imagination was one tumultuous riot of ideas and images, and still is. The teachers set an assignment, a two or three page essay/story. I used to fill two or three exercise books. I often wish I had kept some of those stories just to reflect on early beginnings.

As I grew, I discovered I had other talents, drawing, painting, even back then my main art subjects were superheroes, which I still like to doodle with today. But writing was always at the forefront.

It wasn’t serious back then, just writing for my own delectation, ideas would come to me, [frequently] and I would just write about it, I often wonder how many millions of words I have written and forgotten.

I discovered camping, travelling, going out into the big wide world, a good source of subject matter, gathering experiences, though, again, at the time, I didn’t realise exactly what a treasure trove of knowledge I was building, or what for. I couldn’t settle, I can’t tell you how many different jobs I had in between travelling through Europe, the near east, the length and breadth of the U.K.

I dabbled a little in sending submissions to literary agents, with absolutely no results, but I wasn’t deterred. I kept writing and sending, happy with the never-ending merry-go-round of sending manuscripts and receiving rejection slips.

I don’t know exactly when it did become serious. Probably when an English literary agent finally accepted a young adult horror novel I had written. I was thrilled to bits. The literary agent, who shall remain nameless, [I’ll explain in a minute], encouraged me to also design and paint book covers for some of his other clients which I was all too happy to do. I even had one accepted and published which was a great boost to my self-esteem.

Unfortunately, it was all a scam. The literary agent was a fraud, he duped me, and several other aspiring authors into submitting the work only to plagiarize it and publish it under his own name. It’s not an uncommon story, and I was pleased when he was prosecuted and found guilty.

But that wasn’t the end of it. About a year later I saw a t.v. listing in the paper for a new adventure series. It caught my eye because the name of the series, and the title font design they were using was the same as the young adult novel I had submitted to the literary agent.

Long story short, the plotline of the t.v. series was exactly the same as my novel, and a lot of the characters matched. I sought the advice of a lawyer who having read my novel and seen the first four episodes of the t.v. series, was so confident in my case, he agreed to take the case pro bono. The case collapsed because we could never make a connection between the literary agent and the t.v. company who produced the series. Here’s the kicker, I was told by the t.v. company if I ever published the YA Novel in its present form I would be sued for plagiarism! Go figure.

To say that little episode took the wind out of my sails would be an understatement. It didn’t stop me writing, but I was reluctant to make any more submissions.

Fast forward fifteen years.

Originally from the U.K. I came to the U.S.A. in November 2017. In June 2023 I received my American Citizenship. I’m not sure what it was, but I felt inspired. I took a trip down to Cancun, Mexico. I was sitting on a bus, and I saw a store with a huge gorilla squatting on the canopy over the store front, the store’s name was JUNGLE. And that’s all it took.

I began writing the first novel in THE JUNGLE SERIES. It just felt right. The words just poured out of me. I finished it, edited it to the best of my ability and decided to take the bull by the horns and start submitting it. [Not with a little trepidation, I might add.] I was thrilled when it was accepted for publication by 4Horsemen Publications, I haven’t looked back since.

I think my story is typical of many aspiring [and successful] authors. If I have made light of it, it really wasn’t. But if you write seriously, it’s not because you want to write, it’s because you need to write. It’s in your blood. Don’t let anyone tell you writing is easy because they don’t know what they are talking about. I love writing, I have never considered it a “job”, but sometimes your characters haunt you, they never leave you alone, they drive you crazy.

Sometimes I feel as if I am going nowhere fast, just spinning my wheels, I have all these stories running around my head like headless chickens begging to be written and I wonder how many will see the light of day. Will I have the time, will anyone even be interested?

And writing goes beyond the actual creative process, that’s the fun part. Building new worlds, new characters, new adventures. Wait till you have to do all the rewrites, the editing…

It’s hard, it can be solitary… But do you know what?

I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Follow Alan at: 

Posted on by

Haunter’s Tale It’s Alive!

As the clock ticks down, dear fiends and phantoms, the veil between the living and the dead grows thinner. Soon it will be October 31, 2024, the day when Accomplishing Innovation Press unleashes the first volume of Haunter’s Tale upon the world. This spine-chilling anthology promises to be a ghastly delight, overflowing with ghoulishly original stories, eerie true ghost accounts, haunting artwork, and much more. For those who revel in horror, this is one book you won’t dare to miss!

At the helm of Haunter’s Tale is none other than James-Michael Roddy, a name that evokes images of some of the biggest Halloween events around the globe. With his diabolical genius and extensive experience in the horror genre, Roddy ensures that this anthology will be a masterpiece of terror. He has brought together the most talented horror/haunt designers and fans to create an unforgettable reading experience. The anticipation for its release date is palpable, with horror enthusiasts everywhere eagerly awaiting their chance to delve into the darkness.

Haunter’s Tale Volume One is no ordinary collection; it is a plunge into the depths of horror and hauntings. Each volume will feature:

Ghoulishly Original Stories: From twisted minds come new and terrifying tales that will leave you unable to sleep at night.

True Ghost Accounts: Chilling real-life encounters that will make your blood run cold.

Haunting Artwork: Visually stunning pieces that capture the essence of each story’s eerie atmosphere.

Backstories and More: Gain insight into the inspiration and creation of each spine-tingling tale.

In-Depth Interviews: Take a peek into the dark worlds of these masterminds as they discuss their creations.

Keep Repeating, It’s Only a Book

Volume One, titled Haunters and Hauntings, will kick off the series with a bang. Featuring an introduction from the legendary Tom Savini, a revered figure in the horror community, this volume sets the stage for what’s to come. Savini’s unique insights and experiences add an extra layer of depth and terror to the collection, ensuring that readers are in for a truly immersive experience.

Haunter’s Tale goes beyond simply showcasing stories and artwork; it celebrates the talented and dedicated creators behind them. The ultimate goal of this series is to provide a platform where horror enthusiasts can come together, share their work, and inspire one another. Every creator has a unique perspective on the genre, and Haunter’s Tale aims to give them the opportunity to share it with the world.

To complement this terrifying new book series, an hour-long podcast will also be launched. This podcast will serve as an extension of the Haunter’s Tale platform, offering in-depth interviews with horror creators. Take a deep dive into the minds behind the madness as they engage in thought-provoking conversations about all things horror, and read spine-chilling renditions of the stories featured in the anthology.

So brace yourselves, dear readers. The world of Haunter’s Tale is dark, twisted, and waiting to be explored. Enter if you dare, but remember to keep repeating: it’s only a book… or is it?

www.haunterstale.com

www.michaelroddystoryteller.com

Haunters & Hauntings (Haunter’s Tale #1)
Posted on by

The Secret to Stop Binge Eating

What if I told you the secret to stop binge eating was to eat more?

Binge eaters, picture this: you start your work day off committed to eating 1300 calories. For breakfast, you choke down bland egg whites and a chalky protein shake. By the time it’s 10 am, your tummy grumbles. Rather than eating, you suppress your hunger with black coffee until noon.

In your lunch box is a green salad with two-day old chicken, a low-fat vinaigrette, and exactly ⅛ cup of shredded carrots. Begrudgingly, you stab your fork into the bowl of leaves while your colleague enjoys a thick, overstuffed hummus wrap. You salivate as you watch chunks of feta tumble out from the tortilla and obsess whether or not cheese would be OK to add to your salad.

After returning to your desk unsatisfied, you remember the granola bar stashed in your desk drawer. Feeling guilty about the 11 grams of added sugar, you devour it while swearing you’ll skip carbs at dinner.

Just one problem: you’re still hungry. The rest of your afternoon is clouded by thoughts of food, making it hard to concentrate on work. Your body and brain are begging for nourishment but your calorie counting app says no. You feel bad for wanting food.

But by the time you get home, it’s game over. At a long stoplight, you caved and ordered an XL pizza off UberEats. But even the 12 minute arrival time does not stop you from tearing into your pantry like a grizzly bear at an abandoned campsite. You munch on trail mix, a handful of stale crackers, and even some chocolate chips you hid from yourself in the back of the freezer. At this point, there’s no point in counting calories- the day is ruined by your binge. Your stomach is uncomfortably full, and you feel an overwhelming sense of guilt and shame. Tomorrow, you say to yourself, I will do better.

The thing is, tomorrow won’t be better if you continue to restrict food to unhealthy levels. This is because the body’s normal and healthy response to starvation is to seek out large amounts of quick energy in the form of sugar, fat, and ultra-processed foods. Why? To keep you alive! Read How to Eat like a Normal Person to understand the binge-eating pattern.

Unless you have anorexia nervosa, an extreme eating disorder with the highest death rate of all mental health disorders, your body will drive you to seek out food when it is not getting enough nutrition. This explains why women who struggle with the all-or-nothing mentality with food often ping-pong between diets and binging- their bodies are recovering from mild starvation by overeating. 

In fact, studies show adopting a regular eating pattern has been shown to reduce the frequency of binge eating while suppressing hunger can increase the occurrence of binge eating. This means to stop binge eating, you must fuel your body throughout the day with the right balance of protein, complex carbs, and dietary fats.

Feel confused or overwhelmed by the idea of eating more to binge less? How to Eat Like A Normal Person: Guide to Overcoming the “All-or-Nothing” Mindset with Food & Diet is a story-workbook that will teach you how to eat for YOUR body so you stop binge eating and heal your relationship to food.

Written by Kait Richardson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and author of How to Eat Like A Normal Person: Guide to Overcoming the “All-or-Nothing” Mindset with Food & Diet. You can follow her on Instagram @kaitrichardsonrd.

Pre-order your copy here.

How to Eat Like a Normal Person
Posted on by

My Writing Journey – Nick Savage

Every author travels a unique path that is their writing journey. From the moment we first picked up a book that inspired us, to the final written (or typed) word of that first manuscript, we’ve all been there in some unique way. While my tale is not unique unto itself, perhaps my experiences somewhere between the beginning and now can shed some light on what it’s like or ease the concerns of a weary writer.

Writing, in one form or another, has always flowed through my veins. From the very first set of lyrics when I started playing guitar and poems to which no music fit, to the numerous screenplays, and finally to the novels that have led me to write this. But my background plays little importance in the story. I grew up a mile and a half outside Chicago in Niles. I had, what I considered, a fairly normal childhood. We all have our trauma to bear. That’s part of why we write.

Growing up, I read a lot of Hardy Boys. Fun detective stories to capture the imagination of youth. As I got older, I read different genres and more politically charged novels like Johnny Got His Gun. The worlds within books always held my fascination, captivating me to escape into them. When that happens, you feel the calling to write. So, here I am. Writing about myself has never been my strong point. I much prefer stories. I guess that’s why I write fiction and not non-fiction.

When an idea for a story slides into my consciousness, I let it marinate. I may start writing a few pages to see what my immediate mind brings to the table, but I let it marinate. It stews in my head for a while, thinking about whether the initial idea holds any relevance past the first bloom. Will it make for a good story or a good anecdote within some other story? If it might make a good book, what is the story about? What endings can happen? If the idea is a boy meets girl, does it end with him getting the girl? Could it be he gets a different girl from the initial crush? Or some other possibility? More importantly, I ask myself, “Why am I telling this story? What about this needs to be told?”

After convincing myself that my idea is worth telling, thus worth being read, I plot. I do not subscribe to the discovery method solely. Plotting on cards or within software like Scrivner will help you discover what needs to happen in order for A (the beginning) to end at Z (the end). I know that some would crucify me for saying such things against discovery writing, but it is not my jam. Of course, it isn’t all plotting. At some point, I start writing. And the writing goes well for a while until I hit a wall. I do not believe in writer’s block. I believe that being prepared for the inevitable wall is how to get around that block. I plot, I write, I hit wall. So not what? Now, I go back and plot. Figure out what within the plot caused the traffic jam. From there, it’s a rinse-and-repeat kind of thing. 

Writing is the easy part. Finding the inspiration for the story can hit from out of nowhere. One day, I can be standing outside a fast food joint, waiting on my burger when I see someone who reminds me of someone and my mind starts weaving a tale of lost love and bad decisions. Another day, my inspiration spawns from the title of an X-Files episode. Not the subject matter of the episode or anything, just the title. 

We all have stories to tell. Some are novels, and some are novellas. A few of us have the gift (or curse) for epic stories. But in order to write, we need to experience this thing called life in all the shades it comes in. The ecstasy, the agony, and everything between. Go live. Enjoy the moments as they pass and see what they whisper to you. Who knows? Perhaps your next moment could be what inspires you.

Posted on by

My Writing Journey – Mimi Francis

Hello world! I’m Mimi and I’m an author.

I never thought I would say those words. By the time I was in my mid-40s, I figured my time had come and gone. I couldn’t be an author, not a published one anyway. It was too late for me. Everybody knows there’s a small window for pursuing your dreams and it closes in your 30s. Right?

For a long time, I believed that. Dreaming big was for younger people, not for me. Until one day, I said “F**k it,” and decided I would chase that dream, regardless of how old I was. So, four years ago, at 48-years-old, I sat down at my computer and did something I never thought I would do. I submitted my work to a publisher in the hope they would want to work with me.

It took a lot of guts for me to take that step. More than anyone can imagine.

I wrote a lot in high school. I usually had three or four notebooks I carried with me, filled with my inner thoughts. Somehow, as the years progressed, I stopped writing. I was busy going to school, then being a wife and mother of three. While I loved to read, I never thought about writing again. Nothing inspired me.

Until I discovered Supernatural. I came into it later, the summer after season seven. I binged the first seven seasons in about nine weeks. I was obsessed. Ideas filled my head, ideas I couldn’t stop thinking about. I started to write, trying to get the thoughts in my head on paper. Before I knew what happened, I had written a 400,000 word Supernatural fan fiction. A year later, I started posting my fan fiction online.

For the next six years, I devoted my time to writing fan fiction as a part of the Supernatural fandom and, eventually, the Marvel fandom. I’m a Dean girl through and through and I’ll never stop loving Steve Rogers. During those six years, I wrote over two million words of Supernatural fan fiction and close to a million words of Marvel fan fiction. What can I say? I love demon hunters and superheroes.

According to some people in the fandom, I was far too old to be writing steamy fan fiction for monster-hunting brothers or Marvel superheroes. Eventually, those comments got to me, discouraged me, and put me on a path of self-imposed mediocrity. I bought into the idea that I was too old to do what I was doing and I was definitely too old to try something new. I would go weeks without writing and when I would write, it was subpar and not my best work. I struggled every day to get the words out.

Then fate intervened and set me on an alternative path.

A publisher followed my author’s account on social media. At first, I thought it was a scam, but as I looked into them and their work, I realized they were legitimate. And maybe, just maybe, they might be interested in me and my work. An idea took hold, that maybe I could submit something to them. Even if it was just for fun.

It was a ‘why not?’ moment for me. The worst that could happen was they would say no. I’d been rejected before and I knew, even if nothing came of it, at least I could say I did it. So, I faced my fear, emailed off the first 10,000 words of one of my finished books, held my breath, and waited.

When the response to my email came in, I stared at my phone for a full five minutes before I opened it. Even though I’d prepared myself for the inevitable rejection, I didn’t want to see it staring back at me in black and white. No one wants to be rejected, even if you know it’s going to happen. It took everything in me to open that email.

Guess what? They didn’t say no. They said yes.

It’s been almost four years since I opened that email and my life changed forever. 

I now have eight books published, with a ninth releasing in September. My Loves of Lakeside small town romance series is set in my home state of Montana. I live the Hollywood dream vicariously through my characters in my Second Chances in Hollywood series, and I delve into the dark side of the world in my Massachusetts Mafia series. I recently turned in my tenth book, the first book in a novella series about finding love via the internet called Sweet Connections. I am currently working on my next three books.

I left my full-time job a year ago to work part-time and devote more time to writing. I have book ideas coming out of my ears. At least it feels like it some days. Since becoming a grandmother a month ago, I’ve even had a few ideas for children’s books. I would love to hand my grandson a picture book one day and tell him, “Mimi wrote that for you.” I’m also diving into script writing. I hope to one day see my books on screen—big or small, I don’t care. A lot has happened in four years. It’s been a wild, crazy, whirlwind ride. I wouldn’t change it for anything.I’m proud of all I’ve accomplished and I’m excited about what’s coming. But more than anything, I proved to myself and to everyone that said I was “too old” that you are never too old to go after your dreams. I’m in my 50s and I’m having the time of my life. Bring on the next fifty years. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for me.

Posted on by

Writing Journey

I decided to become a writer early on in my life. I thought I wanted to work in comic books. If I can’t do something, I’m one of those people who gives me the drive to do it even more. I suffer from dyslexia and severe learning disabilities—ADHD as well now—so reading was always a challenge until I got older. I couldn’t read substantially until the 3rd grade. My love of reading took off when I started reading tie-in books for Halo and Star Wars. 

Conversely, I could always write. My mother and grandmother were both English teachers. My sentence structure and voice have almost always been there. During my reading journey, I began thinking, I could do this; I could write the words that take place in my head. Commas still baffle me. 

The adage is to write what you know. I know crime. I found my authorial voice while working in a jail. The first serious story I wrote involved one of my favorite character creations, which is probably the closest character to me in terms of autobiographical details and thoughts, and sadly, a character most people haven’t been introduced to, Paul-Wayne Collins. The story involved the investigation of a missing kid and a realization that the parents had done something to the kid. The crux of the story was the interview of the parent. The story was written while I worked overnight as a Detention Officer in the Tulsa County Jail. Somewhere during writing that story, my voice (as it is now) exploded onto the page. There was no turning back at that point.

I am now a detective for a suburb of Tulsa. I love learning and listening to people. They fascinate me. I like to know why something happens. 

In progressing through my career, I’ve become enthralled with empathy. 

When I finished The Olympian (my first novel), editor Jim Thomsen asked me, “Why do you write?” It only took me about fifteen novels (published and unpublished) to figure it out. Empathy.

As far as crime as a genre goes, I like to have my characters tell readers how they feel as opposed to me telling them in interior dialogue. Most authors could write great dialogue by turning interior thoughts into conversational scenes. Because I write characters through dialogue, and through character comes plot, it’s easier to stay in contemporary settings, as far as description and setting.

I also like the idea of crime happening around us. I daydream, and through daydreaming, I imagine a world happening around me that people usually don’t see. I like using “mundane” settings and set pieces to tell tense and exciting stories. I read once that many thriller writers do the global hopping/spanning narratives to give readers an escape. I chose to do the opposite to accomplish the same task.

I love the idea of not keeping anything from the reader and telling the story through multiple viewpoints. Still, in doing so, the reader gets to puzzle out the greater narrative—that’s where the mystery comes in.

I am not doing my job if I cannot kill off a character. If, at some point, I resist what the story is telling me to do versus my intention, I always go with what scares me and what the story is telling me to do. It knows better than I do. I don’t have a starting repeating character, but I do have some favorites that come and go in certain books. They’re safe until they are not. 

My first book, The Olympian, and the follow-up American Standard were both difficult but for two different reasons. The Olympian was difficult because it was my first book, and I tried to include too much. American Standard was difficult because I had not learned to let the narrative tell me the story versus forcing the narrative into a story. I learned much about that book, specifically explosive openings and avoiding flashbacks. I learned to tell a straight-line story. It’s more complicated than you think. Flashbacks should be limited, valued, and not used because you aren’t smart enough as a writer to include the information differently.

I write in the present tense because it works for me. I am a detective. I write in past tense all day long because detectives investigate crimes that have already happened. I would love to be able to write in the past tense in my novels, and I believe it would earn me a more significant readership; however, it quickly becomes work and not fun. Present tense allows me to have fun, write creatively, and use jump cuts.

I found I write in chronological order. Sometimes, a scene or chapter is written out of sequence, but for each scene to be truly important to the narrative, it must build upon what’s come before it. 

I usually start with two ideas smashed together and motivations for the characters I believe can best tell the story. Then I go from there. 

I find outlines limiting and draining and typically don’t stay with them for very long. Not because of anything I do. It’s the characters. They have a mind of their own and don’t like to be told what to do.

The best advice I’ve received about starting a novel is, what is it about? Mainly, what is the theme? What do you want the reader to take away from the experience? What are your characters’ motivations? Why are you doing this? Money and fame—do something different. Because you like talking to yourself and sharing those conversations with others—this is the only way you can do this without people looking at you funny.

As far as what people can expect as they read my work, simply this, they will be entertained. It is my only promise as a writer and my only goal. If readers get something else out of my writing, I’m thrilled, but as far as my goal as a writer…entertainment—I want the reader to finish the books with a satisfied smirk and think it was a journey.

Posted on by

T.S. Simons is a Powerhouse!

After many years of traveling and working in international broadcasting, I now live in the alpine region of Australia with my partner, two kids, three cats, and two dogs. We have five acres, above the snowline, and finding ways to be sustainable, especially in winter, is quite a challenge. I am a dual UK/Australian citizen and Scotland and Australia feature heavily in my books.

My media work allowed me to travel to some phenomenal places, and experience amazing cultures. I speak Indonesian, but I regret not paying more attention in French. I use a lot of my experience working in other cultures in my books, trying to create a more inclusive world. But what really motivates me is watching my kids’ generation and wondering how they would do things differently if given the chance to rebuild the world. Would politics, religion, and legal systems play the same roles they do today?

My first degrees were in English Literature and History, but by the end of my Masters, I was completely burned out. But my love for literature and history never waned, and I have always loved visiting ancient sites, with a particular passion for mythology and Celtic archaeology, especially stone circles. 

In 2018, I became quite sick, and after a week of watching Netflix, bored senseless, I realized there wasn’t going to be a better time. So I started writing Project Hemisphere, the now five-time award-winning first in the Antipodes series and never stopped. The main impetus for me was the bushfires in Australia, where we were evacuated from our homes several times and quite literally watched the world around us burning. It was impossible not to feel that the world was ending when you were packing up your kids, your pets, and your life, wondering if it was the last time you would see your home. I remember listening to students in my community fighting with politicians who kept saying, “Climate change wasn’t a thing,” and wondering if my generation had messed it up and if my kids’ generation would get it right if they had the chance. That was when I realized that I was a dystopian writer – not in a doom and gloom way, but in that “what would we do differently” way. What parts of our current society would we keep and what would we do differently? I love posing philosophical questions and grappling with alternate perspectives.

Finding time to write is my biggest challenge.  After leaving broadcasting, mostly to be home more for my family, I changed sectors, and I am now the CEO of a multi-million dollar not-for-profit organization. The lack of travel motivation was an epic fail, as I travel just as much now, but I love my job, making a difference in the world. I also have two neurodiverse sons, so autism and mental health themes run throughout my books. It was important to me to normalize the conversation about mental health. We all struggle at times, and I knew that it was important to reflect these themes in my characters. It doesn’t define who they are but affects their decision-making.

When I write, I research everything! Plants, engineering and scientific concepts, medical conditions, and all sorts of random things. Ideas for books, sub-plots, or spin-offs often come to me while I am driving. I drive a lot for work, and I replay scenes in my head as I drive, looking for plotholes, considering a situation from another character’s perspective. In the early days, I found myself constantly pulling over to take notes to record new ideas, so I ended up installing a voice-to-text app on my phone so I could take notes while I was driving. 

The Latitude series was a spin-off of the Antipodes series, as I wanted to see how the original characters’ children would do things differently. Each generation challenges their parents, so I was keen to see the original settlers as the established ones and what their children would do differently. 

This year I committed to travel and attend international book signings – a long way from Australia. I started with Ages of Pages in New Zealand in April, followed by Authors at the Armouries in the UK in June. 

I am headed back to New Zealand in 2025, and Scotland in 2026 – my second home. Every time I return, I never want to leave. There is something about the place that calls to me. Once my kids leave home, I can see myself moving back to the Scottish Outer Hebrides, living with a few cats in a tiny cottage near the standing stones of Callanish, which feature heavily in the Antipodes and Latitude series. Spending my days reading, writing and pottering around my garden. Of course, my coffee machine would need to come with me. Coffee, cheese, and a wee dram of whisky at night are essential. 

Later this year, I am attending signings in Lexington, Pittsburgh, and Louisville, and I can’t wait to meet my US audience as well as other authors. Writing is a team sport and I love how the author community supports each other. Details of all of my signing events are listed on my website – www.tssimons.com – come along and meet me!

Tanya
TS Simons

T.S. Simons
Posted on by

Author Spotlight: Robert Lewis

Have you discovered Robert Lewis?

If you have not grabbed up one of the books from Robert Lewis you are missing out!

Robert (Robby) J. Lewis is a writer based out of Charleston, South Carolina. He has brought you not only the Shadow Guardian series but the Someone Series under Robert Lewis. He has written numerous steamy film scripts for Noir Male and Icon Male and more recently agreed to start writing for Luxxxe Studios. You can keep up with Robby Lewis’s latest releases, news, and antics via his social media or at www.robert-j-lewis.com.

You can order his books in all formats directly from our 4HP Website and receive 10% OFF using coupon code 4HP10! Check out all their work here:

Robert J. Lewis