Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Rock Me Like A Hurricane

I have been on a break here from my blog and have also been taking a break from my writing for a month or so as other things have taken priority and things have been happening that require my attention. This post is more of a personal thing and nothing to do with writing or the like and is more about how fortunate some of us really are, so turn away if you must.

I was one of the unfortunate people to be affected by Hurricane Sandy and let me tell you...this was scary. Our power has been out since Sunday evening around 7:15 pm or so and it has been interesting since then to say the least.

My family was lucky enough not to sustain any major house damage, tree damage or bodily damage by this freak of a storm and I feel sorry for anyone who was truly affected in an adverse way. This is not what the economy needed for sure. With so many people still out of work and rising gas and food costs, this just seems to be piling on now. If it wasn't so sad, I would laugh.

Anyway, my family and friends are still without power in our neighborhood and believe it may be coming back soon as on my way to work, I noted the convenience store on the other side of the highway had power finally.

So, looking at this in a positive light, I am thankful that no one I know was injured and that it did not occur either in the dead of winter or the scorching heat of summer. No electricity in those times would be pretty awful. Getting a taste of life without electricity is pretty wild and makes me thankful that we live in a free country where we can make our own decisions and are afforded the luxuries of making our own way.

I am betting that many children will be conceived during this time and hopefully, a lot of reading was had by all! (Alright, so I snuck in a reading comment) That being said, I know we can come together and persevere through this and anything else that comes. My message to all is please do not lose your humanity no matter what happens: Storms, floods  zombie apocalypse's or whatever. Be cool to your fellow human beings. Our behavior is the only thing that we can control on this crazy planet and nothing makes is worse than people being...you know...ass-clowns.

Zig Ziglar said it best: "You will get what you want if you just help enough other people get what they want."

See you on the flip-side!




 Please join me and the other amazingly talented authors over @ Skulldust Circle where we have formed a Writer's Circle that must be seen--a collection of brilliant, up & coming independently published speculative fiction authors with much to give both now and in the future!

All of my work can be found on AMAZON -- Kindle versions here

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit MY HOME PAGE to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase my full length novel, Covenant of the Faceless Knights, the short stories: Wothlondia Rising, and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2012 unless otherwise noted.





Friday, October 12, 2012

Rick Novy Interview

Continuing with my rounds of interviews from the amazing independent authors I've met on social media, I give you now Speculative Fiction/Sci-Fi author: Rick Novy!


In what genre do you write for the most part?
I write mainly speculative fiction, with a leaning toward the SF side of the fence.

Give us a brief synopsis of your book(s)
Fishpunk
When Wisconsin Territory botanist Calvin Scholz receives a mysterious package from an old friend who recently came to an untimely demise, it sparks a wild adventure. The mid-1840s is a dangerous time, for the Americans are at war with Mexico.

Scholz survives attempts on his life as he tries to deliver the package to his friend’s brother, a Savannah ichthyologist interested in fish-powered machinery--ichthyotech. The situation grows increasingly dire, and Scholz finds himself aboard a riverboat in the Amazon Basin wilderness.

While this novel contains a fast-moving, original story, it is also a tasteful parody of the Steampunk movement. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, as well as a few compulsory bad puns.

Rigel Kentaurus
It’s the first human voyage outside the solar system, and Proxima Centauri is the destination. The crew of the sleeper ship Deep Space discovers we are not alone, and not everyone out there is nice. Diverted to Alpha Centauri A (Rigel Kentaurus) to fetch and return a faster-than-light prototype, the crew learns that humanity is the only civilization to ever solve the light barrier problem. Now, Deep Space must defend it as a military secret, because the mysterious Betels have been at war with the brutal Thrace since before mankind discovered fire–all with sublight space travel.

Neanderthal Swan Song
The world of anthropology would have been excited when a perfectly preserved Neanderthal body is discovered in the Greenlandic permafrost, if authorities would allow the details out. When an American anthropologist involved in the excavation is denied access to the body, she uses an illicit tissue sample as source material to carry the Neanderthal’s clone to term herself.
Meet Ike Mudge, twenty-first-century Neanderthal man. Self-educated and raised in a laboratory thirty-thousand years out of his time, he is alone in a world of billions. Will it drive him insane, or will he make a final contribution for his kind–a Neanderthal Swan Song?

When did you start writing?
I wrote on and off since I was in grade school.

What inspired you to write?
I'm not really sure. It's as if there has always been this knowledge deep down that I would write.

If your books were made into a movie, who would play the roles?
I envisioned Johnny Depp playing the protag in Neanderthal Swan Song, but Depp is gettig too old for the role. Other than that, I haven't really put much thought into actors playing the parts in my books. There isn't much to be gained by spending mental energy on it, unless you use that to build the character in your mind. Usually, I already have a personality in mind for my characters, so actors don’t play much of a role in my character creation.

What would be your choice for a superpower?
The best superpower there is would be to have incredibly good luck.

Who is your favorite author?
I don't really have a favorite; there are so many good ones out there.  In fact, I can't read consecutive books by the same author. I usually start tiring of the voice, and even if I don't I want to prevent that from happening.

What are you reading now?
Harlan Ellison's The Other Glass Teat, Kim Stanley Robinson's Antarctica, Manfred Schroeder Fractals, Chaos, Power Laws, and a few more. I haven't been absorbed by any of these books, so I jump back and forth. 

Who is your favorite character to write?
I had a lot of fun writing Robert Wenthworth in Fishpunk. He is madcap, but not stupid. That makes him a lot of fun to write. I also had a lot of fun with Malshaak in Rigel Kentaurus. I enjoy writing from the alien point of view and I'm told I'm pretty good at it.

Do you have a writing process?
It all comes down to butt-in-chair time.


What do you do when you aren’t writing?
I'm an avid aquarist. I have anywhere between 12 and 20 aquariums going at once, depending on what I happen to be trying to do at any given time.  Breeding can take a lot of tank space.  I'm a member of the crew at wetwebmedia.com, a great resource for people struggling with aquarium-related problems and trying to heal sick fishes.
I'm also am a pretty avid NFL fan, with allegiances to Green Bay and Arizona. I teach math at the local community college as adjunct faculty. I have a big yard to take care of, and I'm a dad to three teenagers.

What advice would you give to an aspiring author?
Keep writing, be persistent, and find your own game. Your writing is like nobody else's, so don't try to imitate, just be yourself. But, those million practice words are not optional. Keep working on improving at all times.

What sets your books apart from others of the genre?
I don't think the author is ever the right person to answer this question.

What method do you use to publish your books for those of us who might not know how?
I'm an independent author, and I mean truly independent. I am trained as an engineer and scientist, so I understand how ebooks work. In fact, a few years ago I wrote a short non-fiction book on how to create EPUB files. It's obsolete now because in those days, the software to do it for you didn't exist. Now, I just use the tools that are available.  So, back to the question, I write the books, I create the ebook files, I manage the accounts on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and all my other online vendors, and I am responsible for fixing any problems. That doesn't mean I don't get help, it just means that I am the decision-maker and ultimately responsible for the quality of my product, or lack thereof.

Where can we find you on social media?
Twitter: @ricknovy https://twitter.com/RickNovy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rick-Novy/232154546810035?ref=hl (I've already like it!)
www.ricknovy.com
Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/Rick-Novy/e/B004XMBW08
Barnes and Noble Author Page:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/rick-novy
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/fishpunk
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=Rick+Novy&t=none&f=author&p=1&s=averagerating&g=both




 Please join me and the other amazingly talented authors over @ Skulldust Circle where we have formed a Writer's Circle that must be seen--a collection of brilliant, up & coming independently published speculative fiction authors with much to give both now and in the future!

All of my work can be found on AMAZON -- Kindle versions here

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit MY HOME PAGE to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase my full length novel, Covenant of the Faceless Knights, the short stories: Wothlondia Rising, and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2012 unless otherwise noted.









Thursday, October 4, 2012

The Jeff Whelan Interview!

Jeff Whelan

Jeff Whelan is a fellow 'twitterer' and fellow fiction author that I met recently. He is a fantastic supporter of other independent authors and has a flair for writing amusing and far out speculative fiction. To learn more about this author, proceed with caution!

In what genre do you write for the most part? 
I guess you would call it humorous, young adult speculative fiction.

Give us a brief synopsis of your book(s): 
Space Orville, a young Earthman of 16, is relishing his new life as an independent "grown-up". He has just been accepted as an apprentice with Morphean Gaming Systems and has moved into an Earth-orbiting apartment with his companion, NeutroFuzz, to test holographic video games. As a result of a questionnaire he answered in the back of a magazine, Space Orville finds himself recruited by the Universal Protection Service to rescue a brilliant inventor who has been kidnapped by a group of diseased refugees seeking a cure for their malady. But these exiled aliens may have more nefarious plans for this inventor's device. Initially perplexed, Space Orville becomes thrilled at being recruited for this dangerous mission. He is therefore bummed to find his autonomy stifled when he is partnered with a warrior dwarf.

Meanwhile, two agents from the OmniCosmic Alliance are in pursuit of a dangerously powerful and deranged scientist, Bizmo the Inconceivable, who has escaped from prison with a device that can alter reality and enslave every living mind. When these two missions collide, Space Orville must find a way to work with this new team of real "grown-ups" while maintaining a hold on his new-found independence.

When did you start writing? 
As soon as I could pick up a crayon and print my name.

What inspired you to write? 
Hmmm. I read a lot of comics growing up and quickly came to realize, "Hey, there are people out there who think up this awesome stuff and write it down. I bet I could do that!" I also used to enjoy making up stories and telling them to my friends or my little sister. I found that, after telling them, writing them down helped me build these tales into better stories. Beyond that, I had a middle school librarian, Mrs. Phyllis Horton, who liked my writing way back then and encouraged me to keep at it. These days, my beautiful wife and two phenomenal sons are my biggest inspiration.

If your books were made into a movie, who would play the roles? 
Wow, what a great question! Space Orville is the only book I have out right now and I would love to see what Pixar could do with it. But, if I had to choose actors for either live action or voice over, my dream cast would include Robert Downey, Jr. as General DeKay, Viggo Mortensen as Commander Buffalo, David Tennant as Riff KaBob, maybe Charlize Theron or Emma Stone as Lidweena Sponda, Hugh Laurie as Dr. Lunchwrap, Johnny Depp as Zabooka, Peter Dinklage as Ivan Earlobe, Seth Rogen would make a great Poon Garlik, Morgan Freeman as Miles O'Teeth and Tom Hardy as Bizmo. If NeutroFuzz needed an actor, it would have to be Andy Serkis. For Space Orville, though . . . sheesh. My wife thinks Matthew Broderick still sounds young enough to do a voice over, but I don't know. I'm thinking Andrew Garfield, Nicholas Hoult or Caleb Landry Jones might make a better match.

What would be your choice for a superpower? 
My longstanding desire is the ability to duplicate myself in order to get more stuff done.

Who is your favorite author? 
Yikes. So many! The list includes Douglas Adams, Clive Barker, Patrick Ness, Philip Pullman, Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky, Kurt Vonnegut and Tom Robbins. And I will hereby admit to a fondness for Stephen King when he's on his game.

What are you reading now? 
Right now, I am reading "MEAN" by fellow independent author, Renata Barcelos. A gripping psychological thriller.

Who is your favorite character to write? 
That would have to be NeutroFuzz, Space Orville's constant companion. NeutroFuzz is a magnaradiant, capable of the most amazing things. I love him (I'm still assuming it's a "him") because he's so incredibly versatile and is not limited to any behavioral constraints that plague other species. I had a great time thinking up words to describe all the outlandish things he could do.

Do you have a writing process? 
Lots of caffeine and really late hours. I also write everything longhand initially (my brain just makes a better connection to the paper that way) and do generate a rough outline with work the size of Space Orville. The outline may not be complete before I actually start writing, but it provides me a jumping off point. And I don't adhere rigidly to that outline. I find that a lot of story elements change themselves along the way.

What do you do when you aren't writing? 
Full-time husband and father, half-time high school special education paraprofessional by day, part time remote medical transcriptionist by night.

What advice would you give to an aspiring author? 
Keep writing, which you should know by now. Follow guidelines carefully and don't give up on print publishers. And beware of vanity press predators! Don't trust anyone who wants you to pay them vast sums to publish your work no matter what they promise you. But do not be afraid to self-publish and join the ranks of the Independents. It's remarkably easy to do, it will eat up nearly all of your time as you must market yourself relentlessly (while also vigorously paying it forward to other Indies who are marketing themselves), but it will get your work read.

What sets your books apart from others of the genre?  
I would say the combination of twisted humor, inventive wordplay and a teenage protagonist set Space Orville apart from more traditional science fiction. Incidentally, those qualities also made it a much harder sell leading to a file folder fat with rejection letters.

**What method do you use to publish your books for those of us who might not know how?
Space Orville is currently published exclusively in e-book format. I started that process right here, if I may share a link http://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-summary-page.html?topic=200260520. It told me everything I needed to do. Be very careful to follow all formatting guidelines and, if you're having trouble, seek help. One invaluable resource for me was this free book from Amazon, Building Your Book for Kindle, which is available here, if I may share the link http://amzn.to/LtTeZz. There is also a version available for formatting with a Mac.


Where can we find you on social media? 
I have a Wordpress blog at http://bit.ly/H2U4cH and love visitors. I have a page at The Independent Author Network, http://bit.ly/H4uh5j, that likes visitors, too. I have a personal Facebook page http://on.fb.me/NrVm6s as does Space Orville http://on.fb.me/OHKfWW. Finally, I have a very active Twitter account at http://bit.ly/LQUTON. My Twitter handle is @SpaceOrville. Followers welcome!

And, if I may, interested readers can find Space Orville for their Kindle here at Amazon: http://amzn.to/GP7Eps. Nook users can find him at Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/H95HR4. He can also be found in other formats at Smashwords, http://bit.ly/GSUSVJ and Lulu http://bit.ly/PwIJen.

Thanks so much for this spectacular opportunity, Gary! These were some great questions and it's been a joy to share with you and your readers. Cheers!





 Please join me and the other amazingly talented authors over @ Skulldust Circle where we have formed a Writer's Circle that must be seen--a collection of brilliant, up & coming independently published speculative fiction authors with much to give both now and in the future!

All of my work can be found on AMAZON -- Kindle versions here

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit MY HOME PAGE to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase my full length novel, Covenant of the Faceless Knights, the short stories: Wothlondia Rising, and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2012 unless otherwise noted.