Pamela Winn Interview

Hello all! It's been a while and I am back with another delightful interview from a fellow author. Meet Pamela Winn...

First off, tell us a little bit about you...I am a mother of 7, grandmother of 18. I have 19 books indie published. The 20th should be done this month for the NaNoWrite November. I am all about books, avid reader, reviewer and writer.

Tell us about your books/What genre do you consider your books?Tough question for me. I write preschool to novels. The children's books are fun, rhyming books that will hopefully give children the love of reading. The novels are supernatural, sci-fi, mystery, paranormal and a bit of spiritual, along with a lot of conspiracy.

When did you start writing? I always wrote poems and short stories, but the actual novel writing began two years ago and I haven't been able to stop.

Why do you write? Mostly to get sleep! At night I lay awake while the words and pictures float through my mind. Putting them on paper seems to help. I love to have my writing take readers to another place for the time it takes them to read the book. There is nothing better than taking a break and going on an adventure. When readers say I hated for the book to end I am on cloud nine.

What would be your choice for a superpower?I would love to read minds, but that may not be a great power because I may not like what I hear. I think I better go with flying. How awesome would it be to travel to places I have only read about and this would also be a great way to add new locations to the novels I write.

Who is your favorite author? Definitely Stephen King and Dean Koontz, but I also love John Steinbeck, Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. I find a great new author almost every day, if I find a good story then I am happy.

What are you reading now? I am asked this a lot, because I read about three books a day, when I am asked I am finished reading the book. I have been reading a lot of John Dizon, John Tucker and Angie Blake. But I have found so many new authors I love that I couldn't begin to mention them all. I get lost in a book and feel that is partly due to my vivid imagination.

Who is your favorite character to write? I love all my characters and hopefully my readers do too, I have been told that readers do feel they know my characters. I do have fun writing as the bad guy (or woman) though. I think I get to let out my evil side that way. When writing I tend to be my own characters for awhile, that is if they let me. They do have ideas of their own.

Do you have a writing process? Mostly I write down the characters and what they look like to me, ages, height and weight are a big part but also character traits and a little background on each one. From there those characters seem to decide where the story goes.

What advice would you give to an aspiring author? If you love writing do it. If you are looking to get rich and famous, I'd think twice. Unless you have a great publisher and a promoter with inside information you aren't going to be rich. You might make enough to buy the coffee or whatever you use to finish the novels. Writing has to be a passion, not be about the money.

What inspired you to pursue writing?When my husband had health problems we were told to move to a different place. He was told to get his affairs in order. Through the process of downsizing I almost had to throw out my writings of poems and short stories. That's when I decided I should put everything into book form and I became an indie author.

What are your favorite TV shows/Movies to watch in between writing?I love anything with a touch of the supernatural and am a big fan of old sci-fi and horror movies. I am watching Haven and Ressurection right now.

What are your current projects?Right now I am writing a novel for the November Nano Writing, the book is about a new type of serial killer. "The New Moon Killer" It is a pyschological suspense horror thriller.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to readers?Thanks, Thanks, Thanks. I have been so lucky to receive awesome reviews and great feedback from readers. It is a reader's imagination that actually finishes a book. No two people come away from a novel with the same pictures in their head. I have been so touched by what my readers tell me and can never thank them enough.

Quick Fire:Cats or dogs?
I love both. Dogs are so loyal and love unconditionally, but I have to admire a cat's attitude. Their Independence and do what they want attitude is to be envied.
Coffee or tea?
Definitely coffee, day or night I have one by my side.
Favorite food?
Chocolate, does that count? actual food would be biscuits and gravy.
Vanilla or chocolate ice-cream?
I'll take vanilla, but just throw in a banana, some toppings and lots of whip cream.
What are 3 things you never leave home without?
My notebook, my pen and my imagination.
Laptop or desktop?
Desktop.
Who are 3 famous people you would to hang out with?
Edgar Cayce, Stephen King and Nostradamus
TV or Movies?
I love movies but never seem to be able to sit down that long, old TV shows like All in the Family or Barney Miller are great.

Visit me on my AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE & my SMASHWORDS PAGE!

Best-selling author of Wake the Dead! On Amazon Kindle here!

All Artwork and covers of my works by William J. Kenney & Carlos Cara

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2014 unless otherwise noted.

Guest Blog by the Amazing Editor--Stephanie Dagg!

Stephanie Dagg is an author and an editor and she was one of the talented people that worked on my Wothlondia Rising project. We discussed her doing a guest blog on my site with an emphasis toward the fantasy genre. She decided to share a bit of her experience editing my story and what she turned in made me blush. It was flattering beyond comprehension. I can't thank her enough for her kind words and fantastic editing talents. Please read on...

First up, a big thank you to Gary for inviting me to write a guest post for his blog. And an even bigger thank you to him for taking a leap of faith and entrusting me, a total stranger at the start of this project, with his wonderful stories to edit. I tell you, I’ve been completely pulled into the fascinating world of Wothlondia.

Steph tending to her hobbies: llama farming and cycling!

I’ve worked on all sorts of books during my 25 years of editing, most of them as a freelance, and it’s true to say that fantasy is one of the more interesting literary genres. Fantasy authors are not only creative, extremely so, but of necessity also very methodical. Does that sound contradictory? What I mean is that because they’re creating a unique universe, they have it all mapped out in their heads, and often physically too. I made plenty of use of Gary’s map of Wothlondia during my editing, to check that when he said certain characters were heading northwest towards Greymoors from Chansuk that they were. (Editors have to keep an eye on everything!) Gary clearly knows his way around Wothlondia like the back of his hand since and he never put a foot wrong there!

Another example of fantasy writer organization. In one of the new stories, A Rose in Bloom, I felt we needed a couple more sentences in one part where a character, Ganthorpe, was rattled by the ringing of the bell for midnight. So I sent a request to Gary. Now, some authors tend to panic when an editor asks for extra material, and rattle something - anything - off. You duly slot it into place, only to find a few pages later that this new stuff proves to be inconsistent with later events, so it’s back to the drawing board. Not with Gary. He sent me a well-constructed replacement paragraph that lent the clarity I was after, and mentioning Brogan the timekeeper, so I put those in. I’m currently reading Covenant of the Faceless Knights and was delighted to come across a mention of Brogan and his bells in an early chapter! Everything fits together perfectly, not only in this story but in the way all Gary’s tales interact.

Fantasy has its own lexicon with words such as phylactery, mage and goblinoid that you won’t find in other genres. The language also tends to be more formal with some archaisms. I’m always delighted to come across those since I’m all for using as diverse a range of vocabulary as possible in writing. And the different races that inhabit the fantastic world have their own way of speaking. You can tell an elf from a dwarf from an ogre simply by listening to them.

Other distinguishing features of fantasy, on top of these elements of a cracking good plot, organisation and rich language, are the idea of a hero (or heroine) on a quest, the common ‘humanity’ of this central figure that means we empathise with him or her, the existence of magic and the supernatural, and the fight of good against evil. Alongside the quest there often comes a journey of self-discovery, and this is very much the case with Gary’s characters. You’ll see this strongly in the Wothlondia Rising series of short stories, particularly in Maturation Process and Reflections.

I guarantee that you will be deeply moved by the latter.

And all Gary’s heroes and heroines are likeable because they’re so real. We get clear, detailed physical descriptions of them and their personalities quickly emerge. We can see parts of ourselves in them, even if they’re elves, or barbarians or half ogres. For example, Rose Thorne enjoys a glass of wine, Rolin Hardbeard doesn’t like riding horses, Saeunn has her eye on the handsome lad from the next village, and Elec lets his personal hygiene slip a little when he’s on his own. They could be any one of us... But imperfect as they are, when put to the test they’ll do what’s right.

Fantasy mirrors not only real people but a real world. Wothlondia has many of the same terrors and threats that we have, such as racism, dishonesty, violence and crime. I’m just grateful we don’t have the added complication of Blood Rot Zombies!

In conclusion then, editing fantasy, and especially Gary’s Wothlandian fantasy, is an interesting and rewarding challenge. And memorable. Here are a handful of sentences from Gary’s stories that have stuck in my mind because of their sheer power or beauty:

Nimaira still lay on the cold ground, rubbing her jaw, with tears—not tears of pain, but tears of what might have been—welling in her beautiful eyes.

His eyes were reflections of the bluest of skies, quite unlike those of any ogre, whose eyes were always as black as the darkest caverns of the Subterrane.

The Paladin felt the darkness closing in on him, wresting control of his soul.

He merely stood frozen in place while a tumult of emotions bombarded him.

She had wept for countless hours and felt there should be no more tears left to cry, yet still they came, unbidden and unending.

You’re going to enjoy Wothlondia Rising, make no mistake.

And who am I? Briefly I’m Stephanie, an editor and author. I was born in England, lived a long time in Ireland and am now in France with the family where, as well as writing and editing, I farm llamas and run a carp fishery. I have a book related website and an ebook editing website.

I'd like to say thanks again to Stephanie for taking such time and consideration with my stories...so much so, that she made me sound like I knew what I was talking about! She gives you a deadline as to when your work will arrive and it makes it there on time and professionally edited. Stephanie is the consummate professional and I would highly recommend her to edit any and all of your upcoming projects! Please visit her website above...and tell her Gary sent ya'!

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!

Cover art on Distant Familiarity provided by William Kenney!

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

Is a Picture Really Worth a Thousand Words?

I have heard this said on numerous occasions and believe the concept to be sound. While the saying is somewhat true, I disagree on a few points and I will tell you why as we move along here. When you gaze at a piece of art, it is meant to engage you emotionally. It brings up or plays on many feelings and emotions without uttering a word. If you look at classic art or abstract art, you cannot help but be moved. I am told that if you gaze upon Michelangelo’s ‘The Last Judgment’ in person, that it is breathtaking. This I cannot refute.


When you look at a picture in a book depicting a scene within or even a movie based on a book, the setting is there as a backdrop and many details can be overlooked by an audience as the action and the acting takes center stage. This fact robs the viewer somewhat of important details that you could not ignore if you were reading a book. Most series or movies are trying to fit many words into an hour and half film as well, which is difficult at best. Even with a limitless budget, it is impossible to cram that much detail into movie. A series is a bit easier, but still, details are left out. It is unavoidable.

Like any artist, the writer sets the scene and describes the landscape and what someone is feeling within an environment. The detail of this can be simple or even downright unbelievably thorough. That can be easily lost in a picture. Inner-monologue that reflects the degree of emotion within is lost, and sadly so. That descriptive inner monologue can be the greatest part about a story or novel and is the driving force behind the entire journey. Getting to experience what your hero or heroine sees through his or her eyes is literally unique to the written word. A narrative or description of an environment directly told from a character’s point of view can be some of the most compelling drama ever experienced. Words can stir up more sensation and deliver a sense of impending doom, fear or elation more so than any director or actor could hope to convey in any movie.

That being said, I implore any of my readers to share passages or quotes from any book that may have affected them emotionally in some way. What passages have affected you deeply or made you walk away feeling uniquely satisfied?

 See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit MY HOME PAGE to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase Covenant of the Faceless Knights and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

Photo from Stock.xchng.

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios, LLC 2011 unless otherwise noted.

The Future of Publishing?

Which Indie Publisher would you suggest?

I am asking all authors and writers who you might be using to publish your blood, sweat and tears that go into your writing and what you get for your hard earned money from that publisher. I know of several that I have been researching: Authorhouse (who published my debut novel), Outskirts Press, Smashwords, Create Space and The Domino Project to name a few that I have looked at recently.

As I move forward with my plan for world domination *pauses for giggles*, I am seriously considering doing only an eBook. I feel that the profit margin is somewhat under my control as well as the distinct pricing (no print cost) and this despite really enjoying the feel of an actual book in my hands. I am learning that going to print with a self-published title seems suicidal. It may not be that way forever or even for some of you established authors—I’d like to hear from you to discuss this! Is this where the market is trending?

On a personal note, I was told by my publisher that there would be a nook and an iBookstore version available in the package I purchased and to this point, they are still not available. I went live end of July, 2011.

The recent moves of Amazon and eBook distributors, who appear to be cutting out the middle man (the big publishing houses), are making the product directly available to the consumer as a download. A friend and fellow author, Theodore Cohen, forwarded me this article about AMAZON.

What do you think, authors?

Is it only a matter of years before all brick and mortar stores disappear and become a thing of the past?



Will our grandchildren and great grandchildren only read books on their smartphones, tablets, PC’s, laptops and such? 

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit my home page to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase Covenant of the Faceless Knights and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

(Photos from Kozzi and me!)

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios, LLC 2011 unless otherwise noted.

What Price is the Right Price for a Book?

I am seeing a bit of disparity in the price
of books, especially eBooks. I see prices that range from $30.00+ for a hardcover down to .99 cents for an eBook.

I am wondering what is the best price point for a novel and at what point will you not 'break the bank' for a book? I don't think that $10.00 is asking too much for a book that I want to read, regardless of whether or not it in print or an eBook, but what the heck do I know!?

With books so easy to obtain via downloads to the Nook, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, Android phones, etc., does that change your mind, too? I know Amazon and the eBook changed the publishing and writing game forever.

I looked recently on the top kindle book and every single one was $2.99 and under. Some of them were even free! I am not sure how they count ‘free’ as sales, but I am sure it is possible. I know many bloggers and authors have discussed this, but I wanted to see what my audience thinks. Reason being is that I have many more books in the works!

I feel that my publishing company may have mislead me indirectly or perhaps I wasn’t clear enough with my expectations—maybe it was simply my own delusions of grandeur that pushed my own ego into thinking that I could make a good push with sales all by myself…meh. While I think that I am doing a fairly good job of marketing using the social media sites, I feel like sometimes I am beating a dead horse…especially on Facebook. I am having some success with twitter, my website and with the blog in driving visitors to each using the other. At some point or another, I feel that I am going to need either to spend some of my own money for a media blitz or try to find an agent to net me a publisher.

Who was happy? This guy!

Circling back to the first published book, I went with the ‘let’s try to see how far I can push this while competing against known authors’ route in my price point. While I don’t say that it is wrong, I think that I may have put the cart before the horse.

I am currently working on a prequel: an anthology that includes the story of what happened to my retired heroes prior to the prologue in Covenant of the Faceless Knights. I am also working on short stories of Elec, Saeunn, Rose and Garius. I am also planning on doing another full length novel for the second in the ‘Beginnings’ series (sequel). I am still debating whether or not to include a story about Orngoth in the anthology (prequel)…I will see if anyone clamors for one here!

Also, I am planning on releasing the anthology sometime next year with the price point of .99 cents up to $2.99. Any advice from the pro’s out there? I am not quite sure what to do yet for the full length novel and am debating whether or not to bother with the interior art again. I liked it, but am not sure if it is worth the added expense.

I know that some people only charge the $2.99 price, but are they mostly novellas, short stories or what? My novel was 304 pages and I spent a lot of hard work in editing, presenting and writing it. I am not saying that anyone else hasn't, merely presenting the facts from my side for anyone who hasn't written a book yet! Does that mean anything or not when compared to the rest of the field?

My questions to you are:

1. What do you charge or what would you pay for a full length novel?

2. What do you expect content-wise and editorial-wise for the .99 cent to $2.99 price point?

3. Do you want to see a sixth short story in the anthology that centers on the half-ogre barbarian Orngoth?


See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit my home page to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase Covenant of the Faceless Knights and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

(Photos from Kozzi and me!)


All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios, LLC 2011 unless otherwise noted.

Read Books...please?

As usual, this blog has a good amount of my opinion, for better or worse! *gasp*

I would like to open with a simple request: read! 

Is it because I have a book on the market? Maybe….  But, not really…seriously.

This post is not meant to be preachy, though it may come off as such. My message is meant simply to give encouragement! 

I have been watching some pretty bad TV and movie trailers and thinking…wow, it doesn’t matter if it is bad because even bad movies get seen.

I give you a scenario: Someone(s) on a Saturday night is watching a movie that they really intended to watch and then the ‘bad’ one follows it. They leave it on and watch it…even though it’s bad! So, theoretically, we can watch bad movies by accident! You cannot, however, read a book by accident. It has to be intentional, right?

Music, for the most part, is something that you have a very real emotional attachment or detachment to right away also. You only need thirty seconds or less to know whether or not you like a song, but a book might take a couple of chapters to get into a groove. Same thing with comics and graphic novels, but they at least have some visual aid help! (And you would be reading—yeah!)

All in all, I think we need to encourage our little ones, sons and daughters of all ages, siblings, parents, friends and everyone else to read a little bit more. Increasing one’s vocabulary increases your knowledge, which in turn, increases your IQ and may lead to greater academic or financial success down the road. It also might give you advantages in social circles as well…you never know.

Let’s face it, it wouldn’t hurt to turn off the boob tube and pick up a book every once in a while, even for entertainment (*gasp again*). I know as I read in my younger days, I was forced to look words up that I did not understand or I was able to understand their basic meaning due to how the word was used in the context of the sentence.  And yes, I was one of those kids.

In this day and age of social media and instant messaging/texting, one can’t help but notice that the populace (including yours truly) has been abbreviating words. This ends up becoming something that we may start to do in emails at work, or send to a boss or some other professional that will immediately reflect on you in a negative way, even if it was unintentional. I have been getting back into the practice now of typing things out as Mr. Webster intended! 

Then there are common usage mistakes that I see in Social Media every single day. The most common example is your and you’re. ‘Your’ is a possessive pronoun while ‘you’re’ is a contraction of ‘you are’. 

I’ll let Ross from Friends explain it to you...

This is my silly cat, placed here to see if you are still paying attention!

Anyway, all that I am trying to establish is that reading, in my opinion, is:

A) Good for your overall mindset

B) Has a pretty good chance of increasing your vocabulary, and

C) Might just make you smarter 

Now, go read something! And as always, I want to hear from you!

Oh, and if you need a suggestion, there is a fantasy novel from this guy that you can purchase online…

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!

Please visit: www.ashenclaw.com to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase Covenant of the Faceless Knights and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios, LLC 2011 unless otherwise noted. 

Theatrical vs. Realistic Fighting...

Do you like your fictional fight scenes to represent a realistic feel or a dramatic feel? I was chatting with a friend, who happens to be a 3^rd degree Kenpo instructor, and we got to talking about practical fighting style compared to the theatrical type. Kenpo, according to him, is designed as a dominating fighting style where you literally start the action and do not stop until your opponent is disabled…or worse…no ebb and flow, just flow! I can concur with this as I have seen it in action and better yet: felt it in action!

This goes against the typical theatrical or dramatic fighting style seen in movies or read in books. I mean that there are some quick fights, most of the time against henchmen or lesser characters, but for the most part, the final battle or any relevant battle has to have give and take…in fiction. 

In movies and books (including comics, etc.) the combat scenes need to be drawn out, with ebb and flow to them, so that you can feel a sense of danger for the hero, etc. and it might put you on the edge of your seat. Especially as a reader!

I am not saying at all that a writer should put together a 'silly' fight scene. Rather, the knowledge of how to fight and/or what to expect while in a fight plays kind of a major role in the whole thing.

This is almost a continuation of the ‘Hero?’ blog from a few days ago, but with a slightly different twist. Instead of answering what type of hero do you like, you will be thinking about how fight scenes develop and how the combatants might interact with one another.

It got me to thinking about what if the hero was just 'that good'. No matter who the enemy or opponent was, the hero (or villain?) could defeat them simply and efficiently.

This is just my opinion and I am not trying to force it on anyone, but wouldn’t that be boring to see or read? How real do you want your combat? Dramatic or realistic?

See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!


Please visit MY HOME PAGE to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase Covenant of the Faceless Knights and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!
 
All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios, LLC 2011 unless otherwise noted.