Twenty Questions with... Vincent Morrone

Phew! Birthday mania is finally behind me and I am now sick of the sight of birthday cake but at least I can finally get back to some writing.

In the meantime, I am delighted to welcome Vincent Morrone onto my blog today, author of Vision of Shadows, for a round of Twenty Questions. Make sure you scroll all the way down, too, as there is a rather fabulous giveaway.

ACT ONE – all about you…

Born and raised in Brooklyn NY, Vincent Morrone now resides in Upstate NY with his wife. (Although he can still speak fluent Brooklynese.) His twin daughters remain not only his biggest fans, but usually are the first to read all of his work. Their home is run and operated for the comfort and convenience of their dogs.

Vincent has been writing fiction, poetry and song lyrics for as long as he can remember, most of which involve magical misfits, paranormal prodigies and even on occasion superheroes and their sidekicks.

As they say in Brooklyn: Yo, you got something to say to Vincent? Check out http://vincentmorrone.com/ where you can learn about Vincent and leave him a comment.

1) Have you always been a writer or is it something you fell into?

I’ve wanted to be an author all my life, although when I was very young it was going to be comic books and superheroes. Then in High School, it was going to be straight horror. I kind of got side tracked for a while, but I finally got to fulfil my dream.

2) Do you have a particular writing style or ritual?

Style? I usually like a healthy dose of humour in there. Ritual? I just think about what I want to write, plot out the main plot points, refine them and get to it.

3) Is there a book or an author that has influenced you in your writing? Or perhaps one piece of advice that has stuck with you that you’d like to share?

Best advice is not to talk too much about what you’re writing. Authors write because there’s a story in their heads that just needs to be told, so tell it in your writing.

4) Can you tell us three things about yourself that we probably don’t already know?

I’ve been a KISS fan since I was 7 years old.

I’ve got 3 dogs.

I’ve got twin 15 year old daughters!

5) What five luxury items or gadgets would you hate to be without?

My cell phone, my laptop, my TV, my iPod an my refrigerator.

6) With Christmas already behind us, we turn our attention ahead to the year ahead. Did you join in with the madness of choosing New Year’s resolutions for 2014?

Sure, why not. My resolutions are to try and be a better father and husband than I have, because I should always try and be better. Plus I want to finish the Vision Series, (Books 2 & 3 are done, book 4 is underway and book 5 is rattling around in the dark recesses of my mind.) I also have another book that’s about 75% done, sort of a cross between the TV show Supernatural and the 3 Stoogers. I want to finish that.

ACT TWO – all about your new release…

Is Bristol Blackburn about to meet the love of her life...or her killer?

After the death of her parents, Bristol Blackburn’s life is thrown into chaos and she’s forced to move to Spirit, a small town where shadows are stirring. As she learns to navigate her new school and figures out how to keep her psychic abilities secret from her family, Bristol comes face to face with the boy who makes a regular appearance in her dreams: the gorgeous, possibly deadly, Payne McKnight. Soon she’ll find out if Payne will be the love of her life, or the end of it — and she has no idea which possibility scares her more.

And that’s not even the worst of it. Strange shadows are haunting her dreams, and they’re up to something that could put Bristol and the lives of everyone she loves in jeopardy.

7) Congratulations on your recent release of Vision of Shadows; what was your inspiration for writing Bristol’s story?

I wanted to write a story where the female MC was both strong and vulnerable. One that would make a good role model for readers like my daughters.

8) Did the story flow from your finger tips or did some scenes take a bit of cajoling?

Once I had the plot points down, it mostly flowed. So much so that I had to cut out a couple of scenes that really hurt to cut. There were certainly challenges. There’s a scene where Bristol has a long chat with her grandfather. It’s an important scene because it relates a lot of the backstory, but it felt dry. What I did was finish it, let it be dry so I wouldn’t get hung up on that scene, then I went back and fixed it. I added an element that wasn’t there before. Hey, she is a girl that sees ghosts!

9) How long did it take for the initial spark of the story to make it onto the page and then onto the publisher’s desk?

A long time. First I had to write it. Then rewrite and revise it over and over. Then I had to submit it. I was originally picked up by a very small publisher, but that didn’t work out. Then I found Entranced and I was happy as a clam! It’s never a short trip unless you’re an established author.

10) Do you have a favourite paragraph or sentence from your story that you would like to tantalise us with?

So any day now, I’m about to meet the boy of my dreams—literally. Then I get to see if he’s going to be the love of my life or the end of it. Funny thing is, I’m not sure which idea scares the crap out of me more.

11) Over to you; what can you tell us about Vision of Shadows, to make us rush out and buy it?

You will fall in love with Bristol, the strong, plucky, insecure girl who’s more comfortable around ghosts than anyone with a pulse. This isn’t your average ghost story.

12) What can we expect from you next? Is there something you are working on right now?

Vision of Serpents, which is book II is due out in late May. In October, there’s a book outside of the Vision series coming your way. It’s called Just Breathe. It’s a NA novel. Darker and more mature than the Vision series. Plus as I mentioned above, I’ve got that supernatural story I’m working on. I’ve also started a separate story called Perfect.

QUICK FIRE ROUND – it’s pop quiz time…

13) Plotter or pantser?

Plotter. But I almost always were pants.

14) Digital books or print books?

Digital, for the convenience.

15) Tea or coffee?

Coffee. But I do like to say, Tea, Earl Grey, Hot.

16) Extrovert or introvert?

Extrovert. I’m loud, but an awful lot of fun!

17) Facebook or Twitter?

Both as a matter of fact!

18) Christmas or birthday?

Anything where I get presents!!!

19) Morning person or night owl?

Depends on the morning or the night. Probably more of a mid-afternoon kind of guy!

20) Sweet or savoury?

My sauce is both savoury and sweet!

And that’s a wrap!

Thank you so much for taking part, Vincent, I wish you every success with your new release.

To discover even more about Vincent Morrone, and to keep up with his latest projects and shenanigans, you can visit him at:

Website   Facebook   Twitter   Goodreads

Buy it now…

Add to Goodreads

Series: Vision series
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance
Release Date: December 30, 2013

Entranced

Amazon UK / US

Nook UK / US (B&N)

Add to Goodreads

Vision of Secrets (Vision #0.5)

Vision of Secrets is a free prequel introduces you to Bristol Blackburn before the explosive events in Vision of Shadows and let's you see how a young girl deals with her Visions of Secrets!

You can download Vision of Secrets for free from Smashwords.

Bristol understands secrets. She's got plenty of her own, ranging from the annoying ghost that keeps showing up and attempting to sing Copacabana, (badly) to the visions of a terrifying future that is getting closer each day.

Bristol knows secrets can kill. She's getting flashes of a boy racked with guilt over his secret. And a girl who's prank might lead to someone's death.

Giveaway…

There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of Vision of Shadows. 

Here is what you can win: 

- 1 Vision of Shadows Pen

- 1 Vision of Shadows Calendar

- 1 Vision of Shadows Pen & calendar

- 1 Vision of Shadows Pen and calendar in a Vision of Shadows canvas bag

- 1 Vision of Shadows Pen, calendar in Vision of Shadows canvas bag and an e-copy Vision of Shadows

You can view the whole tour schedule on Vincent Morrone his website: http://vincentmorrone.com/?p=762

Want to chat with Bristol, the main character of this series?
Well she has her own twitter account: https://twitter.com/BristolBlackbur 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Twenty Questions with... Jennifer Bohnet

This week is crazy as I lurch from my daughter's 5th birthday (yesterday) and into my son's 7th birthday (Monday) with their join party in-between (Sunday) - for which I am about to get started on my second baked creation this week - so it is lovely to enjoy a moment of normality as I slip into my Thursday routine.

Please join me for a brew and a slice a bright pink birthday cake* (it really needs to be eaten before the next one comes) as I welcome Jennifer Bohnet onto my blog today, author of I'm Virtually Yours, released last month by Carina (Harlequin UK) for a round of Twenty Questions...

ACT ONE – all about you…

Jennifer is a West Country girl now living in the wilds of rural Brittany, France. She's still not sure how she ended up there! Since living in France she has written hundreds of short stories and several serials all of which have been published internationally.

Allergic to housework and gardening she rarely does either but she does like cooking and entertaining and wandering around vide greniers (the French equivalent of flea markets) looking for a bargain or two.

1) Have you always been a writer or is it something you fell into?

I’ve written since I was a teenager and would love to have been a journalist. Freelance writing was something I could do at home when the children were little and that was when I started with lifestyle features for newspapers and magazines.

2) Do you have a particular writing style or ritual?

I don’t think I have a particular writing style, and as for a ritual the nearest I come to that is I can’t start writing in the morning until I have my expresso in my favourite cup!

3) Is there a book or an author that has influenced you in your writing? Or perhaps one piece of advice that has stuck with you that you’d like to share?

There’s one piece of advice I have on the wall in my writing room: You Never Fail Until You Stop Trying. I mutter it to myself on the days the rejections come in!

4) Can you tell us three things about yourself that we probably don’t already know?

I’m tone deaf - which coming from a musical family is not good!
I’m quite shy.

Like Polly in ‘I’m Virtually Yours’ I hate boats too!

5) What five luxury items or gadgets would you hate to be without?

I’m currently living in fear of my Kenwood mixer blowing up - I use it all the time. The same goes for my Rayburn cooker, I can’t imagine having a kitchen ever again without one! My MacBook is definitely on the list of can’t live without, as is my Kindle - living in France it’s difficult to buy English language books so the Kindle is real life saver in that respect. I was lucky enough to be given a Mont Blanc pen for my birthday a few years ago and it’s something I treasure.

6) With Christmas already behind us, we turn our attention ahead to the year ahead. Did you join in with the madness of choosing New Year’s resolutions for 2014?

I’ve stopped making New Year Resolutions because I know I’ll have broken them all by about - by about now actually. But this year I’m determined to up my writing output and I’ve remembered a phrase that appeared frequently on my long ago school reports, I’ve written it out in bold letters and pinned it on my wall: Must try harder.

ACT TWO – all about your new release…

Need a virtual PA? Then Polly Jones is your girl!

Polly Jones is taken aback when a new client asks her to investigate the Robertson family business in Devon, after all, a ‘virtual assistant’ doesn’t usually leave their home office! But she needs the work – and less proximity to an endless supply of tea and biscuits can only be a good thing right? So she sets off, with energetic puppy Rosie close by her side.

Polly’s new job isn’t quite in her comfort zone… Arriving in the small fishing village where everyone knows everyone’s business, any upsides (all those yummy scones and clotted cream) of course have their downside – she’s completely forgotten to pack her sea legs, and the temptingly handsome Will Robertson is making her job difficult at every turn.

It’s so much easier to keep things strictly professional in the virtual world – but with no e-mail to hide behind Polly must admit that Will’s smile is incredibly, deliciously distracting…

7) Congratulations on your recent release of I'm Virtually Yours; what was your inspiration for writing Polly's story?

I belong to an online journalism forum and somebody there posted about being snowed under with work. Another member offered to be their virtual assistant and the idea grew from there.

8) Did the story flow from your finger tips or did some scenes take a bit of cajoling?

This was one story that was quite quick to write. I wouldn’t say it flowed from my finger tips but I’ve struggled more with my other books.

9) How long did it take for the initial spark of the story to make it onto the page and then onto the publisher’s desk?

I’m Virtually Yours is a novella so it didn’t take long from the initial idea, about a month I guess, plus a couple of weeks to edit before I submitted it to Carina UK.

10) Do you have a favourite paragraph or sentence from your story that you would like to tantalise us with?

This is Will my hero thinking near the beginning about how he was going to save the family business:

“It was his inheritance – his life – that was at stake here and he wasn’t just going to give it up without a fight. He’d make damn sure, too, that this Polly Jones woman, whoever she was, knew that when she arrived.”

11) Over to you; what can you tell us about I'm Virtually Yours, to make us rush out and buy it?

It’s a fun read set in Devon, with a heroine who’s terrified of boats and a hero who’s determined to make her face up to her fear. Oh, there’s also a bit of a mystery adding suspense as Will and his family battle to save their business.

12) What can we expect from you next? Is there something you are working on right now?

I have another book for CarinaUK to finish and the deadline is getting scarily close. I can’t give you any details other to say that this one is set in the South of France. I’m also still working on another longer novel for Robert Hale.

QUICK FIRE ROUND – it’s pop quiz time…

13) Plotter or pantser?

I’m a panster desperately trying to be more of a plotter!

14) Digital books or print books?

Both

15) Tea or coffee?

Coffee coffee coffee coffee

16) Extrovert or introvert?

Introvert

17) Facebook or Twitter?

Facebook for personal stuff and Twitter for networking

18) Christmas or birthday?

Birthday

19) Morning person or night owl?

Morning

20) Sweet or savoury?

I can never say no to dessert!

And that’s a wrap!

Thank you so much for taking part, Jennie, I wish you every success with your new release.

To discover even more about Jennifer Bohnet, and to keep up with her latest projects, you can visit her at:

Website   Facebook   Twitter

Buy it now…

ISBN: 9781472074263

Release date: 9th December 2013

Carina

Amazon UK / US

Nook UK / US

Kobo

iBooks

Google

*The cake - creation #1 of 3 this week - just in case you were interested ;-)

   

Twenty Questions with... An Average Joe AKA David Shaw

I am delighted to welcome David Shaw onto my blog today, author of An Average Joe’s Search for the Meaning of Life, released last month by Carina (Harlequin UK).

Breaking away from my 'usual' genres, An Average Joe is non-fiction as David tells his own story. I have borrowed this review excerpt from Fiona's Book Reviews to give you an insight into the kind of story this is:

This is a totally different book to what I would normally read. I like fiction, and haven't read many non fiction books before. However I am extremely glad I did read it and I strongly recommend it to anyone who believes there is a spirit world running in tandem to ours.

The author has taken it upon himself, on advice from his spirit guides, to share his story. His past is not pretty at times, he is extremely honest about his life, and that of his family. But what he has obviously gained through his journey to share this story is something which, I feel, makes it all worth it.

ACT ONE – all about you…

My name is David and I am from Scotland, and yes, I often drink too much, sometimes eat food coated in copious amounts of fat, and occasionally I may even complain about the hideous weather!

I reside in an average home, in an average street, in the frightfully average town called Kilmarnock, which sits a decidedly uncomfortable 1-inch below Glasgow in your average road map - you may have heard of our local football team - Kilmarnock nil.

My passion for writing began after I was informed by a spirit guide that I would soon be working on a very important project that would involve searching for the true meaning of life. Several years later, after having enjoyed the privilege of writing spiritual articles for many publications and magazines, I now find myself as the proud author of a book containing my life-story. You can read about my amazing family, my appalling football team and the reason why I am still alive today.

My journey through every aspect of the spirit world may totally astound you, but when the dust finally settles on the last book cover, I will still only be an Average Joe - just a guy who wrote a book.

1) Have you always been a writer or is it something you fell into?

I started writing just over 4 years ago when I was instructed to write about my own life in order to find the true meaning of life. I never really had any inclination to write before then; in fact I was discouraged to write anything at school as I was deemed not good enough!

2) Do you have a particular writing style or ritual?

I prefer to write in a rather journalistic style – and always in the first person. I prefer to let my writing mirror my personality, which is rather light-hearted with a diminutive dilution of sincerity thrown in for good measure. I also write during the small hours of the morning as there must be no distractions to what comes through my thoughts.

3) Is there a book or an author that has influenced you in your writing? Or perhaps one piece of advice that has stuck with you that you’d like to share?

Strangely enough, there was one book that influenced my writing. ‘Watch my back’ by Geoff Thompson, was an autobiography about a nightclub doorman who used to hospitalise people for a living! This guy was a self-confessed thug – but what a writer! I knew that if he could get a publishing deal for the content of his book then I had a chance with my own rather avant-garde biography. The best advice that I ever received was ‘tell your story in your own words – or it’s not worth telling at all’.

4) Can you tell us three things about yourself that we probably don’t already know?

I once got arrested for being drunk and disorderly in Ibiza and spent the night in prison. 

My latest book ‘New Mediumship’ was written whilst in trance and was co-written by many friends from the spirit world, including the great American author Edgar Allan Poe.

In a previous life, I murdered innocent people (at least 4 that I know of) in Australia and I was never caught.

5) What five luxury items or gadgets would you hate to be without?

My Apple goodies – phone and tablet. My trusty Tassimo coffee machine. My electric shaver (I’m scared of blades, knives etc). And of course, television (I’ve got 5!)

6) With Christmas already behind us, we turn our attention ahead to the year ahead. Did you join in with the madness of choosing New Year’s resolutions for 2014?

The usual suspects – fitness regime, better diet etc. I find that the older you get the more determined you become, but the harder it is to achieve your goals. Writing and healthy living don’t tend to mix very well.

ACT TWO – all about your new release

David Shaw sees himself as an Average Joe.

He grew up an average kid in an average neighbourhood in Ayrshire. Like many an Average Joe, he does ordinary things: goes to work, supports his local football team, puts the world to rights over a pint. But this Average Joe is anything but average. Styling himself ‘spiritcounsellor’, he shares with us an extraordinary journey through the twilight world. Blessed with the ability to see and hear those who’ve passed on, and, helped by his spirit guides, Black Hawk and Mr Chung, David shares with us his extraordinary story of receiving messages from the other side. Here is an Average Joe – an ordinary man with an extraordinary story that will fascinate and intrigue.

7) Congratulations on your recent release of An average Joe’s search for the meaning of life. What was your inspiration for writing your own story?

I wanted to share my own personal journey, to show that anyone who sees, hears and communicates with the afterlife is actually a normal human being hoping to live a normal existence in a world that frequently associates mediumship with ghosts, vampires and devil worshippers!

8) Did the story flow from your finger tips or did some scenes take a bit of cajoling?

Most of the story flowed since I was really just recounting my memories from birth to the present day. The editing was extremely difficult though, as this was my first writing project and I had very little experience of actually compiling and formatting a complete book.

9) How long did it take for the initial spark of the story to make it onto the page and then onto the publisher’s desk?

It took two years from page to publisher’s desk. I initially self-published the book to gauge reaction before deciding on taking the next step forward.

10) Do you have a favourite paragraph or sentence from your story that you would like to tantalise us with?

This is an excerpt from one of many séances that I used to participate in.

‘A wise old man once told me that he would gladly give up every single moment left in this life for the opportunity to spend just one more moment with his wonderful wife who had passed over into spirit. Many people who attended those séances – got their moment! My own personal ‘moment’ was an occasion that I shall cherish for ever more. On this occasion I felt my wife’s grandmother physically touch me on my right hand. She had passed over to spirit a few months earlier and it was fantastic to hear that she was ‘alive’ and well. How did I know that it was my wife’s grandmother? Simple: she told me in her own distinctive voice, a voice that could never be replicated and the rest of the sitters in the room also heard her.

In that one solitary moment, after almost forty years of living in a world that we are constantly told ends completely with our last solitary breath, I had received that ultimate, one hundred percent, solid-gold proof, that life definitely does go on beyond the grave.

And how did it feel? Well, there is only one word for the way that my heart felt in that one incredible moment – magical!

For example, if you were to take that feeling in your heart when you first kissed your childhood sweetheart…that feeling in your heart the first time you saw your football team win the Cup…that feeling in your heart the first time you tasted vintage French champagne…that feeling in your heart the day you realised that you would spend the rest of your life with the person you love…that feeling in your heart the first time your child tells you that they love you…that feeling in your heart when your mother, lying in a hospital bed and about to breathe her final breath, whispers in your ear that she has never been more proud of you…

Then I want you to take all those instances of pure love and congeal them together, holding them in a place close to your heart. For only then can you begin to imagine how I felt that night in that wonderful séance room in Glasgow, on such a beautiful winter’s night in December 2007 – the night that my life finally found true meaning.’

11) Over to you; what can you tell us about An Average Joe to make us rush out and buy it?

Chapter 21 (The Passing) was transcribed to me through trance. That means that the information received came from someone else – not me. ‘The Passing’ describes how a soul returns to the spirit world and details the new journey that will commence. I was informed by my spirit guides that this would be the most important information ever written or read by anyone. The information is symbolic but the meaning is the same for everyone.

12) What can we expect from you next? Is there something you are working on right now?

I am just about to begin writing a new book. I have no title and no content. Everything will be dictated through trance. I have an inkling that it has something to do with other planets, but it’s still a mystery – watch this space!

QUICK FIRE ROUND – it’s pop quiz time…

13) Plotter or pantser?

Pantser

14) Digital books or print books?

Got to be print books – sorry Carina!

15) Tea or coffee?

Coffee

16) Extrovert or introvert?

I’m a split personality – so usually a bit of both!

17) Facebook or Twitter?

Facebook

18) Christmas or birthday?

Christmas

19) Morning person or night owl?

Night owl

20) Sweet or savoury?

Sweet

And that’s a wrap!

Thank you so much for taking part, David, I wish you every success with your new release.

To discover even more about David Shaw and to keep up with his/her latest projects and shenanigans, you can visit him at:

Website     Facebook     Twitter

Buy it now…

ISBN: 9781472055316

Release Date: 5th December 2013

Carina

Amazon UK / US

Nook UK / US (B&N)

Kobo

Google Books

iBooks

Excerpt…

‘It was a freezing cold night in Blackpool – no surprises there then! Heavy rain lashed the seafront and the only people near the Blackpool Tower were poor homeless individuals huddled together in the damp foyer at the entrance. Unfortunately my father wasn’t one of them. After waiting till 7.30 we decided to move to the relative shelter of the street behind the Tower. This street in contrast was extremely busy with tourists who were determined to have fun regardless of the weather. There was also a huge number of police on the streets as the Conservative Party Conference was currently being held in the town.

As I waited nervously for any sign of my father I couldn’t help but watch other families walk by, laughing with excitement at how much money they were going to spend on pointless entertainment.

I had loved Blackpool as a child, but now as an adult I hated it. I couldn’t understand why every year thousands of Scots would venture down the M6 motorway to stay in a place which reminded them of home – wet, windy and smelling of chip fat! But as I watched all the fathers, mothers and kids hurry past me in a race to the nearest amusement arcade – I wished I were one of them, any one of them. I was in fact jealous of them – why was this nightmare only happening to my family, and me?

In the distance I could hear a rollercoaster roaring down a steel track and suddenly I imagined myself in a queue of people waiting for a ride on that rollercoaster. I imagined more and more people just simply walking past me each time that rollercoaster came back to its starting position. And as I watched them slowly progress up the steep incline I would wave solemnly, knowing that I wouldn’t be joining them.’