Interview with Vicky Hall and her New Released Book, Rising Sun Falling Star

Vickie Hall.

Welcome and thanks for agreeing and being part of this blog.

I thought it a good idea to catch up with you and see what you are up to since the last time I reviewed a book for you back in November 2012, Secrets of the Red Box. You can read more about my review by following the link and the book is only 99 cents.

Now Vicky has done it again, busy with another book Rising Sun Falling Star which I am part of, my review will be available July 31, 2013. Be sure to look out for more information about it.

Here is what she has answered to my Interview Questions, enjoy

      1.       Are you famous is the general question I get when family and friends introduces me to their friends. It always left me with a pause as quick comebacks filters through my mind but ending up saying something like ….”Oh gee thanks” and give a shy smile. (a)Does this happen to you and (b) what do you say?

No one has asked me if I’m famous. Most of the time they’ll ask me what I’ve written, which I then explain. Then they’ll say, “Oh, I haven’t read any of those. I’ll have to check them out.” Or they’ll say, “You must be making a lot of money. When are you going to quit your day job?” That one makes me laugh. If they only knew.

  

      2.       In general, do you like to talk about your writing and published books, or are you very closed-lip about it? If not why?

I enjoy talking about my books, but try not to push if someone is not too interested in listening. I especially like discussing the book I’m currently writing because it gives me a gauge to measure interest.

     3.       What book/s are you currently writing and what is it about?

My current book takes place in 1910 Baltimore and is about a fake medium who is scamming the public by pretending to communicate with the dead. When a murder victim actually makes contact with her, she is drawn into finding his killer, turning her world upside down. It’s written with some humor and lightness, not a dark, spooky sort of book at all. I’m nearly finished, but have not been able to find the right title as yet.

I also have a completed book with my editor now titled: Rising Sun, Falling Star that will be available this summer. It’s the compelling story of a Japanese-American family imprisoned by the American government during World War II.

      4.       Why this particular genre?

I think I was born in the wrong era. I love the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s most and like to set my stories somewhere in that timeframe. Although I wouldn’t classify my writing as strictly historical fiction, there is definitely a historical aspect to my writing.

       5.     What inspires or motivates you to write?

I write first and foremost because I love it. Inspiration comes in the strangest ways and it is often predicated on the “what if” premise. “What if this happened…” or “What if someone…”

      6.       What is the writing process like for you?

Once I’ve settled on an idea, I’ll sit down and sketch out the characters and location. I want to know who my characters are, their background, their history, what likes and dislikes they have, their gifts and flaws. I make them as real as possible so that they can react in the story just as real people would. After that is done, and because my stories take place in a different era, I begin my research. I want to know all about the era, the fashion, the music, the politics, the history, the “feel” of the time. Then I can start writing, which I try to do every day.

       7.       What is the best and/ or worst part of being a writer?

The best part about being a writer is seeing my work available to readers. I derive a great deal of satisfaction from knowing that my stories can touch someone’s life.

      8.       Any advice for struggling writers?

Keep learning. Attend writing workshops, conferences, critique groups. You can only get better when you open yourself to honest, if even painful, criticism. I think the notion still exists, that everyone’s first novel with take the world by storm. For some, that is true. But for most authors success comes more gradually. Be patient. Keep writing. Keep learning.

      9.       What is your favorite genre to read or write?

I enjoy suspense and am learning to incorporate more and more of it in my writing.

      10.   Favorite author?

         

Kristen Hannah

      11.   Do you have a favorite spot to read and write? 

I like to write in my recliner, using my laptop. I live alone, so it’s always quiet!

      12.   What do you like to do when not writing? 

In the summer I love to go camping with my family. I also enjoy reading, in my comfy recliner!

      13.   Do you have a bucket list and would you share at least two things on it?

I enjoy traveling. On my bucket list, I am visiting New Zealand and Japan, and having one of my books made into a movie.

      14.   What have you done so far on this list?

None yet, but someday…**smile**

      15.   Most daring thing or experience you have done you would like to share?

I flew in a stagger wing bi-plane, about 1920’s era. We flew from Nebraska to Idaho using landmarks only – no radar, no computers, no modern devices. It was thrilling!

      16.   This or that questions:

             ·         Coffee or Tea – neither, I only drink water

             ·         Sweet or sour – both

             ·         Home made meal or take out – home made

             ·         Winter or summer – summer

             ·         Night-owl or Early-Bird – night owl

             ·         Telephone or visits – telephone

             ·         Which social network do you prefer? Facebook

             ·         Blogger or website? both

             ·         What does your family say about your career? Supportive or Clueless

             Oh definitely supportive. My sister is my biggest promoter – she brags about me all the time!

And Finally

Moto/wisdom in life you live by. 

                One of my favorite quotes was written by George Eliot. It says, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” I love this sentiment because, although I struggled to become a published author early on in my life, it took over twenty years to accomplish that goal. I think a lot of people put their dreams aside, believing that it’s too late for them. In most cases, that’s simply not true!

Contact details and buy links of the newest books you would like the readers to know.

http://www.vickiehall.com

http://www.authorvickiehall.blogspot.com

Amazon author page

Buy Links: Amazon

Thanks once again for your willingness to share with me and the readers.

Thank you, Lynelle!

Interview with John Hanley author of Against the Tide

John Hanley

Have I ever told you that I love my job, well I do! Reason: because I meet men and women like John Hanley, interesting people with a energy that keeps you motivated. I can interact with them and find that we have  a common ground in writing, our struggles and life in general. We all started some where, life that triggers us into the next phase of our lives so that we can be among the greats in the literary world, leaving something valuable behind of our thoughts and how we see the world.

Here is his answers to my Questions

       1.       Are you famous is the general question I get when family and friends introduces me to their friends. It always left me with a pause as quick comebacks filters through my mind but ending up saying something like ….”Oh gee thanks” and give a shy smile, silly I know but the idea unsettles me. (a)Does this happen to you and (b) what do you say?

a.       It doesn't happen often but I usually respond 'Only in my own lunch time' or something else self-deprecating — I'm English for goodness sake!

       2.       In general do you like to talk about you writing and published books or are you very close-lip about it? If no why?

a.       I'm happy to respond to questions though prefer not to initiate a conversation (natural reserve again). Quite a few people seem to assume that I've been extremely lucky to get published! They understand that it's a lottery but also believe that it will make me rich! I quickly abuse them about that and launch into an explanation about the publishing world and why I decided to self-publish though I tend to describe it as 'partnership publishing'. I suppose I am a bit self-conscious about taking that route especially in England where the criteria for success can be quite odd. Luck is always accepted but being too pushy and promoting yourself has never been socially acceptable – at least to my generation. I've been interviewed several times on BBC radio and only had to dodge around the self-publishing issue once.

       3.       What book/s are you currently writing and what is it about?

      a.       My second novel, The Last Boat, is due for publication on 1^st August. I'm in 'partnership' with a traditional publisher, Troubador. They published the first in my series, Against The Tide, last October. I'm now working on the 3^rd novel and hope to have it published next summer. The series is set before, during and after the 2^nd World War and follows the activities of two male and two female  teenagers as they are sucked into the maelstrom. On the surface the stories are action and adventure but the meat of the series is the relationships amongst the four of them.

4.       Why this particular genre?

a.       Growing up in Jersey which was occupied by the Germans from 1^st July 1940 to 9^th May 1945 I've always been fascinated by that period. The island is littered with the artefacts of war as Hitler was so obsessed with keeping the only English territory he seized that the Germans poured excavated more earth and poured more concreted into the Channel Islands than they did in the entire Atlantic Wall on the continent.

      5.       What inspire or motivate you to write?

a.       My mother had been trapped in the island and had to endure those five long years. I wondered what it would have been like for me had, like her, I'd been born in 1920 so decided to find out through writing.

      6.       What is the writing process like for you?

a.       I love the research and planning though I do tend to let my characters improvise (that was my day job for nearly 40 years – teaching Drama and specializing in improvisation skills.)

      7.       How did/do you teach yourself to write?

a.       I've had to writing millions of words to gain my qualifications and in the course of my teaching and managerial career so the discipline of writing to deadlines wasn't new or a great challenge. Writing readable fiction was though and through a process of trial and error I developed my current 1^st person narrative style. I sought feedback from professional editors and learned a lot about showing and not telling. I also tested my writing on an authors' website YouWriteOn.com where, in return for reviewing other's work, yours gets the once over as well. That was a sobering experience as stories are allocated randomly and it was not unusual for someone whose first love is vampire stories found themselves reading my historical fiction. I learned that achieving a broad appeal is not simple. 

      8.       What aspect of the craft do you think is most difficult to learn?

a.       I found the story writing suits me far better than the promotional side though I have been throwing myself into networking and trying to raise my profile's visibility. There is so much to learn about the various media and often I have been stumbling about in the dark. There is also the danger of addiction to social media which steals available time from writing!

     9.       What has been the most encouraging comment someone has made about your writing?

a.       Against The Tide has received many 5 star reviews but the most welcome comments have been about how I managed to hook the reader and keep them turning the pages.

     10.   What is the best and/ or worst part of being a writer?

a.       The best is the sheer joy of creating and the surprises ones characters produce. I'm still stunned by someone one of them said which changed the direction of the story dramatically! The worst part is trying to build and audience without coming across as desperate or even being accused of spamming.

     11.   Any advice for struggling writers?

a.       It depends on the nature of their struggle but, from what I've read from many aspiring writers, I would say get an opinion from a professional about your style especially your sentence construction, try to eliminate basic errors and don't rely on your spell checker!

b.      Don't overwrite. Are your adverbs really necessary? I killed thousands of mine to improve the flow and suffered no regrets!

     12.   What is your favorite genre to read or write?

a.       I have eclectic tastes but I do like a page turner with credible characters, sound plotting and sharp writing. I love historical fiction but get very annoyed when I come across anachronisms or other evidence of sloppy research as I immediately lose confidence in the author.

     13.   Favorite author?

a.       John D MacDonald closely followed by Lee Child.

     14.   Do you have a favorite spot to read and write? 

a.       I write a lot in my head especially whilst exercising in the swimming pool or gym but the workstation in my office is very comfortable. Jersey's local newspaper ran a feature on my writing even though I no longer live in the island. Here's my den. 

      15.   What did you do before you became a writer?

a.       I've always been a writer from the time I taught myself to type at the age of 14 but I only really invested serious time in it once I retired from teaching teenagers English and Drama.

     16.   Was it a life long dream or triggered recently?

a.       It's always been a dream or a series of day dreams when carrying out the multitude of managerial tasks my ultimate role in education demanded.

     17.   What do you like to do when not writing? 

a.       I have two daughters who have each produced a son so I love looking after them. I also swim (I'm lucky enough to have mine own outdoor pool – it's England so swimming in the rain has to be enjoyed as well.) I play golf, strategy games on the computer and watch TV shows like Glee which my friends find appalling. However, I used to produce musical shows with my students and love the buzz.

     18.   Do you have a bucket/ to-do list and would you share at least two things on it?

a.       My wife and I want to visit Australia and I'd love to go see California.

     19.   Most daring thing or experience you have done you would like to share?

a.       Risked my job to sabotage a political attempt to close my school. Fortunately, I won but it cost me any further career advance.

     20.   This or that questions:

            ·         Coffee or Tea –

o        Neither now as I can't take the hot acid anymore. But I used to consume vast quantities of strong coffee!

            ·         Sweet or savory –

o        Savory follow by a good pudding!

            ·         Home made meal or takeouts –

o        Home made

            ·         Winter or summer –

o        Summer every time

            ·         Night-owl or Early-Bird –

o        Night Owl

            ·         Telephone or visits –

o        Visits but always telephone first!

            ·         Which social network do you prefer?

o        Not sure about this but I find LinkedIn quite useful.

            ·         Blogger or website?

o        Website – I don't have the energy or the opinions for blogging.

            ·         What does your family say about your career? Supportive or Clueless

o        Very supportive about my retirement career.

And Finally

Moto/wisdom in life you live by.

                Like millions of others I've always been inspired by Kipling's poem 'If' especially about 'keeping your head when all about you are losing theirs'. I found that particularly useful in my water polo career as I used to play centre-forward which meant constant physical abuse from defenders whom I would often provoke into an assault on me while looking innocent in front of the referee! This would mean their exclusion and my team's opportunity to score a goal! I'm not sure if Kipling would have approved.

Buy Links

Amazon UK Paper back / Amazon UK Kindle /

 Amazon Paper back/ Amazon Kindle

Contact details and buy links of the newest books you would like the readers to know.

Website: www.johnfhanley.co.uk

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/johnhanleyauthor?fref=ts

Facebook Friends Page: http://www.facebook.com/Johnfrancishanley 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6565356.John_F_Hanley

Publisher: http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=1872

Thanks once again for your willingness to share with me and the readers.

Your Host Lynelle Clark

Support the authors, those I feature here and those I don't, buy their books, tell them what you think by giving them a good review and tell others about the book you just read. Keep the reviews constructive, do not throw-up in the review, we have feelings too, rather speak with us by mail. 

Mitch Alexander author of Cansir, and his new book release In the name of the Son and the daughter

Mitch Alexander

I met Mitch when I reviewed his book Cansir, an Autobiography with his trails in overcoming cancer, in March of this year, you can read more about it HERE.

It is easy to say when life hands you a lemon make lemon juice but when even the sap has been removed and only pips, core and the peel is left and you have nothing to help you to move forward but backbone and truth you can only rely on one thing. The Word clearly states that "the Truth will set you free" and in the author's life the principle has done exactly that.

In the account of his life the focus was not on the cancer it self although cancer played a major part in relating the story, but more in the reason cancer had a hold in his body.

Buy Link: Amazon Paper bag

I Interview him on his latest book "In The Name of the Son and Daughter:

      1.   Where did the idea come from for the book?         

I have been interested in the Holocaust for nearly 40 years. As an adult I have looked into several personal stories of the survivors. When I read Viktor Frankl’s “Mans Search for Meaning” there were aspects of my own life, specifically my childhood that fell into place. After reading “The Sunflower” by Simon Wiesenthal I thought about writing a book that compares quotes related to the Holocaust to the issue of child abuse. I compiled several pages of quotes and waited until I felt pushed to complete the project. 

      2.   What genre does your book fall under?      

Self-Help Children’s Health and Healing

3.   Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?         

I doubt a movie could be made to support my book.

4.   What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?   

It is the first step and overview of what constitutes abuse and how a person can gaining a healthy sense of self after enduring abuse as a child.

5.   Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?      

This is my second title to be published with inner child press.

6.   How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

This book was a fairly quick write. Even after I deleted some of my work I completed the first draft in six weeks.

7.   What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?       

I am not sure how to compare it. I suppose any recovery book would have overlapping themes.

8.   Who or What inspired you to write this book?       

After fighting injustice in the court system and with social services related to my ex-wife molesting my sons and nobody being willing to assist me to protect my sons, I had no other choice but to first face my own childhood abuse issues then I had the insights to share in this book.

9.   What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?         

I personally believe this book would be useful for everybody on some level. Anyone who feels stuck in his or her life and is looking for help is bound to find many aspects of the healing process life mending. There is nothing like knowing your own truth to alter your perceptions and increase your possibilities. 

Contact details: i.authored.mitch@gmail.com

Excerpt

The purpose of this book is to provide better understanding and 

awareness of abuse and the effects on children. The information

includes useful data pertaining to healing from abuse. I used

quotes related to the Holocaust to support the depth of this

problem, in and of our society today. This is not a new issue. The

Bible speaks of children being killed and tortured by their own

parents. GOD was not OK with it then and HE’s not OK with it

now. HE cautions us about the severity of taking children for

granted, or worse, abusing them. Children are important to the

Creator.                                                                                 

                                       Trepidation                     

Three times now, since I sat down twenty minutes ago to write

this piece, I have walked away from the computer. It is a warm

June evening, yet I am chilled. The room temperature is fine, my

chills are a result of what I am about to revisit. I had already read

what you are about to. I know you may feel trepidation as well.

Please understand I already had my own ideas about the           

Holocaust. Before I read this book I could not see how any of this

applied to the abused child. These are my correlative thoughts

about what I knew.                                                                  

Dachau – It stood there, nondescript and functional, to first

appearances. Yet, somehow, it was grim and foreboding, like a

malignant growth on the beautiful Bavarian landscape. The       

energy was disturbing. A factory type gate bore the Third Reich

propaganda ARBEIT MACHT FREI – Work makes (you) free. With

trepidation, I passed through. Inside, I was greeted with two

conflicting images; a young man looking at the photos of the

horrors with a smirk – and an older woman so overcome with

emotion, she had to sit down. I vividly remember her concerned

son desperately trying to give comfort while, Leviathan

–proportion sobs, racked her body.                                       

A key, if you will, explained the different colored triangles the

concentration camp inmates were forced to wear. The Jews had

the extra distinction of being forced to wear a yellow Star of

David, even before internment. Homosexual Jews wore one half

pink and half yellow. That was an unspeakable act of brutality,

turning a beloved religious symbol into an object of ridicule and

contempt.                                                                              

As I wandered through with my brother and parents, I saw

bunkhouses with too many bunks, work areas, monuments to the

fallen, trenches and electrified fences to discourage escape

attempts. The crematorium (can you imagine how the air must

have smelled in the vicinity while Dachau was active?) with rows

of ovens, made me shudder. The “shower room”, AKA the gas

chamber, made my blood run cold. They were not used, so they

claim (this fact is disputed-granted, not on the scale of

Bergen-Belsen or Auschwitz). Hundreds of thousands died of

disease, over work, starvation or execution at Dachau, but it was

not an extermination camp. That seems rather like being slightly

pregnant. No, those marked for extermination were crammed in

a train and sent to wholesale slaughter houses.

My review will follow later in the year.