BRoP Interview with Gail Martin Part V

I know I am a day late with this, I am having "issues" with my old lap top, so my wife is letting me use her computer, and so I am on a strange keyboard navigating my way to things that I just click and go to on my own computer......

Ah, life is full of little set backs isn't it?

So today's (yesterday's) guest is Gail Martin and she is sharing what she has learned from getting published.

You can read the other sections of her interview here:

Part 1 @ Terri (www.terribruce.net) - Wed. January 23rd
Part 2 @ Teresa (www.twfendly.com) - Thurs. January 24th
Part 3 @ Emily (http://emlabonte.blogspot.com/)- Fri. January 25th
Part 4 @ Sandra (http://ulbrichalmazan.blogspot.com/) - Mon. January 28th
Part 5 @ Dean (http://deanswritingtime.blogspot.com/) - Tues. January 29th

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.

Read an excerpt from Ice Forged here: http://a.pgtb.me/JvGzTt

Words of Wisdom

1.      Tell us about your route to success – where there any bumps and bruises along the way? How long did it take you to get an agent? To get a publisher?

There were several previous versions of The Summoner before the draft that landed an agent and a publisher. During those years, I was working in corporate and raising small kids, so my writing was limited to evenings after the kids were in bed and early on Saturday mornings.  When things would get too busy, the manuscript would go into a drawer for months at a time, or longer.  When I finished the novel and started to put it out to agents, there were rejections.  I revised the manuscript, and revised the cover letter.  That’s when I landed my contract with my agent, and he found me a great publisher.  So persistence pays.

2.      What are the most important elements of good writing?

For me, it would be compelling characters the reader really cares about, a detailed and interesting world/setting, elements of humor, snappy dialogue and a plot that the reader can’t figure out before the end of the book.

3.      What tools are must-haves for writers?

I’d say the basics would be a good computer and word processing program, a fast Internet connection, a web site and social media presence (Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, etc.)  I’m also a big believer in Writers’ Digest Books how-to books—they were very valuable to help me learn technique and also the business of publishing.  I also love mobile apps like QuickOfficeHD and iProRecorder that help me do work when I’m on the road.  I’ve actually done a whole book for authors on great tools—The Thrifty Author’s Guide to Social Media and Virtual Apps for Authors.

4.      Do you have any advice for other writers?

Don’t give up.  Success takes time, and it can seem as if nothing is going right and then WHAM!  Everything falls into place.

5.      What are your current / future project(s)?

My newest book, Ice Forged, comes out in January 2013. I’ve written the sequel to Ice Forged, and I’m in the process of editing it.  I’m also going to be releasing a new short story each month, some in my Deadly Curiosities world (from my anthologies) and some in my world of the Winter Kingdoms (my previous books).  And I’ve got a couple of other book projects up my sleeve that I’ll be exploring as well.

Here’s the story: Condemned as a murderer for killing the man who dishonored his sister, Blaine “Mick” McFadden has spent the last six years in Velant, a penal colony in the frigid northern wastelands of Edgeland. Harsh military discipline and the oppressive magic of the governor’s mages keep a fragile peace as colonists struggle against a hostile environment. But the supply ships from Dondareth have stopped coming, boding ill for the kingdom that banished the colonists.

Now, McFadden and the people of Velant decide their fate. They can remain in their icy prison, removed from the devastation of the outside world, but facing a subsistence-level existence, or they can return to the ruins of the kingdom that they once called home. Either way, destruction lies ahead…

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.

Find Gail on the web:

Website: www.AscendantKingdoms.com

Blog: www.DisquietingVisions.com

Facebook page: WinterKingdoms

Goodreads author page: www.Goodreads.com/GailZMartin

Twitter: @GailZMartin

Amazon: http://amzn.com/e/B002BM8XSQ

Other: Podcast—www.GhostInTheMachinePodcast.com

What format is your book(s) available in (print, e-book, audio book, etc.)?

Trade paperback, Kindle, Kobo, Nook

Blogging Hiatus

We find ways to do the things we want to do.  Priorities vs time.  People use the excuse “I didn’t have time.”   We all have the same amount of time each day.  It is how we choose to utilize the time that makes the difference between people.  If something becomes a priority it gets done.  

I enjoy working on this blog.  I have been faithful in having a post on Thursday.  However, my personal life has enough things happening that take a higher priority than blogging. Sometimes we have to say no. 

I’ve been giving this some thought.  So I’ll be forthwith, I enjoy blogging, it has its rewards.  In fact last year I did a number of guest blogs, and had guests blogging here. I didn't participate with my blogging and writing speculative fiction friends' January blogfest because of my shift in priorities at this time.

I joined the Blog Ring of Power to help promote authors and their hard work and give them a platform to share their writing experience.  I enjoy writing motivational posts, and ideas on time management. 

Right now my focus has shifted, and while blogging is a priority, it isn’t my highest priority.  I will continue to do my part with the Blog Ring of Power, but I will not be posting time management tips or motivational posts, for the next little while.  I hope to be back blogging in a few months.  

So for now I am on a blogging hiatus.  I will be back.

Dean 

Blog Ring of Power Interview with Lori Sjoberg Part V

Today wraps up Lori's five day interview with the Blog Ring of Power.  

Growing up the youngest of three girls, Lori never had control of the remote. (Not that she’s bitter about that. Really. Okay, maybe a little, but it’s not like she’s scarred for life or anything.) That meant a steady diet of science fiction and fantasy. Star Trek, Star Wars, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits – you name it, she watched it. It fed her imagination, and that came in handy when the hormones kicked in and she needed a creative excuse for being out past curfew.

After graduating from the University of Central Florida, Lori spent over a decade working in the fun-filled worlds of retail management, financial planning, and insurance. The writing bug bit a few years later. After completing her first manuscript, she joined the Romance Writers of America and Central Florida Romance Writers. Now she exercises the analytical half of her brain at work, and the creative half writing paranormal romance. When she’s not doing either one of those, she’s usually spending time with her husband and children of the four-legged variety.

You can read the other parts of Lori's interview here:

Part 1 @ Terri - Wed. January 16th
Part 2 @ Teresa - Thurs. January 17th
Part 3 @ Emily - Fri. January 18th
Part 4 @ Sandra - Mon. January 21st
Part 5 @ Dean - Tues. January 22nd

So, today Lori will share some bits of writerly wisdom.

: Words of Wisdom

1. Tell us about your route to success – where there any bumps and bruises along the way? How long did it take you to get an agent? To get a publisher?  Bumps?  Oh yeah, there were bumps.  Almost a year passed before Kensington Publishing offered a contract.  During that time I queried nearly sixty agents and editors.  There were times—especially after receiving yet another rejection letter— when I was tempted to quit, but thankfully I have a lot of supportive friends and family who kept me from doing anything foolish. 
2. What tools are must-haves for writers?  An overactive imagination, the desire to learn and succeed, tenacity, and the support of family and friends.
3. Do you have any advice for other writers?  Stick with it, folks, and never stop improving your craft.  The more you write, the better you’ll become, and the closer you’ll get to publication.  
4. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?  THANK YOU!  I hope you enjoy reading Grave Intentions as much as I enjoyed writing it!
5. What are your current / future project(s)?  I’m currently working on the sequel to Grave Intentions.  Death on a cruise ship.  Sounds like fun, eh?

 

Book Blurb:

He’s handsome, reliable, and punctual—the perfect gentleman when you want him to be. But this dream man is Death’s best agent—and now he’s got more than his soul to lose…

 One act of mercy before dying was all it took to turn soldier David Anderson into a reaper—an immortal who guides souls-of-untimely-death into the afterlife. But the closer he gets to atoning for his mortal sin and finally escaping merciless Fate, the more he feels his own humanity slipping away for good. Until he encounters Sarah Griffith. This skeptical scientist can’t be influenced by his powers—even though she has an unsuspected talent for sensing the dead. And her honesty and irreverent sense of humor reignite his reason for living—and a passion he can’t afford to feel. Now Fate has summoned David to make a devastating last harvest. And he’ll break every hellishly-strict netherworld rule to save Sarah…and gamble on a choice even an immortal can’t win.

Website:  www.lorisjoberg.com

Blog:  www.lorisjoberg.com/blog/

Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/AuthorLoriSjoberg

Goodreads author page:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6574214.Lori_Sjoberg

Twitter:  @Lori_Sjoberg

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Grave-Intentions-ebook/dp/B009T9SCDA/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1351444794&sr=1-2&keywords=grave+intentions

Smashwords:

Other:  B&N http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/grave-intentions-lori-sjoberg/1113633560?ean=9781601830067

What format is your book(s) available in (print, e-book, audio book, etc.)?  e-book