Make-Believe Mondays Announces Debra's First Book Launch!

Make-Believe Mondays is taking time out from interviews this week to announce the print release of Debra's first novel. A Desperate Journey is now available in print and the book launch party is set for Thursday April 2nd.

If you are in Memphis, TN on that date, I would love for you to join me.



Wed, April 1st, I will be over at the Samhain Cafe, posting excerpts and chatting from 12:00 pm to 12:00 am. Stop by and say hello!
Samhain Cafe

And, I have a contest going this week. Everyone who leaves a comment here on the Make-Believe Monday blog from Tue. April 1st to Sunday April 5th will be entered into a drawing for this beautiful candle. For the longest time I have dreamed of seeing my book in bookstores and now that this dream is taking flight, this candle symbolizes that for me. Thank you for celebrating with me and may all your dreams take flight too.



debraparmley.com

Regular author interviews will resume next week and I will announce the winner of the contest on Monday.

Make-Believe Mondays with Jerri Drennon

Today on Make-Believe Mondays my guest is Jerri Drennon.

Jerri, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Jerri: Actually, I’m working on three. Two, I’m revising. The third story I’m about half done with. The one’s I’m working on revision for are action-adventure romance, the heroes are jungle guides, the heroine’s, botanists. The book I’m writing is a romantic suspense called “Going Once, Going Twice, Dead” It’s about a sculptress, who is the only suspect in a homicide case my hero is investigating.

Debra: I don't believe I've ever read a story about jungle guides and botanists. That one greatly intrigues me.

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Jerri: Lately, it has been by reading. It inspires me to write, especially when the book I’d just finished has that special magic about it.

Debra: There's nothing like that special magic sweeping you away into another world.

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Jerri: Yes, it’s before I even start the book—before I write one word. I get a visual image of both characters, the hero is usually clearer to me.

Debra: Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?

Jerri: I haven’t tried my hands at this yet, but never say never.

Debra: For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Jerri: I’ve dreamed three story ideas that are now books. “Going Once, Going Twice, Dead” came from a dream I’d had.

Debra: As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Jerri: So many, it’s hard to name just a few. The first books that really transported me were the Nancy Drew Mysteries. They began my love of suspense. In the fifth grade, my tastes matured. I fell in love with “The Great Gatsby” (It might have had something to do with Robert Redford playing him in the movie.) I went on to read all of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s books. What an amazing writer he was.

Debra: I still have a dog eared copy of The Great Gatsby and re-read it last summer. He was an amazing writer.

If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?

Jerri: I’m not sure. But it’d be filled with action and adventure. I love writing heart-pounding, suspenseful scenes.

Debra: Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

Jerri: I’ve had a vivid imagination since I was a young child growing up on a farm in Minnesota. You had to, to stay sane through those long, cold Winter’s. But it took me years to realize those voices in my head were characters trying to get me to write their stories.

Debra: I think for many of us, the imaginings were stories that we just hadn't learned to write down yet.

Jerri, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Website: jerridrennen.com
Blog: jerridrennen.wordpress.com

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Debra's News/Debra is Watching:

I'm blogging over on titlewave.blogspot.com tonight and if you haven't visited us there lately come by and check out the new look and format!

Also getting ready for my book launch party Thursday April 2nd at Burkes Bookstore in Memphis, TN.
www.debraparmley.com

Make-Believe Mondays with Leah Braemel

Today on Make-Believe Mondays, my guest is Leah Braemel.

Leah, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Leah: I’m working on the second novel in my Hauberk Protection series which are very hot contemporary erotic romances. The first book in the series is Personal Protection, which follows the owner of the Hauberk Protection Agency, Sam Watson. In his story, Sam’s being stalked, and he’s pretty ticked off when his second-in-command forces him to accept his own bodyguards which he feels will really crimp his style. However, the head of his team, is a spitfire of a woman, Rosalinda Ramos. While trying to guard him, Rosie discovers she has to guard herself from him, especially when she discovers that Sam’s a founding member of a very exclusive sex club. (Personal Protection is being released on May 12th by Samhain.)

To follow that story up, I’m writing the second in the series. Hauberk agent Andy Walters is dating Charlene (Charley) Larsen, literally ‘the girl next door’ who, of course, comes with a complication – Andy’s brother Daniel has had a crush on Charley since they were in high school. Their affair gets more complicated when someone tries to kill her. So Andy has to protect Charley while deciding whether to step back from the relationship for his brother’s sake.

Debra: Even the closest of brothers could find their relationship ripped apart if they both fall for the same woman. There are so many different ways that one could go.

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Leah: Dreams definitely play a roll in my writing. My dreams get so vivid, I have to get up in the middle of the night to write them down. My critique partner, Marley, sent me an old voice recorder she had because I was losing so much sleep getting up to write my scenes down. I’ve solved story problems,(and even real life problems) and created entire scenes or plot lines, thanks to dreaming. I think my subconscious doesn’t turn off when I go to sleep, that it churns over problems that are bugging me about my manuscript and solve them for me. So if I don’t sleep and therefore don’t dream, I notice the quality and quantity of my writing suffer.

Debra: I don't think our subconscious ever turns off really, we just don't always listen to it. A voice recorder is a great idea. Probably helps with getting it down faster before it slips away too. Things never seem to go as well for me if I am not dreaming. Dreams can tell us so much. I'm trying to listen to mine more.

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Leah: Absolutely. Unless I feel like I’ve sat down and talked with my characters, that they’re real, I don’t feel I’ve created them properly. I do all sorts of preparation before I start writing a manuscript. I’ll “interview” my characters; I’ll sit down and write out big lists of their likes or dislikes, try and figure out their background – who they were as children, what their placement within their family was, their hopes, their fears–especially that because that gives me a good base of their internal conflicts. Once I get to around the 25,000 mark in my manuscript, if I’ve developed my characters properly, that’s when I started dreaming of them. Once I start dreaming of them, then I know I’ve written them properly. It’s to a point where if I’m not dreaming about them, then I know the story isn’t working for me. That’s when I go back and redevelop them until I do feel like they’re real. It’s very important to me to get to that point. (A psychiatrist would probably have a field day with that answer.)

Debra: It's such a good thing that you know your process for writing, what path it takes and I suspect a psychiatrist might say that is a healthy thing. But then I tend to think that when we are creating it is a very healthy thing. So whatever gets us there gets my thumbs up. lol

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Leah: For me it was CS Lewis’s Chronicle of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I was around seven at the time. I loved the idea that there could be a secret world hidden in the back of the closet. What kid wouldn’t dream of stepping from a mundane world into one where they can become a princess with flasks that can heal people, or talking lions or fauns. Around the same time, my sister introduced me to the idea that you could write your own stories, you didn’t have to rely on other people to make them up for you. That’s when I really let my imagination loose and started writing my own stories, not that I showed them to anyone else until about five years ago though.

Debra: Oh, I love that story (well both actually, Narnia and the story of you and your sister and your first writings) How beautiful when those worlds open to us.

Leah, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Leah: Thanks for having me, I really enjoyed these questions. If readers want to read any excerpts from the first book in the Hauberk series, Personal Protection, they can find excerpts at my website:
www.LeahBraemel.com
and I often talk about my writing process on my upcoming works over on my blog as well:
leahbraemel.blogspot.com

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Debra's News/Debra is watching:

This week I will be attending Gulf Wars in Lumberton, MS Tue. through Sun. This is an SCA event and I am looking forward to wearing medieval dresses, watching the knights battle, dancing, camping and campfires. Like stepping back into the middle ages for a while. And who knows what story might be born there?

www.debraparmley.com

I have also been planning for the book launch of A Desperate Journey which will take place Thursday April 2nd at Burkes Books in Memphis, TN 5:30 to 7:00 pm.

Make-Believe Mondays With Keta Diablo

Today on Make-Believe Mondays, my guest is Keta Diablo.

Keta, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Keta: Thank you for having me today. I have a WIP (works in progress) that takes place in 1572 Scotland. At the time, there was territorial warring between Clan Forbes and Clan Gordon. Parliament finally intervened and decreed that both clans must lay down their weapons and to ensure peace Broccin Gordon’s daughter, Catriona, must wed The Lion of Forbes, Bryan. Mortal enemies, neither want to marry but are forced into it. Let’s hope by the time I’m done with the story, they fall in love (lol). Tentative title: The Lion of Forbes.

Debra: Oh, I do hope they fall in love. lol They must have that happy ever after ending.

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Keta: I don’t have a problem with creativity because my brain runs on overtime. I have a thousand story ideas, but putting them to paper is another dilemma. Where to start, where to go, and how to finish so the reader remains interested through each scene, every chapter, now, that’s the never-ending challenge. For me, creativity isn’t the issue, but the actual writing sometimes is. It’s much harder than it seems.

Debra: It is much harder than it looks from the outside, I know. But also it is wonderful when the story starts flowing together.

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Keta: So many authors say their characters speak to them (literally). This has never happened to me. But, after 100 pages, you begin to know your characters intimately and a sixth sense should tell you how they would handle a situation that arises, what they would say in a certain scene. If you know your character’s weaknesses and flaws, strengths and vulnerabilities, you should know how they would react. I often write something, perhaps a piece of dialogue and then I second guess my writing. I’m always asking of the hero or the heroine would really say that or react in that manner. I like to pretend they’re standing over my shoulder to keep me in check, perhaps shaking their heads and saying, “I would never say such a thing, and you should know that by now.” Or, they might say, “That was perfect; that’s exactly what I’d say to that feisty little hellcat.”

Debra: Hmm, the pretending is pretty close to them speaking to you. I think it has to do with how deeply you can enmesh yourself into the story world. Some days it is easier than other days and sometimes characters are silent. So pretending is good because we can always pretend.

Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?

Keta: Normally, I write historical because I’m most comfortable with that genre. I’ve always been a history buff and spend hours surfing the net reading true accounts of the Civil War or even early Scottish history. Fascinating stuff to me. Then several years ago, two author friends asked me to participate in a fantasy anthology with them. I reminded them that I’d never written fantasy. Not one to back down from a challenge, I agreed to write a 12,000 word fantasy novella and called it Dust and Moonlight. The pre-reviews for the anthology came back very good and I had so much fun creating this make-believe world with names and creatures that I’d never seen or heard of. I opted out of the anthology (with their blessing) and lengthened Dust and Moonlight into a full novel. It’s now available at Siren Publishing and I’m very happy I tried something new. Will I write more fantasy? That depends on how well readers receive the book.

Debra: Ah I love history too, especially Scottish history (probably because of my heritage) Fantasy is great fun to read and to write. I'll have to look for that one.

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Keta: Oh, that happens to me all the time. See above where I said my brain runs on overtime. This includes sleeping. I keep a notebook on my nightstand and you’d be surprised how many times I jot down my dreams in the morning. I can remember them vividly. Dreams are mystifying. Have you ever wondered where the person’s face came from? I mean they’re real people, their features are perfectly clear, but I don’t know them, have never seen them. Was it someone I passed once in the grocery store and my mind took a snapshot of them? You venture down roads in dreams you’d never venture down in real life and it makes for fascinating stories.

Debra: The dream world is so fascinating. Those notebooks are essential for capturing what we see in our dreams. I have one of those too.

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Keta: From the moment I read To Kill A Mockingbird in grade school, I knew I wanted to be a writer. I couldn’t get over the fact that Harper Lee could transport me to another time and place where I could feel the hot, summer air and taste the prejudice in that town. Scout and Jem resonated with me. And all because a writer strung together (most proficiently, I might add) words, sentences. I was hooked from that moment on.

Debra: A most excellent book for many reasons and one all children should read in school.

If there were no categories for books, no reader expectations to meet, and you could create the wildest work of imagination that you could think of what kind of story would that be?

Keta: Hmmm. Good question. My preference would be historical fiction with a trace of romance, but that doesn’t sell well in today’s world. Readers are like every other human on the planet; they want more and more of everything. Five years ago, erotica was sort of still in the closet, yet today I think it outsells vanilla or mainstream romance ten to one. I like writing erotica, but I must admit, the fact that it’s very popular is an added bonus.

Debra: Readers tastes change and I think with ebooks becoming more popular there are more changes to come. I suspect this has had something to do with the longer historical novels being less popular as people seem to want shorter novels. Chapters seem to be getting shorter and books seem to be getting shorter and I don't think I'm imagining that. But that's a whole other direction to take this chat into.

Keta, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Keta: Thank you so much for having me. I love to hear from readers, so drop by my web site and enter my book-give-away contest. I hold a drawing at the end of every month.

www.ketadiablo.com

My blog is Keta’s Keep at www.ketaskeep.blogspot.com
Here you can find news about my books, reviews, new releases and lots of guest authors drop by every month to showcase their new releases.

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Debra's News/Debra is watching:

So many exciting things are happening to look forward to!
My new bookmarks came in this week and they are lovely.
Monica Parks, one of my dearest friends, took photos of me holding the first copy of my book and they are posted on my website and on Facebook.

Plans and preparations for the book launch party are under way and the invitations will be going out very soon. I will be reading and signing. Here are the details:
Thursday April 2nd
5:30 pm
Burkes Books
Memphis TN

www.debraparmley.com

Make-Believe Mondays With Theresa Meyers

Today on Make-Believe Mondays I'm pleased to introduce my AT2 sister, Theresa Meyers.

Theresa, first, tell us a little bit about the manuscript you’re working on now.

Theresa: Hi Debra! The manuscript I’m working on right now is a paranormal romance set around four sisters, who live by three rules and have one really big problem. Most people only believe in what they can see. The O’Connell sisters would tell you they’d prefer not to, especially since they’ve been gifted with the ability to see faeries. Not your mother’s cute little Tinker Bell types, all sunlight and sparkles, but the deeper darker fae of the Shadowland and Wyldwood—the ones that are more akin to creatures of the night like vampires and demons, whose shapes vary from black slickness, to blue devil that morph and change—the ones that are dangerous to humans and will stop at nothing to reclaim the world they believe we’ve stolen from them.

Debra: Shiver. I'm not sure I'd want to see them either. But I can't wait to read their story.

Some very famous authors have played with language, creating words for people or places that no one has ever heard of. Have you ever played with words in that way and if so how?

Theresa: Actually I’m having a lot of fun at the moment creating just those sorts of things for my fae kingdoms. It’s a challenge to find things that are familiar to us, but give them either slightly skewed attributes or use them in unexpected ways—with different names—in the fae world. But the majority of time it isn’t so much the language itself that I play with as the description of the items. For instance, in my latest book the fae hero uses something called a Tace Candle to seal a jar and a letter. Tace is Latin for silent. And the black wax has the property of an breakable lock. The person sealing the item can tell who or under what conditions the item may be opened, rather like a secret access code, and the wax obeys.

Debra: Oh, fun! It's great to be able to play when we write. Wax that obeys. I like that very much. ;-)

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Theresa: For me creativity comes in lots of forms. When the weather warms up, I love to go outside and garden, planting herbs and flowers that I enjoy all season long. During the winter months I like to experiment with baking different things. I also like to sew and paint, watch movies and act. I find if I’m really stuck in a scene, going and doing something else active usually loosens the block and the ideas start of flow again.

Debra: Yes, there is something about movement, isn't there? Something about moving our bodies that gets the stories moving again.

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Theresa: Funny you should ask. The vampires in my debut Nocturne Bite, Salvation of the Damned, came about for two reasons. First I had this incredibly vivid dream of a man and woman dancing together in a ballroom full of candlelight that later involved a casket with a fanged skeleton that seemed to morph into her, almost as if invisible spiders were weaving a web that filled out to become her body. Weird, I know. I’m still not sure what I ate for dinner that night. But it was so intense that I woke up and had to write it down. Once I wrote it, I started to think about it. Then I asked one simple question. Why is it you never hear of vampires that are thousands of years old? They are always hundreds of years old. If they are immortal, why is that?

Debra: After doing these interviews for several years it has become clear to me that some of the most unusual and creative stories emerge from our dreams. I think we should listen to them more often. And those are great questions! I'm interested in reading how you answer them

Is there anything else you would like to add about the role of imagination, and dreams in creating fiction? Any other message for our readers?

Theresa: I think the act of writing is like stepping into the unknown. Despite plotting or character sketches, I’m never really sure exactly where the story is going to go. Often the characters take over. Indulging the imagination is absolutely critical to getting deep into the writing. It’s one of the things that took me three years to master because of my early training as a journalist. You can’t be objective when you are in the story, because the story consumes you; you feel, you think, you experience things along with your character.

Debra: This is so spot on. I agree completely.

Theresa: Imagination and make believe is probably one of the most critical components to what our country has been able to achieve in the past two centuries. We came up with automobiles, the electric light bulb, the telephone, space travel to the moon, the personal computer revolution. All of those came from some one’s imagination and dreams. It concerns me how little we encourage our children to use their imaginations these days. We have become a society that discourages the imagination and feeds them entertainment instead. Ironically, the importance of imagination it creating reality is said best by Walt Disney, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” There are no limits. We alone decide what the boundaries are by the limits of our own imaginations.

Debra: Beautiful, Theresa, and well put. Thank you for joining me here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

Theresa: Thanks for letting me visit!

You can find me online at www.theresameyers.com and Salvation of the Damned at www.nocturnebites.com

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Debra's News/Debra is Watching:

I am the featured author for the month of March over on Rae Lori's A Writer's Dream blog

We had 8 inches of snow the other day, which is unusual for the Memphis area. So today I am watching it slowly melt. I don't know about you, but I am ready for spring already. We are going camping in a few weeks and I am hoping it warms up before then.

I am also watching for another package. My new bookmarks should arrive this week, thanks to my husband who worked on it while I was calling every friend in my cell phone to tell them my first novel had arrived.

Visit www.debraparmley.com