Live Q&A Post And A Short Writing Update

Hullo, friends! Since July is halfway over (whaaat????) and we only have about two weeks left for the fan art contest (and we have a few new submissions, too!). I have a cover reveal scheduled for tomorrow, but for this week, I thought it would be fun to do a live Q&A with you guys! A while back, I made some post idea suggestions, and many of you liked the idea of a live Q&A post, where you guys post questions in the comments, and I answer them! You can ask me about anything from writing to reading and books, or my own books or anything (within reason, of course). I’ll be answering those questions throughout this week, so ask away!

And while you’re coming up with questions for me, I have one for you! What writing-related topics would you like to see me post about? Comment below with your questions for me and what writing posts you’d like to see me do!

And a short writing update: I may have mentioned once or twice that I’m working on a superhero retelling of Snow White for the Rooglewood Press Contest, and I’m super excited about it! I just hit 10,000 words, which means I’m at least halfway done. It’s a lot of fun, and I’m excited to see where it goes (and let you guys read it, too!).

Now, enough about my writing! Unless you want to ask questions about it, that is. 🙂 Post your questions below, and I’ll be sure to answer them as soon as I can! And don’t forget to suggest some writing-related posts, too! Thanks, friends!

A Week of Fun! (Indie Author E-Con)

Hello, friends! It’s the start of a new week, which means it’s the start of something else, too!

That’s right, the Indie Author E-Con starts today! I’m so excited, and I hope you are, too! I’ve been going through a lot of the pages, and there’s so much! If you’ve created a cosplay picture for Twinepathy or any other indie book, you can add your link on the cosplay page here, and if you have any fanart, you can post a link to it on the fanart page. (Here’s a hint: you can use a dollmaker online to create your favorite characters! This one is super fun, and the site has a ton of different dollmakers!). If you’re a writer, you can join in on the weeklong word war, too!

And I have some cool stuff going on today, too! There’s an awesome Q&A where you can ask me any writing-related question you want, and there is also a post I wrote about plot twists, which you can read here.

Plus, don’t forget to head over and vote on the 2017 Indie Book Awards! Enjoy the Indie E-Con, my friends!

The ULTIMATE Twinepathy Q/A | The Characters Answer Your Questions!

Hello, everyone, my name is Anvil, and I’m “guiding” you through this post. Jen was supposed to do it, but she’s pretty busy at the moment, so she asked me to take over. C.B. says to tell you: Be forewarned that there may be SPOILERS in this post… most of them will be in white text, which you can highlight to read if you wish. Whatever that means. So let’s get on to the questions.

Albany

Sarahtps: What’s the best thing about being twins? The worst? Same with the mind connection thing? Being twins: Having someone who knows you really well and who’s with you all the time. That’s the best and the worst thing. Mind connection… there are a lot of good things, but I know the worst thing is having trouble keeping a secret, even if it’s just like a surprise party or something.

What’s your favorite board game? I’m not a big fan of board games. I prefer Solitaire. But if I had to pick one… Sorry, maybe?

Madeline: How did you find out about your telepathic abilities? It was a very traumatic moment when we were three. Not my favorite memory to recount…

Sarah: What is your favorite season? I like winter, mostly because it’s a great time to curl up with a book. And winter break.

Brooklyn

Sarahtps: What’s the best thing about being twins? The worst? Same with the mind connection thing? I love being able to know Albany really well, but sometimes she gets annoyed with me. Our mind connection is fun… it’s nice to be able to talk silently. The worst thing is when our nightmares spill over into each other’s heads. Not fun.

What’s your favorite board game? Monopoly! It provides lots of time for talking and hanging out, and I usually win.

Madeline: How did you find out about your telepathic abilities? It’s always been hard for me to remember, Albany says I blocked out the memory. But I know it was when we were about three, and it was really weird.

Sarah: What is your favorite season? Definitely spring! I love when everything is new and fresh, especially with happily chirping birds and bright flowers!

Jen/Data

Deborah: What is your favorite color? Probably a silvery gray. Pretty but kind of practical.

What is your opinion on penguins? The only penguin I actually like is Finch as a penguin.

If you could have a different superpower, what would it be? Something more useful in a fight, like energy manipulation. I’m particularly fond of metal manipulation. It has quite a few practical applications.

Sarahtps: If you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would you tell her? There are a few places in time I’d like to go just to watch again… but I’d tell my younger self to please, please stay away from computers. Never touch.

Sarah: What situation, event, or person has shaped you and your personality the most? My power. I’d be a completely different person without all of the knowledge I’ve gathered, much less the experiences and situations my power has gotten me into.

Blaze

Deborah: Do you live on caffeine, sugar, and donuts? I’d like to say yes, but then I’d be lying. I have to have pizza, too.

What was Canberra and why wasn’t it your fault? That was… a mission that went wrong. Badly wrong. And it was my fault, I just prefer to pretend it’s not. Can we move on?

Which of your two superpowers do you like more? Light manipulation. Teleporting is fun, but honestly, light manipulation is really useful. And good for pranking.

How can you always tell Albany and Brooklyn apart? I’m a light manipulator. I can put nametags on them that only I can see, or I can find something that’s different about them just by making the light reflect differently. Besides, their personalities are way different.

Can you give us a HINT about your name like a letter or something? My name? Oh, that’s easy. John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith.

Sarahtps: What’s your real name? Billy Bob Joe. Or not.

What’s your favorite food? You’re asking me to decide what my favorite food is? How could you be so cruel! Let’s just go with donuts.

If you could be a character in the Star Wars universe, either a canon one or one you made up, who would you want to be? Totally Han. I mean, he has a wookie friend and an awesome ship.

Jemma: What is the best prank you’ve ever pulled? Ah, it was at school. The prank involved three chickens, a container of silly string, a water gun filled with grape juice, and the math teacher’s toupee. They never saw it coming.

Madeline: How did you get into IDIA? Recruited by Jen when I was a lot younger… but that’s a really long story for another time.

Sarah: What superpower do you wish you could have? Honestly, I love the superpower I have now. But any other one… maybe telekinesis. It’s really useful, and I could fly.

Hann: Who was your first crush/love interest? Cynthia Rogers in kindergarten. It didn’t last long.

Maddie

Sarahtps: What was your first thought on waking up without your memories? I’m pretty sure I was wondering where I was, and why my head felt kind of funny. But that was a crazy moment, so it’s all really mixed up in my head.

Also, can I hug you? Um… yes?

If you were a color, what color would you be? Red! It’s my favorite color. I love how bright and bold it is.

Anvil

Deborah: Can I have your cookie recipe? Possibly. Only if I think you can do it justice, though. How well can you cook?

How are you so awesome? Umm… I’m not? If you think I am, I can give you the recipe: a dash of childhood trauma, a few cups of bad influences, and a sprinkle of saving grace and second chances.

May I please hug you? *stands there stiffly while you hug him*

What is your opinion on Blaze? He’s okay. He could be taken down a few pegs, though, and sometimes his mouth gets him into trouble.

Alyssa: What is your favorite type of cookie? I love most cookies, but I really enjoy a good white chocolate macadamia nut. Classic Snickerdoodles are good, too.

Ezra

Sarahtps: What’s your ideal date night? Ooooh, uhhm. Movie marathon, I’m a sucker for any excuse to eat junk food.

Are you and Denver getting married someday? We’re still pretty young, but I’m certainly not opposed to the idea for the future. My parents married young as well.

SPOILER: Are you ever going to tell Denver about your involvement in IDIA? You should know that I’m a terrible liar in the first place, and I absolutely hate doing it. So, I would really really like to tell him, but Data won’t let me. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep it from him…

Madeline: What is your favorite thing about Denver? You’re killing me here, just one thing? I guess, his intelligence. I love being able to goof off with him in one moment, and then being able to discuss all sorts of things the next, just to hear his opinion on something. Okay, and his smile can make me melt. Don’tmakemepickone.

Powergirl: What’s your favorite thing about IDIA? Knowing I’m not alone. I mean, I’ve still yet to make any close friends…but it’s nice being among people like me! And I’ve always wanted to help people, so that’s probably on the same level for me.

Denver

Sarahtps: What’s your ideal date night? Movie and pizza, with a walk in the park afterwards. Or, if it’s winter, going ice skating. We haven’t gotten to do that yet.

Are you and Ezra getting married someday? Um… Maybe? I don’t know… that’s… awkward… why would you ask that?

Random

Sarahtps: You (Albany, Brooklyn, Jen, Blaze, and Maddie) are, as a group, spontaneously transported to an unknown fantasy world. What do you do? (Blaze’s powers don’t work to teleport you all back, for the record, though he can teleport you anywhere within that world.) (Jen wishes to answer this question:) I would be in charge, of course. Albany and Brooklyn would help Maddie build a shelter and gather fruit, while Blaze and I explore the island, and Blaze uses his powers to frighten animals away. We would survive long enough to build a raft or contact someone for help. Or build something sturdy that Maddie could use to fly us away.

And that is all for the Q&A, finally. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please consider buying the book on Amazon, as a paperback or Kindle copy, or buy it in the CreateSpace estore. And add it on Goodreads if you’d like. Have fun. Anvil out.

ANNOUNCEMENT (And Fanmade Book Trailer!)

Hullo, friends! Guess what happened today?

No, guess.

Okay, the paperback copy of Twinepathy was just released! You can find it on Amazon here and in the CreateSpace eStore here (I actually get more royalties from CreateSpace, so…). And if you have NO CLUE what I’m talking about, you can read more here on my blog, and you can check out the Kindle version here and add it on Goodreads here. Plus, you can see a bunch of reviews, author interviews, and character interviews in the book tour that is going on RIGHT NOW. So click all the links, friend!

And as most of you know, I promised that the characters would take over the blog and answer your questions when the print copy was released… which it now is. So tomorrow, I the characters will be posting the answers to those questions! Stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, I have an amazing book trailer for you to watch that the wonderful Alea Harper and her sister created after reading Twinepathy. Eeep!!! It is awesome, so check it out, give them a few likes, and share it! If you haven’t read it, this will make you want to read it. It made me want to read it… and I wrote it. 😉

Are you excited about the print book? What do you think of the book trailer? Comment below with your thoughts!

The Twinepathy Blog Tour | Post Schedule And Such

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Twinepathy blog tour! I am your host, Blaze, and I shall be guiding you through the wonders of character interviews, author interviews, and book reviews! This is the main schedule, where links will be posted to each post as they are posted throughout the week. Is that enough posts for you? The blog or person’s name will link to their blog, and the type of post (interview or review) will link to the actual post. Let’s get on to the schedule!

July 17th

The Depth of my Faith – Character and Author Interview

Beyond the Amethyst – Book Review

 

July 18th

Musings of an Elf – Author Interview

The Road of a Writer – Book Review

 

July 19th

Lights and Shadows – Author Interview

Lilyorphaned – Book Review

 

July 20th

Writinganyone – Character Interview and Book Review

Writefury – Character Interview

 

July 21st

Claire M. Banschbach – Author Interview

Sherwood Storyteller – Author Interview

 

July 22nd

The Art of Writing for Him – Book Review

Elvish Pen’s Fantastical Writings – Author Interview and Book Review

 

July 23rd

Thoughts of a Word Collector – Author Interview

Thriving Hope – Book Review

Blaze here again! Check out all of these posts, okay? They’re going to be awesome and we’ll have lots of fun. And if you don’t… I’ll know.

And if you’d like, check out Twinepathy on Amazon and Goodreads. We’d really appreciate it, you know.

Twinepathy Q/A | Ask The Characters Some Questions!

Hullo, friends!!! Fourth post in a row this week! Nothing like a book release to get me blogging again, hmm? This is going to be a short post, but here you can post questions to ask the Twinepathy characters in their big interview post. This is going to be fun, huh? 🙂

Just a few guidelines to help things go smoother:

1. Make it clear which character you’re asking which question.
2. Try not to ask too many questions to start off with. Because we don’t want this to end up the length of the actual book…
3. Have fun! Ask some serious questions, ask some fun questions, and enjoy it!

Ask away! Don’t forget to sign up for the Twinepathy book tour if you haven’t already, and check out Twinepathy on Amazon and Goodreads!

(For reference, a character list: Data/Jen, Albany, Brooklyn, Maddie, and Blaze are the main characters, but ask anyone else questions, too! Try to avoid spoilers, please!)

Tales From The Writer’s Desk: A Special Day

Hullo, everyone! Nothing like a book release to get me posting again, hmm? In case you missed it yesterday, Twinepathy is now available on Kindle! I realized it was about time I did another Tales From The Writer’s Desk, this time with the characters from Twinepathy. Because, let’s face it, why wouldn’t they hang out with Bri? Also, the sign-up for the Twinepathy blog tour will be posted tomorrow. So keep an eye out for that, and enjoy this post! I know I sure did!

I know immediately that something’s wrong when I walk into my office the day after my July 4th break. To start with, the mess of Post-it notes and index cards that usually covers the walls of my office is gone, replaced by rows and rows of horribly identical sticky notes. My usually cluttered desk is spotlessly organized, with all the pens in the penholder and all of the scattered papers gone. Instead of having my usual movie theme song music playing, my laptop is spouting classical orchestra music. The bookshelf behind the desk has been dusted, and the books are somehow organized by both color and height. I shudder at the thought of what my cluttered book room must look like now.

“What did you do?” I ask the woman sitting at my desk, my voice tight.

The woman spins around in the chair. Her brown hair is about shoulder length, and her eyes sparkle with both life and sadness. “I was waiting for you, and I honestly couldn’t stand the mess in here anymore.”

I cross my arms. “Jen, has anyone ever told you that it’s not polite to rearrange other people’s belongings?”

Jen–or Data, as she’s known with her code name–smiles at me. “Of course. But it’s also not polite to keep someone waiting.”

She has a point. So of course I shift subjects. “Why are you here?”

Jen leans forward. “Just wanted to check up on an old friend. There’s been a lot happening at IDIA lately. Some good, some… less good.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Really?”

She smirks. “Somewhat. Actually, I was just looking for our favorite troublemaker, and that brought me here.”

I groan. “What’s Blaze gotten up to this time?”

“I don’t know,” Jen admits. “I just wanted to check and see if he was here. And I wanted a chance to say hi to you and see how you’re doing. And to let you know that we’re taking over.”

“You’re taking over what?” I ask with a frown.

Jen grins. “The blog.”

I sigh. “Please no.”

“Just for one day,” she reassures me. “It’s just going to be an… interview. By commenters.”

I grin. “Well. That’ll end well.”

Jen nods. “Of course. I’ll be in charge. If you’ll excuse me, I’d better head back to headquarters.” She stands up and heads to the door.

“Bye,” I tell her, turning back to my ruined office. As the door closes behind her, I can’t help but grumble, “Handful.” Time to see what damage she did to my book room.

I open the door to the book room and stop in shock. In front of me lies the book room, looking perfectly normal… except the floor is covered in grass and there’s a huge tree growing out of the middle. The ceiling’s gone, and above I can see blue sky with fluffy cotton-ball clouds over it.

I sigh. “Blaze!!!”

The teleporter appears in front of me with a grin. He waves a hand slowly in front of my face. “I am not the agent you’re looking for.”

“Hardy-har-har,” I grumble. The illusion disappears, leaving my normal book room. “Thank you.”

“Any time,” Blaze says. “I’m just going to go mess with Benedict, ‘kay?” He jabs a finger towards the book room. “Just wait until that illusion disappears and you see what Data did to your precious books.” He grins and teleports away.

I sigh again. “This is the start of a wonderful day.”

Hope you enjoyed! Don’t forget to check out Twinepathy and come back tomorrow to sign up for the book tour! The aforementioned takeover by the IDIA agents will occur on the day the print book releases, and the post for questions will open up on Friday, or before. Comment below with what you think should happen in a future Tale From The Writer’s Desk!

 

May Contest: Character Creation Contest

WELL.

Yesterday was the deadline for the Super-Duper Fan Fiction Crossover Challenge 2… and I completely forgot to remind everyone this month.

Whoops.

But instead of doing yet another one, or lengthening that contest, I decided to try something different, and came up with a very intriguing idea.

In the Character Creation Contest, contestants will create a character based off of one of three pictures. There will be one winner for each picture. Winners will be judged on (a) creativity, (b) how intriguing the character is, and (c) how well developed the character is. Bonus points if you write a short story (

The Pictures

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

The Rules

1. Maximum amount of characters is one per picture. You can do one for each picture, but not three for one picture.

2. This is about creativity! Think outside the box.

3. To submit, post a description, interview, or short piece with your character on your blog, with the contest button (above) and your chosen picture, and put a link to your submission in the comments below, OR, if you do not have a blog, you can submit your piece through the contact form on the Talk To The Writer page.

4. The deadline is May 31st, 2015!!!

Hopefully I will remember to remind everyone! I can’t wait to see what you come up with, so go get started! Got any questions? Ask below! Also, please vote on this poll, too:

The 777 Writing Challenge

Hi, everyone! Today I was sort-of tagged for the 777 challenge by Lynette Noni!

The 777 challenge requires you go to Page 7 of your work-in-progress, scroll down to Line 7 and share the next 7 lines in a blog post. Once you have done this, you can tag 7 other bloggers to do the same with their work-in-progress.

Since my two main stories that I’m working on are still in the plotting stages, I decided to share from the story I’m currently editing. This worked out perfectly to the first time we see the villain! And don’t worry, you’ll be hearing more about this story soon.

---

Marba wove her way down the hallway between the small groups of people. They didn’t pay any attention to her, and she repaid them with the same treatment. You could tell which trainees were new; they were the ones who stared at her in awe as she walked past. Most of the seasoned trainees, and those who had completed training, had grown used to her commanding stature.

“Marba,” an authoritative voice called from behind her. The very sound of that voice was enough to silence all of the conversation in the hallway.

---

What a perfect ending! 😀 Now for those people I tag…

icedmocha34

erinkenobi2893

awkwardlyartistic

Ashlee Willis

writefury

Robyn Hoode

And if you’re reading this, I tag YOU as my seventh person! 😀

What did you think of the excerpt? Are you going to do the challenge? Well, are you????

Friday Fiction Challenge: 7-25-14

A challenge to help you write, get you thinking, and spark some creativity! Add a link to your response in the comments below and link back to this post. If you just decide to answer the question, and it’s not a full length post, feel free to just comment with your answer. Be creative and have fun!

The Question

What is your favorite quote of all time?

The Challenge

Write a story that (a) uses that quote or (b) uses all of the words from the quote without using the quote itself. And if you want to choose a different quote than an absolute favorite one, go for it!