Blooming Author Myke Cole!

Myke Cole's book Shadow Ops: Control Point was published by ACE yesterday, January 31, 2012! I'm so excited about this book coming out it has pulled Writing Insight out of a six month sabbatical.

Tell us about your book. What is it about and where will it be available?

CONTROL POINT is a novel that asks the question "what if the modern military had a magic-using arm?" What would that look like? How would it operate? What would its impact be on society? Those are some deep questions, and I do my best to tackle them honestly, but there's plenty of geek-out action where you get to watch modern military hardware (tanks, helicopter gunships, direct action teams) go up against the fantasy monsters you know and love from D&D. The book is officially available on 31 JAN 2012, but I am hearing that folks are getting copies shipped in the mail to them already.

What were your inspirations for your book? What sorts of thing inspire you as a writer in general?

I told Black Gate magazine recently: "It’s ironic that mashups seem so popular lately, since I’m kind of a mashup myself. I’m a warrior-nerd blend of a military officer and committed fantasy/SF geek. I’m fortunate enough to make my living in both camps and those influences greatly inform my writing. My new novel Control Point is a fusion of influences: 3 tours in Iraq and a life spent perusing the fantasy mass-market wire racks and comic book shop display stands."

That warrior-nerd blending I described is the biggest inspiration in my writing, creating what I hope is a unique fusion of military and geek culture.

Let's talk about your process. How do you approach a story, do you start with outlines or something else? Where did you work when writing your book? Do you think it was the optimal writing environment for you?

George R.R. Martin describes writers as "Gardeners" or "Architects." I've also heard that described as "Planners" or "Pantsers." I'm an UBER-Architect/planner. I typically do 100-150 pages of outline before writing a word of prose. I get feedback on that outline too, so I know that I'm not starting off in a bad direction before I begin to move.

I write in public (coffee shops or libraries) listening to movie soundtracks that put me in a cinematic mood but don't distract me with lyrics. This allows me to be around other people (I'm intensely social. I get lonely/maudlin writing at home alone) without having to interact with them.

Tell us about your "story of getting published."

I told this story to The Founding Fields. "When my 3rd tour came around, I had a manuscript called LATENT 75% written about a military unit that used magic. I thought it sucked. But hey, I could die in Iraq, so I sent it off to Joshua with strict instructions. “If you like it, I’m going to be all worked up and unable to concentrate. If you don’t like it, I’m going to be depressed and unable to concentrate. I’m off to war and I need my head in the fight. Do NOT tell me what you think until I get back, okay?”

Joshua agreed and I spent the intervening months dodging 107mm rockets and sleeping with camel spiders in a converted connex box. But I did keep my head in the fight and made it home with a Joint Service Commendation Medal and citation signed my Admiral McRaven himself (admired the hell out of that guy, so it meant a lot to me). My fiance had dumped me just before I left, and I got off the plane to see all these other servicemembers’ families greeting them, and I was depressed as hell. Nobody came to pick me up at the airport, and I actually had to take a cab home. You can imagine it was a low point.

I got home, grounded my gear and started calling folks to let them know I was home safe. Joshua was high on the list (we were good friends, and to be honest, I’d forgotten that I’d even given him a book). He answered the phone and I said “Hey, man! It’s Myke. Just wanted to let you that I’m ho . . .”

“Finish the book,” he cut me off.

“What?”

“LATENT, finish it. It’s fantastic. I didn’t want it to end.”

What are the publicity plans you have coming up?

Folks can check out my SITREP page on my website at http://mykecole.com/category/news, which includes all my upcoming promotional events. I've already said that I'm intensely social, so please throw me a bone and come on out. Nothing is more depressing than sitting around by yourself in a bookshop next to a pile of your books waiting to be signed, or reading to an empty room :)

Perennial Author Matt Forbeck!

Matt Forbeck has been nominated for 26 Origins Awards for his games and books and won 13. He has also won a number of ENnies for his gaming work. His tie-in novels have earned four nominations for Scribe Awards and won one, although he's still waiting to hear the results of the nominations for Guild Wars: Ghosts of Ascalon, which he co-wrote with Jeff Grubb.

What have you learned that seemed completely unrelated to writing at the time but has influenced your writing career?
The most valuable class I ever took in high school turned out to be typing. This was back in the days before computers were common, and half my class had to work on manual typewriters, while the others were blessed with electrics. You could tell people who worked manual typewriters back then because their fingers had to be strong and sure to make the words happen fast.

Learning to touch type made me a much faster writer than I would otherwise be, and that in turn now allows me to write fast enough to make a living at it. At the time, I hated it, and I got the worst grade in that class of my entire high school career, but it paid off in the end.

A toy manufacturer has decided to make you their new superhero action figure. What is your superpower and what are you wearing?
I'm an immortal traveler of both time and space, who peeks into the lives of other people in fantastic worlds and reports on their most exciting tales. Because of this, I'm dressed in a set of clothes filled with anachronisms that work together but don't quite match up: a bulletproof trenchcoat that projects full-body protection against biological, chemical, and radiological dangers; boots that provide bursts of speed; gloves that are invulnerable to anything; and a hat that links me mentally to a plant of hyperintelligent supercomputers that guide me on my way—when I let them.

Do you ever regret deciding to become a professional writer?
Only when my bills come due.

Honestly, no. I love being a professional writer, and I've been at it full-time now for over two decades, which means I've ruined myself for anything else. There's little like getting paid to make things up for a living, and I'm grateful to all the people who buy my books and games so I can keep doing it.

What is the best part of being a professional writer?
I enjoy the challenge of new and exciting projects, and the chance to entertain people for a living. I love going to conventions and meeting with gamers and readers and other people who do the same kinds of things I do. But on a personal level, the best part about this life is the flexibility it offers me.

As a father of five young kids (a 12-year-old and a set of 8-year-old quadruplets), my children place a lot of demands on my time, but because I work at home and set my own goals and hours, I can always be there for them when they need me. That's worth a lot more than money to me.

Give us a quick overview of what you write and where we can find it.
"I started out as a tabletop game designer, but these days, I mostly write novels and work on computer games. I've had two novels published this year through Angry Robot: Amortals and Vegas Knights. Both have been getting rave reviews.

I have two nonfiction books due out later this year: Star Wars vs. Star Trek and Book of Extreme Facts. Plus I have a novella in G.I. Joe: Tales from the Cobra Wars, a short story in Hot and Steamy: Tales of Steampunk Romance, and a short story in The New Hero 2. On top of that, I wrote the story for the Conduit 2 game for the Wii. I also cowrote and helped produce a film called InSpectres, based on Jared Sorsensen's roleplaying game of the same name.

For details about all this and the rest of the things I'm working on, stop by Forbeck.com or follow me on Twitter at @mforbeck.

Blooming Author Rose Gordon!

Rose Gordon's debut book, Intentions of the Earl was published February, 2011; followed by Liberty for Paul, in March and To Win His Wayward Wife in April.

Tell us about your books. What are they about and where will they be available?
Intentions of the Earl kicks of the Scandalous Sisters series with an unusual plot:

When the impoverished Andrew Black, Earl of Townson, hits rock bottom, he makes an agreement that will end his eight year poverty streak once and for all. In order to gain his fortune he must do but one simple thing: ruin an innocent girl’s reputation enough to make her flee to America.

Brooke Banks isn’t interested in marriage, or so she thinks. She came to London to have a good time, and that’s exactly what she’s doing. Widely known for her tendency to flout the rules, she suspects nothing when a handsome stranger appears on her doorstep.

Thirteen days, a handful of kisses and one scandalous situation later, Andrew and Brooke will have to choose to stick to their original plans, or decide if a life together is worth the risk.

Liberty for Paul comes next and is written about two secondary characters from the first book who met at a house party and took an instant dislike to each other:

Liberty Banks loves revenge almost as much as she hates one Mister Paul Grimes, who, she considers to be the most improper creature she has ever clapped eyes on. But when her plans for revenge against Paul go bust, she suddenly finds herself walking down the aisle to him.

Once married, a battle of the wills breaks out as each tries to reform the other. Liberty wants nothing more than to have a proper husband. Much to Liberty’s dismay, Paul will stop at nothing to have is all too proper wife do something--anything--to break the rules of society, specifically do the most improper thing which is to fall in love with the most improper man: her own husband.

And finally, the third book, To Win His Wayward Wife, is about the last unwed sister, the one who is in for a surprise nobody saw coming:

Not to be outdone by her sisters' marriage-producing scandals, quiet and withdrawn Madison Banks quickly finds herself walking down the aisle to a man who has secretly loved her for years.

Her groom, however, has no idea how to show his new bride that he truly loves her and following a bungled wedding night, finds himself in a position to either win his wife once and for all or lose her forever.

Can he prove himself worthy of her? Will she accept his love? Or will jealousy and past insecurities tear the pair apart?

All three of these books are currently available in digital format at Amazon, Barnes and Noble as well as Smashwords and their distribution channels which include Apple and Sony.

What were your inspirations for your book? What sorts of thing inspire you as a writer in general?
To be blunt, my first book was inspired by boredom. In the genre I read and write a common plot formula is an impoverished gentlemen, usually one of rank, is in desperate need of funds so he sets out to trap an heiress into marriage and without realizing it, he falls in love with her.

Bored of that scenario, I decided to go the other way and create a story where a man will gain his fortune by not marrying her. Instead he's being paid to ruin her reputation without offering marriage.

Going at it from this angle brought in a lot of conflicts the traditional plot doesn't contain. One of which is moral dilemma where the hero has to decide between doing what he knows is right where someone is concerned or keeping his word and following through with the agreement he made. Also, as love does come into play later in the book the feelings change from is he following his scheme through as a way to benefit himself or will he carry out the plot as a way to protect the girl from the villain who arranged the whole thing to start with.

In the end, he truly is made to choose between love and poverty.

The following books were inspired by the first. Before I finished the second chapter of the first book I already had ideas for plots for the following books--with one tiny exception. I was originally going to have Paul and Liberty have a spell of love at first sight but have to deny their relationship to the public because of Paul's close relationship with her father; but then, Liberty took charge of that situation and decided she hated the man, thus a new plot with the same characters was created.

As a writer I get inspired by dreaming up different stories or new twists on old, repetitive plots. I personally like to read about real characters with real problems. Not every hero should be a wealthy lord who can do whatever he wants; nor should every heroine be a damsel in distress. I like conflict--both physical and emotional--so knowing what I like and having a hard time finding it, I get inspired to write it.

Let's talk about your process. How do you approach a story, do you start with outlines or something else? Where did you work when writing your book? Do you think it was the optimal writing environment for you?
I'm a pantser in the worst way. I have in my head how I want the book to start and end, but how it goes from A to B is determined by the characters. That said, if I do have something I think needs to happen I'll try to work it in. For example, in my second book, I thought the two of them needed a second ""first"" meeting where they could get past the unflattering first impressions they had of each other. So I did have to figure out how to work that in, but what happens leading up to them finding each other at the masquerade and immediately afterward was following what the characters were telling me to do.

I write one of two places: the dining room or outside. I have two young children who aren't quite yet school aged so I stay home with them all day and in between Hot wheel races and Lego towers, I slip off to the dining room to tap out a few paragraphs. If it's a nice day, I'll take them outside and let them play on the swing set while I type in the shade.

The optimal writing environment for me would include my children keep their voices at normal level without yelling, crying or screaming and it would be nice if I was only hit with five flying projectiles each day instead of dozens.

Tell us about your "story of getting published."
I'm not traditionally published, but I almost was. Last year I wrote all three books and shopped the first one around by itself for a while then all three as a series. A lot of agents were interested in the writing and the plots of the second two books but said the plot for my first book was unmarketable. One even said, ""Nobody in their right mind would want to read such a book.""

Finally, I had a small publisher make an offer if I would change a detail in my first book. I didn't want to change that detail because, to me, it would have ruined the entire book. I said no and walked away.

A few weeks later I proofed them all once more and decided to see how they'd do as a self-published eBook. For me, and these books, it was the right choice.

What are the publicity plans you have coming up?
I do a lot of Author Interviews and Book Features. I have one lined up every two weeks or so between now and July. Some of the places include: Coffee Time Romance, Written in Blood, Lady Silk, My Eclectic Bookshelf and several others.


Check in with Rose on her website http://www.rosegordonromance.com/