Monday: A Day In The Life (Of An Author) JoAnne Myers

Welcome readers! A Day In The Life (Of An Author) allows book fans a special peek behind the scenes and into the mind of an author. We fully admit we aren't exactly normal, from the way we approach our research to the way we squirrel away and save bits of time so we can write. It takes a special kind of crazy to invent people and worlds, coloring them with a variety of perceptions, experiences, and imagination. But we wouldn't have it any other way.

Today's guest is indie author, JoAnne Myers.

Writing Paranormal
by JoAnne Myers

When it comes to fiction writing, almost anything goes. That is why I love writing paranormal and fantasy stories. The author can go completely over the edge and make something unbelievable seem believable

For my ghost stories, I get a lot of my inspiration from real life experiences. Not necessarily my own, either. I watch television programs with the supernatural and paranormal flare; documentaries from ordinary people who claim they experienced either an afterlife experience, or a haunting.

Some of the stories from my anthology, Wicked Intentions, are based on actual hauntings. In The Legend of Lake Manor, I placed my young psychic, Cassandra Lopez, in a haunted mansion I fashioned on my knowledge of a three-story mansion in my hometown and information from television about a restaurant/bar in Ohio, supposedly ruled by demons so violent that the local police are constantly closing it down.

A television documentary about a young mother plagued by ghost sightings since childhood, inspired The Haunting of Barb Marie and her gift/curse.

And The Apartment, in which my newlyweds, Bill and Gayle, are plagued by sightings of evil ghosts that threaten their marriage and theirs lives, originated from a real apartment haunted by the ghosts of two homosexual lovers who died violently. The legend says no tenant is able to stay there until the spirits are chased off by a paranormal investigation team.

On the Discovery Channel, I learned of the colonial explorer Jonathon Carver who lived during the 1700s and whose ghost is believed to be haunting the Summerwind estate, built in the early 20th century. Carver’s ghost is, supposedly, searching the house’s foundations for deeds to a vast tract of land (10,000 square miles) given to him by Sioux Indian chiefs as a reward for the peace treaty he created between two warring tribes. In my Summer Wind, 29 year-old Ginger is mysteriously drawn to the old mansion, and like the many owners of the real mansion, the haunting had a negative and profound effect on Ginger and her family.

Another investigative program concerned one sister’s psychic premonitions about her twin’s murder. This led to my story, Blood Ties, and my heroine, Audra Roper’s dark, disturbing visions of her sister’s disappearance and the roller coaster of risks, heartbreak, and intrigue that followed.

Dark Visions came from reading a newspaper story while sitting in a diner. A young woman began having visions of her father's disappearance that was actually his murder from years earlier. So, my Carrie Reynolds starts having nightmares on her twenty-sixth birthday and believes these ‘dark visions’ can solve the twenty year disappearance of her father.

I set my murder mystery, Truth Behind the Lies, on Norfolk Island after following a three year long murder investigation on that island from 2003. In my story, Federal Police Inspector Ian Christian faces attacks, more murders and ghostly occurrences, and the killer is closer than anyone realizes.

Respectfully yours, JoAnne Myers-Author of Murder Most Foul, Flagitious, Loves, Myths, and Monsters, The Crime of the Century, Poems About Life, Love, and Everything in Between, Twisted Love, Wicked Intentions.

Wicked Intentions - 7 bone chilling paranormal tales
by JoAnne Myers

http://www.melange-books.com/authors/joannemyers/WickedIntentions.html

Paperback:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=wicked+intentions&categoryId=100501

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Intentions-JoAnne-Myers-ebook/dp/B00GNRUF40/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384531716&sr=1-1&keywords=wicked+intentions+myers

Today's Special Guest: Rue Allyn

The Editor and the Author

I want to thank Cassandra for providing this opportunity to share a slice of my publishing life with you. When I began writing fiction, I did so for the love of words and the magic those words created as they came together. This is still my primary motive for writing. I’ve tried to stop, but I can’t function if I don’t write for at least some part of my day.

At some point I decided that publishing what I wrote might be a good idea. So my first experience with editors was not that heady exchange of ideas and commentary that makes a good book great. No, my first experience with editors was that of a supplicant at the gate of heaven. The acquiring editor was the guardian of that gate and as long as my manuscript was under consideration at the editor’s house he/she held power over my publishing life.

Some authors have the extreme luck to find themselves within the gates of publishing heaven very quickly. Some wait decades before the portal opens. My own experience has been somewhere in the middle of those two scenarios. Once the gate was opened and my manuscript accepted for publication, my experience of editors changed. I was no longer a supplicant but a member of a team. The team’s goal was to bring to the reading public the best possible version of my manuscript. (I’ll pause to comment that I’ve been very lucky with most of the editors I’ve worked with. None have made unreasonable demands. All have been kind and thoughtful of my fragile writer’s ego.) I made every effort to submit revisions, return proofs, etc. in a timely manner as well as do my level best to coordinate my promotional efforts with my publisher.

These efforts have been hard but rewarding work that increased my confidence in my writing and affirmed my value as a team-member. In the process my relationship with editors has changed. Those with whom I work are still my fellow team members. However, those who guard the gates to publication at other houses are no longer all powerful in my eyes. With experience, I’m able to recognize that no one holds power over my publishing life but me. Acquisitions editors have become colleagues who accept or reject my submissions on the merits of the manuscript and the fit of that manuscript with their particular house.

Case in point, I received a rejection a few days ago that in my earlier years would have devastated me. The note said, essentially, thank you for submitting but this story doesn’t fit our needs at present. A form rejection, yes, and frustrating in its lack of commentary. However, as an example of the author-editor relationship what is most significant isn’t this rejection itself, but how I handled it. I was so busy with other activities, writing, blogging, promoting, revising et cetera, that when the rejection came in, I barely noticed. I simply made a note to submit the manuscript elsewhere then returned to my current activities.

The author-editor relationship is a living thing and like all living things it changes, usually for the better. I am blessed with my current editor at Red Sage. She helps me keep the story tightly focused on strong emotions and steaming hot passion.

We’re both excited to bring out Off Limits (the first in my sexy sailor series) on April 1, 2012 from Red Sage Publishing.

Here’s a blurb with a link to an excerpt. Please leave a comment here and share your thoughts. I’ll include you in a drawing for a free download of my first erotic romance The Widow’s Revenge. Enjoy!

Off Limits by Rue Allyn

For Senior Chief Hank O’Mara no woman could compare with the sea until he met Lieutenant Bethany Morton. Only the sea could draw two passionate people of such opposite backgrounds together, and only US Navy regulations could keep them apart. Because fraternization between Officer and enlisted is forbidden, both Beth and Hank do their utmost to resist the passion and love growing between them. However, love proves stronger than either the sea or the USN. If they are to be together, Hank must sacrifice his career and Beth will risk the destruction of her professional dreams.

Off Limits ISBNs

9781603107891;1603107894 Adobe PDF • 9781603107907;1603107908 ePub • 9781603107914;1603107916 HTML • 9781603107921;1603107924 MobiPocket

CONTEST ALERT!

Drawing details: I’m giving away a free download of my first erotic romance, The Widow’s Revenge. Only those who comment on the blog and leave an e-mail address will be entered.

Names will be drawn at noon EDT on March 28^th and after the winner is notified he/she will be announced at http://RueAllyn.com.

About The Author:

Rue Allyn: I wrote my first story around the age of five and read my first romance at the age of eight. I’ve been in love with being in love ever since. I’m happily married to my sweetheart of many, many years. We share the home of two cats, who condescend to allow me to feed them and clean their litter box. They occasionally permit me to pet them but demand my love and attention as their right. I am in awe of their feline ability to dominate with half a glance or a mere twitch of tail. I am insatiably curious, an avid reader and traveler. I love to hear from readers about your favorite books and real life adventures. I also love my work. Seriously, what could be more fun than sharing love and adventure with all your friends?

Please visit Rue at http://RueAllyn.com