Today I am highlighting some of the incredible authors published by Dream Write Publishing of Sherwood Park, who are launching new books at this event. It will be the 12th annual Words in the Park and with over 100 titles, this publishing company has continued to maintain their mission to assist authors in realizing their publishing dream. http://www.dreamwritepublishing.ca/
Mike Deregowski: Duffy the Duffle Bag.
Duffy is a large duffle bag. He has a hard time fitting into tight spots and often wishes he could be smaller so he could go more places. Join Duffy and his friends to learn more about acceptance. The trick is to learn to be happy with yourself no matter what size you are.
Leslie Hodgins: The Tale of the Siren Song
“Gather ’round, ye who dare! Gather ’round to hear the story of Captain Dara Finn, the Cursed Pirate! Legend has it that he terrorized these shores for as long as memory serves, living without feeling, serving no one, and going where he wanted!”As always, this story begins with once upon a time…Sirens were considered mythical creatures although more stories were being told about them – some about sailors meeting them, some about where they came from, others about what powers they have over you with just their voice. Dara listened intently to the stories, hoping there was a chance they’d hold a clue to breaking the curse. But no one seemed to know…
Mandy Eve-Barnett: Rython Legacy (the sequel to The Rython Kingdom)
Juliana held her granddaughter in her arms; it was a bittersweet moment. The child was a delight but also her replacement; she was the new sorceress who would protect the kingdom if called upon. At that precise moment, Maralynn opened her golden eyes – there was such intensity in them that her observers were taken aback at the obvious power the new little being held. A thin thread of cyan mist floated and twisted above the happy group… unobserved., a portent of things to come. Maralynn’s reign as Eldenma would be fraught with challenges, but could her exceptional power ultimately overcome.
J.E. McKnight: Unnatural Selection
In a world where the male population outnumbers the female eight to one, the survival of the human race depends on the advent of a breeding program, outlawing marriage and monogamous relationships. This is all anybody knows as there isn’t a generation that hadn’t had to participate in some breeding program or another. Martin 11 od Coddlebury and Eric 23 of Coddlebury grew up together in the same nursery and dreamed of the day they would be old enough to enter the breeding program. Everything changed, for Martin, the day he met Desiree 9 of Peppercoll. Now he is torn between his duty to the program – not to mention the law – and his feeling for a woman he knows he can never have…
Come and meet these authors and over 30 more at Words in the Park, 28th September. Venue: Agora, 401, Festival Lane, Sherwood Park, AB. Time 10.00 am – 4:00 pm
Free admission for books, games, interactive tables, kids Find IT game, prizes, treats, story telling, music, writing prompt workshop, artisan crafts and much more.
This past Saturday I had an enjoyable ‘writerly’ day – coffee with a new author friend discussing publishing, promotion, writing and getting to know each other. Then off to an author reading at Social Grounds cafe organized jointly by the Writers Foundation of Strathcona County and Dream Write Publishing. Although the audience was smaller than I would have liked, they were engaged and appreciative. What more can an author hope for?
I read a section of The Rython Kingdom, which some of you may know is a fantasy romance novella set in medieval England. Go figure I’m English! Anyway the book (e-book if you prefer) is actually two stories in one. The first is the story of my protagonist, Guillem Ruet a famed troubadour and how he finds himself not only relaying a tale to the King but aids in the fight against a malevolent witch aiming to destroy the King and his kingdom. The other ‘story’ is the one Guillem tells the King and his courtiers in the great hall.
Talking about my newest YA book, Clickety Click but also my other books too.
So now I’ve actually watched myself on this TV interview (cringe but I don’t think I was too awful!!!) I can share it – go to 11.04 on the time line. I wanted to thank my gracious hosts for inviting me onto the show. It was a lot of fun.
Of the characters you have created or envisioned, which is your favorite & why?
Probably Odella, she was one of the two main characters in my first NaNoWriMo novel called Give Us the [blank]! I think she’s my favorite because she’s everything I’d like to be but don’t think I can get away with. She’s an unrepentant villain fighting to restore an unjust and evil empire but she’s also sexy, powerful, confident and never hindered by self-doubt. Whenever she wants something, she just goes and gets it. She’s not someone I’d ever want to spend any time with because she can be selfish, petty and cruel but she was fun to write and while I was writing about her, some of her confidence did rub off on me and I really liked the kind of person that she helped me become.
Do you favor one type of genre or do you dabble in more than one?
I favor romance big time. Everything I write has some romantic element to it. As for romance subgenres, I prefer to write fantasy romance. Even in Middle-Earth, Oz or Discworld, people fall in love. I’ve also written some historical romance but it was more of a paranormal romance that happened to take place in the 1920s.
What do you enjoy most about writing?
Oh that’s a tough one. I love learning new facts in the course of researching for my stories, I’ve learned so much about ancient civilizations and I can’t get enough of them now. But I think what I love the most is playing out possible scenes in my head even when I can’t write it down.
Have you got a favorite place to write?
Either Starbucks or this little conference area at work. Neither are very comfortable in terms of seating and sometimes I really wish I could just walk to the fridge whenever I feel like it but those places do wonders for my productivity. At work, I can’t connect to their wi-fi so there’s no internet to distract me from writing. I’ve been able to churn out 2k words in an hour after work.
Do you plan your stories, or are you a seat of the pants style writer?
I do plan but I’m not super detailed in my outlines. I use the three-act structure and break each act into three parts and then I just worry about linking those bits together so there is a big element of pantsing in my writing.
What inspires your stories?
Other stories mostly. It’s actually kinda distracting whenever I watch a movie or a TV show because this little voice in my head will sometimes say ‘I wonder if that minion that just got killed had a family? Did he actually like working for the bad guy or was he just in it for the dental plan? And just where exactly does a bad guy get henchmen anyway? Is there some employment agency out there?’ Music isn’t safe either. I’ve gotten several story ideas from random songs. Historic documentaries are also a great source of inspiration, not always for stories but I’ve pulled a few plot points from history.
What are you currently reading?
The Mage’s Daughter by Lynn Kurkland, I’m about a quarter into it right now.
Do you have any odd habits or childhood stories?
I bite my lip incessantly if I don’t put on chap stick, also incessantly. I’ve been biting my lip for as long as I can remember and there are quite a lot of pictures of me as a little kid where I’m making faces that were without a doubt lip biting related.
Do you have any pets?
Sadly no, my apartment has a no pets policy.
Do you belong to a writing group? If so which one?
I belong to Writer Unboxed and Ladies of Wrimo on facebook, RomVets and I’m pretty active in the NaNoWriMo forums.
What age did you start writing stories/poems?
I really started writing in high school. I was an anime fan-girl and spent most of my time writing awful Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z fan-fiction. By the time I graduated, I had a side table size stack of notebooks filled with writing. After a few years, I graduated to writing Discworld fan-fiction and I started writing original stories about three years ago.
Do you have a book published? If so what is it called & where can readers purchase it?
Um, no. Not yet.
If you could meet one favorite author who would it be and why?
My favorite author is Terry Pratchett because his Discworld books never fail to make me laugh and help me cope with my depression. They give me something to look forward to. All my writing is influenced by his books. He creates amazing and loveable characters and plays tropes like they were a classical violin and I hope that I can be half the author he is one day. And I’ve actually met the great man.
It was at the 2009 North American Discworld Convention and I ran into him a couple of times over that weekend. The first time I saw him was when I was signing in and he was right behind me and needed to ask one of the organizers something. I basically gasped, jumped out of my skin and stared like a deer caught in headlights. He apologized for startling me. Then when I was getting a couple of books signed, I wanted to be cool so I ended up babbling about what an honor it was to meet him and that it was an unparalleled experience and he stared at me for a second when I shut up and then told me that I had a pretty good vocabulary. So I made a fool of myself but I’ll always cherish those brief moments that I spent with such a great author.
If you could live anywhere in the world – where would it be?
I don’t think I could bear to live anywhere but my beloved San Diego, CA. I was born and raised here and whenever I’ve been away for too long, I’ve gotten incredibly homesick. It’s just such a beautiful city, the weather is always gorgeous so long as you live near the coast and there’s always something to do.
What’s your favorite movie of all time?
Of all time? Probably The Little Mermaid, I’ve loved that movie since I was a kid and I still think that it’s an amazing story about the insane lengths a person will go through for love and how though love in itself is a great virtue, it can be exploited for evil purposes.
The best formed idea I have right now is tentatively called ‘Muggle Foster Parents’. It’s about this divorced couple who end up having to take care of a baby girl destined to take down the empire her adopted parents live in. Since all my stories are romance, the divorced couple are going to spend a lot of the book struggling with their rekindled feelings for each other while they’re busy protecting their baby girl from imperial forces who want to prevent the baby from fulfilling her destiny as well as the rebel forces who want to use her to further their cause. I guess you could say that it’s a comedy of remarriage meets Willow.
Who is your best supporter/mentor/encourager?
My best encourager and supporter is my darling husband. He always listens when I ramble about story ideas and plot points or when I whine about not being a good enough writer or committed enough and then he’ll just remind me that I’m just having a bad day. He was also a tremendous help getting me to finish one story that’s been giving me grief for two years because I kept getting 20k words into it and then restarting it. He promised that if I finished it in this year’s NaNoWriMo without restarting it, he’d get me a cheesecake of my choice from the Cheesecake Factory.
Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers 