Friday Notes

The last week of 2011 has been a blur of work (both day job and clearing my desk of personal projects) and fighting off a bad cold. I still owe Robert Lee Brewer an essay for his blog (working on it now...swear!) and I just sent Lori Hettler a little write-up on my three favorite books of the year (two novels and one book of poetry) for The Next Best Book Blog. I'll post a link to both when they go live.

Friend and fellow poet Megan Volpert is seeking poetry submissions for the anthology This assignment is so gay: LGBTIQ Poets on the Art of Teaching, which will be published by Sibling Rivalry Press in 2013. Submission period is open January 1 through June 1, 2012. For  guidelines visit, www.thisassignmentissogay.com.

Dec. 31 (tomorrow) is the last day to download a free copy of my debut novel, Conquering Venus, from the Indie Book Review. What's better than free?  If you enjoy Venus, I hope you will buy Remain In Light in either eBook format or the upcoming paperback release.

While I was recovering from my cold and enjoying my "vacation," I managed to watch the first series of Downton Abbey streaming on my Kindle Fire (which I still love). Dame Maggie Smith is truly a treasure. The second series begins on PBS Jan. 8.

The #poetparty on Twitter returns New Year's Day at 9 p.m. ET. We'll be discussing new year's resolutions and more. Just follow the hashtag and join us!

I still can't tell you my big news. Soon, though. 

And the winner is...

Thanks to everyone who entered the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop by leaving a comment at the original post. I used the the True Random Number Generator (pictured) and the winning number is 13, which means Judy from Holden, LA is the winner of the book prize package! The package includes a copy of my mystery novel Conquering Venus, the ebook of my mystery Remain In Light, a copy of my chapbook Slow To Burn and Megan Volpert's fab new collection, Sonics in Warholia. Watch for an email, Judy! Hope everyone had a great Christmas. 

Happy Christmas!

The boys of the NYPD Choir were singing Galway Bay and the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day. –  Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and the late, great Kirsty MacColl.

Giveaways, freebies and other updates

Today is the last day to enter the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop giveaway on my blog and at the 70+ authors who are also offering prizes. Visit this link to see more about the giveaway. I'll be announcing a winner on the blog tomorrow – Christmas Day!

If a shiny new Kindle, Nook or other eReader is under the tree this year or if you're just looking for something new to read, check out the fabulous free eBooks available for a limited time at the Indie Book Review blog. My mystery/suspense novel Conquering Venus is one of them, so this is a perfect time to get caught up with The Venus Trilogy before Remain In Light comes out in paperback next month. Visit this link to see all the eBooks available. Better hurry, because this won't last long. Thanks to Lisa Graves for putting this together!

Speaking of Remain In Light, mark your calendars for the big launch reading on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 7:15 p.m. being hosted by Georgia Center for the Book at the Decatur Library Auditorium. The paperback will be available for purchase. 

My Dad came home from the hospital Thursday and is feeling much, much better after some minor complications after his gallbladder surgery. We're glad he's home for the holidays.

A big announcement coming very soon, so watch the blog!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas Eve. Here's another of my favorite Christmas songs, courtesy of Sting.

The weekend that wasn't

My grand plan to get back to work on the short story collection fell by the wayside when my father was rushed to the hospital Friday evening with pain in his abdomen and chest. In a matter of hours, they had removed his gallbladder. Then, on Saturday, they had to do a second procedure to remove a gallstone lodged in his bile duct. On Sunday, he was discharged from the hospital, came home, felt dizzy and collapsed. I think they pushed him out the door too quickly, but that's how they do it at hospitals these days. Dad was happy to get home because he hadn't slept in two nights because of pain and the patient he was sharing the room with moaned and defecated himself all night long. Lovely.

I missed the benefit for fellow poet Bryan Pattillo last night at Java Monkey. Bryan, who has been on the Java Monkey Slam Team for seven years and performed around the world, was hit by a car while riding his bike last month and is unable to work and does not have health insurance. Nearly $2,000 was raised last night, so I'm glad it went well and so many turned out to support Bryan.

If you haven't left a comment on the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop post to win a prize package of books, you have until Dec. 24.

Sleigh Bells & Ink Wells Blog Hop

I'm in fine company with a dozen fellow authors for the Sleigh Bells & Ink Wells Blog Hop. At the end of this post, you will see a link to the other authors participating in the hop and I hope you will visit and discover a world of new writers and books.

For this hop, I wanted to share some of my inspiration for my brand new mystery/suspense novel, Remain In Light (which is out now in eBook format and will be available in paperback mid-January). Remain In Light is the second book in The Venus Trilogy, preceded by Conquering Venus. I'm working on the outline for the third novel now. My goal with this trilogy was to write each book so that it could stand alone, yet connect a larger story and characters together.

The story that links the trilogy is this: In 1968, Irène Laureux's husband was murdered during the Paris riots and his body dumped near Notre-Dame cathedral. Thirty years later, she finally catches up with his killer. With the help of American writer Martin Paige, Irène will illuminate decades of secrets and lies only to discover that her husband's death is part of something far more sinister.

As a writer, I'm influenced by books, films and music that I love. The spirit of Lewis Carroll, Marcel Proust, Henry James, Virginia Woolf, Carl Jung and good old Agatha Christie are alive and well in my novels. There's gumshoe detectives, a hint of the paranormal, Jung's theory of synchronicity and wayward Americans who discover that  Paris has a dangerous underworld that most tourists never see.

If you're a music fan, you'll probably notice that chapters in both Remain In Light and Conquering Venus are named after some of my favorite songs. The music of Miles Davis, Kate Bush, Vanessa Daou, Massive Attack, Samuel Barber and Bjork was constantly playing while I was writing.

The trilogy has a purposeful cinematic quality because I've been greatly influenced by directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Wim Wenders, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Sally Potter, Louis Malle, Jane Campion, Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. If you love those old black and white New Wave films, mixed with an edge of danger and menace, chances are you'll get into The Venus Trilogy.

The next stop on this hop is at Sharon Heath's blog, which you can access by clicking this link. For further proof of synchronicity, Sharon happens to be a Jungian analyst. I wonder what she'd make of Irène and Martin?

The other bloggers taking part in the hop: Smoky Zeidel, Patricia Damery, Debra Brenegan, Malcolm R. Campbell, T.K. Thorne, Anne K. Albert, Elizabeth Clark-Stern, Melinda Clayton, Ramey Channell and Leah Shelleda.

12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop

The 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop is now underway! Hosted by Intoxicated by Books, more than 70 authors are taking part and giving away books (and book-related items).

All you have to do to win is leave a comment on this blog post from now until Dec. 24. I'll pick a winner on Christmas Day. What will you win? The paperback of my mystery novel Conquering Venus and the code to download a free eBook of my mystery Remain In Light. You can read the synopsis, read sample chapters and watch the book trailers at this link. You'll also receive a copy of my poetry chapbook Slow To Burn and a copy of Megan Volpert's acclaimed new poetry collection Sonics in Warholia from Sibling Rivalry Press. That's one hell of a prize package!

Make sure to visit all the other blogs taking part in the Blog Hop - conveniently listed below. They are all giving away prizes!

Blog Hops & Other Updates

You might have noticed the graphic in the right sidebar about the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop, which begins on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Hosted by the lovely Christina at Intoxicated by Books, 75 bloggers will take part and give away books (and book-related items) on Dec. 24. All you have to do to win is leave a comment on the blog post (which will go up at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 13) and I'll pick a winner on Christmas Eve. What will you win? The paperback of Conquering Venus, a code to download a free eBook of Remain In Light and my poetry chapbook Slow To Burn. I might even thrown in some spiffy bookmarks. I'll also be linking to all the other bloggers giving away books, so this has the potential to be a big holiday bonanza for book lovers. You can see all the participating authors at this link.

On Friday, Dec. 16, I'll participate in the literary Sleigh Bells and Ink Wells Blog Hop being organized by fellow Vanilla Heart author Smoky Zeidel and author Patricia Damery. This will be a "moveable feast" event with 15 authors taking part. Each author will write about their books, inspiration, etc. and then link to the next author. My blog post will be 12 things (for the 12 days of Christmas, naturally) that have inspired The Venus Trilogy. You might be surprised by some of them. And I might even give away another eBook. You'll just have to check in Friday and find out.

I had hoped my eBook of short story collection would be ready for the holidays, but now I'm looking at first quarter of 2012. Two of the stories are done and dusted, I completely rewrote the third and the fourth still needs tweaking. And it still needs to go to my editor. I'm pleased with how these stories are turning out and I can't wait for you to read them.

On Friday, The Guardian newspaper in the UK used part of my review about Kate Bush's classic Hounds of Love album as part of an overview of her career, as well as giving readers a chance to vote in a poll. You can read the article here.

"Remain In Light" updates

Remain In Light received a glowing review from David-Matthew Barnes at Lambda Literary. You can read it at this link.

Georgia Magazine featured Remain In Light in its big literary round-up in the December issue (print and online). You can read the magazine online at this link.

Amazon still has the eBook for $2.99. Bargain! 

Finished the edit for the print layout for the trade paperback and Vanilla Heart says we're still on track for a mid-January release. The launch will be Jan. 31, 7:15 p.m. at Georgia Center for the Book.

Five Questions for... Lisa Graves

 Tell us about your novel, Atlantis.

Atlantis is a young adult paranormal romance that focuses on the idea of soul mates, the power of the human mind and the possibilities that might occur if we were able to unlock that power. Within Lilly's world strange and beautiful things begin to occur as she is introduced to opening her mind.  Memories of past lives, time travel, and other realms are revealed to her upon meeting her new neighbor, Elliott. The weird thing is, Elliott already knows Lilly. And he has known her for a very long time. The question remains, will Lilly be able to tap into the latent power within herself to be with her soul mate, Elliott, or will her handsome best friend, Nicholas, finally win her heart?

What drew you to writing a blend of paranormal and romance?

I'm a girl, and I love a good romance.  Also, I have always been a fan of the paranormal and unknown things in the world (ghosts, time travel, and the mystery surrounding our very existence) so it was only natural for me to blend the two together. I feel Atlantis is different from all of the other paranormal novels that are out today in that it brings a new paranormal element to the table. It doesn't have any of the typical vampires, werewolves, witches or zombies that abound in most novels in the paranormal genre. Instead, Atlantis deals with time travel, soul mates and mind power. What if real soul mates existed? What if yours kept searching for you, one lifetime after another, trying to find a way for you to be together forever? Now that would be a true happily ever after for me.

Tell me a bit about yourself and how long you've been writing?

I have been writing since middle school, back then it was short stories that were silly and fun. It was a 9th grade creative writing class that first planted the idea in my head to maybe write a book one day. I would get idea from time to time (usually while driving) on interesting thoughts that could make a cool book, but it wasn't until 2008 that I finally decided to dedicate myself to one of my ideas and Atlantis was born. It took me two years to complete Atlantis. Writing is a learning process that gets easier as you go along. The sequel, Stonehenge only took me one year to write and I am still amazed at how perfectly the ideas from Atlantis flowed and evolved in the second novel. From day one, I have planned Atlantis out as a trilogy. There is just so much wonder and possibility abounding in Lilly's world that I knew from the start that one book wouldn't be able to cover it all.

Atlantis was released as an eBook and print. How have you adapted to the new world and popularity of eBooks?

The eBook revolution is a constantly changing world, as is the publishing industry at the moment, and I feel that eBooks are a huge part of our literary future. I think now is a great time to be a reader.  There are so many books to choose from and you no longer have others deciding for you what makes a worthy book. You, the reader, are in control. You get to decide what you like, and it is the readers that are making the best selling authors of tomorrow. I am grateful for readers and their ability to share their indie gems with friends. Thanks.

What books and authors have inspired your writing?

I will not lie, Twilight. I am a Twilight addict. I love those books. I have loved vampire books for years (not just Twilight, but Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles). I have tried to write Atlantis and Stonehenge, with Stephenie Meyer's style in mind. I hope that my readers can get lost in the pages of Atlantis and enjoy the journey with Lilly and her friends. The other writer that is a huge inspiration is Alexandre Dumas, who wrote The Count of Monte Cristo (probably my favorite book) as well as The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask. Dumas wrote his stories "on a nail in time" meaning he staged the fantasy of his fiction in real world places and events. For example, there really is a dug out tunnel in the Chateau d'If Prison in France (from The Count of Monte Cristo) just as there really is an underground city in Naples (from Atlantis). Perhaps with a little luck, and some help from fans, one day Atlantis will be as well known as Twilight and The Count of Monte Cristo.

For more about Lisa Graves and her books, visit www.lisagravesbooks.com.

Friday bits

Wednesday night/Thursday morning was a storytelling/poetry endurance test. I filled in for Tania Rochelle at the Chatterbox reading on Wednesday night at The Green Room Actor's Lounge (a combination theater/film bookstore, coffee shop and performance space) and told a story about one of my London adventures. Great audience, great space. Then, just a few hours later, I met up with Cleo Creech, his partner, Rob, and Lisa Allender for a reading and videotaping at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) to coincide with World AIDS Day. MODA hosted 24 hours of events to mark Dec. 1 and we filmed from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. The gallery space was filled with empty chairs with the names of poets and writers lost to AIDS. I read some of my own work and pieces by Paul Monette and Essex Hemphill. If you're in Atlanta, stop by MODA this month to see the Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Posters exhibition as well as panels from The AIDS Memorial Quilt. It's all very moving. I'll post videos soon.

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I have four poems in the latest issue of online literary magazine, Eye Socket Journal. 

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I signed the contract for my next poetry collection, Render, which will be published by Sibling Rivalry Press in April 2013. I'm thrilled to be working with Bryan Borland and to be with such a fantastic poetry family at SRP!

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I may have to set aside the London memoir and start on the third book in The Venus Trilogy. My plan was to take a break after Remain In Light and write something else, but Martin and Irène keep whispering ideas and dialogue to me in my dreams.

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Rita Dove reads critic Helen Vendler the riot act in The New York Review of Books.

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Lana Del Rey's new song "Born to Die" on constant repeat.