I’ve been invited to participate in an ongoing Blog Chain called, The Next Big Thing. Here’s how it works: I post on my blog the answers to the questions (below), along with links to 5 other writers. This is a great way for you to meet a few of my writer friends!The interview questions:What is the title of your next book? My next book to be released December 31st, 2012 is entitled, The Nymph's Labyrinth.Where did the idea come from for this book? I am a trained archeologist and I have a love for learning about cultures and history. I think one of the most interesting legends is about Ariadne, the Minotaur and the Labyrinth. I used the legend as the basis for the book. I also added some real historical events to the story line (as in the eruption of the volcano in Thera).What genre does your book fall under? This is a paranormal romance novel.How long did it take to write the first draft? This book took less time than any other full length novel I've written to date. I think I was done with this book in a little under three months. I think my background in archeology made it easy to write as this book didn't take as much research as most of my other books.What actors would you use for a movie rendition of your book? When I wrote the book I used story boards. For the hero, Beau Morris, I used Bear Grylls as my character model.
I would also love to share the pics I used for Ariadne and Kaden (unfortunately I do not know these people's names).
What is a one sentence synopsis of your book? The Nymph's Labyrinth is about a nymph (Ariadne) who is tasked with keeping the secrets of her sisterhood out of the hands of an American archeologist (Beau) and his delinquent son (Kaden) while also protecting them from the curse of her kind that forbids her to love--Can she keep them safe without falling in love?Will it be self published or represented by an agency? This book (and the next two in the series) will be published by Crimson Romance, a division of Adams Media.What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? There are a few archeology based books out there (think Chris Karlsen) and there are a few that are centered around the minotaur (Stephanie Drey); however I think I bring to the table some amazing characters, a well-written story, and an unforgettable plotline that makes this book truly unique.What else about your book might pique the reader's interest? This book was initially intended to be the second book in my Veela Curse series (to take place after Curse of the Wolf). However, Ariadne (the main character of The Nymph's Labyrinth) simply did not want to be a Veela (Those darn characters certainly have a mind of their own!). Thus, the Nymph books were born. I'm currently well on my way to finishing the next nymph book which is tentatively entitled, Montana Mustangs. If you love The Nymph's Labyrinth, you will love Montana Mustangs. I also have the next book after Montana Mustangs under construction. Thanks to: The readers who have taken time to learn more about my next project! I also want to thank one of my dearest friends, Author Casey Dawes, for including me in this blog chain! Check her blog Stories About Love out by clicking here!My Chain of Author Friends:Chris Karlsen: Check out her website Here!Serena Zane: Check out her website Here!Rosanna Leo: Check out her blog Here!Sharon Kleve: Check out her blog Here!Elle Rush: Check out her website Here!Thank you for being part of my 'Chain Gang!'
The Allure of the Short Story by Natalie-Nicole Bates
Since the release of my short story, Antique Charming, I have been consistently asked the same question—Why did I opt to write it as a short story versus a full-length novel?
The answer is actually quite simple. From the start, Antique Charming was always intended to be a short story. It was meant to be six hours in the life of Lizzie Morton. A sensual, delicious little bite to leave the reader asking questions, especially, just who or perhaps better…what exactly is Adam Nichols?I am delighted that the story has sparked debate among its readers, even controversy. This was my intent. As a writer, it’s very easy to stick to a formula where all of the storylines are neatly tied up with pretty little bows by the end of the story. The curtain falls, all questions answered. But why is this an absolute necessity? Of course it brings a sense of closure for the reader. But why shouldn’t the reader be able to speculate her own conclusion to the story?So, just how did Antique Charming come to be, and from my perspective, exactly what is Adam Nichols?I am an avid collector of Victorian and Edwardian-era photographs. To me, there is much beauty in these black and white stills. Last spring, I found a photograph from an online seller that completely captivated me. The size of a postcard, but printed on a much thicker stock was the image of a funeral home (I come from a long line of folks in the funeral care business). Outside, a very handsome man stands proudly with his hands clasped in front of him, most likely one of the owners at the time. Although the photo is slightly faded, you can still clearly make out the reflection in the glass of a black funeral carriage tied with elaborate ribbons. The back of the photo reads in very elegant script, Week of Oct-11-1896.Although the photo was pricy, I splurged and bought it for myself.When I finally held it in my hands, I was in love. It was then that an idea occurred to me. What if a very lovely lady who is just starting out in the funeral business buys this particular funeral home, determined to restore it to its former glory. And what would happen if one night this woman was visited by the very handsome man in the photo who claims to still own the funeral home?To me, the idea seemed like a good one. He wasn’t a ghost or a vampire. The closest I could describe him is as a dybbuk. In Jewish folklore, the wandering soul of a dead person that enters the body of a living person and controls his or her behaviour. But even is dybbuk isn’t quite accurate.At the end of the day, it is you, the reader, who will decide just what Adam Nichols really is. I never expected so many readers to write and ask me for a full length novel. Perhaps at some future time I will speak with my publisher about turning it into a full novel. But for right now, my photographs are beginning to speak to me again and just maybe inspiring a few more paranormal spins. Antique Charming/Natalie-Nicole Bates
The night he came home…forever.Third-generation funeral director Lizzie Morton is about to have her dream realized. She has purchased the long abandoned Nichols Funeral Home and its upstairs flat, determined to restore the funeral home to its once former glory. But a late night visitor, Adam Nichols, claims the funeral home still belongs to his family. Lizzie scoffs at his odd behaviour and outlandish claims, but when a vintage photograph appears, she soon realizes, to her horror, that Adam Nichols did once own the funeral home—more than one hundred years ago—and now she has allowed this entity to pass into her home.Author Bio: Natalie-Nicole Bates is a book reviewer and author. Her passions in life include books and hockey along with Victorian and Edwardian era photography and antique poison bottles. Natalie contributes her uncharacteristic love of hockey to being born in Russia. She currently resides in the UK where she is working on her next book and adding to her collection of 19th century post-mortem photos.Visit Natalie online on Twitter , Facebook, or on her Website!
It's Good to Be Bad by Guest Author Jennifer Chambers
I always preferred Veronica to Betty. Always felt more kinship with Rizzo than with saccharin-sweet, simpering Sandra Lee, and definitely felt a bond to Scarlett O’Hara even though she was bad and most certainly not as proper as the sainted Melanie. I don’t mean to say I didn’t feel for the feminine main characters of those stories. They are all fine.
But they’re boring.To a certain extent, they’re supposed to be. Being good all the time isn’t real. Even Sandra Lee had her moments with the delicious John Travolta. Besides, who could forget those “leather” pants she wore in the final scene of the movie? That was fun.It’s why the anti-hero(ine) was invented. We feel great being a little bit bad, and we want the characters we read to be like that, too. Think about Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum. She is prone to the occasional doughnut, and boy do I like that about her. There are scores of romance heroines that are bad girls with a doughy center. I love to write the characters who have every habit I deny myself or everything deliciously exciting I want to try but am too chicken to, like sky-diving or eating a live cricket. (Ok, I’d never actually eat a live cricket-- but part of me wants to be the avant-garde, world traveler kind of person who would!)It can be a challenge to channel my inner-bad-girl for a YA book. In my soon to be released YA novel The Curious Bookshop, the main character, Anna, is a bookish loner who, as a new kid at school, retreats into books for solace. The bitchy girls aren’t really the “mean girls” of recent pop culture fame, but we start to feel in this, the first book of the Curious Bookshop series, the effect of the mean girl on the heroine Anna, a seventh grader. They don’t get really mean until the next book- but we get a warm up by the way she deals with her stepsisters.Part of the challenge in YA is not making the heroine too boring, as well. “Melanies” aren’t very much fun to read about because they have no fight in them. Nor, of course, do you want anything inappropriate in YA, so sassiness is definitely out. My character Anna instead learns in this book to fight back against the situation she finds herself in. She uses her brain—and she gets the boy at the end too. She learns to use her own strength to solve her problems, and comes into her own; the hero’s journey in small scale. That has been part of the delight in writing a series. Anna is able to become stronger and fight against social pressure the further you get in the books. Maybe not stereotypical “bad girl” behavior, but I felt that at its most subtle bucking the trend can make for a formidable heroine indeed, especially in the hotbed of seventh grade.That is what truly makes the anti-heroine for me: the woman who fights for what she wants. Rizzo, Stephanie, Scarlett- they all went after it with all they had. I hope to make my characters do the same, no matter what genre. Even a YA girl can be a little bit bad.About the Author:
Jennifer Chambers is an award-winning author who writes from a kitchen table in a full house in the Northwest. She has written horror, poetry, adult fiction, women’s fiction, and young adult novels. Chambers writes a weekly newspaper column and writes and edits for Groundwaters Magazine. Her work has been in national newspapers and magazines. She has been seen on television and radio. Recently, her passion is organic cooking, and she is currently researching her latest project combining sustainable agriculture with the food-to-table movement prevalent in the Northwest.Available books and links:
Blurb: In Learning Life Again, Maggie McLeod, adult brain injury survivor mentors newly injured teen Sarah as they journey toward health, success, and fulfillment. Their struggle to regain physical and emotional ability after brain injury delves into universal feelings like anger, loss, and redemption. Learning Life Again explores the way we adapt to challenges and how we can learn to heal.Feel Free to Check it out on Amazon!
When a family meets a mall Santa, they begin to wonder if this mall Santa is the real deal.
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A Zombie horror collection sure to terrify the reader. Suspense and fear run amok as zombies terrorize the living in these tales from the dead side. Four stories from the best in horror fiction.Check it out on Amazon!
New York 2090 and the New Prohibition is in full swing with speakeasy joints offering their brew for the thirsty public. When people in search of the bootleg liquor go missing, it's up to a G-man to find them and the brew they've been drinking. Check it out on Amazon! Coming Soon from Jennifer Chambers:The Curious Bookshop (November, 2012)Imagine yourself an awkward, bookish twelve-year-old girl… and then take that girl and transport her into the body of young Queen Elizabeth the First. The Curious Bookshop combines mystery, historical intrigue and a story about two kids on a quest for the truth.