"I am ready to meet my maker. Whether my maker is prepared to meet me is another matter."
-Winston Churchill

Monday, January 23, 2017

Interview with Screaming Skull Press - Book Tour




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Book Genre: Literary Fiction and Poetry
Publisher: Screamin’ Skull Press
Release Date: Already out -

Amazon links to Tony and Nicole –




Book Description:

Junkyard Lucy is a collection of stories by underground writer Tony Nesca. Stylistically alternating between Nesca's unique free-flow style, full of that incredible, rhythmic prose that only he can do, and street-tough, short declarative sentences, the writing shows incredible range. The themes are varied and widespread - from love, sex, music, death, old age, rebellious youth and everything in-between, Junkyard Lucy is a subversive celebration of being alive, a romantic, sexually charged discourse on life, alive, unfettered and free.


Excerpt One:
And I’m walking through the devil infested streets, and all I see are lights greasy and wanting, and all I see is violence and blood-red intentions, and all I see are the generals feasting on flesh, and there was an old friend of mine standing at a street corner with back against telephone pole just watching the cars go by and the lights from the liquor store red and blue and purple and orange and yellow and it’s metal-to-metal striking that note just right and the midnight crazies looking to fuck someone up, but we stop and talk and we’re not afraid and we’re not unhappy and we’re even bored kinda feeling the end of something,
“I’m just bored with all of this” I say,
He nods and smiles sadly and I wave goodbye and I see all the street-junkies hobbling along with their toothless grins and their one-note thinking, and I see the young girls with sad smiles holding on to nothing at all the predators never far, and I think of losing her suddenly and that tragic afternoon under the sun, sometimes a nice car pulls up to the liquor store and the well-groomed move forward their intentions and true meaning as rotten as everybody else’s and the bank accounts ring like a bell as their fucked-up night-world is about to begin, I think of the 1920’s and Dixieland jazz and Billy Holiday and sipping on cold gin at a Parisian café while Picasso strolls by screaming something wild and crazy, and the young victims died in back alleys then as they do now and as long as people are involved, the shit flows, and I need all your love, baby, all of it day and night…
But I see something else now, I see a movie theater with light bulbs shining on the edge of the billboard full of smiling ideas, and I see a late-night pizza joint with small line-up of guys and gals laughing into the darkness, and I see a middle-aged couple kissing in front of a closed record store and I think of good friends and screaming good times and I’m talking about the light-filled moments everywhere all around –
- and it’s day-time now and I am by a river beams of golden light coming through trees and green all around wooded path leading me into that cool-sunshine shiver and I don’t hesitate, I don’t hesitate to smile and to laugh and to feel alright, and the river ripples in the wind bright-diamond-flickers on its surface, opposite bank showing a few apartment buildings sprouting out from the ever-present green of the ever-present trees, a young woman jogs by thighs jiggling in the hot morning shadow, old man walks slowly leaning on cane smiling lovely and new his youth bubbling just under the surface, and we all wanna get along don’t we, between closed teeth she swears again, between lips parted he smokes and says goodbye, and the college students continue with their misguided learnings, and the proletarians can all kiss my ass, and the rejected rejects triumph once again, and above the skyscrapers the superheroes continue their homo-erotic wrestling, I shake god’s hand and give him a wink, he winks back and smiles and scratches his ass, all my love to you I say, and mine to you he says, then he cranks the electric guitar and starts playing some rock and roll, and all across the universe and beyond and through the back-alley love affairs and the switchblade mornings,
the inside of my mind screams happy thoughts -

________________________________________

Searching for Rebellion: Two Indie Authors Form Edgy Publishing Company
Tony Nesca and Nicole I. Nesca have one question – where have all the fearless artists gone? Unable to find a mainstream publishing outfit that suited their taste for grittier writing, the Nescas formed their own – Screamin’ Skull Press.
For the Beat Generation, controversy was the norm, not the exception.  Creators like Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs and Lucien Carr courted debate and made careers out of pushing the proverbial envelope with their poems, books, music and other creative expressions. Living on the fringes of society was considered to be more exciting and fulfilling than conforming to the mainstream.
Authors and married couple Tony and Nicole Nesca feel connected to that Generation through their own work, and their innate understanding of what it means to be artists whose work cannot be deemed ‘conventional’ by anyone’s standards.
Currently writing, editing and publishing their works through their self-publishing venture, Screamin’ Skull Press, Tony Nesca and Nicole Nesca have both cultivated individual styles but have the same mission.
To be frank, we see too much pushed out into the world today that is bland and formulaic,” says Tony Nesca, whose unique, humorous and lyrical sixth novel, ‘Hobo’ is out now. “Every other book is a rip-off of another rip-off. The bookstores are packed with these endless vampire stories and dystopian fairy tales. Where is our Anais Nin? Our Hunter S. Thompson?”
Screamin’ Skull Press exclusively publishes the works of the Nescas, and along with ‘Hobo’, released Nicole I. Nesca’s collection, ‘Kamikaze White Noise’ this year. Raw, electric and with a free flowing mix of prose and poetry, the companion pieces are explorations of sexual freedom, art, death and love.
We knew that mainstream publishers wouldn’t have the courage to publish the kind of work that we want to create,” says Nicole Nesca. “It’s interesting – sometimes we wonder, could Charles Bukowski find success in today’s market?
It’s as if bravery is a dirty word in literature. Fearlessness, to me, is everything to a writer. Although we have our own styles, I think that’s one thing that Tony and I saw in each other when we met – that drive to find truth and peel back the layers in our own work.”
I think we first fell in love with each other’s writing,” says Tony. “Which was a fitting beginning to our story.”
Tony Nesca and Nicole I. Nesca have published 16 distinct works through their Indie Press, and their journey toward a more rebellious future for literature continues.




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Author Bio: Tony NescaTony Nesca was born in Torino, Italy in 1965 and moved to Canada at the age of three. He was raised in Winnipeg but relocated back to Italy several times until finally settling in Winnipeg in 1980. He taught himself how to play guitar and formed an original rock band playing the local bars for several years. At the age of twenty-seven he traded his guitar for a Commodore 64 and started writing seriously. He has published six chapbooks of stories and poems (which he used to sell straight out of his knapsack at local dives and bookstores), six novels, four books of poetry and stories and has been an active contributor to the underground lit scene for twelve years, being published in innumerable magazines both online and in print.


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Author Bio: Nicole I. NescaNicole Nesca was born in Ohio. She developed a love of music, painting and writing early on and continued that love throughout her adult life. While living in Canada, she completed her first three works of poetry and prose collected in the anthology piece, KAMIKAZE WHITE NOISE., and her latest release of poems, Diamond Scarred Alley. She has been published in several E-Zines and has been a part of two anthologies.




Monday, November 14, 2016

Book Tour & Author Interview With Brandon Zenner - The After War



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Book Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Dystopian. Can fit in Thriller, Literary, and Science Fiction 
Publisher: Brandon Zenner
Release Date: October 20, 2016

Book Description:
Two years have passed since mankind faced extinction. 

Brian Rhodes and his cousin, Steven, are leaving the protection of their underground bunker for the first time, after a cataclysmic war and unrelenting disease ravaged the earth. 
On the other side of the North American continent, young Simon Kalispell is leaving the safety and seclusion of his cabin deep in the woods, traveling with his aging canine companion, Winston. 

For individual reasons, these men are traveling east, where the fragmented lives of a small number of survivors will soon be decided by the choices of a corrupt few. 

Simon Kalispell and Brian Rhodes are not yet aware, but the strength that resides inside them will soon be tested, and destiny will call for their fates to be forever intertwined.



Welcome to Immortality and Beyond. May I offer you a drink?
Vampires Wine
Witches Brew
Zombie Blast

Vampire wine, please

Zar, our Zombie Butler will fetch that for you. Zar…

Thank you Zar

*Drools* while handing drink over…



*Rolling eyes* You may return to your quarters now. Please don’t mind him, sometimes he just gets so excited when we have guest authors. He’s only ever bitten somebody once, *grins*.

Now that we’re settled in, let’s chat. Shall we?

BK:  How did your writing journey begin?

It’s hard to say exactly how it began, but if I had to give one reason, it’s because I love to read. I was a bit late to reading, mostly because I didn’t enjoy the school-issued books when I was young. Then when I was around thirteen or so, I started reading Kurt Vonnegut, and my interest exploded not only to reading but to writing too.  

BK:  Please share with us how your current release came to life...

It began with a simple idea I came up with when I was sixteen, going for a walk in a nearby park with my friends. All I had back then was a skeleton concept, but I knew I had something that I would want to one day make into a novel. It took a long time to iron-out the details, and although I tried to begin writing it when I was in my early twenties, I didn’t truly begin until I was twenty-eight. It took seven more years, and a full re-write, for the book to come to life. Now, I can’t be happier with way the book developed into what it is today.

BK:  Do you let your characters tell the story, or do you often fight with them on the direction it will take?

There is always some fighting, but I like to let my characters tell the story. Often times, I don’t know exactly how things are going to turn out until I see the characters interacting, seemingly on their own.

BK:  How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?

I make no effort to change my writing style to anything other than what comes out naturally. I have no idea if my style is similar to other authors. I never really thought about it, to tell you the truth. I read all variety of genres, not only post-apocalyptic. In my opinion, if you want your writing to stand out, then write naturally, and don’t force it to be something that it’s not. The words will show it, and people will appreciate it.

BK:  Which character was your favorite to write for in this story? Why?

Tough question. So tough, that I can’t narrow it down to just one single character. In the future, I would like to write both full-length novels and short stories on many of my secondary characters, not relating to this novel at all, because I like them so much. Both of my main characters, Brian and Simon, have attributes that make them special and stand out. Brian is a bit stoic, and rough-and-tumble, where Simon is a thinker, and humane. Then there are the bad guys, Karl Metzger comes to mind, who I utterly enjoyed writing. So no, I’m sorry, but I can’t decide …

BK:  Tell us about one scene you had the most fun writing…

There are two that come to mind, although I did truly enjoy writing every last word.

Early on, there is a scene when Brian and Steven come upon a town where they are surprised to witness a large group of survivors, and see for the first time the true depravity that has become of much of humankind. They huddle at a window ledge and peer out at a procession or ruthless savages. It was a strong point in the book, and a pleasure to write.

The second scene that comes to mind is one of the last, simply titled, ‘WAR.’ After reading all four-hundred-plus pages of a book titled, ‘THE AFTER WAR,’ and there it is … war. It is a pivotal chapter, and huge for the character development of one of the main characters. I can’t tell you more without giving things away, you’ll have to read it for yourself.

BK:  If you were stranded on an island, which character in your books would you most want to be stranded with and why, and what is one thing that would be a must-have?

Simon, for sure. He’s a survivalist, and knows how to forage for food and water, and how to construct shelters. All I would need is a knife.

BK:  Now for a little fun, tell us a bit about what your office looks like. Do you need silence to write?

Last year I moved, and now I have a great office. I have a vintage ‘60s L-shaped desk, a bookshelf, a small couch, and a large corkboard full of reminders and plot-points. My last few offices, where I wrote this novel, changed a few times. First, it was a small room and was nothing special. It changed when my wife was pregnant and we needed a nursery. I then went into the basement, which was cold, dark, and not the nicest place to look at. My desk was a slab of wood in a closet, attached to shelves on the either side. But, it had some perks, like being extremely quiet, and forcing me to stare at the screen and type uninterrupted. I finished the second draft of this book down there, and I did it in record time. As far as noise, I like it quiet. I used to listen to classical music when I write, and sometimes still do, but I usually like it quiet.

BK:  What do you like to do when you're not writing?

As I hinted at, I have a young daughter named Sadie. She is my world. I spend all of my time with her. But beside from spending time with Sadie, I like to work out. When I’m working on a new project I run a lot to clear my mind. I also like to travel, although that has slowed down since Sadie’s been born. But now as she’s getting older I would like to hit the road more often.

BK:  What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about you?

I have been bartending at a busy Irish bar for over thirteen years now. In the summer I work full time and in the winters I work part time. It’s great; I get a lot of free time with my daughter, and all of the hours in the day when my mind is the most active and sharp to write.

BK:  What is the craziest thing you’ve ever wanted to write, or have written, even if it never reached public eyes?

It’s not crazy, but my most popular short story is a romance piece. It’s available primarily on one site, and has garnered thousands of views and countless emails and mentions. It’s strange, because I never thought of myself as a romance author.

BK:  What is one piece of advice you can give to aspiring writers/authors?

Believe in your work, and don’t short yourself by thinking you know everything right off the bat. Make an investment in your work by hiring editors, cover designers, and formatters. Listen to what other successful authors have to say, and turn your ambitions into a job, even if it’s not making any money yet. Designate time to write, and punch in and out (metaphorically speaking).

BK:  What can we expect from you in the future?

I have many ideas for novels, one of which I’ll be starting soon. They can all be herded into the thriller genre, but they range from post apocalyptic, to medical thriller, to crime.

BK:  Where can readers connect with you?

You can sign up for my email list at http://www.brandonzenner.com, and receive the short story, HELIX ILLUMINATED for free. Facebook is also a good place, I’m pretty active: https://www.facebook.com/brandon.zenner/ - Also, I’m on twitter https://twitter.com/SlapstickII



Steven said, “What’s that—” but Brian hushed him. A rumbling noise was now unmistakable, growing louder ... and then something else. Steven’s eyes grew wide, staring at Brian. There were muffled voices in the distance—many voices, some laughing, others obscure.
Brian stood and motioned forward. They sprinted to the waist-high fence in front of the house, swung the gate back, and ran to the door. They paused. Brian held the handle and took a deep breath.
They exchanged glances, nodded, and then stormed into the house. Brian led, crouching lower than Steven, who swept his rifle to the left and right. They entered the living room and could see straight back into the small kitchen. Many of the cabinets and drawers had been left open and cleared of anything other than mouse droppings. The counters and side tables held little ceramic knickknacks and family pictures, all placed on top of yellowed doilies. Everything was covered with dust. Some pictures had fallen to the ground with the broken glass scattered about.
An ashtray sat on the coffee table, overflowing with cigarette butts, several of which had been extinguished on the table itself. Beside the ashtray were two half-bottles of brown liquor. Brian and Steven swept the bottom floor and proceeded to the stairway, passing a pile of garbage—empty soup cans, crumpled cigarette packs, broken bottles.
The stair treads groaned with each step as they went upstairs. The hallway at the top led to bedrooms at both ends and a bathroom directly across from the staircase. The bathroom was empty, and they proceeded to the far bedroom. The simple room had a bed in the center, a TV on a dresser, and two nightstands on either side of the bed. The windows were open and the wind billowed the once white curtains. A four-poster bed occupied the bulk of the room, and under a soiled knit blanket lay the form of a person.
Oh, Jesus Christ,” Steven said.
They approached the body. Brian was shaking and sweating, his finger vibrating over the trigger of his rifle. He stepped close and extended his hand to move the blanket away, but Steven reached forward and grabbed his wrist. Brian looked at him; he was shaking his head and was as white as paper. Brian looked back at the body. The form was small and shallow, and the bedding around the body was stained yellow. Bones.
They left the bedroom and ran to the room at the other end of the hallway, which faced the direction of the valley. The room had been in the process of being painted before the owner perished, and all the furniture was draped with canvas cloths. Paint cans and rollers were set on plastic sheets, dry and brittle.
They crouched behind the double window and Brian found his binoculars under his poncho. His fingers trembled on the focusing wheel.
“Dear mother of God ...”
A procession was heading down the main street of town. Two columns of savages marched in near unison. But these men were no soldiers. They were ragged and filthy, and carried with them a wide assortment of weaponry—rifles, machine guns, pistols. Many held sledgehammers, machetes, various swords, and large and small pry-bars, some the size of walking sticks. These improvised weapons were scoured at the ends to reveal the steel of which they were made, gleaming like silver, and were muddied with earth and gore. The men looked as if they had marched out of some dismal pit of hell that had vomited them forth, seeming to defile the earth of which they trod. They wore a vast array of military clothing of no particular origin and had adorned themselves and their weapons with torn pieces of red cloth, like flags, along with garnished trophies of war—what looked like dried, brown human ears and tanned hides. They cast about them a red and brown hue, as if they wore these shades as part of a collective uniform.
Pickup trucks rumbled along with the procession, their flatbeds full and covered with sheets. Long ropes trailed from the bumpers, extending to latch around the necks of several pink, naked human beings, both male and female, all with their hands and wrists bound. A body dragged along the ground, bumping over the pavement, lifeless and ground raw. The naked humans who were still alive were prodded forward by whips and crudely made spears with strips of red material tied under the points, so that they blew in the wind like macabre flags of the damned.
Brian removed his hunting rifle from his backpack, unsnapped the covers on the scope, and leaned it on the windowsill.





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Author Bio:
Brandon Zenner is an American fiction writer and an Amazon best selling author. His short fiction has been published in both print and online publications, the first being submitted when he was 19 years old. THE EXPERIMENT OF DREAMS, his debut eBook thriller, has reached Amazon's best seller list many times. His second novel, WHISKEY DEVILS, was released in early 2016. THE AFTER WAR, a dystopian thriller, was released in fall 2016. His genres of choice are thrillers, crime, dystopian, and science fiction.

Author Links -
Website http://www.BrandonZenner.com
Blog https://brandonzennerblog.wordpress.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/brandon.zenner/
Twitter https://twitter.com/SlapstickII
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-zenner-28781598?trk=hp-identity-name
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7908718.Brandon_Zenner
​Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Brandon-Zenner/e/B00IQVO1UK






Friday, April 29, 2016

Cover Reveal: Curious Little Werewolf by Katie Salidas


Curious Little Werewolf
(Little Werewolf Book #2)
Available on Kindle
May 24th 2015
PreOrder your copy today!


Things would be perfect if supernatural disasters would quit creeping up and ruining Giselle’s happy new life. After finally finding the fur-ever home she’s always wanted a witch blows into town promising to reveal the bloody past of Giselle’s birth, and the circumstances that led the little werewolf to end up in the foster care system to begin with.
Hot on the witch’s trail, another pack of wolves is on the hunt for revenge, and will accept nothing less than her death in retribution for the havoc she’s wrought on them.
Caught in the crossfire, Giselle desires only the truth, and if the witch is who she claims to be, the little werewolf must protect her at any cost. If she’s lying, though, Giselle risks her own kind seeing her as a traitor. Neither her new pack nor her hottie witch boyfriend Damien can offer any help. 
Giselle is on her own again. And if she makes the wrong decision, she’ll lose the only link she has to her own past.

*****

SAMPLE

They eyed each other silently, neither one offering up a word to start the conversation. 
In the quiet between them, Giselle studied the scent. Definitely a perfume: natural oils of patchouli had been mixed with clary sage and just a hint of citronella. It worked well to mask the other synthetic smells of deodorant and floral soap that still clung to her body, but not well enough to trick Giselle’s nose. This woman was no wolf. She was definitely a witch, though. The pendant she wore was enough to give that away, and the Bohemian style clothing with flowing skirts and odd colorful patterns screamed “earth mother.”
The woman closed the distance between them after the silence had long since gone stale. “You do recognize me, don’t you?” There was an oddly hopeful edge in the woman’s voice that caught Giselle off guard. 
Should she recognize her? Sure, they both were redheads. But how many other ginger women in the world were there? That meant nothing. And if she was being truly honest with herself, all the faces of all the foster families that had taken her in and subsequently sent her back into the system had long since blurred together into one wretched image in her mind. If this woman had been a part of the foster system, she was barking up the wrong tree if she thought Giselle would welcome her back into her life with open arms.
“Sorry. No.” Giselle crossed her arms in front of her and stood firmly in place.
“Oh, but how could you?” A tear trickled from the corner of the woman’s eye. “I just thought… You were such a tiny thing the last time I held you in my arms.”
Giselle scoffed silently, remembering all the broken promises and false hope that came with each new family that took her in. “Lots of people held me in their arms… and dropped me just as quickly.”
Her words seemed to cut straight to the woman’s heart. More waterworks had her wiping her cheeks with the billowy sleeve of her shirt. “I know. I wish I could have given you a different life. You were meant for so much better things. But…I… sorry.” She sniffled, taking a few stuttered breaths, and then cleared her throat. “Giselle, I am so very sorry.”
“I never told you my name.” The woman’s tears had tugged at Giselle’s heart, but at the mention of her name, she was back on point. How much did this woman know of who she was? And why?
“I didn’t mean to come off so forward. I have just been searching for you for so long.” The woman reached a hand out as if to welcome her in for a hug, but Giselle took one step backwards, out of her reach.
Giselle opened her mouth to speak, but the words refused to come. The woman had all but admitted to being her mother. She had certainly made a show of emotions. But sad as they were, her sobs failed to stir the same feelings within Giselle. Numbness and confusion had Giselle’s feelings locked tighter than a bank vault. If she was her mother… But that wasn’t possible. She was no wolf. 

Release day will be here before you know it. Snag the PreOrder now and be first in line to see if the witch is telling Giselle the truth or not. 

*****

Need to catch up on the Little Werewolf before book two comes out? 


Find out more about these books and more.




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Monday, February 1, 2016

Giveaway & Interview With Author, Chris Karlsen



Chris Karlsen is a Chicago native. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was in her late teens where she later studied at UCLA. She graduated with a Business Degree. The daughter of a history professor and a mother who was a voracious reader, she grew up with a love of history and books.  

Her parents were also passionate about traveling and passed their passion onto Chris. Once bitten with the travel bug, Chris spent most of her adult life visiting the places she'd read about and that fascinated her. Her travels have taken her Europe, the Near East, and North Africa, in addition to most of the United States. She most frequently visited England and France, where several of her books are set.   

After college, Chris spent the next twenty-five years in law enforcement with two agencies. Harboring a strong desire to write since her teens, upon retiring from police work, Chris decided to pursue her writing career. She writes three different series. Her historical romance series is called, Knights in Time. Her romantic thriller series is Dangerous Waters, and the latest book, Silk, is book one in her mystery/suspense series, The Bloodstone series.  

She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and five wild and crazy rescue dogs.


Welcome to Immortality and Beyond. May I offer you a drink?
Zar, our Zombie Butler will fetch that for you. Zar…
I’ll take a Vampire Wine, red preferably on the dry side.

Thank you Zar
*Drools* while handing drink over…
*Rolling eyes* You may return to your quarters now. Please don’t mind him, sometimes he just gets so excited when we have guest authors. He’s only ever bitten somebody once, *grins*.
Now that we’re settled in, let’s chat. Shall we?
I’m ready.
BK: How did your writing journey begin?
After I retired from law enforcement, my husband suggested I write the book
I always told him I wanted to write. So, I sat down and began the book. At the same time, I also started looking for conferences and workshops and places to take classes to learn the craft.
BK: Please share with us how your current release came to life...
When I was writing the previous book in the series, the antagonist in that book was a knight I grew to really like. He wasn’t a villain. He was the enemy knight of the hero but a man who was fighting for his king and country. I thought he deserved a book of his own. As I introduced him in the end of that book to the sister of the heroine in the previous story, I now had a good lady love established for him.
As for the second hero, there was also a younger sister in the previous book. I put her in this story and for a hero I brought back a knight from Journey inTime. I had a very gruff, serious knight in that book and thought he’d be a perfect one to show a different side, give a romantic side. BK: Do you let your characters tell the story, or do you often fight with them on the direction it will take?
I don’t fight with them. If a surprise moment or action or reaction occurs to one of them, I let it happen. I have the philosophy that it popped into my head and happened to that character, it was for a reason. I let it stay unless there’s some compelling reason to change it down the road. I can’t think of when I’ve gone back and altered an event like that though.
BK: How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?
I think for most authors it’s the characters and how we have them handle the obstacles we put in their way. Some authors write plot driven stories. I prefer to write character driven stories and try very hard to really nuance their personalities. I have them do things that should surprise the reader, both good and bad things. They aren’t perfect. I want them to do things that have the readers shaking their heads or thinking-“oh no!.”
I also work very hard on setting. I write either medieval or Victorian settings, depending on the series. I try to paint a strong visual of the period for the reader, the sights, the smells, the politics, the people, the food, the clothes. I try to immerse the reader in the time period the character is walking through.
I also give my heroes and heroines a big cast of support characters that I believe make my stories different.
BK: Which character was your favorite to write for in this story? Why?
Hard to say. If I must choose one, I’d say Electra. I liked letting her explore her skills as a chef using what she had available to her at the time. I enjoyed having her deal with the male attitude toward women, including the Prince’s and how he wanted to play matchmaker with her. I enjoyed showing how an ordinary woman thrown into an extraordinary circumstance could use her wits and skills to overcome a difficult situation. I liked making her shine without making her a superwoman, or a Lara Croft kick-ass over the top heroine.
BK: Tell us about one scene you had the most fun writing…
I liked the scene where Simon teaches Emily how to fish. Simon was so gruff and somber in Journey in Time. This was a scene where he was sweet and not quite but almost romantic. He’s not really a romantic man and not adept at it but in his own way he was close to it. This was one of the first glimpses of another side of him.
BK: If you were stranded on an island, which character in your books would you most want to be stranded with and why, and what is one thing that would be a must-have?
I hate having to pick one character because I love them all for a variety of reasons. I think I’d pick either Alex Lancaster from Knights in Time series or Rudyard Bloodstone. Both are smart and resourceful and have a great sense of humor and you need humor stuck on an island. I’d want my iPod for music.
BK: Now for a little fun, tell us a bit about what your office looks like. Do you need silence to write?
Not at all. I’d never get it if I did!! We have four crazy, hooligan rescue dogs. They go in and out all day long. My husband is a baseball agent and on the phone all day talking in the background. In the afternoon, he listens to CNN or in the season, baseball games. I often listen to my playlists. I can tune out anything or listen when I want. No problem.
BK: What do you like to do when you're not writing?
I read. At night, I watch television as I don’t write at night. I like to go to lunch with friends.
BK: What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about you?
Considering I write a romance series, I struggle horribly with love scenes. I hate to write them. They take me forever to do. I have a dear writer friend who can just crank them out. I can do sword fights and battle scenes, easy. Love scenes—OMG. What work for me. I want them to be sensual and kind of hot but I’m not terribly emotional in real life so showing that sort of emotion doesn’t come easy for me.
BK: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever wanted to write, or have written, even if it never reached public eyes?
A modern day cop story. I used to have a NY agent and she insisted since I was a police detective for 25 years that I write a cop story. I told her I didn’t want to write cop stories but she insisted. I hated it. Ultimately, she left the agency. The agency dumped all their unpublished authors (like me) and I was stuck with a story I never wanted to write. I tried to market it but it never went anywhere. I finally shredded it two months ago.
BK: What is one piece of advice you can give to aspiring writers/authors?
Develop a thick skin. When you receive constructive criticism, whether from an instructor or critique group (notice I said constructive), listen with an open mind. Keep in mind your first draft and likely your second and third aren’t perfect. Also, once you’re published you are probably going to have some bad reviews. That comes with the territory. Not everyone is going to love your “baby.” Accept that and move on from the bad reviews. When you’re pitching agents and editors, you’ll get many, many rejects. Again, accept that and keep heart.
BK: What can we expect from you in the future?
I’m currently working on the sequel to Silk, my Victorian suspense the Bloodstone series. After that, I may do a fifth book in the Knights in Time series. We’ll see.
BK: Where can readers connect with you?
I can be emailed at: chriskarlsenwriter@gmail.com
BK: Using your name as an acronym, please describe your book...
CK=Charming Knights 
 
 
 
http://amzn.com/B019JKXR5G

Back cover blurb for In Time For You 

While horseback riding in the English countryside, sisters, Electra and Emily Crippen find themselves trapped in a tear in time. Thrown back to 1357 England and caught by a local noble, they are in a place that is home but as frightening and unfamiliar as an alien world would be. With no idea how the tear in time came about, the one thing they do know is: they must stay together and stay near to where the event took place in hopes of discovering the way back to their modern life. That certain need to stay together is the first certainty taken from them when one sister is forced to remain in England and one is sent miles away to Wales by royal order.   

There is one other hope for help the sisters don’t know exists. It’s Electra’s lover, Roger Marchand. A time traveler himself, he never told her of his past. When he realizes what has happened to the sisters, he enlists the help of a scientist friend to help him open the suspected passageway through time. Any effort to save Electra and Emily will likely cost him his life. This was the time Roger came from, a time when his country, France, was at war with England. If he is discovered on English soil while searching for the sisters, he will either be killed or taken prisoner of war. Any risk is worth saving the life of the woman he loves.  
  
Excerpt: 

While she ate, the button on Electra's sleeve fell out of the frog loop. She didn't hook the button again, reaching for her wine instead. The sleeve pulled back from her wrist to expose her watch, which she hadn't thought to remove.  

"What is that?" Simon asked and pointed to her Seiko. 

"A watch." What a bizarre question. There wasn't a corner of the planet that people didn't recognize a wristwatch.  

A frown slowly formed and he stretched across Emily and took hold of Electra's hand to tug it toward him for a better look. He turned her hand over and in a matter of seconds had the clasp undone.  
 He brought the candle in front of his trencher closer and held the watch under it. "What do the numbers mean?" 

"It's a clock, a miniature timepiece you wear on your wrist." 

From his expression, the explanation puzzled him. "Do they not have candle clocks in this Greenland you claim you're from?" 

How to explain the abundance of various clocks to a man who apparently has no context for the anything beyond a candle clock or similar ancient means of telling time? 

"Are you saying you've never seen a clock?" Emily asked. 

"One like this? No, I have not." 

Emily bent her head nearer Electra and whispered, "Are you thinking what I am?" 

"Sadly, yes." 

Simon ran his finger over the watch face. "These small digits, what is their meaning?"  

"It's the date and year: 5.14.15."  

He shook his head. "What year is 15?" 

"2015, of course." 

"You are mad. It's the year of our Lord, 1357." 

"What year were you born?" 

"1327, why?" 

Electra didn't care for the speed which Simon answered. She held onto the small hope this was some odd reality show and that he'd stumble or hesitate before coming up with a year. "No reason, I was just curious." She turned to Richard who'd been chatting with the serving girl. She tapped his arm. Getting his attention she asked, "Richard, what year is this?"  

He tipped his head like a dog hearing a strange noise. She assumed he too thought her mad for asking. "1357. Do you measure your years differently in your native country?" 
 "Yes, it's a different time there." A different world. She looked over at Emily, who'd been listening. The color had drained from her face.  
 For both their sakes, Electra fought to keep from falling apart in front of the whole room. She failed and began to tremble uncontrollably. She balled her hands into fists and turned from Simon to Richard. "I need to go outside. I feel sick." 

"I'd like to go too," Emily told Simon. 

"I'll go as well." He smiled. "Just to make certain nothing untoward befalls you." 


There’s atwo randomly chosen commenters, and 2 e-copies of In Time For You to


two randomly chosen commenters.
  
Watch for my upcoming review on Valentine's Day! Thank you so much for stopping in

Chris. It was a pleasure talking to you.


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