I’m taking a break this month, but want to welcome
as a new admin for #IWSG!
She’s a great addition to this group.
Young Adult and Middle Grade Author
I’m taking a break this month, but want to welcome
as a new admin for #IWSG!
She’s a great addition to this group.
Another book in the Cassa series is here, and Alex Cavanaugh is visiting today to tell you a bit about himself as well introduce his newest book.
Welcome, Alex, and congratulations on this newest addition to your series.
Lee: When were you hooked on writing?
Alex: I wrote some as a teen, but it wasn’t enough to hook me then. It took years later when in my early forties that I picked it back up and started enjoying it. The total hook was finding an old copy of CassaStar in a drawer. I knew I could rewrite it better and was off like a shot!
Lee: Has your writing changed since you began writing?
Alex: Certainly it’s improved. I’ve become more aware of writing active rather than passive and learned how to add description without padding. I’m a bare-bones writer, so adding details was always a challenge for me. I haven’t ventured from my genre much outside of non-fiction pieces and one contemporary short story for a magazine. Maybe I’ll finally attempt a fantasy.
Lee: What intrigues you about writing?
Alex: The ability to take the visions and scenes in my head and put them down on paper for others to see. It’s the sharing of ideas.
Lee: Why did you choose to write a Sci Fi series?
Alex: Science fiction was an easy decision, but I never intended the first book to become a series. But when readers enjoyed it and wanted more, it prodded me to outline and write another book. And then a third. I really thought that was it, especially after creating another science fiction universe in a separate book. But after being strapped for ideas for so long, this fourth book hit me. This time I follow a different character, so while it’s part of the Cassa universe, it stands on its own.
Lee: What has been the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome in your writing career?
I’m a homebody and an introvert, so putting myself out there was a challenge. First just starting my blog and getting on social media, then promoting my books. It wasn’t easy. But after several books, making many friends, and starting the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, I’ve gotten much better at marketing and reaching out to others for help. I think the secret is to be supportive of others first. When it’s genuine, you’ll find a ton of support.
Thanks, Lee!
It has been great to have you visit here today.
Alex J. Cavanaugh works in web design and graphics, and he plays guitar in a Christian band. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is known as Ninja Captain Alex and he’s the founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.
http://alexjcavanaugh.com
https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com
https://twitter.com/AlexJCavanaugh
CassaDark
By Alex J. Cavanaugh
“Cavanaugh returns to the world of his Cassa Series…for a fourth inventive space opera.” – Publisher’s Weekly
His world is unraveling…
Bassan’s father is stepping down from command. His best friend almost dies when Bassan freezes. Now, he’s being sent across the galaxy to speak at an important conference. Despite saving the eleven races years ago, he’s paralyzed by doubt. Could things get any worse?
Once there, new acquaintance Zendar convinces Bassan to visit his planet for a humanitarian mission. Bassan’s special connection to ancient technology is the key to saving Zendar’s people. One problem though—it’s a prisoner planet.
On Ugar, he discovers things aren’t so straightforward. As each truth reveals itself, the situation grows more desperate. If he can’t find the right answers, he might die along with Zendar’s people. Can Bassan summon the courage to be a hero again?
Print – 9781939844842 EBook – 9781939844859
EBook – 9781939844859
Science Fiction – Adventure/Space Opera/Space Exploration
Links:
iTunes . Amazon . Barnes & Noble . Kobo . Scribed . Goodreads
Last week my post was A Big March Mess, and thank heavens that’s over with. My blog is back up and functioning as it should, the problems I had with my house and my car are resolved, and we had a bit of rain in an otherwise super dry state. For a while, all is well in my world. Now if only it were also the same on the rest of this planet. Regardless of the many woes today and of these past few years, writers continue to write, readers continue to read, so something is going as it should.
I’ll only put up one more post this month on April 21 for Alex Cavanaugh and his new book release, so come by then and read his interview. I’m taking off until the second week of May for a road trip and some hiking. It’s time for something different, and I’m sure everyone reading this understands that feeling. What a long two years of “stay at home” this has been.
I’ll be making a guest appearance on the AtoZ with J. Lennie Dorner on April 22–the letter S–just as I scoot out the door. Hope you’ll stop in and say hi to him and to me!
As Alex always says, “Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!”
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and the hashtag is #IWSG.
Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG posts. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.
Remember, the question is optional!
April 6 question – Have any of your books been made into audiobooks? If so, what is the main challenge in producing an audiobook?
The awesome co-hosts for the April 6 posting of the IWSG are Joylene Nowell Butler,Jemima Pett,Patricia Josephine,Louise – Fundy Blue,and Kim Lajevardi!
I haven’t produced an audiobook yet, but it’s in the future, and so far the biggest issue I have is choosing the company, and then–I’m guessing–the voice actor. Others who have already done this will have some things to share, so I’ll be interested in reading what they have to say.
And now…
Amazon.com . Amazon.ca . Google Play . Barnes and Noble . Chapters
I read and reviewed this book, so I can recommend it to those who like intrigue with interesting twists and romance. Here’s my review:
Kiss of the Assassin is a story about an intelligent and beautiful girl named Marina who becomes a highly trained assassin for a high-ranking Russian official. While she kills with skill, it sickens her, and she longs to be free from her “guardian’s” control.
On one mission, she’s charged with killing Marine Sargeant Mateo Arcusa. When she saves him instead, their lives are forever intertwined. And they are destined to love each other in spite of all the obstacles life throws at them.
However, it will take years of Russian machinations, assassinations, and finally Marina’s defection for Marina and Mateo to come together, and that’s the thrill of the story. Just when you think there’s hope for her safety and their union, something or someone intercedes.
Throughout the story, you want that happy ending, but just when it seems possible, it slips through the characters’ fingers. In the end, you understand that these two must trust no one if they are to survive and share a life together.
Butler pulls off something that had to be challenging. She makes a professional killer sympathetic. You develop empathy for Marina, and you are pulling for her to succeed and find happiness.
If you like fiction set against the backdrop of Russian/CIA intrigue and the Vietnam War era, you’ll enjoy Kiss of the Assassin.
Quote of the Week: “Returning home is the most difficult part of long-distance hiking; You have grown outside the puzzle and your piece no longer fits.”
― Anonymous
Today’s a random mishmash, so you may just want to skip to the quote. That’s probably the most interesting part of this post.
My website’s a disaster. At the beginning of this month, my blog roll vanished from my right sidebar along with my social media links and my embedded video. I finally found them all neatly stored in the footer. A lot of good they do there.
So after I figured this fix was way beyond my feeble technical skills, I reached out to someone who said he could take care of it…no problem. In the meantime, two posts went up on the same day. That was not my plan, but obviously, the website is now in charge.
Of course, this is the month I’m trying to tie up a lot of loose ends–personal and book-wise, so I can take a break at the end of April. Good luck, Lee.
Some things are working as they should. The first weekend in April, I’m going to be in Monterey, CA at the Conference Center with my books and sharing time with other authors. I’m looking forward to that.
I’ve almost packed for my trip and I’m excited about where I’ll be going. Some stops are Ely, Nevada; Escalante and Moab in Utah; Ouray, Colorado. Hiking in Zion and Bryce, exploring Devil’s Garden and Dinosaur National Monument. I haven’t been on a U.S. road trip in a very long time, so I’m ready to get started and my hiking boots are raring to go.
I may have mentioned that I’m collaborating on a book, and my partner and I are doing the “almost final” edits before the end of April. This has been an interesting experiment, and I’ll be sharing some of what happened after we wrap this book up.
Quote of the Month: “When things go wrong, don’t go with them.”–Elvis Presley
Have you ever heard of the Great Spaghetti Tree Hoax? It happened in 1957, and it wasn’t a small joke played on a few people. It was played on an audience of approximately 7 million people and by no other than the BBC. At that time, a little more than 15 million homes in Great Britain had “tellys.”
The film featured a Swiss-Italian farmer harvesting fresh spaghetti from a tree. The next day, the BBC was flooded with phone calls asking where people could buy a spaghetti tree or cultivate one of their own. Needless to say, the BBC was quick to issue a statement about the hoax.
Some must have put something in the BBC’s water cooler a couple of times because a few decades later (2008) They showed a film clip of a newly “discovered” phenomenon–flying penguins–evidence of an evolutionary step in modern times. These birds were equipped to migrate from Antarctica to the southern hemisphere for a bit of sun.
This computer-animated film was created by no other than Terry Jones of Monty Python fame, so that should have been a tip-off, but there are always the gullible amongst us.
Are you on your guard on April 1 for possible hoaxes? Do you play pranks on others or have you had others play them on you?
Quote of the Week:
“The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.”–Mark Twain
It’s said that during this month, people start behaving oddly. Well, no wonder. Here in California, everyone’s a bit nuts because we’ve lost an hour of sleep, and it takes a while to adjust. I’m used to writing early in the morning, so it takes almost all of March to get used to writing in the dark. Even the dogs are off schedule, needing their walk or their dinner at the usual time, but having to wait an extra hour just because…
Just because why?
Because it saves energy. That’s the justification. The idea came from New Zealand scientist George Vernon Hudson (1895) and British builder William Willett (1905). I think we’re lucky that neither of their proposed form of DST was adopted. Hudson wanted the clocks to go forward two hours! If we thought losing one hour was bad, think of two hours.
Willett had a more complicated suggestion. He wanted us to set the clocks ahead twenty minutes each Sunday in April, then back in the same fashion in September.
I don’t know about anyone else, but with this system, I’d never be on time to anything.
What’s your take on DST? Love it? Hate it? Could care less?
So what’s coming up that’s of interest to writers?
The WEP in April has a great theme: “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” Entries start April 20. If you’re interested, here’s the LINK to the details.
If you missed the March 14 post about Where to Begin Your Marketing Research by L. Diane Wolfe, you can read it now. It has a lot of solid information for writers.
Quote of the Week: “I don’t mind going back to daylight saving time. With inflation, the hour will be the only thing I’ve saved all year.” — Victor Borge (It seems history does repeat!)
I’ve just finished reading Thunderstruck (thank you Jeff for the recommendation) and–as usual I’m impressed by Erik Larson’s research and writing. In short, Larson does another masterful job of threading together two stories that unfold during the same time and have historical significance.
In Thunderstruck, one of these stories is about Marconi’s struggle to perfect wireless communication while the other is about a Dr. Crippen, a mild-mannered man driven to murder by a dominating, demanding wife. I thoroughly enjoyed discovering how these two stories had any bearing on each other.
…and here’s the Did-You-Know-This part.
I also enjoyed discovering some things about this Edwardian period that I didn’t know. For one, I’d always thought the co-axial cable that connected Europe with the U.S. had been laid on the Atlantic floor sometime in the mid-1900s. Actually, it first connected both sides of the world in 1858. It ran from Ireland to Newfoundland.
And did you know Marconi was not a trained scientist? I didn’t. That was one of the reasons, the scientific community resisted his claims. Another was that he didn’t behave like a scientist–well, that figures. He refused to share his failures and fudged a bit on his successes. Not very scientific.
Whenever I learn something new while reading a well-crafted, well-researched book, I’m grateful and excited. If you have a book to recommend, I’m always up for suggestions.
This month I did a bit of promo for my Pete and Weasel middle-grade fantasy series. N.N Light Book Heaven is running a giveaway that you might be interested in if you’re a reader and like to buy books.
Enter and get some free books…maybe.
Quote of the Week: “You know, everybody’s ignorant, just on different subjects.”
― Will Rogers
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and the hashtag is #IWSG.
Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG posts. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.
Remember, the question is optional!
March 2 question – Have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to a story? How did you decide to write it or not?
The awesome co-hosts for the March 2 posting of the IWSG are Janet Alcorn,Pat Garcia,Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence!
I’m skipping this month’s question because I don’t have an answer. I can’t remember being conflicted about including a scene. Now, I’m scratching my head because I’m wondering if I should have had this experience and somehow missed it.
For those who want to continue playing with WORDS FOR WEDNESDAY, please carry on. This is one long-lived meme!
It’s Ash Wednesday, so when that dawned on me, I turned my thoughts to what that day means for so many. Because my mind seems to skip around a lot, I re-read one of my favorite poets, Mr. T. S. Elliot, and then wrote this post.
The practice of marking people’s heads with ashes from the burnt palms of Palm Sunday gave this day its name. As I remember, the ashes are a symbol that represents man’s mortality. “From ashes you came and to ashes you shall return.” The ritual of this day is meant to remind Christians that while they are physical beings, they are also spiritual beings.
T. S. Elliot, had long been dissatisfied with the materialistic world of his day, and set out to explore this dissatisfaction in his poetry (The Waste Land and The Hollow Men). In his poem, Ash Wednesday, Elliot speaks to hope for human salvation in a faithless world. In it, the point of view character, begins as one who is hopeless and distraught about his human error. As the poem continues, it moves on to address what Elliot himself was striving for, an acceptance of true love. This was about spiritual love, not worldly love.
It seems that by the time he penned this poem, Elliot had turned from the materialistic world toward the spiritual one. He wrote, “Because I do not hope to turn again.” I take that to mean he believed he was on the right course away from the world he’d left us in with The Hollow Men and The Waste Land and was now headed toward one that was full of meaning and hope and spiritual fulfillment.
I’m sure my take on this is simplistic, but this is how I’ve always thought about these poems and T. S. Elliot who grappled with one of man’s largest choices in life. I’ve always been fascinated with how brilliantly he put such an important philosophical journey into words for others to consider.
If you’d like to read the entire poem, here’s a LINK that will take you to it.
Quote of the Week: “When the whole world is running headlong towards the precipice, one who walks in the opposite direction is looked at as being crazy.”– T. S. Elliot
So this is the last week of February and the last week I’ll be posting the WORDS FOR WEDNESDAY. This has been fun, and I hope some of you have enjoyed the stories–reading them or writing them. These are my last two lists for the month of love. Have at it.
In case you’re new, here’s what Elephant’s Child writes to explain the meme: “Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write. Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music, or an image. What we do with those prompts is up to us: a short story, prose, a song, or a poem… We can use some or all of the prompts, and mixing and matching are encouraged.”
enchanted | champagne |
lavish | caviar |
scurrying | candlelight |
bouquet | heartshaped |
smash | flee |
anyway | excitement |
It seems that not only is February my birthday month, but 2022 is my year as well. Yes, I am a Tiger…Whoopty do! I thought that was just wonderful, but when I looked into the characteristics of people born in this year, I discovered there may be some drawbacks. While we all love to hear how great we are if we’re Aquarians or Capricorns–Tigers or Pigs, we should heed what our other, perhaps more objective, characteristics are. Since I’m into creating tables this month, I thought I’d list my positive and negative personality features, so if we ever meet, you’ll know how to deal with me.
The Great Tiger | The Not So Great Tiger |
competitive | impetuous |
independent | irritable |
confident | overindulgent |
brave | given to depression |
Quote of the Week: “The good news is that she is one of the nicest people in the universe. The bad news is, that’s because she always does exactly what she pleases. An Aquarius female is rebellious, headstrong, and contrary. She can be selfishly independent and exasperating, especially when she is running through the house screaming, “freedom!”
― Hazel Dixon-Cooper, Born on a Rotten Day
This month I wanted to do something a little different, so I offered to come up with Words For Wednesday, and I’ve enjoyed the new visitors and their creative stories. I hope my regulars will find this a fun departure. Some have already jumped in and written some short, shorts using the prompts. They’ve all been fun to read. So here we go again.
Here’s what Elephant’s Child writes to explain the meme: “Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write. Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music, or an image. What we do with those prompts is up to us: a short story, prose, a song, or a poem… We can use some or all of the prompts, and mixing and matching is encouraged.” Ready. Set. Go!
Sweetheart | Married |
Succotash | Lately |
Semi-stable | Diet |
Solace | Denied |
Singularly | Squash |
Solution | Urban |
I’ve been watching the Olympics, and as usual, am in awe of what athletes from around the world have achieved. When I came up with the idea for Shattered, it was during a winter Olympic season, and I started with a question. What if you’d trained most of your life for a chance to compete for the Gold, and then something happened that denied you your one opportunity?
There are so many ways this story could have played out, but I chose to write about a girl who must not only deal with a plan-altering event but also with a life-altering one. Fortunately for my heroine, she turned out to be one tough and resilient woman.
EXCERPT: Libby’s mom delivers the tragic news.
Mom swiped at both cheeks, then between tight lips, whispered, “Libby, you can’t ski in the games.”
I knew hearts didn’t stop beating until you died, yet I was certain mine had just stuttered to a halt. I couldn’t breathe. My lungs refused to expand. My throat went dry. I’d planned most of my life for this one year. I’d worked out, built my strength, gone to ski camps, kept at it until I’d made it through the selection process—until I’d almost made the US Olympic slalom team. I had my passport. I’d packed my bags weeks ago. Now, my mother was telling me I couldn’t do what I’d lived for all these years?
EXCERPT: Libby’s first lesson on an adaptive ski.
Mack stood behind me and pushed me across to where instructors were giving new skiers lessons on Franklin Hill.
The upside was that I wasn’t staring down a steep slope. The downside was that I wasn’t staring down a steep slope. I’d stopped skiing on Franklin Hill when I was eight.
“We start here, Libby, but I have a feeling we’re going to be moving on real quick all the way to Stover’s Mountain. You’ve got the skills, so I know you’re going to be one fast learner on this new equipment.”
I wished I felt as confident as he did.
Mack held onto the back of the ski and shoved off, skiing behind me. Panic fluttered inside my chest when I started down the gentle white hill. I’d done this before, but on two skis when I’d been a kid. My dad used to stand me between his knees and zig-zag all the way to the bottom. Now here I was back starting at stage one with someone showing me how to ski. I had to learn a whole new way of doing this. I was a beginner again.
Quote of the Week: “A writer gets to live yet another life every time he or she creates a new story.”
― Pawan Mishra