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Friday Follies featuring author R Lee

Howdy all! Today is our last guest feature for a bit, so be sure to give R Lee Smith a grand welcome!

Before we get started, tell us a bit about yourself. Anything about your non-writing life.

I’m a thirty-something recently ripped from my native soil in the Great Pacific Northwest and reluctantly transplanted at the crossways of the Bible Belt and Tornado Alley, where our Brave Pioneer Ancestors settled just long enough to realize this is a horrible, horrible place and move on to the west coast.

Summer is just about to conclude here in the Western Hemisphere, so what is the craziest thing you’ve done all summer? Did you camp out in your backyard like I did, with severe weather warnings looming about?

The weather around here is all the crazy anyone should have to handle; I don’t need to add to it. Back in the northwest, summer was a very temperate75-80 degrees and lightly overcast. I went camping and fishing and hiking and threw barbeques and drove out to the beach to go swimming and build lewd sand-sculptures and go to the zoo and the aquarium and generally love life. Here, now, it is 10 million degrees in the shade with 110% humidity and I pretty much lie naked in front of the air conditioner and sweat.

Have fun getting that image out of your head.

Does your family have any summer tradition, or ritual to break in the season?

When I was a kid, we would go on road-trip vacations every summer right after school let out. Gradually, those trips dried up. Now that I’m grown, we’ve started doing them again, not at the beginning of summer, but at the end, during the Midwest’s two-week autumn season before the muggy heat of summer gives way to the lung-blistering cold of winter.

Here’s a scenario for you: Your family is just about to chillax while you’re about to dunk the turkey in the deep fryer. Moments after placing the lid on, you realize the propane tank runs empty, and you don’t have another to replace it with. Oh, and the propane store is closed because it’s a holiday, what do you do?

Hmmm. I have to begin by wondering what alien pod attached itself to my brain-stem to force me to first buy a deep-fat fryer or cook with propane. Also, why are we actually celebrating Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving? In our family, we postpone holidays until the crazy dies down. But okay, I’ll play along. The deep fryer is out of noxious gas, you say? Pull out the roasting pan we use every other year and pop it in the oven. We can eat hor d’oeuvres and watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy until the bird’s done. What’s another four hours?

What genres do you write, and were you inspired by any particular authors?

I could have sworn I was writing horror until my books started popping up on romance forums. But that’s okay, because I think too much awareness of genre can cripple a good story. One of the best compliments I ever received from a fan was, “All of your books change lanes, but this one (she was talking about The Scholomance) jumps the curb and crashes into a sandwich shop, and I still loved it!”

My father introduced me to JRR Tolkien, HP Lovecraft, Alexandre Dumas and movies like The Thing and The Dark Crystal. My mother’s bookshelves hosted Jane Auel, Anne McCaffrey, and Dorothy Sayers; in her company, I attended science-fiction conventions, got out of school to see Star Wars and Star Trek movies, and attended premiere viewings of Alien, Terminator and Willow. I read as many comics as I could afford, new and used, everything from Tales from the Crypt to Spawn to XMen to ElfQuest. My favourite authors are, in no particular order, Rudyard Kipling, Peter S. Beagle and Stephen King.

Take us through your process when developing a new concept for a book.

Let’s take, for example, my next book, Pool.

First, the Inspiration. In this case, it was a movie about a group of people trapped underground who are being picked off by a monster. Towards the end, the monster gets whapped in the head by a climbing axe/pick. “Poor guy,” my sister remarked. And I had to agree. Think of it from the monster’s point of view. He’s at home, chilling in his cave, when along come these loud, mutated creatures with bright lights and noise, invading his territory and killing his friends, completely without provocation. But nobody ever makes the movie from the monster’s point of view. Hmm.

Second, the Pictures. I’m a very visual writer. I don’t write words; I see pictures and try to describe them. So a few days after seeing the movie, I pick up one of my many notebooks and start sketching caves and creatures. Killing people, sure. Snarling and leaping and hanging from walls looking menacing, all that. And sleeping. Fishing. Nuzzling their children. Under one of these sketches, wherein a creature is licking the wounds of another while both crouch over a very dead human, I write, without thinking, “Peace returned to their lives, for they were peaceful, really. Not in the same way as modern men would have reckoned peace, but the modern age had largely passed them by, and their ways were peaceful enough.” Hmmmm.

Third, the Idea. Over the next several weeks, the thought of underground creatures turns over in my head, along with vague character impressions of the people who will inadvertently be invading them. Scenes suggest themselves, but I do not write them down. I start researching pit mines and when/why/where one of them might be abandoned. Secondary characters on both sides begin to make themselves known. The sketches in my notebook start to get names: Hayley and Kyson. Echo. Norah. Pool.

Finally, the Pieces Line Up. For another month or three, I work on editing my current book and think about Pool in my odd moments. I have several solid ideas now and several unwritten scenes, but I make it a rule (I broke it only once) never to start writing unless I have a beginning and an ending. I have the beginning of Pool clear in my mind. The ending is a big, black blank until suddenly it’s not. I think it over for a day or two, pull out an index card and jot down the working title and a few names, then put it up on the board over my desk next to cards like The Bull of Minos, Coyote Rose, and The Bone Tree. As soon as The Last Hour of Gann goes live, I will pull all my Pool notebooks out and begin writing.

Summer is one of the seasons where weather can impact everything whereas plans are concerned. What do you, or your family do when you’re rained out?

My parents were foster parents for dozens of children when I was growing up, most of them children with disabilities, so special events (and even grocery shopping) had to be planned out in advance and everything could change at a moment’s notice. Now that I’m grown, having the freedom to just hop in the car and go wherever I want, whenever I feel like it, is still a little staggering at times. When the weather gets nasty—and here in the Midwest, it does not kid around when it gets nasty—I don’t mind so much changing my plans to stay in and watch a bad movie instead of going out. If the power blips, I can still read or write. The last time we lost power for more than an hour, my sister and I roasted smores over a candle in the living room and played Scrabble.

Tell us about your latest release. 

This weekend, I’ll be releasing The Last Hour of Gann. It should go live on Amazon Kindle immediately. It may be a little while before its available for the Nook. Plans to get my stuff on Kobo, ARE and Smashwords are in development, but proceeding slowly.

It was her last chance

Amber Bierce had nothing left except her sister and two tickets on Earth’s first colony-ship. She entered her Sleeper with a five-year contract and the promise of a better life, but awakened in wreckage on an unknown world. For the survivors, there is no rescue, no way home and no hope until they are found by Meoraq—a holy warrior more deadly than any hungering beast on this hostile new world…but whose eyes show a different sort of hunger when he looks at her.

It was his last year of freedom

Uyane Meoraq is a Sword of Sheul, God’s own instrument of judgment, victor of hundreds of trials, with a conqueror’s rights over all men. Or at least he was until his father’s death. Now, without divine intervention, he will be forced to assume stewardship over House Uyane and lose the life he has always known. At the legendary temple of Xi’Matezh, Meoraq hopes to find the deliverance he seeks, but the humans he encounters on his pilgrimage may prove too great a test even for him…especially the one called Amber, behind whose monstrous appearance burns a woman’s heart unlike any he has ever known.

From R. Lee Smith, author of Heat and Cottonwood, comes an epic new story of desire, darkness and the dawn that comes after The Last Hour of Gann.

WARNING: This book contains graphic violence, strong sexual content and explicit language. It is intended for mature readers only.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

I’ll be hard at work on Pool presently and hope to have it up and running next year. After that will be either The Bull of Minos, my retelling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, or Coyote Rose, a story which began as a NaNoWriMo challenge in which we adopted the mutual themes of love and death. After that, there are a number of index cards up on the ol’ cork board and new ideas swimming around in the back of my brainpan, but we’ll just have to wait and see what shakes out.

Thanks for hanging with us today! 

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Friday Follies: Interview with author Thea Landen

Morning all! Today we're featuring sci-fi author Thea Landen, so be sure to give her a warm welcome!

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Before we get started, tell us a bit about yourself. Anything about your non-writing life.

I work in the legal profession, and I see a LOT of crazy stuff. I sometimes joke that I don’t write a lot of contemporary fiction because it would never compare to the stories I hear at work. I’ll stick to sci-fi/fantasy and action/adventure, where the plots and characters are supposed to be outrageous!

Summer is just about to conclude here in the Western Hemisphere, so what is the craziest thing you’ve done all summer? Did you camp out in your backyard like I did, with severe weather warnings looming about?

I went on a (much needed) vacation to St. Lucia for a week in July. I didn’t get *too* crazy, but I did try paddleboarding, and I did dance on the roof of a boat during a sunset cruise! (There might have been some alcohol involved in the latter….)

Does your family have any summer tradition, or ritual to break in the season?

My husband is a teacher (I used to be one too, actually), and while I’d like to say we do something fun and exciting to kick off the summer, we really do nothing other than celebrate the ability to sleep late more often.

Here’s a scenario for you: Your family is just about to chillax while you’re about to dunk the turkey in the deep fryer. Moments after placing the lid on, you realize the propane tank runs empty, and you don’t have another to replace it with. Oh, and the propane store is closed because it’s a holiday, what do you do?

(This is assuming I’d be deep frying turkey in the first place!) My father is an engineer with a type-A personality who enjoys outdoor cooking. In this scenario, I’d know for a fact without even having to check that he’d have at least one extra propane tank on hand. Less than a 40-minute round trip and the problem would be solved! (That is, if he didn’t already bring one along in case of such an emergency.)

Your blog profile notes that you’re into RPG’s, which one’s in particular do you fancy? I lurve RPG’s, though lately the only ones the hubby and I play, are of the video game sort. ;-)

Phantasy Star is one of my all-time favorite series, and it’s easy to see the influence in my writings. I also love love LOVED Dragon Age II, and I have Origins on my to-do list. I just finished up Mass Effect 2 and I’ll be moving onto the third game in that series as soon as I proofread and submit my current manuscript!

Take us through your process when developing a new concept for a book.

Ideas come from all sorts of places. I try not to have too many projects going at the same time, but I’ll spend plenty of sleepless nights thinking about all the ideas that are next on the list. When it’s their turn to be written, sometimes I’ll sketch out a basic outline, but the key points are already pretty firmly in my head by that time. Recently, I started doing some chapter outlines, and I think those help me stay organized.

Minor details, though, I’ll just start writing and see what comes out!

I see you’re also a contributor to an anthology The Big Book of Orgasm. Tell us more if you can.

Oooh, that one was a challenge. The word count limit was 1200, and I’m sure everyone thinks, “Oh, 1200 words, that’s easy! Anyone can do that!” Sure, anyone can write 1200 words, but establishing plot and characters and not going over that limit? Thaaat’s a little harder. My first attempt failed (I couldn’t get it short enough and still tell the story!), and I finally trimmed down my second attempt into something I was happy with (the one that was accepted). It’s a bit of a departure from my other writings (contemporary setting, first person present tense POV), but I’m thrilled to have contributed to the book!

Okay, one last what if scenario. You’re at the beach, or on a cruise with that special someone in your life. You’re enjoying the peace of be child free for a few days, and are in the company of other adults. As you’re going down a water slide, you lose your bikini top, or have some kind of wardrobe malfunction along those lines. What do you do? (Try to have fun with this one. I’m the queen of wardrobe malfunctions, and could promise you there is no way Janet Jackson could have me beat. If you’d rather not answer this, I’m cool with that too.)

Eh, a fair number of people have already seen me topless and I’m no stranger to embarrassing moments. I’d like to think I wouldn’t worry too much, or do anything frantic that would involve slipping and whacking my head on the side of the pool, resulting in serious brain injury. If my towel wasn’t nearby, I’d “borrow” one from someone else, wrap it around my chest, and then go see if I could fetch my bikini top from the slide. And once it was back in my hands, I’d probably dip into a little curtsey for the crowd of onlookers that was sure to gather.

Summer is one of the seasons where weather can impact everything whereas plans are concerned. What do you, or your family do when you’re rained out?

I prefer staying inside in the air conditioning anyway! This summer, I actually worked a ton, rain or shine. When I wasn’t slaving over work 24/7 (which, during the month of August, was practically never), I tried to write as much as I could, and I even had time to read a couple books on vacation!

(Something had to give, and that something was the video games. I’ll just have to catch up this fall!)

Tell us about your latest release. 

Sure thing! I never thought I’d write a sequel, but here it is. Sometimes I try to write deep and powerful stories. Other times, you need something a little fluffier to cleanse the palette, right? The Searching the Skies series is my “ménage in outer space” series, for no other reason than because it’s fun. And sometimes that’s all the reason you need.

Blurb: In addition to her distinguished career with the Terran military, Commander Geneva Greyson has finally achieved harmony in her personal life. Her renewed relationship with her mother has grown stronger and she’s settled into a comfortable arrangement with the two men she loves. Marcus confesses a dark fantasy to her while she’s on leave from duty—not only does he have feelings for her, he’s developing an attraction to Ash.  He begs Geneva not to reveal his secrets before Ash arrives to spend the weekend with them.

The officers return to their posts after a relaxing, decadent visit. They learn of a distressing event upon completing a week-long mission: A terrorist group has organized a strike and taken hostages in their efforts to attract attention to their cause. When Geneva discovers Marcus is listed among the missing, she disobeys her orders and sets out to join the reconnaissance team with Ash by her side. Will they find Marcus before it’s too late for him to affirm his desires?

Buy Links:

http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/single.php?ISBN=1-77115-116-1

http://www.amazon.com/Defying-The-Skies-ebook/dp/B00DSQ9JFA/

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/defying-the-skies-thea-landen/1116373331?ean=9781771151160

Excerpt:

The smile faded from Geneva’s face. She slid closer to Marcus and rested her cheek on his shoulder. “Everything’s still...okay with all of us, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean with you, and me, and Ash.” She struggled to find suitable words. “The three of us together. You’re still fine with the current arrangement?”

“I am.”

“And you’d tell me if you weren’t?”

Marcus inched his head back to look at her. “Geneva, other than some natural disappointment over not being able to see you whenever I’d like, I have no complaints. I’m satisfied with the way things are working out. In fact....”

She waited for him to finish his sentence. No further words were spoken. “Yes?”

“Never mind.”

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing.”

She propped herself up on her elbow. “You were going to say something else. Come on, you can tell me.”

Marcus stared straight up at the ceiling, avoiding her inquisitive gaze. “I’m not sure how to phrase this.”

“You’re not delivering a proposal to your colleagues at your company. Just say it already.”

He blew out a stream of air, ruffling the floppy hairs that crossed his brow. “You know how grateful I am that we’ve rekindled our friendship, and even moved on to something more. And through you, I’ve grown to know Ash better and consider him one of my closer companions, for obvious reasons.”

“Uh-huh.”

“A lot has happened ever since you first came back here. And whenever you’re gone, I have time to really think about the relationship between all of us and what it means.” He glanced up at her. “All good things, I promise.”

“I would hope so!” Geneva ran the back of her fingers along his arm in a reassuring stroke. “So what’s got you so tongue-tied all of a sudden?”

Marcus let out a second sigh. “A year ago, if someone had told me I’d be sharing my bed with another man every now and then, I would have said they were crazy. And I know we were all a little skeptical at first, but I really did just want to make you happy because I was terrified of letting you slip away.”

“I’m still not seeing what the issue is.”

“I’m trying, I’m trying. Bear with me.” He rubbed his eyes and covered his face with his hands.

“I care about you, and I love how you make me feel, all the things you do to me. Then there’s Ash, who I’ve also developed some sort of intimate connection with, and he’s there with us in the heat of the moment, and....”

“And?”

“We’ve always focused all our attention on you, and you on us individually, which is perfectly fine. As I said, I’d do just about anything for you. The look on your face when you’re with both of us is a substantial reward.” His eyes remained shielded from view. “That look is actually part of what’s been haunting me. I’ve watched the two of you together. When you’re clinging to me as he’s moving inside you, sheer bliss illuminating every part of your body...sometimes my mind just can’t help but wonder what....”

Realization set in as he trailed off. “You’re attracted to Ash.”

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

I just finished my first major F/F project. It was a challenge (OH GOD THE PRONOUNS) and I’m glad I did it, but I don’t think I’ll be doing another full F/F book for a loooong time. Next in the planned lineup, I have two novellas in a futuristic sci-fi setting, plus the next book in the Searching the Skies series.

Thanks for hanging with us today! I hope you had fun, and we’re glad to have had you over.

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