Celebrating The Legend Of Victor Standish by Roland Yeomans

Roland Yeomans, master of the written word has done it again. If you haven't read one of Roland's books then you really are missing out on something phenomenal. His penmanship alone leaves a reader having learned something intrinsic about the craft. But enough of my babbling, let me tell you about his latest book.

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Think TRUE BLOOD meets THE DRESDEN FILES meets THE ARTFUL DODGER.

Beware French Quarter nights.

Every city has its secrets. New Orleans more than most.

To walk its streets is to move through history : Lasalle. Orleans. Galvez. Lafitte. A street map is part time capsule, part history lesson. And all Death. She is waiting in every shadow.

New Orleans is the most haunted city in America where Voodoo was big business, slavery even more so, and no government official or newspaper dares to tell the truth.

No one talks openly of the misty figures seen walking along iron-laced terraces, casting no shadow. Of the shapes seen rising from sewer grates. And no one willingly visits the crypt of Marie Laveau at midnight.

Into this strange world arrives the street orphan, Victor Standish, from Charon's Greyhound. Charon has to keep up with the times ...the End Times.

And the teen destined to be called the "Ulysses of the French Quarter" has come just in time for Hurricane Katrina, the End of All Things, and …the deadly love of the Victorian ghoul, Alice Wentworth.

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You can get your copy of The Legend Of Victor Standish on Amazon

Roland also has a fantastic contest going at his blog where if you post a review of it on Amazon, you get 5 entries to win an Amazon Kindle Fire, or a Stephen King autograph, or a JK Rowling autograph or dozens of other prizes. Now those are baggable prizes, for that check out: Roland Yeoman's Promotional Prizes

Chatting to Jenna Kay about Broken (The Seer Society)

On a very rare note I am featuring a book related interview today. I met Jenna on Facebook on my new Book Page which you will see on the sidebar to the left. On September 1st she released her second book and on becoming aware of that and because the plot intrigued me, I offered to help spread the word on these very promising books. I'll hand the reigns over to Jenna now.

Jenna I have to ask you this because it fascinates me. Can you explain the Biblical theme which seems to be inferred to from the descriptions of your books? 

On every book this will be seen:  ...what is unseen is eternal.  This is from 2Corinthians 4:18  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary,but what is unseen is eternal. This one verse is the basis of the Seer Society Series.  It's about the unseen world around us and the Spiritual Warfare being fought every second of every day.

Christian oriented books tend to not have mass appeal as the ASSUMPTION made by most readers is that they are preachy, is this something you've encountered and how do you ensure mass appeal?

First and foremost let me tell you this - This book is far from preachy.  It's kind of in between christian fiction and mainstream fiction, though the Seers in the books are Biblical.  It goes into a lot of heavy subjects that teenagers go through on a daily basis.  I believe christians and non-christians can get something out of these books. My goal is to get people thinking.

I see that Broken is the second of a series. Can you tell us about the first and the follow up in Broken.

Clarity, the first book in the series, is about a seventeen year-old girl that lives in a dead-end town and is ready to get her senior year over with.  She thinks everything is going normal in her life until she meets Sam, her guardian angel, and finds out that she's a Seer.  The Seers in my series are not fortune tellers or soothsayers, but they are humans that can see angels and demons.  They have special powers given to them from God (also have Seer marks on their palms) and they fight alongside their angels against the evil in the world.  At the end of Clarity something life-changing happens and it follows into the second book, Broken.  In Broken the reader follows Clarity along this new path in life, a life that involves the real supernatural.  I can't say too much about it because I don't want to give it all away...Let's just say that no matter what path you take in life there's gonna be many bumps down the road.

What are you plans for this story as I see it is developing into a series namely the Seer Society?

Again, I don't want to say too much, but I will say that there is a lot of heartache, hope, new friendships, new loves. . .new beginnings.  I know how the whole series is going to end and I'm so excited about it!  Of course I've got at least three more books to write before then. ;)  The reason I chose the Seer Society...it's different and it's my take on the big "what ifs" in the world.

What genres would you say your writing depicts and what led to this/these choices?

Well, I'm going to say YA fiction, with a little speculative thrown in there.  I write about real situations that teens go through, like drinking, cutting, sex, drugs, depression, etc.  And putting angels, demons, spiritual warfare, and Seers in the mix makes it interesting!  I've worked with the youth at my church and have been able to see and hear what they go through.  On listening to them I felt compelled to write for them.  I'd say that middle-schoolers would get a lot from my books, as well as teens, YA, and older (my Grandmother is 98 and loves my books...hey, don't tell her I told you her age!).

There’s a launch Party in the works I know, can you tell us what you've got planned on and off line?

The launch party is just online for now, but I will be attending local festivals, such as Atlanta Write 2011 and Mule Camp in Gainesville, GA.  I'm a last minute kind of person so I'm sure between now and then I'll be attending some others!  As for a physical launch party, that's still in the works.

Last Question: where can we get hold of your books

You can get your copies at www.seersociety.com and I'll send them to you signed.  Clarity is already on amazon in paperback and e-book forms, so Broken will follow shortly.  I'll post on my facebook and twitter accounts as soon as they're available.



Thank you Wendy for interviewing me.



It was an absolute pleasure Jenna, I have every confidence that your books will be a great success.

A Shout Out To All J.L Campbell Fans

This Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday I will be hosting J.L Campbell, chronic blogger ( Snippets and Spashes, The Character Depot, Reader's Suite) and author of two published novels Contraband which I am pleased to say I finally have in my possession and Dissolution.

I'm also very excited because JL.has agreed to be a regular feature on my blog and so I will, amongst other things, be publishing snippets of her current WIP's on my blog. Wooo Hoooooo. . I had this brainwave as I read through some of the stories she writes for her Romantic Writer's Friday forum and I thoroughly enjoy those. So, please tune in tomorrow and in the mean time, enjoy this snippet from one of her current WIP;s called Taming Celeste........as if.

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Mark slogged down the front steps, squeezing the bridge of his nose. Only God knew what he was thinking when he decided to chaseCeleste. He liked his women independent; after all, he wasn’t the most dependable of men. 

When he first asked her out, she had decided where they would spend the evening, and from then on, he had to be firm with her, otherwise he would have done what she wanted on every date.

Her confidence, and the way she had of doing things on her own terms, attracted him initially. Lately, those same qualities—which he was now inclined to describe as pigheadedness—could get them both killed. 

He shoved his hands in his pockets and dragged his feet over the grass. A walk would clear his thoughts and lessen the urge to throttle her.

His fingers curled around the keys to the truck. Now might be a good time to check on things at home. A little distance might also cement the fact that she couldn’t play the sort of game she started earlier without some consequences. Then again, she would count his absence as typical and not give a hoot that he was gone. She did say she didn’t care whether or not he came back. Of course, later she’d change her tune and want to know why he’d gone missing again.

He opened the van, got in and switched on the engine.

They both needed to stop irritating the fiber out of each other and get on with their lives. He wasn’t ready to settle down, he knew that, but when he did, fireworks wouldn’t be part of the equation. He’d had enough of it with Celeste. When the time came, he’d find a woman who fit in with his ideals. Calm, soothing, willing to listen.

He pulled out of the driveway, chuckling. He’d just described a pet or figurine.  There was no getting around it - Celeste made him as confused as a fart in a wicker chair.  Whenever he thought he had a handle on her and her thoughts, she moved in another direction.

Paul’s advice came back to him.  He sighed and turned the radio up higher. Sure, he could show Celeste how he felt, but what was the point when he wasn’t looking for commitment?

And yet, I hate being separated from her for any length of time. 

    ~ Excerpt from Taming Celeste (399 words - FCA)

Another promising book out. Check out the authors interview. I think Elana Johnson is fabulous to say the least.

The storybook world:    .........Bio: Elana Johnson’s debut novel, Possession, will be published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster) on June 7, 2011. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also available for free download. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you can find her online at her personal blog orTwitter. She also co-founded the Query Tracker blog andWriteOnCon, and contributes to the League of Extraordinary Writers. Elana is represented by Michelle Andelman of Regal Literary.

Thank You Roland Yeoman

Today I'm sending a shout out to Roland Yoeman. It takes very little to please me...only a kind thought, add aTexan muse and you'll find me in 11Th heaven. Roland saw my comment on Jo Storm (I know her names Schaffer but Storm seems to have stuck with me so.....). On her post I was prattling on about how I had tried to get a hold of his book French Quarter Nocturne in South Africa to no avail. I was going to get it off Amazon when lo and behold the author sent me an Amazon gift voucher for the book. Don't you  just love them Texans and their muses. I've heard about them having big hearts, well now I know. But most importantly I thank his muse, Sam McCord who insisted that Roland send me the voucher in the first place. Where would we be without inspiration. The world would be much darker place than French Quater Nocturne promises it can ever be.....God forbid.
And btw, the French Quarter Nocturne trailer is mind-blowing, it builds such phenomenal suspense I found myself wishing it were a movie. That was really great work.
Oh yes, thank you Roland (that's actually what I meant to say........)

F is for Freely Give

1 of 4 - other lent out

& Fanatics' Shall Line Your Pockets
Here's another long one and I don't know how this one will be received but I'd really love to hear writer's thoughts on this one. I started blogging to express myself and so here I plunge headlong. (To Thine Self Be True  and all that).I wonder why it is that some writers go into a tizz about making their work freely available on the internet or elsewhere for that matter.
I mean as Neil Gaiman points out, it is like having your book at the library, which in all honesty is how I met many of my favourite authors growing up. I was a frequent Saturday visitor at the library and I remember Sydney Shelden, John Grisham and Danielle Steele and Mills and Boon making regular appearances on my library cards(authors & books who kept me company in a difficult period in my life). Even then, I spent more on books than anything else. If I got a book I liked, I would save to buy it for two reasons: I am a notorious bookmaker and repeat reader. I remember in my late teens, I took out a book by Louise Bagshawe called Career girl. I made a point of buying it as soon as I returned it and I must have read that book 15 times. It made a great impression on me then as young adult trying to understand love.

I didn't know I had this many

In this era of the gods of technology where libraries are really places I take my kids to help them develop a love for book, digital media has taken over the library's function in my life. It's become easier to swap books in order to kind of preview instead of having to buy a promising book only to have it turn out to be crappy. One might argue that the writer has lost a sale if I don't happen to like the book I just freely read or listened to.

Douglas Adams

What that person fails to see is that as a reader, if there is no one nearby at the bookshop to give me a complete blow by blow of how they found the book, there is  a minuscule chance that  it would have made it to my shopping basket in the first place. The only review sources I trust beside my own are word of mouth, the NY Times (and others of equal stature) and Jenny Chris William's Bookshow on 702 talk radio. That, you may say is naive but I am an extremely brand loyal consumer (I've been using colgate herbal for 10 years) and I am also aware that just about everybody that wants to sell a book writes best selling author on their covers.

SA writer: My 12yr old swears
by this series.

Now imagine how many people out there fit this readership profile. In my mind therefore it is in the author's best interest to make their work freely available to

allow for for personal analysis or at least for a writer to not have a hernia when someone reads it from some unknown source for free. They are not necessarily stealing from you but will probably line your pockets.  I have met my most frequently read authors and 2 of my top 5 favourite authors through epub "borrowing" (from undisclosed sources _usb's were involved) and I now a mere 3 months later I have four of Neil Gaimans books, 3 of which are out cruising the streets and the fifth (American Gods) which introduced me to him is on my pre-orders list @ Kalahari.net waiting for the arrival of the 10th anniversary limited edition in July.

I lent this set out in December and it came back tattered andone short.
I have to buy in again because its for my girls in about a decade. iirrrggh

I'm fanatical about supporting writers I love and my point is, one epub or ebook that I got through means which perhaps wouldn't stand under scrutiny, has led to an accumulation of this authors work in my book conner. I met Terry Pratchet through Neil Gaiman and now he also resides in my book collection. All the book pictures shown here were taken last night on my dining room table and they are of authors who's work I have more than one of.

I have 58 books on my reading list and I intend to get through all this year but the reading nook pile keeps growing each week (my son asked me a few weeks ago if I intend opening a2nd hand book store), I no longer have shelve space so they are becoming soft furnishings. I'm in a place now where I cannot keep a head count of what I do or do not have from my loved authors so I keep a log specifically for bookshop. This idea came after I bought the same book from Michael Douglas twice.


The moral of this long story: A little generosity = a fat bank account.

Neil Gaiman Lost a Friend _ A sad tale

I got this from Neil Gaiman's blog and it is so beautifully written I was mush by the time i finished:

Being Alive. Mostly about Diana.

I'm in the UK right now, in the middle of nowhere, working on Monkey, about to go offline for a few days.

She's been my friend since about 1985, but I was a fan of hers since I read Charmed Life in about 1978, aged 18. I've loved being her friend, and I'm pretty sure she loved being my friend. She was the funniest, wisest, fiercest, sharpest person I've known, a witchy and wonderful woman, intensely practical, filled with opinions, who wrote the best books about magic, who wrote the finest and most perceptive letters, who hated the telephone but would still talk to me on it if I called, albeit, always, nervously, as if she expected the phone she was holding to explode.


I came over to do three things: to give the BBC a day to promote Episode Four of the next season of Doctor Who, which I have written; to see Hilary Bevan Jones, a wonderful producer with whom I've been working for years, about a couple of things; and to see Diana Wynne Jones.

Thursday I was interviewed about Doctor Who all day. Mostly the interviews would go like this:

Them: "So, can you tell us the title of the episode?" Me: "No."

It was a fun but sometimes frustrating day.

She adopted me when I was a 24 year old writer for magazines of dubious respectability, and spent the next 25 years being proud of me as I made art that she liked (and, sometimes, I didn't. She'd tell me what she thought, and her opinions and criticism were brilliant and precise and honest, and if she said "Yee-ees. I thought you made a bit of a mess of that one," then I probably had, so when she really liked something it meant the world to me).

For more: More on this story

I LOVE Neil Gaiman

I truly do.....

Everytime I open one of his books I feel my long dampered passions for theology and mythology rekindled, reignited in the most unexpected ways. He takes away the burdens of the -----------(secret guilt)-------- often encumbered on one because of the innate conflicts of spiritual credence and fascination with mythology.
I mean look at this extract from a book called the Anansie Boys. this is the very first paragraph in this novel:

It begins, as most things, with a song.

In the beginning after all were the words, and they came with a tune. That was how the world was made, how the void was divided, how the lands and the stars and the dreams and the little gods and the animals, how all of them came into the world.
They were sung into existence.

The great beasts were sung into existence, after the Singer had done with the planets and the hills and the trees and the oceans and the lessor beasts. The cliffs that bound existence were sung and the hunting grounds and the dark.
Songs remain. They last. The right song can turn an emperor into a laughingstock, can bring down dynasties. A song can last long after the events and the people in it are dust and dreams are gone. That's the power of songs.

I think one of the most accurate descriptions of Gaiman comes from the National Post (Canada):

Neil Gaiman is a storyteller whose tales resonate with secrets and deep truths...

His mastery of language creates a momentum which keeps you at the edge of your seat from take off right up to the inevitable climax camouflaged as a conclusion. Having read the two books (American Gods and now Anansie boys), when I think of him my mind conjures up what must be a philosopher, a comedian, a spiritual soul with a horrifically dark imagination, a prolific composer of written works. He manages to comfortably juxtapose unfriendly philosophical facets to create a homogeneous and more than palatable tale, while still making room for moral discussion and persuasion.

I'm convinced that in the not so ancient Greek mythology he would have been someone illustrious such as King Midas (the Composer) and in medieval philosophy The Alchemist (bringer of life to the written word).

Just my opinion of course.....
For more visit:
Neil Gaiman, his complete works. , www.telegraph.co.uk