Earlier, Tonia Brown talked about the books she's written and published.
In the final part of this interview, she talks about her concerns as a writer:
When did you start writing?
I have always written creatively in one from or another, for as long as I can remember.
I used to write a fair amount of poetry, and still turn to the task from time to time. I toyed for a number of years with the idea of writing longer works, a story or perhaps even a book, but always abandoned it after reading something from one of my favorite authors and realizing that I could never produce work that good.
Then, about four years ago, I was at my third shift job reading some new book by some new author, whose name I shall leave to the imagination. Even at four in the morning I could tell the book lacked substance, style and character. Yet I had paid full price for the thing and was reading it from cover to cover. It was at that point I decided that I had a story to tell and maybe it was time to get it out there.
So I penned a full-length novel in the next year and set about to find an agent.
The reality of how terribly hard it is to get published hit me hard, like so many other new authors to the craft, and I nearly gave up. A friend of mine stepped in and suggested e-publishers, and I gave it a shot.
I have had a moderate amount of success in the e-book field, with two full-length novels and several novellas accepted for publication so far. I also turned my hand to short stories, which have also been a great experience for me.
How would you describe your writing ?
Funny, sharp, horrifying, erotic.
I like to leave the reader with a sense of wonder or terror, depending on what the tale involves.
Who is your target audience?
Depends on which personality you address.
As Tonia Brown, I write for the speculative fiction audience. I lean toward horror, but have been known to turn out a sci-fi and fantasy piece every so often. I write for this audience because I am a part of it.
As Regina Riley, I write all forms of romance, from sweet to erotic. I began to write for this genre on a dare, and I enjoyed it so much I stuck with it!
Which authors influenced you most?
Neil Gaiman is the largest influence on me as a writer. I love his classic style and ability to cross genres as though the lines aren’t even there. I have said many a time, if there was one person I would love to have my work mistaken for, it would be Gaiman.
Along with Gaiman I am a huge [Edgar Allan] Poe fan. You have to love a man that can blame a murder on a monkey!
I’m also a fan of H. P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, and Isaac Asimov.
How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?
I grew up as a military B.R.A.T. and an identical twin, both of which really affected the way I view the world.
As a military family, we moved a lot. I never got the chance to make lifelong bonds with folks, but I learned that you had to make new friends quickly or get left out of the loop so to speak. I think this comes out in my writing a bit, especially the easy way new people meet and immediately open up without much prompting. It may seem unrealistic to some, but that’s how we grew up.
As a twin, I have always been slightly co-dependent. When I married, I shifted this burden onto my husband, and he bares the weight like an old pro. I feel this comes across in my work because I tend to favor characters that feel incomplete, until they meet their true love, of course!
What are your main concerns as a writer?
Making sure the reader can identify with a character. There is nothing worse than reading a book where you don’t care what happens to the characters. I try to give mine some personality, and history. Hopefully you come away feeling like you’ve read a detailed description of something that happened to a friend, as apposed to a tale about a complete stranger.
As an independent writer, I think the largest challenge I face is lack of self-confidence. I have trouble selling myself. I know my work is good. I can see it on the paper. I can feel it in my bones. But when asked if it’s any good I will more than likely say, “It's okay.”
Who wants to read okay?
I should scream how great it is, but my self-doubt kicks in and shuts me up. I’ve been trying to work on this, but I don’t know if I’ll ever overcome it.
What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?
A reader once told me she had to take a smoke break between chapters because the scenes were so hot for her.
One reader let me know how much she cried at one of my books. She said this happened in front of a break room full of other employees who were very curious as to why she was weeping.
Another told me that her husband received some much needed affection after she finished reading The Blooming. She even passed along his thanks!
Any time someone reads and enjoys what I have written, I’ve achieved more than I ever thought possible. Anything else is really just icing. Although I must admit, I am an icing fan!
Possibly related books:
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Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
[Interview: Part 1 of 2] Tonia Brown
Speculative fiction author, Tonia Brown writes fantasy, science fiction and horror stories.
Her books include Epiphany (Sugar and Spice Press, 2009) and White Elephant (Sugar and Spice Press, 2009).
Her work has also been featured in anthologies that include Vicious Verses and Reanimated Rhymes; Zany Zombie Poetry for the Undead Head (Coscom Entertainment, 2009) and Tooth Decay: Vampires and Zombies stories (Sonar4 Publications, 2009).
In this interview, Tonia Brown talks about her writing:
Do you write everyday?
I try to write at least an hour a day, with Saturdays as a break, although I usually end up in front of the laptop editing some piece.
Depending on where I am in a story, I might work just an hour or so, or go for days writing hours at a time. I tend to get obsessive near the end of a tale, and all other aspects of my life suffer because of it. I like to call writing my second job. My poor husband has spent many a weekend completely ignored because of the second job.
How many books have you written so far?
Four full-length books, two of which are published, and three novellas all of which have been accepted for publication.
My first novel to be published was Epiphany and came out May 2009 with Sugar and Spice Press. The tale is full of sex, intrigue, violence, vampires, shape shifters, and nymphs. It’s a torrid tale of a woman named Chloe Bright who learns on her twenty-ninth birthday that she is part fairy with the remarkable power of the Epiphany. Anyone she sleeps with and brings to orgasm is granted a live changing flash of insight, but this comes at the cost of their interest in her. Can Chloe handle her new found talent while it wreaks havoc on her real world life, all while saving her only source of income?
My second book out is White Elephant and will be out late 2009 with Sugar and Spice Press. It’s the story of a teenage girl that can talk to house cats, and hates herself for it. Her world is turned on its ear when she finds a young man hiding in her broom closet and fate conspires to toss the two of them together. There’s murder, mayhem and a whole lot of teenage angst and flirting.
I have also penned two other books and am seeking representation for each of them.
My first novella was Flirting with Death and will be available with Phaze late 2009. Five years after the death of her husband, Anna is still in mourning. Her friend Trish takes her out on the town, where Anna meets and has a one night stand with a dashing man named Todd. It turns out to be the best night of her life, but he is long gone by the next day. Two weeks later, she sees Todd again and events lead her to suspect he is responsible for a woman’s death. When he comes to her to explain himself, Anna learns the truth is much worse than anything she could have possibly imagined.
Clockworks and Corsets was my next novella, accepted for publication with Lyrical Press. There is no publishing date set yet. This one is an erotic steam punk adventure that takes place aboard the airship The Merry Widow. Rose Maddigan and her girls sail the skies in search of adventure and pay, both of which are few and far between for the all female crew. A well paying opportunity takes them into the thick of an island jungle in search of abandoned treasure. What, or rather, who they find, forever alters the course of the Widow and the hearts of her crew.
My third published novella is The Blooming and is due out with Sonar4 Publications March 2010. This one is a bit different because it combines my love of erotica with my love of horror: When a documentary film crew is hired by an award winning botanist to film the wild life of a remote tropical island, they end up with more than just footage of trees and samples of bugs. The doctor is in hot pursuit of a rare and powerful flower, while the rest of the crew is overwhelmed with sudden desire and find themselves in hot pursuit of each other. But things take a turn for the deadly when they learn the flower they are seeking is not only a powerful aphrodisiac, it also causes a unique infection that changes its victims hunger for flesh from sexual, to literal.
How do you balance running for your life from flesh eating zombies, with the overwhelming need to screw the brains out of anything still alive?
How long did it take you to write The Blooming?
My latest project, The Blooming is an erotic zombie novella. It took an amazingly short three weeks to pen. I really don’t feel like I wrote it, so much as it wrote me.
How did you choose a publisher for the book?
I had worked with Sonar4 in the past with some short stories, and am proud to be part of their expanding family of authors. The owner, Shells Walter, asked me to write the novella, and I have enjoyed working with her on the project.
With The Blooming, the hardest challenge was working the sex into the story on a believable level, while staying away from the dreaded idea of necrophilia.
When Shells first suggested an erotic zombie story, I worried that she wanted the zombies to be the ones having the sex. I wasn’t sure I could pull that one off. But after a few emails, and assurances that she wasn’t looking for zombie love, we worked out a great plot line that really married the sex to the death and violence, without making it seem like the folks involved are just stopping in mid flee for a little poorly timed nookie.
I really enjoyed writing about the sudden and terrible acts of violence. I have no idea why I liked it so much. Maybe it’s the inner psycho coming out in me. All I know is the sexuality tied into the gruesome nature of some of the character’s deaths really got my creative juices flowing!
What sets The Blooming apart from other things you've written
The mix of eroticism and horror.
I usually limit my horror works to short stories, because maintaining a level of darkness required for me to pen a terrible tale for that length of time would drain me dry. So this is the longest horror piece I’ve done, and I do believe I shall do another novella length piece in the future.
The Blooming is similar to other things I have written in that the main couple carries that aching need to be made whole by one another person. I tend to write about that a lot.
What will your next book be on?
Not sure, but I’m thinking I might explore some overlooked mythology or fairy tale. I love the idea of re-working tales to modern times. With loads of either gruesome deaths or sexy sex, or both!
Related articles:
,,
Her books include Epiphany (Sugar and Spice Press, 2009) and White Elephant (Sugar and Spice Press, 2009).
Her work has also been featured in anthologies that include Vicious Verses and Reanimated Rhymes; Zany Zombie Poetry for the Undead Head (Coscom Entertainment, 2009) and Tooth Decay: Vampires and Zombies stories (Sonar4 Publications, 2009).
In this interview, Tonia Brown talks about her writing:
Do you write everyday?
I try to write at least an hour a day, with Saturdays as a break, although I usually end up in front of the laptop editing some piece.
Depending on where I am in a story, I might work just an hour or so, or go for days writing hours at a time. I tend to get obsessive near the end of a tale, and all other aspects of my life suffer because of it. I like to call writing my second job. My poor husband has spent many a weekend completely ignored because of the second job.
How many books have you written so far?
Four full-length books, two of which are published, and three novellas all of which have been accepted for publication.
My first novel to be published was Epiphany and came out May 2009 with Sugar and Spice Press. The tale is full of sex, intrigue, violence, vampires, shape shifters, and nymphs. It’s a torrid tale of a woman named Chloe Bright who learns on her twenty-ninth birthday that she is part fairy with the remarkable power of the Epiphany. Anyone she sleeps with and brings to orgasm is granted a live changing flash of insight, but this comes at the cost of their interest in her. Can Chloe handle her new found talent while it wreaks havoc on her real world life, all while saving her only source of income?
My second book out is White Elephant and will be out late 2009 with Sugar and Spice Press. It’s the story of a teenage girl that can talk to house cats, and hates herself for it. Her world is turned on its ear when she finds a young man hiding in her broom closet and fate conspires to toss the two of them together. There’s murder, mayhem and a whole lot of teenage angst and flirting.
I have also penned two other books and am seeking representation for each of them.
My first novella was Flirting with Death and will be available with Phaze late 2009. Five years after the death of her husband, Anna is still in mourning. Her friend Trish takes her out on the town, where Anna meets and has a one night stand with a dashing man named Todd. It turns out to be the best night of her life, but he is long gone by the next day. Two weeks later, she sees Todd again and events lead her to suspect he is responsible for a woman’s death. When he comes to her to explain himself, Anna learns the truth is much worse than anything she could have possibly imagined.
Clockworks and Corsets was my next novella, accepted for publication with Lyrical Press. There is no publishing date set yet. This one is an erotic steam punk adventure that takes place aboard the airship The Merry Widow. Rose Maddigan and her girls sail the skies in search of adventure and pay, both of which are few and far between for the all female crew. A well paying opportunity takes them into the thick of an island jungle in search of abandoned treasure. What, or rather, who they find, forever alters the course of the Widow and the hearts of her crew.
My third published novella is The Blooming and is due out with Sonar4 Publications March 2010. This one is a bit different because it combines my love of erotica with my love of horror: When a documentary film crew is hired by an award winning botanist to film the wild life of a remote tropical island, they end up with more than just footage of trees and samples of bugs. The doctor is in hot pursuit of a rare and powerful flower, while the rest of the crew is overwhelmed with sudden desire and find themselves in hot pursuit of each other. But things take a turn for the deadly when they learn the flower they are seeking is not only a powerful aphrodisiac, it also causes a unique infection that changes its victims hunger for flesh from sexual, to literal.
How do you balance running for your life from flesh eating zombies, with the overwhelming need to screw the brains out of anything still alive?
How long did it take you to write The Blooming?
My latest project, The Blooming is an erotic zombie novella. It took an amazingly short three weeks to pen. I really don’t feel like I wrote it, so much as it wrote me.
How did you choose a publisher for the book?
I had worked with Sonar4 in the past with some short stories, and am proud to be part of their expanding family of authors. The owner, Shells Walter, asked me to write the novella, and I have enjoyed working with her on the project.
With The Blooming, the hardest challenge was working the sex into the story on a believable level, while staying away from the dreaded idea of necrophilia.
When Shells first suggested an erotic zombie story, I worried that she wanted the zombies to be the ones having the sex. I wasn’t sure I could pull that one off. But after a few emails, and assurances that she wasn’t looking for zombie love, we worked out a great plot line that really married the sex to the death and violence, without making it seem like the folks involved are just stopping in mid flee for a little poorly timed nookie.
I really enjoyed writing about the sudden and terrible acts of violence. I have no idea why I liked it so much. Maybe it’s the inner psycho coming out in me. All I know is the sexuality tied into the gruesome nature of some of the character’s deaths really got my creative juices flowing!
What sets The Blooming apart from other things you've written
The mix of eroticism and horror.
I usually limit my horror works to short stories, because maintaining a level of darkness required for me to pen a terrible tale for that length of time would drain me dry. So this is the longest horror piece I’ve done, and I do believe I shall do another novella length piece in the future.
The Blooming is similar to other things I have written in that the main couple carries that aching need to be made whole by one another person. I tend to write about that a lot.
What will your next book be on?
Not sure, but I’m thinking I might explore some overlooked mythology or fairy tale. I love the idea of re-working tales to modern times. With loads of either gruesome deaths or sexy sex, or both!
Related articles:
- Interview with Tonia Brown, Static Movement, Accessed November 28, 2009
- [Interview] Brick Marlin, Conversations with Writers, November 27, 2009
,,
Friday, November 27, 2009
[Interview] Brick Marlin
Horror and science fiction author, Brick Marlin lives in Jeffersonville, Indiana.His short stories have been featured in a number of print and online magazines, among them, Blood Moon Rising, Necrotic Tissue, MicroHorror and Sand: A Journal Of Strange Tales.
His books include Dark Places of Rest (Sonar 4 Publications, 2009); Saturated and Crimson (Publish America, 2009) and The Darkened Image (Publish America, 2007).
In this interview, Brick Marlin talks about his concerns as a writer:
When did you start writing?
I started writing at a very young age, back when I was in sixth grade. It was a few days before Halloween and our teacher gave us an assignment to make up a scary story. Most of the kids in class wrote about ghosts, pumpkins with smiling faces, and Frankenstein-like monsters, but I wrote one up about a serial killer murdering children for fun. (Yeah, I know, I'm a little disturbed) And, if I'm not mistaken, my teacher had a long talk with my parents afterward.
When did you decide wanted to get published?
A few years ago. Being published, I think, is a great achievement in itself. It takes a lot of hard work to not only come up with creative tales that will be of interest to an editor, but to make sure that your grammar and spelling is written well.
I started sending in short stories back in 2001, and was really not serious with it until 2006 arrived. Mainly, [I was] just happy to have a tale published.
How would you describe the writing you are doing?
Mostly dark fiction. I used to say I wrote in the horror genre, but I mix sci-fi and fantasy into my work.
Lately, I have been writing for a wider audience, not only for adults, but for the kids too.
What motivated you to start writing for this audience?
I would have to say Ray Bradbury, one of my all time favorite writers.
Which authors influenced you most?
Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett [because of] multiple reasons. Their creativity, their great writing, the chill along the spine, and what lies beyond the imagination.
How have your personal experiences influenced your writing?
I would say how people react to others. Some are nice and pleasant to talk with; while others still haven't grasped the fact to treat people as they would like to be treated.
What are your main concerns as a writer?
To write the very best that I can and hope that my readers enjoy my work. Right now I've collected a small group of fans in tow and I do hope that it'll becomes larger during time.
How do you deal with these concerns?
Read and write as much as I can. I think that is the key.
What are the biggest challenges that you face?
Writers block. It's rather odd, but sometimes ideas are fed to me one after the other; while sometimes I think the writing demons have a sick sense of humor, making me starve for words.
Do you write everyday?
I try and cough up about a minimum of a thousand words five days a week in between working 40 hours a week and, now, returning to playing music; though sometimes it doesn't work out that way, such as having the dreaded disease of writer's block.
How many books have you written so far?
I've written about eight. I have three published and two forthcoming.
Here's a list:
- The Darkened Image (Publish America, 2007);
- Raising Riley (Trunk Novels, 2008) (out of print);
- Saturated and Crimson (Publish America, 2009);
- Dark Places of Rest (Sonar 4 Publications, 2009), and
- An Ensanguined Path (Double Dragon Publishing, 2010).
Raising Riley is about a boy who is thrown into an abusive world with his father and the bullies at school. Not to mention what lurks inside his closet...
An Ensanguined Path is about a werewolf hunter who hunts down the lycanthrope. At a very young age her parents were slaughtered by the beasts and now, as a member of the Krimson Alliance, she takes revenge on their race...
How long did it take you to write Dark Places of Rest?
In this book, I explain how the aliens possess the humans of the past. It took about three weeks to write, trying to research a few things to make sure that the facts would be clear.
Dark Places of Rest was published through Sonar 4 Publications, and I chose this publisher because I had already published a few short stories through the web zine as well as having the opportunity to collaborate with the editor and two other writers on a fun project.
And I think the editor has done exceptional work on promoting me.
Which were the most difficult aspects of the work that you put into Dark Places of Rest?
Originally the story called for me to research how to embalm a corpse, which I had to consult with a very good friend of mine who is a mortician. I was lucky he was around.
I loved the chill of the tale because some things that I write, then go back and re-read, gives me a bit of a scare.
What sets Dark Places of Rest apart from other things you've written?
Not really a whole lot. It still stays with the sci-fi genre.
What will your next book be about?
Well, I've already written a few more to add to the list, still not published, but I think I may dive back into the world of my werewolf hunter.
What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?
I would have to say the enjoyment of hearing my small group of fans tell me how much they love my work.
Possibly related books:
,,
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