The four of us (Jeanne, Tara, Beth and I) meet weekly.

It’s a huge commitment.

We’ve been together for almost four years, and over that time, we’ve shared not only our writing goals, but many of our personal hopes and dreams.

We call ourselves the Pink Fire Writers.  Jeanne came up with the name, and we all liked it.  We never got all philosophical about what it means, but for me, it signifies feminine (pink), motivation (fire), and what we make no excuses for being (writers).

As I thought back over the things we’d laughed and cried about in 2011, it struck me how rich our relationship has become.  We not only communicate our writing aspirations.  We reveal our lives.  Sometimes our writing goals take precedence, and we huddle to come up with a villain’s name.  And sometimes life intervenes, and we celebrate the attributes of a new beau or cry together over the loss of a beloved dog.

This past year, we had our share of ups.  One of us got published, one of us got a new puppy, one of us got an agent, and one of us met a guy online.  Consequently, she’s planning a spring wedding.

Truth is, Beth got a black lab, but isn't this little guy cute?

And we had our share of downs.  One of us got rejected by her dream agent, one of us lost a cherished pet, one of us made extensive revisions to her “breakthrough” book…only to be sent back to the drawing board by her editor, and one of us attended more family funerals than a person should have to endure in one year.

We ventured out.  One of us went to RWA’s biggie in New York, one of us went to an Al-Anon meeting, one of us attended the Writer’s Digest Conference, and one of us made repeated trips to Greensboro to take care of an ailing mother.

We’re not just writing buddies.  We’re friends.  We love and hate our writing.  We praise and admonish each other.

Though we usually buckle down to business every Monday at 2:30 p.m., we end the year with our annual Christmas lunch.  We exchange writers’ gifts, which range from a package of copy paper and highlighters to technique books on dialogue and character development.  This year, my gift was a journal and a Writer’s Digest book entitled, Inspiration and Motivation, by Paul Raymond Martin.  It’s chock full of quotes.  I leave you with one…

“Better a literary career ruined by the pursuit of life than the other way around.”

What about you?  Do you participate in a critique group?  How has it impacted your writing…and your life?

When I read the premise of your book, Anita, I jumped at the opportunity to interview you.  My son graduated from New College of Florida in May 2010, and I spent considerable time in Sarasota during the four years he was there.  I have always been intrigued with Ringling Brothers and circus lore.  So, are you ready for your questions?

Absolutely. What would you like to know?

1.  Your book weaves historical facts and fiction…how much of each?

I did a great deal of research before it occurred to me to write the book, because I was trying to discover the history of my house. Were the legends true? Was the house really built for Ringling midgets? That led me to the circus museum, to newspaper archives, to rare old books about circuses, carnivals, and midget villages, and to retired circus people who still live in the area. Once I started writing, much of that research found its way into the pages. So, I wove in a bit about sideshow impresario Samuel Gumpertz, circus king John Ringling, and a few others who not only played major roles in traveling shows but helped build Sarasota.

There really was a Dreamland in Coney Island, and one of its star attractions was, indeed, a midget village. Everything in the novel about the great influenza epidemic, draft dodgers in World War I, sharecroppers, early twentieth century circus life, and the consolidation of smaller circuses under the Ringling Brothers, was based on extensive research.

And the sometimes underhanded dealings of real estate vultures in southwest Florida during the recent boom is, of course, based on widely reported fact.

The rest is what my imagination constructed from those facts.

2. I have the feeling your premise for The Midget’s House had been ruminating for quite some time.  Am I right, or was this an idea that suddenly occurred to you?

Questions about my house’s history percolated for several years before I began writing.  But you could also accurately say that the book suddenly occurred to me, because in a way, that’s true, too. The character of Lucinda the midget seemed to appear one day as I was sorting through what I’d learned of the history of Sarasota and the circus.  It was almost as if she started dictating her story, and I was there to write it down. Even so, it wasn’t a quick process. I probably went through ten revisions before I was ready to present it to the world.

3. Do you feel the presence of ghosts in your house?

At first, I definitely felt a presence. I tried to capture what that experience felt like when writing about Marisa’s encounter with something she could feel but not see. Several years ago, I spoke to a previous owner of the house who told me that his daughter, as a little girl, had conversations with someone in her room upstairs, who she described to him as Santa Claus in a sailor suit. He and his wife were intrigued enough to use a Ouija board to get in touch with the presence, but I didn’t want to encourage it, and had a professional come cleanse the energy, which is now gone. Oddly enough, while I didn’t want to live with it, I sort of miss the magical feeling of having it here.

4. What do you think are the best and worst aspects of a life spent in the circus?

The best? The closeness and camaraderie. It’s not just that several generations of a single family might live, eat, rehearse, work, and travel as a unit for many months every year. The whole group of Sarasota circus people seems, at least to this observer, like one big extended family. From kids to old-timers approaching their second century, they share a free-wheeling yet disciplined way of life that no outsider can fully appreciate. But it can be a brutally difficult lifestyle. Circus folks strain their bodies to the max. What they make appear easy would be challenging to the average Olympic contender.

5. What’s next on the horizon for Anita Bartholomew?

I’d love to write more fiction. But I make my living as an editor and a non-fiction writer, and sometimes, I think, it’s easier for someone with a different day job to sit down at night and write for the joy of if. If I’ve been writing all day to meet a deadline, or I’ve been re-structuring the manuscript of another author, getting back to writing for myself is often the last thing I want to do.

6. How can readers contact you?

I’m on Twitter – screen name, AnitaBart. Readers can also reach me at TheMidgetsHouse.com (the book’s website should be up at about the time the paperback is available) and AnitaBartholomew.com

Thanks for being with us today, Anita.

Thanks so much for inviting me. It’s been a pleasure.

It was a close contest, and every one was a gorgeous cover. We’re all looking forward to another year of awesome covers for the Clash!

Welcome, Denise.  I’m thrilled to have you join us today.  As a fellow DCL Publications author, I kind of know you, but this interview will give me a chance to ask those questions I’ve been dying to know.  Ready?

 You’re what I would consider a technology guru.  How did you learn all the ins and outs of social media?

Most of what I learned was by reading and following others. In this world, you have to ask questions and when I was a young girl, I had a computer break down. From that point on, I taught myself how to fix things from VCRS, to computers, and anything else I can think of. For social networking, I got a degree in Marketing and PR. I’m also getting my MFA in Creative Writing. I’m also looking at various blogs and social media sites as well. I’m constantly looking up things and trying new trends to further understand social marketing.

What have you found to be your best marketing tools?

Be honest and be yourself.  Support the right causes.  No one likes someone to be fake and not support others while supporting yourself. There are some of my favorite sites such as twitter, facebook, mashable, and klout. There are also programs out there that can help with posting such as tweetdeck and tweetadler.

You’ve received some lovely reviews for Consoling Angel.  Can you share a blurb?

Mira did not know what she had in store the day she fell asleep while wanting to escape her current situation. Overcoming the death of someone close and burying herself in school and an internship has kept her somewhat awake and alive. An admiration for the actor James Dean was all that kept the memory of her father alive. If she couldn’t be with her father, she could at least remember what they shared. She always wanted to meet James Dean. Be careful what you wish for. It may just come true.

What’s next on the horizon for Denise Alicea?

Many things. I am doing an anthology for Christmas next year for DCL. I am also going to be doing a poetry book, another short story about fairies in Manhattan. I also have a script I am working on for class that is about a druid princess. So I am quite busy for the next year!

How can readers contact you?

They can contact me via my website at denisealicea.com or on twitter @denisealicea. I look forward to hearing from them always!

Thank you, Susan, for having me on Embrace the Shadows!

Today, we welcome KaSonndra Leigh.  I’ll provide a snippet from her new YA urban fantasy, When Copper Suns Fall, later in this post, but first, KaSonndra has provided an interesting guest blog about the music that enhanced her story.  Have to tell you, KaSonndra, I’m also a big Muse fan.

First I’d like to say thank you, Susan, for hosting me on your wonderful blog. Readers and bloggers have been so kind to me during this adventure. I can’t wait to share the story behind the music on my website, the heart of When Copper Suns Fall. I think every author has some kind of motivation technique when crafting a scene. For me, it’s about taking the essence of the novel as a whole when writing a scene. And to do that without losing sight of the story elements, I use music. Copper Suns is a cross-genre novel. It is pretty much a dark urban fantasy, but with heavy dystopian elements. So I listened to music that put me in the mood. Here’s a list of seven songs that very much influenced my writing process:

1)      Furious Angels by Rob Dougan

Faris’s Song – Kind of goes without saying. But the song is about a guy who loses his fiancée in a car accident. He makes a promise to her passing spirit that if she goes away, then his furious angels will find her and bring her back to him.  Unfortunately, I can’t say too very much about what scene this was relevant to and why. But when you read the book, you’ll automatically know which one it relates to.

2)     Who Am I Living For? By Katy Perry

Chela’s Song- If you’ve heard Katy Perry’s heavy base and hard beats coupled with some pretty haunting lyrics, then you’ll understand why this is Chela’s song.

3)     Teardrop by Massive Attack

Chela’s song- One suggestion. Watch the video trailer and then listen to the song.

4)     Bring Me to Life by Evanescence

A song that always assisted me with focusing on the core being of my character Seth Alton. Listening to the words on this one tells you so much about him.

5)     My Immortal by Evanescence

Kind of goes without saying again. And I truly don’t want to ruin the story by talking too much about this one.  So, I’ll let my readers listen to the song and place it with the right scene when reading.

6)     Uprising by Muse

An overall feel for the dystopian nature behind the book. This one covers the entire series as well.

7)     Paint the Sky with Stars by Enya

Okay. So there’s a romantic element in the story if you haven’t guessed by now. And this song is so pretty and light. There’s a scene in the book where you’ll be able to picture lying there and listening to this song in the background. Ahhh. LoL. All right, giving out too much information.

You can listen to all of these songs on my website. Two of them (Furious Angels and Teardrop) have been removed for some reason. But you can listen to them on Amazon and tons of other places. I do hope you enjoy reading the world I’ve created in When Copper Suns Fall. Once again, I’d like to thank Susan for hosting me on her site today.

And here’s an excerpt from When Copper Suns Fall…

            Forcing my eyes to open, I found myself outside the Cradlehack. I was standing in Faris’s arms, my head against his chest, my fingers entwined in his black vest. It was a smooth fabric that felt like silk. A cloth no one had worn outside of ceremonies since before the Tidal Years. This boy was no common citizen. His earthy-sweet smell made me feel hypnotically safe, as we stood among the crowd fleeing down the hillside. He lifted my chin, stared in my eyes. But this wasn’t some dumb player’s move.

No, a mysterious thing stirred behind his silvery-gray eyes.

“Feel better, Chela?” he asked. I nodded.

“Thanks for helping me,” I said, still fighting a light head. Still afraid the dreaded black blobs lingered somewhere around us. Somewhat ashamed I’d spoken so horribly to him moments ago.

“You probably shouldn’t do that,” he said.

“Do what?”

“Thank me.”

“Why? Because I caught you using alchemy? That’s what your kind does. Make magic in the shadows, right?” I said.

His left eye ticked. The girl in the hoodie had called him a Caducean. Could it be possible? Father told me Caduceans were a mythical group—demon slayers from a time long gone. Yet, here I stood with a boy who didn’t deny my claim.

Around us, fewer people were leaving the Shack. They paid no attention to the two idiots standing and staring at each other. Did Jalen and Lexa make it out safely?  They were taking forever to reach me.

Did I really want them to find me?

“They’ll call me, now, and make me a witness against you. I’m sorry, but I already have too many problems. So I—I have to tell the truth,” I said.

“That won’t be a problem.” Faris smiled, a catchy one that lit his face up. I couldn’t decide whether it was angelic or downright wicked. Just like I couldn’t remember where I’d ever heard an accent like his. What kind was it? Old southern? Old English? Irish? It sounded like a mix of all three, but with a deep timbre, making him sound god like. “In a few minutes, you won’t remember me or any of this.”

“Really? How do you figure that?” I asked, heart racing.

“Because my gift to you…” He moved his face closer to mine, pulling me into whatever was happening in his head. “My gift is to remove memories that cause you pain.”

“Okay, um, right.” Had I lost my mind? It probably wouldn’t have hurt to scream.

He held my gaze, locking me into something I couldn’t explain. A tear puckered up in his left eye, and slid down his cheek where it stopped on his top lip. Then he blinked, snapping us out of whatever place he’d taken us to, and glanced behind my head. “Here comes your dark knight,” he said, easing his arms away from me.

He strolled off into the last group of stragglers hanging around the Shack. How did he know my nickname for Jalen?

I wiped away a tear rolling down my right cheek.

“Chela, there you are. You scared me, girl.” Jalen’s voice cut into the moment. He spun me around to face him. I blinked, clearing my eyes. “What’s wrong? Did you get hurt?”

I glanced around us. The boy was gone. A dull headache joined the fuzziness in my head. Lost inside a clouded mind, I forgot what I wanted to say. The entire night’s events were hazy.

I fumbled with my thoughts.

What happened to me in there?

You can contact KaSonndra here…

www.kasonndraleigh.com

http://twitter.com/#!/kasonndraleigh

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5137209.KaSonndra_Leigh

http://www.facebook.com/pages/When-Copper-Suns-Fall-by-KaSonndra-Leigh/111665822268673

It’s better to be a bad witch than a dead one.

One thing stands between Catherine Duquesne and happily-ever-after with her soul mate Lex—her unwanted bond with billionaire vampire Zachary Harrison. Married life is hard enough without adding an uninvited vampire to the mix, and being tied to Zach endangers more than just her relationship. If Zach dies, she dies, and with his new seat on the necromancer council being challenged by older, more powerful masters, his life expectancy is dwindling fast.

Vampire politics is only the beginning of Cat’s problems. Hunters are stalking magicians, abducting entire families and killing anyone who resists. As the current Titania and Oberon, Cat and Lex must protect their people, but Cat’s dark past keeps the victims from seeking their help. Worse, the former Titania’s granddaughter wants to oust Cat from the job, believing her vampire ties make her unfit.

To break the bond Cat must broker deals with devils on a journey that will take her to hell and back—literally. Freedom comes at a high price, but Cat will risk anything to save her people and her marriage.

Warning: This book contains explicit language, faerie shenanigans, a field trip to hell, even more magician sex, and gratuitous violence against vampires, demons, hunters, helicopters and the kitchen sink.

So, how are you surviving December? Looking forward to the holidays? Procrastinating? (I haven’t bought a single present or baked any cookies yet. This will come back to haunt me. The writing, however, is going fabulously.)

Let’s talk about being a pantser!

Now, I know you’re asking… What the heck is a pantser?

Hi, hello, that’s me! Okay, okay, I can’t take credit for being the only pantser out there. There are many, many, many of us. We’re the types who “fly by the seats of our pants.”

There is no one single “right” way to write a novel. Some people are plotters and some, like me are pantsers. At first, I didn’t realize this. I thought you had to do everything a certain way.

That made writing look like such a daunting task. When I think of outlining, plot structure, and word counts it makes me balk. “I can’t write 80k words! No. I just can’t do it!”

The thing is, you can do it. I did. Several times in fact.

Writing doesn’t have to be hard. The biggest lesson I had to learn was to relax and not focus on the end result. That’s the thing that stops a new writer from finishing a story. When you’re on word 1 and you have 79,999 more to go to reach your goal, you feel like you’ll never make it. And that’s just the writing it down part. Beyond that you have characters to invent. Those characters need backstories and lives of their own. They need names and jobs and families. Trying to plan that all out and get it all down on paper is enough to make you go insane.

Back when I started writing Immortalis Carpe Noctem, (Book one in my Immortalis series) I let that kind of stuff haunt me. I felt I had to plot everything out. I worried if my chapters would be long enough and if I could really ever hit that magical word count to qualify as a novel.

It took me 5 years to finish Immortalis. I kept forcing myself into the little box of plotting out everything down to the smallest detail and then hating where the story went. My characters wouldn’t talk to me, and all because it was in my outline, I kept trying to make them do things that didn’t feel right. Then when a chapter would end before my scheduled word count,  I would try to force a chapter past its point. I ended up adding in too much unnecessary detail, because I felt each chapter needed to be a specific length.

Eventually, I set the manuscript aside, frustrated with it.

While I let that one settle, I allowed myself to “free write,” not caring if the story made sense or if it was ever going to be read by anyone.

You know what I found out?

My muse doesn’t like to be boxed in. I could write thousands upon thousands of words when I removed the limitations of a formal outline and dropped my word count goals.

Some authors need that structure and that is great for them. Me, I needed freedom. And I bet a lot of others need it too.

Once I realized that, I went back and rewrote Immortalis Carpe Noctem in a short time. After that, I wrote the sequel, Hunters & Prey, and then the third book, Pandora’s Box.

It was that “relaxing” and allowing my muse to speak without worry that helped me to finish my story.

So now, whenever I see a new writer saying, “Oh, I can’t write. It’s too hard.” I tell them the same thing. Just relax. Don’t worry about the end result. Get your story on paper the way you want it. After that, you can worry about “fixing” things. If you can’t get past the initial draft, you will never finish it and make yourself frustrated.

Thanks for reading, and if you want to check out my work, you can find me at

http://www.katiesalidas.com

Immortalis Carpe Noctem (Book 1)

Becoming a vampire is easy. Living with the condition… that’s the hard part.

Bleeding to death after brutal mugging, twenty-five year old Alyssa is rescued by the most unlikely hero: the handsome and aloof vampire, Lysander.

His gift of immortal blood initiates Alyssa into a frightening, eternally dark world filled with: bloodlust, religious fanaticism, and thousand-year old vendettas.

With Lysander as her guide, Alyssa will have to learn what it takes to survive in the immortal world. She’ll have to find the strength to accept her new reality and carpe noctem; or give in, and submit to final death.

Hunters & Prey (Book 2)

Becoming a vampire saved Alyssa from death, but the price was high: the loss of everything and everyone attached to her mortal life. She’s still learning to cope when a surprise confrontation with Santino Vitale, the Acta Sanctorum’s most fearsome hunter, sends her fleeing back to the world she once knew, and Fallon, the friend she’s missed more than anything.

Alyssa breaks vampire law by revealing her new, true self to her old friend, a fact which causes strong division in the group that should support her most: her clan.

Pandora’s Box (Book 3) 

After a few months as a vampire, Alyssa thought she’d learned all she needed to know about the supernatural world. But her confidence is shattered by the delivery of a mysterious package – a Pandora’s Box.

Seemingly innocuous, the box is in reality an ancient prison, generated by a magic more powerful than anyone in her clan has ever known. But what manner of evil could need such force to contain it?

When the box is opened, the sinister creature within is released, and only supernatural blood will satiate its thirst. The clan soon learns how it feels when the hunter becomes the hunted.

Powerless against the ancient evil, the clan flees Las Vegas for Boston, with only a slim hope for salvation. Could Lysander’s old journals hold the key? And what if they don’t?

And how welcome will they be in a city run by a whole different kind of supernatural being?

Werewolves…

To purchase the Immortalis books (In print and ebook):

Amazon USA

http://www.amazon.com/Katie-Salidas/e/B003APXXWO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Amazon UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Katie-Salidas/e/B003APXXWO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Amazon DE (Germany)

http://www.amazon.co.de/Katie-Salidas/e/B003APXXWO/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Barnes & Noble

http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=katie+salidas&page=index&prod=univ&choice=allproducts&query=katie+salidas&flag=False&pos=-1&box=katie+salida&ugrp=2

Smashwords

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KatieSalidas

If you’d like the chance to win all three of the books (with book swag) in Katie’s Immortalis series, head to the following link.

The winner will be announced on January 1, 2012.  Good luck!

                  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDE5UnpXWlJ3OUlDcUM4aHVrdjlpZWc6MQ

]]> http://embracetheshadows.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/fangtastic-friday-welcomes-katie-salidas/feed/ 4 Susan Blexrud Immortalis_banner http://embracetheshadows.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/best-of-the-best-2011/ http://embracetheshadows.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/best-of-the-best-2011/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 10:00:22 +0000 rbachar http://embracetheshadows.wordpress.com/?p=5678 Read more]]> Congratulations to our November Clash of the Covers winner, Her Christmas Pleasure by Karen Erickson!

And now it’s time for Embrace the Shadows 2011 Best of the Best Clash of the Covers! This year’s winners are featured below, so please take a minute and vote for your favorite. The winner will be featured in January. Good luck!

It was a good year for gorgeous covers. Don’t forget to vote in the poll!

Welcome to Embrace the Shadows, Jeffe.  I love your writing, and I’m fascinated by your background.  Ready for questions?

With a lead-in like that?? Of course!

With a history of studies in neurobiology, religion, and the environment, do you incorporate any of these disciplines in your fiction?

Maybe not obviously so, but yes, all of these disciplines have affected how I see the world. I tend to be a biologist, first and foremost. I like to test what I observe against hypotheses and prove or disprove them – which, if you’re a biology nerd, is way more fun than it sounds. And, as unlikely as it sounds, my study of religion informs a lifelong interest in the unseen, the paranormal. I promise, it all makes sense in the end.

From Wyoming Trucks, True Love, and the Weather Channel, which I’m going to take a leap and assume was memoir, how did you segue into romance and erotica?

Ha! I called the collection personal essays, but it did get filed under memoir. What happened was, after Wyoming Trucks came out, I was working on a narrative nonfiction book that no one liked. My editor told me to put it in a drawer for a year and I was at a loss. Then I woke up with a dream that became my romantic fantasy novel, Obsidian, which comes out in June.

It felt like a very natural progression at the time, though it’s funny to see it spelled out this way.

Your Jennifer Paris nom de plume is an interesting way to market your more erotic writings.  Do you plan to continue this alternate moniker?

I don’t, actually. I would have, because I thought it was interesting to do it that way, too, but Angela James at Carina told me that if I wanted to use Jennifer Paris, I had to create a social media identity for her, too. I’m just way too busy (read: lazy) for that. So I took the easy path and gave up Jennifer Paris.

You’ve said you serve as a guinea pig for an acupuncturist-in-training?  How’s that working for you?

This is the most brilliant plan I’ve ever come up with. My acupuncturist-in-training is a natural-born healer. He cures my headaches, adjusts my backaches, heads off the colds and flu. Besides, he’s pretty damn sexy. He can practice on me anytime!

Where can readers contact you?

People can always email me at Jeffe at JeffeKennedy dot com. I’m on Goodreads or find me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/jeffe.kennedy) and Twitter (@jeffekennedy) or visit my website http://jeffekennedy.com/. Or, heck, come have cocktails on my porch!

Thanks so much, Jeffe!

Thank you for hosting me!

Give us a little preview of Identity
Shift…pretty please? 

Thanks for having me back, it’s a pleasure to be here! Here is an
excerpt from Identity Shift:

Guns ‘N’ Roses blared from inside nondescript apartment fourteen. She took a deep, calming
breath as adrenaline surged within. She had him. At last her quarry was within
reach. She raised a fist and hammered on the flimsy, peeling wooden door.

The music shut down. A baby wailed a few apartments down, a small dog yapping into life inside
another. Heavy footsteps approached from the other side of the door.

“Yes.”

One word. One deep, masculine, primal intonation.

Her pulses jerked in response, her nipples beading tight beneath her black leather jacket
and tight burgundy singlet.

If this is what he could do to a woman with one monosyllable behind a closed door, she could only
imagine what he could do with a whole sentence, and up close and personal.

Enticing, Mel!  Now, for your questions…

The publishing world is evolving at break-neck speed, and many authors are self-publishing.  You’ve just taken that plunge.  What do you perceive as the advantages and disadvantages?

Advantages are being your own boss, the freedom of having the book
exactly how you want it, including the book cover (I worked with Helen at
Helzcat Designs.) The disadvantages are not having a big publisher to put the
book out there and get it in front of a whole scad of readers, also not having
an editor to make it the best book it can be.

Do you have to promote more when you self-publish?

Definitely! I don’t think many readers (except for those who drop into
your blog or website) would even know of  its existence. I guess the bigger an author’s
name, the more fans who would go seeking out those Indie books.

What about all the technical
stuff, like getting an ISBN number and setting up sales on Amazon?  How hard was that?

Amazon was really easy, they provide the ISBN number.  With Amazon
I check my sales on their novel rank (great tool). Smashwords email me
of any sales and AllRomance ebooks has a sales report page.

You’ve said you hate to exercise,
but you force yourself in an effort to keep your butt from hanging off both
sides of your computer chair.  Any tips
on how an exercise hater motivates herself to stay healthy?

I try to incorporate my exercise into the day with Miss Four so that
she gets the benefits too , plus it’s great quality time together. Usually she
rides her bike or her scooter around ‘the duck ponds’ for a couple of km’s
while I walk. Otherwise I love swimming and horse riding. I have to keep moving
a little bit extra since I had my thyroid taken out. Sitting stagnant on a
chair for hours at a time doesn’t help the girth lol!

What’s next on the writing front, Mel?

Right now I’ve started work on Book 2 of Alien Hunger, tentatively
titled ‘Galactic Inferno’. I’ve also resurrected the start of a contemporary
which I’ve turned into a vampire story (much harder than I’d anticipated! LOL)
and about a 1/3 of the way through a story that I’m pretty excited about, it’s
probably more single title.

Where can readers find you and your books?

I hang out at my blog a LOT http://melteshco.blogspot.com/

I also hang out at twitter @melteshco

and facebook  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000265527295

my website www.melteshco.com

and readers are very welcome to contact me: melteshco@yahoo.com.au

Thanks so much for stopping by, Mel!

Thanks for having me
again, it’s been fun! =)