Readers life:Home for the Holidays issue 1

Readers Life How to write a Horror novel with Thomm Quackenbush

1st Holland author to publish Paranormal romance

Exclusive interview with Jenna Elizabeth Johnson

Winter Writing Prompts

Enter for a chance to win one of Brick Marlin’s books

Home for the Holidays The Reader’s Life: Home for The Holidays issue is our 1st issue. In this magazine you will find reviewer advice, writing tips, writing prompts, articles about authors as well as author interviews and lists of best books to curl up with to get you through this winter or that would be good gifts for the bookworm in your family. Happy Holidays and enjoy.

Jenna Elizabeth Johnson Jenna Elizabeth Johnson is a self-published author, she is the author of the “Otherworld Series” as well as the “Oescienne” series but she isn’t like most authors, she creates her own covers as well as edits her own novels.

She also handles the publishing and sales part of her career.

A Little Bit of Planning, a Little Bit of Luck ...

I’ve heard many writers talk about how they knew they wanted to be authors since they first put pen, or more likely, pencil, to paper. That wasn’t the case with me. Sure, I enjoyed writing poetry in elementary school and I even remember creating a small book for my little buddy when I was in fifth grade, but even then I was more focused on the illustration aspect of the book than the story itself.

At first, I wanted a career as a marine animal trainer. In junior high, I decided my dream job would be working as an animator for Disney.

By the time I graduated from high school and started signing up for my first college classes, I had no idea what I wanted to do once I got out of school. Since I had always enjoyed art and being creative, I eventually decided on a major in art practice. A few years into college, I was walking through a jobs fair event and stumbled upon the Celtic Studies department’s table and instantly realized I wanted to sign up for a

few classes in that field as well. I had always been interested in my Celtic roots, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to learn more.

Now, the reason I’m telling you all this is because both my art degree and Celtic Studies minor play integral roles in my journey to becoming an author. I also feel my path to my current career has been long and circuitous, so very much like the writing process itself.

Every author’s story is different, and this is mine …

A Bolt of Lightning ...

As any good artist can tell you, keeping a sketch book on your person at all times is important to help build ideas and art projects. My college art professors required us students to keep a sketch book so we could jot down our ideas in and outside of the studio. Along with drawings of buildings and trees and other things I observed on campus, I had also developed the habit of

sketching the beings and characters I had been keeping in my head for so many years. They all started out as ideas inspired by the books I’d read and movies I’d enjoyed throughout my life, as well as the remnants of a few spare minutes spent daydreaming as I walked from class to class, or when I would get lost in my own imaginary outside playing as a child.

And then one day during my final year in college, I was sitting on the couch in my apartment living room, leafing through all the work I’d done, when it hit me: If I didn’t write down this story (because clearly, that’s what all the individual pictures and maps had become by then), then no one would ever get to read it. I graduated from college soon afterward and that summer, I started the first draft of what would eventually become The Legend of Oescienne - The Finding. It only took me twenty-four years to create the world for my very first novel.

The Beginning ...

When I first started writing my Legend of Oescienne series, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I would hole myself up in my room, away from my family, and just write. For a long time, I kept what I was doing a secret. I have no idea why. Perhaps I thought my family would disapprove of my endeavor, or laugh at me. I mean,

really, I wanted to be a fantasy writer AFTER graduating with a degree in art practice with a minor in Celtic Studies.

What parent would encourage their daughter to seek out those areas of study? Perhaps I am luckier than most, because my parents have always encouraged me to do what I enjoy, and when I finally announced I was working on a book, their response was so very normal: they simply shrugged and said, “Oh, okay,” as if I had just told them I was going to do a load of laundry. It was just what I needed to keep me sane and stable for the years to come.

A Leap of Faith ...

By the time I was ready to approach literary agents and publishers with my first manuscript, a handful of years, a few writers’ conferences and several hours of editing, rewriting, deleting and polishing had passed. The Legend of Oescienne had been split into two books (The Finding and The Beginning) and the first book was rather long. I visited the library and found a book listing a multitude of literary agents.

After perusing through it, I got some names. I also searched online as well, taking note of the websites warning writers against shady agents and publishing companies. I sent off ten query letters (before researching how to write a proper query letter), all rejections, before I heard about the j

the journeys of other big name authors.

Some had played the querying game for ten years before landing a publishing deal.ten years before landing a publishing deal.I’m an impatient person.

I didn’t want to wait ten years. Selfpublishing had been around for years and years, but when I decided to go the route of indie author, there were many more people like me who had written a book and didn’t want to wait years to get it published. And so, I dove into the great Independent Publishing Ocean. I visited writing forums and researched other indie authors. I asked for advice and read about their stories. Then, in 2009, I self-published The Legend of Oescienne - The Finding on Create Space. I had tried Lulu before, but I wanted a much broader distribution for my books, so I went with the Amazon company and I have published through Create Space ever since. A year later, I published The Legend of Oescienne The Beginning, then a year after that, The Legend of Oescienne - The Awakening, learning and growing as a writer along the way.

I never took any creative writing courses; I learned by doing - by talking with other authors, by reading and reading and reading, by mimicking and deriving inspiration from those writers I admired most. And as I worked on my Oescienne series, other book ideas came bursting forth, and so I would jot them down in my Holder Folder to be worked on at another time.

I was getting a few sales on Amazon and Kindle, and I went to a few author and book events, trying to sell my books, but they weren’t selling as well as I would have liked. It was then that I realized I needed to do something different; perhaps work on another book series. And so that’s what I did.

The Glamour of the Otherworld ...

I attribute my writing of the Otherworld series to three things.

First, during my constantly developing writing journey, I realized I really wanted to bring the world of the Celts (the mythology in particular) to life for young readers. I had been writing middle-grade for a few years and I was ready to embark on a story or series of stories more suited for a slightly older audience. I wished to share my love of Celtic mythology with those who might not ever get a chance to learn about it.

My second reason ties in with what I said above. I wanted to make Celtic mythology more accessible, and having read some of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson books, I was inspired to do just that. What really finally pushed me into starting on the Otherworld series, however, was reading Amanda Hocking’s Switched.

Hocking borrowed from Norse mythology to create her Trylle series, and has been immensely successful as an independent author.

So, I took a break from my Oescienne books so I could write Faelorehn, Dolmarehn and Luathara.

I managed to get them all out in one year, and the plan was to finish withLuathara and then get back to Jaax and Jahrra’s story in my Oescienne books.

Well, if you follow my writing, then you know that’s not what happened.

Once the trilogy was complete, my secondary characters started chatting to me more, and my readers expressed their disappointment in the series coming to an end. More stories from my Otherworld series started blossoming and pushing themselves to the forefront of my mind, and I found myself unable to focus on anything but Eile and its colorful characters for the past few years. Six Otherworld novels and short stories later, I am finally getting around to finishing the fourth book in my Oescienne series. After that, I’d like to return to Eile as well as finish the fifth and final Oescienne book and finish up some of my back burner projects.

Judging Books by Their Covers ...

Up until recently, I have always done the artwork for my book covers.

There are a few reasons for this.

One, I didn’t make enough money at my day job, or from book royalties, to pay a cover artist for their work.

Secondly, I had a degree in art and thought I should make use of that degree. Recently, I have had my book covers for the Oescienne series redone (although my own art made do for the time being, it wasn’t nearly good enough to represent the world I had built for my middle grade fantasy series).

When I finally sat down and started looking for an artist, I wanted to find someone who could capture the epic feel to the Oescienne books, as well as appeal to both younger and older readers alike. I found Randy Vargas’ (my cover artist for the Oescienne books) artwork through a Google search, then found his website and DeviantArt page and contacted him about doing some cover art. I was thrilled when he accepted my offer and soon he got to work on the cover for The Finding. I sent him my own sketches of what I’d like to see on the cover, and he sent me samples of what he had created.

The Otherworld series is a different story. I might someday get those covers redone as well, but for now I am happy with the images I’ve managed. I had someone design the Faelorehn font for me, but the images on the Otherworld covers are all pictures I have taken, mostly in my backyard, of objects and scenes other people might not even notice. The cover for Faelorehn is a picture of a black locust

tree growing in my backyard in early spring with a foggy sky behind it. Dolmarehn’s cover is a manipulated picture of an old concrete sink with moss growing on the back of it. Luathara’s cover is a piece of old rusty corrugated metal leaning against the back fence in my yard.

The other cover images were derived from more pictures like the ones mentioned above, manipulated in Photoshop, then saved as images I could then paste into text boxes in a Microsoft Word document. After I set the page size to match the cover dimensions, and once the images are in place, I use more text boxes to add the title and any other text I need. Although I like the final products once they are complete, I think it’s the artist in me that helps me pick the right colors and the right look for the covers, more so than my ability to create them, that helps me in the long run.

The Secrets to Writing a Novel ...

There really is no secret to writing a novel, or a book, or a novella. The best bit of advice I can give anyone on how to write your first book is to just sit down and write it. You don’t have to write the story in chronological order, either. One of the first scenes I ever wrote for the Oescienne series takes.

place in one of the final chapters of the second book. Also, your stories can, and most likely will, change throughout the course of the book’s creation. Faeborne, my latest Otherworld book due for publication later this month, started out as a short story idea that evolved into a full length novel.

Just write. Write what your characters are saying and worry about when they say it later. Spend time world building and don’t feel guilty if you just need a day or two to recoup or daydream. Often, it is in my down time that new ideas, or sticky places in my plot, work themselves out. Go in knowing that writing the first draft, although definitely a feat worth celebrating, is the easy part. The editing and formatting will require much more time and care. Be willing to make changes and throw away good dialogue if it doesn’t work for your story at that time. Listen to your characters. You are just the vessel bringing forth the story. It isn’t so much yours as it is theirs. They will do things you don’t like, and you’ll just have to accept that.Finally, know that it takes time to write a book. If you can hang in there, even if you have

days or weeks go by where you just can’t find it in you to add to your story, don’t despair. Your story will find its way out. Just give it a little patience and a little time. In the meantime, read voraciously, anything and everything. Do your research.

Build your social media presence. Look into ways to market on a budget and talk to other authors. Join a writing group if you can - this doesn’t have to be a critique group (although those are helpful).

Even if you simply plan to meet up with your writing buddies to relax and chat casually about your progress, it can be helpful (I am a member of one of the newest branches of the California Writers Club (http: //calwriters.org/), and just being around my fellow authors and aspiring authors is an inspiring thing. Check your local libraries and coffee houses for information on writing groups.

We’re out there, you just have to find us ;)). It’s good to get out of the writing cave every now and then and step away from your story.

Some Final Advice for New Writers and First Time Indie Publishers ...

1.) Don’t let the negativity get you down.

Negative reviews happen, you can’t stop them. Take them in stride and keep on writing. It helps to look up your favorite authors and read their negative reviews. I mean, how can anybody possibly hate your favorite book? It’s the best! This will help put things in perspective.

2.) Price your books accordingly. I made this mistake when I first started out. If you are Stephen King, or J.K. Rowling, or any other big name, big publisher backed author, you can afford to price your ebooks at $9.99 (and usually, it’s the publishers who are in charge of that, not the authors). Not so for us indies. My full-length novels are priced at $3.99, and I’ve found that’s a good price. I know it’s tough when you’ ve spent weeks, months and years polishing your novel, but if you are not yet known, it is near impossible to sell your books at a higher price.3.) Let your readers know you appreciate them, even if it’s a shout out on your website or Facebook wall every now and then. I love my readers and can’t let them know enough how much I appreciate their continued readership. Without them, I would not be living my dream right now. Granted, I’d still be writing, but it wouldn’t be earning me enough that I could cut back to working part

time at my day job. Host a giveaway, post images from Pinterest that embody your books, ask questions on your Facebook page/blog/Twitter to get their feedback, respond to their messages ... These are all good ways to stay in touch with your readers.

4.) You will make mistakes, and people will point them out to you.

As with the negative reviews, don’t let it get to you. Learn from those mistakes, but be willing to move on from them. And whatever you do, don’t engage trolls online! So many authors have ended up drawing negative publicity to themselves by taking someone else’s opinions personally and blowing them up all over the internet. If you must respond to someone’s rude comment, do so on an empty page somewhere but do not post it. We all need to vent, but it is best not to put it somewhere where others can see it and start forming a negative image of you.5.) Above all, love what you do. No matter what happens in the future,

whether you happens in the future, whether you land a six figure contract with a big publisher, or only sell a couple dozen books a year, have pride in your accomplishments and don’t lose focus of why you started writing to begin with.

Winter’s Favorite Books Adult

1. A Rose in Winter, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss 2. Dark Celebration, Christine Feehan 3. Christmas Carol, Charles Dickenson 4. A virgin River Christmas, Robyn Carr 5. Vision in White,Nora Roberts 6. Happy ever after,Nora Roberts 7. Savor the moment,Nora Roberts 8. Bed of Roses,Nora Roberts 9. Bring me home for Christmas, Robyn Carr 10. My kind of Christmas, Robyn Carr

Home for the Holidays Prompts

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Mystery gift (Write about the discovery of a gift from an admirer) Chaotic Holiday dinner (Write about a Holiday dinner Catastrophe) Decking the halls (Write about putting up decorations) Mistletoe ( Write about being under the mistletoe) Snowfall (Write about the first snowfall of winter)

How to write without an age range in mind: Part 1 with Brick Marlin

Brick Marlin is an author of horror, fantasy and science fiction stories for all ages. What sets him apart is the fact that he writes novels that parents as well as teens can read, something that is very hard to master. Yet he makes it seem very easy.

We will be talking with Brick on how he writes Horror for all ages.

Interview on next page

1. Why did you choose to write novels without an age range?

“My plan has been to reach out to a wider audience, not dropping curse words or sexual situations in my work, bringing readers into the fold of adventurous tales, whether horror, fantasy or science fiction.”

2. How much harder is it to write a novel without a particular age in mind?

“For me, its not hard. I grew up reading an array of novels for all age groups, such as "Lord of the Flies", "The Martian Chronicles", "Fahrenheit 451", "To Kill A Mockingbird" even delving into the works of Edgar Allen Poe. I began reading his work in sixth grade, actually one of the reading assignments for class”.

3. What are some tip's you would give to a writer that wants to create a novel without an age range in mind?

“Read as much as you can. Read the classics. Read books outside of the genre in which you wish to write. When I began to become serious about writing I read tons of horror novels, mixing in science fiction and fantasy. And I still do.”

4. A lot of writers have a type of music they listen to while they write do you use music as a way to become inspired?

“I am an avid lover of all kinds of music. I can't say that listening to tunes inspires me, but I do listen to a lot of hard rock and heavy metal, especially old school, such as Queensryche, Krokus, Judas Priest, Accept, etc, while writing.. “ 5. Where do your stories come from?

What inspires your novel's?

“I get a lot of my ideas from reading.

Lately, my focus has been on the human condition, how people react in certain situations, such as evolving characters and throwing them in an apocalyptic setting or in a world where everyone plays the Lottery, the winner having the luxury of gaining monetary income, though knowing up front he or she will be sent to a killing machine in less than three months. Its a way to keep the population leveled, according to the leader of the colony.”

6. What age group does your novel seem to appeal to?

So far I have had a lot more adults reading "Shadow Out Of The Sky". I believe the younger generation would enjoy the tale as well.”

Brick Marlin will be continuing this topic in the next issue of “Reader’s Life” If you are interested in Brick Marlin and his no age barrier writing enter to win a free copy of his novel “Shadow Out of the Sky” https://t. co/92QfmD2dKy Check him out on Twitter at @brickmarlin or find him on Facebook under Brick Marlin.

Interview done by Trisha Ratliff

Interview with Jen Minkman Jen Minkman is the author of over 17 novels. She is the first person in Holland to publish a paranormal romance and since her publishing her novel, Holland has seen a huge lift in paranormal romance publications. Miss Minkman translates her published novels into english for self publication in the US. For every novel she writes she also creates a playlist, she not only writes but she also plays Piano, guitar and violin. Her books are already available in English, Dutch, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, and Afrikaans!

1. When did you decide to write a Paranormal Romance?

about ten rejections. So that was great! In the US I published independently (after

“When I read New Moon by Stephenie Meyer.

I was really upset that Bella didn't

having translated the book to English) because I know how

end up with the Native American

hard it is to query agents and

hottie, so I decided to write a book of

publishers in the US and UK. I

my own with a happy end for the Indian, haha! That book was Shadow of Time, my first book.

2. Once you finished it and was ready to publish did you struggled to get backing from publishers or were

didn't want to go down that road.

3. How did people react to your novel being published?

they willing to get behind your novel?

In Holland, I found a publisher after

My sister (who is my no 1 proofreader) was ecstatic when she heard the news about my Dutch publisher! And I got a lot of positive feedback from readers in the US as well, so all in all it was a wonderful experience which prompted me to write more books!

4. Have more Holland

5. What sort of feedback did

authors started

you receive

publishing within the

from the public once you

genre since you?

published?

Yes, definitely! I think a lot

Most of the reviews were

of us

positive, and

were trying to write

the ones that weren't didn't

paranormal romance but

say it was a bad book, just

the genre needed a little

that it wasn't their cup of tea.

push. My current

So I was very encouraged

publisher, Storm

by readers and bloggers and

Publishers, focuses on YA

felt like I'd done something

(paranormal) writers from

right.

Holland and Belgium only, which is great because the

6. Why had no one in

market is flooded with

Holland published

translated novels already.

paranormal romance prior

Now we have a chance to

to you?

reach readers, too!

Beats me. I think the Dutch market is a few years behind the US market, so we

7. Why do you think more people are publishing Paranormal romance in Holland?

needed time over here to catch up with trends.

And even then, the trends were to get YA paranormal bestsellers translated into Dutch

“Because the publishers woke up and now they realize that we have a lot of local talent in this genre, too!

and publish them; not fish in a pool of local authors. I know for a fact that other writers were knocking on the same doors as I did, to no avail. It wasn't for lack of wanting; it was for lack of publishers who were willing to give a debut author a chance.

8. Where do you get your inspiration from?

“From everywhere, but mostly from traveling and reading a lot of books myself!”

9. I’ve heard that you create a playlist 10. Since this is the holiday season do you have any Is this music that you have special traditions in Holland found or did you compose and can you tell us about them? the music? for every book you write.

I usually compose music for my books, but sometimes I stick to a playlist with music from movies or other singer/songwriters. The songs I composed are mainly for my paranormal romance books. I also have a dystopian series, but that world was a bit too grim to inspire me to write music for it!

Yes! We celebrate Sinterklaas on the 5th of December.

Sinterklaas or Saint Nicolas is a saint/bishop from Spain (actually, he's from Turkey, but our tradition insists he's from Spain) and he sails to Holland on his steam boat every year to give presents to all the kids who've been good.

He's basically Santa, but less fat and more catholic Most kids believe Sinterklaas really exists until they're about five years old. He has his

own show on TV and the Dutch government actually rents a steamboat every year and hires an actor to dress up as Sinterklaas so it truly feels like Sinterklaas is arriving in our country for this special occasion. For the festive season, we bake mini-gingerbead cookies called 'pepernoten' and 'taai-taai' and we give each other presents on the evening of the 5th of December, usually accompanied by poems that make a little harmless fun of the person who receives the gift.

Interview done by Trisha Ratliff

You can keep up with Jen Minkman on her Twitter at @JenMinkman or Facebook at Jen Minkman - YA Paranormal Romance

How to write horror and dark fantasy with Thomm Quackenbush Thomm Quackenbush Real horror is the ability to reach into someone’s life and show them what they most want not to lose. I think many people—mainly lazy Hollywood writers—think that suggestions of torture are enough, which has led to the torture-porn genre so popular with Eli Roth. Yes, death and dismemberment are primal triggers, but I do not actively worry about them on a daily basis. Feeling trapped by my own decisions, losing a loved one because of my own action or inaction, losing my identity, these are what frighten me.

Reading articles about Terry Pratchett’s gradual decline frightened me because he was someone with whom I identified,

slowly losing his faculties to a degenerative condition he couldn’t treat. It’s easy to put on a brave façade when faced with a quick death. It is harder to wake up every morning and to have wilted a little more.

When I write horror, I don’t want a boo-scare. I want you to know that the monster is still there. The monster is always there. You see it in a flash of lightning, but now there is darkness and you don’t know where it is or who it is.

Horror movies that actually affected me when I put the DVD back in its case don’t feed me the terror straight. Fear needs a mixer, sadness or love (very, very rarely comedy). Two that immediately jump to mind—The Orphanage and The Babadook—both involve small worlds, parental love, the uncertainty of senses, and a chance at triumph.

They creep under my skin and bear rewatching. If I can’t believe the protagonists can succeed, I cannot feel attached to their struggle; I am not a fan of the “watch the nymphomaniacal coeds be picked off one-by-one” genre.

Horror needs hope to be successful. It also needs characters and situation that reach the reader. I cannot relate to being stalked by an unkillable serial killer—thank god!—but I know what it is to feel as though someone I love is changing into something I cannot see as them any longer.

2. Is it difficult to create a modern horror story?

I think cell phones do a lot to kill horror. The world is too convenient these days.

Whenever my wife and I watch a horror movie created prior to the ubiquity of cell phones, we play a game of pointing out how quickly the plot would be ruined if someone could Google an answer or turn on their GPS. Writers today have to deal with an audience that won’t accept

certain plot contrivances that were commonplace in a more ignorant age.

Writers of all stripes have to deal with an audience that can easily look up if we underestimate the caliber of a firearm or the dimensions of a warplane, and who will take great delight in pointing this out to the internet at large. Given that, I understand the popularity of fantasy fiction completely decoupled from this reality, where any curiosity of the story can be written off as “A wizard did it.”

3. What is dark fantasy?

I see it as fantasy that dwells more closely in the darker parts of the human experience, rather than on the adventure. I am fond of using murderous creatures, but I think I humanize them enough that they do not give anyone lasting nightmares (aside from my editors). One of my favorite characters is Sati, a pennangallan who has lived for centuries by preying upon pregnant women and newborns. In bringing her into a modern setting, I made her a neonatal nurse who assists in abortions and privately performs selective euthanasia of babies she thinks will be burdensome to society. She is still dark and murderous, but my protagonists don’t place her on a “kill on sight” list. There are gradations to darkness and even the most outwardly virtuous is stained by living in this world.

4. What is the difference between Dark Fantasy and Horror?

It is a matter of degrees and intention. The two are identical cousins to a lot of people. Obviously, horror can be entirely grounded in reality. We daily live in a world where we hear about mass shootings, acts of terrorism, and environmental catastrophes. I can think of no dream demon more frightening than knowing that unhinged men have their hands on the nuclear football and could end human civilization at a whim. Fantasy can give us a distance, the plausibility deniability that this can’t happen in my backyard. I think dark fantasy doesn’t dwell solely on torturing the characters with their inevitable doom.

5. Are Horror and Dark Fantasy popular genres?

I hope that the multi-decade success of Stephen King proves that.

Horror and dark fantasy let people believe in a moral universe, even if it doesn’t necessarily work out to their favor. Horror can show a world where the sinful are punished (even if there is a fair bit of splash back on nearby innocents) and cunning virtue triumphs over ultimate evil.

6. How important is research while writing a novel?

I think we live and die by how real our worlds feel. If we cannot convince a reader to immerse themselves in our world by making it feel realistic, we have lost them.

We are the gods of these worlds we create and we had better be omniscient ones.

7. What are some ways you can research for novels?

I tend to read a lot of tangentially related books, however I do find valuable nuggets in whatever I read or watch. The trick is polishing them up, reading enough on the subject that one can approach the expertise our characters are supposed to have.

As a nice side effect, I give occasional and well-attended talks on the basis of my books. My last was on paranormal myths of the Hudson Valley. My next is about the origins of Christmas myths and how an acetic bishop in the fourth century became the jolly elven Santa we know and love today.

8. How important is setting while writing horror stories?

It is important so long as we have created a world in which our readers can feel immersed. These can be in space, at summer camps, in a faux medieval dragon fiefdom so long as our readers feel they are there with us and personally threatened.

9. How important is vocabulary?

It is important so long as it is invisible. You want to read, but you don’t want to be reminded you are reading because it takes you out of the story. My editor on Artificial Gods made clear to me that, if my character wouldn’t use a word, it should not appear in the narration.

We must not be clever at the expense of our readers.

I read (and panned) a book on writing that advocated using frequent alliteration and assonance.

We are writing prose, not poetry.

Our craft is going unnoticed.

10.

What are some tips for people trying to break into the horror writing industry?

Don’t underestimate your readers. They will feel most satisfied when the characters’ conclusions make sense within the realm of your universe and when the reader figures out the solution right alongside the characters.

Interview done by Trisha Ratliff