Interview with M.A. McComas, Author of Start of the Storm: Trials of Transcendence Volume I

Good morning, today’s interview is with M.A. McComas, author of Start of the Storm – Trials of Transcendence – Volume I.

Please see below and enjoy!

Best,

-Vincent Lowry

Interview:

1) What is your author name and in what state do you live (or country if not in the US)?

          My name is M.A. McComas and I am from Pennsylvania.

2) What is the title of your newest book and what is the genre?

           The title of my debut novel is Start of the Storm: Trials of Transcendence Volume I and it is an Epic Fantasy.

3) What is the book about?

The continent of Transcendence is fractured and segregated. It’s races–long ago chased from their own world by humans–keep to themselves and live in isolation from each other. But for the first time in æons the future is beginning to brighten and hope for the continent’s unification blossoms.

In Mystwood, Lethelas, prince of the elves, questions the veracity of his people’s historical records and shakes off the xenophobia of his father. Down in Qaagire, Corguul, the youngest son of an orc chieftain, dreams not of slaughter and endless warfare, but instead of traveling the world and meeting the menagerie of peoples who inhabit it. And King Bræman of the dwarves sits his throne in Resonate Hall, aching to develop trade partnerships that will allow his people to showcase their labors across the land.

The unexpected, storm-blown arrival of High Commander Terrin Korsing and his fleet of humans, however, may jeopardize these hopes of unity.

But Eræn, the Ranger, charged with the care of the continent of Transcendence and all its peoples, has been working toward peace for too long to let it slip from his grasp now. He may be the only one with a chance to bring them all together despite their determination to erase each other from the land. And with a larger, darker storm looming to the south, intent on sweeping them all from the face of Transcendence, coming together is their only hope.

4) Where did you come up with the idea?

For generations the fantasy genre has been populated by a landscape of unique, carefully built worlds–worlds full of mythic and magical races. And in these worlds, humans are often presented as the newcomers, the younger race in a land they did not inherit. Authors sometimes allude to a time æons past when humans first made their way to these lands, but readers are left pondering what that time looked like. What events brought the humans here? How did the races already inhabiting the land respond? What heroes and legends rose up out of the æther as a result? I wanted to finally tell that story.

I have three brothers: one older and two who are eight and ten years younger. I played a lot of games with my younger brothers growing up and quite often these were games I had made up for us. One year when they were both teens, in late February, I was looking for a game we could play together while the weather was bad. Both of my brothers enjoyed World of Warcraft, but I was looking for something we could sit around a table and play together. One of my brothers played Dungeons & Dragons with a group of his friends, but that required a little too much paper and pencil than I wanted. To me, the ideal table game would combine the best elements of both.

So I decided to design just such a game. And in the course of designing it I sketched a quick and poorly drawn map and and the land of Transcendence was born.

It was not the Transcendence you will find in my book, however, but rather it was Transcendence 1,000 years in the future. Like is the case in many fantasy worlds as I mentioned above (see Tolkien, Paolini, Sullivan, etc.), the one I was shaping was a world in which humans were the late-comers to a land filled with magic and mythical races. The map I drew showed a fully developed city of Stormhaven, the progressive, melting-pot city of Erætor, and a sylvan city of the elves within the bounds of Mystwood, their ancestral forest. And these cities were all interconnected with roads demonstrating the fact that the races engaged in free movement and free trade. It was pretty standard for a fantasy RPG game and a perfect world in which to develop a character for oneself and set off for exploration and adventure.

As I began to write out some backstory, however, I started to think through some of this world’s history. The ideas that came to me were rich with detail and seemed to have the foundations of a narrative that was truly epic in scope. Perhaps this was a story I would write someday, I told myself… The problem was, the ideas would not stop coming and it became harder and harder to focus on creating the game. I tried for about a week, but finally I had to admit to myself that my long-ago promise “to write a book someday” had come calling.

So, I put away all the supplies I was using for the game, pulled out a blank piece of paper, laid it over top of my poorly drawn map, and traced its features minus the cities and roads. Here now was a section of barren coast land ready for the arrival of Transcendence’s first humans. And from that new, empty map, what is now chapter 1 of Start of the Storm was written.

5) How long did it take you to write it?

It took me ten months of nearly full time writing to write the original manuscript. Then I actually put it away for three years only bringing it out to be beta read on occasion and to compile some notes. Then, with a lot of encouragement from my now-fiancee Emily, I finally pulled it back out and spent a year editing and revising and self-publishing it.

6) Did you learn anything from the project?

I learned an immense amount from the project. While writing it, I devoured articles on writing and poured through my Chicago Manual of Style working to hone my control and use of the English language.

7) Do you have an author website and/or blog? How about a book video?

I have a blog that can be found at mamccomas.blogspot.com. There you can find more information about my writing including behind the scenes looks. Also, every Monday I write a blog post spotlighting one of my characters and exploring their backstory.

8) Do you have any success tips to pass on to fellow authors? How about any great editors/cover artists?

My best success tip is to create an outline. Have at least a general idea of where you’re going with your story, an end goal. Fix that final scene in your mind and work toward it one page at a time.

9) What genres do you like to read? Are you open to reading new authors and reviewing their work?

I enjoy reading Fantasy (obviously), Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, and the Classics. And I would be happy to review others books.

10) What is your favorite book of all time and why?

    My favorite book of all time is Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. I read it over twenty times as a kid because I loved the adventure. I loved the idea of being able to develop something from        nothing and survive. My book definitely is a product of some of Defoe’s influence in the way the humans respond to being shipwrecked in a strange new world.

11) Fun Question: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind?

     I do not currently have any pets, but my fiancee as taken to feeding a pregnant neighborhood cat on my back deck. We named her Corrine after the Corona Virus because that’s when she         started coming around.

12) Fun Question 2: Do you own an electronic reading device? If so, what kind and how do you like it?

I do not own an electronic reading device, but my fiancee has a Kindle and likes it for certain situations. But I am a bibliophile. I love the look, feel, and smell of real books and I own well over a thousand of them. I recently purchased my first home and I wouldn’t even consider a house that didn’t have a room in it that I could turn into a library.

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Interview with N.J Kulkarni, Author of The Hawa Mahal Murders

Hello,

Today’s interview is with N.J. Kulkarni, author of The Hawa Mahal Murders.

Please enjoy.

Best,

-Vincent Lowry

 

Interview:

1) What is your author name and in what state do you live (or country if not in the US)?
I write under the name of N.J Kulkarni and I live in Pune, India.

2) What is the title of your newest book and what is the genre?
My book is a crime thriller titled “The Hawa Mahal Murders.’

3) What is the book about?
The story focusses on two characters: a troubled housewife trapped in a bad marriage (her second), and a police officer desperate to prove himself but stymied at every step by a crooked boss and a corrupt system. When a series of murders take place in a posh locality in Mumbai, all hell breaks loose, and senior police officers scramble to save the Chief Minister’s son and frame an innocent watchman.

My novel is a psychological thriller and delves deep into the minds of the main characters, including the serial killer, and touches upon societal issues in India, like corruption, the social divide, and women’s issues.

4) Where did you come up with the idea?
I was inspired by the setting. I used to live in a beautiful but old building in Mumbai. It was out of place amongst its neighbours and that set me thinking. The actual story and characters are from my imagination. It was the setting which triggered the story.

5) How long did it take you to write it?
More than two years.

6) Did you learn anything from the project?
I had read a lot of detective and mystery novels but when I actually started to write one, I realised how difficult it is to insert clues in the right places so as to keep up the suspense. There was a lot of painstaking detailing work required and constant going back and forth. It was a learning experience for me.

7) Do you have an author website and/or blog? How about a book video?
I have an author website: https://www.nitajatarkulkarni.com/

8) Do you have any success tips to pass on to fellow authors?
I published a book fairly late in my life (I was 60) and there were a lot of doubts along the way. I didn’t think I could actually do it. If I had to say anything to aspiring authors it would be: Believe in yourself.

9) What genres do you like to read? Are you open to reading new authors and reviewing their work?
I like to read crime thrillers and in fact, all genres, including non-fiction. I do love new authors but currently, as I am in the midst of writing two more books, my reading has slowed.

10) What is your favorite book of all time and why?
My three favourite books are Gone with the wind, Wuthering Heights and Anna Karenina.

11) Fun Question: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind?
No pets! Allergic!

12) Fun Question 2: Do you own an electronic reading device? If so, what kind and how do you like it?
I use the Kindle app to read both on the ipad and iphone.

 

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Interview with Stephanie Ross, Author of Tears of the Unicorns

 

Good morning,

Today’s interview is with Stephanie Ross, author of Tears of the Unicorns.

Please enjoy.

Best,

-Vincent Lowry

Interview:

1) What is your author name and in what state do you live (or country if not in the US)?

My author name is Stephanie Rose, it is my maiden’s name. I thought of keeping it as my pen name since I already published under this name before my marriage. Would have been weird to change my author name. I am located in South Germany near Stuttgart.

2) What is the title of your newest book and what is the genre?

My newest book is called “The Tears of the Unicorns”. It is a Fantasy trilogy and the final volume will be released on November 15^th 2019.

3) What is the book about? 

“The Tears of the Unicorns” is about the angel Caylen, who gets lost in his despair about the injustice of the world. He strives to destroy everything in order to create a better, more just world for all beings, especially those that are different. His sister Miriel has to find a way to stop the destruction her brother caused and safe the world.

4) Where did you come up with the idea?

The first ideas for this series came to me at the spur of the moment during a little project – a role play – I did with my best friend. It was a love story between the elements of Water and Fire. This story finally inspired me to pick up the idea of elemental magic and create a mystic new world of my own.

5) How long did it take you to write it?

If I remember correctly, it took me about 2 or 3 years to finish it – with looooots of disruptions.

6) Did you learn anything from the project?

I’d say it cleared my mind and helped me realize what I want to do with my life. It inspires me to go on.

7) Do you have an author website and/or blog? How about a book video?

I do have an author website which is bilingual (German and English) – www.searose-fantasy.de

I’ve always dreamed of a book video, but I haven’t found the right inspiration for one so far.

8) Do you have any success tips to pass on to fellow authors? How about any great editors/cover artists? 

First, I’d say never give up on your dream. If you want to be a writer be a writer, with all your heart, and for the main part write for yourself, not to please others. Write what you want to write and not what others want you to. Put all your heart in it.

Since I had to find out the hard way that all that glitters is not gold, I decided to do the cover work for my books myself – and I think I am doing a pretty good job with it. It is – somehow – part of my real job (advertisement design).

9) What genres do you like to read? Are you open to reading new authors and reviewing their work?

I LOVE Fantasy stories! It is my favorite genre and I am always open to reading new and unknown authors if I like their story idea. There are so many good books out there that need to be discovered. I am no big fan of mainsteam literature though.

10) What is your favorite book of all time and why? 

I don’t think I have an all time favorite book. There are a few books I enjoy reading over and over again though.

11) Fun Question: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind?

Does my husband count? 😀

12) Fun Question 2: Do you own an electronic reading device? If so, what kind and how do you like it?

I do have an eBook reader – a Kindle HD Fire – but I am not really into reading eBooks. I prefer the touch and smell of a real book.

 

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Interview with Gary Gach, Author of Pause Breathe Smile

Hello,

Today’s interview is with Gary Gach, author of Pause, Breathe, Smile.

Please enjoy!

Best,

-Vince

Interview:

1)  What is your author name and in what state do you live (or country if not in the US)?
My name is Gary Gach ( pronounced like “Bach” or “clock” ) & I live in California.

 

2)  What is the title of your newest book and what is the genre?

 

My latest book is:
 
PAUSE   BREATHE   SMILE
Awakening Mindfulness When

Meditation Is Not Enough

 

It’s in the Practical Spirituality genre (aka Mind Body Spirit ).

 

3)    What is the book about? 
The title is something anyone can remember (PBS) and practice anytime. Pause, breathe, smile. That’s also the simple structure of the book – presenting mindfulness as pausing (to respond, instead of react), conscious breathing (as meditation), and smiling (in the face of impermanence, interconnection, and nonself). These three can be read in any order because each contains the others.  Hopefully, it’s not just about mindfulness, but also a personal experience of mindfulness itself.

 

4) Where did you come up with the idea?

 

I’ve been practicing mindfulness for many decades. As you know, it’s become the fastest-growing self-help trend since yoga. Yet with popularity can come trivialization and misunderstanding.

 

My teacher Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh introduced the world to mindfulness 45 years ago. In our last retreat together, after a discussion of secularization, he very clearly told us we aren’t to teach mindfulness as a tool: it is a way.(247/7). I’d go as far as to say it’s not only a way of life, it’s life itself.

These days, people seeking “mindfulness” often think being calm is all there is. (There’s also insight.) Or they have yet to see themselves in relation. Or they still are getting in their own way because of their general worldview. So I felt it was time to bring contemporary mindfulness back to its roots, for a general audience. This, of course, draws on my own experiences, as an individual and from my community

 

 

5) How long did it take you to write it?

Five years.

 

6) Did you learn anything from the project?

 

For sure. For me, this book was a big career move – moving out from the shadow of a best-selling branded series and taking a stand on my own.

From the outset, the book evolved organically. When I gave the manuscript over to a publisher, it continued growing in my mind and heart, and I continued thinking about it, reflecting and learning from it.

Being able to write that way, rather than by advance proposal then following a timeline, was inestimably rewarding to me as an author and I hope it carries over for the reader.

 

In general, I learned to see how mindfulness is evolving in our society. I came to understand the arguments against its co-optation, on the one hand, and, on the other, its introduction in schools as being perceived as a threat to freedom of religion. This led me to begin to formulate my own sense of the importance of postsecularism and what it means to me. Ultimately, I’ve also come to appreciate mindfulness is not a trend but a palpable element taking root in our culture today, and how important that can be for these uncertain times.

I’ve also come to see mindfulness as holding one truth – with many meanings. Bill Gates naturally uses it via a computer app, where for Yuval Noah Harari it deeply informs his practice as a historian and so he goes on month-long mindfulness retreats.

A more specific learning instance might be my appreciation of motivation as underlying intention, of resilience as an essential survival skill, of how to put theory into practice, and so on.

And, as a writer, I now better appreciate how important story can be in nonfiction as well as fiction. That includes personal story, and how being vulnerable can be of benefit to both myself and my readers, without it necessarily being self-indulgent, but, rather, as a mirror.

 

Plus, this was my first audio edition – and I was fortunately to be able to be its narrator. I’m still assimilating what I learned from that experience.

 

7) Do you have an author website and/or blog? How about a book video?

My author page is GaryGach.com – a work-in-progress.

Sorry, no book video, per se. But there are video clips of me there, reading from the book and at venues.

 

8) Do you have any success tips to pass on to fellow authors?

 

 

Read your work aloud. Even record it and listen to how it sounds.

 

Revise on paper.

 

Pace yourself. Chart the arc of your work’s emotional peaks and valleys, builds and releases.

Besides an outline, try making a mindmap of it – its topics and themes, characters or characteristics.

 

One of the challenges of this book was not to comment on what I’d just written. See if this is a habit in your own work. Another way of putting this: see when you need to get out of your own way.

 

Where possible, be vivid.

Present ideas through things.

 

Enjoy your writing along the way. Then your reader will enjoy reading too.

 

Share with a community of those interested in your material and ask for feedback.

At some point, visit bookstores and libraries and see what else is out there that’s like your work, and clarify how your work is different. If it’s for a magazine, see what other magazines might have published something like your own piece, and check back as far as six months.

 

There are no unpublished writers. If you’re a writer, you’re a writer. You may be pre-published, but not unpublished. 

 

Ask yourself why you write.

And who do you write for.

Know your audience and get to know them in real life.

 

 

How about any great editors/cover artists? 

For editors, I can wholeheartedly recommend Nancy Owen Barton, in South Carolina.
As for artists, I’m so happy the cover for PBS features the impeccable calligraphy of Denise L. Nguyen. Instagram: @Lotusology  

 

9) What genres do you like to read?

 

Simple question for which I lack a simple answer.
I hope my honesty doesn’t seem pedantic or didactic but more like a friendly, sincere local park-bench philosopher. You see, my tastes have grown more and more eclectic, over the years.

 

My current reading habits are characterized by particular sub-genres. But I’ve always been wary of categories and boundaries. (Maybe it’s an offshoot of my working in a 2^nd-hand bookstore for many years – or wondering how education is broken into separate categories.) For example, years ago, I read classical pulp fiction: Hammett, Cain, and Chandler, “hard-boiled,” but so is Hemingway, and Camus. I like Fritz Leiber’s work whether sword and sorcery or the Change Wars series (science-fiction). Al Young’s “musical memoir” series (Bodies & Soul, Kinds of Blue, Things Ain’t What They Used To Be, and Drowning in the Sea of Love) is a mash-up of personal essay, memoir, writing on music.

 

Anyhoo —

 

On my “To Read” shelf:

 

Mindfulness; Buddhism; Taoism; science – neurocognition (Rick Hanson; Daniel Siegel; Embodied Mind by Rosch, Thompson, and Varela), biomimicry, and Ayurveda; philosophy (phenomenology); anthropology (Ritual Process): economics (Viking Economics); systems thinkers (Charles Eisenstein, Daniel Christian Wahl); poetry of various sorts particularly Eastern poetry and poetics; history (Mongol Empire); contemporary fiction, rarely – preferring classics, but will give the new ones by Richard Powers (Overstory) and Ocean Vuong (On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous) a try. 

 

Right now, I’m reading the Qur’an.

 

Plus there’s always reading for research for what I’m currently writing, which I also find pleasurable.
Are you open to reading new authors and reviewing their work?

 

I wish. But —I’ve written and published several dozen book reviews and now taken a blanket retirement from same. That’s practically true with blurbs too.

 

From time to time, I’ll read Page One of a new author’s work and offer feedback.

 

 

10) What is your favorite book of all time and why? 

 

A blank book. Honestly! For one thing, there are so many editions to choose from. Lined / unlined. Artists’ sketchpad or college composition book. It’s always incredible to re-read. Often worth underlining. It never fails to hold for me the greatest range of sheer possibility combined with the capacity for deepest revelation. And I’m always frankly curious to see what will happen next.

 

11) Fun Question: Do you have any pets? If so, what kind?

 

                   -=[ no pets ]=-

 

12) Fun Question 2: Do you own an electronic reading device? If so, what kind and how do you like it?

 

I might read a couple articles on my iPad, now and then.

 

 

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Interview with Jan-Andrea Day, Author of The Crystal Road

Hello!

Today’s interview is with Jan-Andrea Day, author of The Crystal Road. (4.94 stars out of 5 on Goodreads.com!)

I hope you enjoy it!

Best,

-Vincent Lowry

 

Interview:

1) What is your author name and in what state do you live (or country if not in the US)?

Author name:  Jan-Andrea Day – From Ontario, Canada

 

2) What is the title of your newest book and what is the genre?

Title: “The Crystal Road”. Non-Fiction.

 

3) What is the book about?

This is my Memoir.  It is my Legacy project and healing journey.  It is raw as it describes living with a husband suffering from alcoholism during a Metastatic Breast Cancer Diagnosis.  As much as it touches some difficult topics, it’s light and hopefully inspiring.

 

4) Where did you come up with the idea?

I went back to my journals to figure out whether my husband was worth keeping.  My many entries inspired me to put them in a more comprehensive order to leave my children.  I hoped it would explain to them why I am the way that I am and why I made the decisions that I made.  I wanted them to know that it’s alright to mess up, sometimes. 

 

5) How long did it take you to write it?

The official book took about a year and a half to write to completion.

 

6) Did you learn anything from the project?

I learned that I have much more strength, than I never knew possible.

 

7) Do you have an author website and/or blog?

Yes.  http://www.thecrystalroad.ca/

 

8) Do you have any success tips to pass on to fellow authors? How about any great editors/cover artists?

Write because you enjoy it, and not with the expectation that you will be able to live off of the royalties. 

The cover of the Crystal Road was designed by the Tellwell team in Victoria, BC, Canada.  I love it’s simplicity, but it’s perfect with applicable symbolism. 

 

9) What genres do you like to read? Are you open to reading new authors and reviewing their work?

I love a good thriller, a mystery or inspirational read.

I would be open to exchanging manuscripts with fellow authors, for mutual review.

 

10) What is your favorite book of all time and why?

My favourite authors are “Dan Brown”, and “Steve Berry”.  I love the obvious research and knowledge which backs their captivating story telling, making you feel, and believe the story.  To pick one favourite, I remain undecided…

 

 

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