Serials and Scenarios - Sue Dent - Never Ceese - The Interview.

As promised a look inside the mind of a woman who has written a novel about a werewolf and vampire. Read on, if you dare.
Questions are in red - answers blue....


What is your most vivid childhood memory?

Most vivid . . . hmmmm I suppose the aftermath of going from the backseat to the frontseat, through the windshield and back into the back seat again. That's right, no regulations for seat belts in the good ol' days. I was seven or eight. I just remember my dad jumping out after someone ran a stop sign on a dark and rainy night when we were coming home from church. My mom's legs were cut by glass, my brother bumped his head and my sister had a small cut above her eye. But me . . . well, I got to ride on the stretcher!!! And yes, I remember that as the fun part. I remember looking up at the dark night sky, seeing lightening flash and feeling honored that I was getting all the attention. I have a nice scar on my right arm where it was cut to the bone and one all the way around my head, (which hair does a good job of covering). I could get more vivid but I think that's the mark of a good writer, knowing what your audience can tolerate or even wants to read.



What are you usually writing when you hit the sweet spot (when it feels almost effortless - characters, plot, beginning, end etc.)?

Let's put it this way, if I'm writing and it doesn't feel effortless, I stop writing. I don't think I've ever written when it didn't feel effortless. I write because I can't seem to NOT write. Honestly, it never is a struggle for me to write.



What natural or man-made things inspire your creativity?

Life inspires me. Struggles inspire me. Victory inspires me. Defeat inspires me. God has provided so many opportunities for inspiration. Thunderstorms inspire me. I LOVE them. Oh, and being bored inspires me. I can't stand being bored.


If you could visit any place in the universe where would you go and what would you do?

Wow! Universe. Not that long ago, I probably could have named a specific place. Now, I realize, everywhere you go is pretty much just like where you're at. If I can't do whatever I want to do right where I'm at, there's no point thinking about what I might do if I went somewhere else. I would classify that as wasting time and I don't have enough time left to waste though it is an intriguing question! LOL



What are you doing when you feel most alive?

Writing! Imagine that. Okay, just being creative. And praying!

What song makes you tingle or sing at the top of your lungs?

Right now, Mercy Me's I can only Imagine. And anything my brother Jeff Steele of the The Southern Gospel Wonders, The Steele Family writes and sings!

What movie or novel line resonates with you?

Marty Feldman's phenomenal delivery of this line in Young Frankenstein: "Could be worse. Could be raining." Sorry if it's not Marty Feldman. Too tired to do a google search.

How does something worm its way into your heart? (tears, humor, loss)

After having kids, one who's been through ADEM, just about anything tugs at my heart. Unfairness though. Don't let me catch someone being unfair to someone else!

What movie has impacted you the most and why?


This questions begs for a serious movie but I sincerely can not watch a serious movie. Okay, here's one The Ninth Configuration starring Stacey Keetch.(sp?) I loved the suspense, the brotherly love theme, MAN it was good!!!!

What makes you laugh until you hurt?

My kids trying to scare me! They do this because it's so difficult for them to sneak up on me. They're so predictable! I always no what they're up to. Yet when they finally succeed, they're laughter at seeing me startled is contagious.

Create a scene, a character, some dialogue, micro-fiction, or skeleton plot from two or three of the following items. (a paragraph or two - even a sentence would do.)

A coat-rack with a stocking cap dangling from its arm
has very little chance of doing you much harm.

An unidentifiable antique, the scent of pipe tobacco
Grandpa must be smoking, Grandma thinks he's wacko

Freshly cut grass on my feet, evening dew is forming
A wandering three-year-old enjoys. Summer days are warming

A frizzy-haired seventy year old fiddles with a cell phone
Stainless steel, a distant motor, another day is gone.

The smell of rain, satin pajamas, how could it get much better
Rambling thoughts, a mind that's ripe, someone writes a letter.

Links to Never Ceese and Sue
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1599580179

http://www.neverceese.com/

Serials and Scenarios - Sue Dent - Never Ceese

I'm a little bummed.
I declined a couple of books up for review because I had too much on my plate.
"Never Ceese" is one of those books.
How could I have done that? Angst - gnash.

Follow the links to Sue Dent's new book "Never Ceese" and her website and you'll see what I mean.

"Never Ceese":
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1599580179

What about that cover? Shudder.


Sue:
http://www.neverceese.com/

Horror and/or sci-fi are not my first pick - but a vampire and a werewolf with a underlying redemption theme seems like a must read.

At least Sue jumped on my interview questions and sent me a little piece of her thoughts through cyberspace. I'll post those tomorrow. Ya gotta like someone who doesn't watch serious movies yet writes about characters in bondage to the darkness.

Scribbles and Scrambles - Why I Like Strange People

Strange is a negative word - usually. I prefer it's alternate or secondary definition - - - unique.

A dozen years ago when we bought the Casa Du Remodel Forever (or home as we like to call it) our realtor mentioned several times that we were strange enough to buy the house.

I didn't take that as an insult.

She explained that we were the round peg that fit into the unique round hole that the house offered. Most of the other interested parties had been square pegs. But we had the interest in the house, the ability to see it's potential and the know-how to pull it off. (I'm pretty sure she thought we'd be finished by now. I guess her strange-o-meter was a bit off.)

I have to admit that I love authors who hang out on the strange side of the pool, too. Not strange as in creepy, but strange as in they look at things differently than your average Joe.

I have an interview to share with you in a couple of weeks that fits this profile. I have yet to read the author's book. It's popular enough that they are having trouble getting copies to the reviewers, and I didn't get to his first book.

When I interview I always throw in something that prompts the author to give me a taste of his/her style/voice. This guy did not disappoint. Based on the four or five sentences he tossed out to me, I know I'm going to love his book.

I currently have another book that is next on my stack of books to read. I already cracked the cover and read the first sentence. Wow. I can't wait to dive in.

I love to read meaty writing.

If you haven't read any Christian fiction for a few years, you really need to give it another shot. There are some stellar authors out there.

Scribbles and Scrambles - Why I Like Strange People

Strange is a negative word - usually. I prefer it's alternate or secondary definition - - - unique.

A dozen years ago when we bought the Casa Du Remodel Forever (or home as we like to call it) our realtor mentioned several times that we were strange enough to buy the house.

I didn't take that as an insult.

She explained that we were the round peg that fit into the unique round hole that the house offered. Most of the other interested parties had been square pegs. But we had the interest in the house, the ability to see it's potential and the know-how to pull it off. (I'm pretty sure she thought we'd be finished by now. I guess her strange-o-meter was a bit off.)

I have to admit that I love authors who hang out on the strange side of the pool, too. Not strange as in creepy, but strange as in they look at things differently than your average Joe.

I have an interview to share with you in a couple of weeks that fits this profile. I have yet to read the author's book. It's popular enough that they are having trouble getting copies to the reviewers, and I didn't get to his first book.

When I interview I always throw in something that prompts the author to give me a taste of his/her style/voice. This guy did not disappoint. Based on the four or five sentences he tossed out to me, I know I'm going to love his book.

I currently have another book that is next on my stack of books to read. I already cracked the cover and read the first sentence. Wow. I can't wait to dive in.

I love to read meaty writing.

If you haven't read any Christian fiction for a few years, you really need to give it another shot. There are some stellar authors out there.

Scribbles and Scrambles - Blog Fog

I'm having a little trouble.

I can't focus.

The pressure is mounting.

I must leave my computer soon and I won't be back today.

Argh! Something quippy, inane, clever needs to come to mind. I'm waiting.

Nothing. Oh, plenty of swirling thoughts, but nothing falling into the chute that leads to the creativity pathway.

I think I'm suffering from Blog Fog.

Or Clever Constipation.

Do they make a pill for this? Should I eat extra fiber?

Okay. I'm taking a deep breath. Don't slap me.

I'll blame it on Monday. Yeah. That's it. Monday. The first Monday in December... after a month long challenge to pull words from my brain for NaNoWriMo. Good excuse.

I did it, by the way. I completed 50,000 words. I may finish the book. I like my characters. I like the story line.

Whew. I feel a little better.

Serials and Scenarios - R.K. aka Randy Mortenson's - Q & A - Landon Snow and the Island of Arcanum

What period of history intrigues you the most and why?

The Reformation--early 16th century. Thinking about Martin Luther in Germany...becoming a monk...everything in church was done in Latin, most people had no idea what was going on, yet they feared God, and the Church manipulated the people by abusing that fear. Indulgences, buying one's way into heaven. And thinking of Martin standing up to the Pope and princes knowing he might die for saying he would not recant his writings which said that God's grace was (gasp) free! And that all Christians are priests. And the Bible should be printed in the common language so that people could read it for themselves. Radical, revolutionary stuff.
So there's that--the Reformation--and then there's the '80s, which also intrigue me. The 1980s that is. What a decade. My formative years. Ferris Bueller and Martin Luther. Two influencers on my life.



Pick one ... Pink iguana, purple cow, periwinkle giraffe.

Which one and why? Can be negative or positive. Purple cow because it makes me think of grape milk. And what would that taste like? And would I like it or not?



Favorite turn of phrase or word picture in literature or movie.
"Houston, we have a problem." Ominous, awesome understatement.



What would you write if there were no rules or barriers? ( - epic novels about characters in the Bible, poetry, greeting cards, plays, movies, instruction manuals, etc.)

Hmm. I don't know. Something gothic, maybe. Or an epic about King David set in modern times. Okay, a gothic epic about David composing his psalms while living in Manhattan. Look out for Saul!



What makes you feel most alive?

latte. And looking at my wife and daughter and son...together. While sipping a latte. Preferably from Caribou Coffee (come to Minnesota or North Dakota for this; it's better than Starbucks. And I like Starbucks.)



How does something worm its way into your heart? Through tears, truth, humor ? other?

Both--the laughing tears, like when your child's being born and you're on emotional overload. Or when you're deeply sympathizing with someone and they say something to make you smile or laugh right through their pain. It feels good and hurts at the same time.



Where would you most like to travel ----- moon, north pole, deep seas, deserted island, the holy land or back to a place from your childhood, somewhere else? ? and why.

Well, I've recently gotten out of the Navy and moved to North Dakota, and this is it. I don't feel like traveling at all right now. Honestly. I'm loving sitting here in the middle of farmland and prairie. In the last ten years I've lived on both U. S. coasts and in Okinawa, Japan and I've traveled to Hong Kong, Australia (twice), New Zealand, Malaysia (twice), Thailand (twice), Singapore (twice), South Korea (twice), the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Tokyo (4 times), Hawaii and Mexico. I've driven from San Diego to Minnesota and back and from San Diego to Florida and from Florida to North Dakota. I've stayed at least a night in Nashville, Indianapolis, Asheville, NC, Dallas, Yellowstone, near Las Vegas, Idaho, Georgia, Utah, Boston, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Seattle, Los Angeles, Oregon, Arizona, Louisiana, Aspen, Wisconsin, South Dakota...and I don't recall where else. If you ask me again in, say, another decade, I think I might want to visit Norway and Austria. And England. And go on an Alaska cruise.

A man and woman sit at a table in an upscale restaurant. They each have a cell phone to their ear. What are you overhearing? Tell me about this couple?..

"Buy, buy, buy!" he says.
"Sell, sell, sell!" she says.
Four months later, they call off their engagement and part ways. She gets out of the rat race and lives happily ever after.
He goes broke seeking to make his fortune in the stock market.


Love the answers, Randy! I think you might have something with David in Manhattan.
And you gotta love the mind that was influenced by Martin Luther and Ferris Bueller.

In case you didn't check out the book link or Randy's website here they are again.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1597893587

http://www.landonsnow.com/

Happy weekend, all. And remember, if anyone offers you the Norovirus - just say NO!

Serials and Scenarios - Landon Snow and the Island of Arcanum R.K. Mortenson

Come back tomorrow for an interview with R.K. aka Randy.

Check out all the particulars....

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1597893587

Visit R.K.'s website:
http://www.landonsnow.com/


My Review:

I've not read the first two Landon Snow adventures.

Several people have quoted clever descriptions and chunks of word weavings from the Auctor's Riddle so I was intrigued to read R.K. Mortenson's third novel.

The Island of Arcanum is a book we'd have chosen to read to our children. Enough suspense to keep a child on the edge of their seat without the nightmare factor. I see Landon Snow appealing to the 2nd to 5th grade set especially.

Mr. Mortenson tosses in enough earthy humor to get a giggle from the Captain Underpants crowd without overdoing it.

Though the Harry Potter series appealed to a huge market, and though well written, I blanched at the underlying mean-spiritedness of the characters. Landon Snow, however, cares about his sisters and his friends from past adventures which makes his adventure series a good alternative.

I didn't get to know Landon as well as I would've liked, and this might be because I haven't read book one or two.

Health Tidbit:
Should any of you be tempted to pick up any of the stomach virus strains around and about -- don't. I wasn't even tempted to blog about it. That's pretty bad. I've constructed some odd posts in strange situations...well, let's leave it at that.