Showing posts with label Gerard Butler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gerard Butler. Show all posts

Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Next Big Thing... Stealing Time


The Next Big Thing . . .

Welcome to the next big thing blog hop! Join the fun blog hopping our way through some new reads, including works in progress and new and upcoming releases. For those who haven't been part of a blog hop before, you read my blog and hop on over to the next blog link for more entertainment. Bloggers hand picked by yours truly!


Thank you to Richard Weatherly for tagging me in this blog hop. Richard is a successful writer and social media icon, at least in my little world on twitter and facebook. Check out his site here.

Part of the Blog Hop is to introduce you to my work in progress by answering ten interview questions. This was originally posted in October of 2012.

I hope you'll take some time to follow the links to my author friends' blogs as well. They have some truly impressive books in print and a few in the works as well. See the end of the post to see who I've tagged.

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing


What is the working title of your book?

Stealing Time

Cover art for Stealing Time

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I've always been fascinated by time travel stories, especially ones that take you to the past. After a harrowing summer in Florida with four major hurricanes, the first striking only three days after I moved into the state, the idea to combine hurricanes and time travel into Stealing Time began brewing in my head. It wasn't until the following summer that I began working on it.

What genre does your book fall under?

Time Travel Thriller (Hey that's T cubed).


Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Gerard Butler as Mike Walsh

The only actor I've pictured in the movie version of Stealing Time is a character in book two, Mike Walsh, who would be played by Gerard Butler. Sigh. I'm not sure it's helpful to put anyone else in the reader's minds. I want them to imagine Ronnie, Jeffrey, Jack, Steph and Mathias on their own.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Wow, that's a toughie. Ronnie Andrews has a bad day or two? No, surely I can do better than that.  Let me try again: Ronnie Andrews finds herself inexplicably thrown back in time during the worst hurricane to hit Central Florida in more than forty years.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I will self publish this first one and maybe try for traditional publishing after I see how this one goes.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Ahem, you had to ask. OK, confession time. I've been working on this for 7 years. But . . . I will have 3 books completed by year 8ish. I've decided to split the story into 3 separate books and then I'll release them as a compilation at a later date. 

Why? I realized last spring that e-books were running a lot shorter than traditional pubs, at least in my genre. It occurred to me that people may not want a tome, even if it is amazing, er, really good. So Stealing Time will be a trilogy.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I like to compare my story to Michael Crichton's Timeline, in that it is science fiction that is more reality based than spaceships and weird creatures from the future. Timeline also has a healthy dose of historical fiction thrown in along with the sci-fi aspect, like Stealing Time. 

Other works that are similar, although I don't think anyone has tackled the material in the way that I have, are perhaps Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. This series is technically a fantasy set up as opposed to science fiction since the character is sent back in time via druid standing stones in the hills of Scotland instead of a time travel device. My series is less romance type and is not any where as long or detailed as Diana's works.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 
http://www.amazon.com/Outlander-Diana-Gabaldon/dp/0440212561

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I first decided to write a novel after becoming enamored (some may say obsessed) with Outlander. Diana has a book called the Outlandish Companion that describes the characters and tapestries of her vast novels. She also talks about her writing process and one section in particular describes how she writes a scene without knowing how it fits in to the rest of the story and then makes the connections afterwards.

I was very inspired by that, being similarly challenged with structure while having an abundance of creative ideas. The thought of a successful author having a creative rather than structured approach to the novel seemed a heck of a lot more plausible strategy for me. I've used some very helpful tools to give me the structure, which you can read about on my guest blog here that involves a book called The Marshall Plan, by Evan Marshall. A thank you to Kirkus MacGowan for allowing me to guest blog on his site.

My son has been my biggest supporter on this journey and has contributed some great ideas to the book. I think I may have a budding writer in the family. 

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I rather like extreme weather!

If you are fascinated with weather, as I am, I've included a healthy dose of bad scary weather, written from actual experience. I've been in about 15 hurricanes and tropical storms in my lifetime and can easily convey the power and awe I felt during those storms.

I've also tackled the time travel component in a very original way, without spoiling it, I can only say as the story develops the method of time travel and the intricacies of how one is placed back in time is revealed and it is very complex.

If that's not enough, I've got a sexy blonde heroine as the main character and a tall, dark, and handsome accomplice to throw another curve ball in her unsettled world. Oh, I forgot to mention there is a mad scientist and a sadistic captor. Interested? I hope so!

Watch for posts on January 24, 2013 from these authors:

Ron Chapman and his debut blog 

Elisha Chirchir

Charles Dougherty

Jessica Stank -- A Writer's Journey


Check them out now and learn about their current novels and works in progress.


Connect With Me

When I'm not working on Stealing Time you can find me on my social media at the links below. I hope to have my novel completed by late summer 2013 with book two close behind.

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Wednesday, January 2, 2013


Blondie's Liebster Blog Award


It happened. It did. I was nominated for the Liebster Blog Award. I've been seeing this badge on other blogs for awhile now and wondered how, if, when, maybe, someday... Now thanks to a wonderful supporter of my blog, Judy from Rhode Island (but pronounced Rhoa Deye Lind) I'm now part of the prestigious Liebster club!! Thank you Judi! You are amazing! Be sure to check out her great blog 50 and Fabulous. 

 The rules of this award are listed below and I hope you check out my answers to Judi's questions, my random facts, 11 questions for my nominees, and who I've chosen to pass the award on to next. 

 I promise my next post will be a water adventure. I've got two written and will share them shortly.

The rules of the Liebster Award are as follows:

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog and link back to the blogger who presented this award to you;

2.  Answer the 11 questions from the nominator, list 11 random facts about yourself and create 11 questions for your nominees;

3. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 11 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog letting them know they have been chosen. (No tag backs)  

4. Copy and Paste the blog award on your blog.


Questions From Judi


1.  What is the one food you can't do without?

Probably salad if we're talking about healthy food. Yes, I realize salad is not 'one food' but I have a 'bigger than yer head' salad almost every night. If we're talking about desserts it would have to be ice cream -- coffee ice cream with Oreo's and caramel sauce. (Wipes the drool from my lips.) 

Nightly evening snack mixed green salad with cherry 
tomatoes, baby carrots, avocado, and mixed nuts.
2.  One thing you want to do before you die? 

Scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef. No doubt would be an amazing experience made even better if I saw a shark and still had all bits accounted for afterwards.

Great Barrier Reef, yes please. Add sharks and stir.

3.  What is your favorite hobby and why? 

 Is swimming a hobby? Ah heck it's my blog I can chose swimming if I want to. So yes, swimming in rivers, lakes, lazy rivers, pools, oceans, streams, creeks. Yeah, definitely swimming. But only if it's warm.

Swimming would have to be my favorite hobby. No doubt. Why? See Blondie in the Pool. 

4.  If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? 

Gerry, you wanna go to Bermuda? 
Bermuda and Scotland would be my top two travel destinations. I've been to both and fell deeply in love. Maybe just take a few Scottish people to Bermuda. Then I can be warm and enjoy their fab personalities and swim in that gorgeous ocean. 

5.  What book are you reading now? 

 I'm reading several books now...but mostly my own book. See #6.



6.  What are you looking forward to most in the New Year? 

My upcoming novel cover design.
Hopefully it will be out this spring.
Finishing my novel and getting it out in the world will be a great joy in 2013. I've already written about two-thirds of the second book in the Stealing Time trilogy and I can't wait to get back to it. Did I mention both books have Scottish people in them? I haven't managed to get Bermuda in them yet but I do have an ocean scene with a buff dude in Puerto Rico. I need to find a way to put the Scottish people in the sea. Book three maybe? 

 7.  Favorite meal when eating out?

Seafood, no doubt, is my favorite meal. As one of my twitter friends say, it's mermaid food. If I had to pick one I'd say scallops in white wine and a huge salad with goat cheese, walnuts and cranberries. 

Mermaid food is my fave.
8.  If you have one 'do-over', what would it be? 

Do over? Not sure about that. I'm very happy with my decisions. Maybe to travel more before I had kids. Although I did make it to Ireland, Scotland, England, Bermuda and Switzerland before kids. Oh, and Canada if you can really count that.

9.  What is your favorite movie and why?

That's a tough question. I'm not sure I have a favorite movie. I really liked Timeline but mostly because I studied it for the genre and timing of the plot. I'm not sure I'd call it my favorite movie. Enjoyed Beowulf and Grendel and the documentary War of the Gods about the filming of Beowulf during a hurricane and the other disasters they endured. A coincidence that the hurricanes that are in my novel are the same ones that hit Iceland during the filming of this movie and a Scottish dude stars in it? I think not. 

Not my favorite movie, but a good one...

10.  Who is your favorite TV character?

Dexter is my favorite character at the moment. I've cut out most of 'my shows' to make time for writing. TV is the bane of a writer's existence, as you know, because it sucks away your productive time. I've weeded out all other favorite shows and left Dexter as my Sunday night guilty pleasure. 

Why Dexter? If you're not familiar with the show, he's a serial killer. I know what you're thinking, he's my kind of guy with all that bloody knife action. But, the writing is excellent. They're masters at suspense and building the scene to maximize the viewer's angst. I have to wait an hour afterwards to get to sleep after watching an episode. Michael C. Hall plays the role as Dexter beautifully with brains, brawn, and excellent deadpan snark in voice over. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out on Showtime.

Favorite TV Character -- Dexter. Dark and twisty. Snarky and intelligent. 
Plus he rids the world of bad people. What's not to love?

11.  If you had a day to do anything you wanted to do, what would you do?

That's easy. See my blog Blondie in Bermuda. That would be #1 on my list. Snorkeling in the aqua waters of Bermuda with a well muscled man. It'd have to be summer though. Water is too cold this time of year, but since it's a fantasy type question I'm gonna go with a fantasy type answer and make it July.

 This Blondie Loves Bermuda

Random Me Facts  

1. I am allergic to onions and garlic. And no, I'm not a vampire! You did hear the part about me liking the beach right? Sunny warm beaches? Nope, not a vampire.

2. My favorite chocolate is Caramello, or any good chocolate with oooey gooey caramel. 

3. I used to play underwater hockey.  No, I'm not kidding, this is a real sport. My team mates told me I played like a guy and I won the MVP award.

4.  Both my father and step father were Episcopalian ministers. Mom, you have some s'plainin' to do.

5.  My favorite actor is Gerard Butler. Also my favorite flavor of human... Scottish.

6.  I love the Black Eyed Peas, especially Will.i.am.

7.  I broke my hand and foot on the same boyfriend's body. Different times in the same year. Very glad to be rid of him when I moved on to college.

8.  I love water, and I don't mean just to drink.

 9.  I drink sweet tea with Splenda in large quantities.

10.  I'd rather play with my children than clean the house. 

11.  To prove #6, I shake my thang to The Black Eyed Peas Experience Kinect game. 

Questions for my Nominees


Even if you're not a nominee feel free to answer these questions in the comments section. Like all bloggers I love comments. It's like crack to a crack ho. So get me high...

1. What is your favorite movie and why?

2. Who is your favorite author and why?

3. What is the concept behind your blog? Simply to promote your book/skills/product or a bigger purpose, like mine as therapy to deal with my current location?

4. What is your favorite meal?

5. What would you describe as your biggest personal accomplishment?

6. Why are you so awesome? I ask this because I chose you...apparently I think you're pretty fab.

7. What is your favorite household appliance and why? Ha! How's that for a quirky question.

8. For the ladies: Thongs, granny panties, or something in between. For the gents boxers or briefs (or just give me a cheeky answer if you prefer.)

9. What is your favorite holiday and why?

 10. What is your favorite restaurant? Why? 

11. Which question above was the hardest to answer? Why?

Nominees

1. Chef John Malik A Writer Trapped in a Cook's Body

2.  Shaunda Wegner Slow Stir Dribblings from a Writer's Life

3.  Charles Gonzo The Gonzo Lecture

4.  Scott Phillips Rattle and Blast

5.  Jonny A. Mypixel.se

6. Marla Madison Reading and Writing are Fattening

7. J.J. Collins Author

8. Stuart Haddon

9. Kenny C Dontthinkjustwrite

10. Valentine de Francis tossing logic out the window 

11. Chuck Barrett 


I really appreciate you stopping by my blog! Made my day in fact! Please take a few minutes to check out these amazing blogs.  If they're anything like me, a comment will make them very happy. 

Connect With Me

When I'm not working on Stealing Time you can find me on my social media at the links below. I hope to have my novel completed by spring 2013 with book two close behind.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Blondie on the Blog Hop -- The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing . . .

Welcome to the next big thing blog hop! Join the fun blog hopping our way through some new reads, including works in progress and new and upcoming releases. For those who haven't been part of a blog hop before, you read my blog and hop on over to the next blog link for more entertainment. In this case, two very creative indie authors who recently released their novels.

A big fancy 'thank you' to Shaunda Wegner for including me in this bloggertunity! Check out her blog and her soon to be released historical cookbook. Very cool concept! Don't miss her paranormal fiction books already available on Amazon.

Part of the Blog Hop is to introduce you to my work in progress by answering ten interview questions. I would love for you to comment below because you know that comments to a blogger are like crack to an addict. So get me high, baby!

I hope you'll take some time to follow the links to my author friends' blogs as well. They have some truly impressive books in print and a few in the works as well.

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing


What is the working title of your book?

Stealing Time

Cover art for Stealing Time

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I've always been fascinated by time travel stories, especially ones that take you to the past. After a harrowing summer in Florida with four major hurricanes, the first striking only three days after I moved into the state, the idea to combine hurricanes and time travel into Stealing Time began brewing in my head. It wasn't until the following summer that I began working on it.


What genre does your book fall under?

Time Travel Thriller (Hey that's T cubed).


Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Gerard Butler as Mike Walsh

The only actor I've pictured in the movie version of Stealing Time is a character in book two, Mike Walsh, who would be played by Gerard Butler. *Sigh* I'm not sure it's helpful to put anyone else in the reader's minds. I want them to imagine Ronnie, Jeffrey, Jack, Steph and Mathias on their own.


What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Wow, that's a toughie. Ronnie Andrews has a bad day or two? No, surely I can do better than that -- let me try again: Ronnie Andrews finds herself inexplicably thrown back in time during the worst hurricane to hit Central Florida in more than forty years.


Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I will self publish this first one and maybe try for traditional publishing after I see how this one goes.


How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Ahem, you had to ask. OK, confession time: I've been working on this for 7 years. But . . . I will have 3 books completed by year 8ish. I've decided to split the story into 3 separate books and then I'll release them as a compilation at a later date. Why? I realized last spring that e-books were running a lot shorter than traditional pubs, at least in my genre. It occurred to me that people may not want a tome, even if it is amazing, er, really good. So Stealing Time will be a trilogy.


What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I like to compare my story to Michael Crichton's Timeline, in that it is science fiction that is more reality based than spaceships and weird creatures from the future. Timeline also has a healthy dose of historical fiction thrown in along with the sci-fi aspect, like Stealing Time. 

Other works that are similar, although I don't think anyone has tackled the material in the way that I have, are perhaps Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. This series is technically a fantasy set up as opposed to science fiction since the character is sent back in time via druid standing stones in the hills of Scotland instead of a time travel device.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 
http://www.amazon.com/Outlander-Diana-Gabaldon/dp/0440212561


Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I first decided to write a novel after becoming enamored (some may say obsessed) with Outlander. Diana has a book called the Outlandish Companion that describes the characters and tapestries of her vast novels. She also talks about her writing process and one section in particular describes how she writes a scene without knowing how it fits in to the rest of the story and then makes the connections afterwards.

I was very inspired by that, being similarly challenged with structure while having an abundance of creative ideas. The thought of a successful author having a creative rather than structured approach to the novel seemed a heck of a lot more plausible strategy for me. I've used some very helpful tools to give me the structure, which you can read about on my guest blog here that involves a book called The Marshall Plan, by Evan Marshall.


What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I rather like extreme weather.

If you are fascinated with weather, as I am, I've included a healthy dose of bad scary weather, written from actual experience. I've been in about 15 hurricanes in my lifetime and can easily convey the power and awe I felt during those storms.

I've also tackled the time travel component in a very original way, without spoiling it, I can only say as the story develops the method of time travel and the intricacies of how one is placed back in time is revealed and it is very complex.

If that's not enough, I've got a sexy blonde heroine as the main character and a tall, dark, and handsome accomplice to throw another curve ball in her unsettled world. Oh, I forgot to mention there is a mad scientist and a sadistic captor. Interested? I hope so!


Next week, stay tuned for more posts in The Next Big Thing blog hop. Watch for posts on November 7 from these authors:


G. A. Albrethsen -- http://gaalbrethsen.com

Alex Gouthro -- Jagouthro.blogspot.ca

Check them out now and learn about their current novels and works in progress.


Connect With Me

When I'm not working on Stealing Time you can find me on my social media at the links below. I hope to have my novel completed by spring 2013 with book two close behind.

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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Blondie in the River

Blondie in the River

Thanks for visiting my blog. If you like it sign up and follow me. This is my first try at blogging so please cut me a little slack. I wouldn’t mind a wee bit of feedback so I can either stop blathering or get back to my novel, or be boosted up by your praise (ahem) and keep blogging.

First I’ll have to introduce myself. I am currently writing my first novel. A time travel thriller, called Stealing Time, set in Florida in 2004 during an incredible hurricane season filled with time travel, evil scientists, hot blondes, and a Gerard Butler look-alike.


Hurricane Charlie in 2004 is the backdrop for my novel -- Stealing Time
Photo from: http://www.floridadisaster.org/mitigation/rcmp/strengthen/successstories.html
I was born in the Mid-Atlantic and grew up mostly in the beautiful state of Maryland. You know, Maryland with the sailboats on the Chesapeake Bay also named after Bloody Mary, Henry the VIII’s daughter. So don’t mess with me, right (wink).  
Bloody Mary. She's a looker, eh?
I’ve lived up and down the East Coast from Massachusetts to Florida but have been jerked away somewhere landlocked for the moment. I am definitely missing the beach although there is plenty of dirt here. So what does a water lover do when there is no water nearby? I can write about it, although it isn't so easy when I have short people in my house (my kids).  I’m currently a writer and a mom and my days go something like this on my red couch warmed by the heat of my laptop.

Ronnie swam towards the car trying to get back to Mike through the raging river. She didn’t even know if he was still alive. Using every bit of strength she fought through the current to reach him. Moments before they were on the road to San Juan when the hurricane flooded waters blocked their path. A wall of mud slammed their car into the churning river below. Reaching for the door that was threatening to be torn off by the rushing water she pulled herself inside the car. Mike was unconscious. She searched for his pulse. He was alive! The car continued to fill with water. She unbuckled his seat belt trying to pull him out of the seat. The car jerked violently and Ronnie fell against the front seat. The car broke loose from its perch on the sandy bottom of the river and scraped and bumped downstream, slamming the door closed trapping them both inside.
Great day for a swim, don't you think?

 “Mom, can you help me wipe my butt.” My four year old daughter yells from the bathroom.

“Yes, honey. Try for yourself and I’ll be there in a minute.” Because there is nothing more that I’d like to do right now than wipe your butt, cuteness. She knows how to wipe; she just wants a little attention. Maybe I should quit writing for awhile and go play with her.
Mike: Seriously, I’m drowning here. You’re going to ‘play’ while I am unconscious and about to die. You’re heartless.

“Mom, there aren’t any butt wipes in here.”
“OK, honey. I’ll get you some.” Sorry Mike, you’re just going to have to hold on a little longer.

Mike: You can see that Ronnie is seventy pounds lighter than I am. If you wait there’s no way she’ll have the strength to pull me to shore. Then we’re both dead. What are you going to do then? No book with dead main characters, right?
Hey, just because you look a little like Gerard Butler doesn’t mean I’ll just do whatever you say. The little girl is hungry and needs some attention. Just hold your breath till I get back.

Mike: Wait. When will you be back?
Stop looking at me with those gorgeous blue eyes. . . Fine, I'll be right back, damn you.


Seriously, could you resist?
Photo from: http://capishe.se/nyhet/gerard-butler-tar-sig-vatten-over-huvudet-i-hunter-killer/ 

That’s how it goes, back and forth my characters and my family wanting a piece of me. Unfortunately, my daughter doesn’t nap anymore. I don’t have that solid two hour block of time to get some writing done.  I write at night while she lays her sweet curly blonde head down, gripping Big Bird tightly in her arms. The mangy, eyeball-scratched Big Bird. Not the new fluffy yellow one that he used to be. He’s a little like me at the end of the day -- messy-yellow headed, scratchy eyed and gripped tightly in a hug by my cute-a-full beauty.
Shortie's Big Bird has had a lot of snuggles.

Connect With Me

When I'm not working on Stealing Time you can find me on my social media at the links below. I hope to have my novel completed by Spring 2014 with book two close behind.

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