Coming on the 5 February 2013, Enmitus - The Children, sequel to Enmitus, The Children

 

 

A fascinating interview with author PJ LaRue, read on…

Title:                     The Mystic Princesses and the Whirlpool

Author:                                PJ LaRue

Page Count:       34

ISBN:                     978-0-9849894-0-9

Genre:                  Children’s Chapter Book

Cost:                      $.99 US

Link Amazon USA:          

http://www.amazon.com/The-Mystic-Princesses-Whirlpool-ebook/dp/B0086YGAEM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358714123&sr=8-1&keywords=the+mystic+princesses+and+the+whirlpool

Link Amazon UK:             

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Mystic-Princesses-Whirlpool-ebook/dp/B0086YGAEM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358714213&sr=8-1

Can you tell me something about yourself?       

I love cats, Jackie Chan movies and hiking to waterfalls. I had a dysfunctional childhood, but I don’t believe that one’s past has to predict one’s future. I knew from about the third grade that I would go to college so that I could provide for myself without being dependent on anyone else.  After changing my major several times, I settled on accounting and became a CPA. I’ve been happily married for 31 years, to the same wonderful man.

What inspired you to write?

I wrote poetry when I was in high school, and then quit for quite a long time.  A couple of years ago, a former co-worker and his three sons were killed in a car crash. The driver at fault was impaired. The family’s pain spoke so strongly to me, and a poem poured out, along with many tears. It was a heart breaking way to re-start my writing, but the family was so touched that each of the wives framed the poem and hung it in their homes. It was also read at the sentencing of the impaired driver a few months ago.

Just after that sad event, I wrote a two or three page summary of the first Mystic Princesses book and gave it to one of my staff members who had a daughter the right age. Her daughter loved it, and the mother encouraged me to expand it into a chapter book. So I read some chapter books to see what they were like. When I expanded the story it became The Mystic Princesses and the Whirlpool. Her daughter is still asking for book two, so she must be my number one fan.
               

That’s really moving  PJ and its good to hear you are writing a sequel. Would you tell us who are your favourite authors?

I love reading and enjoy a variety of books and genres. 

Philippa Gregory – historical novels – The Tudor Court novels

Ken Follett – historical novels – Pillars of the Earth and World Without End

Dan Brown – suspense books

David Baldacci – King and Maxwell books and Camel Club books

Christine Feahan –The only Feahan books I haven’t read yet are the stand alone books. I love all of her series – Dark series, GhostWalker series, Leopard series, Drake Sister series, and Sisters of the Heart series

Christian Dodd – paranormal romances - The Darkness Chosen series and The Chosen One’s series

Nalini Singh – Psy/Changeling paranormal romance series

J. R. Ward – The Black Dagger Brotherhood series and Fallen Angels series

Stieg Larsson – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

 

Can you tell me something about your latest book?

The princesses are daughters of gods and goddesses. They inherit powers from their parents that are used to protect Princess Harmonie, who is the daughter of Ares, god of war, and Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. Ares’ other children want to fight and cause wars, but Princess Harmonie makes people feel peaceful. So the Children of Ares need to capture Princess Harmonie first.

 

I know this is good book for children, I read it.  How long did it take you to write it?

I started my book two years ago and it only took two months to write.  But I didn’t have any experience with copyrighting or publishing. I also needed to find an editor and illustrator. The whole process took longer than the second will require.

 

Can you tell us something about the writing process, do you have a set time for writing? Did you do any research or anything else of interest that was involved?

My writing process is very spontaneous. I use whatever is handy when I get an inspiration. I keep a notepad in my purse and I have a laptop so I can be in the bedroom with my husband. I probably need to set a time for writing. I find that I’m busy promoting, and I‘ve let my current writing time slip. 

The majority of the research for The Mystic Princesses was already complete, when I wrote the book. My husband and I went to Maui and Kauai on our 25^th anniversary. I tend to plan our vacations to the hilt, read multiple guidebooks and surf the net to find things to do. It was essentially my first writing/research trip, but I didn’t know it.  All of this research paid off when I sat down to write The Mystic Princesses and the Whirlpool, because the hard part was already finished.

 

What do you think readers will come away with when they have finished your book?

The Mystic Princesses has several messages in it. First, people need to settle their differences by discussing them, rather than fighting. It also has an environmental message to keep the water clean. It touches on honesty and teamwork, as well. Overall, though, it is a happy book that empowers young girls to solve their own problems and not wait for the handsome prince to come and rescue them.

 

Would you give us a paragraph or two from your book please?

After that, Princess Harmonie felt even guiltier for keeping the CoA tattoos a secret. So she finally made a very hard choice. She asked King Neptune and Queen Pearl and the other princesses to gather in the reef living room. “There is something I need to tell you,” she said. “My brother Eros told me a secret about the Children of Ares, and he asked me not to tell you. But I’ve thought about it a lot, and have changed my mind.

“Sandi Swordfish told us that we should keep most secrets. But she said not to keep secrets if someone could get hurt. Even when someone we love asks us to keep a secret, we should think about safety first. That is the reason I have chosen to tell you my secret.” As she spoke, everyone became quiet, and looked at her.

Any other links of interest:

Email PJ:

pj@pjlarueinc.com

Barnes and Noble:          

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-mystic-princesses-and-the-whirlpool-p-j-larue/1111259489?ean=2940014355049

iBookstore:        

http://www.ibookstore.com/products.php?i=B0086YGAEM

Goodreads:       

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17235412-the-mystic-princesses-and-the-whirlpool

Facebook:          

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Mystic-Princesses-and-the-Whirlpool/313900812057752?ref=hl

Twitter:                               

https://twitter.com/PJ_LaRue

Pinterest:           

http://pinterest.com/pjlarue12/

Thank you so much for doing this interview PJ.  I am sure everyone will enjoy hearing about your journey.

Amazing a blogger award for me!

I was nominated  by the very talented author, Anita Philmar

http://anitaphilmar.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/very-inspiring-blogger-award-yes-for-me.html?spref=tw 

Seven thing about myself:

 

1. I retired in 2011 and write fantasy/sci fi

 

2. I have alway lived in the North East of England

 

3. I am happily married  with 2 children plus 2 grandchildren

 

4. I enjoy babysitting my grandnephew

 

5. I enjoy walking my daughters dogs

 

6. I am the fundraiser for a local charity (with some success!)

 

7. I recently qualified as a boxing judge!

 

These are my 15 nominees (victims) for this very aspiring award are:

 

Ruth Watson Morris http://authorvoxiansseriesbooks.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/the-next-big-thing-2/

 

Bob Atkinson http://abrach1.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/the-next-big-thing-2/

 

Tina Traverse http://writersonthewharf.blogspot.ca/2013/01/welcome-one-and-all-to-my-fellow.html?spref=tw

 

Hunter S Jones http://thehuntersjones.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Clive Eaton http://www.cliveeaton.com/thepyramidlegacy.html

 

Jessica Knauss

http://jessicaknauss.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-second-annual-knauss-awards-for.html

 

Joss Landry http://josslandry.com/

 

Patsy Collins http://patsy-collins.blogspot.co.uk/

 

D R Racey http://drracey.wordpress.com/

 

Dianne Harman http://dianneharman.com/blog/

 

Iain Park http://bad-press.co.uk/free-biker-thriller-weekly-e-serial/

 

John Dolan

http://johndolanwriter.blogspot.com/

 

Tina Gayle

www.tinagayle.blogspot.com

 

Lori Gordon

lorigordonauthor.wordpress.com/ Shannon Roberts https://www.facebook.com/ObsidianPoetPress

 

 

THE NEXT BIG THING 2

 

Thank you Ruth Watson Morris for nominating me for this blog hop : http://authorvoxiansseriesbooks.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/the-next-big-thing-2/

 

My Questions and Answers:

1)    What is the working title of your next book?

Enmitus – The Children

2)    Where did the idea come from for the book?

This is the sequel to Enmitus – The Transformation.  My first book is about specific characters who go on to have children. These children feature in the second book. It then seems appropriate that the second book is named, Enmitus - The Children. 

3)    What genre does your book fall under?

 

Sci Fi / Fantasy Adventure

 

4)    What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

 

It you don't know any of these actors you might want to look them up?

 

Tacari – Chris Hemsworth

Corinna – Shelley Hennig

Blayze - Riley Smith

Erryn - Katerina Graham

Veeda (as an adult) - Jennifer Lawrence

Felix - Corbin Bleu

5)    What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

A story of battles between tribes, during perilous times, where love, betrayal, danger, and revenge are always at play!

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

Self Published

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

3 months

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

Not sure, I don’t compare.

9)    Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I set out wanting to write a novel about a historic event.  When I began to research some little known events, I discovered they weren’t so obscure.  In fact, there had been several books published on everything. As a result I decided to continue doing fantasy adventure with some battles, romance and adventure.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

I always try to engage the reader by keeping the story moving at a pace.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/232241813520751/

https://www.facebook.com/#!/DianeMajorBooks

Twitter: @dianemajor1

http://diane-newauthor.blogspot.co.uk/

www.dianemajorauthor.co.uk

http://amzn.to/U7904U

http://amzn.to/10zGOMK

Meet Bob Atkinson

http://abrach1.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/the-next-big-thing-2/

 

An amazing interview with Tina Power Traverse.  Read on...

Title: Forever, Christian

Author: Tina Traverse

Page Count: 46

ISBN:1481003925

Genre: Non-fiction/Family & Relationships / Children with Special Needs

Cost:$15.00 paperback $1.99 Amazon kindle

http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Christian-ebook/dp/B00AQ98VCO/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1357893710&sr=1-2&keywords=Forever%2C+Christian

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Forever-Christian-Tina-Traverse/dp/1481003925/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357893564&sr=8-1#_ 

Can you tell me something about yourself?

Okay, lets see…. I was born on a warm July evening in 1974 just as the sun was setting on the capital city of Newfoundland the first and only child(as later years will prove) to a lovely couple, Anne and Peter Power. I developed the love of writing at the age of eight when I read a story I wrote to my classmates, receiving rave reviews. I married the true love of my life and settled down to raise our tiny family, Christian 11, and Brandon, 3.

 

What inspired you to write?

The inspiration to answer the call of the writer came to me when I was eight years old and wrote my own little twist to a bible story and read it out to my class. When I received rave reviews from my peers and teacher, I knew I wanted to continue.

 

Who are you favourite authors?

Steven King, Dan Brown, Lauren Kate, L.J. Smith and every author of the Author Social Media Support Group (ASMSG)!

 

Can you tell me something about your latest book?

Forever, Christian is what I like to call a labour of love, or Love's journey with autism. The title may be confusing at first because it seems as though it is of a religious nature, but it is about my eldest son, Christian Peter, who was diagnosed with High Functioning autism in October of 2009, a diagnosis that took nine years to reach.  I really cannot truly explain it, but I knew something was not right with Christian from the time he was a tiny infant, right from the start. He would have many all night marathons were Christian would not cry, but scream these high pitch screams for apparently no reason. My husband and I did what ever we could to soothe him, rocking him, feeding him, burping him, giving him warm baths, etc but nothing would work. Even took him to the doctor several times who assured us that it was not colic and after several tests, nothing else physically wrong. As Christian got older, whenever he get upset, he would scream he high pitched screams, but this time he would hurt himself. Soon the symptoms included sensitively to certain sounds, touch, becoming hyper focused on one thing, everything like his food and toys had to be arranged in a certain way. Christian was a social child, but would do socially inappropriate things,such as invading another's personal space, asking inappropriate questions, taking their turns or becoming very clingy. Christian would always ask the same question over and over, even though he already got the answer, always needed to be reassured about our and others love for him. One of the most disturbing self harm when upset or when he realized he has done something wrong  was when he hurt another boy's eye at his daycare and then proceeded to fill up the sink with hot water and submerge his head in while the daycare worker's back was turned to tend to another child, so he could burn his eyes out! Lucky, the water was not too hot and the daycare worker pulled him out instantly. It has been instances like these and many others that were heart breaking, frustrating and other indescribable emotions that had us not asking, but begging many doctors to tell us what was wrong with our son. It was finally the compassion and knowledge of a teacher who set the ball rolling to get Christian tested for autism. While we were on the waiting list for two years for the testing, when we finally got the diagnosis, it was a relief to have a name. Feeling, with what I can only call, a "magenta"( the feeling once described by Rue McClanahan's character, Blanche Devereaux of the Golden Girls, as the feeling you do not know the colour off because it is a whole bunch of colours mixed up(I am paraphrasing here)) I took pen to paper and wrote down my feelings about the diagnosis, and about Christian's first nine years, Forever, Christian is the result. I am also proud to say that Christian himself does the foreword, he wanted to introduce himself to the readers. I figure it was a nice touch to get to know a little about the boy behind the title.

 

Wow! How long did it take you to write it?

 

Forever, Christian took me from start to finish, two years to write.

 

Can you tell us something about the writing process, do you have a set time for writing, did you do any research or anything else of interest that was involved?

 

I do not have a set time for writing, I write daily, but it is whenever I can fit it in during the day, but usually that is at night when everyone is in bed. For this book, no research was necessary to write it because the story is my own and my son's, but normally yes, I do research for every story I write as often the story involves a topic or two within it that I can not take off the top of my head if I want to achieve realism and/or accuracy.

 

What do you think readers will come away with when they have finished your book.

 

What I hope they will take away is, though I feel this is a very raw and emotionally charged story, because I spill my soul out onto the pages, I hope that with anyone who reads it realizes that though most journeys are long, laborious and dark, there is always a happy little light at the end and no matter what we are never alone. We just have to look.

 

AN INTERESTING PARAGRAPH OR TWO FROM BOOK

His hugs too, are healing, during those rare moments that he senses another's sadness. He may not understand why a person is sad, but he will walk up to them nonetheless and put two arms around them. Giving them a big, loving hug, he tells them not to be sad, that he is there with them, he loves them, and that everything is going to be okay. I cannot speak for the others, but whenever I receive one of those little miracle hugs, and his honest, unconditional words of pure love and affection, I feel better!

These, and numerous other qualities, not autism, are what define Christian Peter Traverse, these qualities, gifts, and ideals that will always be forever, Christian.

 

Any other links of interest:

Forever, Christian Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ForeverChristianPeter

Website: http://www.tinasdestiny.com/

Blog: http://writersonthewharf.blogspot.ca/2013/01/welcome-one-and-all-to-my-fellow.html?spref=tw

 

Thank you Diane!