Interview with Eva Caye: Author of the To Be Sinclair series

It’s time to put down the wrapping paper, stop writing Christmas cards and take a break. If you’re like me an a bit fed up of having the festive season rammed down your throat then you’ve come to the right place. Today we speak to author Eva Caye, who wrote the To Be Sinclair series - with no mention of Christmas in sight! Enjoy!

1) Can you please start by telling us a little about yourself? Where are you from and how did you get into writing?

I'm a Midwesterner and have been writing since high school, but it was primarily a hobby, attending writers workshops and conferences when I could.  As an avid science fiction and fantasy reader, sometimes the stories would just pop up and demand to be written.  I have a few boxes scattered around the house with archaeological layers of stories from the past 30 years.

I only grew into a serious author because of a crisis with my long-standing depression.  I consider my 'rebirth' to have occurred in June 2010.  Lying in bed in a darkened room, I figured I was already dead, my body unable to tolerate 'real life'.  Although it may not seem like much of an inspiration to others, the thought occurred to me that, since the 'old me' was dead but I still had possession of a body, I could build my life anew.

As a result, I decided to figure out what I would do if I won the lottery, if absolutely anything was possible.  I have always wanted to be a scientist, so I began having conversations between the person I was and the person I wanted to be. The dialogues grew so thick, I got out of bed and began writing them down!  I developed them into characters, since I still do not have much energy beyond running my brain and a computer and the first four books of the To Be Sinclair series roared out of my imagination.

It was perhaps my third book when I began to feel like I had some kind of wormhole in my mind to a future parallel dimension.  Although I've never been a visual person, I was seeing my characters in actual scenes and I still consider myself their scribe, not their goddess. How so?  When you decide you don't like what you've written and rewrite it but go to bed and the characters act out the scene over and over again until you get up at god-awful o'clock to change it back, you realize you don't have a lot of control over the story!

2) How many books have you published to date and what genres are they?

I currently have eight books in the To Be Sinclair series, primarily science fiction romances, but they all have different tenors or timbres to them.  Book two, Majesty, is perhaps 95% science fiction and book three, Fealty perhaps 95% romance, but the others are roughly 50% sci-fi to romance.

The big question my series answers is, “What will the greatest ruling family in the history of the galaxy be like?”  Dignity and Majesty detail the romance and first years of marriage of the Emperor and Empress of the Sinclair Demesnes, a four-planet polity, and the other books are about individual children, which is why they have different psychological flavours to them. On my website http://www.evacaye.com I have brief psychological profiles of the main characters of each book, to give you a feel of what to expect of their stories.

I laughingly refer to Evan's Ladies as book 6.5, between Loyalty and Nobility, because it consists of four novellas/novelettes. The books are companion novels, with Dignity/Majesty, Fealty/Royalty, Dynasty/Loyalty and my most recent book Nobility to be paired with my work-in-progress, Morality.  I have also finished 2/3 and 1/2 of two prequels, set some 150 years in our future but some 500 years in the past as compared to the series.  I consider those novels to be science fiction, though; there are relationships that develop but they are not the focus of the stories.  

In my books, I talk around the sex more than anything, except that I have appended a short story/novella or two to the first six books as erotic Easter eggs! I have a warning page in front of them and not all of them are explicit but I thought it would be the best way to warn the science fiction readers who may not appreciate stronger sexual situations, yet give the romance readers a li'l somethin' more!  I've had a lot of people say they would have paid $2.99 for those stories alone!

3) Can you tell us a little more about your latest book? What is the story and what inspired you to write it?

Nobility is about Prince Matthieu Sinclair, the Heir Second to his grandfather Emperor Victor and his father Prince Zhaiden.  This is very much a new adult novel, in that Matthieu begins at age 20, having finished his Service training cycles, and moves through two years of Imperial duties, tours of Service, secret missions, a diplomatic mission that breaks his heart, and above all, the search for a lady who could handle being his Empress someday.  

I do not plan any other novels after its companion novel, the finale to the series, Morality. First, because I have to finish my prequels; second, because I have other projects I want to get to; and third, because the finale is breaking my heart to write. Nine books covering three generations is surely sufficient, wouldn't you say?

4) Are you an independent published or a traditional one? What made you decide to take that route and would you recommend it?

After receiving a double-handful of rejections from agents and publishers, with most of them saying something along the lines of, “The industry is very subjective,” I decided to go indie. After all, I'm writing for my readers, for literary value, not for people who only look at a book in terms of fads or how much money it will make for them or their company!  

For example, I do not focus on gore, horror, or violence; I titled my books after knightly virtues specifically because I wanted to write uplifting stories of good people trying their best, who are not necessarily striving against a bad evil guy, whose issues are with people who think they are the 'good guys'.  I do have one warlike empire that causes trouble throughout the series, but for the most part, my readers comment frequently on how realistic my characters are, how lifelike their struggles, as if they can feel themselves actually living their lives.  To me, that is an immense compliment.

I recommend indie publishing because traditional publishing has tremendous flaws that have yet to be upgraded to modern times. Why should it take two years for a book to see print, when so many people are working on it?  My editor finished a manuscript, I go over it a few more times, and publish it within a couple of months.  I've also improved every book since (a huge advantage of ebooks), and now four are out with CreateSpace, as print-on-demand.  

That is another disadvantage of traditional publishing: the horrific waste stream.  My books are printed as they are purchased, whereas the average publishing company 'guesses' how many books they might sell, prints 10,000 or 20,000 copies, sends them to bookstores and, if they are not sold within a pitifully short period of time (I've seen quotes of 3 months), their covers are torn off and they are sent back to the publisher.

That leads to a third huge disadvantage of traditional publishers:  accounting for royalties. Why should an author wait three months for a check?  All those returns. With ebooks and POD, if a person buys it, it's because they want it.  I get notified of the sale within a few hours, and I get the royalties directly deposited into my bank account every month.

The advantage of traditional publishing is their marketing teams and avenues, but even then an author is expected to set up his/her own media platform and pound the pavement to sell books.  Unless the publisher thinks you are another J. K. Rowling, you can expect very little help beyond an editor and a cover artist, and you can hire them yourself.

5) Have you got anything new that you are currently working on?

Besides the finale and two prequels, I have been setting my books up at CreateSpace as print-on-demand.  I have simply had so many people say they don't have e-readers that it's worth my time and effort.  The first four are now available on my Amazon Author page, http://www.amazon.com/Eva-Caye/e/B009F50NF8 and I should have the last four ready to go by Christmas.

Other than that, I submit stories to magazines, and even wrote a poem recently for a contest. My two main computer folders are 'Brainstorms' and 'Story Ideas', so I'm not about to run out of parallel dimensions to spy upon.

More about Eva Caye can be found on her blog at: http://evacaye.blogspot.com/

Her books are also available on Amazon and Smashwords.

The Black Eagle Inn Review

A tale told over decades and in a different age, The Black Eagle Inn (by Christoph Fischer) is an interesting and difficult to put down look on life to the post World War Two Germany. The book does get off to quite a slow start but if you stick with it, you are rewarded. 

The book chronicles the fortunes of a family farm and associated restaurant - The Black Eagle Inn - through the war and the difficult years that followed in a nation struggling to rebuild and come to terms with a new identity. While set in this turbulent period of history, the story focuses more on the wars inside The Black Eagle Inn rather than out. Backstabbing, petit politics and mind games are all waged within the same four walls. 

Most of these games are fought between cousins Markus and Lukas, the former being matriarch Anna’s favourite “son”, who stands to inherit the most when she dies. But Lukas’s determination to get a bigger slice of the family estate transforms from silly squabbles between children as he and Markus grow older.

The book cuts deep inside the minds of all the key characters. I have read many books that try to throw completely different characters together that have failed, but The Black Eagle Inn is not among that tally. The author really gets inside his character’s heads and plays out their thought processes to the readers, offering a deep understanding of the events or the emotions that have led them to where they are. 

The author should also be applauded for examining controversial themes of the time, like homosexuality and marriage to foreigners. A lot of books set in post war Europe, I have found, tend to shy away from such themes, which is disappointing. It’s also great to read a book set in Germany as well - most war/ post war novels are usually set in merry old England.

Author Interview With Joesph Picard

Happy Friday everyone! This week I caught up with bonkers Canadian born author Joseph Picard...no not Captain Picard...Joseph...nevermind. 

 

Anyway, Joseph spoke to me about his life, how he got into writing and his books including forthcoming title, The Rubberman's Cage. Read on! Joe's humour is infectious and his stories are intriguing. 

 

1) Can you please start by telling us a little about yourself? Where are you from and how did you get into writing?

I was born on the east end of Canada, and have moved a ton of times (more than 20 before I was 16) back and forth before settling down on the west end, in a suburb outside of Vancouver.

I used to write when the whim hit me, for as long as I can remember. I always liked making things that other people can (hopefully!) enjoy. I've done music composition, I've dabbled in groups to create video games, I've put out a lot of art, but a few things got me focused on writing above all other undertakings.

I was struck by a car while cycling to work in 2001, and became a paraplegic. I suddenly had a lot more time. I was also suddenly on some really heavy medication, making dumb ideas look suddenly reasonable. I had slightly improved my art, leading to my favouring some drawings with long descriptions, and they kept piling up, and getting longer. Eventually I decided I had to organize them in my head with a short story about the characters who had been getting drawn so much.

Poof, short story. But I really liked the characters, so poof, sequel. And another. And a prequel. These four stories were edited together to form one book, which eventually became Lifehack. Suddenly the idea of a book wasn't so far out there. And it's just kept going like that.

Also, when I became a father, I knew I had to give up a lot of hobbies for the sake of time. Music and art lost; writing won and now I have two kids. As a stay at home dad, when people ask about writer's block, I can't help but chuckle. People with writer's block have free time. While I'm making lunches, changing diapers, making runs to the school, etc, etc, I have plenty of time to consider the next turn in my current project.

 

2) How many books have your published to date and what genres are they?

Three. Lifehack, Watching Yute, and Echoes of Erebus. They're science fiction and some have been called them "hard" sci-fi, though they're fairly character-based. The three books are a series, though they vary in tone and theme a bit. They all take place in the same country, and deal with the same over-reaching flow of events- nanotechnology, and abusing it to some nasty results, such as zombie-like critters. I took pains to make them all readable separately, though of course some things can be better appreciated if you've read them all. Echoes of Erebus marks the end of the series, and the next book is its own entity.

Oh, and I should mention the recently released "13 Bites". It's a supernatural-themed anthology by 10 authors, and I have two short stories in there. One of them relates to Lifehack, (but can stand alone) and the other is a contemporary story about an office worker who turns to some darker Romani powers to get a little revenge. The rest of 13 Bites is by writers I've met on Facebook, and they range from girzzly to heart-warming.

3) Can you tell us a little more about your latest book? What is the story and what inspired you to write it?

Echoes of Erebus. The hero, Sarah, finds out that her life, and her own mind and body, are a simulation. She finds this out when at the perceived age of 22, her 'father' (reduced to only an A.I.) begins educating her about his crimes from Lifehack. He intends to do something good, to create her as something positive to put into the world. He builds her a body, (mostly out of dead fish,) using nanotechnology, and guides her in his own way to find a place in the world. To do this, he moves his mind into a corner of her brain to keep her company. ('Helicopter' parenting much??) Despite early successes in making friends and getting a job, difficulties arise because she's made out of technologies that have been strictly banned. Similar technology is still being abused, linked to gruesome pit fights, and a variety of massacres.

And there's a friendly lizard.

4) Are you an independent published or a traditional one? What made you decide to take that route and would you recommend it?

Indie. When Lifehack was coming together, I researched traditional publishing and found that I could submit to my favourite 50 publishers-  in various formats, some double spaced, some single spaced, some 1.5 spaced, some 1.354536 spaced, some on tapioca coloured paper, some want the whole thing, some want the first chapter, some want chapters 2, 3, and 7, some wanted a kidney, blah blah blah,.. all of them on paper back then, no one wanted a file...then mail them off! Then wait up to a year before hearing if any of them even received it! No thanks! So, indie it was to be. The plusses and minuses are many but so far I haven't been tempted to go over to traditional for any future projects.

5) Have you got anything new that you are currently working on?

Yup! I'm half way through Rubberman's Cage. The protagonist "Lenth", lives in an apartment-sized environment with three "brothers". They have no idea that there's an outside world, and very little understanding that other people exist. And no idea what a woman is. They have a room where they work a job with an unknown purpose, they eat the same cakey-things every day, lock themselves in cuffs to sleep, and the silent, rubber-suited person in the ceiling electrocutes them when they don't do what they're supposed to. And this is what normal is. Always has been. Until one of them dies, and Lenth starts to wonder. He ends up exploring above the Rubberman, in places he didn't know existed, meeting people with different ideas of where they are, why, or how things are supposed to be.

And they're all wrong.

 

Joseph can be found on Facebook here and his website can be found here.

Cloud Atlas Movie Review

This week I finally got around to watching Cloud Atlas, a mash-mash of six individual movies thrown together to tell one overarching storyline. The screenplay was based on the David Mitchell book of the same name and was written in part by the revolutionary film makers behind The Matrix - the Wachowskis.

What makes Cloud Atlas different from other films is that it tells six seemingly unrelated stories over different times that ultimately tie together into one. We have Edinburgh in the First World War, a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by tribes and Seoul in a high-tech neon future thrown into the mix. Or in other words; Shaft, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Fifth Element, a desert lacking version of Mad Max and other ripped off movies. I will admit that I liked Cloud Atlas. The sets and visual effects were well done - especially in futuristic Neo Seoul. Yet altogether it did not quite work.

The point of the film was simple; we are all connected, both to the people who came before us and those who will come after us. What happens to those people and what happens to us is affected by decisions made in the past and ones yet to come. The only problem is the film didn’t need to spend more than two and a half hours explaining this when the concept became clear within the first half hour. Also some of the stories, while linked, are so loosely connected that they ultimately feel like pointless padding.

The constant lurching between different plots also makes it difficult for any character development. There were some good set-ups early on, like the nuclear power threat or a mysterious key one of the characters carries with him as all times. But these never mounted to anything. These could have easily been taken much further and tied the stories closer together.

When it was released a lot of critics praised Cloud Atlas for being a brave piece of film making, others went as far to say that it would redefine cinema. Brave, yes. Defining, no. The cast and crew did well weaving six completely different genres of story together but the film failed to deliver any ideas I’ve not heard or seen before. Just because you stitched six movies together into one does not mean it’s a masterpiece. The same effect can be achieved by channel hopping to random programmes on my TV.

The Thursday Takeover: With Author Genevieve Dewey Heaston

Happy Thursday all! This week, I'm introducing a new feature to my blog called the Thursday Takeover. There will be more coming on a regular basis in the coming weeks. They will feature some of the best selling independent authors out there as well as aspiring ones. Here authors can promote their works in anyway they see fit. If you're interested in a future spot, please leave a comment or send me an email. Without further ado, I hand you over to the wonderful Genevieve Dewey Heaston.

THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM

The Downey Trilogy #3

Adult Contemporary Fiction: Family Drama/Romantic Suspense

Once to Begin, Twice to Bind, and Third Time’s The Charm…

Of all the things Mickey Downey has accomplished in his life, successfully quitting his vices is the one thing he hasn't been able to master. For the first time Mickey is free to have both Mary and Tommy in his life, yet he's never been closer to being pulled back into the criminal world. While Tommy, Ginny and James work overtime to expose a nefarious plot threatening all of them, Kiki and Maeve Downey are hatching their own plots to make Mickey’s dreams come true. With shenanigans afoot in every aspect of Mickey’s life, he may be forced to pick up the weapons he promised Mary he would leave behind in order to protect his children. Can Mary finally accept he might never truly be free of it or will Mickey’s enemies once again succeed in tearing them apart?

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It is necessary to read First, I Love You (Downey #1) and Second of All (Downey #2) prior to reading Third Time's The Charm.

And now, An EXCLUSIVE (never before seen) excerpt from Third Time's The Charm:

When her gaze finally lifted to his, his face was blank. The only emotion vaguely present was resignation. The same little devil that had prompted her to invite him to supper with Jack and Claire on her last visit took over. She lifted her chin. “I’ll stay with you. Ten minutes for every question you answer truthfully.” “Why? So you can act outraged again and run away?” “Run away?” Mary’s heart was running so fast in her chest her ribs actually ached. “I’m not running away. And I’ve a right to be upset with what you’ve told me.” His eyebrows contracted faintly but he continued to stare at her blankly. She walked forward and grabbed the box from his hands. She knew it was his surprise at the action more than anything that had him letting loose. “These are mine. You meant them for me. You might want to lie to yourself they were meant for you, but the lying to me stops today. Now,” Mary finished firmly. She ignored the slightly outraged, stunned look on his face and marched towards the door. “You want to know the truth, Mary?” She turned back around at the marked anger in his voice. He had only rarely been angry with her. They had fought like cats and dogs that last year they were together but he had always fought with a detached sort of disdain and condescension, only rarely with anger. He stood up slowly, his eyes burning, nostrils flaring. “Well, here’s the truth, Mary, and don’t go crying because it’s not what you wanted to hear. I’m as sick of that as you are of the lies. The truth is I didn’t want to retire. Not the first time, not this last time, not ever. I moved mountains to try and be with you and Tommy and it didn’t work. Then I asked you what would work and did that, and all it’s done is put all of us at risk, and you’re still playing games. Tormenting me.” “Tormenting you!” “Yes, Goddamn it! Dates, conditions, games. Here’s some more truth, Mary. I hate being retired. I hate relying on Carlo and the fucking cops and I hate being good. I miss the rush of making money, being in charge, breaking the law. Is that enough truth for you? When will it be enough sacrifices for you? When are you going to sacrifice something for me?” Mary thought maybe it was the trembling from her emotions but it took her several seconds to really grasp he’d said that. She continued to stand there for a full minute. How could he be so clueless? “Sacrifice? Are you serious? I sacrificed my entire life to be your mistress. The first four years of our child’s life were spent living a lie. I sacrificed the joy of a family unit, I raised our son alone.” “By choice.” “I have been alone because I couldn’t risk anyone finding out who his father really was! I sacrificed my young and pretty years on the RUN! I sacrificed finding love and having a real family, having more children. Now I’m a dumpy middle aged woman with a grown man for a son. I just sold the home I worked myself to the bone to earn to move here! I sacrificed everything!”

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About the Author:

www.GenevieveDewey.com

(Get missing scenes and supplemental flash fiction!)

Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ Pinterest ~ Google+ ~ YouTube ~ Amazon

Genevieve Dewey is the author of The Downey Trilogy and the Downey spinoff short romances featuring Katelyn & Dominic (The Bird Day Battalion and The V-Day Aversion). She is a wife, mother, sister, friend and Anthropologist. She is also an unapologetic lover of chocolate, bourbon, high heels, guns, and spending hours getting lost in research. Gen lives in Nebraska with her husband and three children. Her books include:

The Downey Trilogy First, I Love You Second of All Third Time’s The Charm Short Romances The Bird Day Battalion (Free everywhere!) The V-Day Aversion Coming Soon The Good Life ( A Dom & Kate Novel)

Rubber Movie Review

Happy Friday everyone! It’s time for another film review this week, but to be honest this is probably the strangest I have ever reviewed. 

This week I have been watching Quentin Dupieux’s 2010 box office flop, Rubber. So what’s the premise you ask? It’s about a tyre that kills people. Seriously. This tyre comes to life and kills people by using its psychic powers. Now you’re probably wondering why any studio ever agreed to make such a film. The answer? I have absolutely no idea. They must have been smoking something illegal. 

But as strange as it sounds, it is not actually a bad film. Now before you think I’ve been smoking something too, I’ll explain why. The film opens with a sheriff climbing out of the boot of a car and addressing the camera. In this introduction, actor Stephen Spinella explains that cinema history is filled with examples of things that happened for no reason, for example, like why ET was brown coloured - there’s no reason for this. He explains that Rubber is a homage to these random moments in cinema history. With that set-up, the killer tyre’s rampage begins. 

Rubber is obviously not a film to be taken seriously but at the same time it’s not hilarious either. I thought it would have gone further to make fun of other classic film moments or genres, but it fails to capitalise on these. That’s very disappointing after the “get out of jail card” it gave itself at the beginning. 

There’s also a strange subplot going on where the sheriff tells other characters half way the film that none of what they are doing is real. There is also a group of people “outside the film” as it were, though on site, watching the movie through binoculars at a distance. The film cuts regularly to these people, but as to the ultimate purpose of both ideas, the movie offers no answers. It’s not funny, it’s just confusing. 

Rubber was interesting. I would not say good but nor would I say it was bad either. If it had been funnier then I think it would have been much more positively received. 

It gets 4/10.