An Interview, An Author, and a Magic 8 Ball: Sean Sweeney

Welcome to my interview series An Interview, An Author, and a Magic 8 Ball! I'll be bringing you a new author and a new giveaway every Monday this year. I hope you'll stop by to check out these  authors and enter to win some prizes!!!! :D

Please welcome thriller author, Sean Sweeney!!! Read the interview, then enter to win one of five ecopies of his novel, Redeemed (via Smashwords coupon codes).

MJ: Tell me about your novel in your own words, not the official synopsis.

SS: Since I've written a bunch of books, it's hard to pin one down, but let me tell you about REDEEMED. REDEEMED is the story of a man that runs from police one early summer's day in
1988, kills a cop, and goes to prison until 2004. Remember that there were no federal statutes for cop killers at that time.

Upon his release, Duane Thompson finds no welcome as he returns to Boston, and so with the help of a friar, he escapes the city and heads to the central part of Massachusetts. He leads a city into prosperity--until the cop that had arrested him tracks him down.

It all leads back to Boston in 2023, where the city is under the control of a corrupt government. It takes a fiery denouement to break their control.

MJ: Ooooh, sounds like a great read! What's your next release?

SS: My next release will be one of two projects: either a murder mystery which I wrote this past fall, or my fifth Jaclyn Johnson thriller, LITERARY AGENT.

MJ: Nice! Can't wait to read it. :) If you were trapped on an island, what three books would you want to have with you?

SS: Lord of the Rings (a really big hardbound edition), Jim C. Hines' Libriomancer, and Mike Crane's Giggles novella

MJ: Hey, I know Mike Crane. Crazy bastard. Love him! Who is your celebrity crush?

SS: Debbie Gibson

MJ: Love her too! What do you wear when you write?

SS: Clothes! You perv.

MJ: *shrugs* A girl has to ask. ;) What's your favorite vacation spot?

SS: Cape Cod. My fiancee's grandmother is part of one of the original families of Truro, Massachusetts, and the family homestead is there. We go down there a few times a year to get away from the mainland.

MJ: I love the cape. I got married there! Do you have any pets?

SS: Yep, we have five cats--Ziggy Puff, Diva, BatCat, Squeaky, and Spooky--and two horses, Alex and Jesse.

MJ: Now, I need YOU to ask ME a question about absolutely anything under the sun. It has to be a yes or no question and will be answered by my all-knowing Magic 8 Ball! The question can be serious or silly - it’s up to you.

SS: Will your Chicago Cubs come through this year, or will they continue to look like crap?

MJ: Ooooooh, them's fighting words. Let's see what M8B has to say....

M8B: Better not tell you now.

MJ: My interpretation: The Cubs are awesome whether they win or lose, so your question is invalid. ;)

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, Sean! It was great hosting you. I hope everyone enters the Rafflecopter below to win a copy of Sean's book, Redeemed!

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INDIEpendence Day: An Interview, an Author, and a Magic 8 Ball: Shari Brady

Read through for a giveaway at the end!!!!

It's been a long time since I've done an interview in this series. The Indelibles are celebrating INDIEpendence Day by giving over our blogs to deserving indie authors. Today I'm featuring the incomparable Shari Brady.


MJ: Tell me a bit about your novel, Wish I Could Have Said Goodbye, in your own words - not the official synopsis.

SB: Wish I Could Have Said Goodbye is a story about how Carmella D'Agostino struggles with her grief and guilt after losing her older sister to addiction, and the steps she takes to overcome her fears and find the courage to love again.

MJ: Did you pants or plot while writing your first draft?

SB:  plotted and improvised.

MJ: What’s your next release going to be?

SB: All the World's A Stage is a humorous novel about Gabrielle, an aspiring actress and expert Tarot card reader whose life is perfect and going right along as planned. But when her mother is injured in a car accident, and her best friend's ex-boyfriend flirts with her, Gabi's neat and tidy life begins to unravel.  Release date:  March 2013.

MJ: Now for the fun stuff! If you were trapped on a deserted island and you could only bring three books, what would you bring?

SB: The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Stephen King's On Writing.

MJ: Who is your celebrity crush?

SB: That's easy.  Phillip Phillips :)

MJ: What is your favorite color?

SB: Red

MJ: What do you wear when you write?

SB: Sweats, a t-shirt and one of my favorite fleece zip up sweatshirts in the winter, drawstring shorts and t-shirt in the summer. (I have to be comfy at my desk)

MJ: What’s your favorite vacation spot?

SB: Isle of Palms, South Carolina (near Charleston).

MJ: Now, I need YOU to ask ME a question about absolutely anything under the sun. It has to be a yes or no question and will be answered by my  10-year-old’s all-knowing Magic 8 Ball! The question can be serious or silly - it’s up to you.

SB: Do you believe in pet psychics?

M8B: It is decidedly so.

MJ: Funny, I didn't even know that was one of the replies my Magic 8 Ball could make. Verrry interesting. Of course it doesn't surprise me that M8B believes in pet psychics, since, after all, M8B is psychic too.

Thank you so much, Shari, for stopping by my blog today! I'm reading Wish I Could Have Said Goodbye right now and LOVING it. :D

Check out the rest of the featured authors below, but first, enter the contest to win one of two ecopies of Wish I Could Have Said Goodbye.


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Interviews: 

Did Megg Really Say That???

Wow, this is a topic I never thought I'd be dealing with. Twice in the last month, things I've said over what I thought were personal emails were taken completely out of context and splattered on the web for all to see. Before I tell you how I feel about this, let me tell you a bit about myself.

For six years, I was a freelance journalist. I interviewed thousands of sources for magazine articles and tried to handle each source as if they were the most important person in the world. I wanted them to trust me because so often journalism takes a quote and twists it simply to create buzz. This sickened me and after six years, I was done. None of my articles exploited anyone, but seeing the pressure out there to sensationalize took the drive out of me. I didn't want to be associated with the industry. The further along I got, the more defensive sources became. I felt terrible because I knew at one point they'd been mishandled by another journalist, giving them a bad taste in their mouth when it came to new interviews.

About 2/3 of the way through my journalism career, I signed with an agent for a nonfiction book on a topic very close to my heart. The project was meant to be a prescriptive book, a step-by-step telling of how to achieve a successful adoption. The farther I got into the project, the more my agents changed the scope of the book. They wanted it to be more sensational. They wanted gut-wrenching, super-private stories to come to life. I felt my sources shutting down on me, getting more wary each interview because they knew, as I did deep down, that the book was spiraling out of control. It was never my intention to write an expose. I wanted to help people, not exploit other's pain to sell books.

I backed out of the contract and received the harshest email I've ever gotten from the agency. Saying that I cried for hours would be an understatement. I swore that day I'd never take on another book project. Obviously that didn't stick.

Back to present day. Now I'm on the other end of the interview. That's fine; it's part of my job as a novelist. However, twice now, people quoted me from what I believed were personal, chatty emails - not part of any kind of interview. Both times the blog posts brought about confusion. People were angry with me, thinking I'd given these bloggers my blessing - when, in fact, I didn't even know I'd been talked about until it was too late. Did I say the things quoted? Sure. Were they taken completely and wildly out of context? Absolutely. To the point where I've sworn off having personal conversations with those people. I feel betrayed.

The most recent popular example of this type of misquoting comes from an interview Brad Pitt did while promoting Moneyball in Parade Magazine. As someone who's been through a divorce with a guy I'd prefer never to see again, I can relate 100% to Brad's comments about his marriage with Jen. Anyone who's been through divorce knows that it's more about who you are inside than who you are in a relationship. That's all he was trying to say, but the media took it out of context and now everyone hates him again. I feel bad for him, for Jen, and for Angelina. They are simply trying to be normal people and be honest. What do they get for it? Quotes twisted and taken out of context. I don't care how much money he has in his bank account, it has to hurt anyway.

So if you ever see a blog post about me, and you think, Would Megg really say that? Is that what she meant? Take a moment to wonder how the quote came about. What was the source? What did I really mean? This blog is the only place I can truly speak for myself. You want to know me? You'll find me here.

~Megg

An Interview, An Author, and a Magic 8 Ball: Michelle Muto

 Yay, it's time to bring back my interview series!!!!! Sorry, I've been absorbed in Severed and haven't had much blog time. I'm snagging a few minutes to get this gem out there.

Michelle Muto and I are kind of like long-lost twins because we have so many things in common - one of which is that we are both natural redheads. I won't bore you with the others. She's also one of my favorite writers and I know you'll love her books too!!!!

MJ: Tell me a bit about your novel, The Book of Lost Souls, in your own words - not the official synopsis.

MM: The Book of Lost Souls is the story of a teen witch who must dispel the rumor she's like her father, a black magic practitioner who left her and her mother when she was young. It's a paranormal coming-of-age story filled with humor, romance, and devout friendship. It's sort of like Harry Potter meets Buffy in some ways. 

MJ: Did you pants or plot while writing your first draft?

MM: A little of both. I've learned a lot since then - plotting is my least favorite part of the writing process, but I do much better with a solid outline. It saves me considerable time and grief later on.

MJ: What’s your next release going to be?

MM: It's a 360 from The Book of Lost Souls. The new book is another young adult novel, and a planned series, but that's where the comparison ends. The new book is a dark, mostly dystopian novel set in the afterlife. It's also written in first person, while The Book of Lost Souls is in third person. I hope to release the new book by the end of September.

{edited by MJ to add: Michelle just revealed the cover for her next novel, Don't Fear the Reaper yesterday! It's totally gorgeous!!!!}

MJ: Now for the fun stuff!!!

What is your favorite color?

MM: Black

MJ: Wolves or vampires or zombies?

MM: Werewolves or vampires. As much as I like all things supernatural, zombies just don't do it for me. 

MJ: What do you wear when you write?

MM: Mostly t-shirts/sweatshirts and jeans.

 MJ: When you were a teen were you a cheerleader, a sporty girl, the smart one, the band geek, or something else?

MM: I was just the kid trying to get by.

MJ: Do you have any pets? 

MM: I have two dogs: Tasha, a 12-yr-old Akita and Ronan, a 5-yr-old Shikoku (my inspiration for Devlin in The Book of Lost Souls).

MJ: Now, I need YOU to ask ME a question about absolutely anything under the sun. It has to be a yes or no question and will be answered by my 9-year-old’s all-knowing Magic 8 Ball! The question can be serious or silly - it’s up to you.

MM: Will my books be on wish lists for Christmas? 

M8B: As I See It Yes. Now, I don't know why my 8 Ball pics are always sideways. Argh! Anyway, is it really a big surprise Michelle wants books for Christmas? Just more proof my 8 Ball always knows!!!!

Thank you SO MUCH to Michelle for participating in my interview series!!!! If you haven't read The Book of Lost Souls, you should go read it, NOW!

Find Michelle Muto on the web:

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Buy The Book of Lost Souls on

Amazon

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