Interview with Scottish Author Anthony Jude McGowne

Recently Penumbra Publishing welcomed Scotsman Anthony Jude McGowne to the growing list of our published authors. With two published books, including Broadland Suspense: The Blue Lady, Tony was kind enough to grant an interview...

PP: Tony, please tell a little about yourself, and how long you’ve been writing.

AM: I could fill a book or two with my experiences having coached youth football and other sports, as well as my youth leadership work. I’ve played with several good few football teams and I have had the pleasure of many characters in my life.

I have only been writing seriously for four years. Previously it was only for fun. I’m sorry I didn’t keep my poem book though.

PP: Broadland Suspense is the second book you’ve had published. Why did you choose an American-based publisher for this book?

AM: It is difficult to find a good publisher, one who has your interest at heart, and after being let down on a few occasions I tried the Big Counrtry – a USA – a which I love.

PP: Broadland Suspense is an entertaining and exciting tale of seven Scottish lads on a boating holiday, but then a gang of smugglers upset the applecart. What inspired you to write this storyline?

AM: I have always had a good imagination. This, plus experience, is a must for any writer. I have to admit to being on the Broads as a young man and, on seeing the area with its vast inlets, I thought it perfect for smuggling.

PP: The story is set in 1974. Why did you choose that time period?

AM: Check the history books and you’ll find the period filled with strife – the coal miners’ strike, the Middle East conflict (still going on, obviously) – all in 1973. We were all out of pocket with three-day work weeks. The price of petrol was still expensive, which hindered output. By 1974, inflation was just starting to taper off, but it was still very high. For example, a pair of shoes costing $50 then would be the same price now in 2011, 37 years later. That’s how bad inflation was.

PP: Your book is filled with lively characters who seem to be good-hearted and fun-loving. Even some of the smugglers seemed likable in many ways. Were any of these characters based on real people you’ve known?

AM: I think every writer draws a little from personal experience and people they’ve known in their lives. I’m not exception.

PP: There’s quite a bit of detail that suggests some boating experience. Are you a boating enthusiast?

AM: Yes, I like boats, but not the sea. Flat calm suits me. In Highland Adventures, my first novel published, the story of being out on the fishing boat was true. After that I confined my boating to the Lochs.

PP: Are you working on any writing projects at the moment? If so, can you tell us a little about it?

AM: Yes, I am working on a novel tentatively titled Port Combe Mystery. When I was a young, my dad took us boys down to Devon and Cornwall for the summer. I absolutely loved it and still go there often. The Cornish Coast is a haven for smugglers, and has been for many years. This gave me an idea for the novel. Once again, it’s an innocent party that get caught up in intrigue when they are stranded on the rocks in fog. And, yes, I myself was in a boat stranded in fog, and I sat on the bow to keep an eye out for rocks when the tide was going out. I’ll say no more, as I don’t want to give too much away.

PP: What’s next for you, as far as writing goes?

AM: I’m hoping to complete a sequel of Highland Adventures.

PP: How may readers contact you, and do you have a website or Facebook page?

AM: My website is http://anthonyjudemcgown.vpweb.co.uk/, and my Facebook page can be found by searching ‘Anthony Mcgowne’.

PP: Any other comments you’d like to make?

AM: Just to say thanks for the opportunity to let readers know a bit more about me and my books!

Writing Humor: Top-Five Query No-Nos

Always looking for more information to stock our modest quiver of knowledge, we recently contracted one of our authors, Robert J. Wetherall, to conduct an exhaustive poll among of seven harried literary agents, to understand their pet peeves regarding author queries. Five of them responded (thus our 'top-five' list). Below are excerpts of queries that went out of control and plunged off the narrow road of acceptance:

1) Self-denigration: You’ve written your heart out — now don’t mess things up by not standing by your manuscript.

“To whom it may concern: You probably won’t like this, but I’m sending it to you anyway. It’s the usual life story, and even includes a funny bit where my mom took a hot poker to my bottom for eating the last of the Cheerios. Hope you like it, but it’s not a big deal if you don’t.”

2) Mega-confidence: Opposite of No. 1 ... Don’t overdo it.

“I chose you guys to represent me cuz I heard you were the best in the lit biz. I’ve enclosed half of the first sample chapter to give you an idea of the opportunity that’s yours for the signing. It’s copyrighted, too — so don’t even think of ripping me off.”

3) The Numbers Game: Overwhelming agents with a constant, unending barrage of your stuff doesn’t work.

“I’ve given yeoman’s service to the task of trying to get you to represent me, including hundreds of faxes, emails, tweets, texts, and what not. How about sex? This is my final offer.”

4) Handle with Care: Take the time to show the agent you respect your craft by making sure you’ve prepared your work with dedication and diligence.

“Enclosd pleze find 3 simple chaptrs for my latest book, LUV IN THE RAFTERS. It’s the saga of a family of mice reproducing in extrordinery numbers. Pleze git back to me ASAP as I’m holding my breaths.” [Take special note of the misspellings and typos.]

5) Threats: Directly or indirectly, it doesn’t usually pay to shower prospective agents with dire events, should they reject your literary treasure.

“Remember your Chihuahua Pepe? I’m holding the little mutt hostage until I get a favorable note from you regarding my novel, PETS FOR LUNCH.”

Indeed, these are the kind of communications that cross agents’ desks with surprising regularity. No wonder they’re afraid to open their mail. So, take heed. This business is tough enough without some of you wrecking it for the rest of us.

Robert J. Wetherall
Forever Andrew;
Last Flight Home;
The Making of Bernie Trumble

Amazon.com; penumbrapublishing.com;

Goodbye Big Publishers? The book world is changing...

There's been a lot of chatter lately about the demise of 'traditional' publishing as more and more bookstore chains go under and 'big' publishers consolidate. Change of course is inevitable, and much of the talk of ebooks displacing print books appears to be coming true. But with change there is pain in restructuring, and some standards that many will bemoan as they disappear.

Big publishers as gatekeepers kept a lot of would-be authors from ever getting published. This may not necessarily have been a bad thing. Doing so helped ensure readers were provided with products they could be reasonable sure met minimum quality standards. This was done by creating an efficient machine run by professionally trained editors, cover artists, marketing and sales gurus, management and accounting staff, and technology experts to...

1) Choose and edit books to be engaging and well-written
2) Package books in enticing covers that matched their marketing venue
3) Develop and maintain marketing venues to attract and service readers looking for worthy books.

When Amazon and Smashwords and other services provided a quick and cheap and easy way to get books published, average-Joe authors suddenly gained direct access to make any book – no matter how innovative or terrible – almost instantly available to readers. This effectively eliminated the big publishers as gatekeepers ‘standing in the way’ of all the average-Joe wannabe authors out there.

However, distribution services like Amazon and Smashwords do not provide the publishing house production services of editing and cover art, nor do they provide any marketing beyond the basic web site product sales page with inherent category search. When it comes time for average-Joe author to figure out how he’s going to get his book professionally edited and formatted, and his cover professionally produced, he has two choices. He can either buy all the necessary software and learn how to do it all himself, or he can pony up a couple thousand dollars to pay others to do it. Which option will average-Joe author choose? For most people who want to get published, the do-it-yourself route (done right) looks like way more trouble than it’s worth and way more expensive that it’s worth. So most people will either throw up their hands and give up, or just pick the quick-easy-free way to get their book published, which involves no editing and just a rudimentary ‘freebie’ self-designed cover. To justify this, average-Joe author rationalizes that readers don’t really care about typos on every page, or whether the story makes sense, or whether it’s interesting, or whether the cover looks like a two-year-old did it with Crayons.

Once in the marketplace, average-Joe author’s book will have no respected reputation of a big publisher to stand behind it and promise the reader that it’s going to be worth the time and money to read. And not only will average-Joe author’s unknown-quality book be competing with way more books from other average-Joe authors, it will be competing for attention and money from a slowly shrinking readership that is shrinking due to other entertainment options (video games, TV, and other electronic distractions). Thus the average reader will be overwhelmed by a flood of books by unknown authors without any reputation whatsoever to promise that their books are worthy products.

Some self-published authors are enjoying success – an exception to the rule of self-publishing as a model in failure. Those frequently mentioned include J. A. Konrath, Amanda Hocking, and Ruth Ann Nordin, to name a few. These authors seem to have one or two things in common.
Konrath has had previous experience with a big publisher and a resulting author reputation to build on.

Hocking had one book published by a small indy publisher, and then apparently took the reigns with the rest of her books. She’s a prolific writer with several multi-book series. All her series feature similar short one-word catchy titles and color-coded generic cookie-cutter covers that are visually interesting but similar enough to ‘brand’ her series so that the title and cover instantly say ‘Amanda Hocking.’ Her assembly-line style theme and packaging to streamline her production process as well as make her books instantly recognizable is smart marketing.

Ruth Ann Nordin has nearly fifteen titles and uses purchased photos to create her covers. She may even have a service produce her covers. In the beginning, she probably spent more on her covers than she made in sales royalties, but at least she didn’t go the cheesy route and use crappy covers that screamed ‘amateur.’ She also has been blogging for quite a few years to promote her writing and to promote self-publishing. Now her investment in time and money appears to be paying off.

The point of all this is, getting published or going the self-published route both take a tremendous amount of time and effort. With one, you have to sell your work first, then wait a long time to get your work published. With the other, you have to publish your work, then wait a long time to sell it. Either way requires perseverance and a tremendous faith in the work. Anyone who is easily discouraged will give up before success is realized. Anyone who looks for the quick and easy solution without taking pride in their work to ensure it delivers in both packaging and content will fail because the product will be perceived as inferior. Anyone who thinks it will be a piece of cake becoming a successful author – and in this reference, ‘successful’ means selling more than 5,000 copies of a title – is in for a disappointment. Only the author who has good product and sticks with it to look for great ways to publicize and sell that work will see the kind of success the ‘exceptions to the rule’ appear to be now enjoying.

Osama Bin Laden - Strictly Fiction (and strictly humor)

There is compelling evidence that Osama Bin Laden doesn’t exist – and never has.

For writers, this means that the sprinkling of mere words across a page still possess the power to alter the course of history. Here then, are the facts as we know them, from the writer who started this masterwork of fiction, Akmed Ish Ke-bab, in his own words...

*****

It was back in the early 1960’s when I was mistakenly arrested near my Saudi home on suspicion of spying for the insurgent Haji tribes. Government police tossed me – torn, bruised and bleeding – into a cold concrete cell. Huge rats the size of burros nibbled at my toes as I contemplated my fate.

Soon enough, the iron cell door squeaked open and two huge jailers with pistols and long beards entered the cell and dragged me upstairs. My interrogator in traditional Saudi robe and headdress wore a monocle in his right eye and was smoking a brownish cigarette. As I sat on a small stool in front of him, he signaled the jailers to begin pummeling me lustily with the butts of their pistols. This they did with alacrity, despite my pathetic cries for mercy.

“So now, who is the leader of your group?” the interrogator asked, motioning the jailers to cease their ministrations for the nonce.

In response, I vomited my last meal of donkey entrails, casual barfing sounds escaping my bubbling lips as I did so.

“Ah,” he cried. “We have the name at last!”

“What?” I asked, wiping my lips with a tattered sleeve.

“You said Bin Laden. Osama.”

“No, that was just a noise I made.”

“Too late to take back, you filthy swine. My ears do not deceive.” He motioned to the guards. “Take him out back and hang him.”

Just then, a heaven-sent RPG dissolved the building in dust, and I found myself out in the street, surrounded by body parts and overturned vehicles, but miraculously still alive and in good working order. Later that night, sleeping beneath a palm in a public park, I had a revelation and awoke, asking myself, Who is this Osama Bin Laden?” – syllables of which my larynx had inadvertently concocted as bile burst forth from my lips.

Such a man did not exist. But, as a typical starving, homeless writer, I was adept at grasping at straws. Thus, in giving this Osama figment a life, I would shape him and use him for whatever good fortune would bring me. Thus, single-handedly in the years that followed, my imagination gave birth to this fictional character Bin Laden, telling of his mad exploits and loopy outbursts in books and articles for the masses. My words gave him a rich father, a family of wives and brats, money to pursue his giddy ideas and crackpot schemes. Little did I realize then that thousands of crazed followers would become enamored of this Bin Laden, the bizarre creature of my cerebral cortex. It would give them all something concrete instead of their former careers fashioning bricks from steaming camel dung.

All of this has provided me with a good living.

*****

A bright smile on his bronze, bearded face, Akmed is older and a tad creaky now, but his memory is Gillette sharp. His books and movies embellishing the Osama legend have garnered him millions. He now lives in a lavish hideaway near Boca Raton, Florida where he follows the frequent bursts of news about Bin Laden’s alleged follies with a grin and a chuckle.

But, you ask, what about that bozo with the scraggly beard that appears all the time on the tube threatening to blow up America’s carmelcorn stands?

“He is my idiot nephew, Omar,” says Akmed. “I pay him to ‘pretend’ whenever they turn him loose for a visit home from the hospital.”

So that’s the ticket, fiction writers! Come up with your own imaginary characters. Just remember: Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun have already been taken.

Robert Wetherall
Last Flight Home
The Making of Bernie Trumble
Forever Andrew

Available at Amazon.com, penumbrapublishing.com, wetherallbooks.com

Audio Interview with author Gary Bolick by Simon Barrett of BNN

In-depth audio interview with Penumbra Publishing author Gary Bolick by Simon Barrett of http://www.bloggernews.net/ ...

Gary Bolick, author of ANGEL'S ORACLE, a Southern literary masterpiece of the recent past, talks with book reviewer Simon Barrett about the imagery and mythology presented in the book.

A great chat with details about the author's background and inspiration, also includes information about future books.

Click on the link below and go to the site to listen...

(opens in a new web page)

Interview with Angel's Oracle author Gary Bolick, by Simon Barrett, BloggerNews.net MP3 audio interview

Author Phyllis Campbell interviews Penumbra Publishing author Lucille Naroian

(This blog interview by author Phyllis Campbell, featuring Penumbra Publishing author Lucille Naroian is republished with permission from www.phylliscampbell.blogspot.com)

Phyllis: I want to introduce you to Lucille. Welcome to my sultry blog, my friend. And thank you for letting me interviewing you!
...

Tell us about yourself and how you first started writing.

Lucille: Many years ago, a friend of mine gave me a copy of The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCollough. She raved about it, and promised me I would regard this 590 page novel as my all time favorite. I took one look at the thickness of the book, gave her a toothy smile and a hug, then put it away. I didn't have time to waste on a book about a priest who couldn't choose between God and a woman. I am the product of Catholic schools. Where's the choice? Well, the day came when it was time to read something from my 'to be read' pile, so I picked up the book, gave it a good dusting, and dove in. Three hours later, I was still reading. If I had walked into a book store way back then, I would never have chosen this book, and it would've been my loss. Reading a story that starts at WWI and ends in the 1960s, is enough to boggle any mind. And yet, Ms. McCollough took me through the saga so brilliantly, I hardly noticed the ride. What I did notice was how she brought the story full circle. Fee's daughter Meggie, ended up living the exact same life as her mother. Brilliant planning! The television miniseries is also my favorite, and the original theme song by Henry Mancini is on the HOME page of my website.

Phyllis: I have to admit, I never read The Thorn Birds, but I do love the movie!! So is the book that changed your life or made you want to become a writer?

Lucille: Well, it didn't change my life, but it did make me want to try my hand at writing. At the time, I was married with a family, and had very little time to weave my romantic tales. I had become a full time portrait artist as well who worked out of my studio at home. But when the urge to write took over, I would pen my romantic tales late at night while my family slept. I told nobody, fearing they would laugh at my futile attempt at story telling. I was a closet writer until two years ago when I took out my three type-written manuscripts. I polished up one to the best of my ability, and sent it off to Penumbra Publishing. They accepted the book, and I've been flying high ever since.

Phyllis: What an awesome story! If you could go back in time, where would you go?

Lucille: To be very honest with you, I wouldn't go back in time. I'm very happy living in the here and now with my life just as it is. The only thing I would've changed in my youth is my diet, and I would have exercised more.

Phyllis: I hear ya, woman! Okay, so what is your favorite thing about yourself?

Lucille: First of all, I'm true to my Catholic faith regardless of what has taken place in the Church recently and in the past. Who am I to make a judgment call on another human being? But as for me, I like to think my best virtue is being kind to others. There are two traits in people that disturb me greatly. One is cruelty to man or beast, and the other is dishonesty.

Phyllis: You are truly a Christian woman, then!! You have a few books out, which is a huge accomplishment, but do you have a favorite? If so, why?

Lucille: I don't know how other authors feel, but my first book, Talk of the Town is my favorite. It's a love story with a lot of humor in it, and I don't mean silliness. It was not my intent to pepper it up with humor, but the character of Samantha's agent is just a funny guy. He reminds me of me. If you look hard enough, you can find humor in anything. And Adam Pearce does.

Phyllis: I love romances - or stories in general - with humor! Way to go! What inspired you to write your latest release, Unforgettable?

Lucille: A few years back, I worked with a young girl who was left at the altar by her conman of a boyfriend. We all knew he was a loser, but love is blind, right? Well, hers was deaf and dumb as well. One day I got the bug to write again, but I had no storyline in my head. And then I thought of this girl and asked...what if? And the story took off.

Phyllis: Don't you just love how story ideas come? Tell us about your book.

Lucille: Be glad to. My heroine, Maddie Price is dumped at the altar and she's livid. Her fiance, a poor artist, talks her into marriage saying they'll honeymoon and live in Paris where his chances of becoming a great painter are much better. She has money...he takes it and runs off. When Maddie realizes what he's done, she ignores the weatherman's forecast of a tropical rain storm moving up the Eastern seacoast, jumps into her old jalopy, and takes off after him. One of her tires gets mangled in a giant pothole. Nobody is around, so she decides to fix it herself. Suddenly, she's confronted by a vicious dog who is threatening to rip out her throat. When the dog's owner comes to her rescue, she reluctantly takes refuge at his mansion, but is still determined to reach the scoundrel who jilted her and retrieve what's hers.

Famous playwright Robert Kendall's life on Cape Cod is anything but calm and uneventful. His Chinese live-in housekeeper, Mrs. O'Malley, has a drinking problem, and his best friend, an actor, sets out to prove he's the perfect choice to play the part of a cross-dressing drag-queen in Robert's new play. Finding Maddie irresistible, Robert knocks himself out trying to make her forget the man who abandoned her. The only problem is, Maddie doesn't trust her instincts after being conned. With Robert seemingly interested in a mysterious fiery redhead, Maddie can't believe she's the only woman in his life. Will Robert's promise to his best friend and Maddie's habitual mistrust prove to be their undoing? Maybe losing each other is the only way Robert and Maddie will realize they belong together.

Phyllis: Sounds like a fun story! Where can readers contact you?

Lucille: They can reach me at http://www.penumbrapublishing.com/, through my website at http://www.lucillenaroian.com/, and my email, clrmxr@comcast.net.

Thanks, Lucille! This was a fun interview!

~Phyllis~

Paranoid Enemies - Walter Knight's newest in the AGFL series

The theme of my newest book America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 7: Enemies is that even the paranoid have enemies. Colonel Joey R. Czerinski becomes more unstable as he suspects the galaxy is conspiring to kill him, including snipers, two alien species, bandits, insurgents, best friends, mafia gamblers, drug dealers, kidnappers, reporters, attorneys, Mafia gamblers, new Legion recruits, and alien mad scientists bouncing mind control pulse rays off the ionosphere aimed at humanity. And, all these groups are wary of each other. Conspiracy theories abound.

Even Czerinski's girlfriend conspires twice with insurgents to kill him. Czerinski would break up with Lydia, but she is hot, and the alternative is sex with aliens, a terrifying prospect he is well aware of. Even after throwing a grenade under her bed during a failed insurgent attack, they get back together.

Speaking of being paranoid, last year I asked my son Michael Knight whether any of my books were being pirated. Michael (a suspected pirate) advised no. I was disappointed because nefarious internet types violating federal law to pirate books is a true test of literary popularity and success. By the way, sales have been great, and I thank all you Kindle readers. Anyway, now my son reports that, yes indeed, AGFL - Book 1: Feeling Lucky is being pirated. Yes! I am so happy.

Walter Knight
http://www.waltknight.yolasite.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Galactic-Foreign-Legion-ebook/dp/B004M18PT6/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1297473871&sr=1-7