I attended Seton Hill University’s In Your Write Mind writing conference June 28-30, 2013. It was the third time I presented, this year on “Self-editing for Publication,” which was well-attended.
Matt Dowling of FCTV’s Going LIVE, a variety show focusing on arts and entertainment, was there to interview many of the authors. Here, I share the spotlight with the fabulous Sally Bosco, author of The Werecat Chronicles.
GREENSHIFT is a tale set within the world of AMBASADORA.
Mari’s rare eye color makes her a pariah within Upper Caste society, which is why she prefers plants to people… except David, the former Armadan captain who shuttles scientists around on a refurbished pleasure cruiser.
But someone else is interested in Mari and her distinctive look—an obsessed psychopath who tortures and murders women for pleasure.
When the killer chooses Mari as his next victim, the soldier inside David comes alive, but it is Mari who must fight for her own life and prove she isn’t as fragile as the flowers she nurtures.
Mari is a beautiful young woman from the polluted planet of Deleine. Her coral-colored eyes are the result of a reaction to a childhood vaccine. She seeks to make her mark in the field of science, upgrading the hydroponic botanical bays in spaceships.
When she meets Armadan ex-military pilot David Anlow, their chemistry turns to intimacy, and the virgin’s first amour becomes the one she would take as prime.
But when the slimy Dale Zapona hires Mari to upgrade his freighter ship, she accepts the on-board job against her better judgment only to find he and his henchman have something less businesslike in store for her because of her lithe body and strange orange eyes.
Like AMBASADORA, this prequel kicks ass. Miller weaves sci-fi and romance effortlessly, loading on the action and suspense. Although there’s a rough spot in the writing during a fight scene, the story is solid, the characters strong, the conflict palpable, the sex scenes hot, and the resolution satisfying. Everything in a book worth buying.
If you like genre mash-up like I do, I recommend GREENSHIFT. Miller knows how to tell a story and keep it moving til the very last page. I look forward to her next novel in the rich and imaginative Ambasadora-verse.
Then tag 7 more authors to carry forward the 777 game. Add their links, and remember to link to the person who tagged you… (Also, let everyone know.)
From page 77 of DEATH PERCEPTION:
Antogonist Cecil Grinold puts protagonist Kennet Singleton to the test, to see if the young man really can discern cause of death by toasting marshmallows over the cremated remains of the deceased. But Grinold is up to no good, of course.
“I was just thinking of a little experiment.” Yes, why not find out whether my young employee is telling the truth or inventing tall tales? Knowing that his psychic “gift” was impossible, Cecil gloated about the time when he would fire Kennet for good. Hopefully, soon.
“Experiment?”
“Yes, Kennet. Are the marshmallows still here?”
“Unless you threw them away.”
“I should have, but I didn’t. Bring them out.”
“I hope there’s no problem . . . ”
“Relax. Just get the marshmallows.” Dummy.
Okay, so I posted a few more than 7 sentences, but it was a good breaking point. You can learn more about DEATH PERCEPTION here.
Rose’s links are at the beginning of this post, and here are links to 7 of my friends’ blogs. Check them out. Read their stuff. Support writers!
Do you wish you could write more? Guest blogger, Heidi Ruby Miller, author of AMBASADORA and GREENSHIFT, reveals how she increased her daily word count. Keep reading for a chance to win a copy. You’ll want to, because her spicy sci-fi romances rock with action!
Heidi Ruby Miller, author of AMBASADORA and GREENSHIFTI resolved this year to WRITE FIRST.
It was my way of seeing if I could write more. And it worked.
Believe me, I was more surprised than anyone. Over the past five years I had steadily worked out of the century club (100 words per day) to the millennium club (1000 words per day), but then I stalled. I have always been a slow writer, probably because I labor over every word and character motivation, each plot point, the cadence of individual sentences, blah blah blah.
Outlining helped me tremendously once I started graduate school. The planner that I am, I usually had a nice beginning/middle/end worked out, then went from there. When I began to do more extensive outlines (80 pages long), which detailed each scene, I had a rough first draft in no time and a direction to move with the story. That’s when the 1000 words a day came quite easily.
To jump to the next level (like Robert J. Sawyer with his 2000 words a day or Susan Mallery with her 20 pages a day) I needed a little extra mojo. Turns out the solution was simple—write first.
I decided to try my new tactic in 2012 after talking with horror writer and my co-editor of MANY GENRES, ONE CRAFT, Michael A. Arnzen. Instead of New Year’s resolutions, he does focus words—words that he focuses on all year in order to make improvements in his life and career. My words were WRITE MORE, but that seemed too broad, so I decided upon WRITE FIRST.
And that’s what I’ve been doing since January 1. I wake up half an hour early to… work through a yoga routine.
Okay, I know you were expecting me to say “write,” but with as much time as I spend on the computer, I wouldn’t be able to move if I didn’t stretch and breathe first thing in the morning. But then I write. Before I change out of my pajamas or make a cup of tea or surf through all my social media sites or before my husband gets out of bed, I sit down and write for at least 30 minutes. That may not seem like much time, but it’s enough to get a few hundred words in or a few pages revised. More importantly, it brings my story front and center in my mind where it stays all day long.
It becomes a trance-like state for me during the rest of the day. No matter what I’m doing, I’m thinking about my characters, plotting scenes in my head. This compels me to sit back down in front of the laptop and keep writing. Before I know it, I’ve sometimes had 3000 words by day’s end or revised four chapters. More typically, I hit 2000 words, but that’s double what I was doing last year at this time.
Granted, I accrue this word count during various sessions throughout the day, not in one sitting—I would have a constant migraine if that were the case. But it’s working. January 2012 was my most productive month ever. So far February is falling a little shorter with only an average of 1500 words per day, but that’s still 500 more than most days last year. I blame the small lapse on the launch for my latest novel GREENSHIFT, which came out on Valentine’s Day. Obviously, more marketing time was required this month. I fully expect my productivity to kick into overdrive in March… by simply writing first.
GIVEAWAY!
Be entered to win a copy of GREENSHIFT or AMBASADORA or both by telling us in comments what you’re reading right now and leave your email address disguised something like heidirubymiller AT gmail. Winners will be drawn randomly on March 1, 2012, and announced on March 2, 2012. Good luck!
About Heidi Ruby Miller
Heidi Ruby Miller has been putting too much sex in her Science Fiction since 2005 because she believes the relationship is as important as the adventure. She loves high-heeled shoes, action movies, Chanel, loud music, and video games.
In a society where breeding and caste are sacrosanct, can you find true love? Heidi Ruby Miller proves you can—in a world with six moons that provides all the imaginative richness a sci-fi milieu can muster. The setting is fantastically painted, concrete, and nothing less than fascinating.
The Embassy coerces broken and remade Ambasadora Sara Mendoza to help squelch the techno-militant fragger rebellion by extracting information from their operative leader. But Sara learns a lot about the Embassy, the system, and her target, and her plans change when she realizes that love is not just an illusion.
AMBASADORA may be billed as sci-fi/romance, but it truly holds something for everyone. The torture scenes are horrifically exquisite, the plot intriguing, the action exciting, and the consummation scene deals out spice in spades! Sara is one tough cookie, and although Sean has a few personal problems, he’s got the right stuff for a hero. I found myself rooting for both of them because Miller not only puts them through their paces, but utterly shreds the hell out of them over the course of this broad novel. As I always say, the basis of drama is conflict, and there’s plenty on every page here.
Our world’s fame-mongering class consciousness takes on stark new meaning when extrapolated to the extent in AMBASADORA. If you enjoy visionary writing from a fresh new voice, I recommend Heidi Ruby Miller.
