Malcolm’s Genuine Sub Rosa SARABANDE Book Give-Away Challenge

Welcome to my Hot Yule, Sub Rosa Give-Away Extravaganza

FIRST PRIZE: A signed paperback copy of my contemporary fantasy Sarabande. Or, if you own Sarabande, I’ll send you a signed copy of The Sun Singer (contemporary fantasy) or Garden of Heaven: an Odyssey (magical realism).

SECOND PRIZE: An e-book copy of Sarabande in the format of your choice from the book’s listing on Smashwords.

THIRD PRIZE: A signed bookmark showing the cover of The Sun Singer.

How to Play

1. Go to the Magic and Fantasy page on my Sarabande Website where you will find a variety of drawings linked to information about horses, ospreys, coyotes, and roses. Click on any or all of them, but focus your attention on the page reached when you click on the drawing that seems to be the most appropriate for a secret, i.e., something considered sub rosa (beneath the rose).
2. As you learn about the symbolism of the drawing you click on, you’ll discover that I left something on the table in David Ward’s cabin that is NOT mentioned in any of the novels. Your challenge is to figure out what it is.
3. Within the spirit of the rules, you can use psychic powers, magic, shamanic journeying, your imagination, or your best guest. When you have an answer, click on the e-mail icon at the bottom of the screen and tell me what you’ve discovered.
4. Any objects on that table top mentioned in The Sun Singer, Garden of Heaven: an Odyssey, and Sarabande are not the secret answer. So, guessing “soporific tea” will put your entry at the bottom of the stack.
5. The e-mail deadline is December 31, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. You can enter only once.

Determining a Winner

The first person to tell me specifically what the object is will win. By “specifically,” I mean that if you  think I’ve left a brass skeleton key (I didn’t) on the table, say “brass sketeton key” rather than “key” or “something shiny.” The second and third place winners will be those with the first-emailed answers closest to the corrrect answer.

If nobody figures out what the object is, the first, second and third place winners will be chosen by my drawing the names (from all entries) out of a hat.

Good luck and have fun.

–Malcolm

Review: ‘Divorcing a Dead Man’ by Beth Sorensen

In her fine-vintage debut romantic mystery Crush at Thomas Hall (Chalet, August 2010) Beth Sorensen introduced readers to Cassandra Martin who buried an abusive husband Tony, left home to see the world and ended up in northern Virgina running a small winery and deeply in love with the son of Thomas Hall’s owner, Edward Baker. In spite of murder and embezzlement, Cassandra and Edward appeared destined to lead a charmed life at the end of the novel.

The title of Sorensen’s sequel, Divorcing a Dead Man, is the first clue to the fact there may be more than grapes to be crushed at the winery—potentially, hearts and lives, as Cassandra discovers that Tony faked his death and wants to control her life again if he doesn’t kill her first. As a rich, successful CEO, Edward is used to getting his way, and to him that means controlling Cassandra’s life as well.

In my review of Crush at Thomas Hall, I noted that while former college professor Cassandra Martin was an intelligent protagonist when it came to running the winery, she was indecisive about personal matters, especially emotional commitments. She remains indecisive in Divorcing a Dead Man.

But, she has cause:  two men want to control her life, one out of hate and love; one man makes threats while the other keeps secrets; she is a devout Catholic who must now contemplate filing for divorce while her wedding is approaching as a potential train wreck; and, since Cassandra’s life is in danger, those closest want to hover even closer when she would prefer to run the winery (or run away) and have some unfettered time to think.

While Divorcing a Dead Man is not quite as tightly written as Crush at Thomas Hall, this contemporary romance successfully develops the character of Cassandra Martin in an environment of danger and betrayal. Meanwhile, Cassandra is not without doubts. While Tony was a mistake, she wonders as she accuses Edward of trying to run their relationship like a corporation, if marrying him will be another mistake.

Sorensen has written a compelling story about relationships and how easy it is for them to come into question and come under fire during times of great stress. From the outset, it’s clear that Cassandra and Edward are deeply in love and want only the best from each other. It’s also clear, whether fate plays a deadly hand or not, that they’re facing a steep learning curve in how to make a relationship work with very little time to do the necessary homework.

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Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of four novels, including the recent contemporary fantasy, “Sarabande.”

Changing Writing Hats When the Need Arises

Today’s guest post is contributed by author Phyllis Zimbler Miller

I met Mitch Miller in January of 1967 when I a freshman and he a junior were both writing for the editorial staff of MSU’s college newspaper, the State News.

During Mitch’s time at MSU he wrote, among other things, articles about the Vietnam War, especially as he was a member of R.O.T.C.  I wrote feature articles, such as on the controversy of a college health clinic giving out birth control pills.

Fast forward ahead:  We married in September 1969, and in May 1970 Mitch went on active duty at Ft. Knox, Kentucky,  for Armor Officers Basic.  I went with him although the Army had not officially invited me.  (For a fictionalized account of my experiences, see my novel Mrs. Lieutenant, which was a 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semifinalist.)

When we returned to the States in May of 1972, I eventually became a reporter and editor for Philadelphia’s weekly Jewish newspaper, the Exponent.  Mitch went to law school on the GI Bill and then I went to Wharton to get an M.B.A.

In the summer of 1980 we moved to Los Angeles, where we got “bitten” by an interest in writing for the entertainment industry.  We both took several screenwriting courses at UCLA Extension.  And we began writing and  rewriting and writing and rewriting screenplays that did not sell.

Both of us had to learn to go from a newspaper reporting style to a screenplay format where characters’ inner thoughts could not be portrayed.  The only way a screenplay character could convey his/her thoughts was by telling it to someone, talking to himself/herself, or by certain representative body actions.  (Remember when a movie actor would light a cigarette to show nervousness?)

Then I got interested in writing mystery novels – and I again had to learn a new writing style.  I had to write POV (point of view) characters whose thoughts I could convey while being careful not to switch to a different POV in any one section of a novel.

It took me 20 years of writing and rewriting the novel Mrs. Lieutenant, plus hiring an expert to figure out the one thing missing from the story, before I knew the book was ready to go.  And, of course, the book was then rejected by agents and publishers.

I decided to self-publish at the same time I submitted the manuscript to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition. Being named a semifinalist helped convince me that there was a market for this type of book.

And as ebooks exploded from a slow start by Kindle in late 2007, I got an idea.  Why not take Mitch’s and my screenplay “Lt. Commander Mollie Sanders,” which had been a 2005 Nicholls Fellowship quarterfinalist, and combine the script with a prequel script we had written titled “A Needle in a Haystack” in order to create an ebook?

Now I had to change writing styles again, and some people feel there is not enough character development in the book Lt. Commander Mollie Sanders.  (This is why we call the story a technothriller rather than a novel.) This ebook is meant to be an action/adventure story with a female
protagonist rather than the usual male protagonist.

On the other hand, some of the criticism of the character Mollie Sanders has been revealing of other people’s own issues. In fact, it has been so revealing that I felt compelled to write the post “A Fictional Character Is Fiction.”

In the end, though, I am grateful for having the opportunities to learn different writing styles and to then have the option to determine which ones work best  for me and for the stories I’m telling.

And,  oh, yes, who would have thought my journalism undergraduate degree would be so helpful now in writing short blog posts?

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) is the co-founder of the marketing consulting company Miller Mosaic, LLC.
You can learn about her fiction and nonfiction books at http://budurl.com/PZMbooks

Vanilla Heart Publishing at Deltona, Florida Book Fair October 15th

A Baker’s Dozen of authors from my publisher Vanilla Heart Publishing (VHP) will be represented at the Deltona, Florida 2nd Annual Author Book Fair, Celebrating Writers and Readers!

Saturday, October 15, from 11 to 3, the Deltona Florida Regional Library will host its second Annual Authors Book Fair – Celebrating Writers and Readers at at 2150 Eustace Ave, Deltona 32725. The book fair attracted 70 authors last year and served as an introduction to authors and poets in Florida or those who call Central Florida readers their audience.

Prior to the general session are two workshops at 8:45 and 9:45 geared to the interests of writers and budding authors:

8:45 am           7 Steps for a Wildly Successful Book Tour  presented by  Liz Coursen,  Sarasota      author of “The Complete Biography Workbook” who will just have completed  an 81-event book tour.

9:45 am           Pamela Starr, Regional Development Director for Constant Contact will be conducting a social media workshop entitled: How (and why) to incorporate social media into your marketing strategy.

These workshops are open to the public and are $10 each or 2/$15 payable at the door.

The Friends of the Library offers special thanks to corporate sponsors TD Bank, Infinity Insurance and Office Depot. Also returning this year is the popular meet and green hosted by Ruby Tuesday to which all authors and sponsors are invited.

VHP Authors Angela Kay Austin, Anne K. Albert, Charmaine Gordon, Celle Cordero, Collin Kelley, L.E. Harvey, Malcolm R. Campbell, Marilyn Celeste Morris, Melinda Clayton, Robert Hays, S.R. Claridge, Smoky Trudeau Zeidel, and Victoria Howard and their most recent novels, will all be represented at the Vanilla Heart Publishing booths, spaces 34 and 35, with giveaways, specials, and prizes.

My Birthday Gift to You

Pennsylvanian L. E. Harvey, author of “Unbreakable Hostage,” “Loving Her,” “Imperfect,” and the recently released “Impeccable,” contributes today’s guest post. The Kindle edition of Impeccable was released on September 9 by Vanilla Heart Books. The trade paperback edition is due out in November. You may also like Lauren’s previous guest post “On Writing as Entertainment” which appeared here in April.

My Birthday Gift to You

Today is my birthday. Normally, I’ve hated my birthdays. And today throws me one foot deeper into my thirty-something’s and one frightening step closer to the big four-oh. Yet, today, I can’t help but have a stupid grin on my face.

You see today just plain rocks.  Today is bringing me quite a bit of change in my personal life in addition to the bigger number.  Professionally, though, I am celebrating not just my age, but also the release of my newest book, Impeccable.

Impeccable is the sequel to Imperfect, a book that I have discussed with the fabulous Malcolm Campbell previously. (See L. E. Harvey’s novels focus on women’s strengths.)  Now, we continue the story.  Now we see how everything from Imperfect ties together and affects every character.  Now we, and the characters, move forward.

So many people were shocked to hear there was a second book.  Ah ha!  Leave it to a writer to be tricky (we love doing that)!  Anyway, yes, there is a
second book.  Yes, Impeccable is it.  No, Imperfect is not the ending to it all.  And Impeccable is not the ending you expected.

Impeccable is the emotional, cerebral twin to the logical Imperfect.  Together, they blend and create a full story of which I am tremendously proud.  I always say that these two books are sure to touch your heart and change your mind.  I say that with good reason: as I wrote them, that is how they impacted me!

These books are not thrillers, nor are they erotic, nor are they fantasy, nor are they exciting.  They are simply touching.  They were written from my heart and I was literally transformed in the process of writing them.  I know that if I can be that affected by a book, you most certainly will be too!

So today, I am celebrating! I am celebrating my day, but moreover, I am celebrating my book.  I am celebrating a book that I loved writing.  I am celebrating a book that touched me on a spiritual level.  And I am celebrating a book that I hope – no I know – will have a tremendous impact on its readers and our society today. That is worth celebrating, don’t you think?

Would you please celebrate along with me?  Could you help me revel in my birthday?  Would you go out on a limb and purchase your copy of Impeccable today?  You might just be surprised at just how deeply this book touches you.  And it will only make my birthday grin bigger!

Thanks, and happy reading!

Publisher’s Description for Impeccable

Carol – abandoned – waiting… for what, she couldn’t know. She couldn’t see that there was more life waiting for her. Carol is forced to face the demons of her past as well as begin to face life without Alex. Struggling to make sense of it all, Carol experiences her new life and all of the highs and lows that come with that life. Will Carol finally make peace with both her past and present?

Teaser from the Novel

She couldn’t feel her body. She felt nothing, no pain, nothing, no heat, and no cold. She couldn’t feel anything. Where was she that she lacked all sensation? Carol diligently tried to focus on her surroundings and tried to make sense of all the activity going on around her, but she was unable to sustain that for long. Once again her eyes rolled back and Carol was consumed by black.

Fantasy briefly noted: Redemption in Indigo

Karen Lord’s debut novel Redemption in Indigo (Small Beer Press, July 2010) was this year’s winner of The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature at Mythcon 42 in July. The novel also won the William L. Crawford Fantasy Award and Frank Collymore Literary Competition. The awards are a testimony to the book’s creative storytelling.

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, reviewer Jayna Brown, said that “Lord’s strengths as a writer are her witty, often satirical understatement and her ability to juxtapose folk- and fairy-tale devices with modern idioms and cultural references.” Brown noted Redemption in Indigo’s Senegalese, Caribbean, and European influences.

Publishers Weekly said that Lord’s ”retelling of a Senegalese folktale, packs a great deal of subtly alluring storytelling into this small package.”

Publisher’s Description

Karen Lord’s debut novel is an intricately woven tale of adventure, magic, and the power of the human spirit. Paama’s husband is a fool and a glutton. Bad enough that he followed her to her parents’ home in the village of Makendha—now he’s disgraced himself by murdering livestock and stealing corn. When Paama leaves him for good, she attracts the attention of the undying ones—the djombi— who present her with a gift: the Chaos Stick, which allows her to manipulate the subtle forces of the world. Unfortunately, a wrathful djombi with indigo skin believes this power should be his and his alone.

Excerpt

A rival of mine once complained that my stories begin awkwardly and end untidily. I am willing to admit to many faults, but I will not burden my conscience with that one. All my tales are true, drawn from life, and a life story is not a tidy thing. It is a half-tamed horse that you seize on the run and ride with knees and teeth clenched, and then you regretfully slip off as gently and safely as you can, always wondering if you could have gone a few metres more.

Thus I seize this tale, starting with a hot afternoon in the town of Erria, a dusty side street near the financial quarter. But I will make one concession to tradition…

…Once upon a time—but whether a time that was, or a time that is, or a time that is to come, I may not tell—there was a man, a tracker by occupation, called Kwame. He had been born in a certain country in a certain year when history had reached that grey twilight in which fables of true love, the power of princes, and deeds of honour are told only to children. He regretted this oversight on the part of Fate, but he managed to curb his restless imagination and do the daily work that brought in the daily bread.

Today’s work will test his self-restraint.

–Malcolm

contemporary fantasy about a woman's trials and choices

I’ll be your fantasy server this evening

Welcome to the world of fantasy. My name is Malcolm, and I’ll be your server this evening.

Today’s special is Sarabande, a bone-chilling new adventure about a young woman named Sarabande who risks a dangerous journey into her own past. With the help of the Sun Singer, she plans to raise Dryad from the dead so that her cruel sister’s ghost can no longer cause pain and suffering throughout a peaceful mountain valley.

Fantasy is a Dangerous Place

You’ll be reasonably safe in the world of fantasy while I am here to guide you. Otherwise, may I suggest that you read Sarabande during the daylight hours in the company of others. Do not read the novel at night unless the doors are locked.

Like abandoned mines, fantasy leads deep into the heart of strange landscapes, forbidden worlds and dreams, places where everyday reality fears to tread. Be careful and do not wander off alone, for the mysterious world of fantasy can be dangerous. That’s why I’m posting a warning sign here just like the one I saw recently in Virginia City, Nevada where gold and silver were once extracted from the earth.

Mining Fantasy Novels for Gold and Silver

While growing in a house full of books, I discovered high-quality ore in such fantasies as The Once and Future King and Lord of the Rings. Recently, others have discovered gold and silver in the Harry Potter books. The gold of dreams and the silver of mystery are not only exciting—they jump start the imagination.

I hope you’ll enjoy Sarabande. It’s available today in multiple e-book formats at Smashwords. Other editions will follow soon, including paperback. Dig deep, enjoy the ride, but please, read safely in well-lighted places.

–Malcolm

Vanilla Heart Publishing Day

On July 25th, author Smoky Trudeau Zeidel (“On the Choptank Shores” and “The Cabin”) will host a Vanilla Heart Publishing Day on her book review site.

Stop by for writing and book information and (hopefully) a laugh or two with authors Malcolm R. Campbell, Vila Spiderhawk, Robert Hays, Melinda Clayton, S R Claridge, Collin Kelley, Charmaine Gordon, Marilyn Celeste Morris, and Janet Lane Walters. Learn to like the authors; learn to love their books.

She asks great questions, and I enjoyed taking part in the fun.

–Malcolm

Review: ‘When the de la Cruz Family Danced’

When the de la Cruz Family Danced by Donna Miscolta

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The slice-of-life scenes in Donna Miscolta’s tightly written “When the de la Cruz Family Danced” create an elegant portrait of a Southern California family suspended between its first and second generation Filipino origins, its “Little Manila” neighborhood and the outside world, and between familial cohesiveness and individual freedom. As the novel begins, the family is mired in a stasis that has crept uninvited into its home through the dynamics of time, illness, aging and lack of attention.

Also uninvited, a young man named Winston comes into their home because he believes he might be Johnny de la Cruz’s unacknowledged—and perhaps, unknown—son. Nineteen years earlier, Johnny made his only return trip to the Philippines to visit his family. While there, he had an unplanned sexual encounter with an old flame. Since they never spoke again, Johnny didn’t know Bunny Piña subsequently separated from her husband and moved to California with her son Winston. Winston didn’t know about the de la Cruz family until he found an un-mailed letter to Johnny hidden among his mother’s mementos when she died.

Lost after his mother’s death, Winston wants to know more about Johnny even though he cannot articulate exactly why. He wonders whether Bunny meant to mail the letter and simply forgot it or whether she chose to remain silent. The sentiments include “since you so gallantly made your escape from my couch that afternoon” and “we each had our reasons for what happened.” Does this suggest that Johnny is Winston’s biological father? While Winston isn’t sure, he wants to get to the heart of the secret Bunny never shared.

When he finds Johnny dying of cancer and the rest of the family suspicious of his motives for appearing on its doorstep, Winston simply says he’s Bunny’s son. He says he didn’t know if Johnny heard that Bunny moved to the U.S. or that she had recently died. At this point, readers might expect Winston to leave after suffering through a few days of the de la Cruz family’s polite but disinterested company or that he will produce the letter and ask, “Johnny, are you my father?”

Instead, Miscolta carefully inserts Johnny into the family’s life. None of them are quite sure why he’s still there, but he’s nice enough. He helps Tessie look after Johnny, partly by keeping him company. While the slice-of-life details about family life, shown from the viewpoints of each of the family members, do slow down the development of the plot, they paradoxically add great depth to the novel and to the reader’s understanding of the family itself.

Miscolta has created poignant story about a family (with secrets) that very much needs to find itself within the multicultural world of Southern California. The story revolves around one dual question: will Winston come and go and soon be forgotten or will he be the catalyst for something more long term and meaningful? All of the characters step close and then step away from that question like awkward beginners at a club who haven’t yet learned how to dance.

“When the de la Cruz Family Danced” is a highly recommended waltz of well-crafted prose and endearing characters.

–Malcolm

Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of “The Sun Singer,” “Garden of Heaven: an Odyssey” and “Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire.”

Coming this Fall

Novel samplers – Examples of a writer’s work

1760 Sampler - Wikipedia

Students learning needlework used to demonstrate their skills in samplers that showed examples of what they could do. Traditional samplers included motifs, borders and alphabets in various kinds of stitches. Those of us who like chocolate see the same approach in the famous Whitman’s Samplers, the boxes of candy with a representative assortment of the company’s many varieties.

Vanilla Heart Publishing is taking the same approach to its novelists’ and short story writers’ work. The publisher is bringing together samples of a writer’s work in free PDF documents that can be easily downloaded and then sampled.

I like the idea. As publishing transitions from bricks and mortar bookstores to online bookstores that provide either paperbacks or e-books, it’s nice having a way to see what we’re buying before we click on the BUY button. In a neighborhood bookstore, you can pick up a book and see what it’s like, browsing, reading a bit here and a bit there. Amazon has addressed the issue of excerpts with its READ INSIDE service. Smashwords gives readers a free look at the first chapter or so of each book.

Malcolm's Sampler

The samplers, though, bring multiple works together in one document. My sampler, for example, includes examples of my Jock Stewart stories, excerpts from my two Glacier Park novels (“The Sun Singer” and “Garden of Heaven: an Odyssey”) and some of the lunacy from my satirical “Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire.”

I can’t demonstrate my skill with the many variations of chain stitches on a decorative square of fabric. But my publisher’s sampler brings a bit of humor, adventure, description, and excitement together in one file. In an e-book world, it’s a good way to get the feel for a book before you decide to put it on your Kindle or your Nook, or order the paperback version for your shelf.

–Malcolm

You can find more novel samplers for Vanilla Heart Publishing’s authors here.