Interview with sci-fi author Sherrill Nilson

Sci-fi author Sherrill Nilson joins me today and we’re chatting about her new YA/NA fantasy novel, Karda-Adalta Vol I.

Bio:

Sherrill Nilson used to raise horses. Now she writes about flying horses—with hawk heads and wicked talons. Author of the Adalta Series, she’s been a cattle rancher, horse breeder, environmentalist, mother of three, traveler to exotic places–even a tarot card reader.

She lived in Santa Fe (where she built a straw bale house) and Ruidoso, NM, San Francisco, and Austin after leaving the hills of Eastern Oklahoma and her ranch. Now she’s back in Tulsa where she started.

Her studies for her PhD opened her to the world of ancient myth and story. Writing all those many papers and her dissertation was so much fun, she took a leap of faith and did what she's always wanted to do––write fiction. She started writing Karda and Hunter–the first two books in the Adalta series. She’s now working on Falling, the third book, and lurking in the back of her mind is another series about the trees deciding whether or not to leave Earth.

She lives, reads, and writes SciFi/fantasy (and occasionally poetry) in Tulsa, Oklahoma—back where she started as the oldest of seven kids (don’t ask to drive). Three of whom are writers. (And use too much red ink when she asks them to look at her work.)

She doesn’t have a dog, a cat, or even a bird, but she does have an old Volvo convertible and loves to drive around in her sunglasses with the wind blowing her hair. It’s how she gets her vitamin D.

Welcome, Sherrill. Please tell us about your current release.

Karda is the revised and illustrated edition of the first book in a fantasy-sci-fi series, Adalta, with technophobic humans on a living planet, majestic hawk-headed flying horses, a power struggle between brothers, and a plucky female hero who must learn to tap into powers she never knew she had––powers that scare her––to save the place and the people she comes to love.

With the collapse of Earth’s systems, a flurry of Ark Ships leaves to establish colonies through the universe. In the confusion, a handful of these ships are lost. The colony landing on Adalta was one.

Five hundred years later, Marta Rowan rests beneath a short, twisted evergreen beside a spring in the midst of a barren area of Adalta. This is not her first mission for Alal Trade Consortium. In fact, she’s been doing clandestine fact-finding missions like this her whole life. She arrives on a planet, does her fact-finding, then leaves.

But this planet is different. Empathic connections to Adalta and its creatures begin to assault her senses. She is chosen by a Karda, one of the huge flying horse with hawk-head and fierce talons native to the planet, and their bond grows deeper and deeper, threatening her determination not to get attached—she can’t—when the mission is over, she must leave Adalta.

The trade ship’s goal of introducing high-tech products to this low-tech world proves impossible as Marta discovers the colonists and the planet itself are technophobic. None of their trade items work. The traders find an ally in Readen Me’Vere who uses blood, sex, and death to release a malevolent force intent on seizing control and stripping Adalta of its resources.

A blood magic assassination attempt opens telepathic communication between Marta, her Karda, and Altan, handsome, arrogant heir to one of the Quadrants.

Together Marta, Altan, and their Karda, fight the Consortium plot to smuggle forbidden hi-tech weapons in return for valuable minerals. They must work together to stop this rapacious attack by the ship and by the awakened alien power.

What inspired you to write this book?

I am a voracious reader, and I love fantasy. One day I put down the book I was reading and thought, “I’m going to run out of books to read, of new worlds to live in.” So, I decided to create my own. I bred running Quarter Horses for several years, so I had to include horses in some form. Why not intelligent flying horses on this new world who could communicate telepathically? I talked to my horses a lot—they are good listeners—so why not have them talk back?

Excerpt from Karda-Adalta Vol I

(from Chapter Three):

She managed one step forward, and the Karda's mantled wings spread wall to wall. She raised her head. The large dark eyes in her predator's head looked Marta over, imperious, appraising her. Marta took another step. She took a deep breath, then another, and her shoulders loosened. This colossal creature with its fierce hooked beak should terrify her. But she didn't.

…..

Marta's breath stopped again. It was hard to get her words out. “You're leaving me here with her? What do you mean if she selects me? What do I do?” All of a sudden, she wasn't sure she wanted to be left alone with this huge creature, its fierce hooked beak, its piercing eyes.

Cailyn smiled and walked away, saying over her shoulder, “You'll be all right. More than all right if she chooses you.” Then she turned back, her body still, her tone somber. “It's the way to become a Mi'hiru, Marta—the only way.” She left.

Marta stepped, one slow foot at a time, toward Sidhari, looking up at the proud head, getting as close as she dared. The Karda's dark eyes caught hers. Sidhari held her entranced, examined her, exposed her to the core of her being. Marta sensed a rock-like solidity, an intelligence sharp and discerning, a quest for connection. Marta felt herself leaning toward it. Fear jolted her. Such deep connection was frightening, dangerous.

Her heart beating a timpani concerto in her chest, her hand reached to touch the soft, sleek hair of the long graceful neck, and she lost herself in the Karda's vast mind. Her consciousness spread wider and wider until she was the entire planet, her mind, her heart swirled beyond time and matter, until the scattered atoms of her being gathered with a soft susurrus of feathers sliding together, surrounding her, holding her. She was held, cherished, safe for the first time since her father died.

Her fingers curled, feeling the loose straw and the rough stones of the floor, feeling warmth against her cheek. She was sitting, resting against the warm shoulder of the Karda. Sidhari lay with her feet curled under her. Marta never wanted to move again. Light through the clerestory windows was dark with the deep rose of twilight. Marta started as she heard footsteps echo down the stone hallway of the mews.

“It looks like you've found a match, Sidhari.” Cailyn leaned against the wide archway to Sidhari's stall. “You've been here all afternoon, Marta.”

Marta stood, her legs shook. “Has it been that long? It felt like a few minutes.” She managed to pull the words out of the fog in her head.

“The first time is always like that. You were lost, weren't you?”

“No.” She rested her hand on Sidhari's shoulder, nearly the height of her own though Sidhari laid on the flagstones, her legs tucked under her body. Marta was still shaky. “I think I was found.”

What exciting story are you working on next?

I just published Hunter-Adalta Vol. II and am working on Falling, the third volume. The space ship is not going to be leaving Adalta. What is going to happen to the twenty-five-hundred people who must be rescued? Families who have lived for generations on the trade ship, people who have never set foot on a planet will have to learn to adapt, not only to life on living ground, but on a planet that is alive and sentient. And they must learn to deal with the elemental magic they will all have, triggered by Adalta when they first set foot on her soil. And all this takes place in the middle of a war with unimaginable monsters that must somehow culminate in this final volume.

Then I intend to finish the young adult book(s) I started before Karda—about the trees deciding whether or not to stay on earth—with a lot of Sumerian and Ancient Near East mythology, an evil corporate cabal, and angry spirits of extinct species who blame humans for the deaths of their species.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Before I learned to read and write, I used to make ‘writing marks’ across the yellow pages of my dad’s legal pads, imagining stories. I started by first novel when I was eleven—about an orphan girl and horses. (I was eleven.)

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I try to write full time. I’m retired, so finding the time isn’t that hard. Sometimes opening the computer is the hardest part. I’m not very disciplined. But once I get it open and there’s nothing interesting in my email, I can write for hours. I can get lost either reading a book or writing a book. As I heard or saw on FB or somewhere,” A book a day keeps reality away.” Whether you are reading or writing it.

And I love working with my son, Kurt Nilson, who does the covers and illustrations for my books. He lives in Brazil.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I can’t plot. Well, I can, but when I think I have it all figured out and look at it again after I’ve written my first few chapters, my characters are not doing what I thought they’d be doing, and sometimes they aren’t even the same characters. I have learned that having the ending firmly in my mind is very important, otherwise I get close to the end and the book starts wandering all over the place while I try to figure out where it’s going. Kind of like asking Google Map to plot a route to “somewhere in Arizona, or maybe New Mexico.”

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to live on a ranch, have horses, and write books. I’ve lived on a ranch. I’ve had horses. And now I’m writing books. None of that was as glamorous as I thought it would be. Horses and ranch were often hard, dirty work. And writing books is hard on the ego––all that red ink. But all three­­­­––oh, so rewarding.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Yes. My sister Alice V Brock is writing a series of historical western mid-grade books. Her first book, River of Cattle, won Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award for Best Western YA/Children Fiction of 2016, Was a finalist for their Best First Western Novel of 2016. She also was fourth for the 2017 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction, Younger Readers. I tell her she’s writing Lonesome Dove for kids. She just sent the second book in her series, Pecos River Mystery, to her publisher. It should be out in November.

My brother Phil Vincent’s thriller manuscript of his first novel, Varuna, was picked as a finalist in the 2018 Unpublished Mystery/Thriller category by Pacific Northwest Writers Association

Links:

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Thanks for stopping by today!

Interview with romantic suspense, new adult author Ketley Allison

Author Ketley Allison joins me today to talk about her new romantic suspense thriller, To Have and To Hold.

Bio:

Author of Romantic Suspense, New Adult and mature Young Adult novels.

Ketley Allison has always been a romantic at heart. That passion ignited when she realized she could put those dreams into words and her soul into characters. Ketley was born in Canada, moved to Australia when she was thirteen, to California when she was twenty, and finally to New York to attend law school, but most of that time was spent sitting in coffee shops and wine bars thinking of her next book.

Her other passions include coffee, wine, Big Macs, her cat, and her husband, possibly in that order.

Welcome, Ketley. Please tell us about your current release.

To sum it up, TH&TH is about lost love and kidnapping, ha! Basically, it boils down to what chances you would take to find the person you gave up years ago but realize you still love. Of course, I throw in a lot of roadblocks, but my goal is to have readers on the same desperate trail and wanting these two characters to end up back together for a second chance.

What inspired you to write this book?

I started TH&TH over a year ago, and due to a lot of upheaval in my own life, these trials transferred into my characters. Although Spence and Emme have a much different (and more insane) adventure than me, a lot of their feelings, hopes, determination and terror come from my own experiences. Because of that, they’re the most authentic characters I’ve ever created and very close to my heart. I can only hope to take readers into their world and keep them there until the very end.

Excerpt from To Have and To Hold:

“It’s Emme, Spence.”

I stiffened as that name traveled from Knox’s throat and into my ear. Thoughts and memories took hold, that name turning into a face.

Eyes the darkest shade of green. Cascades of ink-black hair. A smile to melt me.

“You’re wrong.” I said. “You’ve spent a few too many hours off the clock and twice that amount on booze and now you’re blowing up my phone because you’re hallucinating. Right? Right, Knox?”

 “You heard me,” Knox said, though not with unkindness. He sounded tired, resigned. Scared. “It’s been confirmed. The woman taken is Emme Beauregard. It’s Em.”

My knees hit the floor.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I am FINALLY finishing the final installment to my Falling Paper Duet (title and book cover to be released in the next few months). It’s a romantic suspense with a jaded girl and a wounded man, involving poker, mafia bosses, the FBI and, of course, rediscovering love. As I grow as a writer, so do my characters, so readers will find that Scarlet and Theo have changed a lot since Paper Dolls, the first installment.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

As soon as I could read. Though honestly, it was through Sailor Moon. When I was really young, I loved this show. I wanted to be Sailor Moon so badly and have my own Darien/Mamoru. As this wasn’t possible in real life, I realized where I could put myself in Serena/Usagi’s place—through writing and stories. Since then, I’ve never looked back!

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I wish so badly I could write full time! But I’m a lawyer by day, had a baby last year, and a husband to bring me Big Macs on demand. It’s a full schedule, but I try to write at least 2k words a day. This year, I plan to release three novels (TH&TH included), finish my series, and really give readers what they’ve been waiting for from me.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I need a glass of wine to write sex scenes.

(Truly, it loosens me up and I can create a kind of heat—and figure out words other than “throbbing”—I never otherwise would’ve!)

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Sailor Moon! Or, if that failed, an author just like my favorite, Nora Roberts. (Yes, I know I’m a lawyer, but I’ve even utilized that

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I am BACK! Any unfinished series of mine will be finished this year, and the idea for another standalone is already in the works.

And, if readers love To Have and to Hold, there is also a prequel available, From This Day Forward, which is a look into Emme and Spence’s past and how they met, as well as other secrets!

Links:

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Thank you so much for having me, Lisa!

Happy that you could be here!

Interview with fantasy author C. Penticoff

Fantasy author C. Penticoff is here today and we’re chatting about her new adult novel, Weathering the Wicked.

Welcome, C. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hello! I go by C. Penticoff in the book world. I’m a fantasy author and I’m also the owner of A Novel Connection. I started creating books the moment I could pick up a pen and write with it. My first book, Weathering the Wicked, is one I started writing at the age of 12. After 14 years of throwing crumbled up pieces of paper in the trash and going back to the writing board, I finally had the masterpiece I had dreamed of publishing since middle school.

When I’m not writing, I am homeschooling my two young boys and day dreaming of worlds beyond our own.

Please tell us about your current release.

Weathering the Wicked, which is book 1 in the Chronicles of Folklaria, is different than most fantasy stories you will read. Sure, there is spell casting, wizardry, and fairies; but, what sets this fantasy story apart from most is its clear spiritual message. When I say, “spiritual,” I do not mean that it’s religious; rather, it focuses on a more universal and progressive approach to spirituality that most of the younger generations will be able to relate to.

During June’s time in Folklaria, you can expect to see June’s fear and anxiety get in the way of her destiny. June learns that she is prophesied to save an entire magical land from wicked magic, but is scared to death. She can hardy keep a job, let alone rescue an enchanted land from its impending doom.

What inspired you to write this book?

The plot was inspired by my grandmother when I originally started writing this story at 12 years old (believe it or not). The world that it takes place in was inspired from my favorite book, The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield.

You will also notice that June, our main character, struggles with anxiety and seems to live her life in fear. This was inspired by my own battle with depression and anxiety. I wanted to make a character that was relatable to people, so I felt that giving her a character trait, in which many people can understand personally, would help people connect to June.

What exciting story are you working on next?

My current works in progress is book 2 of the Chronicles of Folklaria.

This is a 3-book series. I have BIG plans for this series! There are lots of twists and turns throughout the entire series, as there are in Weathering the Wicked.

In books 2 & 3, you will see the ups and downs of June and Ryder’s romance; you will also see it really take off and blossom.

You will find out what happened in Folklaria to bring on the wicked magic that is taking it over.

You will figure out Tristara’s past, along with finding out who she is. I don’t want to give too much away, so I will leave it at that!

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I’ve been since before I can remember, but I officially considered myself a writer when I started writing my first book, Weathering the Wicked.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I do not write full time, but I do write most days of the week.

I run a business called A Novel Connection full time, which takes some of my writing time way. Either way, I find time to slip my writing in. Not only do I need to continue releasing books at a reasonable pace, but writing is therapeutic for me; so it’s important that I make time for this on a daily basis.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I don’t know if you call this a writing quirk, but I love listening to native American music while I write. I usually put my headphones in, turn on my native music, and can write for hours!

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Growing up, I wanted to be an author and an actress! My dreams were anything but small. I’m very proud to be able to say that I have fulfilled one of my childhood dreams.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I want readers to know that the best way to keep up with my work is by subscribing to my mailing list. You can do so by heading to my website, and clicking “Subscribe” on the main page.

Links:

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Thanks for being here today, C.

Interview with novelist Alexander Charalambides

Novelist Alexander Charalambides joins me today and we’re chatting about his new thriller novel, K.I.A.

During his virtual book tour, Alexander will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Alexander Charalambides was born in London and grew up in Berkshire in the UK. He studied creative writing and graduated from the Open University.

As a freelance writer, Alexander enjoys storytelling just as much as editing and analysis, but often takes time off to enjoy wind surfing, do the sickest of motorcycle flips, wrestle with deadly animals and lie about his hobbies.

In 2008, he moved to the USA and now lives in New Hampshire’s beautiful White Mountains with his family and two dogs, Gwynne and Gimli.

Welcome, Alexander. Please tell us a little bit about your current release.

Hildegard lives in a real-life dollhouse, surrounded by prop houses and actors who play friends, teachers and foster parents. Only one man ever seemed real, and after his disappearance, she’s had enough playing along. As Hildegard makes her final preparations to run away from home, a swarm of black clad soldiers appear, controlling the police and swarming across her home town. She can evade them for now, but after learning their mission, she decides to play along one last time, following them to Truman Academy, a lonely building on a freezing aleutian island. Hildegard knows it for what it is: just another prop, but not everyone feels the same way. Through the hell of endless drills and marching, Hildegard befriends the stealthy Grace and bloodthirsty David, and enlists them in an effort to unravel the plan of the man called G and his monstrous menagerie of inhuman soldiers.

What inspired you to write this book?

I took a look at the thematics of a lot of really inaccessible stuff and wondered what made it inaccessible. I mean, almost everyone has a lot in common. I just tried to transplant the themes from one genre into the context of another, not telling which so as not to colour anyone’s expectations, obviously.

I guess the short version is I thought it'd be an interesting experiment.

Excerpt from K.I.A.:

“Bacteria again,” David says. “A biological weapon?”

“I don’t know.” Islet slurps the last of his soup. “I only sequenced part of it, and they keep the different teams apart.”

“Is that what they’re going to launch from the Silo?” Grace asks.

“You knew?” Islet asks.

“We found out about the Mobile Silo a while ago,” I say. “We saw blueprints for it, orders for parts, too.”

“Well, that’s what they’ve been doing for days now,” Dr. Islet says. “Hauling down the tanks of bacteria, assembling missiles.”

“They’re going to launch.” Grace stands up as she says it.

“Right,” I say. “There’s not going to be any placement in special forces. Or graduation.”

A few students stand up, like Grace. A few gasp. Most don’t seem surprised. “If I had to guess, I’d say that once they launch, they won’t need us. It’ll be a massacre.”

“You think so?” Islet pushes his glasses back up his nose. “It could be, we’ve been getting weapon shipments with the missile parts and replacement components for the Mobile Silo.”

“Stop saying we,” David grunts. “Unless you’re with them.”

“No, no, I’m not.” Islet waves his hands back and forth. “You’re right.”

“We have to stop them,” Grace says. I can’t help but tally up the numbers. At the very least the baggers outnumber the students two to one. Almost certainly more, not counting KU Giant. Then there’s the equipment discrepancy, and the differences in energy from eating and sleeping. I know there are vehicles, too, I’ve seen plenty of personnel carriers and jeeps with mounted guns, as well as the helicopters that are always coming and going.

“Uh, Hildegard,” Grace says. “We were sort of hoping you’d come up with something.”

I only wanted to find out what happened to Cooper. To be honest, I think I might already have lost my chance. It can’t be my priority anymore. By the sound of it, it’s not just the students that are in danger.

“There’s only one way we can get enough supplies, weapons, and bodies to stop the launch.”

“Okay,” Grace says. “What’s that?”

“This should be good.” David leans back on the walls of the cabin. All the students stare at me.

“We have to take over the school.”

*******************************

What exciting story are you working on next?

Formula Q (working title, the final one will probably be much, much longer) is about a high-speed, high-tech racing league in the far future. Earth is united, but at odds with an impoverished, isolationist Mars, and the heroes of the book realize the first interplanetary racing tournament is really an outlet for their planet’s rivalry, and try to stop the plot of a rising xenophobic dictator.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Probably the first time I actually held a book I’d written, it really didn’t dawn on me until then, maybe I’m shallow. To be honest, it still feels weird to describe myself as a writer, but isn’t it weird to describe yourself as any single thing?

Do you write full time? what’s your work day like?

I wake up, I eat breakfast, complain a little bit about the weather or the news or whatever, and then I start writing. I keep going until lunch. Then I eat lunch.

I go back to writing until mid-afternoon and then, depending on the day I get some exercise, or maybe keep going until the evening. Then I eat another meal, and if I’m feeling really driven I write through the evening too.

I make it sound like I’m really productive, but I promise I’m not.

Interesting writing quirk?

This is kind of hard for me to say, since I have a bird’s eye view of the whole thing. I know I make a point to keep the prose and the story as closely integrated as possible, to communicate story, atmosphere and character as quickly and efficiently as possible, but I can’t really say how this comes off to most readers other than “fast paced”.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

This is a boring answer, but I did genuinely want to be a writer, not that I had any idea what that entailed at the time.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

This can’t be overstated; every writer needs feedback, if you like or don’t like something, please don’t hesitate to leave a review or send me a message or something. Without talking to readers, writers would never improve, so the more we talk the better.

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