Hello and welcome to Fiction Scribe, Mr. Grant. Let’s start with getting to know you a little better. List five things you feel define you as a person.

[DG] 1. Living for the moment 2. My friends and family 3. My writing and books 4. My collection of Sombreros 5. My love of popsicles.

What inspired the initial idea for Bleach | Blackout?

[DG] Bleach is semi-autobiographical and yet relatable to many who have moved away from home, come back and slip back into old habits. Hooking up with old friends and picking up where you left off. In the case of the characters in Bleach, that is drinking excessively, looking for casual sex, and finding the perfect bra for the New Year’s Eve party. Blackout was more my curiosity. Given the outcome of Bleach, two years later, would this change the outlook of Jeremy, Chip, Sharon, and Stoner?

The cover of Bleach | Blackout is simple yet speaks volumes. What was your involvement in the cover art?

[DG] It was my initial idea, but my publisher, Offense Mechanisms, an imprint of Silverthought Press put it all together. The flipped covers make it the perfect format for a double novel fueled by excess.

The synopsis of your book is as follows: “Fans of fluffy romance novels and that all-too-familiar, over-hyped, edge-of-the-seat crap should steer clear. This is life at its most jaded. Offense Mechanisms is proud to present Bleach | Blackout by David S. Grant, two novels about drugs, sex, revenge, the corporate crunch, and the inevitable unpleasantness of life and death.” Did you set out from the beginning to write a gritty, not your typical literary fiction book?

[DG] I set out to tell story of reality, or at least a darker side of reality. In B|B, the actions of the characters would lead you to believe they are in a dire state, yet they don’t feel this, instead enjoying life and not thinking about tomorrow. Bleach has the characters with more of an edge, trying to figure out the darkness, where in Blackout there is the lesson of living for the moment. A story about living that turns to a story about revenge and back to living.

How much of the grit, drugs, sex, revenge and corporate crunch of the book is inspired by your life?

[DG] Some comes from personal experience, some from friends, some from stories I’ve heard, and some is fiction. I’ll let the reader ponder which part pulls from where. These days I find my destructive tendencies living through my writing rather than my daily life. It’s a tad bit safer.

What kind of research (if any) did you have to do for this book?

[DG] Very little, this is more of a humorous story that didn’t require much research, more structuring of the chapters in order to play off of each other. Certain themes play though out, reminding the reader of the underlining theme and potential escalation points.

What is your favourite part of the book?

[DG] For Bleach, it is the way the book builds up to the final party. Jeremy remembering past parties, rekindling past relationships, and chasing the girl of his dreams; tying this together in the end, sort of, was fun for me. The first chapter in Blackout is as fast a story can move. Also, writing the courtroom testimony for Chip was enjoyable and just plain entertaining.

What are your goals for your writing? Where do you see yourself in five years both as a writer and as a person?

[DG] As a person I don’t plan to change, as a writer I hope I’m still writing. If I’m still writing I’ll be okay, the rest is tequila shots on a summer day.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you have been given/learned in your life as a writer?

[DG] If you want to write, then write. If you’re looking to get published be persistent. No one writes a book and has an agent calling them the next day offering them 100K just to read their manuscript. This isn’t HBO, hell, this isn’t even Bravo.

Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers here?

[DG] To read an excerpt from Blackout, read reviews, more information on my books, or to contact me please go to http://www.davidsgrant.com. Thank you.

Thank you very much for coming by this blog. I wish you great successes with Bleach | Blackout.

Writers on Writing (Found at The Golden Pencil)

Stone Soup is holding her weekly Monday Book Giveaway. Anyone in the world is eligible, so why not sign up?

There are also plenty of giveaways at West of Mars, so check it out and get in on the winning.

If you fancy being published by Chicken Soup for the Soul, be sure to check out their site. I know there are a lot of deadlines coming up.

Also be sure to check out the publishing opportunities of this site.

Speaking of, if you would like to be featured with a guest post (linking to your site), I am looking for people to help cover my time away in the beginning of October. Email me with your post idea(s) and we’ll talk. I’m looking to cover the first ten or so days of October, so there are plenty of opportunities!

And that is it for the day. Have a good one.

Welcome to the August 4, 2008 edition of Scribes!

As always, thank you all for your entries. A couple reminders: First, you’re only allowed two submissions, preferably in different categories.

Second, there is a deadline for a reason. If you submit after the deadline, yes, I’ll know. No, you won’t get into the carnival. I’m not being ‘mean’; I’m giving you a reminder for the industry - obey the rules. Especially when submitting your work.

That being said, I hope you all enjoy this month’s carnival and submit your work to the next one as well. Thank you!

Fiction

nandita presents Cold SnapDragon: The Address Book posted at Cold SnapDragon.

Koe Whitton-Williams presents First Contact posted at the half life of linoleum.

JennH presents The Drawing posted at Mixed Metaphor.net.

CG Walters presents Serialization of Sacred Vow—Prologue posted at Unspoken posted at Starlit Whispers, saying, “The unspoken is more moving yet more painful when remained unsaid.”

How-To

Ravyn presents On Message Fiction posted at Exchange of Realities, saying, “On writing stories to teach the public a lesson: Why it’s not a good idea, and what can go wrong.”

Missy presents Eleven Key Questions to Ask When Writing a Book Review posted at Incurable Disease of Writing, saying, “Writing book reviews just got easier. Some tips to get you started.”

Publishing and Agents

Sourapple presents The Sour Apple: How to Get Published posted at The Sour Apple, saying, “An editor’s view of the publishing process, and a list of dos and don’ts for aspiring writers.”

Sourapple presents The Sour Apple: How to Get Published, Part II posted at The Sour Apple, saying, “Part II of an article about getting published–from an editor’s point of view.”

Writing Competitions

Brent Diggs presents A Writing Challenge for Funny Bloggers posted at The Ominous Comma, saying, “Are you up to the challenge?”

Writing in General

Peter Jones presents Change is More Than Just a Slogan: Jim Musgrave Talks about his Writing and New Book posted at Great New Books that Are a Must Read.

Liz Nast presents HBO’s “Bored to Death”: Because We Need More Stories About Writers posted at Kwanzoo, saying, “If there’s anything writers love to write about, it’s writers.”

Madeleine Begun Kane presents A Humorist’s Lament (Covering The New Yorker Cover Brouhaha In Verse) - Updated posted at Mad Kane’s Political Madness.

:: Suzanne :: presents Writing & Gardening posted at :: adventures in daily living ::.

Cheryl Snell presents Translations | Red Room posted at Blog Posts for Cheryl L Snell.

That concludes this edition. Thank you again for all your submissions. Submit your blog article to the next edition of scribes using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

1. Crankiness ::
2. Backpack ::
3. Clone ::
4. High ground ::
5. Dreams ::
6. Lovingly ::
7. Mistake ::
8. Carson ::
9. Errand ::
10. Dozen ::

Courtesy of Luna Nina

The Oddville Press publishes a high quality literary magazine, exclusively online, featuring the best in new and established writers and visual artists. Our issues include in-depth interviews with a featured writer and visual artist, along with examples of their work, as well as creative and compelling poetry, fiction, and non-fiction from writers around the world. Additional features will be added as warranted and/or necessary.

‘So, why the name ‘The Oddville Press’?’ you ask.

Simply put, the word ‘odd’ is something all writers know very well, the first twinge experienced the first time someone asks us what we do. Yes, writer are odd. We know it. And the looks on the faces of the folks we tell says they know it too. So, why not embrace it?

The ‘ville’ part is the sense of community we writers gravitate toward. Writing is very much a solo act, and though being unique is kind of cool in itself, being lonely is a real killer. So we tend to group up on writing forums, writing work shops and creative writing classes, in real life and in internet life, helping ourselves by helping each other. Hence, the name The Oddville Press.

The goal of The Oddville Press is to promote today’s geniuses and tomorrow’s giants by providing a platform for authors and artists to publish their work and allowing them the recognition they deserve. Published in each issue are works of poetry, fiction, non-fiction and artwork, and interviews from authors and artists around the world.

The magazine will serve as a publishing outlet and showcase for writers and artists, as well as provide quality literature and artwork to its readers at no charge.

Today I have decided to do something a little different (that we have done here once before, but we did it months ago). I have my usual Friday post, but I do tend to be an easily bored person, so switching things up every now and then makes me happy.

Inspired by the Weekend Soiree over at Wifely Steps (and pretty much using her idea, to be honest, but you can go over there and play on her site as well!), we’re going to have a bit of conversation here on site. I’ll be responding when and where I can, but it would be great for the readers to respond to each other as well.

If you make a comment and it doesn’t show up, let me know using the ‘contact me’ button under the site description on the right. That way, as soon as I see the email I can rescue it from the depths of the spam filter. But, seeing as the spam filter is no longer regarding me as spam, I’m hoping none of you will have any problem.

The way the game works is this:

I pick a theme that we’ll be talking about and will start off things with a question. The first person to come along will then answer that question and ask another question still relating to the theme.

Eg. The theme is peanut butter. I ask, “Do you like peanut butter?” Someone answers and at the end of the comment asks, “When was the first time you tried peanut butter?” The next person comes along. So on and so forth.

Easy? Yes, I thought so. Which brings me to the theme and the question for this week:

Theme: Your current work in progress

Question: What is your current WIP (short, novel, poem, etc) and how long have you been working on it?

(Yes, I know, two questions. But I can. I’m special like that.)

Now it’s your turn!

Have fun…

The first is straight from down under. The Conflux Writer’s Conference (which I will be attending in October) is holding and online mini-con. What does that mean? It means you can talk to talented, funny Aussie authors and others involved in the publishing industry.

You can find all the times and a link to the forums here. All times are Australian eastern standard time, so you might have to do a bit of converting.

The other is a NaNoWriMo inspired challenge. The rules are:

1. Pick a word count and introduce yourself in the goal thread that your word count fits into. Be sure to tell everyone what your goal is ‘cos if you don’t, there’s no way to check if you’ve “won” or not.

1a. Unlike April Fools, the continuous goal boosting is only allowed in large amounts. For example, if you start out with a goal of 5,000 words for the month of August, but a few days into the month, know that you’re going to surpass that, feel free to raise your goal. However, the minimum amount you are allowed to raise your goal is 5,000 words. Following the previous example, after the first goal boost, you would have a minimum of a 10,000 word goal; after the third: 15,000 and so on.

2. Most forms of prose writing is able to be counted toward your word count. Things that do not count are: Co-authored works, Poetry/Lyrics, and Scripts/Screenplays.

2a. WIPS are 100% okay for AugNo; don’t stress over starting a new work for August. Save the ideas for November.

2b. All of the words do not have to come from a single work. You can jump between pieces, or write a handful of short stories if you’d like. Just remember that everything has to be copied into one file at verification time…

If this sounds like a good challenge for you, check out the forums for it here.

As I would like Mondays to eventually mean, it’s time for the Velvet Verbosity prompted 100 Words. I have to say, other than Unconscious Mutterings, this is probably the only meme I have been this consistent with. (Yes, because you needed to know that.)

I don’t have a lot of anything else to report, really. Nothing too exciting going on at the moment. If you have any news of contest, submissions calls, book progress, random utterings of nothing in particular…

Without further ado, this week’s 100 Words: Pillars

Athena reached up and caressed the marble pillars, beautiful, cold, silent witnesses to a time long past. They had stood so proud and tall then, when they represented the beauty of current design instead of remnants of history. But even then they had been cold. Watching their fellow pillars fall under the violence and malice of those who could never truly understand the world.

But alas, her brothers and sisters were waiting for her. More relics, pillars, of an age long gone.

I rather like that one. I have always had a passion for history and the past. I’ll admit that another Mr. Frank Talbert 100 words did enter my mind – and Treasure even stepped up to say hello – but I figured it was about time for something a little different.

And there you have it. Remember to leave your link if you participate on your blog. I always like to read all the different ways people interpret the prompts.

1. Memory ::
2. Original ::
3. Exclusively ::
4. Listings ::
5. Bucket ::
6. Knight ::
7. Dusty ::
8. Choice ::
9. Sunglight ::
10. Change of plans ::

Courtesy of Luna Nina

Let’s start with getting to know you a little better. List five things you feel define you as a person.

Wow! Good question. I guess I’d say I’m passionate (especially about ‘following your bliss’, don’t get me started), funny (well, my daughter thinks so although I draw the line a fart jokes) , creative (I’ve got a special pair of Imagination PJ’s)…that’s three…um…okay, I’m also very spiritual (not religious but you won’t find me climbing a guru’s mountain either) and…social (give ‘er a dinner party and the girl thinks it’s Christmas!).

Where did the inspiration for The Questory of Root Karbunkulus come from?

I had the idea for DréAmm, the location for my book many, many eons ago and because I was involved in live theatre I wrote it as a musical. But I never really liked the feel of it in this format. It felt limited. Plus, I hadn’t quite come into the ‘hook’ yet, that thing that made me go “yes, this is it!”

It wasn’t until years later when I caught a snippet of that TV reality show “The Amazing Race” that I finally got that ‘aha!’ moment. I loved the idea of teams of kids all racing against each other in a glorified kind of scavenger hunt to find something very, very important. DréAmm then became a magical land where virtually anything could happen. That’s when the main character, Root Karbunkulus just showed up and led me around. Of course then the plot got really got good with all sorts of agendas going on, personal and otherwise. In the end, the name ‘DréAmm’ stayed but everything else was ditched.

Around this same time I was leaving the theatre and facing a new role as Single Mum; the perfect combination for finally doing that thing that you promised yourself that you would do but never did.

Tell us about Root.

Ah, Root. She’s so alive! She’s just this amazing teen with a big, fat heart and a stubborn drive to be all she can be. She’s smart and funny and welcoming. She doesn’t judge people. She’s been there done that on the receiving side and just won’t go there. She’s open and honest but can slip into self-doubt like the best of ‘em. She values friendship and great food but not necessarily in that order  Root is way more brave than she thinks, although she’d prefer to not test that notion all too much. Root reminds me of the bright orange part of the rainbow. Root rocks.

A magical story usually takes place in a magical setting. What are your favourite things about the world you’ve created for Root?

To me, DréAmm is the best parts of our planet, the richest deepest colors and scents. It’s a very natural world, sort of like an unfiddled with Earth. That is one of my favorite things about it. And I love that its magic is rooted in its natural laws, much like gravity or the change of seasons.

You mentioned in an interview that you love playing with names. Is that your favourite part of the writing process?

Oh yeah! Most of the time I play around with sounds until I find something that, to me really captures the essence of the character. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I’ve got pages of names just waiting to be delegated!

What are your dreams for your writing? Where do you see yourself in five years both as a writer and as a person?

Traveling. Living on the coast. Having backyard bar-b-q’s and bonfires with great friends and family. Not much different than it is now. I have always made a balanced life my top priority. Writing is a wonderful part of my life, just as important as my family, my friends, my dogs, my home, my health.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you have been given/learned in your life as a writer?

I remember spewing all my angst to a teacher once, going on an on about how I wanted to write and yet, how hard it was to make a living at it and was I even any good and what if I fail blah blah blah. Then, after I finished he said “Follow me” and led me winding through the school halls all the way to the little supply store by the office. We walked along the aisle until he stopped and picked up a pen. He turned, went to the counter, paid for it and then handed it to me. Then he just walked away. It was the best advice I got and, though there has been the occasional residual angst, I have never looked back.

Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers here?

Here, take this pen. Or paint brush. Or spatula. Or (insert your dream here)….walk walk walk walk…me walking away.

Thank you very much for coming by this blog. I wish you great successes with The Questory of Root Karbunkulus.