Scribblings Blog

Donna Ball Talks About Her New Series

9/28/2022

Those of you who read my blog (www.donnaballblog.com) know that one of my favorite quotes is from Stephen King: “There is only one story: A stranger comes to town.” In UNFIXABLE: A Buck Lawson Mystery, (Book One of the Blood River Series) a stranger comes to the little town of Mercy, Georgia, almost gets himself arrested during a convenience store robbery, and turns out to be the new chief of police. His name is, of course, Buck Lawson, and he is no stranger to the many devoted readers of the Raine Stockton Dog Mystery Series, which has been going strong for over fifteen years now.

Buck, the often exasperated, ever devoted ex-husband of Raine Stockton, was an enormously popular character with readers. In fact, when I took a poll some time back about whether Raine should marry her new, rich boyfriend or go back to Buck, the results were enormously in Buck’s favor—despite the fact that he had cheated on her not once, not twice, but three times (that we know of!) About five books ago I came to realize that Buck needed to have his own series. After several years and a lot of struggles, this is what I came up with:

Former Hanover County Sheriff Buck Lawson leaves the mountains of North Carolina to take a job as the police chief of the small South Georgia town of Mercy, and soon finds himself in over his head. For one thing, his predecessor has been murdered...
Leaving behind two failed marriages and a job that almost cost him his life, all Buck wants for himself and his new family is a fresh start. But Mercy is a town with a past as dark as the Blood River that runs through it, and the crime that resulted in the death of the beloved former chief of police may have its roots in an evil that goes back generations.

Buck discovers he has inherited an unsolved homicide, a house that may well be haunted and a police department that is almost certainly corrupt. It falls to Buck to free an innocent man and bring the former police chief's killer to justice while he wades through the quagmire of incompetence and dishonesty that permeates his office. His only true ally, Buck comes to understand, is the dead man himself.

Blood River, as the name might imply, is a slightly edgier type of mystery than my readers are used to, and I felt I was taking quite a chance nudging them out of their comfort zone. Moreover, I had to take a secondary character from a very popular ongoing series and make him substantial enough, and interesting enough, to carry his own series. Buck played a pretty important role in the Raine Stockton series, but the truth is we didn’t know that much about him. In previous books, he’d been portrayed as a basically good guy with some rather substantial flaws. We knew he was naturally charming and popular with just about everyone. He had a reputation as a philanderer, which cost him the love of his life. Women, dogs and children loved him. He had strong leadership qualities, and he didn’t mind breaking the rules now and then. And that’s basically it– not a lot to go on when it comes to building a three-dimensional character. But when you also consider the fact that in the past two years Buck had lost his mother, a child, and two wives; that he had changed jobs twice, left town and returned, and almost died in a shooting incident, there were plenty of questions left answered.

I began to discover who Buck was by exploring what he experienced behind the scenes in the Raine Stockton books, and how that shaped him into the kind of man who was ready to take on a town like Mercy. One of the tenets of good storytelling is to start your story at the moment of change. Buck Lawson is one of those rare characters who had the courage to change his life. UNFIXABLE begins when he decides to do so.

UNFIXABLE has the same humor, atmospheric setting, quirky characters and unexpected twists that readers have come to expect from me, only more of everything. It’s not a cozy. It’s not a dog mystery. But it may well be my favorite book of the past ten years.

UNFIXABLE is available now in Kindle, paperback and audio.

The prequel, THE JUDGE’S DAUGHTER (Raine Stockton Dog Mystery #15) will be released Sept. 29 and is available from Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B8WGLWN3.

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Learning to Dance with Subtle Energy

9/21/2022

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I was inspired to write The Mechanics of Advanced Meditation to share the joy I discovered after many years of meditating to relieve headaches. It became clear that certain techniques resulted in consistent success in both relieving headaches and healing injuries. It is hard not to want to share the joy of pain relief and tell other people about it. Finding ways to relieve pain without the help of pain medicine is a difficult thing for people to respond to since they are often looking for the quickest solution that requires the least effort. It was difficult to find the right way to discuss the topic in a short conversation, but it was also difficult to see people suffering needlessly.

I wrote this book to share certain techniques that resulted in consistent success in both relieving headaches and healing injuries. It became clear that the method could not be shared in a quick conversation, so a book seemed the like best way to describe the process. The book provides techniques that anyone can use to focus their energy on injuries for extended periods of time. This method causes the body to accelerate healing in that area. There are many books available to encourage meditation for help relieve stress, but that is as far as the instruction goes. I wanted to get past the surface benefits of stress relief to show how to go deeper into healing.

The book lays out instructions that anticipate the stumbling blocks encountered when focusing for long periods of time. Various techniques are revealed to help the reader ride through the distractions and remain focused on the task. The method was not just intended to relieve stress but is more like weightlifting and will cause the body to heat up and sweat. It is not a quick fix, and it requires personal effort, but the method provides lasting healing.

The process of healing is very dynamic and requires small adjustments to be made rapidly, much like driving a car. The book breaks down the mechanics of the process and then ties the tools together. This helps the reader identify what is happening in real time and provides tools to make the needed adjustments. The effort builds momentum in the energy that accelerates the healing.

There are no special beliefs needed because the subtle energy, is the same energy that makes muscles move. It doesn’t take much thinking to move a finger, but that same energy focused for extended periods of time accelerates healing. This sounds simple enough but maintaining focus can be a challenge. Changing focus too often dissipates the built-up momentum so it is important to remain focused. A top athlete makes a consistent effort over multiple hours to complete a workout, and the same is true for healing.

To avoid accidents a driver repeats things like checking speed and watching the road ahead. This requires a bit of training and more focus the faster the car goes. This method of meditation uses this same focus and energy to drive the body to heal faster. The more energy and focus being applied, the faster the body heals. Just like in a car, as momentum builds it becomes more important to remain focused.

A handle is a concept used to define a focus. Similar to using a microscope or binoculars it requires holding the body in a particular configuration. The benefit of seeing through binoculars requires accepting limited movement to keep the target in focus. A handle defines the limitations so the person can hold the focus. Working within the handle keeps the energy moving consistently over long periods of time. The handle becomes familiar like a repeatable muscle memory. Developing many handles allows energy to flow from multiple directions to the same target. The energy flowing to a particular area accelerates healing.

I realized that this method could be shared with others much like a fitness coach shows students the best techniques to success. The next step was to compile the method into a book I could share. Although I have a lot of experience creating technical documents, this was a bit of a different experience. The book was written from a technical point of view but contains many analogies to make it easier for the reader to relate to the concepts. I want to give a special thanks to Rose Freeland and her team that helped me complete this book with her wonderful artwork. Her great insights into the art world created the images that I hope will inspire the reader’s imagination. The human imagination is a powerful tool when it can be focused on a particular task such as healing.

Andrew King

https://www.instagram.com/andrewkingauthor/
https://www.facebook.com/AndrewKingSubtleEnergy
https://www.facebook.com/subtleenergybooks
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20979492.Andrew_King
https://subtleenergybooks.com/
https://linktr.ee/AndrewKing_Subtleenergy
https://www.amazon.com/Mechanics-Advanced-Meditation-Learning-Subtle/dp/B088N444W7/

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Yvonne Hertzberger Shares Her Fantasy Journey

9/14/2022

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When my dear friend Greta asked me to write a post and suggested I tell the story of my writing journey it could not have come at a better time. After completing my fifth novel, I needed a break … but maybe I should start at the beginning.

Waaaay back, when I retired from paid work and decided I had a story to share I researched getting published. What I learned sent me on the path to self-publishing as I discovered that finding a traditional publisher who would edit, create my cover and promote me was unlikely in the extreme. Nor was I willing to give up control of my work to a publisher that would have me fit their idea of what sells.

Since I had neither the confidence nor the knowledge to go it alone, I sourced out “assisted publishing”. That led me to sign a contract with iUniverse, which turned out to be a vanity publisher that only wanted my money. After my three years were up, having learned a thing or two, and when I was ready to publish my second novel, I got my first book back and republished it with a different cover and some fresh edits. I self-published with both Amazon and Smashwords. Amazon has both paper and e-versions, Smashwords offers only e-books but in several formats. (They have recently merged with D2D. which will offer a paper option.)

Some writers are far more prolific than I. It takes me two to three years to get a new novel out. Much of what I learned along the way came from other writers, from Indies Unlimited (a wonderful group that supports Indie authors), Sandra Beckwith and several others. I owe them a lot.

Things went fairly smoothly with the Earth’s Pendulum trilogy and my fourth book, Labyrinth Quest. I had an editor who became a friend, great cover designer and formatter. Life was good. That changed with the fifth book, Altered Destinies. The man who did my formatting died. My editor retired. Many other smaller issues crept in. I became very discouraged.

My books all fall into the Fantasy category, with the first four including elements of magic realism. They all take place in “old world” societies, (all but Labyrinth Quest) in a world similar to late Norman or early Medieval times, but with strong female characters who explore non-traditional roles.

Character and character development are key for me, secondary to plot and setting, though those are important, too. I am most proud of the fourth book, Labyrinth Quest. I reread it recently and discovered, to my surprise

that M’rain, the protagonist, is so much like me it’s scary. Haha. The Earth’s Pendulum trilogy has my favourite character, Klast. Can a spy and an assassin be a good guy? If you read Back From Chaos, I think you’ll fall in love with him. I’m told women do – and men respect him.

My most recent book, Altered Destinies, departs from the magic realism angle. It takes place in a world re-emerging from a near-total apocalypse. Unlike many of these, which are dystopian, this is a book of hope with society struggling not to make the mistakes of the past.

While I was writing Altered Destinies, I also began my memoir. My life has been, shall we say, challenging, so my history of abuse and recovery might offer hope to someone else facing similar issues. I let that go for a while as it became difficult to revisit some of those times. Now I think I am ready to take up the torch again.

Anyone know how to write a memoir? Just kidding.

You can check out Yvonne's website here: https://yvonnehertzberger.com/

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A Fistful of Redemption: The Odyssey of a Friendship [TS Snow]

9/7/2022

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I wrote my first novel when I was seven, typed on a portable Underwood typewriter I received as a Christmas gift. It was a story about a horse, because I was crazy about horses and though I don’t ride now, I still love those beautiful creatures.

In high school, I was on the school newspaper, writing —what else?— book reviews, and in college, my beat was the theater and drama department. It wasn’t until I was a true adult, with a family of my own that I seriously contemplated writing a novel. Even then, I had no desire to submit the manuscript anywhere. They were written mostly for my own edification—and the entertainment of friends—and also to get the story out of my head so I could go on to something else.

My submitting a novel anywhere only happened because a coworker dared me to send the manuscript of the story becoming Book 2 of the GodChosen series to a publisher. I went to a local bookstore and asked a clerk to look up the address for a certain publisher in their catalogue. I sent the story to the address she gave me. It was rejected, because the publisher’s genre was for children’s novels. The clerk wasn’t very alert; she gave me the address of the wrong publisher. They asked if I had such a story. I replied I did. They asked to see it. I sat down and wrote the story becoming Spacedogs’ Best Friend, later released as Hot Diggity Spacedogs.

More about that another day. Right now, back to the GodChosen...

The Twilight of the GodChosen has an unusual history in that, as mentioned above, it’s Part 2 of an earlier series. GodChosen, Part 1, is the story of a man told by the gods he’s to be the father of a dynasty that will rule the planet Arcanis for 3000 years. Twilight is about the man who brings about the end of that dynasty.

Part 1 is a sword and sorcery saga; Part 2 has been classified as Science Fiction, space opera, and futuristic romance. It’s all those to be sure, but it’s something more. It’s the story of a friendship between two men … a bromance if you will, the “Buddy Story” of a haughty Arcanian prince who’s recently bitten the dust and the upstart Terran youngster who becomes his best friend, as well as the extent to which each will go in the name of that friendship.

In each of the seven stories in the series, this is pointed out, even in the novels in which either doesn’t figure prominently.

For example, in the first novel, Noble Sinner, Miles Sheffield is five-years-old and is mentioned as a mere footnote. Twenty years later, in A Span of Longing, after two decades of being exiled and learning how the lowest of the low live, Aric finally meets his lover Elizabeth’s younger brother, and it isn’t so much a meeting as a collision. Within two minutes of their introduction, they’re duking it out, exchanging fisticuff, and beating each other into unconsciousness.

It takes a near-death experience to end their animosity, though along the way, they mellow a little toward each other. Aric remembers his long-ago relief at knowing he wouldn’t have to babysit a five-year-old during his parents’ visit to his planet, but realizes he’s now fulfilling that same position as he mentors the young Terran, and he wonders if this is how it feels to have a younger brother. When tragedy strikes, he’s there for Miles. When he decides to return to Arcanis and try to regain his citizenship, facing possible death in doing so, Miles is by his side, confident in his ability to prevent the latter from happening.

Aric and Miles are always there for each other. They may bicker and have their little flare-ups but—hey, don’t all couples?

The two might be called the Starsky and Hutch of the SF world. Their story spans almost 40 years…of fights, marriages, births, and deaths, laughter, despair, and sarcasm…plenty of sarcasm. Wives and kingdoms may come and go, but Miles is always there for Aric and vice versa. As the old song says, Wherever we go, whatever we do, we’re gonna go through it together. (Thank you, Stephen Sondheim!)

In A Fistful of Redemption, the two are going on one last adventure. It may not be the one they expect but it’s definitely appropriate. Friends to the End and all that. This time, it’s about forgiveness and regaining one’s mental equilibrium after a devastating tragedy, a tragedy each man believes he might have prevented if he’d been more caring and considerate of his wife and children. Now, Aric has to learn to forgive himself before he can accept the happiness being offered to him while Miles’ redemption has to come through the Terran courts.

After this, I insist Aric kan Ingan and Miles Sheffield will settle down. After all, they’re both grandfathers now, but being the friends they are, when one finally rides off into the sunset, undoubtedly the other will be running to catch up.

A Fistful of Redemption, Book 7 of The Twilight of the GodChosen, is published by Aethon Books. It is available in Kindle and paperback through amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/Fistful-Redemption-Space-Twilight-Godchosen-ebook/dp/B09RPHBL3Y/

FInd out more about Toni:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Welcome-to-the-ToniVerse-1900908046884512/?modal=admin_todo_tour
Amazon Author’s Page:
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002BLQBB8
Twitter: @ToniVSweeney

Toni V. Sweeney has lived 30 years in the South, a score in the Middle West, and a decade on the Pacific Coast and now she’s trying for her second 30 on the Great Plains.

Since the publication of her first novel in 1989, Toni divides her time between writing SF/Fantasy under her own name and romance/paranormal/adventures under the pseudonyms Tony-Paul de Vissage, Icy Snow Blackstone, and TS Snow. She is also on the review staff of the New York Journal of Books, is an amazon reviewer, and is in the 1% of reviewers for Goodreads. In 2016, she was named a Professional Reader by netgalley.com.

Currently, Toni has written 85 novels, with 79 of them having been published. This includes several series.

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Donna Ball Talks About Her New Series

Learning to Dance with Subtle Energy

Yvonne Hertzberger Shares Her Fantasy Journey

A Fistful of Redemption: The Odyssey of a Friendship [TS Snow]

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