Author Spotlight - Annabel Aidan

Today's spotlight is on multi-published author
Annabel Aidan.






1. Every author I’ve met has their own unique story of how they found their way into writing. What path led you to become a multi-published author?


I’ve been writing since I was about six years old. I always loved it. I was always writing stories and plays as a child. Once in college, I got away from it for awhile, when I got into film and theatre production, and I spent many years working backstage. I started writing audition monologues for actress friends, because they were having trouble finding good material. That expanded into scenes and plays, and then I went back to writing prose. Eventually, I had to make the decision between staying in backstage work and writing. I chose writing.

2. You publish under at least six pseudonyms and in various genres. Can you tell us a bit about each of your writing personalities and their work?

Annabel Aidan – romantic/paranormal suspense

Devon Ellington – sports (both fiction & non-fiction), most of the articles and interviews, teaching, urban fantasy, mystery, some fantasy

Ava Dunne – romantic comedy

Cerridwen Iris Shea – tarot, runes, esoterica, herbalism, aromatherapy, fantasy, magical realism, paranormal (I wrote for Llewellyn Worldwide for 16 years under this name)

Jenny Storm – YA, YA mystery

Christiane Van de Velde – house & hearth essays, articles, novels

Christy Miller (sometimes Christy Garnet Miller)– literary fiction, mostly short stories

3. You’ve got to be one of the busiest women in writing. In addition to writing under several pseudonyms, you also offer workshops. How do you keep yourself and your work organized? What’s your writing style—plotter or pantser?

The more contracts I land, the more I’ve learned how important it is to outline. I don’t create prisons, just list possibilities. I jot down a few ideas, write three or four chapters into the piece, and then sit down and do a rough outline. That way, when I sit down in the morning, I can just pick up with the next scene, instead of wondering where I meant to go.

I’m very dependent on my calendar to keep all my deadlines straight. Once something is contracted, it goes in the calendar, and then I work backwards from there. I don’t do daily To-Do lists. I keep a rough idea of what gets done and then do it.

I like large swaths of uninterrupted and unstructured work time. If there are lists and schedules and the day is micro-managed, I get resentful and don’t do anything. It’s too much like working in an office. I made a choice not to work in someone else’s office, so why would I put myself on that same type of negative schedule?

4. What aspect of the writing process to you enjoy the most? What part of the process do you dread?

I love the actual writing process. I love to sit down and create. First drafts are wonderful, even when they’re difficult. I enjoy editing a lot – I believe in cutting. The red machete is my best friend.

The hardest part are the final galleys. When I hit “send”, I’m always slightly nauseous, worried that I missed something!

5. Can you tell us a little about your most recent book?

In ASSUMPTION OF RIGHT, released in both print and digital formats by Champagne Books, witchcraft, politics, and theatre collide and combine as Morag D’Anneville and Secret Service agent Simon Keane fight to protect the Vice President of the United States -- or is it Morag who needs Simon’s protection more than the VP?

Witch and theatre professional Morag D’Anneville is annoyed when she’s assigned to dress the conservative Vice President as he makes a surprise appearance in his favorite Broadway show. Even more irritating, she has to teach Agent Simon Keane, part of the security detail, the backstage ropes in preparation. A strong attraction flares between them which they both recognize is doomed, and Simon must also fight his superior’s prejudice that Morag’s beliefs make her a threat to the Vice President. When Morag is attacked, Simon’s loyalties are torn between protecting the man he’s sworn to protect, and protecting the woman he loves.

6. What can readers expect in the coming months?

I’m working on the next romantic suspense under the Annabel Aidan name, THE SPIRIT REPOSITORY. The protagonist in that book is Bonnie, a minor character in ASSUMPTION, who helps an attractive man when someone is “stealing” the ghosts of his ancestors from his bookshop. I’m negotiating for a new publisher for the urban fantasy Jain Lazarus Adventures (the previous publisher went out of business), and I’ve got several other books either on submission or about to go on submission. It will be interesting to see what lands where!

7. Where can you be found on the web? (web site, blogs, social network links)

My blog on the writing life is Ink in My Coffee, under the Devon Ellington name, at http://devonellington.wordpress.com/

There’s an Annabel Aidan web page on the Devon Ellington website: www.devonellingtonwork.com/annabelaidan.html

The Devon Ellington site also has a workshop page, listing where I’ll be teaching, both in person and online: www.devonellingtonwork.com/workshops.html.

You can find me on Twitter at @DevonEllington.
Keep in touch! There’s always something going on!

Buy Links:


Direct Buy digital link:

http://champagnebooks.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=497

Direct buy print link:

http://champagnebooks.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=470

Amazon Kindle Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Assumption-Of-Right-ebook/dp/B0054LO02Y


Bio:


Annabel Aidan writes romantic suspense with a hint of magic. She publishes under a half a dozen names in both fiction and nonfiction. She spent over twenty years working behind the scenes on Broadway, in film and television, mostly working wardrobe. Her plays are produced in New York, London, Edinburgh, and Australia. If you run towards her undoing buttons, she will tear off your clothes and flip you into something else — and then read your tarot cards.

In Defense of Women's Fiction

I've been reading a lot lately on blogs about Women's Fiction--both pro and con. Not for or against the books themselves, but the term in particular. Women's Fiction was, initially, an umbrella term encompassing writing that targeted women readers, stories that would primarily appeal to women. It also included chick lit and romance. As a female reader and then writer, I gladly embraced the term. If I wanted to find a book that would provide a good story about a female heroine overcoming some obstacle, finding her own inner strength, and succeeding with or without a man in her life, I knew exactly where to look.

As a budding author and former psychotherapist, I found a niche for my writing--stories featuring heroines older than thirty who stand strong in the face of adversity. And, yes, some of them do find a romance along the way. But its not integral to their story.

Now I'm reading about authors, some of whom are well-established, who run from the term 'Women's Fiction' like someone dropped it in an outhouse at the county fair. One argument is that there is no genre titled 'Men's Fiction'. Okay, that's true. We tend to think of men as being drawn toward police drama, mystery, sci-fi, and some literary drama. And the shouts of 'sexism' rise.

Why? Sci-fi isn't only for scientists. Paranormal isn't geared toward an audience of vampires and ghosts. Law enforcement and criminals aren't the intended audience for police dramas. Okay, I'm being facetious.

Seriously, why has Women's Fiction as a genre term taken on such a negative value? I read a lot of different genres. Not only because they're entertaining, but because as an author, I need to have a diverse reading base. There was a time when some readers and authors alike would refer to romance novels as those heaving bosom books that denigrate women. Now romance in all its sub-genres has risen to a new height of respect among readership. Is Women's Fiction the new pariah?

I admit to a certain confusion in the publishing industry. I'm published with three publishers. One classifies my books as Women's Fiction and the other two as Mainstream Fiction. One actually lists what I submitted as Women's Fiction under Mainstream Romance.

I'm proud to say I write Women's Fiction and I love the feedback I receive from the women who read my books. I was approached by a man at a book fair who picked up one of my books and asked, "What kind of books are these?" I said, "Women's Fiction." He set the book down like it had burst into flames and said, "Oh, women's stories." Unoffended, I smiled and said, "My books are about women and are stories women would enjoy, but they're also stories from which men can learn." He bought a book for his wife, then asked, "So, should I read it first?" I thought that might be a good idea and told him so.

My point here--Women's Fiction is no more only for women than, as I said, Sci-fi is for scientists and Paranormal is for vampires and ghosts. If we can only get past the semantics.

What about you? Does the title Women's Fiction offend your senses and stop you from picking up a book in that category?

Linda

We Remember

On this September 11, ten years later, we remember with heavy hearts...

We grieve all we have lost...

We pray for a future with peace...



Mega Contest at The Writers Vineyard

The authors at The Writers Vineyard are holding a

Mega contest to give away over twenty of

their top rated novels.

From September 5 through November 28, we will hold a drawing every Monday. The post for each Monday will announce which book is being given away, the rules, and who won the prior week. Come join us. Lots of ways to win, and while you're there, scan through our posts. We discuss the good, bad, and ugly of writing and the publishing experience.

http://thewritersvineyard.com/

The Passing of an E-publishing Pioneer

I'm very sad to announce the passing of Lorraine Stephens. Lorraine was a pioneer in e-publishing and one of the co-owners/founders of Wings ePress in 2001. Lorraine passed away on Wednesday, August 24. Those of us who got our start in publishing with Wings ePress will remember Lorraine for her openness, her generosity, and her talent.

May she rest in peace.

My New Cover Art for Reinventing Christmas



I just received the cover art for my contemporary romance novel, Reinventing Christmas, that will be published by Champagne Books this coming December. Once again, cover artist Trisha FitzGerald did an amazing job. Reinventing Christmas is a sweet romance that is sure to warm your heart this Christmas.

Linda

Author Spotlight - K.D. Pitner

This month's
Author Spotlight
shines on
debut novelist,
K.D. Pitner.

Why I Write

When I was a child, my mother told me I should be a great many things, primarily a lawyer because of how I liked to argue with her and remind her that I had rights, but also a writer because I used to tell her stories that explained how she came to be my mother and why I decided I should give up my heavenly perch to be her child. My imagination was vivid from the beginning. As I grew older, I became one of those teenagers that most parents warn their “good” children about, the one who wandered through cemeteries, writing bad, or at the very least, dark poetry, and shunning the conformists because they could not see the real beauty of this world through their shackles of rules and mores.

At this same time, I had an English teacher who required us to keep a journal. We could write about anything we wanted. We could complain about having to write or we could write poetry and stories – anything as long as we were writing. I wrote poems at first but then I decided to try my hand at a story. I loved romance novels and had recently been turned onto the paranormal subgenre of romance so I wrote a ghost love story. It was quite possibly the worst thing I had ever written. No one will ever read it – not even my kids. In fact, I have left my daughter instructions to burn that journal upon my demise. It was that bad.

The next year, I had a new English teacher, Mrs. Smith, who I had worked with the previous year in drama club. She had heard about my horrible story but told me I needed to write her short story based on a time in my life. The trick was it had to be at least 750 words – a mere 750 words! I say that now but at the time it was more like “750 WORDS! Are you kidding me? I can’t write that much!”

A week later, she gave me the story back with enough red marks on it so that it looked like a murder scene rather than a short story. At the very top was the note every student dreads – “Please see me after class”. I sank down into my chair and pretended to be invisible until the bell rang and then slowly I made my way to her desk to see what I had done that was so awful. She explained that she had really enjoyed my story but that I abused commas more than any person she had ever seen. If I could correct my egregious comma abuse and rephrase a few sentences she had been so thoughtful as to underline, she wanted to submit my story to Scholastic magazine for consideration. So I did as she asked and she submitted it as she promised.

The magazine did not choose my story but it was enough for me to keep on writing. Someone liked it. Someone read it and did not promptly say “Burn this and never speak of it again!” So I kept writing. I cranked out 750 words; a book could not possibly be that hard, right?

Fastforward twenty years to August 2011.

My novel, Darker Shades of Midnight, has just been released. It was built around different scenes I wrote in that journal twenty years ago. The story is a historic paranormal romance about Adrian, a centuries old vampire who is haunted by the memory of his mortal life, and Gabriella, an orphan who grows up to discover that she is royalty. Adrian rescued Gabriella from certain death and raised her as his own daughter, who she strongly resembles. When the time comes for Gabriella to marry, she realizes that she is in love with Adrian but believes he only feels toward her like a father would his daughter. While watching her grow into a woman has been a privilege, now he must protect her from an abusive husband and from his maker. More importantly, he must protect her from the feelings that her presence has stirred to life deep within his heart.

Writing has been the one thing I have in which I can completely lose myself. My characters all take on traits of me, good or bad, and Gabriella even shared my birth date because it was easier to keep up with her age if we were the same age exactly. There are a few authors who have impacted me, such as Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Maggie Shayne, and Dan Simmons. I get inspiration when I read their work because it moves me. It makes me feel and when I finish a book by them, I want to be able to make people feel too. Hopefully, I have accomplished that in this novel. As for now, I’m going to keep writing and see what comes up.

* * *
K.D. Pitner lives in the beautiful, scenic Tennessee Valley with her husband and two children. From the age of two, K.D. entertained family members with her stories, often explaining the intricacies of Heaven and how she came to be here on Earth with her parents.

When not writing, she also enjoys gardening, playing the piano and violin, and doting over her four legged babies. She is the human mother of a very co-dependent kitten named after one of her favorite authors, Ernest Hemmingway.

Visit http://www.champagnebooks.com/ to get a copy of her debut novel Darker Shades of Midnight. You can keep up with what K.D. is doing by visiting her website http://kdpitner.bravesites.com/

Buy Link