AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Kit Roe

10 Questions for steampunk author Kit Roe. Visit her website, Follow her on Facebook, Follow her on Twitter, Visit her blog, or Visit her Wattpad page.

Hello, Kit! Can you tell us a bit about your background as a writer? What got you into writing? 

I was a reader well before I was a writer. My mother made sure I knew how to read. My father got me into science fiction as he was an avid fan of “Star Trek” and “Star Wars.” I grew up on it. I read romance authors like Julia Quinn, YA writers like Judy Bloom, and read poems by such great people as Byron, Dickenson, and Poe. I dabbled a little in Shakespeare for a time.

I wrote fan fiction on and off; however, I never really finished anything. I had a long-standing novel I kept losing and restarting (I’m still working on it). For a time, right around the age of eighteen, I gave up on being an author.

But then, in 2009 when my (now late) father-in-law was slowing passing away from COPD, I needed something to read in the hospital. I decided to pick up Twilight, knowing nothing about it, because there weren’t many options at the store.

To make a long story short, by the time I finished reading it, I realized I really had no excuse. I wrote well; I felt confident and changed overnight. I started writing fan fiction again and I finished my stories. I chose fan fiction first because I needed to know how people—readers—would feel about my work even if it wasn’t my universe or characters. And fan fiction was the quickest test market to get my answer on.

I was received well and haven’t really stopped writing since. It’s what spurred me to change my degree status with the eventual goal of a Masters in Creative Writing Fiction. 

Can you give us a brief summary of The Steam Runner? 

Mostly, The Steam Runner is about a girl who’s totally out of place trying to figure out where she fits in—in a world, a time—where she doesn’t fit in at all. She’s a free runner, or as some better know it: parkour. In our world you have illegal underground street races in cars. And you probably have them in Tes’ world as well, but really, it’s free running.

She’s an athlete in a place where athletes are nobodies; only laborers watch sports where people sweat because of exertion. The mind, that’s where it’s at. But, even among the regular athletes Tes is an outsider.

At some point in the beginning of the story she finds herself wrapped up with a group of time travelers, finds out her sister is Jack the Ripper, and that she’s not even from the present time. Eventually, she has to make a decision to go on the journey with them to get answers about her shrouded past, or play it safe and stay where she’s at. But, you can probably imagine there wouldn’t be much of a series if she didn’t go.... 

When you were developing the concept for The Steam Runner, which came first, your story or your characters? 

Characters! It’s integral. You have to build the characters first and then the world around them. You have to make them people, real people. Know that they like to wear, what their hobbies are, their deepest fears and greatest joys. The world can always be a foggy idea, but characters—to me—must always be fleshed out first. 

Your novel, The Steam Runner, has a killer opening: “The adrenaline was the best part. The rush, the torrent, of blood racing throughout the body like some mind-blowing drug gone unleashed; unchecked reality was the only way to define it; free from the restrictions of the known realm of physics; nothing had, or ever would, feel so unbound to the world—terra firma—itself.” What gives you that kind of rush? 

That opening was fun to write. Writing gives me that rush, honestly; to push myself harder, seeing the story unfold as I do it. To me my characters are people. When I write their dialogue, their actions, I can see them in my head acting out the parts, watch their expressions, feel the mood; show the reader—don’t tell. That’s where the rush is: reading it (as I write it) in the same way a reader does. 

Steampunk is a previously niche genre that’s been growing in popularity recently. What are your views on the genre? How does The Steam Runner fit into the trend? 

I know this isn’t the best way to begin answering your question, and I know it’s a tad long-winded; however, I think it might be best to totally answer it in sum. I actually wasn’t into steampunk at all at first. I thought it was a little monotone and limited when I initially glimpsed it at Dragon*con in 2008. But, when my father-in-law passed away (in 2009) we came across his old naval uniforms; he meant a lot to me and I didn’t want to throw them out. I wanted them to be useful. So, I made a steampunk cosplay with one of them for Dragon*con the following year to pay homage to him.

In that way, my views on steampunk are a little different in that it has a special place in my heart. My pop (father-in-law) loved old things; he loved coppers, brasses, bronzes, and antiques. He was actually a carpenter and made furniture in Kentucky.

I think steampunk means something very different to everyone, in sum. You ask one person and they say gears, cogs, woods, goggles, and Victorian; you ask another and they might say anything alternate history that involves some of those themes; some might even cite Jules Verne or H.G. Wells—even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It’s hard to explain. To me, steampunk has to involve a certain aesthetic of—at least—gears, clock hands, cogs, (goggles,) the antique and a sense of adventure from a time when the world was still very mysterious. 

The Steam Runner fits into this trend in the same way Fahrenheit 451 fits into dystopian science fiction: somehow. Yes, The Steam Runner is of the steampunk genre; however, it’s not just about the genre. It’s about the characters and where they go from here. Like Bradbury, I seek to create a unique piece of literature that just happens to be steampunk as well; although, honestly isn’t really about being steampunk at all—that way, everyone in some fashion can truly enjoy it. 

Once upon a time, speculative writers like J.R.R. Tolkein had the luxury of spending chapters describing their worlds. With the fast-paced demands of modern faction, contemporary writers must build world without interrupting their stories. How did you tackle this challenge? 

That’s a tough one. I’ve been accused by my husband (long before he was my husband) that I place too much description in a story; I’ve cut back on this severely because I realize you have to leave something for the audience to envision themselves. It’s not always easy for someone who enjoys the flourish of words.

I suppose the best way I do it, is to build the world around my characters. Some writers will roll everything out in a big description, but through my creative writing and lit classes (and reading from other writers) I’ve learned that it’s better to have a character admire something in order to describe it; instead of telling exactly what their wearing in one go, do it through the character’s actions: She ran her hand across her chocolate colored skinny jeans, for example. It makes the writing so much smoother to the reader, as well as natural. 

In your opinion, how important is cover art to a book? 

I hate to kill the old adage, never judge a book by its cover… but human beings are very visual creatures; if that weren’t true, graphic arts for video games and movies wouldn’t evolve and become better every year—at least not so quickly. I certainly won’t lie and say a book cover never grabbed me. For an indie author it can be integral because it’s another form of advertising. It’s especially important if you’re not well known.

It’s not that people refuse to read a book with bad or no cover art; they’re just probably more inclined to give it a once over knowing nothing about it if it has good cover art. 

With the vast number of independently published novels out there, it can be hard to rise above the noise. What is it about The Steam Runner that sets it apart from the rest? 

It has a lot of different elements I’ve never seen in one book before: free running, time travel, Tes being the odd man out because she’s not smart and gifted in something like chess. However, the first important one would be that Tes is strong—not simply physically. Tes has guts. It personally bothers me how many female leads in stories, despite having the ability to be amazingly strong-willed and great characters, become overshadowed by the more powerful male lead in order to tell his story. I wanted a girl who was just as equal as a character as her male counterparts without turning it into a sexist piece of fiction in favor of one sex over the other.

The second most important part, I would have to say, is that quite a number of steampunk writers like to explain their inventions, abilities, or mechanics around magic at some point. Truthfully, this isn’t bad per say; however, I wanted to create a steampunk science fiction novel. While some elements—like the ancients—might seem like magical to some; it’s simply advanced science. Science it kind of the core of steampunk and I really wanted to shine on that aspect over using something like magic as a crutch (not that the other writers are using it this way; let me just make that clear). I wanted a character like Alaric, who’s got a doctorate in physics, to actually be able to explain certain things in a way my science readers would enjoy as much as “Star Trek” fans do. 

In your opinion, what is it about books that make them a unique medium for storytelling? What sets them apart from movies or stage plays? 

It would better to ask why people like reading still in an age where we can watch something on television or in a movie theater. It’s because when someone reads a book their imagination goes to work. No matter how the writer describes it, every reader gets their own impression; some are alike and some are not. But, not every reader will always get the same thing from the story they read. Whereas, with a movie or television show you see what you see; you’ve got all this input coming at your eyes and there’s not much room to imagine—not to speak ill of directors and the like. They convey with camera angles and scene, just as we do; it’s just visually, the medium of movies and television is more intrusive to the viewer. I would easily say the same about plays. 

Are you working on anything new? 

Yes! The next book of the “Steam Runner” series: The Clockwork Archer. I’m also trying to get another book done that’s urban fantasy-based by the end of the year. I’d like to release it and the following SR book next year. And I’ve also got another book on Wattpad.com called The Chronicles of Rose Red—another urban fantasy—that I’m always trying to update. It’s totally free to read, just like every current book of the “Steam Runner” series for the year it’s out (one chapter a month on the “Steam Runner” website); however, Rose Red will always be free to read.

REVIEW: Mother of the World / Peter T. Allen

TITLE: Mother of the World

AUTHOR: Peter T. Allen

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

AVAILABILITY: Amazon US (paperback), Amazon US (Kindle e-book), Amazon UK (paperback), Amazon UK (Kindle e-book)

APPROXIMATE LENGTH: 284 pages

Recommended for fans of cerebral science fiction.

GENRE 

 Science Fiction—Futuristic

PACE 

Mother of the World is a cerebral examination of a futuristic society and culture. It takes its time in laying out the world and its histories.

PERSPECTIVE 

Third person. Much of the story is told from the point of view of Peae, the protagonist, and at times the narrator depicts other points of view.

CONTENT REVIEW

Mother of the World takes place in the far future. Humans populate the planet, but know little about their origins other than what the powerful Motherene religion tells them. It seems as though human history has regressed—religion dominates and science is treated as secondary. In many ways, this future resembles Europe during the Renaissance, in that both Religion and Science have their places, but Religion is by far the more influential power.

In this future, a scientist named Peae travels the world seeking answers to the mystery of where his people came from. According to the Motherenes, the Seed of Erteae fell from the sky, which grew into humanity, and the almighty Mother nurtured the early humans. Believe a more scientific explanation for human origins exists, Peae traces human migration patterns and eventually discovers anomalies that threaten to debunk the widespread creation myth. 

Mother of the World, which follows Peae’s travels and studies, examines this speculative culture in a very cerebral manner. The narrative depicts Peae’s thoughts and conversations as he moves from hypothesis to hypothesis, uncovering hints as to humanity’s origins. As his suspicions grow, he is joined on his quest by a handful of other truth seekers, who each have their own theories as well. Meanwhile, he must be careful of what he says, for the Motherenes wouldn’t be happy if they knew of his discoveries. After all, his studies could upend everything they believe in. 

The themes of science versus religion are very well thought out, and the revelation at the end of the novel ties everything together neatly. In fact, the last 10% or so of the book, in which the truth behind humanity’s existence is finally revealed, is probably one of the most interesting pieces of speculative fiction I’ve seen recently.

Allen sets himself apart from other writers in his genre by being unafraid to slow down his story. So much of science fiction today is about relentless pacing, imminent danger, and instant gratification. Allen takes a more classical approach to literature. There’s something almost academic about the way he lays out his words, almost as if Mother of the World were a dramatized historical document. The book reminded me somewhat of the medieval histories I read back at universities, penned by erudite scholars rather than fanciful storytellers. 

Allen’s writing style flows with a somewhat melodic quality, and the narrator seems as invested in the tale as the characters. For instance, here is a passage from an early chapter:

“Truly, he thought, in all this splendid and incredible world, there are many things to see, but amongst those nature has created in endless blindness, human works shine out like beacons. Here we are, they proclaim. Here we are! Over the sites of ancient towns and roads and bridges, all erected for good reasons, all complete and perfect in their service of past business, hangs the brilliant message: here is humanity at work, rendering new forms using the light of science. How doubly strange then that light should shine from buildings erected for the glorification of the unscientific, for the worship of unsubstantiated ideas and imagined beings.” 

Mother of the World is a unique piece of science fiction that explores the line between science and religion without passing judgment on either. It challenges the reader and requires some patience to read, but suffice it to say that the end makes the rest of the novel well worth the wait.

THE NITPICKY STUFF 

 There are some small errors, but nothing too distracting.

This book is pretty mild and doesn’t contain much in the way of sex, violence, or adult language.

 AUTHOR INFO 

[From the author's Amazon UK page] 

Peter T. Allen began his education in maths and physics and ended in social psychology. He dropped out of senior school just before that became trendy and, after jobs in industry and commerce, graduated (B.Sc. Ph.D) at Southampton.

He was senior fellow at the University of Surrey and president of the Society for Risk Analysis - Europe. Along the way he was married two and a half times and raised four children. He lives in Kent.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Susan Finlay

10 Questions for mystery writer Susan Finlay. Follow her on Facebook, visit her blog, or visit her publisher's website.

 
Hi, Susan! Welcome to Zigzag Timeline. Can you tell us a bit about your background as a writer?

Hi, Mary! I have been writing for nine years. When I began, I told my husband I didn’t care if I ever got published. I just wanted a hobby, and I wanted to see if I could write a novel. The stories had always swirled around in my head, from the time I first started reading, and I wanted learn how to bring them to life.

I began reading every book about writing. (By the way, I still read the books, always looking for new techniques and ideas.) I used my husband’s computer for a few months, and then we bought a new laptop computer for me to use.

Flash forward a couple of years: I was still writing, but with a determination that one day I will be a good writer and will get published. 

Before I knew you as Susan Finlay, I met you as Greenleaf on Authonomy, an online writer’s community run by HarperCollins. How did you come across the website? What was your experience like? 

Although I’d been writing for almost eight years by then, I needed readers and feedback, so I searched for local writing/critique groups, first. Finding none, I searched for online groups and found a website that listed the most popular writing groups. The website summarized each group and provided links to them. I tried out three groups, briefly, but was disappointed. Then, at the beginning of January, 2012, I signed up for Authonomy and uploaded some chapters of my suspense novel, Chameleon.

The site gave me readers and feedback, and helped me improve my writing. But there was a bonus I didn’t expect. On Authonomy’s forum, I met and socialized with writers from all over the world. Some of us got together and started genre-specific critique groups on the forum, which helped us improve our books even more.

Although I only visit the site occasionally now, I have maintained the friendships I made on Authonomy. We even have a Facebook group where three hundred of us (current and former Authonomites) socialize and discuss writing. I would love to name all of those friends here, but the list would be too long. The friends I can’t forget to mention are the extremely talented authors, Zoe Harris and Sammy HK Smith. They introduced me to their amazing editor, Robert Peett, around the end of March 2012. He became my editor, as well. I, in turn, introduced some other writers to Robert. I learned that writers help one another. It’s one of the things I love about the writing community. 

What is your opinion on digital books versus printed books? Do you agree with the doomsayers who believe bookstores are dying? 

It looks like digital books are becoming more popular than printed books, but I hope that printed books and bookstores won’t die. My husband, daughter, and I do not have ebook readers. We still want the real thing—a book with pages we can physically touch and smell.

As a writer, I spend too much time looking at a computer screen. I read books on my computer (mostly my own books, but others, too). I need a break from the screen. Also, I’ve found that when I print off pages of a book from my computer, and read them, there is a difference. I notice things that I didn’t notice before. 

Your mystery novel, The Outsiders, will be released by Grey Cells Press soon. Can you tell us a bit about your book? What inspired you to write it? 

The Outsiders is set in a tiny French village modeled after a real place. I chose that setting because of the caves that lie in the hillside beneath and behind the village. Researching the area, I discovered that there’s a whole labyrinth of caves and that people known as troglodytes used to live in them. Over the last forty years, modern homes have been built into the caves. Even some of the houses that look normal on the outside are connected to the cave system in the back. What that means is that almost everyone in the village can access the caves undetected from the outside (at least in my setting). This gave me the idea for my mystery novels—The Outsiders (Book 1) and Provenance (Book 2).

In The Outsiders, Dave Martin is a former cop from Chicago, who travels to Reynier, France, to take care of his sick grandmother. There, he meets a mysterious young woman, Maura Barrington. She has a secret that she’s desperate to hide from him, but the detective in Dave can’t stop trying to figure out what’s going on. 

There’s a lot of information out there about how to submit to publishers, but not much on what happens once you get the coveted contract. Can you share some of your experiences with working with a publisher? 

Well, I think each author’s experience will differ. For me, I already knew this publisher before I signed with them. That was a huge help, because I knew I could work well with them. I also knew the editor’s abilities, methods, and time schedule. I could trust his instincts when it came to content editing, and I knew that I could communicate with him.

I sent him the full manuscript and he read it, then we discussed the plot and came up with some ideas for revision. Now, I’m rewriting portions of it and he’s line-editing those chapters. It’s working great and I’m very happy with the edits.

When it comes to looking for a publisher, my advice is to do some research before you accept an offer. Find out whether you’ll be happy with them, by asking them questions and by looking at the basic discussions about your book and the quality of the work they’ve done (already published). 

At some point or another, all writers come across the “rules” of contemporary writing: no adverbs, no dialogue tags, show don’t tell, etc. In your opinion, how important are they to writing? Are there any that you particularly adhere to? 

I’ve read so many books about writing. I used to think I had to follow the rules. Now I consider them guidelines. I use adverbs, but in moderation. Same with dialogue tags. If I can leave out the tags, I will. My own personal rule regarding dialogue tags is that I only use “said” or “asked” along with he/she or the character’s name. I never use replacements for said or asked. As for show don’t tell, I try to do that when I’m writing a scene, but sometimes all I need is a summary and not a full scene.

For me, the one rule I try to always follow is”one scene, one POV.” I write in close third person POV and I don’t “head hop.” It makes it more difficult sometimes, and I see other writers who change point of view mid-scene and it works for them. I’m just fussy about it in my own work. That may be because I write mysteries. If the reader knew what all the characters were thinking, some of the mystery would be lost. 

Are there any books or writers who have especially influenced your writing? 

My favorite writers are Diana Gabaldon, Elizabeth George, and Tess Gerritsen. They all write in different styles. I don’t copy any of them, but use them as good examples. Other writers I admire are Agatha Christie, Josephine Tey, Victoria Holt, and Peter Robinson. 

If you could meet any book character, who would it be, and what would you do with them? 

Well, I’ve thought about this question a lot since I first read it. It’s funny, because the characters I would be most interested in meeting aren’t from books that I’ve read, but from books my husband reads. I know the characters almost as well as he does since the books are based on the television series, “Star Trek.” I would love to meet Captain Kirk, Captain Picard, and all the rest of their  crew members, because I feel like they are longtime friends. 

Of everything you’ve ever written, whether it’s to be published or not, what’s your favorite piece or scene? 

One of my early novels is Cobblestone. It’s set in Bavaria, and the main characters accidentally get transported back in time to the eighteenth-century. Several of my favorite scenes are in that book, and that’s why I am considering rewriting it. One scene has them hiding out in a dark cellar on their first night after they time-travel. The man, Max, sneaks out after nightfall and steals one of the oil lamps hanging from ropes across the streets. 

What books are you currently reading? 

I’m reading Breathing Life Into Your Characters by Rachel Ballon, The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey, and A Good American by Alex George.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Duncan Whitehead

Duncan Whitehead, author of the quirky dark satire The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club, answers questions about his novel. Visit his website, Follow him on Twitter, Follow him on Facebook, or Visit his Amazon page.

The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club is a drama/satire about a picturesque American town with residents who harbor dark secrets. What inspired you to write this book?

I was inspired by the notion that all of us have a secret, not all dark, that we really don't want to share, that these secrets could come back to haunt us when we least expect them to. I am also very inspired by the thought process that we are all possibly connected... either by events or by location.  For example, that guy sat next to you on the aircraft... have we met before? Have our paths crossed, do we have a mutual aquaintance who knows us both.  To turn those concepts into a mystery, with multiple characters and sub plots was my main inspiration.  The fact I lived at the time it what seems like an idlyic neighboorhood gives it that extra twist...what if in a small neighborhood paths had crossed before... or were about to...

Your book is difficult to stick in a genre. It’s part neighborhood drama, part thriller, and part satire. How would you describe it to someone who hasn’t read it?

A dark comedy murder mystery satire, with an abundance of quirky characters, that spans not only a small neighborhood but the globe. 

Your book contains a number of colorful and unique characters. Do you have any favorites? 

Heidi was fun to write.  She is respected, a stalwart of the community, people look up to her yet…deep down she is inherintly evil and harbors a grudge that spans time and oceans…and her motive is vengeance, not greed or jealousy. 

Your book contains several story lines that intertwine within the pretty neighborhood of Gordonston. Which story line did you enjoy writing the most? 

Kurtze and Elliott's interaction in Argentina was fun because I knew that Kurtze would come across as a nice old man, who wouldn't hurt a fly, building up this persona was fun, knowing that at the end of the chapter and the reveal, would leave the reader questioning the clues and his motives… 

Do you have a particular writing style? Why did you choose to write The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club in third person omniscient? 

I prefer writing in the first person, however this book, and indeed the following two books in the trilogy, have so many characters, sub-plots and it is important to understand motives, thoughts and actions I really had no choice but to write in third person omniscient. 

Of the characters in your book, if you had to marry one, hook up with another, and kill a third, which three characters would you choose, and why? 

If I had to marry one?  Well, they are all pretty flawed, but I guess Cindy, if we were the same age, she is a great cook you see! I guess I would hook up with Carla, though I would watch my step… if I had to kill one of the characters… well, maybe I am going to kill them all sooner or later… but in real life I think Billy would probably push me over the edge. 

The residents of Gordonston all seem to share a love of pooches. Do you have a dog? 

When I wrote this book I had a German Shepherd… his name was Bern. 

What has the publishing process been like for you? 

It was very time consuming.  Editing, worrying about things I missed, delays and frustration, but that is nothing compared to marketing, I have spent more time and energy having the book published and subsequent marketting than I ever did on writing it. 

Are you working on anything new? 

Yes, I am working on th follow up to The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club and my second novel, a comedy, set in Manhattan, entitled The Reluctant Jesus is at the final editing stage and I am hoping that this book will be released in July. 

The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club is available at: Amazon US (paperback), Amazon US (Kindle e-book), Amazon UK (paperback), Amazon UK (Kindle e-book) 

The Perils of Used E-Books

Amazon Kindle E-Reader

In late January, Amazon patented technology that would set up an exchange for digital material, including e-books. Basically, they’re looking to set up an online used e-book store and, presumably, earn a commission on each transaction. The argument in favor of such a marketplace is that once a consumer purchases an item, even if it exists only in zeros and ones, that consumer owns the file and can do with it whatever he or she pleases. After all, if you walk into your local Barnes & Noble and pick up a paperback, you can always sell it at a used book store if you don’t feel like holding on to it. E-book buyers, on the other hand, don’t have such an option to recycle. They’re either stuck with their purchases or, if they run out of disk space, forced to dispose of them entirely. 

Here’s the problem: paperbacks get banged up with time. If you go into a used book store, chances are, you’ll find a book that’s dog-eared and crinkled. An e-book, on the other hand, is pristine forever. Whether you buy it new for $4.99 or used for $0.99, you get the same product. So what’s the incentive for buying it new? Also, if you walk into a used book store, there’s no guarantee that you’ll find what you’re looking for. Amazon shook that one up as well when they started allowing used books to be sold through their site. The problem with Amazon’s theoretical online used e-book store is that it would cut into already dwindling earnings for authors. Fewer people would buy new e-books; instead, they would browse the cheaper selection of used ones.

Amazon’s free Kindle store has already devalued e-books in an alarming way. While giveaways are a good way for not-so-famous authors to get their works out there, they also give readers the impression that digital books should be free. Why spend money when you can pick up something for nothing? If you’re just browsing new and obscure authors, why not stick to the free-for-all and keep your wallet closed? Amazon’s digital bazaar would devalue e-books further. Before, people would pay for e-books if they weren’t available anywhere else. For instance, books by literary superstars such as J.K. Rowling or Stephanie Meyers. With the advent of used e-books for sale, even these heavyweights would see a loss. If you’re not keen to read Meyers’ latest teen love triangle now-now-now, why not wait a few weeks and snap up a perfectly good copy for mere pennies? So by buying a new e-book, you wouldn’t be paying for what you have, but rather when you have it. The whole market would rely on a handful of impatient readers.

E-Books are lovely, but wouldn't you miss these?

I sometimes wonder whether people appreciate just how much goes into creating a book. Years of dedication and toiling on the part of the author, often accompanied by anxiety attacks and pits of despair, followed by significant labors on the part of the editors, publishers, cover artists, etc. Thousands of hours were spent to create that little text on your Kindle. Are a few dollars in exchange really so much to ask for?

Alas, as it is with every labor of passion, people will continue doing what they do with or without fair compensation. Even if the e-book is devalued to nothingness by Amazon’s machinations, they will continue to exist if for no other reason than that some author somewhere had to write their story before it burned a hole through their head. But the number of quality books will drop as people lose incentive to invest in editing, proofreading, formatting, and cover art. And fewer authors will be able to make a living through their writing, meaning more will be stuck plotting and crafting language during their lunch breaks, commutes, and late nights. Writers write because they must, just as teachers teach and dancers dance.

REVIEW: The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club

TITLE: The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club 

AUTHOR: Duncan Whitehead 

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

 AVAILABILITY: Amazon US (paperback), Amazon US (Kindle e-book), Amazon UK (paperback), Amazon UK (Kindle e-book) 

APPROXIMATE LENGTH: 189 pages

Recommended for fans of dark satires and secret-filled dramas, such as the TV show Desperate Housewives

GENRE 

Drama—Satire/Thriller 

The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club is the story of a nice American neighborhood with lots of dirty little secrets. The combination of external perfection and dark, thriller elements was reminiscent of the TV show Desperate Housewives and other such satires about suburbia. 

PACE 

Although The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club is written in a fluid, slower-paced style that takes its time to lay out the backgrounds of its characters, I still ended up reading it in a day. The juicy details and questions hanging in the air make it an unexpected page-turner. 

PERSPECTIVE

Third person omniscient. The narrator seamlessly rotates between the points of view of the characters, allowing the reader to know what’s going on in everyone’s heads. 

CONTENT REVIEW 

The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club opens on a lovely morning in Savannah, Georgia, with your friendly neighborhood contract killer preparing to execute his latest job. Rewind the clock by about a week. The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club, a group of older women with a shared fondness for canines and cocktails, sigh about the impending death of one of their own. Thelma is on the verge of succumbing to cancer. Two of the ladies, former Vegas showgirl Carla and wholesome housewife Cindy, already have their eye on Thelma’s soon-to-be widower, mayoral candidate Elliott. We are also introduced to the club’s queen bee, an eighty-something-year-old named Heidi, and to several of their neighbors, including Kelly and Tom—a young couple with Hollywood good looks—and newlyweds Veronica and Doug. And then there’s the neighborhood villain: an old man who fails to clean up after his dog during his walks in the park. 

Each member of this idyllic suburban neighborhood harbors a dirty little secret. Or, if they don’t at the beginning of the novel, they do by the end. The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club follows each member of the community through their intertwining lives. Picture perfect on the outside, not so much behind closed doors. One of them is the contract killer’s victim, and one of them the employer. But who? And why? With everything that’s going on in Gordonston, everyone is fair game. 

Whitehead successfully employs the third person omniscient perspective in his novel to give the reader insights into each character’s thoughts and motivations, often within one scene. In an era where first person and limited third are in fashion, using the omniscient voice is a daring yet highly effective move. Although Whitehead writes with a distinctive lilt, the narrator for the most part seems invisible, a mere camera through which the reader watches the characters, none of whom is exactly what they appear. Whitehead wastes no words, somehow keeping the prose fluid and tight at the same time. As a result, the pages fly by while at the same time allowing a reader to become immersed in the language and descriptions. Honestly, this book contains some of the finest examples of the omniscient voice I’ve seen in contemporary literature. 

Whitehead seamlessly integrates the various intertwining storylines. The cast is large, yet each character is so unique that it’s easy to keep track of who is who. Whitehead deftly guides the reader through the secrets, mysteries, and multiple plots, making The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club an easy, relaxing read. There is so much going on, and yet everything feels straightforward with the way Whitehead tells it.   

In addition to his plotting abilities and knack for creating memorable characters, Whitehead also possesses a real talent for descriptions. It’s easy to picture the locations described in the novel, be it a town in Argentina or the luxuries of Paris. His writing style is mesmerizing, hypnotic even, and it’s easy to get lost in the locations and the lives of the characters. My one criticism would be that he doesn’t always let the reader know where in the timeline they are (for instance, there’s no indication that the first chapter, with the hit man, actually takes place after the bulk of the book until you get close to the end). 

The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club is a garden of irony, a brilliant suburban satire on par with the popular American TV show Desperate Housewives. Part thriller, part drama, the multitude of questions hanging in the air make it a gripping page-turner, especially toward the second half, where the plot really thickens. It’s a relatively short book, and I ended up reading the whole thing in a single day. With all the juicy details and shocking revelations, I just couldn’t put it down. 

THE NITPICKY STUFF 

This book is very well-edited, and I did not find any typos. 

This book contains references to sex and violence but contains nothing graphic. 

AUTHOR INFO 

Duncan Whitehead was born in England in 1967. He has penned numerous spoof and comedy articles under various aliases. The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club is his first novel.

RELATED: An Interview with Duncan Whitehead 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: T.D. Thomas

TD Thomas, author of the urban fantasy Hera, Queen of Gods, talks about the inspirations behind his novel and his writing process. Visit his website, contact him by email, or visit his book page on Goodreads.

 

Hera, Queen of Gods is a story about Greek gods in mortal teenage bodies searching Earth for the missing Fates. That’s quite a premise! Where did you get the idea for the story? Why did you choose to give it a YA angle by having the gods live as teenagers?

The idea of gods in mortal bodies isn’t entirely a modern one: in myths, gods often wandered the Earth, looking like ordinary human beings. It was probably a smart way to teach people to be hospitable to strangers. You wouldn't want to risk accidentally offending a god! Regardless, I was really intrigued with the idea that anyone you bump into in the street, or someone you pass by everyday, could actually be so much more than what you think. We judge so often by appearances, but there could be a whole amazing world right under our noses!

Having the gods borrow teenage bodies, instead of adult ones, made a lot of sense to me as an author. Greek gods are a lot like teenagers: they’re passionate, full of emotion, and headstrong; they’re not weighed down by responsibilities (even when they should be); they thrive on immediate gratification; and they’re still new to (mortal) life.

But from the perspective of the gods in my novel, it was easier for them to influence teenagers to perform the ritual that would allow the gods to borrow their bodies. Few adults have enough of a sense of adventure to try something that seems so impossible and ridiculous. As people grow older, their sense of wonder, possibility, and playfulness tends to atrophy if they're not careful. 

You clearly know a lot about Greek mythology. What’s your interest in the subject? Is it something you always wanted to write about, or did you learn about it for your novel? 

I’ve been reading Greek mythology since I was quite young. I’ve always found it so captivating. Myths were like the comic books of ancient times: full of superheroes and supervillains, battling it out to see whether good or evil would win.

I definitely brushed up on a few details here and there to flesh out my novel though. But the great thing about writing fantasy is, in the end, you have a lot of latitude to write whatever you want. Your only real limit is your imagination. You make (and break) your own rules! 

Hera is a figure often villified in Greek myths, especially modern retellings. Yet, you cast her in a sympathetic light. Why did you choose her as your protagonist? 

I chose Hera as a protagonist precisely because she’s been so villified. I could never quite understand why there was absolutely no sympathy for her, when it seemed to me that she got a pretty raw deal: a cheating husband who humiliated her time and again in front of all the other gods, not to mention in front of the entire mortal world that was supposed to respect her. I thought Hera had a better story than the one we know, a story that no one had told yet. I wanted to be the one to tell it.

Also, Hera reminds me of a lot of women I know in real life, women who feel they have to sacrifice their own happiness for the sake of others. To me, that's what makes a true hero: selflessness. Those women deserve to have their stories shared and celebrated. 

Your novel contains a lot of mysteries and twists. Can you tell us a bit about your writing process? Do you outline? 

I do, and I don’t. :p When I first start writing something, it tends to be very free-style. I just start typing and let my imagination run wild. One thing sparks the next, which sparks the next, and so on and so forth. It’s like a chain reaction. But the more that I write, the faster the ideas start hitting me. Eventually, I have to start writing them down, or else, I’ll start to forget them. Before long, that jumble of ideas I’ve jotted down gives me a very rough outline to work with. Then it’s up to me to sew the disparate pieces together to create a meaningful story.

One of the drawbacks of that process is that I go through extensive revisions. I have to reread and reread over and over and over again to make sure the story flows and remains consistent.

Hera, Queen of Gods contains both action-packed battle scenes and emotionally charged drama. Which is more challenging for you to write? 

I think drama is by far the more difficult to write, particularly when you write from the first person perspective. A narrator doesn’t notice every little detail, and as a result, a lot of things that may (or should) be obvious to someone else are missing from their narrative. As a writer, you have to find subtle ways to convey those things that the narrator has overlooked.

I also struggle with how much to spell out for an audience and how much to imply or leave to their imagination. Some readers like to have it all laid out for them, down to the smallest details; others want to fill in gaps themselves and find excessive detail condescending or boring. It’s difficult to find a happy medium that pleases everyone. 

What was the inspiration behind Justin, the mortal boy who helps the gods on their quest and soon falls for Hera? 

I really wanted to showcase a male character who exemplified non-traditional masculinity. I struggle a lot with how society defines masculinity today. I wanted a character who was a strong man because he was able to put himself second and support the woman he cared about. That takes a different kind of strength, one I find is underappreciated. To put it another way, everyone expects a woman to support “her man”; but how often do people expect a man to support “his woman” in her goals and dreams, even at the expense of his own? So often, I hear of celebrity romances that fail because the woman is more successful than the man. What kind of love is that? What kind of man only feels like a “real” man when he’s doing better than the woman he claims to love?

Realistically, Hera is the type of woman who needs a man that accepts her for who she is: a strong woman who needs to be in charge. She needs a man who doesn’t expect her to change, to become less, just for the benefit of his ego. For her, that’s what love is. And that takes a very special man. In the end, it takes a strong man to love a woman in the way she needs to be loved, instead of in the way he might want (or have been raised) to love. 

Do you have a favorite scene in your novel? 

Though it proved controversial (in a way I definitely did not foresee), I enjoyed the drinking scene in Justin’s basement. It was really difficult to write, but fun. More importantly, it was a chance to glimpse the real Hera, to see her a bit more clearly with her guard down: what she would be like if she weren’t so burdened by the fate of existence resting on her shoulders. 

If you were a Greek god, who would you be, and why? 

Morpheus. I love napping. :p 

On a somewhat frivolous note, I love your cover! Who designed it? 

Thank you! I actually commissioned my cover through a public contest on 99designs. The successful designer was Gina Brooks (username: Georgina_Gibson). Her work is stellar (her portfolio speaks for itself), and perhaps best of all, she was very easy to work with. She really went above and beyond the call of duty for me. I wholeheartedly and unreservedly recommend her to anyone in the market for a book cover. 

Are you working on any new books? 

Always, and too many. :p

I wrote the sequel to Hera, Queen of Gods, which I am editing now. I hope to have it published by October 2013.

I’m finishing another urban fantasy, The Order, about a girl who breaks out of the magical cult that raised her, only to find circumstances drawing her back in.

I also just started a third novel about a demon who’s been captured and forced to hunt down other supernatural terrors by a mysterious religious sect. 

Hera, Queen of Gods is available at: Amazon US (Kindle e-book), Amazon UK (Kindle e-book)