Showing posts with label Samantha Bryant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samantha Bryant. Show all posts

Monday, June 6, 2016

WOMAN = SUPERHERO!


   If you haven't guessed, Samantha Bryant is here. She's agreed to do an interview and share a few of her writing secrets while telling us about her latest release - CHANGE OF LIFE!

     1. Can you tell your readers something about why you chose this particular topic to write about? What appealed to you about it? Why do you think it is different, and your approach is unique?

I’m a lifelong comics and superhero fan. But I’ve been frustrated as an adult woman, finding a hero that I can really connect with. The idea started as a lark, riffing on the idea that if hormones cause superpowers, then menopausal women should have the corner on the market. But the more I wrote, the more I was trying to explore my beloved superhero universe through the eyes of grown women with grown women’s responsibilities.
The thing I love about speculative fiction in general is the way you can write about the things that matter most without seeming to. Sure, I’m writing about women who can fly, throw cars, and wield fire. But I’m also writing about the roles of women in society, friendship among women, and the hard choices people make in extreme situations. You can learn through play.

The unusual thing about my Menopausal Superhero series, is of course, menopause. It’s rare in superhero stories to find a female hero over thirty years old, with history, family, and responsibilities. That’s what appealed to me: exploring how a superhero story would be different if the heroes were a different class of citizen than you usually see.

So, Going Through the Change and Change of Life, the first two books in this series, center around four heroines and one mad scientist, each going through menopause. The women range in age from 32 to 67, and come from different walks of life, none of which are typical in superhero fiction.


·      Jessica Roark is a stay-at-home mother of young children in an affluent suburban neighbourhood.

·      Linda Alvarez is a 48 year old grandmother and empty-nester living in an older part of the city, with a close-knit neighbourhood.

·      Helen Braeburn, who lives in an older condo she got on a great resale and that she plans to flip, is a 63 year old embittered divorcée with a grown, but estranged daughter.

·      Patricia O’Neill is a 58 year old corporate vice president who never married, nor ever wanted to and would break out in hives at the suggestion that she have children.

·      Cindy Liu is a 67 year old retiree, a famed researcher who feels pushed aside in an industry that values youth above all. The love of her life died young, and she never loved again after that.



     2.   How long do you think about a topic before deciding to write about it? Do you have a set of notes or a notebook where you write down topics that appeal before making a decision as to which topic this time?

Ideas seem to sneak up on me slowly. Over time, I’ll notice that I keep coming back to some musing in my quiet moments (which are mostly in the shower or in my car—I don’t get much “quiet” in my day to day life). 

There’s usually not a lightning flash and a mad science cackle (though there was for the first Menopausal Superhero novel). It’s more like some thought is rolling around in my brain at a subconscious level, growing bigger and bigger and gathering strength and size until, finally, it’s at a conscious level and big enough to do something with. I keep a semi-daily journal where I write down such things (and kvetch about my life), but I don’t keep a writer’s notebook in particular. By the time I realize that that little “bug in my ear” feeling is a bona fide idea, I’m already writing it.

This series did have a lightning moment, though, springing from a conversation with my husband. If I’d been pondering this at a subconscious level, it was so subconscious that I didn’t know it.

     3.   How long does it take to research a topic before you write? And for this book? Did you learn something unusual during your research that you can share here?

There’s a lot of variety in research time for me depending on what I’m writing. One of my still-in-progress projects is a women’s historical fiction trilogy. I’ve been reading a lot of history books in preparation for finishing that, so the research period is pretty long—already having lasted three years. It’ll probably continue quite a bit longer since I am woefully undereducated about the period between WWI and WWII in the Midwestern United States and historical accuracy will matter and will constrain the story possibilities.

But to write stories in my Menopausal Superhero series, there’s not a lot of research before I sit down to write. I’m writing in contemporary time, in a near-realistic world. I research small things when questions come up, like the science of balloon flight, the cellular effects of cancer, the limits of heat proof glass, and elements of traditional Chinese medicine. But that’s more like “quick google search” kind of research, a few minutes at a time. The hard part for me is not to fall into a research rabbit hole and wander around there so long I don’t get back to the actual writing! I can get fascinated easily and get lost.

In writing Jessica’s flight ability, I did a lot of research about the mechanics of flight. Eventually, I decided to have her body work on principles of buoyancy like a balloon, rather than thrust and lift like a bird. I loved the idea that Dr. Liu’s experimentation caused a chemical reaction inside Jessica that basically fills her with something lighter than air. It definitely made it fun to write her discovery of her powers and initial difficulties. It gave me some comedic possibilities.

     

4.   Did you self-publish or have a publisher? Would you recommend self-publishing and building an audience before approaching a publisher? What's the best way to build an audience before publication?

I’m a hybrid author now, with one self-published anthology out there produced with my critique group, and other anthologies and my novels produced through small independent presses. Every writer I know seems to have a different path, and there are advantages and disadvantages of all of them. My guess is that, eventually, we’re all going to be hybrid authors, choosing the best path for each thing we write, rather than choosing one particular method of putting our work out there.

It’s hard to build an audience before publication, but building some kind of web presence is a good start: blogging, tweeting, etc.  I’ve seen some writers build a following, at least among other writers, by sharing their process as they work on completing their books and publishing them. That’s getting harder to do now, though, as they are so many writers talking only to other writers and missing out on connecting with readers. But I would definitely suggest developing some kind of web presence, so you’re not limited to only readers and friends in your immediate geographic vicinity.
For me, I’d long played on Google Plus and Twitter and had been blogging regularly for a few years before my first book came out. Blogging in particular had been good for me in terms of developing discipline and networking with other writers. That meant that when Going Through the Change came out, there was a small ready-made audience of people who were already interested in me and what I do. It didn’t make me an “overnight success,” but it did give me a leg up, compared to someone who never participated in that world before having something to sell. It gave me people to reach out to when I wanted a signal boost for a release. It’s a reciprocal game, social media love. You have to give to get.

     5.   Does writing provide you a sufficient income to live on? If so, how long did it take before this happened? Is it your goal to be financially successful, or do you write and publish solely for the 'satisfaction of sharing your stories'?

Not yet, though it did let me be generous with my family for winter holidays last year. My first book just came out in April 2015 and I’ve only released one more since. So, I’m a babe in the woods in this game: just over one year in. From what I hear, you need at least five books to make anything resembling a professional salary regularly, and at my current rate of production, that will take another three years at least.

It is my eventual goal to be only a writer. Currently, I’m a teacher and a writer and find that it leaves me with a divided heart too often, or feeling like I might be drawn and quartered because parts of me are being tugged in opposite directions. Still, I’m happy to be living my dream even within the constraints of still holding a day job. I feel out of balance when I don’t get to write, like a part of me is missing.

While I don’t write “for the money,” I do still want an audience. Unlike my yoga practice, which nobody wants to see, my writing practice is about creating art for an audience besides myself. One of the best feelings in the world is when a reader with no real-life connection to me finds my books and praises them. That’s when I feel like a real writer.
~~~~~~~



Samantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her debut novel, Going Through the Change: A Menopausal Superhero Novel is now for sale by Curiosity Quills, as is the sequel, Change of LIfe. You can find her online on her blog,  Twitter, on Facebook, on Amazon, on Goodreads, on the Curiosity Quills page, or on Google+


Thank you, Samantha!
I love your premise and I agree Woman = Superhero.

Reader's, if your hormones gave you a superpower
 what would your superpower be?


Monday, February 22, 2016

SON OF A PITCH ROUND II



Starting today, published authors will give feedback on the query's and first 250 words.

The judges will vote for their favorites to go onto the final round.

They will cast five votes each, anywhere they want, and the top 20 will go onto the next round.

Visitors are welcome to comment on this lead in blog but not the individual blogs!


Votes will close on Thursday 11:59 p.m. MST.

Participants do not comment on other entrants' posts, only your own. You can bribe, coax, share, tweet, and do whatever to your entry, but you cannot comment on anyone else's.

Our hostess Katie Hamstead Teller

The Judges

Ayden Morgen
Elsie Elmore
Leigh Statham
Mara Valderran
Stacy Nash
Elisabeth Roderick
Samantha Bryant
&
Me!


And to make it easier to get to all the entries 
Here they are by catagory!

Young Adult:
Elsie Elmore's Blog:

Quantum Fairytales Blog:

Samantha's Blog:

New Adult:
Ayden's Blog:

Adult:
Ayden's Blog:

Samantha's Blog:


Enjoy!

And don't forget to offer helpful advice for your favorites HERE and only HERE!

His Soul Purpose



Title: HIS SOUL PURPOSE

Category and Genre: Adult paranormal romance

Word Count: 90,000

Query:


Byron enjoys his damned existence as a vampire until the night he attacks a young twentysomething with a gold cross around her neck. She stirs memories of when he had been human so long ago, and a pang of guilt prevents him from hurting her.


Although red belt librarian Grace is frightened of the vampire, she thinks his act of conscience might mean he isn't damned after all. After another vampire attacks them and destroys the library, Grace convinces Byron he is worth redemption.

The quest for Byron's soul leads them to uncover an ancient conspiracy to keep vampires damned forever—and brings them far closer than either intended.


While rejoining Byron and his soul may save him, it may also kill him.


First 250 Words



Byron curled back his upper lip. "You've displeased me for the last time."

"I'm… I'm sorry. Please." The man backed up, hands raised defensively. As if he could defend himself from Byron. "Please, give me another chance."

He circled around the pathetic man. Illumination from candles flickered against the white walls of his office. Byron never did care for artificial lighting. "Against my better judgment, I already did. Twice. A third chance to wrong me just wouldn't be prudent."

"But… my family…"

Byron held up the faux gemstone. "You think I wouldn't realize it was a fraud?"

"N-no… I never meant… My contact assured me—"

"Your whining grates me." The gemstone ground to red dust in his hand. He opened his fist, allowing the specks to filter to the hardwood floor.

"Please, I can find you—"

"You will do nothing for me."

Byron snatched the man's neck, lifting him a foot above the ground. His hold tightened, the man's eyes bulging, his attempts at fighting growing more pathetic with every passing second until he slumped over.

"You will do nothing for anyone."

He dropped the man onto the floor, on top of the ground stone. Clapping the remnants of red from his hand, Byron stepped over the body and left the office behind. He could have, and perhaps should have fed on the man. Even now, his thirst grew, a pulsating need that could not be denied much longer. Recovering the Ruby Heart could wait. 

*****

Participants do not comment on other entrants' posts, only your own. You can bribe, coax, share, tweet, and do whatever to your entry, but you cannot comment on anyone else's.

The Judges

&

Me!

Visitors welcome!

Please comment as to whether this pitch piques your interest and what feedback you have about making it stronger.
Your assessments will be appreciated by the participants.


Buried



Title: BURIED
Category and Genre: Adult Science Fiction

Word Count: 120,000
Query


Mike and Sam must save the world from a time loop, but they only want to save each other--and that's what's causing the loop.

After his boyfriend Sam is killed in a car crash, soldier-turned-copper Mike Scott buries himself in investigating a modern body that's been dug up at an undisturbed sixteenth-century site. But his investigation leads him back to Sam's death, and the existence of a time machine Sam 'forgot' to tell him about. The attraction the machine held for TV historian Sam is obvious. But Mike's more used to burying the past than revisiting it.

Once Mike finds the machine, however, it offers more adventure than he's had since quitting the army: A trip to Tudor England. A way to save Sam. Mike will gladly give his life for Sam's, but, after a few trips round the loop, he realises they've been there, done that. By using the machine to change the past, he and Sam have trapped everyone in a time loop that endlessly repeats.

The time machine can't be resisted and it can't be destroyed. Unless Mike can find a solution in his own past, the only way out is for one of them to die. And stay dead.

First 250 words


The day my mother sat us boys down and told us Dad had gone to live with a new family, I thought it was one of those things adults say when they don't want to deal with the truth. Not 'Your dad's dead' but 'Your dad's gone to live with a new family where he can have lots of room to run about'.
It was exactly like that when Sam died.

#

I was sitting at my desk in CID moving some bits of paper about. Nobody in the office to overhear. I pulled out my phone and hit the speed dial.

Not that I wasn't a little annoyed Sam hadn't rung me. Not this morning. Not the night before. Not since he'd slammed out of the house and gone to stay with his mother.

His visit to his mother being what we'd argued about.

Someone other than Sam answered the phone. I knew that the moment they drew in their breath to speak.

"Who's this?" I said. "I want Sam Ferrier."

"This is Police Constable Sheila Warren. Who am I speaking to, please?"

"My name's Mike Scott. I want to speak to Sam."

Stacking papers on my desk so I didn't have to think about why a PC was answering his phone.

"Are you a relative of Mr Ferrier's?"

Jesus, I'd never expected to be on the receiving end of a death message. "Look, has something happened? What's happened to him?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't release any details until the family have been informed."

*****

Participants do not comment on other entrants' posts, only your own. You can bribe, coax, share, tweet, and do whatever to your entry, but you cannot comment on anyone else's.

The Judges

&

Me!

Visitors welcome!
Please comment as to whether this pitch piques your interest and what feedback you have about making it stronger.
Your assessments will be appreciated by the participants.



Darkest Rendezvous




Title: Darkest Rendezvous
Age and Genre: Adult Historical Paranormal Romance
Word Count: 50,000
 Query:

Set in alternate 19th century New York, Darkest Rendezvous is the tale of ethereal beauty, Miss Persephone Greaves, who is caught up in a rivalrous love triangle between a wicked Vampyre Count, a roguish Lycanthrope Chieftain and the miserly ghoul next door as she becomes key to a plot by renegade humans to destroy her world.

Count Nicodemus von Shroud, the newest lord of Manor Sanguine Ligurio, is as handsome as he is wealthy and has the eye of every eligible lady of New York's Famous Four Hundred but his heart belongs to the enchanting Miss Persephone Greaves. However, Miss Greaves is a Zombi, a civilized class of zombie recently elevated to the nethermost circles of the necroelite and though she is the daughter of a highly esteemed physician, she is still considered beneath the touch of the most powerful Vampyre clan in America.

Mr. Rufus Bane, chief of the Lupis Tribe, has also taken notice of the delectable Miss Greaves at Nightshade Manor’s latest Moonlight Ball and refuses to concede to his Vampyre rival for the lady’s affections despite her impending engagement to ominous Ghoul, Lord Lucius Newmont. However, insurrections and assassination attempts by Rufus’ fellow Lycanthropes may prove slightly distracting.

Miss Persephone Greaves’ first season is a bigger success than she could have ever dreamed. Resigned to spend eternity as bride to ominous Lord Lucius Newmont, her phenomenal beauty and charm seem to overcome the age old stigma her kind face for atrocities past, garnering ringing approval from New York’s famous Four Hundred. Against warnings from friends and the wishes of her father, Persephone finds herself falling for both the intense werewolf whose kisses set her body aflame and a seductive Vampyre whose gaze sends her mind reeling with wicked dreams.

While Persephone tries to decide her course of action, a mysterious illness starts killing human slaves, Lycanthrope tribesmen and the oldest and weakest members of the necroelite. When Persephone is poisoned, Rufus and Nicodemus uncover a plot to destroy the nation’s undead and must work together to expose betrayals and save their beloved.

First 250 Words

Persephone Greaves stood in the dimly lit hallway and watched as the slaves lumbered by. Even in the mindless state in which the undead allowed them to exist, Persephone didn’t trust humans. Everything about them from the way their grey skin hung loosely from their bones and gaping mouths to the milky unseeing eyes that always seem to be watching, waiting for something made her uneasy. Persephone wished her father would finish his examination of the Newmonts’ kitchen slave who had suddenly fallen ill so they could quit this place. Of course she didn’t have to hover in the slave quarters. Lucius Newmont was in his study but would gladly keep Persephone company in the parlor.

The Ghoul was ten years Persephone’s senior and even as a lanky youth, Lucius had been very serious and solemn. The Newmonts had lost their parents towards the end of the 1812 Uprising, before the humans’ defeat, and at 14 years of age Lucius took the responsibility of his and his sister’s welfare on to his ossified shoulders. Being business partners as well as neighbors, Dr. Sebastian Greaves assisted Captain Newmont’s children as often as Lucius would allow and so became like an extended family. Dr. Greaves would, on occasion, allude to a match between Persephone and Lucius but she simply was not interested.

Repulsive as Ghouls were, the Newmont siblings always made the effort to be fashionable. Lucius was tall, slender and always well dressed. 

*****

Participants do not comment on other entrants' posts, only your own. You can bribe, coax, share, tweet, and do whatever to your entry, but you cannot comment on anyone else's.

The Judges

&

Me!

Visitors welcome!

Please comment as to whether this pitch piques your interest and what feedback you have about making it stronger.
Your assessments will be appreciated by the participants.




Forbidden




Title: Forbidden
Age and Genre: Adult, Crime / Suspense / Romance
Word Count: 100,000

Query:

Forbidden will grab and hurl you into a plot full of treachery and passion.
  
Screams of terror and gunfire echo within the walls of a compound. The horrific massacre of fifteen Americans forces two government officers of The Republic of Islamic Provinces and Territories to cover-up the truth. They thrust the task into the hands of a ruthless police captain, Hashim Sharif. His corrupt superiors’ rules are simple. Maintain silence, or his family will suffer dire consequences.

He cannot bear lowering his ethics to become the same gutter vermin he hunts in Samarra’s dark streets. And yet, if his loyalty is questioned, an unmarked grave awaits him in the desert. He fears justice may never be served. Even so, he cannot commit an act most forbidden – treason. His family’s honor would be forever lost.

Within a week, his nightmare plunges into a bottomless pit. To maintain the cover-up, he must dispose of the one witness – Eliza MacKay. Murder of innocents?

Unthinkable.He keeps her out of sight inside his apartment, risking the wrath of Allah. While searching for evidence of the killer’s identity, Sharif and MacKay struggle to survive. Hit men, the CIA, and his government have them in their cross hairs. When his children are kidnapped, Sharif becomes the beast his enemies dread.

Sharif and MacKay dodge traps and their mutual attraction. Given her PTSD, he cannot trust her. A strangle hold over his desires for the pretty woman becomes his greatest challenge. If escape is possible, love will only get in the way. Or will it save them?

Target Audience: This crime, suspense romance novel will be enjoyed by readers who favor espionage novels with international intrigue, and multi-cultural themes.

Forbidden’s twisting plot and fully fleshed out characters are unforgettable. Other target audiences will include Muslims and those interested in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Muslims will appreciate the accuracy of the references to moderate Islam. 

First 250 Words

Bird With a Broken Wing

Eliza fidgeted with her hijab. Excited Arabic voices echoed throughout Samarra’s busy airport. The arrivals terminal barely contained the hundreds of visitors waiting for the arrival of the next flight.

She stared at the airport arrivals app on her cell phone.  ‘United Air 719 – DELAYED’.Friggin’ hell, they’re an hour late. As she gazed at ‘DELAYED’, a vision blocked out the surrounding clamor. Screams, bloodied bodies, and flames in a dark void engulfed her with waves of horror. Her hand shot up to her mouth, barely containing a shriek. Stop it, just friggin’ stop it! The premonition urged her to run. Get out of RIPT on the next plane.

“Breathe,” she whispered. She inhaled and exhaled with calm deliberation. “Again.” She shivered as the graphic scene faded. Thank God I can control these annoying visions. Whoever said that being a seer is a gift was delusional. Now, if I could manage my PTSD psychosis as easily, I might get my life back.

Her feet ached from wandering through the airport shops for the last five hours. “It’s almost nine. The airport will be closed in another two hours. What the hell happened to the Americans? A man rushing by bumped into her and nearly tripped over her suitcase. He turned toward her and glared.

“Laanah aleiky,” he growled in Arabic.

She squared her shoulders and turned away. Damn you, too. She adjusted her head scarf and smiled confidently at nearby women. 

They stepped away from her.

*****

Participants do not comment on other entrants' posts, only your own. You can bribe, coax, share, tweet, and do whatever to your entry, but you cannot comment on anyone else's.

The Judges

&

Me!

Visitors welcome!

Please comment as to whether this pitch piques your interest and what feedback you have about making it stronger.
Your assessments will be appreciated by the participants.