Monday, December 1, 2014

HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS



Meet Ann Noser, author of How To Date Dead Guys. and her newest novel, soon to be released How to Ditch Dead Guys.

Q. I understand you're a busy mom and have to steal time to write, tell us one of the biggest things you've learned on the creative / publishing / marketing journey. Do you have any advice for the novice?

Advice:

            Be prepared to spend a lot of time and money when starting out--consider yourself forewarned--marketing takes much more time than you expect.

            Although a lot of people recommend writing EVERY day, that doesn't work for me. I write when the spirit moves me (and when the children are otherwise occupied). I don't pretend to know what everyone else needs in their lives, but I suggest following your own heart and not someone else's rules.

            Ask. Ask. Ask. Because new writers probably don't know much starting out, and it's always best to know what's going on.

Q. What is the most exciting thing to have happened to you because of your creativity and if fame and success were yours, how would it change you and your plans?

            Book signings have been wonderful. I've had people (old friends, classmates, and teachers) attend them that I haven't seen in years.

            I hope fame wouldn't change me much. Not sure if I'll find out. :)

Q.      Blogging has changed. I even read a blog that asks the question have authors ruined blogging due to cover reveals, and book tours. What is your opinion of the direction and subject of current blogs and the need for authors to blog about their journey and advertise their books? What do you enjoy, in regards to blogs, whether reading or writing one?

          This raises a good point. A lot of blogs promote books. I enjoy finding out about new books, and just screen past the genres I'm not interested in (I don't care much for erotica or heavy romance, but that's just me). This blog made me realize that lately I've spent more time organizing blogs to promote other people's books than I have just plain blogging or writing about other things that are important to me. It's good to make this realization. Perhaps I need to address this. But this also brings up the point that sometimes it's hard to know just how much time one should spend on writing, and how much on each type:  marketing, blogging, new projects, etc.

If you're curious about where the question on blogging came from - the Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh posted the question on a recent blog. Follow the link if you want to get in on the discussion.  Are Authors Killing Blogging?


Just for fun!

Q. If you could visit any time period, would you go back or forward and why? 

I'd love to meet my parents when they were young.

Q. If you could live and write anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

I'd like to visit all the national parks, but I'm not sure I'd want to live there. I like where I live now.

Q. If you were the President with complete power, what would you do with it?

What a horrible question! (haha) I'd do the best I could, and make a lot of enemies, just like every other president has done, I imagine.

Q. If zombies attacked, what would you do, and why?

Probably die, because they are zombies.

Q. Have you ever read the last page of a novel first? Why? Did you read the entire book afterwards?

No! But I know people who do. Gah!

Q. What entices you to buy a book, the cover, the blurb, the writing, or the author?

All of the above.

*****


HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS

College sophomore Emma Roberts remembers her mother’s sage advice: “don’t sleep around, don’t burp in public, and don’t tell anyone you see ghosts”. But when charming Mike Carlson drowns in the campus river under her watch, Emma’s sheltered life shatters.

Blamed for Mike’s death and haunted by nightmares, Emma turns to witchcraft and a mysterious Book of Shadows to bring him back. Under a Blood Moon, she lights candles, draws a pentacle on the campus bridge, and casts a spell. The invoked river rages up against her, but she escapes its fury. As she stumbles back to the dorm, a stranger drags himself from the water and follows her home. And he isn't the only one.

Instead of raising Mike, Emma assists the others she stole back from the dead—a pre-med student who jumped off the bridge, a desperate victim determined to solve his own murder, and a frat boy Emma can’t stand…at first. More comfortable with the dead than the living, Emma delves deeper into the seductive Book of Shadows. Her powers grow, but witchcraft may not be enough to protect her against the vengeful river and the killers that feed it their victims.

Inspired by the controversial Smiley Face Murders, HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS will ignite the secret powers hidden deep within each of us.

Meet the Author:

My to-do list dictates that I try to cram 48 hours of living into a day instead of the usual 24.  I’ve chosen a life filled with animals.  I train for marathons with my dog, then go to work as a small animal veterinarian, and finish the day by tripping over my pets as I attempt to convince my two unruly children that YES, it really IS time for bed.  But I can’t wait until the house is quiet to write; I have to steal moments throughout the day.  Ten minutes here, a half hour there, I live within my imagination.

Like all busy American mothers, I multi-task.  I work out plot holes during runs.  Instead of meditating, I type madly during yoga stretches.  I find inspiration in everyday things:  a beautiful smile, a heartbreaking song, or a newspaper article on a political theory.  For example, a long drive in the dark listening to an NPR program on the SMILEY FACE MURDERS theory made me ask so many questions that I wrote HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS to answer them to my satisfaction.

I’d love to have more time to write (and run, read, and sleep), but until I find Hermione Granger’s time turner, I will juggle real life with the half-written stories in my head.  Main characters and plot lines intertwine in my cranium, and I need to let my writing weave the tales on paper so I can find out what happens next.

LINKS 


















Last but not Least:

Tell us about your upcoming release HOW TO DITCH DEAD GUYS.

I just signed the contract, and sent it off to the editor, so I have no dates to share.

Description:

How to DITCH Dead Guys, a 73,000 word count New Adult, Urban Fantasy (Book Two in the Under the Blood Moon series). This book is a bit darker than the first. Many of the characters remain the same, and the storyline arc follows nicely after the setup of book one.

Blurb:

After everyone EMMA ROBERTS raises from the dead sinks back into the river, she longs for a purpose. A schedule. Something to accomplish.

Then OFFICER WALKER leaves a message on her voice mail:  "There's been another murder, and I need your help."

With a bag of witchcraft supplies slung over her shoulder, Emma performs a séance for Walker at the site of the murder. But nothing happens until Emma gets back home.

Black smoke swirls inside the bathroom. An invisible force slams her head onto the tiled floor. A golden snake slithers across her legs, then impales her wrist with its icy teeth.

As the smoke clears and the images fade, the truth becomes clear.

This time around, Emma won't just watch what happened. She'll live it.

As Emma helps Officer Walker solve murder cases, she relives the horror of each victim's last moments of life. From the edge of the river to the underground lair of the gang who murdered Steve, she endures it all.

As Emma weakens, both the victims and the murderers who killed them fight for control of her body and mind.

She's possessed, and the voices inside her head won't let her ask for help.

Even the Book of Shadows can't save her now…

*Just curious, would you consider dating a dead guy - especially if you knew how to ditch him if it didn't work out?