The Vision Painter - Falling Colours & Casting Shadows by RJ Samuel

Falling Colours and Casting Shadows by RJ Samuel
Rating

Get your copy: £3.08 (E book all versions & print and Casting Shadows)

These two books are part of a series about Kiran the only vision painter in Ireland, a concept, I found so fascinating I looked it up on Google, before realising these books are written within the magic realism and crime genres. I would say that the lesbian aspects are incidental, by that I mean unlike much lesbian fiction where the whole book centres around two woman meeting, falling in love and graphic descriptions of them having lots of sex. In these books two lesbians meet, fall in love and build a life together in the midst of the main plotlines of vision painting and murder. I don't want to say too much more about the story lines so as to not give anything away and spoil your enjoyment of these books.

R. J. Samuel is a captivating writer, her stories are intriguing and I couldn't put the books down in my urgency to see what happened next. She creates wonderful worlds that are easy to picture and imagine because of the way she brings them to life. She captures life in Ireland extremely well and I imagine does the same with India although I've never been there. Her characters are well developed and believable, I really felt like I was with them as they faced their life challenges. For example, she writes well about a proud Indian man's struggle around having a lesbian daughter and his internal and external expression of that struggle.

Once I started reading each book I couldn't put them down but they are also quite different from each other. The first one is faster paced, there is a race against time and a criminal force which makes the book exciting as you wait to find out what happens. The second book is gentler and slower paced but equally gripping as you share Kiran's journey to understand the traditions behind vision painting and its influence on the people she loves today.

In summary I would definitely recommend these books, they are well written, engaging and absorbing. I look forward to reading what she writes next. 

The interview

We caught up with author RJ Samuel who gave some insight behind the series. "Like many people, I had encountered The Secret, and other books like it, and I sat down one night and wrote out what I thought I wanted in my life and I ended up focusing on and going for what I wrote. 

"I got everything on the piece of paper, but things went spectacularly wrong. I used to joke that The Secret ruined my life, but I also knew that was only true because I had focused on what I thought should be in my life, on what other people wanted for my life, or for their lives. I had forgotten to mention what would make me happy, to even consider my own dreams, because at the time I did not figure out what those dreams were. 

"As I got my life back together, I joined a writing class, wrote short stories and did writing exercises, and then published Heart Stopper (a medical thriller). I began to freak out slightly over the appearance in my life of things that I wrote about and when I had to do an exercise in writing magical realism, I had a few ideas floating around in my head - of wishing for things, writing about things that then happened, and being careful to focus on happiness.   

"I didn’t want to write about a writer so as one of my hobbies is painting, I sat down to write a short story about a vision painter, amalgamating those ideas into the concept of a painter who could paint people’s visions for their lives and how things could go wrong if people did not ask for the things that might make them happy.  The story flowed out in one go, it felt right, and it was very well received. When I decided to turn it into a novel, I kept the concept and the beginning and some of the end of the short story, but then I started asking ‘What if’ questions and from there I worked out the story that became ‘Falling Colours’."

Samuel discusses process "My writing process has panned out differently for each of the four novels so far. I started Heart Stopper with enthusiasm and was more than halfway through when I got stuck, bogged down in detail. I was lucky enough to find a book on structured writing (Story Engineering – Larry Brooks) that appealed to my logical side and I developed a way of working on a novel that suits my rational as well as my creative sides after I found that it worked very well for me on Heart Stopper. 

"I used the same process for Falling Colours and Casting Shadows, but the two books progressed at very different paces and with different levels of energy. My first three novels were each written within 6 months, but the fourth is taking a lot longer. 

"My process involves - taking an idea through stages of ‘what-if’ questions until it becomes a premise, working out the structure of the story and developing the characters, researching any areas in which I don’t have experience, writing out the planned scenes (adjusting for necessary changes based on my character/plot development), editing (I do a lot of editing as I write – I wish I didn’t, but my left brain won’t stop interfering), getting feedback from beta readers, and incorporating useful feedback. 

"The rational process has been the same for all the books, but the emotional process has been vastly different. For example, Falling Colours flowed out easily, and even though it dealt with some darker issues, I had fun writing it. In contrast, Casting Shadows was more emotionally draining and while it still has humour, (I try to express the lighter side as much as possible), it delved further into dark issues, some of which I could not find a way to lighten. 

"I’m finding it difficult to finish the fourth novel. It has been, again, structurally fine, but emotionally harrowing. I know I have to conquer the emotional side of writing to be able to continue writing professionally and the challenge for me is to do this while remaining true to what I want to express in my stories. I read a lot about writing, in books and online articles, written by professional writers who have successfully managed this, and I hope to learn how to overcome this latest challenge."

By Claire

Virtual Book Tour Event: Static by LA Witt

Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/L. A. Witt blog tour for the transgender science fiction novel, Static! 

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off my backlist (excluding Static) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern Time, on January 26^th, and winners will be announced on January 27^th.   

Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.

Rating: 

After two years together, Alex has been dreading the inevitable moment when Damon learns the truth: that Alex is a shifter, part of a small percentage of the population able to switch genders at will. Thanks to a forced implant, though, Alex is suddenly static—unable to shift—and male. Overnight, he’s out to a world that neither understands nor tolerates shifters . . . and to his heterosexual boyfriend.

Damon is stunned to discover his girlfriend is a shifter, and scared to death of the dangers the implant poses to Alex’s health. He refuses to abandon Alex, but what about their relationship? Damon is straight, and with the implant both costly and dangerous to remove, Alex is stuck as a man.

Stripped of half his identity and facing serious physical and social ramifications, Alex needs Damon more than ever, but he doesn’t see how they can get through this.

Especially if he’s static forever.

Static is available January 20^st from Riptide Publishing. 

We asked author LA Witt a few questions to find out the story behind Static

The world of sci-fi doesn’t meet the path of a trans theme often – what inspired this genre cross?   

I was playing with the idea of writing about shapeshifters, since that’s been a popular subgenre for a while, but I didn’t want to do the same thing everyone else had been doing. It occurred to me that it would be cool if people could shift into other people, like doppelgangers, and then I thought, “What if they could shift genders?” That got me thinking about how someone might think and feel in a body that could shift back and forth, and the story immediately went from a paranormal/urban fantasy idea to something entirely different from what I’d originally had in mind.  

 Why did you want to explore the theme of bi-genderism?  

My good friend M. Jules Aedin, another M/M author, had been giving me an education on gender identity over the past year during our frequent conversations via IM. Prior to that, I knew next to nothing. I knew transgender people existed, but had never heard of genderqueer, genderfluid, third gender, or anything else on the gender spectrum, and didn’t understand any of it. After everything I’d learned through our conversations, I think I needed a way to process all of it – to really understand it – and as a writer, it was only natural I’d turn to writing. While I didn’t set out to do it consciously, and didn’t realize it until after the fact, I firmly believe Static was my mind’s way of really making sense of and understanding everything Jules had taught me.

There are a lot of overlapping issues within the sci-fi scenario is situations that occur for trans people – what research did you do for both the science and the biology?   

I read a lot about the transitioning process, trying to understand both the physical and psychological stages, effects, etc.  I focused primarily on the psychological effects, though, since most of the biological issues in the book were unique to shifters.

L.A. Witt is an abnormal M/M romance writer currently living in the glamorous and ultra-futuristic metropolis of Omaha, Nebraska, with her husband, two cats, and a disembodied penguin brain that communicates with her telepathically. In addition to writing smut and disturbing the locals, L.A. is said to be working with the US government to perfect a genetic modification that will allow humans to survive indefinitely on Corn Pops and beef jerky. This is all a cover, though, as her primary leisure activity is hunting down her arch nemesis, erotica author Lauren Gallagher, who is also said to be lurking somewhere in Omaha.

L. A.’s backlist is available on her website, and updates (as well as random thoughts and the odd snarky comment) can be found on her blog or on Twitter (@GallagherWitt). 

Post your comments and questions below and LA Witt will respond on Friday 24th at 6.30pm.

Two virtual book tour events coming soon!

Planet London is working with Riptide Publishing to bring to special lesbian author events at the end of January.

Virtual Book Tours are a new creative way to connect authors with their readers and book lovers alike when geography might otherwise be a boundary.

Static by LA Witt will be hosted on the Planet of the Books Blog on Friday 24 January. Alongside a review and interview, there is the opportunity to pose questions to the author. Details of how to get hold of your won copy of the book will also be published.

The Beginning of Us by Sarah Brooks is a lesbian romance story. There will be a live question and answer session on the evening of the 27th January here on the Planet of the Books Blog.

Both books are available as e-books on a cross platform.

If you would like to submit a question, please email mail@planet-london.com

Spoon and The Moon: Lesbian app developers (Marie Davis and Margaret Hultz) create -- Best Indie Book for 2013!

Spoon and the Moon the inovel is instantly available in the Amazon Appstore for your Android Tablet or Kindle Fire. It's also available in ibooks. 

Details on how to receive a free copy are at the end of the article.

“Editors often ask why our creative partnership works so well.” Marie began. “Usually we laugh and say, ‘Together we have one really good brain!’ Fourteen years working together have led to interesting and hilarious projects that alone, neither of us would have had the twist in our shorts to dare.”

“I first met Margaret while singing “Margaritaville”. She appeared out of the Karaoke crowd to rescue me during my botched attempt at the Jimmy Buffett song. Yes, she and I sang a duet before we ever said hello.”

“Truthfully, before I went up to sing, I heard Margaret’s laughter springing through the din of the lesbian bar crowd, but strangely, the first time I heard it I thought, ‘I’m home.’”

 

Margaret and Marie glanced sideways at each other in an I-know-you-well fashion. Then Margaret broke in. “Later, Marie told me she was doing an educational cartoon strip based on our state’s multicultural history.”

 

Marie: “Yes, history...a topic that caused most people to begin to tune me out.”

Margaret: “But I said, Cool! I love history.”

 

“Days later Margaret came over to see my cartoons. I blush to say, but editors often caught my rotten spelling, things like ‘dose’ for does, problems that slid by spellcheck. Truthfully, Wickedly Sisters began because of my failings: poor singing and spelling.”

Right away they began working together and expanded the strip to include some statewide travelling history projects, articles for media outlets, winning various grants and awards, and even wearing a mascot suit in parades!

Margaret continued, “Mostly our work was big fun, until I nearly died from a stubborn infection (MRSA) in my spine. Fortunately, we didn’t know then how close I was to dying but the circumstances were grave.”

In unison they smiled and said, “When things get bad, we get laughing! As the preface of our app reads, ‘This story was written so that one very sick woman could laugh herself well. And she did.’”   

“Marie began writing vignettes about a psychic spoon, a lactose intolerant cow, a two-fingered hero, a fanciful drag queen, and a lesbian named Lil longing for love.”

“Lil was a perfect lesbian, even her name was perfect. Lil, Lil, LilLilLilLilLilLilLil. Say her name over and over again on just the right spot and you’ve mastered a secret in lesbian love making.”

“Now imagine listening to this in a wheelchair sitting next to the front desk of a nursing home, with lots of elderly people watching. Every night, without fail, Marie would call and read me a new story. I would close my eyes and instantly be transported into a different world, no longer bound to this earth by invisible cords of pain. Slowly those vignettes took on a life of their own, eventually morphing into our novel. Writing and editing the stories with Marie segued our lives into an entirely new direction. We named ourselves Wickedly Sisters and began writing fiction full time.”  

That was the beginning of their iNovel, 'Spoon and the Moon', now published in app form. It is the world’s first full-length, adult iNovel with animations, a hot soundtrack by musicians from North America and Europe, all woven through a dark, magical storyline.

Margaret finished by saying, “We are pioneers in a completely new art form and our apps are proudly built by a creative lesbian team. Spoon and the Moon has won three prestigious awards, Best App Ever runner-up, an eLit gold medal for Digital Excellence, and the IndieReader Discovery Award, who just picked Spoon and the Moon as one of the Best Indie Books for 2013!

Get Your Copy Free!

The authors are offering a free app to the first 100 people who email them at spoonandthemoon(AT)yahoo.com. Please put “free app” in the subject line. 

Interview By Elizabeth Wood

Mari Hannah, The Murder Wall (Detective Kate Daniels series)

Books: The Kate Daniel's Series comprises: 

• The Murder Wall
• Settled Blood
• Deadly Deceit
• Monument to Murder

Available: Amazon Kindle and paperback
More information about Mari Hannah: www.marihannah.com
@mariwriter

The Kate Daniels Crime Series begins with The Murder Wall, published April 2012 and has journeyed Mari Hannah in a whirlwind all the way to the second Polari First Book Prize in November 2013.

We spoke to Mari Hannah about the origins and future of her "maverick" DCI Kate Daniels. An original character but grounded in the real life murder detective in Hannah's life, her partner who worked at Northumbria Police.

Hannah used her inside knowledge to create a realistic portrayal of character and process, "I’ve seen first hand how they relate to one another, how they use humour to deflect some of the awful things they have to deal with on a daily basis" Hannah says, as Daniel's team in her first case as SIO (Senior Investigative Officer) navigate the complicated journey of the calling card murders.

However, Hannah is quick to assert that Daniels is nothing but a work of fiction, and relishes what that means for her writing, "creating a fictional heroine means I get to play at being a clever, edgy – some might say arsy – detective, one who doesn’t always play by the rules. She’s a bit of a maverick is Kate."

And what a journey it's been for Kate and Hannah. With the series already four books deep, it's an abundance of stories for any reader that is yet to delve in to the gritty Tyneside crime novels. With the additional bonus of a character tackling her sexual orientation in a hetero-normative institution. In The Murder Wall the issues of coming out are explored through the conflict of the professional and personal lines blurring with a murder suspect.



Hannah had already written the first three novels by the time the publishing deal with Pan Macmillan came along which meant that the three could be published in quick succession, providing steady momentum.

Hannah is "immensely proud" of the success of the four books over the last eighteen months and in particular for winning  the Polari First Book prize in November this year noting the benefit of this on book sales as well as new opportunities - Hannah was invited to write an article for The Guardian and will be taking part in Polari Up North in March 2014. 

Hannah entered the world of crime writing based on what she likes to read as well as it giving her the opportunity to write what she knows. 

She says, "I’m a former Probation Officer. My career was cut short following an assault at work, a wrist injury that required extensive surgery. So my experience of working with a range of criminal justice agencies informs my writing to some extent. This is particularly true of my new book Monument to Murder which is set partly in a prison. Having worked in one myself for three years, I’d like to think it gives the novel an extra something, an authenticity people feel rather than see as they are reading it." 

Hannah's influences hail from the recent British Crime genre Canon, she cites "The first crime novels that inspired me to write one of my own were undoubtedly Patricia Cornwell’s debut Post Mortem, Michael Connolly’s The Black Echo and Ian Rankin’s early Rebus novels."

And there's more to expect and enjoy. The fifth outing for Kate is in re-write stage, and Hannah alludes to what's to come... "I can’t say much about Kate’s private life. However, the next in the series sees her struggling with particularly vicious crimes and a case that takes her away from her operational area in search of a dangerous criminal."

By Katie

The Rubbish Lesbian (aren't we all sometimes?)

Available: Now
Price: £3.99
How can I get a copy?: Amazon Kindle version

A neat idea to bring together over 80 selected articles, from the popular column that appears regularly in DIVA magazine. Coupled with some bonus new material - a foreword by Harriet Braun, creator of Lip Service, and some wrap around commentary on the columns, with the chance to play the hindsight card for once.


The columns are cleverly brought together by theme rather than just a chronological cut and paste job.
 
Through the funny, honest, relevant and genuine voice of Sarah Westwood, The Rubbish Lesbian, we get to explore all of those insecurities and vulnerabilities that face most of us as lesbians. 

From the challenges in coming out, and how that problem never goes away, to manouvering family holidays, boob etiquette and how not to kiss a friend's girlfriend, this often painfully familiar compendium brings the whole spectrum of diving into lesbian life together in one very easy to read e-book.

The Rubbish Lesbian began as a blog before becoming a regular weekly online and monthly magazine column for DIVA magazine. 

By Katie

The Virtual Living Room

The VLR is a place where readers and writers of lesbian literature in its permutations (books, e-books, comics, etc) can come together and discuss the works and the topics within them, as well as celebrate the community that lesbian fiction readers can be. 

Whether reader or writer, membership AND participation is not based on any aspect of gender, sexuality, identity, creed, nationality, culture, ethnicity, or any other incidental of being a human being scattered somewhere on the planet. The requirement of membership is merely this: that the member be a supporter of lesbian literature. Fan fiction is nice, erotica is topic we cover from time to time, but there are other forums that focus on that specifically; we are not that. 

We encourage and celebrate the accomplishments of the readers and the authors, from first contracts to new ones, first published work to (hopefully) 100th and actively seek to share these wonderful bits of news, which are vital to us as a reading community. 

Civility is not only also encouraged, it is EXPECTED, because more than anything else, the VLR is, again, a COMMUNITY which means we all share in responsibility for making this a comfortable, welcoming, and enjoyable space for all.

That said,the VLR has a focus on Lesbian works; this is by definition Lesbian safe space and a safe haven for all respectful to our focus on lesfic may they be LGBTQ or straight. It is in fact *the* reason for this joining and celebration.

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Virtuallivingroom/info