Balthazar Rodrigue Nzomono-Balenda

This interview, with a very gifted poet called Balthazar Rodrigue Nzomono-Balenda is amazing, and I hope you enjoy the experience of meeting him and knowing his work....

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Balthazar Rodrigue Nzomono-Balenda ( August 29, 1981), known as Rodrigue or Balthazar is a French - born Danish author and he is originally from the Republic of the Congo. Balthazar was born in Oullins, which is a suburb in Lyon, in France and his parents were diplomats in South Africa, before he and his family moved to Denmark. His parents, André & Rose Nzomono-Balenda were diplomats under the mandate of the former Congolese president, Pascal Lissouba. In 1997,there was civil war in the Congo As presidential elections scheduled for July 1997 approached, tensions between the Lissouba and Sassou camps mounted. On June 5, President Lissouba's government forces surrounded Sassou's compound in Brazzaville and Sassou ordered members of his private militia (known as "Cobras") to resist. Thus began a four-month conflict that destroyed or damaged much of Brazzaville and caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths.

Balthazar has written 2 books, “The Depth of My Soul” & “The Struggle of Power & The Fight for Survival”. He is a multimedia designer and a student at the Nordic Multimedia Academy ( NOMA). Balthazar identifies himself as a French – born Congolese because he is more connected with the Congo and France than Denmark. He speaks French, English, Lingala, Norwegian, Danish, partially German, Dutch and Afrikaans. Balthazar learns Chinese and Japanese in his spare time, he writes poems, he paints, he goes out and enjoys himself. Balthazar is also a member of the International Society of Poets, which runs poetry.com and he sometimes publishes poems at poetry.com. There will be more books from him this year.

You can visit his website at http://www.ganymedeweb.com/

ABOUT THE BOOK:

It is a book of poetry and in the book; I focus on injustices such as wars, corruption, war crimes, religious fundamentalism, child abuse, other types of abuse, torture, dictatorship, relationship problems etc. When I wrote this book, I was also inspired by the news I watch on CNN and other media. I have learned lots of things from CNN and I am so grateful to them for so many things. The goal of this book is to share my approach with my readers about the problems we face in this world and also to hear from them.

Change for our societies

Whether we like it or not these problems are real and I believe that everyone of us can make a change in our societies. Time after time, our leaders promise that those who stand behind war crimes will face justice, but when they are warned about the problems, they do not listen. I do wander if the national interests come above reaching out to people who are in pain and those who have been victims of torture and oppression.

Abuse

In the book, I also talk about child abuse because I was a victim of many types of abuse, when I was a young kid and I have not still overcome that pain. I have gone through reaction and insults and I thought religion was the answer to overcome such a horrible experience, but I was wrong. I was raised a Christian and I was a Christian myself and did what Christians do, but I realized that the bible is self contradicted and phony. And I realized that there was never a god who could save me. I can save myself and be a fighter for my life. The message, which I want to send to my readers, is that abusers are cowards and their goal is to find someone whom they can isolate and blame for their problems. To be honest with my readers, my abusive past is the root of my atheism and my hostility toward religion. I was also a victim of psychological abuse and the only I deal with it is by being a hard working person.

Freedom and justice

I focus on the fight for freedom, justice and peace and hope for our countries, especially in the situation where we are dealing with the financial crisis because hope is the engine of optimism. Freedom is important because in our Western societies, we enjoy so much freedom and we still need to support those who do have freedom because if we don’t help those who don’t have any freedom, then we’re giving dictators wings to fly. When they fly, they oppress their people and find ways to corrupt some multinational companies so that things can go their way. In order to fight religious fundamentalism, we have do discover why people become religious fanatics and we have to fight for separation between politics and religion. When you mix politics and religion, there are more problems. I have written poems about people like Mandela, Martin Luther King, Kevin Rudd and Miriam Makeba because they are icons of justice.

Poetry

I express myself through poetry because poetry goes beyond logic and I express my emotions about these circumstances. I have published my book at I – Proclaim publishing house, which is an imprint of Dorrance Publishing Company, America’s Leading Author Services Company Since 1920. The publishing house is situated in Pittsburgh PA.


INTERVIEW:

Things that I did not know about being an author:

The thing that I did not know about being an author was to find a publisher, who will publish a book for me. The other thing that I did not know about being an author was that it not a publisher who promotes my books for me, but me who has to promote my book and most of the time, I am the one who has to do the hard work. Unless it is somebody like Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama, Prince Charles and other public fugues, that a different story. The thing, which I am still confused about, is the contract. I didn’t know that it would require patience because I cannot stand being patient because I like things to fast. As a new author, I am willing to work hard so that I can learn from experience.

What to Look for in a Publisher:

You need to now that looking for a publisher requires a huge research. Finding the right publisher is an enormous effort and you need to use your common sense. You have what it takes to be an author and I believe, your book can make a difference in people’s life in many ways. As a writer, you write a book because you have something to share with your audience. Find a publisher who values your talent and believes in your ability to succeed as a writer. Don’t look for a publisher who just goes after your money because in the end, the person who is going to pay will be you.
If you have found a right publisher for your book, whether it is non-fiction, fiction, poetry etc. you need to read about the publisher and the service, which they offer you. You must also ask them about signing a contract because; you need earnings for you books as well. Be specific about what you want for your book and determine your goals. Remember that the publisher does not have a responsibility to promote your book, you are responsible for your book promotion and it is going to require so much work from you.

How to Network Online to Promote Your Book:

Before you make a decision to promote your book online, you must know what you are capable to do and what are your limits. Promoting your book online is more complicated than what you can imagine. Ask yourself who your audience is. Write a blog or make a webpage, where you have your book. If you are not able to that, contact a full service online book agency who can show how to sell your book. Remember that your are partners. Do your part, and then the agency will do its part. A public relations firm gives your book the best online distribution. Have a plan and hold on to it. I recommend that you have patience, even though it may be tough sometimes.

SORROW...

SORROW

The gulf was endless now, a void that was an unbreachable chasm between two people who had once been everything to each other. She stared at him, this man she’d loved with more than emotions, or her body; she’d lived for him with her soul, and he’d become a stranger. She no longer recognized the expression that dominated his azure eyes, and the curve of his mouth hadn’t been a genuine smile for much too long -- more a curl of disdain and ill-concealed contempt. Yet, he still refused to speak the words that would end it. Instead, he avoided her; her warmth... her unshakable loyalty... and her incredible capacity to love him without limit...

“What now?”

It was a whisper, a stirring in the air. She knew he heard, but again, there was no acknowledgement. Anger breathed to life within her, and she took a step toward him. When she stood before him, motionless, expectant, his eyes finally rose to meet hers.

“I’ve told you that I will leave,” she reminded him. “I’ve offered you the freedom you wish. What more do you want of me?”

“You chose this, my love.”

She shivered at the sound of his voice, soft and resonant with feelings she’d never heard before. His pain washed over her, and his sense of loss, his confusion.

“I would never choose to leave you,” she murmured fiercely. “You have spent our life together teaching me how little I mean to you. You’ve raped my spirit, taken every possible gift that I possessed when it was already yours, and you discarded me repeatedly when something else appealed to your vanity more than I did. How can I have chosen to leave you, when you are the only thing I deemed important in my life? You were my life!”

“And what am I now?” he wondered, silken voice a caress of veiled entreaty and natural seduction.

“My past,” she whispered hoarsely. Blood-stained tears spilled from her eyes as she knelt and looked up at him. She clasped her hands in her lap as she sat back on her heels and permitted her heart to break into a million shards of flawed crystal. She had to forcefully deny her desire to touch him. If she gave in to the need to feel his skin beneath her fingertips, she would never be able to walk away. His insecurity had enslaved her in ways nothing else could have, it was something few others had ever understood about the ancient vampire. His passion had completed her downfall. “You are the destiny that destroyed me, even as you gave me my purpose.”

“I don’t want you to walk away, not from me,” he confessed. His reluctance to accept the admission was clear in the soft words.

“It’s far too late. There is nothing left, you’ve allowed it to be taken from us.”

After a lengthy pause, he smiled. “You can’t leave,” he intoned smugly, still arrogant in his power over her.

“I can,” she denied with unmistakable sorrow. “Because there is no other choice. You’ve left none.”

“You belong to me, pet.”

“I will always belong to you, my beloved master,” she acquiesced with a small smile. “But I no longer belong with you.”

He laughed, the sound bitter but resigned.

She rose, walked to the door, and opened it. The night air was icy, fresh snow covered the ground with pristine purity, the illusion of newness ironically appropriate. The door closed soundlessly, and she walked away from the elegant estate. She refused to look back, even a single glance would have shattered her resolve and sent her to his side.

The cold night embraced her, and she continued to move into the darkness, into the abyss that would define her existence now that he no longer shone at the centre of her world...

Tears blurred her vision, and the thought came, unbidden: After everything they’d shared, he hadn’t even felt her worthy of “Good-bye.”


Alone with his sorrow, he wondered why he had ever thought himself worthy of her love, her endless devotion… and why he had never been able to tell her that she was all that gave him life…

© 2009 Denysé Bridger

Photo © 2009 Mariagrazia Germanà

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Guest: J. A. Hunsinger

AUTHOR BIO:

J. A. Hunsinger lives in Colorado, USA, with his wife Phyllis. The first novel of his character-driven, historical fiction series, Axe of Iron: The Settlers, represents his first serious effort to craft the story of a lifelong interest in the Viking Age—especially as it pertains to Norse exploration west of Iceland—and extensive research and archaeological site visitations as an amateur historian. He has tied the discovery of many of the Norse artifacts found on this continent to places and events portrayed in his novels.

Much of his adult life has been associated with commercial aviation, both in and out of the cockpit. As an Engineering Technical Writer for Honeywell Commercial Flight Systems Group, Phoenix, AZ, he authored two comprehensive pilots’ manuals on aircraft computer guidance systems and several supplemental aircraft radar manuals. His manuals were published and distributed worldwide to airline operators by Honeywell Engineering, Phoenix, AZ. He also published an article, Flight Into Danger, in Flying Magazine, (August 2002).

Historical Novel Society, American Institute of Archaeology, Canadian Archaeology Association, and IBPA-Independent Book Publishers Association, are among the fraternal and trade organizations in which he holds membership.

You can visit his website at http://www.vinlandpublishing.com/ and his blog at http://www.vinlandpublishing.blogspot.com/

BOOK SUMMARY:

The first novel of a continuing character-driven tale of a medieval people whose wanderlust and yearning for adventure cause them to leave the two established settlements on Greenland and sail west, to the unexplored land later referred to as Vinland.

Eirik the Red established Eiriksfjord in 986 and later Lysufjord, 400-miles to the north. Just 22-years later, new settlers from the homelands found all the best land already occupied, the fragile Arctic environment strained by too many people and animals on too little arable land.

Under the capable leadership of Halfdan Ingolfsson and his lieutenant, Gudbjartur Einarsson, 315 men, women, and children set sail from Greenland in the spring of 1008, bound for the unexplored continent across the western ocean.

Standing in their way are uncounted numbers of indigenous people, the pre-historical ancestors of the Cree (Naskapi), Ojibwa (Anishinabeg), and Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Indians. From the outset, these native people strenuously resist the incursion of these tall, pale-skinned invaders.

Two calamitous events occur that pave the way for the hostile beginnings of an assimilation process to occur between these disparate peoples. The way is rocky and fraught with danger at every turn, but the acceptance and friendship that develops between the Northmen and the Naskapi over an affair of honor, the eventual acceptance of a young boy of the Northmen by his Haudenosaunee captors, and a scenario that seems ordained by the will of the gods, makes it all begin to fall into place, as it must for the Northmen to survive.

See the saga unfold, in this first book of the Axe of Iron series, through the eyes of the characters as each day brings a continuation of the toil, love, hardship, and danger that they come to expect in this unforgiving new land.





Mistakes To Avoid When Querying
by J. A. Hunsinger

It is my hope that the following information, based on my own experience in the world of writer/publisher, will save you from some of the pitfalls I have encountered.

1. The completed first draft of your manuscript begins your odyssey toward publication. Up until now your work has been uniquely personal, something that you have created. Before you can send out query letters telling the world of the birth of the great American novel, your work needs editing. I do not mean having a friend, an English teacher, your boss, or any other nonprofessional read your manuscript; no, I mean that you must engage the services of at least one professional editor, two is better. Thus begins the process of polishing your manuscript until it is the best it can be. This process can involve numerous corrections and rewrites. Do not take it personally; treat the process as a learning experience because that is exactly what it is. The time and expense involved varies with the quality of the work. One hundred thousand words will cost in the neighborhood of $2000.00, or more, by the time you get it right. After all of that effort there will still be errors. The most pervasive and difficult to find are words that sound the same, but have different meanings, e.g. – broach and brooch. The English language is full of such words. I find it easier to correct edits electronically within the Word document rather than by hand with a marked up manuscript. Communication between you and the editor is kept within the document by e-mailing it back and forth. There is less chance of missing necessary changes with the electronic edit and it is easier; edit/rewrite by hand can be a crushing experience for an author. Of course, the choice of methodology is yours to make, just be certain you do not skimp on the capital outlay because this is not the place to save money.

2. Before you begin to query keep professionalism firmly in mind. If you do not have letterhead stationery, design some, including the envelope. Microsoft Publisher makes great looking forms, business cards, and stationery. Remember, you are trying to sell a product, be professional in all of your contacts. Edit religiously, use spell check. Everything that you write is a reflection on you personally, so do it right the first time because the one chance is usually all you will get.

3. As an author, you cannot deal directly with one of the large publishing houses, so your next challenge is to interest a literary agent in your work. Famous people query with a proposal before writing the book. I will assume that you are not yet famous. For you the path to conventional publication begins with the literary agent in almost all circumstances. That accommodation is not an accident. Do your homework on the submission guidelines for any query. All literary agents will have their own submission guidelines; adhere to them absolutely. Query only agencies accepting submissions in your genre and target specific agents within each agency. Do not ever send a manuscript unless it is requested, they will not read it. When the time comes, manuscripts are sent loose-leaf, unbound by request. Manuscript mailing boxes can be purchased online. Again, hire professional editors to edit everything that another person will read, especially the final draft of your manuscript. Remember, you cannot edit your own work you must hire someone. Your professionalism will determine whether you ever make the grade. A shabby cover letter on your submission packet will guarantee its demise. Agents and publishers are busy people and they have no time to waste on people who do not follow their submission guidelines.

4. Dealing with agents is a disheartening undertaking for a writer. Agents act like the writer exists because of them, when in fact it is the other way around. Keep that fact in mind. Use the considerable resources of the Internet to find agents interested in your genre. Do not rely on print lists of agents. The game will have changed before you receive the list. Many agents will require an exclusive submission, unnecessarily extending the period of angst for the author. Many others do not; focus on them. These days they are looking for contentious subjects or manuscripts written by known authors, never mind whether or not they can write. If you find a literary agent, your relationship will be contractual. Do nothing with anyone without a contract. Fully understand your part of the contract before signing or hire an attorney versed in literary contracts to help you understand. I wasted a year trying to find an agent from among those professing to have an interest in my genre only to find that there are not any in existence.

5. If you are fortunate enough to become a published author through the literary agent/publisher/reader sequence of progression, congratulations, you have hit the big time. Your publisher will handle all the details of composition/format, cover design, printing/binding, fulfillment/marketing, and warehouse/distribution, leaving you free to crank out books. You will have little or no input regarding any of the production aspects of your book, nor will you retain any rights other than copyright. The publisher will own the ISBN and all future negotiations for anything concerning that work will be through, or with the permission of the publisher.


The road to publication has been a nightmare because of the time and money wasted while I learned the business. I wish I could say that there is lots of help out there for the newbies, but actually, the reverse is true. You are prey swimming in the shark’s pool—take heed. Believe nobody; get everything in writing; and, research, research, research.


J. A. Hunsinger, Vinland Publishing, LLC

http://www.vinlandpublishing.com/
©2009 Jerry A. Hunsinger, All Rights Reserved

EXCITING NEW BOOK!

Hi! This one was brought to my attention by Media Consultant Joan Schulhafer, and it looks like one we will ALL want to read, so have a quick peek, and mark it on your "I need to get this book" list!!!!

FROM JOAN:

I’m hoping you’ll be interested in telling your readers about Wendy Wax’s new book, THE ACCIDENTAL BESTSELLER, through a review, by interviewing her about her work or the travails of publishing, or in having her share her viewpoints and advice about getting—and staying—published.

Wendy has been through the publishing wringer a bit herself so she knows what many of the people who come to your site go through, either as aspiring writers or those tenuously navigating the occasional landmines of the profession. From her first efforts to be published to her latest book, Wendy’s enjoyed a roller coaster of a ride. Her editor left mid-contract, she changed houses and agents (which meant more time than she’d hoped between books), and now she’s dared to use big time publishing as a backdrop to her new novel, THE ACCIDENTAL BESTSELLER, coming out in June. Needless to say, she’s earned her stripes—and her successes.

In THE ACCIDENTAL BESTSELLER Wendy’s engaging, all-too-human characters—four friends who first met at a writers’ conference, struggled together to get their first books published and have supported each other ever since—face professional and personal challenges. Though not a roman a clef, Wendy does bring some of her own experiences along with anecdotes from other writers to her story of friendships, relationships and triumphs.

Best,
Joan

Joan Schulhafer
Joan Schulhafer Publishing & Media Consulting
PO Box 1224
Clifton, New Jersey 07012
973-338-7428
jschulhafer@verizon.net

GUEST: Donna Lee Schillinger

Today's guest is a really cool lady named Donna Lee Schillinger. Her post is fun, and her book looks like great fun, too. She has a great bunch of downloads if you're looking for more info, too, so check here: http://www.onmyownnow.com/downloads.html Now, over to Donna.... thanks for stopping by, too, Donna!

Thanks for hosting me, Denysé! I was looking through the other guests post and getting a little worked into a frenzy because even though I’ve been a writer and editor for more than 8 years, I don’t really feel I have much to teach anyone about the craft. In fact, I’m not sure I know how I do what I do…

Then I thought I could tell you something about myself and before the first sentence was written, I remembered a jolly Danish man I met on a plane five years ago. Have you ever met someone who told you everything significant they had ever done in their life in the first conversation? I was flying to Salt Lake City and I sat next the great Dane, an older man, overweight, could have passed for Santa if he had had more facial hair. The flight was about an hour and a half long and in that time, I learned a lot about him. He was a representative for Oticon, a worldwide manufacturer of hearing aids. He would go all over the world trying to sell hearing aids. He even fit Fidel Castro with a hearing aid! But keep that on the down-low because apparently Fidel thinks it would hurt his image if people knew he needs a hearing aid. This was one of the many tales of his exotic brushes with rich and famous hard-of-hearing people. He also told me about his family. He was quite enamored of his grandkids. He regularly told them bedtime stories and had figured out he had a talent for it, and as a result he was now working on a children’s book.

All of these facts seemed innocent enough and, at the time, it was better than reading the in-flight magazine. It was kind of neat to hear about Castro being fit for hearing aids. But in retrospect, it seems pretty pathetic that this man seized with gusto the opportunity to talk so much about himself – and not just to say anything, but to share every highlight of his life. It says to me that he was insecure, and wanting to be thought well of by a total stranger, he pulled out all the stops.

“What can I say to impress this person?”

I would have been equally impressed with him if we had had an in-depth conversation about the social and economic factors in developing countries that are keeping many hearing aid companies from even doing business there. Or how about some honest dialogue on why Oticon can sell a hearing aid in the developing world at a fraction of the cost they sell for in Europe and the U.S.? I would have been really impressed with him if our conversation had been more balanced – if he had cared to try to get to know me. Who knows, maybe I’ve had a brush with a famous person too!

The Great Dane reminded me once again, people aren’t as interested in my as I might think. Sparing you any more narcissistic details (which incidentally, can be found at http://www.onmyownnow.com/), I thank you kindly for hosting me and wish you much success with your blog!

In Memory...

The links are embedded in the text line, and the video link itself which will take you to MSN news center footage, it's quite heart-breaking....

Deadly earthquake rocks Italy
News stories in Pictures: The L'Aquila Earthquake

The Italian Notebook

For those of you who me, you all know that Italy is part of me, part of my heart. The news of the tragic earthquake there this week is something most of you have heard about, too, I am sure. One of the many special sites that are linked to me here and on my author site is The Italian Notebook. Today, not surprisingly, the notebook featured news of the earthquake. This wonderful mailing comes out each weekday, and is free, so do drop by the site and subscribe. I'm going to repost today's note here, and I hope you will all say a prayer for those struggling through this horrible experience. The courage of these people is incredible, as their stories show. Thanks.


7 April , 2009

The Abruzzo Quake

Show on map -- Abruzzo

Dear Readers,

Many of you have written and expressed solidarity with those whose lives have one way or another been dramatically affected by yesterday’s earthquake in Abruzzo. If you are interesting in contributing here are a few ways you can.

NIAF (National Italian American Foundation) has set up a fund for this purpose; Relief Fund.

Another option is through the Italian Red Cross: Croce Rossa Italiana.

Last night saw more aftershocks, freezing temps, and some rain which contributed to making the emergency work and relief efforts even more difficult. Nonetheless, upwards of 100 survivors have been extracted from the rubble thanks to the continuous efforts of the fire departments and rescue teams.

Relief efforts that also need to be pointed out include the temporary medical camps that have been created. One story involves A. who was in labor during the pre-shocks around midnight, and who three hours later when the main quake hit grabbed her newborn in one arm and her I-V drip in the other and b-lined it out of the hospital, now attended by the medical teams, safely in one of these camps.

Other efforts involve sheltering all the people whose homes were destroyed as well as those who can’t return until engineers determine whether their homes are condemned or livable. This is expected to take months. One new temporary camp resident, ninety year old Signora N., lost her entire home as it crumbled around her, blocking her in her bedroom for 30 hours until the rescue team managed to dig through this morning and pull her out. When asked how she kept calm and passed the time, she said “I sat in my bed and did crochet.” …30 hours.

While sad, it is important that psychological counseling too is already being offered to those need it. One cannot imagine what V. and his brother are going through after losing their elderly parents who came to visit them for the Easter holidays; their mother’s body was found shielding their disabled father’s body. This is only one of the many tragic stories that are slowly emerging in the aftermath of the earthquake.

It must however be pointed out that many Abruzzesi immediately began helping each other. As 75 year old N. said on his way to finally rest after 30 hours of helping others, “I was lucky. I only lost my house. Others lost much more. What else was I going to do?” This very pragmatic Abruzzese way of approaching hardship certainly explains how they have managed to already begin the enormous task of rebuilding their lives, towns, and communities.

That said, knowing that others around the world are close to them in facing this task is extremely important. And for this they already give thanks. Your help is truly appreciated.

Kind regards, ed.

The Italian Notebook

NEW magazine seeks submissions!

Visit the website at: http://www.sensualtreats.webs.com/

Guidelines are posted, and submissions are open!

Guest: Antonia Tiranth

Hi everyone! I can't tell you how excited I am to be guest blogging here today. I'd like to start by thanking Denyse for the opportunity to come over here and speak with all you wonderful people. My name is Antonia Tiranth and I'm a 30 year old research technicia from Baltimore, Maryland, who's biggest dream has finally come true. I'm published! So I thought I'd talk today about how I got where I am, in hopes that I might encourage someone with a hidden talent to do the same.


How To Be A Writer

The simple answer to that is...to write! But I, and everyone else who fancies him or herself a writer, know its much more complicated than that. So how did I do it? For as long as I can remember I loved to write. I wrote little scripts for elementary school in my free time and I loved all my writing classes. In college I took several fiction writing classes for fun, almost giving myself a minor in English. I ended up failing a semester because a friend and I would cut class to plot the book we were working on, which is now collecting dust on an old 3/4 floppy. After college I fell out of writing, work got in the way plus my muse went on vacation. I started watching anime, found a discussion board of people I enjoyed talking with and wrote my first fan fiction in response to a challenge question from a lady who would become my very dear friend and earth bound muse, Delilah K. Stephens www.delilahkstephans.com. That was about five years ago. After that inital foray, I started doing something I'd never done before, showing my work to more than one or two people (even in class it was usually just the teacher and one other student reading it). I had good responses to most of it. I wrote a few things on my own and a few more things with Del, both fan fictions and originals.

Then in October of 2008, Del told me about NaNoWriMo, a writing challenge where you have to write 50k words in 30 days. I didn't really believe I would ever write anywhere NEAR 50k words but I figured what the heck. My muse, I have always seen as a tiny purple dragon who could shift into human form and his name was Shirak (I think he disappeared on me for so long because I thought he was a girl). So my idea for NaNo became based on him. I played around with the letters in his name and created a race of dragon shapshifters called the Rikashi. A little fiddling with an elven name generator and I got Aerandir. His fiery heroine, I based off my smart ass side and named her Josephine. At the end of 30 days, I was delighted and more than a little surprised to find I had met my 50k goal and with a few days to spare. Del had not yet read it, given the fact that she was working on her own project (which she completed) and when she did, she told me I HAD to send it somewhere for publishing. Of course, although I liked what I had written, I didn't believe that it would ever go anywhere. So I sat on it for about a year. Finally, Del put her foot in my rump and forwarded me a call for submissions from Lyrical Press www.lyrical.press.com and after seeing their logo was two dragons, I figured it was fate and with shaking fingers prepped my first novel for submission.

A short time later I got my acceptance letter and could NOT believe it. Even now I can't believe it. After the glowing reviews and the first royalty check I can't believe it. I don't think I'll ever really get the fact into my head that I am a published writer. So to make this already long story a touch shorter, if you want to be published...GO FOR IT! You won't get anywhere letting it rot on your harddrive. Take some classes, perfect your style, find what really inspires you and go for it. That is how you become a writer. That and a side of pain for all the times your characters won't do what you want them to do and chewing your nails waiting for replies. ^.^

Finally, swing on over to Lyrical and check out my first book http://www.lyricalpress.com/antonia_tiranth, the second in the series is coming out in July, and the third, co-authored by Del, I've just found out while writing this that my editor LOVED book three and is recommending a contract for it. Check out my blog www.antoniatiranth.blogspot.com for updates and also have a look at my two trailers that Del has made for me!


The Quickening http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnXaqLLG62s
The Gathering http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxQivdyJbSc

Thanks again to Denyse for letting me come over here and talk to you. See you soon!