Beginnings...

Where to begin? This is the part of the movie where one has to wait for the flashback, or the narrator to fill in the back-story. You know: the boring stuff.

“In the beginning, good always overpowered the evils of all man’s sins…” Oops! That’s Mötley Crüe.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God…” Oops! That’s the Bible.

Sigh!

I’m just kidding around; however, in doing so, I wanted to illustrate what one can expect from me: a sprinkle of God, a large measure of music and a ton of humor. Why? Because it’s who I am.

1) Ultimately, I’m a church guy.

2) I think laughter is a fantastic medicine for what ails people.

3) I would curl up into a ball and die if I didn’t have my music. No food; dead in a couple of weeks. No water; a couple of days. No music; hours. You should see me. I used to take ten minutes looking for a cd to listen to for a five-minute drive to work. My wife knows this: there will be no doing the dishes, no vacuuming, no dusting, and no yard work until I have that iPod firmly strapped to my ears.

That’s me.

What else? Well, I can write a little bit. I know, you’re saying to yourself, “you call this writing?” This cocktail napkin is only so big, you know? I don’t know how you figured that I could give you Pat Conroy on something so small. Lol!

I first discovered the writing bug about the same time I discovered I loved to read. I didn’t know I loved to read until I stumbled upon Jay Anson’s The Amityville Horror, Peter Benchley’s Jaws and Michael Slade’s Headhunter to name a few. Originally, I thought my first attempt at writing was a good one until the summer I pulled it out, dusted it off and began to read a few paragraphs. “Who in the hell wrote this?”, I exclaimed to no one. Naturally, the first read turned into the first re-write! The following summer, the events of the previous summer were repeated. “Who in the hell…?”

Isn’t that pretty much how everyone begins? Or was it just me?

Fast forward a few years through high school and some junior college. I wrote a couple of novellas and a few short stories, and soon thereafter, I began to write Dance on Fire. I always thought I would end up changing the title, but never did come up with anything better. Eventually, it grew on me. Unfortunately, the title did not end up being the largest obstacle. That was reserved for the fact the book ended up taking twenty years to complete.

Why twenty years? Well, I met my wife in college. We started a life together, children, careers, etc. Over the years, I attempted to dust off the manuscript, but something always ended up derailing me. Not too many actually realize their dreams, right? Why should I be any different? Yet, the dream would not die. About the time that I hit my 38^th birthday, I began to feel that fire in the belly to not only kick-start the project, but also to see it to the end as well. When I did finish, I spent a year and a half looking for representation. Then came the realization that I had not attempted to write anything new in two decades, followed by a concern as to whether I actually could. Thankfully, the sequel to Dance on Fire took only eight months, from blank page to the end of the second draft (author wiping forehead in mock relief).

I came to understand it was not an easy thing to sell someone the idea of a Horror/Christian vampire crossover novel. The secular folks tended not to be so interested in anything Biblical, while the church folks tended to cringe anytime there was profanity or someone being butchered and used as food. I’m not sure why?

Eventually, call it fate or divine intervention, the good people over at Vamplit Publishing saw something in my writing and wrote back. I’m glad they did. The novel was published as an e-book this past February with the paperback version slated for sometime this fall. At the same time I will be handing over Dance on Fire: Flash Point to Vamplit Publishing once again for a winter 2010/spring 2011 release in both physical and e-book formats.

There. I told you it was dull…unless you were living it, of course.

And live it, I have. I have joined the blogosphere where I have met so many wonderful people and hope to continue the trend. I am also writing for a local on-line magazine in my area where I am penning non-fiction now, too. My experiences have brought me to this cool new place: Wicked Writers.

I want to thank C.J. and the team for welcoming me here. I want to thank you, dear faithful readers for enduring the back-story. I will endeavor not to bore you with those details again. For anyone among you who has a dream, I want to encourage you to see it through. Something inside me simply did not want me to grow old with regrets. I hope you won’t either.

Now that I have gotten these beginnings out of the way, we can move on to more interesting and engaging conversations. I am uncertain just what those might be, but I am eager to the challenge and looking forward to meeting more interesting people and having a lot of fun while doing it. Thanks for your time.

And as I like to say over on my blog:

We’ll talk soon.

Authors Bio: Where am I and Why am I in this Handbasket?

For the purposes of this blog, we authors are introducing ourselves this week.

I found it quite odd to think someone may be remotely interested in my fledgling pedigree. But alas! I do have a vain side, so read further - if you dare - and peek into the zany world of George Allwynn, a simple, gender queer person who amuses some, annoys others, and in the end, remains refreshingly genuine to a fault.

I have been caught eavesdropping. Purely for research purposes, I assure you. Yet, there have been times I have over heard people describe me as being eccentric, elective and effusive.

Of course, other colorful, yet less desirable attributes have been attached to my personality, but I am trying really hard to keep this blog rated PG.

Overall, I have an 'indie' spirit, and devote my time and money in support to the indie industry (films, art, music.) The delight of discovering life outside the box, the uniqueness of individuality it embraces and the expressions of the human spirit leave me in awe.

With that in mind, my bohemian spirit loves independent writers, e-publishing and all small presses that support the Indie thought. Indie (or e-publishing) won't leave me rich or famous, but it doesn't matter. Staying true to my self purpose, writing the prose that best expresses my author's spirit, and experiencing the journey with humility and grace is what I hope to accomplish during this mid-life wake up call.

I was born and bred in Northern Michigan - and have basically lived here all my life with the exception of a military stint down in Fort Bragg, NC during Desert Storm.

I am the only one left in my family, save for my two adult children, my son, Kelley (pictured with me above at a hooka bar in Royal Oak) who is 27 and lives with his girlfriend of 3 years in the metro area of Detroit, and daughter Kerri 26 years old who married her child hood sweet heart Randal Lee, giving me two grandsons, Trenton Lee (6 years) and Devon (9 months). They live in Dalton Georgia. I am fortunate to have my ambitions supported and encouraged by such wonderful offspring. (Even though they roll their eyes when they explain me to their friends. At least they do it with pride in their voices and a smile on their lips!)

This past June, I starting my life over, by moving cross state to Western Michigan, in a small town where there is no cell tower and dial-up is considered high-tech. I live in a small, studio apartment like place with my dog Holly (a yellow lab/golden retriever/beagle mix) and a fat, snowshoe looking Siamese named Mrs. Jones. It's been a cultural shock - not only to me, but to the residents here. Not too many out-spoken, genderqueer writer folks walk the streets of this one horse town and live to tell about it.

My passions include: writing, reading, cats, tattoos, ANYTHING British, research, and green living. I'm an advocate for GLBT rights and have been 'blessed with bi-polarism with manic tendencies. Unfortunately, I've also been blessed with panic attacks and can become quite the recluse. Thank the gods I have friends ( both real, in my head and on the internet) that do not hesitate to kick me in my fat, hairy arse when I need it.

As for writing, I am a GLBT writer. I love to read (and write) M/M or F2M romance stories, with elements of suspense, paranormal, or some kind of odd twist. All penned with humor. Or what I hope readers consider as humor. Well, at least I laugh at what I write.

I've been writing M/M romance [i]before I knew what it was[/i] -- since 1975 (much to the chagrin of Mrs Vanderveer - my first critique.) To this present day, there are moments of self-doubt, I’m haunted by her words.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Under my nose, my fifth grade teacher shook my original, handwritten, 125 loose leaf page story, bound together with scraps of scarlet yarn. “Children your age don’t possess the ability to understand adult ideas.” Her acidic glare through dark framed glasses pinned me against a cabinet. “Where did you learn this?”

Before I could defend myself, the woman pinched her lips tight and examined me as an exterminator does a cockroach. “You’re an impertinent student and a deviant freak of nature. You’ll never possess the discipline to be successful author.”

Although I felt stung by the sharpness of her words, the tears came after hearing the hollow echo of my beautiful first book, tossed in to the old metal wastebasket.

So went my first experience as a writer.

But I continued to write. When I turned 13, I had my own column in the weekly county newspaper, gathering social news in my neighborhood. That job lasted for six years. I was High school editor of our newspaper for two years, year book editor for one. I was voted best story-teller in my senior year in high school and had a scholarship for journalism.

In the 80's I was heavily into Star Trek Slash fan fic (though during that decade - they were published in what was called 'fanzines' and sold at conventions under the tables!) I was 'published' under the name of D.Isaacs, and had like 10 or 12 stories that were novella length.

It was during this time, the 'don’t ask, don't tell' policy was not in effect, so I started an underground newsletter for the gay soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force base. It flourished for three years, until the onslaught of Desert Storm.

As adulthood led to larger responsibilities, my writing took a backseat. Time to devote to my passion seemed fruitless, in light of the life stresses and employment issues I faced. As each day passed, I continued the pattern of choosing reality over my fantasy stories, berating myself with guilt over stolen moments of writing pleasure.

The 90's brought in a radical change. Caught by the snare of religion, I felt condemned for using my writing talent in ways that wouldn’t glorify God (as the modern church perceives through man-made rules.) I was convinced to give up my writing and drawing as a sacrifice to God. I had to learn to control my desires and appreciate the gifts He had given me.

So, I traded my typewriter for a chance to have a real family and a clerical license. I became a chaplain, a devoted, faithful partner and later, the foster parent of 7 special need boys (10 years and down.)

In 2006, after a devastating fall out from a government court battle over adoption, I woke up in the ashes of destroyed dreams and once again pick up my sword..., errr, pen and started my healing process by writing. What a difference 20 years make when you add computers over ditto machines! My pen name became Sage Harrison.

In 2007, my successful slash serial on VH.net caught the eye of the two actors (and several of their friends and castmates.) so when I when I did an annual trek to NYC with some friends/internet fans, I met the two actors I wrote about. In a bizarre twist of fate, the actors picked apart my brain, asked for my autograph, swore up and down my writing was better than currently on the show, and encouraged me to stop hiding my talent and embrace my destiny - get serious about the writing and go for it...

In late 2008, I plunged into the choppy waters of the unforgiving world of professional publishing. There, I discovered E-pubs, M/M romance, and the fact I didn't know beans about 'professional' writing, all the rules and unforgiving grammar snafus'.

I went almost a year of doing nothing but taking various writing classes, to the point where I couldn't recognize my own writing voice. It was a sad wake up call. I no longer wanted to write, because I sounded like some kind of cookie-cutter writer being pushed out by New York Publishers. I hated writing, and hated me for being so anal retentive to every writer rule out there.

In 2010, a warm, wonderful publisher reminded me of something very important. Now that I 'know' what the 'rules' are, I can pick and choose which ones to beef up on, and which ones to ignore, thus, improving my voice even more.

So, that's me in a nut shell. A novice of sorts, trying to get it all straight in my head before my manuscripts decimate the desk of an unsuspecting, slightly neurotic editor on the verge of going totally daft if she sees one more submission sporting Pratchett Purple Prose...

And when I become published, I plan on laying my first book on the gravesite of Mrs. Vanderveer, my fifth grade teacher. God rest her soul

Labotomy of a Writer

My name is Anastasia Pergakis. I currently live in Columbus, Georgia with my husband and two year old son. I’m a stay at home mom while my husband enjoys his career in restaurant management. He hopes to open his own restaurant in the next year or two.

 I’m an aspiring novelist with hopes to be published by the end of this year. I write mostly in the Fantasy genre but I do write Sci-Fi also. Until recently, I was a freelance writer, writing informative and technical articles on request.

 I run an online writing workshop for novel writers, "The Writer's Academy". It’s currently being ‘renovated’ and will re-open no later than January 2011. It started as a small group on a writing site I’m a member of, but part of the renovation will be to move it to its own home in the web! The name has changed to "Inkwell University", and even my husband loves the name.

 The move of my workshop really spurred me to get back into school. I needed a business degree so that I could run it professionally and efficiently. With my husband starting his own business soon, this degree will be doubly beneficial to my family. So far, school has been tough as I adjust to the new schedule, but it is well worth it.

 My other passions are reading, reviewing, web design, and cover art design. I am a self taught designer, learning through experimentation and reading endless articles. I am currently trying to start a group on writing.com to help authors build their own websites to get their name out there. I am thinking of putting it on the web as it's own site also. Over the course of this week, that is my side project, so I'll have a link for you soon.

My friends will tell you that I'm a bit crazy - and it's completey true. My characters talk to me, and I talk back as if they were real. Well, they are real, but they only talk to me!

I am a busy body, always something going on, or a new project, or something to do. I like the busy life but yes sometimes it catches up to me and I need a break. But, my life is definitely not boring. My two year old keeps me pretty busy on his own! He's very active, always wanting to play, so he at least keeps me in shape and laughing.

I'm not sure what else to say about myself so I'll end this post here. Of course, I am always open to questions so feel free to stop by my author page here and drop me a line or two! I am honored to be a part of the Wicked team and I look forward to working along side the great authors we have here.

Guest Blogger - Bethany Cagle

Today marks the second month our blog has been in existence and the beginning of guest writers taking one of the Wicked Writer's spots each week as well as starting monthly contest giveaways.  Our first contest will based on book selections from the Romance genre in honor of Valentine's Day, please stop by to check out the contest info under the tab listed above.



Please allow me to introduce Bethany Cagle, who writes under Brynna Curry and Brianna Roarke, in our first guest blogging spot!  I met Bethany last year only a short time after I began writing.  She was a member of the first crit group I joined and she had to drop out when a publishing contract came knocking. She's had a whirlwind of a year between working full-time, being a mom to three teenagers, writing and revising non-stop, and judging contests -- all in addition to participating in three blogs: her own blog, a book reviewing one, as well as a group one.



By the end of 2010, Bethany will be able to proudly say she's authored six published books (an accomplishment I'm still in awe of!). Bethany is going to kick off our weekly topic with telling us where she is in her current novel. Without further ado, here's Bethany!

Thank you, C.J., for inviting me to blog with you today. It’s a pleasure to visit with you and your readers.



I always seem to be working on something new, finishing a book, or reviewing a book.  Last night I was finally able to close the screen on To Take Up The Sword - Elemental Magic Series Book Two. My editor will be thrilled. She’s been waiting on it for a while now, but I couldn’t have finished it this quickly without C.J.’s help critiquing the manuscript. Thank you. Now it’s on to Wait for the Wind - Elemental Magic Series Book Three.

If you’re familiar with Earth Enchanted, the first book in the series, then you know with the third book, I’m moving the series to Ireland, a place I've always wanted to go, but haven’t made it to yet. It’s time for Ryan Corrigan to return to Ireland after eleven years of living in the United States. But his troubles are far from over; Kate McConnell will walk back into his life with daughter Allaina. Ryan will have to learn to forgive, to trust, and open his heart to magic again.  I’m hoping to be finished with this book by May, but with two more in the series and the entire serial deadline due at the end of the year, we will just have to wait and see. But that’s not all I’ve got going right now.

I’m judging five different contests before summer, something I love doing. Since I write paranormals, I usually judge that category. It’s nice to see how entries change from contest to contest, to find a favorite one that keeps getting better.  I keep expecting to see a couple I’ve judged pop up in book searches, but they haven’t yet. Their progress is fun to watch.  I have to tell you Vampire Vacation is one of those I’m keeping an eye on.

Project wise I have a total of six books in progress. Three are part of my series. The others are single title ones. Cullen’s Luck is a short shape-shifter novella that I plan to send to Lyrical Press when finished, but I’m not in a rush with it.  Cassidy’s Emerald is another that is kind of at a holding stage. It’s the first book I’d ever written -- back when I was in high school and that was a loooonng time ago. I decided to take what I’ve learned over time and rewrite the book. It’s a time travel ghost story on the sweet side and I’ll probably submit it to Lyrical as well.

Circle of Seven is my pet project and in the writing/researching stage. It’s a little out of my comfort zone. By that I mean its urban fantasy but also a paranormal romantic suspense with vampires. Tons of magic and vampire lore along with a ‘save the world’ mission and strong romantic subplot make it hard to decide where to send it when finished. Seven doesn’t fit in any one category or with a specific agent or publisher, but I know it will eventually find a place. The biggest challenge with this book is point of view. My vampire, Kail McKenna, demands the story be told predominantly from his viewpoint and as you can imagine, that’s difficult from a woman writer’s perspective. So far its going great and a lot of fun.

So what about you? What projects are you working on? Readers, what books do you like to read and why? I’d love to hear your comments and of course you can find me at my many online homes listed in the links above.

Find me on Twitter and Facebook as Brynna Curry

OR for more information about Earth Enchanted at Lyrical Press -

http://www.lyricalpress.com/earth_enchanted

You can also email me at BrynnatheElf@gmail.com

Be blessed,

Bethany

Thanks so much for stopping by and telling us about your current works in progress, Bethany!

Influenced to Write Horror by a Nun?

W. J. here, or call me Wendy.

I’ve been a writer most of my life and made a career of it, writing boring technical documents in the Air Force and the Information Technology industry. Yes that also makes me a geek. The technical writing paid the bills for years, but my ultimate goal is to become a published fiction author.

I’m also a pretty talented artist, which is where my creativity first blossomed as a child. But I live in my head, most of the time. I’m one of those people you can talk to one minute and wonder if I actually heard a word you’ve said, and driven and focused the next. Basically, if I were a kid today, I’d probably be on prescription meds for ADD. Anyways—I may have just had one of my outer limits moments—the pictures in my head would never stay still long enough for me to draw them. So, naturally, I progressed to writing the pictures down as stories. I don’t draw much these days, but in the back of my mind there’s a graphic novel just begging me to create it.

I’ve had some of the same influences as my fellow Wicked Writers, but I thought it might be fun to go way back to my childhood for my greatest influences. Drum roll please. And the award goes to my first grade teacher, a cruel nun named Sister Paul. She considered me a demon incarnate at the age of six because I wasn’t baptized. She also felt it was her mission to remind me, daily, I was not welcome in a classroom run by the Catholic Church, and that I should return to Hell where I most certainly belonged. Needless to say, my defense at such a young age was to get sick, a lot. I had a number of childhood diseases that year and missed over one hundred days of school. Now imagine having the imagination of a six year old, mixed with frequent fevers. Let’s just say I spent much of the first grade in a bizarre and horrific dream world. I still vividly remember every recurring nightmare I had that year. In fact, the second novel I wrote, still unpublished, is based on one of those dreams.

Don’t feel sorry for the adorable little flower girl pictured to the left. Sister Paul was partially right. I had a horrible side, mostly victimizing my sister, talking her into eating dog food and using her toothbrush to clean my fish bowl. Maybe my parents should have named me Denise the Menace. One time I purposely landed a rather large rock on a boy’s head, nearly knocking him out, just because I thought it would be fun. After he tattled to his mom, who immediately called my mother, I lied my way out of trouble. I got pretty good at weaving tales of deception to get myself out of trouble. Only worked about 1% of the time though, so I learned a lot of lessons the hard way. And who knows, if I hadn't found a creative outlet in drawing and writing, I might be in prison or on Snapped.

Okay, on to my fiction writing accomplishments… I write fiction full time now, usually curled up on the couch with two beagles, nagging at my son who might finish online high school when he’s 20. Don’t tell him I said that because there’s no chance he’ll read this. I’ve completed two novels that still need serious editing. I also write short stories I release to the public through my website. I’m currently working on my third novel, The Courier, a dark mix of fantasy, horror and comedy. The story is about a guy named Barry, down on his luck and unable to keep a job. When he finds himself, yet again, unemployed, he jumps at the first position he’s offered, a courier for Hell. The Courier has been a hoot to write and has taught me that I have a natural talent for writing comedy. I started writing The Courier for fun on Twitter, and entered it in the Textnovel Online Fiction Contest. To my surprise, it was a co-winner last year. Check it out on Twitter @TheCourierNovel, if you like to read backwards, or at www.thecouriernovels.com.

I’m rather excited about contributing to this blog with the wicked gang. We have quite a diverse group of writers, and after reading everyone’s bios, we can each bring a unique perspective on the publishing industry. Thanks for asking me to join C.J.!!

Teacher, Thespian and Novelist? Um, yeah

Hi and welcome to the Wicked Writers.  I’m Steve.

My sister and I are the two youngest of seven first cousins, at least four of whom have taught.  Teachers, journalists, and lawyers hang on our family tree back to before the Civil War.  Older cousins read to us constantly, which did more than anyone else to develop my ear for rhythm.

I majored in teaching instead of writing, but grad school resurrected my urge to put words on paper and I wrote five unpublished novels over the next eight years, one of which became my sixth-year thesis at Wesleyan University.  Among other projects, I’m presently rewriting that book and hope to have it ready to send out by late spring.

I drifted into theater, where the social aspects of rehearsing and performing drew me away from writing for several years.  In fact, I still run a playwriting workshop I developed after acting, directing, producing, or designing for about 90 plays throughout central Connecticut. Then, just as I took early retirement from teaching, the local theater group lost its performance space.

To fill the suddenly available time, I returned to writing.  My first plan was to rewrite that thesis, but, at my high school reunion back in Michigan, I met a classmate who was a session musician in Detroit.  Either personally or through about two degrees of separation, she has played with Meat Loaf, Lou Reed, Bob Seger, and Alice Cooper, and she became the inspiration for a series with a private investigator who is a wannabe guitar slinger and his girlfriend, who is the real deal.  The first book has been revised more often than federal health care legislation and is currently seeking an agent. “Stranglehold”  features the same cast and won the Black Orchid Novella Award from The Wolfe Pack and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, which will publish it in their summer 2010 double issue.

I read dozens of books on writing, attended the Wesleyan Writers Conference, and met writers who encouraged me to keep trying.  Through their help and encouragement, I’ve published three short stories, two of them Honorable Mention for the Al Blanchard Story Award from MWA.

Even though I experiment with romance, comedy, and sort of mainstream material too, most of what I write is crime fiction in one form or another.  Every time I sit down to write, I discover how much I still have to learn about this stuff—and how much I love it.

Three years ago, an actress in a play I was directing challenged me to write a romance. Somewhere along the line, it morphed from romance to mystery, and Mainly Murder Press will publish the result in May 2010.

In Who Wrote The Book of Death? someone is trying to finish the author instead of the book.  When PI Greg Nines agrees to protect a woman from death threats, he assumes that her name isn’t really Taliesyn Holroyd.  Unfortunately, he also assumes she’s really a romance novelist with a book in progress.  She assumes he’s no longer drinking after his own wife’s murder.  What else they don’t know could bury them both along with the book.

Nines realizes he’s falling in love with a woman who doesn’t even exist, but unless he can find the truth hidden in a maze of suspects—an angry ex-husband, an asexual lottery winner, a college rapist, and a philandering politician with mis-matched eyes—nobody will have a happy ending.

My website will appear in the spring.  I’ll keep you up to date on other projects here, too, and invite you to comment and ask questions whenever the mood strikes you.

Thanks for dropping by.

Supriya's Story

2009 was a good year. I began polishing my first suspense novel, Breathing in Bombay, and wrote nearly half of its sequel, Chasing Cairo. This year, I plan to finish revisions and find an agent to represent the first book, hopefully sell it to a publisher, complete the sequel, and begin work on the third novel in the Across Black Waters series. Oh, and while I’m at it, figure out how to blog. Am I up to the challenge? We’ll find out, right?

I feel more confident than ever about meeting these goals because I’ve spent several years exclusively honing my craft. Okay, more than a few years. I started my writing journey decades before the concept for these two novels occurred to me. I’d dabbled in fiction writing as a child and on through my teens before settling on journalism as my college major. I figured I had a better shot at paying my rent that way, and I was right, albeit marginally. (Those early paychecks didn’t quite cover the rent, truth be told.)

As a print journalist, I tried my hand at just about everything. I started out as a newspaper reporter in a small Texas town, went on to write features for a magazine supplement of a Houston newspaper, served as a media coordinator for a Washington, D.C. think tank (“on the Hill”), wrote opinion pieces for a number of major newspapers, fact checked financial articles, wrote about business trends for a Georgetown newsletter, oversaw production for a group of trade magazines, and ultimately served as its executive editor. Along the way, I did some ghostwriting and edited a few books. Looking back, I can hardly believe the fantastic opportunities I’ve had in the publishing world over the years.

But the best is yet to come. I’d always wanted to write a book. Any book; it never really mattered what kind. For a long time, I thought it would have to be nonfiction, given all of the above. Then a few years ago, I was struck by an idea for a mystery novel. Forget that I’d only ever read a handful of mystery novels in my life. How hard could it be? After all, I read a lot of other kinds of books. And I’m a parent: What can’t I do?

So, confidence in hand, I went off to write me a book. I read all the mystery novels I could get my hands on (still working on that, by the way) plus loads of how-to books. I took writing classes, joined critique groups and associations, chatted endlessly with my husband and fellow writers about ideas for scenes and characters and plot. And I started writing. And writing and writing ... and revising. The more I learned, the more challenging the endeavor became. Yet that first novel kept screaming out: “Don’t give up on me!” And finally, after an excruciating number of revisions, the novel I’d envisioned started to take shape.

Breathing in Bombay is the story of Indian-American Diya Rao, who moves to Mumbai to pursue her dream of becoming an entrepreneur. Soon after her arrival, the favorite aunt she’d been staying with is murdered, and the killer is on the loose. Devastated but determined to not give up and move back to D.C., Diya uncovers a trail of family secrets, corporate intrigue, and social causes gone wrong. The story is set in the summer of 2005, amid the backdrop of an actual historic monsoon flood that engulfed the city. As the water recedes, Diya’s quest for purpose and adventure in a new city becomes a fight for her life.

This book has been exceptionally fun to write. I get to revisit fond memories of interesting and beautiful places I experienced during my childhood vacations in India. I look forward to sharing my trials and tribulations with you as I seek publication for my first novel and toil to finish the second.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope we’ll see you back again soon. Comments welcome. We don’t bite! Well, all except for C.J., but that’s another story.

Welcome!

Today marks the first day of a new decade - and the beginning of a new writer's blog.  Thank you for stopping by and it is our sincere hope that over the next few weeks you'll see something you like that keeps you coming back again and again.

Starting next week we'll have five fabulous writers share their experiences writing, navigating the publishing world, trying to sell their books and where they are on their current writing projects. Next month we'll introduce guest bloggers into the mix and you never know if one of your favorite writers may stop by or a new and upcoming voice that you may want to check out. In addition, we plan on having contests for book giveaways each month as well as the occasional poll to keep readers involved and sharing their thoughts with us.

The dawn of this new year brings hope and potential to all of us here at Wicked Writers and we welcome you on the journey with us.

Thanks again,

Wicked Writers