Interview with Cherie Reich, Author of the Nightmare Collection

Interview with Cherie Reich

 

If you could date any character from any book (doesn't have to be one of yours) who would it be? Oh, wow! Good question, and it’s so hard to pick just one. I must admit I like the loner, quiet, intelligent characters the best, so I’d have to go with Sherlock Holmes ... or Severus Snape.

If you could transport to any place during any time period, where and when would you go? I would go to Rome during Julius Caesar’s time, perhaps just before he was assassinated. I think Caesar is one of the most fascinating men in history, and I’d love to see what Ancient Rome was like in such a turbulent time before the fall of the Republic and rise of the Emporers.

When and why did you start writing? Although I wrote some Harry Potter fan fiction, roleplayed, and wrote an original short story or two, I started writing seriously on January 15, 2009. I started writing because I had a story idea in my head for a YA Fantasy trilogy, and I figured after daydreaming about it for three years, I should just start writing it.

What is your favorite part about writing? Creating new worlds and people. I love imagining what will happen next to them.

What are you working on now and what are your writing goals/plans for the future? I’m editing my YA Contemporary Romance novel Starred and hope to query publishers for it sometime early next year. I am also writing a YA Fantasy novella titled The Loveless Princess, which I plan to self-publish sometime early next year. I plan to keep writing and publishing. I swear I have enough ideas to carry me through at least the next ten to twenty years.

Favorite book(s)? The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, and the Across the Universe series by Beth Revis

Favorite movie(s)? The Red Violin, Harry Potter series, Lord of the Rings, and the Dark Knight trilogy

Favorite TV show(s)? Psych, CSI, The Mentalist, Hart of Dixie, Survivor, The X-Files

What is on your "Bucket List"? I would love to eventually have enough money to travel the world. The only other country I’ve been to is Mexico so far, and there are so many more places I want to see.

 

The Nightmare Collection Information

 

Book Description:

A legend is hungry tonight.

A child monster will get its first taste of blood in Nightmare at the Freak Show. Four friend will enter the forest on December night, but only one can survive in Once Upon a December Nightmare. Almost ten years after Cassie's December nightmare, the monster awakens to hunt again in Nightmare Ever After.

Publication Date: November 17, 2012

Add to Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16089321-the-nightmare-collection

Cover art by Nicemonkey at Dreamstime.com. Cover design by Aubrie Dionne. Bookworm logo for Surrounded by Books Publishing created by Cherie Reich.

 

Purchase Links for the ebook:

Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/256004

Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A93EMNE

UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A93EMNE

DE https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00A93EMNE

FR https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00A93EMNE

ES https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00A93EMNE

IT https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00A93EMNE

JP http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00A93EMNE

Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-nightmare-collection-cherie-reich/1113808878?ean=2940015726503

Nook UK http://uk.nook.com/ebooks/the-nightmare-collection-by-cherie-reich/2940015726503

Kobo http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/The-Nightmare-Collection/book-NTs2Bn-DK0-ypSR2cseCvA/page1.html?s=K9KRpcbL8UC68DBm7NN-KA&r=9

 

Purchase Links for the print book:

Createspace https://www.createspace.com/4043291

Amazon US http://www.amazon.com/The-Nightmare-Collection-Cherie-Reich/dp/1480211001

UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Nightmare-Collection-Cherie-Reich/dp/1480211001

DE http://www.amazon.de/The-Nightmare-Collection-Cherie-Reich/dp/1480211001/

FR http://www.amazon.fr/The-Nightmare-Collection-Cherie-Reich/dp/1480211001/

ES http://www.amazon.es/The-Nightmare-Collection-Cherie-Reich/dp/1480211001/

IT http://www.amazon.it/The-Nightmare-Collection-Cherie-Reich/dp/1480211001/

Author Bio:

A self-proclaimed bookworm, Cherie Reich is a writer, freelance editor, book blogger, and library assistant living in Virginia. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies. Her e-books include the horror series Nightmare, a short story collection with authors Aubrie Dionne and Lisa Rusczyk titled The Best of Raven and the Writing Desk, the futuristic space fantasy novelette trilogy Gravity, and The Foxwick Chronicles, a series of fantasy stories. She is a member of Valley Writers and the Virginia Writers Club.

Author Links:

Website: http://cheriereich.webs.com

Blog: http://cheriereich.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bookworm0753

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorcheriereich

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4268457.Cherie_Reich

Rafflecopter Giveaway:

I am giving away prizes to two lucky people. The prize packages are open internationally and include: a signed copy of The Nightmare Collection, a signed copy of Gravity: The Complete Trilogy, and a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

You can use this html to copy and paste to your blog:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Or you can go to this website to get the widget:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/ZDI4OTllZWM5OTdjZDYyYWFmZGRmMmRlODFkNGQyOjE=/

 

 

 

Carbon Copy Excerpt "The Swamp" chase scene

Carbon Copy Excerpt

"The Swamp" chase scene

 

“Let’s go, Gators!” Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap! “Let’s go, Gators!” Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap! Lilly clapped her hands and sang one of the many Florida Gator cheers. She, and seventy-five thousand other Gator fans, packed into The Swamp. Of course, this proved typical for any Florida Gator football game, but especially a game as important as Florida vs. Florida State.

Florida Gator fans nicknamed Florida Field as “The Swamp.” The Swamp could hold over eighty-five thousand people and represented more than just twenty-two players throwing a pigskin ball on a one-hundred yard long grass field. The Swamp represented an experience like none other.

Lilly and Luke usually sat in a block of seats with her sorority sisters in the student section. Even though they graduated two-and-half-years ago, there were always tickets to be found in the student section. If one knew the right people, of course. Students quickly learned the lucrative business of selling their much-desired seats for the best games. The thought of one-hundred dollars or more in quick cash tempted many starving college students. After all, one-hundred dollars lasted forever on a bar tab at the Purple Porpoise.

Luckily, for this game, they acquired four tickets in the Touchdown Terrace located in the north-end zone. Lilly and Luke sat with their twin cousins, Kitty and Pat, who were also Florida Alumni. Although the air-conditioned suite seemed exponentially tamer than the standing room only seats of the student section, the crazy, hyped-up atmosphere of The Swamp still filtered into their pores.

The first half of the football game flew by, along with their buzzes. The foursome tailgated prior to kick-off. Kitty and Lilly sobered up as they watched their beloved Gators stay ahead on the scoreboard. However, Luke and Pat acted drunker and drunker as the game progressed. Lilly first became suspicious of their juvenile behavior as she watched them consume numerous diet cokes. But their mysterious trips to the men’s room confirmed her suspicions. She figured out their scheme. The boys sneaked contraband into the game: Captain Morgan’s spiced rum.

Lilly never desired to sneak booze into The Swamp; drinking both before and after the game seemed more than sufficient. Besides, the thought of Luke and Pat, or anyone else, mixing drinks in the men’s room at The Swamp repulsed her. She prayed the boys were smart enough not to get caught. Lilly didn’t wish to witness Luke and Pat being ejected from the football game.

Assuming security took the intoxicated fans to jail. She’d made up her mind she and Kitty would wait until after the game ended to bail their twin truants out of jail.

It would completely screw up her well-laid itinerary for the late afternoon, though. She didn’t want to miss meeting up at the sorority with her friend, Rachel, after the game.

 

* * * *

 

The clock turned zero at halftime, and Lilly hollered with the crowd. The Gators led by a touchdown. The Florida State marching band filed onto the field. Lilly scrunched her nose in distaste and turned to Kitty.

“Hey, I’m going to the student section to see my sorority sisters. Do you want to join me?” Lilly asked Kitty.

Kitty, who was now in her thirties, shook her head. “No, thanks. Each time I return here, the students look younger and younger. It’s depressing.”

“Don’t be silly, you look fantastic. You could pass for my twin,” Lilly gushed.

“Thanks, Lil’.” Kitty smiled.

“Can you tell Luke where I went since we’re both without a cell phone?”

“If he and Pat don’t get kicked out.” Kitty laughed.

Lilly exited the comfort of the Touchdown Terrace in the north-end zone and entered the breezeway to the east-side stands. In the student section, the fans were packed in like a herd of cattle. Not because the seats were any smaller than the rest of the stadium, but because the students tried to squeeze in twice as many bodies into the bleachers.

All of these extra bodies crammed together, combined with the heat and humidity of Florida, made the student section resemble a swamp. And everyone in this area stood the entire game, too, all the way up to the top on row ninety.

  Lilly finally made it to one of the gates to enter the student section. She hoped the ticket attendants wouldn’t bother to check her ticket stub since she did not have an assigned seat anywhere near this area.

Through the sea of heads floating in the breezeway, Lilly saw a familiar plaid wool hat. She stopped cold in her tracks. She recognized the same hat from the airport in Miami. Oh shit!

Standing by the gate, she saw the man in the pink baseball cap who’d followed her in New York City. His eyes scanned the crowd. He looked for someone—Lilly. And so did his Irish friend in the wool cap. There were two men after her. Shit, shit, shit!

Lilly froze for several seconds in the crowd of football fans. She needed to do something, anything but stand here like an easy target. She definitely did not want to wind up face-to-face with her stalkers. So she ducked into the nearest safe-haven she could find—the ladies’ room... through the exit door.

This act of rudeness yielded countless dirty looks from all of the other women who waited in the long line to pee. She paused upon the realization of her own faux pas. Unfortunately, her hesitation only gained her several more looks of disdain.

With a strong desire to avoid a revolt from the mob of pissed-off looking women, Lilly wanted to prove to everyone she’d never commit such a heinous crime as cutting line in the ladies room. So she made a beeline to one of the many sinks against the wall.

Lilly splashed cold water on her face and chest in a futile effort to cool off. Scared and trapped, she looked at her flushed complexion in the mirror above the sink. Calm down, Lilly. Think, think, think!

She reached for her cell phone to call Luke, but in the small purse she found nothing but cash, lipstick, a hairbrush and keys. “Shit!” Lilly blurted out her frustration. She forgot Grier carried her BlackBerry. She thought about asking one of these ladies if she could use their cell phone, but she wasn’t yet on speaking terms with anyone in this room.

Maybe she should call security. But without a phone or a friendly face nearby, the option evaporated. The second she left the safety of the ladies’ room she would be captured by two men who were most likely trying to kill her if she were to judge from the earlier incident in the Keys.

To escape them, she needed to disguise her appearance and get the hell away from this part of the stadium. She carefully studied her current appearance in the mirror and tried desperately to figure out how to best blend in with all of the other women here today. She couldn’t risk standing out in the crowd.  

Lilly looked down at her clothes. Her Gator-blue tank top and cut-off denim shorts barely covering her ass could blend in with all of the other female students with a little adjusting.

She returned to her reflection and now focused her attention on her most distinguishing feature—her long-blonde hair. Shit! Her beautiful hair! How can she possibly disguise her hair? Although the University of Florida came fully loaded with drop-dead gorgeous blondes, she knew she needed to remove her long, golden locks. Shit! Shit! Shit!

She could cut it, but the thought brought tears to her eyes. How could she possibly cut off her locks without scissors? Besides, she’d rather die a thousand deaths than cut-off all of her hair. There had to be another way.

Her mind struggled to find a practical solution to her dilemma. She looked at the girl standing next to her in front of the mirror. The girl next to her wore a Gator baseball cap. It was the perfect solution, but how to obtain it?

Lilly reached into her pocket and withdrew a wad of twenty-dollar bills. Cash in hand, she turned to look at the girl. “I’ll give you twenty bucks for your baseball cap.”

The girl turned and looked at Lilly. She stared at the wad of cash in Lilly’s hand. “You can have it for forty.”

“Done.” Lilly handed the girl two twenty-dollar bills. She took the baseball cap.

Lilly twirled her hair into a bun and piled the whole thing on top of her head. She placed the newly acquired, albeit expensive, baseball cap on top of her head. Each strand of blonde hair was tucked under the cap, effectively hiding all traces of her natural hair color. Perfect.

Lilly placed the gargantuan Chanel sunglasses over her eyes. The eyewear covered half of her face. She studied herself in the mirror, satisfied with the transformation. Amazingly, no one would know her.

Lilly turned to thank the girl next to her. Without the benefit of a baseball cap to cover her head, the girl since decided to brush out her hair—her long, blonde hair. Another great opportunity presented itself. The tall girl also wore a blue tank-top and short denim shorts.

“Thanks again,” Lilly said to the fellow Gator fan, now forty-dollars richer.

“No problem,” she said without looking away from her own reflection.

“Excuse me, but can I buy another favor?”

“Depends on the favor.”

“You see, I’m in a bit of a bind here. Can you go out of the exit here, turn left, and walk down the ramp in the breezeway?” Lilly asked.

“Why would I want to go left? My seat is to the right,” the girl said cunningly.

“Because I’ll give you one-hundred dollars,” Lilly said flatly. She revealed another fistful of cash without missing a beat.

“I’ll do it for two-hundred.”

“Look, this is all the money I have,” Lilly pleaded as she lied through her pearly-white teeth.

“But why do you need for me do this for you?”  

She certainly asked a fair question. And Lilly’s request put the girl at great risk, but the greedy girl didn’t need to know the details. “It’s a long story, but the bottom line is I’m here at the game today with two different boyfriends. And I really don’t want them to find out about each other while I decide which one I like better. One of them may be outside waiting for me, and I don’t want him following me out of the ladies’ room while I go and see the other guy.” Lilly hoped she wouldn’t have to bullshit this story any more than necessary.

“Oh, I see. Say no more.” The girl snatched the money from Lilly’s hand and headed towards the exit of the ladies’ room. “You go, girl!” she said proudly, just before she made her left hand turn out of the bathroom and into the breezeway.

Lilly stayed behind for two minutes, hoping enough time elapsed since her savior’s exit. Keeping her head down, she walked out, turned right, and strode as fast as she could without drawing any undesired attention to herself.

Did the men follow her? Unable to resist any longer, she turned her head around to look back. The infamous plaid, wool hat floated down the breezeway, headed in the opposite direction. Hurrah!

Relieved at the success of her ruse, she traveled quickly through the half-time crowd. With the breezeway heavily packed with fans who tried to purchase their concessions and take their restroom breaks, she blended in with the masses.

Lilly turned the corner, which connected the east-side of the stadium to the new north-end zone. And then she hesitated. Shit! She couldn’t go back to her seat. Her standing next to Luke would certainly make her more noticeable. If one of her stalkers used a pair of binoculars, they’d spot them with a methodical search of the stadium. Besides, she didn’t want to put Kitty, Luke, and Pat at risk. The stalkers wanted her, although she failed to understand why.

Lilly decided to leave the stadium right then while the fans still crowded the area. She could always watch the rest of the game at the sorority house where she could get in touch with Luke. He’d worry about her once she failed to return to his side for the second half of the football game. He might even wonder if the security guards ejected her from the game.

She decided to send him a text message. She reached for her BlackBerry before she remembered its absence. After cursing for leaving her phone on the Create Life jet, she figured she could just call Kitty from the sorority house. So she walked until she exited The Swamp. A crowd of people was already leaving the game. All of them headed to either tailgate or drink at one of the many bars strategically located close to the stadium.

With countless other Gator fans surrounding her and an abundance of big, strong males around, she calmed down a bit. Lilly just kept on walking. She walked all the way to her sorority house and her sisters. She arrived at the house and collapsed on the nearest couch, still terrified. Was she completely paranoid? Or were those two men really looking for her at the game?    

Blog Hop-Interview with Terri Talley Venters

Special Thanks to my awesome publisher, Marci Baun at Wild Child Publishing, who included me on her blog hop last week. You can read her post here:  Marci Baun's blog. You can buy her books here.  Hierglyphs & Last Chance

Next week, these authors will be partcipating in the blog hop:

Chad Mcpherson, Author of Dangerous Waters, coming soon from Freya's Bower.

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/chad.mcpherson.142

Twitter - https://twitter.com/UFAuthor
Blog - http://cmmichaels.blogspot.com/

Freya's Bower - http://www.freyasbower.com/

And my mother, Leslie S. Talley, Author of Make Old Bones, now available from Wild Child Publishing.
Make Old Bones website
Leslie S. Tallyey's blog
Buy Make Old Bones by Leslie S. Talley

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS-Terri Talley Venters

1: What is the working title of your book? Carbon Copy

2: Where did the idea come from for the book? For years, people would tell me they knew someone who looked exactly like me. I’d respond, “I must’ve been cloned!” Then ideas for my story poured into my head, and Carbon Copy was born.

3: What genre does your book fall under? Mystery/Romantic Suspense

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Julia Stiles or Scarlett Johansson portrays my heroine, Lilly Allen. Matthew McConaughey or Bradley Cooper would play Grier Garrison. Eric Bana (with blue contacts) would play Joe. And Cybill Shepherd would play Lilly’s mother, Charlotte Allen.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? What if someone cloned you?

6: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Published by Wild Child Publishing.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Two years to write my first draft and three more years to finish a submission worthy manuscript. But I thought about Carbon Copy for eight years before I started writing.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Sue Grafton books.

9: Who or What inspired you to write this book? My mother, Leslie S. Talley, author of Make Old Bones.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? A fast-paced page turner. Lilly Allen has brains, beauty, and a trust fund. She's living in New York City and her career as a reporter is taking off. She's hoping the love of her life, Grier, will propose soon. She has it all, or so she thinks.Grier Garrison, Create Life executive, is running the company while his father, Dr. Michael Garrison, is in the ICU awaiting a heart transplant. Grier knows the truth about Create Life and its shady side business. He fears Lilly and her twin brother, Luke, are in danger. While working on two unrelated stories, stolen newborns and cloning, Lilly discovers a shocking connection. Horrific things are happening, but who is behind it all?

http://www.elementsofmystery.com/

Click here to purchase Carbon Copy

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/carbon-copy-terri-talley-venters/1111652834?ean=2940014732345

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/184-4294921-8962344?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=carbon+copy+by+terri+talley+venters

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PHOSPHOROUS

PHOSPHOROUS

By: Terri Talley Venters

“We’re going to get into so much trouble!” Alice crouched beneath the bunk in Castillo de San Marcos. A.k.a. the fort in St. Augustine, Florida.

“Shhhh! Only if we get caught.” Sam whispered.

Alice grimaced as the stench of the old barracks filled her nostrils. Her stomach turned from the vile odor, and the tour guide’s mention of all the deaths which occurred here over the last four-hundred years.

“How much longer do we have to wait? I can’t believe I let you talk me into this. You’re the worst boyfriend ever.” She fumed.

“It’s dark now and everything should be locked up for the night. I haven’t heard anything for a while,” he said.

“I’m sure the tour guides wanted to leave the second this place closed. They’re probably drinking at Scarlett O’Hara’s which is where we should be right now.” Alice smacked his arm.

“Okay, let’s go explore this place in the dark.” Sam stood and extended his hand to assist her off of the dirt floor.

“Do you really think the fort is haunted?” She clung to him.

“The Ghost Adventurers spent the night here. They heard some stuff and saw some shadows,” he said.

“The tour guide said he’d heard stories about ghost sightings.” She grabbed Sam’s hand and kept close as they walked into the courtyard in the center of the fort. The quarter moon provided little light. The tidal waves of the nearby ocean crashed along Vilano Beach and Porpoise Point at the nearby inlet.

“This is so cool. We have the whole place to ourselves.” Sam turned around and absorbed the view of the old walls forged with coquina, the Spanish word for small shells.

Creek. Groan.

“What was that?” Alice jumped and clutched her chest.

“Are you scared?” Sam looked down at her as she pulled him even closer.

She nodded. “It’s so sad how many people died here. So many were murdered and executed within these walls.”

“And their bodies dumped over the walls into the moat.” Sam added.

A shiver whipped through Alice as she grimaced. “And the Indian Chief Osceola, beheaded. Gross.”

“And the dudes they trapped inside the walls until their bodies rotted. How cool is that?” Sam smiled.

“You’re sick.” Alice smacked him again.

“Do you see that? Something’s up on top of the wall. It looks like neon-green floating globe.” Sam pointed.

“Yes, oh my, God. It’s glowing like phosphorous in the sea. I can’t believe we’re seeing this.” Her hand covered her mouth in shock.

An apparition of Osceola’s head floated along the wall of Castillo de San Marcos.

Guest Blogger Bob Horbaczewski

Interview with Bob Horbaczewski

Author of THE MALEF CHRONOCLES

Bio

A child of the 80's, Bob Horbaczewski grew up immersed in both Science Fiction and Fantasy. Inspired at a young age to write, Bob found a passion in story telling and was rarely found without a pen and pad to write with. Lost to the wonders of Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Dune, Dungeons and Dragons, Marvel, DC, and numerous other stories, Bob became determined to craft his own tales. In every spare moment of his life, Bob found time to write. However, in the summer of 2006 one idea began to consume his creative process. Born years earlier in a wild hailstorm of thought, The Malef Chronicles found a pressure to be brought to a more refined form. Years prior Bob had dreamed of crafting an epic nine part story of galactic wars, betrayals, love, death, and wonder and in 2006 he finally took the steps to begin that very story.

When and why did you start writing?

The first time I remember starting to write seriously was when I was in sixth grade. I remember trying to pen my first novel in my spare time, a science fiction/action piece. Unfortunately I was unable to finish that story as my family moved from Hawaii to Arizona. The first time I seriously started approaching writing was in my early twenties. After taking a hiatus from college to help my mother through a divorce, I had to reevaluate what I wanted to do with my life. The first path I chose was film, and consequently as I hoped to tell my own stories in that medium I wrote my own screenplay. That movie, 'Into The Darkness', can be viewed on YouTube in its entirety. Following that project I became driven to write my own novel, as the story I envisioned seemed to obsess my thoughts.

The main reason that I write is probably to get those stories out of my mind. I am constantly consumed with thoughts towards my imagination, stories that play endlessly until I finally put pen to paper and force them into a tangible form. I love the idea behind crafting a world and placing characters in circumstances that challenge the human condition.

What are you working on now and what are your writing goals/plans for the future?

I am currently working on a few separate projects. First and foremost, I am still trying to promote my first book, 'The Malef Chronicles'. At the same time I am working on writing the second book in that series. I have also written another screenplay, that my friends and I are hoping to gain funding through Kickstarter to see made. On the back burner is a second screenplay and a novel about a female assassin and her exploits. 

My goals are to continue to writing and see all of these projects through to their end. I am hopeful that I can garner an audience for my work and one day make writing my profession instead of just my passion.

What is your favorite part about writing?

My favorite part of writing is crafting a story. I enjoy having the ability and responsibility of creating an entire universe. Being able to take that world and the characters within and create a story that is both interconnected and exciting. I like thinking that in some way I am able to tell a tale that can take someone out of their life, a give them a chance to be lost in my imagination for whatever length of time.

Favorite book(s)?

My favorite book is 'Dune', by Frank Herbert. I still remember reading it for the first time in high school and being so drawn into the world that Mr. Herbert had crafted. I loved the depth that he had given his characters, and the dark elements of death and battle that moved the story along. Beyond that I love reading as much as I can squeeze into my day. One of my favorite series that I have read recently was the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. The way in which Mr. Butcher was able to take his characters and grow them over the course of the series was inspiring. I never felt cheated in the way he connected events between his novels, instead each seemed a logical progression of the story, and I was genuinely sad when the series was over.

 Favorite movie(s)?

As a child, and still to this day my favorite movie is 'Star Wars'. I remember at four years old going with my mother to my older brother's elementary school to watch a bootleg copy of 'Empire Strikes Back'. Schools were much more lenient of what kids watched back in those days. We brought bags popcorn and as I sat there watching, I was instantly hooked on not only the movie itself, but also the genre.

Favorite TV show(s)?

Right now my favorite shows on television are 'Breaking Bad' and 'The Walking Dead'. I am a big fan of science fiction shows and love 'Doctor Who' and 'Fringe'. I'm hopeful 'Revolution' will become a solid show. 'Burn Notice' and 'Royal Pains' help get me through the summers. I also enjoy some of the more indulgent shows on television like 'Wipeout', 'The Real World/The Challenge', and 'The Soup'. I always loved food shows as a child, so I can usually tune to the Food Channel and find something that will pique my interest.

What is on your "Bucket List"

I don't really have a "Bucket List". I try my best to live for the now. If there is a place or an event I have a drive to go to I will find a way to do as much. The same could be said for activities and experiences in life. We are only given a short amount of time in this life, so it is my belief to live as much in the present as you can.

 

 

SYNOPSIS

In the distant future, Colin Kinison, a brash, young and arrogant pilot is thrust into the middle of an impeding galactic war after his ship is suddenly attacked while investigating an unusual anomaly at the edge of known space. O'Tel, king of the Ter'Ok'Zhu, an ancient race of mystics, recruits Colin to help him stop Xyrus, Dark Lord of the Belgae, from assassinating a once thought lost Princess. A tale of swordplay and space fights, bringing together fantasy and science fiction, The Malef Chronicles offers an epic journey into the fantastic.

 

EXCERPT  FROM THE MALEF CHRONICLES

ZOOM! A seasick breezed by Colin, shocking him back to reality. Now the decisive moment had come. To turn back, Colin would face not only embarrassment and shame from his squad, but he would never hear the end of it from Sasha. He could not bear that fate, so out across the deck he walked to the seasick that had so recently buzzed by him. It chirped in response to his presence. “Hey there little buddy,” Colin quipped at the robot, not that it could understand or respond to his comment, but the simple routine helped calm his nerves.

Colin removed a magnetic strip from his suit. A crude creation put together in his spare time, this small black strip of silicon and steel was Colin’s ticket to glory. In theory the strip would interfere with the Seasick’s primary functions just enough for him to directly interface and take control of the bot. Sasha had helped him design it, as countless failed attempts to dissuade him from his prior stunts had taught her that it was better to help keep him as safe as possible, than see what damage he would cause if left to his own devices. As with most schemes thought up in the middle of the night, this one sounded worse and worse with each passing moment. Colin reached the seasick. There was no predicting how it would react to him jumping on board, yet alone how its system would react to the interference from the magnetic strip. There was only one-way to find out; Colin leapt.

The most agile of leaps it was not, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Colin landed square on the back of the Seasick and made a grotesque thud. The air from his lungs rushed out of his mouth, leaving him mere seconds to regain his composure. The Seasick would be alerting for help at any moment. This was his shining moment and suddenly ego overtook him. Colin’s mind trailed off to the future, of the stories that would be told with such brevity. He looked back at his squad and waved in triumph. Not thinking Colin lost his grip and fumbled the magnetic strip, dropping it to the empty depths of space. All of his glory lost in a heartbeat, in a single act of foolish bravado. In desperation, Colin lunged for the strip. His legs barely hung onto the side of the Seasick as the strip floated further and further away, gone forever. The Seasick’s alarm wailed. His failure was now complete.