Ramblings Of An Author Has A New Home!

ramblings-of-an-author-has-a-new-home

“Ramblings of an Author” Is Moving!

At the end of January I announced that I would be closing down this blog, and relocating.

Well, that time has come, and this is going to be my last post here. But I’m taking away a lot of great memories, and friendships that have formed while bringing you amazing books and authors.

But That’s Not The End Of Things

I still have so many wonderful authors and books to bring you, and will continue to do so over on my new site.

The journey continues over at http://timothybatesonauthor.com where you can sign up to get the latest posts direct to your email address.

So, if you’ve enjoyed seeing all the wonderful books and author interviews I’ve posted here, be sure to pop over to:

New Blog Slots Will Be Opening Soon!

For the authors among you, I’ll be opening up my “Author Services” pages very soon, and you’ll be able to submit your books, author interviews, and apply for one-to-one character interviews very shortly.

Please follow the new blog for an announcement on that front.

Albert Einstein on “Understanding”

QuoteOfTheWeek-Albert Einstein-Understanding

I wrote a quick blog post about my thoughts on this quote. In it, I look at how it pertains to creating characters and how no matter how much I know about them, I still have to simply that knowledge for other people.

However, you’ll have to go visit my new site to be able to read it…

On Another Note… A Big Change Is Coming

Before I go into the details, I want to thank everyone who’s followed and contributed to “Ramblings of an Author” over the last five years. It’s been a huge blast creating posts here, and I hope you’ve enjoyed peeks into my life, and all the book-related goodness.

If you’ve been following all my recent posts, you might have noticed that I’ve been asking you to read the full post over on my new author website.

Why is that?

For several years I’ve been maintaining separate blog and website services. Both had their limitations and it was almost impossible to keep a consistent look and feel between the two sites… Plus, I wasn’t in control of either of the sites

So at the end of last year I setup my own dedicated author website, with a new blog. Because it’s my site, I can create my own pages, use templates to create a more consistent look, and I can load whatever tools I need to make my blogging and site development easier.

So What Does That Mean To You?

  • “Ramblings of an Author” will no longer update after the end of February 2019.
  • That doesn’t mean I’m throwing away all the hard work for the last five years.
  • The full post archive will remain available for you to read through at your leisure.
  • Some of the posts might even get copied to the new site after careful reformatting.
  • All my new posts will be available on the new site, and you can subscribe to receive updates as new posts go up.

Get Ready For The Change!

  • Click the button below to be taken to the new blog archives
  • Scroll down the page a short way, and find the “Receive Updates” form
  • Fill in your email address, and click “Subscribe”
  • Then every time a new post goes up on the site, you’ll receive an email notification

Book Spotlight – “Riftmaker” by Phoebe Darqueling

Book Blurb

Save his boy, uncover a conspiracy, and master opposable thumbs—a dog’s work is never done.

Buddy’s favorite thing is curling up for a nap at the foot of Ethan’s bed. Then he stumbles through a portal to a clockwork city plagued by chimeras, and everything changes… Well, not everything. Sure, his new human body comes with magic powers, but he’d still rather nap than face the people of Excelsior, who harbor both desire and fear when it comes to “the other side.”

He discovers Ethan followed him through the portal and underwent his own transformation, and it becomes Buddy’s doggone duty to save him. Buddy finds unlikely allies in an aristocrat with everything on the line, a mechanic with something to hide, and a musician willing to do anything to protect her. Using a ramshackle flying machine, the group follows the chimeras deep into the forest and uncovers a plot that could reshape the worlds on both sides of the rift.

Buy Your Copy Now! E-Book, Paperback

At These eBook Retailers: Smashwords, Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble

Click to see more of the “Riftmaker” release tour

From the Author

Phoebe Darqueling is the pen name of a globe trotting vagabond who currently hangs her hat in Freiburg, Germany. In her “real life” she writes curriculum for a creativity competition for kids in MN. She loves all things Steampunk and writes about her obsession on SteampunkJournal.org. During 2017, she coordinated a Steampunk novel through the Collaborative Writing Challenge called Army of Brass, and also loves working with authors as an editor. You can also find her short stories in the Chasing Magic and The Queen of Clocks and Other Steampunk Tales anthologies.

Where To Find Phoebe Darqueling

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Website (Phoebe Darqueling), Newsletter (Phoebe Darqueling)

Click to see more of the “Riftmaker” release tour

Book Spotlight – “Daisy Song (Life After Us Book 3) ” by Rebekah Dodson

Book Spotlight - Daisy Song - Rebekah Dodson

Book Blurb

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Seven months ago, Vicki Morel was supposed to be happy, not in the midst of the apocalypse. She and her fiancé, Will, should have been married and about to celebrate the birth of their child. Instead, she is on the run in fear for her life and the life of her baby. Her only hope is Ambrose—the man she truly loves.

Vicki entered Ambrose’s life like a bomb and blew everything apart. Just when he thought they could get out of this hell hole alive, she walked away. Or did she? After a cryptic message on a satellite phone, Ambrose is willing to risk it all to find her. Through a plane crash, escaping crazy doomsday preppers, and invading a military base, Ambrose and his band of survivors is determined to rescue Vicki. He wasn’t born a leader, yet the people follow him, determined to carve their own path in this world.

When everything ends, the daisy’s song promises a new beginning, a different life, and a fresh path in this altered world.

Buy Your Copy Now! E-Book

At These eBook Retailers: Amazon

Check Out The Rest Of The Series

The Life After Us Series Promo
Click The Image To See The Complete Series

From the Author

Rebekah Dodson - Author Image

Rebekah Dodson is a prolific word weaver of romance, fantasy, and science fiction novels. Her works include the series Postcards from Paris, The Surrogate, The Curse of Lanval series, several stand alone novels, and her upcoming YA novel, Clock City. She has been writing her whole life, with her first published work of historical fiction with 4H Clubs of America at the age of 12, and poetry at the age of 16 with the National

Poetry Society. With an extensive academic background including education, history, psychology and English, she currently works as a college professor by day and a writer by night.

Where To Find Rebekah Dodson

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Website (Rebekah Dodson), Newsletter (Rebekah Dodson)

Author Spotlight – Rebekah Dodson

Author Spotlight - Rebekah Dodson

Introducing Rebekah Dodson

Rebekah Dodson is a prolific word weaver of romance, fantasy, and science fiction novels. Her works include the series Postcards from Paris, The Surrogate, The Curse of Lanval series, several stand alone novels, and her upcoming YA novel, Clock City. She has been writing her whole life, with her first published work of historical fiction with 4H Clubs of America at the age of 12, and poetry at the

age of 16 with the National Poetry Society. With an extensive academic background including education, history, psychology and English, she currently works as a college professor by day and a writer by night.

Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself.

Hello! I am a world traveler and history buff who started writing about 20 years ago, and publishing just 5 years ago. I dabble in a little of everything: romance, fantasy, science fiction, and time travel. I enjoy playing piano and have a band with my two teenage kids, and we are huge video game enthusiasts!

Could you tell us a bit about your latest book?

Beyond the Mask is an anthology put together by Fiction-Atlas Publishing, and I’m excited to work with an excellent team of writers! This anthology benefits Alex’s Lemonade Stand, which donates money to aid families who have children with cancer. It’s an important cause I’m passionate about, and I’m excited to donate my story, Super Sam, to this project.

Super Sam is about a lonely housewife who, after a car accident, discovers her husband’s “lab work” has given her super powers. Among super sense and strength, she also developed kinetic energy weapons. When a drug dealer moves on to her street and tempts her teenage son, Sam realizes she must jump into action before someone else’s baby is harmed.

Who is your intended readership?

My readers are anyone that enjoys action, suspense, and rich, detailed dialogue. I love to share worlds with readers as well.

When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

I started writing when I was about 12. I was home schooled, and my mother often let me choose between language arts or math. I picked language arts every time! I was an avid reader and enjoyed writing my very own “fan fic” about characters from Lord of the Rings, Anne of Green Gables, and Chronicles of Narnia.

By the time I was 16 I had already written a novel (though it is now lost to the ages on some abandoned 3.5″ disk!), and after graduate school at the age of 30, I published five books which eventually become the Postcards from Paris series. In the last five years, I have written and published 25 novels and seven short stories.

Do you have a favorite author, or writing inspiration?

One of my favorite authors right now is Cassandra Clare. Her ability to craft another world in her urban fantasy, and especially her historical fantasy, is just amazing. I aspire to write like her. I am also a huge fan of Charlaine Harris (of True Blood fame) and her first-person story telling!

What advice would you give beginning writers?

My advice would be before you finish your novel, connect with as many people in your genre as you can. Social media is a great tool for this! As soon as you finish your novel, however, make sure you give it to professionals. Hire a good editor and a professional cover designer. Don’t ever try to edit yourself!

Do you have any amusing writing stories or anecdotes to share?

My most recent releases, the science fiction/dystopian series Life After Us, all started because I heard the song “Leaving on the Jet Plane” about four years ago. I had the image in my head of boyfriend leaving his girlfriend behind in the Portland, Oregon (my home state) airport. Then I thought: what if the airport is attacked? Blown up? And the boyfriend is to blame? It snowballed from there…until I mentioned it to my best friend at the time, who made it even worse by giving me idea after idea after idea. Over the next 9 months the entire series was written, all becuase of a little song and a golden idea.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Any hobbies?

I play piano and also like to play dungeons and dragons. I’m a huge fan of video games such as Tomb Raider, Skyrim, and Fallout, and I’m really looking forward to the new Kingdom of Hearts release! In my other off time, when I’m not teaching, I love to study history. I will watch any documentary and often get lost in TEDtalks about different historical issues, specifically British or medieval.

What’s your next project? Any upcoming book secrets you care to reveal?

My next release is the final book in the Life After Us series, Daisy Song, which is out on February 12nd with Happy Ever After Publishing. I’ll be putting out some romance thrillers and contemporary romance after that, but I also plan in completing my time travel series, The Curse of Lanval, in 2019. Stay tuned on my website for more release dates!

Beyond the Mask: A Fiction-Atlas Superhero Anthology

Beyond The Mask - Cover

There’s so much more to each hero beyond the mask…

Fighting crime is not always a walk in the park.

The power to protect citizens comes at a price… your identity.

How do you live an ordinary life when you can do such extraordinary things?

All proceeds from the print and digital sales of this book will be donated to Alex’s Lemonade Stand, an organization that is a superhero to the many children diagnosed with childhood cancers. ALS’s mission is to change the lives of children with cancer through funding impactful research, raising awareness, supporting families, and empowering everyone to help cure childhood cancer.

Buy Now: E-Book

Author Pages:

Amazon

Where to find Rebekah Dodson:

Website (Rebekah Dodson), Twitter, Instagram, Newsletter, Facebook

Book Spotlight “Beyond The Mask”

Beyond The Mask - Cover

There’s so much more to each hero beyond the mask…

Fighting crime is not always a walk in the park.

The power to protect citizens comes at a price… your identity. 

How do you live an ordinary life when you can do such extraordinary things?

All proceeds from the print and digital sales of this book will be donated to Alex’s Lemonade Stand, an organization that is a superhero to the many children diagnosed with childhood cancers. ALS’s mission is to change the lives of children with cancer through funding impactful research, raising awareness, supporting families, and empowering everyone to help cure childhood cancer.

Buy Your Copy Now! E-Book

At These eBook Retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play

From The Publisher (Fiction-Atlas Press)


Hello! Every year Fiction-Atlas Press publishes a charity anthology to benefit charity. This year we’ve chosen Alex’s Lemonade Stand as the recipient of all proceeds from our superhero anthology titled, Beyond the Mask. 100% of the proceeds from the ebook and print editions of this book will be donated to ALS. We also wanted to put together this fundraiser for those who wanted to make a greater contribution to this amazing organization!  Whether it be $5 or $50 every single contribution goes to help fund childhood cancer research!  https://www.facebook.com/donate/1450428665088151/

Fiction Atlas Pres

About Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation


US 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization We share the vision of our founder and creator, Alexandra “Alex” Scott – a cure for all children with cancer. Our Mission: To raise money and awareness of childhood cancer causes, primarily research into new treatments and cures. To encourage and empower others, especially children, to raise money for childhood cancer by holding their own Alex’s Lemonade Stands.

Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation

About The Authors

C.L. Cannon

C.L. Cannon is a publisher, publicist, editor, author, designer, and lots of other occupations with the -er sound at the end!

She is a woman of many talents who never gives up or stops improving. She enjoys writing about love and friendship. She loves it even more when she can add fantasy and science fiction aspects to those themes!

She’s a self-proclaimed Harry Potter freak (Slytherin Pride people), lover of anything Joss Whedon (Spuffy forever), Tolkien fiend (who enjoys second breakfast), an addict of classic literature (Social class struggles turn me on… literally  yah see what I did there?)

She spends her days trying to #bookstagram (and probably failing), helping other authors grow and succeed (I love my job), and loving on her two babes (velociraptors), Seth and Petey.

She’s also sort of a social media enthusiast! You can find her basically everywhere on the net (man I just aged myself).

Or, you can visit her website for more content!

Sarah Buhrman

Sarah is an AuthorGoddess, one who embraces the divine honor of creating worlds with words in the hope of inspiring others. Sarah has been writing for more than 25 years, starting with poetry before moving on to non-fiction and fiction. She lives in the Midwest with two monsters (the kids), an ogre (the hubby), and whatever drama-llama is coming to visit this week. Sarah is the author of the Runespells series: Too Wyrd, Fluffy Bunny, and The Chains That Bind. She has short stories in several anthologies, including Counterclockwise: A Time Travel Anthology, A Twist of Fate: A Collection of 11 Twisted Fairy Tales, and Whispers of Hope: A Lexis Infinitum Charity Anthology. Sarah also has a blog via Patreon and makes funny videos about writing on her vlog, Practically Writing.

Matthew Stevens

Matthew Stevens spent years dreaming about being a writer before he found time late at night to create characters and worlds and the stories for them to inhabit. His current projects find him dabbling in a wide range of genres from his drafted novel, a paranormal thriller, to numerous fantasy and sci-fi shorts, along with an occasional blog post examining his perspective on his own writing journey and any intriguing geeky topic that catches his attention. He can be found online at:

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

Twitter: @matt_the_writer

Blog: theedgeofeverything.wordpress.com


K.Matt

K.Matt is an author and illustrator. Her main body of work is the Hell Bent series of graphic novel/prose novella hybrids. She can be found in Upstate New York, in pretty much the middle of nowhere. She’s a fan of comics (and especially the movies based on them) and is an unrepentant workaholic. Her story “Travesty” is a culmination of her love of superhero media (and her love of making her characters suffer).

R.M. Demeester

R.M. Demeester lives in Saskatchewan, Canada. She is the mother of three young children, and owner of a rescue dog, a chocolate lab, Gainer. R.M. Demeester has been writing for as long as she could hold a pencil. She writes women’s fiction, new adult, and sweet romance primarily. She has two women’s fiction novels set to be released in 2019, along with several short stories.

Devorah Fox

“What if?” Those two words all too easily send Devorah Fox spinning into flights of fancy. Best-selling author of award-winning books including The Bewildering Adventures of King Bewilliam literary historical fantasy series and several thrillers, she also penned Fantasy/Science Fiction and Mystery Mini Short Reads and contributed short stories to popular fantasy anthologies. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she now lives on the Texas Gulf Coast with rescued tabby cats … and a dragon named Inky. 

Visit the “Dee-Scoveries” blog at http://devorahfox.com and subscribe to receive the free email newsletter at http://eepurl.com/LrZGX.

Rebekah Dodson

Rebekah Dodson is a prolific word weaver of romance, fantasy, and science fiction novels. Her works include the series Postcards from Paris, The Surrogate, The Curse of Lanval series, several stand-alone novels, and her upcoming YA novel, Clock City. She has been writing her whole life, with her first published work of historical fiction with 4H Clubs of America at the age of 12, and poetry at the age of 16 with the National Poetry Society. With an extensive academic background including education, history, psychology, and English, she currently works as a college professor by day and a writer by night.

Bob James

Bob James is a native of the Chicago area, growing up in Oak Park, Ill. He currently lives in Corpus Christi, TX. He retired after 25 years in the education business – one year as a sign language interpreter followed by 24 years as a teacher in the fields of Special Education and Technology. All of his unpublished work can be accessed through his new site, Bob James – The Author. He writes daily devotionals, Science Fiction, and Thrillers, and is also working on a book about the journey that he and his wife went through during her battle with breast cancer. Bob has been married to his wife Lucy since 1979. They have two sons, one daughter, one granddaughter, and one grandson.

Melissa E. Beckwith

Melissa has been writing books since before she had learned to read, in the form of picture books, and planned to be an author at age 4.  She spent her youth penning short stories, poems and writing in her diary.  At nineteen she married her high school sweetheart and started her family.  She has spent her adult life raising her three children and teaching herself the business and craft of writing.  Born and raised in beautiful Southern California she and her husband now live along the Ohio River in Indiana to be near their beloved grandson, Bryar.

Melissa enjoys the outdoors and nature, especially camping.  She has an interest in the natural world, particularly the wonder of birds and bugs.  She can’t grow plants to save her life, though she likes to try. She loves art and paints a little herself.  She has a great interest in history and plans on trying her hand at historical fiction in the future.  Someday she hopes to travel the world starting with Scotland, Ireland, Africa, and Australia.

Melissa loves to listen to heavy metal, Irish rock, and Celtic music…well, anything Celtic really.  She loves dangly earrings, big rings, bright clothes, the color red, yellow roses, orange cats, and little dogs, like her fuzzy Shih Tzu, Abby.

Most days you will find her tapping away at her keyboard, researching her next great novel, or catch her with her nose stuck in an epic fantasy or historical fiction story.

C.M. Lander

M. Lander is an emerging voice in the fantasy and science fiction genre. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from Hofstra University where she focused on her first love–poetry. She has been featured as Tumblr’s Poet of the Day, placed 2nd in the Bartleby Snopes’ Dialog-Only Contest, and has been published by Newsday and ProtestPoems.org, among other publications.

Ms. Lander is currently a student of law and is devoted to marrying her love of writing with philanthropic causes.

Keep an eye out for her next novel, The Witch of Ildra Lac, due out in March 2019.

Apologies For My Recent Radio Silence!

Timothy Bateson

There are a number of reasons for my recent silence here on “Ramblings of an Author”, and I can only apologize for not having been able to give advanced notice.

Part of the reason is that over the holiday season I was very distracted by a couple of exciting projects.

More recently, it’s because I’m stepping into a new role for this year’s Brain to Books Cyber Convention & Book Expo.

Reason #1 – My New Author Website

SiteBanner_h500

Back on December 21st I announced that I was setting up a new author website, and http://timothybatesonauthor.com.

This has turned out to be a much bigger project than I anticipated at first.

  1. I had to decide on the appearance of the site, and I had way too many ideas at first.
  2. Then I needed to check into the available WordPress templates, and decided I didn’t want to spent to much on getting one custom made for me. Instead I chose to spend many hours building my own – And I’m very pleased with the initial results.
  3. Creating the basic pages for the site has taken some time, because it’s partly a migration from here, and my old Weebly site, and partly a major update of information and format.
  4. I had (and still have) some interesting challenges with the formatting and indexing of the blog pages. This part of the site is still very much a work in progress.

Please feel free to check out the site, and leave me any notes, feedback, criticisms, navigation problems, etc. in the comments below.

For the short term I’ll be blogging on both sites, with slightly different content going out on the new site. Once I have that site settled in, and all the bugs worked out, I’ll be moving there exclusively.

Here’s the bonus homework. Visit the new site, and make sure you check out a blog post. Scroll to the bottom, and subscribe for email notification of new posts.

Reason #2 – Brain To Book Cyber Convention & Book Expo 2019


(Please note, the image is from the 2018 event, so the dates are wrong).

This year’s Brain to Books Cyber Convention and Book Expo will be running from April 12th through April 14th 2019, and I have agreed to take on a more active role than ever before.

Previously I’ve been a participating author, and then the Genre Manager for the Fantasy events. This in itself has been a lot of work, because it means coordinating blog tours, competitions, giveaways, live discussion panels, and a host of authors.

Well, this year, I’ve done something really crazy, and agreed to take on an overhaul of the event site, and much of the setup work for the event. But, I won’t be alone, because we always have a great team of volunteers t get everything running.

Reason #3 – “Metal Earth” Model Kits

Metal Earth - Cyberman Head

My wife and I have become hooked on the model kits from “Metal Earth”. Sandi loves to buy me the kits, and I keep making them.

They’re a fun challenge, with several levels of difficulty and size.

My wife brought me the Colosseum and the Parthenon for Christmas, and then we added another seven kits about a week ago.

I recently reviewed four of the Doctor Who themed kits, over on my new site. There is also a breakdown of how I found the assembly of the “Cyberman Head” kit (shown completed above).

Reason #4 – Creative Overload

Between all these projects, I’ve been so busy creating things that I actually ran out of material to post here.

But don’t despair, I have started working on a line-up of articles and posts for my new site, and I still have some guest posts to come on here.

Going Forward…

SiteBanner_h500

I’m going to allow the existing posts I have scheduled for other authors go out as planned through February.

After that I’m going to be moving all new posts to http://timothybatesonauthor.com, so please be sure to subscribe for updates. Over the coming weeks, I’ll post more reminders of what’s happening, and when.

Stephen King on “Monsters”

quoteoftheweek-stephenking-monsters

I wrote a quick blog post about my thoughts on this quote. In it, I look at how the ghosts and monsters it references play a part in shaping my own as a writer.

However, you’ll have to go visit my new site to be able to read it…