12 Day Reader’s Event SHAMROCKS-N-SIRENS Welcomes Featured Author Carolyn Arnold

The very first Author to be interviewed on the

Shamrocks-N-Sirens 12 day Reader’s Event

is none other than the talented Author

Carolyn Arnold herself.

Carolyn Arnold is the author of several novels in various genres. Her mystery novels ‘Ties That Bind’ and ‘Justified’ have reached best seller status on Amazon United States for Kindle. Her FBI thriller Eleven released November 2011 made it on The Miami Books Examiner’s ‘Top 12 Fiction Books of 2011’ list.
She was born in 1976 in a rural town of Ontario, Canada. She currently lives with her husband, and two beagles in a city near the well-known Canadian center Toronto.
Today, Carolyn discusses her book, ‘ELEVEN’.

What is the main premise of this book?

Eleven Rooms. Ten Bodies. One Empty Grave.
Brandon Fisher never expected this when he signed up as a Special Agent for the FBI. Working in the shadow of Supervisory Special Agent Jack Harper of the Behavioral Analysis Unit his career seemed set. But when the team is called to a small rural town where the remains of ten victims are found in an underground bunker, buried in an unusual way, Brandon knows he’ll never return to his normal life.
With one empty grave, and the case touching close to home, he fears he’s become the target of a psychotic serial killer who wants to make him number eleven. Only thing is, everything Brandon thinks he knows is far from the truth.

Who’s your favorite character in it?

It is hard to pick.  Brandon is eager to please his new boss Special Agent Jack Harper.  He’s strong but possesses vulnerabilities – he wants to prove himself valuable to his team, and stand out.  He has fears, such as claustrophobia, which make him human.  He has a wife he loves, but from whom the years and career decisions have torn him from.

Jack Harper can be gruff around the edges.  He’s tough on his team, but it’s only because he wants to make them the best at their job.  He knows what they’re capable of even if they don’t.  And even though he can come across uncaring and stern at times, he would die for his team.  He’s almost like your grumpy grandfather.  You can be upset with him at times, but you can’t help but love him. What projects are you currently working on?

Currently, I’m writing the fourth in the Madison Knight series and I’m about to start edit rounds on the third in the series to get ready to send to an editor.

What one word describes how you feel when you write?

Liberated.

Do you ever write in your PJs?

All the time! Is there another way?

Who designed this cover? My husband did actually.  He’s a graphic designer by trade.  He took the concept of my book and made it visual.  He also offers this service to other indie and self-published authors.  For more information and how to contact him, click here.  Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?

I prefer to do my writing in the morning before the day job, and on weekends.  There’s no limitation on weekends and I just let the words flow, and the keys fly.

My office is a nightmare…it’s one of those rooms you toss stuff in and close the door LOL  So I do most of my writing at the dining table.  There are a lot of windows in the room so it’s nice and bright.

Your thoughts on receiving book reviews – the good and the bad – Oh, book reviews.  I think the author has to remember reviews are the expressed opinion of one individual.  A bad review doesn’t mean you’re a bad author just as a great review doesn’t mean you’re the next best thing.

I’ve found in life there’s always a balance – a good day, a bad day, a good review, a bad review.

Of course, I would be remiss not to say I love it when I hear from a reader who loved a book of mine!  It makes my day.  And on the flipside a review which isn’t as glowing, can bring me down.  But an author has to stop focusing on the reviews and focus on what they love to do – write.  Write for themselves and write for those who love their work.

Think of this way too: you don’t love every book you read so you can’t expect everyone will love yours.  If you can accept this, you’ll have a realistic view on reviews.

What’s your bucket vacation?

Has to be Australia!  I don’t know.  I hate planes and this would be the furthest point for me!

And I don’t want to go to live it up in a resort either (although I definitely loved being pampered so go figure and hate camping).  I want to be put to work on the outback, which is very ironic because I HATE spiders (they have HUGE ones there).  I tell my husband this would be the only place I’d ever consider facing this fear in the face.

Your favorite quote –

Dream big, or don’t bother.

If you were to attend a St. Patrick’s Day Party, which one thing would you never leave behind and why? A Leprechaun – he would bring me luck anywhere I went.   Where can your readers stalk you?

Amazon Author Page

Website

Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Carolyn Arnold Best Selling Author of TIES THAT BIND and JUSTIFIED, Madison Knight Novels
Author of FBI thriller ELEVEN, A Special Recommendation on The Miami Books Examiner’s “Top 12 Fiction Books of 2011”
All available on Amazon for Kindle and in Print

MARCH 5th DAY 1 OF A 12 DAY EVENT!

Which Team Are You On?

Well you asked and they are here. The #TeamTrip shirts are coming! I am so thrilled that you guys  have taken to him the way you have. If you haven’t noticed already he does have a Facebook page so feel free to friend him he does post every once in a while as well as Lincoln and Idalis. We are all hard at work on our next project as well. It appears that the back log over at Black Expression is being filled and they are starting to ship out orders so all of you that have been waiting shouldn’t have to wait much longer! My tour starts on my birthday (of all days) this month 3/24 and I am soooo excited. I am looking forward to getting out and meeting readers face to face. Without you guys there would be no me! Thank you all again!!

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A Single Girl's View From The Giant Peach

Do you see me? Because I see you looking but I don’t think you see me. Don’t get me wrong you see the sparkle in my eye, the sway in my hips when I walk, the way my smile lights up a room. But….do you really see me? I know you see the swell of my breasts and the curve of my behind and the soft pout of my lips. But do you REALLY see me? I’m positive you’ve followed the smooth lines of my thighs down to my calves then up again admiring them and everything in between. But do you see me? The love in my heart that is just waiting to be shared unconditionally, I know you see it.

Because I see you. I see you ignoring my wealth of knowledge in hopes of a good conversation being replaced with an up close glance of my breast. I…

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A Single Girl's View From The Giant Peach

Today one of the greatest voices of our time will be laid to rest in New Jersey. Whitney Houston was and will always be a true diva and icon. If you want to talk about the purest of breeds let’s talk about her lineage for a moment. Her mother: Cissy Houston. Her cousin: Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin as an aunt to guide her there was no doubt this woman’s vocal’s were touch by God and destined for greatness.

Whitney Elizabeth Houston had a voice that was always a few steps above the rest. Notes she appeared to effortlessly hit, many appeared to work hard to nail down. Her range was unmatched by anyone and not only did her fans know it, Whitney knew it. Once her debut album Whitney was released in February of ’85, with every rung she climbed up the ladder her star became brighter and brighter…

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It’s Not Right….But It’s Okay….

On February 11, 2012  we lost one of the GREATEST voices of our time. Whitney Houston passed away in a hotel room in California and the emotion spread across the nation like a tsunami wave.

Whitney was more than just a person, she was an icon. Her talent could, and still can’t, be matched and she will be sorely missed. I personally grew up listening to Whitney and can remember dancing around to I Wanna Dance With Somebody in my living room while watching the video on Video Soul. From that to Where Do Broken Hearts Go, Whitney continued to take over our hearts and the airwaves and people wanted more. I will never forget the first time I heard The Greatest Love Of All that song to this day still gives me chills and a sense of the strength that I know I have inside and I have Whitney to thank for that. Whitney was the woman who gave The Star Spangled Banner a life that will NEVER die no matter how many times it is sang since her rendition. No autotune or a bunch of studio equipment needed only thing Clive required was that she showed up and turned out and that’s exactly what she always did.

Whitney’s tumultuous life has nothing to do with her untimely death. The fact of the matter is she’s gone way too soon. We all watched, sometime in awe, at the things she went through but more importantly we cheered her on when she made her comeback and when she did she pulled NO punches and I wouldn’t expect anything less from her. I pray for her family and especially her daughter. We may have lost one of our favorite singers but she has lost her mother, her rock and I can only imagine the pain she is feeling right now. The same way everyone is rallying around Whitney’s memory I hope they will do the same for her daugher because she’s gonna need it now more than ever. I hate that it has taken her demise for her to be appreciate and uplifted in the manner she is now, perhaps maybe if she had been all along maybe we wouldn’t be here. Maybe I wouldn’t be writing this blog fighting tears as I listen to her music but we will never know.

I titled this blog after one of her songs “It’s Not Right But It’s Okay” because no, it’s not right that she’s gone but it’s okay because she is in God’s arms right now and at peace. She’s in Heaven with Michael Jackson, James Brown, Dorothy Dandridge and Phyllis Hyman. I mean can you imagine the concerts going on right now in the clouds?

Whitney you will be missed and we all pray your soul is at rest but more importantly at peace. You are truly an angel now.

Is The Publisher Killing The Author Or Is It Authorcide?

Let me start this post off by saying this isn’t a cop out or a way to foster an excuse. It’s also not an attack on anyone, reviewer/reader, etc.  It’s simply my way of addressing an issue that I’ve noticed during my short time in the literary world.

Most who know me or of me know that my second mainstream novel recently came out and that I put a LOT of heart and soul into and by that I don’t just mean I sat there and tried hard to come up with a good storyline and some snappy characters. I mean I worked really hard going through it with a fine-tooth comb looking for errors, etc. the same as all authors do when they receive their manuscripts back during the editing process. In most cases the manuscript should go through no less than four editing cycles with the author touching it at least twice and once by hand. Now any author will tell you these hand edits can be and are extremely tedious but very necessary when reviewers and some readers are looking for any little thing wrong to point out about your book just to say “See! See!! There’s a typo!” or “See! That’s not right…” For a lot of authors that’s extremely disheartening, especially when they know they’ve done everything they can to prevent this from happening and have NO control over what gets done once the manuscript is shipped off to the publisher or gets in the hands of editors that they are trusting with their hearts.

So for instance, if I get to the point of red pen edits (hand edits) and I pull them out and Fedex them off to be changed before going to print and the publisher doesn’t change them or doesn’t change all of them, who’s to blame? The author? The Publisher? Fedex? We already know who suffers, the author and their reviews and sometimes their reputations. I can take it one step further and say that the information uploaded to Amazon is even out of the author’s control. *gasp* Yes….we have NO control over the who, what, when or how that happens. If it’s incorrect, riddled with errors all we can do is let someone know and pray they fix it….quickly. But again….the author is charged with the mess and their ability to write is then put in question and they are often belittled because of it. Is that fair? And what if the publisher doesn’t change it? Is it still the author’s fault?

In a nutshell, most traditionally published authors are not the last one’s to touch their manuscripts. When it comes to edits and if they go through them meticulously and send in the red pen edits as instructed 90-95% of errors should be caught and changed by the publisher before going to print. However, if that Fedex package is opened and ignored or only partially applied there really isn’t much we can do. For instance (and this is by NO MEANS AN EXCUSE OR A CRY FOR SYMPATHY) with my last novel I had no LESS than 20+ pages of red pen edits that were Fedex’ed back. I know for a FACT that not all of them were corrected but once a book is printed….what can we do? Run around the U.S. screaming and crying snatching all the books off the shelves? Apologizing relentlessly for something that we had no control over?

My point in writing this post isn’t to have readers and authors march on Washington or burn anyone at the stakes but to give a little bit of understanding of what exactly is going on. Authors don’t have as much control as you may think, especially if they are traditionally published (I can’t speak for self-published authors and won’t attempt to try). We pretty much have to roll with the punches and sometimes those punches land in places we’d rather them not. For me… I take it as a lesson learned and know to guard my next novel with my life and about three outside editors and proofers other than the ones the publisher provides. Problem solved. Right? Hopefully.

I mean, that’s my way of taking responsibility but at some point shouldn’t they also have to do the same or at least it would only be fair if they did.

Video Update: D.L. talks #TeamTrip shirts, Tour and Super Bowl

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Don’t forget tonight at 6pm EST! DL’s interview with Read You Later! She hopes to hear the voices of many of you on the phone. Call in (805) 727-7017.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/readyoulater/2012/01/15/conversations-with-author-dl-sparks

D. L. Sparks heats up the winter with a dose of drama. D. L. Sparks latest book Between Friends is full of suspense drama and romance.

D.L. is talking about her accident and thank you all for the well-wishes!