Guest Post!

Hey everyone, it's Mackenzie.  Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  It's been crazy here.  Jeanie, my social worker, took me out for burgers and shakes.  She always acts like it's some big treat, like I don't know what it means.  Its gotten to where even the smell of burgers makes my head hurts and makes me feel like I"m going to trow up.  Sure enough, it turns out that my foster family has decided that they "can't meet my needs at this time" and that they want to "pursue permanent placement with a child for whom they are a better fit," which is a bunch of buisiness-y words that mean that I had to move in with a new family.  Again.  The new foster family is okay.  I guess.  I dunno.  I spend most of my time in my room , anyway.  School is another story. 

Jeanie was gong on and on about this teacher that I was supposed to have, Mrs. Harker. How she was SO great and SO fun and how everyone loved her.  Then I get here and guess what  Mrs. Harker is gone and instead I have this. .. thing.  Her name is Miss Hunter and she is absolutely, totally horrible.  Everyone knows it.  They know that she yells and trips kids in the hallway and is like a million years old.  But they don't see what I see.  I see things like how pale she is, or how much time she spends sleeping in class.  I see the dirt on her clothes and how she never smiles and she never goes outside.  When they say she's out for blood, they don't know how right they are.  But I do.  I've dealt with them before; they're the reason I'm in this mess to begin with.  I have to do something to stop her before it's too late.  The question is what. 

Want to know more?  Get your copy of "Hunter the Horrible" at http://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Horrible-Hausman-Guild-ebook/dp/B00G4LNFGU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383224357&sr=8-1&keywords=hunter+the+horrible

or 

http://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Horrible-Hausman-Guild-Novel/dp/1492905437/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1383224357&sr=8-1

Help for Houseless Authors

If you spend any amount of time talking to authors, and I have had the joy to talk to a lot, you'll find that the vast majority has a horror story or two about a former publisher.  Small press publishing houses are often run by one or two individuals, and often as a side job to the one that actually pays the bills. Poor health, financial obligations, or even the stress of running a house can cause a publisher to close with little to no warning.  Or, in the worst case scenario, a publisher may just lose interest.  When this happens the writers who were signed to the publisher are left a bit out to sea.  Their titles are no longer able to be purchased or printed or, if they are, they find themselves no longer receiving adequate communication or representation.  All of a sudden, their careers are at a standstill as they find themselves having to reshop their manuscripts and scramble to meet prior obligations.  I was unfortunate enough to have this very experience this fall.  I signed with a publisher in April, and in August was informed that said publisher would no longer be releasing new titles.  In the hubbub that followed, I was forced to seriously reexamine my options.  After a great deal of thought, research, and planning, I have decided to join forces with Marian Allen and T Lee Harris to open a new publishing house that focuses on not only producing books of amazing quality but actively promoting our authors and conducting our business in  such as manner that we ensure, insomuch as we are able, that our house will be here for each other for a very long while.
The house has two imprints: Line By Lion Publications is dedicated to the children's line, and Three Fates Press will be the house for works written for adults.  We currently have a groupfunding campaign to help us with this process, and hope to have Facebook and webpages by the end of this week.  We are so very, very excited to embark on this venture, and hope that you will join us.  Keep your eye out as we update our author and event lists!

 

The New Chef in Town - His Food is Killer

Yesterday a new contender his the literary ring as Tony Jaeger released his Freshman novel, "Chef."  Read more about "Chef," and meet Tony below.

-Q: Tell me a little about your book?    

-A: Chef is about a hometown vigilante who tries to defend his family by removing criminals from the streets. When tragedy strikes, he is faced with losing everything he has sought to protect.

-Q: I'm sure you hear this a lot, but that sounds a bit like Dexter. How is it different?

-A: That is a great question. Dexter is the exploration of a sociopathic character who kills and knows it's wrong on a textbook level, but feels none of the human impact from it. Chef is the exact opposite of this; his is an intensely emotional journey. Don't get me wrong, the comparison to Dexter is completely justified.The serial-killing component is more of a framework to tell the story in, rather than the focal point of it.

-Q:I've always wondered how those of you who write these stories find inspiration. Do you picture people walking around dismembered or something?    
-A: Heh. From the moment I put the first word on the page, I've been a little afraid of how I would answer this one. This actually started out as a story about a cannibal, but as I thought more about it, and really started trying to figure out the kind of story I wanted to tell, the whole eating people thing kind of faded into the background as the real story started to reveal itself to me.

-Q:Who is your favorite character in your story?

-A: I really like Liam, Chef's best friend. I mean, he's kind of a terrible person, he's really selfish, disloyal, and the worst kind of man. For all that, though, when things get really tough, he's there for the people he loves. He's kind of like Pinky, from Pinky and the Brain, and that makes me kind of happy inside.

-Q:Great. You said you're from Salt Lake City, tell me, is floating in the lake as cool as they say?      

-A: People don't really recreate in the Great Salt Lake, and there are two reasons for that. The Lake is a sacred landmark for Utahns, those of us who are Chosen to be warriors are bathed immediately after birth in the Sacred Water, and it makes them nigh invincible in battle. The second reason people don't recreate in the Lake is that it has the most putrid water in the whole world. It's the water equivalent of a Nicholas Cage movie.

-Q:Have you ever thought about importing sharks? Cause that would make it even cooler.    

-A: To be fair, sharks make EVERYTHING cooler. Even tornados.

-Q:When and where can we find your book?        
A: Chef is available on no on Kindle, and I am working on getting it on Nook, Google Play Books, and directly through my site at CreativeWritingTime.com - I will have details of my progress up on that site, as well.

-Q:Can we find you anywhere else?

-A: I have been publishing a fair amount of work on TheIronWriter.com lately. Those are all flash fiction stories. Anywhere else? I dunno, probably down at the bar. Or a card shop, playing Magic.