I LOVE BOOK CLUBS
(and how it relates to my memoir Petal Pusher)
One of the coolest parts about having a book published is that your friends will usually, as an act of charity or obligation, ask their book clubs to read your book and then ask you to visit the book club when they meet to discuss your book. (First of all, I don’t know why they call them book clubs, why can’t we be up front about this, and call them wine clubs?) ANYWAY, I freaking love having book clubs read and discuss my book.
After visiting in person or cyber-visiting, around sixty book clubs since PETAL PUSHER’S release, I love the many ways that my book has been read and interpreted based on the readers’ own life experiences. A woman in my mother’s book club consolingly placed her hand on my mom’s forearm and said, “I don’t know what I’d do if I had a daughter like that.” Instead of crying, I choose to laugh at this remark since my mom has that unconditional love thing going when it comes to her children, and Lord knows, I was not a first daughter for the faint of heart mother!
Once I answer the questions that every book club so far has asked me:
Yes, my sister divorced the guy she married in the book.
My mother thinks that I exaggerate in the book; my siblings tend to see events the same way I did.
My dad loves me though there are parts of my book he does not love.
I changed the names of people I’m no longer in touch with unless they’re considered “public domain.”
My bandmates are okay with the book (there’s a lot I did not include). I sent them both galley proofs of the manuscript before it went to press (as I did with my parents, siblings, and husband), and there were no disputes or up roars – though it’s always important to remind memoir readers that I experienced the events in the book differently than did a lot of the characters.
Then, it’s my turn to ask the book club members what they thought the book was about:
An older woman told me she thought it was about women figuring out how to deal with their bodies.
Someone else thought it was about women and friendship and how “business” can really corrode those friendships.
Another said she thought it was about dealing with disease.
A lot of people think it’s about growing up or following a dream to fruition.
Some folks think it’s about loving music and falling in love.
I think it’s about my relationship with my father.
The cool thing is, there are no right and wrong answers. It’s all about absorption and interpretation, and I love how different we all are.
October 05, 2009
Interview with Laurie Lindeen
Jen: This week we are happy to welcome Laurie Lindeen to Book Talk. Laurie, will you please share a short bio with us?Laurie: I’m a writer living in the Minneapolis area with my husband and son. I have an MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota. I teach literary non-fiction and used to sing and play guitar in the band Zuzu's Petals.
Jen: Tell us about Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story and where it's available.
Laurie: Petal Pusher (Atria ’07) is available wherever books are sold in hardcover and paperback. It’s a coming of age memoir about my “typical” 1970s Midwestern upbringing and my decision to pursue rock stardom in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s – it’s both funny and not funny at all.
Jen: At what age did you discover writing and when were you first published? Tell us your call story.
Laurie: Like most writer’s, I had an amazing teacher – Mrs. Devoe was my fifth grade teacher, the year we made and wrote fictional diaries about moving out west in a covered wagon. Mrs. Devoe gushed about OUR TRIP WEST (a Laura Ingalls Wilder rip-off), but a writer was born. I also had a handful of very intense pen pals while growing up and we exchanged long, detailed letters on a weekly basis all the way through college. As a young adult with a short attention span, I turned my writing energy into songwriting. I’ve written a lot of essays, themorningnews.org first published one around 2004 called “It’s Not Phair.” Petal Pusher is my first published book.
Jen: Are there any other writers, published or not, in your family?
Laurie: I have an aunt who’s a poet, and my dad is handy with a tear-jerking speech at weddings and funerals.
Jen: Describe your writing in three words.
Laurie: What I Do
Jen: How do you approach your writing? Do you plot or go with the flow?
Laurie: With memoir, the writer has to give him/herself permission to write whatever comes up because few of us have the luxury of having just one compelling story that can sustain itself. I sort of let the writing do the leading – hunting and gathering is my least favorite part of the process – and I deny myself editing rights until I’ve compiled a certain amount of words.
Jen: What’s the most challenging aspect of writing? Easiest?
Laurie: I love to edit and loathe waiting around while stuck in a manuscript -- which is why I try to have at least two going at all times.
Jen: What’s the most rewarding aspect?
Laurie: I love connecting the dots, the part late in the manuscript when key subplots and governing images rise to the top and crack the whole thing open.
Jen: What five authors or people, from the past or present, have been important to you as an author? What question or comment have you always wanted to say to them?
Laurie: Patricia Hampl and Madelon Sprengnether were my mentors in grad. school; hopefully I’ll never stop thanking them for their patient guidance and their trust and confidence in my abilities. Both extraordinary women knowingly nudged me along and celebrated along with me when discoveries or breakthroughs emerged in my writing. My colleagues in grad. school awed and inspired me to shoot for their level of excellence – I felt like a street punk in a crowd of geniuses, and they challenged me. My writing group and all of the book clubs I’ve visited keep me going today.
Jen: If Petal Pusher was made into a movie, which actors would you choose to play the main characters?
Laurie: We’re hoping Petal Pusher will be made into a movie because we’ve saved all of our old dresses for just such an occasion…Zuzu's Petals, my old band, was comprised of three women; I can envision Drew Barrymore, Zooey Dachenel, and Ann Hathaway -- but there a lot of terrific women actors out there who could hold down these three strong roles and have a lot of fun while doing it.
Jen: What did you do to celebrate the release of the book?
Laurie: I was fortunate enough to participate in a local event called FAKEBOOK; Minnesota Public Radio’s on-air personality extraordinaire, Mary Lucia, hosts this event at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. FAKEBOOK usually connects a book/author/ or artist to music. For my FAKEBOOK event, Mary allowed me to design a variety show of sorts. She and I would discuss a segment from the book, and a corresponding troubadour or group would walk on to the stage and provide the sound track to whatever we’d just discussed. Zuzu's Petals reunited for two songs, and I got to share the stage and the evening with family and friends. It was once in a lifetime – my wedding night of sorts, and soooooo fun.
Jen: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What are you reading now?
Laurie: Right now I’m reading The Importance of Music to Girls by Lavinia Greenlaw; it’s fantastic. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Salinger, and Harper Lee started the fire when I was in high school, but I read anything and everything. People think I say this for effect, but I think Judy Blume is one of the greatest living writers of dialogue we have today. I love teaching the essay form; David Sedaris, Chuck Klosterman and Sarah Vowell are always fun to draw from!
Jen: What's next for you?
Laurie: I may be ditching my novel for the time being and focusing on an essay collection called IT’S A WONDER WE ALL SURVIVED about the perils of growing up in the age of non-supervision. It’s sort of a response to today’s hyper/manic parenting – from which I am not immune.
Jen: Where can you be found on the web?
Laurie: www.laurielindeen.com, my blog is titled THAT WHICH WON’T KILL YOU, JUST MAKES YOU TIRED (but the “trash the writer from the safety of your own home” aspect of blogging never ceases to bum me out), facebook, myspace, youtube
Jen: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Laurie: How come you’re so awesome? (Thanks Jen)
Jen: Thank you Laurie for being a guest with us this week. Readers, Laurie is giving away two copies of Petal Pusher to random commenters this week. All you have to do is leave a comment or question for Laurie... and then you must either leave an email address in your comment or send a message to contests.bookblog@gmail.com to complete your entry. The contest will end on Sunday, October 11.
Excerpt from "Petal Pusher" by Laurie Lindeen
From Chapter 6 in Petal Pusher, “My Musical Resume, or I Sang Alto in the Choir and Other Confessions” * in this chapter, I attempt to justify to the reader my need to start and play in an all-women rock band in the late 1980s instead of finding a “real job.”
How does a music lover transform into an actual music maker? What are my qualifications? I can earmark a series of revelatory moments in my life that explain my passion and will aid in (my new band that lacks experience) Zuzu’s Petals progress. God, I hope so:
This is a snapshot, an old faded Kodak color print that I’ve carried around from apartment to apartment. It’s a picture of me in kindergarten in Peoria, Illinois, sitting on my bed with the white wrought-iron headboard. In it I’m wearing a flowered quilted robe that matches my bedspread. My hair is fashioned into a pixie just like the English supermodel Twiggy’s. I’m clutching my favorite record, More of the Monkees. I listened to that album incessantly, thinking that their lead singer Davy Jones might “forget that girl” and find the kindergarten siren of his dreams. I look like a five-year-old mod with dark circles under her eyes.
In first grade we moved away from extended family in central Illinois to Madison, Wisconsin. The Larson twins were my first Madison friends. They were dominatrixes in cat-eye glasses; I gave in to their orders without hesitation because there were two of them, and being the oldest child in my family, I had never been bossed around. At first their demands were wholesome, gymnastics and figure skating that I joined with them; they were gifted natural athletes and I always made them look good. Things evolved as their tastes matured; I was forced to steal my mom’s cigarettes and make prank phone calls for their smoking and listening pleasure. The Larson twins had a rarely speaking older brother two years our senior who had an electric guitar and amp in his bedroom. The summer before middle school, their brother joined a band called Lucifer, and they played this incredibly crotch-tingling song that ended with the words “wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.” I was moved beyond words.
When I was in fourth grade my parents hired a babysitter to take me to (the 1970’s teen heartthrob) David Cassidy’s concert. Once my eyes and imagination feasted on (ABC’s Friday night TV show) The Partridge Family, David replaced my Davy Jones, Bobby Sherman, and Donny Osmond posters on my closet door quickly and completely. When I got to his rescheduled concert (he canceled for emergency gall bladder surgery, and I had to wait half a year), ten thousand other girls knew all of the words to his songs. And even more threatening, some of the girls were teenagers with breasts. David didn’t belong to me at all. I felt betrayed. Bitter. All of that energy invested into nothing. I knew it wasn’t going to be a private concert in my logical mind, but I guess I thought I’d meet him and he’d somehow know me. That’s the deal with pop stars; you’re expected to share them with the masses. I hated the idea.
…
…I discovered Elvis in sixth grade. The CBS Friday night late movie, when not airing scary movies like Village of the Damned, showed Elvis movies. My favorites were Girl Happy and Blue Hawaii, movies where Elvis was young and unpuffy and his female costars (Shelley Fabares) weren’t threatening with their sexual energy (Nancy Sinatra, Ann-Margret). There were a lot of beach parties with spontaneous dance numbers and vacationing unescorted teens ready for a song at the drop of a beach ball, and life was simple. I ordered a Best of Elvis two-record set off the TV without parental consent. The albums arrived COD, and my mom paid for them, but I got in trouble – probably grounded. I didn’t care; I could listen to my Elvis records in my room uninterrupted.
I sang in the choir every day for four years in high school. When you practice something every day for an hour, you can’t help but learn and improve. To be allowed to open my mouth wide and let out a song every morning probably spared me from what so many call the Hell of High School. I had a daily release, a vocal venting, a melodic scream therapy. At the end of second period I felt cleansed.
I was a second alto, the lowest female voice in the concert choir and the a cappella choir. I stood in the front row, left of center. At Lafollette High School, the choirs were great. They were invited to Europe to sing in cathedrals. We sang madrigals, pop songs, musical scores, and classical choral arrangements, everything from the Beatles to Bach. In madrigal we sang a fifteenth-century ditty with the lyrics, “I sit, I sigh, I weep, I faint, I die: In deadly pain and endless misery.” We learned that when you express sadness and hopelessness in a song, it is released….
How does a music lover transform into an actual music maker? What are my qualifications? I can earmark a series of revelatory moments in my life that explain my passion and will aid in (my new band that lacks experience) Zuzu’s Petals progress. God, I hope so:
This is a snapshot, an old faded Kodak color print that I’ve carried around from apartment to apartment. It’s a picture of me in kindergarten in Peoria, Illinois, sitting on my bed with the white wrought-iron headboard. In it I’m wearing a flowered quilted robe that matches my bedspread. My hair is fashioned into a pixie just like the English supermodel Twiggy’s. I’m clutching my favorite record, More of the Monkees. I listened to that album incessantly, thinking that their lead singer Davy Jones might “forget that girl” and find the kindergarten siren of his dreams. I look like a five-year-old mod with dark circles under her eyes.
In first grade we moved away from extended family in central Illinois to Madison, Wisconsin. The Larson twins were my first Madison friends. They were dominatrixes in cat-eye glasses; I gave in to their orders without hesitation because there were two of them, and being the oldest child in my family, I had never been bossed around. At first their demands were wholesome, gymnastics and figure skating that I joined with them; they were gifted natural athletes and I always made them look good. Things evolved as their tastes matured; I was forced to steal my mom’s cigarettes and make prank phone calls for their smoking and listening pleasure. The Larson twins had a rarely speaking older brother two years our senior who had an electric guitar and amp in his bedroom. The summer before middle school, their brother joined a band called Lucifer, and they played this incredibly crotch-tingling song that ended with the words “wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.” I was moved beyond words.
When I was in fourth grade my parents hired a babysitter to take me to (the 1970’s teen heartthrob) David Cassidy’s concert. Once my eyes and imagination feasted on (ABC’s Friday night TV show) The Partridge Family, David replaced my Davy Jones, Bobby Sherman, and Donny Osmond posters on my closet door quickly and completely. When I got to his rescheduled concert (he canceled for emergency gall bladder surgery, and I had to wait half a year), ten thousand other girls knew all of the words to his songs. And even more threatening, some of the girls were teenagers with breasts. David didn’t belong to me at all. I felt betrayed. Bitter. All of that energy invested into nothing. I knew it wasn’t going to be a private concert in my logical mind, but I guess I thought I’d meet him and he’d somehow know me. That’s the deal with pop stars; you’re expected to share them with the masses. I hated the idea.
…
…I discovered Elvis in sixth grade. The CBS Friday night late movie, when not airing scary movies like Village of the Damned, showed Elvis movies. My favorites were Girl Happy and Blue Hawaii, movies where Elvis was young and unpuffy and his female costars (Shelley Fabares) weren’t threatening with their sexual energy (Nancy Sinatra, Ann-Margret). There were a lot of beach parties with spontaneous dance numbers and vacationing unescorted teens ready for a song at the drop of a beach ball, and life was simple. I ordered a Best of Elvis two-record set off the TV without parental consent. The albums arrived COD, and my mom paid for them, but I got in trouble – probably grounded. I didn’t care; I could listen to my Elvis records in my room uninterrupted.
I sang in the choir every day for four years in high school. When you practice something every day for an hour, you can’t help but learn and improve. To be allowed to open my mouth wide and let out a song every morning probably spared me from what so many call the Hell of High School. I had a daily release, a vocal venting, a melodic scream therapy. At the end of second period I felt cleansed.
I was a second alto, the lowest female voice in the concert choir and the a cappella choir. I stood in the front row, left of center. At Lafollette High School, the choirs were great. They were invited to Europe to sing in cathedrals. We sang madrigals, pop songs, musical scores, and classical choral arrangements, everything from the Beatles to Bach. In madrigal we sang a fifteenth-century ditty with the lyrics, “I sit, I sigh, I weep, I faint, I die: In deadly pain and endless misery.” We learned that when you express sadness and hopelessness in a song, it is released….
October 04, 2009
Contest winners
Congrats to the following contest winners:
Stacey, Victoria and lauravrsd, who won prizes during Deborah MacGillvray's promo.
Kimberly, who is the new owner of a copy of Nora's Soul by Margay Leah Justice.
Terry and MariElle who won prizes from Rachel Kenley's contest.
We still have a couple contests running and another one will start tomorrow. Check out the lefthand side bar for links to all current contests.
Stacey, Victoria and lauravrsd, who won prizes during Deborah MacGillvray's promo.
Kimberly, who is the new owner of a copy of Nora's Soul by Margay Leah Justice.
Terry and MariElle who won prizes from Rachel Kenley's contest.
We still have a couple contests running and another one will start tomorrow. Check out the lefthand side bar for links to all current contests.
New "Name-the-Blog" Contest
On February 1, 2010, Book Talk with J & J is changing blog formats. After much discussion, we've decided to narrow the focus of the blog to featuring romance novels. This will include erotica and chick-lit (women's fiction) books. We will have the occasional non-romance promo (no more than 2 a month) for a little variety.We've decided the direction of the blog, but now we need your help in renaming our site. Here are a couple guidelines:
1. The name can not already be in use. So, before offering your suggestion, Google the name.
2. It has to reflect the new theme of the blog -- books of the romance genre.
3. We'd prefer if the name was short, but it's not a requirement.
4. Post your suggestion here or email it to contests.bookblog@gmail.com. If you post here, please leave a way to contact you if you're chosen as the winner.
To offer up some incentive, I'm giving away 2 of the following books and acknowledgment on the blog to the winner:
- an ARC (advanced reading copy) of Angel Lane by Sheila Roberts
- Night's Kiss by Amanda Ashley
- Nerds Like It Hot by Vicki Lewis Thompson
- The Perfect Match by Kimberly Cates
- What a Lady Wants by Victoria Alexander
- The Pirate Lord by Sabrina Jeffries
(an alternate romance novel off my personal bookshelf can be substituted for any of the titles)
The contest will end on Sunday, October 18 with the winner being announced by Sunday, October 25.
October 03, 2009
Interview with Cate Masters
Jen: Readers, help me welcome Cate Masters to Book Talk this weekend. Cate, will you please share a short bio with us?Cate: Cate Masters’ novels, novellas, short stories and flash fiction appear at epublishers The Wild Rose Press, Eternal Press, Wild Child Publishing/ Freya’s Bower and Shadowfire Press. Her flash and short stories appear at such web zines as Cezanne’s Carrot, The Battered Suitcase, A Long Story Short, Dark Sky Magazine, and The Harrow. The proud mom of three adult children, she currently lives in central Pennsylvania with her husband, Benji the dog and their dictator-like cat, Chairman Maiow.
Jen: Tell us about Wilderness Girl and where it's available.
Cate: As my first erotic romance, Wilderness Girl’s my “walk on the wild side.” I describe it as an erotic romance because the relationship’s actually very sweet, and very much the center of the story. Freya’s Bower released it last month: http://www.freyasbower.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=220
Here’s a blurb:
When Dana’s boyfriend drags her to Wilderness Outfitters on a Friday night, she wonders why so many people find The Great Outdoors so great. Until she meets Hank— six feet of tanned muscle, wrapped in a faded black T-shirt and jean shorts loose on his hips. Eyes like wildfire burning in a sun-kissed face. Grinning like a fox.
After her boyfriend dumps her in the parking lot, humiliation becomes gratitude when Hank invites her to his favorite camping spot, and she seizes on the impulse to change her boring life.
A web programmer, Dana’s outdoor experience had consisted of walks to and from her car. Alone on a mountaintop, as she struggles to set up camp, a five-foot snake doesn’t seem a welcome sight: until Hank comes to her rescue.
He initiates her to the pleasures of hiking, campfires, and Harley rides down winding roads. Making love beneath a starry sky, Hank awakens a primal Wilderness Girl in Dana she never knew existed.
Their weekend feels like a fantasy, which proves all too true on their return to civilization. As the daily grind eats into their time together, their romance begins to come untethered.
Will her high-tech lifestyle clash with his low-tech one? Can she manage to recapture the passion of the wilderness in their city existence?
Jen: At what age did you discover writing and when were you first published? Tell us your call story.
Cate: It’s been a long road! I’d written all my life for myself, then after I’d written a few mainstream novels, finally began to submit to agents and NY publishers. I had some interest, but no one would commit. A few of my short stories found homes with lit zines and web zines. Then epresses launched in a big way, and I did a submission blitz. That’s why I had eleven stories, from shorts to novellas to novels, accepted with five epublishers this (very busy) year. It’s been great, and I hope to continue, though not at such a manic pace!
Jen: How does your family feel about your career?
Cate: My husband is my greatest cheerleader. He keeps telling me to quit my day job to write full time. My two daughters didn’t seem to believe I’d been published until I received the print versions of two of my releases, One Soul For Sale and Picture This. Then they became excited and asked for copies!
Jen: Describe your writing in three words.
Cate: I’ll use descriptions from reviews of three of my stories: compelling, well-written, awe-inspiring.
Jen: Do you have a writing routine?
Cate: I treat writing as a job. My primary job, actually, although I do work a day job—my heart’s always with my writing! As soon as I come home, I’m on the computer until late at night either writing, promoting, doing edits or revisions. Weekends, I spend as much time as possible on writing or writing-related activities. My domestic duties have taken a nosedive, to say the least! Thank goodness my family’s understanding.
Jen: What’s the most challenging aspect of writing? Easiest?
Cate: Time management’s a huge challenge. Marketing takes a great deal of organization and I’m always looking for ways to streamline so it doesn’t take too much time away from writing.
The easiest is coming up with ideas – I have a backlog, which I’m thankful for!
Jen: What’s the most rewarding aspect?
Cate: I can think of two, actually – when I’m so immersed in writing a story, I’m “in the flow” and typing as fast as I can to keep up with the stream. Equally rewarding is when I hear from readers or reviewers that my stories have touched them emotionally and made them want to read more.
Jen: Do you feel as if the characters live with you as you write? Do they haunt your dreams?
Cate: Not my dreams, but I have extremely vivid daydreams! The scenes play like videos in my head. For the historical novel Angels, Sinners and Madmen, the story actually flashed through my brain while we were in Key West, Florida, at a maritime museum. I spent the next two days in the library copying old letters and documents, and visiting other historical sites. I came home with five books about the area and the wreckers, which completely fascinated me.
Jen: Is there a genre that you’d like to write?
Cate: I’ve experimented quite a bit this year, and expanded to contemporary, fantasy/dark fantasy, historical and erotic romance. I’d love to try an urban fantasy, and scifi.
Jen: If Wilderness Girl was made into a movie, which actors would you choose to play the hero and heroine?
Cate: Brad Pitt (from his Legends of the Fall days, with slightly shorter hair) starred in the movie version in my head, with a young Holly Hunter playing the heroine.
Jen: Do you do anything special to celebrate a sale, new contract, or release?
Cate: My husband kept promising to bring me out to celebrate my releases this year, but life kept throwing up roadblocks, as it will sometimes. So when I read in our local paper that the Pretenders would play a concert nearby, I bought tickets. They put on a fantastic show! Well worth the wait.
Jen: What’s the most interesting comment you have received about your books?
Cate: As I’m for the most part a pantser, I was pleasantly surprised when reviewers said: “Cate Masters does an exceptional job working out her plot.” And another said: “Cate Masters took this plot and worked it into a great work.” I put together an outline as I go, so I’m not totally wandering through the story, but for the most part, the characters lead me in the direction they want to go!
Jen: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What are you reading now?
Cate: Of the national bestsellers, I love TC Boyle, Neil Gaiman, Tom Robbins, Richard Russo, Margaret Atwood, Michael Chabon, Emma Bull, Carrie Vaughn… so many others. Lately I’ve been trying to catch up with fellow Wild Rose Press, Eternal Press, and Wild Child/Freya’s authors, though time’s always a challenge! As time permits, I’m reading Emma Lai’s His Ship, Her Fantasy, Kiss Carson’s Illusions of Destiny, Susan Macatee’s Erin’s Rebel, Beth Trissel’s Through the Fire, and T.M. Crone’s The Yellow Stone.
Jen: What's next for you?
Cate: Shadowfire Press just released my Halloween-themed short dark (but fun) fantasy, Reflections. Freya’s Bower will release my historical novel Angels, Sinners and Madmen, set in 1850s Key West, Florida. The Wild Rose Press should release Design for Life in early 2010.
I also have two mainstream novels circulating with publishers, a contemporary novel in final critique, am revising a historical novella, and have about ten other stories in various stages.
Jen: Where can you be found on the web?
Cate: I’m online at www.catemasters.com, www.catemasters.blogspot.com or people can follow me on Facebook or on Twitter. I also blog with a group of central PA authors at thesusquehannawriters.blogspot.com and once a month at the site Popculturedivas - chock full of amazing women! Check us out!
Jen: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Cate: What draws you to a story – a good review? The cover? Word of mouth? The blurb? The trailer? Something else?
Thanks again for having me here today! I’d love to give away a PDF copy of Wilderness Girl to a commenter – I’ll select a winner at random on Monday, Oct. 5 and announce it here. Be sure to include your email address in your comment. Thanks!
October 02, 2009
Interview with C.Q. Scafidi
Jen: Today we welcome C.Q. Scafidi to Book Talk. C.Q., will you please share a short bio with us?C.Q.: C Q Scafidi currently resides in the New Orleans area. His lifelong pursuits in international business, transportation, journalism and communications have provided him with a wealth of information to craft this novel, where arcane ritual enables global domination for a select few.
Jen: Tell us about Time Couriers and where it's available.
C.Q.: Time Couriers is a suspense thriller available online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and dozens of online booksellers.
A short synopsis of my novel...New Orleans, June 1997. The city's dying of heat and dying on its feet as the port business shrinks and the powers that be carve up a vanishing pie. Steve Gorman, an executive for the APEX courier corporation, sees his colleague Andrew Sinclair disappear, carrying a high-value package containing a stone with miraculous powers... Steve gets the blame, quits APEX and loses his place on the city's Trade Council. Suddenly he's a "non-person", but with the aid of glamorous Creole journalist Monique Chauvin and fey historian Louis Duplantier, he unearths an astonishing conspiracy involving time travel, the Templars, Freemasonry and Voodoo. If this "Brotherhood" can forecast events like Hurricane Katrina, millions of dollars could be saved-for the elect few, of course. C Q Scafidi's murder story is in fact a stunning expos‚ of globalism, greed and ritualized gangsterism. His background in journalism and business at the World Trade Center give him a unique insight into the workings of mankind... and how human nature can be corrupted overnight by the allure of power. Read Time Couriers and you'll see world events in an entirely different light.
Jen: At what age did you discover writing and when were you first published? Tell us your call story.
C.Q.: I was awarded a first-place prize from the American Legion for an essay I wrote in the 3rd grade entitled, What Freedom Means to Me. I sailed through my English classes while I struggled with Mathematics. I was first published as a publicist for Oil Mop, Inc. during the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill when, my press release regarding the cleanup operations was picked up by the Associated Press. I have served as a journalist for several publications and editor for an official NFL Weekly Publication, Gridweek. I made the leap to fiction writing in 2004. I had to place my writing career on hold during Hurricane Katrina for nine months. I then had to find a way to work the biggest news story concerning New Orleans into my story about New Orleans...it made a very nice fit.
Jen: Are there any other writers, published or not, in your family?
C.Q.: My mother is an unpublished writer and bibliophile who can quote obscure Oscar Wilde references.
Jen: How does your family feel about your career?
C.Q.: They are extremely supportive and provide much-needed constructive criticism, when others are not available.
Jen: Describe your writing in three words.
C.Q.: Historical, Suspenseful, Conspiratorial
Jen: How do you approach your writing? Do you plot or go with the flow?
C.Q.: I am extremely organized about my approach. I write in three acts. I typically use Third-Person Omniscient (God s view according to Alfred Hitchcock). I begin with plot concepts, characterizations (primary, secondary, and tertiary), a synopsis, and then an outline. After completing the outline I flesh it out, making each line item into a paragraph. These are the bases for my chapters.
I fully develop plot complications, conflict, and theme. I ensure every question posed in the first chapters are answered by the final line of the novel. I will also use a flow chart for my characters showing links and indicating characterizations.
Jen: What kind of research did you do for this book?
C.Q.: I spent four years conducting research for this novel. The City of New Orleans has a vast array of resources for conducting research on the 300-year shadow history of the city. I actually included a chapter where I describe my research at the Historic New Orleans Collection, through the actions of the main character.
Jen: Do you feel as if the characters live with you as you write? Do they haunt your dreams?
C.Q.: Absolultely. I feel as if I am taking dictation rather than writing when I get in the zone.
Jen: If Time Couriers was made into a movie, which actors would you choose to play the hero and heroine?
C.Q.: Hero: Steve Gorman- Shia LeBeouf; Heroine: Monique Chauvin - Marion Cotillard
Jen: What s the most interesting comment you have received about your books?
C.Q.: The story stuck in my mind for days after finishing it.
Jen: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What are you reading now?
C.Q.: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte...the finest example of the novel as an artform.
Currently reading The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
I enjoy the female-penned classics. I also love historical fiction, in the vein of Dan Brown. I realize that these are opposite ends of the literary spectrum, but that's what I like.
Jen: What's next for you?
C.Q.: Osir IS RA EL ohim, a narrative that delineates the direct connection between Abrahamic religions (Judeo-Christianity and Islam) with Egyptian Pharonic Religion. Like Time Couriers it will be a fictional narrative set against the backdrop of Western Religious dogmatic evolution.
Jen: Where can you be found on the web?
C.Q.: Time Couriers was the recent recipient of two awards, Amazonclicks Authors Choice Award for March of 2009... http://amazonclicks.com/Authorschoice.html. Also, Time Couriers was the recipient of The NEW Covey Coverart Award for Most Eye-Catching Cover for June of 2009.
http://thenewcoveycoverawards.blogspot.com/2009/06/june2009newcoveycoveraward.html
I am also a featured writer on the Red Room, Authors Den, and have links on various social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and The Meadows. There are several other purchasing sites available by searching Title and Author together in your search criteria.
Jen: Is there anything you d like to ask our readers?
C.Q.: If you have the time, would you kindly befriend me on Facebook, Christopher Quintin Scafidi?
Jen: Thank you C.Q. for being a guest with us today. Readers, we have a signed copy of Time Couriers up for grabs. To enter the drawing, leave a comment for C.Q. To finish your entry, either leave your email address in your comment or send a message to contests.bookblog@gmail.com. The contest will end on Thursday, October 8.
Excerpt from "Time Couriers" by C.Q. Scafidi
“Louis talked about the Freemasons’ ‘Rule of Three’, symbolizing strength, beauty, and wisdom. Of course, there’s got to be a connection. According to Louis, they designed and built this to more than reflect their Masonic beliefs, so I think we can be certain the three steeples or spires are a connection, especially since the center spire is the most prominent, the one symbolizing
wisdom, just like on the tracing board. I remember reading how the Knights Templar were accused of worshiping Sophia, the goddess of wisdom. It would make sense. Let’s go inside and see if there are any other connections here. Besides, don’t you have a relative or something buried under the church—Monsieur Chauvin?”
“I told you that was what my nannan said. We’ll see when we get inside, if she was stretching the truth.”
As the two walked into the vestibule of the Cathedral, they looked at each other with amazement the floor of the Cathedral was a black and white checkerboard pattern, just like in the
Masonic tracing board. Steve had already read that the checkered pattern is explained in the Craft ritual as the diversity of objects which decorate and ornament creation, the animate and inanimate parts thereof. It was there just as Louis said it would be. The checkerboard was used by the Knights Templar in their banking activities to issue checks, since that is essentially what was issued to travelers to the Holy Land under the protection of the Knights Templar during the crusade period. Travelers could deposit in their own country and retrieve their funds at a Templar stronghold in the Holy Land modern banking. Steve was getting excited at all of the correlations he was finding, but the biggest revelation was yet to come.
Steve pulled out his camera and began taking pictures of the floor, of all things. Monique saw some other tourists looking at him and she poked him in the shoulder. They moved passed the
gift shop where Steve had spoken to the old woman on the day Andrew disappeared. He wondered where she was. The shop was closed for fifteen minutes for some reason, so they just passed it by and went past the adjoining doors which led to winding staircases, up to the choir loft. Winding staircases another item on the Masonic tracing board, Steve thought to himself.
They entered the church on the left, and after genuflecting and crossing themselves with holy water, Steve moved immediately to the left side aisle that led past a row of large columns and
toward the spectacular stained glass lining the wall all the way to the baptistery at the other end of the church. The church was in typical cathedral style, in the shape of a large cross, with the altar at the far end of the church aglow in frescoes, gilded molding and extraordinary statuary.
Steve’s attention was caught by the very first stained glass window he laid eyes on. From his research he had learned that the stained glass images and frescoes were intended to represent key moments in the life of Louis IV, Saint Louis, King of France, who reigned in the middle of the thirteenth century and was the only member of the French monarchy to achieve sainthood.
It was the second window on the left side that had caught Steve’s eye. It clearly depicted stonemasons in the act of constructing a medieval cathedral or church, with a monk or knight
showing a member of the monarchy, presumably Louis IV, the plans for a church. What was most shocking to Steve was the prominence of a stonemason’s trowel in the stained glass. This
window was not in homage to a saint, but more a tribute to the stonemasons who built the very church they were standing in, complete with its three spires and its checkerboard floor.
Steve stood there baffled that the oldest Catholic cathedral in the United States could actually be a Masonic temple. These images, and more importantly the groups they honored, were
outlawed since the Papal Bull In Eminenti Apostolatus Specula issued 1739 by Pope Clement XII. This was reinforced as recently as 1993 under Pope John Paul II, in the official papal document,
Quaesitum est. This document officially states, “The faithful, who enroll in Masonic Associations, are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.”
wisdom, just like on the tracing board. I remember reading how the Knights Templar were accused of worshiping Sophia, the goddess of wisdom. It would make sense. Let’s go inside and see if there are any other connections here. Besides, don’t you have a relative or something buried under the church—Monsieur Chauvin?”
“I told you that was what my nannan said. We’ll see when we get inside, if she was stretching the truth.”
As the two walked into the vestibule of the Cathedral, they looked at each other with amazement the floor of the Cathedral was a black and white checkerboard pattern, just like in the
Masonic tracing board. Steve had already read that the checkered pattern is explained in the Craft ritual as the diversity of objects which decorate and ornament creation, the animate and inanimate parts thereof. It was there just as Louis said it would be. The checkerboard was used by the Knights Templar in their banking activities to issue checks, since that is essentially what was issued to travelers to the Holy Land under the protection of the Knights Templar during the crusade period. Travelers could deposit in their own country and retrieve their funds at a Templar stronghold in the Holy Land modern banking. Steve was getting excited at all of the correlations he was finding, but the biggest revelation was yet to come.
Steve pulled out his camera and began taking pictures of the floor, of all things. Monique saw some other tourists looking at him and she poked him in the shoulder. They moved passed the
gift shop where Steve had spoken to the old woman on the day Andrew disappeared. He wondered where she was. The shop was closed for fifteen minutes for some reason, so they just passed it by and went past the adjoining doors which led to winding staircases, up to the choir loft. Winding staircases another item on the Masonic tracing board, Steve thought to himself.
They entered the church on the left, and after genuflecting and crossing themselves with holy water, Steve moved immediately to the left side aisle that led past a row of large columns and
toward the spectacular stained glass lining the wall all the way to the baptistery at the other end of the church. The church was in typical cathedral style, in the shape of a large cross, with the altar at the far end of the church aglow in frescoes, gilded molding and extraordinary statuary.
Steve’s attention was caught by the very first stained glass window he laid eyes on. From his research he had learned that the stained glass images and frescoes were intended to represent key moments in the life of Louis IV, Saint Louis, King of France, who reigned in the middle of the thirteenth century and was the only member of the French monarchy to achieve sainthood.
It was the second window on the left side that had caught Steve’s eye. It clearly depicted stonemasons in the act of constructing a medieval cathedral or church, with a monk or knight
showing a member of the monarchy, presumably Louis IV, the plans for a church. What was most shocking to Steve was the prominence of a stonemason’s trowel in the stained glass. This
window was not in homage to a saint, but more a tribute to the stonemasons who built the very church they were standing in, complete with its three spires and its checkerboard floor.
Steve stood there baffled that the oldest Catholic cathedral in the United States could actually be a Masonic temple. These images, and more importantly the groups they honored, were
outlawed since the Papal Bull In Eminenti Apostolatus Specula issued 1739 by Pope Clement XII. This was reinforced as recently as 1993 under Pope John Paul II, in the official papal document,
Quaesitum est. This document officially states, “The faithful, who enroll in Masonic Associations, are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.”
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