Talking with the authors from Not in the Stars Anthology....
What kind of research did you do for this book?
If this book was made into a movie, who do you see playing the main characters?
How do you come up with characters names?
What do you do in your free time?
How much of your own personality bleeds into your characters?
If you only had twenty dollars in your pocket, what would you buy?
Of all your heroes that you’ve written, is there one that you love above all?
Is there a genre you’d like to write? Is there one
you’ll probably stay away from? Why?
A genre I would like to write? As in I don’t write
in it now? I’d like to have the time for
more historicals. Even if you’re a fan/student of history, fiction set in the
past takes scads of research – material culture, sometimes speech patterns,
street layouts that might have changed, so many little things and I don’t have
the time for that right now. As for where I would stay away genre-wise? I’ll
most likely never write a true BDSM story for publication. Just not something
that appeals to me as a writer.
Please tell us about your newest release and where the idea
came from.
Not In The Stars comes from
a list of anthology options we compiled for ourselves. We had readers send us
ideas and vote on them. We tossed ideas around and kept the ones enough of us
could buy into. We snuck some in when no one else was looking…What? Don’t look
at me like that.
This anthology, as a Science
Fiction anthology, I think came about partly because I whined so much. I mean,
um, my co-authors felt sorry for me. No! That’s not what I meant. But there
were some topics that were out of my normal comfort zone, so I think they
figured I got to have a turn back with my normal stuff. So we have four Science
Fiction stories in four wildly different writing styles.
Where did the individual
ideas come from? Freddy wanted to do something steam-punkish. Mathilde had this
fabulous idea about actual aliens at a SF convention. Toni wanted freaky alien
sex. And I wanted Shax to have get a little creative.
What kind of research did you do for this book?
I tend to research some
bizarre things. For “Shax’s War”, (my story in this antho and the third
Brimstone story) I found myself having to research hedgehogs, molecular
gastronomy, and certain eras of men’s fashion for inspiration. Then the
Mischief Corner crew helped me construct (mentally) the typical trauma ball
court. Everyone had a hand in that scene.
If this book was made into a movie, who do you see playing the main characters?
William Moseley would
actually make a good Shax. He has the ability to look innocent and stalwart,
but then that grin breaks out… For Ness, we’d need
someone tall, exotic and sincere looking. Sadly, I can’t think of anyone who
fits.
How do you come up with characters names?
Most character names for me
have something to do with the character’s family, ethnicity, point of origin.
Then they have to be names I like, that fit the character’s appearance and
personality. For my Fae novels, for instance, many of the names come right out
of old Celtic stories. For the names of demons and angels, I sifted through
hundreds of references in online demonology listings and lists of angel names
for appropriate ones. Shax was actually listed as the demon prince of thieves
on one of these sites, and the idea appealed to me. Rather, it sank its teeth
in and wouldn’t let the hell go.
What do you do in your free time?
Sadly, free time doesn’t
really exist right now. I work an evil day job. I have family. In the evenings
and on weekends, I do author stuff. This doesn’t leave much in the way of “free
time.” I suppose I could always give up sleep.
How much of your own personality bleeds into your characters?
I’d say it’s unavoidable for
personality bits and pieces to break off and land smack in the middle of the
character soup. The writer is, after all, writing inside a closed system (the
writer’s brain) and some cross- contamination is bound to occur. You see one of
my characters having a smartass moment? Yeah, that’s me. You see one breaking
down in sheer frustration? Yeah. You see one being all brave and
self-sacrificing, heading out against impossible odds without a thought to… no,
you would be wrong. That’s not me at all.
Do you have a list of movies like me that you are itching to
see or have seen? What about ones coming up? Any that draw your eye to it?
Here we are back to that
time issues. There are always tons of movies I want to see. I still have been
able to see Elysium, for crying out
loud. Or The Dark World. Or Frozen. *cries*
You are hosting a dinner
party. If given the chance to invite characters from other series, who would
you invite?
Oh, my
goodness – I get to have my book boyfriends over? Roan and Dylan from the Infected series would have to come. I
love those books to pieces. Paris could come as well, though I think
that might be awkward. Tadashi and Berg (new or old incarnation) should be
there, though we’d have to have someone keep a close eye on Kou the squirrel. I
know Internment’s not a series, but I’d still want them there. Jonty and
Orlando from the Cambridge Fellows mysteries. Adrien English – yes, I’d like a
chat with him. Whyborne and Griffin, most definitely, from Jordan
Hawke’s Widdershins series. Might
have to keep some of these folks in separate rooms, though. Don’t think I’d
like to see Roan and Percy Whyborne get into a serious argument.
If you only had twenty dollars in your pocket, what would you buy?
Books. Duh.
Of all your heroes that you’ve written, is there one that you love above all?
I think
Finn will always be the closest to my heart. I love all my characters, male,
female, human and otherwise, but Finn’s the one who walked out of the dark when
I needed him all those years ago, who whispered in my ear and said, “You can do
this. If you can believe in me, I can believe in you.”
What’s the most interesting way you got around a plot
problem?
I don’t think there’s an
“interesting” way. If there’s truly a plot problem, it needs to be fixed in a
methodical way. Back it up. Take the plot vehicle back to where you first got
lost. Start again.
Really, the way to avoid
plot problems is to watch where you’re going in the first place. If writers
didn’t just hare down the plot street without looking, we wouldn’t have all
these accidents.
If you owned a bookstore, what book would you make sure was
in stock?
Yes. All of them. Owning a
bookstore would be a little slice of heaven (if you’re independently wealthy
and don’t have to worry about pesky things like rent and utilities and such.)
I’d want to keep everything in stock, probably specialize in fiction. The one
book I’d always make sure was in stock? A
Wizard of Earthsea. Should be mandatory reading.
What is next for you? Anything you want to mention?
Mischief Corner has tons of
things in the pipeline – watch the site for more re-releases and new releases
coming this summer.
For me, I would like to
mention that MCB will be handling the re-release of my M/M SF fairytale, Vassily the Beautiful, later this
summer.
Not in the Stars Anthology
with stories by Angel Martinez, Freddy Mackay, Toni Griffin, Mathilde
Watson
Since the dawn of human expression, man has gazed up at the heavens in
wonder, inspired by the wheeling of the stars to explain his surroundings.
While our perception of those surroundings have changed, from thinking of the
Earth as a flat, stable plane to realizing we’re falling through space in a
tiny atmospheric bubble, our wonder remains constant.
Space stations, alien races, far-flung planets—join the Mischief Corner authors as they explore the possibilities the stars might offer. The catch? Returning to mundane old Earth might be harder than you think.
Shax’s War: Brimstone
3
Angel Martinez
M/M Science Fiction
Humor
Teaser Excerpt
Chapter One
Shax yelped as the
trauma ball hummed against his palm, the surface shifting from swirling
orange toward yellow. Before it could deliver its nastiest shock, he flung
the thing at Verin’s head.
“Bastard!”
Sparks
flew as Verin swung his horns and batted the ball away. He aimed right for Ness,
who sidestepped and caught the ball as it powered back down to blue. Wings
spread for balance, tip of his tongue protruding from the corner of his
mouth, Ness spun and ran the three steps up the ramp
at the court’s far end, aiming for the hovering sphere goal.
At the last second,
the goal moved left and Ness’s shot caught the
magnetized lip, which hurled the trauma ball back at him at some ridiculous,
unsafe speed. Shax winced at the sharp crack when hard ball met angel head.
“Ow.” Ness
flopped down at the top of the ramp, rubbing at his temple.
“Someone gonna
explain to me again how this is fun?” Corny called from where he balanced on
the swinging planks that made up mid-court.
He’d been stuck on
the water hazard for several plays, his muscular body and high center of
gravity an indisputable disadvantage since the wrong move would send him into
the water and cost him a five minute penalty. Their cowboy had figured out
the hard way in the first quarter that the pool itself enforced the penalty
and didn’t let the penalized player out a second before.
Good thing he can tread water.
The ball was now
happily rolling along the elevated sidewall ramps and Shax prepared to jump
for the rings that would put him at the right height to catch it when it
rolled free. Had they been playing teams…but no one could agree on a fair way
to pair the four of them up, so solo it was.
Shax cocked his head,
listening to the rumble of the ball as it trundled downward. Ness
was still on the ramp. Corny was stuck. Verin was navigating the sponge
quadrant where his claws were sticking. Perfect. He leapt, caught a ring in
either hand, got a good swing going, and let go with his right hand just in
time for the ball to drop from the chute.
With a whoop, he
swung free and dropped with the ball clutched to his chest, only to be hit
from behind with the force of several megatons. Wind knocked out of him, he
could only watch as Verin snatched up the ball.
“Attempted murder
isn’t supposed to be part of the game,” he wheezed as Verin took his shot. It
seemed to be too far right, but the sphere turned and the ball shot inside.
“You’re all right,
you baby,” Verin growled. “Get up before you really get fucked up.”
Shax heaved himself
to his feet, staggering a few steps before the floor decided he’d been in one
place too long and started bucking.
Ness
had moved now, too. “Shax? Sure you’re all right, love?”
“I’m good. There are
two of you right now. Don’t mind. Two of you are nice.”
All four of them
managed to reach the sand quadrant closest to the near goal where they
crouched in anticipation, waiting for the sphere to spit out the ball. Shax
got Verin’s elbow in his ribs and a playful shove from Corny as they jockeyed
for position but they might as well have stood still. The sphere rumbled and
disgorged the trauma ball with a hacking cough, sending it high and wide. Ness,
with his superior height and reach, snagged it easily, holding it up to keep
it out of reach.
Any second, Verin and
Corny would charge him and then Shax wouldn’t have a chance. An evil thought
percolated in his mind and he sidled up close to Ness, blew a breath across
his bare nipple, and reached down to cup Ness’s balls
through the tight game shorts. A strangled whimper caught in Ness’s
throat. His jaw slack, eyes saucer-wide, he fumbled the ball and dropped it.
Shax caught it before
it hit the sand, snatched a quick kiss, and bounded away toward the far goal.
He slammed the trauma ball into the sphere just as it hummed over to yellow
again.
“Ha! That’s three for
me! Game!”
|
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About Mischief Corner Books
Mischief Corner Books is an organization of superheroes... no, it's a platinum-album techno-fusion group...no, hold on a sec here...
Ah, yes. Mischief Corner is a diverse group of authors who met on a mountain in Tennessee and decided since we probably were too easily distracted to rule the world that we'd settle for causing a bit of mayhem instead.
In addition to making mayhem, we are releasing books as a consortium. The books cover a diverse range of genres and topics... we live to break molds. Our books are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, ARe and other outlets.
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