Featured Author: Christie Meierz

Christie Meierz was born in Chicago and grew up in southern California. She began writing at the age of seven, pouring her young heart into an epic that took five years to write – and which she is thankful has been lost to posterity. All she remembers of it now is that Barnabas Collins played a significant role in it.

While her loved ones told her repeatedly over the years that she had a gift for writing, it wasn’t until her children were grown and she was recovering from a serious illness that she set out to write a novel. Over the course of a summer spent engrossed in writing, she produced two novels, half of a third, parts of a fourth, and an even half dozen short stories and novelettes, all set in her Tolari universe. Her debut novel, The Marann, is the first of the two complete novels. It quickly caught the attention of readers and made it onto seven category bestseller lists on Amazon, including the top 100 bestsellers in science fiction & fantasy, making it into the top 10 in space opera bestsellers. She couldn’t be more thrilled with its success.

When she’s not writing, Christie can be found reading, quilting, knitting, and trying (unsuccessfully) to keep her menfolk from telling odious puns. Continue reading “Featured Author: Christie Meierz”

Let’s Make A Deal

Imagine for a moment that a Big 6 publisher like Random Penguin, Simon, Garfunkel & Schuster, or Harley-Quinn comes knocking at your door. They want to add you to their select stable of published authors. You—yes, you—will now be among the anointed. All you have to do is take the deal. Just sign on the dotted line.

Don’t worry your pretty little head about the fine print. All that stuff about rights and royalties is for the lawyers to worry about. You do have an attorney versed in the specialized field of international copyright and intellectual property law don’t you? Well, never mind then. I’m sure the very reputable publishing firm had their top people go over the contract.

Let’s pull back the curtain and tell them what they’ve won, Johnny. Continue reading “Let’s Make A Deal”

Video Trailer: Shepherd’s Moon

Shepherd's Moon by Stacy MantleIt’s taken Alex twelve years to earn the official title of Shepherd but she’s now mostly trained, fairly effective, and the first female in over two centuries to hold the position as protector of animals. All animals…

Everything changes when a chance encounter with a genetically modified Shifter leaves Alex shaken and initiates a quest to locate its maker. In a desperate bid to save her pack, Alex must infiltrate the Parallax Corporation – an international organization with their hands in everything from biomedical engineering to publishing. They have now expanded their efforts to include terrorism and are attempting to breed the perfect weapon.

Despite years of training and enough money from her live-in pack of misfits to finance a small country, Alex finds herself woefully unprepared to tackle the new threat. To make matters worse, Alex must work with a mysterious man who’s been trying to kill her since the day they met. Together with her pack, Alex must learn how to stop the biological cloning and find those responsible for the plan before it really does become a global threat.

Shepherd’s Moon is available for the Kindle on Amazon.com and in print from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

How Breaking Bad Made Me a Better Writer

As I’ve said before, I live in the middle of nowhere. We don’t even have cable TV. In order to get any TV, you need satellite. Well, our phone company about a year or so ago promised us we would have cable this year (2012). Umm, yeah, didn’t happen. So, since we have lovely DSL internet, we decided to do Netflix.

I normally don’t like shows like Breaking Bad. It’s not my normal viewing fare. My hubby got me into watching it—we watch 1 episode every morning as we eat breakfast. At first I didn’t like it, it was drama, drug-related, and in general, rather crude. But something happened after the first few episodes: I found myself looking forward to the next episode. Why? Suspense. Continue reading “How Breaking Bad Made Me a Better Writer”