READER REVIEW:  "Rachelle Ayala has a gift for writing touching stories. In this novel the themes of rape and abortion are treated in a unconventional way. The decision of keeping a baby of a rape is a tough one and the author uses the form of the novel to talk about it.  I suggest this book not only to women but to men too!" --Steve74it




                   THE BOOK


Maryanne Torres is a compassionate nurse who fails at relationships. After a string of losers, she swears off premarital sex, hoping to land a marrying type of man.

Lucas Knight, a law-school dropout, moves to California to train for the Ironman Triathlon. He's smart, sweet, and everything Maryanne wants in a man, but their relationship suffers from his dedication to the sport. Seeking consolation in the arms of a handsome preacher's son, Maryanne attends a church party where she is raped.

Maryanne is pregnant from the rape and plans to abort. But the identity of her rapist is hidden in her baby's DNA. Lucas asks Maryanne to seek alternatives and pledges to support her through the pregnancy. When Lucas becomes the prime suspect, Maryanne must clear his name and make a life changing decision.

The rapist has other ideas. In order to destroy the evidence, he offers Maryanne an illegal offshore abortion. With Maryanne's life in danger, Lucas races to save her and her baby. However, Maryanne hides a secret that threatens to tear them apart forever.

A 99,000-word women's fiction, HIDDEN UNDER HER HEART deals with the consequences of rape and abortion.

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Rachelle Ayala is the author of dramatic fiction crossing genres and boundaries featuring strong but flawed characters. She writes emotionally challenging stories and is not afraid of controversial topics. However, she is an optimist and laces her stories with romance and hope.

Rachelle is an active member of online critique group, Critique Circle, and a volunteer for the World Literary Cafe. She is a very happy woman and lives in California with her husband. She has three children and has taught violin and made mountain dulcimers.

Visit her at: Website: http://rachelleayala.me Blog: http://www.rachelleayala.com or follow @AyalaRachelle on Twitter.

When I am out signing books or speaking to a group, I keep getting asked three questions over and over: What is your writing schedule (morning, afternoon, etc)? Where do you get your characters? and Is this a true story?

Behind the first question is a desire to know what sort of discipline I follow to get my work done. I think people are wondering whether I get writer’s block. I am an academic: I teach Spanish at Texas Christian University, better known as TCU, and I have plenty of responsibility that keeps me very busy. Most writers cannot hope to live from book sales, so we need a real “day job” to support our habit. College professors have summer off, if we want it, and a generous winter break between semesters. It’s a nice arrangement for me.

I get plenty of ideas for books and stories with alarming regularity and I am consequently left with more to write about than time to write it. So I write in summer and over winter break. Occasionally I do a little tidying up in the evenings after work. There is never enough time to write all I would like to. The upside is that I never have time for writer’s block. Another thing that helps is that I don’t block off a time of day in the summer and say, “Now I will write.” I go to the computer when and because I am driven to it and a have some free time.

As for characters, I have a great deal of fun writing about them. All writers get characters from life experience. They can’t be created out of nothing at all. But none of my characters are any person I know in particular. What happens sometimes is that a person I know inspires a character who shares some feature or characteristics of the model but who is also different in other ways. Sometimes the new character becomes the germ of a plot for a story or a book. At other times, I use people I have seen but do not know well and invent a life story for them and presto! There is another character. At times, when I already have some characters in mind but need friends, antagonists and/or foils for them, I will make somebody up with the characteristics I need. I use the Myers-Briggs personality inventory to make these characters coherent and believable. I don’t need that for the others.

Usually I don’t begin writing on a story or novel unless I have the main characters and some supporting ones sketched out, a strong sense of locale, and the main outlines of a plot. I know I’ve done a good job with the characters when they come alive on the page and make things happen I had not planned. If these elements have been imagined richly enough, the story begins to write itself.

The question “Is this a true story?” bothers me. I write fiction. That doesn’t mean the story isn’t real or that it doesn’t contain truth, just that the characters and story are my creation. Fiction can often tell truth more pointedly and effectively than non-fiction can. Ursula K. Le Guin said it beautifully in her introduction to the 1976 edition of The Left Hand of Darkness:

> Fiction writers desire to tell the truth: to know it, speak it, serve it. But they go about it in a peculiar and devious way, which consists in inventing persons, places, and events which never did and never will exist or occur, and telling about these fictions in detail and at length and with a great deal of emotion, and then when they are done writing down this pack of lies, they say, There! That’s the Truth!

> Fictional stories and novels address the deep-seated human longing for tales which we know did not happen, but which speak truth. They also deal with universal issues. Publishers and bookstores say they sell ten books of non-fiction for every book of fiction. This is a bad state of affairs, a symptom of and contributor to the dissolution of culture. So yes, my book is a true story, but it is fictional. You have asked the wrong question. The right question is: Is your book fiction or non-fiction?

My Angela series deals with responsible citizenship and what it can cost you. There will be three books, which follow the main character, Angela Fournier, through her 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. She has to face her parents’ divorce, which happens just before the series begins, a move to a new town, starting high school at an unfamiliar place, a school bully, a group of mean girls, and a hostile principal. She makes new friends and gets recognition as dancer, but when she and her friends uncover evidence of corruption at the school district administration, she begins to learn more than she ever envisioned. The first book, Angela 1: Starting Over is available at www.amazon.com/author/bedforddavid . The second book is scheduled to appear in the fall of this year (2013). And yes, it’s true and yes, it’s fiction.

                                     THE BOOK


From the authors of the best selling Night Marchers Series, comes an all new apocalyptic series with a paranormal twist that is enjoyable for all ages.     
 
Millions have already died, and thousands more are perishing daily. As a last ditch effort to preserve the human race, the government implements Project ELE. With the earth heating at rapid speeds, all remaining survivors are forced to turn to F.E.M.A. shelters to wait out ELE's wrath.  
Fifteen-year-old Willow Mosby's life, as she knows it, ends the moment she walks through the shelter's door. Willow has to quickly adapt to the new challenges that shelter life demands, the least of which includes making new friends, working a full time job and experiencing her first relationship. 
 
Soon after making an interesting discovery, Willow and her friends start exhibiting strange abilities. Seeking answers, they embark on a mission to find out what these new abilities mean and whether they are a gift or a curse. This new adventure can send her world crashing down around her. The question is: Can Willow survive the fall?


READER REVIEW:  "This is a neat, fast-read sci-fi tale that is not only good for adults but is primarily aimed at the young adult / older children market. Without having a spoiler, rather than aliens you have an apocalyptic-type scenario with a disease, sequestration while a radical attempt to eradicate the disease takes place, followed up by a group of kids who get into mischief with far-reaching implications. The authors do a good job of getting you quickly into the story and feeling the emotions of the characters.

Parents can recommend this for their kids' Kindles as well as their own - no profanity, sex, or drugs, just a good story and tale. It's unusual to find a book you can enjoy with your kids and both be entertained.

I picked this up for free during a Kindle promotion vs. the normal pricing of the Kindle version of 99 cents: free or 99 cents, you are certain to get a lot of value (more than 99 cents out of this one). I enjoyed this one, and picked up Part II of the series, as well as sent it to my junior-high daughter's Kindle."   --Michael Gallagher

                                                                             
                                                                       THE AUTHORS

Rebecca and Courtney are downhome country girls powered by chocolate and other random late night cravings. Coined in southern twang they bring new meaning to the word y'all. BFI's since the 6th grade, with a knack for getting into sticky situations, has resulted in countless ideas to write about for years to come.

READER REVIEW:  "Wow! What a great book! This book is different than any I have ever read--and I'm a voracious reader. It's fantasy and, yet, is firmly rooted in reality. Such a realness to these characters, even the nonhuman ones! I loved that the fantasy world was never allowed to overshadow the story and the characters...You will not want to put it down when you begin to read. When you finish the Kindle version, you'll want to buy the paperback, for the simple reason that when you glance at it on your bookshelf, you'll remember the great pleasure of reading it. And with that glance will come a happy sigh." --Sheila Hollinghead



                                                   THE BOOK


When a self-conscious young woman discovers the boy in drama class is actually the immortal who painted the world into being, she becomes the target of another painter who hates humanity.

The Earth Painter is a Young Adult Supernatural Romance set in the small mill town of Chesnee, SC. It revolves around Holly Scruggs, whose family has just moved back to Chesnee after her dad lost his job along with pretty much everything they owned. Her image conscious parents correct her to the point of brokenness until she meets Theo. He is the artist responsible for all the beauty of the land and he thinks Holly is beautiful, too. Together they will fight against Fritz, the water painter, who hates humans and is hiding a secret under the high school.

READER REVIEW:  "I read this with only a break to sleep. I had read It by Stephen King when I was in high school...no book has scared me before or since until Seven-X by Mike Wech. This novel devoured me! I didn't want to put it down. At the same time, I felt my heart racing from fear and the unbelievable twist and turns. It was as if I was with Eddie while he made his journey through his investigation at the behavioral hospital. I loved the style of writing, telling the story through Eddie's eyes and ears. It is like reading anyone's diary or journal...but so much more. You have to read this! It will have you on page one and hold onto you until you finish Eddie's journey. Words that come to my mind as description : horror, suspense, terrifying, nightmare, disturbing. I will read it again definitely!"  --T. Olivia



              THE BOOK


SEVEN-X is the first book in the SEVEN-X Trilogy, revolving around Los Angeles Times Investigative Reporter Eddie Hansen, who gets a tip on a missing death row prisoner being held at a Behavioral Health Center in a remote location outside the small town of Dell City, Texas. With an opportunity to break the story, Eddie voluntarily commits himself into the asylum in hopes of finding Annette Dobson, "The SIDS Killer." She is rumored to have had her execution faked so she could be shipped to the asylum, have an exorcism and give birth to the child the world thinks is dead. 
Eddie's journals, video diary and recordings leave a trail of breadcrumbs into experimental procedures conducted on patients without their consent. As he dives deeper into his investigation, Eddie is forced to confront his own demons as an unwilling participant in the asylum's controversial rehabilitation procedures.
This is a revised Collector's limited edition copy of SEVEN-X

One of the compliments I get most often in my never ending quest for glory and immortality is: “Wow! You are so creative!” Well, my friends, I’m going to let you in on a secret:

I’m not very creative. In fact…you are every bit as creative as me, or more so!

Some of you more egotistically inclined people already agree with me. To the rest of you, I’m going to prove it. In fact, I’m going to put my money where my mouth is:

I’ll make you a deal:

If you follow my instructions, you are going to have created the basis for a brand new story, worth writing, by the time you finish reading this blog post. If I’m right, (and I am) you have to rush over to Amazon.com to buy my book on writing, called How I are Becomed a Very Much Gooder Author ($8.99)
(Note: "How I are Becomed a Much Gooder Author" was penned under the pseudonym, Sevastian Winters.)

But, if I am wrong, then you can e-mail me and tell me so at harry@harrythehobo.com and I will send you a copy of my military thriller “Wolf’s Rise,” Absolutely free. (I’m counting on your honesty)

If you are willing to accept the terms of that deal, keep reading. If you aren’t, why are you reading this?

Let’s get started (Do not skim. Do not look ahead):

Story Formula

Pick a number between 1 and 4

Write your choice down on a piece of paper (Yes, paper! This isn’t enjoyment reading. There’s money on the line! And creativity is work!)

Pick a number between 1 and 12 (Yes, Yes! Write it down!)

Pick a number between 1 and 10

Pick a number between 1 and 10

Pick a number between 1 and 5

Pick a number between 1 and 4

Pick a number between 1 and 12

Pick a number between 1 and 10

Pick a number between 1 and 10

Got all your numbers? Okay Now…. Using the numbers you just wrote down:

Select the coinciding numbered item in the list of genders below to learn the gender of your protagonist. Write it down.

List of Genders

1. Male
2. Female
3. Neutral
4. Secret

Now again, using your list of pre-chosen numbers (stay in order), select, from the list of motivators below what your protagonist most wants in the world. Write it down.

List of motivators

1. To find true love
2. To avenge the death of a loved one
3. To find the holy grail
4. To find a missing child
5. To make a perfect omelette
6. To break free from an abusive relationship
7. To win a date with Eva Longoria
8. To get the job
9. To keep the job
10. To rescue a loved one
11. To rob a bad guy
12. To own a bakery

Now, use your next number to find out what is prohibiting the protagonist from having what they want, from the list of challenges below. (Don’t cheat. You chose your numbers in advance to make it random)

List of Challenges

1)  The protagonist is dead

2)  The protagonist is wheelchair-bound

3)  A debilitating stutter

4)  Agoraphobia

5)  An intrusive family member

6)  Only three weeks to live

7)  Paparazzi

8)  imprisonment

9)  About to lose their home

10)Mentally challenged

Every character has quirks. Apply the number you chose to the list of quirks below, to find out what makes your protagonist quirky.

List of Quirks

1)   nose picker

2)   uncontrolled flatulence

3)   fear of the color purple

4)   in love with cow print

5)   compelled to take pictures

6)   has Tourette Syndrome

7)   right eye twitches when nervous

8)   compulsive gambler

9)   likes to pop other people’s pimples

10)  Loves cats, but deathly afraid of kittens

Now it’s time to find out when the story happened. Same deal from the list below:

Times and places

1. France, 1648
2. Chicago, 1974
3. Haiti, Present Day
4. Key West Florida, 2037
5. The DMZ, 1950

Okay….. now…. Characters need best friends…. even if they don’t end up being in the story, so

Align your next number with the list of genders.

Now the list of motivators

Now the list of challenges

Now the list of quirks

Okay…. You have the basis now, of what your story will be made of. In my case, I ended up just now with the following:

In my case, I have a female protagonist that wants the job, but is having trouble getting it because she only has 3 weeks to live. She’s afraid of the color purple and the story takes place in present day Haiti. Her best friend, also female, wants to own a bakery, but since she’s agoraphobic, she finds that rather difficult. And she’s a major shutterbug.

Your list is, I’m sure, different. But knowing these things about my characters, it’s time to find the story. I rarely find it on the first pass. Now, I have to caution you: Your story may or may not include every element that we just found. The goal of this exercise is not to find that story, but a story. Sometimes it’s lurking somewhere close by. It’s our job to find it.

Michelangelo was credited with claiming that sculpting is easy. “You just chip away everything that isn’t the sculpture.” So it is with story.

Given my parameters I’m working with, the first thing I want to know is more!

So I am going to start asking questions. The first question I want to know is “Why is she dying?” Is she sick? Is she on death row? The answers won’t necessarily lead me to my story, but they might. Also, what sort of job does a person want if she’s only got three weeks to live? I can presume that she knows how much time she has, because it’s presenting a problem for her in getting what she wants. As I start eliminating options, options become more clear. Does my protagonist’s storyline intersect with that of her best friend? If so, to what degree? If not, why not?

By the way, I’m just thinking out loud here. Asking questions is part of the process of creative action.

So far (and this may not be where I end up) I’m thinking that probably the protagonist and her best friend are sisters…. The protagonist, is on death row and a film crew is coming to town to talk to Haiti’s death row inmates. She’s never been able to tell her story, and this is her chance! Moreover, the interview comes with payment for the family of the inmate…enough money for her sister to buy the permits and equipment to start a bakery from home…. (I don’t know… I’m just spit-balling) but now, I’m intrigued. I want to know more. Maybe you do too.

But nevermind that, What about your story? You know… the one on the piece of paper in front of you. We still have work to do.

I have to make this fair…because, after all, we made a deal. So look away from the monitor and think through the questions related to your story formula parameters. Set a timer and come back to this article in 15 minutes. Spend those fifteen minutes asking the questions that you need to ask in order to eliminate what’s not story… and to find what is. Time starts NOW.

..

…

….

…..

Has it been 15 minutes? If not, why are you reading this? Go find your story! If ithas been 15 minutes, read on———->

Okay, my friend, the time of truth has come. It’s just you, me and our mutual trust

Did you find something fun, and worthy of writing? (I suspect you did) If so, pay up!

CLICK HERE to get your copy of How I are Becomed a Very Much Gooder Author

and if not, (and I will be surprised to see my e-mail light up) e-mail me at harry@harrythehobo.com and claim your pot. Fair is fair.

See? I told you that you’re just as creative as me! Creativity isn’t a character trait. It’s the result of action. Anyone can be creative. It just takes work. Thanks for reading!

Harry

P.S. Please, if you had fun with this exercise, Tweet it around and share on Facebook!!

You can visit Harry's site here to read more about him and his work: http://harrywiddifield.blogspot.ca/

--by Danielle Forrest

I had a eureka moment this morning while driving in my car.  I love those moments.  I hate when they happen while I am in the car.  I want to write it down, but I can't.  My brain runs over the idea again and again in my head as I try to keep all of the key details in my short term memory so that by the time I get to my destination, I will be able to blast it all out of my skull and into my iPad.  It's a good story.  I think it has a lot of potential.  It will keep the reader guessing and it will blow you right out of the water about halfway through.  I can't wait to start working on it.

After the fact, I think back and realize, from the moment my brain came up with the looney idea (and of course it's looney, I write paranormal stories), I don't remember a single detail of the drive.  And this isn't that unusual (happens to me all the time).  I rarely remember the details of my drives.  I get so absorbed in the world in my head that the details around me simply become secondary in my notice.  Though I consider myself a good driver (great really, I'm always avoiding other drivers' moronic moves - FYI, I live in NC so that should be explanation enough), I can't help but think this doesn't bode well for the other drivers/inanimate objects on the road/side of the road.  I have yet to cause an accident in a fit of literary genius but I wonder if other writers have.  

I could just imagine a writer driving down the road and coming up with the perfect story idea or suddenly that scene you've been having so much trouble with is corrected in a beam of beautiful light.  Oh!  You start digging in your purse for your voice recorder.  You have to get this down.  You're pulling the wheel to the right as you reach but manage to keep it mostly between the lines.  Ah hah!  Voice recorder.  You turn it on, glancing down to find the stupid button and SMASH!  CRUNCH!  SCREECH!  And lots and lots of horn blaring.  Oops...

To learn more about this blogger/author, you can visit her site at http://theeternalscribe.weebly.com/

**This book is not a part of Worldwind Virtual Book Tours. Thus, it is not endorsed by The Serious Reader.

READER REVIEW:  “Time Killer” is definitely one of those books that once you start reading it, you don’t want to put it down until you’ve finished the whole thing. The story starts off with a super creepy opening that sets the tone for the rest of the book. I like that we are able to see the crimes as they take place, along with Max and Jessie as they try to get to the bottom of things. And there are some interesting twists along the way! A nice addition to the genre, and fans of murder mysteries and police dramas should grab it for sure." --Stacy Decker






                                  THE BOOK


In the small city of Rockton, Illinois, someone is tired of waiting. He’s tired of standing in line at the grocery store and tired of waiting at the drive-through line. Now he’s doing something about it.

The first murder rocks the city. The entire Bjornson family—except the father, Stephen—has been brutally murdered, and the killer has left a message behind, written in the victim’s blood: Don’t Waste People’s Time. It’s a grizzly start for two young detectives who’ve just become partners. But Max Larkin and Jesse Fairlane put their personal distaste for each other aside and start concentrating on how to find the killer from striking again.

As they investigate the scene of the crime and interview Stephen at the hospital, the clues slowly begin to add up. Could this be a deranged killer who struck ten years ago and has now returned to the area? Before they can answer that question, another murder is reported, and Max and Jesse suddenly realize they have a serial killer on the loose. 
But as they get closer to the truth, a past memory begins to haunt Max, one that might lead to a break in the case—or the end of his career.

"The man looks back and forth between the two, savoring her fear and his anger. He then thrusts the pen directly into Gwen’s right eye. He jams it in so hard and so fast that she dies almost instantly from the pen penetrating the brain pan. Blood spatters everywhere and the suited man takes a few seconds to survey the results. Stephen can see the man’s teeth in the mouth hole of the mask. His smile is demonic and growing. Vice grips of trauma lock his body. He feels numb. It is a blessing."


A word from author Todd Thiede:

I have had a few people ask me why I chose to be so graphic with the killings in “Time Killer”.  My best answer is that most murders are not neatly wrapped up in a little bow. They are acts of violence and in “Time Killer” you will get a very unique vision of not only what the detectives and victims see and feel, but you will also get a feeling for what the killer is experiencing. You will feel what the killer is feeling, you will see what the killer is seeing, and you will experience the true nature of what he is doing.  

Purchase Time Killer for Nook