Sandra Novack - Interview, Part Two

Part Two of my interview with fascinating writer, Sandra Novack, author of the adult literary novel, "Precious."

Sandra Novack Bio:

I was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1972. When I was little, my brother used to hide me in his paper route bag and then come home and tell my mother he'd lost me somewhere in town. It was like a great secret the two of us shared, one only given away by an inevitable laughing spell.

My sisters and brothers were older than me by ten to fifteen years, and I spent much of my time tagging along after them, stealing their rock-and-roll albums, and imitating their every word and action. In some ways, I was as much raised by them as by my parents. Or, as I like to tell people, I was raised by a band of gypsies. They are my tribe, my family.

Precious is dedicated to my sister, Carole, who left home when I was seven.

CA: I believe we all have "little pieces" of our own lives in our writing. You have been on a promotional tour for "Precious." How has it changed your life? Or, has it?

SN: It's gotten me outside myself a bit. Most writers are solitary, and my days are usually very quiet, which is good because my voice and writing spring from that silence. Meeting people is always a positive experience, though the downside is that I'm "off" my schedule and not writing lately, and writing is the thing that keeps me most level in life. I always take the advice of my friend, who says, "You've got to enjoy the excitement when it comes because it'll always end, too. Enjoy the moment." So I try to look at it like that. I don't think it's changed my life, no. I'm still Sandy. Always have been, always will be. There's not a lot that gives me a big head, and there's also not a lot that discourages me, either, from picking up the pen again and telling a new story.

CA: You seem so down to earth, and I can't imagine you'll ever change! Can you give a couple of tips to aspiring writers? Maybe some that made an impression with you when you were starting out.

SN: Never be afraid to risk, and never be afraid to fail. Very few people (if any) start off being brilliant writers, or even competent writers, but you've got to keep at it to even get to those places. Rejection and even failure are both inevitable on the path to success. Successes are best measured one at a time, too. I remember when I started writing and finally had a story that had a sense of plot I felt that was a big success, since if I wrote one story that "worked" I could write another. Same with publishing. When I first published, it was in a very little journal that no one had ever heard of, but I thought, If I could do it once, I could do it again, and I could get even better at doing that. It's dangerous to be like, "I have to be brilliant right away and be noticed right away and be published in top venues right away." That kind of thinking can lead to disappointment, I believe. Finally: Read. Anyone you love! And learn from that fiction, and those stories.

CA: This is great advice, Sandra. It's all about prepration, isn't it.

Finally, is there something funny you can share about yourself that your fans might not know? Hmmmm??

SN:
1) I once had two pet cows named Sirloin and Hamburger.

2) I once proudly announced to my mother that I could spell "relief" and then spelled Rolaids. I was very young--and very pleased with myself--and didn't understand WHY she laughed.

3) When my grammy was living with us and dying of cancer, I, in my ten-year-old wisdom thought it prudent to read to her from the Bible, and I picked (in my even more infinite wisdom) the Book of Job. I read to my dying grammy from Job everyday!!!! It's bad enough, I think now, that I picked JOB, but I don't even know if my grammy was very religious...I still feel very badly about this.

4) I love the smell of Vicks and also Scotch tape, and sometimes just smell both for the heck of it.
5) When I was four I named my pet cat "Linda" because I was smitten with the Good Witch in the Wizard of Oz. It took my brother, Jimmy, telling me that the witch's name was Glinda, not Linda, and that we should probably name the cat Morris because it was a boy, anyway.

CA: Sandra, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed having you visit "The Attic!" This will definitely go down as one of my favorite interviews. Your generosity to your fans and readers shines through. Please come back again, soon!

In case you missed it, here's Part One:

Visit Sandra on her Website

Buy Precious at your local Independent Bookstore (Such as, Horton's Books & Gifts)

(Watch for Sandra's short story collection! Random House 2010!)

Mary Cunningham Books
WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty

Quake - Shaking Up Young Readers!

Discover the Magic in Cynthia's Attic!

Cynthia's Attic's, Gus, Hijacks Blog!

She's really done it, now. Gus, *endearing* MC in the series, "Cynthia's Attic," has hijacked the Teen-Seen Blog, and she's NOT LEAVING!

I'm A Star!!

Please try to convince her to come home! I really need her back here to help me find Sebastien's girlfriend, Emeline who disappeared through the magic trunk in "The Magician's Castle." Hate to admit it, but I have severe writer's block without her.

Teen-Seen Blog! Help me get Gus back before somebody gets hurt (or embarrassed!)

Cynthia's Attic

Zamora's Ultimate Challenge - M. K. Scott

Cynthia's Attic is thrilled to host author, M. K. Scott and the release of her 'Tween fantasy, Zamora's Ultimate Challenge.

About the Author: M.K. Scott, a total book fiend and a horse lover extraordinaire, is both a children s book author and adult fiction author.

She is currently writing two mystery series (the Wine Lovers Mysteries and the Horse Lovers Mysteries) for Berkeley Prime Crime. When she's not hanging out with her kids and trying to keep them in line, she teaches creative writing to middle school kids. Her love for horses keeps her busy, but not as busy as her writing. Right now she is juggling ideas for about 8,456,342 ideas for new stories to write.

Her imagination often keeps her awake at night, but she doesn't mind as she is constantly meeting new people and "things" even if it is only in her mind. M.K. lives in San Diego, CA with her super-cool husband, and her equally cool three kids, two dogs, two cats, and two horses.

Synopsis- Zamora's Ultimate Challenge: Mason and Carter Clover only agree on two things--their baby sister Isabella is a royal pain and their favorite video game, Zamora s Ultimate Challenge, is totally awesome. But fantasy turns to reality when Zamora s evil face appears across the brothers television screen. Claiming to have kidnapped Isabella, the queen challenges the boys to a daring rescue before she takes over theirsister's soul. Zamora s plan is to use the baby as a human vessel to travel to Earth and dominate the world.

Once the brothers figure out how to get inside the video game, they are hurled into the magical land of Boysen where they meet their helpful guides: a sage, a quirky mermaid, and a Pegasus (who flies them to each thrilling level of the video game).Racing against time, the brothers search for their sister, encountering a myriad of dangerous enemies including stinging fairies, haunted Master Souls, and brutish, knife-wielding pirates.

Can they beat each level of the game while being hunted by a fire-breathing dragon, stalked by a robotic shark, and terrorized by acid-poop-bombing pterodactyls? Driven by the powerful bonds that unite siblings, Mason and Carter are determined to face their fears and will stop at nothing to bring Isabella home...but first they must survive Zamora s Ultimate Challenge!

Check back on Apr. 2 for "The Story Behind The Story with author, M. K. Scott!

M. K. Scott website



Zamora's Ultimate Challenge - View the Trailer on M. K.'s Blog!
Oh, and while you're there, find out how to win a fun-filled trip to San Diego, CA!

Buy Zamora's Ultimate Challenge Today!

Amazon


Discover the Magic in Cynthia's Attic
"The Missing Locket"
"The Magic Medallion"
"Curse of the Bayou"

Author, Sandra Novack (Precious), Interview!

Sandra Novack, the author of "Precious," is my guest today in "Cynthia's Attic.

Read an excerpt from Precious (Random House):

Sissy is too old to be telling anyone she dreams of Gypsies. She is too old to speak of women who crawl through the window to snatch her from bed, too old to be frightened by their long faces, their pellucid eyes and wrinkled, drawn skin. Baba, they call. Little doll. Come with us, Baba, they insist. The Gypsies sing: Child, you are ours. They linger at the brink of her waking, at the border of her dreams. Sissy is too old to confess that she wakes with a sharp start still, or that when she awakens, she calls instinctively for Eva, and then waits and waits yet a moment more before turning on the light atop her bedside table. Hunched down in the sheets, she imagines the mist that hangs outside her window, phantom shapes that emerge from darkness. Her mind races over the always-present dream.

In the moment Sissy awakens, there are no clutching fingers but the disconsolate hurtling of a black bird against the window, the sound of beak hitting glass and then a flutter of wings. Sissy knows this is wrong, that birds and Gypsies have no place together. But, between her dreams and her waking, they are still there—bound. Then, suddenly, nothing: magically, both bird and Gypsies vanish.

Sissy is nine—an unlucky number—and she is too old for such nonsense. She knocks five times, a bumpity- bump- bump rhythm, a language she and her sister, Eva, share through the walls at night.

Where are you? the knocks urge. Can you come here?


CA: So happy to have you here today, Sandra! One of the first questions I'm sure you're asked is, how did you get into writing? Is it something you've always wanted to do?

SN: Actually, I didn't start off wanting to be a writer, no. I grew up in a blue-collar family and was the first to go to college, and I only did so after I worked a few years in a child support/welfare office and also a prison, basically as a secretary. When I finally decided to pay my way through school, I majored in psychology and thought for sure I'd be a counselor. But I took a creative writing class in my senior year, and I really loved it. So I took another, then switched to a masters for English Literature and Creative Writing. Even then I was thinking more of teaching than writing for a living. But the writing bug stayed with me, and in 2001 I decided to dedicate my time to creative writing and did an MFA. I became very serious about writing then, and I started publishing afterward.

Certainly what encouraged me early on was the joy of discovering new worlds and engaging in the creative process. That, and the encouragement of my teachers. Even though I wasn't very good at all, in terms of language or plot or anything really, my teachers always told me, "keep trying!" That's great advice, of course, because the more you write, the better you do get.

CA: I couldn't agree more! "Precious" revolves around families from a blue-collar community in Pennsylvania and the crisis facing them. I see from your bio that you grew up in Pennsylvania. So, the obvious question is, have you based any of the characters or story line on true experiences? Is Sandra in there somewhere?

SN: That's a great question, Mary. By now most can find out that Precious was inspired by the fact that when I was seven, my sister ran away from home and I've never seen her again. So that event is true, though the novel is entirely fictionalized. As for myself, and where I am in the work, personally: I've had friends in PA ask me this, too, and I always say it's like the Bob Dylan movie, I'm Not There. There are little pieces of me everywhere, so much so that any true "Sandy" is diluted and infused all over (and therefore, in another sense, is nowhere).

I am the girl who goes missing (Vicki), and Sissy, too, and even a part of me is in Natalia and Eva. I am the girl who, in the circus scene, Sissy sees, the one who gets lost in the crowd and holds a flower. I am the woman on the wire, and the bird. Etc. etc.

And some parts are based on true experiences, though I'm certain my "truth" would never be known, just by reading the story. For example, and for whatever bizarre reason, I have this "thing" with circuses and carnivals. After my sister ran away, my mother was worried about me and wanted to shield me from things, so she called my other sister and asked her to come and take me out, to do something "fun." My sister took me to Dorney Park--an amusement park.

Then (and unrelated), some years later, after my grammy (who lived with us) died, my mother didn't want me to have to witness the undertaker coming in and such, so she asked my brother to come and get me. He did, and he took me to a local carnival that happened to be in town. You get the point: The carnival scene at the end of Precious is, in a way, a "truth", but not even one my family would see, because I am the only one who thinks, "Carnival in town? Uh-oh, something chaotic has happened, something sad! Run!!" (I say it as a joke, but they do make me a little anxious.)

Part Two of the Interview with Sandra Novack will post March 30! Stay tuned!



Visit Sandra on her Website and her Blog
Buy Precious at your local Independent Bookstore (Such as, Horton's Books & Gifts)
Or Amazon

Mary Cunningham Books
Quake - Shaking Up Young Readers
WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty

Discover the Magic in Cynthia's Attic!

Author, Sandra Novack (Precious - Random House - 2009)

Tuesday, March 24, author, Sandra Novack will visit Cynthia's Attic. I recently heard her speak at a library event, and was so impressed by her genuine love for her craft, her latest novel, Precious, and for the characters that grace the pages of this amazing book.

Sandra Novack Bio:

I was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1972. When I was little, my brother used to hide me in his paper route bag and then come home and tell my mother he'd lost me somewhere in town. It was like a great secret the two of us shared, one only given away by an inevitable laughing spell.

My sisters and brothers were older than me by ten to fifteen years, and I spent much of my time tagging along after them, stealing their rock-and-roll albums, and imitating their every word and action. In some ways, I was as much raised by them as by my parents. Or, as I like to tell people, I was raised by a band of gypsies. They are my tribe, my family.

Precious is dedicated to my sister, Carole, who left home when I was seven.

Please stay tuned for an interview you won't soon forget!

Visit Sandra and read an excerpt from Precious on her website.

Buy Precious at your local Independent Bookstore (Such as, Horton's Books & Gifts)

Or Amazon

Read an E-Book - Save A Tree!

In honor of "Read An E-Book" week, I've gathered some great reasons to do just that!

* Ebooks promote reading. People are spending more time in front of screens and less time in front of printed books.

* Ebooks are good for the environment. Ebooks save trees. Ebooks eliminate the need for filling up landfills with old books. Ebooks save transportation costs and the pollution associated with shipping books across the country and the world.

* Ebooks are portable. You can carry an entire library on one DVD.

* Ebooks defy time: they can be delivered almost instantly. Ebooks are transported to you faster than overnight shipping: in minutes or in seconds.

* Ebooks are cheaper to buy.

* Ebooks make reading accessible to persons with disabilities. Text can be re-sized for the visually impaired. Screens can be lit for reading in the dark.

* Ebooks, with their capacity for storage, encourage the publishing of books with many pages, books that might be too expensive to produce (and purchase) in paperback.

* Ebooks -- thanks to the simplicity and speed of publication and feedback -- allow authors to experiment in many themes and styles.

* Ebooks are good for paperbook publishing. By setting an example for diversity and freedom of expression, ebooks may motivate the stagnant book publishing industry towards the renewal of small presses, the end of the blockbuster-bestseller publishing mentality, and a healthier balance between the needs of commerce and culture.

Here are some great links :

Echelon Press

Quake

Fictionwise (Children's Books)

Cynthia's Attic on Fictionwise!

Pay It Forward

I know this is an old phrase from a 2000 movie, but people are repeating it more and more in this tough economy.

I recently saw a story on NBC nightly news about an Atlanta man, who is around age 70, using his retirement money to drive cancer patients to therapy. He drives about 1,000 miles a week and pays for the gas himself, to honor his wife who died several years ago from the disease. He's planning to quit soon, though...when he celebrates his 100th birthday!

On the same newscast, Brian Williams told of a woman on a Maryland toll road. She pulled up to the booth and, to her shock, was told that the car in front of her had paid her toll. She had her $2.00 in hand, so she said, "Take this for the car behind me." She moved up far enough to see the woman behind her hand money to the attendant and motion that it was for the car behind her! There's no idea how far this stretched, but let's hope it reached someone who truly needed it.

On a local note, I got my hair cut yesterday. Much to my hairdresser's delight, I have turned the complete cutting and styling over to her. Yes, I know that my years of experience, cutting and thinning my hair without one day of Beauty/Hairdresser School, is truly amazing, but I got tired of the pressure. As a result of this revelation that maybe she knows more about cutting and styling than I do, my hair now looks current and pretty darn good! (go figure)

But, back to my point about paying it forward. My hair salon Free Spirit Salon and Spa, in Villa Rica, GA, has been offering half-price haircuts to anyone who's unemployed. Lori, my stylist said that it just made sense considering that no one wants to walk around needing a haircut let alone go job hunting! I pointed out that the salon also might get new customers by spreading good will. She seemed to dismiss this by saying, "We just want to help."

We all need to help in this economic downturn, so, Pay It Forward today!

Mary Cunningham Books

Kindle, Baby!

I've zoomed into techie land! From trying to figure out how to post a blog a few short years ago, to having my own book up on Kindle, I'm rocketing through cyberspace on Amazon's Whispernet!

Take a look at Curse of the Bayou, now up as a Kindle download. Do they still call them downloads? Or, have they been renamed? Maybe Time-Travel Tomes. (Now, that's just stupid!). Catcher In the I(pod)? (Help! I'm losing my I-Brain!)

Anyone out there have a better name than "downloads?" C'mon people. There's gotta be a more current phrase!


Meanwhile, Save a Tree - Read an Ebook!

And, read "Cynthia's Attic: Curse of the Bayou!"

Amazon

Fictionwise

Quake

Mary Cunningham Books

Pixie Chicks, Sage # 1 - by Regan Black

For a quartet of girlfriends known as the Pixie Chicks, life takes on a delicious new flavor when their normal Friday night walkabout through the Hobbitville Gardens reveals secrets and adventures previously unimagined.

Who knew the statues were portals to similar, magical gardens around the world? Or that only a select few can travel by statue and fewer still can arrive at their desired point? These four will reach for the stars despite the risks of the unknown to embrace an adventure suitable only for the boldest of teens.

I just finished Pixie Chicks, Hobbitville Sage # 1 by the multi-talented author, Regan Black.

First off, Love the names! (see previous post for Pixie Chicks profiles!) This group of friends are so typical of all teenage groups. Just as I remember my “gang” of five many moons ago in high school! All have strengths and weaknesses and contribute to the group. Best of all, they look out for each other.

Saga # 1 highlights Pixie Chick, Brie, and her friendship/secret love for high school hunk, Troy. The author’s description of Brie spotting Troy in the school hallway, and her ensuing “tsunami of teenage hormones” is priceless!

And, of course, there can’t be a great teenage story with a bully. Sierra is a classic.

I was captured by this story from the first line and can’t wait to read Saga # 2,
# 3, # 4…well you catch my drift.

Check out Regan Black's Pixie Chicks and more great books on Quake!

Pixie Chicks are running around in Cynthia's Attic!

I'M SO EXCITED!! Just got my copy of Pixie Chicks, by Regan Black (Quake - Fictionwise). Can't wait to read it! I'll review it in the days to come, but meantime, here's a preview of the Pixie Chicks themselves!

Pixie Profiles

The Pixie Chicks are a quartet of girls in the high school marching band. They got this name from the drum major during their freshman year of summer band camp. Yes, eventually you will hear more about him.

Brianna Marie Fairchild is the leader - when a leader is needed for planning and arranging things. Brianna has wavy, white fairy-blond hair and blue eyes. She’s got a dancer’s wand-slim build and she’s only about 5′5″. She marches piccolo, so, naturally she plays the flute as well. She lives with her mother and brother and her dad, when he’s not often working elsewhere in the world. All her friends refer to her mother as “Mom Fairchild” and though her brother, Ben, is younger, he’s taller - this annoys Brie.

Austin Patricia Kelley is an inch taller than Brie, with sleek, dark blond hair and big doe eyes. She plays flute and shares a band locker with Brie. She prefers to watch rather than participate in sports, unless it’s a team venue where she has plenty of back up (like the band). Her most unique (and valuable asset) is her ability to know anything and everything about any cute guy rating above average. Her depth of knowlege creeps out the Pixies, but only a little. After all, Austin isn’t really a stalker, and she’s a great friend.

Lana Louise Richmond is tall and a curvaceous - which is a lethal combination in high school. The resulting jealousy means the Pixies are her only girlfriends - good thing they’re the BEST! She’s got long, dark hair and mesmerizing dark eyes…and they all wonder why she never has dark circles because no one has caught her sleeping since Kindergarten naptime. She can play any of the low brass instruments and has been known to march sousaphone.

Claire Taylor Sullivan, with her curly red hair, green eyes and shorter stature, looks like she’d be more at home in an Irish Pub than a midwestern highschool. She’s a talented musician who marches alto sax, drum line or trombone…wherever the band director needs her. She’s more quiet than the others, but don’t let that fool you, she’s got serious skills - and she’s keeping some serious secrets from the Pixies - including a very hot Scottish boyfriend!

Meet them and see other great 'Tween and Young Adult Books - now available from Quake!

Amigo Does Interviews!

Mayra Calvani's Golden Retriever, Amigo, has come up with a great idea. He's now conducting interview on Pets and Authors Blogs

Amigo, it turns out, is a fabulous interviewer! As he humbly tells it, "I'm three years old and I have connections with the CIA. My new hobby is to interview authors' pets--dogs, cats, rats, lizards, birds, squirrels, horses, fish, you name it! I'm less tolerant with rabbits (for obvious reasons), but I can always be bribed with the right treats (how about filet mignon?). Learn the authors' dirty little secrets... straight from their pet's mouths! Woof! Woof!

So, jump on over to Pets and Authors Blog and read about Balto and Willow and Osiris. Find out all the tricks they use to annoy their author mom's and dad's. (Amigo likes to stare at his mom until she feels guilty about writing.)

So, check out Amigo's blog. He's even working on getting his own e-mail account!

And, while you're at it, check out Amigo's mom's books! Mayra's Secret Bookcase

The Magic Violin (click on picture for Amazon)