IS IT REAL OR IS IT MEMORY
Angelica Hart and Zi are writers published by Champagne Books.
Storing away memories and odd events to add to a story gives that story realism. Anne Rice once said, "No matter how long we exist, we have our memories. Points in time which time itself cannot erase." And most of our memories are indeed gifts that we open again and again.
I was at an Evelyn Woods Speed Reading Class and the instructor said, "We are the sum of all our experiences." There it was a truth that stood above simple truths. As I began to write I recognized that I had very limited experiences upon which to pull. My early work was unquestionable shallow. So I began a quest to discover, in the name of wanting to be a better writer? No! I realized I was shallow.
Every submission sent to publishers was returned or ignored. I recall critique suggesting I needed more depth in both the way I dealt with the subject and the technical writing style. As time ate at my life I waited as I worked. Wrote daily. How much life is lost to wait? That is an apt question, but my wait was filled with discovery. I became a student of people. Discovery. Examined other styles and broke them down mechanically and technically. Discovery. Tried to create more complexity. Discovery. Expanded my vocabulary. Discovery. Read... read... read. Discovery. Wrote... re-wrote... re-re-wrote.
That wait was not shallow but an aggressive tutorial for my growth. I continued to submit work. And slowly pieces were accepted.
So the question is who am I? Angelica or Zi. Ironically, we took the same path and had the same challenges and failures. We met as more mature adults prepared to be writers and we have written daily as writing partners. We found a synergy in our styles and complexity in what we wanted to create. Are we good? We don't know. Have we found that depth needed to portray characters as real people? Hope we have. Have we found enough intrigue in our plot and our words to keep readers interested? You tell us. As Jacob Bronowski, a mathematician, well-spoken and a celebrity of the BBC show The Ascent of Man and was the inspiration of Carl Sagan to make the Cosmos wrote, "The world is full of people who never quite get into the first team and who just miss the prizes at the flower show." If runners up is what we are, we're proud for our journey has been wonderful.
Zi believes, "Be the best you can be by growing every day."
Having said that, goodness, that was something (our hard work) we doubt we'd forget.
(Wow what an insightful post. Memories are very important in our lives and they are definitely something that cannot be taken away from you)
Our release KILLER DOLLS is a wonderful romantic thriller based in bio-terrorism. SNAKE DANCE which is about to be released is a fantasy adventure romance placed in a unique culture. CHASING GRAVITAS is a gentle paranormal romance which provides an unfolding mystery.
EXCERPT SIX
"Why are you asking me so much about Rud?" Her query accompanied innocuous though concerned peering.
"Just curious. I'm a bit of a techie myself." He thought he had vamped to cover himself.
"I see,” she said, not quite stirring her tea, more toying with the spoon in imitation of stirring. "So, you're into computers? I mean, just what do you do, other than make
me hot and feed me?” Laughing at her own humor.
He grinned at that and blurted his cover story about being an IT contractor, working for various companies as a troubleshooter.
For the first time since they met, Letti felt uneasy. His words sounded rehearsed. Did he hate his job? Was he really a male stripper, could have been, and didn't want to tell her?
What? She found herself asking a little too often. Then he reached out and touched her hand, and for the moment she didn't care.
His next question was interrupted by the ring tone of the song Rubber Duckie.
ABOUT AUTHORS
Their combined accomplishments include book publications in print and/or electronic versions of twenty-four titles, fifteen romance specific, ten manuscripts pending, EPPIE finalist for three books, Cecil Whig award, Hob-Nob Reader's Choice Award, written over 500 shorts with numerous published in both nationwide and small press magazines, articles published in various local, city and statewide newspapers, including four as a Guest Columnist in addition to trade articles. Both are members of various writing groups.
KILLER DOLLS IS AVAILABLE: Unaware that bio-terrorists are using her handcrafted dolls to attack the innocent, Letti Noel finds herself falling for Taut Johnson, an undercover FBI agent. Even as deceit is a growing barrier to their love, it's the stalking terrorists that are a threat to their lives.
We'd love to hear from anyone interested in what we do. Anyone who writes us at angelicahartandzi@yahoo.com and leaves an s-mail address, we will send you a gift and add you to any future mailings.
Angelica Hart and Zi
KILLER DOLLS ~ September 2009
SNAKE DANCE ~ February 2010
CHASING GRAVITAS ~ July 2010
angelicahartandzi@yahoo.com
angelicahartandzi.com
KILLER DOLLS can be purchased at
Champagne Books
http://www.champagnebooks.com/
Thank You again for stopping by and sharing your thoughts and such a wonderful excerpt!
17 comments:
As always, thank you for having us Heather. Your site always looks so fresh and inviting. Hope our little blog entertains your followers.
Also, anyone who posts a comment today will be entered in our end of the week drawing for a free e-book.
And as always, Angelica and Zi, your posts are thoughtful and insightful.
I love the Carl Sagan quote. I feel like I will be always the bridesmaid, never the bride, so to speak. Never win, but come darn close.
Thanks for sharing another side of your wonderful personalities!
Loved reading your post...It was interesting to be allowed a glimpse of your journey to your current status...
Happy Reading!!!
Anna Shah Hoque
s7anna@yahoo.ca
Whatever the path you have taken to get to where you are, I am glad you are here. The "rejections" you have gotten have only made you SO much better, and I truly love to read your guest posts all over the blogosphere, and am looking forward to reading Killer Dolls.
Congratulations on creating a great story. I loved reading about your journey. It's never an easy one, as I've discovered myself. Enjoyed reading an excerpt from Killer Dolls and want to extend my best wishes on your upcoming releases as well. They sound great!!
Kaylin McFarren
FLAHERTY'S CROSSING
February 2010
Hi Ang and Zi! I would say getting published gets you past runners up stage! I like your journey of discovery! Thanks for sharing that bit of history.
Having read Killer Dolls I would say that you have succeeded in portraying real characters and good suspense! Keep up the good work!!
It's true...we need to experience life. Do not wait by doing nothing....Thank you for helping us to discover you and hopefully we will be able to discover ourselves.
Tami
What a lovely guest post.
I always enjoy your writing - both the funny pieces & the insightful ones!
nicee excerp deff adding this to my want list
Candace, your commentary is always full such complimentary words, we are grateful. As for the insightfulness of our posts, as well as that which I believe can be found in our characters I (Angelica) must relinquish any claim to it. Zi has this amazing way of finding the pin in the haystack. When I find it, it’s cause I sat on it by accident. Seriously, because of his true and total adoration of women, his need to create strong female characters because he believes in the power of women, and his undiluted respect for them, he has insights into the female character that astound me. Much like the depth found in your work, especially your latest release Full Throttle. Looks like a great story, and it is on my TBB list… to be bought!
Hi Anna, We appreciate your taking the time to read our post. That’s what life is all about, the journey. We truly never get there, and we’re still on the path. According to a Chinese proverbs, “To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.” And that is what we just keep on doing, never worrying about if we get there but happy to keep that slow and steady turtle place. Slowsky family… move over.
Oh gosh, Bill and Lorie, Your words touched us, no pun, no joking, no funnies, just aww geeze… thank you so much. It is fabulous seeing you all over the blogosphere. Isn’t cyber space wonderful? Anywho… rejections have their place. It’s not that you get them, it’s what you do about them. You can sit and cry in your pillow or subscribe to the wonderful philosophy of the singing group Chumbawamba in the song Tub Thumping… We’ll be singing… When we’re winning… We’ll be singing… I get knocked down… But I get up again… You’re never going to keep me down… We add a really cool dance step when we do this but if anyone ever saw us… errrr… let’s just say blackmail material.
Hi Linda aka Kaylin McFarren, a wonderful author and a totally blow you away book trailer for Flaherty’s Crossing! Hope you don’t mind but I have to put in the link… http://www.kaylinmcfarren.com/home.php?p=books
It is just so good, a must see, and a must read… The journey hasn’t been easy but it does get better every day. For us, writing together has totally made a difference. Getting that male and female perceptive has added depth to our work. The female side of our team adores it when the male side goes to town wooing the reader through the heroine’s emotions. Oh my, oh my…
Ah, MarthaE, you didn’t just read KILLER DOLLS, you gave it a fabulous review. We’re still preening, and of course, let everyone on the planet know about it. Having said that, thank you for your continuing kind words. We shared our history somewhat as a reminder to ourselves to keep taking it all a rung at a time, up and up and up, knowing all the while the rungs will never end. Yet, when experts like you compliment us, it gives us that moment to pause and celebrate. In turn, just to justify your words, we simply must turn out something even better, cause it’s all about engaging… you… the reader.
Wow! Tami… that was profound, and tweak the sentiment, thank you for that gift of thought. We’re going to put that on our people to be quoted list. We are so happy to see you here, you always have a good thought for everyone, and are always there to show off Champagne Books and their authors in a brilliant light. Kudos. After doing this blog, we sort of felt like Shrek… you know as Donkey called him… onion boy… peeling off the layers. Although, I think Donkey had it right… we should opt for cake… that has layers, too!
Neas Nuttiness! How awesome to see you here, and thank you for the comment. Sooo, you now know our secret, we have split personalities. Some days we’re serious, some days we’re funny, some days we eat cheese steak, cheese cake and Doritos and some days we eat celery but that’s Ang’s idea, keep saying we need healthier foods…. Ah, but I digress… A: That’s right celery helps you digest. Z: Digress… (Says in a loud tone as she has headphones on) A: (Pulls them off) You don’t have to scream. What about chess? Z: (Shakes his head) And the journey like the beat… goes on…
SiNn, So splendid to meet you, and we’re glad you enjoyed the excerpt. It’s a funny thing about excerpts, we never know how long or short to make them, or just what to show. The one thing we do know is to be careful about wording, like the ones we found in the classified ads… Dog for sale: Eats anything and is fond of children. We do not tear your clothing with machinery… We do it carefully by han3 year old teacher needed for pre-school. Experience preferred… Mixing bowl set designed to please a cook with round bottom for efficient beating. Then again, if we made these faux pas we’d be getting enough rejections to paper the foyer of a museum.
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