In the book, my main character comes home to find that his father has disappeared, leaving behind a very dangerous piece of technology. He sets out, accompanied by his good friend, John, to find out where his father left and what trouble he’s been causing. Along the way, he meets a woman named Meriym, who is independent, strong, and most importantly, not afraid of him in the slightest.

The following excerpt is a piece of character development I wrote for her. It describes the first moment she set foot on the world called Path, and will soon become a short story. Enjoy!

Footsteps thundered in the silent and empty air, magnified by the hollowness of the space under the bridge; Meriym was running, terrified of the thing that chased her. Sweat dripped from every inch of her skin, and droplets of blood leaked from her hands where her nails pierced her fists from the intensity of her grip. She gasped and ran, one foot after another, praying for salvation and never looking behind her.

And then she tripped. The world slowed around her as she saw the brown and dusty earth rise up to embrace her – every speck of dirt seemed to float slowly by her eyes. The hungry, blade-like grass lashed at her arms leaving a trail of blood across her skin. A crow screeched overhead. She bounced a little on the hard ground, and then, with gritted teeth, rolled over to face the thing that chased her. The sky was greyish-blue, as if the sun hadn’t quite finished rising. And the path behind her lay empty.

She sat for a few moments, her chest heaving, gasping for much-needed air. Her hands feebly felt the ground around her. Her eyes took in the colours, the sights, the bridge – she was nowhere, yet she was safe. For the moment.

Standing slowly, she brushed off her skirts. Where had it gone – the thing that had chased her? A frown settled over Meryim’s hardened eyes. What if it had the power to become invisible? She may not be safe after all.

Meriym turned and strode down the path, away from the bridge. There must be someone in this new world that could help her, protect her. She walked slowly, listening, hardly breathing, looking in every direction. With patience and perseverance she could – she would – outwit the creature. She would kill it, and every creature like it, revenge for destroying her people. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, only to see a strange shape emerging from just over the rise.

Hastening, Meriym’s eyes widened as she saw the strangest-looking house. Each side was perfectly square, and the four sections of roof peaked together in perfect isosceles triangles. Each side contained two windows and one door; the door was placed perfectly in the center and reached all the way to the top of the wall. The doorknob stuck out in precisely the middle of the door. The only thing that was not symmetrical in every direction was the set of steps that led up to each door on each side of the house.

Despite the uncomfortable balance of the building, it was not in perfect condition. The steps had begun to rot, and small tufts of grass grew through their weakened wood. Square shingles lay broken on the ground. A deep, dry, and unforgiving field spread out in all directions, with only one path leading away from the house towards the river which flowed a deep and unnatural red.

The house was odd, unusual, and utterly foreign. But it was a house and it appeared abandoned. Meriym swallowed and stepped towards it. With time, patience, and perseverance, it would become her fortress.

You can read more by grabbing a copy of The Wounded World, or checking out some of the other stops along my blog tour:

• An Excerpt

• What If They Had iPhones

• A Little Romance

• Fun Facts

• The Technology of My World

• A History of the Planet

• A Little Wordplay

• Movie Actors for the Books

Ariele Sieling has been a writer for her entire life, writing her first book as an eleven-year-old, called The Mystery House. Since then, she has pursued the art of writing in a variety of forms, from short stories and essays, to newspaper articles, newsletters, classroom curriculum, and novels. Sieling writes science fiction, and works to blend the potential for human capacity and future technology with a little bit of humor. She is author of The Clock Winked, The Lonely Whelk, and The Wounded World. She lives in New Hampshire with her three cats.

To learn more, you can find her on Facebook, Twitter, or on her website.

- How did you know you had to start writing?

I have always liked telling stories. It started with writing comic books and moved up to short fiction. In High School I had a teacher tell me that I lived in my own world. That happened after she read a short historical fiction story that I had taken fantastic liberties with. Though she attempted to pull me down to earth, it only inspired me further. It took a long while before I decided to take my writing more seriously, finally completing my first novel this year.

- What is your favorite part of the process?

There is nothing that compares to when you enter the zone and the words leave your brain as fast as you can type. Those are the powerful writing sessions when your writing is capable of moving you emotionally, and you know that it will also move your readers.

- Tell us a little about your latest book.

My latest book is a dark fantasy zombie apocalypse called Death Storm, and is the first book of a series called Hungry Gods. I wanted to write a different kind of high fantasy. I wanted to destroy it. We normally like the hero to win. With zombies, it never ends well. Hopefully fans of both genres will be pleasantly surprised.

- What made you write Death Storm?

Though my first book was a sci-fi thriller (Broken Things), I wanted to write a fantasy. As a reader, it’s always been my favorite genre. I didn’t want to treat it kindly, however. My second favorite genre is horror, so I thought I’d let them play together.

- What are you currently working on?

With Death Storm, I committed to writing a series. I don’t want to step away from it until I have all three books out. You can expect book 2 in the Hungry Gods series in a few more months.

- Which do you prefer, ebooks or hardcopy?

I have happily embraced the ebook revolution. I love having thousands of books available at all times. Maybe one book is a hardcopy out of every ten books I read.

- Has writing changed you in any way?

The biggest change writing has brought me is the amount of time that I get to spend with my family. It makes me feel like I know my wife and children again. A close second in change is the feeling of doing something for a living that I want to do.

- What is your favorite quote?

I never have chosen a favorite. If I had to pick one that I like a lot at the moment, I would choose this one:

Writers live twice. —Natalie Goldberg

_____

Thank you G.S. Wright for your time. You can find out more about this writer at his website and the following places:

- Facebook

- Goodreads

You can buy Broken Things at  Amazon.

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Hi, great to be here on your blog Jamie,  on the first day of the  Blogger Book Fair (BBF)!

My name is Emma Calin, I am a British author and I live in France and the UK.

I have had a very busy week – my new book came out on the 18th and launch-fever has been raging ever since.  To celebrate the BBF and my new book, here is a clip of me down at the park bandstand last weekend, ‘blowing my own horn’, as usual…

A fanfare of sorts for my new book…. a ‘boxed set’ of novelettes and short stories: ‘The Love in a Hopeless Place Collection’

It came out on the 18th July and is available on Amazon Worldwide in e-book format for Kindle, iPad, Android, iPhone, Mac, PC etc.

The book consists of five stand-alone titles which are all available on Amazon as separate entities as well.  They are realist ‘true life’ tales from the less advantaged sectors of society – often based on my own experiences or folk I have met.  Although not romances as such, they follow a common human theme – the quest for love and respect in a harsh world. Social realism for the 21st century.

Today I am featuring one of the stories: THE CHOSEN on Jamie’s blog.  I would like to offer you a snippet from The Chosen,  in the form of a ’3-Way Seduction’ – by sharing a character, a location and a sentence from the end of a scene.

Book Title: The Chosen (#2 in the Love in a Hopeless Place Collection)

Genre: Short Story, dark humour

Blurb: A woman, a man, a van and a plan. What do painting and decorating, Thai brides, self-help manuals and pay-day loans have in common? J.A. knows the answer. Follow his his quest for love and happiness in The Chosen.

When the luck runs out; the lucky walk away. A short story set in the extremis of everyday.

Emma’s ‘Three Way Seduction’  – A Character – A Location – An end of scene sentence:

Character:  ‘J.A.’ He sat eating a thin white bread sandwich, spread with thin red jam, with his thin white hands. He rolled a cigarette as thin as a match and inhaled deeply so that the red end glowed. He handed me his baccy and papers and began to talk the smoke from his wheezing lungs.

Location: He started the van, tapping at the fuel gauge. I could see we were nearly empty. We were sixty miles south of home in London. The engine was rattling more and more. I kept my mouth shut.

End of scene sentence: ‘It’s what’s called having a business mind my friend. It’s about grasping the moment. I feel like Lady Macbeth on the eve of Agincourt,’ he said.

Were you seduced?

To celebrate the launch and the Blogger Book Fair, this and all my books are available for the bargain price of 99c/77p each for the duration of the fair (The Collection will be going back up to $4.99 from the 1st of August).

If that’s not enough to tempt you, I have also made one of the stand-alone titles – ‘ANGELA’ from the collection,  FREE – go on, download it you know you want to!

Thanks for having me Jamie, regular readers of this blog can visit Jamie’s post on my blog here: http://www.emmacalin.blogspot.com

Author Links For more books by Emma Calin: http://www.viewAuthor.at/EmmaCalin

Emma Calin Blog: http://www.emmacalin.blogspot.com

Emma Calin Website: http://www.emmacalin.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/emma.calin

Facebook Page for book: https://www.facebook.com/EmmaCalinBoxedSet

Twitter:@Emma Calin

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/emmacalin/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4915751.Emma_Calin

For my next stop on the Blogger Book Fair, see below, there will be more excerpts and perhaps another tune from the bandstand…

22ndJuly  Caitlyn Nicholas http://www.caitlynnicholas.blogspot.com

Jamie Campbell http://jamiecampbell.com.au/blog/

23rd July Emily Tippets http://www.emtippetts.com/search/label/Blog

Penelope Reece http://penelopereece.blogspot.co.uk/

24th July  Leslie R. Wright http://thebasementlevelfive.blogspot.co.uk/

25th July  Aria Glazki http://ariaglazki.blogspot.co.uk/

Barbara Billig http://www.thenuclearcatastrophe.blogspot.com/

26th July  Don Wooldridge http://www.donwooldridge.com

Having recently watched a video of a speech by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love), I have to agree that there are moments when it is our creativity that takes the wheel, sometimes even without our realization.

Those little moments of inspiration can pop up anywhere and at anytime, leaving you scrambling to find the nearest pen and paper in order to capture your thoughts. But what happens when you can’t find one or the other? Or neither? How far are you willing to go for that one little flash of fleeting genius? Are you willing to hold onto it, chasing it down until it’s yours?  Will you repeat it over and over praying that you’ll remember it later when you do find that pen and paper?  Or do you just let it go, hoping it will come back to you later?  But what if it doesn’t?  What if it rolls on to the next unsuspecting soul?  Would you be just as happy?  Just as long as such a beautiful thought managed to find it’s way onto paper, in order for eyes to devour it?