How long has it been?

 Wow, I just found out how to get into my old account. This is wild! I haven’t been able to get into it in years! My life has taken many twists and turns since I last made a post. Some good and some bad. But I grew through it all. My children are now grown and living lives of their own and we are empty nesters. Not sure how I feel about that right now. In my growth I found yoga and I just recently became a RYT (registered yoga teacher). I also am a certified Reiki practitioner, Sound bath practitioner and Thai bodywork practitioner and I am currently in the middle of doing prenatal yoga classes to become a RPYT (registered prenatal yoga teacher). What else? I think that’s all I have for now. I don’t want to bore you with all the me, me, me stuff. I do still love books, although my focus has changed a lot to more educational books, I do still venture back into a little fantasy and fiction from time to time. What about you? What has changed in your life over these many years? If you are still here, I would love to hear from you.  I hope to get back on here from time to time. We will see. Life is getting into a very busy season, but that’s a good thing. 

Hello World

Well, I am back! I took a looooong break to really reflect on a lot in my life and to deal with health, family, etc.  These past couple of years have been a bit crazy, but I do believe there is a purpose for it. I don't have all the answers, but I do feel like God is at work and I am starting to understand some things a little better. I have missed writing and interacting with other writers, but I really needed to find myself and get back to better health, no matter how long it took. Those things are very important for everyone. I hope to post some Chapters soon. Still working out the kinks. Thank you all for hanging in there for so long and not giving up on me. ((((HUGS))))

Welcome Back Author, S.E. Gordon

As we are going through our many health issues in our house. I have been growing bored of sitting and lying around from pain.blah, blah, blah... I decided to check my inbox one day, and I saw a message from someone I highly admire, S.E. Gordon. He wanted to do another interview, so I said ok. I mean I really have nothing else to do right now, and like I said I really admire him, he's great. So without further ado, here's my interview with the man with the plan. 

TEMPERANCE: Up until now, I’ve interviewed Scott about his upcoming vampire novels. Now suddenly he drops this piece of fantasy fiction on my lap. What is this all about? It sounds totally nuts.

S.E. GORDON: Thanks, Temperance. What is this? The third interview you’ve done for me? You’d figure that I’d have one of my novels out by now, but good things are in the works, I promise. Maniacal, chaotic things that could only come from a disturbed mind like yours truly.

But The Sweetest Stalk represents something else entirely. First and foremost, I would consider myself a fantasy author. Though I love horror, science fiction and thrillers, it all started with my love of fantasy epics such as Lord of the Rings. If you’ve been following my blog and reading all the mayhem, you might think that I’m a horror writer and nothing more. But that’s merely what’s ‘hot’ right now. As is cliché, you must strike while the iron is hot, and that’s exactly what I’m doing with Enura and the Vampire Hunters series. The Sweetest Stalk is an attempt to get back to my roots, and show readers what I can do in the fantasy genre.

TEMPERANCE: So what is The Sweetest Stalk? And where did the idea come from?

S.E. GORDON: The Sweetest Stalk actually came to me while I was participating in Writers Weekly’s 24-hour Short Story Contest. I thought it would be a great opportunity to showcase my skills and pocket a little prize money (the top prize was $300). It was a humbling experience to say the least: not only did I not win a prize of any sort, I did not even place in the Honorable Mentions List. Apparently, there’s some stiff competition out there.

Months later, I dusted it off and was surprised at what I found (yes, writers with feeble minds like my own often forget what they’ve written). Sure there were a few things that needed to be tweaked and expanded upon, but by and large the overall writing was good.

When I attempted to expand it into a longer story (even 500 additional words would have sufficed), something strange happened (and I’m the king of strange). Though I tried in earnest to expand it, I only succeeded in adding a couple hundred words, while also cutting out about half that amount. That was when I realized that I had put down all that was needed to be said. And then a dubious idea hit me: what I really needed to do was write the next short story that came after it, so I jumped behind the computer and pounded out another 3,000 words (it’s still not finished, but it is coming).

This left me with an odd dilemma: even though I was giving away the first short story for free on my website, it did not appear that I had chosen the right medium. One of my books on blogging mentions that the ideal length for a blog entry is approximately 500 words; anything greater than that and you’re stretching it. The Sweetest Stalk is 1,100 words in length; so indeed, I was stretching it.

Further research also revealed some other interesting facts. One website (I forget the name, but not Project Guttenberg) offers complete novels that you can read online. By publishing the works in their entirety, they’ve found that most readers only read the first 10% of a novel, and use it as a deciding factor in purchasing the print version. I’d imagine that this also holds true with e-books in a sense. Ultimately readers don’t want to read a novel on a blog cluttered with lists of links and ads. They want a ‘clean’ version on their medium of choice (print, e-book, etc.) that they can take with them wherever they go, regardless of whether or not they have network connectivity.

After taking this into account, I decided that the best way to get people to read my work was…(drumroll)…to publish the e-book. What can I say? I have a very hard head.

Although I had intended to release The Sweetest Stalk along with its sequel, The Sweetest Stalklings, I got an idea for a third story: Stalkers, Aren’t They All? When I realized that it would be awhile before all three were finished, I decided to move ahead and publish the first one by itself. Even worse, these three short stories comprise the back-story for yet another fantasy novel in development called Goblin Story.

TEMPERANCE: Ooh, another fantasy novel! You must tell us more about it!

S.E. GORDON: I would certainly love to, but even I don’t know a whole lot about it. Goblin Story is about three goblings living with their uncle Ganqua. One day Yeka comes across a magic eye in the swamp and brings it to her uncle. Annoyed at the disruption, he swallows the eye and gets back to work, thinking nothing of it. Of course, that’s when all the fun begins.

TEMPERANCE: I’ve noticed on your blog that you have another fantasy novel in the works called The Key of Neverhence. The cover art is awesome, what can you tell us about that one?

S.E. GORDON: The Key of Neverhence was actually the first thing that I wrote when I decided to take a stab at writing. Over the span of a couple months, I tapped out 77,000 words of faery mayhem. When I went back to read what I had written, I realized that the rough draft I had was indeed that: very, very rough. A massive editing job awaited.

Initially it scared me off, but eventually I dove in, editing chapter after chapter, not really sure what I was doing. I’m a perfectionist of sorts, and soon realized that this outlook was having an adverse effect on the editing process. I would comb through my work over and over again until I could not find any errors. Of course, all the rereading slowed me down to a snail’s pace. After getting 10% of the book edited, I gave up. “When does the editing end?” I threw up my hands in frustration. Inevitably it does not.

You only get better at editing through practice and knowledge. Knowing grammar inside out and having other writers point out your tendencies helps cut down the amount of editing that is necessary. And also--I can’t stress this enough because I’m terrible at it--good organization can cut out entire drafts. Organization helps you produce more effectively. I realize all of this is a lot for a new writer, but if I were to focus on one thing just to get started, it would be to write consistently every day. One way or another, you will learn grammar and how to best tell a story, but ultimately you need to put in the hard word so that you can build the necessary connections to be a writer. Once you establish this mentality, you can add to it, and sculpt yourself into the writer that you wish to be.

Oops. I didn’t mean to go off on a tangent. What was I talking about?

TEMPERANCE: Neverhence.

S.E. GORDON: Oh yeah. I probably didn’t tell you what it’s about, did I?

TEMPERANCE: Nope.

S.E. GORDON: Let’s see if I can remember…Oh yes! The Key of Neverhence is a comedic fantasy set entirely in the faery kingdom of Timara. (After all, when am I going to finish it? Timara, I always say.) Our main character, Yvan Frollingswyrth, unwittingly brings the Key of Neverhence into Holloway Springs, a dangerous magical tool that opens doors between the lands of the cloud and netherfaeries. But this is the least of the old geezer’s problems. While visiting the dragon lands, he’s duped into marriage with a cloud faery. Due to his advanced age, the last thing that he wants to do is to be pestered by pack of ravenous, pecker-headed kids. Will he ever find the peace and quiet he seeks? Hopefully I can throw a few wrenches into his plans.

TEMPERANCE: Wow, that sounds…insane!

S.E. GORDON: Par for the course…

TEMPERANCE: I love it! Tell me more.

S.E. GORDON: Well, I don’t want to give away too much of the story. Let’s just say that it doesn’t all go according to plan. He encounters a dark faery named Kymira, and stumbles upon an equally evil force called Myzeroff. There’s humor, intrigue, and plenty of spankings to go around.

TEMPERANCE: Sounds great! Like The Sweetest Stalk, is this the first book in a series?

S.E. GORDON: Oh boy. Do I have an answer for you...Not only is this the first in a series, it’s also the first book in a series of series. Series 1 is called The Withered Ones, which includes The Key of Neverhence and two other novels. I may slip in a couple novellas in between releases (including Frollingswyrth’s dubious honeymoon exploits), but the first series is three books long.

Series 2 I know even less about, but it will probably be three books as well. Then we get to the real meat of the adventure, The First Light of the Sword, a five-book series that is told from five different perspectives. Each of these books will be enormous. Dare I say that each will top 150,000 words?

It will be awhile until these are done, but thankfully there’s plenty to do in the interim. Series 4 I know a little more about, and it will continue the use of multiple viewpoints over the span of five novels. Then there’s Series 5, which I know absolutely nothing about and don’t want to, because I’ve also devised side-stories (or “gaidens” in Japanese) and subseries. Ugh!

It’s enough to make one’s head explode. So I’m just focusing on The Key of Neverhence for now…

TEMPERANCE: Whoa.

S.E. GORDON: Yeah.

TEMPERANCE: Do you have a life?

S.E. GORDON: A very good one, if I can continue to support myself with my writing.

TEMPERANCE: Real quick, for those who have not read the other interview and are not aware of your vampire novels, please tell us a little bit about those.

S.E. GORDON: For those brave hearts that desire a darker adventure, I would suggest that they check out my forthcoming novel Enura. It’s a dark tale set in the town of Vissorouy, a haven where humans and vampires live in harmony. A dangerous transient called Enura descends upon their lands and begins killing everything in her path. To rid themselves of her evil presence, a vampire hunter is brought in. To survive, they must put aside their differences and band together, otherwise everything that they know and love will be extinguished.

If you enjoy Enura, I also have a novella that will be released around the same time called Vampire Hunters: Prelude, which is actually the prequel to Enura, and features the exploits of Vampire Hunter Lawson Parker. It’s more vampire mayhem, but on a smaller scale (about 100 pages). Actually, you might want to start with Prelude first to get an idea of what you’re in for.

Beyond that, who knows? I plan to follow up Enura with Half Light and Endolyn, and continue the Vampire Hunters series with Vampire Hunters: Calamity, Vampire Hunters: Forsaken and Vampire Hunters: Enigma.

If only there were enough hours in the day.

TEMPERANCE: No kidding. That all sounds great, Scott. Anything else you’d like to say before you go?

S.E. GORDON: Only that if you want to accomplish something great, the first thing that you must do is believe in yourself. As your belief grows, so does your productivity. Certainly my plans are ambitious, and perhaps there are more books than I actually have time to write. But one thing at a time, one day at a time, and all dreams will come true, no matter how outlandish they seem.

You’ve heard the saying, “How do you eat an elephant? A little at a time.” It’s the same with writing. By doing a little each day, you can accomplish many great things. Here’s an example: if you were to commit to writing 1,000 words a day, and do this consistently over the span of a year, you’d have over 365,000 words, or the equivalent of 7 novels. If you did this over a period of 10 years, you’d produce at least 70 books. Not bad for someone who ‘only’ writes 1,000 words a day. But it’s not about the speed, it’s about consistency; and if you have that, then you will truly be prolific.

Thanks for having me, Temperance. And good luck with your own novels. I have the feeling that we’ll be doing this again soon with the roles reversed.

TEMPERANCE: Indeed. Take care Scott, and thank you for taking the time to speak to me about your novels.

S.E. GORDON: Always a pleasure, Temperance.

Road Blocks

As many of you know, writing is never easy. You have block periods, life gets in the way, doubt, frustration, etc. I came to a stand still a few months ago, and every time I try again, the fear monster gets a hold of me , and I doubt myself into not writing at all.  I know I'm not the only one with this problem, but sometime I feel like I am.
I recently watched the story of J.K. Rowling , and it gave me confidence once again, but only for a few days. How do you keep going?  How do you get past the road blocks that life throws your way? Also,  I am never alone, so it  can be very difficult for me to get into my characters head sometimes. What do you do?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Book Sneeze Review : Waking Hours

Welcome to East Salem: A deceptively sleepy town where ancient supernatural forces are being awakened.

A high-school girl is found murdered in a park in Westchester County, New York. The shocking manner of her death confounds the town and intrigues forensic psychiatrist Dani Harris, who is determined to unravel the mystery. All the suspects are teenagers who were at a party with the girl—yet no one remembers what happened. Could one of them be a vicious killer? Or is something more sinister afoot—something tied to an ancient evil?

But it's not just Dani’s waking hours that challenge her. Each night, her eyes open at 2:13 due to troubling dreams—dreams filled with blood, water, and destruction. Is it a clue—or a sign?

Across town, former NFL linebacker Tommy Gunderson finds his security system has been breached by an elderly woman who attacks him with preternatural strength. Before he can process the attack, someone close to him is implicated in the high-school girl's murder. He agrees to help—and finds himself working with Dani, the only girl who could resist his charms when they were in high school.

It will take astute analysis and forensic skills to solve the crime. But Dani and Tommy suspect there's more to the mystery than murder, more to their growing friendship than chance . . . and more to the evil they're facing than a mere human killer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I received this book, to review, in e- format, from Book Sneeze.

I am an avid reader, and fiction is my favorite genre. When I saw this book and read what it was about, I just had to read it. My feelings about this book are up and down ,though. The story is interesting , but the writing is a bit poor. It can be overly descriptive in some parts, which can drive you nuts, and confusing in others. I had to re-read some places to figure out what exactly was going on.   Like I said the story itself is an interesting story, I had to see how it ended.  But, It  did take me a bit longer than normal to get through. And when I got to the end I found it wasn't finished, so I guess it will be a series then. Hmmm, I'm not sure if I want to complete the series or not. I guess maybe if I had nothing else to read.  After all it's not the worst book that I've read, I guess we shall see.  Would I recommend this book to anyone? Probably not. Who knows though, maybe the story will get better as it progresses...sigh...I guess I will just have to read it all to find out, but then again, I may just forget about it.  I told you I was up and down about this book.

Another Amazing Interview with Fantasy Author S.E. Gordon

TEMPERANCE: Up until now, I’ve interviewed Scott about his upcoming vampire novels. Now suddenly he drops this piece of fantasy fiction in my lap. What is this all about? This sounds totally nuts.

S.E. GORDON: Thanks, Temperance. What is this? The third interview you’ve done for me? You’d figure that one of my other novels would be out by now, but good things are in store for my readers. Good, maniacal chaotic things that could only come a disturbed mind like yours truly.

But The Sweetest Stalk represents something else entirely. First and foremost, I would consider myself a fantasy author. Though I love horror, science fiction and thrillers, it all started with my love of fantasy epics such as Lord of the Rings. If you’ve been following my blog and reading all the mayhem, you might think that I’m a horror writer and nothing more. But that is merely what’s ‘hot’ right now. As is cliché, you must strike when the iron is hot, and that’s exactly what I’ve done with Enura and the Vampire Hunters series. This is an attempt to go back to my roots, and show readers what I can do in the fantasy genre.

TEMPERANCE: So what is The Sweetest Stalk? What can you tell us about it? Where did you get the idea for it?

S.E. GORDON: The Sweetest Stalk actually came to me while I was participating in Writers Weekly’s 24-hour Short Story competition. I thought it would be a great opportunity to show readers my skills, and pocket a little prize money (the top prize is $300). To say the least, it was a humbling experience: not only did I not win a prize of any sort, I did not even place in the honorable mentions. That goes to show you that there’s some stiff competition out there.

Months later, I dusted off the short story that I wrote (it was less than 1,000 words), and was surprised what I found (yes, writers with feeble minds such as my own oftentimes forget what we’ve written). Sure there were a few things that needed to be tweaked and expanded, but by and large the overall writing was good.

When I attempted to expand it into a larger story (even an additional 500 words would have sufficed), something strange happened (I know, I’m the king of strange). Though I tried in earnest to expand it out, I only succeeded in adding a couple hundred words, while also cutting out about half that amount. The net result was only about 10% more, which is when I realized that I had said all that needed to be said in this small piece of flash fiction. And then a dubious idea hit me: what I really needed was to do was write the short story that comes after it, so I jumped in and pounded out another 3,000 words.

This left me with an odd dilemma: first, even though I was giving away the first short story for free on my website, it did not appear to be the right medium for people to actually read it. I read in one of my books on blogging that the idea length for a blog entry is approximately 500 words, anything greater than that and you’re stretching it.

Further research also brought some other interesting statistics to my attention. One such website (I forget the name, but not Project Guttenberg) offers complete novels that you can read online. By publishing these works online, they’ve found that most readers only read up to the first 10% of the novel, and then use that as a deciding factor to purchase the print version. I’d imagine that this also holds true with e-books in a sense. Ultimately the readers don’t want to read it on a blog wrapped in a bunch of hyperlinks and ads. They want a ‘clean’ version on their medium of choice (print, e-reader) that they can take with them wherever they go, regardless of whether or not they have network connectivity.

So taking that all into account, I decided that the best way to get people to read my work…(drumroll)…was to get it published. (What can I say? I have a very hard head.) But even with a combined 4,000 words, I did not feel that I had a complete product, so I decided to write one last short story, and add two small poems in between to tie it all together. Once I did this, it really came together, providing all the necessary back-story for my future fantasy novel Goblin Story.

TEMPERANCE: Ooh, another fantasy novel! You must tell us more about it!

S.E. GORDON: I would certainly love to, but even I don’t know a whole lot about it yet. Goblin Story is about three goblings living with their uncle Ganqua. One day Yeka comes across a magic eye in the swamp and brings it back to her uncle. Annoyed at the disruption, he swallows the magic eye, and goes back to his work, thinking that will be the end of it. Of course, that’s where all the fun begins.

TEMPERANCE: I’ve noticed that on your blog (segordon.blogspot.com) that you have a fantasy novel in the works called The Key of Neverhence. The cover art is awesome, what can you tell us about that one?

S.E. GORDON: The Key of Neverhence was actually the first thing that I wrote when I decided to take a stab at being an author five years ago. Over the span of a couple months, I tapped out 77,000 words of faery mayhem. When I went back to read what I had written, I realized that writing the rough draft was on the proverbial tip of the iceberg. A massive editing job awaited.

So I dove in, editing chapter after chapter, not really sure what I was doing. I’m a perfectionist of sorts, and I soon realized that this was having an adverse effect on the editing process. I would comb through my work over and over again until I could not find any errors. Of course, all the rereading slowed me down to a snail’s pace. After getting 10% of the book edited, I gave up. “When does the editing end?” I proclaimed. Inevitably it does not.

You only get better at editing through practice and knowledge. Knowing grammar inside and out, and having other writers point out bad tendencies helps cut down the amount of editing that is needed. And also, I can’t stress this enough because I’m terrible at it: good organization can cut out entire drafts. Organization helps you produce work more effectively. I realize all of this is a lot for a new writer (and in many ways I am still a novice), but if I were to focus on one thing just to get my feet wet in all of this, it would be to be consistent and write every day. One way or another you will learn the grammar, and how best to tell a story, but you really need to get the exercise so that you can form the necessary connections to be a writer. Once you establish this mentality, you can add to it, and sculpt yourself into the writer that you want to be.

Oops. Didn’t mean to go off on a tangent there. Now what was I talking about?

TEMPERANCE: Neverhence.

S.E. GORDON: Oh yeah, I probably didn’t tell you what that’s about, did I?

TEMPERANCE: Nope.

S.E. GORDON: Let’s see if I can remember. Oh yes, The Key of Neverhence is a comedic fantasy set entirely in the faery kingdom of Timara. (After all, when am I going to finish this? Timara, I always say.) Our main character, Yvan Frollingswyrth unwittingly brings the Key of Neverhence into Holloway Springs, a dangerous magic tool that opens doors between the lands of cloud and netherfaeries. But this is the least of the old geezer’s problems. While visiting the dragon lands, he’s duped into marriage with a cloud faery. Due to his advanced age, the last thing that he wants to do is to be pestered by pack of ravenous, pecker-headed kids. Will he ever find the peace and quiet he seeks? Hopefully I can throw a few wrenches in his plans.

TEMPERANCE: Wow, that sounds…insane.

S.E. GORDON: Par for the course…

TEMPERANCE: I love it, tell me more!

S.E. GORDON: Well, I don’t want to give too much of the story away. Let’s just say that all doesn’t go quite according to plan. He encounters an evil dark faery named Kymira, and becomes aware of an equally dark force called Myzeroff. There’s humor, intrigue, and plenty of spankings to go around.

TEMPERANCE: Sounds great! Like The Sweetest Stalk, is this the first book in a series?

S.E. GORDON: Oh boy. What a question to answer. Not only is this the first in a series, it’s the first book that kicks off a series of series. This first series is called The Withered Ones, which includes The Key of Neverhence and two other novels. I may slip in a couple novellas (including his dubious honeymoon exploits), but the main course is 3 books long. Series two I know less about—it will probably be 3 books as well. Then we get to the real meat of the adventure—The First Light of the Sword, a five-book series told from five different perspectives. Each of these books will be enormous. Dare I say each will top 100,000 words? So it will be awhile until these are done, but thankfully there’s plenty to do in the interim. Series 4 I know a little more about, and it will continue the use of multiple viewpoints over 5 books. Then there’s Series 5 which I know nothing about, and probably don’t want to know anything about, because I’ve also devised side-stories (or “gaidens” to the Japanese) and subseries. It’s enough to make one’s head explode. So I’m just focusing on The Key of Neverhence for now.

TEMPERANCE: Whoa.

S.E. GORDON: Yeah.

TEMPERANCE: Do you have a life?

S.E. GORDON: A very good one, if I can support myself on writing alone.

TEMPERANCE: Real quickly, for those who have not read the other interview, and are not aware of your vampire novels, tell us about those.

S.E. GORDON: For those brave hearts that desire a darker adventure, I would suggest that they check out my forthcoming novel Enura. It’s a dark tale about the town of Vissorouy, a haven where humans and vampires alike live in harmony. A dangerous transient called Enura comes to their lands and begins killing everything in her path. To rid themselves of her evil presence, a vampire hunter is brought into town. If they are to survive, they must put aside their differences and band together, otherwise everything that they know and love will be extinguished.

If you enjoy Enura, I also have a novella that will be released around the same time called Vampire Hunters: Prelude, which is actually a prequel to Enura, and features the exploits of Vampire Hunter Lawson Parker. It’s the same mayhem, but one a much smaller scale (about 100 pages). Actually, you might want to start with Prelude first to know what you are in for.

Beyond that, who knows? I plan to follow up Enura with Half Light in the future, and continue the Vampire Hunters series with Vampire Hunters: Calamity, Vampire Hunters: Forsaken and Vampire Hunters: Enigma.

If only there were enough hours in the day.

TEMPERANCE: No kidding. That all sounds great, Scott. Anything that you’d like to say before you go?

S.E. GORDON: Only that if you want to accomplish something great, the first thing that you must have is belief in yourself. As your belief in yourself goes, so does your productivity. Certainly my plans are ambitious, and perhaps there are more books that I want to write than I actually have time for. But one thing at a time, one day at a time, and all dreams can come true, no matter how outlandish they seem.

You heard the saying, “How do you eat an elephant? A little at a time.” It’s the same for writing. By doing a little each day, you can accomplish many great things. Here’s an easy example: if you were to commit to writing 1,000 words a day, and do this consistently over the span of a year, you’d have over 365,000 words, or the equivalent of 7 novels. If you did this over a period of 10 years, you’d produce at least 70 books. Not bad output for someone who ‘only’ writes 1,000 words a day. But it’s not about the speed, it’s about consistency; and if you have that, then you will be truly prolific.

Thanks for having me, Temperance. And good luck with your own novels. I have the feeling that we’ll be doing this again soon but with the roles reversed.

TEMPERANCE: Indeed. Take care, S.E. Gordon, and thank you for taking the time to speak to me about your novels.

S.E. GORDON: Always a pleasure, Temperance.

Another Amazing Interview with S.E. Gordon

Tempe: Welcome back S.E. , I am so happy to have you on my blog again!

S.E.G. : Hey Temperance, thanks for putting this together.

Tempe: Anytime! So tell me , whats changed since the  last time we spoke?

S.E.G.: Well, I am writing a prequel of sorts called Vampire Hunters: Prelude. It is a novelette (~15,000 words), and will give readers a taste of what they're in for with Enura. It is unique in the sense that it is told entirely from the first person perspective of Lawson Parker, the resident vampire hunter. I would go as far as to say that this has the feel as a novel itself, but in a much smaller space.

I plan to release this first, and include the entire first act of Enura as a sample (Enura has a total of 5 acts). But what's also interesting about this is that this will not be the only novelette in the Vampire Hunters series. I will also be writing Vampire Hunters: Calamity, another novelette which will feature characters not found in Enura that will thread into the sequel, Half Light.


Tempe: Once again, great cover art! Who did this one?

S.E.G. : For Vampire Hunters: Prelude, I did everything myself. I purchased the stock image from iStockPhoto, threw it into Photoshop, banged my head against the wall...that sort of thing...and *presto* a masterpiece!

Tempe: Wow!! Well , job well done! :c)

S.E.G. : I guess that short stint at Ringling School of Art & Design is really starting to pay off. [grins]

Tempe: You changed your art for Enura too, right?

S.E.G. : Yes, Enura's cover has changed.. When I started thinking ahead to Half-light, the next novel in the series, I realized I had a problem.

I pondered what the new cover would look like: I see a woman running--it's Yakim from the first novel, and there's a light. Unfortunately, that's exactly what appears on Enura's current cover. And I realized another problem--even though the book is called Enura, she doesn't appear on the cover; it's actually Yakim. That's when I realized I had to move the cover art from book #1 to book #2, and get new artwork for Enura. I figured I could still get away with it since I hadn't done a ton of publicity or listed the novel for sale yet.

I'm sure readers will be pleased with the selection of the new cover art (also by the amazing Claudia McKinney of PhatPuppyArt). One of my beta readers also asked me why Enura has red hair on the cover while the character has white hair in the first half of the novel. This is intentional--there's a nasty little surprise at the end of the book.
Tempe: Oooh, exciting!  I love nasty little surprises!

Tempe: What else can you tell us about your new novellas?

S.E.G. : Vampire Hunters: Prelude is the first of five novellas detailing the events leading up to Enura. Collectively, all five stories could be considered one long novel or 'prequel.' Originally it was my intention to only write 12,500 words for each one, but, as is common with my projects, they have a tendency to expand. I'm getting close to finishing Prelude, and it's poised to break 20,000 words. So much for setting limits. It's all about the story anyways, not the word count. The readers are the real winners when I exceed my limits.
Tempe: Wow, 20,000? Awesome! Oh, and  I agree, it's all about the story and the readers.

Tempe: So why did you choose to write the prequels, exactly?

S.E.G.: I decided to write the prequels because I knew there will be a lag between books 1 and 2. Releasing the prequels keeps interest alive, and helps provide depth to the vampire universe I've created. In addition, they provide a low entry fee into the series (each will have a list price of .99).

Also, there seemed to be a bit of unfinished business while I was writing Enura. I eluded to events that happened earlier with Lawson, but did not have the space to go into any detail. Now I have the opportunity, and readers are in for a wild ride!

Tempe: Are any of your characters based on real life people ?

S.E.G.: Lawson Parker is actually the name of a graphic designer I met while working for the American Registry of Internet Numbers (ARIN)--you know, those people responsible for IP addresses. Every now and then I would tell her that her name was perfect for a vampire hunter. I guess it was just a matter of time before I made it happen. Hopefully she's not terribly upset that her character is a man.

In a broader sense, my characters are a concatenation of personalities I've been exposed to over time. Enura herself is inspired from Amy Lee of Evanescence (especially the cover of her album The Open Door), and Yakim from Mia Wasikowska (Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland). I would liken Lord Vangley's demeanor to Liam Neeson (Batman Begins), and Laurent's quiet presence to Stuart Townsend (Queen of the Damned). But Lawson's is the funniest of all; for some reason, I think back to Pinocchio whenever I write his scenes. A truly wooden character he is!
Tempe: I bet Lawson thinks it's cool... I would!

Tempe: Where do your inspirations come from?

S.E.G. : It's doesn't take much. The wind blows, and I get a new idea for a novel, among other things. I've got a backlog from here to the moon. If I could type 200 words a minute, I might have a shot at finishing them all. Maybe.

For me, I always look for an idea that is worth exploration. I believe in having a solid plot, but do not believe it's in the writer's best interest to know every single detail before entering the story. Discovery must be one of the prerequisites, otherwise the story suffers, and it shows.

I find that music is the best medium for experiencing my dreams, if only for a few moments. Paying closer attention to the things happening around you is an excellent way to come up with novel ideas; especially when you realize that everything is fodder for fiction. Even this interview, if viewed in the appropriate context.

Tempe: Thank you S.E. , great advice! Well I am now looking forward to your novellas getting finished , so I can get the full story. Thank you again S.E. for doing this interview with me.

Tempe: Everybody, keep your eyes peeled for S.E. Gordons books...You won't be sorry!