Raven and Lain Bower Share their Supernatural World

Raven and Lain Bower are a wife and husband team of writers living in Michigan. They are avid role-players and love to design mythical and diabolical creatures, characters and fantastic worlds together. They are co-creators of Farath, a new epic fantasy world in the works.

Raven's first book, Apparitions, is a ghostly supernatural suspense story now available in paperback and as an ebook. Lain and Raven also wrote the screenplay for The Nano Effect, a dark futuristic suspense movie that is currently under production at Mad Lab Films.

What an exciting genre! Can you tell us about the next books in this series?
Yes, the next book is Wendigo. My editor, Terri, at Under The Moon contracted both Wendigo and the third book in the Apparitions series, Rags Beneath. I was really happy about this and I love working with her.

Are you planning a print book or ebook only for this title?
Both Wendigo and Rags Beneath will be released in ebook first and shortly thereafter in paperback. I'm not sure I'd be fond of the idea of hardcovers again. They're really expensive for readers to buy and as a reader myself, publishers putting out hardcovers before the more affordable paperbacks bugs me. As an author, hardcovers are definitely a harder sell, no pun intended!

The world of ebooks is certainly evolving. When you receive royalty payments from your publisher, how do your ebook sales compare to print sales?
My publisher is very organized this way so we get details on all of it. Sales wise print usually beats out the ebook sales, but I've noticed as time passes more people are purchasing the ebooks.

Congratulations on the screenplay for The Nano Effect being turned into a film. That's exciting news! When will it be released?
Thanks! It's being released by Mad Lab Films. The release date is uncertain but my husband Lain, who co-authored the script, and I are meeting with the director,Michael Baker, this spring to discuss some revisions to the script. So far he's leaning towards filming in 2011.

Have you been involved in any of the set design or casting?
Yes and it's quite an adventure. I'd have to warn, not all directors allow the writer much say in anything, but Michael is awesome that way and really likes to follow the vision.

Was it challenging to write a screenplay versus a novel?
I've written two screenplays so far and both were easier than novels. By far, actually. Storytelling wise they both follow the same general rules but a screenplay runs roughly 80-125 pages whereas a novel in my genres run upwards of 300-500 pages in manuscript form.

I understand you are the co-founder of the WLE, creators of the fantasy realm of Farath. Sounds intriguing. Can you tell us more about it?
Sure. WLE stands for White Lotus Entertainment. Lain and I co-own the company and it's our fondest (and most ambitious) dream to bring the best entertainment in books, games and eventually film to those who love our genres.

Farath is a fantasy world specifically built not only for a vivid and deep reading experience via the books, but also to eventually be a world rife with adventure for gamers and role-players. To this end, we often work with other creative minds and would like nothing better than to be able to hire people and enable them to follow their dreams with us. We haven't reached that point yet, but we're on the way.

How can we find out more about your writing?
You can visit me online at RavenBower.com and at my blog.

Win a free copy of The Fear Within by Shelby Patrick

Shelby Patrick, born and raised in southeastern Michigan, grew up watching classic horror movies of the great Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, and Peter Cushing. She turned her love of horror into the written word during her senior year in high school when she was introduced to her first writing class.

Since then Shelby has published two creative writing exercise books, Dark Recesses of the Mind and Forbidden Knowledge, as well as various articles throughout the Internet and created several e-books. She’s visiting us today at Writers in Business to announce the release of her newest publication, The Fear Within: A Short Story Collection.

Please tell us about your new book, The Fear Within.

The book contains twenty-five stories of the supernatural and alien encounters -- a romantic getaway that they can’t get away from, a virus that infects the cell phone network and only a small handful of people are uninfected while the rest of the world goes murderously insane, a prison with no bars, no walls, and no escape, dead things that don’t stay dead, a mysterious door in the basement that is to be kept locked at all times, and much more.

Where do you get your ideas?

From everywhere. I’m always in writing mode and it doesn’t take much to spark an idea. One of my stories was based on a paper route I had once; another found its title from a song I heard on the radio. It could be a conversation I overheard or a headline in the news that gives me ideas, and sometimes they just come from my dreams.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and what led you to become a writer?
When I was a kid, I loved to dream and I loved to read. I could play out whole scenes in my mind, like seeing a movie, in which I was the main character and I lived an exciting life. My imagination was my whole world. I didn’t realize how exciting it would turn out to be by penning my fantasies down, but when I was thrown into my first creative writing class, I knew what I was put on this Earth to do – write and share my minds-eye view of the worlds I created with readers. I’ve been writing ever since.

Where can readers go to learn more about your writing?

I have a website at ShelbyPatrick.com. You can join my mailing list, check out blurbs from my novels, get excerpts from my stories, or buy a signed copy of The Fear Within. I also have a blog at WritersHideaway.

I understand you are giving away free copies of The Fear Within.

Yes, I am offering a free signed copy of The Fear Within in a random drawing to anyone who comes and visits me at the following sites on my tour dates of August 29 –September 4, 2010. Please visit my Virtual Book Tour page to learn more.

We wish you all the best with your new book Shelby!

Lynn McMonigal's New Release Summertime

Summertime, the latest novel by Lynn McMonigal, was just released on May 26, 2009. Set in Grass Lake, MI and New York City, Summertime is a tale of romance, heartache, and healing. McMonigal’s other novels include Forsaking the Call (December 2008) and The Ladies of Faith which is scheduled for publication later this year.

-The reviews on your most recent novel, Summertime, are fantastic including author Kim Smith’s , “Summertime, is a wonderfully uplifting story of love found, love lost, and how faith can see us through all things.” Can you tell us your inspiration for this story?

The inspiration was the song SUMMERTIME, by the New Kids on the Block. In the song, the guys sing about looking back at a long ago summer fling, thinking about the girl and wondering if she ever thinks about them. I thought about it, and thought, “What if she is hearing the song and wondering if he really thinks about her?” The story grew from there.

-Some writers work best when they are in a quiet room, others thrive while watching people in a crowded shopping mall. Where are you when your best writing seems to flow?

Oh, I wish I knew!! Honestly, I have been dealing with a terrible case of writer’s block. I’ve not been able to write much of ANYTHING since Mother’s Day. Most of my writing is done at home, locked in our home office, or at the local library. I love to go and write there! The building is 100 years old and was built with funds donated to Jackson by Andrew Carnegie. Sitting in there, it sometimes seems like I have slipped into a time warp. Love it!

- Living in Jackson, MI with your husband and your three sons, do you find local outlets where you can promote your writing? Do you recommend authors start locally or focus on international Internet communication to promote their work?

I am finding the local community to be very welcoming, very encouraging of my work. I’ve held book signings at local businesses—an independent bookstore and a coffee house—where I have been able to meet others in the community. Our local public access station even had me on their daily talk show. This past week, I was invited to share my work at a local church. The support has been really amazing!

I would recommend that authors use EVERY avenue they have to promote themselves and their work. It seems silly to ignore any possible venue where you can tell others about your work. I carry business cards with my website and book titles on them everywhere I go. Whenever I eat out I leave a card with the tip, and I drop them in the drive thru slot at the bank. Sometimes I even leave a card tucked inside a library book before I return the book!

Last weekend, I went to a yard sale where the woman had a lot of Christian CDs, DVDs, and novels for sale. When I chose what I wanted, I said, “I see that you like Christian novels. Can I give you one of my cards? You might be interested in seeing some of my work.” I don’t know that she will actually look me up, but it was worth a shot. My website is my email signature line, I’ve joined every social networking site I can, and post blog updates on Twitter regularly. There are so many options out there, and I try to take advantage of as much as I can.

-Where can we purchase your books?

www.lynnmcmo.webs.com That is my website, and any books purchased there will be autographed before I send them out! You can also purchase from www.createspace.com and www.amazon.com

-What is one recordkeeping tip you can share with other writers? Something that has made the business side of your writing career easier to manage.

This is a very hard one for me. Recordkeeping is not my strong suit! I do have separate file folders for each of my books. I keep track of what I have spent and what I have earned for each title there. That helps me know where I am spending too much time and what areas of the promotion need more attention.