Musings/Blog

Hi All,

Kim Richards will be my guest here at my blog all day on June 29th. I do hope everyone will stop in, ask questions or just visit with her. In advance of her arrival, I'm posting a bit about Kim from her interview with her publisher. I'll be doing a second, and hey, maybe a third post, starting with an interview with Kim and IF my new puppy allows, I'll be adding a small review or two. Enjoy!

Publisher Eternal Press

Thank you, Kim Richards, for agreeing to an interview on Eternal Press Blog.

EP: When did you seriously sit down, and say to yourself, I’m going to write a novel?

Kim Richards: I’ve been writing in one form or another most of my life.  After my first marriage broke up, I decided I wanted to take writing seriously.  Then I found out how much I still needed to learn so I went back to school and took journalism, started attending conferences and reading everything how-to I could get my hands on. I’ve been lucky to have found mentors online and some great critique groups along the way.

EP: What do you find the most difficult to write? Dialogue? Back story?

Kim Richards: The most difficult for me are transitions from one scene to another.  I often get my point of view mixed up there in the first draft.

EP: Have you ever found that you didn’t like your Hero or your Heroine? If so, what did you do to change that?

Kim Richards: I’ve never experienced that. I have had a secondary character end up being my protagonist after I got to know the characters a little better.

EP: If you were to start again, with the knowledge you have now, what would be the first thing you do?

Kim Richards: I wouldn’t let anyone discourage me and I’d not let making money replace the writing.  For me writing is something I need to cope with depression so it’s more than just an occupation. It’s my life and I need it.

EP: Do you have the support of friends and family? Meaning, do they understand when you are writing that you cannot be disturbed? Or do you have friends that think since you’re home, you don’t work?

Kim Richards: I do now and it’s wonderful.  My previous mother-in-law used to ask when I was getting a ‘real job’ and I took business classes because I believed others who did not find writing an occupation. I’ve had to make it important to ME and shrug off what others think.  And yes, when my sons were young, many of their friends’ parents would send their kids to my house after school. You simply learn to deal with it. I figured at least I knew where my sons were at, even if the house regularly got trashed.

The best thing I did for writing is get a ‘do not disturb sign’.  I haven’t had to use it in years but it does get the point across when you can hang it on the door and just point to it when you are interrupted. At first people laugh; then they get the point.

EP: What was the biggest hurtle you had to overcome in your career?

Kim Richards: Taking myself seriously and believing my writing worthy.

EP: What genre do you write? Do you write more than one, if so, what?

Kim Richards: I write mainly horror, fantasy and some science fiction.  However, if an idea comes, it doesn’t matter what genre it is. Sometimes you don’t see it in your story. I wrote a children’s book back in 2000, thinking of a fantasy market. It was another author who saw it as a kids book. It was published that way.

Death Masks is a thriller. When I wrote it, I had horror in mind. It wasn’t until I started to submit it, that I realized where it best fit. You have to write the story and then worry about what mail slot it fits in.

EP: How do you research for your books?

Kim Richards: I love research and have to be very careful or I spend more time doing that than writing the actual story. I start online but am picky about my resources. If a website doesn’t list resources of its own, I tend to skip it unless there’s a bit of information I think I need…but I focus the research on finding supporting documents (or the lack thereof). I always end up with new books on my shelf when I research.  I’m full of what my sons refer to as “useless trivia”.

EP: How do you develop your characters?

Kim Richards:  My stories usually start with a what if. When I start worldbuilding and researching, the characters form on their own from the culture, the setting—it often falls into place naturally.

EP: Are any of your characters a person you’d like to be? If so which one?

Kim Richards: Lots of them. They’re usually stronger or smarter or more admirable than I am.

EP: Who inspired you to write?

Kim Richards: Many, many people. An 8th grade teacher who taught me to write my dreams in a notebook; a high school teacher who taught me to journal; authors I’ve met; hokey stories I thought I could write better.  It amazes me how there are many more people who do inspire me to write than discourage me, yet in the past it was the negative ones I listened to. Maybe they talk louder.

EP: What is the most humorous writing experience you’ve ever had?

Kim Richards: Meeting a man in an elevator at World Horror Convention. He saw my name tag and had read my science fiction novel out at the time.  He lectured me on how I killed off his favorite character. 

EP: If a new writer came to you for advice what would you tell them?

Kim Richards: Perseverence. Wrap it around your shoulders and tie it tight.

EP: Do you have a book coming out? If so what? Do you have a web site? Do you have a blog? My space?

Kim Richards: Death Masks is available from Eternal Press. I also have a story out in an anthology of dragon stories by another publisher.

Check out the trailer for Death Masks.  The metal band is from my home town, Roswell, New Mexico. 

My website

I’ll be doing a virtual book tour in June, 2008 so check there for the blog visit schedule. There will be prizes!

You can find me at Myspace, Livejournal, Facebook, Blogger, Good Reads and Writer’s Chatroom. All under the username Kim Richards.

I do have one announcement I’d like to make. I’ve just accepted the position of Marketing Manager for Eternal Press. I’m thrilled to be accepted on the team and excited about the upcoming possibilities for me and for the publishing house.

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions for the Eternal Press blog. Good luck with your writing.

On June 29th, Kim Richards will be guest blogging here. So, I thought I would post a small bit about her in advance along with a small excerpt from her latest release: Death Masks

Kim's website: www.kim-richards.com

Publisher:  Eternal Press

Publisher's website: http://www.eternalpress.ca/deathmasks.html

Book Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp2zpDNMfmMRelease

Date:  April 2008

Genre: Thriller

ISBN#: 978-0-9804739-4-0

Page Count: 111

Price: $5.95 U.S.

Blurb:

Bill Cristo takes up walking a per his doctor’s orders to lose weight and improve his health.  While at the metro park, he witnesses an assault. The assailant turns on him and he wakes in the hospital with a nasty bump on his head, wondering why he isn’t dead. The news reports nothing on any attack in the metro park but Bill can’t let it go…not when he realizes there are other young men missing from the same area. He digs up what he can on his own, drawing further attention from the murderer. Will he be able to figure out who the killer is before it reaches his live-in girlfriend?

Excerpt:

“Shhh. Please listen.” Her words dropped to a trembling whisper.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m scared.”

Bill hesitated a moment, thinking she might go on.

“Bill?” She sounded so small and vulnerable. He immediately wanted to reach out through the phone and pull her close. He longed to make whatever it was better.

“I’m here, Hon. What’s going on?” He shut down his computer as he talked.

“Someone keeps calling me.” Once she started speaking, her words came fast and clipped. “At first he kept hanging up. No heavy breathing or anything so I decided it must be those kids next door.”

“He? How do you know it’s a guy?” Bill used one hand to hold the phone and the other to begin stuffing his things into his carry bag.

“Because…” Dampened, low sounds came over the phone.

Oh God, she’s crying.

“Because I know what a man's voice sounds like. This last time, just a minute ago, he said I’m next.”

“Next for what?” As Bill said the words, he’d already guessed the answer. All the clues were in place, the footprints on the porch, the maniac figuring out Bill knew about him, and now the calls to Dix. He didn’t hear her answer.

Author Bio:
Kim Richards lives in Northern California; with wedding plans for May 2009.  She writes horror, fantasy, erotica and science fiction, as well as non-fiction chapters and articles. She has seen one children’s story published and Death Masks is her first thriller.  For more information on all of her published works, check out her website at www.kim-richards.com

Kim is an avid costumer and amateur bellydancer. She loves her coffee. She works as an editor for MyShelf Reviews and for Eternal Press as an author, editor and marketing manager. You can find her at Facebook, MySpace, Livejournal and Goodreads under the user name Kim_Richards

This month I've been musing about robins. Yes, I said robins. In particular the pair of robins who have decided to "adopt" us. Well, in reality they tolerate us since they decided rather stubbornly to build their nest on my back porch.

When the robins first started to build on the crossbar within an arms length of our back door, neither my husband nor I thought it a very good idea. We use the back door far more than the front, we are in and out with the dogs, going to and from the garage, etc. and worried that once their babies arrived, the birds would turn aggressive. I didn't relish the idea of walking out my back door and being dive bombed by a mother robin.

So, when the first long strands of dry grass began to appear, we swept them down, along with the mud drops they deposited for the mortar. This went on for days, actually a week or more. We'd knock it down, and they would rebuild.

We filled a large black trash bag with the construction materials and still they continued to try and build in that one spot though they originally had started at the top of the bar and each new attempt saw the nest starting lower down that bar.

Each time the nest was swept away, the pair of robins would double their efforts. One day alone between my husband and I we knocked it down sixteen times. It was actually on that day that they won. And how did they win? Well, the answer to that question is because hubby and I are complete softies under the right circumstances. And that circumstance was just when I was about to knock the strings of dry grass down yet again, I looked over to my back gate and saw Momma Robin standing there proudly displaying a large ribbon of plastic that she intended to place in her nest. I can't even describe how her standing there like that melted my resolve.

I set the broom back where it belonged and walked back into the house. She could stay.

It didn't take the two long to complete the nest once we decided they could move in. And the eggs came next along with long visits with Momma Robin as she sat dutifully on her nest. We began to speak to her, remind her she was a guest, and we did not intend her any harm.

After a while she would leave for extended periods of time while we sat outside. I think she thought we were the babysitters, which I guess in a way we were. All was going well, and she was proving to be a good guest. Yet, in the back of my mind I worried that once the babies arrived, she'd turn aggressive.

The babies apparently arrived without fanfare several days ago. I didn't even realize they were here until the other day when I noticed the change in Momma Robin, and Papa Robin was actually coming in to the nest with worms, which before, aside from helping to build the nest, he had stayed at a distance.

And Momma Robin has pretty much ignored us. So maybe she won't turn mean. I hope not. I'd really like to watch the babies grow and fly away. Who knows, maybe I'll feel a little like my children have left home when it happens.

It's been interesting!

Until next time, Sheri

This month I've been musing about dragons. What is it about them that has fascinated us throughout history and continue to fascinate us to this day? And, what exactly is a dragon, and how did their legend get born?
 
There are wingless dragons called wyrms, or wurms, or even worms, great serpents that are said to resemble snakes. There are horned dragons, dragons with wings, those who spew fire, and those whose breath freezes the world. At one time, dragons were associated with the gods, said to be creatures of the elements: water, air, fire, and earth, and endowed with the power to do great good or terrible ill.
 
We have tales of dragon magic and dragon gold, dragon lairs that are sometimes deep within the bowels of the earth, sometimes high upon a mountain peak. We have stories of dragon tears (rain) and dragon's breath (mist), and dragon's that guard the secrets of time. There are dragons that shift to human form and walk amongst us, and dragons that are so old that they have simply lost interest in our world and have lain down and allowed the countless dust of countless ages to cover them whole until they resemble nothing more than hillsides that occasionally rumble and shake, but never truly awake. Dragons fly, they crawl, they burrow and nest, they lounge around on a bed of gold or as some cultures suggest, are the real source of those mysterious fairy rings.
 
The notion of dragons is almost universal in ancient cultures, with stories and depictions of them appearing all over the world. I'm fond of the gallant knight battling the great fire-breathing monster to save the fair damsel in distress. Now mind you, she's only in distress because her village has decided to sacrifice her to an angry beast to save their own hides, but I like the legend anyway.
 
We write of dragons, whisper of them, dream of them, and immortalize them in song and art. Even the Greek historian Herodotus wrote of flying serpents in both ancient Arabia and Egypt. Did he see these beings and record them for all of prosperity? I don't know, but the practical part of me supposes that dragons where born, and then given life in countless song and story as a way for ancient cultures to explain the very real bones they might and probably did encounter. Bones, you say? Dragon bones? Possibly, but I suspect they encountered dinosaur bones and their imaginations filled in the rest.
 
Now, having said that, the child in me says maybe, and maybe not. I think we need dragons, in all their glory, and in all their many forms, because we need the fantastical in our lives, we need to believe in the impossible–we need to dream.
 
Until next time, Sheri

MUSINGS:

This month, in honor of the Winter Solstice, I've spent the day musing or rather reflecting over the past year and how glad I will be to see 2007 fade into the twilight memories of the past. It was a hard year for me. 2007 started with medical issues that plagued me throughout the year and climaxed with the loss of beloved family members and friends to either sickness or old age.
 
No, I won't be sorry to say goodbye to 2007 and hello to 2008.
 
Though, I will admit, out of the pain of enduring one can find unexpected strength and be moved to unexpected actions. From reflection comes renewal. Out of the ashes, rise the flames of the future. Sorrow can give way to joy and an ordinary person can suddenly become a champion of hope.
 
I truly believe this.