S. K. Nicholls is visiting with me today to discuss her book, Naked Alliances. This book is great, and I was honored to be one of the ARC readers. Special deal for you today, it’s on sale for 99¢.
Interview with S.K. Nicholls Author of Naked Alliances
Hi, Craig. It’s freezing up here in Idaho. Park me near that fireplace in the writers cabin and ask Lisa to bring me a cup of hot cocoa. So happy to be here with you today. Oh, Otto! You’re welcome to sit in my lap, but you’re a lot heavier in real life than you look in pictures.
C.B. Please tell us about Naked Alliances, and what compelled you to write it.
S.K.: Naked Alliances is the first book in the Naked Eye Series. It’s a 74,000 word crime romp set in the seedier side of Orlando, Florida that the amusement park…
2016 was a busy year filled. So many holidays that closed school, family events, health issues, bouts of depression, unexpected disasters, and I’m sure I’m missing other categories. Yet, somehow I managed to publish 4 books, write 5 books, write 1 short story, write 1 novella, outlining at least 10 other stories/series, and a couple hundred blog posts. This is on top of getting my son ready for school, running errands, doing laundry, cooking dinner, grocery shopping, helping my son with homework, and everything else that shows up. You might think this is a weird way to start this blog post, but I want to see if I can get you as exhausted as I am.
*Pause because I apparently have to do all the bedtime stuff alone.*
I’m routinely told that I should take a break, but I’m horrible at listening to this advice. So here I am as…
I don’t set the price for the audiobook, but it’s $17.46 if you have an audible account. That’s not a bad price. The paperback is $14.50 and the digital book goes on sale tomorrow for 99 cents.
If you’ve never listened to an audiobook, I encourage you to give them a try. Here’s the sweet part:
It’s been a week here. Where to even start since my brain is still sorting through everything? First, I’m going to make a little announcement that will be repeated on Thursday:
ANYBODY WANT TO HELP PROMOTE CHASING BEDLAM?
This will be during the first week of February. I’m tempted to say that you can volunteer for the April release of Legends of Windemere: Ritual of the Lost Lamb too. I’ll be making these posts every few weeks to see if I can gather more than 9-10 blogs. Anyway, this is the bland business part of the post.
You might be wondering about the stray cat mention and the music video. First, I’m proud that I remembered that song. Second, we have some stray cats around here and they aren’t very friendly. Probably only to the mystery person that is feeding them. One cat has been around for nearly 5 years and she’s definitely not one to mess with. I don’t know where the silver and black one came from, but neither of them are the issue. There’s a third one that is mostly black, except for the paws and chest. Very skittish and prone to hissing.
This cat also has a broken foreleg, which I noticed on Thursday when it was limping into a neighbor’s yard. Seems a few people have seen it, but we keep thinking the person feeding them will do something. I couldn’t trust this mystery figure. So, I called animal control and found that they can only help if the animal is stationary or the homeowner gives permission to lay traps. I gave permission and they had traps for 24 hours, but I saw the injured cat in the backyard this morning. Waiting on animal control again this morning because they may have caught one of the others. The problem is that they can only do something if the cat is on my property and these guys roam.
Not looking good for the cat and I can’t catch it unless I find a place to loan me a humane cage. Guessing I would put a dish of water and a can of cat food in there. This cat can’t really run at all and it keeps crossing the street. Did I mention it’s mostly black? Imagine what will happen when somebody speeds down the street at night. Wondering if I should be happy that at least I’m trying, but there’s no way to tell where this cat is going to turn up. Might even know what the cage is and avoid it since we saw none of them until the cages were removed.
As this went on, I continued outlining War of Nightfall. I did 6 of the 8 stories, which are coming out nicely. It’s hard to work with a character that could easily end a problem by killing everyone and is always on the verge of it. Clyde was an anarchist when I played him in a game, but now he’s more of a rebel leader who simply loves the fight. Many of the books involve hunting down a new threat to him or the Dawn Fangs instead of the vampire civil war. Honestly, I couldn’t see the series being interesting if it was only a series of one-sided battles. So I made the big events that would shape Dawn Fang society and Clyde’s mentality. This is all on the outline though, but I’m enjoying it. Might get rid of or break his giant, barbed sword that is powered by his own blood. He keeps getting into brawls, so the weapon might not be needed. Unless he keeps it for show. Also, Mab is crawling into the driver’s seat a lot, so this is becoming her story as much as his.
Finally, I’m toying with a project that I could never publish. It’s stuck in my head, but I know it’s something that shouldn’t be put in public. I’m being very vague since even mentioning this Bedlam idea would cause a stir. This puts me in a bad spot too. I can’t discuss it here or even report my progress. Yet, I feel like I need to do this for my own sanity and might even write it ahead of Ichabod Brooks. This is something I’ll be make notes for once I finish the vampire outlines and March posts. Want to clear up my February for the book promos and this project.
I really don’t know how I’m organizing anything. I have Windemere books to edit, a new series to start at some point, the delayed book, the personal project, Ichabod Brooks collection, Derailing Bedlam, Dawn Addison’s return for October, and that’s not counting the family stuff that will be going on. Last year was a lot of projects. Should I put off starting the new series until next year or maybe late fall? It would mean a long break between published stories, but Legends of Windemere will still be over. People will be calling for me to get a ‘real job’ once that last book comes out. Talk about feeling like I’m adrift in a sea of confusion. I just don’t know which direction to go. Maybe using January to have everything in outline form will help.
Goals for the week?
Finish War of Nightfall outlines.
Work on March posts.
Start doing prep for private/not to be published project.
Figure out a work schedule.
Make writing file for the Ichabod Brooks collection.
Beginning next Friday, January 20th, I’ll introduce a new blog feature entitled IndieAuthor Friday. The post would include a short interview and FREE (we all know how rare that is) promotion of your book/books. Email me at tpolen6@gmail.com if you’d like to sign up!
Thank you for answering our Help Wanted ad. We have a big job coming up and one of our members isn’t able to join us. What happened to your predecessor? There was an incident with a dragon, two kegs of ale, the blacksmith’s daughter, and the sinking of three dozen royal warships. In her defense, the ale was really good. Now, her position was rather fluid, so we aren’t looking for any specific set of skills. Just something unique that doesn’t step on the toes of everyone else. That goes double for our barbarian because he never wears shoes and swears his big toes are extra sensitive to crushing. So, let’s see what are you capable of.
I see you have a lot of experience going on adventure, but I don’t recognize the groups you have listed here. In fact, we couldn’t locate a single reference. Oh, they all died on various jobs, so I take it you’re more of a mercenary. Now, your longest position was for two years, but you have no responsibilities listed. You were the seamstress? I don’t see how that was very important, especially since I see mention of swordsmanship, archery, and illusion magic in later years. Nobody trusted you with weapons or magic? Makes me wonder what happened to the others. They failed to listened to you . . . not sure if you’re being arrogant or hinting that you can see the future. Guess a shrug is the best answer I’ll get on this section.
Moving on to your skills, I want to know where you learned everything. Most adventurers are either a warrior with a specific weapon or a caster. You have melee skills, long-range skills, and magic, which is fairly impression. Especially since you don’t look any older than twenty-five. You’re twenty-one? Raises more questions about your training. Yes, I’ve heard of the Cavern of Legends and the rumor that the crystals within hold the memories of the greatest adventurers in history. Never thought about what would happen if one got locked in there. You grew up in there after your mother wandered, gave birth, and died soon after. So, you were raised by ghosts? That does give you a lot of leeway in terms of acting strange.
All of this looks rather good even if it is rather odd and a tad suspicious. We need to settle on payment. Normally, every member gets a base of five gold and an even portion of whatever we find on our adventure. Anything that is not money is either given to whoever can use it best or settled by a Tic-Tac-Toe tournament. We used to have a singing contest, but then we recruited a bard and they never lost. At least until our dwarven healer broke his kneecaps, lost her powers, and has switched to a more . . . violent god. She’ll heal you, but the spells are agony and we think she’s drinking blood. None of this seems to phase you at all, which is a good sign.
I’ll write you done for the normal salary and kill bonuses if that’s okay. You only want copper coins and arrows? I guess we can do that, but copper isn’t really common. Not even sure they still make those. No, they don’t typically have chocolate. You’re talking about candy wrapped in copper-colored paper. Do you really want to get paid in candy and arrows? Okay then, but we can’t hire you. I want to say it’s because you’re not skilled or experienced. In reality, you just pulled out a book about sacrifices people to revive the dead and I don’t feel comfortable with that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Curse my descendants all you want, but I’m pretty sure the male pattern baldness, bizarrely large feet, and heart disease in my family tree will make that mumbo jumbo pointless. NEXT!
Welcome to another edition of Lisa Burton Radio. I’m your host, Lisa the robot girl, and with me today is author, James Ferris Wheeler. “Welcome to the show, James.”
“Thank you, Lisa. I feel very honoured to be invited by a charming celebrity like you.”
“Why, thank you. I understand that you just ordered a new suit. Can you tell our listeners why?”
“It is still hard to believe, Lisa. You must know, my previous books, well – they are good, and they sell. And I always craved for a little fame. What the readers say: ‘Great books. Who wrote them? Sorry, that name slipped from my mind.’ After years of writing one book after the other – my latest novel, “Dagger in the Rock” was nominated for the MFBS Award! The Most Fascinating Books Society is very fastidious and secretive about their nominations.”
