Building my Dream Cast

People always ask me if I fashion my characters off real people. The answer is no, I did not write The von Strassenberg Saga with Miley Cyrus in mind. There is only one character who was actually written to reflect a friend of mine. That would be Abbie, the Drexler's assistant. The real Abbie is a school chum of mine, a wonderful, bubbly gal with a smoky voice and even smokier eyes. She's gorgeous, but a lot of people are gorgeous. The reason Abbie received the token honor of having her own character is because she read the rough, ugly pages of Filter before I even really knew where the story was going. She was so encouraging that it is likely the book was only completed because of her enthusiasm. Were the powers that be ever to make The von Strassenberg Saga into films, I would want Abbie to play the role of Abbie. Because no one else could be better. Last night I was watching 27 Dresses with my mother and was shocked to see Klaus von Strassenberg decorating a cake. Ronald Guttman, a Belgium born actor, looks exactly the way I picture Klaus. And tho I have waffled back and forth between William and Peter, I believe Tom Welling should be that bad boy Peter Strauss. Well, if Tom Welling wasn't a year old than I am he could be that bad boy Peter Strauss. But Peter, Captain Sexy as Rocky calls him, is only 18. I don't think Tom Welling can pass as 18 anymore. Unless this is like one of those '80's movies wherein the entire cast was in their early to mid 20's and playing 16 year olds. Sigh. And I have no clue who would play Rocky. Know any six foot tall, chestnut-haired, 18 year old actresses?

Waiting for Spring ~ An Author's Review

It’s one of those things you do as an independent writer. You offer to read other people’s self-published books and write a review because you need to support each other. Added to that, the author is a friend of a friend of a friend and you kind of virtually know each other, so you want to do the right thing.

So, groaning inside, I offered to read a virtual friend’s eBook. The cover art looked dull and not promising and then I remember, my cover art isn’t so hot either. Good cover art is difficult to come by when you’re an Indie. The story didn’t seem to be my normal reading…not that I have narrow tastes but this didn’t seem to be a fit.

But I’d made a promise. So I started reading.

Waiting for Spring is indeed outside my usual genres but Keller’s characters got their claws into me. They slipped off the page and burrowed into my brain as people I knew and cared about. The story itself is gritty and raw and so real I swear that Keller followed me around and implanted a recording device in my head, capturing my own thoughts and experiences as I dealt with my ex-husband and my own childhood issues.

I kept thinking, how much longer can this story go on, because it’s so real? What else could possibly happen? And it was obvious. Nothing good could happen. So, one day I avoided the book, because I didn’t want to know what bad things would happen to Tess. She had become more than a two-dimensional character. She was me. She was my best-friend in high school, the one who popped a bunch of niacin to get the crank out of her system before the impending drug test she faced. But at the end of the day Tess called to me and I had to know what happened to her. It was a story I couldn’t stay away from.

Waiting for Spring made me laugh. It made me angry. More than once it made me blush and then concede, “Yea, that’s how it is.” And more than once I cried, though I tried desperately not to. As soon as it was over I wondered what the second book would bring and nearly decided not to read it whenever it comes out because I don’t want to know when anything else bad happens to Tess.

But I will buy it because I know Tess, she is so strikingly solid, as are all of Keller’s characters, that she cannot be ignored.

Keller’s powers of observation and her ability to communicate that to the written page are stunning and unsettling. If you have lived a life of any kind of hardship you will feel as though Keller was there, hiding in the bushes, taking notes. I told my husband, “What Gabaldon does with minute, physical detail Keller does with emotional detail. And sometimes it feels a little too personal, as though she’s airing my own dirty laundry.”

But dirt and grit and all, you can’t help but love Tess.
**If peppers were indicators of how explicit a book is....1-5, 5 being the hottest...this one might have six! For Language and ....sexual encounters. 

Fun Despite Dreadful Lack of Editing

Looking for a fun read to offset my stressful life, I downloaded Spying in High Heels to my Nook for Android. After about 5 page flips it seemed fairly certain that I would this book. The bubble-headed, urban narrative spattered with pop culture is typically not my thing. Add to the that, the lack of editing and any grasp of AP style, and this reporter/independent writer was about done with it. Except, something happened and Gemma Halliday somehow had me in her grip. I was concerned about Maddie and wanted to know what happened to her and once Ramirez walked in…well, I was sold. Despite frequently groaning to my husband, “Doesn’t she have friends who know…words?! It’s embarrassing!” I actually really enjoyed it and read it all in one afternoon. It was fun and not entirely predictable and sexy in a string-me-along kind of way. Despite the non-existent editing, the intermittent factual blunders and made-up words, it was actually really fun. I’m already nearly done with the second book.

Filter, One Customer Really Got it!

One customer review boiled my book down better than I ever could!
Maybe I should have her develop my pitch for me! Here's her review: 

Intertwining the past and the present, Ms. Wright expertly weaves a tale of romantic suspense that keeps you turning the pages. The struggle of the feisty Rocky (Raquel) and the moral William against corrupt and unjust relations in modern St. Louis, Missouri, is parallel to the struggle of the fragile Katherine and the courageous Viktor in a bygone era. In the unanticipated ending, the connection these people share is understood, and you will cry out for the next episode of this intriguing tale!

eBook Coupon!

I am not a good businesswoman.
It is so thrilling for me just to know that people are reading my work and (from reviews) enjoying it that I don't even want to charge for it. But my tooth really hurts and we just had to pay to put a new fuel pump in my car (NOT CHEAP).
So I have started charging $0.99 for my ebook. We'll see if people are willing to pay. For those of you who stopped by my blog though....I have a coupon code for you! BD39K
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/filterbookone
If you use the coupon between now and September 16th Filter is yours for FREE!

Filter is Available on Smashwords.

Filter is available on both Smashwords and Amazon.com.
If you actually want to buy it and don't have a Kindle I would recommend getting it from smashbooks for now. I've just uploaded a more e-friendly version to Amazon and it isn't active yet. Sales are going up! I'm just waiting for the reviews. More than anything I want to know people are enjoying reading about Viktor and Katherine and William and Raquel!
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/20957

A Great and Terrible Beauty

A Great and Terrible Beauty. It is a fitting title. I felt it was a great and terrible book. It has taken me some time to get through, reading it was more of a chore, but dang it, I paid the ten bucks for it, I was going to finish it. I should have kept my ten dollars.
A Great and Terrible Beauty is, like The Disreputable History of Frankie-Landau, a girl power story. It is often preachy and repetitive about it. Gemma Doyle is a Victorian era girl with a modern girl's sensibilities. Aren't they all? There's some clumsy, not at all "yummy" (as Abbie would say) romance to it. I actually found those scenes a bit "ew."
It was just strange. I guess it's like a platform movie, but this is a platform book. Libba Bray set out to tell a girl power story and that purpose dictated everything. And it got boring. I kept checking to see how many pages were left and nearly put it down when the big gasp moment passed me by. I had already figured it out. What was the point of continuing to torment myself with the remaining pages after the confirmation of my suspicions? Ten dollars. That was the point.
So I finished it.
It's like watching "Lady in the Water."
The book is well written. Bray has a good grasp of language and storytelling, but there was just something silly and off about the whole thing.
It's apparently going to be made into a series.
Life is so unfair. I would much rather spend my time with another Frankie Landau-Banks tale.
I will NOT be being books two and three of the Rebel Angels (The Gemma Doyle Stories). Boring and preachy.