Friday, April 7, 2023

BOOK: Blue Lake, Time After Time, by Carol Ann Kauffman

 



Blue Lake is the first book I ever published. It will always hold a special place in my heart. 

After I finished writing Blue Lake in 2010, I did the typical rounds of sending it to the major publishing houses. I have  lovely letters from Loretta Banks and Elizabeth Barrett, telling me how much they liked it but couldn't use it at the time. 

Each rejection letter experience took months. I was not a young woman and I wasn't getting any younger. 

So I decided to go with Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing and released it on January 21, 2012 and never looked back. Thirty-five  books later, it's still the best move I ever made.


 

The premise of Kindle was a reader's dream come true. Books from all over the world, from new ones to old ones, all available to read on your kindle device, or any device using the kindle app. And you didn't have to buy more bookcases to store them!


Blue Lake

The love Nicole and Richard share is strong and has survived many lifetimes, but never without sacrifice and heartache. Some call it reincarnation. Some call it fate. But whatever it is, it keeps them apart until they're ready to jump in and help each other on this amazing journey called life.

This time Fate rubs her hands together with glee and laughs as she plays a cruel joke on them by placing them on different continents, twenty years apart.

Nicole was born in Ohio. She doesn't remember her past life. She had a career, got married, and was later widowed. Richard entered life twenty years later in the UK and became an actor. But fate cannot keep them apart. What they have is more than love, more than attraction, or devotion. They are eternal soulmates.

When they finally do meet in Albuquerque, they remember their love and feel overwhelming joy, but the twenty-year age difference plants the painful thorns of doubt, worry, and fear. Their unlikely but undeniable love pulls them closer and closer, while careers, family, and other relationships push them farther and farther apart.

The ten-year period they spend together in this lifetime takes them on many exciting adventures from beautiful New Mexico, across the Atlantic to England, Ireland, Italy, and Aruba. Nicole and Richard have an incredibly strong connection, but they must face not only happiness and joy but the dark side of life and love as well.

Come. Start the adventure with Richard and Nicole, where everything changes, but love remains the same.
Are you ready? Jump!


Amazon Link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0071G6V9K/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1







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Thursday, April 6, 2023

TV TIME: Mayor of Kingstown (Netflix)



Oh, I think this is over and I am so sad. I really like Jeremy Renner. He is an outstanding actor. In this 2-season, addictive  wild thrill ride with no seatbelt or safe word, Jeremy plays Mike McKlusky, a power broker between the prison system in Kingstown (which is like the only thing the town is known for), the police department, and the general public. 

Is he really the mayor of Kindstown? No. 
Is he even an elected official? No.
Could anybody else in town, in the state, maybe even the country do what Mike McLusky does on a daily basis? No. 

It is thrilling crime fiction from the same guy who gave us Yellowstone and its excellent prequels, Taylor Sheridan, and 
Hugh Dillon. 
  


Jeremy, as I am sure you are all aware, had a very bad snowplow accident on New Year's Day of this year. He is at home recuperating. We send our sincere wishes for a speedy and complete recovery to Jeremy and his family. If anybody can come all the way back from a tragic accident, it's Jeremy. He is a real life superhero.  





If he decides to return to acting, we will wait for him. 
And if he decides to do something else, like fix Congress, or save the whales, or power broker peace in the Ukraine, or whatever makes him happy, we will love and support him. 








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Wednesday, April 5, 2023

INTERVIEW: International Bestselling Fantasy Author James Quinlan Meservy


 James Quinlan Meservy
Southeast Idaho
USA

 


Good morning, James, and welcome back to Vision and Verse, the site for contemporary authors and those who love them. We are always happy to see you. What have you written?

Oh my goodness, I have several stories in several genres. The main series I am working on is a YA Fantasy, The Realm of the Light, Rai Saga. At the moment there are 4 novels, 2 novellas, and an anthology of short stories. Book 5 of the series is a WIP, and I have no current timetable for its release.

The titles in the Realm of the Light are:

The United, The Realm of the Light Book 1

Denizens Among Us, The Realm of the Light Book 2

Perfectly Evil, The Realm of the Light Book 3

Shades of Mortality, The Realm of the Light Book 4

Viscount on SternboardA Realm of the Light Novella

Cross of Roses, A Fantasy Thriller from the Realm of the Light

Within the Shadows, Rai Saga Anthology Vol. 




For a full list of my other titles, please see my blog. https://jqmserv.wordpress.com/books-by-james-quinlan-meservy/

 


What is your favorite genre to write?

My favorite genre to write if Fantasy. Right now I am working on an Epic Fantasy adventure, but I also had a lot of fun writing Cross of Roses, A Fantasy Thriller, and I hope to return to a fantasy/thriller blend in the future.

 


Favorite food.

Well, my favorite food I tell my wife and kids is any hamburger I don’t have to cook myself.

 





Oh, James, I am beginning to feel the same way.  

Tea or coffee?

I do not drink coffee, so I guess tea by default. I actually do rather enjoy hibiscus tea, but also like some other herbal teas.

 

Pizza or ice cream?

Pizza.

 

Wine or beer or soda or what?

Right now I am really into drinking Caffeinated Sparkling Water.

 

Where would you like to visit?

Ever since I was in Russia, I have really been interested in taking a trip on the Russian Transcontinental Railway from Vladivostok to Moscow, take the subway from the train station to Red Square, get back on the subway to the train station, and go to St. Petersburg and spend like a month just vacationing.

I would also like to spend a month vacationing at the Louvre in France. I don’t really have much interest in visiting anywhere else in France, but I would love to see everything on display at the Louvre.



 

Fav Favorite musical artist.

For  For as long as I can recall, my favorite musical artists have been  Garth Brooks and the Moody Blues.  

 


Do you listen to music when you write?  What?

I wr  When I write, I put in both ear plugs, and work in complete silence.

 


What makes you laugh?

I don’t know if I have ever thought about it. I rarely laugh. 

 


How old were you when you started writing?

Well, I started writing seriously when I was in my mid-twenties when I decided to turn my old short story into a novel.

 



Do you plan out your book with outlines and notecards? Or just write?

I used to just write and let the story take me wherever it wanted to go, but the more I write Epic Fantasy, the more I start to take notes and lightly outline what I write and keep a chart of characters.

 

Describe your perfect evening.

Any evening I am not a work. I work Monday-Friday 3:00 PM – Midnight in a dehydrated potato warehouse in Southeast Idaho. For it to be perfect, as long as I am home with my family, it does not matter what we are doing.

 

Where do you get your inspiration?

Mostly from my dreams, but sometimes from conversations with people. For example, as I was preparing Denizens Among Us for publication, I had this dream about Vulktyramous getting his revenge, and I worked on the idea until Perfeclty Evil was born. But, my contemporary fiction short story, Definition of Evil was born out of a conversation I had with a cousin.

 

What do you do when you get a writer's block?

Dream, plot, do character interviews, or shelf the project until I know how the story is meant to go.

 

Who is your favorite author?

Charles Dickens.                             



Best book you ever read.

You know, I don’t honestly know. My favorite book I ever read was A Christmas Carol. The first time I read that book, I learned that books were more than just homework assignments. But, by way of storytelling, world building, and shifting points of view, I may say that Bleak House by Charles Dickens may be the best. Though, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dracula by Brom Stoker, and several others may also qualify as the best.

 

Last book you read.

I just finished listening to the Hell Hole series by Daniel Firestone. It was an interesting read.

 

What would you do for a living if you weren’t a writer?

Well, I am not a fulltime writer, I work as a forklift operator in a potato warehouse in Southeast Idaho, but if I were not doing that, I would be a fulltime writer and author coach. It is my dream to be paid to be creative and help others be creative. 


 


Who is the one person who has influenced your personal life the most and why?

My maternal grandfather. I do not have a good relationship with my own father, and Grandpa was like a second father to me.

 

If you could sit down and have a conversation with ONE person, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be and why?

Arctyrus Hunter from my Realm of the Light Series. He always avoids our interviews, and I really could use his first hand insights, instead of having to guess what he was thinking based on interviews with his equals.

 

What advice would you give someone who aspired to be a writer?

To read. Read everything. And learn from the author while you read.

I am not a fan of The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. There are several things I did not enjoy about that series. But when I stopped caring about what I enjoyed and started reading to learn how Jordan crafted a New York Times bestselling series, I became a huge admirer of Jordan’s work.

 

 



Do you have some links for us to follow you?

Wordpress:
https://jqmserv.wordpress.com

FB Author Page:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/James.Quinlan.Meservy/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JQM_Serv

Pintrest:
https://www.pinterest.com/jqmserv

Instagram link:
https://www.instagram.com/jqmserv

Amazon Author Link:
https://www.amazon.com/author/jamesmeservy

Goodreads Link:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15205860.James_Quinlan_Meservy

YouTube:
Https://youtube.com/channel/UCA3vFyWQV4CdVp4XWJT3Rkw

Newsletter:
http://eepurl.com/druDar






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Tuesday, April 4, 2023

BOOK REVIEW: Hide by Tracy Clark




Hide by Tracy Clark introduces Detective Harriet Foster, a black female officer just returning to duty after the loss of her son. New assignment in a new precinct with a new partner. Foster jumps right in to a murder investigation that turned into a serial killer case. Part psychological thriller, part police procedural, and part social commentary on our screwed up society. Well written. Great characters. A good read. 








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Monday, April 3, 2023

ART: The Mud Maid by Pete and Sue Hill














 







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Sunday, April 2, 2023

SCHEDULE: April 3-7, 2023



Mon., April 3 - ART:
The Mud Maid
by Pete and Sue Hill

Tues., April 4 - BOOK REVIEW:
Hide
by Tracy Clark

Wed., April 5 - INTERVIEW:
Internationally Bestselling Fantasy Author
James Quinlan Meservy

Thurs., April 6 - TV TIME:
Mayor of Kingstown

Fri., April 7 - BOOK:
Blue Lake 
Time After Time Book One
by Carol Ann Kauffman








VISION AND VERSE DISCLAIMER

Note:

Vision and Verse does not store any personal information like email addresses, home addresses, etc. We do not give any information to third parties. And cookies? We eat cookies.