An Unusual Day for Herbert Crump -guest post by Carlie MA Cullen

by Carlie M A Cullen


“What’s this? Don’t remember seeing this ‘ere before?” Herbert scratched his head.
Herbert was a poacher. He didn’t have much money and meat was too expensive to buy. His cottage was adjacent to huge woods which teemed with wildlife. ‘Rich pickings’ he called it and he was a master bowman.

He was in the East woods as dusk began to fall; he hadn’t been that way for a while hence his surprise at what he found. He crouched down to examine the perfect circle of unfamiliar toadstools; these were bright red and seemed to glow. His Ma told him of fairy rings in the woods, but he never believed her. “Never tread in a fairy ring, you never know where you’ll end up” she warned him.

“Load of tosh!” he said derisively and stepped right into the centre. He chuckled as nothing happened then with a whooshing noise the ground opened beneath him and he shot downwards, landing on a pile of straw.

As he gawped around the huge cavern his eyes widened and jaw dropped, for everywhere he looked huge sparkling emeralds stuck out of the walls. Now this really is rich pickings, he thought wandering to the nearest wall. He pulled on one and found it easy to dislodge. Soon he’d filled all his pockets.

He needed to find an exit and looked up to find the entrance completely closed. The cavern had three passages, but which one to choose? After deliberating for a minute, he decided to take the one which led in the direction of his cottage and set off.

Laden down by the emeralds’ weight he made slow progress, but after a while, he heard noises from ahead. He continued cautiously, pressing himself closer to the wall, stopping near a large open space containing ugly little men and women with pointed ears and squashed faces the colour of toads; a strange mixture of green and brown as if an artist hadn’t mixed the colours properly on his pallet. They’d been eating and calling to each other when abruptly a deafening silence settled over the area.

“We’ve a thief among us,” a voice cried out. Herbert peeped into the area and spotted someone wearing a crown pointing in Herbert’s direction. He tried to make his escape, but lady luck wasn’t on his side. Within a heartbeat he was surrounded with spears pointed at him. They weren’t big, but didn’t want to find out how sharp they were. Herbert was forced into the cave and made to kneel before the King.

“Why are you stealing from us, stranger?”

Herbert was quaking in his worn down boots. “I-I’m a poor man without money to eat proper. I dunno ‘ow I got ‘ere, but when I saw the emeralds I thought it’d give me enough money to live in comfort.” He said honestly, his voice quivering with fright.

“But you’re greedy. You’ve taken more jewels than you need so you must face a challenge. If you defeat the beast, you may keep all the jewels and we’ll send you home. If not . . . well it depends on whether you survive. The gems disappeared from his pockets filling a basket beside him.

“Take him down,” the King ordered.

At the end of another passage, Herbert’s eyes nearly exploded outwards at the most peculiar creature he’d ever seen; part saber-tooth tiger and part lizard. The fangs on the beast were huge, the tips black. He was left without weapons and the Goblins backed away.

I’m its next meal, he thought, petrified. The beast prowled toward him, sniffed the air then its paw lashed out. Herbert jumped back out of reach. I need to use my brains here. He began to circle the beast watching his every move, a paw lashed out again; Herbert wasn’t so lucky – it ripped into his arm and blood began to seep from the furrowed wounds. The tiger paused to lick the meat and blood from his paw giving Herbert an opening; he dashed forward and leapt onto its back clasping both hands around its neck, pulling back and squeezing with every bit of strength he possessed.

The beast roared, twisted, bucked and shook its body. It twirled, jumped, rolled and thrashed in every direction, but still Herbert desperately clung on. Eventually it sank to the floor closing his eyes. Herbert climbed off, shaking, his arms throbbing from the effort. The Goblins escorted him back and regaled the King with an account of the battle. Staring at Herbert he pronounced,
“You’ve done well, thief, but you haven’t won as you’re injured, nor have you lost. We’ll send you home, but heed my warning - never come here again!”

Herbert was taken back to the hay bale and with a whooshing sound, he found himself back in the fairy ring. He jumped out, running home in fright, not daring to look back.

When he arrived, he wearily removed his jacket and placed it on a chair. Going to the sink to bathe his throbbing wounds, he found they’d disappeared entirely and the pain slowly subsided. He stared in disbelief examining every part of his arm, but nothing remained.

Deciding to go to bed, he grabbed his jacket intending to hang it up when he thought he heard a clunking noise coming from a pocket. He put his hand in and pulled out 4 large emeralds, more than enough to give him comfort for the rest of his days.

 Carlie M A Cullen is the author of newly released novel Heart Search, blogger extraordinaire and loyal friend to many -both human and mythical.

Interview with author; Carlie Cullen

By J.R. Wagner

With Carlie M A Cullen

Carlie Cullen

Okay folks, today, as part of Carlie's blog tour in celebration of her new book Heart Search (not to mention the fact that I find her a very interesting person) I have asked her a few questions.  Enjoy! 

Carlie M A Cullen is the author of Heart Search -book one: Lost

Description of Heart Search shamelessly stolen from Amazon:

One bite starts it all . . .

When Joshua Grant vanishes days before his wedding his fiancée Remy is left with only bruises, scratch marks and a hastily written note. Heartbroken, she sets off alone to find him and begins a long journey where strange things begin to happen.

As Joshua descends into his new immortal life he indulges his thirst for blood and explores his superhuman strength and amazing new talents while becoming embroiled in coven politics which threaten to destroy him. But Remy discovers a strength of her own on her quest to bring Joshua home.

Fate toys with mortals and immortals alike, as two hearts torn apart by darkness face ordeals which test them to their limits.

CMAC: Hi Josh. Thanks for inviting me here today.

JRW: When did you first start writing?

CMAC: I started writing when I was around 8 or 9. Both my parents worked full-time and I grew up as an only child. There were times I had to make my own entertainment and although I was an avid reader even then, I just got the urge to write my own fairy tales one day and I haven’t really stopped since.

JRW:  Do you recall your first writing project?

CMAC: Actually I do, but only because I was asked that very question recently and had to dig through all the detritus in my mind to find it and dust off the cobwebs! It was a fairy tale. A princess had unknowingly upset a wicked witch who started putting evil spells on people in the castle. The princess managed to escape and sought the help of a good fairy. She offered her life in return for the fairy reversing the spells and stopping the wicked witch. The fairy agreed, reversed the spells and imprisoned the witch where she could do no more damage. But she didn’t take the life of the princess on the basis that as she was willing to sacrifice herself for other people, she deserved to live.

 JRW: When did you finish your first book?

CMAC: I finished the first draft in the wee small hours of 26^th October 2011. It was an incredible feeling and all I wanted to do was whoop with joy, but as my daughter was asleep I had to button my lip. Boy was that hard! Since then it’s been through various stages of editing, one alpha-reader and two beta-readers.

JRW: Do you ever experience writer’s block?

CMAC: Very rarely, actually. Sometimes I struggle to find the actual words I want yet know what I want to say, if that makes any sense. When that happens I go and make myself a cuppa, ask my Muse for help, come back to it and the words flow as if by magic.

JRW: Do you work with an outline, or just write?

CMAC: When I first started writing Heart Search: Lost, I had an outline, chapter plan for the first 12 chapters and synopsis. By the time I got to chapter 5, the plan was as much use as a chocolate teapot – the story had taken on a life of its’ own. Now I have a rough idea in my mind where it’s heading, but my Muse and characters take over and tell the story their way.

JRW: Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

 CMAC: I think I’ve learned a little something from every book I’ve ever read. Whether that’s influenced my writing is hard to say. I guess in some ways they all have, but if I had to pick just one, I would have to say the tales by Hans Christian Andersen.

JRW: Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

CMAC: I believe I drew from past experiences in some of the emotional scenes as I wanted to make them as realistic as possible and like the majority of women on the planet, I’ve suffered heartbreak in the past. Other than that, it was all from my imagination.

JRW: What was your favorite chapter to write in Heart Search?

CMAC: OMG! That is such a difficult question to answer, Josh.  To be honest I haven’t got a favourite – I enjoyed writing them all for different reasons.

JRW: Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?

CMAC: Well I don’t want to give too much away here with regards to book two or three, but there’s a couple of characters in book one who will play much bigger parts going forward.

When I’ve finished writing the Heart Search series, I do have my next book in the planning stage and it centers around the lovely lady I use as my avatar. This book is going to be much more fantasy-oriented. I’m not sure yet whether it will be just one book or more – depends on what the lady herself has in mind for me. [Chuckles]

JRW: Tell me about your writing environment. Do you use a pen and paper, laptop? Quiet room, music or what? Dog at your feet? Cat on the desk?

CMAC: I always use a laptop to actually write, but if I’m away from it and get an idea, I write it on my notepad which rarely leaves my side. It depends what sort of scene I’m writing as to whether I have music on and also what mood I’m in; sometimes I just prefer the silence. I’m not allowed pets where I live so don’t have any. I prefer to write lounging on the sofa with my feet up but I can’t do that at the moment due to recent surgery on my spine. So for the short time I’m allowed to sit at the moment, I’m consigned to the dining room table and straight-backed hard chair.

JRW: Star Wars or Star Trek?

CMAC: Oh, definitely Star Wars. I did like the new Star Trek film with Chris Pine playing a young James T Kirk, but there’s just something about Star Wars which grabs me more. Maybe it was the cuddly Ewoks! [Laughs]

JRW: Are you working on any other creative projects at the moment?

CMAC: Apart from the guest posts for the Blog Tour, I’ve started writing book two of the Heart Search series (although it’s on the back-burner at the moment because of the launch of book one and the tour). I’m not the sort of writer who can have loads of stories on the go at once – I prefer to concentrate on one at a time and give it my full attention.

JRW: What do you think of what's happening with the publishing industry right now?  Any speculation as to where it is heading?

CMAC: I think the advent of digital books has made it much easier for authors to get their work out to readers, which I don’t see as a bad thing. There are a lot of really talented writers whose work would not otherwise be seen. I don’t see printed books going away for quite a while though. Because the digital revolution in publishing is still in its relative infancy, and there are generations of people who are more used to having a book they can touch and flick through pages, there will still be a demand for them. Personally, I much prefer to read from a paperback or hardback, but can also see the attraction of having the portability of an e-reader, especially when travelling.

I think eventually digital books will replace paper ones, but I don’t see it happening in my lifetime or that of my daughter’s. While there is still a demand for them, publishers will have to continue to make them available.

JRW: Do you have any funny stories involving a creative project you've worked on?

CMAC: I wouldn’t call if funny, exactly, more a sense of déjà vu I guess. When I was a kid, my parents nicknamed me Eagle Eyes because I was always able to find things they’d dropped or lost, even after they’d spent ages looking for them. Even something tiny lost in the fibres of the carpet couldn’t escape my beady eyes. I lost my parents some years ago now and had forgotten all about it, until recently. My ‘new’ nickname in my publishing group is Eagle Eye, as I can spot typos everyone else has missed!

JRW: Hmm, I may have use for your editorial talents in the near future, Eagle Eye.
 

JRW: Best show on TV?

CMAC: True Blood – no hesitation. My daughter and I are both completely hooked on it! My only gripe is that you guys on the other side of the pond get to see the whole series before it even arrives over here – not fair!!

JRW: If you could have dinner with one person dead or alive, who would it be?

CMAC: There are a few people who I’d like to have dinner with, but I think it would have to be my paternal grandfather. He died before my dad was ten-months old so obviously I never knew him, but my half-sister has been tracing our family tree and it turns out he was my family’s version of King Henry VIII. My grandfather had six wives – the only difference was he didn’t have any of them beheaded, he just upped and left them and moved onto the next one. He left wives and children in Ireland, America, Canada and England. It sounds like he led quite a colourful life and I’d love the opportunity to ask him about it.

JRW:Wow -he sounds like a very intriguing man. Does this mean we could be related?

JRW: What makes you laugh?

CMAC: All sorts of things. I’ve got quite a wacky sense of humour and my friends think I’m nuts! I love the humour of Robin Williams, English comedians Jasper Carrott and Freddie Starr have me in stitches. I love hearing amusing anecdotes, witty comebacks and classic one-liners. My closest friend, Jakki, cracks me up and when we get together, it’s non-stop banter and laughs all the way.

JRW: Have you ever cast a spell, drank blood or ate raw meat due to a subconscious predatory urge you weren't aware of? (or maybe you were)

CMAC: Yes, I cast a spell once, or I should say I tried to. It didn’t work – the toad remained a toad and didn’t turn into the handsome prince! [Chuckles]

JRW: Who's the best character on The Walking Dead?

CMAC: To be honest, I’ve never watched it so can’t answer that one. We do have it in the UK, but I’ve never got around to watching it. Sorry.

You seriously need to watch this show!  Shelf that True Blood nonsense for a while and get on board! In fact, if you take me up on my offer, I'll send you season one on DVD (or Blu-Ray) just so I can hook another person.

JRW: If you could have one preternatural power, what would it be?

CMAC: Hmmm, now there’s a veritable smorgasbord to pick from. I already have one, but if I had to pick another one I think I would choose telepathy. Now you’re intrigued, aren’t you?!

JRW: Yes! I need to hear more about this! If we ever meet should I wear lead underwear so you can't use your X-Ray vision on me?

JRW: Have you ever been paintballing?

CMAC: Nearly. I was supposed to go, but my car broke down on the way and I never made it in time. I never got another opportunity to go.

JRW: You're in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down and see a tortoise. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun beating its legs trying to turn itself over but it can't, not without your help, but you're not helping.

Help me!

A. Why is that?

CMAC: I wouldn’t do anything that nasty to a tortoise in the first place so moot question! But if you want me to play along and assuming I’m not a nice, kind-hearted animal lover, I would say that the tortoise was mutated by pollution in the ocean and it had turned into a predator; one scratch or bite would be fatal.

 B. What movie was that question from?

CMAC: Ooo, now you’ve got me. It’s familiar, but I just can’t put my finger on it and I don’t want to cheat and look it up. You’re going to have to put me out of my misery, Josh. Which film was it then?

Yes, Blade Runner!

JRW: And finally, the question that all author interviews end with... What are your thoughts on the  2011 Nobel prize winner's findings on dark energy? Just kidding! (unless you'd like to answer that)

CMAC: I don’t usually back away from a challenge (even if you were kidding – I’m calling your bluff)! In all honesty, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to find out proof of dark energy or dark matter existed. You ask any reputable clairvoyant about dark energy and they can give you plenty of fodder to chew over. Besides that, everything has to have an opposite so anything light must have a dark equivalent.

JRW: Reputable clairvoyant. Isn't that an oxymoron? Kidding! 

JRW: Okay last question... really: Have you managed to make peace with all the social media marketing required to get your name out there as an author or do you feel overwhelmed by it? How do you find a balance between 'working' that market and being creative (writing). I find it easy to get sucked into everything and completely distracted from writing.  How do you cope?

CMAC: Hey buster – you can’t count. That’s two questions there! [Laughs]

JRW: I don't think I've ever been called buster before [chortling -what? I just like that word!] 

CMAC: The first question is a bit hard to answer at the moment. I’m so wrapped up in the Blog Tour that I’ve put my next book on the back-burner. I’m obviously publicizing all the posts which are appearing plus the giveaway, but I’m not finding it overwhelming at the moment. I’m using a system to programme in social media announcements and once completed, I can go off and do other things. This is very convenient for me, especially at the moment, because of my aforementioned surgery. It does mean I struggle to keep tabs on posts in Twitter, but I have a fabulous group of people around me who know my situation and are doing their best to keep the momentum going.

It’s very easy to get sucked in to social media platforms – you’re dead right on that score. I’m a big exponent of ‘authors helping authors’ and do try to help others as I go along. I think the important thing for me is not to over-reach, to concentrate on two platforms rather than try to spread myself too thin. I devised a ‘marketing plan’ for the lead up and launch of Heart Search: Lost and am pleased with the way it’s panning out so far. Once the blog tour is over at the end of the month and I begin writing again, I intend to try and limit myself to certain times of the day for marketing and social media so that I have time to keep the writing going. We’ll just have to wait and see how strict I can be with myself! [Laughs]

CMAC: Thanks so much for having me here today, Josh. It’s been great fun chatting to you and I hope your followers feel they’ve got to know me a little better.

JRW: Thank you, Carlie! Hopefully my readers won't turn you off simply because you don't watch The Walking Dead (kidding!) -my offer remains on the table, by the way.

Check out Carlie M A Cullen's website HERE, where you can learn more about her book, her blog tour and her love of True Blood.

Purchase a copy of Heart Search right HERE

Read it!

Heart Search Blog tour: an excerpt

I have the pleasure of being a blog tour host to one of my favorite authors as she launches her first novel, Heart Search: Lost.

Please enjoy an excerpt from the book and grab a copy to enjoy the entire story!


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As they ran, Joshua kept surreptitiously glancing at Jasna, admiring her gracefulness and began to notice an attraction to her. He found himself unconsciously moving closer to her as they travelled; he enjoyed the proximity of her. He inhaled her scent – something he’d never bothered to do before – and discovered he liked the perfume which exuded from every pore.
The attraction was growing imperceptibly minute-by-minute and although Joshua was a little intoxicated by this new development, a part of him felt he was being unfaithful to Remy. He still loved her wholeheartedly and missed her – when he allowed himself to think of her at all, which wasn’t often as it hurt too much – but hadn’t he opted to leave his human life behind him and embrace his immortality?
Joshua glanced at Jasna at the exact same time she decided to look at him; their eyes met and held for a second or two before they both looked away again. Jasna was thrilled Joshua was noticing her at last; this whole unrequited love thing was painful although most of the time she tried hard to be her normal cheerful self. She couldn’t help the surge of hope and anticipation which coursed through her entire body. Could she really be that lucky? It was too early to tell. She knew she mustn’t get carried away; yeah she could keep hoping, but she had to keep herself reigned in. The disappointment and hurt of things not working out as she prayed they would, well it would be too much to cope with. She didn’t have the self-confidence the others possessed; she didn’t even think she was pretty and certainly not pretty enough for a god-like creature such as Joshua. She had to concentrate on being herself and wait to see what, if anything transpired.
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About the Author:

Carlie M A Cullen was born in London. She grew up in Hertfordshire where she first discovered her love of books and writing. She has been an administrator and marketer all her working life and is also a professional teacher of Ballroom and Latin American dancing.
Carlie has always written in some form or another, but Heart Search: Lost is her first novel. This was launched 8th October 2012 through Myrddin Publishing Group and work has started on book two: Heart Search: Found. She writes mainly in the Fantasy/Paranormal Romance genres for YA, New Adult and Adult.

Carlie is also a professional editor.
Carlie also holds the reins of a writing group called Writebulb. Their first anthology, The Other Way Is Essex, was published September 2012 under Myrddin Publishing Group.
Carlie currently lives in Essex, UK with her daughter.

Excellent Book Trailer!

Hey everyone,

Please check out this super-cool trailer for her upcoming book,  Heart Search.

Carlie is a regular guest-poster on my blog and I am very excited for her debut release.


Heart Search by Carlie M. A. Cullen 

Available October 8th

One bite starts it all . . .

When Joshua Grant vanishes days before his wedding his fiancée Remy is left with only
bruises, scratch marks and a hastily written note. Heartbroken, she sets off alone to find him
and begins a long journey where strange things begin to happen.

As Joshua descends into his new immortal life he indulges his thirst for blood and explores
his superhuman strength and amazing new talents while becoming embroiled in coven
politics which threaten to destroy him. But Remy discovers a strength of her own on her
quest to bring Joshua home.

Fate toys with mortals and immortals alike, as two hearts torn apart by darkness face ordeals
which test them to their limits.

Are you a social media butterfly?

A Guest post by Carlie M A Cullen

Are you a social media butterfly? 

Earlier this year, I wrote two guest posts for Josh’s blog called ‘Presenting A Professional
Image’. There were two parts to it; one dealt with being able to deal with constructive
criticism, and the other was about the little things you can do when meeting and networking
with people (like getting business cards printed). I hope you found both of those articles
informative and helpful.

I decided to follow on from those posts and talk about networking with people, especially on
social media platforms.

Now I’m not one of those butterflies that flit from one social media network to another;
there are so many on the internet now, it would be only too easy to get caught in the trap
of traipsing from one to another, and another. Before you realize it, you’ve spent several
precious hours being a social media butterfly and you’ve no time left to do the most
important thing of all – writing.

I’ve decided to pick just two platforms and concentrate my efforts there. I predominantly
use Twitter (http://twitter.com/carlie2011c) and pop in to Facebook (http://facebook.com/
carlie.cullen) on occasions.

I’m not a Twitter snob and only follow writers and readers; I follow all types (except those who speak in a language I don’t know/understand). Making connections on Twitter has not
only enriched my life, I’ve forged good friendships and strong links with people from other
countries (mainly those from across the pond). And here’s where some of the networking
comes into it.

I must be doing something right on Twitter as I’m attracting more and more followers each
day. At the beginning of 2012 I had less than 200 followers – now I have over 1640. So how
did I do it? There was no magic plan, no marketing strategy and no one guiding me.

I think it happened because I genuinely care about other people and have a passion for
supporting other authors.

I regularly Retweet authors who are publicising their own or other people’s books, I tweet
about other books and several weeks ago I started my own hashtag #SupportSunday. I pick
four authors who I follow and publicise their book(s), including a link to it/them on Amazon.
I try to rotate it so I don’t have the same four people every week, although I admit I do tend
to favour my two closest friends on Twitter and they get included regularly. BUT I have
one rule where this hashtag is concerned: if the author I’ve publicised doesn’t have the good
manners to show any appreciation or even acknowledge that I’ve tried to help them, they
never get included again. How long does it take to tweet someone with a simple ‘thank you’?

Learning From Your Mistakes

Another wonderful Guest post by Carlie M. A. Cullen

I recently had this quirky idea for my blog for my followers to ask me anything they wanted so they could get to know me better. The post, “Interview the Writer. Who Me? Yes You!”, brought out some great questions. One of them was: “What are some grammatical errors you still find yourself using/doing even though you know you shouldn’t?” and this really got me thinking.
As writers, we all have our little weak spots and I’ve identified some of my worst ones from first drafts:
- Exclamation marks – I use way too many when trying to emphasize a point and don’t realize until my wonderful editor raps my knuckles. What I’m actually doing is slowing down the dialogue instead of keeping it flowing.

- The word ‘that’ – this is probably my biggest sin of all. Put it this way, if I had a pound or dollar for each ‘that’ removed from my first draft, I’d probably have enough money for some retail therapy!

- Using too many similes beginning with ‘like’ – I’ve learnt the hard way about this. On the up side, I’ve found ways of expressing these in terms that make the story much stronger, and I’m still experimenting with it. Some similes work extremely well, especially if you can be really inventive, but too many weakens the writing.

- Starting a new paragraph for dialogue when it should be a continuation of the previous line – this is another sin my editor nags me about.

- Using hard line returns to start a new page at the end of a chapter – it doesn’t always work and using page breaks is a much cleaner way of doing it. This I learned from my beta reader. On my copy of the manuscript it all looked fine, but when I sent it to her she pointed out that several chapters ran into each other (oops). I’m glad I found out before an agent or publisher requested my full manuscript!

I know there are others, but they are minor compared with those listed above. The important thing is that I know what to look for and as I write the second book in my trilogy (I’m now well into chapter 4), I’m correcting myself as I write. I do try to switch off my inner editor particularly when the writing is flowing well, but I’m finding I’m automatically correcting myself.
This, I think, is a good thing. It means I’m learning from my mistakes which, I hope, will make me a better writer in the long run. It also means less nagging from my editor (a real plus) and a stronger base for the finished product.
I will continue to learn from my mistakes; I want my writing to be the very best it can be for my readers, they deserve nothing less!

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To visit Carlie's AMAZING blog, click HERE







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As always, find interviews, writing samples, videos, contests and more on my re-vamped website.

www.TheNeverChronicles.com

In bookstores 6-5-2012