Amy Freeman's Blog

Don't Miss the Best New Series Available!!
SYNSK - a Norwegian word meaning "psychic" denotes the fascinating abilities of the characters in this fantastic new series by K.C. Finn. The author begins with Kit, a wheelchair bound fifteen year old girl who is able to enter the minds of others at will during World War II. The author continues with Kit's younger brother, Leighton in book two as we see what kind of trouble he finds using his own similar gifts. We then arrive at Book three, the exciting focus of today's post...
A Place Halfway

A struggling psychic girl steps out into the big, wide world amidst the murky depths of racial segregation in England, 1961.

As a teenage psychic, Josephine Fontaine knows what it’s like to be different. At Peregrine Place, a school full of youngsters with gifts just like hers, sixteen-year-old Josie is growing tired of her life and looking for excitement beyond the grand manor house’s walls. When an opportunity arises to work in a local music bar, she jumps at the chance, learning to balance her new job with the pressures of studying the ways of the Synsk.

There she meets the charming Tommy Asher, a fellow psychic with a talent for music, and Jake Bolton, a handsome, surly stranger with coffee-coloured skin. Throw in the return of her old crush Dai Bickerstaff, and Josie finds herself embroiled in a drama much bigger than she could have imagined, especially when certain parties take issue to her developing a friendship with a boy who isn’t white-skinned. When a mysterious record mogul offers Josie help to improve her psychic gifts, her world turns totally upside down, and she begins to question everything she thought she knew about the world, her family, and even herself.

Coming of age was never so intense as it will be for Josie in the winter of 1961. 
This book was so charming and endearing from page one. The author's attention to detail placing the setting in the early 1960's draws you into the story so completely you truly feel as if you are right there in Josie's world. K.C Finn has a beautiful and eloquent way of telling a story, even when the plot twists to dark and sinister. You will find yourself falling in love with the characters, aching for and cheering on the heroes, heroines and underdogs alike and despising the villains with equal passion.
I cannot say enough about this series. It is masterfully written! A brilliant display of historical fact infused with exciting, and often frightening elements of the paranormal. All readers old and young have fallen in love with the SYNSK! Do not miss out! Grab your copy of  A PLACE HALFWAY and the rest of this magnificent saga today!
Click the link below and claim your copy now!
http://www.amazon.com/Place-Halfway-SYNSK-Book-ebook/dp/B00NJSVHUC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416981433&sr=1-1&keywords=a+place+halfway+k.c.+finn&pebp=1416981443814

It's astounding that I sit before my computer right now. Not because I'm lazy, or hate writing, or lack talent (though many of you may beg to differ). It's just that you should see the obstacles I had to overcome to get here. I am not referencing hardships, harrowing ordeals or even lack of time (although that one factors in). I literally mean obstacles.



This isn't my house. But it could be. My house looks like a hurricane hit. It really does. I haven't really cleaned for weeks. I am a clean person. I shower and keep a necessary amount of clothing washed. I've tried to stay on top of the dishes.
Okay. That's a lie, but I do make sure Jackson has a clean fork to eat his store bought dinner with... although the plastic forks in the cardboard box are diminishing...


Now before you call Family Services hear me out. You all know how busy I am. I do the day time job thing, the mother thing, the homework thing, the Jackson's karate thing, the church volunteering thing, the cat rearing thing, the grandmother thing, the author thing and I don't have time for any more THINGS. I used to have sort of a balance going. I mean nothing was ever perfection, but it worked. I don't know what happened. I don't know where I lost it, but there was a time when I wasn't concerned about raccoons moving in.
Now I'm kind of concerned about raccoons moving in.
Or rats. Or roaches. Orangutans...Bears...NOW BEFORE YOU CALL FAMILY SERVICES HEAR ME OUT.


Things have just become more and more busy lately. I can't possibly be the only mother trapped at her computer because there's no way to escape. I know I'm not the only mother who struggles to find time to clean. I'm not the only mother who wonders if she'll get a daily shower. I'm not the only mother who alters and tailors a pair of the twelve year old's underwear to fit a four year old so the four year old has something clean to wear to bed!
Okay maybe I am.
Am I incriminating myself?

BEFORE YOU CALL FAMILY SERVICES!!!
It's okay. Jackson really doesn't spend a lot of time here. I take him to many clean places throughout the day and Cameron doesn't live here. And when he IS here his mother usually brings pajamas for him to sleep in, and you'd be amazed at how lithe a four year old child can be at dodging clothing piles, boxes and unidentifiable groupings of whatever.
Now his mother is another story. Although she thoroughly understands and does not judge, when I said "I can't find my boots!" she didn't hesitate once to glance about and reply with "I can't imagine why..."

The good news is that I have tomorrow off. I promise to scour my house. I shall tell no one that I am home so that I will remain undisturbed and dig my way out of my perilous dwelling...except that I just pasted it to my blog for the world to see.
Sigh. Just so everyone knows. I will not be available for anything tomorrow. I pledge to clean my house. I pledge not to leave until it is sanitized, organized and all the bears and Orangutans have been tossed out. Understood?? Not leaving until it's done! And it has nothing to do with the fact that I can't find my door!!

It's my birthday today. I'm forty three. Most women wouldn't broadcast that kind of information to the public because they don't want anyone to know how old they are. HEY LADIES. YOU GOT IT ALL WRONG.


All you silly girls are playing this card backwards. See, when you get older you don't lie about your age and tell people you're younger than you really are. The lying must take the numbers higher. See, if I look the way I do today, even if I plastic surgerize (Yes that's a word. Yes it is. IT IS!) My face and boobs and butt, and tell people I'm thirty, they may or may not buy it.

There's only so much stretching, poking and zapping a surgeon can do before you look like Barbie. (And I don't mean in a good way. I mean the real plastic doll. The "can't move a muscle, smiling is my only expression and blinking is no longer an option" Barbie).


SO! When you feel your face has lost it's sparkle and your butt follows you around like a poorly sewn on bustle, don't deactivate all of your facial muscles and lie and tell people you're thirty. Leave your wrinkling face as is and tell people you're eighty.

I mean think about it. The response you'd get for THAT lie would be far more rewarding than the other one.


I may not look nineteen anymore but I'm a damn fine lookin' eighty year old. You are too. No matter what you look like. You can go to all the early bird special dinners at Sizzler and be the total hottie in the room. Or better yet, go to a dance at the old folks home and totally KILL.




I just don't think people are as dumb as you hope they are when you waltz into the room with perma-poltergeist clown face and tell them "It's natural. You've never had surgery. You're just thirty."


My idea is far better. It's far cheaper. And a lot less work. In fact, it requires no work. Really. I'm a genius. So go back to the surgeon and cancel your appointment. We don't want to compete with the twenty somethings. We can't understand anything they say anyway. But we CAN compete with the eighty year old broads nooooo problem, right?

Okay then! Pick up your bustle and waddle on down to the Sizzler! Hurry up! It's almost four o'clock!

I have been to see the great and powerful OZ (New York City agents, authors etc...) and I suppose it is time to share my experience and pass my wisdom on to you people! Let me start by saying that I am not the one to come to for wisdom. Ever. But I will do my best to share the wisdom of the great and powerful OZ. You're welcome.

First of all, I feel for agents. This is a fairly new concept for me. Not that I ever harbored ill will or hostility towards them, but I received a tiny glimpse into their side of the literary process and it's probably kinda painful. We (the writers) signed up for what is called a pitch slam. They line the walls of a conference room with agents, tell them to hold on to their seats and unleash a herd of starving writers on them. They don't even give them shields or weapons or anything to defend themselves with. They just ring the bell and open the gates.

Sound terrifying? It probably is. They're noble people, these agents. What they are willing to go through to find a good book to sell! Whew! Let me compose myself...

Composed. I learned so much at this conference. So much I can't possibly put it all here in one post. Let me refer tools and resources instead. Imparted wisdom from great and terrible OZ number one:

Lisa Cron Wired for Story
Don't have it? Go get it. This is the best book I've read on how to psychologically pull your reader into your story. And really, once you've done that your job is half done. 
Imparted wisdom from great and terrible OZ number two:
Gabriela Pereira http://diymfa.com/
A fantastic resource for all things writerly. She gave a wonderful class on how to effectively set up your story and carry it through to the end. But even better is her "Do It Yourself MFA" which I've linked above for you folks to benefit from! No...don't go yet...I'm not finished yet. Rude.
Imparted Wisdom from great and terrible OZ number three:
Harlan Coben NYT Bestselling Author a Gazillion Times Over
No excuses. Mr. Coben taught us many a valuable lesson. But he emphasized the importance of writing. WRITE. Keep writing. Every day. Practice and dedicate time to your craft. His examples were Author Mary Higgins Clark who lost her husband and mother in law within a day leaving her to raise five children. She wrote from five to seven in the morning. NO EXCUSES. Cher said "Excuses won't lift your butt". How can you argue with Cher? You can't. Don't try. She might hurt you.


The most important thing I gained at this conference was a sense of what it takes to succeed in this industry and to never quit. It takes time. You will trip and fall many times and you must get up and keep going. If this is what you want to do, this is what it takes and you have til the day you die to keep trying. 
So get to your computer and write that book! Next year they'll have a whole new lineup of foolish agents willing to risk their lives at the WD writer's All-You-Can-Eat buffet, and you don't want to miss it!! 

I Pondered this notion today while cleaning cat feces from the floor of my new condo. Not that cleaning up cat crap makes me think of writing. It's just that I was writing when my son came into my room and said "Cat crap. 0400". (We come from a military family so whether or not that actually makes sense isn't important. He hears the term occasionally. He knows it has to do with timing or location so just chill. Moving on).

These are the wonders that interrupt me while I'm trying to write: unexpected cat soilings, unexpected "grandson" accidents, although those are usually expected and greatly feared. There always seems to be something to pull me away from my computer and keep me from completing my manuscript.

So as I was sprinting down the stairs today, cleaner in hand cursing my cat and yelling at him to "please use his toilet" I fantasized about how grand it would be to be able to write with abandon undisturbed. How it might feel to not have to worry about anything but putting words down on paper. I don't imagine most writers have this luxury, although I know some do. And I choose to envy them with passionate hatred until the end of time. So here is my list of things that must go in order to attain this mythical state of writing:

1) Do not have children. Writers who do not have children can double or even triple their work in my humble  opinion because they are not being continuously pulled from the computer to attend to this crisis or that desperate emergency (all of which are not usually real crisis or real desperate emergencies but simply that in the mind of the child).


2) Do not have pets. I speak specifically of cats in this instance. Cats are fairly low-maintenance in general. However they love nothing more than to curl up on your keyboard while you're trying to work, thus contributing to your manuscript in ways you couldn't possibly think of on your own which may sound fabulous if you suffer from writer's block. But I personally have never found "akjhdaknco835nbv1398745y0qnsmnpaqytu4rtaCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC" to be useful in dispelling writers block. Maybe it's just me. And if your cat is like mine, he will regularly knock over glasses of water regardless of whether or not your computer is sitting in its path, and because I just moved he thinks he needs to mark his territory all over my house which thrills me beyond words.


3) Do not have friends. I have decided that a social life is also a luxury that writers cannot afford. I find myself so bogged down with the whole kid/cat/work thing that all of my free time is used up on writing, leaving me no free time to socialize and nurture friendships. Bless my lifelong friends who are still willing to call me "friend" even though they only hear from me once every lunar cycle. (And that's on a good month!).


4) Do not have a job. This again is another unrealistic desire as most of us are still struggling to find our place on the literary map, and even if that "published" dream is met, the day job is usually a keeper for a while to pay bills. And I say day job because most of us end up working during the day and writing into the wee hours of the night which means we never sleep which means we suck at our day jobs and really need to be good writers so writing can be our day job!

These are only a few things one must eliminate from life in order to become a good writer, and most of us refuse to do so because these things (as stressful as they may be) are the only things that bring us joy in a world of writerly madness. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that finding uninterrupted time to write is difficult. Even writers who have no children or day job find themselves pulled away from their work by other distractions. Life moves on while we try to create stories and somehow we must find balance. Over time we do. Each writer has a different way of making it work and we must be succeeding because books are written and sold every day.

So the next time you run into your writer friends give them a hug and tell them it's okay. Pat them on the back and say "It's all good. I know that I won't see you for nine more months, but I still think you're really groovy." This will eliminate at least some of the guilt that piles on the shoulders of a creative minded soul. The same mind that will eventually provide you with endless entertainment. So be kind. (and just for emphasis, as I type these words my grandson is squawking a continuous barrage of "Gramma!" from the guest bedroom that will not cease until I go in and see what he wants, AND my cat is meowing and thrusting agitated paws under my bedroom door so that once I open it for him, he can contemplate for five or ten minutes whether or not he actually wants to enter the room.)

A lovely little hat that all writers must learn to wear. And while it might look good on, it's usually pretty darned uncomfortable! The literary world is BOOT CAMP for learning patience and we all must sign up. I love this post by author Jamie Raintree. She offers a very real honest look at what it's like and what it takes to learn to wait...

http://jamieraintree.com/what-we-can-and-cant-control-in-business

Such a critical topic for writers these days. We've discussed it before- to self publish or traditionally publish. There are benefits to both, but you must know what you are doing to find success in either! It is like anything else. Do your homework first. This conference is right around the corner. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up. It is so choice. I love driving it... SORRY! Ferris Bueller. Just came out on its own I had nothing to do with it! Ahem! If you have the means I highly reccomend attending this conference if you struggle with which publishing path to take!
http://view.writers-community.com/?j=fec412777c67047f&m=fe9c15737567067577&ls=fdfa15737763047b7c147272&l=fece1571766c067f&s=fe2616737c650474711079&jb=ff68157271&ju=fe5c16727c60037f7612&et_mid=679302&rid=239109449&r=0

Writers go through so many phases while learning to write. We usually start out full of excitement. We have a great story idea and writing it is an escape! An adventure! The story spilling into our heads from our creative Kool-aid pitcher is so good and we cannot wait to share it with the world. The problem is at this point many of us have not learned the craft of writing, and what we put down on paper does not accurately convey what we're seeing in our heads.

When I first started writing to get published I had many kind family members tell me my work was good when it was awful. This did keep me writing, and eventually I completed my first draft. Lucky for me they loved me enough to tell me it needed work when I started getting serious about publishing. Most writers look back on their first work and cringe because it really needed help. But without that first draft we would never have our final draft.

It is when you can get from "I am writing the next best seller!" to "Wow, I hope this is getting good enough to grab an agent's attention." that you are getting closer to succeeding. Reading and writing constantly are your best tools for improving. But you also need to know how to hear criticism. If you are lucky enough to have a friend or family member who will tell you if you're grabbing and holding their attention, listen to them! It doesn't matter if they edit manuscripts for a living or if they scrub floors. Do they like to read? If so, they are qualified to critique your MS. Either it entertains them or it doesn't.

This is an excellent bit of advice from the folks at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Have a read and toughen your skin. Either you want to be successful at telling a story or you don't. If you really do, you will listen to those who can help you fix what needs to be fixed.

http://blog.nanowrimo.org/post/73214585258/when-to-listen-to-your-readers-and-when-to-ignore

Thank heavens for creative people. It is because of creative people that we have entertainment, movies books, art and all that other good stuff. I can say with pride that my family contributes regularly to entertaining the people of the world. The Dixon clan is loaded with acting skills, musical talent, writing skills and no shame.

I think you'll all agree that a lot of "not normal" floats about in my neck of the woods. But the Dixon clan is a special breed, and if you give us a stage, a theater or an abandoned asbestos-filled building, we'll put it to good use and entertain you. Even if you don't want to be entertained. And if you give us a fun prop to go with it, the prop will most likely be destroyed by the end of the night.


The talent show began when a ship of English and Irish immigrants came across the pond. A particularly loud group, I'm sure. Some of us may have been tossed overboard by the proper English folks who just couldn't stand it anymore, forcing our people to swim back to various pieces of European shoreline which might explain the random French or Spaniard influence...What? We don't have any Spaniard?...No Spaniard? No Spaniard.


Anyway, the Dixon/Worsley party migrated to the new world creating all kinds of havoc and getting into all kinds of mischief. When my grandparents threw a party, they threw a PARTY! For example: they had an upside down themed gathering where tables were actually fastened to the ceiling. (How they managed to eat their dinner is a mystery to me.) The party got so loud, the police were summoned to shut everyone up. They were invited in and ended up staying for the festivities. Most people have a lawn or a garden in the back yard. When the kids grew up and left home, my grandfather turned his back yard into a golfing green, complete with a coca cola machine and all.

Uncle Dave used to find all kinds of creative outlets as a kid. He once caught a gopher in an envelope (they are mean little suckers. Especially when faced with the possibility of becoming mail.) And on another occasion he filled a cereal box with captured ants, set it on fire and commentated as "the people" ran screaming from the "burning building."

My mother buried her dolls in the back yard and had a funeral (not weird). They are still buried there to this day because no one told her a cement crew was coming to lay a basketball court the very next morning. Thousands of years from now her dolls will be found and she alone will be responsible for false deductions made about ritualistic toy burials believed to appease the Gods.

R.I.PThe current generation is no different. We are known for overstaying our welcome at crown burger, serial planking, and hosting the loudest Christmas parties known to man. We regularly play a french game with a french song that none of us understand or know the real words to, so we made up our own. Well...actually our parents made up their own and passed the butchered mess on to us. WE made the contribution of including the directions in the lyrics because we're to dumb to play it unless we're saying it at the same time. Brilliant.



The point is you'll never be bored around people like the Dixon clan. I can guarantee a large headache or a positive new outlook on various poisons, but never boredom. It is people like us who create your favorite escape from work, responsibility and the daily grind. No artist, musician or writer is normal. If the world had no crazy folks to counter you normal folks, life would be very dull. So the next time you see a person out in the world doing some bizarre thing consider the last great movie you saw and be thankful! Unless you are a Dixon spouse. If that is the case, run for your therapist.

If you haven't read The Mind's Eye by K.C. Finn, you really need to get a move on for several reasons:
It is a fantastic work of YA Paranormal historical fiction.It is the first book in the SYNSK series, and book two Leighton's Summer is now available. LEIGHTON'S SUMMER IS NOW AVAILABLE!!I am a huge fan of this series. I am a huge fan of K.C. Finn. This series is some of her very best work, and you really are missing out if you aren't reading them. Don't be left in the dust scratching your head when this series appears on the big screen and you haven't read the books yet!!
Preview and sample below. Get your fill of info and teasers and then click the buy links to get your copies!!

Title:  Leighton’s SummerSeries:   SYNSK # 2Author:  K.C. FinnPublished:  April 15th, 2014 by Clean Teen Publishing

Word Count:  76,000Genre:  YA paranormal adventureContent Warning:  Mild ViolenceRecommended Age:  16+
Synopsis:  A teenage boy with something to prove gets caught up in a web of crime and deceit in England, 1945.In the weeks leading up to his sixteenth birthday, gifted psychic Leighton Cavendish finds himself suddenly packed off to Blackpool, a glittering, teenage paradise filled with plenty of opportunities for amusement—and trouble. With only a preoccupied grandmother to keep an eye on him, Leighton’s desperation for adventure leads him out into a world of holidaymakers, candy, and carnival rides—the ideal place to spend six weeks away from home.But Leighton’s psychic visions are encroaching on his fun, trying to warn him of the danger that lurks beyond the shimmering lights of the Golden Mile. Who are the mysterious thieves Leighton sees in his head, and what do they want with the children they seek? A girl called Faye holds the answer, but she has enough problems of her own.Amid the climate of a tourist town recovering from the impact of the Second World War, two lost teenagers will discover a shocking truth about human greed. Together, they will try to fight against it. For Leighton and Faye, this will be a summer to remember—one filled with challenges that must be overcome.A summer that turns a boy into a man.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodReads
Excerpt from Leighton’s Summer by K.C. Finn
“Look,” I began, knotting my fingers together to try and hide the blood, “those lads I was with… I don’t want anything to do with them really.”Faye bit her lip. “They’re bad kids,” she agreed, “I didn’t think you were like that.”“I’m not,” I promised, once again resisting the urge to grab her arm and insist, “I just… I didn’t know they were bad before I started going around with them. I only met them yesterday.”“Opinions can change quickly, can’t they?” she snapped, her mood shifting once more.“Charming, that is,” I bit back, throwing myself away from her, against the bench, “Well you can keep your changing opinions to yourself, because I know which way my mind is set.” I felt all my emotions bubbling up to the surface, brimming like a wave ready to crash against the sand. I tried for a moment to hold them back, but it was no good, all the agitation and anger spilled over and I couldn’t stop myself from speaking again. “You want to know why I went with them? Because they’re hard lads, apart from Freddie, and there’s four of them laying on the persuasion. And frankly, I quite like my face and I didn’t fancy getting it smashed in so I’d look like a mosaic for my sixteenth birthday, all right?”My voice had risen during the altercation and I found there were people looking at me as they passed us by on the bench. I imagined what a state I must have looked with dried blood on my face and only a vest on. I leaned away from the passers-by, upset to find that tears were once again escaping from Faye’s silent face. I felt awful instantly for exploding at her; I had no right to upset her after what I’d done.“Would they really smash your face in?” she whispered.“I reckon so,” I replied, gulping down a dry breath. I was grateful for the nosebleed in that moment; my face didn’t have enough blood left in it to glow crimson and show her how embarrassed I was. “Are you mad at me?” Faye asked, her lips shaking like they had on the Ferris Wheel.I let out a laugh, some of my tension going with it.“What would I be mad at you for?” I replied.She gave a little shrug. “For thinking you were a crook? For spying on you? For not telling you yesterday that I had powers of my own?”“No,” I said simply, realising that it was the truth, “I shouted at you for no reason and ruined your handkerchief, so I’d say we’re about even. Besides, it won’t do to be mad at you like that if we’re going to be friends.”She wiped her last tear away and gave me a more hopeful look. “Can we be friends?” Faye asked, like she wasn’t even sure that it was possible.“I think we have to be after all this palaver,” I said with a grin.A wave of thoughtfulness washed over her features for a moment, but then she nodded.“Right then,” she answered, “shall we go somewhere and get your face cleaned up?”I waved a hand at her. “I’ll dunk my head in the sea. It’ll be fine.”

 About the Author:

Born in South Wales to Raymond and Jennifer Finn, Kimberley Charlotte Elisabeth Finn (known to readers as K.C., otherwise it’d be too much of a mouthful) was one of those corny little kids who always wanted to be a writer. She was also incredibly stubborn, and so has finally achieved that dream in 2013 with the release of her first three novellas in the four-part Caecilius Rex saga, the time travel adventure The Secret Star and her new urban fantasy epic The Book Of Shade.As a sufferer with the medical condition M.E./C.F.S., Kim works part time as a private tutor and a teacher of creative writing, devoting the remainder of her time to writing novels and studying for an MA in Education and Linguistics.Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | GoodReads | Blog | Website


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