Dreamspinner Press discussion
Meet the Author
>
Meet A.J. Marcus/A.M. Burns
message 1:
by
Dreamspinner
(new)
Apr 16, 2014 05:35PM
Mod
reply
|
flag
Good Morning folks. It looks like I'm a couple of minutes late. Sorry about that. So I'm here today to talk about two books I did. Eagle's Blood, which came out Monday by A.J. Marcus, and Hunters which comes out on the 24th by A.M. Burns. No, I'm not schizophrenic. I write under A.J. Marcus for my more adult(read erotic) writing and under A.J. Marcus for my more family friendly prose.
Gloria, I realize that your comment was a few days ago, but I'm hoping that what a lot of people do. Birds of Prey open up a special place in the hearts of a lot of folks.
A.M. wrote: "Good Morning folks. It looks like I'm a couple of minutes late. Sorry about that. So I'm here today to talk about two books I did. Eagle's Blood, which came out Monday by A.J. Marcus, and Hunters w..."Huh? You listed the same name for both. :)
well haven't read anything by you yet, what would you like somebody to know about your writng style before they read your books?
Andrea, It's early and now I'm confused. "Eagle's Blood" is by A.J. Marcus and "Hunters" is by A.M. Burns. I'm just doing the chat as A.M. Burns because it's easier that flipping back and forth to answer questions.
Roger, by writing style...hmm, that's one of those toughies. It's fairly casual. I'm not one of these writers that's going to bog you down with unnecessary details. You'll get a fair amount of action adventure in my books, but the romance is also there. In most of my books, I try and keep the drama more physical. Although the book I'm about to finish is mostly emotional drama and it's draining to me. I'm a physical sorta guy. I hope that answers the question.
note to self, read posts before hitting post...there might be an editor in chat that will nail me. To bad there's not an editor looking over my shoulder. So what kind of things do folks want to talk about this morning? We can talk about writing, reading, birds, bigfoot, the deer nibbling on the newly cut trees outside my window...the possibilities are endless.
Like Gloria mentioned, "Eagles' Blood" is a book about a wildlife rehabber who falls in love with a Parks and Wildlife officer. Two nice rugged guys with more than a few quests appearances by various birds, bears, and other wildlife.
"Hunters" which comes out on the 24th is the story of a young bigfoot who falls in love with the new boy at school. It gets its title from the bigfoot hunters who seem to plague their every step. http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/stor...
And, for folks attending chat today, I've got a discount code for 25% off all my books. It's good for the next 2 days. BurnsMarcus0419 it is case sensitive.
'Hunters' looks great - can't wait to read it!
Thanks Scarlett. It was a fun book to write. The beta readers and editors all enjoyed it. I'm hoping the readers will too.
A.M. wrote: "Thanks Scarlett. It was a fun book to write. The beta readers and editors all enjoyed it. I'm hoping the readers will too."It looks refreshingly original, and thank you for the discount code! :)
You're welcome. In a world besieged by vampires, werewolves and zombies I figured we needed more bigfeet...bigfoots???Still haven't decided what the plural should be.
I just read this article. Apple maps may have caught a Loch Ness monster wake. Thought I would share. http://gawker.com/nessie-diehards-cla...
I love vamps, werewolves, etc but it is nice to read something new
I can't say as I've ever seen a Loch Ness monster romance before...I've got a friend in Scotland. I could write the whole trip off as a business expense. I might just have to put that on the back burner.
Scarlett, I love vampires and wers too, but yeah we need other things out there.
that would be interesting especially if nessie is a shifter.
A nice sexy guy with a hot Scots accent that turns into a prehistoric beast.
Rock on that would be totally hot especially with him in human form wearing a kilt!
Okay, we've reached the first hour mark. Here's a blurb from "Eagles' Blood" He nearly stopped as Brock laid his uniform shirt on the metal exam table beside him and then pulled off the torn white T-shirt underneath. He’d known Brock for a couple of years, knew he was in good shape, but he’d never dreamed he was hiding such a perfect body under his tan uniform. Blond hair covered the massive chest. Landon took a deep breath and reminded himself that he was going to have to be clinical. He and Brock had a good relationship. It was important for a rehabber to be on good terms with P&W. But spring was always a busy time, and it had been awhile since he’d even had a date, much less touched a man like Brock.
“The important thing for me was saving her life.” Brock laid the T-shirt on top of his uniform.
One of the things Landon liked about Brock was his devotion to the wild animals. A few weeks ago, Brock had searched for the den of a mother mountain lion that had been hit by a car. It had taken him two days to find it, but he’d shown up on Landon’s doorstep with two little cubs that didn’t even have their eyes open. “You’ve had a tetanus shot recently?”
Brock nodded. “We have to stay current on those for work.”
“Good.” Landon reached out with the towel and ran it over Brock’s chest to clean away the blood. Stay clinical, he told himself, trying to ignore his racing pulse and tightening crotch. “I don’t think this is going to need stitches. If she’d been a little older, that might not have been the case. Even little, these birds can do a lot of damage with their feet. The biggest fear now is infection. Nests aren’t the cleanest places in the world.”
I love writing about animals, birds, wildlife of all kinds. What kinds of animals do folks like reading about?
A.M. wrote: "Okay, we've reached the first hour mark. Here's a burlb from "Eagles' Blood" He nearly stopped as Brock laid his uniform shirt on the metal exam table beside him and then pulled off the torn white..."
Like the "burlb" or the blurb even. LOL
Hey Roger, like I mentioned earlier, I need an editor looking over my shoulder right now to make sure that everything comes out okay. One of these days I'll hire a life editor and the world will be much better. :)
A.M. wrote: "I love writing about animals, birds, wildlife of all kinds. What kinds of animals do folks like reading about?"Lions Wolves Tigers Eagles Owls Hawks Falcons Horses and if you include mythological creatures Dragons.
A.M. wrote: "Hey Roger, like I mentioned earlier, I need an editor looking over my shoulder right now to make sure that everything comes out okay. One of these days I'll hire a life editor and the world will be..."we all need one of those life editors.
It think, so far, I've only missed the lions, tigers and wolves, although I do have coyotes from time to time. and there are mountain lion cubs in "Eagle's Blood". I can work on the lions and tigers though. I used to be photographer for a big cat rescue center in Texas. We'll see more raptors both in "Grizzly Discover", the sequel for "Eagles' Blood" and in "The Falconer's Lure" the forth Ren Faire Romance. Both coming later summer/early fall.
A.M. wrote: "Hey Roger, like I mentioned earlier, I need an editor looking over my shoulder right now to make sure that everything comes out okay. One of these days I'll hire a life editor and the world will be..."Life editor - I like that. Particularly if that meant we could go back and make changes because something just didn't work.
Did you submit for publication the first book you wrote or did you write for your own pleasure first?
Andrea, I really wish there were such things as life editors. It would be awesome. My life would only be a little different than it is now.
Andrea, I've written for years, since way back in high school. I finished my first book then. And no, that book will probably never ever see the light of day again. I have it somewhere...in a box...under other boxes...hidden far away from any unsuspecting eyes that would never be able to unsee it. It's only been in the past few years that I've begun writing for public consumption.
Okay folks...we're half way through the chat. I think it's time for a give away. Over the next fifteen minutes, tell me about really cool critter encounters you've had. The one that is the furthest away from something I've done gets a free ecopy of "Eagle's Blood" Come on folks, do be shy. Let me know what you've done.
Here's a final blurb from "Eagle's Blood", the next one will be from "Hunters". With a deep breath, Brock willed his hands to be still. Landon had the owl out of the crate and was preparing to hand it over to him. On top of their revelation that they were both interested in dating each other, this was one of the most exciting things he’d ever done. Sure, he’d handled injured owls before, but he’d never handled one that was ready to go back into the wild.
As he reached around Landon’s gloved hands, he asked again. “Are you sure I don’t need gloves?”
“As long as you get your hands out of her way quickly, as you let go, you’ll be fine.” Landon moved his right hand away before Brock slipped his left hand in.
Seconds later, Brock held the bird on his own. The feathers were soft in his hands. Owl feathers always amazed him with their downiness. Remembering how Landon had released the red tail a few minutes before, Brock launched the owl into the air. The big bird reached the apogee of his toss and seemed to hang there for just a second before she spread her huge wings and flew low into the trees. The heavy forest quickly engulfed her.
Grinning like a madman, Brock turned and caught Landon up in his arms. Their kiss was longer this time. Landon’s body was lean and hard in his arms. It had been too long since he’d last held a man. His pulse quickened as their kiss drew longer. He liked the taste of Landon on his lips. The joy of the nearly perfect day boiled over in him. Brock picked Landon up as they kissed and twirled him around.
Landon laughed as Brock set him back on the ground. “My, if I’d known you’d get that excited about things, I’d have brought you up here to release that owl a few days ago.”
Brock smiled at him. “The owl, you, being out in the woods, it just all makes me happy.” He kissed Landon again.
I think my strangest encounter was meeting a lot of ducks very close up while making love with my boyfriend at that time. Needless to say, with ducks climbing onto his back, we ended in a very unsatisfactory and abrupt manner. You did say not to be shy.
Hey folks, the clock is ticking on the give away. What no interesting critter tales out there?
Do you have a group of kids act as beta readers for your YA books? Also, do you know if kids buy the books for themselves or do the parents? I've always wondered about bother these things.
LOL...Andrea, I've been interrupted by cats, dogs, rats, hawks, but never ducks. That would be very disturbing.
A.M. wrote: "LOL...Andrea, I've been interrupted by cats, dogs, rats, hawks, but never ducks. That would be very disturbing."Believe me, it was. I used to love that duck pond! Not so much after that.
Well, Andrea, since you're the only one that posted something and it was something I've never really dealt with, you're the winner for the first giveaway. If you would drop me an email at andy@ajmarcus.com with the name and email that your dreamspinner account is under and I'll forward it to them so they can add an ecopy of "Eagles' Blood" to your bookshelf that would be awesome.
I think this final hour we're going to talk more about things that go bump in the night as we dive into the shadowy forest where "Hunters" takes place.
Here's the first blurb from "Hunters" THOM LEAPT to his feet. As he looked down toward the berry bush, Sophia ran for a tree. Ben stood like he was frozen at the edge of the bush while a large black bear stood up from the middle of the greenery. Two other shapes moved in the bushes around her.
Thom’s heart pounded. “Shit. We’ve got to get down there.”
“Maybe I can just throw a few rocks from up here,” Denny said.
“Ben, stay still!” Thom shouted as he started down the slope. If it was just Sophia down there, he could’ve jumped down and not been worried about revealing their secrets.
“Staying still!” Ben yelled back. “But shouldn’t I yell at her or something?”
“No, she’s got cubs.” Thom slipped on rocks. Damn shoes don’t give me the same traction as my regular feet would. Ben’s back was to him. He could take a risk. His jump carried him halfway down toward the creek. He stumbled again. Trying to regain his balance, Thom grabbed hold of a small, dead aspen tree. It broke off in his hand.
As he got his feet under him with the aspen still in his grip, Thom saw a bright-green flash as Sophia dropped her disguise and vanished into the trunk of a ponderosa pine. Chicken shit dryad.
Denny’s first round of rocks struck the ground close to Ben. They rolled through the bushes.
“Careful, don’t hit Ben!” Thom shouted.
The mother bear roared at Ben and lumbered toward him. Ben took a slow step back.
Thom’s heart raced. He leveled the aspen like a lance and raced down the remainder of the slope.
Ben fell backwards as the bear took a swipe at him. More of Denny’s rocks came down toward the bear.
“No!” Thom screamed. Then he roared. Somehow, without dropping his disguise, he managed to let out a full battle roar. The forest reverberated with the deep, full fury of it. The bear jerked her head up and her eyes finally focused on Thom.
“Ben, stay down!” Thom leveled the aspen at the bear.
The bear dropped to all fours and ran, but not before Thom’s aspen hit her hard in the flank. She stumbled. Thom brought the makeshift weapon up and hit the bear hard in the back with it. She grunted in pain and scrambled to get out of his way. Part of Thom’s brain said she was retreating and he should let her go. But a haze of red anger engulfed him. She’d hurt Ben. He swung the tree again. The bear scrambled out of the way. Around her, the cubs mewed in fear. Thom crashed through the berry bush in pursuit of the bear. She made it into thicker trees where his aspen would be of little use.
A.M. wrote: "Here's the first blurb from "Hunters" THOM LEAPT to his feet. As he looked down toward the berry bush, Sophia ran for a tree. Ben stood like he was frozen at the edge of the bush while a large bla..."
Is this a shifter story? I'm curious about Thom's disguise. Sounds good.
So, I'm wondering do folks like stories set in, for most people, unusual settings, places like the mountains, forests, deserts? I mean places other than big cities. Settings where the characters do more than just go to the bar, library, home. Places that to me inspire thought and creativity.
Andrea, it's not a shifter story exactly. The non humans have magical constructs that they can take on and off that make them appear human. It helps them blend in to the general populace.
A.M. wrote: "So, I'm wondering do folks like stories set in, for most people, unusual settings, places like the mountains, forests, deserts? I mean places other than big cities. Settings where the characters do..."I like all of them. It would be boring to just read about cities all the time, same with just mountains, etc.
