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Five questions with James Everington:

Today's Five Question Friday with Kim Jewell

What do you think makes a good story?

E.J. Stevens is the author of the haunting collection of dark poetry From the Shadows, the chilling collection of paranormal poetry Shadows of Myth and Legend, and the young adult paranormal Spirit Guide Series, including She Smells the Dead, Spirit Storm, and Legend of Witchtrot Road.

When E.J. isn't at her writing desk she can be found blogging at From the Shadows, a paranormal book blog, or hanging out on Goodreads or Twitter. E.J. Stevens is the founder of PNR4Wolves, paranormal romance authors joining together to promote the rescue and preservation of wolves with books.

E.J. is a graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and is an active member of the Paranormal Romance Guild. E.J. currently resides in a magical forest on the coast of Maine where she finds daily inspiration for her writing.

Five Questions with EJ:

1. What would be the ideal meal for one of your favorite characters?

Emma, vegan and teen animal rights activist, loves veggie burritos and Simon adores rare steak. It is no surprise that these two do not get along. ;)

2. If I could read a diary of one of your characters, what would I learn about him/her?

Yuki has a secret...she smells the dead. As if high school wasn't difficult enough for Yuki, she is beginning her senior year with the gift of clairescence, the psychic ability to sense spirits of the dead through smell, but this "gift" feels more like a curse.

3. What is on the floor of your bedroom?

Lots and lots of dog toys, LOL! I only have one dog, a corgi named Maya, but she is very spoiled. Her toys are literally taking over the bedroom (and hallway, and living room).

4. Which is scarier, zombies or vampires? Why?

I will probably lose all of my goth street cred by admitting this, but I am absolutely terrified of zombies. Really. I always have a very visceral response to zombies...they make me throw up a little. Okay, now I've over shared. Sorry. I blame the zombies. Their shambling, putrefying, brain eating forms will always instill a sense of terror and revulsion. By comparison all other paranormal baddies (Vamps, Weres, Ghosts, Reapers, Demons) are just fluffy, little bunnies. Though admittedly some of those fluffy bunnies have very sharp teeth. ;)

5. What items do you always have with you?

My laptop Edgar, named after my childhood hero Edgar Allan Poe, and I are inseparable. I bring Edgar with me everywhere and never leave home without an emergency supply of pens, notepads, and extra reading material.

http://www.FromTheShadows.info
http://ejstevensbooks.blogspot.com
http://spiritguideseries.blogspot.com

Five questions with Rachel Howzell...

Which is scarier, zombies or vampires? Why?

Zombies, definitely. Sure, they're slow (well, Romero's zombies are slow) but there are a LOT of them. And they're hard to kill and they can cross oceans and not die and they just keep coming and when they catch you, you become one of them and they're ugly and that's just wack. Vampires are scary but books and movies tell me I'll be more desirable and talk in whispers and get to fly and sparkle. And today's vampire gets to stay in the light unlike Bram Stoker's stuffy-old vamps.

Five questions with Helen Hanson:

What would be the ideal meal for one of your favorite characters?

Amir graces the cover of my novel, 3 LIES. His perfect meal consists of lamb kebabs on a bed of saffron rice. Sides of fattoush, baba ghanoush, roasted red pepper hummus, steamy pitas, and a ramekin of tahini would round out the meal.

Pair it with a Napa Syrah, and I want a place at this table. He makes fascinating conversation.

What do you keep in the dashboard of your car?

Dental floss, a Swiss Army knife, flashlight, tear gas, doggie litter bag, USB charger, duct tape, ink pen, a tiny tactical nuke, passport, flashlight, latex gloves, boat keys, December issue of Soldiers Of Fortune, cork puller, thirty-round clip , and lipstick.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

In spite of the added danger of getting sucked into jet engines, I want a cape on my super suit. I know that’s not a superpower, but I like capes. Purple satin, I should think. Or, cobalt blue.

As for the super powers, I want to be an empath. I want the ability to tell what someone was thinking and to know with certainty if that person was a liar. Why, with that single super power, then– Then I could take my rightful place and rule the world!!! Bwah-ha-ha-ha!!

Um. Not that I would . . .

Describe your imaginary friend.

My friend is invisible and has an IQ beyond measure. He whispers in my ear all the correct answers to life, liberty and my pursuit of happiness and finding readers. Unfortunately, he’s a gentleman and won’t follow me in to the ladies room, so I miss a lot of that great stuff, and I’m forced to waltz alone.

If aliens landed in front of you and, in exchange for anything you desire, offered you any job on their planet, what would you choose?

Emissary to outlanders. My official title: Most High Planetary Ambassador to Visiting Dignitaries and Whatnot.

Think about it. I’d routinely meet people daring enough to leave their home world and travel the galaxy in search of adventure. An endless opportunity to try exotic new foods, listen to languages strange to my ear, and ride in cool ships, what more could a writer ask for?

www.HelenHanson.com Website

http://itunes.apple.com/ud/book/isbn9780983202707 iBooks

http://www.amazon.com/3-LIES-ebook/dp/B004F9P8BI Amazon US

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/3-Lies/Helen-Hanson/e/9780983202707/?itm=1 Barnes & Noble

http://www.amazon.co.uk/3-LIES/dp/B004F9P8BI/ref=sr_1_13?s=books&

Five questions with Christopher M. Divver...

What do you think makes a good story?

Anything that keeps my interest. I read mostly any genre but the one thing I despise, the one thing that makes me put the book down and never pick it up again is a poorly written plot. The story must keep my interest and I must have some type of connection, in some form or fashion, to the characters. I need to care what happens to them, good or bad, or it's just not worth my time.

What is the hardest part of being a writer?

Rejection. The time and the energy involved in putting together a manuscript is almost immeasurable. To some it's truly a blood, sweat and tears kinda thing, and to have that rejected, by an agent in a query letter or by an unknown reviewer can be emotionally overwhelming. Every writer, myself included, thinks theirs is the "greatest story ever told," but the real test comes when people you don't know read it. That is a writer's only true barometer, and sometimes the truth hurts.

Is the book always better than the movie?

Absolutely. A movie has a time limit, and not just because of production scheduling, but simply because of the average person's attention span. Three hours is the limit to which a person will willingly sit still and watch anything! So movie's are restricted to how much plot, conflict and resolution they can produce in under three hours, whereas a book can be nearly endless i.e. War and Peace. Pulp writer's have much more leeway when it comes to character development than screen writer's do.

What is your perfect Sunday?

A blue sky, perhaps with a spotty puffy white cloud or two; warm, but not hot with a calm, gentle breeze. My wife and I together, along a trail shrouded in thick trees and vegetation. A deer, a few yards off, chews a leaf, ignoring us as we pass. Miles later the trail bends and the trees suddenly open to a rocky outcropping along the edge of the mountain and there, laid out for miles beneath us, is the valley. We sit along the edge, share a bottle of water and a light snack and silently take in the splendor, each of us wishing it wouldn't end.

What is on the floor of your bedroom?

Carpet, eggshell colored, once plush and vibrant now well worn. A cat or two napping in the warmth of the sun that covers most of the bedroom and an article or three of clothing, mine, that my wife politely asks me to pick up but I say to her "the floor is the largest shelf in the house," and smile.

Five questions with Edward W. Robertson...

Is the book always better than the movie?

Yes, with the exception of the Godfather Corollary. And the Jaws Exemption. And the Bladerunner "Not Exactly Better, But Probably as Good in Different Ways" Theorem (still under argument: The Lord of the Rings). Generally, though, even when a movie is extremely well adapted, it can't include all the dimensions that made a book great. Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly is remarkably faithful to its source and nails Dick's sensibility, but it's still not quite as satisfying as the book.

Never mind stuff like Never Let Me Go. The movie does its best to get Ishiguro across, but the book is so definitely a book that trying to translate it into the language of cinema is the act of a crazy person. It's like trying to transfer Jello to Tupperware via mallet.

If aliens landed in front of you and, in exchange for anything you desire, offered you any job on their planet, what would you choose?

Food critic. Assuming these aliens have discovered the eldritch secret of vodka--I'm no fool. I know there will be some dishes I can't swallow with an unaddled mind. But yeah, alien food. You'd never get bored.

Cats or dogs? Why?

I used to be a cat person. I like that they don't listen to anyone and will scratch you if you pet them in the wrong place. Cats have a good sense of identity. You have to respect that.

I still like cats, but lately, I've been warming up to small dogs--I just brought one home from the pound last week. He's baffling. Every morning, he drags his blankets out of his crate, then steals the bath mat from in front of the shower. So far, I am unable to deduce his motivations. He's not chewing on them. He's not using them as a depositing pad for substances that properly belong on the neighbor's lawn. He's just rearranging the room according to some internal mutty feng shui. I like that I can't understand him.