Three Holiday Treats for your Kindle and Nook

Mocha Memoirs Press would like to offer you and your friends and family three exciting new holiday stories that are sure to starve off the winter's cold. Break out your new Kindle or Nook and hunker down with our holiday hunks! The true gift is the price!

Naughty Klauses
by Drea Riley
Price: $1.99
Blurb: Jessica and Nic have always loved the holidays and this year they are most definitely going to be on the naughty list. When you've got eternity on your side, it's nice to living things up with a little spice. You'll never look at Mr. and Mrs. Klaus the same way again...

Purchase link: http://mochamemoirspress.com/naughty-klauses/

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Under the Mistletoe
by Siobhan Kinkade
Price: $1.99
Blurb: Military widow Rhea Blackmon is forced by her late husband's best friend Sebastian to attend Fort Mitchell's Christmas party, much against her will. All she wants is to go home and be alone but Sebastian has other plans. He has a present for her; one that she will not soon forget.

Purchase link: http://mochamemoirspress.com/under-the-mistletoe/

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Holly and Ivy
by Selah Janel
Price: $3.99
Blurb: After losing her job and her boyfriend, Holly returns to her parents’ farm. Embarrassed and hopeless, she doesn’t expect to bump into a forgotten childhood friend that wasn’t supposed to exist. Ivy is not only a dryad, but she lives in the pine trees Holly’s family grows to sell at Christmas. As the old friends reconnect, Ivy not only shares her strong oninions, but gives Holly a charm that will change both their lives. As days melt into weeks and the seasons change, Holly’s life magically turns around. Christmas not only brings surprises, but a choice for the human woman. What’s more important: stability, success, and love, or keeping a promise to an old friend?

Purchase link: http://mochamemoirspress.com/holly-and-ivy/

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Two New Dark Mocha Bites

Our month long celebration of all things horror winds down to a close this week. We bring you two exciting new additions to the Dark Mocha Bites series: Robert D. Welsh's OLDE CAMDEN ROAD and Billy London's PLAYING DEAD.

Be sure you have tasted  all the Dark Mocha Bites!
 

In the Dark Light: Journal of a Man in Love, Halloween

Throughout the month of October, Mocha Memoirs Press will point the dark light on one of our published horror/horror romance stories. These stories will scare, thrill, and make you leave the light on at night. Horrifyingly good, our Dark Light stories are quick downloads are fantastic fast reads.
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This week's dark light title is Journals of a Man in Love: Halloween by Zade Ryar.
Genre: Interracial erotic romance

Blurb: The Journal of a Man in Love are short stories that chronicles the private thoughts and actions of a man completely, totally and utterly in love with his woman. Written completely from a male point of view, take a peek inside what’s in a man’s heart and mind. This one focuses on a very special Halloween.

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Grab a copy of this dark mocha delight at our website, Mocha Memoirs Press.

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Dark Mocha Bite: PLAYING DEAD by Billy London

October isn't over and neither is our celebration of all things sexy and dark. Our resident thrilling and master of stirring romance, Billy London, has penned a fantastic erotic romance story called PLAYING DEAD.

BLURB:

Gearoid (pronounced Garod) McCardle is a former crime journalist who is dying from a brain tumour. He has decided to return to his home in Balham to die in peace and quiet. Unfortunately, no peace and quiet comes because he’s haunted by Dr Aoife (pronounced Eefa) Boyake, who was brutally murdered in his home forty years ago.She shows him her death in a variety of ways to convince him to help her find her murderer. Short of telling her that he doesn’t have enough time to help her, Gearoid concedes and begins to investigate the details of her death.

The closer he gets to finding her murder, the more he finds that he doesn’t want Aoife to leave for the afterlife nowing that there’s a chance they’ll never see one another again. It’s all from Gearoid’s point of view, he can be persuasive, impatient, compassionate and passionate. Aoife is pragmatic, smart, sweet, professional with Gearoid’s condition and sexy as hell.

Between the countdown to the anniversary of Aoife’s death and the ticking time bomb of Gearoid’s tumour, they see hope in the other and despite the futility of love between the dead and the living, they make it work.

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Grab your copy today from MMP. http://mochamemoirspress.com/playing-dead/

In the Dark Light: Reaping Love

Throughout the month of October, Mocha Memoirs Press will point the dark light on one of our published horror stories. These stories will scare, thrill, and make you leave the light on at night. Horrifyingly good, our Dark Light stories are quick downloads are fantastic fast reads.
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This week's dark light title is Reaping Love by Crymsyn Hart.


Blurb: Vic has spent centuries alone reaping souls . Now he runs a coffee shop, where he met the woman of his dreams who adores him and his mochas. However, she slips through his grasp. Then one dark and stormy night, the one he adores reappears and asks him for another mocha and much much more.

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 Grab a copy of this dark mocha delight at our website, Mocha Memoirs Press.

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In the Dark Light: Said the Demon

Throughout the month of October, Mocha Memoirs Press will point the dark light on one of our published horror stories. These stories will scare, thrill, and make you leave the light on at night. Horrifyingly good, our Dark Light stories are quick downloads are fantastic fast reads.
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This week's dark light title is Said the Demon by Billy London.


Blurb: Artist, Evangeline Mensah is slowly losing the mind beneath her afro. A part of it has to do with rock star, Gabriel Walker strolling his fine self into her exhibition, after giving her the best night of her life and looking quite determined to do so again. The other part is all about the strange things happening to her home and the dreams she’s having. Dreams that make her feel really odd around cool, fashion photographer Michael Lee. Not to mention they feature women who turn up dead.

Instinct and an over protective Gabriel warn her to steer clear of Michael but there is something so familiar about Michael, she can’t help but be drawn to him regardless that darkness seems to be surrounding him. And it’s just coincidence that he just happens to live one solitary floor above her own home. That’s all. Coincidence.

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Grab a copy of this dark mocha delight at our website, Mocha Memoirs Press.

What I Love About Horror by Jessica Housand-Weaver

The genre of horror has always attracted me because of its delightful
contradictions.  It dares to go where we think we don’t want to. It tests the boundaries we put in place to see just how far is too far and forces us to face our deepest and most profound fears equally beside the ones that we are ashamed to admit. The lure for readers of horror is that the horror genre is actually disturbingly therapeutic. When reading, we trespass into tragedies and terrors and somehow make it through; we push on, keep on going, reading on and on into that shocking abyss where some part of us wants nothing more but to look away and stop reading--to escape. As readers, we become enslaved to the story, to the reactions of our bodies, to the terrible need to find out what happens next. And in the end, the most relieving thing of all is to set down that book and be infinitely grateful for the mundane. Suddenly our lives, which had seemed unexciting and monotonous before, are wonderful. Horror frees us from the mundane and then gives the mundane back to us so that we accept it with open arms.

Horror is like a drug. The body feels horror intensely. When we read
thrillers, we react physically as if the events are happening to us—heart
rate increases, pupils dilate, digestion slows, there is trembling, vessel constriction; a whole flood of neurobiological events occur inside the body.  And yet we are in no real danger (hopefully). Therefore, horror
gives us a safe conduit in which we can experience the rush of fear and a full range of uncommon emotions over and over again without consequence.

We can consider what actions we ourselves might take in similar situations perhaps in contrast to the characters. I like to compare horror to an amusement park ride. And who doesn't want to fool our bodies into reacting as if we are really in some danger of falling to our deaths?
  Now here is my confession: I actually am not fond of thrill rides, and I'm certainly not an adrenalin junky. Likewise, I am very picky about my horror. I don’t like anything I can’t escape from, so there better be some
pretty powerful reason for me to stay. I have to be able to be caught up in the story, for it to be deeply psychological, to make me think while I’m shaking in my boots. Trust me, I need the therapy. Writing horror is my addiction, my safe outlet to explore all the possibilities, all the craziness, and every fear that lurks in my demented brain.

What could be better than to share them with readers so that we can conquer them together?
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Try Jessica Housand-Weaver's horror story, THE SCREAM OF THE SIREN, today to see for yourself.

In the Dark Light: The Water Has Memory

Throughout the month of October, Mocha Memoirs Press will point the dark light on one of our published horror stories. These stories will scare, thrill, and make you leave the light on at night. Horrifyingly good, our Dark Light stories are quick downloads and are less than $3.00 USD.
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This week's dark light title is The Water Has Memory by Pete Zimmerman. This tale brings up thoughts of H.P.  Lovecraft's works.


Blurb: One of Dr. Nigel Hawkston’s oldest friends, Richard,  is deathly ill, hiding in the desert of an obscure American territory called Arizona because he’s terrified of water.

From a centuries old convent in Tucson, Richard sends a telegram to Dr. Nigel Hawkston in London, asking him to please come, and to please hurry. Richard’s odd phobia will only be the first of many strange and disturbing things that Dr. Hawkston will uncover. He will learn the horrible meaning of the old homeopathic concept that The Water Has Memory.

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Grab a copy of this dark mocha delight at our website,

How to Write HorrorErotica by Eden Royce

Horrotica is exactly what it sounds like: a genre that is a combination of fear and lust. And it’s gaining popularity with publishers and readers. How do you write a horrotica story? Here are a few things your
story should include:

Sex: Seems obvious, but many publishers lament that they receive great horror stories that are too light on the sexy stuff. Find a way to incorporate sensual description in your story. Have your demon ravish
your heroine after he plunges his sinuous tongue – ahem. Well, you get the idea.

Be scary: Again, seems obvious. However, this is the part where some romance writers struggle. They get the intimacy part down pat, but tend to hold back on creating an atmosphere of fright. Horrotica
readers want to shudder, cringe and squirm a bit. They want to say, “Ew…” before they say, “Ohhhh…”

So let go and raise the stakes. Inspire fear. Your readers will love it.

Make us care: Tell me something about your characters besides their names and that they are about
to get horizontal. Find a way to make your read identify with one or more of your players. Why is
she ready to take the risk of performing that ancient ritual? Why did the sight of your hero draw your
heroine from the underworld to claim him?

Embrace the season: October is the time to be creative, silly, sexy, and terrifying. Simultaneously. Let
the approaching holiday creep in and help you design the perfect mix of horror and erotica. Because
sometimes, there’s a fine line between the two. Cross it.
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Eden Royce is a multi-genre writer. Her latest release from Mocha Memoirs Press, THE SNOW MAIDEN, demonstrates Eden's virtuoso writing skills. Try rher works today.

Dark Mocha Bite: Alicia by E. A. Black

Our continuing celebration of all things horror, Mocha Memoirs Press spotlights our DARK MOCHA BITE series. These stories are dark morsels of delicious horror and horror romance. Just like decadent dark chocolate, some of these titles are bitter, but good for your heart!

Today's Dark Mocha Bite comes from bestselling horror author, E.A. Black. Although this is her first MMP release, Black is not a new and her horror story, ALICIA, is not for the faint of heart.

BLURB: When the love of his life, Alicia, calls him in the middle of the night to report she had been raped, Eric drops everything to come to her rescue. She takes him on an eerie ride through turbulent hours he can’t quite comprehend. Alicia may need his help, but her situation is not what it seems.

Find out today. Get a copy of ALICIA today...

Dark Mocha Bite: Hellshift by Tom Olbert

Our continuing celebration of all things horror, Mocha Memoirs Press spotlights our DARK MOCHA BITE series. These stories are dark morsels of delicious horror and horror romance. Just like decadent dark chocolate, some of these titles are bitter, but good for your heart!

Today's Dark Mocha Bite comes from talented and multi-faceted artist, Tom Olbert. His two other MMP titles, Long Haul and Along Came a Spider,demonstrate Tom's various storytelling prowess.

Tom's latest venture, HELLSHIFT, is another tasty bit of fiction.

Blurb: Preston Chandler is a lonely, overworked corporate office drone on the worst assignment of his life. In the dark future world of Preston’s time, low-level clerks like himself must serve a 1-year shift on a corporate mining colony on a hellish alien planet whose indigenous population has been wiped out by nuclear genocide.

He isn’t safe even in his corporate offices, as dismembered human bodies begin turning up. Preston fears he is losing his mind. He desperately wants to return to Earth, but is trapped in an escalating nightmare. Computerized psych-evaluation technology probes his mind with dehumanizing invasiveness.
Preston finally completes his assignment and is looking forward to returning home to Earth at last. But will his Hellshift ever end ?

Grab a copy of HELLSHIFT tonight and find out.

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Horror on Celluloid – Do audiences still scream?

The best horror films are the ones that keep you looking under your bed for the next few
days.

The Ring did that for me. So did I Know What You Did Last Summer. Two very
different films, illustrating that horror is more rich and varied a genre than mainstream
Hollywood might make us believe. Summer was aimed squarely at a teenaged
demographic, Ring probably at a wider audience. Both films had an artistry to them
that got the message across like a scalpel to the marrow. Both depended heavily on
atmosphere and used it skillfully.

As a teen slasher/whodunit suspense yarn, Summer depended largely on sudden shock
and skillfully timed surprise attacks. But, unlike the tired and overused slasher fare, it
was also a dark morality play and mystery rolled into one. A group of teens who had
accidentally run a man down on a dark, lonely highway and, fearing conviction and ruin
over drunk driving charges, choose to cover up the crime. Their consciences are still
haunting them as circumstances bring them together again a year later, as though they’re
trapped in a nightmare of their own making. Someone on a dark mission of revenge
is picking them off one by one. They can’t go to the law, so they have to ascertain the
killer’s identity on their own. The dark, dreary setting of a small New England fishing
town forms the ideal back-drop for a creepy suspense story, the dark, hooded figure of a
hook-wielding killer in a dark slicker skulking in every shadow like the grim reaper.

Though it has the taste of 1950’s urban legend, (the basis of mindless and horrendously
over-used Friday the 13th -type 80’s slasher tripe) Summer is a shadowy maze containing
enough twists and turns to keep it interesting, with suspense and fear and artful chase
scenes taking the place of mindless gore and brutish violence. It comes to a delightfully
open-ended finish that keeps us dangling. The closing scene is priceless. (Sadly, it led to
a sequel that didn’t do it justice. That’s Hollywood.)

Ring is far less conventional and deliciously bizarre. A ghost story centered around a
murdered little girl drowned and left in a dark well, it uses the strange idea of a cursed
piece of film that kills anyone who watches it within a certain period of time after seeing
it. (While an obvious device, this one had me checking off the days on my calendar with
special interest.) It makes use of shock scenes only minimally and is more an odyssey
into escalating madness, like a psychedelic ride down another long, dark well. Less a
morality play than a story of frail human protagonists up against an incomprehensible
aspect of otherworldly power, this one reflects the mindset of a non-western culture.
(The movie was based on a Japanese horror film.) Sadly, this one also withered through
banal sequels and imitators.

Other film makers cheat in making effective horror. The most obvious such trick being
the Blair Witch Project, which spawned a genre in itself. This new kind of cinematic
horror puts the audience in the film maker’s shoes, building slowly from the innocuous
beginning of making a video and escalating through one grainy, amateurish frame after
another. The horror builds and intensifies, drawing its power from the mockumentarian
feel of the movie, suspending disbelief by simulating the filtered reality of seeing the
world through a lens as that world slowly but surely dissolves into hell and madness.
This became a fad, spawning a slew of such fake video films. The most notable of which
is the Paranormal Activity film series. That one’s effective in bringing the horror into the
American middle-class home, tapping our inner child, remembering the late-night horror
of laying in bed and thinking you hear someone or something creeping up the stairs in
the darkness. Low budget and dull on its face…video monitors endlessly recording dark,
quiet nightly interiors…it generates a creepy atmosphere of suspense and impending
doom. Something unseen and purely evil is lurking in the dark, and it’s coming into the
bedroom. The film closes with a blood-curdling scream, the swift shock of a dead body
hurled into the camera, and a closing shot that achieves horror without elaborate special
effects. And yes, sadly, this one too has languished through sequel after sequel.

Film making is of course a business. And, like any other, it imitates whatever formula
has proven to work. But, that’s a self-defeating tactic when it comes to horror, which
depends for its effectiveness on the element of surprise. Formulized horror is almost a
contradiction in terms, yet that’s what Hollywood insists on sticking us with. Today’s
horror films are tired, repetitive forays into the realm of demonic possession. The thing
that scares Hollywood the most these days is something called originality.

My Dark Mocha Bites story Hellshift is a short shocker which I confess does utilize
visual elements of extremely visceral physical horror, reminiscent in some ways of big-
screen horror. In this one, I’ve tried to bring an alien, somewhat Lovecraftian horror into
the life of an everyman. A dull, overworked, frustrated corporate lackey finds himself
stalked by an inhuman, cosmic horror and fears he is losing his mind. As he stumbles
between the external horror of the thing stalking him and the internal horror of his own
subconscious, he’s the personification of an imploding, morally compromised society. I
was remembering the late, great Ray Bradbury’s popular Martian Chronicles in crafting
a more horrific vision of a human colony trying to re-create Earth on an alien planet and
finding the often invisible, shape-shifting natives less than cooperative.

So, the horror writer seeks to find his or her own voice, while the rest of us wait for
the next great innovation in the art of horror. We all pay our money and go the theater
prepared…hoping, perhaps… to be scared out of our wits. But, just be careful the
sequels don’t get you.

Tom Olbert
Hellshift is a new horror story available 10/8
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Read more of Tom Olbert's fantastic writings in Long Haul and Along Came a Spider.

Third One's a Trio of Dark Delights: Descent Into Madness

October's month long DARK MOCHA BITES celebration delivers the best we have in dark, delicious horror and dark paranormal romance. Our third offering of the week is anything but dull...it is quite bitter.

Taking us down into madness is our resident editor and author extraordinaire, Michael LaRocca. We've witnessed it talent for suspense and twists and turns in LAZARUS.

For October, Michael has given us something truly fresh and straight out of the Twilight Zone in DESCENT INTO MADNESS.

Blurb: Did you ever feel that your life was but a series of experiments being conducted upon you by forces unknown and unknowable? Does the nature of reality change almost daily, as if someone wanted to see how you’d react? Are there things you knew in your very core you’d never do, until you discovered you were wrong and you did them? Did you ever wish the dead would just stay dead?

Excerpt

Wouldn't life be simpler if the dead just stayed dead?

Bert gazed at Wendy's closed eyes. He held one of her tiny hands in his and noticed how cold it was. Behind him stood the doctor and the nurse who would disconnect the vast array of machinery that all but surrounded them.

"This isn't her," Bert said to no one. "This is only an empty shell."

Bert squeezed Wendy's hand. There was no response. He leaned over her and whispered, "I love you," into her ear. He rose to his feet, released her hand and stepped aside. There was no change, no sign that she was anything more than a rock or a piece of furniture.

The doctor was waiting patiently when Bert turned to him. Bert nodded. The doctor smiled weakly, sympathetically. Bert felt vaguely like an intruder.

The doctor signaled the nurse to switch off the respirator. The nurse complied and Wendy's chest collapsed. The doctor reached for the tube that entered Wendy's nose and led to her lungs. He wiped it with a cloth as he pulled it out—pull, wipe, pull, wipe, pull, wipe—then handed it to the nurse.

The EKG and EEG alarms beeped loudly. Wendy's eyes opened and she bolted upright in the bed. The stunned doctor quickly stepped away.

"Bert?"

"Wendy?!"

"Bert!"

"My God!"

Of course it was a miracle. What else could it have been?

Get your copy of DESCENT INTO MADNESS from Mocha Memoirs Press today.

 

In the Dark Light: The Scream of the Siren

Throughout the month of October, Mocha Memoirs Press will point the dark light on one of our published horror stories. These stories will scare, thrill, and make you leave the light on at night. Horrifyingly good, our Dark Light stories are quick downloads and are less than $3.00 USD.
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This week's dark light title is The Scream of the Siren by Jessica Housand-Weaver.

Blurb: Jen Hanover, depressed and reclusive after her husband’s suicide, finds her life changed forever when she meets a mysterious, brooding rebel named Alejandro. At first, he seems to be exactly what Jen needs. But things quickly spiral out of control as Alejandro reveals the frightening extent of his obsessive nature and violent past. Desperate to end the dangerous affair, Jen is determined to be free of him. Yet the more she tries to escape from Alejandro’s passionate clutches, the more threatening he becomes. The story unravels with heart-pounding suspense as Jen finds herself up against a criminal mind, far more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. In the end, Jen discovers not only the darkest truths about love and the human condition, but must also face the lurking demons within herself.

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Grab a copy of this dark mocha delight at our website, Mocha Memoirs Press.

Telling Stories by Wynelda Deaver

I’m a fairly eclectic reader and writer, so some people wonder why I don’t do a whole lot of horror. In
my teen years, I started reading horror with Stephen King and tore through all of his books. But as for
writing horror… Well, I’ve only ever told one off the cuff horror story.
And scared myself to pieces.

We were camping, Mom and Dad in the RV, my best friend, Regina and I in a little pop up tent. Like any
good story teller, I used description from the things around us. A spooky house up on a hill. Brown hills
(in California, this happens more than you’d think) full of demon deer.

Demon deer?

Well, yes. While I can’t remember much of the story, I do remember to this day the demon deer herd
with eyes that glowed red in the night. Which you know, doesn’t sound quite so scary right now. Of
course, I have (cough, cough) many years between that trip and now. I’m also safe and sound in my
house. No hills. No spooky houses.

No demon deer.

But that night, oh that night. As a story teller, that little detail was a stroke of genius. As part of a teen
girl duo who could talk themselves into just about anything? Not so much. Every time a deer got caught
in the headlights, so to speak, we saw red. Sleeping in a tent? Great fun for shadows to prey on your
mind. Everything became fodder for the horror story we were living in our own minds. Squeals of “Did
you see that?” and “What the hell was that?” peppered the night air.

By the time we stumbled into the RV because we’d scared ourselves witless, the whole campground
gave a huge sigh of relief. We knew this because we were told by the other campers. All day long and
into the next night. “No more stories, girls, I need my beauty sleep.”

At least my parents didn’t laugh at us when we could hear them. It must have been hard to stifle the
giggles when we came crawling in, defeated by the night.

Since that night so many moons ago, I have stuck to writing what I do best: Dragons. They may eat you,
but at least you’ll see them coming.

Wynelda
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You can check out Wynelda's fantastic dragon stories, in December, with the release of her first Mocha Memoirs Press's story, DRAGON'S PATH.

Another Delicious Dark Bite: Bloody Rain by Rie Sheridan Rose

October's month long DARK MOCHA BITES celebration delivers the best we have in dark, delicious horror and dark paranormal romance. Next in line for your delight, is Rie Sheridan Rose's BLOODY RAIN.

Blurb: For over a hundred years, the world has wondered whatever happened to Jack the Ripper. Could the answer be hiding in the cold Whitechapel rain?

Look for Rie's other terrifying and often deeply thought provoking other works from MMP:

Drink My Soul...Please
It's the Same Old Thing

Purchase all three titles at the Mocha Memoirs Press website, Amazon or BN.

Dark Mocha Bite Celebration Begins: Into the Realm of Mystery and Night

October's month long DARK MOCHA BITES celebration delivers the best we have in dark, delicious horror and dark paranormal romance.

To start, Mocha Memoirs Press invites you to come with us Into the Realm of Mystery and Night, courtesy of talented, multi-genre author, Janet Eckford. This month we're celebrating our DARK MOCHA BITES. These stories are all around the horror genre.

Blurb:It’s hard for me to pick a time in my life when I haven’t enjoyed the thrill of a good scare. The heady anticipation of the adrenaline rush, the heart beating faster, and the prickly feel of tiny hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.

This “scare” is of course always controlled and contained. I don’t seek out fear just for the thrill of it but when I read a particularly scary story or watch an especially frightening movie, I am in love with how that narrative is causing my senses to go in overdrive. This collection of shorts is inspired by that feeling and housed within the context of one of my favorite holidays, Halloween. Each day you have the
opportunity to read a story that will hopefully have you checking under the bed each night or sleeping with at least one light on. My greatest wish for you is that by the 31st day of October, you too will revel in all things that go bump in the night and bounce with anticipation waiting for next year’s delights.

Think you're ready to follow Janet into the Realm of Mystery and Night? Download the key here.

Triple the HOT for you: Three to Tango by Alexandra Christian

Congratulations to Alexandra Christian on her new release, STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: THREE TO TANGO.  This is the first in a series of stories located at a very special club--with a red door.

Blurb:"...vampires can be dangerous to your health.”

A truer statement had never been uttered, but when Cali stumbled upon The Oubliette, she began to realize the wisdom in those words. Broken-hearted and bored, Cali’s life had become a string of TV dinners and romance novels. She wondered where her life was going until she followed the mysterious stranger through the red door and entered a world that few would ever know existed. A world of vampires, werewolves and pleasure beyond imagination. Within the walls of The Oubliette, Cali will embark on a dangerous and sensual journey of discovery that will change her life forever.

Read an excerpt here.

This delicious tale is available at ARe, Amazon and BN. Don't forget to see our other erotic paranormal stories at our Mocha Memoirs Press website. 

Spill it! Wednesday Edition!

Hello good people! I know, I know, you're shocked that I was on time AGAIN. Yeah, yeah, shaddup. Okay so for those of you who are not aware, I am Nikki Winter. That's the end of my intro (grin) And I am here today to do what I normally do and bring you the anecdotes of other authors who are almost as adorable as myself. Now normally I'd crack a bunch of jokes but in reality I wrote this blogpost on Monday and scheduled it to post on Wednesday because I stayed up for 22 hours straight and people...PEOPLE...I'm beginning to hallucinate from sleep deprivation and decided to get this done before I pass out for the next few days. So! Let's get right to it! I bring to you, the talented Thomas Olbert...

1)    What made you decide to become a writer?—Question by reader Jill Bryant.

 A: Who decided?  It just came, as naturally as breathing.  Even as a kid, I wrote.

 2)    Besides being a bestselling author, what other goals/dreams do you have? Aka: what do you wanna be when you grow up?—Question by author Shirelle Higgins

 A:  That one’s not enough?  Oh, drat.  I’ve always wanted to be a writer.  Beyond that, I try to stay politically active, as a volunteer.  I’d like to use my writing to promote causes I care about.

 3)    When you write a story that does really well is there ever pressure to make the next one just as successful or do you just go with the flow and let the chips fall where they may? How do you handle the ups and downs of the business?—Question by reader A.W. Brad

A:  Since I’ve never written a story that’s done that well, I can’t answer that.  In terms of sales, it’s been pretty much down.  I’ve enjoyed working with other authors and some fine editors/publishers.   I’ll keep working on self-improvement and promotion.

4)    What’s the one story line you haven't tackled but you'd actually PAY to be able to write?—Question by author Dréa Riley

 A:  I have an idea in mind to write a spy thriller with an underlying ecological theme.  The premise is that elements of the U.S. military and intelligence services conspire to disable the fossil fuel industry and replace it with renewable energy grids in order to counteract global warming’s growing threat to national security.  Of course, that’s a huge and complicated subject, in terms of science, politics and finances.  A very daunting research project.

5)  Do you research stories? If so, what's the furthest you'd ever go to get the story?—Question by author Eden Royce

 A:  Yes, I research stories whenever necessary.  I use the Internet, of course.  Or, I might base a story premise on magazine articles.  I’ve bought educational literature to research a story.  How far would I go?  I'll devote a lot of time, but I won't go over budget.

 6)  When you write a character how much of you or people you know are that imitated in that character?—Question by reader Cherryce Williams

 A:  Occasionally, I guess more than I realize or care to admit.  (Now and again, on purpose.)  My characters are primarily defined by what happens to them (or, has happened to them) and the struggles they face.  They’re essentially functionaries, not caricatures.

 7)  What hurts worse; a bad fan review, peer review, or critic's review?—Question by reader Cece Dreams

 A:  That depends on the source of their disapproval.  If they just don’t like the subject matter, I don’t care.  To each their own.  If they say the plot is weak or the story badly written, that hurts, especially from writers I respect and admire.  I just try to use what they’ve said and learn from it.

8)  Which comes first for you; the character(s), or the story idea?—Question by author Thomas Olbert

A:  The story idea.

9)  Is your writing life imitating art or art imitating life? –Question by author Dréa Riley

 A:  Mainly, it’s either speculation on the nature or potential of life, or a primal scream against something that bugs me.

10)  What’s next for you as an author?—Question by author Nikki Winter 

A:  I’m currently working on two stories, both Sci-fi (a weird contemporary spy drama, and a futuristic space opera.)  I’ve also submitted a short horror story for the “Mocha Bites” event.

And there you have it my friends. Thomas didn't choose the write-life, the write-life chose him. Oh that was just bad. Sorry...lack of sleep makes me loopy. Now regardless of all that you can find more of Thomas here at his blog http://tomolbert.blogspot.com/ and one of his most recent works at MMP here http://mochamemoirspress.com/long-haul/. Now if you all excuse me, I'm going to grab my stuffed monkey and call it a week! Over and out. 

Spill It, Wednesday edition!

Hola! Es a mí a Nikki! Okay since that's the extent of what I remember from 11th grade Spanish, I'll not proceed to embarrass myself and attempt more (grin) Okay I've been MIA for the last two weeks and in all reality you guys should be ready to skin me alive THAT WAS NOT A SUGGESTION PUT DOWN THE KNIVES....I'm simply pointing out the fact that I bring much joy wherever I go and when that stops, people get angry. (sigh) Yes, I am indeed special. So special that I managed to wrangle another "Spill it" guest for this week's blog post. You may know her as the wonderfully talented, Sabrina Luna. We need not waste time, to the questions!

Q)     What made you decide to become a writer?—Question by reader Jill Bryant.
A)I've always enjoyed telling stories & being an author helps me share with others.  I'm very blessed to be able to create interesting stories which entertain readers.  :)

Q)   Besides being a bestselling author, what other goals/dreams do you have? Aka: what do you wanna be when you grow up?—Question by author Shirelle Higgins

A) I've had the good fortune to meet authors who are like 'rock stars' in their genres & would like to entertain readers while making it a long time career goal.  

 Q)   When you write a story that does really well is there ever pressure to make the next one just as successful or do you just go with the flow and let the chips fall where they may? How do you handle the ups and downs of the business?—Question by reader A.W. Brad

A)Even though I enjoy what I do as an author, I understand that it IS a business too.  And, like everything in life, has its ups and downs.  But, no matter what, I take it one step at a time.

 Q) What’s the one story line you haven't tackled but you'd actually PAY to be able to write?—Question by author Dréa Riley

A) Writers get paid TO write, not PAY to write.  I live by that rule, but I always try to write stories which I really enjoy & entertain me as well as my readers too.   

Q)    Do you research stories? If so, what's the furthest you'd ever go to get the story?—Question by author Eden Royce 

A)Thank goodness for Google & the internet!  I'm also very fortunate to know folks who live different lifestyles and have privately asked them questions & gotten info or advice from them.  I also have personal experience which may help in stories too, but I blend it all into my stories to keep them interesting & entertaining.

 Q)   When you write a character how much of you or people you know are that imitated in that character?—Question by reader Cherryce Williams 

A)That's like revealing my 'secret sauce' recipe --and, sorry, I'm not telling!  LOL!

 Q)    What hurts worse; a bad fan review, peer review, or critic's review?—Question by reader Cece Dreams 

A) IMHO, reviews are just someone's opinion of your stories.  I enjoy good reviews, but I also understand that everyone has different tastes & preferences.  However, I will take into consideration feedback & suggestions from my peers & mentors in the writing field.  Perhaps their insight can teach me something new or help me to make my story even better.  :) 

Q)  Which comes first for you; the character(s), or the story idea?—Question by author Thomas Olbert

A) It's a mixed bag, for me.  I usually get a story idea along with a title, then start sensing how to tell the story in my head before my fingers touch the keyboards.  A good, basic outline also helps to keep my story on track so I don't venture too far away from the overall story idea.

 Q) Is your writing life imitating art or art imitating life? –Question by author Dréa Riley 

A) I've always had a creative imagination, but I also add 'real life' elements into the stories & characters to make it all work together.  

Q) What’s next for you as an author?—Question by author Nikki Winter 

A)I currently writing a Christmas story for a publisher, then going to write on a series which I've been asked to write more of by another publisher.  So I think the rest of this year I will be happily busy writing while promoting the ebooks I already have available.

Well there you have it good people. Sabrina has undercover sources to let her in on the subjects she delves into, she has a secret sauce recipe for her characters which made me giggle because I have the mind of an adolescent boy, and she's well on her way to creating many more enjoyable tales. But at the moment you can check her out on her website and her latest addition to  MMP right here at http://www.sabrinaluna.com/index.html and http://mochamemoirspress.com/mocha-buddies-31-steamy-mocha/. That's all folks! (cues Looney Toons music)