Carol Piner's EVIDENCE OF INSANITY a funny, gut-wrenching memoir

Welcome to Carol Piner, whom I met through Books Go Social. Here's what she has to say about herself: I am an energetic, happy female living in her hometown in southeastern North Carolina. I live on a small island that I adore. Bored at 63, I wrote a book called Evidence of Insanity about growing up with explosive parents. I am a story-teller, and it is written in that fashion. I have managed to sell over 2,800 autographed copies all by myself. Not to people I knew either. They are who are in the book.

I also painted for eighteen months, which resulted in 40 canvasses as large as 24x30. Many of them have been sold. The rest are shown all over my local area for 2 months at a time thanks to Adopt an Artist. Among other varied interests I grew over 250 orchids at one time. I have loved them for over 25 years. 

Hilarious New Book, Evidence of Insanity, Introduces Us to "Chaos Magnet" Little Callie Eventually the publishing world will run out of new characters, but not yet. Carol Piner's Little Callie is a tiny force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, you have to do it while you are laughing.

What brings your writing into focus—the characters, the stories, or the love of words? As for what brought my writing into focus, there were three major issues I had to overcome. 1) Like most writers I had to find the time and decide how to make it funny. Finally, with the slowdown in the economy, in 2008 my work and my trigeminal neuralgia converged to give me a lot of time to myself. It was already in my mind. 2) To be candid, I had to wait for some people to move along because they weren't going to like what I said. After a lifetime of waiting, these were the people who made fun of me who I intended to make fun of right back.

My book is not to be considered "high literature." It is to be lived with me and hopefully the reader will become my friend through the experience.

What do you think readers will like about your book? I wrote my book in stream of consciousness style. I am a Southern story-teller. My stories are written like my readers are walking with me through this journey and I am speaking directly to them. They will experience every high and low I knew, and perhaps enjoy the  hilarity, the poignancy, the tragedy and my own personal style.

How much fact is in your fiction? I tell people openly that my book is not a pure memoir or an autobiography. I freely embellished for both humor and impact. Nonetheless, only about 10-15% is not the truth.

What's the highest compliment someone could make about your writing? This said it all for me. This came from Professor Emeritus at NC State University and book review contributor to The News and Observer in Raleigh NC.   "A remarkable achievement...honest and direct...funny and gut wrenching...poignant. A book a first time author should be proud of."

What movie star would be perfect for (your main character) and why? I like Ashley Judd because she has the same kind of irreverence I have and shows empathy and pain very well. Her laughter is marvelous. She also wrote a "tell-all" of her own about her mother and sister, The Judds.

Oh, if I could choose my favorite sound track for my movie, it would be "Shall We Dance" with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez. Dancing is throughout my book.

EVIDENCE OF INSANITY: There are so many unbelievable segments to the life of Little Callie, that, unlike most books, they rattle around in the brain, afterward. A "chaos magnet" is how the lead character is described and it is so very accurate.

After being bashed about after Callie's Mama rammed the Daddy's Cadillac, Callie's birth is a classic example of how to be funny. The book is so fast paced that the classic moments follow one right after another. There isn't even time to catch a breath.

But then again, very few things in life are funnier than Callie's wedding day. Not wanting to be married in the first place, Callie hilariously snarls through the rehearsal, ceremony and reception. Her “wedding gown” was a hand-made bag that was cut from left-over material. It was clearly not the best of times in reality, but it sure was funny.

Carol Piner is a gifted story-teller, it's true. But, more than that, the gift of Evidence of Insanity to the publishing world is how to stare adversity in the face and defeat it, with plenty of hearty laughs to sprinkle around.

Piner clearly has a robust following already. Five-star postings hail the book's effect on the readers. Several readers seem to think the author is a stand up-comic. One reader wants to see her on Oprah; another thinks a movie should be made with only Piner playing Little Callie. I doubt the author wants to go through this hilarious mayhem another time.

AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Evidence-Insanity-Carol-Piner-ebook/dp/B0043GX1RG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1415638751&sr=1-1&keywords=evidence+of+insanity

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4511847-carol-piner

Listen to Your Mother Jan. 24 at 6 North

 Click to enlarge image

Finalists in the P&E Readers' Poll!

Congratulations T.W. Fendley and Brad R. Cook! 

Our novels were finalists in the 2014 P&E Readers Poll!

The Labyrinth of Time by T.W. Fendley placed Second in the Best Young Adult Book!

 

Iron Horsemen by Brad R Cook tied for Fourth in the Best Steampunk Novel!

Thank you to everyone who voted.

You can see the full results for Best Young Adult Book – Click Here

Find the full results for Best Steampunk Novel – Click Here

The Labyrinth of Time 

by T.W. Fendley

Spending spring break in Peru with her grandmother isn't sixteen-year-old Jade's idea of fun. She'd much rather be with her friends at Lake of the Ozarks. Then she meets Felix, a museum director's son. Jade discovers only she and Felix can telepathically access messages left on engraved stones in the age of dinosaurs.  

Following the ancient stones' guidance, they enter the Labyrinth of Time and--with a shapeshifting dog's help--seek a red crystal called the Firestone. But time is running out before the First Men return on the night of the second blue moon. 

Can Jade restore the Firestone's powers before the First Men return to judge humanity? 

                                    

http://www.amazon.com/The-Labyrinth-Time-T-W-Fendley-ebook/dp/B00N823HOI

Iron Horsemen 

by Brad R Cook

Alexander Armitage doesn't fit in at Eton College. Not only is he an American, his father, a new teacher at the college, is obsessed with ancient languages and the dusty old books he makes Alexander spend his time studying instead of trying to make friends. When his father is kidnapped, Alexander gladly leaves school behind and finds himself partnered with a baron's daughter, her little bronze dragon, and an eclectic crew of Sky Raiders in a quest to find him. When their search leads them to Malta, they discover a secret society intent on unleashing the ancient Iron Horsemen and usurping the reins of power in London.  

In a steam-powered Victorian world where pirates prowl the sky and secret societies determine the future like a game of chess, Alexander must confront the harsh legacy of the divided country he left behind, a new aristocratic world that rejects him, and the overwhelming pressure of being offered to become a Horseman himself.

http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Horsemen-The-Chronicles/dp/0989207951

Thank you to everyone for all the support! 

Lee: Twists the truth in acclaimed dark comedy novel, THE RADIO

Welcome to JONATHAN LEE, who was born in a small mining town somewhere in the north of England. His first novel, The Radio was nationally shortlisted in The Novel Prize 2012 for new authors, coming in second from over 4,000 entries. The Radio was published in April 2013 and has received critical acclaim and sold more than 5,000 copies. His second novel, The Page is published in Spring 2015.

How do you find time to write and do a demanding job? I was divorced back in 2008 and at that stage I decided that my life should change and finally I should get on with what I've always wanted to do. Write. Since then, I specifically book time into my diary where I have my children (I have joint custody), time when I have to work the 50-hour week and then time for writing. I stick to this rigidly; it seems to work. Though my girlfriend is incredibly tolerant!

How much fact is in your fiction? Just prior to beginning to write seriously I read a quote from Stephen King that said "Always write what you know." Although The Radio is a black comedy, it deals with serious aspects such as the suicide of the main character's son. This is almost entirely based on fact as sadly I lost my brother in this way. I feel that there is a good proportion of fact in my fiction, always in some way twisted from the truth.

What are your top three reasons for writing?

 1) Enjoyment: This always has to come first. I love writing. I spend most of my days observing, watching and listening wondering how I can work situations into my writing. Sadly, the whirring mind sometimes won't relent when it’s time for sleep.

2) The feeling of satisfaction I get when somebody reads my work and really enjoys it. It is such an honour that people have even read my novel, and those who really get enjoyment out of it makes me feel incredible.

3) Lifestyle. As I said, I love storytelling and at this stage my lifestyle hasn't yet changed, but one day I hope that the daily commute becomes a distant memory and I can hole myself up for days writing stories for others' enjoyment.

What's the highest compliment someone could make about your writing? Simply, that they couldn't put my book down. I've had people contact me and say that they got into it so much that they read the whole thing in a day! Then the pressure starts, because they invariably ask "When's the next one out?!"

THE RADIO: Poor George Poppleton. Middle-aged, henpecked, lovable and hapless. Accepting of life as it is. Until one day, he finds an old transistor radio in his loft. A radio which becomes an obsession that takes him on an unexpected journey, right back to the moment his only son took his own life.

Whilst his wife and daughter plan perhaps the most ill-fated wedding ever conceived, George drifts ever further from reality.

And on the night of the engagement party, when a garlic baguette is used as a lethal weapon and the hogs turn on the farmer who is about to roast them, the family realise that things are not at all how they seem.

THE RADIO is a story with an unimaginable twist. A story of what it means to be a family, the perception of loving and being loved, and what it means to be sane.

THE RADIO is available here - at a special price too!  www.amazon.co.uk/The-Radio-M-Jonathan-Lee/dp/1780885318

Website: www.jonathanleeauthor.com

Adair: I want my characters & my stories to be real ... to interact in a real way

Welcome to Dave Adair. A professional writer for more than 30 years, Dave lives a remarkable life in Pennsylvania. His family, his job and his hobbies take him to amazing places everyday. Random Lucidity is his first novel.

Connect with Dave:

@daveadairbooks (twitter)

daveadair.wordpress.com

goodreads.com/daveadairbooks

facebook.com/daveadairbooks

www.daveadair.net

The Writers’ Lens is about "Bringing fiction into focus." What brings your writing into focus-- the characters, the stories, the love of words For me, it definitely is the characters: the way they interact and the story they tell through their words. There is a banter that exists among the main characters that brings out the types of people they are. Like all of us, they are not one dimensional. They can be fun and sarcastic, or they can be deadly serious and depressed.

Some writers like to spend most of their time setting the scene and getting into detailed descriptions of smells and sounds. I present the setting in subtle ways and get back as quickly as possible to the characters. That’s what life is really like. Who has time to take in every bit of your surroundings?

I want my characters and my stories to be real. For them to be real, they have to interact in a real way.

How do you find time to write and do a demanding job? In real life, I am a health care executive, primarily on the marketing side. So I get to be creative from time to time, but nothing like writing fiction.

I make time to write in the evenings. My wife, Rachel, is a school teacher. So she is in bed fairly early, as are my kids that are still at home. If I’m not writing or marketing Random Lucidity at night, then I would probably just be sitting around watching television. That’s no way to spend your time.

I used to think I didn’t have time to write until I realized how much time I was wasting on the couch in front of the television, or playing with my phone every night.

What do you think readers will like about your book? So far, every bit of feedback I have received has been positive. To be honest, I was terrified the first time I gave my book to my wife to read as a proof. I was equally terrified when I released it. I had no idea what to expect. I thought it was good, but who really knows until someone you don’t know tells you they like it.

There has been no greater thrill than the first review I received from a complete stranger saying that she wanted me to write more books. I’m not sure anything else will top that feeling for me regardless of what happens from here on out.

How much fact is in your fiction? This is a really popular question among my friends and family. My mother was very scared before she read it because she thought it was going to be about our family! I can tell you she is very relieved. 

There are very few correlations between these characters and anyone I know in real life.

Certainly, the main character, Reggie, has some similarities to me, but not many. Instead of trying to recreate real events and circumstances, I chose to recreate the emotions from situations I have experienced, or those close to me have experienced.

This book was based on a line from a Bruce Springsteen song called The River, which goes, “Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true, or is it something worse?” It started with that and ended where it ended. How I was going to get there was unknown to me when I started out. It was quite a rewarding journey.

What's the highest compliment someone could make about your writing? Besides genuinely telling me they enjoyed Random Lucidity, the best thing I have heard so far were comparisons to successful writers. I had one reviewer say that my writing was a cross between Carl Hiaasen and Dennis Lehane. I had never read either of those authors, but I plan to soon.

If someone spends hours of their time reading what I wrote, all I can really hope for is that they didn’t find it to be a waste of time; that they were entertained and along the way, maybe it made them think a bit about their life and their choices. Maybe it made them think about where they want their life to go from this point forward.

If I can entertain people and get them thinking, even just a little bit, about their place in the world, then I’ll be pretty happy.

An excerpt from Random Lucidity:

At first glance, Rita Miserly was precisely the type of person Reggie expected to encounter when he first entered into this complex. She was a frightful sight. White roots almost three inches in length chasing her auburn hair steadfastly. A burning cigarette dangled from her lower lip beneath a squinted expression caught somewhere between curiosity and disgust. It was only later that Reggie would realize that his first impression of Rita would be among his most pleasant experiences.

         
The door opened and Reggie steeled himself to jump feet first into a world he knew nothing about. He had walked unarmed into an apartment complex on the bad side of town to discuss the literary career of a special needs patient with someone who looked as though she was transplanted directly from Appalachia by way of an insane asylum.

All for the sake of his dream, he thought, and forged ahead.

“Hi,” he said to this frightening sight at the opposite side of the door frame.

Rita stood, staring at him, the squint including her nose as an unwilling partner as smoke billowed past her thick black eyebrows. She said not a word. Just stared.

This must be the place, Reggie chuckled to himself. Like mother, like son.

“My name is Reggie Hatcher and I am looking for Jerry’s apartment. Last name starts with an M. Does he live here?” Reggie asked.

“Why do you want to know?” Rita snarled back.

“Well, I found this notebook of his and I wanted to return it to him.”

Rita reached out, grabbed the notebook with a deliberate motion, almost daring Reggie to pull it back, and closed the door.

His instincts told him to turn and walk back to his car. The old Reggie would have run away. This Reggie would not.

His first few knocks went unanswered. Then, finally getting the point that he wasn’t going to go away, Rita opened the door again. The cigarette was missing, but the same disturbed, squinted expression remained. Apparently it wasn’t the smoke that made her look that way. She just looked that way.

Purchase on Amazon

Reaching readers via social media and bookstores: a workshop for writers

 

To kick off the New Year, the St. Louis Writers Guild will present a workshop to help writers make effective use of social media and bookstore promotion to find and connect with their readers. It will be held from 10 a.m. to noon, Jan. 10, at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 S. Geyer Rd, Kirkwood, Mo. Free for St. Louis Writers Guild members, $5 for nonmembers.

Robin Theiss, owner of StLBooks in Kirkwood, will advise authors how to work with bookstores to promote their books. Barry Coziahr, president of RESPONSE! Targeted Marketing, will talk about “10 tools to simplify and expand your use of social media.”

Theiss is a writer, an editor, a former business executive, former nonprofit leader, and the owner of StLBooks since 2005. She served as president of the St. Louis Writers Guild from 2006-2008. Her topics will include consignments and book events.

Coziahr’s St. Louis marketing agency specializes in small businesses, and he is the Constant Contact local expert. His presentation will focus on time-saving tools that allow you to post regularly and frequently enough to get the attention you need. Learn how to do enough social media that matters in a short amount of time.

What you will learn:

• How to promote at the right order of magnitude
• How many times should you be posting on each social media channel
• How to utilize experts to say more
• How to create content that will get shared and shared and shared sending you message further

Others who offer writer services are invited to introduce themselves at Saturday’s meeting. Learn more about the St. Louis Writers Guild at www.stlwritersguild.org.

Award-winning Shelby Lewis narrates YA fantasy, THE LABYRINTH OF TIME

Welcome to Shelby Lewis, a classically-trained actress who treats every title like an adventure. She narrated my young adult fantasy novel, THE LABYRINTH OF TIME.

Click here to listen to a sample

Click here to enter giveaway for free copy!

At a young age Shelby attended Interlochen Arts Academy, garnered several awards, and enjoyed such title roles as Juliet in Shakespeare’s star-crossed classic. She continued her education at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, in Paris at a prestigious avant-garde voice program, and with the top commercial and animation trainers in Los Angeles. After winning the inaugural narration contest for up-and-coming audiobook platform ACX, Shelby has been featured as a contributing writer on their blog and a panelist at a national voiceover conference alongside industry legends. She’s enjoyed producing numerous titles with self-published authors through ACX, as well as providing the voice for various Young Adult novels with established publishing houses Brilliance Audio and Random House. Her demo and select audiobook samples can be found at www.ShelbyVoiceover.com.

Why & when did you decide to do audiobooks? I’ve always been a sucker for voices – playing with accents or doing impressions of animated characters – so I came out to LA with the lively dream of getting into voiceover. Just as I completed my first demo and was ready to “go to market,” I attended a voiceover conference that happened to have an audiobook contest as one of its events. The contest was sponsored by Audible & Amazon to promote the launch of their audiobook fusion platform: ACX. So I auditioned… and won! This blew my mind since I’d never considered the audiobook section of the industry before, but after recording my first title – in which I played over 60 different characters – I was hooked.

In a way, the audiobook industry is just as hard to break into as any other, but ACX has succeeded in making it an accessible and rewarding process for everyone involved. I’ve gotten plucked here and there to do titles with established studios such as Random House Audio, but I continually return to ACX because I get to work with the authors directly, choose which titles I take on, and I’m able to work at my own pace. Reading out loud for hours and hours is harder than it sounds!

How do you choose which books to narrate? I consider these elements equally when choosing a book: the work, the sales, and the author.

First of all, I want to make sure I like the concept of the book and that it’s a natural fit for my voice. I’m a fairytale/fantasy fan, so I gravitate towards anything with a little magic, and I have a young, spritely, female voice, so Young Adult titles are right in my wheelhouse – and in my natural voice range. As a classically-trained actress, I technically could attempt a dinosaur erotica novel in a gruff Russian accent but… I prefer to keep it a little closer to home. And authors should too! The nearer the bulk of the narration is to the talent’s normal voice, the more consistent your title will sound. It can take up to 3 months to record a full audiobook, so you want to make sure nothing slips over time -- and accents definitely can. Lastly, it is icing on the cake when the audition sample is well-written (which translates to a smooth read) and the characters are people I’d like to spend some time with. Hint: Choose audition pages that contain a lot of dialogue so you can test how versatile your potential narrator is.

Next, I look at whether the book will sell. This is most important when I consider a Royalty Share, since no one gets paid until the book sells. So, if an author has a reputable Amazon sales rank, a decent social media and/or blog presence, and has an obvious excitement for and belief in their title, I consider that package a worthy investment. Hint: Show enthusiasm about your title and its prospects when soliciting narrators for auditions. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a best-seller yet, but it certainly helps to know that you’re working hard and happily to become one!

Lastly, I need a collaborative author. Now that I’ve achieved a certain level of experience, I’m fortunate to be a little selective of who I work, and I ADORE when an author is energetic and communicative. The process of producing an audiobook is absolutely a team effort. It’s my job to bring the voices in the author’s head to life, and the more insight and tools I receive from the original creator the better! Hint: Write messages to narrators you’re interested in to audition for your title. We narrator/producers have a long list of titles to search through, but we are much more likely to audition for your title if we already know that you’ve listened to our samples and had a positive reaction to our performance. Voice actors are still actors, so… flattery gets you everywhere!

For all of these reasons, my latest title – The Labyrinth of Time – was a no-brainer to accept:

• The author messaged me, sighting that she’d listened to my samples and was “impressed with my versatility.” She politely asked me to audition, included the book’s details and a link to the title’s audition page, shared a bit of her plans for promotion plus and showcased her enthusiasm for the project. I liked her energy right away and couldn’t wait to respond.
• Next green light: the audition selection was well-written, full of different characters, and had a good balance of narration and dialogue. I wanted to keep reading once the excerpt was done, and that was a positive sign.
• The efficient communication continued when the author responded quickly with both an offer and another encouraging note of why my performance was such a great fit for her title. Not only did this boost my confidence before heading into the studio, it reminded me of what elements of my performance she responded to best and offered me a clear direction to work from as I began recording.

So to recap this extremely long yet hopefully helpful answer…

•  REACH OUT. Let’s be honest, any artist loves to be complimented. Plus, I always take the time to consider titles that contact me directly.
• EXPLAIN. Tell them why you liked their voice. Most actors have a lot of different options to choose from in their toolbox, so giving them specific direction (such as “I like this sample of yours” or “The character portrayal in that sample is spot on”) will help them give you the read you’re looking for.
• GET EXCITED. If you get excited about your book, I will too!
• BE NICE! You’d be surprised by how many messages I get that are asking me to audition for their project and yet simultaneously aren’t that complimentary of my voice. I suppose it’s a negotiation tactic? But I just casually move on, preferring instead to work with uncomplicated, genuinely pleasant people who like what I do.
• SHARE YOUR PLAN. Especially if your title is a royalty share project, you are “auditioning” just as much as the narrator is. Your producer needs to know that their investment will pay off, so make sure to do a quick pitch of how awesome you are at getting the word out about your projects.

Recently a friend received several auditions on her book. She liked their voices, but thought the inflection was wrong (too little or too much). Is it appropriate to give feedback and ask for “re-auditions”? YES!!!! I’m so glad you asked this question. Actors should be flexible and collaborative, and anyone who gets “offended” by being asked to do their selection a second time is neither of those things. This attitude is a personal pet peeve of mine, and – especially on a platform like ACX – there is no room for it. Since your narrator is not only the talent but also the producer, you need to have an open, honest, team-minded relationship from the start. If they think they’re too good for your book, then your book is too good for them :)

That said, a way to politely cushion the blow when asking for a second read is to highlight what part of the performance you did like. Emphasize that you are giving them another chance for a reason, and that you respect their training and versatility enough to offer them direction. Specific direction allows performers to succeed! Just try and stick with actionable words when describing what you want more or less of, since those are easiest to implement from an actor’s perspective. Reference a vocal style you’re looking for – such as flirtatious, mature, warm, spunky, intimidating, etc. – or pull some active descriptive words from this GREAT list: 
http://texasartsproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/TacticList21.pdf

What makes you want to work with an author again? Communication and genuine collaboration – as I mentioned before – but also trust. I trust you as a writer to write, and it means the world to me when you trust me as the narrator to narrate. We all have our gifts and honoring those gifts allows the project thrive.

Is there any particular type of book you’d love to produce but haven’t yet found? What a delicious question! Hmm… The first thing that comes to mind is “Goddess Girls,” a young adult series set in Olympus at a time when all of the Greek gods & goddesses we know and love are only in high school! I adore clever, witty premises that are full of metaphors, magic and accidentally teach you something along the way. My ideal genre: “Fairytales with a Twist.” If I could narrate a series like this, then be a voice in its animated series… well, I would feel quite bless by the gods indeed.