Creativity

As an author I find that I am often in the middle of something and all of a sudden I can't write another word.  The worst thing possible, Writer's Block.  Sometimes I can get away with sarting a new story r picking up on astory that I started last time I had writer's block, or finishing one that I got stuck on.  Lately though...that isn't working. I find myself at a loose ends, unable to write, unable to get the story out, unable to do what it is I love doing.  And I get creative buildup.  This is the need to do something creative, to release energy back into the wild.
Sometimes a walk, sometimes meditation, sometimes a focus on a particular deity that I have worked with in the past will help me get past whatever block I have.  The last time I had a block I asked for some guidance and got...a new project.  Yep.  A new project.  Not a book or a story or cover to create.  Nope something else entirely.
I started small, a sugar scrub for the daughter of a friend who had a 16th birthday coming up.  Then a shave oil for a good friend of mine who wanted something specific.  Then a salt scrub, and some body lotion.  Then bath salts for someone I care about.  Then hand salve for guys. And before I knew it "A Touch of Magick" was born.
A shop on Etsy, where these new projects of mine are sitting (and selling).  Along with that, I managed to get over my writer's block.  So now, while bath salts are in the oven, my fingers are flying over the keyboard.  While the double boiler is heating the wax melts and oil, my brain is creating new characters, and while I'm filling glass jars with sugar scrubs that smell heavenly, my eyes are looking for scratch paper to scribble down ideas on.
My shop is at http://touchofmagick.etsy.com if you are interested in seeing what I am cooking up right now, and don't worry, another story or 3 are quickly coming together.
While I'm at it...I have also enlisted a friend of mine.  He does hand pressed cards with a table top letterpress.  He did my thank you cards for me and will be doing up tags for "A Touch of Magick" to go with the products...and business cards (he doesn't know it yet though).  He has some amazing stuff.  Fun, snarky stuff.  The perfect kind.  He is also working on a line of pagan/wiccan cards for the holidays. Stop by Eight Eleven Press and see what great things he has. http://eightelevelpress.etsy.com

Aubrie Comes To Visit

Aubrie Dionne is an author and flutist in New England. After reaching a high point in her flutist career Aubrie decided to pursue other creative passions.

“I’d always loved writing and reading fantasy/sci fi books ever since I was little but I always pushed it aside for flute. I felt like I needed to explore more of my interests in life. Ever since I started writing, I couldn’t stop! I use what I’ve learned about craft, diligence, structure, from my flute playing. It’s exciting to start a new discipline and have no idea where my boundaries are: how far I can go with it, how good I can get.”

Aubrie is represented by Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency. Her short stories have been featured in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Aurora Wolf, A Fly in Amer, Moon Drenched Fables and various anthologies.


 Her books are published by Entangled Publishing, Lyrical Press, Gypsy Shadow Publishing, and Wyvern Publications. 

Aubrie’s Website

 http://www.authoraubrie.com/my-short-stories

Aubrie’s Blog

http://authoraubrie.blogspot.com/
                  

Hi there Aubrie. Your new book, Tundra 37 sounds very exciting. Can you give us a brief outline of the story?


Gemme is a hi-tech matchmaker who pairs the next generation of Lifers aboard the Expedition, a deep space transport vessel destined for Paradise 18. When the identity of her lifemate pops up on her screen, she’s shocked that he’s the achingly gorgeous and highly sought after Lieutenant Miles Brentwood—a man oblivious to her existence. Believing everyone will think she contrived the match, she erases it from the computer’s memory.


Just as comets pummel the ship and destroy the pairing system forever.


With the Expedition disabled, the colonists must crash land on the barren ice world of Tundra 37 where Gemme is reassigned to an exploratory mission, led by Lieutenant Brentwood. Only in the frozen tundra does she understand the shape of his heart and why the computer has entwined their destinies.




What characteristics do you like best about the heroine in the story?




Gemme is smart and shy, and she has to overcome her inhibition if she’s ever going to complete the mission, or let the man who she loves into her life. She’s not a snarky, aggressive heroine like so many women in books today.


And the hero?




He’s noble to a fault, and although he’s drawn to Gemme, he puts the mission first. He’s simpler than a lot of the heroes I tend to write. He’s not a dark and tortured hero, like Striker from Paradise 21.




Do you like to give your characters faults and failings?




At first I hated it. I wanted them to be perfect. And then everyone would love them! But, then I realized they were had to relate to, and the bad guys were more interesting. I really had to spread the faults around.


What message do you hope readers will get from your books?




Overall, I hope they feel optimistic about the future, even though Earth is no longer inhabitable. I’m hoping it brings attention to the growing population crisis and the depleting resource problem we have today.


Tell us about your work station.




Um…very messy. I have post it notes everywhere, candy, a picture of Jack Sparrow, a fairy godmother figurine, chap stick, and lots of pens and pencils. It helps me work. Yeah. J


What time of day do you work best?




I love writing at night between 9-11 before bed when the house is all quiet and I can lose myself in the worlds I create. If I try to write just before work I’m distracted. Hard to go from alien mammoths to flute lessons, I guess!
Thanks so much, Aubrie.


Thanks for having me!

Prologue

The Seers

I’m losing her.


Abysme guides the vessel in silence, her blind eyes rolling as she senses our course, two hundred years away from Paradise 18. She’s scattered her thoughts among the stars, and her mind drifts farther from the sister I once knew. I fear the machine has engulfed her individuality. She’s forgotten the meaning of our goal, the oath we took three centuries ago. Most of all, she’s forgotten me, creating an emptiness inside me more profound than the desolation surrounding us.


If I had my arms, I’d reach out to comfort her and usher her back from the black abyss spread before us. As children, I kept her alive through the destruction, signing us up for the Expedition and winning two tickets off Old Earth before it succumbed to hell. But can I save her now?


I send impulses through my brainwaves and into the ship. Bysme, do you hear me?


Unlike her, I have one operating eye and can see the control chamber we hang from. Twisting my head, I search her features. Her skeletal face twitches. She writhes and the wires holding her in place stretch taut. I wonder what I’ve done to us, the shock of our disembodiment jolting me. Every input hole drilled into my skull snakes with activity. The ship surges through me, a vast intranet of information, names, status charts, and infinite trajectories. If I couldn’t feel the cold, regulated air on the remnants of my torso, I’d be lost in the machine too. I remind myself of our mission and the perseverance flows into my veins.


She doesn’t respond and the fear wells up from within me. Can I guide the ship alone? I realize I’ve left her at the helm for too long while I drifted into memories.


Status of Beta Prime? Bysme speaks in monotone computer speech as she turns to the corner of the main control deck where the orb glistens, tempting us with the mysteries hidden in the cosmic swirls within its core. Sometimes, I wish we’d blasted the ball off the hull after its tendrils attached to the outer frame instead of recovering it for study. We’ve guarded it for so long, Project Beta Prime has become part of us, yet we’re further than ever from unlocking its secrets. All I know is the insistence of my memories, like ghosts that refused to be ignored.


Unchanged. The weight of my voice in our mindspeak reflects my disappointment. Like everything else.
Bysme falls silent, and I scan the systems searching for answers that aren’t there.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tundra-37-aubrie-dionne/1108616503?ean=2940014020817


http://www.amazon.com/Tundra-37-New-Dawn-ebook/dp/B0076P44JA

Tundra 37 Blurb


Gemme is a hi-tech matchmaker who pairs the next generation of Lifers aboard the Expedition, a deep space transport vessel destined for Paradise 18. When the identity of her lifemate pops up on her screen, she’s shocked that he’s the achingly gorgeous and highly sought after Lieutenant Miles Brentwood—a man oblivious to her existence. Believing everyone will think she contrived the match, she erases it from the computer’s memory.




Just as comets pummel the ship and destroy the pairing system forever.




With the Expedition disabled, the colonists must crash land on the barren ice world of Tundra 37 where Gemme is reassigned to an exploratory mission, led by Lieutenant Brentwood. Only in the frozen tundra does she understand the shape of his heart and why the computer has entwined their destinies.

Letter Press Cards

Found an amazing small letterpress company that makes beautiful, simple, clean cards.  Will make custom orders as well.  My thank you cards turned out INCREDIBLE.  I will admit to adding the butterfly but the letterpress is all them!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/EightElevenPress

Blog on New Book

Denyse blogged about how this Valentine's Duet came about...I added a small bit in a comment from my point of view...come see what we had to say :D

 

 http:// authorswhorock.blogspot.com/2012/02/pas-des-deux-valentine-duet.html

New Book is OUT!!!!

Hey all the new Valentine's Duet that I had the honor of working on with the amazing Denyse Bridger is now OUT... just follow the link and it will take you to one sweet, one sexy, both amazingly romantic tales for Valentine's Day.

 

http://www.xoxopublishing.com/ Products/ index.php?route=product%2Fprodu ct&path=91&product_id=257

 

New Book Tomorrow!!!

Oh wow.  Denyse Bridger and I have a Duet out tomorrow with XOXO Publishing.

It is an amazing Valentine's Duet, called Pas De Duex.  One of the stories is sweet, one is sexy, both are amazing reads!

Be on the lookout for the link...see the cover below!