Friday Friend Kathy Kulig

Today, I welcome a good friend and chapter mate, Kathy Kulig. Kathy writes HOT paranormal romances. You will really enjoy what she has to say and her books.

Take it away, Kathy.

I love flipping through mythology, ancient folklore and supernatural books to stir up ideas for my novels. Take a myth, twist it a little, surround it with interesting characters, a compelling setting and premise and you have the start of a story.

While researching shapeshifters and dragons for DRAGON WITCH, here are a few things I found:
Cryptids “are creatures that are believed to exist, but for which there are no existing physical records or evidence.”
And Cryptozology is the science of trying to prove the existence of these creatures.

Most of us are familiar with cryptids such as The Lock Ness Monster, Sasquatch or Bigfoot, but there are many others with fascinating stories. And if you’re a writer they may give you ideas to develop stories.

A few Cryptids that have yet to be proven as real:

Dragon of the Ishtar Gate is one of the Cryptid creatures depicted on the walls of Babylon (575 B.C.E). It’s cited in the Apocrypha—a collection of stories claimed by some to have been excised from the Bible—as a dragon that was kept in the Temple of Be by King Nebuchadnezzar.
Jersey Devil- I’m a Jersey girl so I’ve heard this one before. This legend dates back from Colonial times and this monster is supposed to be spotted in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.
Kingstie- Is a 30-foot water creature seen in Lake Ontario since 1917.
Mothman-A tall, somewhat humanoid creature with fiery red eyes and large wings. It’s spotted in the area of Point Pleasant, West Virginia.
Ogopogo- A plesiosaur-like creature seen around Lake Okanagan in British Columbia.
Trunko- A white-furred sea monster seen by a ship’s crew in 1922 off the coast of Margate, South Africa.

Some cryptids that were once considered mythological creatures but were later proven to actually have existed are: the duck-billed platypus, the giant squid, mountain gorilla, and Komodo dragon.

One of my favorite research books for myths and legends and just about anything strange and unusual when it comes to supernatural topics is THE CRYPTOPEDIA – A DICTIONARY OF THE WEIRD, STRANGE AND DOWNRIGHT BIZARRE by an author friend of mine Jonathan Maberry & David F. Kramer. http://tinyurl.com/33oey9x

In there he has a section on Dragons and Dinosaurs. Dragon myths are found throughout the world and share many similar physical characteristics even among cultures that had no contact with one another. The most common explanation for this is that these people unearthed dinosaur bones. The size and shape of these discoveries later developed the myths and legends for dragons.

A lot of this information I found in a reference book called “The Cryptopedia, A Dictionary of the Weird, Strange & Downright Bizarre” by Jonathan Maberry & David F. Kramer. This is a great source for stirring up paranormal story ideas.

I’m so impressed by the creativity of paranormal authors who can take an old myth and create a story with a new twist or make up an entirely new one.

Many of my stories have a variety of shapeshifters—a man with a 300 year old Celtic curse shapeshifts into a stag but he can be a man only beneath the moonlight. I’ve used a twist on an ancient Norwegian myth where a person can don the skin of any animal and become that animal by willing it so. In this particular mythology, I’ve had a shapeshifting mountain lion, wolf, bear and leopard. My demons also have the power to shapeshift, an ability mostly used as a disguise to hide their presence on earth. My demons have been a coyote, falcon, wildcat and one has the ability to appear as any other human. Imagine the trouble he can get into.

When I wrote DRAGON WITCH, I wanted to write something different. A friend at work does origami. She travels all over the world to origami conventions. She made me an origami dragon. Funny because I never told her I liked dragons. I have him on my desk at work. Of course, I looked at him and thought dragon shifter! This creature when in human form has a voracious sexual appetite. I set the story on another world, because It has always been my dream to write a SciFi-like story. Then I added another love interest, an interstellar transport Captain—a hunky guy that the biologist/witch heroine had a steamy affair with, and she can’t, for the life of her, forget. Toss them all on this planet in a desperate situation where lives are at stake, and that’s the set up for DRAGON WITCH. I hope you’ll enjoy it, because I had a blast writing it.

BLURB: Biologist and witch, Jaida Chel combines nature magick with herbal science to protect Kai, the last shapeshifting dragon on her world of Somerled. But when Captain Brayden Stokes reenters her life not only is Kai’s life at stake, but so is Jaida’s secured position in the colony. Brayden and Jaida can’t resist the sexual heat between them, even though she knows a relationship would be doomed. Fleet pilots don’t stay planetside for long.

Jaida is torn between Brayden and her dragon and companion, Kai. When Kai morphs into a human twice a year, his sex drive is ravenous. He must mate for twenty-four hours or die. Unrestrained passion between Kai and Jaida temps Brayden into a forbidden encounter. With Jaida’s sassy, wicked ways, the three cross boundaries, exploring eroticism beyond their imagination. When secrets and betrayals are revealed, Brayden must risk everything for one last chance at love.

Debut author Tess Quinn

Today I welcome author Tess Quinn. Tess is an incrediablity talented writer and I'm so excited she has chosen me to throw her a kick off party for her blog tour featuring her new release, THE BEWITCHED COWBOY. So grab some cyber-bubbly, a party hat and a plate full of chocolate covered strawberries and let's welcome her.


Book release date: February 24, 2010
The Wild Rose Press: Faery Rose Line
Novella. You can purchase the book at:

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/the-bewitched-cowboy-p-3889.html?zenid=8305df24b5b6991feffd8aedd1f5ca2b


You’re a law student and a reader for an agent. How do you find time to write?

I actually give a workshop that involve Asian cultural and traditional techniques for better time management. In the workshop, I explain how it’s important to stick to a schedule, to write out everything you would like to achieve before the day begins, and attempt to cross off every item written on the list. I do this every day, but there are other reasons why I can do so many things. The first is, I’m single. Because I don’t have a family, juggling a lot of things is easier than if I had a child or husband. Second, I’m a stickler for the reward and punishment system. I’ll only reward myself with something, whether it be ordering Chinese food or buying a new pair of shoes, if I finish my word count for the week. Guilt and a hunger for Chinese take-out are strong motivators. Last but not least, I believe in a marathon writing day. Once a month, I’ll sit down and write for at least eight hours in one sitting. I’ll get up to use the bathroom and to grab food but that’s it. I call this my ‘catch up’ time if I wasn’t able to get as much done during the month as I would have wanted.

Recently, you submitted a workshop proposal for the RWA National conference and that proposal was accepted. Inquiring minds want to know what is the workshop’s topic and why are you the one to give this presentation?

The workshop topic is “Goal, Motivation, & Conflict in the YA Novel.” I write YA under my other pen name “Nisha Sharma” so I’m intricately entangled with the genre. The reason why the RWA workshop panel thought I was an appropriate speaker for the topic was first: I got approval from Debra Dixon who is the creator of the “GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict” structure, so I was legally allowed to talk about the subject. Second, I’m the national young adult book reviewer on Examiner.com so I have to read a lot of YA for my columns. Third, I was a remote reader for two literary agencies where I did a fair amount of YA reading whether it was queries or full manuscript requests. I was also a freelance editor and book doctor for YA authors. I recently stopped the freelance editing and the remote reading because I wanted to focus on my own writing more, but I gained a lot of experience through each job. Additionally, when I started writing YA, I decided to take Jennifer Crusie’s approach when attempting to write in a new genre: read 100 books. In one year, I think I read over 300 YA books in all different subgenres. In the process I created a chart where I wrote down in a few words what the goals, motivations & conflicts of the protagonists were. I read tons of psychology books and guides that talked about writing for the YA market. In the end, I had all this information which I was able to structure under Goal, Motivation, & Conflict along with research techniques and ways to get started with writing a YA novel. I applied it to my own writing and I landed a fabulous agent! Since it was a “tested” system so to speak, I decided to share the information and research I had done. Every three months I update the information in my workshop whether I’m speaking during that time or not, only because the genre is constantly evolving. I’m really excited to be giving the talk at RWA nationals!

You have a unique way of brainstorming which brought about the idea for your new release. Could you tell us about it?

Sure! I Googled.  I’m a law student so when I’m working on papers or legal research, I immediately go to Google because I’m able to get a general understanding of my subject and then find authors or articles, etc. that help narrow my focus even more. I use the same methodology when I’m brainstorming for a book. I start with a character, a very general premise, and I throw random words together in a Google search string. For my book ‘The Bewitched Cowboy,’ I knew I wanted to do something with a cowboy. I can’t remember exactly what my search string was, but it involved the words ‘cowboy’, ‘farmer,’ ‘romance,’ and ‘magic.’ I ended up with a bunch of hits for both wineries and Wiccan churches. Ding, ding, ding! The light bulb went off and after fooling around with Google a bit more, I ended up with a cowboy witch that controls the weather who lives on a vineyard.

The key to Googling is to keep an open mind and read everything. When I got hits for Wiccan churches and cowboys in Montana, I read it all, digested it, and didn’t discard a single idea or thought until I was completely saturated with information. It’s a great exercise I encourage everyone to try!



Book Blurb:

The last thing Matt expected his twin to tell him was that he had to marry the woman of his parents’ choice or suffer the loss of his powers.
Destiny, a PhD and successful parapsychology writer, certainly did not expect her mother to tell her that she would die if she didn’t get married to a man chosen for her in infancy.

The collision of two hardheaded, anti-marriage witches makes Destiny and Matt’s first encounter explosive. Now they have to figure out a way to get along for the two weeks they can’t be separated without doing the one thing that could change their fate forever…falling in love.

Excerpt:

Destiny’s voice was thick and sluggish with sleep. “How can you not believe I’m your other half after everything that happened today, cowboy?”
Matt smiled into the crown of her hair. Her question bothered him, but he didn’t think he could hide the truth from her. He didn’t want to. Despite everything, he wanted to be honest.

“It’s not that I don’t believe in bonding. I just don’t want anything to do with it or marriage. The last time I got involved with helping someone find the person they loved…bad things happened.”

Destiny looked up at him, her face close to his as she continued to rest against his chest. “Sometimes, you can’t stop life from going the way life was set to go.”

“You can’t stop ‘destiny,’ huh?” Matt knew he sounded rueful, but he couldn’t help respecting her for her answer. For someone who reacted so intensely to any reminder of her mother, she didn’t carry any guilt or blame anyone for her difficult life.

“What are we going to do for the next two weeks?” Destiny said, yawning. “We can’t be away from each other, apparently. Leaving you doesn’t feel…right.”

Matt knew saying that must have taken courage. He didn’t want her to know how close he already was to her. How panicked he felt. Was Destiny really the other half of his soul? He took a deep, ragged breath.

“Have you ever ridden a horse, Dr. Snow?”

“No.”

Matt smiled at the dry tone in her voice. “Well you’re going to have to get a crash course in riding, I guess.”

“In your dreams, cowboy.”

Matt smiled as he wrapped Destiny against him more firmly. Holding her this way calmed him, and that was what scared him the most.

****

Award-winning author Tess Quinn was raised in the countryside of northeast, Pennsylvania. With very little to do in a town where the local high school gym was a barn and the cow-human ratio was 2.5 to 1, Tess filled her spare time with eighties music and a lot of reading. Unfortunately there was only one bookstore and two libraries in the Valley while Tess was growing up, so she started writing sequels to her favorite novels. When she ran out of favorites to write about, she started creating her own stories, and she has been writing ever since. Tess graduated from Muhlenberg College with a B.A. in English. She continues her obsession with writing while she currently attends law school in New York.

Visit Tess at http://www.tessquinn.com

Check out Tess’s website tomorrow for her book birthday give away! She’ll be revealing her super secret contest information and the fabulous prize giveaway!