Category: Writing

Monday Blog: Celebrating Jo Fuentes

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JoFuentes_KDP

 

This month, Woolaston Entertainment is celebrating two themes: Male Character Month, and Pride Month. I’ve decided to begin with the later. This week’s blog post, is all about Jo Fuentes of the Valentine and Valentine Apart series.

Jo is the first LGBTQ character to be featured in a published Woolaston Entertainment book. She’s also W.E.’s first LGBTQ character to receive a stand-alone book, Jo Fuentes: The Black Queen. When I created Jo, I was thinking of a sort of alter-ego for Valentine.  The two of them do share a few characteristics: they’re tall, mouthy, and they don’t take any crap. Jo was never intended to be a soldier of any kind, but I had a dream about the scene in the second chapter of The Black Queen, where Jo takes out eight men in under sixty seconds. I thought, it would be cool to have a female character experience a James Bond moment, but I needed a reason. I decided, making her a Marine, would be the best reason.

Jo is a great character, because she’s a little complicated. She has a frightening set of skills, and she has no idea where she learned them. She’s gay, and proud of it. She values the friendships of the people who matter the most to her, and she’ll do anything for them.  She easily makes the transition from Marine to Hitwoman when she begins working for Kelly McCormick. And, she has a wicked sense of humor.

I’m honoring Jo, by making Jo Fuentes: The Black Queen, available for FREE, June 4-June 6. If you’ve never read it, this is a great opportunity to become acquainted with Jo, and the rest of the Valentine Apart/Valentine series.

Jo Fuentes on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jo-Fuentes-Black-Queen-Valentine-ebook/dp/B078TNHBRF/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528138515&sr=8-1&keywords=jo+fuentes+the+black+queen

Next week: the boys of Valentine and Valentine Apart

Monday Blog: The Ladies of Valentine and Valentine Apart

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ValVerLola

 

This week, it’s Valentine’s turn! While there are many female characters in the Valentine and Valentine Apart series, I’m going to focus on the most important characters.

Val Entienne, aka Valentine: The first time you meet her, she starts out as a wild nineteen-year-old girl, who only wants to drive from Chicago to L.A., to save or father. Over the course of the series, she becomes so much more. She becomes a hero, best friend, and a fighter. Val doesn’t take any crap, and certainly will never play the role of “damsel in distress”. She’ll do anything to protect her family, including putting herself in harm’s way.

Veronica Entienne: Val’s cousin, best friend, and the voice of reason, when she needs someone to pull her back. She’s against violence, but slowly learns that sometimes, it’s the only solution. She lost her parents at a young age, and has lived with Val and her father Vincent ever since. Veronica is a caring person, and always stands by Val’s side.

Melinda St. James: She was waiting for a train to Tulsa, when Val saved her from a group of boys who were harassing her. Melinda sees Val as the ultimate hero: she’s brave and unafraid. Melinda is sweet and can be a bit naive at times, but she has a good heart.

Victoria Entienne: She’s the half-sister Veronica never knew existed. Victoria loves her sister, but she idolizes her cousin Val.  She has trouble trusting people, and it often takes her a while to open up.

Lola Vencent: She was John Rafferty’s Valkyrie, a hit woman who knows how to handle a gun. Lola has been a member of the Syndicate for years, and she knows it like the back of her hand. She lost her father, Luther Vencent, a prominent NY Attorney, when she was a child, and his death shaped the woman she later became. She and Val start out as enemies, but quickly become very good friends.

Mac Avery: People think she’s a little crazy, but the truth is, she’s just protective of the people she cares about. Mac and her brother Allan are hitmen and members of the Syndicate, but their loyalty is to each other and the people they care about. Mac’s methods of carrying out each hit may seem unorthodox, but she always gets the job done.

Jo Fuentes: Jo is a Marine who survived an explosion that killed all but two members of her unit: herself and Patrick “Sully” Sullivan. When she returns to the United States, a member of the Syndicate reaches out to her in hopes of using her skillset. Jo is tall, sarcastic, but very passionate about the people and things that matter to her. She takes a liking to Val the very first time she meets her.

Kelly McCormick: The highest-ranking woman in the Syndicate. Her father and uncle were members of the Irish mob when she was younger, so she’s no stranger to danger. Jo works for her, and while Kelly may be the only female sitting at the Syndicate’s table of leadership, she has no trouble making her presence known.

The importance of Val Entienne:

You seldom find a female character doing the things Val does in the series. She drives a classic Mustang. She knows how to handle a gun. She’s not afraid to fight someone, even if that someone is a man. I could have easily made Valentine a male character, but let’s face it: it would have been clichéd. I liked the idea of the “badass” in the story, being a young woman instead of a young man.

The importance of Jo Fuentes:

Jo is not the first LGBTQ character I have created, but she is the first to appear in a published W.E. book. She wants to be in a relationship, however, she begins to understand how dangerous her work is, and she doesn’t want to endanger anyone she loves. She’s one of the best hitmen in the Syndicate: she earns the nickname “Black Queen” after being the first to pass a weapons test with a perfect score and record timing. She’s also a Marine: she still reports to a commander on a routine basis. What makes Jo stand out from the rest of the hitmen, is her skillset: she can kill anyone, using anything , from guns and knives, to her bare hands.

Next week: The Ladies of Fortune’s Wing

 

Preview for “Biologicals”

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I recently released my 21st published book, Righteous, which is the fourth book in the Our Lady of Righteous Rage series. This book follows the band on their tour across America, as they go from city to city, state to state, playing shows and meeting new fans…and narrowly avoiding fights with Mick, David, and the rest of the band, Stereotype. When I wrote the final few chapters, I developed an idea for yet another book.  This time, I decided to focus on Jon, Amy’s son. During the story in Righteous, Jon’s birth parents contact him, much to his alarm. He doesn’t want anything to do with, but he decides to be diplomatic and try to spend time with them. My next book, Biologicals, will focus on Jon’s attempt to reestablish a relationship with his birth parents, aka his “biologicals”. Here’s a sneak peak from the first chapter:

  1. The Delivery Room, The Couch, and Onward

            “It’s a boy!”

            I imagine that’s what the doctor said in the delivery room, on the day I entered the world. I can picture myself, tiny and naked, and silent, until that first smack on the ass, which caused my lungs to open up, giving me the opportunity to take my first breath. I’m sure I must have started crying. Then I guess the doctor or the nurse handed me to my mother, so she could count my fingers and toes, and give me a once-over, just to make sure she hadn’t given birth to some freak show kid.

            But, like I said, I can only imagine all of this. I don’t remember any of it, because I was just too young. The memories I do have of my birth parents, aren’t the most pleasant memories I have. To put it frankly, my birth parents—or biologicals, as I prefer to call them—are assholes.

            Yep. I just did that. I called my biologicals assholes. That’s what they are. You’re probably wondering why I feel that way. Sure: most teenagers hate their parents. Most of their reasons for hating their parents are completely unfounded: not being allowed to go to parties, drink, stay out past curfew, etc. My reasons for feeling the way I do, are totally legitimate.

            When I lived with my biologicals, I didn’t have my own room. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters to compete with; I just didn’t have a room. My room was the living room, and my bed was the couch. I lived with Michael and Leora, my biologicals, in a one bedroom apartment. So, naturally, the one room went to them. This was interesting, especially when they had company. They would quickly clean up the area known as “Jon’s space”, and pretend we were a normal family. Bullshit artists.

            They managed to pull this off, until my uncle told them, he was going to take steps to have me taken from them. I was eventually sent to live with my cousin David, and his girlfriend (later, wife) Amy. I had been spending time with David ever since I was two. He would babysit me whenever my biologicals went out (which was often). Amy was the best. She was the only one outside of my family who was allowed to pick me up. When I was really little, David started seeing this girl named Gina, before he and Amy were dating. I hated Gina. She smelled like she had soaked herself in an entire bottle of perfume, and not even a good fragrance. And, she was a bitch. To this day, I have no idea what David saw in her.

            But, Amy and David got married, and adopted me. I wasn’t sure of what to call them: Mom and Dad, or Amy and Cousin David. David went out of the country when I was younger, and left me and Amy alone for the first time. I came down with a case of pneumonia. I was a little nervous, but Amy kept it together. She was barely eighteen, and acting just like a mother. She took me to the emergency room, got my medicine, and took care of me. From that day forward, she wasn’t Amy. She was Mom.

            But, David, on the other hand, couldn’t handle the whole Dad-thing. Mom can sing and play the guitar, and she and her friends were in a band. David was jealous from the very beginning.  He started criticizing Mom and her friends, saying she needed to focus on being a wife and a mother instead of a rock star. But I was watching her juggle both with no problem! At no point did I ever feel like she was neglecting me.  I was sad when they got a divorce…I was even sadder when I had to go and live with David. We’re biologically related, so the judge gave him custody of me…asshole. Mom is a fighter, though. She went back to court, and got custody of me. So, I got to go and live with the one person in this world who truly loves me.

Monday Blog: The Ladies of “Our Lady”

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Amy
Dee
Nyda
Vanessa
Carmen
Erin
Olivia

 

Hello! Welcome to the first official blog post of the month of May! To kick off one of the two themes of the month, Female Character Month, I decided to start with the ladies of the Our Lady series. Her we go….

The Ladies of Our Lady of Righteous Rage

While there is a pretty long list of female characters in the Our Lady series, I’m going to focus on the most important ladies, who appear across nearly every book.

Amy Edwards: Amy is the lead character of the series, and she handles most of the narration.  She grew up in a single-parent home, with her two brothers and her sister. Raised in Bayside, in New York, Amy falls in love with Punk Rock when she receives a copy Green Day’s Dookie album. From there, she decides to learn to play the guitar. She and her friends start playing, and eventually form a band, Our Lady of Righteous Rage, named after a poem Amy wrote. She’s also a mother: she and ex-husband David Sarconi adopted his cousin Jon when he was little, and despite the divorce Amy and Jon are still extremely close.

Dee Seybrook: Amy’s best friend, and the wife of Our Lady’s bassist, Aidan Sirci. Dee is petite, but she has no problem standing up for herself, and refuses to be pushed around. She’s a singer, and a drummer; she discovers she has a natural talent for drumming and develops it very quickly.

Nyda Summit: Dee’s cousin, and Nick Lianetti’s wife. Nyda is soft-spoken and tall, and an artist. Photography is her passion, and she has even taken pictures of the members of Our Lady for their album covers.

Vanessa Vance: The woman with the plan. Vanessa comes up with the idea of running a business with her friends in high school. She’s the co-founder of the Urban Collective: the store she and her friends created in order to sell their books, music and artwork. Vanessa is ambitious and a handworker, and will do anything to help her business and her friends succeed.

Carmen Portez: Carmen went to school with Amy, Dee and Vanessa. She’s a talented painter, and she began selling her artwork while she was still in high school. She eventually opened her very own art studio, Portez Art Studio, where she shows her artwork, and the work of other local artists.

Erin Michaels: Erin goes from quiet girl who likes to read, to a Punk Rock/Emo chick with a passion for music. She meets the band, and begins to work for them, after a tragic experience with her family brings her and her mother to New York. She later becomes the band’s social media expert. She’s particularly fond of Amy, and thinks of her as a big sister.

Olivia Midkiff: One of Jon’s friends and a really talented drummer.  Olivia is upbeat and generally in a good mood. When Dee takes her under her wing, the two form a big sister-little sister relationship. Olivia is sometimes unsure of herself, but she’s learning to be more confident. 

 

I created all of these characters years before I wrote this series. I used bits and pieces of my personality, and my mother’s personality, when I developed them for the Our Lady series. There’s a lot of Mom in Dee and Nyda (especially Dee). Amy and Erin represent my punk rock side. One of the reasons Our Lady is written using stream of consciousness, is because I wanted to give watch character an opportunity to grow and change. You meet Amy, Dee, Nyda, Vanessa and Erin, as teens, and you get to watch them “grow up”, so to speak. And, it was important to have a female character in the lead role. Amy’s talents as a guitarist, song writer, and artist, reflect my personal belief that girls can do anything. She’s a challenge to the status quo.

If you haven’t read Our Lady of Righteous Rage, I hope you decided to pick it up and see what its all about. I think you’ll enjoy it. 

Monday Blog: Words of Wisdom

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We’ve arrived at the final Monday Blog for the month of April. Yes, I know: April 30th is a Monday, but it’s also the last day of the month, and I didn’t think it was necessary to discuss April any further. Next week, I will begin posting about all of the wonderful things I have planned for May.

This month’s theme was Inspiration. I wanted to end the month, with some words of wisdom.

 

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” —Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Did you ever run into a particular person, who ended up helping you with a job or a project you were working on? Or, maybe you walked by a place you had never noticed before? Some people will say, it was by accident or by chance. I don’t believe in chance. I believe everything happens for a reason. For example, in 2014, I went to see Green Day in concert, in Brooklyn. While I would have loved to wait around after the show in hope of meeting the band, I figured it was a long shot, so instead, I went home. The following day, I went into NYC to meet my mother for lunch. For some strange reason, I took a train I normally don’t take, and would up near the Flatiron building. Tre Cool, Green Day’s drummer, walked past me. I caught up to him, said hello, and took a picture with him. Now, you could say that happened by chance. I happened to get on the wrong train, and I happened to get off at a stop that put me on the street at the same time as Tre Cool. It’s all coincidence. Or, maybe the universe was simply acting on my behalf.

 

“No need to fear screwing up a lot, as we learn more from mercy towards failure than we do from commendation for success.” —Julien Baker

 

“To do something that you feel in your heart that’s great, you need to make a lot of mistakes. Anything that’s successful is a series of mistakes.” —Billie Joe Armstrong

Fear used to hold me back from doing so many things. Fear is the reason I took so long to publish my first book. When I was going through that process, I thought, “I like what I wrote, but what if no one else does?” Later, I decided to let fear become my motivation. Sure, other people may not like what I write, but who cares? I’m going to do this for me.  When you’re working to achieve your goal, you’re going to make a lot of mistakes. But, mistakes are a GOOD THING. You can learn from them. Mistakes teach us to know the difference between what works, and what doesn’t. Once you learn from your mistakes (hopefully) you don’t repeat them. I worked with two publishers who ultimately failed me, before I made the decision to publish on my own. I’ve had to go back through some of the books I have published, and correct errors I found after they were made available for sale. But, it was all worth it.

Next month, I’m having a special promotion for the Our Lady of Righteous Rage series, so please continue to visit this blog for more info! Until next week…

First Editions For Sale!

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old edition sale

Long long ago, back in 2009, I published my first book, Fortune’s Wing, with a POD (print-on-demand) company called Xlibris. Then, I published Valentine.  I published a third book, and would have happily contiuned to work with them, until I went to an ALA convention. My books, along with the books of several other Xlibris authors, was on display, with the hope that libraries and schools would order copies. I was given the impression, the someone would be  on hand to offer info about the books. Instead, the books were placed on a large bookshelf, and the representative from Xlibris simply sat at the table in silence. Top notch marketing…

Fast forward to 2015. I republished on my own, via Create Space, Amazon’s self-publishing platform. Needless to say, I’m much happier with Create Space, and KDP. However, I still have copies of the editions I published with Xlibris, and I’d like to sell what I have left. 

If you would like to purchase a copy of Fortune’s Wing or Valentine, they are available on my website, woolastonentertainment.com, for $3 each, with $1 shipping. I’ll even sign them for you!

http://www.woolastonentertainment.com/-books.html

Opening Lines of “Novocaine”

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AnotherShot_KDP
Novocaine

 

In case you’ve never read my book, Novocaine, here’s a little sample from Chapter One:

 

“Doug, are you still there? Doug, please answer me…”

            Silence.  No answer from Doug.  Personally, I was waiting for the clichéd heavy breathing, followed by the sudden emotional breakdown: intense sobbing, sniffling, etc.  And Doug did not disappoint.  A  few seconds after the silence, he came back onto the line, crying and doing his best to snort what I can only imagine must be a little river of mucus running from his nose.  “I’m just so tired of it all, man,” he said.  “I just don’t know what to do.”

            “It’s okay Doug,” the radio therapist said.  “We all have moments where we don’t know what to do.  It’s perfectly normal…”

            It was late, and their conversation was getting boring.  Who am I kidding? It wasn’t getting boring—it had been boring from the very beginning.  I only tuned in because every now and then, there was a caller with a real problem.  I’m talking, lost-their-whole-family-in-a-fire type of shit.  People like that need help.  I only listen, though.  I never call in.  My problems weren’t big enough for a talk radio audience.  Dr. Kenny Lazaro was on the air between one and three in the morning.  He offers comfort and advice for the suicidal and broken-hearted.  He had been on the line with a caller named Doug for about twenty minutes.  Doug didn’t have any family or friends who cared about him.  He recently lost his job (a barista at Starbucks) and his girlfriend was trying to break up with him.  He claimed he wanted to kill himself, which is bullshit, because if he really wanted to die, he’d be dead.  So, I guess what Doug really needed was cuddling.  Someone to hold his hand and massage his feelings, and tell him everything was going to be okay.  Someone to take his world filled with darkness, and fill it with sunshine and unicorns and rainbows.   What Doug really needs, is for someone to kick him in his balls (if he even has any) and tell him to man up.  Stop being such a pussy, and realize that bad shit happens to everyone.  It’s called life. 

            I turned my radio off, and rolled over in my bed.  I figured it was time for me to get some sleep. After all, we teenagers need plenty of sleep in order to function in school.  I’d hate to fall asleep during math class…that would be a terrible shame. 

 

END OF SAMPLE

Monday Blog: Reading Changed My Life (Guest Blogger Ebunnygirl)

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Great news, everyone! Today I have a guest blogger! Ebunnygirl will be posting today’s edition of the Monday Blog. Please enjoy!

I had a revelation the other day. While there weren’t any sparks or canons blasting, it was still an important moment for me. I realized, reading changed my life.    Discovering books and the places they could take me, literally changed everything for me. Yes, I know: I sound like a corny afterschool special. But it’s the truth! I learned just how big the world really was, and the variety of characters I read about, showed me how diverse people are. Girls don’t always have to be princesses and damsels in distress. Boys can be strong, or they can show some emotion. And as for nonfiction and fiction, I learned to appreciate both: facts about things in the world I was unaware of, and worlds created from the minds of creative authors.

Nowadays, I see people reading books on e-readers and tablets, but it’s always nice to see people reading physical books. I’m thankful for that. I’m considering writing a book of my own, I’m just not sure of what to write about. I have received a lot of encouragement from Nicole Woolaston, for whom I am blogging today. Reading opened so many doors for me, and made me feel as though anything is possible.

(thank you to Ebunnygirl for this blog post! You can find her WordPress page here: https://ebunnygirl.wordpress.com/)

 

Monday Blog: Drawing Inspiration from Nostalgia

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Happy Monday, everyone! I hope all of you had a good weekend. In keeping with this month’s theme, I wanted to talk about drawing inspiration from nostalgia. I’ve been having a lot of nostalgic dreams lately, and thinking about things from my childhood. One such memory, is related to my desire to want to learn to play the guitar.

I thought this desire began when I fell in love with punk rock, but I recently realized, it started waaayyyyyy before that.  When I was about seven years old, I had a large plastic boat, which was a replica of Noah’s Ark. It came with pairs of animals and everything. I used to dump the animals out of the ark, and stretch rubber bands across the top of the ark, to make a guitar.  Then I moved up to using shoeboxes and rubber bands.

Of course, years later, I did acquire a real guitar, and then I began learning to play. This, combined with my love of punk rock, led to the creation of Our Lady of Righteous Rage.

I watched a lot of anime throughout my childhood, and started reading manga (or graphic novels, if you prefer). Shows such as Sailor Moon and Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Neon Genesis Evangelion, inspired me to write Fortune’s Wing and Valentine. I’ve mentioned this before, but if either of those series ever become films or TV series, I want them to be animated.

Then of course, there’s The Witch of Fulton Lane. You’re probably wondering what inspired me to write that story. I’ve always been interested in the paranormal, and The Craft is one of my favorite movies. I’ve been reading tarot cards for the past few years, and when I came up with the concept behind Fulton Lane, I was able to take all of my interests and knowledge, and work them into the story.

If you look carefully at what you’re creating now, you may find little bits and pieces of your own childhood weaved into your creation(s). This can be intentional or unintentional.  Nostalgia can be very inspirational.

Until next week…

A little something from “Righteous”

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I’m still working on Our Lady of Righteous Rage #4: Righteous. Here’s a little sample from Chapter 62. Enjoy!

           “Think about it,” Nick said. “If it wasn’t for Our Lady, would any of us visit Kansas City or Chicago? Albuquerque or Scottsdale? Would any of us even venture out this far? We were just kids in New York, learning to play guitars and writing songs here and there. Now look at us! We’re playing gigs across the country. We’re just a little indie punk band, and people in Arizona and California and Illinois actually want to pay to hear us play! How’d that happen?”

            We were silent. It made me think about where I was, just a few years ago. Graduating from high school. Moving around with Mom. Homeless and living in a hotel room. Then, working in a bookstore. Working at Urban Collective. Making friends with rock stars. How did that happen?

            “It happened because it was meant to,” Mike said, standing up from his chair. “I don’t want to get too religious and freak anyone out, but I believe there’s a plan for everyone. Call it God, or the Divine, or the universe, or whatever, but there’s a higher power out there, that creates a purpose for all of us. I didn’t really know what my purpose was, until you asked me to be your manager. I didn’t think I could do it. But you had faith in me, so I just put my best foot forward, and did what I thought was the right thing. We’re here, because we’re supposed to be here. You feel me?”